The Middle East.
29.7.09
Lebanon Israel Facts the Media Isn't Telling You
See the facts about Lebanon, Israel, Gaza Hezbollah and the Palestinians
http://www.representativepress.org/
Noam Chomsky reveals facts like the abduction of the two Gaza civilians June 24, BEFORE the Israeli soldiers were captured. Learn the background that the mainstream media doesn't report.
Help get the word out
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
24.6.09
Baghdad bombing kills at least 72, injures more than 135
Reporting from Baghdad-- A bomb in a sprawling Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad killed at least 72 people and wounded more than 135 Wednesday, highlighting the danger that Iraq will slip back into violence after a deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave its cities -- now less than a week away.
It was unclear who was responsible for the bomb, which was hidden in a motorcycle with a vegetable cart attached. Some blamed Sunni insurgents from Al Qaeda in Iraq or remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, but others raised the possibility that the bombing was the result of disputes among Shiite factions.
In either case, such bloodshed represented a major challenge for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Maliki, a Shiite, has asserted that Iraqi forces are ready to take on responsibility for security with limited help from the U.S. military. His government has declared June 30, the deadline for U.S. troops to pull back from Iraq's cities, a national holiday.
Maliki has acknowledged there will be attacks in the days ahead, but insists Iraqi forces are up to the task. Last week, the senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, expressed confidence in the Iraqi army and police.
Some U.S. soldiers are expected to remain at Iraqi bases in Baghdad and other cities to serve as advisors, but the sides are still negotiating the size of the force, rules and locations. President Obama has set August 2010 as the deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq, and under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement signed last year, all U.S. forces are expected to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
It was unclear who was responsible for the bomb, which was hidden in a motorcycle with a vegetable cart attached. Some blamed Sunni insurgents from Al Qaeda in Iraq or remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, but others raised the possibility that the bombing was the result of disputes among Shiite factions.
In either case, such bloodshed represented a major challenge for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Maliki, a Shiite, has asserted that Iraqi forces are ready to take on responsibility for security with limited help from the U.S. military. His government has declared June 30, the deadline for U.S. troops to pull back from Iraq's cities, a national holiday.
Maliki has acknowledged there will be attacks in the days ahead, but insists Iraqi forces are up to the task. Last week, the senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, expressed confidence in the Iraqi army and police.
Some U.S. soldiers are expected to remain at Iraqi bases in Baghdad and other cities to serve as advisors, but the sides are still negotiating the size of the force, rules and locations. President Obama has set August 2010 as the deadline for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq, and under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement signed last year, all U.S. forces are expected to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
13.6.09
Iranians fired up over election
Iranians fired up over election
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Tehran
It has become an extraordinary day, at the end of what has been an extraordinary election campaign.
As soon as polls opened in Iran, it became clear that the enthusiasm of the last few days has been translated into what is likely to be a huge turnout.
There were queues snaking round the block from many polling stations.
The crowds gathered outside, in segregated lines of men and women. Even as they waited to vote, they continued the spontaneous debate that has been sweeping Iran in the last week.
At one polling station I visited, some voters came up to me, nervous that the government might be trying to rig the election.
They were worried that a bus being used as a mobile polling station was not as well monitored as the main polling centre.
Other voters say the system under which a reference number has to be written by the candidates' name on the ballot paper is confusing.
Good humour
Much of the mobile phone text message system seems not to be working, a system the opposition had been hoping to use to send back reports from their monitors at polling stations and election counts.
The opposition has complained to the government.
Rumours are sweeping Tehran that some satellite TV stations may have been blocked.
But for the most part election day has continued the good humour of recent days.
One supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a woman in the long black religious chador, made a point of shaking hands with another woman wearing the green colours of the opposition contender, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Many of the polling stations are in mosques or other religious buildings.
At the Hosseiniyat Ershad in north Tehran, the number of women, particularly young women, queuing to vote is most striking.
The young voters who have been turning out in force for Mr Mousavi say they want more personal freedom, more opportunities and better relations with the West.
Extended voting
Supporters of Mr Ahmadinejad have praised him for pushing forward the nuclear programme, and say he has earned more respect for Iran internationally.
By mid-morning, the interior ministry announced that already five million people had voted. Voting was extended by two hours, and may be extended longer.
Such a high turnout will make Iranians more confident of the outcome.
They will remember the election in 1997, in which President Khatami defeated a candidate heavily favoured by the establishment.
His victory was so overwhelming it soon became clear that it could not be overturned, even if there had been those trying to do so.
Results are expected to begin coming in during the night. Almost every Iranian you meet is eager for any idea about what is going to happen. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
By Jon Leyne
BBC News, Tehran
It has become an extraordinary day, at the end of what has been an extraordinary election campaign.
As soon as polls opened in Iran, it became clear that the enthusiasm of the last few days has been translated into what is likely to be a huge turnout.
There were queues snaking round the block from many polling stations.
The crowds gathered outside, in segregated lines of men and women. Even as they waited to vote, they continued the spontaneous debate that has been sweeping Iran in the last week.
At one polling station I visited, some voters came up to me, nervous that the government might be trying to rig the election.
They were worried that a bus being used as a mobile polling station was not as well monitored as the main polling centre.
Other voters say the system under which a reference number has to be written by the candidates' name on the ballot paper is confusing.
Good humour
Much of the mobile phone text message system seems not to be working, a system the opposition had been hoping to use to send back reports from their monitors at polling stations and election counts.
The opposition has complained to the government.
Rumours are sweeping Tehran that some satellite TV stations may have been blocked.
But for the most part election day has continued the good humour of recent days.
One supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a woman in the long black religious chador, made a point of shaking hands with another woman wearing the green colours of the opposition contender, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Many of the polling stations are in mosques or other religious buildings.
At the Hosseiniyat Ershad in north Tehran, the number of women, particularly young women, queuing to vote is most striking.
The young voters who have been turning out in force for Mr Mousavi say they want more personal freedom, more opportunities and better relations with the West.
Extended voting
Supporters of Mr Ahmadinejad have praised him for pushing forward the nuclear programme, and say he has earned more respect for Iran internationally.
By mid-morning, the interior ministry announced that already five million people had voted. Voting was extended by two hours, and may be extended longer.
Such a high turnout will make Iranians more confident of the outcome.
They will remember the election in 1997, in which President Khatami defeated a candidate heavily favoured by the establishment.
His victory was so overwhelming it soon became clear that it could not be overturned, even if there had been those trying to do so.
Results are expected to begin coming in during the night. Almost every Iranian you meet is eager for any idea about what is going to happen. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
2.6.09
Obama embarks on Mid-East mission
Mr Obama says he wants America to re-engage with the Middle East
US President Barack Obama is heading to the Middle East on a visit aimed at increasing US engagement with the Islamic world.
Mr Obama travels first to Saudi Arabia and then to Egypt, where he will make a keynote speech on ties with the region.
He says he wants to open dialogue with Muslims and overcome misapprehensions on both sides. He also wants to revive Middle East peace negotiations.
It is his first Middle East visit since taking office.
Barack Obama's goal is to improve perceptions of the US and to push for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, says BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
In the process he wants to make other US strategic goals in the region - like stability in Iraq and the containment of Iran - easier to achieve.
OBAMA'S TOUR
3 June: Saudi Arabia - talks with King Abdullah on Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations
4 June: Egypt - talks with President Hosni Mubarak, keynote speech at Cairo university
5 June: Germany - meets Chancellor Angela Merkel, visits to Dresden and to Buchenwald concentration camp
6 June: France - meets President Nicolas Sarkozy, attends D-Day events in Normandy
To do this he needs Arab partners and this trip takes in two key nations - Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
bbc
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
US President Barack Obama is heading to the Middle East on a visit aimed at increasing US engagement with the Islamic world.
Mr Obama travels first to Saudi Arabia and then to Egypt, where he will make a keynote speech on ties with the region.
He says he wants to open dialogue with Muslims and overcome misapprehensions on both sides. He also wants to revive Middle East peace negotiations.
It is his first Middle East visit since taking office.
Barack Obama's goal is to improve perceptions of the US and to push for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, says BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
In the process he wants to make other US strategic goals in the region - like stability in Iraq and the containment of Iran - easier to achieve.
OBAMA'S TOUR
3 June: Saudi Arabia - talks with King Abdullah on Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations
4 June: Egypt - talks with President Hosni Mubarak, keynote speech at Cairo university
5 June: Germany - meets Chancellor Angela Merkel, visits to Dresden and to Buchenwald concentration camp
6 June: France - meets President Nicolas Sarkozy, attends D-Day events in Normandy
To do this he needs Arab partners and this trip takes in two key nations - Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
bbc
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
9.5.09
Popular Committee Against the Siege calls on the Pope to visit Gaza
The Popular Committee Against the Siege demanded Pope Benedict XVI to visit the Gaza strip during his tour in the region in order to observe the destruction and devastation inflicted during the Israeli offensive, and to observe the suffering of the residents.
Legislator Jamal El Khodary, head of the Committee, stated that it is essential that the Pope, Christian and Muslim figures, visit Gaza in order to observe the suffering of the residents as the Israeli siege is still ongoing in addition to the repeated Israeli attacks.
He added that the Pope should have a clear stance against the siege, and should practice pressure on the occupation to end the siege and ease the suffering of the residents.
El Khodary also said that ending the siege requires full opening of all border terminals and allowing the entry of all needed supplies, goods and medications.
The legislator added that the residents, fishermen, farmers and every person in Gaza should be able to work and sustain decent livelihood, and that the patients should be allowed access to proper medical treatment especially since the siege emptied Gaza hospitals of the basic equipment and supplies.
On Sunday, May 3 2009, a Palestinian patient, identified as Wael Obeilan, died at a Gaza hospital after Israeli barred him from receiving medical treatment outside the coastal region.
He died just a number of days after a 5-year old child, identified as Mohammad Al Qabbani, died at a local hospital in Gaza. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Legislator Jamal El Khodary, head of the Committee, stated that it is essential that the Pope, Christian and Muslim figures, visit Gaza in order to observe the suffering of the residents as the Israeli siege is still ongoing in addition to the repeated Israeli attacks.
He added that the Pope should have a clear stance against the siege, and should practice pressure on the occupation to end the siege and ease the suffering of the residents.
El Khodary also said that ending the siege requires full opening of all border terminals and allowing the entry of all needed supplies, goods and medications.
The legislator added that the residents, fishermen, farmers and every person in Gaza should be able to work and sustain decent livelihood, and that the patients should be allowed access to proper medical treatment especially since the siege emptied Gaza hospitals of the basic equipment and supplies.
On Sunday, May 3 2009, a Palestinian patient, identified as Wael Obeilan, died at a Gaza hospital after Israeli barred him from receiving medical treatment outside the coastal region.
He died just a number of days after a 5-year old child, identified as Mohammad Al Qabbani, died at a local hospital in Gaza. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
4.5.09
Hamas Officials Supportive of Syrian-Israeli Talks
04/05/2009
By Kifah Zaboun
Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat – Two high-level ranking Hamas leaders have vehemently emphasized that the Hamas organization does not operate in any Arab or non-Arab territory and that it has no military activity except in Palestine. In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yahya Musa and Atif Adwan stressed that Hamas is satisfied with the Syrian role in supporting the Palestinian issue, and noted that Syria's stance is different from the stances adopted by several Arab countries. They said that Hamas respects the Syrian option to hold dialogue with Israel, that these negotiations are legitimate, and that there is no reason for concern about the outcome of these negotiations.
Both Hamas leaders were commenting on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's interview in Asharq Al-Awsat where he stated that Hamas and Hezbollah would not attack Israel from Syria. He pointed out that in the direct negotiations with Israel through Turkish mediation efforts, he reached a stage closer to an agreement than that reached in the era of his father's negotiations with the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former US President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Yahya Musa, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and deputy leader of the Hamas bloc in the council, said that Hamas does not interfere in the affairs or options of other Arab country, but respects these options. He added: "We know that the Arab regimes have their own needs, but we do not interfere in the political dealings that have to do with the circumstances, balances, and situations facing these countries."
Musa said that the Muslim community of nation should focus its efforts on backing the Palestinian issue because it is an Arab and Islamic cause. He added: "We are against the divisions that prompted the nation to shirk its responsibility toward contributing to the Palestinian efforts and resistance to the occupation. However, this does not mean that we should dictate to this or that country advice." He added: "These are big and independent states that have their own conditions, circumstances, and complicated situations." He stressed that "we accept whatever all Arab countries any effort they make and whatever they offer. We consider that a state like Syria has borne a great deal in the interest of the Palestinian question. We are satisfied with the Syrian position that embraces the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and defends it in various forums." He said: "We did not oppose the other Arab countries that took a position against Hamas, nor did we attack them or make an issue with them. We accepted their efforts and dealt with them according to what Arab relations and sensitivities dictate."
As to why Hamas rejects Palestinian-Israeli negotiations whereas it agrees to Arab-Israeli negotiations, Musa said: "The Palestinian affair concerns us. We are responsible for our people, and have our free option entrusted with us by our people."More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
By Kifah Zaboun
Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat – Two high-level ranking Hamas leaders have vehemently emphasized that the Hamas organization does not operate in any Arab or non-Arab territory and that it has no military activity except in Palestine. In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yahya Musa and Atif Adwan stressed that Hamas is satisfied with the Syrian role in supporting the Palestinian issue, and noted that Syria's stance is different from the stances adopted by several Arab countries. They said that Hamas respects the Syrian option to hold dialogue with Israel, that these negotiations are legitimate, and that there is no reason for concern about the outcome of these negotiations.
Both Hamas leaders were commenting on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's interview in Asharq Al-Awsat where he stated that Hamas and Hezbollah would not attack Israel from Syria. He pointed out that in the direct negotiations with Israel through Turkish mediation efforts, he reached a stage closer to an agreement than that reached in the era of his father's negotiations with the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former US President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Yahya Musa, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and deputy leader of the Hamas bloc in the council, said that Hamas does not interfere in the affairs or options of other Arab country, but respects these options. He added: "We know that the Arab regimes have their own needs, but we do not interfere in the political dealings that have to do with the circumstances, balances, and situations facing these countries."
Musa said that the Muslim community of nation should focus its efforts on backing the Palestinian issue because it is an Arab and Islamic cause. He added: "We are against the divisions that prompted the nation to shirk its responsibility toward contributing to the Palestinian efforts and resistance to the occupation. However, this does not mean that we should dictate to this or that country advice." He added: "These are big and independent states that have their own conditions, circumstances, and complicated situations." He stressed that "we accept whatever all Arab countries any effort they make and whatever they offer. We consider that a state like Syria has borne a great deal in the interest of the Palestinian question. We are satisfied with the Syrian position that embraces the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and defends it in various forums." He said: "We did not oppose the other Arab countries that took a position against Hamas, nor did we attack them or make an issue with them. We accepted their efforts and dealt with them according to what Arab relations and sensitivities dictate."
As to why Hamas rejects Palestinian-Israeli negotiations whereas it agrees to Arab-Israeli negotiations, Musa said: "The Palestinian affair concerns us. We are responsible for our people, and have our free option entrusted with us by our people."More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
3.5.09
weekly report Of Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law escalated in the OPT during the reporting period (23 – 28 April 2009):
Shooting: During the reporting period, 20 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were wounded by IOF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
On 24 April 2009, 12 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when Israeli settlers and IOF troops attacked 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. This joint attack was the second of its kind in the West Bank this April; IOF and Israeli settlers launched a similar attack on Safa village, north of Hebron, on 08 April, in which 9 Palestinian civilians were wounded.
On 26 April 2009, an Israeli settler fired at a Palestinian child in Madama village, south of Nablus. The child was seriously wounded by a gunshot that entered the back and exited the chest.
On the same day, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF moved into Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah, and opened fire indiscriminately.
Also on the same day, IOF troops positioned at Tarqoumia crossing, southwest of Hebron, fired at an old Palestinian man, wounding him.
During the reporting period, 5 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 28 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 32 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children.
During the reporting period, IOF stormed the public yard opposite 'Aaida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. The yard was being readied in advance of the Pope's intended visit. IOF forced workers to stop technical and construction preparations.
On 24 April 2009, IOF conducted a joint operation with Israeli settlers against 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. Both forces fired at Palestinian civilians, wounding 12 of them.
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Shooting: During the reporting period, 20 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were wounded by IOF and Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
On 24 April 2009, 12 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when Israeli settlers and IOF troops attacked 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. This joint attack was the second of its kind in the West Bank this April; IOF and Israeli settlers launched a similar attack on Safa village, north of Hebron, on 08 April, in which 9 Palestinian civilians were wounded.
On 26 April 2009, an Israeli settler fired at a Palestinian child in Madama village, south of Nablus. The child was seriously wounded by a gunshot that entered the back and exited the chest.
On the same day, a Palestinian civilian was wounded when IOF moved into Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah, and opened fire indiscriminately.
Also on the same day, IOF troops positioned at Tarqoumia crossing, southwest of Hebron, fired at an old Palestinian man, wounding him.
During the reporting period, 5 Palestinian civilians, including two children, were wounded when IOF used force against peaceful demonstrations organized to protest the construction of the Annexation Wall.
Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 28 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IOF arrested 32 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children.
During the reporting period, IOF stormed the public yard opposite 'Aaida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. The yard was being readied in advance of the Pope's intended visit. IOF forced workers to stop technical and construction preparations.
On 24 April 2009, IOF conducted a joint operation with Israeli settlers against 'Ourif village, south of Nablus. Both forces fired at Palestinian civilians, wounding 12 of them.
Restrictions on Movement: IOF have continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
2.5.09
Israel shoots an Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner
Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire has been shot with a rubber[-coated metal] bullet by the Israeli military while taking part in a nonviolent civil rights protest organised by Palestinians and Israelis.
The incident took place on Friday 20 April, and Ms Maguire, famed for her work for reconcilition in Northern Ireland, has now returned home.
She won her Nobel Laureate for galvanizing popular demands for a just peace and opposition to both military and paramilitary acivities during 'the troubles'.
She said yesterday: “I was invited with my friend to attend a nonviolent conference in Bilin, a village outside Ramallah [in the West Bank], and to give a talk there, which I did. At the end of the conference, we were invited to participate in a nonviolent demonstration with some of the Palestinian members of parliament and Israeli peace activists and local villagers and international visitors.
“We walked along to try to walk up toward the separation wall, and it was a totally nonviolent protest. And we were viciously attacked by the Israeli military. They threw gas canisters into the peace walkers, and they also fired rubber-covered steel bullets."
More on this Story
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
The incident took place on Friday 20 April, and Ms Maguire, famed for her work for reconcilition in Northern Ireland, has now returned home.
She won her Nobel Laureate for galvanizing popular demands for a just peace and opposition to both military and paramilitary acivities during 'the troubles'.
She said yesterday: “I was invited with my friend to attend a nonviolent conference in Bilin, a village outside Ramallah [in the West Bank], and to give a talk there, which I did. At the end of the conference, we were invited to participate in a nonviolent demonstration with some of the Palestinian members of parliament and Israeli peace activists and local villagers and international visitors.
“We walked along to try to walk up toward the separation wall, and it was a totally nonviolent protest. And we were viciously attacked by the Israeli military. They threw gas canisters into the peace walkers, and they also fired rubber-covered steel bullets."
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
28.4.09
When I first visited the Palestinian territories, I was afraid I would have to hide my identity as an American and possibly wear a headscarf. To my surprise, I was warmly welcomed exactly as I was, and after more than two years living and working there, it remains one of my favorite spots on earth. The people are charming and generous, the landscape is gorgeous, and the parties, concerts, and beer gardens in Ramallah are world-class.
But behind all this looms the conflict, the occupation, and violence. Since September 2000, more than 5,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis have been killed. A series of walls, fences, roadblocks, checkpoints, army bases, and settlements keep the Palestinians in the West Bank under an almost constant state of siege and strangle the economy of many towns and villages, including Bethlehem. Gaza has been turned into an open-air prison whose desperate inmates can only get vital supplies through smuggling tunnels -- which also transport weapons that Palestinian militants use to target Israeli civilians. POST
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
But behind all this looms the conflict, the occupation, and violence. Since September 2000, more than 5,500 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis have been killed. A series of walls, fences, roadblocks, checkpoints, army bases, and settlements keep the Palestinians in the West Bank under an almost constant state of siege and strangle the economy of many towns and villages, including Bethlehem. Gaza has been turned into an open-air prison whose desperate inmates can only get vital supplies through smuggling tunnels -- which also transport weapons that Palestinian militants use to target Israeli civilians. POST
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
24.4.09
11.4.09
Mideast Youth Committed to Fighting Extremism
Last week we asked our readers you to help find pro-peace websites. And you responded! One of the entries is www.mideastyouth.com. This is an exceptional site for a number of reasons, and we're happy to let more people read about them.
Mideastyouth.com is run by students from all over the Middle East, addressing both local and regional concerns. While there is somewhat of a focus on youth issues, much of the content is relevant to every age group. From serious matters such as migrant rights or minorities to more casual categories like "culture and society" or "fun and recreation", Mideast Youth provides an informative tour of Middle East issues, written from the perspective of open minded young people. More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Mideastyouth.com is run by students from all over the Middle East, addressing both local and regional concerns. While there is somewhat of a focus on youth issues, much of the content is relevant to every age group. From serious matters such as migrant rights or minorities to more casual categories like "culture and society" or "fun and recreation", Mideast Youth provides an informative tour of Middle East issues, written from the perspective of open minded young people. More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
George Galloway's high-profile mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza has run into controversy, just as his convoy reaches the final leg of its 5
Egyptian activists who had been planning to welcome Galloway's Viva Palestina trucks as they cross from Libya into Egypt today will instead be staying at home, after allegations surfaced that Galloway was planning to take part in official receptions with the unpopular Egyptian government, despite having recently called for it to be overthrown.
Rumours that Galloway had agreed to meet Ahmed Ezz, a steel magnate who is a close associate of President Hosni Mubarak and has been caught up in several corruption scandals, caused an outcry among groups opposed to a president Galloway has dismissed as a tyrant.
The mile convoy of 110 vehicles left England on 14 February and travelled through Europe and North Africa. Egyptian opposition groups had been preparing a "red carpet" welcome for Galloway and his caravan, impressed at the British MP's forceful denunciations of Mubarak's stance on the Gaza crisis. The Egyptian government largely refused to open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza during Israel's recent 22-day military assault on the area, prompting Galloway to declare that the "dictatorship" of Mubarak was "jointly responsible for the murder of every Palestinian who has died these last two years". Read More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Rumours that Galloway had agreed to meet Ahmed Ezz, a steel magnate who is a close associate of President Hosni Mubarak and has been caught up in several corruption scandals, caused an outcry among groups opposed to a president Galloway has dismissed as a tyrant.
The mile convoy of 110 vehicles left England on 14 February and travelled through Europe and North Africa. Egyptian opposition groups had been preparing a "red carpet" welcome for Galloway and his caravan, impressed at the British MP's forceful denunciations of Mubarak's stance on the Gaza crisis. The Egyptian government largely refused to open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza during Israel's recent 22-day military assault on the area, prompting Galloway to declare that the "dictatorship" of Mubarak was "jointly responsible for the murder of every Palestinian who has died these last two years". Read More
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
7.4.09
Rebuilding Gaza
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The seven foul-smelling lagoons of sewage near Gaza's coast were supposed to be replaced by a globally funded waste treatment plant. Instead, they epitomize the nightmare faced by foreign donors as they seek to rebuild the territory and open a pathway to peace.
The multimillion dollar project has been delayed by violence and a 20-month-old border closure that have made it difficult to bring supplies into Gaza. Now, after Israel's devastating military offensive, clearing the lagoons is just one part of a much bigger challenge.
On Monday, some 80 donor countries meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik will be asked to pledge at least $2.8 billion in aid to Gaza.
There's plenty of good will — Saudi Arabia has already promised $1 billion and the U.S. $900 million — and the level of representation will be stellar, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
But for reconstruction to move forward smoothly, toward pacifying Gaza and opening new horizons for Mideast peace efforts, a series of improbable events would need to happen.
Gaza's Hamas rulers would likely have to reconcile with their moderate West Bank rivals led by President Mahmoud Abbas. The Islamic militants would then have to soften their violent anti-Israel ideology and agree to share power with Abbas.
Israel and Egypt would have to recognize Hamas' governing role and reopen the borders they closed after Hamas seized Gaza by force in June 2007. Recently, Israel has also linked a border opening to long-stalled negotiations on a prisoner swap with Hamas.
But the more likely prospect is that the Palestinians will fail to heal their split and Gaza's borders will remain largely closed. In this case, Israel will continue to keep tight control over concrete, steel and other supplies needed for rebuilding 15,000 homes destroyed or damaged in the offensive it launched to halt Hamas rocket fire.
As it is, the Saudi pledge — along with a $250 million pledge from Qatar and $100 million from Algeria — has not materialized because of disagreements between Fatah and Hamas, an Arab League official said, speaking on condition of anonymity Saturday because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
A Hamas-Israel truce being mediated by Egypt envisions open borders. But Israel says it can't allow supplies in freely, for fear Hamas — a group committed to the destruction of the Jewish state — would hijack concrete and steel to build bunkers and rockets. Instead, Israel is willing to allow in specific hardware consignments, in close coordination with international aid agencies.
"We want the accountability of the international community," said Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Israeli military branch that deals with Palestinian civilians. "There can be different types of creative solutions."
Such an arrangement was in place for the Beit Lahiya sewage project, given emergency status after one of the lagoons overflowed in 2007, killing five people. Still, completion of a pumping station and a four-mile pipeline was delayed by 2 1/2 years, and now the pipeline has been damaged by Israeli air strikes, according to Naziq Rihan, a project engineer. Work on the crucial water treatment plant hasn't even begun.
Another monument to thwarted aid is a housing project, funded by the United Arab Emirates for Gazans made homeless in previous Israeli offensives. The work has stalled since the blockade.
"I think in 10 years, they still won't be finished," said security guard Nasser Abu Amouna, 27, who lost his home in an Israeli airstrike in 2007 and was in line for rehousing in the new project. Abu Amouna would like to marry but can't until he has a proper home.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, a top European Union diplomat, called Friday for an unconditional opening of Gaza's borders, but she and other donors won't say what steps they would take to bring that about, and it's not clear what arrangements, if any, will be agreed on at Monday's conference.
One possibility is to collect pledges and focus for now on the ongoing emergency relief, in the form of dozens of supply trucks entering Gaza every day.
Donors will be asked to fund a $2.8 billion reconstruction plan put together by Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist. Hamas was not invited.
Fayyad wants most of the money funneled through his West Bank-based government. He already administers huge sums of foreign aid — $7.7 billion for 2008-2010 — and has been sending $120 million to Gaza each month for welfare and salaries of Abbas' former civil servants. Other aid, such as for rebuilding homes, would go directly to the bank accounts of Gazans.
Hamas prepared its own 86-page Gaza reconstruction plan and sent copies to the Arab League. But even if bypassed by the donors, as is likely, Hamas would benefit from any aid that eases pressure on it to help the needy. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum suggested the Gaza government would be cooperative.
"We will provide all the logistical help to the donors to implement this huge project," he said. "We are not asking anyone to send money into our accounts."
Read Entire Article
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
The multimillion dollar project has been delayed by violence and a 20-month-old border closure that have made it difficult to bring supplies into Gaza. Now, after Israel's devastating military offensive, clearing the lagoons is just one part of a much bigger challenge.
On Monday, some 80 donor countries meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik will be asked to pledge at least $2.8 billion in aid to Gaza.
There's plenty of good will — Saudi Arabia has already promised $1 billion and the U.S. $900 million — and the level of representation will be stellar, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
But for reconstruction to move forward smoothly, toward pacifying Gaza and opening new horizons for Mideast peace efforts, a series of improbable events would need to happen.
Gaza's Hamas rulers would likely have to reconcile with their moderate West Bank rivals led by President Mahmoud Abbas. The Islamic militants would then have to soften their violent anti-Israel ideology and agree to share power with Abbas.
Israel and Egypt would have to recognize Hamas' governing role and reopen the borders they closed after Hamas seized Gaza by force in June 2007. Recently, Israel has also linked a border opening to long-stalled negotiations on a prisoner swap with Hamas.
But the more likely prospect is that the Palestinians will fail to heal their split and Gaza's borders will remain largely closed. In this case, Israel will continue to keep tight control over concrete, steel and other supplies needed for rebuilding 15,000 homes destroyed or damaged in the offensive it launched to halt Hamas rocket fire.
As it is, the Saudi pledge — along with a $250 million pledge from Qatar and $100 million from Algeria — has not materialized because of disagreements between Fatah and Hamas, an Arab League official said, speaking on condition of anonymity Saturday because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
A Hamas-Israel truce being mediated by Egypt envisions open borders. But Israel says it can't allow supplies in freely, for fear Hamas — a group committed to the destruction of the Jewish state — would hijack concrete and steel to build bunkers and rockets. Instead, Israel is willing to allow in specific hardware consignments, in close coordination with international aid agencies.
"We want the accountability of the international community," said Peter Lerner, spokesman for the Israeli military branch that deals with Palestinian civilians. "There can be different types of creative solutions."
Such an arrangement was in place for the Beit Lahiya sewage project, given emergency status after one of the lagoons overflowed in 2007, killing five people. Still, completion of a pumping station and a four-mile pipeline was delayed by 2 1/2 years, and now the pipeline has been damaged by Israeli air strikes, according to Naziq Rihan, a project engineer. Work on the crucial water treatment plant hasn't even begun.
Another monument to thwarted aid is a housing project, funded by the United Arab Emirates for Gazans made homeless in previous Israeli offensives. The work has stalled since the blockade.
"I think in 10 years, they still won't be finished," said security guard Nasser Abu Amouna, 27, who lost his home in an Israeli airstrike in 2007 and was in line for rehousing in the new project. Abu Amouna would like to marry but can't until he has a proper home.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, a top European Union diplomat, called Friday for an unconditional opening of Gaza's borders, but she and other donors won't say what steps they would take to bring that about, and it's not clear what arrangements, if any, will be agreed on at Monday's conference.
One possibility is to collect pledges and focus for now on the ongoing emergency relief, in the form of dozens of supply trucks entering Gaza every day.
Donors will be asked to fund a $2.8 billion reconstruction plan put together by Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist. Hamas was not invited.
Fayyad wants most of the money funneled through his West Bank-based government. He already administers huge sums of foreign aid — $7.7 billion for 2008-2010 — and has been sending $120 million to Gaza each month for welfare and salaries of Abbas' former civil servants. Other aid, such as for rebuilding homes, would go directly to the bank accounts of Gazans.
Hamas prepared its own 86-page Gaza reconstruction plan and sent copies to the Arab League. But even if bypassed by the donors, as is likely, Hamas would benefit from any aid that eases pressure on it to help the needy. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum suggested the Gaza government would be cooperative.
"We will provide all the logistical help to the donors to implement this huge project," he said. "We are not asking anyone to send money into our accounts."
Read Entire Article
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Hezbollah ready to repel Israeli attack
In an interview with the French paper Le Figaro, Hezbollah Deputy Leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said the movement is "prepared" to any such conflict with Israel.
"But I do not believe that under the current circumstances Israel has an interest in waging another war in Lebanon," he said.
The daily quoted the Sheikh as saying that "Israel's defeat" in its recent war against the Gaza Strip indicates that it is not capable of launching a new front in the region.
"The offensive in Gaza proved that the Israeli army has not drawn any lessons from the 2006 war (in Lebanon), and it remains incapable of translating its military force into diplomatic achievements."
Israel launched an aggression against Lebanon in summer 2006. The conflict lasted for 33 days and resulted in a heavy defeat for Tel Aviv.
"Israel's defeat -- both militarily and psychologically -- is clear. The war in 2006 proved once again the need for armed resistance," the Sheikh told Le Figaro.
Tel Aviv faced another regional defeat when it failed to "topple" Hamasduring its three week offensive against Gaza. The onslaught claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people including women and children in the coastal strip.
Regarding the assassination of Hezbollah's top commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus, Qassem reiterated to avenge, saying "We vowed to respond. It is our right."
While Tel Aviv denies any involvement in the February 12 assassination, the Hezbollah leader said the movement has "no doubt" that Israel is behind the assassination.
"(The response) will not warrant a declaration of war on Israel's part, but in any case Israel does not need any excuse to initiate hostile acts," he concluded. Story
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
"But I do not believe that under the current circumstances Israel has an interest in waging another war in Lebanon," he said.
The daily quoted the Sheikh as saying that "Israel's defeat" in its recent war against the Gaza Strip indicates that it is not capable of launching a new front in the region.
"The offensive in Gaza proved that the Israeli army has not drawn any lessons from the 2006 war (in Lebanon), and it remains incapable of translating its military force into diplomatic achievements."
Israel launched an aggression against Lebanon in summer 2006. The conflict lasted for 33 days and resulted in a heavy defeat for Tel Aviv.
"Israel's defeat -- both militarily and psychologically -- is clear. The war in 2006 proved once again the need for armed resistance," the Sheikh told Le Figaro.
Tel Aviv faced another regional defeat when it failed to "topple" Hamasduring its three week offensive against Gaza. The onslaught claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people including women and children in the coastal strip.
Regarding the assassination of Hezbollah's top commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus, Qassem reiterated to avenge, saying "We vowed to respond. It is our right."
While Tel Aviv denies any involvement in the February 12 assassination, the Hezbollah leader said the movement has "no doubt" that Israel is behind the assassination.
"(The response) will not warrant a declaration of war on Israel's part, but in any case Israel does not need any excuse to initiate hostile acts," he concluded. Story
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
4.4.09
World pledges billions for Gaza reconstruction
The EU, US and Arab states have pledged close to $4.5 billion (3.6 billion euros) to help rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip and reform the Palestinian Authority.
But as donors met in Egypt on Monday, March 2, they emphasized that financial aid must not fall into the hands of Hamas, the Islamist group which rules Gaza. The donors also called for an immediate lifting of Israel's blockade of the battered coastal strip preventing all but vital aid from entering the area. Gaza has an estimated 1.4 million inhabitants.
"The status quo is of benefit to all the extremism. It is time for us to speed up the agenda," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the conference at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Final figures from the conference show the EU has pledged $554 million, the US $900 million and Gulf Arab states $1.65 billion in aid for the Palestinians.
Germany will reportedly pledge an extra $126 million on top of its contribution to the EU aid package.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked for some $2.8 billion, almost half of that to pay for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel's offensive in late December and January.
"We are confronted with a serious dilemma," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a final news conference. "Will we once again reconstruct something we built a few years ago and now has been hammered and flattened?
"Many donors, despite pledges, will wish to see political progress before they commit to infrastructure reconstruction," he said. Norway and Egypt jointly presided over the conference.
Gaza remains sealed off
But the United Nations and aid agencies have said that rebuilding the coastal enclave would be extremely difficult as long as border crossings into Gaza remain closed.
"The situation at the border crossings is intolerable. Aid workers do not have access. Essential commodities cannot get in," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told donors at the conference.
"Our first and indispensable goal, therefore, is to open crossings. By the same token, however, it is therefore essential to ensure that illegal weapons do not enter Gaza."
"Money is very important but it is not going to solve the problem unless there is pressure from the international community on Israel to open all (border) crossings with Gaza" said Gasser Abdel-Razek, a spokesman for human rights group Oxfam International.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on Israel to open the border crossings and allow goods through. "Gaza should not actually be a prison with open skies," he told the conference.
Money will not end up "in the wrong hands"
Donors have balked at giving aid to Hamas, which has controlled the Strip since 2007. In response, leaders of Hamas and Abbas's rival Fatah faction agreed to work towards forming a "national unity" government on Thursday, Feb. 26, and to hold fresh elections soon.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was making her first appearance at such a large-scale conference in her new role, reassured delegates on Monday that the US was working with the Palestinian Authority to install "safeguards" to ensure that funding "is only used where and for whom it is intended" and "does not end up in the wrong hands."
She also stressed that the response to the current Gaza crisis "cannot be separated" from broader peace efforts, adding that aid to Gaza could "foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realized."
Neither Israel nor Hamas were present at the conference. Israel said it supported efforts to help Palestinians in the strip, but wanted assurances the aid money would not reach Hamas militants.
"We definitely don't want to see the goodwill of the international community exploited by Hamas and serve Hamas' extremist purposes," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and thousands of Gaza homes and government buildings were reduced to rubble during the Israeli offensive. Thirteen Israelis also died in attacks by Hamas militants. Read more
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
West Bank, Palestine: Three residents injured, two international activists detained in Hebron
IMEMC & Agencies:
Palestinian sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported Sunday that Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful protest against Israeli settlements in the Old City of Hebron, and demanding the army to reopen Al Shuhada Street in the city; three residents were wounded, and two international activists were detained.
The Al Shuhada road was closed by the army after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994.
Arab member of Israeli Knesset, General Secretary of the Hadash Movement, Mohammad Barakeh, Palestinian Legislator Sahar Qawasmi, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People Party Afaf Ghatasha, member of the party’s central committee, Fahmi Shahin, and dozens of residents and peace activists, participated in the protest.
The protesters carried Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans against the settlements and the illegal Israeli policies. They also chanted for real peace in the region.
The Israeli army attacked the protesters near the illegal outpost of Beit Romano in the Old City. Soldiers attacked the protesters with clubs and rifle butts, and dragged a number of protesters in the ground; several protesters were injured.
Later on, the army cuffed two international peace activists and detained them at a nearby settlement while the settlers called for more attacks against the activists and the residents.
Medical sources at the Hebron Governmental Hospital stated that three residents received treatment who suffered cuts and bruises after being violently attacked by the soldiers.
The three are Fahmi Shahin, 47, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People Party (PPP), Mousa Abu Hash-hash, 54, a researcher with the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem, and Azzam Al Jamal, an owner of the store in the area.
MK Barakeh slammed that army for attacking the protest and said that the Old City in Hebron should be a closed zone for the settlers and the soldiers, and not for the indigenous Palestinian residents.
Barakeh also called for boycotting the government of Benjamin Netanyahu until it recognizes the legitimate Palestinian rights and the two-state solution.
Furthermore, Barakeh called on all factions to achieve a unity deal and to end all of their internal conflicts and divisions.
PPP’s central committee member, Sahar Al Qawasmi, slammed the illegal Israeli measures and the closures in the Old City as the residents are under more restrictions while the illegal settlers have a free hand. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Palestinian sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported Sunday that Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful protest against Israeli settlements in the Old City of Hebron, and demanding the army to reopen Al Shuhada Street in the city; three residents were wounded, and two international activists were detained.
The Al Shuhada road was closed by the army after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994.
Arab member of Israeli Knesset, General Secretary of the Hadash Movement, Mohammad Barakeh, Palestinian Legislator Sahar Qawasmi, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People Party Afaf Ghatasha, member of the party’s central committee, Fahmi Shahin, and dozens of residents and peace activists, participated in the protest.
The protesters carried Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans against the settlements and the illegal Israeli policies. They also chanted for real peace in the region.
The Israeli army attacked the protesters near the illegal outpost of Beit Romano in the Old City. Soldiers attacked the protesters with clubs and rifle butts, and dragged a number of protesters in the ground; several protesters were injured.
Later on, the army cuffed two international peace activists and detained them at a nearby settlement while the settlers called for more attacks against the activists and the residents.
Medical sources at the Hebron Governmental Hospital stated that three residents received treatment who suffered cuts and bruises after being violently attacked by the soldiers.
The three are Fahmi Shahin, 47, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People Party (PPP), Mousa Abu Hash-hash, 54, a researcher with the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem, and Azzam Al Jamal, an owner of the store in the area.
MK Barakeh slammed that army for attacking the protest and said that the Old City in Hebron should be a closed zone for the settlers and the soldiers, and not for the indigenous Palestinian residents.
Barakeh also called for boycotting the government of Benjamin Netanyahu until it recognizes the legitimate Palestinian rights and the two-state solution.
Furthermore, Barakeh called on all factions to achieve a unity deal and to end all of their internal conflicts and divisions.
PPP’s central committee member, Sahar Al Qawasmi, slammed the illegal Israeli measures and the closures in the Old City as the residents are under more restrictions while the illegal settlers have a free hand. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Obama wrong on Afghanistan, say stop bombing campaign
London, (IRNA): A British campaign group concerned about rising number of civilians killed in war has criticised visiting US President Barack Obama as being wrong in planning to increase the deployment of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"Stop bombing Afghanistan" said that gaining commitments from European nations to send more troops to Afghanistan will be high on the US agenda at Thursday’s G20 summit in London, convened to tackle the global financial crisis.
“In France, Italy and Germany, polls show that clear majorities believe their governments should not send more forces to Afghanistan, while here in the UK 68% want all British troops withdrawn within 12 months,” said the campaign group, including politicians, leading peace activists, journalists and artists.
In a letter to the Guardian newspaper Wednesday, it pointed out that US-Nato bombing killed well over 500 civilians in Afghanistan last year, according to UK figures and that only 18 per cent back on increase in troops as opposed to 44% who say that force levels should actually be decreased.
“As Obama escalates the war, we urge European leaders to withdraw their forces,” the letter said.
It also urged sympathisers to join a ‘Die-in for Nato's Victims in Afghanistan’ at Britain's military nerve centre in Northwood, north-west London, on May 27, to mark the second anniversary of the US massacre of Afghan civilians in Haji Nabu.
The campaign group is linked with Voices in the Wilderness UK, which has been protesting against Britain and US policy towards Iraq since the imposition of economic sanctions in the mid-1990s and throughout the subsequent 2003 invasion.
Signatories of the letter include Labour MP John McDonnell, award-winning actress Susannah York, vice-president of CND, children’s author Michael Rosen and renowned documentary-maker John Pilger. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
"Stop bombing Afghanistan" said that gaining commitments from European nations to send more troops to Afghanistan will be high on the US agenda at Thursday’s G20 summit in London, convened to tackle the global financial crisis.
“In France, Italy and Germany, polls show that clear majorities believe their governments should not send more forces to Afghanistan, while here in the UK 68% want all British troops withdrawn within 12 months,” said the campaign group, including politicians, leading peace activists, journalists and artists.
In a letter to the Guardian newspaper Wednesday, it pointed out that US-Nato bombing killed well over 500 civilians in Afghanistan last year, according to UK figures and that only 18 per cent back on increase in troops as opposed to 44% who say that force levels should actually be decreased.
“As Obama escalates the war, we urge European leaders to withdraw their forces,” the letter said.
It also urged sympathisers to join a ‘Die-in for Nato's Victims in Afghanistan’ at Britain's military nerve centre in Northwood, north-west London, on May 27, to mark the second anniversary of the US massacre of Afghan civilians in Haji Nabu.
The campaign group is linked with Voices in the Wilderness UK, which has been protesting against Britain and US policy towards Iraq since the imposition of economic sanctions in the mid-1990s and throughout the subsequent 2003 invasion.
Signatories of the letter include Labour MP John McDonnell, award-winning actress Susannah York, vice-president of CND, children’s author Michael Rosen and renowned documentary-maker John Pilger. Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Kenya: Iran signs deal to supply Kenya with crude oil
Nairobi, (The Standard):
Iran will supply four million metric tonnes of crude annually, as part of a range of deals signed last week, officials said on Tuesday.
The agreed supply from Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, is roughly equivalent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Reuters calculations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited East Africa’s biggest economy last week, where he and his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, also signed a grant and loan agreement totalling 800 million shillings ($10 million), among others.
Not alarmed
Kenya, like other African countries, is increasingly turning east and strengthening trade and investment links with countries such as China and India.
Commercial dealings with Iran have not been welcomed by the US, which is embroiled in a row with the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
But US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger was quoted by local media last week as saying his country was not alarmed by the Iranian leader’s visit, as the two countries were sovereign and free to make bilateral deals.
"Iran is interested in getting its companies to construct our roads. They would also like to sell us fertilisers and pharmaceutical products," said Mr Kiboi Waituru, the head of Public Affairs at Kenya’s Foreign Ministry.
Energy sector
"They view Kenya as a gateway into Africa, a launch pad to get into east Africa," Waituru told Reuters.
Iran also agreed to help construct dams in the East African nation and buy more Kenyan tea.
Iran is under US and United Nations sanctions for nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, and it has increasingly turned to Asia for partners in its energy sector.
In a change of policy from the Bush administration, US President Barack Obama has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from its nuclear ambitions to how it could help in Afghanistan.
But the new US administration has also threatened to increase pressure on Iran, via more sanctions, if Tehran does not co-operate and give up its sensitive nuclear work.
Source
Iran will supply four million metric tonnes of crude annually, as part of a range of deals signed last week, officials said on Tuesday.
The agreed supply from Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter, is roughly equivalent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) by Reuters calculations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited East Africa’s biggest economy last week, where he and his Kenyan counterpart, Mwai Kibaki, also signed a grant and loan agreement totalling 800 million shillings ($10 million), among others.
Not alarmed
Kenya, like other African countries, is increasingly turning east and strengthening trade and investment links with countries such as China and India.
Commercial dealings with Iran have not been welcomed by the US, which is embroiled in a row with the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.
But US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger was quoted by local media last week as saying his country was not alarmed by the Iranian leader’s visit, as the two countries were sovereign and free to make bilateral deals.
"Iran is interested in getting its companies to construct our roads. They would also like to sell us fertilisers and pharmaceutical products," said Mr Kiboi Waituru, the head of Public Affairs at Kenya’s Foreign Ministry.
Energy sector
"They view Kenya as a gateway into Africa, a launch pad to get into east Africa," Waituru told Reuters.
Iran also agreed to help construct dams in the East African nation and buy more Kenyan tea.
Iran is under US and United Nations sanctions for nuclear work the West suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies, and it has increasingly turned to Asia for partners in its energy sector.
In a change of policy from the Bush administration, US President Barack Obama has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from its nuclear ambitions to how it could help in Afghanistan.
But the new US administration has also threatened to increase pressure on Iran, via more sanctions, if Tehran does not co-operate and give up its sensitive nuclear work.
Source
2.4.09
Extremist settlers attack Palestinian homes in Hebron
Palestine: Extremist settlers attack Palestinian homes in Hebron
IMEMC & Agencies:
A group of extremist settlers attacked on Tuesday a number of Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron causing excessive damage and terrifying the residents, especially the children.
Local sources reported that several settlers baring arms and others carrying batons attacked homes adjacent to the Keryat Arba’ illegal settlement, north east of the city, and hurled stones and empty bottles at the windows while chanting slogans calling for killing all Arabs.
Resident Khalawi Jadallah Al Ja’bary, an owner of one of the attacked homes, said that the settlers attacked dozens of homes across the road between Keryat Arba’ settlement and the illegal outpost which was evacuated recently by Israel.
The illegal outpost was evacuated after the Israeli High Court ordered the army to remove the settlers from a home that belong to a resident of Al Rajabi family in the city.
Al Ja’bary also said that the attack lasted for a couple of hours while the army did not attempt to intervene.
The settlers escalated their attacks after former Defense Minister in Israeli, Ehud Barak, decided to decrease the restrictions on the movement of the Palestinian residents heading to the Ibrahimi mosque on a road that was only used by the settlers and their vehicles for seven years.
The road is in the heart of the Arab city, yet the Palestinians were not allowed to use it while the settlers had free access.
Source
IMEMC & Agencies:
A group of extremist settlers attacked on Tuesday a number of Palestinian homes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron causing excessive damage and terrifying the residents, especially the children.
Local sources reported that several settlers baring arms and others carrying batons attacked homes adjacent to the Keryat Arba’ illegal settlement, north east of the city, and hurled stones and empty bottles at the windows while chanting slogans calling for killing all Arabs.
Resident Khalawi Jadallah Al Ja’bary, an owner of one of the attacked homes, said that the settlers attacked dozens of homes across the road between Keryat Arba’ settlement and the illegal outpost which was evacuated recently by Israel.
The illegal outpost was evacuated after the Israeli High Court ordered the army to remove the settlers from a home that belong to a resident of Al Rajabi family in the city.
Al Ja’bary also said that the attack lasted for a couple of hours while the army did not attempt to intervene.
The settlers escalated their attacks after former Defense Minister in Israeli, Ehud Barak, decided to decrease the restrictions on the movement of the Palestinian residents heading to the Ibrahimi mosque on a road that was only used by the settlers and their vehicles for seven years.
The road is in the heart of the Arab city, yet the Palestinians were not allowed to use it while the settlers had free access.
Source
27.3.09
US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,262
As of Thursday, March 26, 2009, at least 4,262 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,425 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
Yahoo.news
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,425 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is the same as the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
Yahoo.news
26.3.09
Afghan Strikes by Taliban Get Pakistan Help, U.S. Aides Say
WASHINGTON — The Taliban’s widening campaign in southern Afghanistan is made possible in part by direct support from operatives in Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, despite Pakistani government promises to sever ties to militant groups fighting in Afghanistan, according to American government officials.
The support consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to confront the international force in Afghanistan that will soon include some 17,000 American reinforcements.
Support for the Taliban, as well as other militant groups, is coordinated by operatives inside the shadowy S Wing of Pakistan’s spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials said. There is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether to intensify or scale back violence before the Afghan elections.
Details of the ISI’s continuing ties to militant groups were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All requested anonymity because they were discussing classified and sensitive intelligence information.
The American officials said proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed said that they had firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
NyTimes
The support consists of money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance to Taliban commanders who are gearing up to confront the international force in Afghanistan that will soon include some 17,000 American reinforcements.
Support for the Taliban, as well as other militant groups, is coordinated by operatives inside the shadowy S Wing of Pakistan’s spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials said. There is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether to intensify or scale back violence before the Afghan elections.
Details of the ISI’s continuing ties to militant groups were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All requested anonymity because they were discussing classified and sensitive intelligence information.
The American officials said proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed said that they had firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
NyTimes
8.3.09
Watching Darfuris Die
The first gauntlet thrown at President Obama didn’t come from Iran, Russia or China. Rather, it came from Sudan, in its decision to expel aid groups that are a lifeline keeping more than a million people alive in Darfur.
Unfortunately, the administration’s initial reaction made Neville Chamberlain seem forceful. The State Department blushingly suggested that the expulsion “is certainly not helpful to the people who need aid.”
Wow.
Since then, the administration has stiffened its spine somewhat. Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations and designated hitter on Sudan, told me, “If this decision stands, it may well amount to genocide by other means.”
That’s exactly what we may be facing, for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is confirming the International Criminal Court’s judgment when it issued an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday for “extermination,” murder and rape. Now Mr. Bashir is preparing to kill people en masse, not with machetes but by withholding the aid that keeps them alive.
More than one million people depend directly on the expelled aid groups for health care, food and water. I’ve been in these camps, so let me offer an educated guess about what will unfold if this expulsion stands.
The biggest immediate threat isn’t starvation, because that takes time. Rather, the first crises will be disease and water shortages, particularly in West Darfur.
The camps will quickly run out of clean water, because generator-operated pumps bring the water to the surface from wells and boreholes. Fuel supplies to operate the pumps may last a couple of weeks, and then the water disappears.
Health clinics have already closed, and diarrhea is spreading in Zam Zam camp and meningitis in Kalma camp. These are huge camps — Kalma has perhaps 90,000 people — and diseases can spread rapidly. Children will be the first to die.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the camps may try to flee to Chad, but that would overwhelm Chad’s own impoverished and vulnerable population. And to top it off, Mr. Bashir has armed a large proxy force of Chadian rebels who are said to be preparing an attack on the Chadian government.
“This is a whole new kind of hell for the people of Darfur,” Josette Sheeran, the head of the United Nations World Food Program, told me. “The life bridge for more than a million people has just been dismantled.”
Full article
Unfortunately, the administration’s initial reaction made Neville Chamberlain seem forceful. The State Department blushingly suggested that the expulsion “is certainly not helpful to the people who need aid.”
Wow.
Since then, the administration has stiffened its spine somewhat. Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations and designated hitter on Sudan, told me, “If this decision stands, it may well amount to genocide by other means.”
That’s exactly what we may be facing, for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is confirming the International Criminal Court’s judgment when it issued an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday for “extermination,” murder and rape. Now Mr. Bashir is preparing to kill people en masse, not with machetes but by withholding the aid that keeps them alive.
More than one million people depend directly on the expelled aid groups for health care, food and water. I’ve been in these camps, so let me offer an educated guess about what will unfold if this expulsion stands.
The biggest immediate threat isn’t starvation, because that takes time. Rather, the first crises will be disease and water shortages, particularly in West Darfur.
The camps will quickly run out of clean water, because generator-operated pumps bring the water to the surface from wells and boreholes. Fuel supplies to operate the pumps may last a couple of weeks, and then the water disappears.
Health clinics have already closed, and diarrhea is spreading in Zam Zam camp and meningitis in Kalma camp. These are huge camps — Kalma has perhaps 90,000 people — and diseases can spread rapidly. Children will be the first to die.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the camps may try to flee to Chad, but that would overwhelm Chad’s own impoverished and vulnerable population. And to top it off, Mr. Bashir has armed a large proxy force of Chadian rebels who are said to be preparing an attack on the Chadian government.
“This is a whole new kind of hell for the people of Darfur,” Josette Sheeran, the head of the United Nations World Food Program, told me. “The life bridge for more than a million people has just been dismantled.”
Full article
6.3.09
Clinton Accuses Iran of Intimidating
Iran wants to "intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach."
Hillary Rodham Clinton
U.S. Secretary of State was harsh with Irans positions on Wednesday, accusing its hardline leaders of making divisions in the Arab world, as well that Iran is promoting terrorism and as always posing threats to Israel
Hillary Rodham Clinton
U.S. Secretary of State was harsh with Irans positions on Wednesday, accusing its hardline leaders of making divisions in the Arab world, as well that Iran is promoting terrorism and as always posing threats to Israel
5.3.09
America targets Pakistan’s mostwanted man
The US military, which avoided hitting the forces of Pakistan’s most wanted man, Baitullah Mehsud, in 2007 and 2008 when the Taliban leader waged a campaign of suicide bombings inside Pakistan, and who has been blamed for the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has started sending unmanned aircraft to target them to pre-empt a Taliban spring offensive in Afghanistan.
Analysts said this is a potentially significant development because territory controlled directly by Mehsud does not touch the Afghan border.
Source
Analysts said this is a potentially significant development because territory controlled directly by Mehsud does not touch the Afghan border.
Source
Iran: Israeli nuclear sites within missile range
Iran's military chief warned Israel Wednesday that its nuclear facilities are within range of Iranian missiles, the latest message from Tehran that it will strike back if attacked.
Israel, which is itself believed to possess atomic arsenal, has warned that it could attack Iran if it does not abandon its nuclear program, which Israel and the U.S. suspect is a cover for weapons production. Israel's prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is among those taking a tough line and considered likely to keep open the option of a military strike.
Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said Iran now has a mighty military force capable of deterring any U.S. or Israeli attack.
"All nuclear facilities in various parts of the lands under occupation of the Zionist regime are within the range of Iran's missiles," the official IRNA news agency quoted Jafari as saying.
A day earlier, his deputy said Iran had a contingency plan for hitting back hard and causing many casualties.
Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of up to 1,250 miles, putting Israel within striking distance. Iran has said it has also increased the range of its warplanes, allowing them to fly as far as Israel and back without refueling.
Tehran denies any aim to make nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is only for generating power and other peaceful purposes.
Iran has worked hard to increase the accuracy of its missiles. In November, it successfully test-fired the Sajjil, a solid fuel high-speed missile with a range 1,250 miles. Solid fuel is considered a significant breakthrough because it increases accuracy.
Jafari's deputy, Mohammad Hejazi, told the semi-official Fars news agency Tuesday that Iran has drawn up a contingency plan to retaliate against any Israeli attack and "impose high casualties in a short period of time."
"The enemy refrains from taking military action because it has estimated the damages it will sustain in a war against Iran," Fars quoted Hejazi as saying. "Having analyzed Iran's defense capabilities, they have reached the conclusion that military confrontation with Iran is tantamount to an endless quagmire."
AntiWar.com
Israel, which is itself believed to possess atomic arsenal, has warned that it could attack Iran if it does not abandon its nuclear program, which Israel and the U.S. suspect is a cover for weapons production. Israel's prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is among those taking a tough line and considered likely to keep open the option of a military strike.
Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said Iran now has a mighty military force capable of deterring any U.S. or Israeli attack.
"All nuclear facilities in various parts of the lands under occupation of the Zionist regime are within the range of Iran's missiles," the official IRNA news agency quoted Jafari as saying.
A day earlier, his deputy said Iran had a contingency plan for hitting back hard and causing many casualties.
Iran's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of up to 1,250 miles, putting Israel within striking distance. Iran has said it has also increased the range of its warplanes, allowing them to fly as far as Israel and back without refueling.
Tehran denies any aim to make nuclear weapons and says its atomic program is only for generating power and other peaceful purposes.
Iran has worked hard to increase the accuracy of its missiles. In November, it successfully test-fired the Sajjil, a solid fuel high-speed missile with a range 1,250 miles. Solid fuel is considered a significant breakthrough because it increases accuracy.
Jafari's deputy, Mohammad Hejazi, told the semi-official Fars news agency Tuesday that Iran has drawn up a contingency plan to retaliate against any Israeli attack and "impose high casualties in a short period of time."
"The enemy refrains from taking military action because it has estimated the damages it will sustain in a war against Iran," Fars quoted Hejazi as saying. "Having analyzed Iran's defense capabilities, they have reached the conclusion that military confrontation with Iran is tantamount to an endless quagmire."
AntiWar.com
3.3.09
Lebanon CLaim Israeli Soldier shot at village on border
"A soldier got out of his vehicle and deliberately fired at the wall bearing the inscriptions," an army spokesman said, explaining that five bullets had hit the wall in the village of Aadaisseh, some 20 metres (yards) from the border.
The mural shows the "hand of resistance," a reference to the Shiite Muslim group that fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, plunging a stake through a Star of David.
An inscription refers to the "divine victory," a slogan created by Hezbollah to tout claims that it had beaten Israel in the 34-day war.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said "a soldier mistakenly fired his rifle" and that the military was "investigating the incident in order to prevent similar events in the future."
A statement by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) qualified the incident as "serious" and said a probe was underway.
Story
The mural shows the "hand of resistance," a reference to the Shiite Muslim group that fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, plunging a stake through a Star of David.
An inscription refers to the "divine victory," a slogan created by Hezbollah to tout claims that it had beaten Israel in the 34-day war.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said "a soldier mistakenly fired his rifle" and that the military was "investigating the incident in order to prevent similar events in the future."
A statement by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) qualified the incident as "serious" and said a probe was underway.
Story
Three Taliban rivals join forces to fight off America surge
Three rival Pakistani Taliban groups have agreed to form a united front against international forces in Afghanistan in a move likely to intensify the insurgency just as thousands of extra US soldiers begin pouring into the country as part of Barack Obama's surge plan.
The Guardian has learned that three of the most powerful warlords in the region have settled their differences and come together under a grouping calling itself Shura Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen, or Council of United Holy Warriors.
Nato officers fear that the new extremist partnership in Waziristan, Pakistan's tribal area, will significantly increase the cross-border influx of fighters and suicide bombers - a move that could undermine the US president's Afghanistan strategy before it is formulated.
The unity among the militants comes after a call by Mullah Omar, the cleric who leads the Afghan Taliban, telling Pakistani militants to stop fighting at home in order to join the battle to "liberate Afghanistan from the occupation forces".
The Pakistani Taliban movement was split between a powerful group led by the warlord Baitullah Mehsud and his bitter rivals, Maulvi Nazir and Gul Bahadur. While Mehsud has targeted Pakistan itself in a campaign of violence and is accused of being behind the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Nazir and Bahadur sent men to fight alongside other insurgents in Afghanistan.
Source
The Guardian has learned that three of the most powerful warlords in the region have settled their differences and come together under a grouping calling itself Shura Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen, or Council of United Holy Warriors.
Nato officers fear that the new extremist partnership in Waziristan, Pakistan's tribal area, will significantly increase the cross-border influx of fighters and suicide bombers - a move that could undermine the US president's Afghanistan strategy before it is formulated.
The unity among the militants comes after a call by Mullah Omar, the cleric who leads the Afghan Taliban, telling Pakistani militants to stop fighting at home in order to join the battle to "liberate Afghanistan from the occupation forces".
The Pakistani Taliban movement was split between a powerful group led by the warlord Baitullah Mehsud and his bitter rivals, Maulvi Nazir and Gul Bahadur. While Mehsud has targeted Pakistan itself in a campaign of violence and is accused of being behind the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Nazir and Bahadur sent men to fight alongside other insurgents in Afghanistan.
Source
2.3.09
A Few Questions about Israel and a so called Terror List
Why is Israel not on the terror list, when its occupation of Palestine caused more death to the Palestinians then the actions of all the Palestinian terrorists combined ???????????????
Why is Israel not on the Terror list, when its war on terror is terrifying the WORLD. Protests are every where, all across the globe and here on the vine it's an everyday battle in regards to Israel being justified for protecting its people and it's right to exist.
But anyone who supports Hamas position for trying to protect its PEOPLE and also their right to EXIST, they are terror supporters.
What is this so called terror list and what does it mean??? And why its NOT OK to have terrorist, but when the war on terrorism is more costly, its OK to do it ??
Israel demolished two Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem
Israel demolished two Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem on Monday, a day before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to launch an initial effort to shore up the foundations of a shaky peace process.
Two bulldozers flattened a home owned by Mahmoud al-Abbasi in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan.
Israeli authorities said the house was built without a municipal permit.
Palestinians say building permission is nearly impossible to obtain from Israel's Jerusalem city hall and say this is part of a policy to drive out Arab residents.
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Two bulldozers flattened a home owned by Mahmoud al-Abbasi in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan.
Israeli authorities said the house was built without a municipal permit.
 |
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
24.2.09
Occupation of Palestine- Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
This hour-long presentation by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti is a must see (and save for reference). It explains the past, present and future of Israeli Occupation of Palestine and present facts and figures that you don't see on your TV.
Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
Source
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
21.2.09
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gaza's Offshore Gas Fields
by Michel Chossudovsky
The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
Read more
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
by Michel Chossudovsky
The military invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli Forces bears a direct relation to the control and ownership of strategic offshore gas reserves.
This is a war of conquest. Discovered in 2000, there are extensive gas reserves off the Gaza coastline.
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon's Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
The rights to the offshore gas field are respectively British Gas (60 percent); Consolidated Contractors (CCC) (30 percent); and the Investment Fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent). (Haaretz, October 21, 2007).
The PA-BG-CCC agreement includes field development and the construction of a gas pipeline.(Middle East Economic Digest, Jan 5, 2001).
The BG licence covers the entire Gazan offshore marine area, which is contiguous to several Israeli offshore gas facilities. (See Map below). It should be noted that 60 percent of the gas reserves along the Gaza-Israel coastline belong to Palestine.
The BG Group drilled two wells in 2000: Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2. Reserves are estimated by British Gas to be of the order of 1.4 trillion cubic feet, valued at approximately 4 billion dollars. These are the figures made public by British Gas. The size of Palestine's gas reserves could be much larger.
Read more
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
20.2.09
Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Stands Trial.
The brave Iraqi journalist famous for throwing his shoes at George W. Bush is now standing trial and is explaining why he did what he did. He has testified that he threw the shoes because of Bush's cold smiles as he claimed to have brought freedom to Iraq, when in fact, all the US occupation has brought to Iraq is misery, destruction, rape and killing.
updated 8:25 a.m. PT, Thurs., Feb.19, 2009
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush said in the past he had videotaped himself practicing the Arab insult to use against the president whose "icy smile" had filled him with uncontrollable rage.
At the start of his trial in Baghdad on charges of assaulting a foreign leader, Muntadhar al-Zeidi said he recorded his shoe-throwing training two years ago and had hoped to accost Bush in Jordan but this did not take place.
Al-Zeidi, who was hailed across the Middle East by critics of the Iraq invasion and who also called Bush a "dog," told the court he had acknowledged making a training film under interrogation after his arrest at a Baghdad news conference.
"I said this before the guards of the prime minister after I was beaten and after my body was devoured by electricity," said al-Zeidi, who added that his original plan had been to throw the shoes at Bush during a news conference in Amman.
But al-Zeidi, whose unusual protest overshadowed Bush's final visit to Iraq in December, insisted he had not planned to attack Bush this time.
Instead, he said Bush's smile as he talked about achievements in Iraq had made him think of "the killing of more than a million Iraqis, the disrespect for the sanctity of the mosques and houses, the rapes of women," and enraged him.
Al-Zeidi himself said he could not be charged with assaulting a visiting head of state when that leader was also the chief of an occupation force. "How can he be a guest in an area that they themselves run?" he said.
"I did not intend to kill U.S. President Bush. But I wanted to express what is inside of me and what is inside all Iraqis, from north to south and east to west, the hatred we have for this man.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29273263/
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
18.2.09
Viva Palestine- GEORGE GALLOWAY VIVA PALESTINA GAZA CONVOY
Aid Convoy leaving London for Gaza
George Galloway MP, Yvonne Ridley and hundreds of British volunteers are driving an aid convoy of over 100 donated vehicles packed with practical aid to Gaza leaving from outside the Houses of Parliament, London on Saturday the 14th February. This remarkable convoy will be over a mile long and carry a million pounds of aid raised in just four weeks.
Volunteers will drive the donated vehicles from all over Britain to Westminster on Valentine’s Day to form the convoy which will then drive almost 5,000 miles together through France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt where they will cross the border at Rafah into Gaza on the 2nd March.
The convoy includes a fire engine, 12 ambulances, a boat and trucks filled with medicines, cash, tools, clothes, blankets, and shoe-boxes filled with gifts for children. All this and more has been by donated by communities across the country.
George Galloway said, “No-one will send a vehicle that is not filled with items including pyjamas, clothes and blankets. Millions of people in this country care deeply, and we are going to show that.”
Each person travelling on the convoy is a self-financed British volunteer. The vehicles will be left with the people of Gaza; volunteers will fly home to the UK. Thousands of pounds cash has been fundraised and collections for donated goods and fundraising events are still taking place all over Britain.
The effort is being co-ordinated by the campaign group Viva Palestina and is supported by the Stop the War Coalition, the Respect Party, the Anglo-Arab Organisation, several British trade unions and a large number of Muslim organisations. George Galloway MP and journalist Yvonne Ridley will lead the convoy from London across France and Spain then North Africa to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing.
Please help us by making a financial contribution to help purchase further aid in Egypt.
In their darkest hour the people of Gaza must not be forgotten. Viva Palestina!
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
The Palestinians are shooting rockets at Israel
Source
Wow says allot doesn't it.
The result of home made rockets gave the Palestinians more then 1400 dead and more then 2500 injured.
Among all the casualties only 280 Hamas militants were killed.
Subscribe to http://alsharkalawsat.blogspot.com/ by Email
14.2.09
Conn Hallinan - Israel Treated Gaza Like Its Own Private Death Laboratory
Israel tested out a "focused lethality" weapon that minimizes explosive damage to structures while inflicting catastrophic wounds on its victims.
Erik Fosse, a Norwegian cardiologist, worked in Gaza hospitals during the recent war."It was as if they had stepped on a mine," he says of certain Palestinian patients he treated. "But there was no shrapnel in the wound. Some had lost their legs. It looked as though they had been sliced off. I have been to war zones for 30 years, but I have never seen such injuries before."
Dr. Fosse was describing the effects of a U.S. "focused lethality" weapon that minimizes explosive damage to structures while inflicting catastrophic wounds on its victims. But where did the Israelis get this weapon? And was their widespread use in the attack on Gaza a field test for a new generation of explosives?
DIMEd to Death
The specific weapon is called a Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME). In 2000, the U.S. Air Force teamed up with the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The weapon wraps high explosives with a tungsten alloy and other metals like cobalt, nickel, or iron in a carbon fiber/epoxy container. When the bomb explodes the container evaporates, and the tungsten turns into micro-shrapnel that is extremely lethal within a 13-foot radius. Tungsten is inert, so it doesn't react chemically with the explosive. While a non-inert metal like aluminum would increase the blast, tungsten actually contains the explosion to a limited area.
Within the weapon's range, however, it's inordinately lethal. According to Norwegian doctor Mad Gilbert, the blast results in multiple amputations and "very severe fractures. The muscles are sort of split from the bones, hanging loose, and you also have quite severe burns." Most of those who survive the initial blast quickly succumb to septicemia and organ collapse. "Initially, everything seems in orderbut it turns out on operation that dozens of miniature particles can be found in all their organs," says Dr. Jam Brommundt, a German doctor working in Kham Younis, a city in southern Gaza. "It seems to be some sort of explosive or shell that disperses tiny particlesthat penetrate all organs, these miniature injuries, you are not able to attack them surgically." According to Brommundt, the particles cause multiple organ failures.
If by some miracle victims resist those conditions, they are almost certain to develop rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a particularly deadly cancer that deeply embeds itself into tissue and is almost impossible to treat. A 2005 U.S. Department of health study found that tungsten stimulated RMS cancers even in very low doses. All of the 92 rats tested developed the cancer.
While DIMEs were originally designed to avoid "collateral" damage generated by standard high-explosive bombs, the weapon's lethality and profound long-term toxicity hardly seem like an improvement.
It appears DIME weapons may have been used in the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but not enough to alarm medical workers. But in Gaza, the ordinance was widely used. Al-Shifta alone has seen 100 to 150 victims of these attacks.
Gaza as Test
Dr. Gilbert told the Oslo Gardermoen, "there is a strong suspicionthat Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons."
DIME is a U.S. invention. Did the Israelis get the weapons from the United States, or did they design similar ones themselves? Given the close relations between the two militaries, it isn't unlikely that the U.S. Air Force supplied the weapons or, at least, the specifications on how to construct them. And since the United States has yet to use the device in a war, it would certainly benefit from seeing how these new "focused lethality" weapons worked under battlefield conditions.
Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch's senior military advisor, says "it remains to be seen how Israel has acquired the technology, whether they purchased weapons from the United States under some agreement, or if they in fact licensed or developed their own type of munitions."
DIME weapons aren't banned under the Geneva Conventions because they have never been officially tested. However, any weapon capable of inflicting such horrendous damage is normally barred from use, particularly in one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
For one thing, no one knows how long the tungsten remains in the environment or how it could affect people who return to homes attacked by a DIME. University of Arizona cancer researcher Dr. Mark Witten, who investigates links between tungsten and leukemia, says that in his opinion "there needs to be much more research on the health effects of tungsten before the military increases its usage."
Beyond DIMEs
DIMEs weren't the only controversial weapons used in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also made generous use of white phosphorus, a chemical that burns with intense heat and inflicts terrible burns on victims. In its vapor form it also damages breathing passages. International law prohibits the weapon's use near population areas and requires that "all reasonable precautions" be taken to avoid civilians.
Israel initially denied using the chemical. "The IDF acts only in accordance with what is permitted by international law and does not use white phosphorus," said Israel's Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on January 13.
But eyewitness accounts in Gaza and Israel soon forced the IDF to admit that they were, indeed, using the substance. On January 20, the IDF confessed to using phosphorus artillery shells as smokescreens, as well as 200 U.S.-made M825A1 phosphorus mortar shells on "Hamas fighters and rocket launching crews in northern Gaza."
Three of those shells hit the UN Works and Relief Agency compound on January 15, igniting a fire that destroyed hundreds of tons of humanitarian supplies. A phosphorus shell also hit Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. The Israelis say there were Hamas fighters near the two targets, a charge that witnesses adamantly deny.
Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International said: "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely-populated residential neighborhoodsand its toll on civilians is a war crime."
Israel is also accused of using depleted uranium ammunition (DUA), which a UN sub-commission in 2002 found in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the International Convention Against Torture, the Conventional Weapons Convention, and the Hague Conventions against the use of poison weapons.
DUA isn't highly radioactive, but after exploding, some of it turns into a gas that can easily be inhaled. The dense shrapnel that survives also tends to bury itself deeply, leaching low-level radioactivity into water-tables.
War Crimes?
Other human-rights groups, including B'Tselem, Gisha, and Physicians for Human Rights, charge that the IDF intentionally targeted medical personal, killing over a dozen, including paramedics and ambulance drivers.
The International Federation for Human Rights called on the UN Security Council to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes.
Although the Israelis dismiss the war-crimes charges, the fact that the Israeli cabinet held a special meeting on January 25 to discuss the issue suggests they're concerned about being charged with "disproportionate" use of force. The Geneva Conventions require belligerents to at "all times" distinguish between combatants and civilians and to avoid "disproportionate force" in seeking military gains.
Hamas' use of unguided missiles fired at Israel would also be a war crime under the Conventions.
"The one-sidedness of casualty figures is one measure of disproportion," says Richard Falk, the UN's human rights envoy for the occupied territories. A total of 14 Israelis have been killed in the fighting, three of them civilians killed by rockets, 11 of them soldiers, four of the latter by "friendly fire." Some 50 IDF soldiers were also wounded.
In contrast, 1,330 Palestinians have died and 5,450 were injured, the overwhelming bulk of them civilians.
"This kind of fighting constitutes a blatant violation of the laws of warfare, which we ask to be investigated by the Commission of War Crimes," a coalition of Israeli human rights groups and Amnesty International said in a joint statement. "The responsibility of the state of Israel is beyond doubt."
Source
Erik Fosse, a Norwegian cardiologist, worked in Gaza hospitals during the recent war."It was as if they had stepped on a mine," he says of certain Palestinian patients he treated. "But there was no shrapnel in the wound. Some had lost their legs. It looked as though they had been sliced off. I have been to war zones for 30 years, but I have never seen such injuries before."
Dr. Fosse was describing the effects of a U.S. "focused lethality" weapon that minimizes explosive damage to structures while inflicting catastrophic wounds on its victims. But where did the Israelis get this weapon? And was their widespread use in the attack on Gaza a field test for a new generation of explosives?
DIMEd to Death
The specific weapon is called a Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME). In 2000, the U.S. Air Force teamed up with the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The weapon wraps high explosives with a tungsten alloy and other metals like cobalt, nickel, or iron in a carbon fiber/epoxy container. When the bomb explodes the container evaporates, and the tungsten turns into micro-shrapnel that is extremely lethal within a 13-foot radius. Tungsten is inert, so it doesn't react chemically with the explosive. While a non-inert metal like aluminum would increase the blast, tungsten actually contains the explosion to a limited area.
Within the weapon's range, however, it's inordinately lethal. According to Norwegian doctor Mad Gilbert, the blast results in multiple amputations and "very severe fractures. The muscles are sort of split from the bones, hanging loose, and you also have quite severe burns." Most of those who survive the initial blast quickly succumb to septicemia and organ collapse. "Initially, everything seems in orderbut it turns out on operation that dozens of miniature particles can be found in all their organs," says Dr. Jam Brommundt, a German doctor working in Kham Younis, a city in southern Gaza. "It seems to be some sort of explosive or shell that disperses tiny particlesthat penetrate all organs, these miniature injuries, you are not able to attack them surgically." According to Brommundt, the particles cause multiple organ failures.
If by some miracle victims resist those conditions, they are almost certain to develop rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a particularly deadly cancer that deeply embeds itself into tissue and is almost impossible to treat. A 2005 U.S. Department of health study found that tungsten stimulated RMS cancers even in very low doses. All of the 92 rats tested developed the cancer.
While DIMEs were originally designed to avoid "collateral" damage generated by standard high-explosive bombs, the weapon's lethality and profound long-term toxicity hardly seem like an improvement.
It appears DIME weapons may have been used in the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but not enough to alarm medical workers. But in Gaza, the ordinance was widely used. Al-Shifta alone has seen 100 to 150 victims of these attacks.
Gaza as Test
Dr. Gilbert told the Oslo Gardermoen, "there is a strong suspicionthat Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons."
DIME is a U.S. invention. Did the Israelis get the weapons from the United States, or did they design similar ones themselves? Given the close relations between the two militaries, it isn't unlikely that the U.S. Air Force supplied the weapons or, at least, the specifications on how to construct them. And since the United States has yet to use the device in a war, it would certainly benefit from seeing how these new "focused lethality" weapons worked under battlefield conditions.
Marc Garlasco, Human Rights Watch's senior military advisor, says "it remains to be seen how Israel has acquired the technology, whether they purchased weapons from the United States under some agreement, or if they in fact licensed or developed their own type of munitions."
DIME weapons aren't banned under the Geneva Conventions because they have never been officially tested. However, any weapon capable of inflicting such horrendous damage is normally barred from use, particularly in one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
For one thing, no one knows how long the tungsten remains in the environment or how it could affect people who return to homes attacked by a DIME. University of Arizona cancer researcher Dr. Mark Witten, who investigates links between tungsten and leukemia, says that in his opinion "there needs to be much more research on the health effects of tungsten before the military increases its usage."
Beyond DIMEs
DIMEs weren't the only controversial weapons used in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also made generous use of white phosphorus, a chemical that burns with intense heat and inflicts terrible burns on victims. In its vapor form it also damages breathing passages. International law prohibits the weapon's use near population areas and requires that "all reasonable precautions" be taken to avoid civilians.
Israel initially denied using the chemical. "The IDF acts only in accordance with what is permitted by international law and does not use white phosphorus," said Israel's Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on January 13.
But eyewitness accounts in Gaza and Israel soon forced the IDF to admit that they were, indeed, using the substance. On January 20, the IDF confessed to using phosphorus artillery shells as smokescreens, as well as 200 U.S.-made M825A1 phosphorus mortar shells on "Hamas fighters and rocket launching crews in northern Gaza."
Three of those shells hit the UN Works and Relief Agency compound on January 15, igniting a fire that destroyed hundreds of tons of humanitarian supplies. A phosphorus shell also hit Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City. The Israelis say there were Hamas fighters near the two targets, a charge that witnesses adamantly deny.
Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International said: "Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely-populated residential neighborhoodsand its toll on civilians is a war crime."
Israel is also accused of using depleted uranium ammunition (DUA), which a UN sub-commission in 2002 found in violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the International Convention Against Torture, the Conventional Weapons Convention, and the Hague Conventions against the use of poison weapons.
DUA isn't highly radioactive, but after exploding, some of it turns into a gas that can easily be inhaled. The dense shrapnel that survives also tends to bury itself deeply, leaching low-level radioactivity into water-tables.
War Crimes?
Other human-rights groups, including B'Tselem, Gisha, and Physicians for Human Rights, charge that the IDF intentionally targeted medical personal, killing over a dozen, including paramedics and ambulance drivers.
The International Federation for Human Rights called on the UN Security Council to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for possible war crimes.
Although the Israelis dismiss the war-crimes charges, the fact that the Israeli cabinet held a special meeting on January 25 to discuss the issue suggests they're concerned about being charged with "disproportionate" use of force. The Geneva Conventions require belligerents to at "all times" distinguish between combatants and civilians and to avoid "disproportionate force" in seeking military gains.
Hamas' use of unguided missiles fired at Israel would also be a war crime under the Conventions.
"The one-sidedness of casualty figures is one measure of disproportion," says Richard Falk, the UN's human rights envoy for the occupied territories. A total of 14 Israelis have been killed in the fighting, three of them civilians killed by rockets, 11 of them soldiers, four of the latter by "friendly fire." Some 50 IDF soldiers were also wounded.
In contrast, 1,330 Palestinians have died and 5,450 were injured, the overwhelming bulk of them civilians.
"This kind of fighting constitutes a blatant violation of the laws of warfare, which we ask to be investigated by the Commission of War Crimes," a coalition of Israeli human rights groups and Amnesty International said in a joint statement. "The responsibility of the state of Israel is beyond doubt."
Source
Israel hopes to colonize parts of Iraq as ‘Greater Israel’
Israel hopes to colonize parts of Iraq as ‘Greater Israel’
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
(WMR) — Israeli expansionists, their intentions to take full control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and permanently keep the Golan Heights of Syria and expand into southern Lebanon already well known, also have their eyes on parts of Iraq considered part of a biblical “Greater Israel.”
Israel reportedly has plans to relocate thousands of Kurdish Jews from Israel, including expatriates from Kurdish Iran, to the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Nineveh under the guise of religious pilgrimages to ancient Jewish religious shrines. According to Kurdish sources, the Israelis are secretly working with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to carry out the integration of Kurdish and other Jews into areas of Iraq under control of the KRG.
Kurdish, Iraqi Sunni Muslims, and Turkmen have noted that Kurdish Israelis began to buy land in Iraqi Kurdistan, after the U.S. invasion in 2003, that is considered historical Jewish “property.”
The Israelis are particularly interested in the shrine of the Jewish prophet Nahum in al Qush, the prophet Jonah in Mosul, and the tomb of the prophet Daniel in Kirkuk. Israelis are also trying to claim Jewish “properties” outside of the Kurdish region, including the shrine of Ezekiel in the village of al-Kifl in Babel Province near Najaf and the tomb of Ezra in al-Uzayr in Misan Province, near Basra, both in southern Iraq’s Shi’a-dominated territory. Israeli expansionists consider these shrines and tombs as much a part of “Greater Israel” as Jerusalem and the West Bank, which they call “Judea and Samaria.”
Kurdish and Iraqi sources report that Israel’s Mossad is working hand-in-hand with Israeli companies and “tourists” to stake a claim to the Jewish “properties” of Israel in Iraq. The Mossad has already been heavily involved in training the Kurdish Pesha Merga military forces.
Reportedly assisting the Israelis are foreign mercenaries paid for by U.S. Christian evangelical circles that support the concept of “Christian Zionism.”
Iraqi nationalists charge that the Israeli expansion into Iraq is supported by both major Kurdish factions, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Iraq’s nominal President Jalal Talabani. Talabani’s son, Qubad Talabani, serves as the KRG’s representative in Washington, where he lives with his wife Sherri Kraham, who is Jewish.
Also supporting the Israeli land acquisition activities is the Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by Massoud Barzani, the president of the KRG. One of Barzani’s five sons, Binjirfan Barzani, is reportedly heavily involved with the Israelis.
The Israelis and their Christian Zionist supporters enter Iraq not through Baghdad but through Turkey. In order to depopulate residents of lands the Israelis claim, Mossad operatives and Christian Zionist mercenaries are staging terrorist attacks against Chaldean Christians, particularly in Nineveh, Irbil, al-Hamdaniya, Bartalah, Talasqaf, Batnayah, Bashiqah, Elkosheven, Uqrah, and Mosul.
These attacks by the Israelis and their allies are usually reported as being the responsibility of “Al Qaeda” and other Islamic “jihadists.”
The ultimate aim of the Israelis is to depopulate the Christian population in and around Mosul and claim the land as biblical Jewish land that is part of “Greater Israel.” The Israeli/Christian Zionist operation is a replay of the depopulation of the Palestinians in the British mandate of Palestine after World War II.
In June 2003, a delegation of Israelis visited Mosul and said that it was Israel’s intentions, with the assistance of Barzani, to establish Israeli control of the shrine of Jonah in Mosul and the shrine of Nahum in the Mosul plains. The Israelis said Israeli and Iranian Jewish pilgrims would travel via Turkey to the area of Mosul and take over lands where Iraqi Christians lived.
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
(WMR) — Israeli expansionists, their intentions to take full control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and permanently keep the Golan Heights of Syria and expand into southern Lebanon already well known, also have their eyes on parts of Iraq considered part of a biblical “Greater Israel.”
Israel reportedly has plans to relocate thousands of Kurdish Jews from Israel, including expatriates from Kurdish Iran, to the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Nineveh under the guise of religious pilgrimages to ancient Jewish religious shrines. According to Kurdish sources, the Israelis are secretly working with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to carry out the integration of Kurdish and other Jews into areas of Iraq under control of the KRG.
Kurdish, Iraqi Sunni Muslims, and Turkmen have noted that Kurdish Israelis began to buy land in Iraqi Kurdistan, after the U.S. invasion in 2003, that is considered historical Jewish “property.”
The Israelis are particularly interested in the shrine of the Jewish prophet Nahum in al Qush, the prophet Jonah in Mosul, and the tomb of the prophet Daniel in Kirkuk. Israelis are also trying to claim Jewish “properties” outside of the Kurdish region, including the shrine of Ezekiel in the village of al-Kifl in Babel Province near Najaf and the tomb of Ezra in al-Uzayr in Misan Province, near Basra, both in southern Iraq’s Shi’a-dominated territory. Israeli expansionists consider these shrines and tombs as much a part of “Greater Israel” as Jerusalem and the West Bank, which they call “Judea and Samaria.”
Kurdish and Iraqi sources report that Israel’s Mossad is working hand-in-hand with Israeli companies and “tourists” to stake a claim to the Jewish “properties” of Israel in Iraq. The Mossad has already been heavily involved in training the Kurdish Pesha Merga military forces.
Reportedly assisting the Israelis are foreign mercenaries paid for by U.S. Christian evangelical circles that support the concept of “Christian Zionism.”
Iraqi nationalists charge that the Israeli expansion into Iraq is supported by both major Kurdish factions, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headed by Iraq’s nominal President Jalal Talabani. Talabani’s son, Qubad Talabani, serves as the KRG’s representative in Washington, where he lives with his wife Sherri Kraham, who is Jewish.
Also supporting the Israeli land acquisition activities is the Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by Massoud Barzani, the president of the KRG. One of Barzani’s five sons, Binjirfan Barzani, is reportedly heavily involved with the Israelis.
The Israelis and their Christian Zionist supporters enter Iraq not through Baghdad but through Turkey. In order to depopulate residents of lands the Israelis claim, Mossad operatives and Christian Zionist mercenaries are staging terrorist attacks against Chaldean Christians, particularly in Nineveh, Irbil, al-Hamdaniya, Bartalah, Talasqaf, Batnayah, Bashiqah, Elkosheven, Uqrah, and Mosul.
These attacks by the Israelis and their allies are usually reported as being the responsibility of “Al Qaeda” and other Islamic “jihadists.”
The ultimate aim of the Israelis is to depopulate the Christian population in and around Mosul and claim the land as biblical Jewish land that is part of “Greater Israel.” The Israeli/Christian Zionist operation is a replay of the depopulation of the Palestinians in the British mandate of Palestine after World War II.
In June 2003, a delegation of Israelis visited Mosul and said that it was Israel’s intentions, with the assistance of Barzani, to establish Israeli control of the shrine of Jonah in Mosul and the shrine of Nahum in the Mosul plains. The Israelis said Israeli and Iranian Jewish pilgrims would travel via Turkey to the area of Mosul and take over lands where Iraqi Christians lived.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)