The Cat's News Ticker - Items containing Joe Biden http://www.mein-parteibuch.org/s/Joe_Biden/ The Cat's Feedmix Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:21:46 +0100 Parteibuch Aggregator 0.5.3 dev en Various (For details see authors links) Desertpeace: PALESTINE MAKES ME CRY….. BUT WE NEVER LOSE OUR HOPE http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/palestine-makes-me-cry-but-we-never-lose-our-hope/ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:21:46 +0100 Desertpeace http://desertpeace.wordpress.com http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/palestine-makes-me-cry-but-we-never-lose-our-hope/

By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Some background to this post….

It was hard to say goodbye to my wife and friends in the US. The last night
was very meaningful as we were in New York seeing the performance of Najla
Said, daughter of my friend and mentor, the late Professor Edward Said for
an earlier statement from Najla.


I cried while she was speaking because her words expressed deep emotions that
I often felt but could not adequately express. I was touched by her openness
with her emotions about being, like her father, “out of place” living in New York
but somehow connected to Palestine. The play is simply called ‘Palestine’ and it ends
with her saying that Palestine makes her cry! A truly powerful play.

On the flight from New York to Amman, I have time to ponder the past, the
future, and the present. Questions race in my mind and most left
unanswered. How did we end-up here? Did I reach out enough to those few
individuals who came to my talk at Rutgers and Northeastern to defend
Zionism? How do I show appreciation for those who came to support or who
hosted me? What will happen in the next few weeks, to me and to Palestine?
My thoughts are interrupted by the Delta pilot announcing that we will enter
restricted airspace and that everyone is to return to their seat and
buckle-up? The US citizen behind me comments as the stewardess passes that
this must be a military base. She says simply “we are passing over Israel”.
I think in my mind “same thing” and want to say it out loud but decide to
not say anything.

We land in Amman around 5 PM, and the officer at the passport control asks
me how long I will be staying and I say I am leaving directly to Palestine.
I chat with the taxi-driver, a Palestinian who never saw Palestine. He
tells me I should stay overnight and feels protective of me. I arrive at
the Jordanian border controls and it is empty and I am quickly processed and
I catch the bus smoothly. As the bus crosses the bridge into the occupied
territories my heart beats a little faster. At the first checkpoint before
the passport control, I make a call to the lawyer. His phone is turned off.
30 minutes later we are about to disembark in front if the building with
passport controls and I call again. No answer. I begin to sweat. I call
my sister and tell her to try to reach the lawyer. There are two friendly
individuals who happen to be on the same bus. One of them teaches with me
at Bethlehem University. When I give him my card, he just simply says “do
not worry, it will be OK”. I feel an inner peace that is hard to describe.
I smile at him. I smile at the 3 year old child in the seat in front of me.

Half an hour later, my friends passed through and I am at the window being
asked questions by a blond Ashkenazi young women who never smiles. After
examining my Palestinian document issued by the Israeli ministry , and
spending a few minutes at her computer, she demands I show her my American
passport. She asks a few more questions. She consults with the girl next
to her, whispers something and points at the screen. The other girl says
something like “kin, aval lo.” yes but no.. I am still calm. She hands me
back my American passport. Three minutes later, she stamps and hands me
back the other document. My friend who was waiting for me says “see I told
you”. I did not answer. I am a bit confused. Questions rush through my
head. What does this mean? Does it confirm the idea that they came to my
house after I left so that I would be scared and not come back? Or was this
because of the pressure from the letters from the senators office, from
three congressmen, from many activists demanding that I be given safe
passage? see below . Or maybe there is yet another game I do not
understand. Maybe the Buddhist charm that a friend gave me for good luck
worked and they simply missed me buy accident? Maybe they will come for me
later? Emotions of relief are tempered by a deep anger at this whole affair.
Whatever game is being played, it is sick and not amusing. I promise myself
that I am not going to let it pass, I will follow my lawyer’s advice and a
still go to see the military officer Sunday or Monday after the
weekend/Sabbath , b still keep this issue public and publicized. I resolve
to do more to support others who are less fortunate than I am. La lucha
continua. I get home at 11:30 PM, tired and drained. My mother is waiting
for me on the street. I kiss her cheeks and tears come to my face as
Najla’s words come to mine “Palestine makes me cry”.

I will keep you informed of what happens next but for now I will call
friends here to see where we are with planned activities of popular
resistance. I will also prepare my lectures for tomorrow at Birzeit
University and take it one day at a time occasionally reporting to you as
before on life under occupation. I am truly grateful for and touched by all
the letters of support. A petition was created and is posted at
TheStuggle.org. There is even a facebook page which has now hundreds of
members to support me . This outpouring of love is hard to reciprocate but if

there is anything I could ever do for any of you, please do not hesitate to ask.
For example, I would love to host you in Palestine and show you around.

For now, I enjoy the simple pleasure of eating green almonds from my yard.
And the journey continues of seeking to have “joyful participation in the
sorrows of this world”. Life under colonial occupation continues. Negev
human rights activist Nuri el Okbi was brought to the Be’er Sheba
Magistrate’s Court on many “charges” because he refuses to leave his land
Israel continues to intensify efforts at social engineering in the Negev as
elsewhere to remove Palestinians from their land. Today Friday , the
occupied areas are under full closure with worshippers prevented from
getting to Al-Aqsa mosque to avoid any demonstrations over Israel’s approval
of 1600 new housing units for Jews in Arab parts of the city. The latter
represented not just a spit on the face of Abu Mazen but visiting US vice
president Joe Biden who wiped it off and called it rain according to
Haaretz.

There is a Zionist man I sometimes exchange views with openly and on numerous
occasions he told me in response to incidents like these: the world is based on
might/power and state interests, get used to it. I choose to believe that all good comes
from people who disagree with this Machiavellian notion. After all, if we
all believed in entrenched power, we would have no civil rights in the US,
no end to the war on Vietnam, and Palestine would have become a pure Jewish
state by now.

With love to all.


Filed under: Associate Post, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine ]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: A Closer Look at Israel's Role in Terrorism http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/closer-look-at-israels-role-in.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:59:03 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/closer-look-at-israels-role-in.html

Pulse

A documentary based on Jeff Gates’ Criminal State h/t ICH , in three parts. While we’re on the topic, also check out Justin Raimondo’s Biden In Israel.

Also click on the thumbnail for the inimitable Khalil Bendib’s latest cartoon: How many Mossad agents does it take to assassinate one unarmed Palestinian?



A Closer Look at Israel's Role in Terrorism
Informationclearinghouse.info

January 18, 2010 -- Response of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when asked on September 11, 2001 what the attacks meant for U.S.-Israeli relations

Game theory war-planners rely on mathematical models to anticipate and shape outcomes with staged provocations. For the agent provocateur, the reactions to a provocation—as well as the reactions to those reactions—thereby become predictable within an acceptable range of probabilities.

With ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan poised to expand to Iran and Pakistan, it is time to take a closer look at how conflicts are catalyzed—by way of deception.

Continued below

Part 2

Part 3

Note - The video is based on an article by Jeff Gates, who is a widely acclaimed author, attorney, merchant banker, educator and consultant to governments worldwide, who served for seven years as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. He is the author of Guilt by Association, Democracy At Risk and The Ownership Solution. See his website http://criminalstate.com/

When Israeli game theorist Robert J. Aumann received the 2005 Nobel Prize in economic science, he conceded from Jerusalem, “the entire school of thought that we have developed here in Israel” has turned “Israel into the leading authority in this field.” A professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality at Hebrew University, Aumann’s Nobel lecture, titled “War and Peace,” expounded on the rationality of war.

With a well-modeled provocation, a target’s anticipated reaction can even become a weapon in the aggressor’s arsenal. In response to the provocation of 9-11, how difficult was it to foresee that the U.S. would deploy its military to avenge that attack? With U.S. intelligence “fixed” by well-placed insiders around a predetermined goal, how difficult was it to anticipate that the reaction to 9-11 could be redirected to wage war in Iraq?

The emotional component of a provocation plays a key role in game theory warfare. With the nationally televised mass murder of 3,000 people, a state of shock, grief and outrage made it easier for Americans to believe that a known Evil Doer in Iraq was responsible—regardless of the facts.

For false beliefs to displace real facts requires mental preconditioning so that a targeted population can be persuaded to put their faith in fictions. That conditioning enhances the probability of a successful deception. Those who deceived the U.S. to invade Iraq in March 2003 began a decade beforehand to lay the “mental threads” and make the requisite mental associations to advance that agenda.

Notable among those threads was the 1993 publication in Foreign Affairs of a theme-setting article by Harvard University professor Samuel Huntington. By the time his analysis appeared in book-length form in 1996 as The Clash of Civilizations, more than 100 think tanks were prepared to promote it. The result created a widely touted narrative—a thematic storyline—supporting a “clash consensus” five years before 9-11 provided a plausible rationale for war.

Also published in 1996 under the guidance of Richard Perle was A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm i.e., Israel . A member since 1987 of the U.S. Defense Policy Board, this self-professed Zionist became its chairman in 2001.

As an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Perle’s Pentagon advisory post provided a powerful insider position to shape the national security mindset around the removal of Saddam Hussein, a key theme of A Clean Break—released five years before 9-11. That same year Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress at the invitation of Newt Gingrich, the Christian Zionist Speaker of the House.

Murders, books, articles, think tanks and well-placed insiders are common components in a “probabilistic” model deployed by war-planning game theorists. Lawmakers are also a customary ingredient. They provide credibility and a facade of legitimacy—a critical element when inducing a nation to war with phony intelligence fixed around a preset agenda.

That role was eagerly filled by Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, a Jewish Zionist from Connecticut, and Jon Kyl, a Christian Zionist from Arizona, when they co-sponsored the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. By promoting Israel’s 1996 agenda for Securing the Realm, their legislation laid yet another mental thread in the public mindset by calling for the ouster of Saddam Hussein—three years before 9-11.

The legislation also appropriated $97 million to promote their agenda. Distracted by mid-term Congressional elections and impeachment proceedings catalyzed by a well-timed presidential affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton signed that Zionist agenda into law in October 1998—4-1/2 years before a U.S.-led invasion removed the Iraqi leader.

After 9-11, McCain and Lieberman became inseparable travel companions and irrepressible advocates for the invasion of Iraq. Striking a presidential pose aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in January 2002, McCain—a son and grandson of admirals—laid another mental thread when he waved an admiral’s cap and proclaimed, alongside Lieberman, “On to Baghdad.”

By Way of Deception

The confidence with which this game theory strategy progressed in plain sight could be seen in the behavior of Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, another Zionist insider. Four days after 9-11 while in a principals’ meeting at Camp David, he proposed that the U.S. invade Iraq. At that time, the intelligence did not point to Iraqi involvement and Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding in a remote region of Afghanistan.

On that same day, San Diego FBI Special Agent Stephen Butler interrogated Iraqi Munther Ghazal at his home near San Diego to determine if he was funding Mel Rockefeller, an American with whom Ghazal traveled to Baghdad in early 1997. After meeting for several days with a top nuclear physicist with oversight of Iraq’s mothballed nuclear weapons program, Rockefeller returned to the U.S. with a practical proposal for removing Saddam Hussein without this war and without triggering an insurgency.

When regional specialists at the U.S. Department of State would not meet with him, he traveled to Ottawa in April 1997 where he met with Middle East specialists in the Canadian government to ensure a written record was made to confirm there was an alternative to war in Iraq—six years before the invasion. Instead of debriefing him, FBI agents sought to discredit him. Though FBI agents interviewed Ghazal many times, they have yet to meet with Mel Rockefeller.

Agent Butler cashed checks and paid rent for the two San Diego-based hijackers who piloted planes into the World Trade Center towers. The same Iman counseling Major Nidal Hasan with FBI knowledge before he was transferred to Fort Hood also counseled the San Diego-based hijackers—with FBI knowledge. As of December 1, 2009, no one from the FBI or national security had debriefed Mel Rockefeller—eight years after 9-11.

See: Ft. Hood: “Death By Political Correctness”?

and Ft. Hood Tragedy: The Real Story of the Terrorist “Mad Doctor Hasan”

When President George H.W. Bush declined to invade Baghdad and remove Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War, Pentagon Under Secretary for Policy Paul Wolfowitz imposed a No-Fly Zone in northern Iraq. By the invasion of March 2003, the Israeli Mossad had agents deployed for a decade in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Intelligence reports of Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda were also traced to Mosul—reports that proved false. Mosul again emerged in November 2004 as a center of the insurgency that destabilized Iraq. That reaction precluded the speedy exit of coalition forces promised in Congressional testimony by senior war-planner Wolfowitz in the lead-up to the invasion.

An Inside Job?

The common pro-Israeli source of the phony intelligence that induced war in Iraq has yet to be acknowledged even though intelligence experts agree that deception on such a scale required a decade to plan, staff, pre-stage, orchestrate and—until now—cover up. The leaders of the 9-11 Commission conceded they were thwarted by Commission members adamantly opposed to hearing testimony on the hijackers’ motivation for 9-11: the U.S.-Israeli relationship.

The fictions reported as facts by mainstream media included Iraqi WMD, Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda, Iraqi meetings with Al Qaeda in Prague, Iraqi mobile biological weapons laboratories and Iraqi purchases of “yellowcake” uranium from Niger. Only the last claim was conceded as bogus prior to the invasion.

Only after the war began were the balance of the claims disclosed as false, flawed or outright fabricated. An attempt to punish former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Joe Wilson for his exposure of the phony yellowcake account led to a federal conviction of vice-presidential chief of staff Lewis Libby, another well-placed Zionist insider.

The multi-decade consistency of agent-provocateur fact patterns suggests that this game theory-modeled warfare includes the Israeli provocation that catalyzed the Second Intifada. An intifada is an uprising or, literally, a “shaking off” of an oppressor. The Second Intifada dates from September 2000 when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led an armed march to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount—one year before 9-11.

After a year of calm during which Palestinians believed that Israel was sincere about peace, suicide bombings recommenced. As Sharon conceded, his march was meant to demonstrate Israeli control over a site considered holy by Muslims worldwide. In response to this second failed attempt at “shaking off” Israeli domination, Sharon and Netanyahu observed that only when Americans “feel our pain” would they understand the plight of the victimized Israelis.

These Likud Party leaders commented that the requisite empathy “feel our pain” would require a weighted body count of 4,500 to 5,000 Americans lost to terrorism—the initial estimate of those who died in the twin towers of the World Trade Center—one year later.

In other words, only with pain could we identify with the Israelis. Does that mean that only with a mass murder could we be induced to respond with our military to advance their agenda? Was the U.S. response mathematically modeled at the Center for the Study of Rationality? Seven months after 9-11, Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech in a U.S. Senate office building where he was introduced by Senators Jon Kyl and Joe Liebermn

American Valkyrie?

When successful, game theory warfare strengthens the agent provocateur while leaving the target discredited and depleted by the anticipated reaction. By game theory standards, 9-11 was a strategic success because the U.S.—by its response—was widely criticized for waging war on false pretenses. Only in hindsight did a deceived public realize that Iraq had nothing to do with that mass murder. However, that invasion had everything to do with “securing the realm.”

Our response predictably triggered a deadly insurgency with devastating consequences for Iraqis, the U.S. and a “coalition of the willing” led to war by a successfully duped U.S. From a game theory perspective, that insurgency was a predictable reaction in a nation populated by three long-feuding sects: Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. A violent invasion led by a nation closely allied with Jewish nationalists only further fueled the flames of violence and extremism—another foreseeable outcome.

Until the U.S.-led invasion, peace was maintained by an unsavory dictator and former U.S. ally who was rebranded an Evil Doer in the lead-up to war. As the cost in blood and treasure from our “liberation” of Iraq expanded, the U.S. became overextended militarily, financially and diplomatically.

The sectarian violence unleashed in Iraq is precisely what Messrs. Rockefeller and Ghazal were cautioned against in early 1997 should Saddam Hussein be removed suddenly and violently. The 1.3 million Iraqi deaths from war-related causes exceeds the worst of Saddam Hussein’s atrocities. As any competent game theory war-planner knew, the strategic winner in this war was certain to be Iran as the U.S. neutralized its key foe—and is now urged by Israel to wage war on Iran.

As the U.S.—the primary target of this deception—emerged in the foreground, the agent provocateur faded into the background. But only after catalyzing dynamics that steadily drained the U.S. of credibility, resources and resolve. This “probabilistic” Israeli victory also ensured widespread cynicism, insecurity, distrust and disillusionment along with a steadily declining capacity to defend our real interests.

Meanwhile the American public came under a system of oversight and surveillance packaged and sold as “homeland security.” This ominously titled operation includes rhetorical echoes of a WWII-era “fatherland” featuring a domestic security force completely alien to U.S. traditions. It is not yet clear whether this new agency was established to protect Americans. Or whether it is meant to shield from Americans those responsible for deceiving us to wage their wars.

In January 2003, Secret Service Agent Richard Sierze interrogated Mel Rockefeller at his home in Fresno, California after he sent an email to Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The email said, in effect, that if the governor’s brother President George Bush did not interview him on a public record prior to invading Iraq, he would do his best to ensure that lawful means were deployed to see the president executed for treason by a firing squad.

When questioned by Sierze, Rockefeller offered to have the agent speak with Dr. Glenn Olds, an adviser to four presidents, his senior adviser since 1994 and a former U.N. Ambassador who assisted him in entering Iraq through Jordon at a time when Americans were prohibited from traveling there. Sierze declined.

He also repeated his intent to see the president executed for treason and insisted that he be charged and taken before a federal magistrate to present evidence that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that an alternative to war had been available since early 1997. Agent Sierze declined his demand to be arraigned in a U.S. Federal District Court—seven weeks before the invasion.

Agent Sierze should be interviewed to see if, in retrospect, he agrees that—had this advice been followed—the war in Iraq may well have been prevented. To date, no one with line responsibility has interviewed Mel Rockefeller on a public record. Why? The answer to that question would reveal those responsible for this ongoing deception.

The victims of these serial deceptions, including the families of those murdered in November at Fort Hood, may have a wrongful death cause of action against those with line responsibility who aided these operations by failing to engage the Rockefeller record in a timely fashion.

Foreseeable Futures

By manipulating the shared mindset, skilled game theory war-planners can wage wars on multiple fronts with minimal resources. One proven strategy: Pose as an ally of a well-armed nation predisposed to deploy its military in response to a mass murder.

In this case, the result destabilized Iraq while creating predictable crises that could be exploited to greater strategic advantage by expanding the conflict to Iran, another Israeli goal announced in A Clean Break—seven years before the invasion of Iraq.

Today’s mathematically model-able outcomes undermined U.S. national security by discrediting our leadership, degrading our financial condition and disabling our political will. In game theory terms, this devastation was perfectly predictable—within an acceptable range of probabilities.

Pakistan is primed to emerge as the next battleground for game theory war-planners. When India, an ally of Israel, became the nation honored by the Obama administration’s first state dinner, that occasion gave reason for concern due to the dynamics already at work in the background.

See “What Is Israel’s Role in the Destabilization of Pakistan?”

In the asymmetry that typifies modern warfare, those who are few in number have no alternative when pursuing an expansionist agenda but to wage their wars by way of deception. To maintain its perceived status as a perennial victim, Israeli aggression must proceed non-transparently. Its only option is to operate with duplicitous means, including leveraging the power of its insider influence to advance an agenda from the shadows.

Thus the strategic necessity that this extremist enclave befriend the U.S.—with the intent to betray that friendship to advance its geopolitical goals. Thus the strategic need to create a relationship of trust with a post-WWII super power—in order to defraud us. How else could Colonial Zionists wage their wars except with our military? How else could Jewish nationalists induce our aggression absent the widely shared belief that Israel is not an aggressor but a victim?

Winning Wars from the Inside Out

Game theory war-planners manipulate the shared mental environment by shaping the perceptions and impressions that become consensus opinions. With a combination of well-timed crises, fixed intelligence and a complicit media, policy-makers can be induced to support a predetermined agenda—not because lawmakers are Evil Doers but because the public mindset has been pre-conditioned to respond to manipulated thoughts, emotions and beliefs.

Without the mass murder of 9-11, would America’s credibility be in tatters and its creditworthiness in jeopardy? By steadily displacing facts with false beliefs, those duplicitous few-within-the-few amplify the impact of their deceit. By their steady focus on the mental environment, game theory war-planners can defeat an opponent with vastly superior resources.

Today’s intelligence wars are waged in plain sight and under the cover of shared beliefs. By manipulating consensus opinion, psy-ops wars can be won from the inside out by inducing a targeted populace to freely choose the very forces that imperil their freedom.

Thus in the Information Age the disproportionate power wielded by those with outsized influence in media, popular culture, think tanks, academia and politics—domains where Zionist influence is pervasive not only in the U.S. but also in other nations induced to war on false pretenses.

Germany offers a case study in manipulation of the public mindset in plain sight and under the banner of a free press. In 2003, Zionist media mogul Haim Saban acquired the second largest media conglomerate in Germany. Why? As Saban investment banker Steve Rattner explained his client’s motivation: “Because Germany is important to Israel.” Or, as Saban concedes: “I have only one issue and that issue is Israel.”

By 2005, Saban had succeeded in electing Angela Merkel as German Chancellor. She quickly became the European Union’s most reliable and forceful advocate for Israel. By November 2009, she was prepared to sponsor in Berlin an unprecedented joint session of the German and Israeli governments. Following his political success in Germany, Saban acquired in 2007 a controlling interest in Univision, a Latino-focused network serving the fastest-growing voting bloc in the U.S.

Media manipulation serves as an essential force-multiplier to wage intelligence wars from the periphery or, as with Haim Saban, in plain sight. At the operational core of such psy-ops are game theory war-planners skilled at personality profiling and masterful at anticipating responses to staged provocations and then incorporating those responses into their arsenal.

In the case of Iraq, our mathematically foreseeable response to 9-11 led, in practical effect, to Israel’s deployment of our military to invade Iraq. For aggressors adept at psy-ops warfare, facts are only an inconvenience to be overcome when waging war by way of deception. Thus the key role played by consensus-shapers featured in mainstream media outlets who focus not on informing the public but on mental conditioning.

For targeted populations dependent on facts and informed consent to protect their freedom and preserve the rule of law, such treachery poses the greatest possible threat. Yet even now many Americans believe that Israel is not an aggressor but a victim and even an ally despite facts confirming a multi-decade pattern of expansionist nationalism and geopolitical deception.

Adhering to an Enemy

The U.S. is far less secure than before 9-11. Tel Aviv clearly intends to continue its serial provocations as evidenced by its ongoing expansion of settlements and its continuing blockade of Gaza. Israel has shown no willingness to negotiate in good faith. With few exceptions, Barack Obama has named as senior advisers either Zionists are those known to be strongly pro-Israeli.

The greatest threat to world peace is not Islam. The most fundamental threat that underlies all others is our “special relationship” with a skilled agent provocateur. Without U.S. support for an enclave of nuclear-armed religious extremists, the common source of this threat could long ago have been identified and steps taken to ensure its containment.

In the same way that lengthy pre-staging was required to induce the U.S. to invade Iraq, a similar strategy is now underway to persuade the U.S. to invade Iran or support an attack by Israel. Pakistan is also now on the agenda of those marketing The Clash narrative with its vision of a perpetual war against “militant Islam.” Similar mental conditioning is again at work, including the high profile branding of the requisite Evil Doer: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad.

From its outset, the Zionist enterprise sought supremacy in the Middle East. To date, its alliance with the U.S. has enabled the deployment of American military might in pursuit of goals set by Jewish nationalists more than a half-century before a Christian Zionist U.S. president was induced to extend nation-state recognition. Harry Truman made that fateful decision despite his fears that Israel would become what Zionist lobbyists assured him it would not become—and what it immediately became: a racist and theocratic state.

Only one nation had the means, motive, opportunity and stable nation state intelligence required to take the U.S. to war in the Middle East while making it appear that Islam—not Israel—is the problem. When a long-deceived American public—especially the U.S. military—grasps the common source of this devastating duplicity, the response will shift the geopolitical landscape. The facts suggest that “sympathy for Israel” is not among the probable reactions.

If Barack Obama continues to cater to these extremists, this Nobel peace laureate can rightly be blamed when the next attack features the usual orgy of evidence pointing to a pre-staged Evil Doer. Should another mass murder occur, that incident may well be traceable to the U.S.-Israeli relationship and to the failure of our policy-makers to protect America—and world peace—from this enemy within.

See also:

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Uprooted Palestinians: Biden Calls to Implement Resolution 1701 to… Disarm Hezbollah! http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/biden-calls-to-implement-resolution.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:06:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/biden-calls-to-implement-resolution.html Al-Manar


11/03/2010 Once again, the United States did its best to confirm its "strategic alliance" with the Zionist entity…

Once again, the United States raised the voice to tell the whole world that the Israeli enemy is not only its favorite ally but even more…

Thus, US Vice President Joe Biden didn't hesitate to repeat from Tel Aviv threats and statements earlier delivered by Israeli officials against Lebanon, from the President Shimon Peres to the Defense Minister Ehud Barak without forgetting the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

In fact, Biden wants Israel and Lebanon to implement the international resolution 1701 that put an end to the Israeli war against Lebanon in 2006. But the reason is not to consolidate stability in Lebanon and the occupied territories. The goal is, too simply, to disarm Hezbollah!

Speaking at Tel Aviv University, Biden claimed that Hezbollah's weapons represent a threat to both "Israel and Lebanese civilians."

He stressed the persistence of Washington in supporting Lebanon's institutions and working on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 "to stop the flow of arms to Hezbollah," according to his terms.

Even more, the US official pretended that Iran was the greatest threat to the region due to its alleged nuclear program and, of course, its sponsoring of the Resistance in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Biden confirmed that Washington will send a new ambassador to Syria to enhance diplomatic relations. However, he called for keeping an eye on Damascus' acts that may jeopardize "the security of Israel and the region."

Biden implored Israelis and Palestinians to move beyond a diplomatic spat that has marred his trip to the region, urging the sides to waste no time in resolving their decades-old conflict despite daunting obstacles.

Biden used conciliatory language as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the area in an apparent attempt to get past the uproar sparked by an Israeli plan for new settlement construction in occupied Jerusalem.

Yet, one expression said by Biden summarized the whole story: "The US has no better friend than Israel"!

River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
SOUTH LEBANON Blog: The Obama Administration Asked for the East Jerusalem Fiasco - Kicking Out and Moving In http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-administration-asked-for-east.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:56:00 +0100 SOUTH LEBANON Blog http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/ http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-administration-asked-for-east.html By YOSSI SARID

Don't believe Benjamin Netanyahu for one moment when he says he "never knew." The Jerusalem planning committee is only too aware of what the bosses want, and the government has decided to step up construction in greater Jerusalem. Dispossession and taking possession, kicking out and moving in - that's what it's all about.

Over the years, a streamlined and generously lubricated machine has evolved, one that makes it possible to take solace in the building of Jerusalem in the phrase used to console mourners and to take pride - but also to take cover - behind a facade of disingenuousness and disowning. Yesterday, it was convenient to disown.

No pretext is more dismal than "bad timing." Ehud Barak immediately put out a press release about the "harmful timing of the publication." As if there were a proper time for provocations. If the announcement of the 1,600 planned housing units had come before Joe Biden's trip, they would have said it was aimed at sabotaging the visit, and if it happened after he left, they would have said Biden himself was in on the secret.

But with Barak, that willing slave-minister of Netanyahu's, everything's cool, but if only they had kept that call for bids confidential, if only they built apartments in some dark secluded hideaway, like the Western Wall tunnel.

Don't believe for a moment that they never knew: The chaos works like clockwork. The detonation mechanism is activated remotely and a safety range is carefully observed. It will always be possible to make procedural claims - "it's a technical matter" or "the political echelon wasn't involved" or "the timing was purely coincidental" or "three years of deliberations happened to end now." What judge hearing a case would accept "I didn't know" as a mitigating circumstance?

This is one visit Joe Biden will not quickly forget. First he was compelled to sit through 25 minutes of an annoying speech in his honor by our president. Shimon Peres really believes that he is the destination for pilgrims from all over the world who drink in his musings and are intoxicated by his vision.

Later, Biden was given a certificate memorializing his mother, but the glass broke. Once again, Bibi didn't pay attention, leaned on it and shattered it. No fear, his speeches have always diverted attention from such mishaps. And finally, to add a finishing touch of infuriating disgrace, the Haredi neighborhood Ramat Shlomo was dumped on the vice-presidential head.

Truth be told, the Obama administration just about asked for this slap. In Jerusalem, the lesson has been learned that the White House doesn't fulfill its obligations - it just goes through the motions by issuing insincere rebukes. And now, they'll begin the "proximity talks" - Orwellian for distance, which is greater than it's been in 20 years.

If I were Rahm Emanuel, I wouldn't advise Barack Obama to follow in his Veep's footsteps and visit Israel soon. It's safe to predict that on the day he's addressing the Knesset, they'll tell him work has begun on the Temple Mount.

The first Temple was that of Solomon the Wise, the Second was that of Ezra the Scribe, and the Third of Netanyahu and Eli Yishai. Let the Temple be built, and the home of the nation will be laid waste.

Yossi Sarid writes for Ha'aretz, where this column originally appeared.

]]>
SOUTH LEBANON Blog: PLO paper reveals leadership bereft of strategy, legitimacy http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/plo-paper-reveals-leadership-bereft-of.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:54:00 +0100 SOUTH LEBANON Blog http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/ http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/plo-paper-reveals-leadership-bereft-of.html Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada

Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas listens to US Vice President Joe Biden at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday 10 March. Biden condemned Israeli plans to build an additional 1,600 settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem but insisted that indirect US-brokered peace talks should proceed despite Abbas' objections. MaanImages

At last September's New York summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, US President Barack Obama publicly abandoned his demand that Israel halt construction of colonies in the occupied West Bank as a precursor to the resumption of US-brokered negotiations. Thus, Obama humiliatingly signaled the collapse of his much-hyped peace effort.

Since then, Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, has been shuttling about looking for a face-saving formula to make it seem as if there were still a "peace process" that might one day result in a two-state solution.

After months of effort, the US managed to bludgeon and cajole Abbas and certain "moderate" Arab states into backing "indirect talks" between Israel and Abbas, even as Israel escalates its ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, its colonization of the West Bank, its blockade of Gaza and its daily rounds of murders and kidnappings of Palestinians throughout the occupied territories. Even this meager achievement seemed in doubt after Netanyahu's government brazenly announced an additional 1,600 Jewish-only homes during a visit to Israel by US Vice President Joe Biden.

There is no doubt that the Obama Administration will press on with the charade of negotiations no matter what. The alternative would be to actually use the massive US subsidies Israel receives to tame its rogue behavior. But Obama, before and after entering office, never showed the slightest inclination to do that despite naïve and inflated expectations across the Arab world and within peace process industry circles , and will not do so now as his vulnerable Democratic Party heads for midterm elections with virtually no achievements to present to voters.

Amid this dismal situation, comes a new paper by Saeb Erekat, senior aide to Abbas, and "chief negotiator" for the US-backed Ramallah Palestinian Authority PA .

The 7,000-plus word document, produced by the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization NAD-PLO , is clumsily titled "The Political Situation in Light of Developments with the US Administration and Israeli Government and Hamas' Continued Coup d'etat: Recommendations and options." NAD-PLO is actually administered by the Adam Smith Institute, "the UK's leading free market think tank," and funded entirely by Western governments.

Dated December 2009, the paper was reported on in several Israeli newspapers in mid-February, and distributed to European and other diplomats as a warning that the Palestinians had options other than continuing with futile negotiations. They could, for example, abandon the two-state solution and call for one state, it warns. However, a close reading reveals a different picture.

The paper is very poorly-written, repetitive and at times barely coherent. One passage reads: "Accreditation papers cannot be presented to the US Administration and to others without the Palestinian paper. These issues bear a significant link with the forcible take-over of the Gaza Strip, which cannot be construed except by accurately understanding regional developments and how to present accreditation papers." There is much more of this jumbled, and seemingly nonsensical language -- all those governments should wonder what their money is really buying!

Nevertheless, a key concern does emerge: Erekat is very worried that the US will pressure Abbas to resume negotiations from scratch, instead of from the point at which they ended in December 2008 with the previous Israeli government headed by Ehud Olmert. Indeed, the paper makes this precise demand no fewer than 15 times, warning that failure to start from that point would make Palestinians vulnerable to "Netanyahu's vision" which would mean Palestinians "will be obliged to accept Israeli positions" particularly its refusal to negotiate about Jerusalem, "as well as recognize Israel as a Jewish state." The paper warns that "The file of refugees will be excluded from negotiations and Palestinians [would] need to agree that Israel preserve control over Palestinian border crossings and aerial space."

Only starting from the point reached in December 2008, it would seem, could stave off such a disaster! But in fact, the paper lays out in detail what was supposedly agreed by December 2008 and it is clear that on all the key issues the Abbas leadership had already conceded to Israel's demands in principle and in practice.

Abbas had offered and Israel had rejected that only 15,000 refugees per year return to the lands from which they were ethnically cleansed in what is now Israel, for a period of ten years. This effectively cancels the right of return, and acts as a de facto recognition of Israel's "right to exist as a Jewish state" by conceding that its racist exclusion of non-Jewish Palestinians trumps the refugees' human right to go home.

Moreover, the Erekat paper makes no mention whatsoever of the "right of return" -- a fundamental consensus demand of Palestinians inside the country and in the diaspora -- but refers vaguely to a "just and agreed solution in accordance with UN [General Assembly Resolution] 194." It does not call for implementation of the resolution -- which demands that any refugee who wishes to do so be allowed home "at the earliest practicable date." Needless to say, what Israel considers "just" and would agree to is completely at odds with Palestinian rights and international law. Indeed, Olmert had offered the return of 1,000 refugees per year for five years -- or about one tenth of one percent of all refugees.

As far as territory is concerned, the paper reveals that Abbas conceded Israeli demands to annex large settlement blocs all over Jerusalem and across the West Bank. Once this concession is made, all the bluster about the "1967 border" being a sacred line behind which Israel must withdraw becomes meaningless.

While not conceding a "demilitarized state" by name, Abbas apparently offered that the "sovereign" Palestinian state "would have the right to possess the weapons necessary for the full assumption of its responsibilities" but only "in cooperation with [a] third party." This third party is not named, but this is almost certainly a reference to the United States, which has since the George W. Bush Administration armed and trained PA militias under the supervision of Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton to go out and hunt Palestinians who resist the occupation; US officials have often stated that these repressive militias are to be the nucleus of the armed forces of the future Palestinian state.

Given that the purpose of negotiations is presumably to reach an outcome that lies somewhere between the starting positions of both parties, it is horrifying to think that these proposals are Abbas' and Erekat's starting positions. Even if Israel were to grant them, which it clearly will not in any US-brokered process, the end result would be a Palestinian pseudo-state: a bantustan. It would not be a state that fulfills Palestinian rights, but exists in order to deny them, particularly the right of return.

The incoherence of this approach is further highlighted by the fact that the paper accuses the Obama Administration of first promising Abbas that any negotiations would restart from the December 2008 point, and then abandoning that promise. Yet despite the apparent betrayal on this issue and the settlement freeze, the Erekat paper still proposes that the Palestinians "[u]rge the US to propose principles for the resolution of all core, final status issues borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, security, water, prisoners ..."!

This addiction to always-broken American promises recalls the iconic episode in the Peanuts comic strip where Charlie Brown repeatedly runs to kick a ball held in place by Lucy; each time, Lucy pulls the ball away at the last second leaving Charlie Brown to fall flat on his back. And each time, Charlie Brown believes Lucy's renewed promises that the next time she will hold the ball in place.

The Erekat paper provides insight into the thought processes of a "leadership" that has not only lost all legitimacy, but does not dare to even to speak about the rights of the people it purports to represent. Indeed, it holds those people and their rights in utter contempt.

While appealing for "national unity," the paper continues to propagate the false story of a Hamas "coup" in Gaza in fact the Abbas leadership through its warlord Muhammad Dahlan had tried, ever since Hamas won elections in 2006, to launch a civil war to violently overthrow the group as part of a scheme conceived and executed in collaboration with then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and approved by President Bush -- see David Rose, "The Gaza Bombshell," Vanity Fair, April 2008 .

Apparently aware of the utter lack of credibility that the Ramallah Palestinian Authority and the Abbas-controlled skeleton of the PLO have, the Erekat paper proposes a sort of PA hasbara campaign among the Palestinian diaspora in Europe, the Americas and Asia, "to confirm the unified and legitimate representation by the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO wherever they are." This strategy, to be conducted by the "PLO Expatriates Affairs Department" as if Palestinians are merely emigrés and not refugees , the "Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and Fatah itself is aimed to "protect the question of Palestine from attempts targeting the promotion of division, separation and fragmentation and finding an alternative for the PLO by manipulating resistance and religion."

In other words, the Abbas leadership wants to export its civil war to the diaspora. Indeed, we have already seen this effort begin with the attempted launch of the Abbas-controlled "Palestine Network" aimed to divide and co-opt Palestinian activists "USPCN: 'Palestine Network' is a PA Attempt to Divide the Palestinian People and Surrender their Rights," 20 November 2009 .

Nowhere of course does the Erekat paper actually propose reviving and democratizing the PLO and really involving Palestinians whose voices have been so long shut out by the corrupt and oppressive Oslo clique. It does not recognize or mention the growing civil society-led campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions which scares Israel much more than Erekat's barking , and mentions the one-state solution only in passing without acknowledging the serious work that has already been done to develop and disseminate this idea.

This is not surprising; to acknowledge any of that would be to admit that the fiction of US-brokered negotiations is over, that those who acted in it and benefitted from it for so long have already done all the damage they can do to the Palestinian people and their rights, and that they should leave the stage.

Download the NAD-PLO's report [PDF]

Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.

]]>
SOUTH LEBANON Blog: Biden Calls to Implement Resolution 1701 to… Disarm Hezbollah! http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/biden-calls-to-implement-resolution.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:23:00 +0100 SOUTH LEBANON Blog http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/ http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/biden-calls-to-implement-resolution.html Once again, the United States did its best to confirm its "strategic alliance" with the Zionist entity…

Once again, the United States raised the voice to tell the whole world that the Israeli enemy is not only its favorite ally but even more…

Thus, US Vice President Joe Biden didn't hesitate to repeat from Tel Aviv threats and statements earlier delivered by Israeli officials against Lebanon, from the President Shimon Peres to the Defense Minister Ehud Barak without forgetting the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…

In fact, Biden wants Israel and Lebanon to implement the international resolution 1701 that put an end to the Israeli war against Lebanon in 2006. But the reason is not to consolidate stability in Lebanon and the occupied territories. The goal is, too simply, to disarm Hezbollah!

Speaking at Tel Aviv University, Biden claimed that Hezbollah's weapons represent a threat to both "Israel and Lebanese civilians."

He stressed the persistence of Washington in supporting Lebanon's institutions and working on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 "to stop the flow of arms to Hezbollah," according to his terms.

Even more, the US official pretended that Iran was the greatest threat to the region due to its alleged nuclear program and, of course, its sponsoring of the Resistance in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Biden confirmed that Washington will send a new ambassador to Syria to enhance diplomatic relations. However, he called for keeping an eye on Damascus' acts that may jeopardize "the security of Israel and the region."

Biden implored Israelis and Palestinians to move beyond a diplomatic spat that has marred his trip to the region, urging the sides to waste no time in resolving their decades-old conflict despite daunting obstacles.

Biden used conciliatory language as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the area in an apparent attempt to get past the uproar sparked by an Israeli plan for new settlement construction in occupied Jerusalem.

Yet, one expression said by Biden summarized the whole story: "The US has no better friend than Israel"!

Source
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SOUTH LEBANON Blog: US has no better friend than Israel, says Biden http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-has-no-better-friend-than-israel.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:19:00 +0100 SOUTH LEBANON Blog http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/ http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-has-no-better-friend-than-israel.html US Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at Tel Aviv University on Thursday, said that Washington has no better friend in the world than Israel.

Some years ago "I said if I was Jew, I would be a Zionist," Biden said, speaking o of his affinity for Israel since childhood.

"I was reminded by my father you need not be a Jew to be a Zionist," he remarked.

The US vice president added that Washington helps Israel out with around USD 3 billion worth of military aid every year.

Biden's comments come on his third day visit to Israel and once again raising the question of US ability to be a neutral mediator in Middle East peace talks.

Biden who is on a five-days visit to Israel also warned that Iran will face more sanctions and further isolation over its nuclear program.

He said the United States wants to rally the international community to impose tougher sanctions on Tehran.

The US and Israel claim that Iran is pursuing a nuclear military program through its enrichment activities. Tehran, however, denies the charges saying its nuclear program is peaceful and solely aimed at civilian application of the technology.

Biden concluded by emphasizing there should be no further delays in Israel-Palestinian talks, despite Tel-Aviv's new settlement plans on occupied Palestinian land.

Source
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SOUTH LEBANON Blog: Several injured as Israeli planes bomb Gaza Strip http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/several-injured-as-israeli-planes-bomb.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:15:00 +0100 SOUTH LEBANON Blog http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/ http://jnoubiyeh.blogspot.com/2010/03/several-injured-as-israeli-planes-bomb.html Several Palestinians have been injured as Israeli aircraft bomb two sites in southern Gaza Strip early Friday, the army and witnesses said.

The Israeli military said it blew up a metal workshop in Khan Yunis in the early hours of Friday, injuring several people.

The condition of the injured was not immediately clear, witnesses said.

Minutes later, a second strike targeted a tunnel in the border town of Rafah, the Israeli military said.

The army claims that the two strikes were in retaliation to a Thursday rocket attack that hit an empty workshop on a kibbutz in southern Israel, but caused no casualties.

The attacks come as US Vice President Joe Biden is wrapping up a 5-day visit to the region.

Source
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Aletho News: The peace-process masquerade falls apart http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-peace-process-masquerade-falls-apart/ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:14:24 +0100 Aletho News http://alethonews.wordpress.com http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-peace-process-masquerade-falls-apart/
By Paul Woodward | March 11, 2010

It turns out that at least when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the difference between the Bush administration and the Obama administration is this: team Bush had better choreography.

The Guardian now reports:

The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced they were pulling out of a new round of indirect negotiations before they had begun.

The Palestinian move was in protest against Israel’s decision to build hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.

The withdrawal from negotiations, announced in Cairo by Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, represents a major setback to months of diplomacy by the US administration prior to Biden’s visit to the region.

The US vice-president said an agreement would be “profoundly” in Israel’s interests and appealed to the Israeli government to make a serious attempt to reach peace with the Palestinians

Even so, Biden went on to say that in Israel the US has “no better friend”.

Does the vice president, does this administration, have no dignity?

Is it so craven that in the moment of its humiliation it feels driven to ingratiate itself even further?

What Goliaths are these that never fail in turning America’s leaders into gibbering fools?

Gideon Levy offers credit where credit is due:

Here’s someone new to blame for everything: Eli Yishai. After all, Benjamin Netanyahu wanted it so much, Ehud Barak pressed so hard, Shimon Peres wielded so much influence – and along came the interior minister and ruined everything.

There we were, on the brink of another historic upheaval almost . Proximity talks with the Palestinians were in the air, peace was knocking on the door, the occupation was nearing its end – and then a Shas rogue, who knows nothing about timing and diplomacy, came and shuffled all the proximity and peace cards.

The scoundrel appeared in the midst of the smile- and hug-fest with the vice president of the United States and disrupted the celebration. Joe Biden’s white-toothed smiles froze abruptly, the great friendship was about to disintegrate, and even the dinner with the prime minister and his wife was almost canceled, along with the entire “peace process.” And all because of Yishai.

Well, the interior minister does deserve our modest thanks. The move was perfect. The timing, which everyone is complaining about, was brilliant. It was exactly the time to call a spade a spade. As always, we need Yishai and occasionally Avigdor Lieberman to expose our true face, without the mask and lies, and play the enfant terrible who shouts that the emperor has no clothes.

For the emperor indeed has no clothes. Thank you, Yishai, for exposing it. Thank you for ripping the disguise off the revelers in the great ongoing peace-process masquerade in which nobody means anything or believes in anything.


Filed under: "Hope and Change", Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism ]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: PLO paper reveals leadership bereft of strategy, legitimacy http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/plo-paper-reveals-leadership-bereft-of.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:42:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/plo-paper-reveals-leadership-bereft-of.html The Electronic Intifada,

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 11 March 2010


Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas listens to US Vice President Joe Biden at a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday 10 March. Biden condemned Israeli plans to build an additional 1,600 settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem but insisted that indirect US-brokered peace talks should proceed despite Abbas' objections. MaanImages

At last September's New York summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, US President Barack Obama publicly abandoned his demand that Israel halt construction of colonies in the occupied West Bank as a precursor to the resumption of US-brokered negotiations. Thus, Obama humiliatingly signaled the collapse of his much-hyped peace effort.

Since then, Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, has been shuttling about looking for a face-saving formula to make it seem as if there were still a "peace process" that might one day result in a two-state solution.

After months of effort, the US managed to bludgeon and cajole Abbas and certain "moderate" Arab states into backing "indirect talks" between Israel and Abbas, even as Israel escalates its ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, its colonization of the West Bank, its blockade of Gaza and its daily rounds of murders and kidnappings of Palestinians throughout the occupied territories. Even this meager achievement seemed in doubt after Netanyahu's government brazenly announced an additional 1,600 Jewish-only homes during a visit to Israel by US Vice President Joe Biden.

There is no doubt that the Obama Administration will press on with the charade of negotiations no matter what. The alternative would be to actually use the massive US subsidies Israel receives to tame its rogue behavior. But Obama, before and after entering office, never showed the slightest inclination to do that despite naïve and inflated expectations across the Arab world and within peace process industry circles , and will not do so now as his vulnerable Democratic Party heads for midterm elections with virtually no achievements to present to voters.

Amid this dismal situation, comes a new paper by Saeb Erekat, senior aide to Abbas, and "chief negotiator" for the US-backed Ramallah Palestinian Authority PA .

The 7,000-plus word document, produced by the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization NAD-PLO , is clumsily titled "The Political Situation in Light of Developments with the US Administration and Israeli Government and Hamas' Continued Coup d'etat: Recommendations and options." NAD-PLO is actually administered by the Adam Smith Institute, "the UK's leading free market think tank," and funded entirely by Western governments.

Dated December 2009, the paper was reported on in several Israeli newspapers in mid-February, and distributed to European and other diplomats as a warning that the Palestinians had options other than continuing with futile negotiations. They could, for example, abandon the two-state solution and call for one state, it warns. However, a close reading reveals a different picture.

The paper is very poorly-written, repetitive and at times barely coherent. One passage reads: "Accreditation papers cannot be presented to the US Administration and to others without the Palestinian paper. These issues bear a significant link with the forcible take-over of the Gaza Strip, which cannot be construed except by accurately understanding regional developments and how to present accreditation papers." There is much more of this jumbled, and seemingly nonsensical language -- all those governments should wonder what their money is really buying!

Nevertheless, a key concern does emerge: Erekat is very worried that the US will pressure Abbas to resume negotiations from scratch, instead of from the point at which they ended in December 2008 with the previous Israeli government headed by Ehud Olmert. Indeed, the paper makes this precise demand no fewer than 15 times, warning that failure to start from that point would make Palestinians vulnerable to "Netanyahu's vision" which would mean Palestinians "will be obliged to accept Israeli positions" particularly its refusal to negotiate about Jerusalem, "as well as recognize Israel as a Jewish state." The paper warns that "The file of refugees will be excluded from negotiations and Palestinians [would] need to agree that Israel preserve control over Palestinian border crossings and aerial space."

Only starting from the point reached in December 2008, it would seem, could stave off such a disaster! But in fact, the paper lays out in detail what was supposedly agreed by December 2008 and it is clear that on all the key issues the Abbas leadership had already conceded to Israel's demands in principle and in practice.

Abbas had offered and Israel had rejected that only 15,000 refugees per year return to the lands from which they were ethnically cleansed in what is now Israel, for a period of ten years. This effectively cancels the right of return, and acts as a de facto recognition of Israel's "right to exist as a Jewish state" by conceding that its racist exclusion of non-Jewish Palestinians trumps the refugees' human right to go home.

Moreover, the Erekat paper makes no mention whatsoever of the "right of return" -- a fundamental consensus demand of Palestinians inside the country and in the diaspora -- but refers vaguely to a "just and agreed solution in accordance with UN [General Assembly Resolution] 194." It does not call for implementation of the resolution -- which demands that any refugee who wishes to do so be allowed home "at the earliest practicable date." Needless to say, what Israel considers "just" and would agree to is completely at odds with Palestinian rights and international law. Indeed, Olmert had offered the return of 1,000 refugees per year for five years -- or about one tenth of one percent of all refugees.

As far as territory is concerned, the paper reveals that Abbas conceded Israeli demands to annex large settlement blocs all over Jerusalem and across the West Bank. Once this concession is made, all the bluster about the "1967 border" being a sacred line behind which Israel must withdraw becomes meaningless.

While not conceding a "demilitarized state" by name, Abbas apparently offered that the "sovereign" Palestinian state "would have the right to possess the weapons necessary for the full assumption of its responsibilities" but only "in cooperation with [a] third party." This third party is not named, but this is almost certainly a reference to the United States, which has since the George W. Bush Administration armed and trained PA militias under the supervision of Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton to go out and hunt Palestinians who resist the occupation; US officials have often stated that these repressive militias are to be the nucleus of the armed forces of the future Palestinian state.


Given that the purpose of negotiations is presumably to reach an outcome that lies somewhere between the starting positions of both parties, it is horrifying to think that these proposals are Abbas' and Erekat's starting positions. Even if Israel were to grant them, which it clearly will not in any US-brokered process, the end result would be a Palestinian pseudo-state: a bantustan. It would not be a state that fulfills Palestinian rights, but exists in order to deny them, particularly the right of return.

The incoherence of this approach is further highlighted by the fact that the paper accuses the Obama Administration of first promising Abbas that any negotiations would restart from the December 2008 point, and then abandoning that promise. Yet despite the apparent betrayal on this issue and the settlement freeze, the Erekat paper still proposes that the Palestinians "[u]rge the US to propose principles for the resolution of all core, final status issues borders, settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, security, water, prisoners ..."!

This addiction to always-broken American promises recalls the iconic episode in the Peanuts comic strip where Charlie Brown repeatedly runs to kick a ball held in place by Lucy; each time, Lucy pulls the ball away at the last second leaving Charlie Brown to fall flat on his back. And each time, Charlie Brown believes Lucy's renewed promises that the next time she will hold the ball in place.

The Erekat paper provides insight into the thought processes of a "leadership" that has not only lost all legitimacy, but does not dare to even to speak about the rights of the people it purports to represent. Indeed, it holds those people and their rights in utter contempt.

While appealing for "national unity," the paper continues to propagate the false story of a Hamas "coup" in Gaza in fact the Abbas leadership through its warlord Muhammad Dahlan had tried, ever since Hamas won elections in 2006, to launch a civil war to violently overthrow the group as part of a scheme conceived and executed in collaboration with then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and approved by President Bush -- see David Rose, "The Gaza Bombshell," Vanity Fair, April 2008 .

Apparently aware of the utter lack of credibility that the Ramallah Palestinian Authority and the Abbas-controlled skeleton of the PLO have, the Erekat paper proposes a sort of PA hasbara campaign among the Palestinian diaspora in Europe, the Americas and Asia, "to confirm the unified and legitimate representation by the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO wherever they are." This strategy, to be conducted by the "PLO Expatriates Affairs Department" as if Palestinians are merely emigrés and not refugees , the "Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and Fatah itself is aimed to "protect the question of Palestine from attempts targeting the promotion of division, separation and fragmentation and finding an alternative for the PLO by manipulating resistance and religion."

In other words, the Abbas leadership wants to export its civil war to the diaspora. Indeed, we have already seen this effort begin with the attempted launch of the Abbas-controlled "Palestine Network" aimed to divide and co-opt Palestinian activists "USPCN: 'Palestine Network' is a PA Attempt to Divide the Palestinian People and Surrender their Rights," 20 November 2009 .

Nowhere of course does the Erekat paper actually propose reviving and democratizing the PLO and really involving Palestinians whose voices have been so long shut out by the corrupt and oppressive Oslo clique. It does not recognize or mention the growing civil society-led campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions which scares Israel much more than Erekat's barking , and mentions the one-state solution only in passing without acknowledging the serious work that has already been done to develop and disseminate this idea.

This is not surprising; to acknowledge any of that would be to admit that the fiction of US-brokered negotiations is over, that those who acted in it and benefitted from it for so long have already done all the damage they can do to the Palestinian people and their rights, and that they should leave the stage.

Download the NAD-PLO's report [PDF]

Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
]]>
Chet-JUSTICE: Analysis: "Welcome to Israel, Joe!" http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/analysis-welcome-to-israel-joe.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:18:00 +0100 Chet-JUSTICE http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/ http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/analysis-welcome-to-israel-joe.html Palestine Center Brief No. 193 11 March 2010

By Yousef Munayyer

When he visited the Middle East, then Senator Barack Obama had a rude awakening. He was on the ritual visit for American presidential candidates to Israel, which usually consist of touring sites of significance to Jews and declaring support for the state of Israel. This is important for American politicians who pay homage to an influential pro-Israel lobby, and it was even more important for President Obama. His background, his middle name, his father’s religion and his associations with Arabs and Muslims made him a target of critics who claimed he would be soft on security.

So, with a yarmulke upon his head, Barack Hussein Obama recited prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. But before his prayers could transcend the clouds and make it up to heaven, Obama was reminded just what he was getting into. In the crowd of onlookers and media that had formed around him, a heckler yelled out, “Jerusalem is ours, Obama. Jerusalem is not for sale, Obama.”

Though it is doubtful that the unidentified heckler was Binyamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli prime minister, the same message was sent to the Obama administration this week from the Israeli government. After months of disagreement with the Israelis over their settlement policy, Vice President Joe Biden became the highest ranking Obama administration official to visit Israel and he was greeted by the announcement of 1,600 new settlement homes in occupied East Jerusalem.

Welcome to Israel, Joe.

Whether from hecklers or through government declarations the message from Israel to Washington is clear: we’ll take what we want and you cannot stop us.

The problem is the message from Washington to Israel has been far too ambiguous. The Israeli government, addicted to gobbling up Palestinian land, is taking every opportunity to exploit this ambiguity and embarrass American and Palestinian officials while they are at it.

Some argue that the Obama administration made a strategic mistake by raising expectations before guaranteeing full Israeli compliance with a settlement freeze. They are only partially right. The Obama administration was, in fact, right to raise expectations and capitalize on a wave of good faith resulting from a historic election welcomed around the world and in the Middle East in particular. The strategic mistake, and a big one at that, was the failure to apply the necessary pressure on Israel to force compliance with a full settlement freeze.

It has been said that to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results is insanity. Why then should the United States expect anything other than continued Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and in Jerusalem without applying the necessary sanctions to modify Israeli behavior? It is very clear, given the insulting announcement that the Israelis greeted Vice President Biden with, that asking them politely is simply not working.

For two decades of “peace process” the United States has failed to pressure Israel and, low and behold during this time period, settlements have only grown in size and population. In the last 20 years, the number of settlers on occupied Palestinian land has doubled and walls have been built around these Israeli colonies creating a near inextricable reality.

If this doesn’t change, nothing will stop Israel from completing its colonial project and the world will continue to live with an apartheid state in its midst.

The tools for change have always been in Washington but domestic politics have always made selecting to use these tools unpopular choices. The U.S. Congress is staunchly pro-Israel and looks at the Middle East blindly following the whims of influential pro-Israel lobbies.

Therefore, the Executive Branch will have to take unilateral steps to change the tone. The president has multiple tools at his disposal through the State Department, like the American vote in the Security Council, for example, which has been the single veto on nearly 40 occasions to save Israel from condemnation.

Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to be visiting DC at the end of this month; interestingly President Obama is conveniently scheduled to be traveling at the same time. Wouldn’t it be fitting for the White House to take a page from Israel’s book and announce a halt to U.S. support while the Israeli prime minister is in Washington?

Maybe, just maybe, if we communicated with the Israelis through a method they are familiar with they will finally get the message.

Yousef Munayyer is Executive Director of the Palestine Center. This policy brief may be used without permission but with proper attribution to the Center.

The views in this brief are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.

Source:]]>
Aletho News: The Obama administration asked for the East Jerusalem fiasco http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-obama-administration-asked-for-the-east-jerusalem-fiasco/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:06:22 +0100 Aletho News http://alethonews.wordpress.com http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-obama-administration-asked-for-the-east-jerusalem-fiasco/
By Yossi Sarid | Haaretz | March 11, 2010

Don’t believe Benjamin Netanyahu for one moment when he says he “never knew.” The Jerusalem planning committee is only too aware of what the bosses want, and the government has decided to step up construction in greater Jerusalem. Dispossession and taking possession, kicking out and moving in – that’s what it’s all about.

Over the years, a streamlined and generously lubricated machine has evolved, one that makes it possible to take solace in the building of Jerusalem in the phrase used to console mourners and to take pride – but also to take cover – behind a facade of disingenuousness and disowning. Yesterday, it was convenient to disown.

No pretext is more dismal than “bad timing.” Ehud Barak immediately put out a press release about the “harmful timing of the publication.” As if there were a proper time for provocations. If the announcement of the 1,600 planned housing units had come before Joe Biden’s trip, they would have said it was aimed at sabotaging the visit, and if it happened after he left, they would have said Biden himself was in on the secret.

But with Barak, that willing slave-minister of Netanyahu’s, everything’s cool, but if only they had kept that call for bids confidential, if only they built apartments in some dark secluded hideaway, like the Western Wall tunnel.

Don’t believe for a moment that they never knew: The chaos works like clockwork. The detonation mechanism is activated remotely and a safety range is carefully observed. It will always be possible to make procedural claims – “it’s a technical matter” or “the political echelon wasn’t involved” or “the timing was purely coincidental” or “three years of deliberations happened to end now.” What judge hearing a case would accept “I didn’t know” as a mitigating circumstance?

This is one visit Joe Biden will not quickly forget. First he was compelled to sit through 25 minutes of an annoying speech in his honor by our president. Shimon Peres really believes that he is the destination for pilgrims from all over the world who drink in his musings and are intoxicated by his vision.

Later, Biden was given a certificate memorializing his mother, but the glass broke. Once again, Bibi didn’t pay attention, leaned on it and shattered it. No fear, his speeches have always diverted attention from such mishaps. And finally, to add a finishing touch of infuriating disgrace, the Haredi neighborhood Ramat Shlomo was dumped on the vice-presidential head.

Truth be told, the Obama administration just about asked for this slap. In Jerusalem, the lesson has been learned that the White House doesn’t fulfill its obligations – it just goes through the motions by issuing insincere rebukes. And now, they’ll begin the “proximity talks” – Orwellian for distance, which is greater than it’s been in 20 years.

If I were Rahm Emanuel, I wouldn’t advise Barack Obama to follow in his Veep’s footsteps and visit Israel soon. It’s safe to predict that on the day he’s addressing the Knesset, they’ll tell him work has begun on the Temple Mount. The first Temple was that of Solomon the Wise, the Second was that of Ezra the Scribe, and the Third of Netanyahu and Eli Yishai. Let the Temple be built, and the home of the nation will be laid waste.


Filed under: Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Supremacism, Social Darwinism ]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Is the PA capitulating to Israel? http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-pa-capitulating-to-israel.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:19:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-pa-capitulating-to-israel.html PIC

[ 11/03/2010 - 12:24 AM ]

By Khalid Amayreh

No sooner had the Obama administration announced the resumption of “indirect” talks between Israel and the PA regime than Israel announced new plans to expand Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank .

On Tuesday, as visiting US Vice president Joe Biden was showering Israel with the usually excessive praise, the Israeli Interior Ministry, headed by Eli Yeshai, announced plans to build 1600 new settler units in East Jerusalem.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, Okayed the construction of 112 additional settler units in the West Bank, effectively terminating an earlier half-hearted decision to partially freeze Jewish settlement expansion for eight months.

The continued aggrandizement of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is meant to decapitate once and for all the prospects of establishing a viable Palestinian state.

In fact, it is more than clear that the Israeli strategy of thwarting Palestinian statehood is succeeding despite all feeble American objections and helpless Palestinian and Arab protestations.

In the final analysis, the US gives words, empty words and shallow promises about peace efforts, while Israel is tearing the West Bank into pieces and making the realization of Palestinian statehood a distant dream.

The latest Israeli measures should also be viewed as a profound insult to Arab leaders who have decided to “give peace a chance” by okaying the resumption of indirect but seemingly futile peace talks between an insolent Israel ruled by the most fascist and anti-peace elements in Israel’s history and a powerless, impotent and bankrupt Palestinian leadership that has lost nearly all pretensions of national responsibility.

What else can be said of an artificial entity that keeps pandering to the enemies of the Palestinian people as if the disgraceful sycophancy would make Israel reconsider its evil designs and enable the Palestinian people to regain their rights and dignity.

The latest Israeli provocations also expose the total bankruptcy of official Arab political thinking, espoused by the Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian regimes. These regimes are of the opinion that the more concessions and sacrifices Palestinians make for “peace with Israel ,” the more good-will Israel will show toward the Palestinians.

Obviously, Arab despots, who mostly excel in tormenting and oppressing their own peoples for Israel’s and America’s sake, don’t know that Israel is very much like a vicious crocodiles, the more meat you give it, the more it will seek.

It is really sad for the Palestinians that their enduring just cause is being entrusted to a feeble leadership which itself is entrusting it to totally impotent and bankrupt Arab dictatorships which would go to any extent to appease Israel and its guardian ally, the United States.

The Palestinian leadership eventually got what it wanted from the so-called Arab leaderships, namely an Arab endorsement of the PA retreat from its erstwhile posture that refused to return to moribund talks with Israel, which even children in Palestinian streets know well would lead nowhere except to more frustration and capitulation.

Indeed, the feeble PA reactions to the latest Israeli provocations underscore the pathetic state of a “leadership” that has lost touch with reality after losing touch with the people.

Such a leadership not only will fail to make any gains for the Palestinian cause but will also keep moving from one disaster to the other, all in the name of realism, pragmatism…and peace!!!

The new planned expansion of Jewish settlements, timed to coincide with the a visit to occupied Palestine by Vice President Biden, is also meant as a message of defiance to the Obama administration which apparently has been paralyzed by the extent to which the American Jewish lobby is willing to confront the administration on Israel’s behalf.

In fact, the Israeli behavior is very telling. It tells the Americans, that no matter how much praise you bestow on us and how much infatuation you display with Israel , the Jewish state will do what it wants irrespective of the whims of the “black goy” at the White House.

Biden, a veteran lover of Israel , has gone as far as any American political prostitute would in praising and glorifying Israel , a state that thrives on murder, land theft and aggression, all in the hope that the depraved embrace of Israeli Nazism would make a dent in Israeli thinking.

He said “the cornerstone of the relations is our absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel ’s security.” Biden also told Shimon Peres, the unprosecuted and unpunished hero of the Qana massacre, that “It’s good to be home!!”

Well, with morally bankrupt American politicians readily willing to cheapen and prostitute themselves and their country by pandering to a state that only last year committed Nazi-like war crimes in the Gaza Strip, Israel is under no pressure or obligation to show the slightest respect for the rulers of America.

It is these rulers after all that have prostituted their country and Israel is only following the normal order of things.

I really don’t know when the PA and its tyrannical Arab allies will realize that peace with Israel is impossible, given Israel ’s consistent goals of ethnical cleansing and colonialism at the expense of the national rights of the Palestinian people.

Similarly, I don’t know how much longer PA officials will keep issuing the same idle statements about the damage Israeli provocations are causing to the proverbial peace process, a process based on a substance of deception and lies.

What is clear though is that the PA and Arab tyrants have reached a new level of depravity and moral stagnation so much that absolutely nothing good or positive could be expected from them.

The Arab poet said “He that disgraces himself shall be vulnerable to further disgrace. A wound in a dead body doesn’t make pain.”
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: DAY ONE OF THE CORRIE FAMILY TRIAL http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/day-one-of-corrie-family-trial.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/day-one-of-corrie-family-trial.html DesertPeaceMarch 11, 2010 at 11:58 am Activism, Assassinations, Gaza, International Solidarity, Israel, Palestine, Rachel Corrie, War Crimes

British activist saw Rachel Corrie die under Israeli bulldozer, court hears
Rory McCarthy in Haifa
Richard Purssell describes ’shocking event’ in Haifa court on first day of civil suit brought by Corrie family against Israel
Court begins hearing civil suit brought against Israeli government over death of US activist killed by Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza. A British witness told a court today about how he had watched an Israeli military bulldozer run over and kill the American activist Rachel Corrie while she was trying to stop Palestinians’ homes being demolished in Gaza.

Richard Purssell, who was also a volunteer activist in Rafah at the time, seven years ago, described the “shocking and dramatic event” in an Israeli court in Haifa on the first day of a civil suit brought by Corrie’s family against the Israeli state.

Twenty-three-year-old Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, in the US, went to Gaza for peace activism reasons at a time when there was intense conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinians.

The Corrie family lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said he would argue that her death was due either to gross negligence by the Israeli military or that it was intended. If the Israeli state were found responsible, the family would press for damages.

Purssell, a Briton, now working as a landscape gardener, said he volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement ISM to witness events in the occupied Palestinian territories for himself. In Rafah he had been hoping to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing Palestinian homes. The organisation was strictly non violent, he said. “Our role was to support Palestinian non-violent resistance.”

On the day of her death, 16 March 2003, Corrie was with seven other activists, including Purssell, in Rafah, close to the Israeli-guarded border with Egypt. They saw an Israeli military armoured Caterpillar D9 bulldozer approaching the house of a Palestinian doctor.

Purssell described how the bulldozer approached at a fast walking pace, its blade down and gathering a pile of soil in its path. When the bulldozer was 20 metres from the house Corrie, who like the others was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, climbed on to the soil in front of it and stood “looking into the cab of the bulldozer”.

“The bulldozer continued to move forward,” Purssell said. “Rachel turned to come back down the slope. The earth is still moving and as she nears the bottom of the pile something happened which causes her to fall forward. The bulldozer continued to move forward and Rachel disappeared from view under the moving earth.”
The bulldozer continued forward four metres as the activists began to run forward and shout at the driver.

“It passed the point where Rachel fell, it stopped and reversed back along the track it first made. Rachel was lying on the earth,” Purssell said. “She was still breathing.” Corrie was severely injured and died shortly afterwards.

The Israeli military says it bears no responsibility for Corrie’s death. A month after her death the military said an investigation had determined its troops were not to blame; the driver of the bulldozer had not seen her and had not intentionally run her over. It accused Corrie and the ISM of behaviour that was “illegal, irresponsible and dangerous”.

Hussein will argue at the Haifa district court that witness evidence shows that the soldiers did see Corrie at the scene, with other activists well before the incident, and that they could have arrested her or removed her from the area before there was any risk of injury.

Before the hearing began, Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father, said the family had been on a “seven-year search for justice in Rachel’s name”. He added: “I think when the truth comes out about Rachel the truth will not wound Israel, the truth is the start of making us heal.”

Cindy Corrie, Rachel’s mother, said the family was still waiting for the credible, transparent investigation Israel first promised regarding her daughter’s death. “I just want to say to Rachel that our family is here today trying to just do right by her and I hope that she will be very proud of the effort we are making,” she said. She said the family had met the staff of US vice-president Joe Biden on Tuesday to talk about the case.

Three other witnesses, two more Britons and an American, who were all at the scene in Rafah when Corrie was killed will give evidence at the Israeli court. It is not clear if any Israeli military officials will speak.

The hearing is scheduled to run for at least two weeks.
Source including video
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
Desertpeace: DAY ONE OF THE CORRIE FAMILY TRIAL http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/day-one-of-the-corrie-family-trial/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:58:49 +0100 Desertpeace http://desertpeace.wordpress.com http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/day-one-of-the-corrie-family-trial/

British activist saw Rachel Corrie die under Israeli bulldozer, court hears

Rory McCarthy in Haifa

Richard Purssell describes ’shocking event’ in Haifa court on first day of civil suit brought by Corrie family against Israel

Court begins hearing civil suit brought against Israeli government over death of US activist killed by Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza. A British witness told a court today about how he had watched an Israeli military bulldozer run over and kill the American activist Rachel Corrie while she was trying to stop Palestinians’ homes being demolished in Gaza.

Richard Purssell, who was also a volunteer activist in Rafah at the time, seven years ago, described the “shocking and dramatic event” in an Israeli court in Haifa on the first day of a civil suit brought by Corrie’s family against the Israeli state.

Twenty-three-year-old Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, in the US, went to Gaza for peace activism reasons at a time when there was intense conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinians.

The Corrie family lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said he would argue that her death was due either to gross negligence by the Israeli military or that it was intended. If the Israeli state were found responsible, the family would press for damages.

Purssell, a Briton, now working as a landscape gardener, said he volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement ISM to witness events in the occupied Palestinian territories for himself. In Rafah he had been hoping to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing Palestinian homes. The organisation was strictly non violent, he said. “Our role was to support Palestinian non-violent resistance.”

On the day of her death, 16 March 2003, Corrie was with seven other activists, including Purssell, in Rafah, close to the Israeli-guarded border with Egypt. They saw an Israeli military armoured Caterpillar D9 bulldozer approaching the house of a Palestinian doctor.

Purssell described how the bulldozer approached at a fast walking pace, its blade down and gathering a pile of soil in its path. When the bulldozer was 20 metres from the house Corrie, who like the others was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, climbed on to the soil in front of it and stood “looking into the cab of the bulldozer”.

“The bulldozer continued to move forward,” Purssell said. “Rachel turned to come back down the slope. The earth is still moving and as she nears the bottom of the pile something happened which causes her to fall forward. The bulldozer continued to move forward and Rachel disappeared from view under the moving earth.”

The bulldozer continued forward four metres as the activists began to run forward and shout at the driver.

“It passed the point where Rachel fell, it stopped and reversed back along the track it first made. Rachel was lying on the earth,” Purssell said. “She was still breathing.” Corrie was severely injured and died shortly afterwards.

The Israeli military says it bears no responsibility for Corrie’s death. A month after her death the military said an investigation had determined its troops were not to blame; the driver of the bulldozer had not seen her and had not intentionally run her over. It accused Corrie and the ISM of behaviour that was “illegal, irresponsible and dangerous”.

Hussein will argue at the Haifa district court that witness evidence shows that the soldiers did see Corrie at the scene, with other activists well before the incident, and that they could have arrested her or removed her from the area before there was any risk of injury.

Before the hearing began, Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father, said the family had been on a “seven-year search for justice in Rachel’s name”. He added: “I think when the truth comes out about Rachel the truth will not wound Israel, the truth is the start of making us heal.”

Cindy Corrie, Rachel’s mother, said the family was still waiting for the credible, transparent investigation Israel first promised regarding her daughter’s death. “I just want to say to Rachel that our family is here today trying to just do right by her and I hope that she will be very proud of the effort we are making,” she said. She said the family had met the staff of US vice-president Joe Biden on Tuesday to talk about the case.

Three other witnesses, two more Britons and an American, who were all at the scene in Rafah when Corrie was killed will give evidence at the Israeli court. It is not clear if any Israeli military officials will speak.

The hearing is scheduled to run for at least two weeks.

Source including video


Filed under: Activism, Assassinations, Gaza, International Solidarity, Israel, Palestine, Rachel Corrie, War Crimes ]]>
Desertpeace: HAS THE PALESTINIAN NON LEADERSHIP SURRENDERED? http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/has-the-palestinian-nonleadership-surrendered/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:33:11 +0100 Desertpeace http://desertpeace.wordpress.com http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/has-the-palestinian-nonleadership-surrendered/
Is the PA capitulating to Israel?

by Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine

No sooner had the Obama administration announced the resumption of “indirect” talks between Israel and the PA regime than Israel announced new plans to expand Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank .

On Tuesday, as visiting US Vice president Joe Biden was showering Israel with the usually excessive praise, the Israeli Interior Ministry, headed by Eli Yeshai, announced plans to build 1600 new settler units in East Jerusalem.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, Okayed the construction of 112 additional settler units in the West Bank, effectively terminating an earlier half-hearted decision to partially freeze Jewish settlement expansion for eight months.

The continued aggrandizement of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is meant to decapitate once and for all the prospects of establishing a viable Palestinian state.

In fact, it is more than clear that the Israeli strategy of thwarting Palestinian statehood is succeeding despite all feeble American objections and helpless Palestinian and Arab protestations.

In the final analysis, the US gives words, empty words and shallow promises about peace efforts, while Israel is tearing the West Bank into pieces and making the realization of Palestinian statehood a distant dream.

The latest Israeli measures should also be viewed as a profound insult to Arab leaders who have decided to “give peace a chance” by okaying the resumption of indirect but seemingly futile peace talks between an insolent Israel ruled by the most fascist and anti-peace elements in Israel’s history and a powerless, impotent and bankrupt Palestinian leadership that has lost nearly all pretensions of national responsibility.

What else can be said of an artificial entity that keeps pandering to the enemies of the Palestinian people as if the disgraceful sycophancy would make Israel reconsider its evil designs and enable the Palestinian people to regain their rights and dignity.

The latest Israeli provocations also expose the total bankruptcy of official Arab political thinking, espoused by the Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanian regimes. These regimes are of the opinion that the more concessions and sacrifices Palestinians make for “peace with Israel ,” the more good-will Israel will show toward the Palestinians.

Obviously, Arab despots, who mostly excel in tormenting and oppressing their own peoples for Israel’s and America’s sake, don’t know that Israel is very much like a vicious crocodiles, the more meat you give it, the more it will seek.

It is really sad for the Palestinians that their enduring just cause is being entrusted to a feeble leadership which itself is entrusting it to totally impotent and bankrupt Arab dictatorships which would go to any extent to appease Israel and its guardian ally, the United States.

The Palestinian leadership eventually got what it wanted from the so-called Arab leaderships, namely an Arab endorsement of the PA retreat from its erstwhile posture that refused to return to moribund talks with Israel, which even children in Palestinian streets know well would lead nowhere except to more frustration and capitulation.

Indeed, the feeble PA reactions to the latest Israeli provocations underscore the pathetic state of a “leadership” that has lost touch with reality after losing touch with the people.

Such a leadership not only will fail to make any gains for the Palestinian cause but will also keep moving from one disaster to the other, all in the name of realism, pragmatism…and peace!!!

The new planned expansion of Jewish settlements, timed to coincide with the a visit to occupied Palestine by Vice President Biden, is also meant as a message of defiance to the Obama administration which apparently has been paralyzed by the extent to which the American Jewish lobby is willing to confront the administration on Israel’s behalf.

In fact, the Israeli behavior is very telling. It tells the Americans, that no matter how much praise you bestow on us and how much infatuation you display with Israel , the Jewish state will do what it wants irrespective of the whims of the “black goy” at the White House.

Biden, a veteran lover of Israel , has gone as far as any American political prostitute would in praising and glorifying Israel , a state that thrives on murder, land theft and aggression, all in the hope that the depraved embrace of Israeli Nazism would make a dent in Israeli thinking.

He said “the cornerstone of the relations is our absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel ’s security.” Biden also told Shimon Peres, the unprosecuted and unpunished hero of the Qana massacre, that “It’s good to be home!!”

Well, with morally bankrupt American politicians readily willing to cheapen and prostitute themselves and their country by pandering to a state that only last year committed Nazi-like war crimes in the Gaza Strip, Israel is under no pressure or obligation to show the slightest respect for the rulers of America.

It is these rulers after all that have prostituted their country and Israel is only following the normal order of things.

I really don’t know when the PA and its tyrannical Arab allies will realize that peace with Israel is impossible, given Israel ’s consistent goals of ethnical cleansing and colonialism at the expense of the national rights of the Palestinian people.

Similarly, I don’t know how much longer PA officials will keep issuing the same idle statements about the damage Israeli provocations are causing to the proverbial peace process, a process based on a substance of deception and lies.

What is clear though is that the PA and Arab tyrants have reached a new level of depravity and moral stagnation so much that absolutely nothing good or positive could be expected from them.

The Arab poet said “He that disgraces himself shall be vulnerable to further disgrace. A wound in a dead body doesn’t make pain.”
Filed under: Associate Post, Collaboration, Corrupt Politics, Israel, Occupied West Bank, Palestine, Palestinian Authority ]]> Chet-JUSTICE: Joe Biden steps up pressure on Israel over E Jerusalem http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/joe-biden-steps-up-pressure-on-israel.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:18:00 +0100 Chet-JUSTICE http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/ http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/joe-biden-steps-up-pressure-on-israel.html "Yesterday, the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust - the trust that we need right now in order to begin as well as produce profitable negotiations." US Vice-President Joe Biden has again condemned Israel over a controversial building project, saying its approval undermined trust in the peace process.

Mr Biden was speaking after meeting the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank.

Mr Abbas also said the approval of another 1,600 homes in occupied East Jerusalem threatened the peace process and demanded the plans be scrapped.

Israel has insisted the move had nothing to do with Mr Biden's visit.

'Lasting peace'

Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to hold indirect "proximity talks" in a bid to restart the peace process, which has been stalled for 17 months.

However, the Israeli settlement announcement has cast a shadow on those talks, with the Palestinian Authority saying the approval showed Israel believed US negotiation efforts had failed before they had even begun.

Mr Biden told a joint press conference with Mr Abbas that he would condemn all statements that inflamed the situation or prejudiced the peace process.

He said the US would play an active and sustained role in the talks process and warned that it was "incumbent on both sides not to complicate the process".

"Yesterday, the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust - the trust that we need right now in order to begin as well as produce profitable negotiations."

Mr Biden said achieving peace would require both Israel and the Palestinians to take "historically bold" steps.

Mr Abbas said he was addressing the Israeli people in saying that the "time is right for peace based on two states - an Israeli state living in peace and security alongside a Palestinian state".

He said there should be a "permanent, lasting and just peace" that took in all areas, including Syria and Lebanon.

But he was also highly critical of the planning decision, saying it represented "the ruining of trust and a serious blow" to peace efforts.

Mr Abbas has refused to resume direct negotiations with the Israeli government because of its refusal to put a complete stop to the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli denial

In November, Israel announced a 10-month suspension of new building in the West Bank, under heavy US pressure. But it considers areas within the Jerusalem municipality as its territory and the restrictions do not apply.

Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

During their dinner on Tuesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Mr Biden that he had no prior knowledge of the decision to authorise the new housing units in the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Ramat Shlomo, officials said.

He said the plans had been submitted three years ago and had only received initial approval that day.

"The district committees approve plans weekly without informing me," Interior Minister Eli Yishai, the chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning.

"If I'd have known, I would have postponed the authorisation by a week or two since we had no intention of provoking anyone."

But the US government has not accepted Israel's explanation that the announcement was essentially part of a bureaucratic process that had no connection with Mr Biden's visit, says BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen in Jerusalem.

Israel, deliberately or not, inflicted something close to a humiliation on the Obama administration and the words they chose in reaction reflected that, our correspondent says.

The UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the announcement by Israel.

"This is a bad decision at the wrong time. It will give strength to those who argue that Israel is not serious about peace," he said in a press statement.

"I condemn it as certain to undermine the mutual confidence we need."

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton also condemned the move, saying it risked peace talks before they had even begun and called on Israel to reverse the decision.

The Arab League was due to meet in Cairo to decide on a response.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev insisted Israel had "a very good working relationship and a very good personal relationship" with the US.

He dismissed speculation that the interior ministry's announcement was a deliberate move by some members of Mr Netanyahu's cabinet to scupper any chance of peace talks.

The US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, is scheduled to arrive in the region next week to conduct the second round of proximity talks.

Source:

]]>
Chet-JUSTICE: How did U.S. groups react to Biden's condemnation of Israel? http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-did-us-groups-react-to-bidens.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:45:00 +0100 Chet-JUSTICE http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/ http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-did-us-groups-react-to-bidens.html
The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation U.S. Campaign lauded Biden's statement "condemning the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem" and his promise that the United States will hold Israel "accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks."

According to Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of the U.S. Campaign,

"It's about time that the Obama administration is threatening to hold Israel accountable for obstructing U.S. policy goals to end illegal settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem and lift the illegal blockade of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Gaza Strip."

"The Obama administration must move from warnings to concrete steps to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing defiance of U.S. policy goals and international law," Ruebner added. "The most appropriate way of holding Israel accountable would be to cut off the $3 billion in military aid to Israel proposed by President Obama in his FY2011 budget request."

Americans for Peace Now said: "The optimism has already dissipated. The declaration to build in East Jerusalem is a perfect example of what Israel cannot do if it wants to be taken as a serious negotiating partner. The fact that the declaration came during Joe Biden's visit to Israel only adds insult to injury. If the U.S. wants meaning progress, it must put real pressure on the two sides and present clear U.S. principles on the core issues."

Meanwhile, Haim Malka, deputy director and senior fellow in the Middle East Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "If Netanyahu is at all serious about talks with the Palestinian Authority, this will be just the beginning of his coalition woes. Meanwhile, the Israeli bilateral relationship with the United States has just become much more difficult. It is hard to remember a time when a senior U.S. official used the word 'condemn' to describe the actions of any ally, let alone a close ally such as Israel, but that is precisely what the vice president did."

Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, called the timing of Israel's decision unfortunate but said it was not Biden's job to issue a condemnation. "The condemnation should have been issued by the State Department in Washington," said Foxman.

"By taking this erroneous step, Biden undermined the central purpose of his trip to Israel - strengthening the friendship and cooperation between Israel and the U.S. "

Source:]]>
Chet-JUSTICE: Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/president-obama-are-you-going-to-let.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:48:00 +0100 Chet-JUSTICE http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/ http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2010/03/president-obama-are-you-going-to-let.html "President Obama, Are you going to let Israel slap our faces or are you going to put a stop to It? I am personally tired of being screwed blue and tattoed." ChetSome 50,000 new housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line are in various stages of planning and approval, planning officials told Haaretz. They said Jerusalem's construction plans for the next few years, even decades, are expected to focus on East Jerusalem.

Most of the housing units will be built in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods beyond the Green Line, while a smaller number of them will be built in Arab neighborhoods. The plans for some 20,000 of the apartments are already in advanced stages of approval and implementation, while plans for the remainder have yet to be submitted to the planning committees.

The planned construction includes the 1,600 homes in the ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo that were approved Tuesday. Saying the decision undermines peace talks, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has publicly condemned the move, which the Interior Ministry announced during his visit to Israel.

Ministry officials said the announcement was not intended to coincide with Biden's visit.

If the East Jerusalem construction plans are implemented, they will make it impossible to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said an activist of the left-wing Ir Amim non-governmental organization.

"The first, most explosive 'circle of construction' in East Jerusalem is in the Old City," said Orly Noy of Ir Amim, which says it seeks to promote Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem. "The second circle is the ideological settlements being built in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in the historic basin, and the third is expanding the existing neighborhoods in the east of the city."

Taken together, the East Jerusalem construction "will move Israel beyond the point of no return, as far as an agreed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned," she said.

Municipal planning officials said the only direction in which Jerusalem can grow is eastward. The municipality ruled out westward development after the controversial Safdie Plan - a massive construction project planned for the hills west of the capital - was axed three years ago under pressure from environmental groups.

Massive construction within Jerusalem's older neighborhoods was also scrapped, since it clashed with other considerations: keeping buildings low, preserving historic buildings and streets, and retaining quality of life.

Ir Amim data show that the construction plans in advanced stages of approval are for Gilo 3,000 housing units , Har Homa 1,500 , Pisgat Ze'ev 1,500 , Givat Hamatos 3,500 , Ramot 1,200 , Armon Hanetziv 600 and Neveh Yaakov 450 .

Several construction plans are not being advanced at the moment, including a plan to build 1,300 housing units in a neighborhood in the south of the city. In addition, a plan to make Atarot an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood was put on hold after Mayor Nir Barkat decided to revitalize the industrial area there.

The state - in the form of the Israel Lands Administration and the Housing and Construction Ministry - is the main force behind these projects. Private businesses and political organizations - including settlers groups, which are building in the midst of Palestinian neighborhoods - are also advancing the projects.

The settlers groups are advancing plans to expand the Ma'aleh Zeitim settlement in Ras al Amud from 60 housing units to more than 200.

The housing shortage in Jerusalem has become more acute in recent years, especially in ultra-Orthodox areas, pushing thousands of ultra-Orthodox families a year to the Haredi cities Betar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit, in the West Bank. The West Bank construction freeze has increased the pressure to create more housing in Jerusalem.

Source:]]>
1158munich: Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem http://1158munich.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-planning-50000-housing-units-in.html Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:43:17 +0100 1158munich http://1158munich.blogspot.com/ http://1158munich.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-planning-50000-housing-units-in.html They're trying to tell the world they are interested in a peace process ... wait a minute - WHAT peace process? I can't see even an inkling of what could possibly LEAD to a peace process on the horizon ... Israel did a great job slaughtering every aspect of and even the slightest hope for it!

This article reflects a crystal-clear "I don't give a damn what you say" attitude of the Israeli government as well as a major slap in the face of President Obama and his entire administration!!

~
WHAMMO!!

Some 50,000 new housing units in Jerusalem neighborhoods beyond the Green Line are in various stages of planning and approval, planning officials told Haaretz. They said Jerusalem's construction plans for the next few years, even decades, are expected to focus on East Jerusalem.

Most of the housing units will be built in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods beyond the Green Line, while a smaller number of them will be built in Arab neighborhoods. The plans for some 20,000 of the apartments are already in advanced stages of approval and implementation, while plans for the remainder have yet to be submitted to the planning committees.

The planned construction includes the 1,600 homes in the ultra-Orthodox East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo that were approved Tuesday. Saying the decision undermines peace talks, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has publicly condemned the move, which the Interior Ministry announced during his visit to Israel.

Ministry officials said the announcement was not intended to coincide with Biden's visit.

If the East Jerusalem construction plans are implemented, they will make it impossible to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said an activist of the left-wing Ir Amim non-governmental organization.

"The first, most explosive 'circle of construction' in East Jerusalem is in the Old City," said Orly Noy of Ir Amim, which says it seeks to promote Israeli-Palestinian relations in Jerusalem. "The second circle is the ideological settlements being built in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods in the historic basin, and the third is expanding the existing neighborhoods in the east of the city."

Taken together, the East Jerusalem construction "will move Israel beyond the point of no return, as far as an agreed solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned," she said.

Municipal planning officials said the only direction in which Jerusalem can grow is eastward. The municipality ruled out westward development after the controversial Safdie Plan - a massive construction project planned for the hills west of the capital - was axed three years ago under pressure from environmental groups.

Massive construction within Jerusalem's older neighborhoods was also scrapped, since it clashed with other considerations: keeping buildings low, preserving historic buildings and streets, and retaining quality of life.

Ir Amim data show that the construction plans in advanced stages of approval are for Gilo 3,000 housing units , Har Homa 1,500 , Pisgat Ze'ev 1,500 , Givat Hamatos 3,500 , Ramot 1,200 , Armon Hanetziv 600 and Neveh Yaakov 450 .

Several construction plans are not being advanced at the moment, including a plan to build 1,300 housing units in a neighborhood in the south of the city. In addition, a plan to make Atarot an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood was put on hold after Mayor Nir Barkat decided to revitalize the industrial area there.

The state - in the form of the Israel Lands Administration and the Housing and Construction Ministry - is the main force behind these projects. Private businesses and political organizations - including settlers groups, which are building in the midst of Palestinian neighborhoods - are also advancing the projects.

The settlers groups are advancing plans to expand the Ma'aleh Zeitim settlement in Ras al Amud from 60 housing units to more than 200.

The housing shortage in Jerusalem has become more acute in recent years, especially in ultra-Orthodox areas, pushing thousands of ultra-Orthodox families a year to the Haredi cities Betar Ilit and Modi'in Ilit, in the West Bank. The West Bank construction freeze has increased the pressure to create more housing in Jerusalem.
~
SOURCE
~]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: The Traitor cancels ceremony honoring Resistance Icon Marytre Dala Al-Mughrabi http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/traitor-cancels-ceremony-honoring.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:32:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/traitor-cancels-ceremony-honoring.html
PA cancels ceremony honoring leader of 1978 terror attack in Israel


"Point your guns in only one direction- your enemy - Israel,"
Dalal Al Mughrabi in her final wish just before she laid down her life for Palestine.
Body of women's resistance icon, Dalal Al-Mughrabi, to return in swap, Fatah planning large ceremonies. Above: Ehud Barack after killing Dala Al-Mughrabi in Tel Aviv in 1978 INA, 7/4/08 .

AFP/Getty Images Hizbollah fighters parade before the prisoner swap
Dalal, a Palestinian fighter who became a legend for many years, led a group of 12 fighters in one of the most talked about attacks against Israeli forces 30 years ago. This week, the body of Dalal and her comrades, buried in an anonymous Israeli graveyard, will be handed over to Hezbollah as part of a prisoners and bodies exchange deal with Israel. On March 11, 1978, Dalal along with her group of fighters managed to infiltrate the Lebanese-Israeli border to the coastal plain near Tel Aviv using rubber dinghy boats. She and her comrades destroyed the boats the moment they reached the coast. It was a one-way trip, as they had returned home to stay .
Nine-hour battle They hijacked an Israeli military bus and took its passengers, some three dozen soldiers, as hostages after driving the bus along the coastal highway to the colony of Herzliya, where a nine-hour battle took place between them and Israeli forces, led by Ehud Barak, who later became prime minister and is now Israel's defence minister. The group was killed in the fighting, so were the majority of the Israeli soldiers on the bus. Dalal, the 20-year old woman, who had never seen her homeland until the moment of her death, was born in the refugee camp of Sabra in Lebanon in 1958. After Dalal's death, her mother said that she preferred that her daughter's body be buried in Palestine.
Three decades after her death, Dalal is still seen by Palestinians and Arabs as a hero and an outstanding fighter. In a massage she sent shortly before she died, Dalal appealed during the last gasp of her life to Palestinian factions to point their guns to their enemy - Israel, and not to get involved in internal fighting. She inspired thousands of young Palestinian and Lebanese women to follow in her footsteps, such as Sana Muhaidaly, Yvonne Abboud, Wafa Edris, Ayat Al Akhras and Hanadi Jaradat among others.
According to her mother, who was speaking to an Arabic TV channel "Dalal will never be forgotten as she will remain an admirable symbol of the Palestinian women's struggle and an example to be emulated by young Palestinian men and women who will pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of Palestine."

Haaretz
PA cancels ceremony honoring leader of 1978 terror attack in Israel


By Reuters



Dalal Al-Mughrabi a Palestinian female fighter who was killed in 1978. Ehud Barak, current Defense Minister of Israel was seen on TV shooting bullets at her dead body and dragging her on the ground.

Body of women's resistance icon, Dalal Al-Mughrabi, to return in swap, Fatah planning large ceremonies. Above: Ehud Barack after killing Dala Al-Mughrabi in Tel Aviv in 1978 INA, 7/4/08 .




The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of a ceremony to honor the woman who led a 1978 hijacking of a civilian bus in Israel that left 35 people dead.

The cancellation of the ceremony planned for Thursday coincided with a visit to the West Bank by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who met with Palestinian leaders as part of Washington's efforts to revive the moribund Middle East peace process.

Three Palestinian officials involved in organizing the event to honor Dalal al-Mughrabi, killed in the attack, said Israel told the Palestinian Authority to cancel the ceremony at which a traffic circle near Ramallah was to have been named after her and a memorial plaque unveiled.


The Israel Defense Forces, which controls access to the city, said initial checks could not find record of such a demand.

Mughrabi is remembered as a heroine by Palestinians, while Israel considers her a terrorist.

A member of the Fatah group led at the time by the late Yasser Arafat, Mughrabi and a group of fighters landed by sea on a beach in northern Israel.

They shot dead an American woman taking photos of wildlife and then hijacked the bus on the busy Haifa-Tel Aviv highway, where they shot at passing cars.

The vehicle was brought to a halt at a police roadblock at the entrance to Tel Aviv, where a gunfight ensued and explosives detonated.

"The commemoration should have been on the 11th, on the anniversary of her martyrdom," said Rashida al-Mughrabi, Dalal al-Mughrabi's sister and an officer in the Palestinian Authority security forces.

"A decision to cancel the celebration came from official channels," she told Reuters



River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Who is visiting , whom ?? http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-is-visiting-whom.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:07:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-is-visiting-whom.html
Who is visiting , whom ??

Vice President Joseph Biden
is visiting Israel.....
in his press conference with Nathaniahu
he declared that the Safety and Security of Israel
is the prime concern of the USA
and secondly that there is no "gap " between
the USA and Israel........unquote

Therefore , I urge to Hezbollah
to send their rockets, no more to the South
but Westwards ..........
over the Mediterranean and over the Atlantic.

Thus it is legal for Arabs, as from now on ,
to consider the USA as an enemy.


And on an optimistic note , Joe Biden added
that he shall now shuttle between
Jerusalem and Ramallah,
to promote the Peace......................... talks .

the distance between Ramallah and Jerusalem
equals the length of 23 football-stadiums
which are 3 minutes.................. by Helicopter


We all wish to Joe Biden a lot of wisdom
and perseverance in this delicate
and very innovative visit.


While on the same day , it was announced

16.000 new illegal-flats , to be built.
Eng. Moustafa Roosenbloom
Manager of the Ramallah-Circus Inc.


Posted by ????????? at 8:19 PM
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Haneyya: Settlement drive accelerated due to resumption of negotiations - Barghouthi: “Indirect Talks Should Stop” http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/barghouthi-indirect-talks-should-stop.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:48:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/barghouthi-indirect-talks-should-stop.html Haneyya: Settlement drive accelerated due to resumption of negotiations

[ 10/03/2010 - 05:12 PM ]

GAZA, PIC -- Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya said that the Arab decision endorsing resumption of negotiations between the PA in Ramallah and the Israeli occupation authority IOA was wrong.

Haneyya, who was initiating the first stage of the "Road to Jerusalem" project in Gaza on Wednesday, said that the decision encouraged Zionists to accelerate the settlement drive in the West Bank.

He pointed to the IOA announcement of building new settlement units while American vice president Joe Biden was in the region as a clear American cover to such settlement activity.

The premier asked the "Arab brothers" and the Ramallah officials to benefit from this incident and stop racing behind the mirage of futile negotiations with the IOA and opt instead to restoring Palestinian unity and to support the Palestinian people's steadfastness and resistance against occupation.

For his part, senior Hamas leader in Israeli jails Abbas Al-Sayyed said on Wednesday that the PA decision to resume peace talks with Israel while there is escalating settlement expansion on the ground is a big political farce and manipulation of the higher interests of the Palestinian people.

“What sense does it make to have indirect political negotiations while on the ground, there is direct, daily security coordination targeting all elements of steadfastness and fortitude which our people have?” Sayyed stressed in a letter leaked from Israeli jails.




Barghouthi: “Indirect Talks Should Stop”
Wednesday March 10, 2010 12:43 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Palestinian Legislator, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, called on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to void its approval for holding talks with the Israeli government on Benjamin Netanyahu.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi - Wikimedia

Barghouthi stated that Netanyahu acts like the head of a government of settlers, and that the decision to hold talks with his government would only encourage Israel to carry further violations, and would boost his fundamental government.

He added that “the Arabs gave Netanyahu four months while he did not even grant them four hours”, and responded to the Arab offer to give a chance for indirect peace talks by deciding to build 112 new units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and 1600 units in occupied East Jerusalem.

Barghouthi further stated that Netanyahu and his government are escalating their violations against the Palestinians, and the holy sites such as the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the Ibrahimi Mosque in Jerusalem and the Bilal Mosque in Bethlehem.

He added that Palestinian unity is needed to boost the popular nonviolent resistance and the BDS Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign against the occupation and the government of Netanyahu.

The Palestinian Legislator said that the idleness of the International Community is encouraging Israel to escalate its violations and attacks, and that the indirect talks with Netanyahu and his government will lead to new Israeli provocations.

“He [Netanyahu] does not want peace, he wants his own version of the solution”, Barghouthi said, “Netanyahu’s idea of a Palestinian State is a group of isolated ghettoes surrounded and controlled by Israel”.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
MSM Monitor: Jogging Around Jerusalem http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/03/jogging-around-jerusalem.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:58:00 +0100 MSM Monitor http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/ http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/03/jogging-around-jerusalem.html First digs, readers:

"Israeli archeologist says wall backs Bible" by Associated Press | February 23, 2010

JERUSALEM - While some Holy Land archeologists support that version of history - including the archeologist behind the dig, Eilat Mazar - others posit that David’s monarchy was largely mythical and that there was no strong government to speak of in that era.

Yeah, turns out there never was a Jewish Temple there as the Khazar converts claim.

--more--"

Yeah, no one believes Israel's
lies and hoaxes anymore.

Let's take a walk down the road.

"Police, youths clash in Jerusalem" by Associated Press | March 1, 2010

JERUSALEM - Israeli riot police dispersed a crowd of masked Palestinian youths throwing stones in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City yesterday, in a violent reminder of tensions at the holiest site in the contested city.

In the past, even seemingly minor incidents at the hilltop compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary have ignited clashes and protests throughout the region. A Palestinian official warned that yesterday’s incident could undermine efforts to resume peace talks.

And CUI BONO?

Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said police dispersed some 20 masked protesters who had holed up overnight in the compound’s Al-Aqsa mosque and then pelted tourists with objects and threw rocks at police officers who showed up at the scene.

That doesn't sound like Muslims to me! Sure it wasn't masked zettlers?

The police quickly restored calm and tourists were allowed to continue visiting the compound, one of Jerusalem’s main tourist sites, Rosenfeld said.

Huh.

But sporadic clashes between small groups of masked Palestinians and police continued in the Old City’s back alleys. No serious injuries were reported.

Uh-huh.

The holy compound has been under Israeli security control since the 1967 war, but Israel has left its day-to-day management in the hands of an Islamic administration known as the Waqf.

Yeah, and EVERYONE KNOWS ISRAEL is DIGGING ALL AROUND IT in hopes of bombing or damaging it so they can rebuild the Temple, blah, blah, blah.

As in similar incidents in the past, yesterday’s protests appeared to have erupted because of rumors that Jewish extremists planned to enter the holy compound, according to the Waqf’s director, Abdul Azim Samhadana.

Yeah, one of the few times you will see "extremist" associated with Jews in the Zionist newspaper.

He blamed Israeli police for provoking the youths.

Wouldn't surprise me if they did.

--more--"

Further on down the road:

"Mayor’s Housing Offer Sets Off Row in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — The mayor of Jerusalem is offering 120 Palestinian families in a jumble of houses scheduled for demolition a deal he believes they can’t refuse: new apartments atop shops and restaurants, a day care center, boutique hotels and a huge park.

Israel does it to Palestinian homes all the time.

Tourists and income will flow. It is — as the mayor likes to say — win-win.

But as Ziad Kawar, a lawyer representing the families, likes to say, this is Jerusalem, not Zurich. Here there seems only to be win-lose. “The whole situation is impossible,” Mr. Kawar said. “It is a political problem, and I am being asked to treat it like a legal one. I am walking between the raindrops.”

The negotiations offer a window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — the mistrust, the missed signals, the clash of cultures, the unequal power balance. The mayor, Nir Barkat, says he has the interests of the Palestinians in mind. They say he is lying. The residents say they have been living there for decades. Mr. Barkat says they are lying. If the two sides reach agreement soon, it will be a miracle. If they do not, tensions will accelerate.

Mr. Barkat, a secular rightist who made a fortune in the high-tech industry, says the proposal for the neighborhood, known as Al Bustan near the walled Old City, is a pilot for what he hopes to do throughout East Jerusalem. “It can be a mini-Tuscany,” he said in an interview.

He added that with or without the cooperation of the residents, the plan would be put into effect. “They think what I say is not what I mean,” Mr. Barkat said. “They are not used to a professional rather than a political approach.”

Welcome to the LIFE of a PALESTINIAN!

But he is DOING IT FOR THEM, huh, the lying f***ing....

In fact, no utterance escapes politics. All labels and names here are contested. The mayor calls the neighborhood not by its Arabic name of Al Bustan but by a Hebrew one — Gan Hamelech, or the King’s Garden, a reference to the spot some believe King David wrote psalms. He speaks of “illegal” housing.

Remember, ANYTHING ISRAEL ACCUSES ANOTHER OF is something THEY are GUILTY of THEMSELVES!

The Palestinians — indeed the rest of the world — do not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over East Jerusalem.

Yes, INDEED!!!!!!!

He wants them to yield their houses.

Yup, EITHER WAY the BULLDOZERS are coming!

They say they own the land.

“For us, the occupiers cannot tell us what is legal and illegal,” protested Jawad Siyam, a community activist.

Mr. Barkat says he has no hidden agenda.

Which means he does.

C'mon, folks, it is the ISRAELI TAKEOVER of JERUSALEM unfolding before your eyes!

But on either side of the Bustan neighborhood there are disputes over recent Jewish settlement, and residents fear a pincers operation.

Al Bustan is a section of Silwan, and in northeast Silwan there is a seven-story settler building that the courts have ordered evacuated. Mr. Barkat wants to allow the settlers to stay and increase the height of Palestinian buildings so that both benefit.

I'm sorry, but I don't see it that way.

To the west, also part of Silwan, is what has been recently called The City of David, an archaeological park with a Jewish theme run by a settler group.

Who are in effect running Israel because this goes on and on and no one stops it.

Mr. Barkat says his plan has nothing to do with the City of David or the settlers. But few Palestinians believe him.

Why would they?

Ahmed Rweidi, a Palestinian Authority official speaking on Palestinian radio, accused Mr. Barkat this week of a plan for “ethnic cleansing” because he wants to demolish houses in Al Bustan.

Yeah, THAT was the TAKE I HAD on it all given the LAST 60 YEARS!!

This Israeli government the MOST EXTREME and RADICAL YET!!

One of the neighborhood’s residents, Abdulkarim Abu Sneineh, accused Mr. Barkat and the Israeli government of wanting to isolate the nearby Aksa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine, to build a Jewish temple.

Related: Netanyahu and the End Times

Yeah, nothing to it all, right?

The threat of demolitions in Al Bustan is part of a larger issue drawing international concern — Palestinians being driven from East Jerusalem and replaced by Jews.

Well, that IS ETHNIC CLEANSING!

After what has happened to them the Zionists of Israel should be ashamed of themselves.

But they are not. It's not in the genetic make-up.

But Mr. Barkat says the trend is actually the opposite.

Then the Palestinians are correct and he confirmed he is a liar. Unreal.

Israeli Jews are leaving Jerusalem for parts of Israel where incomes are higher. By contrast, he says, Palestinians are migrating from the West Bank into Jerusalem for economic reasons. Nonetheless, the Bustan plan, he says, is about improving the city, not the demography.

“The mayor thinks he will come with American ideas and they will hug him,” said Efrat Cohen-Bar, who works for Bimkom, an Israeli group focused on human rights and urban planning. “He chose a spot for his pilot where there is a war going on.”

Since taking office a year ago, Mayor Barkat has vowed to oppose any division of Jerusalem in any deal with the Palestinians. But he said he would be the mayor of all. That includes the city’s quarter million Palestinians, who live with cracked, litter-strewn streets, too few schools and the fear that many of their houses will be taken down.

Can't imagine why they would feel that way.

There are 20,000 illegal Palestinian housing units in East Jerusalem, according to Bimkom.

Illegal according to who? Israel? Ha! Find another judge.

For the past year, the mayor has had architects and urban developers work on a new approach to Al Bustan at an expected cost of between $50 million and $100 million, to be raised partly abroad.

From rich AmeriKan Zionists of course.

He chose Al Bustan, he said, because nearly every house there dates from the past 20 years and was built without a permit, and because it has high tourist potential.

The area was historically an uninhabited greenbelt with annual winter flooding, fixed in the early 1990s. As the other parts of Silwan grew crowded, residents built in Al Bustan. The municipality looked the other way.

Translation: Palestinians were driven to settle there by Israel's annexation policies! And now they are being given the boot again.

Mr. Barkat wants to return at least half of the neighborhood to its original state of parkland.

Oh, and MAKE IT ALL PALESTINE AGAIN, sure!!

He wants a place where visitors can contemplate the kings of Judea, with water flowing along it to the Kidron Valley nearby. There would be small hotels, lovely restaurants. About eight million visitors go to the holy sites every year, he said....

And the Palestinians living there?

Fakhri Abu Diab, an accountant, said that he had three separate municipal demolition orders against his house. He said he was willing to beautify Al Bustan, increase the greenery and build hotels, but not at the expense of losing his house for an apartment.

Would YOU like THAT DEAL, American?

Then WHY WOULD the Palestinians?

In the end, he and the other residents may make a deal with the city. But right now, tensions are high.

“I want my grandchildren to play soccer with the mayor’s grandchildren,” he said. “But when he goes home to sleep at night, he rests calmly knowing no one is going to take his home. I don’t have that comfort. I am not against history, but what is more important, history or my home?”

I know the immediate answer to that one besides, the houses are a part of history when you think about it .

--more--"

I guess the PR flap made the mayor pull back a bit.

"Jerusalem mayor to delay demolition plans" by Bloomberg News | March 3, 2010

JERUSALEM - Mayor Nir Barkat said yesterday that the municipality is putting off a plan to demolish homes built without permits in an Arab neighborhood slated to be the site of a new archeology park.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had asked Barkat yesterday to “allow more time for efforts to reach an understanding with the residents’’ and warned of “elements which are interested in sowing strife and discord’’ over the city’s plan.

That would be Zionist Israelis, yeah!

What an arrogant crowd, I mean really!

“This is a plan that takes into consideration the needs of the residents,’’ Barkat said at a City Hall news conference. “There are extremists who whatever we do will try to twist the plan and accuse us of wrongdoing.’’

Yeah, yeah, we know who they are.

The demolition of unauthorized Arab construction in parts of Jerusalem has been a source of tension between Israel and the international community, including the United States and European Union....

Yeah, but somehow Israel is never held accountable.

Ir Amim, a group that advocates on behalf of Arab property rights in the city, said in an e-mailed statement that demolishing homes in the East Jerusalem Silwan neighborhood “to clear the area for an archeological garden will be a dangerous step, which could ignite one of the most volatile areas and damage the stability and political future of Jerusalem.’’

Isn't that what ISRAEL WANTS?

Gives 'em an EXCUSE to MOVE IN and CRACK DOWN, cui bono!

Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and subsequently annexed it, a move that has not been recognized by the international community.

Gee, that was over 40 years ago. Iraq was rolled out of Kuwait in months!!!

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

Palestinians never seem to get what they want, ever notice that?

--more--"

Of course, the EVICTIONS CONTINUE!

"Untie knot of Palestinian evictions" by James Carroll | February 22, 2010

JERUSALEM

TODAY, AS on every Friday for months now, several hundred Israelis gather here in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in Arab East Jerusalem, to stand in vigil as a protest against the eviction of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades.

If the show were on the other foot the world and its mouthpiece media would be screaming bloody murder!!!

In August, seven families - about 50 people, including 35 children - were forced out of their homes, and immediately replaced by eight families of Jewish Israelis, members of extremist settler groups.

Yeah, it is GOVERNMENT POLICY!

The Palestinians have been living in tents across the street from their house ever since.

Yeah, so is that!!

Some have lived in refugee camps across the Middle East for GENERATIONS!!!

Six other nearby families have received eviction notices.

Is that why we get the park flap?

To take our attention away from the every day disrespect the Palestinians must endure?

I spoke with one of the evicted fathers, Fouad Ghawi, who had lived in the house since 1954, when he was 8. He and his family were Palestinian refugees from Jaffa during the 1948 war, and his father traded in his UN refugee card, which guaranteed him basic support, for the right to move into the house the UN Relief and Works Agency and Jordan were building on vacant land. In return for finishing the house, the Ghwai family would get the legal deed.

Why do I feel a "but" coming?

Three generations of the Ghawi family had lived there ever since - until last August, when an Israeli court ordered them out. They had no deed because, he told me, “the Jordan government would not put it in our name until we had proper plumbing, and then the 1967 war broke out.’’ Jordan’s authority ended.

One of the organizers of the protest vigil, Zvi Benninga, a 24-year-old Israeli medical student and Jerusalemite, told me, “It is so blatant because they were expelled for a second time by Israel - first in 1948, and now again.’’

Don't Palestinians ever organize anything?

The protest engages several critical issues. The government evictions depend on cloudy questions of pre-1948 ownership rights which, in most of Israel, have been simply deleted.

???????

Equivalent enforcement of “absentee property’’ laws elsewhere in Israel would lead to evictions of tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis.

And that will NEVER HAPPEN!

No wonder Palestinians are boiling mad and why the chances for peace are nil.

The evictions also raise the larger question of Israel’s “creeping annexation’’ of East Jerusalem, not only through the expansion of settlements, which Benjamin Netanyahu, defying President Obama, refuses to freeze, but also through legally dubious removal of Palestinians from other Jerusalem neighborhoods like Silwan, just down the slope from the old city.

Yeah, that is WHAT the PLAN is, Jim!

That other key Arab neighborhoods, like Abu Dis, have been cut off from Jerusalem by the so-called “security barrier’’ points to the even larger question - whether, as far as the current Israeli government is concerned, the hard-won consensus that the promised Palestinian state would have its capital in East Jerusalem no longer applies. “This will stop any peace agreement,’’ Benninga told me.

We call it an APARTHEID WALL around here!!

The weekly demonstrations are being led by younger Israelis, although veterans of the Israeli peace camp have shown up, too - including prominent figures like the novelist David Grossman, the philosopher Moshe Halbertal, and the literary critic Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi.

Well, maybe there is some hope.

“J Street,’’ the American Jewish lobbying group, has sent a petition of support signed by 10,000 Americans. Today, Avrum Burg, the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, is here to support the evicted families. When I asked him what the vigil meant, he said, “This is an iconic group. Intellectuals, blue collar people, Jews, Arabs, old, young - representing thousands of people. This is a permanent reality.’’

"J Street" sounds great; however, it is just AIPAC-lite because of the toxicity of that organization.

Are they STOPPING the EVICTIONS and EXPANSION of SETTLEMENTS?

Untie this knot in the nearly hopeless Israeli-Palestinian tangle and many others could be untied as well. The demonstrators are not interested in being valorized as champions of a vibrant Israeli democracy. Instead, they look to be bolstered by the broader world against the once-marginal figures who have more and more power in Israel. The foreign ministry is headed by the far-right Avigdor Lieberman. This week, his deputy snubbed five US congressmen, including William Delahunt of Massachusetts, while Tzipi Livni, the opposition leader, warned “The Jewish state has been taken hostage by the ultra-orthodox parties.’’

Related: Israel Dumps on Delahunt

This guy go along did he?

A critical stage has been reached, with the government-encouraged status quo showing up as disaster in the making, as much for Israel as for Palestine.

See, when it starts becoming a problem for Jews then it is a problem for everyone.

Jamalat Ghawi, a mother of four, told me from her place in the ad hoc tent across the street from her house, “I feel frustration and anger, and worry for my children. They dream of their house at night. They are terrified. They have no idea where they are going.’’ Today, they are not alone.

No, they are not.

Muslims throughout the region are suffering under the same assault considering all the refugees our wars have created.

--more--"

And WATCH WHERE YOU STEP, Joe!

"Biden condemns new Israeli settlement plan" by Aron Heller, Associated Press Writer | March 9, 2010

JERUSALEM --Vice President Joe Biden condemned an Israeli plan to build hundreds of homes in disputed east Jerusalem on Tuesday -- a disagreement that tarnished a high-profile visit that had been aimed at repairing ties with the Jewish state and kickstarting Mideast peace talks.

Related: West Bank Moment of Silence

U.S Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hand with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. Biden said there is a 'moment of opportunity' for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

U.S Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hand with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. Biden said there is a "moment of opportunity" for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

Yeah, he looks real upset.

Israel's Interior Ministry said late Tuesday that it had approved construction of 1,600 new apartments, an embarrassing setback for Biden after a day of warm meetings with top Israeli officials.

Although ministry officials said the announcement was procedural and unconnected to the visit, a top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was blindsided and tried to contain the damage at a late-night dinner with Biden.

PFFFFFFT!

What BULLS***!

He didn't know!!

And quite a MARKED CHANGE in attitude from the DAY BEFORE, 'eh, readers?

Nonetheless, Biden issued a harshly worded statement after the dinner, saying its timing was especially troubling by coming on the eve of a new round of U.S.-mediated peace talks.

Yeah, every time they do something someone says that and yet they keep on doing it.

Think they survived the harsh words, readers?

"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now," Biden said.

I'm sure that is why they did it.

Israel's doesn't want a peace deal, it wants a piece of Syria, Lebanon, and all of Palestine.

"We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them," he added, warning that "unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations."

Unless Israel issues preconditions.

That is what we will take to the Palestinians for "negotiating."

Relations between Israel and the Obama administration have been chilly precisely because of the settlement issue, and one of Biden's main goals had been to try to patch up ties.

I notice the checks keep getting signed.

Biden is the highest-level member of the Obama administration to visit Israel.

And they CRAPPED IN HIS FACE upon arrival!!

The U.S., like the Palestinians and the rest of the international community, believes that Israeli settlements built on lands claimed by the Palestinians, including east Jerusalem, undermine peace prospects.

Then it would seem that ISRAEL is ISOLATED on this, although the Zionist AmeriKan newspapers would never describe it that way.

President Barack Obama has been more outspoken on the issue than his predecessors....

Really? When?

Israel Answers All Questions

Oh!

Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed east Jerusalem. Israel considers its east Jerusalem neighborhoods to be part of its undivided capital, but the annexation has never been internationally recognized and the neighborhoods are widely seen as settlements.

But hey, is Israel under sanction? Nope.

Nice to be above it all, 'eh, readers?

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said the new homes would be built in Ramat Shlomo, an existing neighborhood for ultra-Orthodox Jews. She noted that there is a 60-day appeals period, indicating that the decision could yet be changed.

It won't be.

This is who this Israeli government is and serves.

That's what happens when you allow so many terrorist Jews to congregate in one place.

At Tuesday's dinner, Netanyahu told Biden he was caught off guard by the ministry's announcement, a top Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the dinner was closed.

So not only did he crap in Joe's face, he gave him a fart for a chaser!

While Netanyahu considers east Jerusalem to be part of Israel, he acknowledged the timing of the announcement was poor and said he had no intention of sabotaging Biden's visit.

Yeah, the ACT ITSELF was NO PROBLEM -- as if we believe him on the timing and sabotage.

That is EXACTLY WHY you COLD-BLOODED and CALCULATING -- yet naive -- CREEPS did it.

We are NO LONGER FOOLED by your lies and manipulations, Israel.

Never again.

He stressed that there are no plans to begin construction anytime soon.

Uh-huh.

But Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the move soured the negotiating climate.

Yeah, it SURE DID!!

The two sides agreed this week to begin indirect negotiations under the mediation of U.S. envoy George Mitchell. Peace efforts have been stalled for 14 months, in large part because of Palestinian anger over settlement activity.

Yeah, it is the FAULT of the PALESTINIANS, right, Zionist MSM!!!

Face it, folks, IF ISRAEL WANTED PEACE THERE WOULD BE ONE ALREADY!!!

"With such an announcement, how can you build trust? This is destroying our efforts to work with Mr. Mitchell," Erekat said. "It's a really disastrous situation. I hope that this will be an eye-opener for all in the international community."

Trust? With a Zionist Jew? Out of the question.

As for opening the world's eyes, nice thought, but those remain clenched tight.

**************

And now, for what my PRINTED PAPER CUT:

Biden was scheduled to remain in the area for two more days, meeting with international Mideast envoy Tony Blair and Palestinian leaders in the West Bank on Wednesday before delivering a policy speech at Tel Aviv University on Thursday.

Biden had spent the day trying to calm Israeli concerns that Obama has been less friendly to the country than past U.S. leaders.

Gee, that SURE WASN'T the TONE I got from the printed paper!!!!

So much for being angry or irritated with Israel, blah, blah, blah.

Yes, the AmeriKan government is OWNED BY ISRAEL, folks!!!!

Earlier in the day, Biden assured Israelis they can count on strong U.S. backing as peace efforts finally resume. The resumption of talks, albeit indirect, is the first concrete achievement for Obama in the Israeli-Palestinian arena.

Oh, this is making me ill, readers!!!

The relationship between the two allies, Biden told reporters as he stood beside Netanyahu, has always been a "centerpiece of American policy."

HOW MUCH MORE CONFIRMATION do you need, readers?

"Progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knows there is simply no space between the United States and Israel," Biden said.

Now unzip Bibi's fly and start sucking, Joe!

No wonder EVERYONE over there HATES US!!

"The United States will always stand with those who take risks for peace," Biden said, telling Netanyahu, "you're prepared to do that."

Can we get a mental health evaluation for the VP please?

The insistence on a total settlement freeze is seen by many in the region to have backfired.

Seen by "many in the region?"

Polls show that Israelis have largely come to see Obama as overly sympathetic to Israel's enemies, making it difficult for the administration to get Israeli public opinion behind any difficult peace moves.

Then CUT the MONEY OFF to those UNGRATEFUL and DELUDED ASSHOLES!!!!!

Why are WE so worried about what BACK-STABBING ISRAEL thinks anyway!?

Biden offered assurances that the U.S. remained committed to Israel's security. Iran appeared to loom large in Biden's discussions with Netanyahu....

But NOT according to my PRINTED PAGE!

It is what we fondly refer to as CENSORSHIP around here.

"We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he said.

Yeah, well, GOOD THING they are NOT MAKING ONE, Joe!!!

Israel has been pushing for stricter international sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program, and has refused to rule out a military strike if sanctions fail.

So WHEN is the ATTACK, Joe!?

A string of top U.S. officials in recent weeks have urged Israel to give more time for diplomatic pressure on Iran to work.

But we will do WHAT THEY TELL US WHEN THEY TELL US TO in the end, world!

It is up to YOU to STOP US because despite my best efforts WE apparently CAN NOT STOP OURSELVES!!!

--more--"

Oh, you webbers got the NYT in place of AP like it matters :

"Biden condemns Israeli push for more settlements; News on homes deals setback on eve of talks" by Ethan Bronner, New York Times | March 10, 2010

JERUSALEM - Hours after Vice President Joe Biden vowed unyielding American support for Israel’s security yesterday, Israel’s Interior Ministry announced 1,600 new housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem, prompting Biden to condemn the move as “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.’’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was clearly embarrassed at the move by his interior minister, Eli Yishai, leader of the right-wing Shas Party, who has made Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem one of his central causes.

A statement issued in the name of the Interior Ministry but distributed by the prime minister’s office said that the housing plan was three years in the making and that its announcement was procedural and unrelated to Biden’s visit. It added that Netanyahu had just been informed of it himself....

Actually, I've had enough Zionist bulls*** for one day.

--more--"]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Israel "apologizes" to Biden http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-apologizes-to-biden.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:36:15 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/israel-apologizes-to-biden.html

I4P

Just a couple of days ago, Vice President Biden vowed undying devotion to Israel. He stated unequivocally that the U.S. will stand by its friend and ally on matters of Israeli security. Shortly after, while Biden was meeting with Palestinian officials regarding the stalled peace talks, Israel chose to unveil their plan to build 1600 more homes in East Jerusalem.

While Israel is apologizing for embarrassing VP Biden they are explaining that in their point of view, they recognize that the error was merely one of timing.

Israel apologized Wednesday for disrupting the visit of Vice President Joe Biden with its announcement of 1,600 new homes in disputed east Jerusalem, but made clear it had no intention of reversing the order that has cast a shadow over the latest U.S. push for Mideast peace.
As Biden held talks with top Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose office announced the new construction on lands Palestinians claim for a future state, said the problem was about timing, not substance.
"We had no intention, no desire, to offend or taunt an important man like the vice president during his visit," Yishai told Israel Radio. "I am very sorry for the embarrassment. We need to remember that approvals are done according to law even if the timing was wrong. ... Next time we need to take timing into account."
The problem here is that while they are apologizing, they are skirting over the point entirely. They are saying that the devil be damned, we are going to do what we want to do claiming that the homes are lawful if I read that correctly , but that they will watch when they say things. Problem solved!

Biden is said to have made unusually harsh condemnations over the announcement but the fact of the matter is, the Palestinian side made the more truthful and the most harsh statement, one that should come from the U.S and the international community. One that is obvious and long overdue.

Biden's talks with the Palestinians on Wednesday were aimed in part to ease their doubts about the latest U.S. peace efforts. Israel's planned construction in east Jerusalem was an embarrassing setback for Biden after a day of warm meetings with senior Israeli officials — and drew an unusually harsh condemnation from the vice president.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the Israeli announcement was "damaging" and posed a "great challenge" to restarting peace talks. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the new construction would be the main item on the Abbas-Biden agenda.
"I think the Israeli government is making it almost impossible for us, the Americans and the international community, to take a one centimeter step in the direction of reviving the peace process," Erekat said.
Absolutely true, without a doubt.
Egypt didn't hold back either.

The new construction plan also drew a sharp rebuke from Egypt, Israel's closest ally in the Arab world, and from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"This is absurd. It is disdainful of the Arab and the Palestinian positions and the American mediation," said Hossam Zaki, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. more at the source
Disdain indeed. I have yet to read anything on more serious attempts at damage control but it seems to me that this, along with the Dubai murder, the continued expansion into Occupied Territory and the fact that Gaza remains under tight strangulation I might add, etc. etc. are all adding up to the fact that Israel, as it stands today, is not a friend or ally to anybody, least of all, to itself.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
Aletho News: Peres to Biden: Expel Iran from UN http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/peres-to-biden-expel-iran-from-un/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:33:22 +0100 Aletho News http://alethonews.wordpress.com http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/peres-to-biden-expel-iran-from-un/

“There is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security — none at all” – Joe Biden
Al-Manar TV – 09/03/2010

US Vice President Joe Biden began his round of talks with senior Israeli officials on Tuesday at the Israeli President’s Residence in occupied Jerusalem.

Biden told Israeli President Shimon Peres that the Iranian regime is isolated more than ever before, both domestically and internationally, claiming that the Iranian people are imposing what he called “moral sanctions” against it.

The Israeli president said imposing moral sanctions on Iran, including its expulsion from the UN, were no less important than taking economic measures. According to Peres, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot be a UN member and at the same time call for Israel’s annihilation and hang people in the streets.

Peres, who said Ahmadinejad was trying to delegitimize Israel and the US, said the West should surround Iran with anti-missile batteries.

The American vice president, who is the senior-most Obama administration official to visit the Zionist entity, said he hoped the Israel-Palestinian talks would help the sides overcome the mistrust between them, adding that he believed the points of agreement outnumber the disagreements.

Biden also signed Peres’ guest book. He wrote that the bond between the US and Israel is unshakable, adding that only a joint effort can lead to lasting peace.

The US vice president later met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden shook hands with the Israeli PM and signed his guest book as well. He wrote that Israel is lucky to have Netanyahu, and the US is lucky to have Israel as a friend. The two are slated to meet one-on-one with their entourages. After the meeting, they will issue a joint statement.

Later in the day Biden is scheduled to meet with Opposition leader Tzipi Livni. On Wednesday he is scheduled to meet with Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair, and then head to Ramallah for talks with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. On Thursday the vice president will speak at Tel Aviv University.


Filed under: Supremacism, Social Darwinism, Wars for Israel ]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Oh, Biden Unhappy but "The bond between ... will remain unshakable," http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/oh-biden-unhappy-and-powerless-whats.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:17:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/oh-biden-unhappy-and-powerless-whats.html
Oh, Biden Unhappy and Powerless ?? Whats new ?

Salem-News.Com

Biden Unhappy Over Israel's Jerusalem Settlement Plan
Tim King Salem-News.com

"The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now" -U.S. Vice Pres. Joe Biden in Israeli settlement expansion.



Israeli settlements
Israel doesn't like the word 'colonizing' but that is what the settlements amount to. Palestine has lost almost all land, and these apartments are being constructed on their remaining land. Al-Jazeera photo

JERUSALEM / SALEM - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has strong words for Israel's approval of a plan to build 1600 new apartments in a disputed East Jerusalem Neighborhood, Ramat Shlomo; a neighborhood of mostly Orthodox Jews.
Israel annexed almost all of Palestine after the Six Day War in 1967, but the annexation was never internationally recognized. The Zionist movement within the Jewish community by many accounts, has the goal of removing all Palestinians from this land that is native to them.
Many call it genocide.

Biden learned of the plan to build more homes on more Palestinian land just after finishing dinner with Israeli officials.

He was not happy, saying, "The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now."

Vice-President Joe Biden, and the US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to hold indirect negotiations after more than a year of deep freeze.

But after the announcement of the decision to approve the settlements, which by all accounts are the greatest obstacle to peace, and a source of continual indignation for the Palestinian people who have all but removed from what is now Israel.

Biden said, "We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them."
"Unilateral action taken by either party can not prejudge the outcome of negotiations."
As this important period of negotiation grows nearer, the ties could begin to thaw.

This comes a day before an Israeli court in Haifa will hear the civil case involving the death of Washington college student Rachel Corrie, who was run down by an Israeli bulldozer operator while trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in Rafa, at Gaza.

As Israel builds settlements, it continues to destroy Palestinian homes with bulldozers, and in some cases they literally force Palestinian families into homelessness so Jewish Israelis can move into the homes that the Palestinian families had owned for several generations.
Israel doesn't reserve the ill treatment for only the poorer Palestinians, even those who high educations and comfortable livings are frequently routed from their family homes by Israeli Defense Forces and police.

Israel's move to expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank a day after agreeing to talks, has turned things frosty again, as Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman reports. The way things are looking, the latest talks may not even get off the ground Report filed 09 Mar 2010.
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW: watch the Al Jazeera report:

http://salem-news.com/articles/march092010/biden-israel.php



WORLD
| March 10, 2010
Biden Calls Ties Between U.S. and Israel 'Unshakable'
By ETHAN BRONNER Editor Middle East Desk- NYTimes Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. opened talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, part of a concerted U.S. effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.









MOREEEEE TALKS????


http://www.sugarvsspice.com/zazzle/emoticons/angry.png


Debbie Menonhttp://intifada-palestine.com/
"Shaking off" is the literal translation of: Intifada




"The bond between ... will remain unshakable," and then ....this!

The "bond" thing was earlier in the day, during Biden's visit to Israel ... However, with the Interior Ministry adding insult to injury, announcing a plan to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, on top of the new settlements on the West Bank the VP came out sort of swinging, here

"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem. The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel. We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them. This announcement underscores the need to get negotiations under way that can resolve all the outstanding issues of the conflict. The United States recognizes that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews, Muslims and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world. Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues. As George Mitchell said in announcing the proximity talks, "we encourage the parties and all concerned to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks.""
Posted by G, Z, or B at 4:10 PM
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian]]>
MSM Monitor: West Bank Moment of Silence http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/03/west-bank-moment-of-silence.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:08:00 +0100 MSM Monitor http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/ http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com/2010/03/west-bank-moment-of-silence.html It's the PA so I don't view it as legitimate in any way, shape, or form.

They gotta stop cooperating with USrael first and reconcile, not undermine, Hamas.

LIFTING the SIEGE is PRIORITY ONE!

"Palestinian leader rebukes Israel on shrine" by Associated Press | March 2, 2010

HEBRON, West Bank - The Palestinian Cabinet moved its weekly meeting to Hebron yesterday, a symbolic protest against Israel’s addition of a contested shrine in this volatile West Bank city to its list of national heritage sites.

I've had enough symbolism, folks; I need real things now.

Israel’s decision last week drew widespread international criticism....

Yeah, so what? That's all it ever is.

How about throwing some SANCTIONS on THEM!?

Yeah, that's about the time world leaders feel the grip on their balls.

Israelis and Palestinians have clashed frequently in the past over two West Bank shrines added to the heritage list: the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.

The city’s brewing tensions were on display yesterday when a group of settler youths, some as young as 4 years old, threw rocks and cursed at Palestinians not far from the traditional grave of Abraham, considered the father of both Judaism and Islam.

Yeah, that is ZIONIST HOSPITALITY on DISPLAY!

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Israel’s move as an “attack on the holy places,’’ and his Islamic militant Hamas rivals in Gaza called for a new uprising.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the decision was about preserving culture and not connected to politics.

Over the past week, Palestinians have thrown stones and clashed almost daily with Israeli troops in Hebron, a divided city where 500 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves amid 170,000 Palestinians.

Yeah, the poor, poor, *ews, puke.

That has been SOOOOOO PLAYED, MSM!

Netanyahu has tried to calm tensions, saying the plan was to protect the holy sites and without infringing on Muslim freedom of worship.

You hear some s*** buzzing, readers, because I sure do smell a stinker.

However, Palestinians fear the decision is another sign that Netanyahu wants to hang on to significant parts of the West Bank, a territory they want for their future Palestinian state, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Yeah, well, he already said they are keeping all settlements as part of a future deal one that will never come because Israel wants it all as he lectures Palestinians about preconditions.

Can Bibi smell the hypocritical stench, or is that another arrogant Zionist immunity?

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts told reporters in Jerusalem yesterday that he understood the Israeli leader’s desire to preserve a historical site. “But the timing and the manner of the announcement needs to be taken into account in the future,’’ Kerry said.

Oh, yeah, you find a LOT of THAT kind of GRIPING LATELY!!!

--more--"

Well, the silence didn't last long, did it?

And could Israel really be any more ARROGANT, folks, because let's face it, if there is one thing Zionists are not it is naive!

"Israelis add to Mideast challenge; OK settlement at outset of talks" by Ian Deitch, Associated Press | March 9, 2010

JERUSALEM - Israel enraged Palestinians by announcing new West Bank settlement construction on the same day Vice President Joseph Biden landed in the region to promote negotiations.

So how does shit in your face feel, Joe?

Israel’s decision to build 112 housing units on lands Palestinians claim for a future state highlighted the tough road ahead.

Also underlining the difficulties are sharp divisions between Palestinian moderates and militants as well as an Israeli government opposed to many concessions seen as necessary for peace....

Israel authorized the new apartments in the West Bank despite a pledge to halt all new settlement building - angering the Palestinians just as Biden landed in Israel....

I never took them seriously anyway.

I've learned that when a Zionist Israeli speaks it is a lie.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sounded upbeat after his meeting with the US envoy. “I believe.... the diplomatic process is not a game, it is real, and rooted first and foremost in [Israel’s] security.’’

Yeah, we know you control our government, Bibi, you needn't flaunt it but being the arrogant Zionist he is, he will .

Later yesterday, the Israeli leader welcomed the new start to negotiations in a speech in Jerusalem, saying: “I hope the proximity talks will quickly lead to direct talks that would really allow the promotion of peace.’’

He stressed, however, that negotiations would only succeed if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that Israel’s security be guaranteed.

But NO PRECONDITIONS from their side, pfffft!!

That is for the Palestinians to decide, but for my part, I will never recognize Israel as a nation or Jewish state.

NEVER AGAIN!!!

Jewish construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is a particularly sore point with the Palestinians....

It is a SORE POINT with EVERYONE not a Zionist or Zionist-serving slave.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Israeli officials had explained that the construction was approved before the moratorium.

Yeah, so EVERYTHING is COOL, huh?

Crapping in the Vice President's face is no problem, huh?

--more--"

Also see: Israel's Occupation Forever

]]>
Desertpeace: THE BEST THING ABOUT OBAMA IS JOE BIDEN JR. http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/the-best-thing-about-obama-is-joe-biden-jr/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:42:32 +0100 Desertpeace http://desertpeace.wordpress.com http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/the-best-thing-about-obama-is-joe-biden-jr/

Peace talks setback: U.S. vice president Joe Biden, left, meets with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem

FINALLY….. Could THIS be the CHANGE we are waiting for?

Statement by Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Jerusalem

“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem. The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel. We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them. This announcement underscores the need to get negotiations under way that can resolve all the outstanding issues of the conflict. The United States recognizes that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews, Muslims and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world. Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues. As George Mitchell said in announcing the proximity talks, “we encourage the parties and all concerned to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks.”

Source….

The White House, Office of the Vice President

An Israeli response…..

When Israelis degrade Israel by humiliating Joe Biden

By Bradley Burston

Why would Israeli officials degrade Israel by humiliating the vice-president of the United States?


What conceivable advantage is there in the Interior Ministry choosing the occasion of a high-profile visit by Joseph R. Biden, Jr., a mission aimed at soothing strained relations between Israel and the Obama administration, to announce the approval of 1,600 new homes for Israelis in East Jerusalem?

Or to add, in insult to injury, that construction on the new homes could begin as soon as early May.

What could officials here gain from what is, in effect, an Israeli version of the incitement the government so keenly – and correctly -decries in its Palestinian incarnations?

It the same edge that Knesset Deputy Speaker Danny Danon of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud stood to gain by telling the Washington Post, “While we welcome Vice President Biden, a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, we see it as nothing short of an insult that President Obama himself is not coming.”

It is the base sentiment that Avigdor Lieberman’s Foreign Ministry has courted in trying to make Israel appear to loom large by treating dignitaries from overseas to petty indignities and frank disrespect.

The profit, for the hard right, is political. It mines an emotional vein along a relatively small but potent segment of the Israeli electorate, which holds that to insult Israel’s indispensible ally is to assert the Jewish state’s independence.

In their drive to expunge any trace of hitrapsut – groveling to the colonial master – there are those among the ostensible super-patriots of the right who revel in shots across the bow of the American ship of state.

On the whole, the farther right one goes in Israel, the more pronounced the sentiment. Avowedly pro-Kahane extremists, now strong enough to have placed their own representative in the Knesset, have gained shock cred by lining highway underpasses with posters of the “Jew-hater Obama” photoshopped into wearing a Palestinian kaffieh.

Harder to fathom was the Defense Ministry’s Monday announcement that work would resume on 112 homes in the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Beitar Illit, units whose construction had been suspended under a White House-spurred settlement freeze.

Chalk it up, if you like, to the powerful pro-settler presence in certain strata of Israel’s bureaucracy. Or credit the mercurial, not to say, erratic, policy style of Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak. Or accept the official explanation that the timing of the decision was coincidence, entirely unconnected with the vice-presidential visit.

In the anarchic swirl of current Israeli governance, the correct answer may well be: all three.

Source


Filed under: Ethnic Cleansing, Illegal Settlements, Israel, Palestine, Peace Process ]]>
Uprooted Palestinians: Hamas: PA and Arab decision to resume peace talks yielded more settlement units http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/hamas-pa-and-arab-decision-to-resume.html Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:19:00 +0100 Uprooted Palestinians http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/ http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2010/03/hamas-pa-and-arab-decision-to-resume.html PIC

[ 10/03/2010 - 11:14 AM ]

DAMASCUS, PIC -- The Movement of Hamas said Tuesday that Israel’s approval of a plan to build 1,600 new settlement units is the fruit of the decision taken by the Arab follow-up committee and the Palestinian Authority PA to resume the frivolous peace negotiations.

In a press release, Hamas added that Israel’s decision to build this number of units just one day after announcing the construction of 112 others in West Bank settlements confirmed what it had said before that the resumption of peace talks with Israel would provide it with the cover to persist in settlement and Judaization activities.

Hamas also underlined that the decision to resume negotiations reflects the imposition of a Zio-American will at the expense of the Palestinian people and their national rights.

It stressed that taking a decision to expand settlements during the presence of US vice president Joe Biden in the occupied Palestinian lands further vindicates that the US is fully biased in favor of the Israeli occupation and absolutely supports its settlement and Judaization projects.

For his part, Dr. Taleb Abu Sha’ar, the Palestinian minister of religious affairs, deplored the Israeli decision to build 1,600 housing units in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo in the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem.

Dr. Abu Sha’ar said that these settlement expansion plans are aimed to make the Palestinians in east Jerusalem a minority constituting 12 percent of the population in the city and to attract more Jews in return.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, for his part, strongly denounced the PA decision to resume peace talks with Israel in light of the latter’s announcement of building new settlement units in Jerusalem, saying it is a “national crime”.

Spokesman Abu Zuhri called on the PA and the Arab follow-up committee to immediately backtrack on their decision to engage in indirect peace talks because it will provide Israel with the cover it needs to escalate its violations against the Palestinian people.

For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that this new settlement plan falls under the project called Jerusalem 2000 which aims to intensify construction in settlements in the holy city.

The newspaper added that the plan is also aimed to make the Jews a majority through bringing more Jewish immigrants to live in the city.

Biden pledged on Tuesday America's "total and unlimited commitment to Israel's security" as he visited Jerusalem to meet Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

“There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security," the US vice president said. "For that reason, and many others, addressing Iran's nuclear program has been one of our administration's priorities.”

River to Sea
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