BBC interviews Israeli settler (no special treatment, as in the US)

University of Al Karaouine

The oldest continuously operating university in the world is in Fes, Morocco. Al Karaouine University, founded in 859, played a leading role in the cultural and academic relations between the Islamic world and Europe in the middle ages. The cartographer Mohammed al-Idrisi (d. 1166), whose maps aided European exploration in the Renaissance is said to have lived in Fes for some time, suggesting that he may have worked or studied at Al Karaouine. The university has produced numerous scholars who have strongly influenced the intellectual and academic history of the Muslim world. Among these are Ibn Rushayd al-Sabti (d. 1321), Mohammed Ibn al-Hajj al-Abdari al-Fasi (d. 1336), Abu Imran al-Fasi (d. 1015), a leading theorist of the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence, and Leo Africanus, a renowned traveler and writer.

Student expelled to Gaza Strip by force

A Palestinian student has been handcuffed, blindfolded and forcibly expelled to the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops just two months before she was due to graduate from university.
The independent

What really happened in Gaza w/ Dr. Norman Finkelstein 2009 Trailer

Answering critics of the boycott movement

Sami Hermez
The Electronic Intifada
1 October 2009
The list of successful BDS actions has now become too long to list, yet, there are still many out there who do not believe in this movement and have reservations on a number of grounds, offering two main concerns that are rarely tackled, and when they are it is only cursory. The first is the criticism of why a boycott movement against Israel and not countries like China, Sudan or the US. This claim often gets tagged on with the idea that this is due to an inherent anti-Semitism. The second concerns the argument that boycott is against dialogue, which often comes along with accusations that it promotes censorship and is a form of collective punishment.

Book review: How aid hurt Palestine

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 26 October 2009
1994 -- shortly after the Oslo Declaration of Principles was signed -- to 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank, international donors gave $8 billion in aid to the Palestinians, making them one of the most subsidized people on Earth. This aid ostensibly had three purposes: to support the peace process leading to a two-state solution, to foster economic and social development, and to promote institution-building. Yet, many years and billions of dollars later, Palestinians are poorer and further from statehood than ever before, and their dysfunctional national institutions face an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy.

Israeli minister's speech disrupted at London university

Students protested and disrupted a lecture tonight at the London School of Economics (LSE) by Daniel Ayalon, the controversial Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel.

More than 50 students and activists greeted Ayalon outside of the lecture on LSE's campus with placards and banners, while inside audience members heckled the controversial minister as a "racist" and "murderer" in relation to the illegal occupation and violence carried out by the Israeli state.
Eloctronic intifada

Weapons maker funds new school curriculum

An Adelaide public school has come under fire for reaching a deal with the world's largest manufacturer of guided missiles to fund a new curriculum.
Abc News.(Thanks VAA)

Update:
Police Agree to Investigate Raytheon's Role in War Crimes in Gaza

A Jewish focus won’t end a more-than-Jewish problem

by Ahmed Moor, October 30, 2009 ·

Something special is happening to the discourse about Palestine and Israel in the United States. New spaces are opening up where none existed before. For instance, some Palestinians, Israelis and Jews are talking openly about a one-state solution to the heretofore-intractable conflict. A greater number of Jewish people talk about being post-, or anti-Zionist and they’re talking about it within their communities. On the Palestinian side, more people are coming to the realization that there will never be a Palestinian state – although Palestinian elites have been slow to publicly admit the reality. A number of factors have contributed to the changing and splintering of the conversation, most notably, amongst Jewish groups in the United States.
Mondoweiss

Deal Reached in Honduran Coup Crisis; Zelaya Restoration Would Depend on Vote by Honduran Congress

The Honduran coup regime and representatives of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya reached an agreement late Thursday that would pave the way for Congress to restore Zelaya to office and allow him to serve out the remaining three months of his term. We go to the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa to speak with Andrés Conteris, who has been holed up at the embassy since Zelaya took refuge there last month.
Democracy Now, via the Palestinian Pundit)

Just a thought...

Isn't it ironic to hear some say that Socialism or the socialist system doesn't work especially when we know that trillions and trillions of dollars have been spent in efforts to undermine and bring down EVERY single socialist govt. the world over? " You see! We told yah!! It doesn't work!"
(Oh, I can only anticipate the pure pleasure of hearing the highly predicable comments coming from you know who..I can't wait..Yawn!)

U.S. court: Would-be Israel spy to remain in jail before trial

Nozette pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted espionage. He is accused of seeking $2 million for selling secrets to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer. The Justice Department could seek the death penalty.
Haaretz
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A bit nosy, aren't we mr. Nozette?
And guess what? One commenter is crying Anti Semitism! No kidding!

Rights group: Israel exploits and cheats foreign workers

About 30,000 migrant workers hired by farms in Israel pay thousands of dollars to middlemen for their jobs but earn less than the minimum wage and are cheated out of overtime, according to an Israeli rights group report.
The rights group Kav LaOved says the workers come mostly from Thailand but also Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Palestinian Territories.
Haaretz

Knesset: Animals don't have legal rights

The Knesset rejected a bill to change the name of the Animal Welfare Law to the Animal Rights Law, since Israeli law does not recognize animals as legal entities with rights, according to coalition members.
Haaretz

'The time that remains'

A review of this Palestinian film by the brilliant Elia Suleiman, here. I saw this movie yesterday as part of the Palestinian Film Festival in Sydney. I'm too exhausted to review or at least talk about it in other terms but that it's brilliant, extremely personal and highly sophisticated. Add this to the fact that I had with Elia a personal experience as we competed together without knowing for the same part to play a Palestinian, in a major French movie. Well, he won the part and not only because he's the real McCoy I should add, he's damn good. I'm not sure if this film is screened in the US or Europe but it's highly recommended. The subtlety of humor and irony is astounding given the bleak context of the story. Elia is a Palestinian of the interior (I can't bring myself to say an Israeli Arab by any means.)
P.S. The French movie we competed for never saw the light..I never knew exactly why.

Comedy Central: Interview with Mustafa Barghouti

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Anna Baltzer & Mustafa Barghouti Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

---------------
Received this from "US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation":

For those of you who have viewed the interview with Barghouti and Baltzer, I am sure you, too,witnessed the heckler interrupting the show- and according to some
sources, this was the first time in 11 years that a heckler has
attempted to disrupt The Daily Show. As expected, the appearance of Barghouti and Baltzer was, and... still is, surrounded with controversy
and protests.It is important for all us to take a quick moment to let The Daily Show know there are thousands of us who support their decision to feature these two notable Palestinian peace activists. It doesn't have to be long, just a quick note: "Thank you for featuring Dr. Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer on your Oct. 28th
show. I appreciate The Daily Show's efforts to bring light to the
Israeli occupation of Palestine." The more detailed or personalized you can make it, the better.Thank you!

Save the wails ..By Mr. Fish

6 Signs That the American Empire Is Coming to an Early End

The day of America's global pre-eminence is over. We must face the new global realities.
Memo to the CIA: You may not be prepared for time-travel, but welcome to 2025 anyway! Your rooms may be a little small, your ability to demand better accommodations may have gone out the window, and the amenities may not be to your taste, but get used to it. It's going to be your reality from now on.
AlterNet

Why Won't Obama Send Condolence Letters to the Parents of Soldiers Who Have Committed Suicide?

Amy Goodman,Democracy Now!
The bereaved parents of Chancellor Keesling, a US soldier who took his own life in Iraq, wonder why the death of their son is treated differently than other mortalities.

"Our Economy Was a Scam and Now We're Dead Broke"

"America is broke. And the easy credit, phantom "growth" economy has been exposed for what it was: a credit scam."

Oil Tycoon: Our Troops Died ... We're "Entitled" to Sweet Contracts in Iraq!

Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are "entitled" to some of Iraq's crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.

Thousands March in 3-Day Showdown with Banking Industry

Tired of bailouts and fat paychecks for those that created the economic catastrophe, marchers made clear demands to tame an out-of-control financial system.

Why Republicans Are in the Grip of an Apocalyptic Rapture Cult Centered on Revenge and Vindication

An excerpt from Schaeffer's soon-to-be released book, "Patience with God," gets to the root of why millions are praying for End Times.

The Rise of the Religious Left

The recent revelation that Michael Moore's Catholicism emerges in his latest film as a centrepiece of his critique of capitalism is really no surprise. The claim in Capitalism: A Love Story that free markets are inconsistent with Christianity has wrong-footed Moore's rightwing critics, but the right's bid to monopolise religion has been challenged for some time.
AlterNet

Hagee and the mythical anti-Christ is Gay and Jewish

Elie Wiesel's Shocking Stage Appearance with Mad Preacher and Anti-Semite John Hagee

"The controversial Christian Right figure baselessly trashed Obama, and Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Wiesel calls him "dear pastor." What gives?"
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What gives? WHAT GIVES?! Are you serious?

How moderate is Islam in the world’s largest Muslim state?

Antony Loewenstein
Islamism in Indonesia is something I examined during my recent visit there (my thoughts picked up by the Atlantic). It’s a small issue that shouldn’t be over-estimated but the reality exists:

Zionist myths spread wide at J Street

"From the earliest minutes of her founding, the United State has supported Israel, and Israel in turn has been a reliable friend and the closest of allies in a dangerous but vital region of the world. A strong Israel is a matter of U.S. national interest as is an enduring peace in the region."
---------
Bulldozers are working for peace every day..Just watch the video posted underneath..

The price paid by humanity last century

Historian Daniel Jonah Goldhagen writes in his new book Worse than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity:

The number of people who have been mass murdered [in the 20th century] is, conservatively estimated, 83 million. When purposeful famine is included, the number becomes 127 million, and if the higher estimates are correct the total number of victims of mass murder may be 175 million or more.

Occupiers aren’t democratic by definition

Bilbao Cooperation Council Adopts BDS

Bilbao, September 18, 2009 - The Municipal Council for Cooperation of Bilbao has joined the Campaign BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) on the State of Israel, which undertakes not to cooperate with the policy of apartheid in Palestine and the illegal occupation in their territories.
This decision was taken at the regular plenary session held on 29 June 2009.

Volvo providing armored buses for Israeli settlements

Adri Nieuwhof
Following reports published by The Electronic Intifada on the use of Volvo equipment in the demolition of Palestinian houses in 2007, the Volvo Group stated that it did not condone the use of its equipment for such purposes. Claiming to have no control over the use of its products, Volvo affirmed that its Code of Conduct decries unethical behavior. In spite of these claims, The Electronic Intifada has found that through its Volvo Buses branch, the Volvo Group is providing armored buses to transport Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Global BDS Movement

Did Leviev's Empire Succumb to Boycott?

Shir Hever
On 31 August 2009, Lev Leviev, the sixth richest Israeli according to Forbes Magazine, convened a press conference and announced that his company Africa Israel will be unable to meet its financial obligations and repay its debts on time.
Leviev's debt is estimated at nearly Euro 1.4 billion. While this tycoon said in August2008 that "I will meet all of my obligations, to the last penny," he admitted in the latest press conference, one year later, that he made serious investment mistakes.
Global BDS Movement

Afghan leader's brother on CIA payroll: report

WASHINGTON — Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the embattled Afghan president and a suspected drug trafficker, has been on the CIA payroll for most of the past eight years, The New York Times reported.

The US spy agency pays Karzai for a variety of services, the newspaper said, such as fielding recruits for an Afghan paramilitary force operating at the CIA's direction in and around his home city of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold.

Just in case you're missing on fleming's latest racist and supremacist rants you need to check the post 'Juan Cole'..What's new now is that it's Arayns like him versus the rest of the world, us, Brownies!! Ha ha..
Another pint for the road fleming?

Report: Palestinians denied water

Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.
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Let them go to the pub if they're thirsty. After all this is what our friend fleming does!

Slaughter in the Balkans

Karadzic heard discussing mass slaughter Muslims in phonetap evidence: "it will be a black cauldron where 300,000 Muslims will die. They will disappear. That people will disappear from the face of the earth"

Kooks galore in the only democracy blah blah

'Woman refusing to walk on other street side attacked'
Yoel "Yoelish" Kraus, the kambatz, or "operations director" for the Eda Haharedit organization, was released to house arrest on Monday after being arrested the previous evening for assaulting a haredi woman who refused to move to the other side of the street in the capital's Mea She'arim neighborhood, police said.

Scandinavian social democracies( Finland top spot) at the top of prosperity index that focuses on economic growth, health and freedom

With the exception of Switzerland, which came in at number 2, Nordic countries dominated the top 5 slots, with Sweden in third place followed by Denmark and Norway.

The top 10 were all also Western nations, with Australia (6th place) and Canada (7th place) both beating the United States, ranked 9th. Britain came in at number 12.

US diplomat resigns over Afghan war

US diplomat resigns over Afghan war: "Like the Soviets, we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people"

Atheist duo, Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens, convince crowd that the Church is not a force for good

Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens have won a public debate in London in which they argued against a motion that the "Catholic Church is a force for good in the world".

France fines Scientology 600,000€ for fraud

A French court has convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud, but stopped short of banning the group from operating in France.
---------------
They should have been banned. Their methods of recruitment are very deceptive and totally unethical..They approach people in the street disguising who they are and ask people to undergo an IQ test or an EQ test for exemple( methods keep changing). Only later they start to distill information about themselves as an organised religion. I've witnessed this phenomenon in France AND in Sydney.

This is Israel: Disgrace unto the nations

"Israeli academics are being watched. Vigilantes check what they say or write - and, if they are judged "anti-Israel," incite donors to the universities and colleges where they teach to act against them. Students are encouraged to spy on their teachers and to report what they say. Academics on the left are the targets. They are vilified as "Israel's academic fifth column" and "our inner scourge." They are called "traitors" and are accused of "treasonous betrayal" and of wanting "to suck up to and be accepted by the enemy." "
The Angry Arab

Isabel Kershner’s ( New York Times) language

Look at Isable Kershner's language (and notice that not once does she refer to the spot as the Noble Sanctuary, the Muslim name for it, and only uses Temple Mount): "The compound sits in contested territory that Israel took from Jordan in the 1967 war." Israel took from Jordan? Are you kidding me? Took? How did Israel take it? Did Israel go to Jordan and say: Hey, Jordan. This is Israel. I would like to take the West Bank and Gaza, if you don't mind it. And Jordan said: sure. Go ahead, Israel. No problem.
The Angry Arab

Boycott in Bahrain

"The bill, set to be discussed on Tuesday, bans "any form of cooperation with the Israeli entity," and advises that offenders be punished with a three to five year jail sentence and a fine of up to 10,000 Bahraini dinars ($26,500). The offender may also have his labor license revoked for up to ten years." (thanks Bilal)
The Angry Arab
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Excellent..May the other corrupt, shameless collaborators listen and learn.

Israeli MP: 'Israel has always discriminated against its Arabs'

"Israel has discriminated against its Arab population ever since 1948, Labor rebel MK Ophir Paz-Pines said at a conference in Herzliya.
Paz-Pines said that as interior minister in Ariel Sharon's government in 2005, he oversaw policies and practices that were overtly discriminatory.
"The Arab minority in Israel is structurally discriminated against and has been since the day the state was founded. I say this with great sorrow, I think it is one of Israel's biggest historical mistakes," he said."
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Well if even highly toxic Zionist trash like the Jersulam Post is publishing it then..You know..

West Bank land belongs to Jews, says Israeli army judge

• Settlements lawyer reveals core beliefs
• Peace with Palestinians 'goes against nature'
".....In an unusually frank interview, which offers insights into the melding of religion, politics and law that underpins land seizures in the occupied territories, Agassi has laid out his belief that Israel has a biblical claim to territory beyond its borders and that he, even as an immigrant, has a right to live on it when those born there do not.
Meron Rapoport in Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 October 2009
(Via the Palestinian Pundit)

Names and Photos of Israeli War Criminals in Gaza

I have decided to publish some names and photos of the Israeli military personnel who participated in the so-called “Operation Cast war-criminals_barak_eisenbergLead”, the offensive launched by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on the Gaza Strip between 27 December and 18 January 2009. The names of these criminals called my attention since the first day of their criminal attack against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza. I consider each person who took part in this IOF and each one whose name appears in this report as a war criminal who should be requested by an international court of justice, just like all other war criminals who were persecuted before…
Kawthar Salam blog
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She has already done a great job publishing the names of the criminal cowardly settlers and their leaders. Check her blog out, it's a must...

Elie Wiesel Mocked at J Street Conference

At the event, Helena Cobban, who describes herself as "agnostic" on a two-state solution, said that blogging had "changed international relations" because now the world could get real-time reaction from the people "underneath U.S. and Israeli bombs."

Blumenthal went on to trash Elie Wiesel for speaking this past weekend at the Christians United for Israel conference in San Antonio. After mocking Pastor John Hagee, the founder of CUFI, Blumenthal said "the last time Elie Wiesel trusted someone so much it was Bernie Madoff." Wiesel admitted earlier this year that he lost "everything" he had in Madoff's ponzi scheme. The audience erupted with laughter at Blumenthal's tasteless joke.'"

Juan Cole

The Republican's avaricious and illegal war on Iraq destabilized the eastern Mediterranean, perhaps for decades, creating long-term challenges to US and global security of which the Baghdad blasts are very possibly only minor omens.

"Israel used us as human shields in Gaza war"

Three teenage boys say they were made to kneel in front of tanks to deter Hamas attacks
His brothers, Ali, 15, and Nafiz, 16, described how when the three of them were being led through built-up areas in their home town of ­Attartra, the soldiers would order them to suddenly stop ‑ then fire their rifles over the brothers' shoulders and between their legs.

Bosnia ‘on brink of new civil war’

The concerns have been triggered by Bosnian Serb leaders who have stepped up their demands for independence with a warning the country is no longer “sustainable”.

The growing ethnic divisions have raised fears of a return to the fighting which claimed the lives of up to 110,000 people between 1992 and 1995.

Bloodbath in Iraq

Iraq Suffers Worst Attack in 2009 With Twin Bombings
Twin suicide car bombs targeting government buildings in central Baghdad killed more than 130 people and wounded hundreds more in the worst attack in the country this year, Al-Jazeera television said, citing police.

Jesus!

Teach both evolution and creationism say 54% of Britons
More than half of British adults think that intelligent design and creationism should be taught alongside evolution in schoolscience lessons – a proportion higher than in the US.

George Soros turns on the bankers

As bailed-out institutions plan to share billions among staff, top figures in the City – including bank directors – call on the Government to take decisive action at last

A state of denial

The Ministry of Education in Israel has decided to pull a history textbook because it include a passage that talks about the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 for the creation of the state of Israel, describing it as 'Ethnic Cleansing.'

Helicopter crashes kill 14 Americans in Afghanistan

Hostile fire ruled out in one collision involving three civilians while US engages in 'war games' for exit strategy
Seven US troopers and three US civilians working for the government died when their helicopter went down in western Afghanistan, a US statement said. In the south of the country two US helicopters collided, killing four American troops and wounding two others.
(Via the Palestinian Pundit)

'Iran is our friend,' says Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan

We have no difficulty with Ahmadinejad – Erdogan
Warning to Europe not to ignore Turkey's strengths

"Erdogan's partiality towards Ahmadinejad may surprise some in the west who see Turkey as a western-oriented democracy firmly grounded inside Nato. It has been a member of the alliance since 1952. It will be less surprising to Erdogan's secular domestic critics, who believe the prime minister's heart lies in the east and have long suspected his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP) government of plotting to transform Turkey into a religious state resembling Iran."
The Guardian

A very healthy health minister

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai:

"Gays and lesbians are sick people. It’s definitely a disease. They haven’t invented a cure for it yet, but I hope they will."
Actually the whole article by Gideon Levy is a good read

"Better" thas thousand words

(notinhisname. Thanks v)

Sophie Jodoin

"War series"
I'm sorry but I have to go..I wish I could expand on Sophie's art a little bit..When I came across one of her paintings 10 years ago I was struck by the strong filiation(French I know but can't be bothered!) her work had to Rembrandt's at a time when obsession with Modernism was strongly the ordre de jour.
Check her out you'll be dazzled by a unique talent..Absolute mastery...

A look back on the fall of communism

It's 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and Karl Marx, grandfather of communism, is being rehabilitated. Looking back on the unravelling of the Soviet system and the unlikely staying power of a once-ridiculed worldview

Germany's New Government to U.S.: Take Away Your nukes

"We want the last nuclear weapons that are stationed in Germany to be taken away," Westerwelle said at the conclusion of the coalition talks on Saturday.

"Hey Jews, let’s stop using our exceptionalist narrative for political cover!"

Philip Weiss
(Thanks to a sharp commenter at Marty Peretz’s blog) I read this post at the Economist, by an anonymous Jewish writer, destroying Robert Bernstein’s op-ed in the Times attacking Human Rights Watch. Sounds like Tony Karon to me. Is it you, Tony?

Jeffrey Goldberg's nighmare: A one-state solution

JB: J Street officially will not use the term "One-State Solution." That is an oxymoron because it is a one-state nightmare. That is the thing we are most opposed to — moving in a one-state direction.

JG: A nightmare for practical reasons or a nightmare for moral reasons?

JB: A nightmare for the Jewish people. There would be no more Israel. One state is not a solution, one state is a dissolution.

Eli Yishai ( deputy prime minister and Israel's interior minister) is just Jean-Marie Le Pen with a beard

Nineteen years after his murder, Meir Kahane's spirit is alive and kicking. Not only in the lunatic fringes of the radical right and the settlers, not only in the shameful graffiti smeared on every corner. We're dealing with an established political party, whose leader is deputy prime minister and Israel's interior minister. Eli Yishai is the ultimate Israeli xenophobe, Jean-Marie Le Pen with a beard, Jorg Heider in a skullcap, a mizrahi Kahane.
---------
If I were Jean-Marie Le Pen I'd feel outrageously insulted....

Lieberman to Ban Ki Moon.: Don't let Goldstone report gain ground in UN

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has asked United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to keep the Goldstone Commission report on Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip from advancing to further votes within the international body.

Racism and segragation in the only democracy blah blah..

The Agriculture Ministry approved the entry of 3,000 new foreign workers in the past few months - without taking into account 1,168 Israeli Arab women interested in working in agriculture, Haaretz has learned.

Canadians throw shoes to protest Bush

OTTAWA (AFP) — Three Canadians were arrested and others threw shoes in protest against George W. Bush on Tuesday when he gave his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.

The legendary Asmahan's First record (1937) : Ya Nar Fouadi

Photos are of her family and brother Farid, seated at the right, a great singer himself..

"Why must we treat Palestinians as humans?"

Racism, mainstream Israeli-style:

“When Israel sends a sophisticated satellite into space, the Arabs come up with a new kind of hummus,” Dr. Dan Schueftan told students during his course on Israel’s security perspective in the diplomacy and security program for senior managers at Tel Aviv University.

When the Zionists look at themselves in the mirror

"I loathe the company we Zionists are forced to keep: ethnocentrists, know-nothings, warmongers and worse; that angry pseudo-majority whose Disney-fied myths eclipse the region’s messy realities, who dehumanize Arabs and furiously lob the words “antisemitism” and “Holocaust” like rhetorical hand grenades. What they love is not what I love."

Saree Makdisi speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem

At the end of September, I introduced in Sydney the leading Palestinian-American intellectual Saree Makdisi. Video.
Antony Loewenstein

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

(thanks Mara)

Khalid Amayreh: Israel could do the unthinkable

Gaza Journalist reviews Turkish TV Drama on Gaza

"We do not leave the injured behind, because we know what the Israelis will do to them."

Zbigniew Brzezinski On Iran

Israel is hoping to order two modern German-made warships without paying for them

Sources within the German government told Allgemeine Zeitung that Israel wants Berlin to finance the MEKO corvettes, a sum that would reportedly reach hundreds of millions of euros.

Red Alert: "Get out of the US dollar"

Shimon Peres: We are buying up Manhattan, Hungary, Romania and Poland

Palestine before 1948

Shas 'racial purity' policy toward migrant kids is a disgrace

Shulamit Aloni
"The manifestations of formal racism in Israel have become reminiscent of the black days of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, when the authorities decided that only a Catholic could be a Spaniard."

Settlement construction frenzy

The defense establishment confirmed that in recent weeks West Bank settlers have been making a noticeable effort to expedite construction, in an attempt to maximize the "facts on the ground" before the United States and Israel reach an agreement on a settlement freeze.

Kooks galore2

A billboard on the Ayalon highway for the Fox clothing company, featuring model Bar Refaeli, has raised the ire of the ultra-Orthodox.

Egypt airline: Hijacker tries to divert Cairo-bound plane to Jerusalem

WOW, the WidOW!

Ex-IDF chief's widow rejects naming East Jerusalem street after him, "I don't think this is a street that belongs to us. I don't think we need to be there and therefore I objected"

Goldstone challenges US over Gaza report.

Justice Richard Goldstone challenges US government to justify its claims that his findings are flawed

Talking back to the Americans. A big deal!

"I have never seen this in 30 years," Calder said. "I haven't heard Japanese talking back to American diplomats that often, especially not publicly. The Americans usually say, 'We have a deal,' and the Japanese respond, 'Ah soo desu ka,' -- we have a deal -- and it's over. This is new."

What it means

Looking at this one realises what an olive tree, massacred here by subhuman settlers, means for the indigenous people of Palestine..Without over sentementalising the event, It's like mourning a dead family member.
Palestinian Olives
"It is hard to describe to non-Palestinians what the olive tree means to us. We could tell of the practical things but that would be like saying our spouses mean a lot to us because of ... (and then list all the things they do). Of course these things are important but not the whole picture and we could never do justice that way to people or other living things we love. But just like listing what people do helps others visualize their character, so it is with the beloved olive tree. Palestinians over the past 5000 years have cultivated olive trees and derived great benefit from these wonderful hardy trees:

Richard Falk: Goldstone is historic blow in the war Israel is losing- the 'Legitimacy War'

Philip Weiss
"The important points come near the end: that the rather conservative findings of the report (and its acceptance of Israel's dubious right to self-defense–dubious because Gaza is effectively occupied), have acted as a "bombshell" in Israel because Goldstone calls for action, and because the report contributes to the fraying of Jewish support for Israel and to the "Legitimacy War" that Israel has been losing in the eyes of the world. "A historic contribution" to the Palestinian struggle for justice, Falk concludes."
(via Sabbah report)

Bugger a Blogger outage!

We had a couple of hours outage. It was a blogger thing and nothing could be done about it..

Tsk tsk!

I'm starting to think fleming is posting from an asylum..I really do:

Last comment:
" Like I said: FUCK THE SAND NIGGERS! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAHHAHAHAH"
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Anan! Could you please pray for his soul? God would listen to you more than to me. I think the guy has completely lost it..

Human Rights Watch targeted by the usual suspects

First there was this vicious attack in The New York Times
Followed by HRW's response here.
And where are Dershowitz, Elie the weasel and the gang when you need them? Sure, they smell blood!
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Warning..Since the New York Times articles are only available on subscription, I found this site (first link above). It's a far right Zionist site. The second link is from the NYT too and thus unavailable but if you cut and paste the title of the article in Google it becomes available..

Occupiers, thieves, and saboteurs

"The olive harvest season in the West Bank has begun and, as in previous years, complaints are gathering by Palestinians who claim settlers are trying to sabotage their efforts by destroying trees and stealing olives. Palestinians are enraged that after repeated complaints, authorities have failed to punish the offenders and take appropriate measures to prevent the incidents." (thanks Olivia)
The Angry Arab

Amira Hass awarded

International Women’s Media Foundation Honors Israeli Journalist Amira Hass with 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award

Dear Professor Finkelstein

Embedded reporter (and former student) tells it like it was.
"When we first heard that former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert was coming to the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, about 30 of us Palestinian activists (mainly students) RSVP’d.

We arrived at the event. They checked our names off and gave us pink wristbands to go in. But once you were in, no re-entry was allowed. So we stayed in the lobby and waited for other activists. We all gathered together and planned out what would be an internal disruption. We were to each stand up and say something to disrupt Olmert’s speech every 2 minutes or so. Some of us would also be holding a banner from the balcony, facing Olmert that said “Goldstone Report” to make him nervous during his speech. While we were doing this, of course a protest would also be held outside."
9via the Palestinian Pundit)

Seymour Hersh: Military versus White House

DURHAM — The U.S. military is not just fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America’s most renowned investigative journalist says.

The army is also “in a war against the White House — and they feel they have [President] Obama boxed in,” Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh told several hundred people in Duke University’s Page Auditorium on Tuesday night. “They think he’s weak and the wrong color. Yes, there’s racism in the Pentagon. We may not like to think that, but it’s true and we all know it.

Kooks galore

Five women in India were dragged through their village, beaten and forced to eat excrement after a local Muslim cleric declared them 'witches'

Not too soon!

Kuwaiti women will be able to obtain their own passport without the consent of their husbands

Olmert visit sparks Palestine movement at US university

On 13 October, Tulane University, an elite university in the southern United States, hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a featured speaker. In response to his visit, a coalition of students, teachers, activists and community members -- Muslims, Jews, Christians, Palestinians and their allies -- rallied in opposition and protest inside and outside the event.

A generation traumatized

Hiba described her trauma confidently and with a smile. "I saw on TV children being dragged from under rubble. From the roof of the house, I saw a tank dragging another [child], I also saw my three cousins' martyred and mutilated bodies."
Electronic Intifada

On Sharon or the Celebration of a criminal against humanity

"If Sharon hadn’t suffered a stroke? “I think we would have a Palestinian state,” says former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“I don’t want to compare him to anybody else,” says Israeli President Shimon Peres, “but there was nobody as good as he was.” Shimon Peres

The job of Judaism is to expand debate, not reduce it

Following J Street’s shameful cancellation of a poet’s performance at its upcoming Washington conference, the man in question (and his colleague) have released a statement:
Antony Lowenstein

Pakistan Shutters All Schools as War Picks Up Pace

Every Public and Private School Closed Until Further Notice
by Jason Ditz, October 20, 2009

Is Adulation of the Military Really Patriotic?

A recent article in the New York Times reported that the military has become frustrated with President Barack Obama because he hasn’t quickly decided to risk more of their lives in an Afghan war that is likely to be unwinnable. In a post-World War II world that has featured a non-traditional militarized foreign policy of profligate interventions into the affairs of other nations, the U.S. military and its opinion have acquired great prestige and are accorded hushed reverence in American society. The military and flag are worshiped as never before. But is this really patriotism?

Spy vs. spy, Israel vs. America

Justin Raimondo
A silent battle has been raging right under our noses, a fierce underground struggle pitting the U.S. against one of its closest allies. For all its newsworthiness, the media has barely noticed the story – except when it surfaces, briefly, like a giant fin jutting above the waves. The aggressor in this war is the state of Israel, with the U.S., its sponsor and protector, playing defense. This is the dark side of the "special relationship" – a battle of spy vs. spy.

The Future of Israel

"It appears that a turning point in the history of the state of Israel may have been reached in recent months and years. A number of different factors have come together to suggest that traditional peace plans, such as the "road map for peace" proposal, with separate and independent states for Israel and Palestine is looking less and less likely to occur. The political situation, and the situation on the ground, points more and more to a future bi-national state."

US Scientist Apprehended For Spying For Israel

"Israeli sources reported Monday that an American Scientist is believed to have transferred classified date to an Israeli intelligence officer. The Scientist worked for the Pentagon and the United States Space Agency (NASA).
(via the Palestinian Pundit)

Poor settlers! Protestors are making too much noise!

Settlers Complaining Inconveniences Resulting From NI’LIN Protests

He is not my enemy: Jewish and Palestinian Syrians living in peace in Old Damascus

This is from Forward magazine.
"Although most of Syria’s Jewish community has emigrated and the estimated number of Jews still living in Syria is between 25 and 200, they were not forced to leave after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. This led to the development of real friendships that both sides, Syrian and the emigrated Jewish community, recount with fondness and sorrow."

Israel ranks low for freedom of press

Israel placed No. 93 out of 175 countries on a 2009 international index of press freedom, released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday.

"Excommunicate them"...redux

Israel envoy Michael Oren rejects J Street invite
---------
They're a tiny weeny on the left and that's poo for Israel..
BTW, Haaretz is obviously cracking down on "excessive" comments so Yishai the creep is among those who are "victims"..Poor yishai!!Not longtime ago he used to leave at least 10 comments a day over here until he gave up when he realised ther's no way he could sneak in...

Unfathomable chutzpah!

In his address to the gala opening of the Presidential Conference, Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to tell his people: "The time has come to end this conflict; tell them that the time has come for two nations to live side-by-side in peace and security."
--------------
Because we all know it's "Abbas' people" who do not want peace!

If they do this even to those who sympathise with them!

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not grant French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner permission to visit the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Tuesday.

Israel prepares to fight war crimes trials after Goldstone Gaza report

Netanyahu wants a change to international laws of war! No kidding!

"Excommunicate the dovish Jews"!

The opening shot was fired this month by the former chairman of the Governing Board of the World Jewish Congress, Isi Liebler, who declared it "our obligation to confront the enemy within - renegade Jews - including Israelis who stand at the vanguard of global efforts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state."

Dr Barghouti Welcomes The Endorsement Of The Goldstone Report: Israel Cannot Continue Its Ongoing Crimes Against The Palestinian People

As the resolution to adopt the Goldstone Report was passed at the UN Human Rights Council, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative welcomed the endorsement of the Report.

Israel wants to be special (and kill unarmed civilians)

Here’s the message from Israel. Other nations kill civilians, why can’t we? This is what Israel has become:

Israeli hypocrisy over Lebanon

Israeli incursions into Lebanon show, for the umpteenth time, that Israel is a rogue state unafraid to breach international law.

Kicking Palestinians when they’re down

Israeli pressure on Palestinians in East Jerusalem has largely fallen off the media radar.

Here’s the latest:
(Antony Loewenstein)

Will Iran be tolerated as a regional power?

Founder of Conflicts Forum Alastair Crooke on the real challenge Iran poses to the world order:

"YES TO BDS!" AN ANSWER TO URI AVNERY

"The call for BDS – Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions – has finally reached Israeli public opinion. The decision of Norway to divest capital from Israeli corporations involved in settlement building made the difference, and provided the first big success to that important campaign.

Moreover, the group of Israelis supporting BDS, under the label "Boycott from Within" is gaining some momentum, thanks, among other, to a public appeal by Naomi Klein to Israeli activists when she came to Tel Aviv to present the Hebrew version of her "Shock Doctrine".
Not in his name(thanks v)

The U.S.'s new blasphemy law

Around the world, free speech is being sacrificed on the altar of religion. Whether defined as hate speech, discrimination or simple blasphemy, governments are declaring unlimited free speech as the enemy of freedom of religion. This growing movement has reached the United Nations, where religiously conservative countries received a boost in their campaign to pass an international blasphemy law. It came from the most unlikely of places: the United States.

Ken Loach's film in Haifa film festival against his will

Ken Loach's film "Looking for Eric" was put in the Haifa Int. Film Festival against his will and without his knowledge. Loach is an important supporter and advocate of the cultural boycott and this action is an affront to his work and to all working hard for years against Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.

Fleming's latest uncut!

"Fuck the sand niggers. Death to Palestine."
Sure fleming..We all believed you when you denied being a filthy, ignorant, unpolished racist scum..

Israel pulls textbook over 'ethnic cleansing' reference

ISRAEL'S Education Ministry has recalled all copies of a history textbook because of a passage alleging "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians during the 1948 war
Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the secondary school textbook was removed from shelves because it sought to present both Israeli and Arab perspectives on the departure of some 750,000 Palestinians during the fighting that erupted after the creation of the Jewish state.

Finance Minister: UN backing of Goldstone report is `anti-Semitic`

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday accused the United Nations Human Rights Council of anti-Semitism, after the UN body endorsed a damning report on Israel's winter Gaza offensive.
----------
My neighbours' dog is 'anti-Semitic' too. It was barking on a Saturday!

Taliban not main Afghan enemy

US intelligence reports: 90% of the insurgents battling US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are not religiously motivated Taliban and Al Qaeda warriors, but a new generation of tribal fighters vying for control of territory, mineral wealth, and smuggling routes,

BBC on Gazan Children: Better than US news, but balance is deceptive

At least the BBC reports on the actual people of Gaza, unlike "our ‘Public’" media, NPR and PBS, or the corporate "news" outlets. But the BBC’s headline, "Gaza children struggle for education," misleads viewers, because it mushes over the Israeli government responsibility for the kids’ problems.

Treatment is sought in U.S. for 3-year-old victim of white phosphorus attack in Gaza

by Philip Weiss on October 16, 2009
The Goldstone report is not an abstraction for me. My delegation was in Gaza at the same time as Judge Richard Goldstone was last June. We saw things that he also saw. I used the word "persecution" at the time; so has he now. One day human-rights-worker Fares Akram brought my group to a house in Beit Lahiya in the north of Gaza. He wanted to show us the hole in the roof made by a white phosphorus shell. It was smaller than a manhole, and throughout the apartment building the walls were still blackened and the studs charred.

Good job V, on Mondoweiss' comments section.

At last, Arab pressure on Obama to cut off US funding for West Bank colonies

This is an interesting post, as it came from this Israeli news site that until a few months ago appeared to be extremely hawkish. It seems to recognize that a similar program has been launched by Gush Shalom and suggests that the Arab League cooperate with "leftist Israeli lawyers." Guysen, Francophone agency in Israel, reports:
Mondoweiss

A Soldier Dreams Of White Lilies by Mahmoud Darweesh

He dreams of white lilies, an olive branch, her breasts in evening blossom.
He dreams of a bird, he tells me, of lemon flowers.
He does not intellectualize about his dream. He understands things as he
senses and smells them.
Homeland for him, he tells me, is to drink my mother’s coffee, to return
at nightfall.
And the land? I don’t know the land, he said.
I don’t feel it in my flesh and blood, as they say in the poems.
Suddenly I saw the land as one sees a grocery store, a street, newspapers.
I asked him, but don’t you love the land? My love is a picnic, he said, a glass
of wine, a love affair.
- Would you die for the land?
- No!
All my attachment to the land is no more than a story or a fiery speech!
They taught me to love it, but I never felt it in my heart.
I never knew its roots and branches, or the scent of its grass.
- And what about its love? Did it burn like suns and desire?

He looked straight at me and said: I love it with my gun.
And by unearthing feasts in the garbage of the past
and a deaf-mute idol whose age and meaning are unknown.
He told me about the moment of departure, how his mother
silently wept when they led him to the front,
how her anguished voice gave birth to a new hope in his flesh
that doves might flock through the Ministry of War.
He drew on his cigarette. He said, as if fleeing from a swamp of blood,
I dreamt of white lilies, an olive branch, a bird embracing the dawn in a
lemon tree.
- And what did you see?
- I saw what I did:
a blood-red boxthorn.
I blasted them in the sand…in their chests…in their bellies.
- How many did you kill?
- It’s impossible to tell. I only got one medal.
Pained, I asked him to tell me about one of the dead.
(continues in the comments section)

Famous Darwish Poem Inspired By Shlomo Sand

In 1967, the late Mahmoud Darwish (13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) penned his famous poem, ‘A Soldier Dreaming of White Lilies’. The poem was in fact written about Professor Shlomo Sand, as he describes in the introduction to The Invention of the Jewish People:

Israeli historian Shlomo Sand lecture at NYU..Mondoweiss reports

At NYU, devilish Shlomo Sand predicts the Jewish past and pastes the Zionists

Of all the events I’ve covered surrounding Jewish identity and Israel in the last year, none has given me so much pleasure as the lecture last night by Shlomo Sand at NYU on the Invention of the Jewish People. Most events I go to are grinding, awful, heartrending, often with lamentations and pictures of mutilated children. This one was pure intellectual deviltry of the highest order by a Pavarotti of the lecture hall. And while it was fiercely anti-Zionist and included references to the mutilated children, it left me in just an incredibly elated mood. For I saw real light at the end of the tunnel, and not the horrifying dimness that surrounds almost all other events that deal with Israel politics here– for instance with the neoconservative Weekly Standard’s disgusting pursuit of J Street.
Mondoweiss

Bomber in deadly Iraq mosque attack

More than 12 people have been killed and 42 hurt by a suicide bomber who opened fire inside a Sunni Muslim mosque before detonating his explosives' vest.

Israeli youths reject army call-up

More than 80 Israeli students have announced their refusal to serve in the Israeli military: "the occupation is a violent, racist, inhumane, illegal, undemocratic, immoral and an extreme condition that presents a mortal danger to both peoples"

A computer program shows that William Shakespeare did not write the historical play of The Reign of King Edward III all by himself.

Using the software called Pl@giarism, Shakespeare experts found that he wrote the play in collaboration with popular contemporary playwright Thomas Kyd. The program has been developed by the University of Maastricht to detect plagiarism and keep its students honest.

Israel vows to fight UN report amid France, UK support

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a "lengthy fight" against a United Nations report as the UK and France express support for Israel to “defend” itself.

Uruguay has become the first country to provide a laptop for every child attending state primary school. And they're running Linux.

Uruguay is part of the One Laptop Per Child scheme, an organisation set up by internet pioneer Nicholas Negroponte. His original vision was to provide laptops at $100 (£61) but they proved more expensive.

United States admits tackling Italians over payments to the Taleban

The US Government acknowledged for the first time yesterday that payment of protection money to the Taleban by Italian forces in Afghanistan was discussed by American officials and their Italian counterparts last year.

Deformed babies in Fallujah/Iraq

In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed.

A study proving Jewish and Islamic methods of slaughtering animals are painful has led to renewed calls for a ban in Britain

Proof of pain leads to calls for ban on ritual slaughter
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Painful, no! Excuriatingly, agonisingly so, is more accurate!!

Mozza boy..

I'm glad I'm done with this one (for now!). It's been lazying around, unfinished, for months if not years and could not bring myself to do anything about it until this morning. Something is telling me though that it's not quite done with yet..It's NEVER quite done with..maybe it's just a curse...

Alan Hart – Israel's right or not to exist – The facts and truth

On Monday 12 October, Prime Minister Netanyahu opened the Knesset's winter session by blasting the Goldstone Report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes and vowing that he would never allow Israelis be tried for them. But that was not his main message. It was an appeal, delivered I thought with a measure of desperation, to the "Palestinian leadership", presumably the leadership of "President" Abbas and his Fatah cronies, leaders who are regarded by very many if not most Palestinians as American-and-Israeli stooges at best and traitors at worst.

John Pilger: Murdoch, a cultural Chernobyl

On the impact of Murdoch's empire in Britain and all over the world.

John Pilger wins 2009 Sydney Peace Prize

The jury’s citation reads as follows: 'For work as an author, film-maker and journalist as well as for courage as a foreign and war correspondent in enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard. For commitment to peace with justice by exposing and holding governments to account for human rights abuses and for fearless challenges to censorship in any form.'
----------
This is a prize that Hanan Ashrawi has won a few years back but the mayor at the time, the despicable Zionist groupie Lucie Turnbul, refused to hand the prize stating that Ashrawi is a supporter of terrorism..And now Pilger wins it..Good! A prick in the eye of the Israel Lobby in Australia.

Wiping Persia from the map

John Bolton, neo-conservative, former George W. Bush official and Fox News contributor:

"So we’re at a very unhappy point — a very unhappy point — where unless Israel is prepared to use nuclear weapons against Iran’s program , Iran will have nuclear weapons in the very near future."

What, reporters aren’t just spokespeople for the US military?

Books by American journalists about Iraq that avoid discussing the Iraqis themselves.

That’s a real achievement.

Gaza war is not forgotten in Turkey

Slowly but surely, Israel is starting to realise where it matters (in the back pocket) that its criminality will come at a steep price. Who truly wants to normalise relations with a state that brutalises another people (over and over again)?

Until 2007, 68 women gave birth on checkpoints, 34 infants and 4 women died

How many since?

They don't target civilians(or boys for that matter) , do they?

Footage of this boy being intentionally shot by an Israeli soldier was erased by the Associated Press. Photo: Reuters
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Ok this not new but when you hear them denying deliberately shooting civilians one needs to show they lie as easily as they breathe..

Rebuilding Gaza's infrastructure with mud

Since the war on Gaza ended, a number of houses have been built using mud to create simple, square, two or three-room homes. The new Sheikh Zayed police station is one of the larger and more ambitious projects.

Come see Jewish only roads and enjoy the ride

Roll up for your relaxing holidays, people. Occupation is now a tourist attraction:

When Palestinians turn to peaceful demonstrations, the occupation forces start shooting to kill them before anybody knows it

Some 500 Palestinian villagers and around 200 Israeli peace activists participated in the demonstration. They informed the Israeli troops present at the scene, through loudspeakers and in Hebrew, that the march was strictly peaceful. But as the demonstrators gathered on the outskirts of the village and began marching in the direction of the fence/wall, Israeli forces shot tear gas at them, pushed and shoved some of them, and fired rock salt projectiles, injuring several of the demonstrators.

The people vs Wall Street

Bear Stearns bankers on trial in first criminal case of the credit crunch.

Honduran teams agree plan to restore ousted president

Honduran negotiators reached agreement Wednesday on a plan to restore President Manuel Zelaya to office and end a political crisis triggered by his ouster in a June coup.

BBC’s Former Director General: The BBC Is Part Of A "Conspiracy" Preventing The "Radical Changes" Needed To UK Democracy

Greg Dyke told a Lib Dem conference meeting he wanted a commission to look into the "whole political system".
But he said: "I fear it will never happen because I fear the political class will stop it."

Did you know that on this day in 1953 a unit of the Israeli army commanded by Ariel Sharon carried out the Qibya Massacre?

The Qibya Battle occurred in October 1953 when Israeli troops under Ariel Sharon attacked a Jordanian West Bank village. Sixty-nine Palestinians were killed, many while hiding in houses blown up over their heads. Forty-five houses, a school, and a mosque were destroyed.

Rumors?

Iranian Bloggers and tweeters: Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, 'is dead'

US military spending vs. the World

Turkey PM: My people rejected Israeli participation in NATO drill

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that "diplomatic sensitivities" led his government to ban Israel from a joint NATO air force drill, French news agency AFP reported.

"We have taken the conscience of our people into consideration when we decided.... I had to be the voice that expresses the existence of my people and my people were rejecting Israel's participation.

Suit: Jerusalem hospital's refusal to admit Palestinian may have caused death

A Palestinian taken by ambulance to a Jerusalem hospital was denied entry by hospital security, which may have been a factor in his death, according to a suit filed last week in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.

Israeli Member of Paliament: "Deporting foreign children preserves Israel's Jewish identity"

Interior Minister and Shas Party chairman Eli Yishai plans "to muster all of Shas' political power on the issue of the foreign workers," he told Haaretz on Tuesday.

Turkish TV series angers Israel (Israel gets angry when this happens on TV series, but pretty satisfied when done in Real Life)

Israel's foreign minister has ordered Turkey's ambassador to be summoned over a Turkish TV series that portrays Israeli soldiers killing children.

Iraq says 85,000 killed between 2004-2008

Just over 85,000 Iraqis were killed in Iraq between 2004 and 2008, according to the first estimate from the Iraqi government since the war began.

It counts violent deaths of military, police and civilians, but does not include foreigners or insurgents.

Gaza War Crimes: Israeli Government Contradicts its Own "Self-Defense" Argument

Information on official website tacitly acknowledges war crimes in Gaza

Obama EPA releases Bush-era global warming finding nearly two years after it was sent to the White House and never opened.

The primate who used to occupy the white house then was famously a lousy reader..

Hey, by the Nuremburg Principles it's literally true: "Barack Obama is a War Criminal"

In Al Gore's words:
"After they abandoned the search for the terrorists who attacked us and redeployed the troops to invade a nation that did not attack us, it's time for a change."

Jon Stewart spends 10 minutes ripping apart CNN's pitiful reporting

[Video]

Noam Chomsky: Taking money out of politics would be a good start.

A video

Indigenous People Across Latin America Protest Spanish 'Genocide'

GUATEMALA CITY - Tens of thousands of indigenous people took to the streets across Latin America on Monday to protest the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's 1492 discovery of the Americas.

Britain designated "the worst place to live in Europe"

What does our friend Jemmy think?

Palestinians say hopes in Obama "evaporated" and that he "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby"

JERUSALEM — The Palestinian president's political party(Fatah) says all hopes in the Obama administration have "evaporated," accusing the White House of caving in to pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and backing off a demand to freeze Jewish settlements.

VIDEO: RAF PILOT DIVERTS BOMB TO SAVE CIVILIANS

THIS DRAMATIC footage shows an RAF pilot sparing the lives of Afghan civilians by diverting a bomb targeted on a top Taliban.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini 'was recruited by MI5'

Benito Mussolini, the Italian dictator and founder of the original Axis of Evil, worked as a British agent for MI5 at the start of his career, it has emerged.

Fingerprint unmasks original da Vinci painting

I know you may not give a rat's backside BUTT...this is exciting..

Wonderful new counter

You have no idea what this new counter can reveal to you. Have fun and click on 'Visitors online' and you'll discover all the places from which visitors are coming from. Honolulu is not the most unexpected though! Where on earth is Maisuru?
Aussi, nous avons un visiteur/lecteur de Villebon-sur-Yvette en France et nous le/la saluons..Bonjour l'ami/amie.

Counter changed...It's about BDS

Just in case you're wondering why I changed the counter (French company) which was rather nicer than this one. The reason is simple. I'd boycott any company which doesn't put Palestine or Palestinian territory on the map, and just mentions "Palestinians".
Allez ouste!

Obama Approves 13,000 Support Troops to Afghanistan

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Pentagon is deploying the 13,000 new troops in addition to the 21,000 extra combat soldiers approved by Mr. Obama in March.

Turkey Denies Cancelling Military Drill Over Israeli Participation

The ministry said Monday the cancellation was "not political," and urged Israeli officials to approach the situation with common sense.

Surprise! Netanyahu says Israel Would Not Cooperate With Gaza War Crimes Tribunal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will never allow its soldiers and war-time leaders to go before an international war-crimes tribunal following the assault on militants in the Gaza Strip 10 months ago.

AFP: Four Sudan Islamists to hang for US diplomat murder.

One of the defendants, Mohammed Osman Yusef, shouted after sentencing: "You cannot kill a Muslim because he killed a Christian."

Food production will have to increase by 70% over the next 40 years to feed the world's growing population,

The Food and Agricultural Organisation says if more land is not used for food production now, 370 million people could be facing famine by 2050.

Al-Qaeda 'faces funding crisis'

Al-Qaeda is in its worst financial state for many years while the Taliban's funding is flourishing, according to the US Treasury.

Dollar Reaches Breaking Point as Banks Shift Reserves

Developing countries have likely sold about $30 billion for euros, yen and other currencies each month since March, according to strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

And the other Nobel Peace Prize nominees were...

When President Obama unexpectedly won, he defeated more than 200 proposed candidates. These six are among the most inspirational on that list

Last surviving members of an ancient Amazonian tribe are a tragic testament to greed and genocide

I think they need to become rich!

Welcome to Debt City: Expats who took out loans during Dubai's good times now flee or face jail

DUBAI, UAE — Default on a loan or bounce a check in Dubai and you could end up in debtors’ prison.

Global homicide: murder rates around the world

Which countries have the highest murder rates? Find out with the latest data
Morocco and Japan are in the lowest position with 0.5 for 100.000 followed by Egypt and Austria, 0.7.
Colombia is in the highest with 61.1.

Prepare your sick bags..Israeli hip hop!

US cancels its biggest air-defence exercise with Israel

Eagle is grounded over Turks’ Gaza snub

The US has cancelled its biggest air-defence exercise with Israel after Turkey refused to allow Israeli aircraft to participate in the war games, due to begin out of Turkish air bases today.
(Thanks Maracatu)

Nobel ( for Economics) Looks Outside Markets

Economics Prize Goes to Americans Who Studied Shared Resources, Corporate Decisions
(Thanks Maracatu)

Anti Anti Semitism With Norman Finkelstein

Palestine Monitor
12 October 2009
What links ex-president Jimmy Carter, British Baroness Jenny Tongue and the University of California? All these (and countless others) have been recently been accused of anti-Semitism, vilified in the press for questioning Israel’s occupation of Palestine. It is a reflex action of pro-Israel groups like the Anti-Defamation League to publish personal slander against vocal critics, and no-one has been more systematically targeted than political scientist Norman Finkelstein. We spoke to him about the past, present and future of Anti Semitism as a tactic.

Shalit Wasn’t Kidnapped

Uri Avnery
12 October 2009
It was the Israeli government that coined the term "kidnapped soldier," and the media obediently joined the chorus. Gilad Shalit has been a prisoner of war for 1,205 days. The behavior of Israel’s governments, politicians and generals who are responsible for this scandal evokes outrage and anger in every reasonable person, not just combat soldiers.

Dianne Feinstein: War Profiteer

Why a San Francisco Democrat is one of the biggest warmongers around

by Justin Raimondo, October 12, 2009

"....."Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, benefited from decisions made by Feinstein as leader of this powerful subcommittee.
AntiWar.com via The Palestinian Pundit

Is Canada more pro-Israel than the US?

Avigdor Lieberman:
"It's hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than Canada these days. Members both of the coalition and the opposition are loyal friends to us, both with regard to their worldview and their estimation of the situation in everything related to the Middle East, North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Somalia. No other country in the world has demonstrated such full understanding of us."

How Israel bought off UN's war crimes probe

Jonathan Cook, The Electronic Intifada, 6 October 2009

Israel celebrated at the weekend its success at the United Nations in forcing the Palestinians to defer demands that the International Criminal Court investigate allegations of war crimes committed by Israel during its winter assault on the Gaza Strip.
(Thanks VAA)

IKF. K for killing.

A Bullet Journey??

film by Osama Qashoo

This film is a personal story made in memory of my friend Haza' who was killed (By Israeli soldiers) while we were together. I was filming when one single bullet hit his heart, terminating his life forever and changing the lives of all those who knew him.

I managed to capture some footage of his death and in this film I am trying to show the journey of a bullet and the effect it leaves behind. It is a film to humanize those who are being killed by bullets so they are not seen only as numbers.

Deshelving Sainsbury, West London

On 11th October 2009, activists protested inside Sainsbury’s on Cromwell Street, West London to highlight the sale of Israeli and illegal Settlement produce by both Sainsbury’s and other major supermarket chains across the UK.

If you're in favor of a ban on anan let me know. Personally I'm sick and tired of the nonsensical, outlandish and at times despicable comments like the one where he sees nothing wrong with a takeover of Aljazeera by a Zionist creep intent on tipping the balance in favor of an Israeli hawkish point of view, but I won't ban him without your consent.

Nobel Committee Secretary Explains Why Obama Won

To sum up the main reason Lundestad considers Obama a worthy pick, and not just a choice indicating wishful thinking on his committee’s part, he points to how the president “has produced an entirely new international climate” since taking office, which Lundestad calls “a concrete achievement” in and of itself.

Jumping the Gun By Mr. Fish

Is al-Jazeera about to become a Zionist outlet?

Iran’s Press TV has the following report (interesting story though the last lines are impossible to confirm):

Does it matter that Israelis will feel isolated?

All of this begs the question: are the Israel boycotts working?

New Report Reveals Settlement Construction Work In Development

Palestine Monitor
7 October 2009
According to ‘Peace Now’, one of Israel’s largest NGO’s, constructions has begun in 34 settlements over the last 3 months. Its thought that negotiations for a settlement freeze will only apply to new construction projects and building work that has already begun will be considered ‘facts on the ground’. This clause would exempt 2,400 units currently in various stages of construction.

Tear Gas Canisters Collected Instead Of Olives

Palestine Monitor
10 October 2009
International activists, journalists and government members joined local residents and Israeli peace campaigners for yesterday’s demonstration in Bil’in. As the olive harvest season begins farmers are unable to access thousands of olive groves upon which their income depends as the Apartheid Wall annexes 60% of Bil’in farming land for Israeli settlements. Instead of collecting olives they joined demonstrators in cleaning up remnants of teargas bombs fired each week by the Israeli army.

US Strategy in Doubt as Abbas Loses Popular Support

Helena Cobban
Just two months ago, many western commentators were jubilant that Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-supported head of both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the interim Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA), was making a comeback and reducing the influence in Palestinian society of the Islamist movement Hamas.
(Via the Palestinian Pundit)

Get Off Obama's Back ...second thoughts from Michael Moore

Many, for the past couple days (yes, myself included), have grumbled, "What has he done to earn this prize?" How 'bout this:
The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
(Thanks Maracatu)

Are you brainwashed yet?

Look at this title in the Jerusalem Post :

'Iran will blow up the heart of Israel'

And here is what the bit of news is actually about:

"An aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that if the Islamic republic is attacked by the US or by Israel, Teheran would "blow up the heart" of the Jewish state, Reuters cited a report by the official Iranian news agency on Friday.
According to the report, Mojtaba Zolnour threatened that "Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel."
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Of course there was no need to put the condiotional "if attacked" because we all know Iran is going to wipe Israel off the map anyway, so why bother with honest reporting?