Kucinich: Dems in Bed with Insurance, Pharmaceutical Companies

January 22, 2010 by
Doug Wetzel

Dennis Kucinich, member of the U.S. House of Representatives (D-Ohio)
Credit: United States Congress | © Wikimedia Commons

Ohio Democrat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, thrashed his own party, health care companies, and Wall Street during an hour-long exclusive interview with the Raw Story.

Chiding the Obama administration as inadequate Kucinich bemoaned a lack of focus on creating jobs and a failure to maintain interest in the woes of the American people, naming economic issues as the topic of
Kucinich: Dems in Bed with Insurance, Pharmaceutical Companies
priority.

"We're really at a moment here, a moment of pivot. We need to regain the confidence of the American people by rallying them on the economic issues."

Insurance Companies the Problem

Insurance and pharmaceutical companies were mentioned as receiving unfair Democratic favor at the expense of the American people.

"Health care become too complex and too riddled with concessions to insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies," Kucinich suggested.

Last November, Kucinich voted against H.R. 3962 also known as the Affordable Health Care for America Act stating that "predatory, for-profit" companies in the insurance industry can't be faulted for a pursuit of profit but "are the problem, not the solution" behind a perpetual increase in health care costs.

"We're redistributing the wealth of the nation upwards by giving the insurance companies 30 million new customers, $50 billion a year more in revenue," he added during the Raw Story interview.

Current Reform Attempt Is Madness

Instead of striking out for small, incremental change to the health-care system, the Obama administration and Democrats have focused on a grander and even unpopular reform which has all but floundered over the last nine months.

Kucinich called the current Democratic push for health care reform "madness" resulting from an alliance between his party and insurance companies rather than citizens. Even critics normally lenient to the current administration have begun to question the degree of focus given to sweeping plans for health reform while the economy has serious health issues of its own.

From Mazin Qumsiyeh's Journal: Entering Jerusalem

I entered Jerusalem through the apartheid wall yesterday without using the
temporary "Israeli permit" that was issued to me (and that expired
yesterday). My family had applied for me and many others through our church
for the Eastern Christian Holidays. Yet, those who could enter like I did
(with or without permits) are a tiny fraction of the Palestinian population.
I have not been in Jerusalem in nearly four years due to Israeli
restrictions.

On the drive along the Hebron road, we first pass by side roads leading to
the colonies built since 1967 on Palestinian lands (illegal per
International law): things now called Ramat Rachel, Gilo, and Har Homa. We
pass by land that was leased (for 99 years!) from our Greek Orthodox Church
by tricks and a corrupt church official to develop Israeli malls and
housing. We then enter the "neighborhoods" of Amona and Talpiot that used
to be Arab Palestinians before 1948 and see many old Palestinian homes that
were taken over by Zionists and their residents. Charming old Arab houses
with arched balconies sit lonely amid massive development of European style
architecture. I wonder what their Jewish residents think of living in such
structures. I wonder if even they know what life is like just three miles
south in the refugee camps in Bethlehem.

To the right, we pass by the road leading to Silwan. A Palestinian
neighborhood that is increasingly threatened with total eviction to create a
"natural park". I think of the three Palestinian villages (including the
biblical Imwas ) that were removed in 1967 to create later "Canada Park"; to
honor Canadian Jews and others who donated to plant non-native trees where
homes and agricultural land once existed. Many homes have already been
demolished in Silwan, Wadi Al Joz and Israeli digging under Silwan is
resulting in collapse of homes and infrastructures (and occasionally
injuries to residents like when an UNRWA school floor collapsed injusring
two students).

Then we moved up the hill to the old city. I remember walking these roads
and roaming around the area when I taught in Jerusalem in 1978 and 1979 (at
Schmidt Girls College). Nostalgia at seeing familiar structures and
buildings (the old YMCA, the schools, the American Consulate, the Churches
and mosques) is mixed with apprehension at seeing the scarring that
destroyed many other familiar landmarks. The city I think will slowly become
totally unrecognizable. It will become like an extension of Tel Aviv
(except populated with more religious Jews). Now I realize cities do change
in time. But this is different. Jerusalem was a city that is multi-ethnic
and multi-religious. Many occupiers tried to change its character by force
(Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, British, etc) but the people of the
city have always clung to traditions and resisted changes. And there were
only two periods were there was massive ethnic cleansing: a) when the
crusaders came in the middle ages (removing and killing local Eastern
Orthodox, Jewish, and Muslim residents), and b) in 1948 when Western
Jerusalem was completely cleared of Palestinian residents (some 23,000 born
before Jan 1948 and now the total refugees from that part of the city is
93,000, see data in
http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/images/ArticlesPdf/3_Jerusalem%2048.pdf )
and concomitantly nearly 2000 Jews removed from Eastern Jerusalem. The old
Jewish quarter has always been Muslim Waqf land whose residents before 1948
paid rent to. For data on population changes through historic Palestine,
see
http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story559.html .


At this point, I know some will say that ethnic cleansing was done by the
Romans when "the Jews" were expelled following the Bar Kokhba revolt. But
historically this is not true. First, there was no such thing as the Jews
but residents of Judea who were referred to as Judeans (in Arabic, Hebrew,
and Aramaic variations on Yahudi best translated as Judean not Jew). These
Judeans practiced different religions including many pagan traditions. Some
religions were shared by other Palestinians (e.g. monotheistic traditions
shared between some Samaritans and some Judeans). The revolt by radical
Pharisee elements was against the Roman appointed Herod dynasty (Herod, of
Idumean background, was considered kind of the Judeans). These radical
elements were the ones who were removed from Jerusalem, not the Judean
population. Judeans in Jerusalem at the time who continued to live there
included many who believed in Baal, YHW/Yahweh, and El/El Elyon (Elohim in
Hebrew, Alla in Aramaic, Allah and Arabic), and the nascent Christian
tradition (and later ofcourse many adopted Islam). The languages spoken
included not only Greek and Latin but various dialects of Aramaic including
those that are recognizable Arabic and spoken Hebrew dialects (although the
latter was mostly for religious rituals). Many forget that the Arabic
alphabet evolved here in the Holy Land from Nebatean Proto Aramaic!

But more modern history is sad because we experience it. Just last year
alone 4600 Palestinians lost their right to live in their own city including
some of my friends. Some 150 Palestinian homes were demolished. I also
talked yesterday with a colleague in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem
whose family was evicted and the home taken over by radical settlers. I
give a lecture on Mount Scopus; land that partly belonged to the
Jerusalemite Khalidi and other families and has been taken over under
Israel's "laws" of "absentee property". As the Palestinian nature of
this old city continues to be under attack, it has been slowly being transforned
to a European city with an Ashkenazi Jewish Zionist character. Its eastern
charm is now replaced by business, commerce, etc that is to serve the
privileged segment of the society.

In the UN partition plan of 1947, Jerusalem was to become an International
city open to all. My hope is that with thousands of activists (increasing
daily) who engage in the struggle for peace with justice, Palestinian
refugees will be allowed to return to West Jerusalem and those displaced
from East Jerusalem also returned (just like the Jewish quarter was
re-populated). That the city then really become an international city with
full equality anda truth an reconciliation committee established just like
happened in South Africa. Jerusalem would then become a "shiny city on the
hill" and its people "a light unto the people" (mistranslated "light unto
the nations").

On an unrelated note: Scott Brown won the Senate seat in Massachusetts
vacated by Ted Kennedy. The only two foreign countries Brown devoted
sections to on his website are Israel (love it) and Iran (hate it).
Clearly AIPAC got another unprincipled politician they can count on to put
Zionist interests ahead of US interests let alone the interests of people
here (Israeli and Palestinians), who are clearly harmed by these policies.
His TV sound bites were regurgitations of Zionist propaganda long shown to
be outright lies: Israel is a "democracy" that "seeks peace" and
Ahmedinujad
is "a Holocaust denier who has threatened to wipe Israel off the map" (see
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/liesandtruths/ )

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a villager at home
http://www.qumsiyeh.org
http://www.pcr.ps

IJAN presents Hajo Meyer and Haidar Eid: Never again: for anyone

Please join us and forward on!

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network invites you to a video screening of

Hajo Meyer and Haidar Eid on tour in UK and Ireland

Never Again For Anyone

“My great lesson from Auschwitz is: whoever wants to dehumanize any other, must first be dehumanized himself.

The oppressors are no longer really human whatever uniform they wear”. Hajo Meyer

Thursday January 28 at 7pm

522 Valencia Street in San Francisco

De Hajo G. Meyer was born in 1924 in Germany. In 1944, after a year in the underground, he was caught and subsequently

survived 10 months at Auschwitz. An IJAN member, he is on the board of the Dutch “A Different Jewish Voice”, of European

Jews for a Just Peace. He is the author of three books on Judaism, Holocaust and Zionism.

Dr. Haidar Eid is a refugee whose parents were expelled from the Zamouqa village in 1948. Dr. Eid is a member of PACBI

Steering Committee and a co-founder of the One Democratic State Group. He currently lives in Gaza, where he is an

Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at Al-Aqsa University.

For more information: bay.ijsn@gmail.com

Erekat: Netanyahu is sabotaging two-state solution

Last update - 12:34 21/01/2010
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to end the possibility of a two-state solution by insisting on a continued Israeli presence along a future Palestinian state's borders, chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat told Israel Radio on Thursday.

Erekat was responding to Netanyahu's Wednesday statement, according to which Israel would demand a continued military presence along the future Palestinian state's border with Jordan.

"Israel must ensure that rockets aren't being smuggled into territories in its vicinity," the premier had told reporters, and to achieve that "an Israeli presence will be necessary along the Palestinian state's eastern side."

Netanyahu had also urged the Palestinians to return to the negotiation table without any preconditions, saying that the "PA climbed a high tree and are content on staying there. The more ladders they are offered, the higher they ascend."

In response, Erekat said that while "Netanyahu calls for the Palestinians to resume peace talks, he is effectually leaving the Palestinians nothing to negotiate about."

Kadima MK Meir Sheetrit also responded to the premier's comments, saying Thursday that "Netanyahu was ruining any chance for negotiations and is proving, again and again, that he is not interested in peace."

"There is no way that the Palestinians would agree to such an offer, and whoever raises it should negotiate with himself," Sheetrit said.

MK Talab al-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) said in response to the PM's statement that Israel's eastern border was secure enough.

"With a peace with Jordan in effect as well as a U.S. presence in Iraq, what Netanyahu's offer amounts to is an assassination of any hope for peace with the Palestinian people," al-Sana said.

"This is a statement that reveals the true face of the current government, which talks of peace but which perpetuates the occupation and invites more confrontation.

New Israeli demand complicates US peace mission

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a meeting with the foreign press in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) (Bernat Armangue - AP)

By AMY TEIBEL

The Associated Press
Thursday, January 21, 2010; 6:24 AM

JERUSALEM -- Washington's Middle East envoy faced a new obstacle Thursday as he launched his latest attempt to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks: Israel wants to keep troops on the West Bank's border with Jordan even if a deal is reached.

Palestinians rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand, made just before U.S. envoy George Mitchell arrived in Israel on Wednesday. Mitchell has been laboring without success for a year to get both sides back to the negotiating table, and Netanyahu's new demand made his mission even more formidable.

Netanyahu said Israel must maintain a presence "on the eastern side of a prospective Palestinian state" to keep militants from using the territory to launch rockets at Israel's heartland.

The eastern side of such a state would be the part of the Jordan Valley that lies in the West Bank.

Saeb Erekat, a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the demand "absolutely unacceptable."

"The borders of the state of Palestine will be Jordan," Erekat told Israel Radio. "The Jordan Valley is ours, is Palestine. Why do they insist on being on our territory?"

The Palestinians have refused to sit down with Israel until it stops all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying it is eating up lands they claim for their future state. Israel, which captured both areas in 1967, has slowed settlement construction in the West Bank, but has applied no restrictions in east Jerusalem, which Netanyahu hopes to retain.

Israel also says negotiations should begin immediately with no conditions, but the Palestinians accuse Israel of heaping plenty of conditions of its own, including the demilitarization of a future Palestinian state, the retention of east Jerusalem and now, a military presence along Jordan's border.

To stake out these positions "and then tell us, come negotiate: Negotiate on what, Mr. Netanyahu? You left nothing to negotiate," Erekat fumed.

The hard-line Israeli leader heads a coalition largely opposed to the sweeping territorial concessions that would be necessary to clinch a peace deal with the Palestinians. He himself had long refused to endorse the concept of Palestinian statehood, doing so only in June under intense U.S. pressure.

Mitchell is to meet with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials on Thursday, and with Palestinian officials in the West Bank on Friday.

Erekat, meanwhile, denied that Abbas has floated the idea of having the U.S. try to close a deal on the final borders of a Palestinian state on their behalf.

Abbas aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told The Associated Press that the Palestinian president made such a proposal in recent meetings with Egyptian officials, as a way of getting around the current deadlock.

On Thursday, Erekat said Abbas has asked the U.S. to state clear terms for future talks, but not to negotiate on the Palestinians' behalf.

"We never asked the U.S. to close the deal for us," he said.

Gunsights' biblical references concern US and UK forces

Britain's Ministry of Defence it was unaware of the markings

Coded references to biblical passages are inscribed on gunsights widely used by the US and British military in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has emerged.

The markings include "2COR4:6" and "JN8:12", relating to verses in the books of Corinthians II and John.

Trijicon, the US-based manufacturer, was founded by a devout Christian, and says it runs to "Biblical standards".

But military officials in the US and UK have expressed concern over the way the markings will be perceived.

The company has added the references to its sights for many years, but the issue surfaced only recently when soldiers complained to an advocacy group.

Raised lettering

Versions of Trijicon's Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (Acog) are used by the US Special Operations Forces, the US Marine Corps and the US Army.

Many soldiers know of them and are very confused as to why they are there and what it is supposed to mean US soldier, quoted by Military Religious Freedom Foundation

Britain's Ministry of Defence has just ordered 480 Acog sights for use on its new Sharpshooter rifles - to be used by troops in Afghanistan. Other versions of the Acog sight are "widely in service", the ministry says.

The inscriptions are subtle and appear in raised lettering at the end of the stock number.

John 8:12 reads: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The nod to part of the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, found on the company's Reflex sight, references the text: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

An MoD spokesman told the BBC the ministry appreciated the biblical references could cause offence and was talking to its supplier, but was "not aware at the time of purchase that these markings had any broader significance".

'Propaganda tool'

The US Defense Department is a major customer of Trijicon's, signing deals for $66m (£40.3m) of the company's products in 2009 alone.

The US Marine Corps told the BBC they were "concerned with how this may be perceived" and were meeting with the company to "discuss future sight procurements".

We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals Trijicon

The US Army said it was looking into any potential policy violation.

The issue has been thrust into the spotlight by the US Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) - an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.

On 14 January, the MRFF received an e-mail, purportedly from a Muslim US Army infantryman, complaining about the markings.

"Many soldiers know of them and are very confused as to why they are there and what it is supposed to mean."

The email adds: "Everyone is worried that if they were captured in combat that the enemy would use the Bible quotes against them in captivity or some other form of propaganda."

MRFF president Mikey Weinstein says the inscriptions could give the Taliban and other enemy forces a propaganda tool.

"I don't have to wonder for a nanosecond how the American public would react if citations from the Koran were being inscribed onto these US armed forces gunsights instead of New Testament citations," he said.

A Trijicon spokesman told the BBC the company "has been working to provide America's military men and women with high quality, innovative sighting systems for the weapons they use".

"Our effort is simple and straightforward: to help our servicemen and women win the war on terror and come home safe to their families.

"As part of our faith and our belief in service to our country, Trijicon has put scripture references on our products for more than two decades.

"As long as we have men and women in danger, we will continue to do everything we can to provide them with both state-of-the-art technology and the never-ending support and prayers of a grateful nation," the spokesman added.

The company states on its website: "We believe that America is great when its people are good. This goodness has been based on biblical standards throughout our history and we will strive to follow those morals."

Shades of kill a Commie for Christ...Christian hypocrisy at its lowest common denominator--troops trained to kill. No wonder Muslims view our war with Islam as another Crusade. When will Christians learn to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ one wonders? Not while they follow Paul who ruined Christianity by commanding Christians to obey their established (Roman Empire) governmental authority setting the precedent ever afterwords for governments to use Christians for any military purpose.

Israel blocking NGO efforts with tourist visas

By Amira Hass, Haaretz Correspondent
Last update - 04:39 20/01/2010

The Interior Ministry has stopped granting work permits to foreign nationals working in most international nongovernmental organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, Haaretz has learned.

In an apparent overhaul of regulations that have been in place since 1967, the ministry is now granting the NGO employees tourist visas only, which bar them from working.

Organizations affected by the apparent policy change include Oxfam, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Terre des Hommes, Handicap International and the Religious Society of Friends (a Quaker organization).
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Until recently, the workers would register with the international relations department at the Social Affairs Ministry, which would recommend the Interior Ministry to issue them B1 work permits. Although the foreign nationals are still required to approach the Social Affairs Ministry to receive recommendations to obtain a tourist visa, the Interior Ministry is aiming to make the Ministry of Defense responsible for those international NGOs and also requiring them to register with the coordinator of government activities in the territories (COGAT), which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.

Foreign nationals working for NGOs had understood they would receive a stamp or handwritten note alongside their tourist visa, permitting them to work "in the Palestinian Authority." Israel is refusing work visas to most foreign nationals who state that they wish to work within the Palestinian territories, such as foreign lecturers for Palestinian universities and businessmen.

Israel does not recognize Palestinian Authority rule in East Jerusalem or in Area C, which comprises some 60 percent of the West Bank. The NGO workers say they've come to believe that the new policy is intended to force them to close their Jerusalem offices and relocate to West Bank cities. This move would prevent them from working among the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, defined by the international community as occupied territory.

The organizations fear the new policy will impede their ability to work in Area C, whether because Israel doesn't see it as part of the Palestinian Authority or because they will eventually be subjected to the restrictions of movement imposed on the Palestinians. Such restrictions include the prohibition to enter East Jerusalem and Gaza via Israel, except with specific and rarely obtained permits; and prohibition to enter areas west of the separation fence, except for village residents who hold special residency permits and Israeli citizens.

One NGO worker told Haaretz that the policy was reminiscent of the travel constraints imposed by Burmese authorities on humanitarian organizations, albeit presented in a subtler manner.

NGO workers told Haaretz that they had been informed by the COGAT official that a policy change was forthcoming, as early as July 2009. When a number of them approached the Interior Ministry in August to renew their visas, they found that their applications had been submitted to a "special committee." They were not told who constituted this committee, and had to make do with a "receipt" confirming that they had submitted the request. The workers said the tourist visas they received differed from each other in duration and travel limitations, and surmised from this that the policy has not been entirely fleshed out.

Latest in a series of steps

A number of NGO workers who spoke with Haaretz voiced deep apprehensions about having to submit to the authority of the Defense Ministry. The groups are committed to the Red Cross code of ethics, and therefore see being subjugated to the ministry directly in charge of the occupation as problematic and contradictory to the very essence of their work.

Between 140 and 150 NGOs operate among the Palestinian population. Haaretz could not obtain the exact number of foreign nationals they employ.

The new limitations do not apply to the 12 organizations that have been active in the West Bank prior to 1967. Those groups, which include the Red Cross and several Christian organizations, were registered with the Jordanian authorities.

The new move by the Interior Ministry is the latest in a series of steps taken in the last few years to constrain the movement of foreign nationals in the West Bank and Gaza, including Palestinians with family and property in the occupied territories. Most of those who have been effected are nationals of countries with which Israel has diplomatic relations, especially Western states. Israel does not apply any similar constraints on citizens of the same countries traveling within Israel and West Bank settlements.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the only relevant authority empowered to approve the stay of foreign citizens in the Palestinian Authority is the coordinator of government activities in the territories. "The Interior Ministry is entrusted with granting visas and work permits within the State of Israel. Those staying within both the boundaries of Israel and the Palestinian Authority are required to secure their permits accordingly," the ministry said.

"Recently, a question was raised on the issue of visas granted to those staying in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel, as it transpired that they spend most of their time in the PA despite having been provided with Israeli work permits," the statement continued. "The matter is under intense discussions, with the active participation of the relevant military authorities, with a view to finding the right and appropriate solution as soon as possible."

Israel tries to silence political protest: critics

By BEN HUBBARD

The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 19, 2010; 10:44 AM

JERUSALEM -- Israel is arresting a growing number of prominent opponents to its policies toward the Palestinians, say critics who are accusing the government of trying to crush legitimate dissent.

In the most high-profile case yet, Jerusalem police detained the head of a leading Israeli human rights group during a vigil against the eviction of Palestinian families whose homes were taken by Jewish settlers.

Since the summer, dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists have been picked up, including those organizing weekly protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as well as others advocating international boycotts of Israeli goods.

Some of the Palestinians were released without charge only after weeks and months of questioning.

The arrests come at a time of shifting tactics in the protests against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and annexation of east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel captured both from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.

The violence of the second Palestinian uprising, with mass marches and violent attacks, has given way to carefully calibrated protests and legal action in which Israeli and Palestinian activists now often work together.

The main protest efforts are Friday demonstrations against the West Bank barrier in the Palestinian villages of Bilin and Naalin and vigils in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah, where Palestinians have been evicted.

There appears to be an increased police crackdown on the protests with greater numbers of activists being arrested.

In the West Bank, troops fire tear gas, stun grenades, and live rounds - even midnight arrest raids - to disperse anti-barrier protesters. Israel says the protests are illegal, and the harsh tactics are a response to stone-throwing and violent rioting.

In east Jerusalem, police have arrested some 70 demonstrators during marches in recent months, according to Israeli rights groups. On Friday's protest, police arrested 17 Israelis, including Hagai Elad, head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

They were released 36 hours later by a Jerusalem court, which found the gathering to be illegal, but the arrests unnecessary.

Elad said the arrests represent a "dramatic increase in attempts to silence dissent" that he believes began during last year's offensive in Gaza, when Israel arrested hundreds of anti-war protesters, mostly Arab citizens of Israel.

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld dismissed allegations of an arrest campaign and said recent protests in east Jerusalem did not have the required permits.

"There's no campaign whatsoever," he said. "When there's a right wing or left wing, or Jewish or non-Jewish or Christian or Muslim demonstration ... they have to be fully coordinated with the police."

The residents of Bilin have marched every Friday since 2005 toward the barrier that separates villagers from 60 percent of their land. Last year, Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu dropped by for a visit. Nearby Naalin started similar marches two years ago.

Israel says the barrier seeks to keep out Palestinian attackers, including suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a land grab because parts of it jut far into the West Bank.

The Bilin marchers, joined by Israeli sympathizers and international activists, chant and wave Palestinian flags. Some youths throw stones at Israeli soldiers. A Bilin man and five in Naalin have been killed and hundreds wounded over the years by soldiers. Israeli troops also have been injured, including one who lost an eye.

Since June, Israel has arrested almost three dozen villagers, mostly during night raids on the village, organizers say. More than 100 have been arrested in Naalin, including 16 in the past month.

Schoolteacher Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a leader of the Bilin protests, has been held since last month on charges of incitement and weapons possession - the latter stemming from spent Israeli tear gas canisters, stun grenades and other munitions he collected to show visitors.

Two high-profile Palestinian activists were recently released without being charged.

Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Stop The Wall campaign, was held for 17 days. Mohammed Othman, who encourages a boycott against Israel, was released after nearly four months.

Othman, who was arrested upon his return from an advocacy trip to Norway, said he was interrogated almost daily. "The questions focused on the boycott movement, 'How do you work on this and who are your contacts?'" said Othman, 33.

Interrogators searched his computer, his cell phone and e-mail accounts, he said. He had to pay a $2,700 bond.

Othman said he would continue with his activism. "I don't do anything illegal," he said. "All my work was out in the open."

I receive updates all the time from the Bil'in activists and there's so many incidents of Israeli harrassment and targeting of these Palestinian activists with anything from rubber bullets, tear gas canisters to live ammunition plus abductions of activist youths that I only post the most outrageous acts of Israeli police and IDF. Now at last the Washington Post has picked up their story which is where the article above comes from. Hopefully, with broader reporting Israelis will back off their hidden campaign to stop protesters of their apartheid Wall.

(While Turkey asks for inspection of Israel's hidden WMD's), 6 Major Powers Move Closer to Considering More Iran Sanctions

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Published: January 16, 2010

UNITED NATIONS — Six major powers agreed Saturday that the Iranian response to proposals to altering its nuclear development program had been inadequate and that it warranted consideration of further measures by the United Nations Security Council.

China, however, which sent a low-level diplomat to the meeting, maintained its position that it opposed new sanctions now. The five permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France — along with Germany have been pursuing a “dual track” policy under which they would seek a negotiated settlement, but if that effort stalled, further sanctions would be imposed.

“We talked mostly about the second track, but it doesn’t mean we should abandon the first one,” said Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s representative. “It is inconclusive in the sense that we didn’t make any decisions right away.”

Western officials tried to cast a positive light on the meeting by suggesting that all six were at least moving in the same direction, even if it was unclear that China remained committed to the idea of a second track.

“The credible threat of further pressure does create some leverage over the Iranian system,” said one Western diplomat engaged in the talks. The senior diplomats agreed to consult again by telephone before the end of the month on the next step.

Most countries were represented on the level of senior diplomats, the “political directors” of their foreign ministries, but China virtually snubbed the gathering by dispatching a counselor from its United Nations mission. He Yafei, the former vice minister of foreign affairs, has now been appointed the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and it is unclear who will eventually replace him in the talks.

The meeting Saturday was held in the New York offices of the European Union, whose representative said that there was at least “consensus” among the six nations to focus on the next step.

“We will continue to seek a negotiated solution, but consideration of appropriate further measures has also begun,” said Robert Cooper, a senior European Union official.

Both China and Russia voted in the Security Council for three previous rounds of sanctions, but only China has been outspoken in its recent opposition. Russia was upset that its offer to further enrich Iranian uranium at its facilities was rebuffed and that the Iranians did not seem serious about entering negotiations.

The Obama administration has also been dismayed that Iran has been dismissive of a yearlong effort to engage it. Iran maintains that its desire to enrich uranium is only for peaceful civilian purposes, but Western powers accuse it of using that as a smokescreen to develop nuclear weapons.

There is a sense of urgency about the matter, as there are concerns that Iran will develop the capacity to enrich uranium at the levels required for weapons, while negotiations drag on. In addition, the international Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is due for a review conference in May, and the Western powers want any new sanctions against Iran to be in place so as not to complicate any talks over the future of the treaty.

The Western major powers are protecting their oil interests in the Middle East that are threatened by Muslim nation ownership hostile to them. China needs the Western markets to continue to rise exponentially in economic power. Also China is doing to Tibet what Israel is doing to Palestine--takeover by force of arms and immigration of millions to make the indigenous population a minority group within their own country. So China backs Western fears of Iran--but not quite completely. None of them are willing to impose the same sanctions against Israel which has a secret WMD program.

Meet Michael Hicks – the boy who has been a terror suspect since he was 2

From The Times

January 16, 2010

James Bone in New York

Michael Hicks

Is little Mikey really a terrorist? That is the question America is asking after it emerged that the eight-year-old Cub Scout from New Jersey is frisked every time he flies because his name is on a US terror watchlist.

Michael “Mikey” Hicks, whose father is a US Navy veteran and mother a photojournalist who has flown with the US vice-president, has been the target of extra security measures at airports since he was 2. “Why would a kid be a terrorist?” he asks.

Michael is not on the US Government’s “no-fly” list of 2,500 people considered too dangerous to be allowed into the air. However, his name appears to be among, or to closely match, one of the 13,500 on the “selectee” list who are singled out for extra airport security.

His parents first learnt of his status when they could not get him a seat for a flight to Florida because, as an airline official explained, he was “on the list”. He was patted down for the first time aged 2 as he passed through Newark airport in New Jersey.

Michael has been asked to see the supervisor whenever he checks in for a flight. On a recent family trip to the Bahamas he was frisked on the way out and searched even more aggressively on the return flight.

Michael is the apparent victim of America’s increasingly heavy-handed system of airline security. The attempted “underwear bombing” of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day led US officials to add even more names to the country’s terror watchlists.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with trying to explode a bomb, was identified as a possible problem when his father in Nigeria alerted the US Embassy that he had expressed extreme views before disappearing.

The US Government added Mr Abdulmutallab to the 550,000-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database. But his name was not added to the “no-fly” list or the “selectee” list, so he was able to get on a US-bound plane without attracting extra attention. Hundreds of people have been added to these lists since the breakdown was identified.

The United States, though, is deeply reluctant to start profiling passengers by singling out Muslims. Instead the Obama Administration has taken an intermediate step by ordering full-body pat-downs for all US-bound passengers from Nigeria and 13 other countries where the US suspects that terrorists operate.

On its website, the Transportation Security Administration, which is responsible for airport security, insists that no eight-year-old boy is on the “no-fly” list.

“Airlines can and should automatically deselect any eight-year-olds out there that appear to be on a watchlist,” it says. “Whether you’re 8 or 80 the most common occurrence is name confusion and individuals are told they are on the no-fly list when, in fact, they are not.”

Michael’s mother, Najlah Feanny Hicks, has enlisted the help of her congressman to get the listing removed.

“You could have seen that he was 2; that he was 3, 4 or 5. Now it’s scary because he’s 8. What happens when he is 16?” she asked on the television channel CBS2.

Report: Turkey warns Lebanon that Israel may be planning attack

Last update - 11:45 14/01/2010
By Haaretz Service

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week warned Lebanese leaders that Israel may be planning an attack on its northern neighbor, Lebanese sources told the London-based Arabic language daily A-Sharq al-Awsat on Thursday.

At a meeting in Ankara with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Michel Suleiman on Monday, Erdogan declared that Israel was endangering world peace by using exaggerated force against the Palestinians, breaching Lebanon's air space and waters and for not revealing the details of its nuclear program.

Erdogan called on the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to pressure Israel over its nuclear program in the same way that the international community has been dealing with Iran.
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"Israel never denied that it has nuclear weapons," said Erdogan. "In fact, it has admitted to such."

"Those who are cautioning Iran must also caution Israel," Erdogan declared. "If we fail to display a fair attitude in this region, the problems will hit not only the region, but will spread elsewhere as well. The unrest of the Middle East is the unrest of the world."


Until recently, Turkey had been a solid ally of Israel's from the Muslim world. However, Ankara has taken a stance against Israel over last year's war in the Gaza Strip, leading to a deterioration of ties.

Erdogan made his comments on Monday after Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador in Israel for clarification regarding a recent television drama depicting actors dressed as Shin Bet officers who kidnap babies.

During the meeting, Turkey's ambassador was seated in a low sofa, and facing him, in higher chairs, were Ayalon and two other officials - an arrangement carried out at Lieberman's orders.

A photo-op was held at the start of the meeting, during which Ayalon told the photographers in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a
lower chair and we are in the higher ones, that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."

On Thursday, Erdogan confirmed Turkey had received an official apology from Israel over what the Turkish ambassador termed "humiliating" treatment by Ayalon, saying that it was "the expected and desired response."

Erdogan added more criticism of Israel, telling a news conference: "Israel must put itself in order and it must be more just and more on the side of peace in the region.

US denies role in Iran terror despite claims by LA group

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:09:23 GMT

Security officials at the scene of a remote-controlled bomb explosion in which an Iranian university lecturer was killed.

Even though a Los Angeles-based terror group claims responsibility for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran, Washington denies responsibility in the attack.

"The idea that charged the United States with having anything to do with a murder in Tehran in absurd," Gordon K Duguld, Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department said late Tuesday.

The American denial comes despite the fact the US-based monarchist group, the Iran Royal Association, declared responsibility for the terrorist attack only hours after the incident. It announced in a statement that its "Tondar Commandos" were behind the assassination of Dr. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi.

The obscure monarchist group, which seeks to reestablish the Pahlavi reign in Iran, operates a radio broadcast station in the United States and had previously stated that they were based in Los Angeles.

Washington, however, denied any knowledge of the group's statements.

"I'm unaware that this group has made any claim whatsoever," Duguld told a Press TV correspondent.

The Iran Royal Association, headed by Foroud Fouladvand, is also responsible for a deadly bombing in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz back in April 2008, during which 13 people were killed and hundreds were wounded.

Ali-Mohammadi, a lecturer at the University of Tehran and a devoted advocate of the Islamic Revolution, was killed when a booby-trapped motorbike exploded in front of his home in northern Tehran on Tuesday.

Iran charged Israel and the US with responsibility in the terrorist act based on their persistent threats against the Iranian nuclear program and their continued and public support of measures to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

"Primary investigations into the assassination revealed signs of the involvement of the Zionist regime [Israel], the US and their surrogates in Iran," the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has also reacted to the remarks, saying that "any suggestion that the CIA played a role here is flat wrong."

The United States Congress has been legislating an annual budget for more than two decades that is officially allocated for measures to destabilize and overthrow the Islamic government in Iran.

FF/MB

Iranian media: Iran suspects Israel, U.S. behind scientist's killing

January 12, 2010 -- Updated 1431 GMT (2231 HKT)

A photo released by Iran's Mehr agency shows the scene of the blast.

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the nuclear scientist killed in a bombing Tuesday was assassinated and the act "revealed signs of the involvement of the Zionist regime, the U.S. and their allies in Iran," state media reported.

Strongly condemning the killing of Mahmoud Mohammadi, ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said the participation of Israeli and American agents "runs counter to international regulations," Press TV reported.

Mehman-Parast said such actions would not affect Iran's nuclear program, emphasizing such "terrorist moves and apparent omission of Iranian nuclear scientists will definitely cause no obstacle in the way of the country's scientific and technological development. Rather they will speed up it."

News agencies reported conflicting accounts of the death. Fars News Agency said the bomb was placed in a garbage can outside the professor's house. Press TV said the bomb was placed inside a motorbike parked outside his house in the Qeytariyeh neighborhood in northern Tehran and was remotely detonated.

Not long after the killing, Iranian media were reporting a claim of responsibility from the Royal Association of Iran, which Press TV characterized as an "obscure monarchist group that seeks to reestablish the Pahlavi reign in Iran," a reference to the Shah of Iran's regime toppled in 1979.

After the monarchy was overthrown, Ayatollah Khomeini seized power declaring Iran an Islamic Republic with himself as supreme leader.

Press TV said the Royal Assocation of Iran is headed by Foroud Fouladvand, and is responsible for a deadly bombing in the southern city of Shiraz in April 2008 that killed 13 people and wounded hundreds more.

Fars reported that "members of this association had infiltrated into the country and had been active in the post-election riots of last June and played a part in setting public property on fire and inciting people to riot.

"It had been established during trials (of some of the members of this association) that they were in charge of showing people how to make Molotov cocktails and setting public places on fire."

Tehran's Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said Mohammadi taught neutron nuclear physics at Tehran University, Press TV reported, and the network said Mohammadi was a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolution.

Head of the Science Complex of the University of Tehran Ali Moqari told Mehr News Agency Tuesday that Mohammadi "was a prominent international figure, but had not been involved in any political activities." He said the professor was prominent in his field and had written books.

According to Fars, the Royal Association's statement said Mohammadi played "an active role during the recent disturbances in Tehran, dresses as a plainclothesman," a common reference to police and others working with security forces to quell riots.

"We declare with pride that we are Mohareb (those who wage war against God), yes, we are Mohareb," the association said, according to Fars.

Grass-roots outrage has swept Iran over the disputed presidential elections in June, when incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a second term. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to demonstrate against the official result, and that prompted a forceful and sometimes deadly government crackdown.

Muslims Opposed To Persecution Of Bahais

Muslims Opposed To Persecution Of Bahais

(Thank you, Glenn.)

Israel to construct barrier along Egyptian border

Egyptian security sources said they would not object to the barrier

Israel's government has approved plans for the construction of a barrier along its border with Egypt in a bid to keep out illegal migrants and militants.

It will be built along two parts of the border - near the Red Sea city of Eilat and on the edge of the Gaza Strip.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision was taken to secure Israel's Jewish and democratic character, but that refugees would still be allowed to seek entry.

In recent years, thousands of migrants have crossed into Israel via Egypt.

At least 17 migrants, mostly African, have been killed since May by Egyptian police, who say they are trying to stop people trafficking.

Eritrea is the most common country of origin for people trying to cross illegally from Egypt to Israel, followed by Ethiopia and Sudan.

'Illegal aliens'

On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said he had approved the construction of sections of barrier that would block the main infiltration routes along the 266km (166-mile) frontier, and the installation of advanced surveillance equipment.

The project is set to cost $270m and take two years to complete.

"I took the decision to close Israel's southern border to infiltrators and terrorists. This is a strategic decision to secure Israel's Jewish and democratic character," the prime ministers said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu said Israel would "remain open to refugees" from conflict zones, but added: "We cannot let tens of thousands of illegal workers infiltrate into Israel through the southern border and inundate our country with illegal aliens."

Egyptian security sources said Israel had not informed them of its plans, but that they would not object so long as the barrier was built on Israeli soil.

Israel has also been building a controversial barrier in and around the occupied West Bank in recent years. It says it is needed to defend Israeli citizens from attacks by militants. Palestinians, however, consider it a land grab.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an advisory ruling that the barrier was illegal and should be removed.

Egypt is meanwhile building an underground barrier along its border with Gaza to stem the smuggling of weapons through tunnels.

Key U.S. senators slam threat to withhold Israel loan guarantees:

Two key U.S. senators on Sunday dismissed Mideast envoy George Mitchell's suggestion that Washington withhold loan guarantees to pressure Israel.

"I don't think it's helpful and I don't agree with it," Republican John McCain said during a visit to Jerusalem. Independent Joe Lieberman, meanwhile, pledged a fight in Congress against any such move.

Israeli officials were up in arms Sunday after Mitchell posed the suggestion, meant to press Jerusalem to make concessions in negotiations with the Palestinians.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz saying that Israel was "doing just fine" without American loan guarantees.

"We don't need to use these guarantees," Israeli media quoted Steinitz as saying. "We are doing just fine. But several months ago we agreed with the American treasury on guarantees for 2010 and 2011, and there were no conditions."

The finance minister added that Israel was making every effort to advance peace talks with the Palestinians.


Talks broke down a year ago and have not resumed because the Palestinians insist that Israel first halt all construction on disputed lands they want for a future state. Israel says the Palestinians should return to the negotiating table without conditions.

Mitchell, when asked in a television interview last week what sort of pressure could be applied to Israel, replied that "under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel."

Mitchell told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose that George W. Bush's administration had done so in the past. But he quickly added that he preferred persuasion to sanctions.

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar also addressed Mitchell's remark, saying at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel will always act in accordance with its own needs, and not yield to external pressure. "The American administration knows that those who are holding up the negotiations are the Palestinians. Israel made many concessions while the Palestinians didn't do a thing."

Environment Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said he didn't think that there was anyone in the Israeli government who really believed that the U.S. really intends to withhold guarantees. "Israel's economy is pretty strong, and the threat wouldn't be appropriate," he said.

Under the Bush administration, Israel received billions of dollars in guarantees, which are U.S.-backed loans with favorable interest rates. In 2003, the U.S. whittled down the guarantees after Israel built part of its separation barrier inside the West Bank rather than completely along it on the Israeli side.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement in response to Mitchell's comments, pinning the blame for the negotiations logjam on the Palestinians.

"Everyone realizes that the Palestinian Authority refuses to renew peace talks, while Israel took significant steps to advance the process," the statement said.

In late November, Netanyahu announced a temporary construction freeze in West Bank settlements. The 10-month freeze does not apply to East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to establish a future capital.

Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967. The Palestinians and the international community consider Israeli construction in both areas to be settlement activity.

The Palestinians so far have rebuffed U.S. pressure to abandon their demand for a total construction freeze in both areas. They also want talks to resume where they left off under Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, who proposed sharing Jerusalem and ceding wide swaths of the West Bank to a future Palestinian state.

Israel says it has no preconditions for talks and is willing to immediately discuss all outstanding issues. But Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Israel does not intend to share Jerusalem and historically he has opposed giving up all the West Bank land the Palestinians claim.

The Palestinians say such positions offer little common ground for talks to succeed.

On Friday, the Obama administration laid out a major shift in its Mideast peace strategy, suggesting both sides move past this impasse by tackling defining borders for a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that dealing with those matters first would eliminate Palestinian concerns about continued construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians' immediate response was to hold fast to their demand for a complete construction freeze: If Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas retreats now from his demand for a complete settlement freeze, that could further hurt his standing among Palestinians who are increasingly skeptical about peace efforts.

However, if the new U.S. strategy will include support for holding the talks based on 1967 borders, Abbas could present that as a major achievement.

Greater clarity is expected after Mitchell visits Israel and the Palestinian territories later this month. He plans to visit Paris and Brussels first to build support for the approach from European officials.

Amnesty urges Israel to release or try Palestinians

(AFP) – 13 hours ago

JERUSALEM — Human rights group Amnesty International urged Israel on Friday to release or fairly try three Palestinian jailed for protesting against the West Bank separation barrier.

The three, two of whom are held without charges, may be "prisoners of conscience, held for legitimately voicing their opposition to the fence/wall," Amnesty said in a letter to Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

"These men have all been involved in campaigning against the building of this construction, much of it on the land of the occupied West Bank, and we fear that this is the real reason for their imprisonment," said Malcolm Smart, the director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Programme.

"If this is the case they must be released immediately and unconditionally."

Jamal Juma, coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign, has not been charged with any offence since his arrest on December 16 and has not had access to his lawyer.

He is held under Israeli military law, which applies to the occupied West Bank.

"As someone who holds a Jerusalem ID card, according to Israeli law his case should be handled under the country?s civil, not military, legal system," the London-based human rights watchdog said.

Mohammed Othman is also held without charge since September 22. He was arrested upon his return from Norway where he met activist groups and campaigned against the wall, Amnesty said.

Abdullah Abu Rahma, who heads Popular Committee Against the Wall in the West Bank village of Bilin, was arrested on December 10.

He has been charged with incitement, stone-throwing, and possession of arms, the latter for collecting spent cartridges and tear gas grenades used by Israeli forces to disperse anti-wall protesters.

"These three men are all well known for their defence of the human rights of Palestinians. In the unlikely event that there are genuine grounds to prosecute these men, they should be charged with recognisable criminal offences and brought promptly to trial in full conformity with international fair trial standards," said Smart.

Israel says the barrier helps prevent attacks against its citizens, Palestinians call it an "apartheid wall," and the international community say the parts built West Bank rather than along its border with Israel are illegal.

According to UN figures, Israel has so far completed 413 kilometres (256 miles) of its planned 709-kilometre (435-mile) barrier, a network of walls, barbed-wire fences, trenches, and closed military roads.

When completed, 85 percent of the wall will have been built inside the West Bank, leaving 9.5 percent of the territory and 35,000 Palestinians between the barrier and the Green Line.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved

Israel to Pay U.N. $10.5 Million for Gaza Damage

Wall Street Journal
By JOSHUA MITNICK and JOE LAURIA

UNITED NATIONS -- A U.N. official has confirmed that Israel has agreed to pay the U.N. around $10.5 million in compensation for damage to U.N. property and for the life of a U.N. driver during Israel's war last winter against Gaza.

The official said a joint announcement by Israel and the U.N. was possible later on Thursday.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was in Israel during one of the incidents, demanded $11.2 million from Israel for damage to two U.N. schools and a World Food Program warehouse in Gaza City. The family of a driver of a U.N. truck, who the U.N. says was killed as a result of Israeli fire, would be compensated, the U.N. official said.

It was not expected that Israel would accompany the payment with an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the U.N. official said. Israel has said that the damage to U.N. property was a result of collateral damage since it says Gazan militants were fighting near the properties.

Israeli Occupation Forces pay a "social visit" to Bil'in today

Israeli Occupation Forces pay a "social visit" to Bil'in today
http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=235&Itemid=1

"Just doing my job" At Dawn today, some 35 to 40 Israeli Occupation Forces in 6 jeeps and a troop carrier raided the home of Rani Ayub in the West Bank village of Bil'in: there were no arrests as Rani was arrested four weeks ago in his home and has been held, incommunicado, since then in the notorious Mascobia (Russian Compound) police/interrogation center in West Jerusalem with no family visits, access to lawyers or even a charge. Iyad Burnat, head of Bil'in's Popular Committee say's the occupation soldiers were on a trawling exercise, seeking documentation and Rani Ayub's mobile phone. http://www.indymedia.ie/article/95372
When repeatedly challenged to justify their heavy presence in the village, all that was proffered by way of explanation was that they were there "to talk" and and one at least was "just doing his job."

This raid follows hard on the heels on what appears to be an attempted kidnapping of children in Bil'in yesterday which was foiled by Bil'in photographer; Hamde Abu Rahma who discovered them hiding in an olive grove well equipped with creature comforts such as camping matts for sleeping to ease the discomfort of lying flat on the ground - two Bil'in children; Amar Rayed Al-Kateeb, 13, and Sameer Jadallah Al-Kateeb, 14, were kidnapped by IOF soldiers two weeks ago whilst playing in an olive grove on the outskirts of the village close to the Apartheid Wall, Sameer is still held incommunicado in Israeli custody, Amar was released in the the early hours of the following day to his parents.

In the ongoing repression and criminalisation of all nonviolent resistance to the occupation the present modus operandi of the Israelis is to arrest or kidnap Palestinian children or teenagers and terrorise false confessions out of them in order to frame the prime movers in the peaceful protests or else charge the leading lights with bizarre Kafkaesque offences such as that of Bil'in Popular Committee Coordinator, Abdullah Abu Rahma, who faces a charge of "possession of arms" (spent tear gas canisters). So it goes in the West Bank and Bil'in.

Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin

Email- bel3in@yahoo.com
Mobile- (00972) (0) 547847942
Office- (00972) (2) 2489129
Mobile- (00972) (0) 598403676
www.bilin-ffj.org

From Mazin Qumsiyeh's Journal--

Dear friends:

My wife and I are now in Italy to give a few talks and maybe get a break
from the jail of Bethlehem under apartheid.    Every time I visit Europe or
other countries I wonder why can't we get to live a normal life in a normal
country in Palestine.  Israelis pretend they live in a normal country.
Having removed most of the natives and confined the rest to ghettos and
bantustans, the Israeli public by and large goes around pretending that
everything is normal; that Israel is like any European country.  It has a
parliament albeit it spends time deciding who is a Jew entitled to automatic
citizenship and how to strip non-Jews of citizenship), a military, a high
tech industry, universities, bars, fancy restaurants, elites and poor
people, religious and secular etc. But deep down Israelis know that this is
all a mirage and an illusion.  Afterall, here in Europe, there are no walls,
no checkpoints, and no two systems of laws for people living in the same
country.  As I was leaving the occupied areas through the only crossing
allowed to us (into Jordan via King Hussain Bridge), a man on the bus
commented as we reached the fifth checkpoint that the reason Israelis are so
paranoid with all this security is because they know the country is not
theirs.

Ofcourse many Zionist Israelis were brainwashed to think that the reason
they are paranoid is because the world is anti-Semitic; they hate us for
being Jews not for anything we have been doing to them.  The victimhood
pathology started rather early with the myth of the exodus from Egypt
(archeologists and historians have long shown that this notion of
enslavement in Egypt and redemption is simply not consistent with the facts
or the historical record).  People who believed in certain ways indeed were
persecuted for their beliefs/who they are but this is not unique for a
particular group of people.  Christians were historically persecuted (they
were literally hunted down and fed to lions for the first 300 years) and
Muslims and Armenians, and Gypsies and all others.

Perhaps no people on earth have suffered as much as Natives in North and
South America.  Estimates of 50-100 million people perished in the 100 years
after the European invasion.  What we are being told at schools in the West
(under great pressure from Zionist lobby groups) is that Jewish suffering is
somehow different than suffering by others (as if we are children of a
lesser God or that God does have a chosen ppeople). While each atrocity in
the world is unique, it is simply not valid to engage in comparative
martyrology let alone determine a priori who has suffered historically the
most. Just because someone is Jewish (or Christian or Muslim) today does not
mean that they are related to those Jews (or Muslims or Christians) who
lived in the Arab world hundreds of years ago let alone have a continuity
obligating them to get revenge for the atrocities from people who had
nothing to do with it. It is simply not right or decent (or sustainable) to
use injustice done hundreds of years ago to justfy doing an injustice to
someone else TODAY.

Today 11 million Palestinians live in the most deplorable coonditions.  7
million are refugees or displaced people, the rest live in isolated ghettos,
impoversished and marginalized.  Israeli authorities come up with scheme
after scheme to continue this process of marginalizing and hurting us.
Using their leverge with great powers, they get puppet regimes in Egypt and
elsewhere in the Arab world to do their bidding.  Egyptian government's lame
attempts to justify sealing off 1.5 million people in Gaza (70% of them
refugees) from the outside world simply does not hold water. More and more
people see the injustice.  Yet Israeli defenders and their puppets still
cling to self-delusions.  Histrory will not be kind to them.  But history
will not be kind to Arabs also nor to other people who go about their daily
life ignoring glaring injustice. Even in dictatorioal regimes, governments
do not get away with what they do unless they are able to get the consent
and acquiescence of the people.  People can believe the lies and the
distortions or not believe them and still acquiesce because they have little
self confidence.

People have more power than their governments want them to have and (more
importantly) want them to believe they have. Effecting change first of all
requires education.  The first is education to let people know that their
governments lie to them all the time.  Thus, when the Israeli government
tells its people that building walls and oppressing others is for their
security, this should be exposed as lies.  When the Jordanian government
uses the slogan "Jordan First" or the Egyptian government uses the slogan
"Egypt above all" that these are lies. Egypt security and sovereignity for
example is not threatened by the starving Gazans but by the enslavement of
its rulers to outside agendas (and two billion in conditional US aid that
goes to support the elites). People are first and people of this part of the
world would all prosper if all these governments step aside and let people
connect to other people.  Direct rail links and direct travel without
restrictions without borders would be good for people, for their economy and
for their prosperity. Narrow nationalism (especially the fake varieties of
it like ethnocentric chauvenistic nationalism exemplified by Zionism) is not
good for anyone. Does it make sence that I can travel between France,
Germany, Spain and Italy without visas or checkpoints while traveling even
with one and among several middle Eastern Countries is like traveling in
Apartheid South Africa while being black? This when the total population of
the five countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region does not add up to
half the population of Italy or even the population of one city in China.
Ironiaclly, all these "countries" were created and supported by Europeans
(who are now abandoning nationalism).

Anyway, those of us who like Arundhati Roy believe "not only is another
world possible, on a quiet day I can hear her breathing", those of us who
believe in people not governments, will contnue to work to welcome this new
world. BTW, If you are in Italy, email us so that we can get together while
we are here (through the 12th).

Action as always is required and is the antidote of despair.  Boycotts,
divestments and sanctioons as well as reaching out with education to others.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
A bedouin a cyberspace, a villager at home (and whose tent now is pitched in
Rome)
http://qumsiyeh.org

Israelis protest Gaza blockade

Aljazeera.net

The protest in Tel Aviv marked the first anniversary of Israel's war on Gaza [AFP] Hundreds of Israelis have rallied in central Tel Aviv to protest against the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. Israeli Arab and Jewish activists marched on Saturday in the city's Rabin square, chanting slogans and waving signs calling for "Freedom and Justice in Gaza". The protesters demanded Israel end the blockade, deeming its continuation a "war crime", the AFP news agency reported. The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007 when Hamas seized power in the territory. String of demonstrations Hundreds of international protesters held a similar demonstration on Thursday on both sides of an Israeli border crossing to the Palestinian territory. The Erez crossing is the main entry and exit point to and from Gaza used by medical patients, journalists, diplomats and aid groups. in depth The events coincide with the one-year anniversary of Israel's 22-day war on Gaza which left about 1,300 Palestinians dead. Thirteen Israelis also died in the clashes. A further 100,000 Gazan residents were left homeless in the wake of the Israeli onslaught. A UN-sponsored report, known as the Goldstone report, has called on both Israel and Hamas to investigate accusations of human-rights violations committed during the conflict in Gaza. Most of the criticism in the Goldstone report was directed towards Israel. It concluded that Israel had used disproportionate force and had deliberately targeted Gaza civilians, using them as human shields, while destroying civilian infrastructure.

PNA urges Israel to drop controversial prisoners law

2010-01-02 23:32:15

RAMALLAH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority(PNA) on Saturday called on Israel to cancel a controversial law it uses to hold prisoners without a trial or keep them jailed after their terms were over. The PNA "has raised this issue before international circles and human rights groups and resorted to the Israeli courts to drop the law but the results were fruitless," Eissa Qaraqe', Palestinian minister of prisoners affairs, told Xinhua. This law "violates the Palestinian prisoners' rights and the human values," he added. Israel has ratified the "illegal warrior law" in 2002 and applied it to Palestinians arrested in the Gaza Strip during its three-week military operation in the Hamas-controlled territory that ended on January 18, 2009. Israel also used the law to keep two Lebanese prisoners until it gets information on the whereabouts of Ron Arad, a fighter pilot who went missing since his jet crashed over Lebanon in 1986.Later, in 2008, Israel freed the two hostages in a prisoner exchange deal with Hezbollah. In 2007, Hamas seized control in Gaza after it routed security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas and a year after it had captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel deals with Gaza as a hostile entity. According to Qaraqe', Israel still holds some Gazans without trial and refused to release others whose imprisonment terms were over. "Those prisoners are deprived of getting any aid from rights organizations and their families are not allowed to visit them," he said. During last winter offensive in Gaza, Israel arrested about 1,000 Palestinians, said Abdul Nasser Ferwana, a prisoner rights activist. He said Israel refuses to reveal too much information about those prisoners "and most of them might have been held under the illegal warrior law, or killed during the assault but Israel kept their bodies."

Happy New Year! May 2010 be better than 2009 was!

Why this blog is focused on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

I keep my blog focused on the Israel-Palestinian conflict because to me it is the root problem for peace activists to address. America's support for the proven human rights violating state of Israel, the place where war criminals are routinely elected to high office, is the major issue behind most all Muslim hatred of Westerners and particularly Westerners who support Israel. Zionists are keeping the world at war in my opinion and doing it to protect their dying cause-Zionist racism that seeks to ethnically cleanse Palestine of Palestinian Gentile Muslims and Christians so that the Jewish state of Israel can be created where Palestine once was. Zionism cannot be morally supported and Zionists know this and so they will use Joseph McCarthy-type smear tactics on anyone who criticizes Israeli policies. This list grows ever longer and ever more absurd each year as Zionist Jews attack the reputations of well-known honorable people such as Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu.

Exposure of Zionist Jewish political pressure on U.S. foreign policy is what Americans need to see for themselves to realize America has a real 5th Column operating in this country composed of Zionist Jews in high office who are working for a foreign government--Israel. They are so confident now of having bamboozled Americans for so long about Israel's war with Muslims with Zionist Jewish control of major U.S. information sources and cultural influences such as Hollywood movies that they can openly state their support for Israel while serving as elected representatives and appointed officials in Washington D.C., knowing that anyone who dares criticize them will be almost instantly branded as an "anti-Semite". And this smear tactic works! Because the information Americans have been receiving about Jewish concerns has been thoroughly stripped of anti-Zionist counter information. So anti-Zionist blogs and websites are necessary to get unbiased news about Israel and Zionist influence information to the people. As Americans our democracy and world peace cannot afford to have a foreign nation running America's foreign policy.