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I have never fully understood why some people claim not to be interested in politics.
After all, politics affects every single person on this planet, because it is concerned with guiding, or influencing governmental policy,
or winning and holding control over a government,
which in a democracy is supposed to be carried out peacefully, via the ballot box, in elections, or via satire, political comment and dissent
... uncensored free expression, like this.
⇧
911 [09 September 2001]
What I find so puzzling is why the 911 attacks came as such a big surprise to so many Americans.
Apparently many Americans still believe the attacks were totally unprovoked,
like the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, during WW2.
How can they be do naive?
Did they imagine that America's actions abroad since the end of WW2, involving the CIA and US military,
and America's unstinting support for Israel's oppression of the Palestinians,
would have somehow make them popular with the rest of the world, particularly Islamic countries?
Do they really believe that America's foreign policy since the end of WW2 has been benevolent, or benign?
Did they imagine that America could go on attacking other countries indefinitely, with impunity?
Why did Americans not anticipate the consequences of their country's foreign policies,
for example CIA funding of fundamentalist Islamic groups in Afghanistan during the late 1970s and early 80s,
or America's financial support of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War,
or the offense caused to Muslims by American military presence in Saudi Arabia, close to Mecca?
There are Wikipedia entries for CIA activities in numerous Muslim countries, but not Saudi Arabia.
Curious that, given Saudi Arabia's proven connection with 911.
Did American really believe that, prior to 911, America was loved universally?
Did Americans imagine that the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by the Israelis, supported by America since the end of WW2,
would be accepted by the Arab World without any kind of resistance?
Well, if 911 was intended to be a wake up call for the American public, it certainly seems to have had the desired effect.
Yes, America suffered as a result of the 911 attacks, and it was shocking, but what the hundreds of thousands of people
killed and injured by American and Israeli bombings?
Did they suffer any less?
Do Americans really believe that they can continue bombing, killing and maiming other people in far off lands with impunity, indefinitely?
Why should it be such a surprise when some Muslims decide to fight back?
Many Americans simply just don't get it. Waging wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan is not reducing terrorism, rather it is increasing it.
Each attack by helicopter gunships and drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan simply reinforces militant Muslim propaganda concerning the
so-called Zionist-Crusader war being waged by the West against Islam.
"It is really very easy. If you want to stop terrorism, then stop killing Muslims", Noam Chomsky
(American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist,and political activist).
[Source: Independent (11 September 2010) - Robert Fisk: Nine years, two wars, hundreds of thousands dead – and nothing learnt]
[Source: Guardian (14 August 2010) - Obama defends plans for mosque]
[Source:  (11 September 2009) - Purpose of the 9/11 Attacks]
[Source: (07 September 2006) - What motivated the 9/11 hijackers?]
⇧
al-Qaeda
al-Qaeda is not a single organisation run and controlled by Osama bin Laden, as many Westerners seem to believe, rather
al-Qaeda is at best an amorphous collective term that describes groups of Islamic militants.
In Arabic, al-Qaeda can mean a vanguard, a base or a maxim, precept, rule or methodology.
Whilst many of the different Muslim militant groups that exist around the world may have been inspired and financed by bin Laden,
it does not necessarily follow that he is connected with any particular group.
In fact, many of the training camps in Afghanistan were set up during the Soviet occupation,
with collusion of Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI and partly funded by the CIA.
Nowadays al-Qaeda is more akin to an ideology, or philosophy, instead of groups that are controlled by an organisation -
with Osama bin Laden at its head.
Many Islamic militants believe that the Crusades never ended.
They believe that Christians, in alliance with Zionists, are waging a war against Islam.
The occupation by American forces of the country where Islam's most important religious sites are located was seen as a provocation.
The killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan constantly feeds militant Islamic propaganda.
America's foreign policy in the Middle East, of continuously aiding and supporting Israel against the Palestinians, is seen as further proof if any was required.
The only thing thing that helicopter gunship and drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan achieves is to aid extremists in persuading more
Muslims to rise up in defence of Islam. Each Muslim killed or maimed gives cause to would-be terrorists.
Modern communications, TV, Internet and satellite phones, etc enable news of attacks on Muslims to be spread worldwide almost instantaneously.
Whether it is Zionist settlers setting fire to a mosque in the Palestinian West Bank, or American drone attacks in Pakistan.
Americans just don't get it. Terrorists aren't born, rather they are made. Terrorism is form of armed resistance. It used to be called guerilla warfare.
Remember?
Terrorism is a conceptual thing. It is not an organisation, or army, that can be defeated on a battlefield.
Note how now, in the post-Bush era,
news media such as the BBC no longer refer to resistance fighters as terrorists. Now the politically correct term used is militants.
Instead of reducing terrorism, America's War on Terrorism is actually causing it to increase worldwide.
America's bombing of training camps in Afghanistan, following 911, simply encouraged al-Qaeda to disperse.
So now there are more Islamic militant groups around the world than ever before.
Either America doesn't get it, or perhaps those in power simply don't give a damn and are just interested in world domination,
the control of strategic resources such as oil and their financial interests in the American industrial military complex.
[Source: WikipediA - al-Qaeda]
⇧
Afghanistan and Taliban
This is just another of the US-led wars, unauthorised by the UN. The USA has been waging wars, virtually non-stop, since the end of WW2.
Afghanistan is America's current war. The last was Iraq. Next, Iran? Then, North Korea?
The Pentagon, arms sellers and armaments manufacturers all need continuous war. After all, it is an important part of the
economy and American way of life.
The stated aims of this war were to find and put Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al-Qaeda members on trial,
the destruction of the whole organization of Al-Qaeda, removal of the Taliban regime which supported and gave safe harbor to Al-Qaeda.
After nine years of war, trillions of dollars and billions of pounds wasted, none of the objectives have been achieved.
Osama bin Laden has not been found. Al-Qaeda has not been destroyed, rather it has simply moved to other countries.
The Taliban have not been defeated. In fact, the Taliban seems to be winning, as the USA has begun to negotiate and plan for with
the withdrawal of American military forces.
However, it is not all bad because the American Empire has been expanded a bit, the Pentagon has got to play with its latest toys and
the arms sellers armaments manufacturers are doing really well. Naturally, keeping Americans employed producing armaments is
a key part of the empire building strategy.
Things are booming in Afghanistan, too. Corruption and the production of opium from poppies are both expanding well.
So, some people in Afghanistan have profited from the war. It is really heartening to know that American tax payer's money has not been
entirely wasted. Naturally, it would be politically incorrect to comment on the suffering of the majority of the population,
the Afghan death toll, or other collateral damage.
Likewise, it would be to politically incorrect speculate on how the trillions of dollars and billions of pounds might otherwise have been better spent,
either at home improving infrastructure, or on medical research - for example in eradicating malaria
(we are much more likely to contract malaria than be blown up by a terrorist's bomb), or abroad in
helping to provide clean water, sanitation, housing and so on, for the poor.
More than 70% of people on this planet survive on less than $2 a day.
No, of course, that would be very silly. Far more money can be made from waging wars.
We hear about the mounting toll on the lives of the NATO coalition forces, almost daily,
but we rarely hear about how many Afghans have been killed. However, when the number of coalition deaths reaches a critical level
voters will question the validity of the war, politicians will be embarrassed, lie some more and then instruct the military to
withdraw. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has already begun planning its next war - Iran.
According to Andrew Mitchell, the UK's International Development Secretary, "The UK is there to prevent the Afghan territory from again
being used by al-Qaeda as a base from which to plan attacks on the UK and our allies."
Yet more political lies ...
Countries attacked by al-Qaeda have been ones that have supported the USA's War on Terror (eg UK, Australia, Spain).
When did you last hear about al-Qaeda attacking Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Czech Republic, etc?
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were motivated by Britain's involvement in the Iraq War.
Britain supported the USA in the Iraq War because Blair joined Bush's post-911 War on Terror.
Clearly, any further attacks by al-Qaeda on the UK will be because Britain is now supporting Obama's war, Afghanistan.
How is waging war in Afghanistan against the Taliban going to prevent al-Qaeda from planning attacks on the UK, from bases in other countries?
Al-Qaeda was driven from Afghanistan by intense American bombing using B52 bombers, post-911 and pre-Iraq War.
Al-Qaeda has since spread globally, as far afield as Indonesia and Africa.
Is the UK going to invade and occupy all countries that al-Qaeda has spread to?
Is that why the UK is planning to build new aircraft carriers, that requiring squadrons of support vessels
(eg submarines, destroyers and auxiliaries, etc)? Of course not.
How can the UK possibly afford to strut about the globe, playing second fiddle to the USA, supporting American wars?
Obviously, what the UK's involvement in Afghanistan is really about is preventing al-Qaeda planning further attacks on the USA, not the UK.
But, al-Qaeda's 911 attacks on the USA were in response to American foreign policy. So, the UK's involvement in Afghanistan is about supporting
American foreign policy - which is about controlling more countries and strategic resources such as oil ... for the USA.
The USA has bombed more than 28 countries since the end of WW2 and has military forces deployed in more than 150 countries around the world ...
the American Empire is still expanding!
Consequently, British military personnel are dying and the UK tax payers are paying to support the expansion of the American Empire! Why?
[Source: BBC (4 October 2010) - Ex-UN official says Taliban infiltrating Afghan forces]
[Source: BBC (06 August 2010) - Pentagon demands Wikileaks return Afghanistan documents]
[Source: BBC (06 August 2010) - Nato urged 'to do more' on Afghan-Pakistan border]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Throwing the Afghan baby out with bath water]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - War against Taliban 'being lost' says Zardari]
[Source: Guardian (01 August 2010) - WikiLeaks: US failing to protect informers]
[Source: BBC (01 August 2010) - Dutch troops to end Afghanistan deployment]
[Source: BBC (30 July 2010) - July is deadliest month of Afghanistan war for US]
[Source: BBC (30 July 2010) - Five Taliban off UN sanctions list]
[Source: BBC (30 July 2010) - Afghan leak: Wikileaks' Assange denies 'blood on hands']
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Body of US serviceman missing in Afghanistan found]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Obama: 'Nothing new' in Wikileaks Afghan records leak]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Welcome to a new age of whistle-blowing]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Afghanistan war leak papers will take 'weeks to assess']
[Source: LA Times (26 July 2010) - Editorial: WikiLeaks wasn't wrong]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - Leaked records 'reveal civilian deaths' in Afghanistan]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - Afghan leader blames Nato for Helmand rocket attack]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - US says Wikileaks could 'threaten national security']
[Source: BBC (25 July 2010) - Nato probes reports raid killed 45 Afghan civilians]
[Source: Telegraph (26 July 2010) - Massive inquiry launched into source of leaks]
[Source: Fox News (26 July 2010) - Leaked - Afghan deaths, fears about insurgency]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - 'Hidden US Afghan war details' revealed by WikiLeaks]
[Source: Huffington (26 July 2010) - WikiLeaks Provides Account Of Afghanistan War]
[Source: Spiegel (26 July 2010) - Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War]
[Source: NY Times (26 July 2010) - The War Logs]
[Source: Guardian (26 July 2010) - Afghanistan: The War Logs]
[Source: WikiLeaks (26 July 2010) - WikiLeaks: Afghan War Diary]
[Source: LA Times (25 July 2010) - White House decries WikiLeaks' release]
[Source: BBC (25 July 2010) - Afghan manhunt for missing US servicemen]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - US military curbs 'reduce' Afghan attacks in some areas]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - Afghan bombing kills US personnel]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - Two US servicemen seized by Afghan Taliban - reports]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - Karzai calls for Afghan security control by 2014]
[Source: BBC (18 July 2010) - Afghanistan aid spending boost expected]
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010) - US soldiers die in Afghanistan as Nato toll soars]
[Source: BBC (13 July 2010) - Afghan army key to Nato withdrawal]
[Source: Guardian (14 July 2010) - WikiLeaks to release new video of US attack]
[Source: Guardian (04 July 2010) - The unknown Afghan body count]
[Source: BBC (01 July 2010) - Q&A: Foreign forces in Afghanistan]
[Source: BBC (01 July 2010) - Taliban rule out negotiations with Nato]
[Source: Unknown News (07 June 2010) - Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq]
[Source: BBC (20 October 2009) - Who are the Taliban?]
[Source: Guardian (23 February 2008) - Cost of war in Afghanistan soars to £2.5bn]
[Source: The Times (23 February 2008) - The three trillion dollar war]
[Source: BBC (20 February 2010) - Dutch cabinet collapses in dispute over Afghanistan]
[Source: National Priorities Project - Total Cost of Wars Since 2001 (realtime updated)]
[Source: WikipediA - 7 July 2005 London bombings]
[Source: WikipediA - List of terrorist incidents in Great Britain]
[Source: WikipediA - Malaria]
[Source: WikipediA - War in Afghanistan (2001–present)]
[Source: WikipediA - War on Terror]
⇧
American empire
If you believe its propaganda, the USA is working to spreading freedom and democracy around the world.
Sounds nice and laudable, doesn't it? Note the military expansion on the more up-to-date map below.
When was the last time you heard about the USA withdrawing all of its military forces from any country?
Saudi Arabia?
The USA still has a military presence in Saudi Arabia, now called a Military Training Mission at Taif Air Base,
located
21°29'00"N 40°32'40"E.
The US Military has bases in at least 63 countries.
The US operates and/or controls between 700 and 800 military bases worldwide.
Since 11 September 2001, brand new military bases have been built in seven countries.
"According to Gelman, who examined 2005 official Pentagon data, the US is thought to own a total of 737 bases in foreign lands.
Adding to the bases inside US territory, the total land area occupied by US military bases domestically within the US and internationally
is of the order of 2,202,735 hectares, which makes the Pentagon one of the largest landowners worldwide."
Why does the USA need so many military bases, if it is not for the purpose of world dominance?
The truth is that the USA is building an empire and seeking to control strategic resources, such as oil.
The USA uses both legal and illegal means to achieve its aims, such as pre-emptive wars, regime changes, extraordinary renditions,
extraditions by coercion, kidnappings and extra-judicial killings, bombings and drone attacks.
The USA ignores the Geneva Convention and uses torture, including water-boarding.
Its proxy, Israel, is often aided by American Security Council vetoes and anyway ignores UN Security Council Resolutions,
commits war crimes, carries out political assassinations, makes illegal use of foreign passports and commits acts of piracy in International waters.
It too is seeking to control strategic resources, such as water and natural gas offshore, as well as seizing Palestinian territory.
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians amounts to ethnic cleansing - effectively a crime against humanity.
Both the USA and Israel hold prisoners for years, without allowing them proper legal representation and without bringing charges in a court of law.
How long will the American Empire last? As India and China continue to grow and develop, so they will require more and more resources.
Will the USA start telling them too, 'Don't do as we do, but do as we say'? They already have.
While millions of people die from starvation and curable diseases, the USA continues to consume the vast majority of the
world's resources and completely ignores United Nations resolutions,
the plight of the Palestinians, Geneva Conventions on treatment of
prisoners of war, International Court of Justice in the The Hague, Land
Mines Treaty, Kyoto Protocol on Climate Control, or Global Warming, and so on.
[Source: GR (25 July 2010) - The Worldwide Network of US Military Bases]
[Source: Niqnaq (03 June 2010) - Slant drilling into Gaza's marine fields?]
[Source: BBC (01 June 2010) - Turkey: Israel's actions 'piracy']
[Source: FP (13 March 2010) - Biden’s embarrassment is not the whole story]
[Source: BBC (19 February 2010) - UK denies advance knowledge of fake UK passports]
[Source: Brookings (Spring 2002) - Understanding the American Oil Strategy]
[Source: BBC (01 April 2001) - Israel's 'assassination policy']
[Source: BBC - Modern China: Environment]
[Source: CIA - Central Intelligence Agency: Clandestine Service: Our Mission]
[Source: Solstudio - The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields
]
[Source: WikipediA - 911: The Saudi Connection]
[Source: WikipediA - American imperialism]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Afghanistan]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Algeria]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Indonesia]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Iran]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Iraq]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Jordan]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Libya]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in the Near East, North Africa, South and Southwest Asia]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Pakistan]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Syria]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Tunisia]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Turkey]
[Source: WikipediA - CIA activities in Yemen]
[Source: WikipediA - Gulf War]
[Source: WikipediA - Iran–Iraq War]
[Source: WikipediA - List of United States military bases]
[Source: WikipediA - United States Military Traing Mission (Saudi Arabia)]
[Source: WikipediA - United States withdrawal from Saudi Arabia]
[Source: WikipediA - Waterboarding]
⇧
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
New Glory
"If anyone doubts the power of Israel's friends in the US, they ought to sign up now for Aipac's annual policy conference.
Take a look at their website, which boasts that it attracts half the Senate, a third of the House of Representatives and
countless Israeli and American policy-makers and thought leaders ...
I went to this year's conference ... in Washington DC. The delegates, more than 7,000 of them, filled the kind of room
that is usually measured in terms of football pitches. The delegates, and politicians, and thought leaders
gave the Israeli PM a standing ovation when he said that Jerusalem was not a settlement, but Israel's capital ...
It is certainly the case that there is a symbiosis between Israel and the United States that can never exist between
Washington and the Palestinians. It goes far deeper than the influence of Aipac - or even the $3 billion (£2 billion) a year the
US gives Israel."
Jeremy Bowen (BBC Middle East editor)
[Source: NY Times (23 July 2010) - Israel Puts Off Crisis Over Conversion Law]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - Row rages over defining who is a Jew]
[Source: BBC (03 July 2010) - Israel's rocky friendship with Barack Obama]
[Source: AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee]
[Source: WikipediA - Israel: US military relations: Military aid]
⇧
American neoconservatism
"You talk of times of peace for all, and then prepare for war",
a line drawn from the lyrics of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, in their song Blossom and Blood,
was made famous by the WANK (computer worm).
It was written in opposition to both nuclear power and nuclear weapons, but I think it is just as apt in this context.
.jpg)
[Source: WikipediA - Midnight Oil]
[Source: WikipediA - Neoconservatism]
[Source: WikipediA - WANK (computer worm)]
⇧
American foreign policy
During a visit to London, to join one of the three anti-Iraq War demonstrations that I participated in,
I noticed that some pavements (ie side-walks) around the capital had been spray painted with stencilled lists showing of all the countries
that the USA had bombed, since the end of WW2 (ie throughout my lifetime; I was born in 1946).
I was surprised and shocked.
It was the first time it I had seen a contiguous list like that, even though I had already heard of most of the events.
Like most other people, I had spent my time busily working and with family life.
Far too busy to pay much attention to geo-politics. Each war came and went, and then tended to get forgotten.
That is probably what politicians rely upon, to enable them to continue waging wars, because in democracies it is politicians who send soldiers to war.
Many of the bombings had barely been reported in the UK media, whereas others like Vietnam had been given massive coverage.
It is not until wars such as Vietnam, Iran and now Afghanistan begin to receive a lot of media attention and it actually catches the attention of voters
who begin to add up the cost - lives lost and money wasted - that politicians find it too embarrassing to continue.
Suddenly, when I saw those lists of all the American bombings, it was though all the jigsaw pieces fell into place.
The numbers of countries listed varied somewhat, nevertheless I found it extremely thought provoking; it was a watershed moment for me
and has affected my political thinking ever since.
I am still not sure exactly how many countries the USA has bombed, but here is an approximation
(ie arranged roughly in chronological order and updated somewhat from those lists in London):
|
(1) China 1945-46 and
1950-53
(2) Korea 1950-53
(3) Guatemala 1954, 60, 64 and
67-69
(4) Indonesia 1958
(5) Cuba 1959-61
(6) Congo 1964
(7) Laos 1964-73
(8) Dominican Republic 1965-66
(9) Peru 1965
(10) Vietnam 1961-73
(11) Cambodia 1969-70
(12) Lebanon 1983-84
(13) Grenada 1983
(14) Libya 1986 and 1989
(15) El Salvador 1981-92
|
(16) Nicaragua 1981-90
(17) Iran 1987-88 and 1998 (airliner)
(18) Panama 1989-90
(19) Kuwait 1991
(20) Somalia 1992-94
(21) Croatia 1994 (of Serbs at Krajina)
(22) Bosnia 1995
(23) Sudan 1998
(24) Yugoslavia 1999
(25) Afghanistan 1998 and 2001-02 and 2004-present
(26) Iraq 1981*
(27) Iraq 1991-2010
(28) Yemen 2009
(29) Pakistan 2009-present
|
* Proxy bombing carried out by Israel using using sixteen American F15 bombers and F16 fighter bombers. Israeli military is financed by America.
The USA has bombed at least 28 countries, since the end of WW2!
I find that really quite shocking and deeply disturbing.
The number of countries bombed by the USA grows as each year passes
... most recently, Yemem and Pakistan.
I do not make any distinction between bombs dropped by aircraft, cruise missiles, or missiles launched from manned or unmanned drone aircraft.
They are all bombs; they all kill people. Bombs are incapable of distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants.
Bombs not only kill men, but they also kill women and children.
There is no such thing as a surgical strike, or bombing with pinpoint accuracy, etc.
Collateral damage means innocent bystanders are killed.
All this jargon is designed to hide the reality - bombs kill people!
I dread to think many how innocent people have been killed or maimed during my lifetime.
Now, this may come as a surprise to some Americans, but bombing people is not a way to win friends!
This is what bombs actually do to people ... who was terrorised here?
Any decent person would find this is an absolutely horrific and obscene way to treat fellow human beings.
Yet similar things to this are being done in our name on a daily basis. I think it is absolutely outrageous - ... not in my name.
We do not see pictures like this in newspapers, or on TV, because politicians want to hide the reality of their wars from us.
They do not want us to see what the bombs, paid for by our taxes and dropped in our name, actually do to our fellow humans.
They would rather we did not know how much money the armaments industries make from their wars.
When Christians and Jews do this to Muslims, America and Israel justify it by calling it a 'War against Terrorism'.
When a few Muslims fight back and do this to Christians or Jews, America and Israel call it terrorism.
Another example of double standards.
Is this really how so-called civilised humans should treat each other?
How would you feel if someone close to you was killed or maimed, or your country was invaded, by a foreign power?
America's secret war: Mapping strikes by US drones and Islamic militants.
"Since January 2009 nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan as a result of US drones and Islamic militant attacks."
Missile attacks by US drones in Pakistan's tribal areas have more than trebled under the Obama administration.
Many Americans simply just don't get it.
"It is really very easy. If you want to stop terrorism, then stop killing Muslims", Noam Chomsky
(American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist,and political activist).
A lot of people who live outside the USA consider Americans to be naive at best, or arrogant at worst.
American foreign policy simply reinforces their point of view.
Sadly, most people outside the USA are unaware that many Americans are much more enlightened.
Clearly many Americans are urbane and sophisticated.
The problem is that their voices are being drowned out by the neoconservatives and the immensely powerful Jewish-American lobby.
"Stop supporting dictatorships in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and elsewhere, stop supporting the Pakistani dictatorship or quasi-dictatorship,
stop supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Be perceived as a fair player in the Middle East and the Muslim world.
Stop killing Muslims - Muslims will not want to kill you. It's really very easy." Nir Rosen (American journalist).
[Source: BBC (18 August 2010) - Who's paying the price for US wars?]
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) - US drone and Islamic militant attacks in Pakistan]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) Iraq inquiry: Ex-MI5 boss says war raised terror threat]
[Source: BBC (20 June 2010) - Frustration for the US soldiers who never went to war]
[Source: FP (30 June 2010) Red Team]
[Source: BBC (07 June 2010) - US missile 'used in Yemen raid']
[Source: BBC (11 May 2010) - US drone 'kills 24 suspected militants' in Pakistan]
[Source: BBC (18 March 2010) - US drone strike in Pakistan 'killed key al-Qaeda man']
[Source: YouTube (17 January 2010) - Even The Troops Are Waking Up]
[Source: BBC (07 September 2009) - Airline plot: Al-Qaeda connection]
[Source: BBC (10 January 2008) - US launches massive Iraq air raid]
[Source: BBC (21 October 2006) - On the road with the Taleban]
[Source: BBC (18 April, 2002) - US bomb kills allies in Afghanistan]
[Source: BBC (07 June 1981) - Israel bombs Baghdad nuclear reactor]
[Source: NAF: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative - The Year of the Drone]
[Source: Sovereignty (March 14, 2003) - How many countries has the USA bombed?]
[Source: MSF (13 March 2003) - List of countries bombed by US since the end of WW2]
[Source: (14 December 2009) - Want to Stop Terrorism, Stop Killing Muslims]
[Source: WikipediA: Israel – US military relations - Foreign military financing]
[Source: WikipediaA - Nir Rosen]
[Source: WikipediA - Noam Chomsky]
[Source: WikipediA - Timeline of United States military operations]
⇧
Anti-Americanism
I am not anti-American per se.
In fact, I attended an American elementary (ie primary) school, albeit in a Muslim country.
Also, I lived in the USA during the 1960s, attended a high (ie secondary) school there and have American friends.
Whilst there is a lot that I admire about America and Americans, there is also much that I think is deplorable.
I am absolutely appalled by the suffering that American foreign policy has caused.
What I find most distressing is the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by Zionists, supported by America's military aid to Israel.
I understand why many Muslims feel that America's War on Terrorism is just a smoke-screen for a war against Islam.
I understand why when after having suffered injustice, unfairness, indignity and inhumane treatment
under the American-funded Zionist oppression in the Middle East,
some Muslims have resorted to armed struggle.
Palestinians have suffered at the hands of the Zionists for more than 60 years - throughout my lifetime, while the world has turned a blind eye.
Zionist are still stealing land and water from Palestinians.
Nobody seems to want to admit that this is ethnic cleansing. Why not?
I believe that America's foreign policy in supporting the Zionists is counter-productive,
because it encourages Islamic Jihadism and terrorism worldwide,
because it threatens Jews who live peacefully elsewhere in the world and
because it is turning the rest of world against Israel.
There cannot be peace in the Middle East
without a fair and just settlement for the Palestinians.
I realise that not all Americans support America's foreign policy or Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
Some like Rachel Corrie have died opposing Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Tragically, she was killed while Israelis bulldozed Palestinian homes.
Rather than reducing terrorism, the waging of perpetual wars is in fact having directly the opposite effect.
Instead of making the world safer, it is actually making it a lot more dangerous, because it constantly stirs up racial, tribal and religious tensions.
It encourages extremism and hatred.
Cause and effect. I believe that American foreign policy since the end of WW2 has largely been responsible for the rise of Islam
and entirely responsible for the rise of Islamic Jihad.
The Arab world is rightly incensed that the West is ignoring Israel's ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their land.
The vast majority of Arabs, including the Palestinians, are peaceful people who in my view are incredibly tolerant of their situation.
Only a very tiny minority of Palestinians have actually been actively involved in armed struggle against the illegal Israeli occupation.
However, that has not stopped the USA and Israel from treating all Palestinians and Arabs as if they are terrorists.
Instead of appealing to non-violent Palestinians to prevail upon those who have taken up arms, the USA and Israel have stupidly
alienated all Palestinians, as well as Arabs in other Middle Eastern countries.
It is as though the USA and Israel actually want to create enemies in the Middle East, instead of friends.
Israel says it want to live in peace with its Arab neighbours, while abusing Palestinians brutally and treating all Arabs as inferior.
Zionists prefer their racial bigotry to living in harmony with their neighbours.
According to Israeli and American propaganda, all Palestinians are terrorists. Of course, this is nonsense. Just a smoke-screen intended to
distract the world's attention from Israel's and America's crimes.
Many Americans and even some Israelis are aware of this, of course.
I wish the American and Israeli governments could be prevailed upon to change their foreign policies.
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) Alexandra Pelosi debunks the American Dream]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) Iraq inquiry: Ex-MI5 boss says war raised terror threat]
[Source: Zimbio (08 March 2010) - BBC proves Israeli army murdered Rachel Corrie]
[Source: (20 December 2009) - Courageous speech by American war veteran]
[Source: (17 August 2007) - Rachel Corrie, American killed by Israelis]
[Source: WikipediA - Ethnic cleansing]
[Source: WikipediA - Israeli–Palestinian conflict]
[Source: WikipediA - Rachel Corrie]
⇧
Anti-Semitism
I am not anti-Semitic, however I am anti-Zionist.
Judaism and Zionism are two entirely different things.
Do not fall for the crude Israeli propaganda trick where anti-Zionists are accused of being anti-Semitic.
Undoubtedly many are - certainly many Palestinians have good reason to be - however, many anti-Zionists are actually Jews.
Zionists often accuse anti-Zionists of being Holocaust deniers.
Once again, this is false logic and just part of the Israeli propaganda.
Holocaust denial and anti-Zionism are two entirely different things.
Many Jews both inside and outside Israel are extremely critical of Israel's policies.
At a Zionist rally counter-demo in London, on 11 January 2009, an orthodox rabbi burnt his passport,
in protest against Israel's policies. The rabbis chanted, "Judaism is okay, Zionism no way", "We are all Palestinian" and "We are all human".
Yet I have been unable to find anything about this on the BBC's website.
Did the BBC decide that a Jewish rabbi burning his Israeli passport during a protest march
against Israel's policies, in central London, was not newsworthy?
This event was covered by Aljazeera,
so why wasn't the BBC there?
No wonder so many people accuse the BBC of being pro-Israeli.
I admire Jews who have the courage and decency to speak out against Zionism and support the Palestinians.
For example, Noam Chomsky and Gerald Korfman
They recognise the fundamental injustice and unfairness of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
[Source: NY Times (23 July 2010) - Israel Puts Off Crisis Over Conversion Law]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - Row rages over defining who is a Jew]
[Source: BBC (30 June 2010) - Israeli pig-farming kibbutz draws religious ire]
[Source: (04 September 2009) - I am Israel]
[Source: Aljazeera - Aljazeera English]
[Source: (13 January 2009) - Rabbi burns Israeli passport at London demo]
[Source: Jato - Jews against the occupation]
[Source: WikipediA - American Jews]
[Source: WikipediA - Antisemitism]
[Source: WikipediA - Anti-Zionism]
[Source: WikipediA - British Jews]
[Source: WikipediA - Gerald Kaufman]
[Source: WikipediA - History of the Jews in the United States]
[Source: WikipediA - Israel lobby in the United States]
[Source: WikipediA - Judaism]
[Source: WikipediA - Noam Chomsky]
[Source: WikipediA - Zionism]
[Source: WikipediA - Zionist Organization of America]
⇧
Books
MY FATHER WAS A FREEDOM FIGHTER : GAZA'S UNTOLD STORY
Ramzy Baroud
PlutoPress 2010
ISBN 978-0-7453-2881-2
[
My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story]
[ramzybaroud.net]
[palestinechronicle.com]
"Deeply moving ... This book more than any I have read tells me why anyone of conscience must stand in solidarity with the
Palestinian people's struggle for self-determination and a just peace."
RICHARD FALK, Albert G Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University and
UN Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories.
[WikipediA - Richard A Falk]
"Sensitive, thoughtful, searching writing."
NOAM CHOMSKY
[WikipediA - Noam Chomsky]
"A very fine book: both a loving tribute to the author's father and the struggle and pain of Palestine seen through the insights of two generations.
Together, they beckon freedom."
JOHN PILGER
[WikipediA - John Pilger]
"Ramzy Baroud is a gifted writer."
SALMAN ABU-SITTA, author and historian
[WikipediA - Salman Abu-Sitta]
"Ramzy Baroud provides a rivieting account of his father's life and compelling narrative of his people's history.
This book should be read by all who struggle to understand the Middle East."
CINDY AND CRAIG CORRIE, The Rachel Corrie Foundation
[WikipediA - Rachel Corrie]
"A very fine book: both a loving tribute to the author's father and the struggle and pain of Palestine seen through the insights of two generations.
Together, they beckon freedom."
JOHN PILGER
[WikipediA - John Pilger]
Gaza is at the front-line in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
This book brings to life the individual experiences of a group of Palestinian villagers over six decades.
Baroud's vivid and honest account reveals complex human beings:
revolutionaries, mothers and fathers, refugees and lovers.
Focusing on his father's remarkable story, the book provides a moving insight into the way in which war and occupation
have transformed lives over many generations.
RAMZY BAROUD is a syndicated columnist, veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief of PalestinianChronicle.com.
He is a frequent guest on many television and radio news programmes including CNN, the BBC, Press TV, Al-Jazeera, ABC Australia
and National Public Radio. His previous books include: Seaching Jenin (2003) and The Second Palestinian Intifada
(PlutoPress, 2006).
⇧
Boycott Israel
I believe that Israel should be boycotted, until the Palestinians have an independent state of their own - once again.
The Protest against Tesco in Wales in January 2009 was about them selling goods that are labelled West Bank.
They are produced on illegal Israel settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of West bank,
using water appropriated from Palestinians. Fire destroyed a Tesco store in Hampshire, in July 2010.
The UK and the EU have both said that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal,
yet products produced by Israeli settlers on illegally occupied Palestinian land are being sold
by this British Jewish-owned company, in the UK. Another example of double standards.
Millions of people all over the world are already boycotting Israeli.
If more people joined the boycott then Israel would eventually have to change its policies.
Boycott was successful against apartheid in South Africa.
There are already clear signs that this boycott is affecting Israel.
If you want to boycott Israel, then do not buy any goods labelled 'West Bank'.
If you are opposed to Israeli aggression against Palestinians, then do not buy any products that have a barcode that begins with 729.
Boycott companies that are associated with Israel and their brands and labels. Join the academic boycott of Israel.
[Source: BBC (08 July 2010) - Large fire destroys Hampshire Tesco store]
[Source: Guardian (29 June 2010) - Palestinian boycott starts to bite]
[Source: (04 September 2009) - I am Israel]
[Source: Mondoweiss (31 March 2009) - JP: Gaza: EU boycott is now hurting Israel]
[Source: (27 January 2009) - Arrests over Israel boycott in Tesco's]
[Source: Innovative Minds - Boycott Apartheid Israel]
[Source: Innovative Minds - Companies to boycott]
[Source: Innovative Minds - Brands and labels to boycott]
[Source: WikipediA - Economic and political boycotts of Israel]
[Source: WikipediA - Israeli settlement]
[Source: WikipediA - Jack Cohen (Tesco)]
⇧
Christianity
Why should the majority of the people in the world, who are
non-Christian, be forced at the point-of-a-gun to conform to a way of life based on American Christian
evangelism and so-called 'American values'?
Clearly, American values do not include tolerance, empathy, compassion, fairness or justice -
at least not when it comes to dealing with the Palestinians.
Why should other countries be required to adopt American culture and be forced to embrace capitalism?
Is the rest of world also supposed to adopt all of America's great economic successes, selling sugar water drinks,
unhealthy fast food, profiteering from coffee produced by exploiting underdeveloped countries,
or for example by emulating its $10-100 billion pornography business?
"Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption ...", New Scientist: Science in Society (27 February 2009).
Apparently American family values includes pornography. Another example of double standards.
[Source: NS: SS (27 February 2009) - Porn USA: Conservatives are biggest consumers]
[Source: WikiAnswers (2007) - How much does the adult film industry make?]
[Source: Forbes (25 May 2001) - How big is porn?]
⇧
Conspiracy theories
Why are there so many American conspiracy theories? Is is because so many Americans no longer trust their government?
If so, then is it surprising that so many people question American foreign policy, when its stated aim is to
to spread democracy, whereas what the USA has actually been doing is waging wars, ever since the end of WW2?
Some people believe the idea that the USA is somehow controlled by Zionists is just a conspiracy theory.
Others believe that the USA is controlled by an illuminati, or alternatively criminal group involved in selling armaments, drugs and money laundering.
[Source: (23 April 2009) - Blame The Muslims Kay Griggs Interview]
[Source: (26 April 2008) - Who really runs America? - Criminal elite (Part 1)]
[Source: (26 April 2008) - Who really runs America? - Criminal elite (Part 2)]
[Source: (26 April 2008) - Who really runs America? - Criminal elite (Part 3)]
[Source: (17 May 2007) - Do Zionists/Israel control the US Government?]
[Source: Google video - The Kay Griggs Interviews - part 1 of 4]
[Source: Google video - The Kay Griggs Interviews - part 2 of 4]
[Source: Google video - The Kay Griggs Interviews - part 3 of 4]
[Source: Google video - The Kay Griggs Interviews - part 4 of 4]
[Source: WikipediA - Conspiracy theory]
[Source: WikipediA - Illuminati]
[Source: WikipediA - List of conspiracy theories]
[Source: WikipediA - Malcolm Kerr (academic)]
⇧
Democracy, freedom of expression and eavesdropping
America constantly espouses democracy, yet refuses to deal with democratically elected leaders of Hamas,
while forming alliances with undemocratic countries such as Saudi Arabia. Another example of double standards.
George W Bush's, and now Barack Obama's, policy of calling people names, blacklisting them
(eg terrorists, terrorist lists, War on Terror, Evil Empires, etc)
and refusing to talk to them are just ploys to prolong warfare, which of course suits American neoconservatives, the military,
the armaments industries, the private military companies (eg Xe aka Blackwater) and oilfield services companies
(eg Halliburton), all of which of course profit highly from waging wars and killing people.
Of course, it suits the Israeli Zionists perfectly, because it provides a smokescreen that enables them to hide their war crimes and the
ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Zionist thinking when he said, "Israel should have exploited the repression
of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories".
Ariel Sharon took full advantage of the 911 attacks, while America's attention was directed elsewhere, to intensify Israel's
brutal treatment of the Palestinians.
However, that might be about to change. At last, it seems to have dawned on the US military that Israel's brutal treatment of the Palestinians,
which of course is deeply resented throughout the Muslim world, is actually making the waging of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
a lot more difficulty and is actually putting American lives at risk. Something that the rest of the world has been trying
to tell the Americans for years!
More significantly, some members of the American intelligence community (ie the Red Team) have suggested that Hamas and Hezbollah
should now be recognised as legitimate political parties, and they need to be included in negotiations to reach a peace settlement
based on the two-state solution.
No surprises here, as we have seen it all before. In the UK, Margaret Thatcher refused to speak to the IRA,
she gagged BBC preventing them from reporting politics in Northern Ireland, then the UK reversed its policy,
allowed political dialogue and participation in the peace process that eventually led to involvement in government.
The USA supported the South African apartheid regime for many years, but then eventually reversed its policy.
South Africa was boycotted by the USA and EU. Apartheid collapsed and Nelson Mandela was released from captivity.
While nobody expects the USA to reverse its support for Israel, obviously the two-state solution cannot be implemented
if the Zionists are permitted to achieve their aims of controlling all of Palestine and expelling the Palestinians.
The two policies are mutually exclusive; they are incompatible.
The USA needs to decide whether to continue with its unconditional support for the Israeli Zionists, or to implement
the two-state solution. It cannot do both. At present the USA is both supporting Zionism, while pretending to support the two-state solution.
Another example of double standards.
While espousing democracy and freedom of expression, the US government is at the same time hounding Julian Assange and Wikileaks.
The US government does not want voters to find out about crimes committed in their name. Another example of double standards.
Israel frequently claims to be a democratic country, while operating an apartheid system against Palestinians and illegally
annexing their territory. Any country that commits war crimes and acts of piracy, constantly flouts International Law,
ignores UN Security Council Resolutions, shells civilians in densely populated areas, uses white phosphorous and
allows snipers to shoot women and children, cannot possibly be considered to be civilised and most certainly should not be
allowed to participate in the EU.
Israel is frequently belligerent towards it neighbours, constantly ignores International Law and UN Security Council Resolutions and has committed
acts of piracy. In the short time since it declared independence in 1948, Israel has invaded and occupied every single
one of its neighbours. Some countries have even been invaded and occupied more than once! Now Israel is threatening to attack Iran.
Israel is a rogue state that is out of control. If that is how democratic countries are supposed behave, then I do not want any part of it.
On 22 July 2010, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced that the police officer who was caught on video striking newspaper
seller Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests on 01 July 2009 will not face criminal charges. Tomlinson, who had not been involved
in the protest, had his hands in his pockets and his back to the officer when he was hit, later died.
The first police account, following an initial post-mortem, was that he died from a heart attack, however a second post-mortem,
conducted on behalf of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), found Tomlinson died from internal bleeding.
Members of the public went to his aid, while the police stood by without helping him.
Outrageous! No wonder police in the UK have lost so much of the public's respect. Who are the police protecting?
Nobody in the UK has been killed by terrorists since 7 July 2005, however now we know two innocent members of the public, Jean Charles de Menzes
and Ian Tomlinson were killed by police since then. Who are the police supposed to be protecting?
Stay away from London. It seems you are more likely to be killed by the police, than by terrorists!
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Untangling the BlackBerry ban]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Saudi Arabia announces Blackberry messenger ban]
[Source: BBC (01 August 2010) - Two Gulf states to ban some Blackberry functions]
[Source: BBC (01 August 2010) - Call to check on mobile network security]
[Source: BBC (30 July 2010) - UAE 'moves to suspend some Blackberry services']
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Welcome to a new age of whistle-blowing]
[Source: BBC (25 July 2010) - Tory MP warned over requests to remove face veils]
[Source: Guardian (23 July 2010) - Advice to charge police officer ignored]
[Source: BBC (23 July 2010) - Muslim woman wearing veil 'refused bus ride' in London]
[Source: Guardian (22 July 2010) - Police officer will not face criminal charges]
[Source: BBC (19 July 2010) - 'Burka ban' MP meets veiled women in Whitechapel]
[Source: BBC (18 July 2010) - Damian Green says burka ban would be 'un-British']
[Source: BBC (16 July 2010) - Arizona policeman challenges new state immigration law]
[Source: Guardian (14 July 2010) - Julian Assange: the whistleblower]
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010) - US government lifts lid on alleged leak to WikiLeaks]
[Source: FP (30 June 2010) - Red Team]
[Source: FP (21 June 2010) - Freedom of Expression in Europe]
[Source: YouTube (08 May 2010) - Ralph Nader - The Super-Rich Can Save Us!]
[Source: SL (07 January 2009) - Is Israel a Rogue State?]
[Source: BBC (06 October 2006) - Why Muslim women wear the veil]
[Source: BBC (27 January 2006) - Hamas election victory digested]
[Source: BBC (26 January 2006) - Driving Hamas to a dramatic win]
[Source: BBC (26 January 2006) - Q&A: Hamas election victory]
[Source: WikiLeaks - WikiLeaks]
[Source: WikipediA - Death of Ian Tomlinson]
[Source: WikipediA - Democracy]
[Source: WikipediA - Gag order]
[Source: WikipediA - Jean Charles de Menezes]
[Source: WikipediA - List of terrorist incidents in Great Britain]
[Source: WikipediA - Redaction]
[Source: WikipediA - Rogue state]
[Source: WikipediA - Israel and the apartheid analogy]
[Source: WikipediA - Palestine Peace Not Apartheid]
[Source: WikipediA - WikiLeaks]
⇧
Disagreement
I am an atheist, consequently I am not an advocate of Christianity, Islam or Judaism.
Nor am I promoting Atheism. On the contrary, I am very respectful of other people's religious views.
So, I expect them to be similarly tolerant of mine.
Naturally, I respect their right to practice a religion of their choice, however
I do not agree with religious extremism or fundamentalism, irrespective of whether it is Christian, Muslim or Jewish (ie Zionist).
Nor do I appreciate attempts by people to convert me to their religion, be it Christianity, Islam or Judaism.
I am against extremism and fundamentalism, because I believe they promote violence.
I am anti-Zionist because I believe that Zionism is a form of racism, like fascism and Nazism.
I am generally against all forms of violence and hence anti-war.
However, I believe in the right to self-defence, but certainly not unprovoked aggression, murder,
pre-emptive strikes, illegal occupation or invasion.
Most wars seem to be a form of tribalism, involving greed, of one kind or another.
Given that most wars result in a huge amount of human suffering
and eventually end in some kind of negotiation,
warfare seems a pretty pointless exercise.
Unless of course you are greedy and want more than your fair share of something
like land, food, water or oil.
In which case, in my humble opinion, you are selfish and immoral person.
If you are one of the numerous people who disagree with my point of
view, then I respect your opinion. I am perfectly happy to agree to disagree with you.
If you are someone who feels inclined to resort to violence,
when you encounter someone who refuses to agree with your point of view,
or you have something against people whose skin colour doesn't match yours, or who cannot tolerate other cultures or ways of life,
then why are you bothering to read this?
If you have tried to bombard me with viruses, worms, Trojans,
spam, hijack my e-mail addresses, etc - then you are entirely wasting your time.
You have failed miserably; nothing has been achieved, least of all
changing my mind about the state of this planet or the sad way that humans treat each other.
This website was started in 1997 and continues to grow ever more popular, thanks to visitors like you.
⇧
Double standards
American foreign policy is replete with double standards, as is clearly demonstrated throughout this page.
George Galloway's powerful speech in the House of Commons debate on Gaza, Thursday 15 Jan 2009 (5.30pm),
highlighting the hypocrisy and brazen double-standards of Western foreign policy towards Israel policies,
including assassinations and other war crimes, fell on deaf ears. Sadly, truth is not politically correct.
How many more people must be killed or maimed, in the name of Freedom and Democracy,
the American Way of Life, or to further the American Empire?
How long will America allow Israel's brutal terrorising of the Palestinians?
Why are so many Americans blind to the injustice of Zionist settler expansion and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians?
[Source: (16 January 2009) - The West has double standards]
[Source: WikipediA - Double standard]
⇧
Drones
American analysis of drone attacks casts a lot of doubt on their effectiveness.
"Our study shows that the 137 reported drone strikes in north-west Pakistan,
including 41 in 2010, from 2004 to the present have killed approximately between 986 and 1,485 individuals,
of whom around 675 to 962 were described as militants in reliable press accounts.
Thus, the true non-militant fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 33 percent."
American Dream turned sour?
Collateral damage is military jargon for innocent civilians injured and/or killed during attacks on so-called militants
(aka as terrorists, freedom fighters, or guerillas). In almost all cases, attacks are carried out against people
who are only suspected of being militants.
.jpg)
This child was pulled from the rubble following a drone attack in Afghanistan. Who was being being terrorised here?
In July 2007, a number of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters personnel, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen,
were killed in Iraq by an American helicopter gunship, because they were suspected of being militants.
The helicopter crew thought the journalists were carrying weapons, whereas they were only carrying a tripod and camera.
They were executed on the basis of suspicion. Two young children were seriously wounded during the attack.
Wikileaks released the original video of the attack, after the US military tried to cover up the murders.
"The video, posted in a 39-minute unedited version and as an 18-minute film called Collateral Murder,
gives a chilling insight into US military attitudes: sloppiness in identifying targets
(the helicopter pilots mistook the Reuters employee's cameras for weapons),
eagerness to finish off a grievously wounded man as he attempts to crawl to safety, and lack of concern
even for two children in a van that arrives to pick up the bodies and is immediately attacked.
It's their fault for bringing their kids to a battle, says one of the pilots. That's right, replies his colleague matter-of-factly.
This, though, is one of the most one-sided battles you will ever witness. Very few cameras can bring down a helicopter gunship."
Very revealing is Aljazeera's report, released on the same day the tape was leaked, and
Voice of America's report released two days later.
The interpretation of what these so-called militants are actually involved in, or carrying, is based on images
gathered by cameras mounted on remote drone aircraft viewed by controllers who are often thousands of miles from the incidents.
If the crew of the helicopter gunship in Iraq made a mistake, then imagine how much easy it must be for drone controllers to make mistakes,
when attacking suspected militants in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Suspected militants are no longer arrested, brought before a court and given a chance to prove their innocence.
They are killed, executed, or liquidated, solely on the basis of someone's suspicions.
These are unlawful murders are now being carried out by the CIA on an almost daily basis.
The pilots of these remote controlled drones, in Nevada, behave as if they are playing a Playstation game, instead of killing real people.
Technology now enables people to be killed remotely. The people doing the killing no longer see the effects of their actions.
They are oblivious to the suffering caused to innocent bystanders, including women and children.
Both the USA and Israel now frequently liquidate people. It has become government policy to kill anyone who dares oppose them.
America's secret war: Mapping strikes by US drones and Islamic militants.
"Since January 2009 nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan as a result of US drones and Islamic militant attacks."
Missile attacks by US drones in Pakistan's tribal areas have more than trebled under the Obama administration.
[Source: BBC (14 August 2010) - Suspected US missile strike 'kills 12 in NW Pakistan']
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - Pakistan drone attack 'kills 16 militants']
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) - US drone and Islamic militant attacks in Pakistan]
[Source: BBC (19 July 2010) - Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - US drone 'kills seven suspected militants' in Pakistan]
[Source: IB Times (03 June 2010) - UN investigator calls for halt to CIA drone killings]
[Source: BBC (02 June 2010) - UN official criticises US over drone attacks]
[Source: UKwired (02 Jun 2010) - UN official criticises US over drone attacks]
[Source: VoA (07 April 2010) - Attack that Allegedly Killed Journalists]
[Source: YouTube Aljazeera (05 April 2010) - Report on Wikileak's Shocking expose]
[Source: WikiLeaks (05 April 2010) - Collateral Murder]
[Source: BBC (24 February 2010) - Drone attack 'kills four' in north-west Pakistan]
[Source: NAF: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative - The Year of the Drone]
[Source: WkipediA - Drone attacks in Pakistan]
⇧
Egypt
[Source: BBC (16 July 2010) - Billionaire 'spy' death remains a mystery]
[Source: BBC (05 June 1967) - Israel launches attack on Egypt]
[Source: WikipediA - Six-Day War (5-10 June 1967)]
[Source: WikipediA - Yom Kippur War (6-23 October 1973)]
⇧
Evil empires
Why must America need an Evil Empire to battle against?
Previously it was nazism and fascism,
then it was communism, now it's terrorism.
What part does the massive American armaments industry, not to mention the oil lobby group, play in the justification for waging wars?
Who owns them and what do they stand to gain from wars waged in the name of "freedom and democracy"?
Are those who feel they must carry a gun, truly free?
Does democracy spring from the barrel of a gun?
Is might always right?
⇧
Friends of Israel
If you read the New York Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sun or The Times, or watch CNN, Sky or Fox News TV broadcasts,
or even some of news put out by the venerable BBC, then you will have undoubtedly experienced some of the
blatantly pro-Israeli American propaganda that people are constantly subjected to.
America's and Britain's pro-Israel lobby is much bigger than many people realise and these so-called 'Friends of Israel' wield
a considerable amount of influence and hence power.
The impression given is that Western countries, including Israel, are democracies.
That the West stands for freedom, democracy and justice and is engaged in a War Against Terrorism.
That terrorism can be defeated by waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and by subjecting Palestinians to a blockade - a medieval-style siege - denying them their Human Rights,
ignoring numerous United Nations Security Council Resolutions and breaking International Law.
This is just propaganda; the truth is less convenient.
This is how Israeli soldiers treat women and children. Who was being terrorised here?
If you believe that these media outlets propagate pure untainted gospel truth, free of any double standards,
completely clear of any political bias, then you will probably find what follows very uncomfortable reading.
Many decent people lack the courage to speak out, when knowing full-well that something is seriously wrong in the world.
They recognise injustice when they see it, but they are frightened to say so openly for fear of being subjected to abuse and/or violence themselves,
or they think it is not their problem - imagining that if it is ignored then it will go away.
That is what the pacifists did during the 1930s, when fascists began to terrorise Jews in Europe.
Following World War II, Palestine was partitioned in 1947 and the state of Israel declared independence in 1948.
The Palestinians were persecuted and driven from their territory and the injustice of this ethnic cleansing is the root
cause of the unrest in the Middle East and provides the America with the ideal excuse to wage its so-called War Against Terrorism
while extending its control over strategic source of energy.
[Source: BBC (25 May 2010) - Pentagon 'to boost covert missions in Middle East']
[Source: Channel 4 Dispatches (16 November 2009) - Inside Britain's Israel Lobby]
[Source: (JAQ & HS 04 September 2009) - I am Israel (Documentary Film)]
[Source: BBC (16 April 2008) - US Jewish lobby gains new voice]
[Source: (RP 24 June 2007) - If Americans Knew What Israel Is Doing!]
[Source: CounterPunch (22 January 2003) - Bill O'Reilly's Fascism (Fox News)]
[Source: WikipediA - American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)]
[Source: WikipediA - List of British Jewish politicians]
[Source: WikipediA - List of Jewish American politicians]
[Source: WikipediA - List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel]
⇧
Gaza
[Source: BBC (04 April 2011) -
'Abducted' Palestinian Dirar Abu Sisi on Hamas charges]
⇧
Gaza blockade and flotilla
It is illogical nonsensical semantics to say that Israel controls the perimeter around Gaza.
Either Israel is operating a blockade of Gaza in international waters, or it is controlling Gaza's territorial waters, or both.
Either way, Israel's blockade of Gaza is illegal.
Israel's annexation of Palestinian territory is illegal.
Israel's alleged slant drilling of Gaza's offshore natural gas reserves would be illegal.
Israel's piracy and murder in international waters was illegal.
Israel has ignored the UN's and EU's calls for the medieval blockade to be lifted. All Israel has done it so ease the land blockade.
If Israel was really a democracy then it would recognise that Hamas won in an election that EU monitors deemed to be fair.
The problem is that does not suit Israel's aims to control the Palestinians, and/or the USA's aims to control the Middle East
Israel is a rogue nation apparently hell-bent on ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their land.
Can you name any other democracy that shells its neighbour - one of the most densely populated places in the world - with white phosphorous,
sends snipers that shoot women and children, or bulldozes people's homes?
Jimmy Carter was right, Israel is operating an apartheid system. Zionism=Racism.
During July 2010, Turkey threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.
During July 2010, Israel was still imposing an illegal blockade on Gaza imposing collective punishment causing inhumane
suffering purely for political reasons.
During June 2010, Israel announced a partial lifting of the land blockade, allowing some items through.
UNWRA deemed the items and quantities to be insufficient.
Israel still controls access by sea and Palestinian airspace.
With this easing of restrictions, Palestinians will be allowed by Israel to have such items as cooking utensils, coriander and children's toys.
When Tony Blair was interviewed on 17 June 2010, in connection with Israel's announcement of the partial lifting of the blockade,
he said "this is a significant step forward". Coriander?!
Clearly this blockade is not just about preventing Hamas from obtaining weapons,
rather it is a collective punishment on all Palestinians in Gaza for having elected Hamas.
Not content with terrorising Gaza's children with guns, phosphorous shells, using snipers to kill women and children,
bulldozing homes
and preventing the UN from delivering adequate housing, sanitation, medication and schooling, the Israelis would not even
allow women to cook with coriander, or children to have toys!
Just as the Holocaust was appalling, so Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is obscene.
This tribal madness is no less horrendous.
No less of a crime against humanity.
Israel's treatment of the Palestinians will surely go down in history, alongside other similar ethnic cleansing,
crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc.
Israel's Zionists (and by association America's support), will surely be judged by history like the Nazis, as a human aberration.
Israel claims to be a civilised democratic nation.
What other nation shells civilians with white phosphorous and sends snipers to kill women and children and bulldozes people's homes?
Is that really how a civilised nation should behave?
The EU continues to trade with Israel and to supply it with armaments.
Yet another example of this crazy post-Orwellian nightmarish Alice-in-Wonderland world that we live in.
Another example of double standards.
[Source: BBC (20 August 2010) - Power of women protest movements]
[Source: BBC (11 August 2010) - Israeli military chief defends Gaza flotilla raid]
[Source: BBC (09 August 2010) - Netanyahu tells Gaza flotilla inquiry raid was lawful]
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Israel releases Turkish ship from Gaza aid flotilla]
[Source: BBC (02 August 2010) - Israel to co-operate with UN probe into Gaza flotilla]
[Source: BBC (02 August 2010) - Many injured as Gaza blast destroys Hamas house]
[Source: BBC (31 July 2010) - Hamas fighter killed in Israel air strikes on Gaza]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - David Cameron describes blockaded Gaza as a 'prison']
[Source: Reuters (23 July 2010) - UN names team to probe Israel ship raid]
[Source: BBC (23 July 2010) - Three Spaniards file charges over Israel flotilla raid]
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) - Man killed and child injured by IDF strike on Gaza]
[Source: BBC (19 July 2010) - Guide: Eased Gaza blockade]
[Source: Guardian (18 July 2010 ) - Chris Patten urges bolder EU approach over conflict]
[Source: BBC (18 July 2010 ) - EU envoy urges Israel to open Gaza borders]
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010 ) - Israel warships monitoring Gaza-bound Libyan aid ship]
[Source: BBC (13 July 2010 ) - Israel admits Gaza flotilla raid 'mistakes']
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010 ) - Gaza hopes to get back to business as blockade eases]
[Source: BBC (05 July 2010 ) - Turkey threatens diplomatic break with Israel over raid]
[Source: Al Jazeera (30 June 2010) - Gaza flotilla]
[Source: BBC (20 June 2010) - No Gaza optimism over easing blockade]
[Source: BBC (17 June 2010) - Tony Blair: 'This is a significant step forward']
[Source: (17 June 2010) - Israeli assault on Freedom Flotilla]
[Source: BBC (14 June 2010) - Q&A: Israeli deadly raid on aid flotilla]
[Source: BBC (06 June 2010) - Focus on Gaza hardship after raid]
[Source: BBC (03 June 2010) - Activists describe Israeli raid on Gaza aid convoy]
[Source: BBC (03 June 2010) - Video: Activist describes 'horrific' Israeli interception?]
[Source: BBC (02 June 2010) - Israeli convoy raid: What went wrong?]
[Source: BBC (01 June 2010) - Profile: Free Gaza Movement]
[Source: Allvoices (08 June 2010) - UNRWA: Gaza's largest prison in the world]
[Source: Al Jazeera (31 May 2010 ) - Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet]
[Source: BBC (31 May 2010 ) - Guide: Gaza under blockade]
[Source: BBC (31 May 2010 ) - Israeli navy storms Gaza aid ship]
[Source: Wfol (06 May 2010) - UNRWA Gaza Call for more Ships to Gaza]
[Source: ICRC film (2009) - Gaza: paying the price]
[Source: Jato - Jews against the occupation]
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
⇧
Gaza War
This is just the politically correct name for what in fact was a one-sided massacre.
The 22-day assault on Gaza began in December 2008.
During Israel's attack on Gaza, more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and just 13 Israelis died, 10 of whom were combatants.
Another example of double standards.
Israel, a nuclear power, launched an attack on the population of Gaza using state-of-the-art American weaponry.
Jet fighters and helicopters dropped bombs and launched missiles, while tanks and artillery fired explosive rounds into populated areas and
naval vessels shelled the coast from the sea.
Israel launched an air strike at the Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, while officers were on parade outside.
Some of the artillery rounds fired by Israel into Gaza contained white phosphorous.
Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world.
The Goldstone report found that the Israel was "... systematically reckless in determining its use in build-up areas".
Israel also attacked an UNWRA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East)
school in Beit Lahia (Northern Gaza strip).
Palestinians armed only with light arms and a few unguided home-made rockets did their best to defend themselves.
Israelis used battlefield weapons against women and children.
America allows Israel to commit war crimes with impunity. Another example of double standards.
Gaza is one of the most populated places in the world, so inevitably the Palestinians suffered horrendous losses.
If the Israelis had any humanity they would have realised that.
Clearly the Israelis we hell-bent on killing as many Palestinians as possible, irrespective of whether they were combatants or non-combatants.
Targetting of non-combatants is a war crime.
Approximately 1,385 Palestinians died, including 762 non-combatants of whom 107 women and 318 were children.
In other words, the majority of the Palestinian casualties were civilians. During Israel's attack on Gaza, only 3 non-combatant Israelis were killed.
This child was injured during Israel's attack on Gaza. Who was terrorised here?
The destruction of housing and infrastructure was hardly any less appalling, because those who survived the bombardment and
sniper fire were left without electricity and adequate sanitation.
Israel has not allow the Gazans to repair housing or re-establish adequate electricity and sewerage systems.
Not satisfied with killing civilians, the Israelis killed hundreds of police officers, attacked hospitals, schools and mosques.
They even deployed snipers who killed many women and children. Israel committed the most heinous crimes which been much deplored
by the UN, NGOs and aid organisations.
Hasidic Jews watching Israel's attack on Gaza. Who was terrorised here?
Israel used snipers during their attack on Gaza.
"An Israeli military college has printed damning soldier's accounts of the killing of civilians and vandalism during ... operations in Gaza.
One account tells of a sniper killing a mother and children at close range whom troops had told to leave their home.
Another speaker at the seminar described what he saw as the cold blooded murder of a Palestinian woman."
This child was shot during the Gaza War. Who was terrorised here?
Israel announced that a single Israeli sniper would face manslaughter charges.
I doubt many people in the civilised world were impressed, not that civilisation counts for much these days.
If the world was more civilised it would ensure that Israeli cabinet members were charged with committing with war crimes.
The world had been clamouring for justice ever since this latest Israeli massacre of Palestinians.
Just one day before Netanyahu was due to meet Obama, Israel announced it would ease the Gaza land blockade..
What an amazing coincidence of timing. Like an apple for teacher, don't you think?
Netanyahu might have thought he could hoodwink the Americans, but nobody else was fooled.
If Americans feel insulted by Netanyahu's refusal to stop building more illegal settlements on Palestinian territory,
they should hit Israel where it hurts - in their pockets. The USA should cut the military aid it gives Israel.
However, this is extremely unlikely. I expect the cosy American-Israeli relationship will continue.
Obama knows he needs Jewish-American votes if he wants to be re-elected.
Who was terrorised here? Either these people were too poor to own a pair of shoes, or their shoes were stolen, or they were killed in their beds.
Can you think of any other explanation?
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) - Israel to restrict white phosphorus use in future wars]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010) - Obama holding talks with Netanyahu at White House]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010) - Israeli sniper faces Gaza manslaughter charges]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010) - Analysis: Little room to manoeuvre]
[Source: BBC (13 May 2010 ) - Human Rights Watch say destruction in Gaza 'unlawful']
[Source: BBC (19 March 2009) - Israel troops admit Gaza abuses]
[Source: BBC (07 January 2009) - Strike at Gaza school 'kills 40']
[Source: BBC (16 September 2009) - UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza]
[Source: Guardian (07 January 2009) - How Israel brought Gaza to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe]
[Source: Al Jazeera - War on Gaza]
[Source: Jato - Jews against the occupation]
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
[Source: WikipediA - Hasidic Jews]
[Source: WikipediA - UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict]
[Source: WikipediA - Gaza: Population]
[Source: WikipediA - Gaza War]
[Source: WikipediA - Gaza war: Casualties]
[Source: WikipediA - Gaza War: White phosphorus]
⇧
Gilad Shalit
The pro-Zionist media only comments on the plight of this Israeli soldier, who it is believed is being held in captivity by Palestinians.
Why all the fuss about one Israeli soldier, when Israel holds thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails,
without giving them a fair trial? Another example of double standards.
When Tony Blair was interviewed on 17 June 2010, in connection with Israel's announcement of the partial lifting of the blockade, instead of calling
for the complete lifting of the blockade, he called for the unconditional release of Gilad Shalit.
Naturally warmonger Blair, a 'Friend of Israel', defended the Zionists instead of standing up for the Palestinians.
What he forgot to mention was the thousands of Palestinians held in captivity by Israel, without a fair trial.
Israel claims to be a democracy. Democratic countries used not to hold prisoners without trial, but Tony Blair supported G W Bush
who changed the definition of democracy. Bush invaded Iraq to transform the regime into one that is more pro-American,
in order to control the oil.
In this Brave New World - in this neo-conservative democracy - anything is allowed, including imprisonment without trial, torture and
state-sponsored executions without trial.
[Source: BBC (17 June 2010) - Tony Blair: 'This is a significant step forward']
[Source: BBC (17 June 2010) - Tony Blair on Gaza blockade]
[Source: NAF: Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative - The Year of the Drone]
[Source: WikipediA - Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse]
[Source: WikipediA - Gilad Shalit]
[Source: WikipediA - Guantanamo Bay detention camp]
[Source: WikipediA - Palestinian prisoners in Israel]
⇧
Greed and wealth
Chomsky says, history is too often ruled by Thucydides's maxim: "The strong do as they wish, while the poor suffer as they must."
Civilization hasn't improved much since Thucydides died more than 2400 years ago.
Humans may have invented more effective ways to kill people - waging wars and terrorising them -
but done little to alleviate the suffering of the poor.
Not only are the rich get richer while the poor are get poorer, but the proportion of poor to rich is forever increasing.
The world's population has doubled since I was a young man in the 1960s.
6% of the world's population now owns 59% of its wealth. Does that seem fair to you?
Do you know how many trillions of $$$ the USA has spent on waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
The Cost of War website shows how the cost is mounting in the USA (with counters updating in real-time).
What have these wars achieved?
More money is now spent on armaments and warfare, than on development aid.
Do you think that is a wise way to spend money?
I think it is absolutely deplorable!
Just imagine what could have been be achieved, had more of the available
money been spent fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and influenza,
or providing clean water and sanitation for more people worldwide?
The Miniature Earth website illustrates global human population demographics very well.
Instead of presenting statistical information in terms of unimaginably large numbers,
it reduces the world's entire population to a small community of 100, keeping the same proportions,
thus effectively represents everything in terms of percentages.
It uses instantly recognizable images instead of confusing graphs and provides a clear and memorable overview of the state of
humanity on our planet.
- 61% Asians, 12% Europeans, 8% North Americans, 5% South Americans and the Caribbean, 13% Africans and 1% from Oceania
- 50% women, 50% men
- 47% live in an urban area
- 9% are disabled
- 33% are Christians, 18% are Muslims, 14% are Hindus, 16% are non-religious, 6% are Buddhists, 13% practice other religions
- 43% live without basic sanitation, 18% live without an improved water source
- 6% own 59% of the entire wealth of the community
- 13% are hungry or malnourished, 14% are unable to read, only 7% are educated at a secondary level
- 12% have a computer, 3% have an internet connection
- 1% of adults aged 15-49 have HIV/AIDS
- US$1.12 trillion is spent on military expenditures
- US$100 billion on development aid
- If you keep your food in a refrigerator, your clothes in a closet, if you sleep in a bed and have a roof over your head,
then you are richer than 75% of the entire population
- If you have a bank account then you are wealthier than 70% of the people in the world
- 18% struggle to live on US$1 per day or less
- 53% struggle to live on US$2 per day or less
"Appreciate what you have and do your best for a better world".
[Source: (16 June 2007) - Shania Twain - Ka-Ching!]
[Source: - Ka-Ching!]
[Source: Miniature Earth - Miniature Earth]
[Source: National Priorities Project - See the Cost of War (realtime counters)]
[Source: WikipediA - Ka-Ching!]
[Source: WikipediA - Noam Chomsky]
[Source: WikipediA - Thucydides]
⇧
Hamas and Hezbollah
"With Hizbollah(sic) and Hamas there can be no political negotiations, though it is worth remembering that Hamas has repeatedly
called for accepting the international consensus and Hezbollah has stated that it is a Lebanese party and will not disrupt anything
that Palestinians accept. With these non-state actors, Israel can negotiate other agreements, like the ceasefire agreement with Hamas
that Israel accepted formally (though not fully in practice) in June 2008. The government of Israel officially acknowledges that Hamas
did not fire a single rocket until Israel violated the ceasefire in November 2008, invading Gaza and killing Hamas activists.
Hamas offered to renew the ceasefire. The Israeli cabinet considered the offer, and rejected it, preferring to launch Operation Cast Lead —
sheer criminal aggression, without any justification, because peaceful means were available, as Israel and its US partner knew."
Noam Chomsky (Jewish American citizen).
The election process in Gaza in 2006 was judged by EU monitors to be free and fair, consequently the Hamas government was elected democratically.
However that did not suit America's and Israel's political agendas, for controlling the Palestinian government and the Middle East, so the US and Israel
labelled the Hamas government a terrorist organisation.
Israel believes that entitles it to kidnap and assassinate members of the Hamas government.
So, apparently state-sponsored terrorism is acceptable, so long as it is perpetrated by Israel.
However, some voices in America are mow beginning to argue that as Hamas and Hezbollah are undefeated,
both are well established and integrated politically and not likely to go away
anytime soon, that they should be brought in from the cold.
So, one day someone is a terrorist, then the next day they are America's ally in its war against terrorism.
This is nothing new, of course.
We have seen it all before, when the UK was forced to talk to the IRA and America settled its differences
with Libya in return for blood money.
On 22 July 1946, Zionist terrorists bombed the Kind David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 91 people and injuring 46.
The hotel was the site of the central offices of the British Mandatory authorities of Palestine, the Secretariat of the Government of
Palestine and Headquarters of the British Forces in Palestine and Transjordan.
The attack was the deadliest directed at the British during the Mandate era (1920–1948) and more people were killed than by any bombing
carried out in the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflict. Menachem Begin was instructed to carry out the bombing by Moshe Sneh.
Menachem Begin later became Israeli PM and was welcomed in America as a man of peace.
"In a 'Red Team' report issued on 07 May 2010 entitled 'Managing Hezballah and Hamas', senior
US Central Command (CENTCOM) intelligence officers question the current US
policy of isolating and marginalizing the two movements.
Instead, the Red Team recommends a mix of strategies that would integrate the two organizations into their respective political mainstreams."
"Among its other findings, the five-page report calls for the integration of Hezballah into the Lebanese Armed Forces,
and Hamas into the Palestinian security forces led by Fatah,
the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas."
"The brief's authors also have interesting things to say about Hamas, which has ruled in Gaza since its takeover of the impoverished
coastal strip in 2007. While the Red Team report does not make explicit policy recommendations, the senior intelligence experts that
drafted the statement signal their unease with Israel's anti-Hamas policies, particularly the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza. CENTCOM
officers note that Israel's strategy of keeping Gaza under siege also keeps the area on the verge of a perpetual humanitarian collapse
-- a policy that the intelligence report says may be radicalising more people, especially the young, increasing the number of potential recruits
for the organization. The report argues that an Israeli decision to lift the siege might pave the way for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas,
which would be the best hope for main-streaming Hamas. The Red Team also claims that reconciliation with Fatah, when coupled with Hamas's
explicit renunciation of violence, would gain widespread international support and deprive the Israelis of any legitimate justification to continue
settlement building and delay statehood negotiations."
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Poland set to hand over Israeli 'agent' to Germany]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Nasrallah accuses Israel over Hariri murder]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Off the record: Candid views from Mid-East officials]
[Source: BBC (23 July 2010) - Hezbollah members 'facing Rafik Hariri charges']
[Source: BBC (04 July 2010) - Who are Hezbollah?]
[Source: FP (30 June 2010) - Red Team]
[Source: IOA (27 June 2010) - Noam Chomsky: City Magazine (Tel Aviv) Interview]
[Source: BBC (25 May 2010) - Hezbollah entrenched in Lebanon years after Israel left]
[Source: BBC (24 May 2010) - Israel fears stronger Hezbollah 10 years after pull-out]
[Source: BBC (15 April 2010) - US concerned about Syrian intentions over Hezbollah]
[Source: BBC (26 January 2006) - Driving Hamas to a dramatic win]
[Source: BBC (26 January 2006) - Q&A: Hamas election victory]
[Source: BBC (27 January 2006) - Hamas election victory digested]
[Source: WikipediA - King David Hotel bombing]
[Source: WikipediA - Malcolm Kerr (academic)]
[Source: WikipediA - Menachem Begin]
[Source: WikipediA - Moshe Sneh]
⇧
Heroes
An Israeli soldier pointing a gun at a Palestinian child. Who was terrorised here?
An Israeli soldier pointing a gun at a Palestinian demonstrator. Look closely and you will see that he actually has his finger on the trigger. Who was terrorised here?
Few people are prepared to stand up and openly criticise American or Israeli policies.
However, increasing numbers of people are recognising that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians is completely unfair and unjust.
The reality is that Zionists want all Palestinian land for Israel and America intends to dominate the Middle East in order to fulfil its
strategic energy needs.
There is no excuse for complacency.
[Source: (28 January 2008) - Girl tries to block Israeli shooting at Palestinians]
⇧
Holocaust denial
I am not a Holocaust denier. On the contrary, what I find incredibly chilling is how survivors of the Holocaust have treated
their Palestinian neighbours so inhumanely. What I do not understand is how Jews who suffered so appallingly under the Nazi Third Reich
can treat their Palestinians and their other Arab neighbours so
atrociously. Surely, they of all peoples,
should realise that their behaviour is unacceptable in the 21st
Century. If Nazi treatment of Jews was a Holocaust, then surely Zionist treatment of Palestinians is similarly wrong.
What Israel has created in Gaza is a huge concentration camp.
Palestinians in Gaza have been subjected to the most appalling suffering, degradation and inhumanity by the Israelis.
If the Palestinians kept Israeli Jews in concentration
camp conditions, occupied their land, bulldozed their houses,
attacked them with American-made fighter jets, helicopters and tanks,
and erected a Berlin-style wall on their land, then
quite rightly there would be uproar in the West, if not world-wide outcry.
Palestinians in the West Bank are also abused by Israel, which has built an illegal barrier wall partly on Palestinian territory
and actively encourages Zionist extremist settlers to encroach on Palestinian territory.
Palestinians are gradually being squeezed out of Palestine.
This is ethnic cleansing. Israel is committing crimes against humanity.
I think Israel's
appalling treatment of the Palestinians is absolutely deplorable.
America and the rest of the EU should be doing much more to ensure that the Palestinians are treated more fairly.
[Source: (04 September 2009) - I am Israel]
⇧
Human rights
The UN has declared that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right.
About 1.5m children under five die each year from water and sanitation-related diseases.
884m people have no access to safe drinking water and more than 2.6bn lack access to basic sanitation.
China, Russia, Germany, France, Spain and Brazil were among those supporting the resolution.
Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and Botswana were among the countries which abstained from voting.
[Source: BBC (28 July 2010) - UN declares clean water a 'fundamental human right']
⇧
Iran
Iran does not have any nuclear missiles, so how can it possibly be a threat to Israel?
If Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, then it is most likely doing so because, like North Korea, if feels threatened by the its neighbour and the USA.
Iran is clearly being threatened by the world's super-power, the USA and its proxy, Israel.
Look at the maps of American military bases at the top of this page and you will see that Iran is surrounded by American military bases.
Furthermore, the USA has invaded and occupied Iran's immediate neighbour, Iraq.
The USA has thousands of nuclear weapons. Israel is thought to have at least 80 and possibly more than 150 nuclear missiles.
Iran has none.
Even if Iran did develop a nuclear weapon, it is extremely unlikely that it would use it use aggressively.
It would be used a deterrent against attack by the USA and/or Israel.
Think about it. Iran surely realises that any attack on Israel using a nuclear weapon would be absolutely suicidal.
The USA would almost certainly immediately annihilate Iran with a massive nuclear attack, in retaliation for the attack on its ally Israel.
So, do you really believe that Iran would do something so stupid, something that guarantee's
its complete destruction? Of course not.
Unlike America and Israel, Iran does not have a history of aggression - of attacking other countries.
By the USA's own admission - recent assessment by the Pentagon - Iran's current military system is directed towards self-defense, not aggression.
Whereas, Israel has invaded neighbouring countries and has repeatedly threatened Iran.
Middle East countries have not been clamouring for sanctions against Iran,
rather they have been demanding that Israel be open about its nuclear arsenal.
They want Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
to allow IAEA inspections and for the Middle East to be free of nuclear weapons.
Despite the latest UN sanctions against Iran, people are not fooled by American propaganda that their actions are a genuine
an attempt to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Most people realise that the real threat to Middle East peace and stability is America and the Zionist regime in Israel, not Iran.
This dispute is not about nuclear weapons, or any genuine threat to Israel's existence, rather this is about oil and gas.
Iran has huge oil and gas reserves, second only is size to Russia.
So, America's and Israel's foreign policies towards Iran are really about seeking regime change, in order to control energy resources.
The American pro-Israeli lobby had little difficulty persuading G W Bush to carry out regime change in Iraq,
under the guise of false threats from non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Now the process is being repeated with Iran. The USA has already succeeded in getting the UN to impose further sanctions.
The USA and Israel have been acting belligerently, issuing threats against Iran ... which many people in the Middle East fear will lead to another war.
Of course, those involved with the American and Israeli armaments industries will be rubbing their hands together with glee.
So, will David Cameron be Barack Obama's sycophantic poodle, as Tony Blair was George Bush's?
Similarly, despite all the rhetoric in the Western media, don't be fooled by Israeli propaganda into believing that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
called for Israel to be wiped off the map. He did not say that. What he called for was regime change in Israel.
He is not alone - there are many people in the West who have called for regime change in Israel, too.
Yet another example of double standards.
Whilst Ahmadinejad might believe the Holocaust to be a myth, he is not alone as are Holocaust deniers in the West, too.
However, I am not one of them, which should be blatantly obvious if you bother to read all that I have written on this dissent page.
According to The Iranian Threat by Noam Chomsky (02 July 2010)
America is "... gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran ... US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets
in Iran in a few hours ... fire-power of US ... quadrupled since 2003.
"Obama... expanding US offensive capacity in the African island of Diego Garcia ... massive base. The Navy ... sending ... nuclear-powered guided-missile
submarines with Tomahawk missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads.
"... Saudi Arabia is providing a corridor for Israeli bombing of Iran ...
"... an American fleet (with an Israeli vessel) passed through the Suez Canal on the way to the Persian Gulf ...
"According to a US Navy cargo manifest obtained by the Sunday Herald (Glasgow), the substantial military ...
dispatched includes 387 bunker busters the most
powerful bombs in the arsenal short of nuclear weapons
"Admiral Michael Mullen ... I always try to see challenges from Israeli perspective.
"US army journal ... urges a US attack ... not only Iran's nuclear facilities but also... infrastructure -- meaning, the civilian society.
"... what exactly is the Iranian threat? An authoritative answer is provided by military and intelligence reports to Congress
in April 2010 [Lieutenant General Ronald L Burgess, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, Statement before the Committee on Armed Services,
US Senate, 14 April 2010; Unclassified Report on Military Power of Iran, April 2010; John J Kruzel, American Forces Press Service,
April 2010,
Report to Congress Outlines Iranian Threats.]
...
"The report make it clear that the Iranian threat is not military. Iran's military spending is
relatively low compared to the rest of the region, and of course minuscule as compared to the US.
Iranian military doctrine is strictly defensive, designed to slow an invasion and force a diplomatic solution to hostilities.
Iran has only a limited capability to project force beyond its borders.
"With regard to the nuclear option, Iran's nuclear program and its willingness to keep open the possibility of developing
nuclear weapons is a central part of its deterrent strategy.
"No sane person wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons; or anyone.
One obvious way to mitigate or eliminate this threat is to establish a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East.
Washington still formally agrees, but insists that Israel be exempted ...
"The increasing threats of military action against Iran are of course in violation of the UN Charter, and in specific violation of Security
Council resolution 1887 of September 2009 which reaffirmed the call to all states to resolve disputes related to nuclear issues peacefully,
in accordance with the Charter, which bans the use or threat of force.
"Instead of taking practical steps towards reducing the truly dire threat of nuclear weapons proliferation, the US is taking major steps towards
reinforcing US control of the vital Middle East oil-producing regions, by violence if other means do not suffice."
If America follows through with this utter madness and actually attacks Iran, it will not just be me who goes mad,
the entire Middle East might rise up against Israel -
it could easily provoke another world war. Anyway, terrorism worldwide will very likely increase.
Israelis are talking about killing my friends!
I worked with Iranians (as well as with people from Pakistan and India)
in the Physics Department at the University of London, in the 1970s.
Iranians are peace-loving people.
Unlike Israel, Iran has not invaded any of its neighbours.
Unlike America, Iran has not threatened to attack any country.
Ahmadinejad called for the regime in Israel to be changed, not for its annihilation as the Israeli propaganda pretends.
So, what I say is best of luck to the poor Iranians, who have already suffered aggression from America in the past.
America bombed Iran during 1987-88.
In 1988, the USA shot down an Iranian airliner - flight 655, killing 290 passengers and crew, including 60 children.
In 1980, Iraq - backed by USA via the CIA, with American finance and weapons - invaded Iran, resulting in a war that lasted eight years.
It cost Iran an estimated 1 million casualties, killed or wounded, and Iranians continue to suffer and die as a consequence of Iraq's
use of chemical weapons.
Iran is perfectly entitled to defend itself if attacked, to have weapons of self-defence, including Russian surface-to-air missiles.
If Iran is attacked by America and/or Israel, then I hope it retaliates in every way possible.
If the UK joins America and attacks Iran, then I will relinquish my British nationality and burn my British passport,
and probably sing Lily Allen's song while doing so.
Did the UK refuse Iranian passenger jets fuel, or not? You decide.
The US approved new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, then one week later the EU
imposed a flight ban on Iran Air over safety. "The ban affects Airbus A320 ...", built in the EU.
The EU "...said the ban was on safety grounds, and was not related to sanctions imposed on Iran
because of its nuclear programme." What? Who are they trying to fool?
Another example of double standards.
Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri claims he was tortured by the CIA. Given what is known about the way the CIA operates,
his story sounds a lot more plausible than Hilary Clinton's bland statement. However, according to American media he spied for the USA.
In which case, why would he return to Iran where he is likely to face prosecution, if not persecution? Perhaps he was/is a double agent.
On 22 July 2020, the US House of Representatives introduced a measure that would green-light a possible Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.
Resolution 1553 provides explicit support for military strikes against Iran, stating that Congress backs Israel's use of all means necessary
against Iran, "including the use of military force".
The UN's sanctions have already been judged by Brazil and Turkey to be counter-productive.
Russia is right - sanctions that go beyond what was authorised by the UN is just pandering the the USA's and Israel's paranoia about Iran.
[Source: BBC (24 August 2010) - Daily View: Iran's new weapon]
[Source: BBC (21 August 2010) - Iran begins loading nuclear plant]
[Source: BBC (13 August 2010) - Iran nuclear plant start date set - 14 August 2010]
[Source: BBC (07 August 2010) - Fidel Castro addresses parliament after four-year gap]
[Source: BBC (07 August 2010) - Iran 'lying' about murder charges, says Ashtiani]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Profile: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Iran denies reports of attack on President]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Obama rebuffs Ahmadinejad offer to debate]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - US gets serious on Iran sanctions]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Off the record: Candid views from Mid-East officials]
[Source: BBC (02 August 2010) - Ahmadinejad 'willing to hold a debate with Obama']
[Source: BBC (28 July 2010) - Iran sanctions cripple ageing military]
[Source: BBC (28 July 2010) - Lawyer in Iran stoning case 'missing']
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Iran nuclear sanctions by EU unacceptable, says Russia]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - Squeezing Iran: Oil and sanctions]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - China-Iran: Old ties, modern dependency]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - EU tightens sanctions over Iran nuclear programme]
[Source: BBC (25 July 2010) - Iran's President Ahmadinejad warns EU against sanctions]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - World rallies for Iranian woman sentenced to death]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - The 'unravelling relationship' between Russia and Iran]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - Iran launches nuclear fusion bid]
[Source: BBC (23 July 2010) - Iran aims to send man into space by 2019]
[Source: .docstoc (24 July 2010) - Iran Resolution]
[Source: Press TV (24 July 2010) - House OK's possible Israeli raid on Iran]
[Source: Huffington (23 July 2010) - Resolution Green-Lighting Israeli Strikes on Iran]
[Source: DMP (23 July 2010) - Iran War Resolution]
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) - Video: Plea for release of US hikers arrested in Iran]
[Source: BBC (19 July 2010) - Iran urges US to drop 'cowboy logic' over nuclear issue]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Possible explanations for Iranian scientist mystery]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Shahram Amiri spied for the US in Iran, reports say]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri alleges US torture]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri returns home]
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010) - Iran nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri 'heading home']
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010) - Why did Iran register ships in the Isle of Man?]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010) - Iran rejects claim that planes were denied fuel]
[Source: BBC (05 Jul 2010) EU imposes flight ban on Iran Air over safety]
[Source: BBC (05 July 2010) - Iranian passenger jets 'refused fuel']
[Source: Noam Chomsky (02 July 2010) - The Iranian Threat]
[Source: BBC (29 June 2010) - Q&A: Iran nuclear issue]
[Source: BBC (28 June 2010) - Iranian charity accuses Egypt of blocking Gaza aid ship]
[Source: BBC (11 June 2010) - Why time is against Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]
[Source: BBC (09 June 2010) - Iran country profile]
[Source: BBC (29 May 2010) - UN talks back conference on nuclear-free Middle East]
[Source: Independent (20 April 2010) - Iran: Is Israel preparing to attack?]
[Source: DT (09 Apr 2010) - Gates warns Obama US lacks Iran policy in secret memo]
[Source: BBC (19 February 2010) - Excerpts: IAEA report on Iran nuclear programme]
[Source: BBC (25 September 2009) - UN sanctions against Iran]
[Source: BBC (09 June 2009) - Guide: How Iran is ruled]
[Source: YouTube (15 February 2009) - Fuck You - Lily Allen Official Music Video]
[Source: BBC (30 June 2008) - US military chief warns of strike on nuclear facilities]
[Source: GR (21 September 2006) - The March to War: Iran Preparing for Air Attacks]
[Source: elyrics - Fuck You Very Much Lyrics ]
[Source: WikipediA - Fuck You (Lily Allen song)]
[Source: WikipediA - Holocaust denial]
[Source: WikipediA - Iran Air Flight 655]
[Source: WikipediA - Iran–Iraq War]
[Source: WikipediA - List of states with nuclear weapons]
[Source: WikipediA - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel]
⇧
Iraq
G W Bush and Tony Blair claimed Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs).
The invasion of Iraq was supposed to make the world a safer place and spread democracy.
Instead, it cost the lives of 96,663-105,409 civilians.
By 09 January 2008, at least 3,921 members of the US military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003,
including eight military civilians. At least 3,183 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military.
The number of Americans killed in Iraq during 2004 (ie the year following the invasion) actually exceeded the number killed during 2003.
Americans continued being killed, but then moved their non-stop war to Afghanistan, so now they die there instead -
spreading democracy by military invasion and occupation.
Millions of people all over the world protested against the war. I joined three of the anti-war marches in London.
Blair ignored the protesters and joined Bush in attacking Iraq.
The anti-war protest movement failed to stop the war, but one memorable protest song about G W Bush lives on.
Meanwhile, many of the Iraqis who escape being killed in the frequent bombings, actually live in worse conditions than they did under Saddam Hussein.
Another great success story for America.
"The Iraqi authorities will take charge of 1,600 of the 1,800 detainees at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad's airport.
The US military has been asked to hold the remainder, some of them alleged members of al-Qaida in Iraq."
In other words, the US military will continue holding alleged militants for an indefinite period, without giving them a fair trial.
[Source: BBC (12 August 2010) Iraqi general says planned US troop pull-out 'too soon']
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) Tariq Aziz says West misjudged Saddam Hussein]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) Obama confirms plan for US troop withdrawal from Iraq]
[Source: BBC (02 August 2010) Death toll dispute highlights Iraq security concerns]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) US 'fails to account' for Iraq reconstruction billions]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) Former UN inspector Blix says war illegal]
[Source: Guardian (24 July 2010) Iraq expert claims documents being withheld]
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) Fallujah children's 'genetic damage']
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) Iraq inquiry: Ex-MI5 boss says war raised terror threat]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - US hands over last Iraqi detention centre]
[Source: AP (15 July 2010) - US hands over to Iraq last prison under its control]]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - US military to hand over last detention centre in Iraq]
[Source: BBC (14 July 2010) - US government lifts lid on alleged leak to WikiLeaks]
[Source: BBC (21 June 2010) - Iraq violence kills at least 100 people]
[Source: Unknown News (07 June 2010) - Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq]
[Source: BBC (11 May 2010) - Iraq electricity minister resigns after deadly protests]
[Source: NJNR (12 March 2010) - Women in Iraq had it better under Saddam Hussein]
[Source: (17 January 2010) - Even The Troops Are Waking Up]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2009) - Saddam's rule 'better' for gay Iraqis]
[Source: (15 February 2009) - Fuck You - Lily Allen Official Music Video]
[Source: ARGM (03 January 2007) - Iraqis Say They Were Better Off Under Hussein]
[Source: Iraq inquiry - The Iraq Inquiry]
[Source: Iraq inquiry - The Iraq Inquiry: Written Evidence by Date]
[Source: IBC - Iraq Body Count]
[Source: elyrics - Fuck You Very Much Lyrics ]
[Source: WikipediA - Fuck You (Lily Allen song)]
⇧
Islam
This is how Israel treats Muslims, while claiming that it wants to live in peace with its Arab neighbours.
Just imagine the outcry from Jews or Christians, if Muslims destroyed a synagogue or church.
[Source: BBC (20 June 2010) - Obama under fire amid Ground Zero mosque controversy]
[Source: BBC (19 June 2010) - Growing number in America believe Obama is a Muslim]
⇧
Israel
"Many years ago I wrote that those who call themselves supporters of Israel are in reality supporters of its moral degeneration
and possible ultimate destruction. I think that has become increasingly clear, particularly in recent years."
"In the past few years there has been a rising tide of irrationality, paranoia, easy tolerance of Israeli crimes, retreat into victim-hood
(the world is anti-Semitic and we can’t do anything about it) instead of an honest effort to ask why in international polls Israel
is now ranked alongside of North Korea as the most disliked and feared country in the world, and other very developments that are dangerous
for Israel itself, as well as others."
"Apart from a few, Israel has not been willing to face up to the fact that it is carrying out serious criminal actions in the occupied territories:
separating Gaza from the West Bank in violation of international agreements, savagely punishing Gaza, and taking what it wants in the West Bank
while leaving the remnants in what Ariel Sharon called Bantustans — too politely in fact: South Africa relied on the Bantustans for its
labor(sic) force, and therefore had to sustain them, while Israel has followed Moshe Dayan’s advice that it should tell the Palestinians that
you will live like dogs, and we hope that you will leave."
"The refusal to negotiate in 1971 led to the grimmest moment in Israel’s history, and preference for expansion over security and diplomacy
has had dire consequences since, with perhaps worse to come. Israel often speaks of an existential threat.
The most immediate and severe existential threat is its unwillingness to pursue diplomatic options that are open,
and its adoption of the South African doctrine that the reigning superpower can enable it withstand the world.
Not wise, to put it mildly, even putting aside all moral considerations." Noam Chomsky (Jewish American citizen).
".. there is a symbiosis between Israel and the United States that can never exist between Washington and the Palestinians.
It goes far deeper than the influence of Aipac - or even the $3bn (£2bn) a year the US gives Israel.
President Harry Truman in 1948 was a key supporter of Israel's declaration of independence.
There are ties of religion, and culture.
Many Israelis have family in the United States. American leaders, including Joe Biden ... speak of their love for
Israel ...". Jeremy Bowen (BBC Middle East editor)
[Source: Huffington (17 August 2010) - Israeli Soldier's Photos Cause Outrage]
[Source: BBC (17 August 2010) - Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images]
[Source: WordPress (17 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses with bound Arab on FB]
[Source: Al Arabiya (16 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses on FB with bound Arabs]
[Source: BBC (13 August 2010) - Israeli suspected of killing Hamas member set free]
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Israel charges three Arab men with spying for Syria]
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Poland set to hand over Israeli 'agent' to Germany]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - Israeli Arab has 'deception rape' sentence delayed]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Off the record: Candid views from Mid-East officials]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Israel police raze 'illegal' Bedouin village in Negev]
[Source: BBC (25 July 2010) - Israeli Arab Raed Salah jailed over spitting incident]
[Source: NY Times (23 July 2010) - Israel Puts Off Crisis Over Conversion Law]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - Row rages over defining who is a Jew]
[Source: Guardian (18 July 2010) - Jaffa's Arab haven resists influx of Israeli hardliners]
[Source: BBC (06 July 2010) - Obama and Netanyahu urge direct Mid-East peace talks]
[Source: BBC (03 July 2010) - Israel's rocky friendship with Barack Obama]
[Source: IOA (27 June 2010) - Noam Chomsky: City Magazine (Tel Aviv) Interview]
[Source: (04 September 2009) - I am Israel]
[Source: (18 January 2009) - Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (1)]
[Source: (19 January 2009) - Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (2)]
[Source: (23 January 2009) - Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (3)]
[Source: Guardian (07 January 2009) - How Israel brought Gaza to the brink]
[Source: BBC (05 June 1967) - Israel launches attack on Egypt]
[Source: AIPAC - American Israel Public Affairs Committee]
[Source: WikipediA - Six-Day War (5-10 June 1967)]
[Source: WikipediA - Yom Kippur War (6-23 October 1973)]
⇧
Jerusalem
In November 1967, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 was passed, calling for Israel to withdraw
from territories occupied in the recent conflict.
In 1980, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Law,
which declared that Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel, however, without specifying boundaries.
This declaration was declared null and void by United Nations Security Council Resolution 478.
According to Catherine Ashton (EU's foreign policy chief), "Settlements and the demolition of homes are illegal under international law,
constitute an obstacle to peace, and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible."
[Source: BBC (16 August 2010) - Israel dismantles security barrier at Gilo]
[Source: BBC (16 July 2010) - House-by-house struggle for East Jerusalem]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Israelis living behind heavy security in East Jerusalem]
[Source: Al Jazeera (30 June 2010) - Palestinian homes under threat (video)]
[Source: Paddy Ashdown (13 August 2007) - Battle for Jerusalem]
[Source:WikipediA - East Jerusalem]
[Source:WikipediA - Jerusalem]
[Source:WikipediA - United Nations Security Council Resolution 242]
[Source:WikipediA - United Nations Security Council Resolution 478]
⇧
Jordan
[Source: BBC (02 August 2010) - '1 killed' after rockets strike Jordan and Israel]
[Source: WikipediA - Six-Day War (5-10 June 1967)]
⇧
Land mines and cluster bombs
In 2008, the USA said it was ready to create a rapid reaction force to
defuse cluster bombs left over from conflicts. Did it? Meanwhile, the US,
Russia, China and Israel, which all produce and stockpile the weapons,
oppose efforts to ban cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs have affected more than 70 countries. The UN says about four million
cluster bombs were dropped by Israel on Lebanon during 2006.
The US continues to supply Israel with staggering amounts of arms and military 'aid'.
USA gives Israel $3bn (£2bn) a year.
Total direct aid to Israel, 1948-2003 amounts to US$89.9 billion.
Since 1976, Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US aid. It is the largest
cumulative recipient since WW2.
[Source: BBC (01 August 2010) - Global cluster bomb ban comes into force]
[Source: BBC (16 January 2008) - US plans cluster bomb task force]
[Source: BBC (30 August 2006) - UN denounces Israel cluster bombs]
[Source: World Policy - Arms Trade Resource Center]
[Source: Jewish Voice - Jewish Voice for Peace: US Military Aid and Israel]
[Source: WikipediA - Cluster bomb]
[Source: WikipediA - Convention on Cluster Munitions]
[Source: WikipediA - Land mine]
⇧
Lebanon
[Source: BBC (14 August 2010) - Lebanon opens bank account to equip army]
[Source: BBC (11 August 2010) - Lebanon minister says US can keep 'conditional' aid]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - UN says Israeli troops on own side in Lebanon clash]
[Source: BBC (04 August 2010) - UN urges restraint after Israel-Lebanon border clash]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Nasrallah accuses Israel over Hariri murder]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Off the record: Candid views from Mid-East officials]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - In pictures: Israel-Lebanon clash]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Israel 'provoked Lebanese army' at border clash]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Israel claims Lebanese 'ambush' on border]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - Israel-Lebanon border clash kills five people]
[Source: BBC (09 July 2010) - UK envoy's praise for Lebanon cleric draws Israel anger]
[Source: BBC (08 July 2010) CNN sacks editor over Muslim cleric Twitter remark]
[Source: BBC (30 June 2010) Tensions between Lebanon and Israel at high levels]
[Source: BBC (25 May 2010) Hezbollah entrenched in Lebanon years after Israel left]
[Source: BBC (30 August 2006) - UN denounces Israel cluster bombs]
[Source: WikipediA - Malcolm Kerr (academic)]
[Source: Wikipedia - 2006 Lebanon War]
⇧
Libya
The USA, which is used to interfering in the affairs of sovereign countries, castigated the UK and Scotland for releasing Megrahi.
Was Megrahi not released following due process and in keeping with the ideals of the Scottish justice system?
[Source: BBC (4 April 2011) -
The struggle to train Libya's rebel army]
[Source: BBC (04 April 2011) -
Libya crisis: Rebels in race to train recruits]
[Source: BBC (04 April 2011) -
Libya: Turkish ship rescues injured from Misrata]
[Source: BBC (20 August 2010) -
US calls for Lockerbie bomber to return to jail]
⇧
Military aid
USA gives Israel $3bn (£2bn) a year. That is more than the GDP of many countries!
Do Americans really believe the armaments that they supply to Israel are used solely for self-defence?
While trillions of dollars are spent on wars, such as the
invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, millions of people in the world are left living in
abject poverty.
More than 70% of people on this planet survive on less than $2 per day.
Each year, the USA gives Israel billions of dollars in military aid.
Israel, which already has nuclear weapons, then uses these latest sophisticated American armaments,
including F15 fighter aircraft, Apache attack helicopters, multiple launch rocket systems, and other war matériels,
to terrorise Palestinians,
who are armed with just rifles and few crude unguided home-made rockets.
Israel has encouraged more than 300,000 extremist Zionist settlers to illegally occupy Palestinian land, and is building
an illegal barrier wall on land annexed from Palestinians, while maintaining an illegal siege of Gaza.
Israel then accuses the Palestinians who resist of being terrorists.
This is absolutely ludicrous! This is nothing less than state-sponsored terrorism.
Another example of double standards.
Furthermore, Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, by targeting battlefield weapons, including white phosphorous,
on one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
Israel treats Palestinians in manner reminiscent of way the Nazis treated the Jews during WW2.
Why does the USA consider Nazi suppression of the Warsaw Uprising to have been a war crime,
but not Operation Cast Lead in which Israel used battlefield weapons, including white phosphorus,
against civilians in Gaza - one of the most densely populated places on Earth?
According to Wikipedia, Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto resisting the Nazis were "Jewish insurgents",
yet according to Israel, Palestinians who oppose Israeli occupation
are "terrorists". Why? Another example of double standards.
[Source: BBC (03 July 2010) - Israel's rocky friendship with Barack Obama]
[Source: BBC (16 September 2009) - UN condemns 'war crimes' in Gaza]
[Source: Miniature Earth - Video: The Miniature Earth]
[Source: WikipediA - Gaza War (Operation Cast Lead / Gaza Massacre)]
[Source: WikipediA - Israeli settlement]
[Source: WikipediA - Israel – US military relations]
[Source: WikipediA - Israeli West Bank barrier]
[Source: Wikipedia - List of countries by GDP (nominal)].
[Source: WikipediA - Siege of Gaza]
[Source: WikipediA - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]
⇧
NGOs
Surely people living in developing countries deserve a better deal.
Listed further down this page are some of the organisations that are trying to do
something to help correct this imbalance. They need your support. Plus,
I have included a few links to politically satirical sites, just to add
a lighter note.
⇧
Oil, gas and water
The USA has been the biggest consumer of energy for more than 100 years, but China's rapid economic growth in the past two
decades has pushed it into top spot, according to a report in July 2010.
During G W Bush's presidency, America largely remained in denial on the issue of Global Warming.
America is at last now beginning to take Global Warming seriously,
but lobbyists involved in the American oil industry are still attempting to slow progress.
Not satisfied with annexing Palestinian land, Israel is also stealing their water.
"Israel often sells the water it steals from the West Bank back to the Palestinians at inflated prices."
Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.
Israel has also been accused of stealing Palestinian natural gas from under the seabed off the Gaza coast, by slant drilling from Israeli offshore rigs.
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - China 'leapfrogs US to become biggest energy user']
[Source: Solstudio (08 June 2010) - The Israeli Invasion and Gaza’s Offshore Gas Fields]
[Source: Shoah (06 June 2010) - Poor Gaza, wealthy Gaza]
[Source: Veterans Today (05 June 2010) - Poor Gaza: Wealthy in Natural Gas]
[Source: MEM (01 February 2010) - Israel is stealing Palestinian water]
[Source: BBC (27 October 2009) - Report: Palestinians denied water]
[Source: Global Research (14 July 2009) - Israel & US$4 billion Palestinian natural gas]
[Source: BBC (16 June 2003) - Israel stealing water from Palestine]
[Source: If Americans Knew - Water in Palestine]
⇧
Pakistan
America's secret war: Mapping strikes by US drones and Islamic militants.
"Since January 2009 nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan as a result of US drones and Islamic militant attacks."
Missile attacks by US drones in Pakistan's tribal areas have more than trebled under the Obama administration.
"Pakistan has consistently argued that drone attacks are hindering rather than helping with the battle against extremism,
saying they fuel public anger against the government and the US and boost support for militants."
[Source: BBC (03 April 2011) - Pakistan Sufi shrine suicide attack 'kills 41']
[Source: BBC (04 October 2010) - 'Al-Qaeda members' in Pakistan killed in drone attack]
[Source: BBC (04 October 2010) - Militants attack Nato tanker convoy in Pakistan]
[Source: BBC (14 August 2010) - Suspected US missile strike 'kills 12 in NW Pakistan']
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Al-Qaeda in Pakistan is top threat, says US report]
[Source: BBC (03 August 2010) - War against Taliban 'being lost' says Zardari]
[Source: BBC (31 July 2010) - Pakistan plays down David Cameron's terror comments]
[Source: Guardian (28 July 2010) - Cameron sparks diplomatic row with Pakistan]
[Source: BBC (26 July 2010) - Weekend of Pakistan drone attacks leaves 35 dead]
[Source: Reuters (26 July 2010) - Pakistan secretly helping Taliban: report]
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - Pakistan drone attack 'kills 16 militants']
[Source: BBC (23 July 2010) - Pakistan battles image problem in New York]
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) - US drone and Islamic militant attacks in Pakistan]
[Source: WkipediA - Drone attacks in Pakistan]
⇧
Palestine
The maps below show how the Zionists have steadily annexed more and more Palestinian land, since 1946 (the year I was born).
The first map shows the situation in 1946; WW2 ended in 1945.
The second map shows how Palestine was partitioned by the UN, in 1947, between the Palestinians and Zionists.
Israel declared independence in 1948. The third map shows the situation between 1949 and 1967.
The fourth map shows the situation in 2000, with the Palestinians reduced to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Note the illegal Israeli settlements in the West bank. The number of these illegal settlement has continued to rise since 2000.
This is how Israeli soldiers treat Palestinian civilians. Who is being terrorised here?
Jimmy Carter accused Israel of creating an apartheid system.
I believe it more serious than that. Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their land.
I believe it is Zionist policy to seize all of Palestine for Israel.
In the case of the Gaza blockade and Gaza War, it could almost be argued that Israel
is committing genocide, insofar as it has deliberately inflicted on the Palestinians conditions of life calculated to bring
about its physical destruction in part.
According to the 1948 Genocide Convention (specifically, Article II(c): "Deliberately inflicting on [a national] group conditions
of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".
[Source: UN - Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of Genocide]
[Source: Jato - Jews against the occupation]
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
[Source: WikipediA - Palestine]
[Source: WikipediA - Palestine Peace Not Apartheid]
⇧
Piracy
What example is America setting, for the rest of the world to follow?
How can it possibly be acceptable for Israel commandos to attack and kill foreign civilians (Turkish and an American)
on a Turkish ship in International waters, that was part of an International peace flotilla attempting to carry aid to Gaza?
Cold-blooded executions of civilians, carried out on the high seas by professional military, which was blatant, outrageous, illegal piracy!
Is this how America thinks a so-called democratic civilised country should behave? What example has Israel set for the rest of the world to follow?
⇧
Population
The world's population is growing at a truly alarming rate - currently 6.8 billion.
Over the 123 intervening years between 1804-1927, it doubled from 1 billion to 2 billion.
By 1974, over the 47 intervening years, it had doubled from 2 billion to 4 billion.
The forecast is that by 2025, over 51 intervening years, it will have doubled again from 4 billion to 8 billion.
Asia accounts for about 61% of the world population with almost 3.8 billion people.
China and India together have about 40% of the world's population.
Africa follows with 840 million people, about 13% of the world's population.
Europe's 710 million people make up about 12% of the world's population.
North America is home to 514 million (about 8%), South America to 371 million (about 5%), and Australia to 21 million (about 0.3%).
According to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the next half
century will see wild swings in population sizes.
India is set to overtake China, as the world's most populous nation by
2050, while the populations of some countries are expected to shrink by nearly
40%.
It predicts that the number of people on Earth will reach 9.3 billion
(ie 9.3 x 109) by 2050, compared with 6.3
billion today. The UK's population is likely to overtake that of
France, while population in the USA will grow by nearly 50%.
The Minature Earth website illustrates global human population demographics very well.
Instead of presenting statistical information in terms of unimaginably large numbers,
it cleverly reduces the world's entire population to a small community of 100, keeping the same proportions,
thus effectively represents everything in terms of percentages.
It uses instantly recognizable images instead of confusing graphs and provides a clear and memorable overview of the state of
humanity on our planet.
- 61% Asians, 12% Europeans, 8% North Americans, 5% South Americans and the Caribbean, 13% Africans and 1% from Oceania
- 50% women, 50% men
- 47% live in an urban area
- 9% are disabled
- 33% are Christians, 18% are Muslims, 14% are Hindus, 16% are non-religious, 6% are Buddhists, 13% pratice other relgions
- 43% live without basic sanitation, 18% live without an improved water source
- 6% own 59% of the entire wealth of the community
- 13% are hungry or malnourished, 14% are unable to read, only 7% are educated at a secondary level
- 12% have a computer, 3% have an internet connection
- 1% of adults aged 15-49 have HIV/AIDS
- US$1.12 trillion is spent on military expenditures
- US$100 billion on development aid
- If you keep your food in a refrigerator, your clothes in a closet, if you sleep in a bed and have a roof over your head,
then you are richer than 75% of the entire population
- If you have a bank account then you are wealthier than 70% of the people in the world
- 18% struggle to live on US$1 per day or less
- 53% struggle to live on US$2 per day or less
Appreciate what you have and do your best for a better world.
[Source: Worldometers - Current World Population (updated in realtime)]
[Source: BBC (12 July 2010) - Global population study launched by Royal Society]
[Source: BBC (18 August 2004) - India population 'to be biggest']
[Source: - Miniature Earth]
[Source: WikipediA - World population]
⇧
Quotations
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger
and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense.
Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Dwight D Eisenhower (b1890-d1969) 34th President of the United States
"We must expel Arabs and take their places."
"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs,
because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."
David Ben-Gurion (b1886-d1963) 1st & 3rd Prime Minister of Israel
"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist."
"This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy."
Golda Meir 4th Prime Minister of Israel (b1917-d1956)
"We walked outside, Ben-Gurion accompanying us. Allon repeated his question, What is to be done with the Palestinian population?'
Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture which said 'Drive them out!"
Yitzhak Rabin (b1922-d1995) 5th Prime Minister of Israel
"The Partition of Palestine is illegal. It will never be recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital.
Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for Ever."
"[The Palestinians] are beasts walking on two legs."
Menachem Begin (b1913-d1992) 6th Prime Minister of Israel
"The past leaders of our movement left us a clear message to keep Eretz Israel from the Sea to the River Jordan for future generations,
for the mass aliya (=Jewish immigration), and for the Jewish people, all of whom will be gathered into this country."
"The settlement of the Land of Israel is the essence of Zionism. Without settlement, we will not fulfil Zionism. It's that simple."
"(The Palestinians) would be crushed like grasshoppers ... heads smashed against the boulders and walls."
Yitzhak Shamir (b1915-) 7th Prime Minister of Israel
“Israel may have the right to put others on trial, but certainly no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of Israel on trial.”
“I vow that if I was just an Israeli civilian and I met a Palestinian I would burn him and I would make him suffer before killing him.”
"I am for lasting peace... United, I believe, we can win the battle for peace. But it must be a different peace, one with full recognition of the rights
of the Jews in their one and only land: peace with security for generations and peace with a united Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the
Jewish people in the state of Israel forever."
“Everybody has to move; run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements, because everything we take now will stay ours.
Everything we don't grab will go to them.”
“Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them,
to have everyone hate us, to pull the rug from underneath the feet of the Diaspora Jews, so that they will be forced to run to us crying.
Even if it means blowing up one or two synagogues here and there, I don't care.”
"In Lebanon there was an agreement not to liquidate Yasser Arafat. I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him."
"It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion, clearly and courageously, a certain number of facts that are forgotten with time.
The first of these is that there is no Zionism, colonization, or Jewish State without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands."
"Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear:
Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it."
Ariel Sharon (b1928-vegetative state since 2006) 11th Prime Minister of Israel
"I would have joined a terrorist organization." ... when asked what he would have done if he had been born a Palestinian.
Ehud Barak (b1942-) 10th current Prime Minister of Israel
"Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions
among the Arabs of the territories."
Benyamin Netanyahu (b1949-) 9th & current Prime Minister of Israel
"Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because
geography books no longer exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in the place of Mahlul;
Kibbutz Gvat in the place of Jibta; Kibbutz Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar Yehushua in the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not a single
place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population."
Moshe Dayan (b1915-d1981) Israeli military leader and politician
"Sooner or later we will liquidate the military regime of the pro-Iranian Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip"
Yuval Steinitz (b1958-) Finance Minister in the governing rightwing Likud party
[Source: France24 - Israel minister vows to 'liquidate' Gaza Hamas rulers]
[Source: WikipediA - Ariel Sharon]
[Source: WikipediA - Benjamin Netanyahu]
[Source: WikipediA - David Ben-Gurion]
[Source: WikipediA - Dwight D Eisenhower]
[Source: WikipediA - Ehud Barak]
[Source: WikipediA - Golda Meir]
[Source: WikipediA - Menachem Begin]
[Source: WikipediA - Moshe Dayan]
[Source: WikipediA - Yitzhak Rabin]
[Source: WikipediA - Yitzhak Shamir]
[Source: WikipediA - Yuval Steinitz]
⇧
Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie (10 April 1979 – 16 March 2003) was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
She was crushed to death in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) bulldozer when she was kneeling in front of a local
Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent IDF forces from demolishing the home.
[Source: Zimbio (08 March 2009) - BBC proves Israeli army murdered Rachel Corrie]
[Source: (17 August 2007) - Rachel Corrie, American killed by Israelis]
[Source: WikipediA - Rachel Corrie]
⇧
Racism
Zionism = Racism
In his book Palestine Peace not Apartheid, Jimmy Carter accused Israel of establishing an apartheid system.
During the UN World Conference against Racism held in Geneva in 2001, which the USA and Israel boycotted,
"The EU ... refused to accept demands by Arab states to criticise Israel for racist practices."
During the same conference, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran disparaged Israel as a “cruel and repressive racist regime,”
prompting delegates from EU countries to walk out.
The EU effectively supports Israel, yet maintains its increasing annexation of Palestinian territory is illegal.
Another example of double-standards.
The USA supported the apartheid regime in South Africa for many years, before reversing its policy.
Nelson Mandela, who Margaret Thatcher considered to be a terrorist, is now respected universally.
Another example of double-standards.
[Source: BBC (4 October 2010) - Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders goes on trial]
[Source: BBC (24 August 2010) - Arabic to become compulsory in Israeli schools]
[Source: Huffington (17 August 2010) - Israeli Soldier's Photos Cause Outrage]
[Source: BBC (17 August 2010) - Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images]
[Source: WordPress (17 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses with bound Arab on FB]
[Source: Al Arabiya (16 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses on FB with bound Arabs]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Israel police raze 'illegal' Bedouin village in Negev]
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) - Israeli Arab who 'raped' a woman says verdict 'racist']
[Source: Al Jazeera (20 July 2010) - Israeli right embracing one-state?]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) - Row rages over defining who is a Jew]
[Source: BBC (16 July 2010) - Arizona policeman challenges new state immigration law]
[Source: Mondoweiss (13 March 2010) - ‘The New York Times’ sanitizes Israeli racism]
[Source: Mondoweiss (03 August 2009) - Coming Face To Face With Israeli Racism]
[Source: NY Times (20 April 2009) - Iranian Calls Israel Racist at Meeting in Geneva]
[Source: Times (28 August 2006) - Cameron rebuts Thatcher's view of Mandela]
[Source: SDIMC (30 July 2006) - Israel's Racism]
[Source: WR (September 1999) - Israeli books promote racism and hatred]
[Source: WikipediA - Palestine Peace Not Apartheid]
[Source: WikipediA - World Conference against Racism': 2001 conference]
⇧
Rogue states
The reality is that Israel has effectively become a rogue terrorist state, sponsored by America.
There is absolutely no valid justification whatsoever Israel's incessant encroachment on Palestinian land,
nor the inhumane way in which Israel treats their Palestinian neighbours, in contravention of United Nation's resolutions and International Law.
[Source: (04 September 2009) - I am Israel]
[Source: Guardian (07 January 2009) - How Israel brought Gaza to the brink]
[Source: Wikipedia - Rogue state]
⇧
Self-defence
Why should it be acceptable for America to develop nuclear and biological weapons, but be unacceptable for other nations to research
ways of defending themselves against such weaponry?
Why should it be right for Israel to have 150+ nuclear weapons, but wrong for countries like Iran or North Korea to have nuclear power?
Why should Iran not be allowed to defend itself from American or Israeli attack, using surface to air missiles?
[Source: BBC (24 July 2010) - The unravelling relationship between Russia and Iran]
⇧
Syria
"US pressure:
External pressures came to a head after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, creating the impression that regional power balances had changed and that
Syria might be next on the list for the regime change ambitions of the neo-conservatives then in the ascendancy in Washington."
[Source: BBC (05 August 2010) - Israel charges three Arab men with spying for Syria]
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) - Syrian students face up to veil ban]
[Source: BBC (19 July 2010) - Syria bans face veils at universities]
[Source: BBC (17 July 2010) - Bashar al-Assad's tightening grip on Syria 10 years on]
[Source: BBC (15 April 2010) - US concerned about Syrian intentions over Hezbollah]
[Source: WikipediA - Six-Day War (5-10 June 1967)]
[Source: WikipediA - Yom Kippur War (6-23 October 1973)]
⇧
Terrorism
What is terrorism? If terrorism is the systematic use of terror, it can be argued that war is terrorism, particularly for non-combatants.
In fact, the International community has been unable to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism.
If terrorism refers to violent acts intended to create fear, perpetrated for an ideological goal and that deliberately
target or disregard the safety of non-combatants, then it must be acknowledged that Israel has a long history of using terrorism to achieve its aims.
- In 1940, Menachem Begin was involved in bombing the ship Patria in Haifa, killing 240.
- In 1946, Menachem Begin was involved with the Zionist group Irgun that bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, causing 91 deaths.
- In 1948, Yitzhak Shamir ordered the assassination of the Swedish UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, in Jerusalem.
- In 1950-1951, Israeli agents tossed hand grenades into the crowded Massauda Shem-Tov synagogue, in Iraq, causing numerous deaths.
- In 1954, Israel carried out the the first act of air piracy forcing down a Syrian airliner in Tel Aviv, holding its passengers and crew hostage.
- In 1954, Marcello Ninio bombed US diplomatic centres in Cairo and Alexandria (known as the Lavon Affair).
- In 1967, Israeli forces sank the US spy ship USS Liberty and strafed rescue boats, killing 35 and injuring 170 US servicemen.
- In 1973, Ehud Barak was involved in the assassination of three Palestinian leaders, in Beirut.
- In 1973, Golda Meir ordered shooting down a Libyan airliner over Sinai, killing 107 passengers plus the French crew.
- In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin ordered the assassination of Fathi Shikaki, in Malta.
- In 1997, Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the use of chemical weapons in the botched assassination attempt on Khalid Meshal, in Amman.
So, it is hypocritical to say that Palestinians who resist occupation are terrorists.
Another example of double standards.
An Israeli soldier pointing a gun at a Palestinian in a wheelchair. Who is being terrorised here?
America's War against Terrorism is ludicrous. Terrorism is not a political ideology like Nazism or Communism.
Declaring war on something that has existed for centuries is just a way of justifying America's perpetual state of waging of wars.
America has bombed at least 28 countries since the end of WW2. Undoubtedly those on the receiving end have feared America's might.
Consequently, it could be argued, America has been spreading terrorism.
Undoubtedly, it has caused a lot of hatred and many people have resorted to violence as a way of seeking revenge.
It is well known that suicide bombing has been used as a means of seeking revenge for the loss of loved ones.
EU countries that supported Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq have seen an increase in terrorism.
So, America's War against Terrorism has not reduced terrorism, it has increased it.
However, the terrorist threat is largely American and Israeli scaremongering propaganda,
aimed at getting the public to support their bully-boy state-sponsored terrorism.
The terrorist threat is used by right-wing politicians to justify their increased spending on armaments and waging of wars.
So, it becomes a self-fulfilling dream. Waging more wars only terrorises more people.
People who do not have high-tech armaments - jets, helicopter gunships, tanks, guided missiles, etc -
resort to the only practical means available to them, which is bomb making.
The number of people around the world who have been killed by terrorists
is miniscule compared with the vastly greater number of people who have been killed by states,
either in illegal wars or through state sponsored terrorism.
It would be amusing, if it wasn't such an immense tragedy. The number of Palestinians killed by Israelis is far greater
than the number of Israelis killed by Palestinians, yet the Israeli propaganda machine
forever maintains that Israel is somehow is about to be annihilated, whereas in reality it is the Palestinians who are being oppressed.
The media realy should be more honest about who is terrorising who.
Who really is terrorising who here?
The reality is that a nuclear power is intimidating its vastly weaker neighbours,
constantly seeking to occupy more and more Palestinian territory and now it water resources too.
It has even been suggested that Israelis might even be stealing gas from Palestinians, by slant drilling
from offshore rigs.
Suicide bombings are acts of shear desperation - a last resort, literally - carried out by people resisting occupation,
in the face of overwhelming military superiority.
This is not something unique to the Middle East conflict, Iraq or Afghanistan. Japanese kamikaze pilots during World War II were suicide bombers.
Were they terrorists, or where they desperately trying to defend their homeland, their culture and way of life?
This is just one of many examples of double standards constantly perpetrated by American propaganda, mimicked by Britain and
capitalized upon by Israel to justify their policy of apartheid, or ethnic cleansing.
Israel's abuse of Palestinians and foreign peace activists speaks volumes about its so-called democracy.
Palestinians are forced at gunpoint from their homes, which are then bulldozed, they are forced off their land,
forced to queue at checkpoints, denied medical treatment, subjected to an inhumane medieval siege - coyly called a "blockade".
In plain English, this is ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their land, by Israel aided and abetted by American foreign policy.
Israeli soldiers frequently terrorise Palestinians by shooting at them.
They even shoot at farmers trying to harvest crops from their fields, while International mediators are standing alongside.
These reckless Israeli snipers seem to obtain great pleasure from terrorising poor Palestinians who want food.
Countries like Syria and Iran have been accused by the US of sponsoring
terrorism, yet when its close ally Israel attacks its
neighbours they are able to do so with impunity, while America and Britain turn a blind eye.
Surely, Israeli assassinations of Hamas politicians is state-sponsored terrorism.
In 1988, the Pentagon declared that the African National Congress was one of the more notorious terrorist groups in the world.
In 2002, Nelson Mandela received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from G W Bush. He was not removed from the official US terrorist
list until 2008. Another example of double standards.
"I think the United States government in many, many states - more than half of the states in the United States - they have a culture of vengeance ...
the use of the death penalty meant the US kept invidious company with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran."
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland.
[Source: BBC (o4 October 2010) More nations issue warnings over Europe terror plot]
[Source: BBC (25 August 2010) Wikileaks releases CIA 'exporter of terrorism' report]
[Source: BBC (8 August 2010) Cardinal attacks US over Lockerbie bomber reaction]
[Source: BBC (6 August 2010) Lockerbie bomber Megrahi's cancer not fake - Sikora]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) US Senate Lockerbie hearings postponed]
[Source: BBC (21 July 2010) Alex Salmond writes to US over Lockerbie bomber Megrahi]
[Source: BBC (20 July 2010) Iraq inquiry: Ex-MI5 boss says war raised terror threat]
[Source: BBC (08 July 2010) Abu Hamza US extradition halted]
[Source: Dissident Voice (26 January 2010) Israeli Terrorism]
[Source: (13 February 2009) Israeli Soldiers Shooting at Farmers]
[Source: (07 February 2009) Israeli Terrorism in Gaza - Farming Under Fire]
[Source: 3BM TV & Discovery Europe (28 January 2009)
The Age of Terror]
[Source: Telegraph (02 July 2008) Nelson Mandela removed from US terror list]
[Source: BBC (25 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (1 of 6)]
[Source: BBC (07 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (2 of 6)]
[Source: BBC (25 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (3 of 6)]
[Source: BBC (07 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (4 of 6)]
[Source: BBC (07 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (5 of 6)]
[Source: BBC (07 May 2008)
The Age of Terror: War on the West (6 of 6)]
[Source: WikipediA List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients]
[Source: WikipediA Kamikaze]
[Source: WikipediA List of terrorist incidents]
[Source: WikipediA Suicide attack]
[Source: WikipediA Terrorism]
[Source: WikipediA USS Liberty incident]
⇧
Torture
Why is it acceptable for America to torture prisoners, during its so-called War on Terror in prisons such as Abu Ghraib
and Guantánamo, in breach of International Law? Imagine the outcry, if foreign combatants ever applied the same techniques to American captives.
Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri claims he was tortured by the CIA. Given what is known about the way the CIA operates,
I think his story sounds a lot more plausible than Hilary Clinton's bland statement.
[Source: Huffington (17 August 2010) - Israeli Soldier's Photos Cause Outrage]
[Source: BBC (17 August 2010) - Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images]
[Source: WordPress (17 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses with bound Arab on FB]
[Source: Al Arabiya (16 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses on FB with bound Arabs]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri alleges US torture]
[Source: BBC (15 July 2010) - Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri returns home]
[Source: Guardian (16 November 2007) - Leaked rules and penalties at Guantánamo]
[Source: WikipediA - Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse]
[Source: WikipediA - Enhanced interrogation techniques]
[Source: WikipediA - War on Terror]
⇧
Truth
Is the public not entitled to be told the truth, or should populations be controlled by some sort of modern illuminati?
If knowledge is power, then the powerful hold on to power by withholding knowledge.
Daniel Ellsberg (whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers) said Julian Assange (co-founder of Wikileaks),
"... is now the most dangerous man in the world ...".
How many Americans were consulted about their lives being put at risk, before Atlantis lifted off from the NASA launch pad in Florida,
in 1989?
How many knew that a year earlier Atlantis was almost lost, as Challenger was in 1968,
or even that twenty years earlier a B-52 crashed onto sea ice off
the coast of Greenland, causing rupture and dispersal of its nuclear payload , which resulted in widespread radioactive contamination?
Even though, in March 2009, Time magazine identified the accident as one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
Workers involved in the clean-up
program have been campaigning for compensation for radiation-related illnesses they experienced in the years after the incident.
In October 1989, hackers targeted a US space mission, designed to launch the nuclear powered spacecraft Galileo
aboard the space shuttle Atlantis,
causing the word WANK to be displayed on computer screens.
According to Ron Tencatti, former Manager, NASA Cyber Security, ".. later we would describe things as an electronic Pearl Harbor ...
we at NASA had a space shuttle on the launch pad about to launch, with plutonium energy cannisters for its power source,
if this had blown up like the Challenger did, all of this plutonium was going to kill everybody in Florida."
Yet the American government has castigated BP - rightly so - for taking unreasonably high risks in deep sea oil drilling,
to extract oil that the American economy is so addicted to. Another example of double standards.
Jimmy Carter is a Christian. He has visited Palestine and Israel many times
and is very knowledgeable about their histories.
In his book Palestine Peace not Apartheid, which was a New York Times bestseller,
he was critical of both Palestinians and of Israel. He criticised Israel for building part of its barrier wall on Palestinian territory
and for subjecting the Palestinians to an apartheid system.
That didn't stop him being castigated on C-PAN by a call-in viewer who accused him of being a,
"racist, bigot and anti-Semite".
Notice that the caller didn't deny that Israel is annexing Palestinian land,
or that Israel is subjecting Palestinians to an apartheid system.
Rather, anyone who dares criticise Israel is immediately accused of being anti-Semite,
when in fact what they are criticising is Israeli Zionist policies and not Judaism.
Clearly the word apartheid strikes a raw nerve with the Zionists, who have in fact been carrying out ethnic cleansing of Palestine,
since the end of WW2. Zionists usually label anyone who is critical of Israel, as being an anti-Semite.
When that proves unsuccessful, they then resort to the old favourite, the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust.
Apparently, in the perverted logic that is Zionism, Palestinians should be punished for the crimes committed against by the Nazis Jews in Europe
during WW2!
What a crazy post-Orwellian nightmarish Alice-in-Wonderland world that we live in.
Ramzy Baroud is a very talented Palestinian-American journalist, author, and former Al-Jazeera producer.
He taught Mass Communication at Australia’s Curtin University of Technology and is Editor-in-Chief of the Palestine Chronicle.
Ramzy Baroud’s work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and journals worldwide, including The Washington Post,
The International Herald Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer,
The Seattle Times, The Miami Herald, The Japan Times, Al-Ahram Weekly, Asia Times
and nearly every English-language publication throughout the Middle East.
He has been a guest on numerous television programs, including CNN International, BBC, ABC Australia, National Public Radio,
Al-Jazeera, Press TV, and many others.
He has contributed to many anthologies, and his 2002 book,
Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion has received widespread international recognition and acclaim.
His 2006 book The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle (Pluto Press)
has won the praise of many scholars worldwide.
His latest book is called, 'My Father Was a Freedom Fighter : Gaza's Untold Story'.
Richard Falk
(Albert G Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University and UN Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories)
wrote, "Deeply moving ... This book more than any I have read tells me why anyone of conscience must stand in solidarity with the Palestinian
people's struggle for self-determination and a just peace."
[Source: BBC (28 July 2010) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10783710]
[Source: Guardian (14 July 2010) Julian Assange: the whistleblower]
[Source: Journeyman (05 July 2010) Wikileaks: Iceland]
[Source: WordPress (15-25 April 2010) Ramzy Baroud]
[Source: Guardian (09 April 2010) Who watches WikiLeaks?]
[Source: (11 March 2010) 'Gaza's Untold Story' by Ramzy Baroud]
[Source: Discover (31 March 2009) Shuttle Atlantis almost lost in 1988]
[Source: NowPublic (04 December 2006) Carter called 'Racist, Bigot, Anti-Semite']
[Source: Google videos Ramzy Baroud: The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza]
[Source: Palestine Chronicle On Israel's 'Right to Exist' and on Racism]
[Source: Vimeo Ramzy Baroud: The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza]
[Source: WikipediA Daniel Ellsberg]
[Source: WikipediA Deepwater Horizon oil spill]
[Source: WikipediA Galileo (spacecraft)]
[Source: WikipediA Illuminati]
[Source: WikipediA Julian Assange]
[Source: WikipediA Palestine Peace Not Apartheid]
[Source: WikipediA Space Shuttle Challenger disaster]
[Source: WikipediA WANK (computer worm)]
[Source: WikipediA 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash]
⇧
Turkey
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Daily View: Cameron, Turkey and the EU]
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - David Cameron describes blockaded Gaza as a 'prison']
[Source: BBC (27 July 2010) - Cameron to give Turkey EU backing]
[Source: BBC (28 June 2010) - Iranian charity accuses Egypt of blocking Gaza aid ship]
[Source: BBC (01 June 2010) - Has Israel lost key Muslim ally Turkey?]
⇧
Two-state solution
"For 35 years, there has been an overwhelming international consensus on a two-state settlement on the international border with
minor and mutual modifications, to adopt the terms of official US policy prior to 1971,
when the US was still part of the world on this issue. By now the consensus is virtually universal, including the Arab League,
the Organization of Islamic States (including Iran), and the rest of the world. The Arab League has gone beyond, calling for
normalization of relations in that context. The US and Israel continue to block a diplomatic settlement, still preferring expansion to security."
Noam Chomsky (Jewish American citizen).
I support the two-state solution.
Palestinians should be treated as equal human beings and not as some sub-human race.
Palestinians should be accorded exactly the same freedoms, respect and rights as Israelis.
Palestinian dignity should be restored and they should be compensated for all the crimes that have been committed against them by Israel,
including compensated for all the territory that has been stolen, houses and olive groves that have been bulldozed, torture and illegal
imprisonments, plus the assassinations and other murders. Israel should lift its illegal blockade of Gaza.
Israel should not be allowed to control their airspace and the sea off the Gaza coast.
Palestinians should be allowed their own state.
They should be allowed political self-determination, without interference or threat from Israel or the US.
They shoud be allowed to live freely, peacefully, without being terrorised by Israel or the US.
I support the international boycott to persuade Israel to change its policy of apartheid.
If Israel continues on its the present course it will surely end in more violence and conflict in the Middle East.
Just as Americans are fuelling terrorism, by killing Muslims, so Israel's treatment of the Palestinians actively encourages anti-Semitism.
It is as if both nations always want a perpetual state of war, in America's case to feed its armaments industry and feed its greed for oil,
and in Israel's case to feed its greed for Palestinian land and its perpetual preoccupation with anti-semitism - clearly a self-fullfilling wish.
[Source: Al Jazeera (20 July 2010) - Israeli right embracing one-state?]
[Source: Guardian (15 July 2010) - British Jews favour 'two-state solution' in Israel]
[Source: IOA (27 June 2010) - Noam Chomsky: City Magazine (Tel Aviv) Interview]
[Source: Innovative Minds - Boycott Israel]
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
[Source: WikipediA - Two-state solution]
⇧
UN Resolutions
Palestinian Refugees have the right to return to their homes in Israel.
General Assembly Resolution 194, 11 December 1948
"Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so
at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss
of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities
responsible."
Israel's occupation of Palestine is Illegal.
Security Council Resolution 242, 22 November 1967
Calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied in the war that year and "the acknowledgement of the sovereignty,
territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized
boundaries free from threats or acts of force."
Israel's settlements in Palestine are Illegal.
Security Council Resolution 446, 22 March 1979
"Determines that the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied
since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East."
Palestinian have the right to Self-Determination.
General Assembly Resolution 3236, 22 November 1974
Affirms "the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in Palestine...to self-determination without external interference"
and "to national independence and sovereignty."
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
⇧
West Bank and Jewish settlers
The UN partitioned Palestine in 1947, giving roughly 50% of land previously occupied by Palestinians to the Zionists.
The maps below show how the West Bank was created and how this Palestinain territory is increasingly being annexed by Israel.
The first map shows the situation in 1946 (the year I was born), a year after WW2 ended.
The second map shows how Palestine was partitioned by the UN in 1947, between the Palestinians and Zionists.
Israel declared independence in 1948. The third map shows the situation as it was between 1949 and 1967.
The fourth map shows the situation as it was in 2000, with the Palestinians reduced to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Note the illegal Israeli settlements in the West bank. The number of these illegal settlement has continued to rise since 2000.
In July 2010, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops after entering a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
"An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers identified two Palestinian intruders, one of whom they suspected to be armed ...
the troops opened fire, killing one man while the other fled ..."
He was killed simply because they suspected him to be armed.
Of course, no mention of any weapon having been recovered.
No proof. Executed on the basis of suspicion, by an occupation army in his own country, for daring to enter an illegal Jewish settlement.
Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law.
The human rights group Amnesty International has called on Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes and other buildings in the West Bank.
[Source: BBC (04 October 2010) - West Bank mosque 'set alight by Jewish settlers']
[Source: Huffington (17 August 2010) - Israeli Soldier's Photos Cause Outrage]
[Source: BBC (17 August 2010) - Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images]
[Source: WordPress (17 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses with bound Arab on FB]
[Source: Al Arabiya (16 August 2010) - Israeli soldier poses on FB with bound Arabs]
[Source: BBC (22 July 2010) - Palestinian shot dead in West Bank by Israeli soldiers]
[Source: RP (17 May 2010) - Noam Chomsky denied entry into West Bank]
[Source: (13 May 2008) Channel 4: Barrier annexing Palestinian land]
[Source: Jato - Jews against the occupation]
[Source: Jato - Jews Against the Occupation: UN Resolutions]
[Source: WikipediA - West Bank]
⇧
WMDs
G W Bush and Tony Blair would like us to forget the non-existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in Iraq.
According to Bush, and now Obama, the latest threat to America's security is Iran.
Which country next? North Korea? Syria?
⇧
Yemen
[Source: WikipediA - US drone attacks]
⇧
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Hidden Agendas
The films and writing of John Pilger. This award winning journalist is
a regular contributor to: BBC Television, BBC Radio, BBC World Service,
London Broadcasting, ABC Television, ABC Radio and 2GB Sydney. |
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights.
By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable
for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the
cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted
change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
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International Relations Center (IRC)
Working to make the USA a more responsible member of the global
community by promoting progressive strategic dialogues that lead to new
citizen-based agendas.
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Médicins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières was born out of the exasperation of a group of
French doctors working in desperate conditions in the Biafra War at the
end of the 1960s and early 1970s. They were frustrated and angered by
what they regarded as the inadequacies of the global response to the
Biafran crisis. They were determined to create a movement to deliver
independent humanitarian aid wherever it was needed. It would also be a
movement that would speak out about the plight of the victims it
helped. Thirty years later, MSF is now an internationally renowned
medical aid agency with a reputation of not only being the first to
arrive in a crisis-hit area, but often, the only organisation to be
there at all. In 1999, MSF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. |
Military Families Speak Out
Heart felt dissent from those who have lost loved ones. |
MoveOn.org
MoveOn is working to bring ordinary people back into politics. With a
system that today revolves around big money and big media, most
citizens are left out. When it becomes clear that representatives
don't represent the public, the foundations of democracy are in peril.
MoveOn is a catalyst for a new kind of grass-roots involvement,
supporting busy but concerned citizens in finding their political
voice. This international network of more than 2,000,000 online
activists is one of the most effective and responsive outlets for
democratic participation available today. |
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
For more than 25 years, NRDC has played a major role in the formation
of US nuclear non-proliferation, arms control, energy and environmental
policies. |
Political Humor(sic)
The United States of Canada and Jesusland and Canada 2.0 |
Sustainable Village
Over 10,000 Items: The world's largest selection of appropriate
technology and renewable energy products. Do you really believe that? |
The Nation
"The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will,
on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of
political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage
war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by
which so much of the political writing of the day is marred." -- from
The Nation's founding prospectus, 1865. |
The Onion
America's finest satirical news source? Compared to Fox News, this is probably America's best news source! |
United Nations Organisations
The ultimate source of authentic and reliable information about United Nations Organizations on the net. . |
UN Millennium Development Goals
The UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals
by their 2015 target date and the announcement of major new commitments for women's and children's health and other initiatives against poverty,
hunger and disease.
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World Childhood Foundation
The goal of the World Childhood Foundation is to promote the right of
every child to its childhood and promote better living conditions for
the most vulnerable and exploited children in our world. Silvia, Queen
of Sweden, is personally involved with this a fund-raising organization
which covers more than 10 countries. Its main activities are focused on
projects in Brazil, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia. |
Z Communications
The spirit of resistance lives. |
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