Peace and Justice Post

INF.Com, May, Thursday, May 15th, 2008

By Praful Bidwai | Protests are mounting all over the world against the year-long detention of Dr. Binayak Sen, a distinguished Indian human rights and health activist, under draconian laws in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Sen, national vice president and Chhattisgarh general secretary of the well-known People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), was arrested under allegations of helping left-wing extremists, known in this country as Naxalites.

The charges shocked human rights organisations and citizens’ groups, which on independent investigation, have found them totally fictitious. They believe that the Chhattisgarh government filed them to harass Sen and set a horribly negative example for all civil liberties activists and intimidate them.

Sen is probably India’s first human rights defender to have faced such prolonged detention.

Sen’s detention raises serious questions about the content and quality of democracy in India, and the state’s failure to respect liberties and fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It also points to links between human rights violations and the government’s social and economic policies.

The protesters are demanding Sen’s unconditional release, repeal of the Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, (PSA), and the disbanding of a state-sponsored right-wing militia called Salwa Judum, which has been rampaging through the state killing and maiming people in the guise of fighting Naxalites.

Continued . . .

Haaretz, Israel, May 16, 2008

By Barak Ravid and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

Sources in Jerusalem believe that the U.S. administration could carry out an operation against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime over the next year, Army Radio reported on Friday.

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said the possibility was discussed in closed talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. President George Bush, during the latter’s visit to Israel this week.

The officials said that Bush wants to deal with Iran on a root level, to weed out the negative influence aiding militant groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, the radio said.

Continued . . .

Dr Paul Craig Roberts | Antiwar.com, May 16, 2008

On May 15, the White House Moron, in a war-planning visit to Israel, justified the naked aggression he and Olmert are planning against Iran as the only alternative to “the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

But the White House Moron has the roles reversed. It is not Iran that is threatening war. It is Bush. It is not Bush who is appeasing. It is Iran.

Iran has not responded in kind to any of Bush’s warlike moves and provocations. Iran has not sunk a single one of our sitting duck ships and has not given the Iraqi insurgents any weapons that would easily turn the tide of war against the US.

It is Bush, not Iran, who sounds like Adolf Hitler blustering and threatening. It is Bush’s American Brownshirts, the neocons, who express the view: “what’s the good of nuclear weapons if you can’t use them.”

Continued . . .

The demand to make Palestinian rights a reality is no longer simply a matter of justice but also of self-interest

• 
• Seumas Milne, The Guardian, Thursday May 15 2008

George Bush arrived in Jerusalem yesterday to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary and talk up what has to be the most bizarre proposal yet for achieving peace: a “shelf agreement”. This, Bush explained before he set out, would be a “description” of a Palestinian state to be hammered out between the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert before the end of the year. The idea would then be to put this virtual state on the shelf until the time might be right for it to be turned into a reality. In perfect step, Tony Blair announced that he has succeeded in negotiating the removal of three checkpoints and one roadblock on behalf of the Quartet of big powers and the UN – out of a total of 560 throughout the West Bank – but Israel will only actually remove them “in the future”.

In other words, it’s business as usual, as the crisis of occupation deepens. Neither man, meanwhile, seems to have thought it right to offer any words of condolence to the Palestinians, whose national dispossession and suffering were also unleashed by the creation of the state. That is why today – the anniversary of the end of the British mandate in Palestine and the declaration of Israeli statehood – is also a day of mourning for 10 million Palestinians and their supporters: the commemoration of the nakba, or catastrophe, that led to the destruction of their society and expulsion from their homeland. Ninety years after the Balfour declaration – when on behalf of one people a British cabinet minister famously promised a second the land of a third – the ruins of more than 500 Arab villages destroyed and emptied of their people in 1948 can still be seen all over Israel.

Continued . . .

The Broken Record Continues

By HAMDAN A. YOUSUF and DANIA S. AHMED | Counterpunch, May 15, 2008

We are a generation defined by war. Shattering the idyllic innocence of our youth, September 11th fell upon us like a convulsion, bringing us face-to-face with the catastrophic consequences of American foreign policy. New terms were shoved down our throats, the media playing its part to inculcate them into our daily lives: terrorism, patriotism, red alert, liberation, and homeland security all became part of our vocabulary. Like deer caught in headlights, we struggled to come to terms with this overnight upheaval in our worldview.

“Muslims are terrorists,” we were told. “They want to destroy us.” Paralyzed and in shock, we asked, our voices full of trepidation, “We are Muslims. Do we want to destroy us?” We were told to keep quiet and b good citizens—not asking too many questions and submitting to authority. And so, the war generation came of age.

The years passed, thousands more Americans died, hundreds of thousands of the ‘other’ were bombed out of existence, and the perpetrators of September 11th were never found. “How does this story end?” you might be tempted to ask. And that’s just it. It doesn’t. Nearly seven years after the onset of the ‘War on Terror,’ the broken record of American imperialism continues to play. Only we’ve gotten so used to hearing it that many of us have learned to tune it out.

The idea of America as a hegemonic power, exerting its influence all over the world, dominating and conquering at any cost is nothing new. The genocide of millions of Native Americans and the enslavement of the black race bears witness to the blood-drenched nature of our past. The most horrifying of crimes were justified with the obscene claim that the oppressors were acting in the best interests of those they oppressed. Thus, the extermination of an entire people was ‘manifest destiny’ while the colonization of Africa was actually a ‘civilizing mission.’ One would like to think that we have made great strides towards overcoming this legacy, but as the events of the past few years demonstrate, that might be wishful thinking.

After it became clear that Iraq posed no threat to the United States, the Bush administration seized upon a new justification for the war: to liberate the Iraqi people. One would have expected that five years of bloody occupation would have demonstrated the fallacy of imperialism in the name of liberation. Yet, despite costs of over $500 billion and unimaginable loss of life, some continue to advocate a continued American presence in Iraq for as long as a hundred years. More disturbingly, the same faulty logic that was used to justify the war in the first place seems to be alive and well.

Continued . . .

Uruknet, May 14, 2008

Stuart Littlewood

Photo: The Tank, Musa al-Shaer The West’s leaders mark the Rogue State’s 60th birthday with a back-slapping show of friendship… but what are they so pleased about? Israel has ethnically cleansed and oppressed the Palestinian people for 60 years Israel continues to occupy, rob, humiliate, threaten and slaughter its neighbours Israel’s military occupation of Palestine is illegal under international law and breaches countless UN resolutions Israel is no western-style democracy. It is hatefully racist 8 Palestinians die for every Israeli; when it comes to children the kill-rate is 11 to 1. The Israel lobby has undue influence over many elected western politicians and government ministers, distorting foreign policy Israel’s cheer-leaders kick up a fuss about one captured Israeli soldier while 9000 Palestinians, including women and children, languish in Israeli jails. Israel relentlessly pursues a policy of displacement, i.e. exile and deportation, economic impoverishment, land expropriation, revoking residency rights, etc, to expand its borders. The siege of Gaza will end if the Qassam rockets stop, says Israel. No rockets are fired from the West Bank but Israel still occupies it, steals it, terrorises it and dumps toxic waste and raw sewage there. Of the 1.4 million people squashed into Gaza, two-thirds are refugees from Israel’s land-grabs. Now they are blockaded, blitzed and blasted with sophisticated weaponry paid for with US tax dollars. Gaza’s 3000 fishermen have no fuel for their boats. If they do put to sea they risk being shelled by Israeli patrol vessels. Half the dialysis and other machines in Gaza’s hospitals are out of action because the Israelis won’t let spares in, or even essential drugs. Israel is paralysing the Christian Church and terrorising the Holy Land’s Christian communities. Knowing all this, our prime minister Gordon Brown calls the State of Israel one of the ‘greatest achievements’ of the 20th century. “Let us all stand ready to help Israel find a truly secure place in a peaceful Middle East,” he says in a speech to mark the entity’s celebrations. Has the wee man lost his marbles? Jews themselves are critical of the Jewish state. In addition to the many well-known individuals who speak out, a number of organisations stand against the unspeakable abuses practiced by the Israel… Rabbis for Human Rights, ICAHD, Neturei Karta, Peace Now, Independent Jewish Voice, Gush Shalom, the human rights organisation B’Tselem and many more. Yesh Gvul supports Israeli soldiers who refuse to take part in acts of oppression and occupation. We salute them all. Why do so many of our politicians carry on a love affair with Israel? Continued . . .

BBC News, May 15, 2008

Palestinians view Israel’s founding as a catastrophe

Palestinians are marking the 60th anniversary of al-Nakba, or “the catastrophe” – the founding of Israel – with a series of marches and protests.

More than 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were expelled in 1948, during the war that followed Israel’s declaration of independence.

The events come on the second day of US President George W Bush’s visit.

He is currently in Israel, joining the Jewish state’s 60th anniversary commemorations and pushing peace talks.

Palestinians are marking the date with a march to Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank and a demonstration at the Palestinian Authority president’s compound in Ramallah.

In Gaza City, the Islamic Jihad militant group has organised a rally of 500 schoolchildren dressed in military uniforms.

Continued . . .

Suspected missile strike hits Pakistan border village, about 12 people reported dead

HABIBULLAH KHAN
AP News, May 14, 2008 18:22 EST

A suspected missile strike late Wednesday destroyed a house and killed about a dozen people in a Pakistan border village that was targeted by the U.S. military two years ago in the hunt for al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader.

Residents said at least two explosions rocked Damadola village, in the Bajur tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, around 8 p.m. They reported seeing drone aircraft flying in the area before the blasts and said Taliban militants cordoned off the area afterward.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the incident or any claim of responsibility. Pakistan’s army said it had no information about a missile strike.

The explosions came as Pakistani authorities and Taliban militants exchanged dozens of prisoners in the latest step in a peace process that is stirring growing alarm in the West. NATO claims it militant incursions into Afghanistan have increased.

Pakistan has said it does not allow U.S. forces to operate on its territory. But villagers in the region, which is a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, have reported seeing U.S. drones fire missiles at suspected militant targets on several occasions in recent years.

Villager Ibrahim Khan said at least 15 people were killed in the explosions in Damadola. He said local Taliban leaders had gathered for a feast at the targeted house. He reported secondary explosions, suggesting weapons had been stored inside.

Continued . . .

The Baltimore Sun, May 14, 2008

By Alice Rothchild

This spring we are obsessed with anniversaries: the fifth year since the invasion of Iraq, the 40th since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and, of course, the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence. Each such marker shapes our understanding of history, framing how a story is to be told and how it is to be remembered. I am struck by one conspicuous anniversary that is not making many headlines.

On tour recently in the U.S., Eitan Bronstein, director of the Israeli organization Zochrot, explained that “zochrot” is the Hebrew word for “remembering,” intentionally used in its feminine form to imply that this organization is not about the standard history of schoolbooks but about a memory grounded in compassion. Zochrot focuses on educating Israelis about the other side of the 1948 War of Liberation, the dispossession and expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians living in what was to become Israel. Through careful documentation of the locations of more than 450 destroyed Palestinian villages, by interviewing and photographing Palestinians living in Israel and surrounding refugee camps, Zochrot creates a living human memory that encompasses the other side of history.

Mr. Bronstein has been touring with Mohammad Jaradat, a Palestinian activist, negotiator at the Madrid peace talks and co-founder of Badil, Arabic for “alternative,” a foundation that researches and advocates for Palestinian residency and refugee rights. He is part of a vigorous Palestinian movement for civil society that is largely unknown in the U.S.

Continued . . .

The Independent, May 15, 2008

Yesterday was the day when, 60 years ago, Israel was launched as a new state by the UN. Today is the day the Palestinians mourn what they regard as Nakba, the “catastrophe”. President Bush arrived in Jerusalem to attend the 60th Israeli anniversary dinner yesterday. Presumably he will not be attending any of the Palestinian Nakba functions today.

Which really says it all about those six decades. Israel celebrates as Bush arrives to talk of a peace that almost all of its citizens say they want, but virtually none believe will actually happen. The Palestinians mourn, fobbed off with promises of economic assistance and the dream of a separate state, whilst knowing full well that when it comes to it, the West will always side with Israel in any fundamental quarrel with the Arabs.

“Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than the 43rd President of the United States,” Vice-President Dick Cheney told a Washington reception for Israel’s 60th birthday last week. Which is no more than the truth. Over the last five years, and particularly since 9/11, the US President and the Vice-President have accepted totally Israel’s view of its security needs, its insistence on expanded borders and its refusal to take back Palestinian refugees.

Continued . . .