The Clueless star, who died mysteriously on Dec. 20 at age 32, owed more money than her Beverly Hills home is worth. The 8,000 square foot mansion is now occupied by her mother, Sharon, and her husband of 2 1/2 years, Simon Monjack.Brittany Murphy died virtually broke – and her financial mess has triggered a... more
No taxation by a foreign government without representation" is a basic American principle. Yet, the taxation currently endured by US taxpayers because of the Israel Lobby far exceeds the level of taxation by the British that led to the American Revolution. Pro-Israel organisations do everything possible to prevent Americans from openly discussing the fact that they are being taxed without consent.
Through subversion Israel advocates have orchestrated passage of the Patriot Act, Homeland Security abuses, and other erosions of civil liberties. Pro-Israel organisations file lawsuits to keep the question of Israel investments off local ballots. Jewish communal organisations bribe elected public officials with free trips to Israel to gain their support - even against the will of the majority of their constituents!
Financing Israel at the expense of basic American values victimises every citizen to benefit a very small sub-group of the population and also creates worldwide anti-US hostility, which puts all Americans at risk of terrorist retaliation. Obeying the Israel lobby goes against all logical American self-interest. Obeyi ng Zionist pressure to invade several countries at once means watching America commit suicide, economically and politically, for the sake of Israel. Zionist activists are a real and present danger to the USA. They should be stripped of their US citizenship and sent to Guantanamo for interrogation.
America's free press, justice system, and democracy are dependent upon the separation of American from Israeli interests. To survive, America must disentangle itself from the Zionist web of control. The common Zionist argument that Jews should get to keep what they stole just because they've been sitting on other people's property for so many years is not a valid legal argument. International law as defined by the post-WW2 Nuremburg Tribunals does not confer upon occupiers any entitlement to "security." Zionism is nothing less than a criminal ideology that completely rejects the fundamental American principle of sacred property rights.
America stands for equal rights, which applies to property and residency rights and other legal norms such as use of public transportation and voting. The US has acknowledged the injustice involved in colonising America at the expense of the native population. Even though economic disparities still remain, Native Americans have US citizenship and are allowed to rent, buy and sell property just like other citizens. This is not true for millions of Palestinian refugees who are denied any passports while they live under Israeli curfews and martial law. It is even against Israeli law for sympathetic Jews voluntarily to reconvey stolen property that they currently hold without legitimate title to the original, rightful owners. In general, Jews cannot even sell homes to Arabs. Yet Germany returned homes stolen from the Jews in World War II to their descendants.
Many Americans are aware that the subsidisation of the Israeli military at the expense of the US taxpayer puts all Americans at risk of retaliation. Yet the criminal acts begin right under our noses here in America by bankers and real estate agents. With the deep enmeshment of Israeli agents in the United States political spectrum, the Israel Lobby acts as a mafia facilitating the looting of billions of dollars via US military acquisitions from Jewish-owned defense corporations like General Dynamics and via capital transfers including ongoing complex beneficiary-obscuring transactions. In addition to ongoing US foreign aid for weapons purchase, the USA buys billions of dollars of weapons, declares the weaponry to be obsolete and then consigns it to Israel at practically no charge. Using full-scale militarised equipment supplied and paid for by the United States, the Israeli government uses US tax money to pay the IDF to force the non-Jewish Palestinian rightful owners to vacate their own property so ----------continued belowNo taxation by a foreign government without representation" is a basic American... more
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew the wrath of Israel's most influential newspapers on Thursday over what they described as lies issued by his office about a secret flight to Russia.
Netanyahu's first major media fiasco since taking office six months ago began with a simple question many Israelis, using their leader's nickname, asked on Monday: Where's Bibi?
-------------more at link
Well, we knew all this.
1 that he and the Israeli government lies thru their teeth, and
2 Israel is trying to make a deal with Russia
(I had stated this in an earlier post and was called an idiot for posting that lie lol)
So now even Israel newspapers themselves, the biggies are calling him a lier. and his pants are definitely ablazePrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew the wrath of Israel's most influential... more
The Soda Club, an Israeli run company based in the Palestinian West Bank, is being scrutinized under EU trade policies.
All Israeli goods imported into the European Union (EU) do not receive duties; however, the Soda Club is operated in an Israel settlement not recognized by the EU. The Hamburg Finance Court must decide to either deny or allow The Soda Club products into Germany with or without a duty. The decision will be a proxy on all EU-Israeli relations due to Israeli settlement in Palestinian occupied land.
----------the story:
The Israeli settlement known as Maale Adumim sits fortress-like atop a red stone plateau. In the Bible, the road to the plateau was known as the "steep red road."
As the largest Israeli settlement in the Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, Maale Adumim is home to 40,000 people. Bulldozers are clearing lots for new houses on its outskirts. Its population is growing by the week and, in recent years, it has grown faster than any other settlement.
----------------more at the linkThe Soda Club, an Israeli run company based in the Palestinian West Bank, is being... more
Just two weeks ago, Murphy was mysteriously fired from the horror film The Caller and reportedly replaced by Twilight’s Rachelle LeFevre. (Murphy’s rep has denied that she was fired.) Prior to that, Murphy barely kept her job shooting another horror film, Something Wicked, in Oregon. Production sources told TheWrap that Murphy was “barely there…she’d go in and out of consciousness in the middle of takes.” This eventually forced the film’s producers to rewrite scenes involving Murphy; most of the cast and crew “presumed she used prescription drugs,” TheWrap reports.
Brittany’s been living life on the edge,” a friend of Murphy’s is quoted as saying in British newspaper the Daily Mail. “She definitely had a drug problem and we have begged her to seek help"
Talk about the sh*t hittin' the fan! Israel devastated much of Gaza including their water treatment facilities besides the 90% civilians that were brutally murdered. Looks like God has a plan: Send all the Palestinians dirty water and sewage to Israel! Talk about Karma!---here's the story:
The top United Nations humanitarian official in the occupied Palestinian territory today joined aid agencies in calling for the immediate opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow the entry of spare parts and materials critical to restoring the area’s water and sanitation services.
“The deterioration and breakdown of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza is compounding an already severe and protracted denial of human dignity in the Gaza Strip,” Maxwell Gaylard said in a joint statement issued today with the NGO Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA).
“At the heart of this crisis is a steep decline in standards of living for the people of Gaza, characterized by erosion of livelihoods, destruction and degradation of basic infrastructure, and a marked downturn in the delivery and quality of vital services in health, water and sanitation,” added Mr. Gaylard, the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Humanitarian Coordinator.
Israel’s closure of Gaza’s crossing points, imposed since June 2007, has meant that equipment and supplies needed for the construction, maintenance and operation of water and sanitation facilities have not been able to enter the area, leading to the deterioration of these services.
Currently, some 10,000 people do not have access to the water network, while another 60 per cent of Gaza’s population of 1.5 million do not have continuous access to water.
In addition, some 50 to 80 million litres of untreated and partially treated waste-water have been discharged daily into the Mediterranean Sea since January 2008, due to damage to sewage treatment facilities, lack of treatment capacity because of postponed plant upgrade projects, and a critical shortage of fuel and electricity necessary to operate them.
Mr. Gaylard and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called on the Israeli Government to take immediate steps to ensure the entry into Gaza of the necessary construction and repair materials to respond to the water and sanitation crisis.
“Without addressing both the immediate basic needs of the population and facilitating the longer-term development and management of the degraded water and sanitation sector, public health and the wider environment will remain at significant risk,” said the Humanitarian Coordinator.
“Pollution does not recognise borders or barriers, and communities throughout the region are threatened by the deficiencies of Gaza’s water and sanitation system,” he added.
Also read:
New UN report spotlights humanitarian crisis triggered by blockade of Gaza
UN, aid agencies call for opening of Gaza crossings to allow rebuilding of schoolsTalk about the sh*t hittin' the fan! Israel devastated much of Gaza including... more
“So why did the Israeli government boycott the commission? The real answer is quite simple: they knew full well that the commission, any commission, would have to reach the conclusions it did reach.”
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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.
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Uri Avnery (Israeli peace activist, and former Knesset member), “On the Goldstone Report” 19 Sept 2009
Richard Goldstone, former judge of South Aftica’s Constitutional Court, the first prosecutor at The Hague on behalf of the International Criminal Court for Former Yugolavia, and anti-apartheid campaigner reports that he was most reluctant to take on the job of chairing the UN fact-finding mission charged with investigating allegations of war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas during the three week Gaza War of last winter. Goldstone explains that his reluctance was due to the issue being “deeply charged and politically loaded,” and was overcome because he and his fellow commissioners were “professionals committed to an objective, fact-based investigation,” adding that “above all, I accepted because I believe deeply in the rule of law and the laws of war,” as well as the duty to protect civilians to the extent possible in combat zones. The four-person fact-finding mission was composed of widely respected and highly qualified individuals, including the distinguished international law scholar, Christine Chinkin, a professor at the London School of Economics. Undoubtedly adding complexity to Goldstone’s decision is the fact that he is Jewish, with deep emotional and family ties to Israel and Zionism, bonds solidified by his long association with several organizations active in Israel.
Despite the impeccable credentials of the commission members, and the worldwide reputation of Richard Goldstone as a person of integrity and political balance, Israel refused cooperation from the outset. It did not even allow the UN undertaking to enter Israel or the Palestinian Territories, forcing reliance on the Egyptian government to facilitate entry at Rafah to Gaza. As Uri Avnery observes, however much Israel may attack the commission report as one-sided and unfair, the only plausible explanation of its refusal to cooperate with fact-finding and taking the opportunity to tell its side of the story was that it had nothing to tell that could hope to overcome the overwhelming evidence of the Israeli failure to carry out its attacks on Gaza last winter in accordance with the international law of war. No credible international commission could reach any set of conclusions other than those reached by the Goldstone Report on the central allegations.
In substantive respects the Goldstone Report adds nothing new. Its main contribution is to confirm widely reported and analyzed Israeli military practices during the Gaza War. There had been several reliable reports already issued, condemning Israel’s tactics as violations of the laws of war and international humanitarian law, including by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a variety of respected Israeli human rights groups. Journalists and senior United Nations civil servants had reached similar conclusions. Perhaps, most damning of all the material available before the Goldstone Report was the publication of a document entitled “Breaking the Silence,” containing commentaries by thirty members of the Israel Defense Forces---continued below“So why did the Israeli government boycott the commission? The real answer is... more
Mr Erekat said Israel's decision further undermined its credibility as a partner for peace.
"Israel's decision to approve the construction nullifies any effect that a settlement freeze, when and if announced, will have," Mr Erekat said.
"Given the choice between making peace and making settlements, they have chosen to make settlements," he added.
WEST BANK SETTLEMENTS
Construction of settlements began in 1967, shortly after the Middle East War
Some 280,000 Israelis now live in the 121 officially-recognised settlements in the West Bank
A further 190,000 Israelis live in settlements in occupied East Jerusalem
The largest West Bank settlement is Modiin Illit, where 38,000 people live
There are a further 102 unauthorised outposts in the West Bank which are not officially recognised by Israel
The population of West Bank settlements has been growing at a rate of 5-6% since 2001
From PressTV: Netanyahu is turning a blind eye to the repeated calls by the global community including its main ally, the US, to halt its settlement expansion in the West Bank.
The EU foreign ministers in a meeting in Stockholm on Saturday also called on Israel to freeze its settlement expansion in the region.
But, EU foreign policy Chief Javier Solana had expressed hope during the meeting that the European states could persuade Israel to change its position.
"The negotiations with Israel have not finished and we have some weeks to go. I hope very much that we'll be able to get a change of that position" on Israeli settlements during the UN general assembly in New York next month, Solana said. http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=105432§ionid=351020202
People that want peace dont do this sort of thing. If peace was a true goal, there would have been no going off the original plan. Israel deceives again.Mr Erekat said Israel's decision further undermined its credibility as a partner... more
Palestinian sources say 344 patients have so far died post 22-day war against Gaza, because of a lack of medical supplies in the Gaza strip due to an Israeli siege.
The last "martyr of the Israeli siege", according to Palestinian Ministry of Health, is 42 year-old Omar Ata Allah Al-Sha'er from Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip.
With the death of Al-Sha'er, the number of Palestinians to have died because of the Israeli siege imposed on the impoverished region since June 2007 now stands at 344.
The document provided by the Palestinian Ministry of Health shows that Al-Sha'er suffered from chronic kidney failure and his health deteriorated while Israeli authorities disallowed him from traveling to receive treatment abroad, although he had the necessary papers for travel.
The Palestinian Ministry appealed to exercise pressure on Israel; in order to lift its siege and end the suffering of hundreds of patients who desperately need treatment in hospitals abroad.
Meanwhile, a 34-page report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, released Saturday, urged Tel Aviv to lift the blockade of Gaza and restrictions on the strip.
Pillay harshly criticized Israel for the violations "compounded by the blockade that the population of Gaza endured in the months prior to Operation Cast Lead and which continues."
more at linkPalestinian sources say 344 patients have so far died post 22-day war against Gaza,... more
In a document published by The Israel Project entitled “The Israel Project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary”, Dr Frank Luntz unmasks a modern-day propaganda campaign that would have made Napoleon and Machiavelli proud. He writes:
There is NEVER, EVER, any justification for the deliberate slaughter of innocent women and children. NEVER. The primary Palestinian public relations goal is to demonstrate that the so-called “hopelessness of the oppressed Palestinians” is what causes them to go out and kill children. This must be challenged immediately, aggressively, and directly.
The emotional appeal to saving children works, but the appeal is based on two lies:
(1) that Palestinians generally (not only suicide bomber extremists) are the ones who kill children, while Israelis (not individual extremists, but Israel's armed forces) never slaughter Palestinian children.
(2) The second falsehood is that the Palestinians have a public relations goal that must be challenged when, in fact, the Palestinians have proven to be hopeless and goalless when it comes to public relations. Unlike Frank Luntz, the Palestinians have no effective PR voices. They can't even get their ambassador in the UK to speak out to the British public about Israel’s lies and propaganda.
--------------------story at link
Americans AND the world needs to take note. If we allow this lobby to regain their power in America, the wold loses. Just look at their campaign...excerpts are within this information at the link as well as a rightful and truthful analysts.
Lets do away with the rhetoric and hate towards people. If the right and Israel really wants peace, they would have a better attitude. Peace has always been in Israels hands, but if it is not benefiting Israel, they figure who needs peace when war and killing gives us more.In a document published by The Israel Project entitled “The Israel... more
What happens when an Israeli professor speaks his mind about the Israeli occupation? Let’s find out.
Take a look at Ben Gurion University Prof. Neve Gordon, who by the way, is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace’s Advisory Board and is also a member of the Committee to Support Ezra Nawi.
He published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, titled Boycott Israel: An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that it’s the only way to save his country.
(above from Muzzle Watch)
Article:
Boycott Israel:
An Israeli comes to the painful conclusion that it's the only way to save his country.
By Neve Gordon
August 20, 2009
Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers around the world.
Not surprisingly, many Israelis -- even peaceniks -- aren't signing on. A global boycott can't help but contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up questions of a double standard (why not boycott China for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott of one's own nation.
It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli citizen to call on foreign governments, regional authorities, international social movements, faith-based organizations, unions and citizens to suspend cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the only way that Israel can be saved from itself.
I say this because Israel has reached a historic crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise his children in Israel, who has been a member of the Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply anxious about the country's future.
------------more at linkWhat happens when an Israeli professor speaks his mind about the Israeli occupation?... more
Sweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week, an Israeli spokesman said Sunday, amid a feud over a Swedish newspaper article and a growing gulf between Israel and the international community over West Bank settlement construction.
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has called off a trip to Israel planned for this Friday, according to Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry. Palmor, who would not comment on a possible reason for the move, said Sweden informed Israel's embassy in Stockholm of the decision on Friday.
----------more at link
The growing unpopularity of Israel. I wonder why? hmmm, couldn't be one of these, could it?
1. Resolution 42: The Palestine Question (5 March 1948) Requests recommendations for the Palestine Commission
2. Resolution 43: The Palestine Question (1 Apr 1948) Recognizes "increasing violence and disorder in Palestine" and requests that representatives of "the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Arab Higher Committee" arrange, with the Security Council, "a truce between the Arab and Jewish Communities of Palestine...Calls upon Arab and Jewish armed groups in Palestine to cease acts of violence immediately."
3. Resolution 44: The Palestine Question (1 Apr 1948) Requests convocation of special session of the General Assembly
4. Resolution 46: The Palestine Question (17 Apr 1948) As the United Kingdom is the Mandatory Power, "it is responsible for the maintenance of peace and order in Palestine." The Resolutions also "Calls upon all persons and organizations in Palestine" to stop importing "armed bands and fighting personnel...whatever their origin;...weapons and war materials;...Refrain, pending the future government of Palestine...from any political activity which might prejudice the rights, claims, or position of either community;...refrain from any action which will endager the safety of the Holy Places in Palestine."
5. Resolution 48: The Palestine Question (23 Apr 1948)
6. Resolution 49: The Palestine Question (22 May 1948)
7. Resolution 50: The Palestine Question (29 May 1948)
8. Resolution 53: The Palestine Question (7 Jul 1948)
9. Resolution 54: The Palestine Question (15 Jul 1948)
10. Resolution 56: The Palestine Question (19 Aug 1948)
11. Resolution 57: The Palestine Question (18 Sep 1948)
12. Resolution 59: The Palestine Question (19 Oct 1948)
13. Resolution 60: The Palestine Question (29 Oct 1948)
14. Resolution 61: The Palestine Question (4 Nov 1948)
15. Resolution 62: The Palestine Question (16 Nov 1948)
16. Resolution 66: The Palestine Question (29 Dec 1948)
17. Resolution 72: The Palestine Question (11 Aug 1949)
18. Resolution 73: The Palestine Question (11 Aug 1949)
19. Resolution 89 (17 November 1950): regarding Armistice in 1948 Arab-Israeli War and "transfer of persons".
20. Resolution 92: The Palestine Question (8 May 1951)
21. Resolution 93: The Palestine Question (18 May 1951)
22. Resolution 95: The Palestine Question (1 Sep 1951)
23. Resolution 100: The Palestine Question (27 Oct 1953)
24. Resolution 101: The Palestine Question (24 Nov 1953)
25. Resolution 106: The Palestine Question (29 Mar 1955) 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid.
26. Resolution 107: The Palestine Question (30 Mar)
27. Resolution 108: The Palestine Question (8 Sep)
28. Resolution 111: " ... 'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people".
29. Resolution 113: The Palestine Question (4 Apr)
30. Resolution 114: The Palestine Question (4 Jun)
31. Resolution 127: " ... 'recommends' Israel suspends its 'no-man's zone' in Jerusalem".
32. Resolution 138: Question relating to the case of Adolf Eichmann, concerning Argentine complaint that Israel breached its sovereignty.
33. Resolution 162: " ... 'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions".
34. Resolution 171: " ... determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria".
35. ---------- CONTINUED BELOWSweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week, an... more
This video shot by a credible media outlet shows a Palestinian child in an Israeli court of law being convicted of a juvenile act, one that is questionable. It took less than a minute to convict her. Many children are held indefinitely and for years before they even get the chance for a trial. Remember the White Flag Killings? This story shows what Israel also does with children. Is this Genocide-slow genocide? Whats wrong with this picture?-heres some of the story....
Each year, hundreds or even thousands of Palestinian children are arrested, tortured, interrogated, abused and incarcerated by the criminals of the Israeli military occupation. In many cases the children are abused sexually by the Israeli interrogators. They are also imprisoned together with teenagers, criminals, and drugs dealers, who also attack the children, abused them sexually, and steal their personal belongings. Two children from the Nahalin village near Bethlehem told me how they had been abused sexually at the Israeli jail by criminals detained there.
According to the human rights organization “Defence for Children International” (DCI), many children were jailed under administrative detention without any charge or trial.
Administrative detention is often based on “secret evidence.” Israeli military order 1226 empowers military commanders to detain Palestinians, including Imalb0600children, for up to six months if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” The initial six month period can be extended by additional six-month periods, indefinitely.
The DCI confirmed that the Palestinian child detainees routinely face violations of their human rights during arrest, interrogation and imprisonment. They are exposed to physical and psychological abuse, amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and sometimes torture. They are denied prompt access to a lawyer and often denied contact with their families and the outside world. These children face substandard conditions of detention and are denied access to proper education services.
-------------more of this 'horrifying' story at the link
First of all, Israel is breaking (again) International laws by holding and incarcerating children. Any democratic government will tell you this. Torturing and sexually abusing children while incarcerate is horrific and those responsible should be held accountable.
Stand up against this violence, stand up against Israeli government that perpetuates this evil as well as many other evils Israeli government conducts every day.This video shot by a credible media outlet shows a Palestinian child in an Israeli... more
Israeli Forces Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Continue to Impose a Total Closure on the Gaza Strip
- A Palestinian child was wounded when Israeli forces fired at fishing boats in Rafah.
- Israeli forces used force against peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to the construction of the Annexation Wall in the West Bank.
- Israeli forces conducted 26 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
- Israeli forces arrested 28 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and one woman, in the West Bank, and two fishers in the Gaza Strip.
- Israeli forces demolished 3 car maintenance workshops.
- The State of Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
- Israeli troops positioned at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including two children and two women.
- Israel has continued measures aimed at establishing a Jewish majority in occupied east Jerusalem.
- Israeli settlers seized a Palestinian house in Silwan village.
- Israeli forces attacked religious sites in Jerusalem.
- Israeli forces have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
- 116 donums1 of land in Ya'bad village, southwest of Jenin, were confiscated by Israeli forces.
- Israeli forces ordered the demolition of 9 houses in Slem village, east of Nablus.
- An international human rights defender was injured and 4 others were arrested by Israeli forces during protests against Israeli settlement activities.
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I'll try to get this each week to people concerned. I'll get blasted of being biased in what I bring here to post, but the fact of the matter is that people report what interests them the most that NEEDS to be highlighted. Some people concentrate their posts about Sudan, about Cruelty to animals, Global Warming, etc. I choose to report on the injustice in this region. And, if you've read my profile, you'll see that I do not HATE anyone. Its the common defense of defenders of this injustice to call people names and accuse of siding with the enemy. Obviously, this is not the case. Those defenses are moot and only designed to cloud the reality of what is happening in the area. President Obama, in my opinion, is trying to make it better there, I only wish he would move quicker to hasten the cruelty that goes on there to many innocent people. We need Peace there, and for that to happen, the Israeli government needs to have their clothes put on the clothesline for everyone to see.
I entertain ALL commentators that have some positive input. Whether you are pure right wing or even in the government, I'd like to find a half way point that encourages a turn around in how the Palestinians are being treated. Most of them want peace. Most Israelis want peace. What most of the world sees is that Israel wants all the land to themselves and to destroy the culture and people who are Palestinians. If this is not the case, lets see some major changes now. Not tomorrow, not next week...NOW!Israeli Forces Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property... more
Back in 2000 gas was discovered close to the shore off Gaza. The vast majority of this vital resource lies within the Gaza Marine Area. Israel from the onset decided it wanted the entire field for its own purposes, having decided to change over to natural gas as the main fuel for its power stations and industry.
Two plans were originally drawn up:
• Take the gas by subsea pipeline to El Arish (Egypt) and then by subsea pipeline to Ashkelon (making it look like Egyptian Gas)
• Take the gas directly to Ashekelon.
In December 2007, BG Group withdrew from negotiations with the Government of Israel for the sale of gas from the Gaza Marine field to Israel. In January 2008, BG Group closed its office in Israel and continued to evaluate options for commercialising the gas. In my own opinion I found the share ratio between all parties very unbalanced with Palestine only retaining 10%.
By mid 2008 BG had signed up with Egypt to pipe the entire supply to Egypt and then convert it to LNG for onwards shipment to the US or EU. This was a potential disaster for Israel as they needed the gas desperately to fulfil their supply requirements having decided to convert to natural gas.
The other problem was that the Gaza Strip had, during these discussions, come under the control of Hamas and added even more complications to a possible deal. By June 2008 Israel was now on a war footing with Gaza with a clear intention of removing Hamas from the strip in order to try and get something salvaged from the failed deal. It was during this time that the ex British Minister, Tony Blair became involved and tried to get BG and Israel to come back to the table and open up negotiations. BG responded and again returned to Israel for urgent talks and scrapped the deal with Egypt.
The Israeli Government then decided that the attack of Gaza would now have to be put back on hold as any activity could jeopardise talks between BG, Israel and the PA. Unfortunately yet again the talks failed and BG continued looking into other possibilities. By the end of the year Israel had made up its mind to go into Gaza and remove Hamas and in doing so would be in a good position to get their hands on these vast offshore reserves.
Blast_in_GazaThe attempted take over of the Gaza Strip failed as a direct result of the fortitude and spirit of Hamas and worldwide condemnation. We now have a situation whereby the people of Gaza/Palestine have this incredible offshore wealth but are unable to bring it ashore.
We read about all the financial aid that was promised by so many governments but where is this aid and do they really need it? The answer is simply no as they have all the wealth in the world in their offshore natural gas reserves.
-----------more of this news at the link
When the Free Gaza boats sailed to Gaza and went in to break the siege on several occasions, what they saw confirmed the clues we all had. That was Israels reluctance to go ahead with a real peace deal is because of the billions of dollars laying offshore of Gza in Gaza waters.
This news has been confirmed before in some of our posts with detailed plans and documents by BP and the government of Israel. Israels greed and money hungry war mongers will do anything to get their dirty hands on any money, as hey have well showed us in the past, to wit the top government employees, including the former PM being arrested and convicted for theft, lies and other felonious actions. Their felonious actions in Gaza and the West Bank take innocent lives because of this greed.Back in 2000 gas was discovered close to the shore off Gaza. The vast majority of this... more
I guess if she was holding a white flag, they would have shot her from long range. This is totally f*ckin unacceptable..AGAIN! How dare Israel kill children? How dare they kill innocent people?
F
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I am so mad!
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On Friday afternoon, 4 September 2009, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a 14-year-old child, Ghazi al-Za’anin, in Beit Hanoun town in the northern Gaza Strip. IOF troops shot the child from close range, while he was walking with his family. This child was the second to be killed by IOF in less than a week.
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) investigations, and eye-witness testimony, indicates that, at approximately 13:40 on Friday, 4 September 2009, Maher Ghazi al-Za’anin drove his four children, including Ghazi, 14, to their farm, 500 meters away from the border with Israel, in the northeast of Beit Hanoun town. Before arriving at the farm, al-Za’anin and his children stepped down from the car and approached their land on foot. On their way to the farm, they were surprised by an Israeli military jeep that stopped opposite to them. Al-Za’anin and his children were frightened, and ran away. IOF soldiers who were inside the jeep immediately opened fire. Ghazi was wounded by a bullet to the head and fell to the ground. The father carried the child to their car, whereupon IOF soldiers fired at the car, hitting it with two bullets. The father drove to Beit Hanoun Hospital and the child was transferred to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as he was in a critical condition. Ghazi was admitted to the intensive care unit, where he was pronounced dead on the following morning, Saturday, 5 September 2009.
-------------more of this horrifying story at the link as well as at other news sourcesI guess if she was holding a white flag, they would have shot her from long range.... more
Last week Sweden’s largest daily newspaper published an article containing shocking material: testimony and circumstantial evidence indicating that Israelis may have been harvesting internal organs from Palestinian prisoners without consent for many years.
(Picture used here is the FBI arrest of several Jewish Rabbis accused of buying and selling human organs and having the money sent to Israel. Courtesy of www.netdor.com)
Worse yet, some of the information reported in the article suggests that in some instances Palestinians may have been captured with this macabre purpose in mind.
In the article, “Our sons plundered for their organs,” veteran journalist Donald Bostrom writes that Palestinians “harbor strong suspicions against Israel for seizing young men and having them serve as the country’s organ reserve – a very serious accusation, with enough question marks to motivate the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to start an investigation about possible war crimes.”1/
An army of Israeli officials and apologists immediately went into high gear, calling both Bostrom and the newspaper’s editors “anti-Semitic.” The Israeli foreign minister was reportedly “aghast” and termed it “a demonizing piece of blood libel.” An Israeli official called it “hate porn.”
Commentary magazine wrote that the story was “merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of European funded and promoted anti-Israel hate.” Numerous people likened the article to the medieval “blood libel,” (widely refuted stories that Jews killed people to use their blood in religious rituals). Even some pro-Palestinian writers joined in the criticism, expressing skepticism.
The fact is, however, that substantiated evidence of public and private organ trafficking and theft, and allegations of worse, have been widely reported for many years. Given such context, the Swedish charges become far more plausible than might otherwise be the case and suggest that an investigation could well turn up significant information.
At the Link are a few examples of previous reports on this topic.
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At first, I was in disbelief as well as "lets wait for more evidence" mode. Now, I am still in this mode, however, I am starting to lean towards the initial story by the Swedish Newspaper. I am cautious to go full tilt on this because this is a serious allegation. I dont want to hurt anyone who is innocent. But tallying up all the human rights violations and bloodshed the Israeli government has committed----besides breaking International laws repeatedly--and the new evidence presented in this story, my feelings are that there is some substance to these allegations. I still want to find more evidence. It is just too hard to believe that humans would do this kind of evil. I don't want to believe it. But like I said, my feelings are starting to lean to 'believing'.
Read the story, and come to your own conclusions. Below, in comments, I posted what evidence and news articles (from known sources) that were used to back up the writers story. I'm still hoping it is not true.Last week Sweden’s largest daily newspaper published an article containing... more
BBC Newsnight, Israel: Israel's army is changing. Once proudly secular, its combat units are now filling with those who believe Israel's wars are "God's wars".
Military rabbis are becoming more powerful. Trained in warfare as well as religion, new army regulations mean they are now part of a military elite.
They graduate from officer's school and operate closely with military commanders. One of their main duties is to boost soldiers' morale and drive, even on the front line.
Israeli general warns of dangers of turning war into 'jihad'
This has caused quite some controversy in Israel. Should military motivation come from men of God, or from a belief in the state of Israel and keeping it safe?
The military rabbis rose to prominence during Israel's invasion of Gaza earlier this year.
Some of their activities raised troubling questions about political-religious influence in the military.
-----------more at the link
I cannot imagine priests and the Pope putting on military uniforms and fighting for what the Israeli government fights for. Now I know for a fact, the Israeli government is INSANE!
here's the video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8232694.stmBBC Newsnight, Israel: Israel's army is changing. Once proudly secular, its... more
Since Barack Obama took office in January, his administration has been plagued by a number of contentious controversies. From the economic stimulus to health care reform, Obama has had trouble maintaining support among liberals and conservatives alike. But the president's most consistent critics have been Jewish moderates and conservatives worried that Obama is more likely to challenge Israel than past presidents have been.
But surging to power with the most impressive following since Ronald Reagan, Obama is well positioned to challenge the Israel Lobby's hard-line stalwart, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In his latest Mother Jones contribution, "Is AIPAC Still the Chosen One?" Richard Dreyfuss attributes the dwindling power of one of DC's most powerful lobbies to the popular new president and the recent rise of dovish advocacy groups such as J Street and Israel Policy Forum.
story at link---------
Pro left is having more power in US Politics, giving AIPAC less clout. AIPAC's waning clout was underscored this past spring, when Rep. Howard Berman, chair of the House foreign affairs committee, stalled one of AIPAC's babies, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.
Little by little, the people that really care about what is happening in Israel and Palestine as a whole, are being listened to. We will see the end of laws and resolutions being passed that only gives Israel more power and confidence to stick their noses up at world laws, and continue their barbaric and inhumane actions against innocent people.
SO, hit the road AIPAC, we know your real agendaSince Barack Obama took office in January, his administration has been plagued by a... more
Reuters: There is significant evidence that Israeli forces violated international law and human rights in their invasion of Gaza between late December and mid-January, the United Nations human rights chief said on Friday.
A report by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay lambasted the "nearly total impunity" for the violations.
The already critical human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) deteriorated further during the war, she said in the report, the first of a series of periodic reports ordered by the U.N. Human Rights Council in January during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead".
The 34-page report is one of two -- together with a forthcoming one by South African jurist Richard Goldstone who has been conducting hearings in Gaza -- that will be presented to the council next month.
"...significant prima facie evidence indicates that serious violations of international humanitarian law as well as gross human rights violations occurred during the military operations of 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, which were compounded by the blockade that the population of Gaza endured in the months prior to Operation Cast Lead and which continues," Pillay said.
Pillay said rights violations included arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, extrajudicial execution, forced eviction and home demolition, settlement expansion and related violence and restrictions on freedom of movement and expression.
"While these violations are of deep concern in their own right, the nearly total impunity that persists for such violations (regardless of the responsible duty bearer) is of grave concern, and constitutes a root cause for their persistence," the former South African high court judge said.Reuters: There is significant evidence that Israeli forces violated international law... more
