He is a rarity, even among that most endangered of species, the Israeli peace activist. Born in Basra to an Iraqi Jewish family, Ezra Nawi lives on the modest wages he earns as a plumber. As such, he comes from the same background which generates the hardline views in Israel. So he was speaking to his own kind when he told laughing border police who had just demolished Palestinian Bedouin shacks that all they would leave behind was hatred. Not content with the Bedouin shacks, the prosecuting authorities are now trying to demolish Mr Nawi’s life by threatening him with a prolonged stay in prison. His arresting officers claim that the non-violent resister had assaulted them – although the alleged assault was not included in their original statements. The whole incident (barring the alleged assault, of course) was caught on film, but the presiding judge believed the police. The sentencing was delayed on Wednesday because so many supporters turned up in court, some bearing a petition with 15,000 signatures.
Mr Nawi is asking a bigger question of his countrymen: who is perpetrating the greater violence? Is it people like him, or is it a state which bulldozes Palestinian shacks while protecting the homes of South Hebron settlers which the rest of the world considers illegal? As Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu trade in the semantics of a settlement freeze, it falls to a humble plumber to focus the world’s attention on the routine brutalities of occupation.
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 2, 2009 12:19 PM |
CONTACT: Amnesty International Tel: +44 (0) 20 7413 5566 After hours: +44 7778 472 126 Email: press@amnesty.org |
LONDON – July 2 – Pakistan’s central and regional governments must urgently do more to assist the more than two million people who have fled escalating fighting in northwestern Pakistan but do not have access to aid distributed in official displacement camps, Amnesty International said today. In particular, the Pakistani government must ensure that ethnic Pashtuns fleeing the fighting do not face discrimination in receiving assistance.
“As the fighting expands to North and South Waziristan, a displacement crisis that the government had said would last only for weeks looks set to go on for months, with no relief in sight for the millions of displaced people,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “To make matters worse, the vast majority of displaced people are living outside the registered camps where aid agencies are distributing shelter, food and water to those in need.”
Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to remain stationed at dozens of U.S. military bases throughout the country
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The corporate media is getting all giddy and affording blanket coverage to the story of Iraqis who are “regaining their sovereignty” as U.S. troops are pulled out from Iraqi cities. This is of course lurid and baseless propaganda – hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq stationed at the dozens of military bases that have been built across the country.
“As of now, there are approximately 130,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq. Most of the U.S. soldiers that had been deployed in Iraqi cities are being returned to garrison elsewhere in country. The United States Air Force controls Iraq’s airspace. The United States Navy controls Iraq’s territorial waters,” points out the Cryptogon blog.
“Sovereignty: No. Propaganda: Yes.”
After the “official” full withdrawal date of 2011, which Admiral Mike Mullen has indicated isn’t even guaranteed, “Mr. Obama plans to leave behind a “residual force” of tens of thousands of troops to continue training Iraqi security forces, hunt down foreign terrorist cells and guard American institutions,” reported the New York Times back in February.
“Residual force” is a euphemism for “occupying army,” since only the most stupidly naive could ever believe that Iraq is now nothing more than a subservient client state of the new world order empire.
A senior military officer spelled it out more plainly to the Los Angeles Times, “When President Obama said we were going to get out within 16 months, some people heard, ‘get out,’ and everyone’s gone. But that is not going to happen,” the officer said.
Indeed, at the last count which took place nearly three years ago, the U.S. military had already built no less than 55 fully functional military bases in Iraq, with funding in place to build many more.
Furthermore, U.S. troops aren’t even leaving the cities altogether. Reports confirm that U.S. tanks will continue to patrol the areas outside of the “green zone” and the airport in Baghdad. The streets of major cities will still be patrolled by U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers manning checkpoints everywhere harassing people for ID. In addition, if the Iraqis “request help” from U.S. troops to undertake security procedures, they’ll be right back on the streets just as before.
Iraqis themselves are not fooled by the charade. As the New York Times admits, the “celebrations” today “seemed contrived”, “Police cars were festooned with plastic flowers, and signs celebrating “independence day” were tied to blast walls and fences around the city. On Monday, night a festive evening celebration in Zahra Park with singers and entertainers drew primarily young men, many of them off-duty police officers,” according to the report.
“There is no doubt this is not national sovereignty because the Americans will stay inside Iraq in military bases,” said Najim Salim, 40, a teacher in Basra. “But the government wants to convince the citizens that there is a withdrawal of foreign troops, although the government could not protect citizens in some cities in Iraq even with the presence of U.S. forces.”
According to Websters dictionary, “sovereignty” is defined as “freedom from external control”.
Anyone who believes that Iraq is a sovereign country and has “freedom from external control,” or will ever achieve it while hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed at dozens of bases throughout the country, probably still believes that Saddam was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Herb Keinon and AP, The Jerusalem Post, July 2, 2009
Israel privately heaved a sigh of relief Thursday at the election of Japan’s Yukiya Amano to replace Mohamed ElBaradei as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
New director general of the IAEA, Japan’s Yukiya Amano, is seen after his election in Vienna, Austria, Thursday.
Photo: AP
The relief comes both because the tenure of ElBaradei, with whom Israel has had a rocky relationship, is about to end, and because Amano beat out South Africa’s candidate, Abdul Samad Minty.
While officially Israel had no comment on the development, privately, government sources said Amano was Israel’s preferred candidate.
| Al Jazeera, July 3, 2009 |
|||
An unmanned US drone aircraft has reportedly carried out a missile strike on Taliban targets near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Missiles struck targets in parts of South Waziristan, in an area controlled by Pakistani Taliban leader and al-Qaeda ally Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistani intelligence officials have said. The missile strike hit a suspected training facility in the village of Montoi in South Waziristan. A suspected militant hide-out in Kokat Khel was also hit. There are believed to be casualties from the attack which took place early on Friday morning. Pakistani aircraft are also reported to have carried out an attack on two targets in North Waziristan in which up to 11 people are said to have been killed. Imran Khan, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Islamabad, said the US military has not responded to the attacks. “The US never ever confirms whether they are behind these suspected drone strikes but popularly, it is believed that this is the kind of attack the US has made within this very troubled area of Pakistan before and they area likely to be behind these attacks,” he said.” “Drone strikes are causing much controversy in Pakistan – many people say they have killed a number of innocent civilians and act as more of a recruitment tool for Pakistan Taliban.” |
He is a rarity, even among that most endangered of species, the Israeli peace activist. Born in Basra to an Iraqi Jewish family, Ezra Nawi lives on the modest wages he earns as a plumber. As such, he comes from the same background which generates the hardline views in Israel. So he was speaking to his own kind when he told laughing border police who had just demolished Palestinian Bedouin shacks that all they would leave behind was hatred. Not content with the Bedouin shacks, the prosecuting authorities are now trying to demolish Mr Nawi’s life by threatening him with a prolonged stay in prison. His arresting officers claim that the non-violent resister had assaulted them – although the alleged assault was not included in their original statements. The whole incident (barring the alleged assault, of course) was caught on film, but the presiding judge believed the police. The sentencing was delayed on Wednesday because so many supporters turned up in court, some bearing a petition with 15,000 signatures. Mr Nawi is asking a bigger question of his countrymen: who is perpetrating the greater violence? Is it people like him, or is it a state which bulldozes Palestinian shacks while protecting the homes of South Hebron settlers which the rest of the world considers illegal? As Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu trade in the semantics of a settlement freeze, it falls to a humble plumber to focus the world’s attention on the routine brutalities of occupation.
Countries ‘wasting money and blood’ in Afghanistan
July 4, 2009Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 3, 2009
By News Online’s Sophia Gardner
Malalai Joya gained international attention after accusing Afghanistan’s leaders of war crimes. (Reuters : Ahmad Masoodd)
A politician who has been described as “the bravest woman in Afghanistan” says that military intervention is not the way to find democracy in the war-torn county.
Malalai Joya gained international attention for standing before Afghanistan’s constitutional grand assembly and accusing her country’s leaders of war crimes, human rights violations and supporting the Taliban.
Continued >>
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