Obama aims to 'reboot US image' in the Muslim world

• Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
• The Guardian, Thursday December 11 2008

Barack Obama cast his presidency as a moment to rebuild America's relations with the Muslim world yesterday, confirming that he would take the oath of office using his middle name Hussein and that he planned to set the tone with a major speech in a Muslim capital early in his presidency.

"I think we've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular," Obama told his hometown newspaper, the Chicago Tribune.

Obama said that in choosing to use his middle name he would merely be following custom. "I think the tradition is they use all three names, and I will follow tradition," he told the Tribune. "I'm not trying to make a statement one way or another. I'll do what everybody else does."

Several recent American presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, omitted their middle name when taking the oath.

The symbolism of the moment when Obama pronounces all three of his names is undeniable. During the campaign he contended with a constant swirl of internet rumours that he was a secret Muslim who had been educated in a madrasa in Indonesia.

His denials and attempts to highlight his Christian faith rankled with some Muslims. Campaign workers barred two Muslim women wearing headscarves from sitting behind Obama at an event in Detroit last June, claiming their presence would be hurtful to the candidate.

As president though, one of Obama's missions will be to repair America's image in the world, and to assuage anger over the US invasion of Iraq and US support for Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians.

The Obama camp appears to be looking at ways to put relations back on track. Campaign aides said last week that Obama would make a trip to the Middle East to deliver that speech within his first 100 days in the White House.

There were also reports that Cairo was a likely venue for the appearance. Obama has also signalled his commitment to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has faced scepticism about a real change in US policy towards the Middle East.

The planning committee yesterday released new details of the four days of celebration surrounding Obama's inauguration on January 20, under the theme Renewing America's Promise.

"At this moment of great challenge and great change, renewing the promise of America begins with renewing the idea that in America we rise or fall as one nation and one people," Obama said in a statement.

"That sense of unity and shared purpose is what this inauguration will reflect."

Should Jews be allowed to preside as judges when they inflict Jewish inability to forgive crimes against Jews?

O.J. Simpson sentenced to long prison term

Ex-NFL star apologizes to judge moments before his sentencing

He choked back tears as he told her: “I didn’t want to steal anything from anyone. ... I’m sorry, sorry.”

The judge said several times that her sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson’s 1995 acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

“I’m not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else,” Glass said.

'We are thrilled'
But Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, and sister, Kim, said they were delighted with the sentence.

“We are thrilled, and it’s a bittersweet moment,” Fred Goldman said. “It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs.”

Simpson said he and five other men were simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and other mementos when he stormed a Las Vegas hotel room occupied by two dealers on Sept. 13, 2007. He insisted the items, which included his first wife’s wedding ring, had been stolen from him.

But the judge emphasized that it was a violent confrontation in which at least one gun was drawn, and she said someone could have been shot. She said the evidence was overwhelming, with the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath all recorded on audio or videotape.

Series of sentences
Glass, a no-nonsense judge known for tough sentences, imposed such a complex series of consecutive and concurrent sentences that even many lawyers watching the case were confused as to how much time Simpson got.

Simpson could serve up to 33 years, according to Elana Roberto, the judge’s clerk.

In state prison, he will remain in his own cell protected from the general prison population because of his celebrity.

Simpson’s lawyer suggested again that his client was a victim of payback for his acquittal in Los Angeles.

“It really made us all aware that despite our best efforts, it’s very difficult to separate the California case from the Nevada case,” attorney Yale Galanter said.

Some people who followed the case said justice had finally caught up with Simpson.

“You do things and you’ve got to expect karma to come around,” said Greg Wheatley, 32, of Los Angeles."

Judge Jackie Glass is Jewish. So are the Goldmans. The sentence O.J. Simpson received is unbelievably draconian and I won't be at all surprised it her sentencing of O.J. Simpson is tossed out for the judge's obvious Jewish bias.

The inability to forgive is highly prevalent in Jewish religion and life. The only ethnic group in the world who has experienced a holocaust that has made Gentiles pay with prison sentences for even doubting a statistical number of Jewish dead people. There was great reason why God brought Jesus into the Jewish line in order to destroy this pathologically ill religion that touts itself as being so morally superior to everyone else's and replace it with true forgiveness of sins, without which people are bound into the vicious cycle of endless revenge.

The case against Progressives' anti-big box agenda: Study: Poverty dramatically affects children's brains

By Greg Toppo,
USA TODAY
A new study finds that certain brain functions of some low-income 9- and 10-year-olds pale in comparison with those of wealthy children and that the difference is almost equivalent to the damage from a stroke.

"It is a similar pattern to what's seen in patients with strokes that have led to lesions in their prefrontal cortex," which controls higher-order thinking and problem solving, says lead researcher Mark Kishiyama, a cognitive psychologist at the University of California-Berkeley. "It suggests that in these kids, prefrontal function is reduced or disrupted in some way."

BETTER LIFE: Kids cut, embed metal in their bodies

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that shows how poverty afflicts children's brains. Researchers have long pointed to the ravages of malnutrition, stress, illiteracy and toxic environments in low-income children's lives. Research has shown that the neural systems of poor children develop differently from those of middle-class children, affecting language development and "executive function," or the ability to plan, remember details and pay attention in school.

Such deficiencies are reversible through intensive intervention such as focused lessons and games that encourage children to think out loud or use executive function.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: University of Michigan | University of Pennsylvania | University of California-Berkeley | Martha Farah

"It's really important for neuroscientists to start to think about the effects of people's experiences on their brain function, and specifically about the effect of people's socioeconomic status," says Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.

Among the most studied: differences in language acquisition between low- and middle-income children. The most famous study, from 1995, transcribed conversation between parents and children and found that by age 3, middle-class children had working vocabularies roughly twice the size of poor children's.

For the new study, researchers used an electroencephalograph (EEG) to measure brain function of 26 children while they watched images flashing on a computer. The children pressed a button when a tilted triangle appeared.

The researchers found a huge difference in the low-income children's ability to detect the tilted triangles and block out distractions — a key function of the prefrontal cortex.

"It's just not functioning as efficiently as it could be, or as it should be," Kishiyama says.

Though the effects of poverty are reversible, children need "incredibly intensive interventions to overcome this kind of difficulty," says Susan Neuman, an education professor at the University of Michigan.

The study appears online in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and will be published early next year.'

* * *

Think about Humboldt County poor kids. Think about Progressive activists promoting local retailers charging twice the price for the same item as poor people can buy in big box stores. A $10 beginner's paint set at Michael's will cost you over $20 at Old Town Art as I found out looking for presents for my grandkids. This is how the Progressive elitists are helping to keep the brains of poor kids from developing as well as middle-class and richer kids. A genetic war of the priviledged fought against the poor under the guise of "liberal" politics.

Israeli Troops Drag Jewish Settlers from Hebron Building

Sebastian Scheiner/Associated Press

An Israeli police officer dragged two Jewish settlers during the evacuation of a disputed house in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday.

By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: December 4, 2008

HEBRON, West Bank — Israeli troops forcibly evicted about 200 hard-line Jewish settlers from a contested building in this volatile biblical city on Thursday, the first serious clash in what seems to be a spiraling confrontation between the government and defiant settlers.

The operation, carried out by 600 soldiers and policemen with stealth and efficiency, took half an hour with just two dozen relatively light injuries. But events did not end there. Young settlers then rampaged through Palestinian fields and neighborhoods, setting olive trees ablaze and trashing houses.

Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, said the southern part of the

West Bank, known in Israel as Judea, was now designated as a closed military area — meaning only those who live here may enter, an effort to prevent outside settlers from causing further trouble. Within an hour of the order, huge car lines were backed up at at new military roadblocks.

The contested building, which occupants had dubbed “The House of Peace,” is on the road to the Cave of the Patriarchs, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives are said to be buried, a site Muslims and Jews have coveted and fought over for centuries.

As the sun descended, the area around the building looked like a war zone. Evacuees were still being dragged about, four police per person, rocks were strewn on the road ways, plumes of black smoke were rising from the olive groves, and hundreds of helmeted troops in riot gear confronted a crowd of infuriated settlers.

The men in the crowd wore beards and sidecurls, women had long skirts and covered heads, members of the religiously observant Jewish population in and around Hebron, several thousand among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. As Palestinians watched from rooftops and windows, some settlers shouted at the troops, calling them Nazis. A few had sewn yellow stars on their shirts, like Jews had been obliged to under Hitler. On a wall near the confrontation, Hebrew graffiti declared: “There will be a war over the House of Peace.”

Much is at stake for both sides in this confrontation since the Israeli government says it wants to facilitate the building of a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, whereas the settlers and their backers say they will do all in their power to prevent such a state. They are focusing partly on increasing their numbers in Hebron, second only to Jerusalem in its historic and religious significance to them.

The four-story building in question was built and owned by a Palestinian who agreed to sell it. He said he had beenunaware the buyers were Jews and that he had been tricked, and that he had backed out of the deal. The settlers say he knew very well what he was doing but threats against him had made him claim otherwise.

The Israeli government ordered the settlers out. They challenged the order. Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court took the government’s side in a 3-0 ruling and gave it 30 days to make good on the order. In the past week or two, settlers had grown more rebellious, throwing rocks at soldiers and defacing Palestinian buildings and graves. It was clearly only a matter of time before the army would step in.

The official who made the call for the evacuation Thursday was Ehud Barak, the defense minister and head of the Labor party, who said at a news conference later that “what was tested today was the ability of the state to enforce its laws and its essence upon its citizens.”

Mr. Barak had met with settler leaders on Thursday morning to find a way out of the confrontation. The settlers emerged from the meeting believing there was still negotiation to be done but Mr. Barak clearly thought otherwise.

Since elections are scheduled for February and Mr. Barak is his party leader, opponents of the evacuation accused him of seeking political advantage through his decision.

“Barak sent the army and police as part of the left wing’s election campaign and the blood of the casualties is on his hands,” declared Arieh Eldad of the National Religious Party.

Settler leaders were indignant, saying Mr. Barak had tricked them after talking soothingly to them in the morning. They said there was nothing more scandalous in the land of Israel than for Jews to evict Jews from their homes.

In a separate development, the Israeli government agreed for the first time in four weeks on Thursday to allow journalists and foreign aid workers to enter Gaza. The area, ruled by the militant Hamas group, is under a closure led by Israel that severely limits goods and people from going in and out. But only recently did the closure include foreign journalists who had appealed to the government and Supreme Court for renewed permission to enter.
More Articles in World »

End the Starvation and Seige of Gaza

Dear friends:

It is only in an Orwellian "might makes right" world that 1.5 million people are kept in a concentration camp literally being starved to death while much of the world governments stand idly watching or occasionally issuing a useless statement or collaborating with the collective punishment (as in the case of Governments of Egypt and the US). 1.5 million are not numbers, they are people like you and me and 60% are children!! Terrorism is defined as punishing civilians to force a change in politics. As such this is the biggest act of terrorism since the end of WWII. It is also a war crime and a crime against humanity (as defined by International Law).

Below is an action alert from the US Campaign to End the Occupation on this abominable situation. Please take some time to act and especially write to Obama and tell him and Demand real change instead of appointments of people whom AIPAC approves http://change.gov/page/s/contact

The tragedy does not stop there: the European Parliament (EP) has recently announced that a vote will be held tomorrow (December 4) to enter into force the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which will enable far greater Israeli participation in European Community programs. Follow the link below to see how you can contact your MEP (if you are in Europe) to demand that they vote against the agreement.

http://www.fosis.org.uk/actaware/index.php/alerts/1-global/93-eu-israel-action-plan--conta ct-your-mep-now

And forward this widely to all people you know who may act on reminders of their conscience!

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Bethlehem University, Occupied Palestine

End the Starvation and Seige of Gaza; Rally Outside White House Tomorrow Take Action With Gazans already impoverished and struggling to survive, on November 5, Israel completely sealed Gaza's border crossings. This followed an unprovoked Israeli attack on Gaza that killed six Palestinians, despite a ceasefire, and Palestinian rocket fire in response. As a result of Israel's closure, the United Nations has been forced to stop food distribution to 750,000 needy people, and 70% of Gaza is now without powerdue to a lack of fuel. According to reports, even candles are now in short supply. "Let's see this for what it is." said UN spokesman Chris Gunness. "Fifty-six percent of the Gaza Strip are children. Let us not cause suffering of innocent children." Blocking witnesses, on November 13, Israel denied the entry to Gaza of 20 senior EU diplomats. Israel also has refused to allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza. Foreign Press Association chairman Steven Gutnik called the ban "a serious violation of freedom of the press" and said "it is essential that journalists be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip since it is the foreign media that serves as the world's window into Gaza. Israel allowed a trickle of aid to enter Gaza today. Gaza has 1.5 million residents, the large majority of whom are displaced refugees from 1948. In response to calls from Gaza, we urge you to take one or more of the following actions: 1) Contact Your Political Representatives: Contact your congressional representatives (http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/leadership_list.tt ) and demand that the US government pressure Israel to stop starving Gazans, end the siege, and respect basic Palestinian rights. Tell this directly to the U.S. Mission to the UN: Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad Phone: (212) 415-4053 2) Organize a Protest: Organize public protests and educational events calling for an end of Israel's abuse of Palestinian rights in Gaza. 3) Boycott the Occupier, Not the Occupied: Take action for long-term change and join the growing international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Organize a BDS campaign in your community, in response to the call by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, until Israel ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands, dismantles the Wall, recognizes the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, and implements the right of return for Palestinian refugees as stipulated in UN resolution 194. Impacts of Israeli Actions The latest measures are the culmination of a long-term Israeli policy and strategy of displacement and oppression that started in 1948, when Israel expelled Gaza's current refugees from their original villages. According to Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children, "The rise of poverty in Gaza relates to the crippling impact of the Israeli blockade within the broader context of a long-term pattern of economic degradation in Gaza stemming from Israeli-imposed closures since the early 1990s and, more recently, the eighteen-month international aid embargo on the Palestinian Authority that was in place until June 2007." According to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health in Gaza, 257 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the last year because they have been unable to leave for necessary advanced care. Israel's Obligations Israel's claim that it no longer occupies the Gaza Strip has been rejected by the international community andrights organizations because "it still maintains effective control over the territory via its control of Gaza's land borders, airspace, territorial waters, tax collection, and population registry." Because Israel is occupying the Gaza Strip, it is morally and legally responsible for protecting the human rights of Gaza's citizens. Yet Israel's siege violates international law and basic human rights like the rights to healthcare, education, freedom of movement, and employment, as well as broader rights like the right to self-determination. Israel's siege also violates its most basic obligations as an Occupying Power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, including the "duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population," and the prohibition against collective punishment. Thank you for taking action and please spread the word. Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East (www.adalahny.org) Network of Arab-American Professionals of NY (www.naaponline.org/ny) Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee of NY (www.adcnewyork.org) Brooklyn For Peace (www.brooklynpeace.org) US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (www.endtheoccupation.org)

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

SoHum Parlance II= Zionist propaganda blog

Eric Kirk is an intellectual fraud and another blogging coward in Humboldt County who resorts to censorship of those who's political views oppose his own and his adopted religion of Zionist Judaism.

I will be posting Eric's deletions here so you all can judge for yourselves why my comments are not welcome by our local Zionist promoter.

Deleted SoHum Parlance II posts:


"Praising a raised fist is saluting Frank’s gentleness? I don’t think so, not unless you can erase all the needless violence that came from people who used that icon to do some pretty foul deeds and I’m talking real deaths and not just protest actions. Many of us counterculture refugees living here in Humboldt County were involved in the ’60’s protests. My own being going the conscientious objector route when the government asked me to kill Vietnamese in their civil war. But that war ended, not do to the power of the raised fist icon but to the power of the Peace Symbol which does represent gentleness and inherently social justice without which peace is impossible.

It will be the Peace Symbol and not the raised fist which will be the icon of lasting social justice in the world. Frank painted many fine paintings of people and places without a shred of political overtones in his work and that is the artist’s work I will remember.

What terrible irony it will be if Eric removes my posts while allowing the praise of Free Speech movement posts to remain. Only in Humboldt County where moral schizophrenia rules the progressive political mindset."


"The people who need to hide their beliefs behind censorship of opposing views are intellectual cowards or fascists or both. It is telling that Zionists are the only ones censoring religious and political views in Humboldt County as well as the worst of the libelous slanderers on local blogs, the only ones I’ve seen posting wishes for the deaths by cancer for anti-Zionists.

The people who support Zionist censorship are as morally corrupt as the Zionist blog-owners. Inability to face criticism is the mark of those with ideas they cannot allow loose in public for fear of shame or ridicule.

Eric. I am a recognized man of God, recognized by religious leaders with far more moral depth than you will ever achieve as a political addict and closet Zionist. You are trying to stop a man of God from telling the truth that is causing so much unnecessary violence in our world. Good luck with your delusion of grandeur. Your actions only show to people who think that you are another one of the closet fascists who will use Machiavellian tactics starting with censorship of ideas against what you perceive as ideological opponents. Rushing to defend your fellow religious fascists in their endeavors you seek to stop truth from being discovered, e.g. my pointing out to your blog readers how you focused on Your (adopted) People while ignoring the sufferings of others not part of that special group. Do you actually believe the Jewish victims in Mumbai were not part of Muslim hatred of Jewish European imperial colonialism that stems from 1948? Or Muslim hatred of British imperial colonial rulers breaking India in two, one side for Hindus and the other for Muslims, the same British who paved the way for 1948?

Can you not face these questions without running away, counselor?"

"No, Eric, we’re talking about the owners of the Federal Reserve Banks as members of one minority religion which puts the Separation of Church and State at odds and all of us not members of these particular religious group of bank owners at risk lest we offend those with the gelt."


"This is NOT from any Nazi group, Eric, but from Ron Paul’s campaign website:

“The Federal Reserve System is divided into two parts: the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, located in Washington DC, and the Federal Reserve District Banks, located throughout the United States. Here is the official website of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors:

If you examine this page, you will see that there are five members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. You will also see that all five(5) of the board members are Jewish. This is a numerical representation of 100%. Why is this important? It’s important because Jews only constitute about 2% of the United States population*. So the odds that all five members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors would be Jewish are infinitesimally small. Here are the five members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors:

Benjamin S. Bernanke - Jewish
Donald L. Kohn - Jewish
Kevin M. Warsh - Jewish
Randall S. Kroszner - Jewish
Frederic S. Mishkin - Jewish

Now, if you examine the presidents of the twelve Federal Reserve District Banks, you will discover a similar pattern of Jewish over-representation. Here is the section of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ website that lists the twelve Federal Reserve District Banks and their respective presidents:

If you examine this section, you will see that there are twelve Federal Reserve Bank presidents. You will also see that nine(9) of the twelve presidents are Jewish. This is a numerical representation of 75%. Again, this is important because Jews only comprise about 2% of the United States population*, so the chances that nine of the twelve Federal Reserve Bank presidents would be Jewish are incredibly miniscule. Here are the twelve presidents of the Federal Reserve District Banks:

FRB of Boston: Eric S. Rosengren - Jewish
FRB of New York: Timothy F. Geithner - Jewish
FRB of Philadelphia: Charles I. Plosser - Jewish
FRB of Richmond: Jeffrey M. Lacker - Jewish
FRB of St. Louis: James B. Bullard - Jewish
FRB of Minneapolis: Gary H. Stern - Jewish
FRB of Kansas City: Thomas M. Hoenig - Jewish
FRB of Dallas: Richard W. Fisher - Jewish
FRB of San Francisco: Janet L. Yellen - Jewish
FRB of Cleveland: Sandra Pianalto - gentile
FRB of Atlanta: Dennis P. Lockhart - gentile
FRB of Chicago: Charles L. Evans - gentile

This extreme numerical over-representation of Jews among the members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve District Bank presidents cannot be explained away as a coincidence or as the result of mere random chance. You must ask yourself how such an incredibly small and extremely unrepresentative minority ethnic group that only represents about 2% of the American population could so completely dominate the highest levels of the United States Federal Reserve System.
Holy shit!”

"Now do those of you who still can think understand why we must be particularly on guard about America’s foreign policy when our whole money system is held in Jewish hands? You understand why Bush, and Hillary and Bill and Obama cave in to support for the Jewish cause every time? Our country is being blackmailed by one minority religious group into supporting political war against the Muslim enemies of this minority religion abroad and a political war here using character assassination against anyone who dares publicly criticize the minority religious group and their Middle East project that has become the root cause of most all anti-American, anti-Westerner hatred now loose in the world because over a billion members of a warrior religion can’t take it anymore and are striking back with terror, the only weapon available to the Muslim masses without the money or industrial capacity to wage any other kind of war. Sure, they are wrong as can be to use atrocity as weaponry but this situation will not end until we Americans stand up to the root cause of so much Muslim anger directed at us and those countries which support our system–India being America’s outsourcing capitol making both countries richer and therefore targets of those oppressed by rich Western nations."

Goodman: Tutu, Obama and silent conflict in the Middle East

By: Amy Goodman

Friday, November 28, 2008 11:50 PM EST

As President-elect Barack Obama focuses on the meltdown of the U.S. economy, another fire is burning: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

You may not have heard much lately about the disaster in the Gaza Strip. That silence is intentional: The Israeli government has barred international journalists from entering the occupied territory.

Last week, executives from the Associated Press, New York Times, Reuters, CNN, BBC and other news organizations sent a letter of protest to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert criticizing his government's decision to bar journalists from entering Gaza. Israel has virtually sealed off the Gaza Strip and cut off aid and fuel shipments. A spokesman for Israel's Defense Ministry said Israel was displeased with international media coverage, which he said inflated Palestinian suffering and did not make clear that Israel's measures were in response to Palestinian violence.

A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the group that won Palestinian elections nearly three years ago and controls Gaza, broke down after an Israeli raid killed six Hamas militants two weeks ago. More Israeli raids have followed, killing approximately 17 Hamas members, and Palestinian militants have fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel, injuring several people.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized Israel over its blockade of the overcrowded Gaza, home to close to 1.5 million Palestinians. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is warning that Gaza faces a humanitarian “catastrophe” if Israel continues to blockade aid from reaching the territory.

The sharply divided landscape of Israel and the occupied territories is familiar ground for South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. Tutu was in New York last week to receive the Global Citizens Circle award. I sat down with him at the residence of the South African vice consul. Tutu reflected on the Israeli occupation: “Coming from South Africa ... and looking at the checkpoints ... when you humiliate a people to the extent that they are being - and, yes, one remembers the kind of experience we had when we were being humiliated - when you do that, you're not contributing to your own security.”

Tutu said the embargo must be lifted. “The suffering is unacceptable. It doesn't promote the security of Israel or any other part of that very volatile region,” he said. “There are very, very many in Israel who are opposed to what is happening.”

Tutu points to the outgoing Israeli prime minister. In September, Olmert made a stunning declaration to Yedioth Ahronoth, the largest Israeli newspaper. He said that Israel should withdraw from nearly all territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war in return for peace with the Palestinians and Syria: “I am saying what no previous Israeli leader has ever said: We should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including in East Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights.”

Olmert said that traditional Israeli defense strategists had learned nothing from past experiences and that they seemed stuck in the considerations of the 1948 War of Independence. He said: “With them, it is all about tanks and land and controlling territories and controlled territories and this hilltop and that hilltop. All these things are worthless.”

Olmert appears to have come closer to his daughter's point of view. In 2006, Dana Olmert was among 200 people who gathered outside the home of the Israeli army chief of staff and chanted “murderer” as they protested Israeli killings of Palestinians (Archbishop Tutu was blocked from entering Gaza in his U.N.-backed attempts to investigate those killings). Ehud Olmert recently resigned over corruption allegations, but remains prime minister until a new government is approved by parliament.

Israel is a top recipient of U.S. military aid. Archbishop Tutu says of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “When that is resolved, what we will find (is) that the tensions between the West and ... a large part of the Muslim world ... evaporates.” He said of Obama, “I pray that this new president will have the capacity to see we've got to do something here ... for the sake of our children.”

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

So thankful, Holy One, for being alive and well.

O Holy Spirit, we love You
We know who You are
You are our Father,
Our Mother,
Our Sister,
Our Brother.

And we are Holy One with You.

Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People

Dear friends:

I am in Cyprus till Saturday and then in the US for a week starting Sunday then back to Palestine. The hospitality and generosity of Palestinians, people who visit Palestine, and people who care everywhere are inspiring acts of universal humanity. In this belated message we focus on the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People (PCR, a pioneer in bridging cultural differences, empowering Palestinians, and bringing people to support Palestine, actions that led to formation of the International Solidarity Movement). I also would like to tell you about the biggest projects we are involved in now and seek your support (material and otherwise). Below are the mission, the goals, a call to join us for Nights of the Shepherds (and/or support in other ways), a history of previous activities of PCR, and a list of current activities. The exciting new project Nights of the Shepherds is cosponsored by PCR and the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA and will bring community and visitors together to protect the land and the people of the Shepherds field (the Bethlehem rural areas) that are under threat by colonial settlers. Last week and unsolicited, USAID offered to fund the project with $20,000 from but the aid was unanimously rejected on principle (USAID requires groups to adhere to a US policy made and produced in Tel Aviv). Instead, we rely on people of good will (like you) to support our functions. Please read the following and consider making a donation (or provide other kind of support).

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People

http://www.pcr.ps/

Mission: The Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People was founded in April 1988 with the mission of bridging the gap between Palestinians and peoples from all around the world, informing the public about the reality in Palestine, and empower the community through nonviolent direct action for peace.

Goals:

- Organize activities that enhance the chances for a just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause

- Challenge stereotypes and prejudice on all sides by bringing people together for example through the alternative tourism program that allows Internationals and Palestinians to live and work together

- Engage in media campaigns that provide accurate and first hand information Palesine and life in the occupied territories,

- Organize functions that enhance civic duty and civic responsibility in a safe atmosphere for youth, women, and for marginalized segments of our society.

NEXT ACTIVITY TO SUPPORT: Join us for Nights of the Shepherds: Community and people connections to protect the land and the people of the Shepherds field.

Cosponsored by PCR and the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA

Thousands of pilgrims and locals come to Bethlehem and Beit Sahour during the Christmas season to celebrate the momentous events and connect to biblical sites like the Shepherds field and the Church of Nativity.

The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (http://www.pcr.ps) and its tourist division the Siraj center in Collaboration with the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA invite you to join us:

- The First night, 24 Dec 2008: Palestinian art consisting of music, folkloric dances, music, choires, theater groups, marching bands, art exhibits, other artistic expressions. The location is be the YMCA grounds in Beit Sahour

- The Second day, 25 Dec 2008: Tourists and locals are invited to joint programs and celebrations ranging from home visits to visits to impoverished areas to bring the Christmas spirit to the needy etc. More afternoon programs at the location of the first evening will include Children’s program and Christmas Carols. In the evening at 4 PM, a “candle light procession” from Shepherds Field will commence.

The Shepherds’ fields are endangered by settlement activities. We are now surrounded by colonial settlements on three sides and the fourth is being targeted by settler groups (Ush Ghrab to the East of Beit Sahour). There is some emigration of people from our communities (Christian and Muslim) because of the depressed economic situation and other pressures of the occupation. Yet there is a tremendous amount of good activism and community work. The idea of the Shepherds night will add to this empowerment and steadfastness (sumud) in our communities as well as provide a tangible benefit to the tourism sector.

To support this project send donations to PCR (PCR ). For tax deductible donations from the US, please send you check or wire transfer with a note to indicate it is for the Rapprochement Center to The Biblical Studies Fund, 661 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 40, Arlington, MA 02476

http://www.pcr.ps/

Wire: ABA/Routing # 211371120 (there is no SWIFT code)

Bank Name: Cambridge Savings Bank, 1374 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Acct #: 535716139 Account Title: The Biblical Studies Fund

Please email me at qumsi001@hotmail.com to indicate you have sent any money through this appeal so that I can forward to George and the staff the good news of your forthcoming support and to keep track of funding sent through our fiscal sponsor.

Previous activities of PCR:

PCR had a very rich and productive 20 years. They can be divided into these periods:

1988-1994

During the first uprising, PCR pioneered nonviolent resistance that involved large segments of the society with support of internationals. We provided training to locals in conflict resolution management, peaceful resistance, and cross-cultural dialogue. We were the first group in the West Bank to have a formal and periodic (monthly) dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. This dialogue continued on a regular pace for 12 years even as the uprising and the violence escalated. It kept the hope alive of coexistance and peace.

PCR played an important role in organizing the 1989 tax resistace (No Taxation without Representation) that gained the admiration of people of good will around the world including our Israeli colleagues and dozens of international visitors who visited even during siege and curfew. We carried dozens of direct actions in the years 1989-1994 that generated significant media and public attention. That experience also taught us to learn to disseminate information to an outside world hungry for real information and was a prelude to our accelerated media efforts during the second uprising.

1994-2000

The decrease in violence during the Oslo years did not decrease our commitment and interest in peace making and direct action. PCR with support from the Israeli members of the dialogue group supported the land defense committees that challenged the building of settlements on Palestinian lands. The most prominent case, PCR was involved in was Jabal Abu Ghneim where we kept a protest tent in operation with Israelis and internationals for four months 24 hours a day. We challenged the settlement activities in Israeli courts including this case that moved for nearly four years (a good delay for us) until the Israeli Supreme court ruled in favor of the State and in violation of International law.

PCR did not feel defeated. To protect Beit Sahour Land threatened by the Har Homa settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim, we worked with a number of groups and land owners to encourage buildings on their lands as close as is feasible to the settlement. These threatened lands we knew would be protected if we had people living there. This included a housing project in the area of Mazmouria. The land belongs to people from Beit Sahour, however, as residents of the West Bank, we can not build houses there, because that land was identified within the borders of Jerusalem. Therefore Jerusalemites were the perfect candidates for such a project.

A housing committee was founded that included people from Jerusalem who need to build houses, but do not have land in Jerusalem. One land owner with an area of around 40 dunams agreed to include his land in this project. The idea was to plan a housing project on that land, apply for building permits from the municipality of Jerusalem and if permits were granted, the members of the housing committee will buy lots in this land. In this case, the land owner is selling his land to people from Jerusalem to build houses.

A Palestinian famous architect who lives in Jordan, volunteers most of his effort and time in planning the area and designed houses with Arabic architecture. The municipality of Jerusalem refused to allow the housing society to officially submit the full application and kept asking for modifications. In October 2000, shortly after the second intifada started, the Israeli army built a military road to connect the settlement on Abu Ghneim with the military base in Beit Sahour, and with other settlements. This road went right through the project’s land, which was the last nail in the coffin for this project. But the experience was worthwhile and the citizens of Beit Sahour developed housing projects very near the Har Homa settlement (but outside of the illegally expanded and illegally annexed East Jerusalem lands).

In those years, PCR also developed programs for training youth and women in leadership positions, expanded its activities in community development and education, and hosted many international delegations on fact finding and solidarity trips.

2000-2008

Our community service program was expanded and made a formal division of PCR. We engaged more youth with nonviolent resistance. In one capacity building program 70 young Palestinians received training in advocacy, communication skills, conflict resolution and democracy. When trained and empowered these young advocates became the backbone of other PCR and community activities.

One project we pioneered and led by the young people was the Displaced Shepherd project which aimed at renovating homes damaged as a result of the Israeli shelling of the Eastern neighborhood of Beit Sahour from the military base in Ush Ghrab.

The young activists of PCR visited all families and documented damages and recorded stories. They uploaded all this information as family profiles on the internet. This information was used a fund raising campaign in which raided $400,000 dollars raised with the municipality of Beit Sahour as a joint effort. As a result, almost all families managed to return to their homes in few months.

In 2000, we mobilized our dialogue group and international friends for actions to reclaim the military base that was located on town land and was a major issue in the community. We successfully held nonviolent protests at the base (even getting inside the base by the hundreds) and this success led to the formation of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). PCR was heavily involved in ISM for five years, during which it had employed around ninety percent of its efforts and finances to support ISM. PCR hosted ISM headquarters until 2005 when the headquarters was moved to Ramallah (this followed a raid by the Occupation soldiers on our offices in Beit Sahour).

Current Activities

Currently PCR has three departments, Alternative Travel Department, Community Service Department, and the Media Department that complement each other and help Palestine concurrent with helping Internationals connect better with Palestine.

The Alternative Travel department includes Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies. [www.sirajcenter.org]

Siraj organizes an annual summer program, known as Palestine Summer Celebration. This extremely successful project gives participants have an opportunity to live with Palestinian Families, learn Arabic, volunteer at Palestinian NGOs, learn Palestinian culture (e.g. folklore dancing), and eat and cook Arabic food. These individuals also visit remote areas, tour the wall, the seam line, visit with Palestians and Israelis inside and outside the Green Line. Siraj brings Palestinians and Internationals in its unique way at other times of the years and sometimes in unconventional tourism. One Peace Cycle projects brought European cyclists on a tour of the West Bank and another one for hikers.

The Community Service Department includes two projects, the “Education for All Program” (EFAP) and the “Young Advocates Program” (YAP). EFAP provids free-of-charge support classes for student of less fortunate families who need support to enhance their academic performance including classes in Arabic and English. We also trained youth in extracurricular activities including arts and drama. The program trained boys and girls, Christians and Muslims from the five schools in the town of Beit Sahour. The program is currently funded by “A La Calle”, an Italian organization working for social change.

YAP is a capacity building program that aims at preparing young Palestinians form more involvement in their society and in the civil based nonviolent resistance in Palestine. The program is a continuation of the community program launched in 1997. Around 30 young people from Bethlehem area received basic and advanced training in Human Rights, Communication Skills, Media and Web Design and Advocacy skills.

Currently the department is actively working on the Nights of the Shepherds described above and for which we seek your support (participation, financial, publicity, donations in kind etc).

The Media Department includes the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). a Palestinian-International collaborative effort, IMEMC to provide accurate reporting that helps increase understanding of the context, history, and the socio-political developments in Palestine. We provide news in English, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic languages all edited and produced by volunteers in places like Rome, Barcelona, Bethlehem and the US. IMEMC also provide News in Arabic through the Palestine News Network (PNN) website, [http://arabic.pnn.ps] as a cooperation between IMEMC & PNN. IMEMC is a founding member of the Network of United Radio and TV Stations (NUR Media) [http://english.nurmedia.org]. NUR became member of Palestine News Network-United a coalition of Radio, TV and Website groups. IMEMC provides a daily news cast in English and Italian languages, which provides nearly five minutes featuring main incidents of the day. IMEMC field reporters cover actions and events usually misrepresented or not covered in Western Media.

A video production training project is being implemented to provide young Palestinians with skills needed to produce short videos, skills that will be expanded to create job opportunities. The IMEMC production unit produces documentaries that highlight issues of critical importance in Palestine (e.g. the plight of remote villages) but that do not receive adequate media coverage.

Current Needs:

The achievements of the past twenty years and current projects (highlighted above) contributed tremendously in bridging the gap between the Palestinians and grassroots people from many countries around the globe and all were done .All were done with shoestring budgets and maximizing the use of volunteers and the few amazingly inspiring and hardworking staff who are paid little and work extremely hard. It is amazing to think that we could do all the above with an annual budget of $95000 for PCR. But with a current budget deficit of $12,000 and demands on our services constantly increasing, we need your support for any and all projects above. For tax deductible donations from the US, please send you check or wire transfer with a note to indicate it is for the Rapprochement Center to The Biblical Studies Fund, 661 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 40, Arlington, MA 02476

http://www.pcr.ps/

Wire: ABA/Routing # 211371120 (there is no SWIFT code)

Bank Name: Cambridge Savings Bank, 1374 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Acct #: 535716139 Account Title: The Biblical Studies Fund

Please email me at qumsi001@hotmail.com to indicate you have sent any money through this appeal so that I can forward to George and the staff the good news of your forthcoming support and to keep track of funding sent through our fiscal sponsor.

We also always need volunteers in the different departments/activities so contact us and let us know what skills and/or time you have to offer.

http://www.pcr.ps/

ffj.Bilin-20-11-2008

Israeli Occupation forces arrested Iyad Burnat. President of the Popular Committee in Bil'in. The Army was arrested Mr. Iyad Burnat early today At nine am . After he was with a group of Americans tried to visit the village of Naalin. Were prevented soldiers stationed at the entrance to the village from entering. Pretext of a closed military Area. Also detained Mr. Burnat for several hours and then abandoned him.

Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
Head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bilin

www.bilin-ffj.org
____________________________________________________________________

Dear all,

Emad Burnat from Bil'in is still in a serious condition in hospital. We will keep everyone updated when there is any more news.

In solidarity,

ISM Palestine


Bi'lin: Israel's Wall puts Palestinian farmer and his children in hospital.

At 5:20 pm on Saturday Bi'lin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements member, Emad Burnat, was admitted to hospital in very serious condition after his tractor flipped over against Israel's Wall. The wall – which in Bil'in is composed of metal fence and barbed-wire – cuts through the village's farmland.


The video documenter of the Bi'lin's anti-wall struggle was returning with his children from plowing his fields when he was forced to detour down a steep hill in order to return to the village because the wall separates his home from his land. Loosing control of the tractor on the sharp decline, it overturned directly into the metal mesh and razor wire.


While his children were taken to hospital in Ramallah, the army medic who treated Burnat decided to send him to the Tel Aviv hospital out of fear that he wouldn't make to Ramallah alive. None-the-less, it still took the ambulance an hour to arrive at the checkpoint and Burnat had to be transferred from a Red Crescent to an Israeli ambulance before being taken to Tel Aviv.


"While this is a tragic accident, the blame can be laid directly at the feet of Israel's occupation and land confiscation by the wall, which forces a dangerous burden and risk on Palestinian farmers," says popular committee chairperson and Brother of Emad, Iyad Burnat.


"Israel's checkpoint system only adds to this hardship by preventing the speedy medical attention to Palestinians when necessary," he added.


At present Burnat's spleen has been removed and doctors have yet to stitch up his wounds because his liver is still bleeding. Doctors are exercising cautious optimism, reporting that he arrived at the hospital in time and was a healthy man. Burnat's children were treated for mild injuries.


Thank you for you continued support,

Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin
Head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bilin

Supporters of Holy Land defendants accuse government of preying on fear

'This is not over,' said Noor Elashi, daughter of Holy Land defendant Ghassan Elashi, after the verdict was read on Monday. Ms. Elashi, an outspoken critic of the prosecution, said she was proud of her father.

12:00 AM CST on Tuesday, November 25, 2008

By TANYA EISERER and JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

The verdicts came down slowly and cast a pall over an already somber courtroom. "Guilty" was heard over and over again.

Most family members and friends of the five defendants in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial remained stoic Monday as justice was meted out, but one person sobbed: "My dad is not a criminal. He's a human!"

For the roughly 150 supporters at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas, that may best summarize their take on the outcome of one of the nation's biggest and most important terrorism financing trials.

Supporters say the government's case was built on fear-mongering, and they stand by long-held assertions that Holy Land was a legitimate charity concerned only with providing relief to Palestinians living in poverty and hardship under the decades-long Israeli occupation.

Some supporters cried quietly after the verdicts were read. Some looked in shock, disbelief registering on their faces. Tension filled the air.

As people began to quietly file out of the courtroom, many supporters shouted words of encouragement to the defendants. Some of the defendants defiantly flashed victory signs.

Defense attorneys did not talk to The Dallas Morning News, but are already discussing appeals.

The subdued reaction to the verdicts was in cold contrast to the jubilation they felt 13 months ago as the first Holy Land trial ended mostly in a mistrial when a confused and beleaguered jury deadlocked after 19 days of deliberations.

The second jury wrestled just eight days with the massive and complex case.

The journey for supporters has been far longer: Holy Land and its leadership had been investigated since the early 1990s. President George W. Bush announced that the foundation had been shut down in 2001. Indictments came in 2004.

John Wolf, a friend and member of the Hungry for Justice coalition, said he'd known the defendants for 12 years.

"I'm not surprised," he said of the verdicts. "I think the government had their do-over and they learned from their mistakes. It's hard to accept because I don't believe the gentlemen are guilty. These guys are the sweetest, clean-hearted people."

During the trial, defense attorneys accused the government of bending to Israeli pressure to prosecute the charity, and of relying on old evidence. But jurors agreed with the government's contention that at least $12 million raised in the U.S. had been illegally funneled to Hamas after that organization was banned as a terrorist group by the federal government in 1995.

In light of the crimes and the likely length of their sentences, which will come later, the judge ordered that all five defendants be immediately taken into custody. One, Ghassan Elashi, is already serving a 6 ½ -year sentence in federal prison for export law violations.

His daughter, an outspoken critic of the prosecution, read a statement calling the verdicts a low point for the United States of America.

"My dad is a law-abiding citizen," said Noor Elashi. "My dad was persecuted for his political beliefs and his humanitarian work in Palestine. ... He saved lives and now he's paying the price. I'm very proud of him."

Ms. Elashi, visibly angry, said she had not shed any tears over the verdicts because she knew that her father was being persecuted "because he saved lives."

"I feel heartbroken that a group of my fellow Americans fell for the prosecution's fear-mongering," she said.

"This is not over," she added.

Some supporters have said that the defendants, even if convicted, would be considered freedom fighters or folk heroes.

Peter Margulies, a Roger Williams University law professor who studies terrorism financing cases, said the government has won the case, but has work to do for American Muslims.

"Going forward ... the government must be more pro-active about furnishing guidance to Muslim-Americans who merely wish to fulfill their religious obligations," he said.

That may be too little, too late for some.

Mohammed Wafa Yaish, Holy Land's former accountant and a witness of the trial, said after the verdicts were read that he is angry that the prosecution brought up the Taliban and al-Qaeda during the trial.

"What does giving charity to the Palestinians in the refugee camps have to do with this?" he said. "They scared the jurors. Fear is the No. 1 government tactic."

Staff writer Diane Jennings contributed to this report.

teiserer@dallasnews.com; jtrahan@dallasnews.com

Five Convicted in Terrorism Financing Trial

New York Times

GRETEL C. KOVACH
Published: November 24, 2008

DALLAS — On their second try, federal prosecutors won sweeping convictions Monday against five leaders of a Muslim charity in a retrial of the largest terrorism-financing case in the United States since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The five defendants, all leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, based in Richardson, a Dallas suburb, were convicted on all 108 criminal counts against them, including support of terrorism, money laundering and tax fraud. The group was accused of funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an Islamist organization the government declared to be a terrorist group in 1995.

The defendants argued that the Holy Land Foundation, once the largest Muslim charity in the United States, was engaged in legitimate humanitarian aid for community welfare programs and Palestinian orphans.

The jury, which deliberated for eight days, reached a starkly different result than the jury in the first trial, which ended in a mistrial on most charges in October 2007, after nearly two months of testimony and 19 days of deliberations.

The government shuttered the Holy Land Foundation in December 2001 and seized its assets, a move President Bush heralded at the time as “another step in the war on terrorism.”

The charity’s leaders — Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mufid Abdulqader, Abdulrahman Odeh and Mohammad El-Mezain — were not accused in the 2004 indictment of directly financing suicide bombings or terrorist violence. Instead, they were indicted on charges of illegally contributing to Hamas after the United States designated it a terrorist group.

The defendants could be sentenced to 15 years on each count of supporting a terrorist group, and 20 years on each count of money laundering. Leaders of the foundation, which is now defunct, might also have to forfeit millions of dollars.

Khalil Meek, a longtime spokesman for the Muslim community in North Texas and for a coalition of Holy Land Foundation supporters called Hungry for Justice, which includes national Muslim and civil rights groups, said supporters were “devastated” by the verdict.

“We respect the jury’s decision, but we disagree and we think the defendants are completely innocent,” Mr. Meek said. “For the last two years we’ve watched this trial unfold, and we have yet to see any evidence of a criminal act introduced to a jury. This jury found that humanitarian aid is a crime.”

He added, “We intend to appeal the verdict, and we remain convinced that we will win.”

The prosecutor, Barry Jonas, told jurors in closing arguments last week that they should not be deceived by the foundation’s cover of humanitarian work, describing the charities it financed as terrorist recruitment centers that were part of a “womb to the tomb” cycle.

After the mistrial last year, critics said the government had offered a weak, complicated case and had failed to recognize that juries were not as quick to convict Muslim defendants accused of supporting terrorism as they had once been. Prosecutors spent more time in the second trial explaining the complexities of the case and painting a clearer picture of the money trail. They also dropped many of the original charges.

“Today’s verdicts are important milestones in America’s efforts against financiers of terrorism,” Patrick Rowan, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. “For many years, the Holy Land Foundation used the guise of charity to raise and funnel millions of dollars to the infrastructure of the Hamas terror organization. This prosecution demonstrates our resolve to ensure that humanitarian relief efforts are not used as a mechanism to disguise and enable support for terrorist groups.”

Nancy Hollander, a lawyer from Albuquerque who represented Mr. Abu-Baker, said the defendants would appeal based on a number of issues, including the anonymous testimony of an expert, which she said was a first.

“Our clients were not even allowed to review their own statements because they were classified — statements that they made over the course of many years that the government wiretapped,” Ms. Hollander said. “They were not allowed to go back and review them. There were statements from alleged co-conspirators that included handwritten notes. Nobody knew who wrote them; nobody knew when they were written. There are a plethora of issues.”

Noor Elashi, a 23-year-old writer who is the daughter of Ghassan Elashi, said she was “heartbroken” that jurors had accepted what she called the fear-mongering of the prosecution.

“I am utterly shocked at this outcome,” Ms. Elashi said. “This is a truly low point for the United States of America.”

She said supporters of the group would not rest until the verdict was overturned.

“My dad is a law-abiding citizen who was persecuted for his humanitarian work in Palestine and his political beliefs,” Ms. Elashi said. “Today I did not shed a single tear. My dad’s smile was radiant. That’s because he saved lives, and now he’s paying the price.”

According to freedomtogive .com, a Web site that calls itself the voice of the defendants’ relatives and friends, the foundation “simply provided food, clothes, shelter, medical supplies and education to the suffering people in Palestine and other countries.”