You know what’s lost amongst all this mass hysteria over Assad’s Scuds and WMDs, is the rank hypocrisy of our own misguided bombings…! Does anybody realize the sheer depths of depravity we’d sunk to, in Fallujah, as one sordid example of our ‘Shock and Awe’ in Irak…? Truly… Why Remember Iraq?

Now, to add insult to injury… After Deadly Siege in Gaza, US to Restock Israeli Munitions

… The DoD notified Congress on Monday of the $647 million deal with Israel to restock the Israel Air Force (IAF) with munitions used in the over one thousand bombings conducted during the “Operation Pillar of Defense” on Gaza last month. Congress is expected to approve the deal this week.

The DoD said the deal includes roughly 7,000 Joint Attack Munitions kits, and 10,000 bombs of various kinds, mostly bunker-buster bombs, including 1,725 BLU-109 bunker-buster bombs, and 3,450 GBU-39 bunker-buster bombs.

In addition to the large amount of civilian casualties, the assault on Gaza also destroyed roughly 8,000 buildings and roughly $1.2 billion in infrastructural damage, according to Palestinian officials.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials announced Wednesday that it will now withhold needed tax revenues from the Palestinian administration in the West Bank for at least four months in retaliation for the Palestinians’ bid for observer status at the UN this month. The December funds transfer was already withheld…

To be sure… Palestine calls for end to Israeli blockade of Gaza…

…The international community needs to take “action to remove the tremendous obstacles the occupying power is placing on the ground, ” with lives of more than 1.6 million Palestinians being affected, according to Mansour.

The Israeli government “regrettably continues to impose trade restrictions making the Palestinian economy dependent on the Israeli economy,” said the Palestinian ambassador.

At this time, according to him, Palestine is “unable to access the international marketplace, Palestinians are forced to trade with Israel, the occupying power, which makes the State of Palestine the number one importer of Israeli products.”

Consequently, “this high dependence deprives the Palestinian economy of more competitive sources of imports and markets for exports, and heightens its vulnerability to the Israeli business cycle,” said Mansour.

Mansour noted that the limited economic freedom has posed ” another immense impediment to achieving sustainable Palestinian economic growth” because Palestinian entrepreneurs have limited access to competitive international markets, especially for exporting agricultural goods.

According to the envoy, these circumstances have created a desperate need for “economic and humanitarian assistance by the international community” which is “crucial, but not enough.”

“If the international community truly aspires to witness the two-State solution materialize and observe a sustained economic growth trajectory and development for the Palestinian people, it must compel the occupying power to end all of its illegal measures and actions and finally terminate its military occupation,” said Mansour. “The international community must step up its responsibility and put pressure on Israel to abide by its legal obligations under international law, humanitarian law and human rights law.”

C’mon now, seriously…? 3,450 GBU-39 bunker-buster bombs…? Wtf, over…?

Incidently… Israel special forces conducting cross-border operations in Syria…!

Moving on… US Providing Training to Syrian Rebels in Jordan…!

Apparently, the Syrian ‘doom and gloom’ is settling in all over, even in Moscow…

Syrian opposition victory possible, but at an absolutely unacceptable price – Moscow

…”One must look the facts in the face … the regime and government in Syria is losing control of more and more territory,” state-run RIA quoted the envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, as saying. “Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out.” {…}

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov warned Thursday of emerging terrorist hotbeds that had been sprouting throughout Syria and the Sinai Peninsula.

“Al-Qaeda extremists constitute a large part of the armed opposition forces,” he said, adding Syrian militants could and actually had already been seizing arms stockpiles…

Seriously, Beware the Ides of March…!

…The propaganda preparation of the American people for another military adventure is now approaching a climax. US recognition of the rebel coalition sets the stage for legal intervention.

Shall we start a war “pool” as to the date? pl

*gah*

As Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah clearly points out in that Al Jazeera interview, it was truly a hollow victory for the Palestinians, just another cheap gesture by Abu Mazen…!

Indeed, when the Palestinians awoke this morning they were greeted with this bit of ‘cheer’…

Defiant Israel to boost settlements after U.N.’s Palestine vote

Israel plans to build thousands of new homes for its settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an Israeli official said on Friday, defying a U.N. vote that implicitly recognised Palestinian statehood there.

The United States, one of Israel’s few allies in Thursday’s battle at the world forum, called “counterproductive” the construction blueprint, which included a stretch of land east of Jerusalem that Palestinians fear would bisect much of the West Bank and choke off their access to the holy city.

The Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative government had authorised the construction of 3,000 housing units and ordered “preliminary zoning and planning work for thousands of units in Jerusalem and settlement blocs including Maale Adumim and E1″.

Israel froze much of its activities in E1 under pressure from former U.S. President George W. Bush and the area has been under the scrutiny of his successor, Barack Obama.

The official, who did not want to be named, would not elaborate on the plans. But Israeli media said the government saw the settlement expansion as hammering home its rejection of Thursday’s upgrade by the U.N. General Assembly of the Palestinians to “non-member observer state” from “entity”…

As Columbia Professor Joseph Massad wrote…

Bitter Irony: UN Vote to Recognize Palestine Legitimizes a Racist Status Quo

…Yesterday, the general assembly voted to admit Palestine as a state with observer status. Despite assurances to the contrary, the new state is likely to undermine the status of the PLO at the UN. Whereas the PLO represented all Palestinians, the PA only represents West Bankers. This recognition has diminished the Palestinian state geographically from 43% of historic Palestine granted by the partition plan to less than 18% of it (possibly 10%, if we factor annexations, settlements, military areas, etc), and has reduced Palestinians from 12 million people to 2.4 million West Bankers, 40% of whom are refugees.

The vote is essentially an update of the partition plan of 1947, whereby the UN now grants Jewish colonists and their descendants 80-90% of Palestine, leaving the rest to the native inhabitants, and it risks abrogating the refugees’ right of return.

A small minority native to the West Bank (about 1.3 million people), for whom the PA claims to speak, will gain UN status as a state under occupation, while the Palestinian refugees in the West Bank (1 million people), along with six million other refugees, risk losing their right of return.

By recognising a diminished Palestinian state, the vote effectively abandons the UN understanding of the “Jewish state” as one that has no right to discriminate against or ethnically cleanse non-Jews. The new arrangement confers the blessing of this international forum on the Israeli understanding of what a “Jewish state” entails– namely, the actually existing legal discrimination and ethnic cleansing practised by Israel –as acceptable. That this occurred on 29 November, the date of the partition plan, reiterates this date as one of continuing defeats for the Palestinians who continue to suffer from Israel’s colonial laws, and repeats UN guilt in denying Palestinians their rights not to suffer dispossession and racism. The Palestinians, however, whose majority is not represented by the PA, will no more heed this new partition plan than they did the last one and will continue to resist Israeli colonialism until it comes to an end and until Israel becomes a state for all its citizens with equal rights to all regardless of national, religious, or ethnic background…

Let’s remember that our own Foggy Bottom knows that Israel’s “Principal Human Rights Problems Were(Are) Institutional, Legal, And Societal Discrimination”…!

And, to pour more salt into the wound… Hatch seeks cutoff of U.N. funding over Palestine stance.

*gah*

P.S. Pls. see mfi’s excellent compilation of UN lawfare… The International Criminal Court, The Palestinians, The Israelis, The American Veto – Some Resources For The Perplexed

As Richard Silverstein wrote today about Bibi’s buffoonery at the UN…

Bibi as Wile E. Coyote

You didn’t think you were gonna get away without seeing Bibi Netanyahu’s Wile E. Coyote moment during his UN speech today, did you? Look at the picture, Bibi’s even glaring a bit like the coyote after he’s been outsmarted by his cartoon nemesis. Someone (Bibi himself?) in the day and age of Powerpoint presentations, thought of the great idea of sending their boss up to the lectern of the world’s most respected international body with a sharpie and a cartoon version of a nuclear bomb. I suppose they thought the simplicity of the gesture might impress. Instead it’s backfired as any simpleton could’ve told them it would.

Further, Bibi made a critical error in drawing his “red line” at the 90% enrichment level. He meant to draw it BELOW that line since presumably Israel would want to attack Iran BEFORE it achieved weapons grade uranium fuel. If Israel attacked Iran AFTER it secured enough fuel to make a bomb it would defeat the purpose, no?

Even the Huffpoo mocked Bibi… Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu Draws Cartoon Bomb At UN General Assembly To Illustrate Iran Nuclear Threat

Now, If it Quacks like a Duck…

Yesterday, Obama delivered his remarks to the UN…

You can read the text of his speech here or watch the full half hour speech here…!

Here’s the UN’s official Press Release about Oily Bomber’s appearance at the 67th General Assembly…

At UN debate, US President urges dealing honestly with tensions between Arabs and West

Warning that the world faces “a choice between the forces that would drive us apart and the hopes we hold in common,” United States President Barack Obama said today the deadly violence sparked by an anti-Islam video is an assault on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded.

“The events of the last two weeks speak to the need for all of us to address honestly the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy,” he told scores of heads of State and Government attending the 67th General Assembly’s General Debate on its opening day, calling on world leaders to espouse the peaceful settlement of disputes.

However, I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism.

Cities in North Africa and the Middle East recently experienced violent protests in response to an anti-Islamic video produced in the state of California by a US citizen. In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, the US ambassador to the country, Christopher Stevens, and three other diplomats were killed, and others injured or killed, when suspected Libyan religious extremists stormed the US Consulate there.

The film has drawn widespread condemnation around the world, including from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“On this we must agree: there is no speech that justifies mindless violence,” President Obama said, calling the video “crude and disgusting,” but explaining how such hateful comment is allowed by the freedom of speech clause in the US constitution.

“There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There is no video that justifies an attack on an Embassy. There is no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan,” he added, referring to the attacks that killed Ambassador Stevens and caused deaths elsewhere.

“Burning an American flag will do nothing to educate a child. Smashing apart a restaurant will not fill an empty stomach. Attacking an Embassy won’t create a single job,” he noted.

President Obama said the US has supported the forces of change that have toppled dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and he called for an end to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, where more than 18,000 people have been killed in an uprising against his rule over the past 18 months.

“However, I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism,” he declared, stressing that the recent violence or hateful speech by some individuals does not represent the views of the overwhelming majority of Muslims any more than the views of the video producers behind the anti-Islam film represent those of Americans.

“It is time to marginalize those who, even when not resorting to violence, use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of politics,” the US President said. “For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence.”

President Obama pledged that the US will never retreat from the world and will bring to justice those who harm its citizens and friends, while standing with its allies and partnering with countries to deepen ties of trade and investment, science and technology, energy and development.

“It is time to leave the call of violence and the politics of division behind. On so many issues, we face a choice between the promise of the future, or the prisons of the past,” he declared.

“The future must not belong to those who target Coptic Christians in Egypt – it must be claimed by those in Tahrir Square who chanted ‘Muslims, Christians, we are one.’ The future must not belong to those who bully women – it must be shaped by girls who go to school, and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons…

“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied. Let us condemn incitement against Sufi Muslims and Shiite pilgrims.”

Turning to specific crises, President Obama said the future for Israelis and Palestinians must not belong to those who turn their backs on the prospect of peace and thrive on conflict, and those who reject Israel’s right to exist, but to those who pursue the hard but clear goal of a secure, Jewish state of Israel and an independent, prosperous Palestine.

On Iran, he said the US wants to resolve nuclear issue through diplomacy and believes there is still time and space to do so.

“But that time is not unlimited,” he warned. “We respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power, but one of the purposes of the United Nations is to see that we harness that power for peace. Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained.

“It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region, and the unravelling of the non-proliferation treaty. That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Scores of the world’s heads of State and government and other high-level officials are expected to present their views and comment on issues of individual national and international relevance at the Assembly’s General Debate, which ends on 1 October.

The US President also met with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today. In their meeting, the two men discussed the importance of combating hate speech and incitement to violence while protecting free speech, and agreed on the importance of the UN’s work to promote tolerance.

Other topics they discussed included the situation in Syria and its impact on the region, the needs of the Palestinian people and the growing challenges in West Africa’s Sahel region, in addition to the global challenges on food and nutrition, women’s and children’s health, and education, and the need for UN reform.

I thought Steve Hynd best summed it with his quip; “do as I say, not as I do, or I’ll bomb you”…

…Much of it is an interesting exhortation to Muslims across the globe who are currently involved in protesting a certain movie trailer to put away violence as a tactic. The bulk of the rest is the usual copperplate about America loving democracy so much that it sends its citizens to impose freedom at gunpoint in other countries, and promising to always be there to bomb dictators (and any male of military age who happens to be nearby and can therefore be labelled a “militant” once he is too dead to protest that label). Obama reels of US aide for the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya but the word “Bahrain” does not pass his lips, nor does any indication that the regime being propped up in Yemen is just as oppressive as any Islamist current seeking to replace it. iraq and Afghanistan are places the US is leaving – not places the US invaded, nosir. You won’t find a reference to the chain of sub-Saharan nations where the US is currently offering “military assistance” (training, special forces, arms, drone strikes) to often corrupt regimes either.

And then there’s Iran. {…}

Obama and his speechwriters must know that his UN listeners are spotting all the things unsaid and writing their own subtexts in their heads. They know there’s a healthy helping of hypocrisy, of “do as I say, not as I do, or I’ll bomb you” going on. Yet this is the stageshow that must be gone through every time a US President speaks at the UN. While Obama’s talking about changes in the way people resolve their problems internationally, perhaps he’d do well to contemplate the beam in his own nation’s eye.

Meanwhile, a lot of noteworthy speeches have been given from the UN Podium in the past several days…

From Egyptian President Morsi’s declaration… ‘Israel refusal to join NPT, inexcusable’…

Continuing with some newly minted Mossad/CIA Tools MENA leaders… Libya’s new leader apologizes at U.N. for Gaddafi crimes…

And, Speaking of tools, Abu Mazen… ‘Pares His Statehood Aspirations at UN’…

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for real humanitarian assistance and saner minds to prevail…

From General Assembly podium, Lebanon calls for international help for Syrian refugees

… “The security consequences of the Syrian crisis threaten peace and stability in the Middle East and specifically in Lebanon,” Prime Minister Mikati said. “The international community must exert more efforts in order to assure political consensus among Syrian parties to end violence that is claiming hundreds of innocent lives each day.”

The ongoing violence in neighbouring Syria has fuelled sectarian tensions across Lebanon and raised concerns that the country could plunge back into the internecine violence it endured during its 15 year civil war, which ended in 1990.

In his statement to the Assembly, the Lebanese leader urged the United Nations to further the right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland and achieve an independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital. He also denounced Israel for violations of the accord that ended its month-long war with Hizbollah in 2006, calling on it to end its continued occupation of land in southern Lebanon.

“Our region is still striving to cope with the dramatic consequences that followed the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and its on-going occupation of Arab territories and its continued violations of International Law and United Nations resolutions,” Prime Minister Mikati said.

He added, “Peace along with freedom and justice are the pillars for attaining both security and stability and will pave the way towards the eradication of oppression, extremism, and terrorism in our world. Stability cannot occur without a Palestinian spring through the full implementation of the Palestinians right to self-determination on their land.”

In summing up some of the other excellent debates at the UN, wendydavis, wrote a great post… Julian Assange to UN: “End Obama’s Regime of Secrecy”…

Along with Kevin’s excellent reporting… Assange Addresses UN Members, Lambasts Obama’s UN Address for Rewriting History…

I also totally agree with The CallUp’s… After The Iraq Debacle, It Would Be Negligent For Americans Not To Watch Ahmadinejad’s U.N. Speech, particularly since it was Ahmadinejad’s last appearance at the UN…!

Meanwhile, I do pity all those New Yorkers… Get Your Gridlock On: It’s UN General Assembly Time…

Stay tuned…

Shortly after Friday’s prayers today…

Mass Land Day demonstrations sweep Israel, Palestine

Tens of thousands of people participated in Land Day demonstration in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Negev and the Galilee, as well as in Jordan and Lebanon. Many were injured, several are in critical condition, one person was killed, and several were arrested in clashes with the Israeli army and police. Hamas and Fatah also attacked demonstrators…

From the AP… Gaza man killed as thousands protest Israel policy…

From Ma’an… Land Day live report

2000: Amnesty International is urging Israel to tone down its use of force against demonstrators. In a statement, Amnesty’s Ann Harrison says:

“We are also concerned at reports that Palestinian Authority security forces have tried to prevent protests in areas under their control, while Hamas security forces have beaten protesters,” she said. Both sides should respect freedom of assembly and international policing standards, she said.

God Bless the Palestinians…!

The IDF’s Benny Gantz recently boasted…

IDF chief: Gaza war against Hamas was an ‘excellent’ operation

Second round of fighting in Gaza is not a matter of choice for Israel; it must be initiated by Israel and must be ‘swift and painful,’ Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz says…

As Paul Mutter wrote at Mondoweiss…

…For now, I think Gantz is saber-rattling. Israel is hoping to scare or wrongfoot Hamas as it scores political successes through the prisoner exchanges, the electoral success of Egypt’s Islamist bloc, entry to the PLO and new unity talks with Fatah. A more conciliatory Hamas is not what Likud wants to deal with. The best way to undermine Hamas’s nonviolent political successes would be to put Hamas in awkward position over the actions of Islamic Jihad (which Israel struck just this week) or another militant organization. Hamas’s leadership would be an awkward position of having to manage feelings of militant nationalism that it has cultivated in order to secure potentially ephemeral political concessions. Its legitimacy would be at stake, but should it respond with violence, its survival would be in jeopardy.

Hamas will likely avoid the temptation to return to fighting. The Middle East is too politically fluid at the moment. But given the hawkishness of the “liberal” alternatives to Likud, as Dimi Reider points out, I am still convinced that the timing of Cast Lead II will be a question of when, not if. Israel would be more likely to use massive force against Gaza than Iran if it came down to an eleventh-hour choice for Defense Minister Barak. Israel’s leadership has no doubt been encouraged by SecDef Leon Panetta and President Obama’s public backpedalling on their reluctance to attack Iran. The U.S. could deal with Iran (an “October surprise,” as some have suggested), leaving Israel a stronger hand to play against Hamas. The timing for any of these possible actions will greatly depend on how the 2012 U.S. presidential election progresses.

As for how the IDF will react to Hamas’s announced new focus on popular demonstrations, Gantz’s past comments about the Arab Spring offer some insight:

There is a focal player in the Middle East – the street – and it is clear to us that in the coming months we can find ourselves in broad popular demonstrations, which gain public resonance. The IDF is preparing for these demonstrations.

[snip]

For this reason, we will act with great fire power and full force at the very beginning of the confrontation. Anything the camera can stand or could stand in the first three days of fighting – it will not be prepared to put up with thereafter.

Now, here’s proof positive the Likudniks don’t want peace with the Palestinians on any terms…

Palestinians offer to renew Israel peace talks without settlement freeze, official says

PA reportedly submits new Quartet offer to restart negotiations, demand Israel releases 100 Palestinian prisoners; Israel rejects offer fearing renewal of only low-grade talks…

…The Palestinian proposal was reputedly the result of heavy pressure applied by Quartet members – the United States, the European Union, Russian, and the United Nations – on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to renew talks before January 26…

…Quartet officials – especially EU – made it clear to the Palestinians that they would bear equal responsibility in the event that the two sides would not resume talks by late January…

…With one month to the Quartet deadline, the two sides haven’t even held predatory meetings that were supposed to take place two months ago, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s adviser Yitzhak Molcho and top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat were supposed to set the talks agenda.

The Israeli official indicated that Israel rejects the Palestinian offer for two reasons: 1) That is replaces one precondition with another, and 2) since officials say the Palestinian proposal is too vague and did not make it clear whether the prisoners’ release will lead to full talks that would include meetings between Netanyahu and Abbas or just the preparatory sessions…

…News of the new PA proposal came after on Sunday, Netanyahu commented on the recent moves by Fatah and Hamas to set up a unity government, saying that Israel would not negotiate with the Palestinians should such a government be established.

“If Hamas joins the Palestinian government we will not hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authority,” said Netanyahu in a speech at a conference for Israeli ambassadors.

He added that he is ready to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas anytime, anywhere, in order to renew negotiations…

Now, isn’t this reassuring…

Israel, U.S. discuss triggers for military strike on Iran

The Daily Beast reports that the countries are discussing “red lines” in Iran’s nuclear program, that if crossed would justify a preemptive strike on its nuclear facilities…

Please read this entire, well-researched, and chilling article, Tom Burghhardt wrote recently…

Red Lines and Ticking Clocks: U.S. War Plans Against Iran

Wars don’t just happen.

Before the first bomb falls disinformation specialists prepare the ground.

Leading media outlets, foreign policy journals and a plethora of think tanks funded by elite foundations, energy and weapons’ conglomerates, “right,” “left” or “center” take your pick, churn out war propaganda disguised as “analysis.”

From the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to the neoliberal Center for American Progress (CAP), rhetorical skirmishes aside, the line is remarkably similar.

Indeed, for “conservative” and “liberal” elite bloviators alike, Iran poses an “existential threat” to Israel and America’s regional “allies,” a disparate crew of land-grabbing colonizers, murderous princes and profligate potentates.

Only U.S. intervention, in the form of an overt military attack now or crippling economic sanctions followed by military action later, can save the day and bring “democracy” to the benighted Iranian people…

{snip}

…That an attack on Iran might set-off a global conflict with far-reaching, and deadly, consequences was underscored by Russia Today.

Analyst Col. Vladimir Popov said that “if in the midst [of an attack on Iran] Azerbaijan supported by Turkey, attacks Armenia, then, of course, all of the adversary’s attacks against Armenia will be repelled by Russia in conjunction with Armenian anti-missile defense forces.”

“The analyst does not exclude the possibility of Russia’s military involvement in the Iranian conflict.”

“‘In the worst-case scenario’,” Popov told RT, “‘if Tehran is facing complete military defeat after a land invasion of the US and NATO troops, Russia will provide its military support–at least on a military-technical level.”

As the United States, Israel and NATO prepare the ground for war against Iran, and with operations already underway by the U.S. and NATO to effect “regime change” in Syria, Iran’s close regional ally, the pieces of a slow-motion global catastrophe are falling into place.

God help us all…!

*gah*

I’ve been wrapped up in Occupy Hilo and the Holidaze, and have woefully neglected my I/P/ME posts…! So, I would like to offer up a Xmas Eve present for ya’ll…!

Some note-worthy linkies that might while the time, while your turkey and/or ham is cooking…!

The Bethlehem Call: Here we stand – Stand with us…

From Mondoweiss… ‘This is awful,’ Bush said, coming into Bethlehem…

…On a presidential visit to Israel in 2008, Bush travels to Bethlehem by car rather than helicopter against the wishes of the Israelis because Rice wants him to see “the ugliness of the occupation, including the checkpoints and the security wall…for himself and [because] it would have been an insult to the Palestinians if he didn’t.” The barriers were taken down, the convoy traveled at speed, but Bush got the point, according to Rice: “‘This is awful,’ he said quietly.”

With all eyes on Jerusalem, today…

Israeli activist: Checkpoint at J’lem refugee camp form of “ethnic cleansing”

Approximately 30 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals gathered at the edge of Shu’fat refugee camp on Sunday to protest a new Israeli checkpoint, which opened on December 12 and that an Israeli activist likened to a form of “ethnic cleansing.” Palestinian kids threw stones; Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets at the children…

Now, FDL Alum, Marcy Wheeler, gave a very timely interview with Antiwar’s Scott Horton (Who will also be hosting the next FDL Book Salon with David Swanson)…

Terror War Strikes First Amendment

‘Material support’ could be anything, says Marcy Wheeler

Certainly reassuring, eh…? Especially with Obummer’s ‘signing statement’ on the NDAA… Obama: Gitmo, Foreign Command Provisions in Law Don’t Count…

Signing the massive “omnibus” spending bill into law today, President Barack Obama issued a formal signing statement indicating that he ends to pick and choose which portions of the new law he intends to follow and which he intends to ignore.

The two foreign policy provisions he intends to ignore are one limiting his ability to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, and one which would limit his ability to place US troops under foreign command, both of which he said would be ignored to “avoid constitutional conflicts.”

President Obama also rejected all provisions which require him to clear spending with appropriators, saying that he will not seek congressional approval for his spending decisions.

Sounds like an Imperial Presidium to me…!

Anyways, I’ve got more news to report, for instance, Hamas and Fatah are clearly on the path to reconciliation and Bibi is blowing a gasket over it…

Mashaal had even twisted the shiv in Bibi’s back…

Hamas leader to AP: New focus on popular protests

Hamas will focus on a strategy of holding mass protests against Israel in the style of the Arab Spring, although it is not renouncing the use of violence against the Jewish state, the Islamic group’s leader, Khaled Mashaal, told The Associated Press late Thursday.

Mashaal was in Cairo for reconciliation talks with Hamas’ rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. The sides agreed that Hamas would join the Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Abbas, and allow elections to go ahead in Gaza and the West Bank in 2012.

Popular protests have “the power of a tsunami,” Mashaal said, pointing to the recent waves of demonstrations across the Arab world.

“Now we have a common ground that we can work on — the popular resistance, which presents the power of people,” he said. The idea for the protests originated with the Palestinians themselves and the uprising they launched against Israel in 1987, he said, typified by crowds of rock-throwing Palestinian youths confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers.

I applaud Hamas for finally embracing the nonviolent Protest movement…!

Now, check out this little tête-à-tête…

Ashton slams Israel over West Bank settlements

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton strongly disapproved of the Israeli authorities’ announcement that they intend to publish tenders for the construction of some 1000 housing units in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.

Ashton urged them not to proceed with the open call. “The EU’s position is clear: settlement construction is illegal under international law and further complicates efforts to find a solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” she said…

Israel’s Loose Cannon Foreign Minister, Avi Lieberman scoffed at that silly EU notion, as he’s so wont to do, but, DM Ehud Barak quickly smacked Avi upside the head…

Barak slams Foreign Ministry for calling UN European states ‘irrelevant’

Comments were made in response to international criticism of Israeli settlement construction; Lieberman’s office: ‘We don’t respond to parties with less than six mandates.’

Defense Minister Ehud Barak criticized on Thursday statements made by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which said the “bickering” of European Union members of the UN Security Council over Israeli settlement was making them “irrelevant.”

“European countries are very relevant,” Barak told Israel Radio, “and they stand with us in important times.” He added that the countries should be told they are mistaken, but Israel should continue cooperating with them and refrain from conflicts.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s office retaliated Thursday by saying: “We do not respond to parties who have less than six mandates.”

“In issues that are important to Israel (such as) fighting the attempts to push us to the International Criminal Court, we turn to Sarkozy and Cameron, so I don’t think we should turn them into tensed, insulted and bitter opponents,” Barak said. He added that “Germany, France and Britain are not Tanzania, Mauritania or Tripolitania. These are very important countries in the world and we have no interest in increasing the tensions with them.” …

Well, I could rant and rave some more but it is Xmas Eve, afterall…! Peace on Earth, and, Mele Kalikimaka from my Hale to yours…! *g*

From my Ohana to yours, I’d like to extend a hale Happy Holiday…!

I’ve been absorbed in my local Occupy Hilo and haven’t posted much about the I/P and the Middle East, my humble apologies…!

As you’re cooking and basting your turkey (I’m cooking two birds) I’d like to provide you a veritable cornucopia of Middle East news and intel…

As my first dish, I’d like to serve up some Seymour Hersch (mp3)…! Antiwar’s Scott Horton talks with Sy about his recent blog post: Iran and the I.A.E.A… It is certainly refreshing to hear Sy attesting to much of what I’ve already reported earlier, such as my; Wag The Dog: Green Salt is The New Yellowcake…

Staying with Antiwar radio, this Philip Giraldi interview is a must-hear too…! To wit; Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the CIA agents “rolled up” in Iran and Lebanon because of sloppy tradecraft (like regularly meeting at a Beirut Pizza Hut). Now, remind me again of how many Billion$ we are spending on these utter buffoons…?

Now, I do have a lot of links to provide… So continuing with the Lebanon meme… The intrepid Richard Silverstein unleashed another veritable ‘bombshell’…

Exclusive: Israeli Military Intelligence Caused Massive Explosion in Hezbollah South Lebanon Arms Cache

…Now comes an exclusive report from an authoritative Israeli source with considerable military experience, that IDF military intelligence (Aman) has out foxed Hezbollah by deliberately crash-landing a booby-trapped Trojan Horse drone in southern Lebanon…

…The moral being, in this dirty game called asymmetrical warfare, you and your enemy circle each other warily seeking to exploit any weakness. And you will make mistakes because you are only human. The fatal assumption is that your opponent is the only dumb one who will make them, and you never will…

Moving on, it was surprising to see Lt. Pike make an appearance in Tel Aviv…

Tel Aviv police pepper-spray democracy protesters

…Earlier, I read a few Twitter messages about tear gas being used by the police. This sounded strange – Israeli security forces never use it in Jewish neighborhoods. On King George, the mystery was solved – it was pepper spray, the current world-wide celebrity of the crowd control department. An activist I knew was still red-eyed when I met him – he said the police had lost control for a minute, and sprayed the protesters for no reason at all.

You can see it happen clearly in the video (min 0:18), take by Eran Vered. Later, you can also spot the district police commander (min 1:46, not in uniform but in blue clothes) kicking protesters that are on sitting on the road…

The accompanying YouTubes were just as damning as Lt. Pike’s viral heroics…

Now, continuing along with Israeli news… I did find it rather ironic to hear Tzipi Livni, belatedly, bemoaning the real facts on the ground…

Israel turning into dictatorship

Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni accused the government during a Knesset hearing of compromising Israel’s democratic system.

“We have always prided ourselves on being the only democracy in the Middle East. We were a democracy, and the others were dictatorships,” she said. “While Egypt is trying to become a democracy like us, we’re passing laws that will turn Israel into a dictatorship.”

Haaretz featured two articles to that effect…

MKs to debate bill that would limit freedom to petition Israel’s High Court

Former chief justice Aharon Barak: Democracy is not just majority rule.

And…

Israel’s investigative journalists facing increasing obstacles

Investigative journalism is hard enough in a country as small as Israel, and an intensifying onslaught against freedom of the press is endangering it even further.

Btw, Bibi had totally lost all his senses in the Knesset, yesterday…

Netanyahu: Arab world moving backward, not forward

…”In February, when millions of Egyptians thronged to the streets in Cairo, commentators and quite a few Israeli members of the opposition said that we’re facing a new era of liberalism and progress…They said I was trying to scare the public and was on the wrong side of history and don’t see where things are heading,” he said.

But time has proved him right, Netanyahu said. His forecast that the Arab Spring would turn into an “Islamic, anti-Western, anti-liberal, anti-Israeli and anti-democratic wave” turned out to be true, he said.

Netanyahu also slammed Western leaders, and especially U.S. President Barak Obama, who had pushed Mubarak to resign from power. At the time this was happening Netanyahu said in closed talks that the American administration and many European leaders don’t understand reality. On Wednesday, he called them “naive.”

“I ask today, who here didn’t understand reality? Who here didn’t understand history?” he called from the Knesset podium. “Israel is facing a period of instability and uncertainty in the region. This is certainly not the time to listen to those who say follow your heart.”
Netanyahu used the upheaval in the Arab world to justify his government’s inaction vis-a-vis the peace process with the Palestinians.

“I remember many of you urged me to take the opportunity to make hasty concessions, to rush to an agreement,” he said.

“But I will not establish Israel’s policy on illusions. There’s a huge upheaval here…whoever doesn’t see it is burying his head in the sand,” he said.

“That didn’t stop people from coming to me and suggesting we make all kinds of concessions. I said we insist on foundations of stability and security…all the more so now,” he said.

And it wasn’t just Bibi raving like the lunatic he his, Avi Lieberman, just had to chime in too…

Israel won’t give Fatah-Hamas unity government even one dime

FM says Israel will not recognize or negotiate with a Palestinian unity government if it does not accept the principles outlined by the Mideast Quartet.

Bibi, doubled down and told everyone to f*ck off… Netanyahu Rejects U.S., International Calls To Release Palestinian Money…

It’s already been 5-6 months worth of Palestinian tax revenues that have been collected by Israel, and subsequently withheld from Abu Mazen’s already cash starved PA bureaucracy…! Contrary to the Grey Lady’s pathetic reporting…! Is it any coinky-doink that Abbas is finally teaming up with Hamas…?

Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo for unity talks

A delegation from Hamas arrived in the Egyptian capital Wednesday in preparation for meetings with President Abbas in a bid to implement the reconciliation deal signed in May.

The delegation includes Khalid Mashaal, the head of the Hamas political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzouq, Muhammad Naser, Izzat al-Rishq, Khalil al-Hayya, and Nizar Awad.

Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said “we hope the meeting will be fruitful,” and added that the Islamist movement expected to agree with Fatah on establishing a joint authority in the occupied territories.

He also expressed hopes they would adopt a single national strategy.

Abbas is already in Cairo for the unity talks and had even met with the soon-to-be supplanted Tantawi…!

In other ME news, Bahrain is slammed with a withering report… Probe says excessive force used in Bahrain crackdown… Much to the chagrin of the PNAC crew, No Iranian role found in Bahrain unrest… Sucks doesn’t it…?

God help us all…! We’re all the 99% trying to survive the games that are being played…!

As Ike had once famously said…

I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.

Amen…!

I kid you not, folks, Bibi actually fessed up the goods…

Netanyahu: Settlement build ‘not punishment’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his government’s decision to accelerate settlement building was Israel’s fundamental right, not punishment for the Palestinians joining UNESCO.

The Israeli cabinet approved the building of some 2,000 homes in Maale Adummim, Efrat and East Jerusalem settlements on Tuesday after UNESCO voted to accept Palestine as a full member in the cultural agency.

“We build in Jerusalem because it is our right and our obligation; not as punishment but as a basic right of our people to build its eternal capital,” Netanyahu told members of parliament on Wednesday.

“Jerusalem will never return to the state it was in on the eve of the Six Day War,” Netanyahu said, denying that the settlement plan could be construed as punitive…

So that makes it all A-Okay, Bibi…?

Now, being an equal dispenser of scorn where appropriate… This truly pisses me off to no end…

Al-Malki says Palestine will not try to join other UN agencies

The PLO will not apply to join any more international organizations but will focus on full membership of the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority minister of foreign affairs said Thursday…

…If the bid fails, the PLO will keep applying for membership until Palestine is accepted in the UN, al-Malki said.

The PLO will not turn to the General Assembly, which can upgrade Palestinian representation to that of an observer state, the minister said.

“We do not want, after all of these struggles, sacrifices, and efforts by the entire Palestinian people, to accept an observer state in the United Nations. We will not accept less than we deserve: a full member state.”

Al-Malki said efforts to win votes in the Security Council were ongoing and that he would join a Palestinian delegation in New York for the council’s meeting on Nov. 11.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that Palestinian efforts to join other UN agencies were “not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial for anybody.”

The UNESCO vote and even Observer Status puts your foot in the door for the ICC at The Hague…! Wtf, are ya talking about, Al-Maliki and Ban…? That is the real point of this whole exercise…!

Now, moving along to the more pressing issue at hand…

UK and U.S. ‘draw up joint plan to attack Iran’: Evidence of nuclear programme raises tension in Middle East… And even the Grey Lady woke up from it’s slumber… Israel Faces Questions About News Reports of Eyeing Iran Strike… Imagine that…!

Naturally, Bibi wants to know who spilled the beans…

PM seeking investigation into leaked Iran reports, says Kuwaiti newspaper

Former Mossad, Shin Bet chiefs considered two main suspects.

The ex-Mossad Chief Meir Dagan has already made his opinion well known on Bombing Iran… “the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”

No doubt…! *gah*

As Al Jazeera reported today…

Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been released as part of a swap deal with Hamas, has said he would be “very happy” if all Palestinian prisoners still held by Israel could be freed and return home.

Speaking to Egypt’s Nile TV, Shalit, who had been held in captivity for five years, said “I hope this deal will help the conclusion of a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

Israel and Hamas agreed to Tuesday’s swap through Egyptian mediation that secured Shalit’s release in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

Shalit, who told the interviewer he had been informed of his impending release one week ago, said: “I hope co-operation and links between the two sides will be consolidated.”

The 25-year-old soldier, who appeared overwhelmed and faint, said that he had been treated well by his Hamas captors during the years he was held hostage.

“I’m very emotional. I haven’t seen people in a long time. I missed my family. I missed seeing people, and talking to them,” he said…

Whoa Nelly…! Say what, SFC Shalit…? You do realize you’ve just set off a serious sh*t storm with your very first interview, on both sides of the Pond…?

From the WaPoo…

Israeli official ‘shocked’ at Schalit interview conducted minutes after he was freed

An Israeli official says he was shocked by a surprise interview soldier Gilad Schalit gave to Egyptian TV minutes after he was released from Hamas captivity.

A gaunt and weary Schalit awkwardly answered the questions from an Egyptian journalist before he was allowed to speak to his family or enter Israel.

Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip says the militant group has officially turned over captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to Egypt as part of a prisoner swap with Israel.

The Israeli official said Tuesday, “We are all shocked that a so-called interview was forced on (Schalit).”

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter, but said the sentiment was widely shared in official Israeli ranks.

Ironically, I don’t think Bibi, Barak, and, Gantz had gotten that particular meme in quite enough time…

Anyways, Arutz Sheva was screaming its head off from the get go…

Israeli Media: Shalit Egyptian TV Interview ‘Borderline Torture’

Israel expressed its shock over the interview that Gilad Shalit ws apparently forced to give just minutes after he was handed over to Egypt.

On this side of the Pond, the Ziocons went nuts…

US awkwardly welcomes Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap

The U.S. is welcoming the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit after five years of captivity despite concerns over some of the Palestinians freed in return. And the U.S. isn’t saying whether the Israeli-Hamas prisoner swap is likely to affect hopes for Mideast peace talks.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the U.S. was pleased that Schalit’s ordeal was over.

But she and other U.S. officials didn’t address Hamas’ part in the deal or the merit of Israel’s decision to free more than 1,000 Palestinians to secure Schalit’s release.

The U.S. response was muted for several reasons. With the U.S.-backed peace process foundering, the disproportional prisoner trade likely will strengthen the Hamas militant group and weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abba’s (mahk-MOOD’ ah-BAHS’) American-backed government.

(mahk-MOOD’ ah-BAHS’) Are they really that stoopid…? Rhetorical, mind ya…

Ever more stupidity from our Reichwingers, Stateside… Does Gilad Shalit deal reward terrorists?

Anyways, Ha’aretz to its credit, quickly debunked much of that ‘noise’…

Egyptian journalist rejects Israel’s criticism of Shalit interview

Shahira Amin tells Haaretz ‘I asked Gilad if he was willing to be interviewed and he said he was,’ says otherwise she wouldn’t have conducted the interview.

In your face, Babee…!

I personally applaud the freeing of Shalit, his promising remarks, and, the triumphant return of many Palestinian Prisoners…! It was truly a positive day in the Annals of I/P relations…!

The Earth is but one Nation, and Mankind it’s Citizens…! *g*

As Ma’an reported earlier…

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Arab Spring has left Israel “increasingly isolated” in the Middle East and that its military might could not make up for a weakened diplomatic position.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane bound for Israel as part of a Middle East tour, Panetta said it was crucial for Israel to shore up its relations with Egypt and other countries in the region that had proved valuable partners in the past.

“There’s not much question in my mind that they maintain that (military) edge. But the question you have to ask is it enough to maintain a military edge, if you’re isolating yourself in the diplomatic arena?” Panetta said.

“At this dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many changes, it’s not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that’s what’s happening,” he said…

Now, Leon wasn’t quite done delivering broadsides at the various parties…

US defense secretary urges return to negotiations

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday called for “bold action” from Israeli and Palestinian leaders to achieve peace, but said freezing of US funds to Palestinians was a mistake…

…“I want to emphasize that there is a need, and an opportunity, for bold action on both sides to move toward a negotiated two-state solution. There is no alternative to negotiations,” Panetta said at a news conference with Barak.

Panetta told reporters that the US Congress decision to block $200 million in aid did not come at the right time, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.

Both Israelis and Palestinians gain from US aid, Ynet quoted Panetta saying…

…Palestinian leaders say they cannot negotiate while Israel refuses to renew a partial moratorium on settlement building on Palestinian lands, which last expired in September 2010 bringing talks to a halt.

F*ck ya, It’s not just a ‘moratorium on settlement building’ that needs to be addressed…! Obama refuses to take ‘no’ for an answer…

… Israel on Sunday formally accepted an international proposal to return to peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but any immediate resumption of talks appeared unlikely as the Israelis and Palestinians differed sharply over the letter and spirit of the proposal

A senior Palestinian official said over the weekend that after three days of deliberations, the Palestinian leadership had decided not to return to talks unless Israel halted all settlement construction and agreed to clear terms of reference for the negotiations — requirements that were perhaps implied but not spelled out in the Sept. 23 statement of the so-called quartet of Middle East peacemakers, which is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.

But facts never get in the way of the Obama administration. A State Department spokesman released a statement Sunday: “We welcome the Israeli government’s announcement today expressing readiness to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, as called for by the Quartet.The Palestinians expressed support for the Quartet approach on September 29. The U.S. once again calls on both parties to resume negotiations without preconditions, on the timetable proposed by the Quartet, as the best means to advance their interests, resolve their differences, and fulfill the President’s two-state vision.” Umm, but didn’t, you know, the Palestinians say just the opposite?

However, as the recently released UNOCHA report points out in plain english, it’s Israel clearly stepping up it’s ‘game’…

UN statistics show that Israel’s occupation is more aggressive

…The UNOCHA report said that the Israeli Occupation Authorities demolished 409 Palestinian structures in 2011 compared with 290 over the same period in 2010. Just over 800 Palestinians have been injured to-date in 2011; the figure for January to September 2010 was 374.

Attacks by illegal Jewish settlers accounted for 139 Palestinians being injured so far this year; in 2010 the figure was 74. Settler-related incidents resulting in Palestinian injuries or property damage, said UNOCHA, numbered 326 in 2011 compared with 202 in 2010.

The report also revealed that the number of Palestinians injured at the hands of Israeli forces has doubled in 2011 when compared to last year: 471 Palestinians were injured by the Occupation forces this year while there were 194 such cases in 2010. Israeli forces have killed 85 Palestinians this year; in 2010 the figure was 53…

Btw, some more classic Leon…

…Panetta, who met the country’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, strongly urged Egypt to provide better security in the Sinai Peninsula, after Israel said an attack on its south was mounted from there.

“I am concerned about the situation in the Sinai,” Panetta told reporters after the talks.

The Pentagon chief “strongly urged” Tantawi “to provide better security in the Sinai,” he said, adding that Egyptian leaders reassured him they were “confident” they could ensure security in the peninsula.

“Any friction in that area could create real problems for the region,” Panetta said…

I’m not very surprised at this little bit of news… Palestinians protest against US in Ramallah…

Meanwhile… Bracing for UN bid fallout in Gaza…

God Bless the Palestinians…!