Saturday, November 4, 2006

Meanwhile in Palestine

Israel Gaza attack kills 43 : Seven people, including a teenager and five resistance fighters, were killed in the Gaza Strip Saturday as Israel pressed an attack on anti occupation forces that has left 43 Palestinians and one soldier dead in four days.

Palestinians: Saturdays Death toll up to 11; Palestinian sources reported that an additional Palestinian was killed and another wounded from Israeli occupation forces fire near Beit Hanoun in occupied northern Gaza.

Number of dead in occupied Gaza reaching historic levels: - Malki Shahwan silently picks at the peach tissue she's using to dab at the tears in the corners of her opaque eyes, eyes that her family says have gone blind from grief.

Palestinian PM: Israeli operation is massacre: Demands international intervention

Gaza's pain:: Muhammad Zakout’s 14- year-old son, Alaa, leaked blood on to a hospital pillow as his family gathered around the bed, incredulous that after repeated warnings to stay out of trouble he had been shot while throwing stones at Israeli tanks.

Palestinian Cabinet minister warns Israel's offensive in Gaza could kill Israeli soldier held there: Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip could endanger the life of an abducted Israeli soldier and is an impediment to his release, the Palestinian foreign minister told Egypt's state-run news agency on Saturday.

Meanwhile in Iraq

Iraq War Will Cost More-than-$2-Trillion: In January, we estimated that the true cost of the Iraq war could reach $2 trillion, a figure that seemed shockingly high. But since that time, the cost of the war – in both blood and money – has risen even faster than our projections anticipated.

Iraqi police find 56 bodies scattered around occupied Baghdad : Most of the bullet-riddled bodies were bound, blindfolded and showing signs of torture, the source said.

Iraqi police kill 53 "terrorist" suspects in Baghdad : Iraqi security forces killed 53 insurgents and detained 16 others in fierce gunbattle in southeastern Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi official television reported.

At least 29 killed as brutal U.S. occupation continues: Mortar rounds killed seven people and wounded 20 in Baghdad's western Adhamiya district on Saturday night

Poll: 70% Of Iraqi's Want U.S Occupation Troops Withdrawn Within A Year : 78 percent said the U.S. presence provokes more conflict than it prevents; 84 percent said they had little or no confidence in the U.S military.

Iraq Imposes Curfew in Capital, Four Provinces: Iraqi officials on Saturday announced an all-day Sunday curfew in Baghdad and four provinces, fearing that the expected announcement of a verdict in the trial of former leader Saddam Hussein could inflame nationalist and sectarian passions and escalate the daily deluge of violence.

Verdict in trial of Saddam Hussein due Sunday : Iraqis and human rights advocates have questioned the timing of the verdict in the Dujail case — two days before midterm elections in the United States — and whether it is intended to boost President Bush and his Republican allies.

Juan Cole: Top Ten Ways we know We have Lost in Iraq

Rats Jump Ship: Richard Perle: Iraq War Decision Wrong: Richard Perle, a leading proponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, now says devastating dysfunction within the Bush administration has turned U.S. policy there into a disaster.

Rats Jump Ship: Neocons turn on Bush for incompetence over Iraq war: Several prominent neoconservatives have turned on George Bush days before critical midterm elections, lambasting his administration for incompetence in the handling of the Iraq war and questioning the wisdom of the 2003 invasion they were instrumental in promoting.

شهيدات بيت حانون

A Great Editorial (Arabic)
عبد الباري عطوان


04/11/2006

ردت نساء بيت حانون اللواتي انطلقن في مسيرة عفوية الي مسجد المدينة لإنقاذ المحاصرين من المسلحين، والتصدي للقوات الاسرائيلية الغازية، الاعتبار للمرأة العربية، واثبتن انهن اكثر رجولة وشجاعة من كل رؤساء الاركان وقادة الجيوش العربية دون استثناء.
جميل منظر الفتيات والسيدات المؤمنات وهن يهرعن الي المسجد المحاصر وسط الدبابات والمجنزرات الاسرائيلية، غير عابئات بنيران وقذائف مدافعها الحية، يرددن الله اكبر.. الله اكبر مدوية مجلجلة.
لا نعرف ما اذا كان الزعماء العرب قد شاهدوا هبة الكرامة هذه، شاهدوا النساء يتصدين بصدورهن العامرة بالايمان للرصاص الاسرائيلي ويسقطن شهيدات وجريحات دفاعا عن ارض ومقدسات تقاعس هؤلاء الزعماء في الدفاع عنها، وهم الذين يملكون الجيوش وترسانات اسلحة انفقت علي عملية بنائها مئات المليارات من الدولارات.
ولا نعرف ايضا ما اذا كانت السيدات الأوليات كن الي جانب ازواجهن، ونظرن الي شاشات التلفزة وهي تنقل هذه اللقطات المشرفة، وماذا كانت ردة فعلهن، اذا كانت هناك فعلا ردات فعل ترتسم ملامحها علي الوجوه التي هي قطعاً في كامل زينتها.
هذه هي المرأة العربية ـ الفلسطينية، لا تكتفي بإنجاب الشهداء، وانما بالانضمام الي قوافلهم ايضا، والنزول الي ميدان المواجهة.
سياسة التجويع التي تمارسها امريكا وبدعم معظم الأنظمة العربية، في دول المركز والاطراف، فشلت في تركيع الشعب الفلسطيني، اناثا وذكورا، بالغين واحداثاً، اسلاميين او وطنيين، فالمقاومة لم تتوقف مطلقاً، والصواريخ الايمانية استمرت في الوصول الي قلب المستوطنات الاسرائيلية تبث الهلع والرعب في صفوف سكانها.
القيادة السياسية الاسرائيلية تقول ان هذه المجازر لا تعني الاجتياح، ولا اعادة احتلال قطاع غزة، فإذا كان مقتل سبعة وعشرين فلسطينيا، بينهم امرأتان، هو مجرد تسخين ، فكيف ستكون المجزرة الكبري اذا ما بدأت عملية الاجتياح الكامل؟
الحكومات العربية غير عابئة بما يحدث، والجامعة العربية كفت حتي عن القيام بما كنا نستنكره في الماضي، اي الدعوة لانعقاد اجتماع طارئ للجامعة العربية، فالسيد عمرو موسي امينها العام يتواجد في الدوحة لاستعادة الديمقراطيات المغيبة، والرئيس المصري حسني مبارك في اذربيجان في جولة آسيوية وسطي، وخادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز يتفقد مدينة جيزان علي الحدود اليمنية.
تونس اغلقت سفارتها في قطر احتجاجاً علي برنامج بثته الجزيرة عن قرار منع الحجاب الطائفي فيها، اما الحكومة الاردنية فسارعت الي سحب سفيرها من الدوحة استياء من برنامج آخر.
الكرامة العربية تنتفض لأن ضيفا في محطة تلفزيونية نطق بآراء لا تعجب الحكومات في برنامج تلفزيوني، ولكنها تغيب تماما عندما تنتهك اسرائيل اعراض المحصنات، وتقتل الابرياء بالعشرات وتنسف المساجد ودور العبادة. فكرامة الأنظمة وأجهزة مخابراتها اكثر اهمية من كرامة أمة ودماء نسائها واطفالها.
مطالبنا باتت متواضعة لدرجة المطالبة بسحب سفير عربي من تل ابيب، وطرد اسرائيلي من القاهرة أو عمان او نواكشوط او الرباط، او اغلاق مكتب تجاري في قطر او تونس. ولكن حتي هذه المطالب علي تواضعها باتت كبيرة الكبائر يتهم من يقترب منها بالتطرف، وربما الانتماء الي تنظيم القاعدة . فاسرائيل لم تعد عدوا عند معظم الأنظمة العربية، ومجازرها في حق الشعبين الفلسطيني واللبناني لا ترتقي الي درجة الاقدام علي اعمال مشروعة في العرف الدبلوماسي مثل سحب السفراء. فالعدو هو المقاومة، اسلامية او وطنية، التي تريد تنغيص حياة الأنظمة واستقرارها وعلاقاتها الطيبة مع الحليف الامريكي، وتكدير محاولاتها الاستمتاع بالعوائد النفطية المتضخمة.
الجيش الاسرائيلي مني بهزيمة مذلة في لبنان فأراد تعويضها في بيت حانون وطولكرم ونابلس، بقتل اكبر عدد من المدنيين الفلسطينيين العزل، وهذا ما يفسر المجازر التي يرتكبها حاليا في قطاع غزة علي وجه الخصوص.
المقاومة الاسلامية التي تصدت ببسالة للجيش الاسرائيلي ومنعت تقدمه، والحقت خسائر كبيرة في صفوف جنوده، وشيدت مقبرة جماعية لدبابات الميركافا ، في جنوب لبنان، كانت وما زالت، افضل حظاً من نظيرتها الفلسطينية لانها وجدت وتجد الدعم من ايران، وتملك حدودا مفتوحة مع سورية، وتجلس علي ترسانة من الاسلحة الحديثة، وعشرين الف صاروخ مثلما اعلن سيدها حسن نصر الله.
ولكن المقاومة الفلسطينية محاطة بأنظمة اكثر حرصا علي امن اسرائيل من امنها الخاص، وتغلق الحدود بإحكام تحسدها عليه الدولة العبرية نفسها.
العراق يتحلل ويتلاشي امام اعيننا، والشعب الفلسطيني يتعرض للذبح، ولبنان ينتظر اجتياحا اسرائيليا آخر تسرح الطائرات الاسرائيلية في سمائه في تحد سافر للشرعية الدولية المزعومة، ودارفور السودانية تنتظر مصيرا اكثر سوءا من مصير العراق، والشعوب والأنظمة العربية تقف في موقف المتفرج.
باكستان تشهد مظاهرات صاخبة احتجاجا علي قصف مدرسة علي الحدود مع افغانستان من قبل القوات الباكستانية ادي الي وقوع مجزرة. وبنغلاديش تشهد مظاهرات ادانة للعدوان الاسرائيلي، حتي في غلاسكو في اسكتلندا يتظاهر الاسكتلنديون لابسو التنانير وزرق العيون ضد فريق مكابي حيفا الذي جاء ليلعب مباراة ضد فريق رينجرز الاسكتلندي في مسابقة اوروبية، يتظاهرون نصرة للعرب ويرفعون اعلام فلسطين.
العواصم العربية في صمت رهيب، لا وجود لأي تحرك عربي. اين البرلمانات العربية؟ اين الاتحادات المهنية؟ اين الطلاب؟ الا توجد نخوة وكرامة عند هؤلاء، ايخافون من قمع الأنظمة؟ وهل قمع الأنظمة اكثر شراسة وفتكا من الرصاص الاسرائيلي الحي الذي واجهته نساء بيت حانون بصدورهن؟
ايران كل يوم تجرب صواريخها البرية والبحرية والجوية، شهاب، الكوثر، نور ونصر، اما الأنظمة العربية فتجرب ماذا؟ اساليب جديدة للفساد ونهب المال العام، ام نظريات احدث حول كيفية تعديل الدساتير وتصدير الديكتاتورية الي روسيا؟
نعتذر لسيدات بيت حانون والشهيدات من بينهن، مثلما نعتذر لأهل العراق، وشهداء المقاومة في لبنان، فلم تعد توجد هناك امة عربية، وانما كتل بشرية مخدرة تحمل هذا الاسم زوراً.

When Israeli Occupation Forces Shoot to Kill Unarmed Palestinian Women, It's Time for a worldwide Gaza Campaign

Gush Shalom, November 4, 2006

Urgent appeal to make the month-long campaign a worldwide one

"Yesterday, two Palestinian women, taking part in a non-violent human shield action in Beit Hanoun were shot dead and numerous others wounded. They tried - and partly succeeded - to save the fighters who had sought refuge inside a mosque. The women spontaneously formed a human wall when it became clear that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intended to destroy the mosque with the men in it. Since we told you of our preparations for tomorrow Nov. 4 "putting Gaza on the agenda of the Rabin Memorial Rally" things only got worse. It is extremely important that our campaign will be taken up also abroad. Hereafter you find some background and the request to help make December 2 the campaign pique - with suggestions how you can relate to it from wherever you are."

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE

A Commentary
By Tony Sayegh

I realize that this is not the best of times to be constructively critical of the Palestinian resistance. However, since Israeli attacks are virtually non-stop now, one cannot wait for the right time.

The spirit of resistance and the expectations of the Palestinians in particular and the Arabs in general were elevated after Hizbullah’s defeat of the Israeli invasion this last summer. This has led to perhaps unrealistic expectations of similar resistance by the Palestinians. Hamas has intimated that any Israeli advance in Gaza would see tougher resistance, new weapons and new tactics.

Let us be clear that Hizbullah’s circumstances and the situation of the Palestinian resistance are very different. None the less, there are principles that apply to all guerrilla resistance and when those principles are not studied and applied, success would be hard to achieve.

Observers trace Hizbullah’s success to many factors, such as:

1) Meticulous planning.
2) Thorough training.
3) Strict discipline combined with local decision making.
4) Intelligence and counter-intelligence.
5) Management of the information war.

And many more.

In the case of the Palestinians, even though Israel has been openly threatening of re-invading Gaza for sometime, the planning from the Palestinian side was not very apparent. It appeared that the resistance was, as usual, in an ad hoc fashion.

In the case of Hizbullah, they knew their limitations; their strengths and weaknesses. They knew that they had no effective defenses against Israeli aircraft. Therefore, their fighters were not exposed to surveillance drones and attack helicopters. In the case of the Palestinians, it still happens daily and with such regularity that it makes you wonder. Fighters (often in uniform!) riding cars or standing on street corners in the middle of the day get killed by Israeli missiles fired from a spotting aircraft. When will the Palestinians learn?

In the case of Hizbullah, their fighters would only emerge (from fortified, dug-in positions) when Israeli tanks were within range of Hizbullah’s anti-tank missiles. Hizbullah lost very few fighters before the ground invasion. In the case of the Palestinians, who do not appear to possess effective anti-tank weapons, guerrilla war fundamentals state that when the enemy advances with massive power, the guerrilla should disappear and melt with the population. The enemy should not be able to tell who are the fighters. This is not cowardice; this is how a guerrilla survives to attack the enemy when it is retreating or at a time of the guerrilla’s choosing. The element of surprise should belong to the guerrilla, not the enemy.

Let us compare two speeches: one made by Nasrallah during the invasion (no one knew his whereabouts) and one by Haniyyah (everyone knows where he lives). Nasrallah said in one of his speeches that while Hizbullah was resisting ferociously (and this was not a boast) it was not holding fixed positions, since it is not a regular army. Contrast this with Haniyyah’s empty boast “Beit Hanoun will not fall!”

In the case of Hizbullah, their forces were organized in very small cells (3, 4 or 5) and were distributed such that a large number can never be surrounded or besieged. Contrast this with up to 73 Palestinian fighters being surrounded in a mosque in Beit Hanoun. It is clear that the Palestinians were fighting with no plan and very little structure.

In the area of intelligence and security, Hizbullah had a tight structure which was very difficult to penetrate. In South Lebanese villages, the entire population was Hizbullah’s eyes and ears. Any stranger entering would be stopped, questioned and reported. This made it hard for Israel to infiltrate spies and agents on special missions. This is definitely not the case with the Palestinians. Even in Gaza, where the Israelis withdrew a year ago, Israel can still send in a special unit, in Arab dress, in a Palestinian car, deep inside Gaza to assassinate resistance members. How could this be allowed? How is it that literally thousands of Israeli agents and spies still roam the streets of Gaza? And why is it that everyone knows who the fighters are and where they live? In many cases their phone numbers are known, for crying out loud! This is no way to fight and win. I think in many cases the Palestinians are more interested in showing off and firing their guns in the air to show how tough they are.

One aspect of Hizbullah’s resistance that won it the support of millions is its credibility in the information war. It disclosed facts that were proven to be facts. It did not use empty boasts and traditional, exaggerated Arabic rhetoric. The roles were reversed: it was Israel that exaggerated and lied. It reached the point that Israelis would rely on Hizbullah’s declarations to find out what was really happening. Now that is information triumph! Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Palestinians. I have noticed the empty rhetoric and exaggerated claims made by Hamas, and that is discouraging. Imaginary successes are announced; statements are made such as,” two rockets were fired in the direction of a concentration of Israeli tanks!” What is this supposed to mean? And is this worthy of an announcement?

The sad part is that the Palestinian resistance predates the Lebanese (and Iraqi) resistance. When the Palestinian resistance was a major force in South Lebanon, Hizbullah did not even exist! One would have expected that Hizbullah would have learned from the Palestinians, not the other way around. It is self evident that the Palestinians have to do a lot of soul-searching and to be hard in their self-criticism. It is obvious that the required learning is not taking place and the resistance is not evolving in a scientific way.

Friday, November 3, 2006

Meanwhile in Palestine

The Power of the Israeli Lobby in the US : An interview with James Petras, author, " The Power of Israel in the United States". Click to listen

Israeli occupation forces kill, 23 Palestinians : Palestinian medics said on Friday that 23 people, including militants, women and children, were killed as the Israeli army ground military operation called "Cloud of Autumn " went on in northern Gaza Strip.

Israel occupation forces kill women at mosque siege: Two Palestinian women have been killed during a stand-off near a Gaza mosque while they were trying to rescue about 60 Palestinian men besieged inside.

Israel kills 25 Palestinian in 72 hours: In the West Bank, Israeli occupation troops also arrested a Palestinian cabinet minister in the internationally boycotted Hamas-led government, shot dead two Palestinian youths and wounded another two people

Israeli sniper shoots dead a 14-year old boy in Balata refugee camp: A teenage Palestinian boy was killed and his older brother injured during an attack by Israeli occupation forces into Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday evening.

4-year-old boy among 9 Palestinians killed in occupied Gaza: A 4-year-old boy and 40-year-old woman were among four Palestinian civilians killed Friday during an Israel Defense Forces operation in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun, Palestinian sources said.

Israel occupation forces kill 4 in Gaza missile attack: Four members of Hamas's armed section have been killed by an Israeli missile fired on their car as they were going to pray in the Gaza Strip.

Must listen Democracy Now! Report: Casualties Mount in New Israeli Attack on Gaza: The dead include a 70 year-old Palestinian man who was shot in the head by Israeli troops when he went onto the balcony of his home to take his disabled son inside.

Annan urges Israel to restraint, protect civilians: Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged Israel to do their utmost to protect civilians and to refrain from further escalating an already grave situation.

Meanwhile in Iraq

Iraq: More than 83 killed as U.S. occupation continues: Police found 56 bodies and a severed head scattered around occupied Baghdad over the last 24 hours, an Interior Ministry source said

7 U.S. occupation soldiers killed in Iraq: Three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and four Marines were killed in "enemy action" in Iraq's western Anbar province on Thursday, the U.S. military said on Friday.

U.N.: Nearly 100,000 Flee Iraq Monthly : The agency says an additional 50,000 Iraqis a month are fleeing their homes but remaining within Iraq, which classifies them as "internally displaced" rather than as refugees who have crossed an international border.

US spy chief on secret Iraq mission: John Negroponte, the US national intelligence director, has made an unannounced visit to Baghdad for talks with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister.

Election looming, U.S. general urges Iraq patience: A senior U.S. general compared Iraq on Thursday to a work of art in progress and played down incessant violence and friction with Iraqi leaders as "speed bumps" on the road to stability.

Paul Krugman: As Bechtel Goes: Baghdad received less than six hours a day of electricity last month, and much of Iraq’s population lives with untreated sewage and without clean water. But Bechtel, having received $2.3 billion of taxpayers’ money and having lost the lives of 52 employees, has come to the end of its last government contract.

U.S. spending watchdog on Iraq closed down by Republicans: Pink slip for overseer mysteriously added to big spending bill.

Baghdad is Surrounded: “The American Era in the Middle East has ended” :After 3 and a half years of violence and mayhem we still know as little about the Iraqi resistance as we did in March 2003. This is inexcusable. In addition, there’s been no attempt to engage the representatives of the resistance in political dialogue. How can we possibly reach a political solution without dialogue and negotiation?


THIS IS HOW ISRAEL "DEFENDS ITSELF"

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reiterated the Bush administration's view that "Israel had a right to defend itself"

Gaza: Beit Hanoun Siege Diary



Dr. Mona Elfarra

"Wednesday 1 November 1.30 am
Khalil Hamad died waiting for a permit to go to the hospital!!!

Israeli occupying forces launched a massive attack against northern Gaza, focused on Beit Hanoun village. At the start of this assault, the village was placed under strict siege. Nobody was allowed in or out of Beit Hanoun.

At AlAwda hospital where 45 injured were admitted for treatment, and 3 dead bodies received, I was told by our Emergency Room staff that one of these dead could have been saved easily.

While bleeding and suffering from multiple injuries Mr. Khalil Hamad had to wait for special arrangements and an army permit to transfer him via the Red Cross from outside the village to the nearest hospital (AlAwda) 5 minutes away from the scene. Mr. Hamad bled to death before he arrived at our hospital.

A few minutes means a lot in the ER room in such cases, not to mention that he
was left to die on purpose.

Speaking of war crimes and Geneva conventions, human rights violations etc. etc., this frank violation of human rights is the normal attitude and practice of the Israeli army in Palestine.

Thursday 2 November

The ambulances were not allowed to enter the village, but they managed to evacuate a few casualities on the outskirts while working under heavy fire. Some cases arrived at the hospital where they were operated upon, others were referred to the Gaza Central Hospital Ashifa.

I was told by the surgeons that the injuries were all serious – to the neck, abdomen, head, and lower extremities – and were caused by large-sized bullets.

Friday 3 November 10 am

Women demonstrating and determined to break the siege ER at AlAwda hospital

The 14 beds in ER were not sufficient to receive the injured.
A protest demonstration by the village women determined to break the siege and free their men who were confined by the army inside one of the village mosques. The women protested and managed to give free passage to the men inside the mosque. At least 15 injured women were received in the AlAwda Hospital, but 2 were shot dead by the Israeli army.

This morning I visited some of the women inside the hospital. They were still in
a state of shock, and deserve love, respect and quality medical care.

This is the Palestinian woman. She has always been an active part of resisting the
occupation, and will continue to pay the price of striving towards freedom.

Death toll 25
Injured 115, many are women and children under 16

The operation is continuing and may extend to different areas. The streets
of Gaza are full of demonstrators.
"

***

Don't get too upset. These are Condoleezza's "birth pangs" arriving in Beit Hanoun. The good doctor, El-Farra, does not understand these things.


***

AN UPDATE

The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza in less than 3 days is now at least 35.

Gaza women killed in mosque siege (Video)


Two women have been killed as Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of women gathered to help besieged gunmen flee a Gaza mosque, witnesses and doctors say.

Video from La Republica

Click Here To Watch Video

Baghdad is Surrounded

"The American Era in the Middle East Has Ended"

By MIKE WHITNEY
CounterPunch

"Here again, we see that "overwhelming force" without clearly defined political objectives just generates more violence. It is entirely futile, and yet, the policy remains unchanged.

Rumsfeld flattened Fallujah nearly 2 years ago thinking that the destruction of the city of 300,000 would "send a message" to the Sunnis; convincing them that it was useless to resist. His action, which was enthusiastically applauded by right-wing pundits and politicians in America, produced exactly the opposite response. The resistance is now stronger than ever, the attacks on American troops have increased dramaticaly, and al-Anbar province is no longer under U.S. control.

For American troops in Iraq, there is a worse scenario than chaos; that is defeat. Patrick Cockburn's 11-1-06 article "Baghdad is under Siege" provides the chilling details of an armed Iraqi resistance which has now cut off supply lines to the capital and threatens to make America's ongoing occupation impossible.

Baghdad is surrounded and the predicament for American troops is increasingly tenuous. The battle is being lost on all fronts. So, what is Secretary Rumsfeld's response to these new and urgent developments?

Rumsfeld held a press conference in which he blasted his critics for "focusing too much on the bad news coming out of Iraq" and announced the launching of a new public relations campaign which will attempt to elicit greater support for the ongoing occupation. The Pentagon plans to "develop messages" to respond to the negative news-coverage and, as Rumsfeld said, "correct the record."

"Correct the record"? Is the Pentagon planning to "repackage" the war even while the Resistance is tightening its grip around the capital? What type of madness is this? This is not the behavior of serious men. This is just more of the same "faith-based," public relations hucksterism which leads nowhere. The worsening situation in Iraq will not improve by ramping-up the propaganda-machine, appealing to American chauvinism, or attacking critics of the war.

The media has been a steadfast ally to the Bush troupe and given them a "free pass" throughout the conflict. They successfully drew an Iron Curtain around Iraq and kept the public from knowing about the 650,000 men, women and children were savagely butchered in Bush's Petrol-War. Despite their best-efforts, however, public opinion has shifted away from the present policy and the American people are looking for an end to the fighting.

Rumsfeld's plan for "a new kind of war" that depends on high-tech, laser-guided weaponry, massive counterinsurgency operations, and a submissive "embedded" media has fallen on hard times. The tremors can already be felt from Baghdad to Washington D.C. As Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said in the November issue of Foreign Affairs, "The American era in the Middle East, the forth in the region's modern history, has ended." All that's left is to sweep up the pieces of a failed policy and head home."

Al-Awda Alternate Focus Second Annual Video Contest

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right of Return Coalition, and Alternate Focus are
dedicated to presenting the unheard voice of the Palestinian people to the
American public.

Last year we were privileged to view video film submissions by videographer
activists exploring the lives of the Palestinian people, their heroism and
their resistance under the Zionist occupation of their land. Three winners
were chosen out of many entries by our panel of judges. The quality of the
submissions was very high, and many of the films have since found their
way around the world.

By popular demand, we are now instituting the second annual call for
submissions.

This is an opportunity for videographer activists to see their work on
television and distributed on DVD's worldwide, while advancing the cause of
Palestinian return and self-determination.

In addition, cash prizes will be awarded to the finalists:
First prize $500.00; Second prize $300.00; Third prize $100.00

A panel of Al-Awda and Alternate Focus judges will view all submissions.

For further information and the video contest submission form please see our
flyer posted at: http://al-awda.org/pdf/videoflyer2.doc

Please detach the form and return it with your video submission to:

Al-Awda and Alternate Focus Video Contest
8439 Paseo Del Ocaso
La Jolla, Ca 92037, U.S.A.

Tape and DVD submissions may be in any format and any length.

Thank you and good luck!

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (PRRC), is a not for profit
educational and charitable 501(c)(3) organization committed to comprehensive
public education about the rights of all Palestinian refugees to return to
their homes and lands of origin, and to full restitution for all their
confiscated and destroyed property in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, International law and the numerous United
Nations Resolutions upholding these rights.

Food aid distribution in Gaza

LATEST FROM DR. MONA EL-FARRA IN GAZA

"I received a question (by the road less traveled) asking for my comment regarding the food distribution in Gaza, here is my comment and I am sorry for the delay, I was highly distressed by the situation and focussed on practical support for my community and that drained a lot of my time and efforts, beside the electricity inconvenience and lastly, my email was not functioning for 10 days, problem with the server, I do apologise again .

There are many aid orgs works in Gaza both local and international, the local and international are working with its high capacity, via different organisations eg, red crescent society , union of health work committees, pader, asalah org,islamic relief, middle east council of churches dove and dolphin, middle east children alliance (MECA), the Unrwa , World Food Programme and some more, those orgs have high level of coordination i mean the highest possible in Gaza under the current circumstances, there are big obstacles that face those orgs, the most important are the borders closure and lack of good storing circumstances on the borders, this affects both the food as well as medications, and makes the food supplies irregular, especially when we are talking about a population of 1.6million, 70% of it depends on aid at the moment. The civil society orgs are working continuously to meet the population needs, and despite the siege and non-stop military actions against Palestinian people , social solidarity proved to be strong way of resisting occupation and sanctions, international solidarity is another way of resisting occupation."

صور المجزرة الصهيونية التي ارتكبتها قوات الاحتلال الصهيوني في بيت حانون












Photos From Beit Hanoon

Israeli troops open fire on women outside mosque


The scene near a mosque in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun after Israeli troops opened fire on a group of Palestinian women, killing one of them and injuring 10 others.

Friday November 3, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

CARTOON OF THE DAY


ARAB AND WORLD SILENCE IN FACE OF ISRAELI SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIANS IN BEIT HANOON

THE WINNING IRANIAN CARTOON


The cartoon that won an Iranian Award about how the Israeli occupation government has employed the Holocaust to build the Auschwitz-painted Land-Grab Wall to steal Palestinian land and isolate occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque from the rest of the Palestinian occupied territories.

The 'War Against Terror' is a War against the People:

A GREAT INTERVIEW

Youssef Aschkar Interviewed By Silvia Cattori

"In this interview recorded by Swiss journalist Silvia Cattori in November 2005 - more than six months before the war launched against Lebanon by Israeli army in summer 2006 – Youssef Aschkar was warning that the destabilization of Lebanon, Syria and Iran was under way, and that Lebanon was the country most threatened and most vulnerable to the Israeli menace. In the light of the recent developments in the region, the accuracy of his analysis appears impressive and almost prophetic. "

The Neocons, Undaunted

They're looking to make a comeback after the elections

By Justin Raimondo

"You have to give the neoconservatives credit for tenacity. Any other political or ideological group saddled with their record would crawl off into the shadows to expire without fanfare. Not the neocons. Vampire-like, they rise from the crypt of Bush's "global democratic revolution," fangs extended and hungry for fresh blood. There isn't enough garlic in the world to deter them – I doubt that even a pointed stake in the heart would suffice. The War Party, it seems, is immortal – like evil itself.

Instead of changing their names and getting as far from the crime scene as possible, the neocons – or, at least, some of them – are not only lingering, they're openly proclaiming their intention to visit fresh disasters on us. The most explicit such statement comes from Joshua Muravchik, a former leader of the Young Peoples Socialist League who now inhabits the heady heights of that neocon Olympus over at the American Enterprise Institute. Muravchik, author of Exporting Democracy, a pre-9/11 polemic in which he outlined what was to become the Bushian policy of "global democratic revolution," is as pure a neocon as exists outside of Michael Ledeen's study. Undaunted by the massive failure of the democratist crusade, he writes in Foreign Policy magazine of "Operation Comeback," in the form of a memo to his partners in crime. The subject line is: "How to Save the Neocons." Which raises the question: save them from what – public obloquy? The penitentiary? A lynching?

Muravchik boasts "our ideas have influenced the policies of President Bush" and avers "that does feel good." I'll bet. As I have pointed out before, the most powerful man in the world is the world's biggest, most fanatical neocon, and that is the ultimate prize in Washington's power game, now isn't it?

Unlike Richard Perle, who now despises George W. Bush for supposedly abandoning the War Party, Muravchik argues that the neocons should stick by the president. Bush is, after all, a politician, and, by the way,

"The administration made its share of mistakes, and so did we. We were glib about how Iraqis would greet liberation. Did we fail to appreciate sufficiently the depth of Arab bitterness over colonial memories? Did we underestimate the human and societal damage wreaked by decades of totalitarian rule in Iraq? Could things have unfolded differently had our occupation force been large enough to provide security?"

The neocons, however, are not really interested in Iraq any longer: that, after all, was yesterday. But tomorrow belongs to them, as a very similar political movement once put it. Iraq is in ruins, the credibility of the U.S. as a force for good in the world is at an all-time low, and the body bags are coming home at an increasing pace – yet Muravchik, willfully blind to all this, is recommending that we:

"Prepare to Bomb Iran. Make no mistake, President Bush will need to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities before leaving office. It is all but inconceivable that Iran will accept any peaceful inducements to abandon its drive for the bomb. Its rulers are religio-ideological fanatics who will not trade what they believe is their birthright to great power status for a mess of pottage. Even if things in Iraq get better, a nuclear-armed Iran will negate any progress there. Nothing will embolden terrorists and jihadists more than a nuclear-armed Iran."

The Israelis are reportedly blackmailing us into a strike by declaring that they'll do it if we don't. And that's what this is all about. John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are quite correct in noting that Israel's American lobby is in the forefront of the "let's bomb Iran" contingent, just as they were in the case of Iraq, and Muravchik's analysis perfectly reflects the Israeli perspective. His contention that Iran will "dominate" the Middle East leaves out one important fact: Israel already has nukes, at least 400. An Iranian nuke would end Israeli dominance and strike a balance of power in the region. By eliding this strategic reality – and the fact that Israel is somehow exempted from "the global nonproliferation regime" Muravchik supposedly seeks to uphold – Israel's amen corner in the U.S. hopes to scare us into war. "

British believe Bush is more dangerous than Kim Jong-il


· US allies think Washington threat to world peace
· Only Bin Laden feared more in United Kingdom


Julian Glover
Friday November 3, 2006
The Guardian

"America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country's reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an "axis of evil", but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.

It exposes high levels of distrust. In Britain, 69% of those questioned say they believe US policy has made the world less safe since 2001, with only 7% thinking action in Iraq and Afghanistan has increased global security.

Voters in three of the four countries surveyed also overwhelmingly reject the decision to invade Iraq, with only Israeli voters in favour.

The US leader and close ally of Tony Blair is seen in Britain as a more dangerous man than the president of Iran (62% think he is a danger), the North Korean leader (69%) and the leader of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah (65%)."

By Steve Bell, The Guardian
(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Thursday, November 2, 2006

Meanwhile in Palestine

Death toll rises to 13 as Israel presses occupied Gaza attack: Israel continued an attack into Gaza which has killed 12 Palestinians and a soldier in little over a day in one of its largest operations since militants seized a soldier in June.

Israeli killings resume in Gaza Strip: Israeli occupation forces are reported to have killed four Palestinians in northern Gaza, two of them civilians including a 75-year-old, in one of its biggest operations in the coastal strip in months.

An international force in Gaza is long overdue: The establishment of such a force has been requested several times by Palestinian leaders in order to protect civilians from various acts of violence carried out by the Israeli military.

U.S. trial: Israeli agent scoffs at Hamas defendant's torture claims: An Israeli security agent scoffed at a Chicago grocer's claim that he was deprived of sleep, forced to wear a foul-smelling hood and otherwise tortured after his arrest on charges of bankrolling terrorists.

Stranger than fiction?: Christians: Here to serve Israel: "We as Christians are living in a time in which we must wake up. We must organize ourselves and become a lobby for these people. That's why we are here," Ellssel added.

Israeli racism?: Ethiopians outraged over blood disposal: Ethiopian communities respond with rage at Channel 2 report that revealed blood donated by Ethiopians is frozen and disposed of.

Meanwhile in Iraq

Bush : U.S. Must Stay In Iraq To Control Oil: During an interview with conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh, US President George Bush expressed deep concerns about the possibility of the United States leaving the Middle East, raising fears that extremists could topple governments to "control oil resources."

Iraq: More than 41 killed in another day of U.S. occupation: A motorcycle bomb killed seven people and wounded 45 when it exploded in a crowded market in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City district, an interior ministry source said.

Iraqi armed group in missile claim : Iraq's Islamic Army has claimed that it has produced a surface-to-surface missile: "The missile will allow the resistance fighters to perform attacks miles away from the target, which is safer for them.

In case you missed it: John Pilger: Why Bush lies about Iraq: US President George Bush's plans to invade Iraq have nothing to do eliminating “weapons of mass destruction”, preventing terrorism or ending human rights abuses. An attack on Iraq will be the first phase of a pre-existing strategy to increase US control of the world's oil supplies.

With Iraq Driving Election, Voters Want New Approach: A substantial majority of Americans expect Democrats to reduce or end American military involvement in Iraq if they win control of Congress next Tuesda

It's Iraq, Stupid : Johnstown is a small working-class town, not the kind of place you would expect to find an anti-war rally.

Bechtel ends Iraq rebuilding after a rough 3 years: Instead of the nearly $3 billion originally budgeted, Bechtel finally received about $2.3 billion, a figure that includes money the company spent on projects as well as its undisclosed profit.


Bellicose government

By Khaled Amayreh
Al-Ahram Weekly

"The real reason for the Israeli incursion, which Israeli leaders, including Olmert himself, make no efforts to conceal, is to topple the Hamas government, and the way to go about doing this from the Israeli perspective is by killing and maiming hundreds and thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians.

During the past few days, Hamas have been appealing to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to stop being at America's beck and call and immediately join talks aimed at forming a government of national unity. Hamas has even signalled a willingness to accept a government of technocrats or experts, provided Abbas and his Fatah organisation display goodwill and national responsibility.

A few days prior to Eid Al-Fitr, which marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, rumours circulated in the West Bank and Gaza that Fatah was planning a coup to topple Hamas immediately following the Eid holiday. Reports to that effect, which first appeared in the Israeli press and were attributed to "unnamed PA officials", were denied by Abbas and his lieutenants. As nothing of this sort materialised, Fatah and Hamas leaders in Gaza agreed to remove all armed men, save the police, from the streets of Gaza.

Nonetheless, there is still a strong feeling on Hamas's part that Abbas is not really interested in any genuine power-sharing arrangement with the movement and that he wishes to topple Hamas by any means possible, as Haniya has suggested.

Last week, Abbas reportedly requested that Israel and the US allow a few thousand members of the Jordan-based "Palestine Liberation Army" to enter Gaza to bolster Fatah's forces against Hamas, which has created its own 6000-strong armed militia, known as the executive force. Israeli leaders are likely to consent to Abbas's request if they consider that the likelihood of the Jordan-based troops battling Hamas is greater than them playing a role detrimental to Israeli interests.

The US, too, seems disinterested in a government of national unity between Fatah and Hamas. In fact, the US has paid more money to train Abbas's Presidential Guard in order to prepare it for a possible violent confrontation with Hamas. Most of the training, which involves some 400 Force-17 cadres, is taking place in the small town of Jericho and overseen by the American Security Coordinator in the occupied territories, General Keith Dayton.

But popular support may stay with Hamas. This week, as many as 60,000 Palestinians turned out in Hebron to pledge their allegiance to Hamas. The vast multitude showed that Hamas is still a strong movement among Palestinians despite the sanctions and despite all the talk about its dwindling popularity. Such a show of force by Hamas may have contributed to Abbas's reluctance to destroy all the bridges with Hamas, at least for the time being."

Egypt is the issue

On occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Suez and the Sinai

By Gamal Abdel-Nasser (Former Egyptian President)

"The military operations that began in Sinai on the evening of 29 October [1956] have a small prelude which I would like to share with the reader. It was a small prelude, a political prelude that took place at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, in early October -- the same month that was later to witness the military operations in Sinai.

In October, the Security Council debated the question of the Suez Canal, concluding by adopting six principles towards a peaceful settlement of the issue, and on the basis of which negotiations would be conducted, while guaranteeing free and efficient passage through the Canal.

During and following the Security Council sessions, several meetings took place between UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, Dr Mahmoud Fawzi, the Egyptian minister of foreign affairs and his British and French counterparts, Selwyn Lloyd and Christian Pineau. While these were not the negotiations called for by the Security Council, they were without a doubt the kind of exploratory contracts that by necessity precede any negotiations.

The New York meetings concluded by reaching agreement on certain points, and with the participants agreeing to meet again soon for further discussion of the issues, the time and place of the next meeting to be arranged by Mr Hammarskjold.

A few days later, the UN secretary-general sent the Egyptian government a projected location and date for the upcoming meeting.

The location was Geneva.

The date was Monday, 29 October.

Upon receiving his message, the Egyptian government immediately notified the secretary- general that it would attend the proposed meeting, whereas the British and French governments stalled. Then news came from London and Paris indicating that the matter involved more than playing for time. It soon became evident that London and Paris were attempting to find excuses to evade the scheduled date. The British and French governments had evidently scheduled a different meeting for 29 October. It was to convene in the Sinai Desert -- not in Geneva -- and they did not intend to meet with Egypt, but with Israel.

The aim was not to solve the problem of the Suez Canal. Rather, the new tripartite meeting aimed to annihilate Egypt -- totally.

This is the truth which the parties to the tripartite conspiracy cannot deny... The issue was not about a canal that crosses Egypt. It was about Egypt -- with all that it represents today, with all that it seeks and stands for...

The issue is about a country striving for independence.

The issue is about a country striving for power.

The issue is about a country breaking the arms boycott.

The issue is about a country aspiring to freedom for itself and others.

The issue is about a country wanting to liberate its economy.

The issue is about Arab nationalism, an ideology which has engulfed our entire region.

Imperialism could not let this happen."

Ministry of strategic threats


Avigdor Lieberman's arrival in the Israeli cabinet is symptomatic of the degradation of the country's political system

By Azmi Bishara
Al-Ahram Weekly

"The desire for a strong man, proposed by parties and the elite as a political solution to instability, does not lead to presidential or parliamentary democracy but to dictatorship. This is more of a danger in presidential systems than parliamentary democracies.

In recent years Israel has been placed in the lowest ranks among parliamentary democracies, its score approaching that of presidential democracies in the Third World. In Israel the parliamentary system is experiencing a real crisis. Governments stay in office for shorter times, parties sprout like wild mushrooms and the mentality of the European vanguard elite that established Israel's democracy has gone to never return. Lieberman's arrival in government is a symptom of the crisis, not a solution.

Lieberman is a militant, ideological rightist, and his project is similar to that of the neo-conservatives in its explicitness and reassessment of values. He is secular to the point of atheism. He is trying to change the balance between religion and the state not to make it more liberal or democratic but more communal and sectarian, though without distinguishing between the two. For Lieberman a Russian need only serve in the army to be treated as a converted Jew. This nationalistic, rather than religious, dimension of conversion is close to the Zionist left -- for example, to Yossi Beilin -- and it constitutes the basis of dialogue between them, but it is not the only common ground. He also shares with the left a concern with "the demographic issue" and the need to get rid of the Palestinians in the framework of an agreement in which they give up all their historic demands with the exception of a political entity, which just happens to be an Israeli demand as well.Like the neo-cons he encourages Israel to come to terms with its power, to be open about it in the region and ready to use it. In Lieberman we have a secular, European militant right-winger who is uninterested in quoting the Torah. He wants to see Israel with a strong capitalist system that imitates the US, and he does not fear the use of naked force.

Lieberman's language is crudely simplistic. Lieberman's constituency of Russian immigrants come from a country in which the resettlement of millions of individuals and the extinction of entire peoples were common in the Stalin era. They are shocked to find Arabs in this country -- no one told them they were there.

It is difficult to listen to a Russian immigrant without intelligence or culture, who still does not speak acceptable Hebrew after 30 years in Israel informing you of the conditions of citizenship in your own country. It is hard to take seriously someone I saw with my own eyes, in the days when we were building the Arab student movement in Israeli universities, as a cowardly student who, immediately upon his arrival from Russia joined the militant, violent right led by Tzachi Hanegbi and began to threaten and take part in the right's violence against us, although we knew of his cowardice from experience. The problem is that he knows that we know; this is the root of his complex.

The far right enters the den of opportunists and appears principled. It enters the Sodom and Gomorrah of politics and deal-making and comes out pious and righteous. Just by entering the circle Lieberman has felled two birds with one stone. First of all he has earned legitimacy; he is no longer merely a foolish immigrant who wants a strong-arm regime. He has set himself up as a national siren, warning people of the Iranian threat, but he has no strategic mind. Of all the targets in the world, in the past he threatened to blow up the Aswan Dam. Secondly, he did not demand ministerial posts for practical purposes, but asked for one tailor-made ministry that embodies the principle he upholds. In so doing he looks like the one person who has come to implement a political platform. The ministry made to order for him is the Ministry of Strategic Threats.

Only in Israel could such a thing be created. This is a country that has not yet appointed a minister of social affairs, but after coalition negotiations now has a Ministry of Strategic Threats. Perhaps in the future we will see the Security Fears Ministry, the Demographic Threat Ministry, the Non-Recognition of Israel Ministry, the World Is Against Us Ministry, the Chosen People Ministry, or the Ministry of Greater Israel. This is a ministry that embodies an ideological position; it says that the gravest danger facing Israel today is the Iranian threat and the Syrian-Iranian alliance with Hizbullah and Hamas. Fine, but standing up to this threat has always been the job of the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry and the intelligence establishment. What need is there for a new ministry run by a man who has no experience in security affairs, unless you count his rumoured links to the Russian mafia, and is not distinguished by his penetrating strategic thought? This is a ministry for incitement, mobilization and conspiracy-mongering. It is a ministry made to win popularity in the Israeli street by beating the war drums against "the enemy.""

هنية في مظاهرة تضامنية: بيت حانون لن تسقط ولن تُخترق الحصون


قال إنّ "البعض يعمل لإسقاط الحكومة ونحن نعمل لاسقاط الاحتلال والعدوان"

غزة – المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام


تظاهر آلاف المواطنين الفلسطينيين مساء اليوم الخميس (2/11) في مدينة غزة، تنديداً بالمجزرة الصهيونية في بيت حانون والصمت الدولي المطبق إزاءها، وتضامناً مع أهالي البلدة التي تشهد عدواناً شرساً من جيش الاحتلال .

وانطلق بعد صلاة العشاء من ليل الخميس، آلاف المواطنين من مساجد غزة وهم يرفعون الأعلام الفلسطينية والرايات الإسلامية ورايات حركة "حماس" . وجاب المتظاهرون شوارع غزة الرئيسة وهم يرددون هتافات تندد بالجرائم الصهيونية في بيت حانون، مطالبين فصائل المقاومة بالرد على العدوان .

ودعا المشاركون المجتمع الدولي إلى الخروج عن صمته ولجم العدوان الصهيوني وعدم الرضا بأن يكون شاهد زور على قتل الشعب الفلسطيني .

وتجمعت المسيرات من مختلف مناطق غزة في باحة المجلس التشريعي، حيث وصل إلى المكان بصورة مفاجئة رئيس الوزراء إسماعيل هنية الذي استُقبل بالهتافات والترحيب من المواطنين الفلسطينيين .

وألقى هنية كلمة في الجماهير المحتشدة، حيّا فيها باسم الحكومة والشعب الفلسطيني أهالي بيت حانون وشهداءهم الأبرار، والجرحى والنساء اللواتي وقفن في وجه دبابات الاحتلال .

وقال إسماعيل هنية موجهاً كلامه لسكان بيت حانون "تخوضون معركة الدفاع عن العزة والكرامة والمشروع الوطني، وتقفون في وجه المحتل وآلياته وقواته الخاصة وطائراته، تقدمون الشهداء والجرحى والأسرى حتى لا يمرّ الغزاة إلى أرض القطاع" .

وأضاف رئيس الوزراء الفلسطيني قوله "إنّ العدوان جاء بعد فشلهم في إسقاط الحكومة والشعب الفلسطيني رغم الحصار والتضييق والخنق، فقد فشلوا سياسياً واقتصادياً، وفشلوا في إسقاط المشروع وخيار الشعب الفلسطيني، فلجأوا إلى خيار الإرهاب والقتل، زاعمين تارة بوجود أسلحة متطورة في غزة ومدن تحت الأرض وغيرها من أجل تبرير العدوان الشرس الذي يتعرض له أهلنا في بيت حانون وخزاعة ورفح وجنين ونابلس وكل أرض فلسطينية".

وشدّد هنية على أنّ حكومة الاحتلال كما فشلت في تغيير المشهد السياسي الفلسطيني ستفشل في خيارها الإرهابي العسكري .

وقال إسماعيل هنية مضيفاً "أنّ الجرح كبير والعدوان الصهيوني خطير، حيث يستخدمون ضد البلدة الصامدة الطائرات والدبابات الحربية، ويقتلون العشرات ويعتقلون المئات، لكننا على يقين بأنّ بيت حانون ستبقى ثابتة صامدة، وجميع الشعب الفلسطيني سيبقى معهم ولن يتخلى عنهم، ولن يترككم وحدكم في الميدان"، كما خاطب أهالي بيت حانون .

وأوضح رئيس الوزراء أنّ الحكومة الفلسطينية عقدت اجتماعاً طارئاً، وووجهت رسائل متعددة، وجعلت الوزارات على أتم جاهزية لخدمة أبناء شعبنا لمواجهة العدوان، مضيفاً أنه "في الوقت الذي يفكر فيه البعض كيف يسقط الحكومة وتغيير المشهد السياسي في فلسطين؛ نحن نفكر كيف نسقط الاحتلال وعدوانه والمؤامرة على شعبنا الفلسطيني وحماية الشعب ومصالحه".

كما أوضح إسماعيل هنية أنّ "من يريد الدفاع عن مصالح الشعب؛ فعليه مواجهة الاحتلال والعدوان الذي جاء بقرارات من قيادة الحكومة الصهيونة، وبمباركة أمريكية تعتبر ما يقوم به الجيش الصهيوني دفاعاً عن النفس"، مشدداً على أنّ "بيت حانون لن تسقط، ولن تُخترق الحصون، ولن يسلبوا منا المواقف، مهما بلغت التضحيات".

Israeli Left-Right Divide Unmasked as Phony

A GOOD PIECE
By Nicola Nasser

"Avigdor Lieberman’s ascent to a strategic executive role in Israel has unmasked the artificial divide between left and right and revealed the mainstream ruling elite as still in consensus on the Zionist goals, a fact that rules out any credible peace process in the foreseeable future and dooms peace and left as wishful thinking as they have been ever since the creation of the Jewish state, until a forcible outside intervention could enforce a de-Zionization of peace-making.

The Jewish state is showing its real direction and unmasking its true identity that has been concealed since its creation with leftist posturing or by seemingly democratic wrangling between left and right.

“The most worrying thing about Lieberman is not that his ideas exist on a plane outside Israel's political continuum but that, in many ways, they are close to its dead centre… Not a single political party took to the streets to protest the very existence of a party based on a racist platform … The political doctrine is identical, and so is the political path.” (Bill Weinberg, World War 4 Report, on Wednesday, October 25, 2006)

“Within Israel, there is nothing unprecedented about this (Lieberman’s) platform. In 1948 David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, presided over the expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians. The country could not have been created in its current form without their enforced flight and the land seizures that followed. For this reason, denial of a Palestinian's right of return is still seen as a litmus test in mainstream Israeli politics,” said Weinberg.

Lieberman’s ascent seriously raises the question of whether there is still a peace camp, be it leftist or rightist, in the Zionist state, where both Jewish left-wingers and right-wingers are still die-hardly entrenched in their Zionist Ghetto mentality to keep it a racially pure Jewish state in an international era of globalization and democratization.

However camouflaging its extreme right-wing policies by ultra-leftist rhetoric could not conceal its rightist agenda; Israeli left has not in fact failed but unmasked as a propaganda front for the Zionist rightist agenda which nurtured both left and right and on which peace and the peace processes have crashed and doomed to be always evasive and illusive so long as Zionism remains the terms of reference for an Israeli peace-making based on dictating a fait accompli in the name of security.

Separation from the Palestinians geographically and demographically has evolved as the common denominator uniting even the far right and far left. What differences are still there between for instance Yossi Beilin and Lieberman? Separation is promoted by Lieberman with a plan to “transfer” Israeli Arab Palestinians and by Beilin with insistence on establishing the “original transfer” in 1948 as a fait accompli that could not be rectified. Israeli far left is posturing as if acting outside the framework of the Zionist agenda. Judging by the Geneva Accord (Initiative), the jewel of its peace efforts, which Beilin co-authored with the member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Abed Rabbo, Beilin is revealed as an ally of Lieberman by default.

Co-existence with the Arab citizens of Israel remains the test that will determine the peace with their other Arab compatriots and the Jewish state has so far failed this test, downgrading their citizenship to second status and expropriating their land property to less than two percent of its area in a premeditated policy to enforce their migration and “gradual transfer.”

In a globalization era it is very odd to watch Israeli leaders still determined to converge on a ghetto-styled nationalism that espouses racist and religious purity. What makes this nationalism very dangerous is turning it into a warrior’s ghetto mentality where an “army has a state,” in the words of a diplomat I met recently. The peace process has collapsed on this account and taken down with it the Israeli left and its so-called peace camp."

Hezbollah says US using Lebanon government as tool against Syria, Iran


"Hezbollah on Thursday rejected US accusations that it was seeking to topple Beirut's government and accused Washington of using Lebanon to wage "war" against Syria and Iran. "The latest American position is a blatant interference in a Lebanese internal affair concerning the Lebanese people's choices over their government and policies," a Hezbollah statement said. The White House on Wednesday sounded the alarm over what it called "mounting evidence" that Hezbollah was "preparing plans to topple" the Lebanese government in collaboration with Iranian and Syrian allies. Hezbollah said "the American position is meant to obstruct the internal settlement sought by parties attempting to reach a comprehensive national solution." "It is also meant to throw Lebanon into Washington's battle against forces and states that are friendly and brotherly to Lebanon and its people, including Iran and Syria," it said. Hezbollah accused Washington of seeking to "turn Lebanon into a tool of the war of the US President George W. Bush administration against those considered enemies," the statement said. Hezbollah advised Lebanon's government to "listen to the opinion of the Lebanese people, and not to Bush's opinion, and follow the pulse of the Lebanese street and not the pulse of the White House. "This American violation of our national sovereignty will not scare our people or prevent them from practicing all their constitutional rights, including the right to demonstrate, vote and select the government," it said. "

Palestine as a Foil for People’s Unconnected Dreams


A GOOD PIECE
By Ramzy Baroud

"But the debate can indeed be stretched much further into another, neglected by an utterly pertinent one, that of Palestine as a pressing tragedy seeking urgent remedy versus that of an postponed historic grievance without any realistic diameters, relevance to the real world, or needless, to say, a real plan of action.

Regardless of its many flaws and imperfections, no other national struggle in the world has assimilated itself, or has been inadvertently assimilated, to symbolize so many things to so many different people, as has the Palestinian struggle. And yet, despite the intricate layers of sense and understanding that have sought to encapsulate the Palestinian struggle, Palestine itself lingers in the world’s consciousness merely as a symbol.

Palestine is the last domicile for those seeking deliverance, and the ultimate place next to heaven for those in quest of salvation. There, it has been written that the tireless hunt for spiritual quintessence shall come to an end; the armies shall meet there, once more; they shall fight in the name of God, an Armageddon not like any other, of which victory has already been promised to the righteous.

Palestine has also been a rallying cry for the dispossessed and for the aspiring underdog. Its letters have been inscribed in blood on prison walls throughout Israel and the Arab world as a promise of victory or as a lamentation of defeat.

When anti-globalization activists take on neo-imperialist institutions, they raise a Palestinian flag, and when Venezuela’s poor brought Hugo Chavez back to power in April 2002, a Palestinian flag also wavered in the wind.

Palestine also had its fair share of political exploitation. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein fought his Iranian foes, in some of the cruelest and most costly wars, in the name of Palestine, and in the name of Palestine Iran fought back. Arab nations have long hidden behind liberation-of-Palestine slogans to excuse their ineptitude and to rationalize their oppression.

And in the United States, Palestine takes on a plethora of unique and often deadly meanings. It’s a prophecy waiting to be fulfilled and a market for politicians wishing to sell their will to the highest bidder. It’s a major and everlasting news headline that, despite its ominous presence, seems to teach and evoke nothing except the intentional misrepresentation of the facts.

As for Palestine the reality — the suffering, the loss, the hopelessness and hurt, the refugee camps, the checkpoints, the expanding settlements, the encroaching Israeli wall, the ruined lives, the packed prisons, the anger and prevailing sense of betrayal, the desperation and human bombs, the shattered economy, the bulldozed orchards, the more than 50 years-long fear of the future — it seems to be the least relevant point.

Symbolic Palestine — Palestine the dream — has for long hijacked Palestine the reality. Thus when Palestine is discussed, examined and scrutinized, the frame of reference is hardly the one invoked when any other similar conflict is discussed. Its resolution is rarely seen pertinent to international law or human rights edicts and is barely understood — as it should be — in terms of power and strategy. Rather it’s a subject of flared imaginations, religious fantasy and fictitious constructs.

One cannot and must not undermine the efforts of the inspiring activists whose awareness of the Palestinian reality on the ground is unmatched and whose sincere efforts to achieve peace with justice in Palestine translate to more than a few heart-rending words and phrases, but steady action and unequaled readiness to labor and even sacrifice for their beliefs. However, it’s this wrestle between the real as opposed to figurative and abstract awareness that shall define the course of action that is likely to follow.

If Palestine continues to be understood — or misunderstood — outside its proper frame as a national struggle for rights within the appropriately corresponding international context, then little can be expected from any attempts to remedy its ailments.

It is time to distance Palestine from further interpretations and understand it as it is. Otherwise, Palestine, its people and conflict shall be confined to the ever-augmented edifices of rhetoric with no connection to the real aspirations of a real people with real demands, awaiting justice and a moment of peace."

That is happening in the north of Gaza , while the world is silent; break the silence and speak for the speechless


From Dr. Mona Elfarra in Gaza

"Gaza 5pm
during its large scale military operation against Gaza , the Israeli occupyiong army continued its attack on Beit Hanoun village in the north of the Gaza strip ,12 people were killed at least 75 were injured many seriuosly injured , at AlAwda hospital,the casualities that were received at the emergency room , were all seriously injured , (gunshots in the chest , abdomen and head ), movement of the ambulances in and outside the village is greatly restricted ,some patients who are inneed for renal dialysis cannot leave their homes for treatment, so other patients inneed for all sorts of treatment , the only hospital inside the village is surrounded by tens of army tanks and military vehicles ,the continous shelling and shooting made people unable to leave their homes , any moving body would be shot at once , all the men over 16 wee asked to gather inside one of the village schools l,while writing this peice the local radio station announced the death of one of the women who were trying to stop the army acts against her family .
as medical teams we are working under great pressure , the sitution have been very bad and it is detriorting day after another ,sanctions , long periods of bores closure , military assualts , we were hoping that the negotiations for the release of the captured soldier will bring some hope for improvement of the situation , but it seems that israel is going ahead with its preplaned agenda against Gaza and Palestinian people
I call upon you to spread the word and to try to shake the silent world

Press Release: 2 November 2006

END THE ASSAULT ON BEIT HANOUN


Yesterday the Israeli Occupation Forces began the grotesquely named “Operation Autumn of Fury” on the Gaza Strip. Beit Hanoun, scene of the continuing massacre by Israel since June 25th, was re-occupied by Israeli tanks. Since yesterday 12 civilians have been shot dead and more than 65 woemn and children have been injured. On the first dayof Eid Ul Fiter, last week, 7 residents of the town were also killed by the IOF.

The town of Beit Hanoun was bombed by Apache helicopters and F16 and V58 fighter planes. All of Beit Hanoun’s residents have no water or electricity today. These air-strikes which damage essential infrastructure and terrify the civilian population are a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian people and are war crimes which are forbidden under international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prescribes the manner in which armies must treat civilians during times of conflict.

We, therefore, call on the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli Occupation Forces to conduct itself within the boundaries of international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of all Palestinian civilians.

We also demand the immediate halt of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ attacks on the Gaza Strip and an end to the closure and isolation of the Strip, both ofwhich are exacerbating an already desperate humanitarian situation inside the Strip."

Evil is as Evil Does

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch

"If Khatami can be arrested in the UK for torture, how does British Prime Minister Tony Blair escape arrest for the torture of Afghans and Iraqis by coalition forces? Why are not US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Richard Cheney, and President George W. Bush arrested when they visit the UK?

Or are we witnessing the operation of the neoconservative assumption that there is one rule of law for the US and its allies and another rule for countries that do not support the neocon agenda? Neocons maintain that whatever the US and its allies or puppets do in the interest of US hegemony is defensible and permissible but is a crime if any other country does it.

When the president and vice president of the United States publicly defend and advocate torture and ram torture legislation through the US Congress, it is hypocrisy for the US to condemn others for torture.

Perhaps Americans don't notice, but the rest of the world does see the double standard applied when Saddam Hussein is put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while US, UK, and Israeli government officials commit far greater crimes by illegally invading countries, targeting civilian populations, and torturing detainees.

In Britain it is no longer permissible to hunt foxes, because it is "cruel and inhumane," but it is perfectly alright for private mercenaries and British soldiers to murder Iraqi and Afghan men, women, and children for the sake of Anglo-American-Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.

Why are not Bush, Cheney and Blair on trial? Their crimes dwarf any that could possibly be attributed to Khatami. The only possible answer is that "might makes right." Yet, Bush, Cheney and Blair parade around draping themselves in moral justifications for their inhumane deeds and despicable acts. The fact that Americans tolerate crimes against humanity by their own leaders is evidence that Americans are exceptional only in their hubris."

Life in Gaza


A live Interview From Gaza With Jennifer Loewenstein

DemocracyNow!
With Amy Goodman


"We turn now to the Occupied Territories where at least three Palestinians have been killed and more than fifteen wounded in northern Gaza on the second day of a major Israeli offensive. The dead include a 70 year-old Palestinian man who was shot in the head by Israeli troops when he went onto the balcony of his home to take his disabled son inside.
Eight Palestinians and an Israeli soldier died during clashes on Wednesday. The raid is one of Israel’s biggest operations since re-invading Gaza last June. Helicopter gunships fired missiles onto the town of Beit Hanoun, tanks patrolled the streets, snipers took up rooftop positions and troops conducted house-to-house searches.

Both the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the prime minister, Ismail Haniya, have described the Israeli military action as a massacre. Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza over the past four months, following the capture of an Israeli soldier in late June by Palestinian militants. Since then, over 300 Palestinians - the majority of them civilian have been killed. Three Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

We go now to Gaza to speak with Jennifer Loewenstein, a visiting research fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. She is working on a book about the transformation of the national Palestinian movement. She joins us on the line from Gaza City.

AMY GOODMAN: We go now to Gaza to speak to Jennifer Loewenstein, a visiting research fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. She is working on a book about the transformation of the national Palestinian movement. She joins us on the phone right now from Gaza City. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Jennifer.

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN: Hi. Thanks for having me on.

AMY GOODMAN: Jennifer, you last were in Gaza almost two years ago. How has it changed?

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN: The situation, it’s very interesting. I mean, it's kind of surreal. I was here in January, and it’s always sort of dreary in the wintertime. And I say that because you walk -- you get into Gaza, and it’s this beautiful bright blue cerulean sky and this flowered foliage, and it’s gorgeous. And then, you look beyond that, at the city itself, and it’s absolutely crumbling, and there is trash in the street and destruction everywhere. I mean, buildings that have been bombed or simply falling apart out of disrepair. There are shops that are virtually empty.

There are power cuts every single day. That was common, but not anywhere near as common as it is now. There are places where people have electricity for two or three hours a day only. That’s significant, particularly because you need to have electricity to pump water to the upper floors of these apartment buildings, and so a lot of people end up with absolutely no water for a number of days at a time.

I’ve been here many times. In fact, I lived here in 2002 for almost half a year. And it's never been normal here. It's never been easy. But in all of the times I’ve returned to the Gaza Strip, I have not ever seen it look this collapsed, this exhausted. You see it not only in the buildings and in the appearance, the grayness and the crumbling appearance, but you also see it in the faces of people. And, you know, the Gazans, in my opinion, in any case, have been a very, very strong people and very defiant and persistent people. And yet, person after person that I’ve talked to this time has expressed real despair, real frustration, the belief that things are not going to get better, that this is not going to change. And it’s very discouraging to hear that and to see people with such hopelessness.

AMY GOODMAN: Jennifer Loewenstein, how did you get into Gaza? How hard is it to be there? You are a visiting research fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University.

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN: It’s extremely difficult to get into Gaza. I’m sure that the reason is because the Israeli authorities are keenly aware that when people see how it looks here, that it would automatically win sympathy in the outside world. So what’s interesting is that if I trace my ability to get into Gaza back to the year 2001, when I first came, it’s gotten progressively harder and harder and harder to get back in.

In 2004, for example, it took me five days to get a press card from the Israelis, even though I had my own valid press card. But because I was an independent freelance journalist at the time, I was suspicious. And because I wasn’t working for a major Western and, I should say, sympathetic media outlet, I was given a lot of hassle. People from the Beit Agron , a press house in West Jerusalem, even called the Israeli consulate in Chicago, which then called contacts of mine in Madison to find out who I was and whether or not I should be let in. I shouldn’t say “contacts of mine,” but people I know. In that particular situation, I know from one of the rabbis in Madison, who told me sympathetically later on that the executive director of the Madison Jewish Community Center informed the consulate that I was dangerous and should not be allowed in. I was nevertheless given a press card the last two days I was here, so I was able to do something, but it was very little.

Now, it is impossible for freelancers to come in at all. They have prohibitive fees, and basically the only people who can get in from the media are people who are full-time Middle East correspondents for a nationally recognized paper or station, such as the New York Times, the BBC, the London Times. These are the kinds of people who can come in. Other journalists have a great deal of difficulty.

Now, this time, and I think this is also significant, the only way for individuals to come in is to receive some kind of sponsorship from either a United Nations organization or a well-known international human rights organization, such as Save the Children or Amnesty International. They are given clearance. So, for me, I started last April trying to apply to come in, and because I work as a researcher at an international organization, the Refugee Study Centre, UNSCO, the United Nations Special Coordinator’s Office, did agree to sponsor my research. That was in June, and so I came immediately. Nonetheless, when I arrived, it was on June 25th, the same day that Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, and as a result nobody got in, nobody for the entire week, except these quote/unquote “sympathetic” journalists. So I had to return now, because my clearance is up, as of tomorrow.

And so, the hassle, the attempt to come in here is difficult for people to imagine. When I arrived in June at the Tel Aviv airport, I didn't say anything to the woman behind the desk, where they check in all the passengers from the flights. I handed her my passport. She typed the number in my passport into her computer, and within seconds I was surrounded by Israeli security personnel, who said, “Come with us, please.” And at that point, I didn't know if I was even going to be allowed into the country. I was detained, searched and interrogated over a period of six-and-a-half hours and had really no -- nobody told me whether I was going to be let in or not. And at the end, I was simply escorted through the airport and let go, but only after asking questions and being completely given a body search and having every item of my luggage examined meticulously.

AMY GOODMAN: Jennifer Loewenstein, we have only a minute to go, but this latest news right now out of Gaza, in this raid, one of Israel’s biggest operations since reinvading Gaza last June, at least three Palestinians have been killed, more than fifteen wounded in Gaza in the second day of the offensive. The dead include a 70-year-old man who went out on his balcony to bring in his disabled son. The deaths coming one day after eight Palestinians and an Israeli soldier died in clashes yesterday. Can you describe the situation? Are you able to get around to investigate?

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN: Only to the extent that I’ve gotten to the hospital. I was in the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City yesterday, deliberately because of this incursion. And by the way, it was nine Palestinians yesterday. They are very careful about documenting things here.

I went around, and with the permission of one of the head doctors at the hospital, photographed the wounded, because I know from being an American citizen that we don't see Palestinian dead and wounded, we only see the Israelis. And so, I was taken to various wards in the hospital, where people were recovering, in particular, the intensive care unit, and photographed people with bullet wounds and with legs and arms bound up in plaster. And in one case, a man was simply bleeding from his belly. I mean it was just -- it was really truly gruesome. And one of the people had died on the operating table that morning and was taken to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Hanoun, where they take the dead. There were lots of relatives hanging around the hospital, waiting for news on their relatives.

And just as an aside, it was very touching, because, you know, you walk through these hospitals on a very hot and very humid Gaza day, there is no air conditioning, there are no proper bed linens. One father was shouting at one of the nurses that his son had been there a week -- this was in another case -- and had not yet had changed bed linens, and the doctor telling me, “Look, we don't have them. We don't have basic supplies like that. We don’t have dialysis machines for kidney patients. We don’t have cancer drugs. We can't do elective surgeries anymore, such as for hernias or anything like that, because the more crucial or urgent situations have to take precedence.” They don’t have basic medicines for people with the flu and, you know, stomach upset. It’s just -- it’s really a serious and deadly siege that’s been imposed on the Gaza Strip, and it’s having incredibly bad repercussions here among the population.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Jennifer, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting the Bush administration has undertaken efforts to arm and train the presidential guard of the Palestinian Authority chair, Mahmoud Abbas, in order to prepare it for a potential violent conflict with Hamas. Palestinian sources say the training started in August under the guidance of an American military instructor. Do you have any more information on this?

JENNIFER LOEWENSTEIN: Yes, I do. And I think it’s another very important point. There’s no question that this is happening. Nobody is shocked or surprised to hear it. They all know it. They all tell me this has been going on for a long time. There are training camps set up by the U.S. in the West Bank near Jericho, where these security forces are being trained. And there is clearly a circle of people around Abbas, not necessarily Abbas himself, but around Abbas, people such as Muhammad Dahlan, who have never accepted the Hamas government itself in any case and have been provoking skirmishes since January, basically, between the two factions.

What is significant, however, is that this group of people around Abbas has no popular support. In fact, their support has dropped even further, even more below the situation in January, when the election results came in and Hamas had gotten a victory, Fatah, of course, being defeated for the first time in its history. Nobody here wants a civil war. The people are against it. Everybody you talk to says, “No, it’s not going to happen.” But there’s no question that this particular force around Abbas, these people being trained by the Americans, could cause a lot of trouble. It simply won’t be something that reaches into the population, because there is simply no popular support, nor are there the grounds for a real civil war here. Nobody wants it."