An Astonishing Book

Reading the newsmedia’s daily dose of lies, their errors of omission and commission, has become an almost intolerable exercise for me. Jimmy Carter’s latest book is a refreshing change. The content of Jimmy Carter's book about Palestine has surprised me on so many levels that I don't know where to begin. Probably the biggest surprise has been that he doesn't write like a politician. He fearlessly tells the truth, and, with his background, he is in a position to know exactly what the truth is. His sole interest seems to be to tell the truth, rather than to protect any interests, which is again quite astonishing, especially in an ex-politician. Wasn’t politics supposed to be an institution whose function was to protect the interests of one socioeconomic class or another?

He tells the whole truth, and unhesitatingly points out lies and hypocrisies. To give a couple of brief examples: He explains that Israel’s supposed withdrawal from Gaza was no withdrawal at all, because Gaza remained completely under Israeli control. And he minces no words in describing Israel’s “security fence” as an “imprisonment wall.”

Predictably, various groups and individuals have accused Carter of being wrong or one-sided in his views. The reason they are so furious about the book is in fact the exact opposite of the expressed reasons. They hate the book exactly because it is not wrong or one-sided. In that sense, it is quite unlike nearly the entire content of the propaganda fed to us by the “newsmedia” and politicians. Reading what Jimmy Carter reveals will make you angry. For a change, though, what makes you angry will be the things that a politician is revealing, and not the things that he/she is hiding.

Update: President Carter's LA Times article

Imperialism as Taboo: The Missing Link between the Holocaust and 9/11

Turning certain subject into taboos is society’s way of dealing with deeply uncomfortable truths; in other words, it is society’s way of living with big lies.

Imperialism, that is, the politico-economic exploitation of the poor countries by and for the benefit of the rich ones, is one example. In the Third World, imperialism is not a taboo subject. Nearly everyone in the poor countries is aware of it, whether they call it by that name or think of it in some other way. For instance, it is often expressed as a deep sense of revulsion against the US government. In the US, this sentiment is dismissed as ‘anti-Americanism.’ Americans, as well as citizens of the other rich countries, have no wish to know how the wealth of their countries has been acquired. They prefer to sweep the whole mess under the carpet, and label any opposition to imperialism as ‘clash of civilizations,’ ‘extremism,’ or worse.

A more recent taboo arose out of the 9/11 events. Beginning on that very day, various authority figures, as well as the subservient Western newsmedia, have drummed into our brains that we were not supposed to talk about the causes of those attacks. More specifically, we were not supposed to talk about the exact mechanism by which a small group of individuals were led to contemplate and carry out this act. We were not supposed to think about the events that led to it or the reasoning that went into it. Instead, we were supposed to think of it as ‘an attack on our freedoms.’

The same thing can be said about the Jewish Holocaust. Beginning with the establishment of the State of Israel, discussion of the Holocaust turned into a taboo subject. Anyone who raised any questions about the official Holocaust doctrine was immediately branded an ‘anti-Semite,’ an ‘ultra-rightist,’ or worse. People were not supposed to talk about the chain of reasoning that led from the Holocaust to the establishment of the State of Israel.

The same Western powers who, in the 1930s, had turned away ships carrying Jewish refugees from their own shores, the same Western powers whose opinion of Jewish immigration was summarized as “None is too many,” had suddenly transformed themselves into the Jewish people’s best friends. We were not, however, supposed to wonder about their change of heart. It was a taboo to ask: Did the Western powers establish Israel simply as a destabilizing influence in the Middle East, so as to facilitate the continuation and deepening of imperialist exploitation in that region? It was a taboo to ask: Did the Western powers exploit the Holocaust to further their own agenda in the Middle East? It was a taboo to ask: Were the Jewish people doubly victimized, first by the Nazis, and then by the Western powers?

A personal note

This blog has been a little inactive in the last couple of months. I think its regular readers understand the main reason for the lack of activity. As I have said before, Israel’s destruction of Lebanon has, in a way, left me emotionally and intellectually paralyzed. I would have never imagined, in my wildest nightmares, that the “international community” would allow such a crime to take place, let alone to leave it unpunished. And yet, the crime took place and the world has done nothing to punish the perpetrators. I feel I need some time to re-evaluate exactly what kind of a world it is that I live in. It is definitely not a world that is ruled by law or ethics.

Israeli girls writing messages on bombs destined for Lebanon

Fun with the APEC Summit

Bachelet: "Boy you are fat!"

Harper: "The pot calling the kettle..."

Dubya: "They are giving my little Steve a hard time again!"

The Last Couple

And those wicked liberals say Bush has learned nothing from his mistakes!!

Dubya at the beginning of his presidency



Dubya today

A Testing Test

Considering the fact that the North Korean nuclear test has been condemned by everyone, from Thailand to Pakistan (!), Washington’s reaction has been very curious. The US has labeled it “provocative,” and has made the routine call for UN Security Council action. At another level, though, the US reaction has been predictable. The nuclear test is simply both good and bad for the US Administration’s interests.

With the US government focused on consolidating its geopolitical interests in the Middle East through a military attack on Iran, the North Korean test could not have come at a worse time. If an attack on Iran was difficult to justify before, both to the domestic US audience and to the world at large, it is that much more difficult to justify now.

There has been some talk in the last couple of weeks about a possible “October surprise” to boost the Republican Party’s dismal situation prior to the November elections. One possible “surprise” that was suggested was an attack on Iran, completely out of the blue and with no prior hint that an attack was actually coming (which is the way Israel always does these things, by the way). Prior to the Korean nuclear test, the scenario seemed credible, as it could feasibly improve the GOP’s position. An attack on Iran seems out of the question now, as it would simply be greeted with shock, both within the US and everywhere else (except in Israel).

In terms of US domestic politics, the test was potentially both helpful and harmful to GOP interests. It was helpful because, contrary to facts and logic, the Republicans are seen as the security party. In that sense, many Americans seem to live in a Western movie, with Republican white hats relentlessly pursuing the outlaws. It goes without saying that a tough sheriff would never even think of negotiating with or, God forbid, “appeasing” the black hats.

To the saner portion of the US population, though, the nuclear test would be more proof, if any more proof were needed, of the catastrophic and criminal failure of US foreign policy.

Thousands rally in Ottawa to show support for Prime Minister Harper's Afghan war

Whoops, sorry... wrong picture.



Harper cleverly raised his left arm.

Quoth he ... Never mind!!

You know who the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus was. I know who the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus was. We all know who the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus was. None of us had heard of him until last week, but the "news" media have put an end to that.

But nobody in the “news” media seems to know who the late Ayatollah Khomeini was!!!

The newsmedia have told us, ad nauseum, that Pope Benedict XVI, when making his insulting remarks about Islam, was “merely” quoting -- guess who -- the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.

But no-one in the mainstream newsmedia -- yes, no-one -- has yet bothered to discuss the triple misrepresentation of President Ahmadinejad’s remarks about Israel. Triple misrepresentation because:

1 – What President Ahmadinejad actually said was that Israel "should be eliminated from the pages of history.” He did not say “Israel should be wiped off the map.”

2 – The Western newsmedia never bothered to report that President Ahmadinejad was merely quoting the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

3 - And, of course, the Western newsmedia never bothered to mention that the distorted translation of President Ahmadinejad’s remarks was the work of the New York Times reporter Nazli Fathi.

The Western newsmedia have even gone to the trouble of publishing the full text of the Pope's horribly boring lecture (it is available at hundreds of sites online). Not one Western news organ, however, has yet published the full text of President Ahmadinejad's speech, whose mistranslation was discussed here, and which was infinitely more interesting and readable.

The Western newsmedia have once again revealed the hypocrisy of their pretensions of liberalism. None of President Ahmadinejad's speeches contain a single offensive word against any other religion or race, while the Pope's speech was clearly offensive for the adherents of another religion. And yet the Western media have made it their mission to defend the Pope...

You may have noticed that I did not say the Pope intended to offend anyone. In other words, I am not saying the actual content of his speech was offensive. In the same way that the Western newsmedia have refused to discuss the actual content of President Ahmadinejad's speeches, I won't bother to discuss the actual content of the Pope's lecture.

Update: President Ahmadinejad, who has long suffered from the Western media's distortions of his words, defends the Pope:

Iran plays down row over Pope (This news item appeared this morning in the online edition of Edinburgh News, later to disappear and be replaced by another news item! The Press moves in mysterious ways.)

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said he respects Pope Benedict XVI, in a move seen to be downplaying the pontiff's remarks on Islam and holy war...

Ahmadinejad said: "Regarding the issue of the Pope's comments, we respect the Pope and all of those who are interested in peace and justice."

Vatican: Ahmadinejad defends Pope

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly defended on Monday Pope Benedict XVI over his quotation of Medieval commentary linking Islam to violence. Addressing a joint press conference with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Ahmadinejad said "we respect the Pope and everyone must be interested in peace." Speaking one day after Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei accused the pontiff of being part of a "US-Zionist crusade" against Islam, Iran's president said the pontiff's words were taken out of context...

"There is no doubt that there are those who release incorrect information," Ahmadinejad was also quoted as saying, hinting that Benedict's words were "modified."

Israel's Occupation

An Israeli recently arrives at London's Heathrow airport. As he fills out a form, the customs officer asks him: "Occupation?"

The Israeli promptly replies: "No, just visiting!"


More Lebanese jokes about their situation and their imperial neighbour:


Three Hezbollah fighters run out of Beirut's southern suburbs after Israeli raids, flashing the victory sign. Actually, no. They were really pointing out that there were only two buildings left standing.

Why did rents go up in Ain el-Rummaneh district overlooking the southern suburbs? Because it has a sea view now!

Why are coquettish elderly Lebanese women very happy about the war? Because it took them back 30 years.

Why will Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, win the Nobel Prize for education? Because he is the only man who sent one million people to school in just two days.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sitting in his office wondering how to invade Lebanon when his telephone rang. Beirut's most famous imaginary character announces to him in a heavily accented voice: "This is Abul Abed and I am calling to tell you that we are officially declaring war on you." "How big is your army?" replies Olmert. "Right now," said Abul Abed, "there is myself, my cousin Mustafa, my next-door neighbor Abu Khaled, and the whole team from the teahouse. That makes eight!" Olmert paused. "I must tell you Abul Abed, that I have 1 million men in my army waiting to move on my command." Abul Abed paused, then said: "Mr. Olmert, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!" "And what equipment would that be Abul Abed?", Olmert asked. "Well sir, we have two Mercedes 180s, and a truck." "I must tell you Abul Abed that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to 2 million!" "Mr. Olmert, we have to call off this war," said Abul Abed. "I'm sorry to hear that," said Olmert. "Why the sudden change of heart?" "Well," said Abul Abed, "we've come to realize that there is no way we can feed 2 million prisoners!"

Olmert sent a commando operation deep into Lebanon. Mission: Capture Lebanese diva Fairuz. He insists on finding the only bridge he did not destroy: An imaginary bridge evoked for decades in a romantic Fairuz aria. "On the bridge 'Lawziyeh' under the shade of the leaves," goes the song.

Early one day, a man rushes desperately to the dentist. "Please take out my bridge, or the Israelis will bomb it!"

After Saudi Arabia decided to donate half a billion dollars to rebuild Lebanon, Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, ordered the capture of six Israeli soldiers at the border.

Amid a mass evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon, Palestinian refugees who have been stranded in Lebanon for nearly 60 years are ecstatic: The Palestinian Authority has decided to evacuate its nationals as well.

Source

One year after Katrina

Why They Fight

A couple of night ago I saw the documentary Why We Fight on CBC. To understand American militarism, you need to understand the reasons for it. You need to understand the "Why." Every other documentary I have watched on the subject, including Michael Moore's "Farenheit 911," has mainly tackled the "How." "Why We Fight" gives far more far-reaching answers to the first question than one expects from a fairly mainstream documentary, which is essentially what it is.

It is built around President Eisenhower's words of warning, as he was leaving office, about the "military-industrial complex" . We all think we have heard his message. This movie proves that we have not been allowed to notice the important second part of Ike's warning:

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

"We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

The movie is an exposition and indictment of the dialogue of alienation that characterizes not only American militarism, but also American politics, and American society itself.

The Brain on Pennsylvania Avenue

The latest quote from the Brain:

"Sometimes I'm happy, you know. But war is not a time of joy."

Fact-finding mission to Lebanon

Three Canadian Members of Parliament are currently on a fact-finding mission in Lebanon. Below is from a report on their findings published in today's Toronto Star. It is written by Andrew Mills, who has been doing a first-class job of reporting Israel's war on Lebanon:

AITAROUN, LEBANON—The Canadian government must begin direct talks with militant groups such as Hezbollah to effectively bring a peaceful end to conflicts like the one that has ravaged Lebanon this summer, Toronto Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj says.

Standing at the spot where an Israeli air strike killed several members of a Montreal family last month, Wrzesnewskyj said Israel's summer offensive against Lebanon was nothing less than "state terrorism."

"Over 1,200 dead and counting. Over 40,000 apartments and houses flattened. A country's infrastructure dismembered. You look around here," said Wrzesnewskyj. "I believe what's happened is absolutely criminal."

It was one of the strongest statements a Liberal MP has made against Israel since July 12, when it launched air, land and sea attacks after guerrillas from the militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper initially called the ensuing Israeli onslaught a "measured response" to the raid, but as the civilian death toll mounted, he later toned down his comments saying such judgments had become more difficult as the war escalated.

But for the three Canadian opposition MPs who yesterday toured the wasteland of south Lebanon on a fact-finding mission, Israel's attacks here have been anything but measured.

"Those who were injured and killed on the Israeli side of the border feel equally devastated, but the extent of the damage is far greater here. And to say that Israel's response was a measured response is just so far out of whack from reality," said NDP MP Peggy Nash.

Wrzesnewskyj said even if Canada had attempted to play a role, the country's anti-terrorism legislation prevents it from having any contact with groups listed as terrorist organizations under the criminal code.

"We can't shackle ourselves by saying, `We're not going to talk,'" he said. "We must talk."

All three MPs here speculated that Conservatives' unwillingness to send a representative is reflective of their support for Israel's government.

The MPs travelled through areas where Israeli forces have destroyed homes, businesses and hundreds of civilian lives and ended in this border village where diggers have spent days scraping through debris in a delicate effort to remove the bodies of the al-Akhras family.

The Montreal couple, their four young children and other family members, were caught in their ancestral village when the fighting broke out. The home they had sheltered in took a direct hit on July 16.

Wrzesnewskyj called for a full international investigation of attacks on civilians.

"This sort of state impunity has to end," he said. "It's almost having to save a people from themselves. What do you think (Israel's) breeding here? Extremism."

Why we love Fidel

Why do we love Fidel?
Because we love the idea of “Fidel”
Because we think there has to be some other way
That there must be more to life and to living than this
That life and living must have some meaning too

We loathe the things that they force down our throats day and night
We love freedom:
Freedom from the chains of television and commercials
Freedom from the chains of futility
Freedom from humiliation

Yet, we know Fidel’s time is past
We know the idea of “Fidel,” too, will some day succumb to the unipolar world that is getting narrower every day
Still, we keep hoping
Still, we see signs that the idea of “Fidel” may be permeating into other places too
Fidel who, once the Soviet Union fell, was left isolated and friendless, is finding new friends and allies

But the unipolar world, too, is hard at work
Its slogan is “You are either with us or with the terrorists”
Its slogan is “democracy,” but only if democracy doesn’t harm its own interests
It supports all autocratic governments, but considers Fidel a dictator
A dictator who has given free education and healthcare to his country’s people
And many other things besides
So we must either be with Bush or with Fidel

But even if some day Fidel had to leave, he will go with honor
He will hold his head high
The same way that his nation – his comrades – hold their heads high
Because he never yielded
He was never like autocratic rulers who sell everything that they have and that they are, all in return for worldly power and status

Fidel will become immortal
Because there will never be another Fidel
In the same way that there will never be another Gandhi, another Mossadegh, or another Allende
And, yes, another Khomeini or another Arafat

And yet…
Such words don’t give us fancy clothes
They don’t give us credit cards, loans, debt, and alienation
They don’t give us the “American Dream”

So, long live CNN and the “free” press, the boundaries of whose freedom are set by multinational corporations!
Long live the hundreds of meaningless brand names, trade marks and logos!
Long live luxury cars and even more luxurious houses, which most of us only see in our dreams!
Long live the material world!

Source: Beyond Words

Happy 80th, and many more! Please get well!

"The sovereignty of Cuba must be respected"

To sign the statement below, already signed by over 16,000 individuals and over 200 organizations, go here

"As a result of the communication of Fidel Castro on his state of health and the provisional delegation of his responsibilities, high ranking U.S officials have formulated more explicit statements about the immediate future of Cuba. The Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez said that 'the moment has arrived for a true transition towards a true democracy' and the White House spokesman Tony Snow said that his government is 'ready and eager to provide humanitarian, economic and other aid to the people of Cuba', as was recently reiterated by President Bush.

"Already the 'Commission for Assistance to a free Cuba', presided over by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, pointed out in a report issued in June 'the urgency of working today to ensure that the Castro regime's succession strategy does not succeed' and President Bush indicated that this document 'demonstrates that we are actively working for change in Cuba, not simply waiting for change'. The Department of State has emphasized that the plan includes measures that will remain secret 'for reasons of national security' and to assure its 'effective implementation'.

"It is not difficult to imagine the character of such measures and the 'announced assistance' if one considers the militarization of the foreign policy of the present American administration and its performance in Iraq.

"In front of this increasing threat against the integrity of a nation, and the peace and the security of Latin America and the world, we the signatories listed below demand that the government of the United States respect the sovereignty of Cuba. We must prevent a new aggression at all cost."

Roadmap to Peace in the Middle East and Everywhere Else

The truth is coming out from behind the cloud of Israeli lies

Israel, confronted with the world’s revulsion at its bombings of civilian targets, has claimed that Hezbollah fighters and munitions are dispersed and hidden among Shia civilian populations. According to Israel, Hezbollah is to blame for the civilian deaths.

Israel’s bombing of Lebanon’s Christian areas has finally put the lie to that claim, as there are no Hezbollah targets in Christian areas.

Israel has a long tradition of deliberately targeting civilian populations in order to erode an enemy nation’s morale. It is now engaged in punishing all sectors of the Lebanese population for having joined hands to repel their common enemy.

"Arab street rallies behind Hezbollah"

The absurd intensity of Israel's attack on Lebanon was probably due to the fact that the war on Lebanon was meant to be a stepping stone towards the Zionist entity's wider plans in the region. The war was not just about Lebanon. It was meant to pit Lebanese Sunnis against Lebanese Shias, and, by extension, the Sunni nations against the lone Shia nation, that is, Iran, thereby facilitating Israel's planned attack on Iran. To Israel's chagrin, things have not quite worked out that way.

Letter about Lebanon by Sid Ryan, President of CUPE, to Prime Minister Harper

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Room 313S Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Prime Minister:

I call on you to immediately denounce the state of Israel with the same voice with which you denounce Hezbollah and Hamas. As president of the largest union in Ontario, representing over 200,000 workers in the public service, I ask that you stop supporting the heinous war crimes that Israel is committing against the people of Lebanon and Gaza.

The intentional bombing of infrastructure and civilian targets – which has already taken the lives of hundreds of men, women and this weekend another 37 young children, is criminal and violates all codes of international conflict and international law.

You have been complacent, and by extension have made the worldview of Canadians complacent, in taking the lives of innocent people and leaving the survivors without the bare necessities of life.

You have turned your back on Canada’s proud history as an honest broker of peace around the world. The proud history and tradition of Canada’s role as an international peacekeeper, begun by the Honourable Lester B. Pearson, has been made a laughing stock in the world.

Your unfettered support for the United States’ soft foreign policy on Israel has violated Canadian tradition and embarrassed many patriotic Canadians. Your “measured response” statement, delivered the day before eight Canadians were killed, has embarrassed many. Your lack of response and criticism to those deaths has embarrassed Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Your blaming of the victims when Israel bombed a UN station is unconscionable. Canada lost a brave peacekeeper, a soldier who was upholding Canada’s marvelous tradition of peacekeeping, your silence in the face of his death is unacceptable – all other countries who lost citizens had the moral values and conviction to condemn Israel for this intentional hit on a peaceful observer station.

Your blind support for George Bush and his policies and your rejection of Canada’s traditional role in the world has left Canadians confused and angry.

You must call for an immediate cease-fire and a stop to the bombings by all parties. I urge you to take a strong leadership role, to reconsider the position you have taken, to be an active force in bringing peace to the Middle East, in saving the lives of hundreds more innocents, and in bringing Canada’s sense of fairness, social justice and peace to this critical situation.

Sincerely,

Patrick (Sid) Ryan
President, CUPE Ontario

webpage

Thanks to Israel's savagery, the scales begin to fall from everyone's eyes

BEIRUT, July 31 (Reuters) - France said on Monday that Iran was crucial to the stability of the Middle East and it was important to maintain contacts with Tehran as part of efforts to resolve the crisis in Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy described Iran as a significant, respected player in the Middle East which is playing a stabilising role.

. . .

Asked earlier in Beirut whether he would meet his Iranian counterpart, Douste-Blazy said: "It's normal that politicians who want a political agreement can meet each other."

. . .

"It was clear that we could never accept a destabilisation of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilisation of the region," Douste-Blazy told a news conference in Beirut.

"In the region there is of course a country such as Iran -- a great country, a great people and a great civilisation which is respected and which plays a stabilising role in the region," he told a news conference.

The Great Feat of the IAF and IDF

It is very difficult to become an object of simultaneous hatred and contempt of the whole world, but Israel's armed forces have managed to do just that. My sincerest congratulations to all Zionists!

The reason for Israel's targeting of the UN outpost in Lebanon

Israel's baffling attack on the UN outpost in Lebanon is a little less baffling after reading these two letters in today's Toronto Star:


The situation with the deliberate bombing on the UN outpost made me more than a little angry. There is no way possible that it was an accident. For one, Israel employs satellite-guided laser 500 lb. bombs. The co-ordinates for targets come down from the U.S. military satellite system. So any bomb that hits a specific target had those co-ordinates programmed in.

The media fail to mention that on June 8, 1967 the USS Liberty was attacked by aircraft and boats from the Israeli military. The Liberty was flying three U.S. flags — one a large flag. When the attack was finished, 34 U.S. sailors lay dead and 174 were wounded. Israel claimed it was a mistake, but the ship was an electronic ship listening to the chatter and picked up the fact that Israel was the aggressor nation.

So the bombing of the UN outpost fits into a nice history and Israel gets away with it.

Jim Trautman, Orton, Ont.


The UN observers in Lebanon were observing war crimes. So they had to be eliminated. Neither Israel nor Israel's biggest cheerleader, Canada's Prime Minister Harper, wanted them there. This is the other letter:


Are Stephen Harper and the Israeli ambassador to Canada trying to deflect serious concerns about the bombing of the unarmed UN observers in Lebanon by questioning why they were in a war zone? That is their job, Prime Minister, to be witnesses for the UN during a conflict. That is why they have a bunker, built to withstand 155mm artillery shells but not a heavier guided missile. That is the role of the UN mission there. Shame on you for questioning their integrity.

Capt. David Platt (ret'd), Toronto

Gerard Kennedy is the one!

The Toronto Star asked nine candidates for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada two questions regarding the situation in Lebanon:

What would you have done differently than Prime Minister Stephen Harper?

If you were prime minister, what would you do now?

In my opinion, Gerard Kennedy's answers put him far ahead of the rest of the pack as a progressive:

Gerard Kennedy, former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister, said he would have reacted more quickly, both diplomatically and in getting Canadians out of Lebanon, adding, "Certainly, I don't think the Canadian government acted as quickly as other governments did.

"I believe that Canada should have been calling for a ceasefire, and we should have been doing that some time ago. We should be talking to all the responsible parties in the region ... It will be the cause of some regret that Canada did not exercise its good offices in this and people are dying on both sides of the border. It's not that we are a friend of Israel or a friend of Lebanon — we're a friend of peace."

Kennedy, too, is open to providing Canadian peacekeepers.

"If (Harper) has dismissed Canada's peacekeeping role, I think that's a mistake. And that's where I would differ with him. I think at some juncture there will be room for peacekeeping in this and Canada should stand ready, not just to respond, but to be part of the group, within the UN initiative. I don't think it should be left solely to the United States' initiative ... In some way, Prime Minister Harper has let down the parties in the Middle East and Canada by not exercising himself in this way (as a negotiator)."

I am neither a delegate nor a member of the Liberal Party. Had I been one, Gerard Kennedy would have been the clear choice for me.

Gerard Kennedy's leadership site

When will NATO bombing of Tel Aviv commence?

"When Serbia responded to an armed insurrection by the Kosovo Liberation Army with a military campaign that created Europe's worst humanitarian crisis in decades, no objective observer could deny that, notwithstanding Serbia's legitimate state interests, its response to the insurrection was entirely disproportionate to the threat. Not only did NATO have no problem condemning Serbia's aggression against Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population, but it bombed Belgrade to stop the military aggression."

Read more

Member of Ontario's legislature silenced by Canadian Jewish Congress for telling the truth about Israel

MPP calls Israel 'rogue' state

A pictorial answer to one lie about Iran

You have been told that Iranian women are oppressed, that they cower in silence under a tyrannical and misogynist political system.

Well... I, for one, would definitely think twice before I try to oppress Iranian women who play rugby football:









The pictures are from a series of national tournaments in various sports currently being held in Iran. True, the women are dressed in an extremely modest manner, showing no "skin" whatsoever. In my opinion, only voyeurs and misogynists object to modest dress in women.

Humanity is very far from achieving equality for women, or for men for that matter. At the same time, the American propaganda about the situation of women in Iran is no more than the usual bunch of lies that are meant purely to serve American interests. Iranian women are no more or less oppressed than women in any other part of the world.


For good measure, here are a couple of pictures from an Iranian fashion show:

A friend in need...

As part of Israel's psychological warfare operations, its planes have dropped leaflets over Beirut with a crude drawing of Sheikh Nasrallah depicted as a cobra dancing to the tune of the leaders of Iran, Syria and Hamas.

The tactic would have been hilarious in a less tragic situation. With the major Arab governments having formally abandoned Lebanon to Israel's clutches, Lebanon's only remaining friends consist of... you guessed it: Iran, Syria and Hamas.

The people of Lebanon know who their enemies and their friends are. Israel's brutal invasion has only served to unite the people of Lebanon around Hezbollah.

A member of Argentina's Arab community shows a tattoo of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during a protest rally in Buenos Aires against the Israeli attacks on Lebanon

From mice to men (and women)

According to a UPI report today:

Egypt's al-Gomhuriya [newspaper] commented the Palestinian cause has historically been instrumental in uniting Arab ranks in the struggle to liberate the Palestinians and Jerusalem from Israeli occupation. The semi-official daily said it was now time to once again reunite to save the Palestinians from the "daily massacres carried out in their ugliest forms before the eyes of the silent world that has been preoccupied with the personal American agenda." The mass-circulation daily's editorial warned that waiting for an American intervention to stop the "Israeli massacre against the Palestinian people" is "delusional due to the agreement between Washington and Tel Aviv's policies and objectives." This requires an immediate meeting of Arab leaders, it said, to work seriously to "use what elements of power and pressure cards they have left, not only to save Palestine, but to rejuvenate the diseased Arab body."

We will have to wait and see whether al-Gomhuriya's prescription for action by Arab governments will be put to practice. In the past, Arab governments have tended to act more like mice than men. (That was what Robert Fisk called Arabs a few years ago in a moment of anger at their apathy or inaction in the face of Israeli atrocities)

For the moment, Palestinian guerrillas have certainly been nothing less than lions (and lionesses). The capture of the two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon by the Hezbollah has not only helped strengthen the solidarity and resolve of the Palestinian nation, but it may help put pressure on Arab governments to take some real action against Israel. Israel thought it could wreak whatever havoc it wished on the boxed-in Gaza strip, on the pretext of freeing one soldier. With the capture of two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and their removal to unknown distant locations, making it impossible to find them no matter how many bombs Israel drops on defencelesss Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, the pointless violence of the Israeli State will become clearer than ever for everyone to see.

"How I've come to know Gilad Shalit"

A Palestinian carries the body of Rowan Hajaj, a six-year-old girl, to a hospital in Gaza City. The girl, her elder brother and mother were killed during an Israeli raid on a house.

An article in today's Toronto Star by Simon J. Black, a Toronto freelance writer:

I know Gilad Shalit. Not personally, but I could tell you what he looks like, his age, where he went to school, his hometown, his father's name, what his father looks like, and how he weeps for his son.

I know that this is not the first time that the Shalit family has felt the emotional impact of armed conflict. I know that during the Arab-Israeli war, Gilad's uncle, Yoel, was killed.

I know that Gilad's brother is named after Yoel. I know that his brother attends university in Haifa and is worried about him. I know that Gilad is being held by Palestinians after his army outpost was raided and Gilad was captured.

I know that Gilad is the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinians since 1994. I know Gilad's friends describe him as a peaceful and quiet young man.

I know that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has spoken with Gilad's father. I know that Olmert has assured Galid's father that everything in his power is being done to secure the release of his son.

I also know that the "everything" Prime Minister Olmert speaks of includes the collective punishment of the Palestinian people by further military incursions into their territory, destroying Palestinian infrastructure and cutting their power supply, leaving families in the dark.

I know these things because I watch the nightly news and read the daily paper. Since his capture, I have been unable to avoid the image of Gilad Shalit and the life and history behind this image.

What I do not know is the names and faces of the hundreds of Palestinian children held in Israeli jails.

I could not tell you about their brother or sister, whether they would like to go to university, or whether they have a dead relative for whom they were named after.

Nor could I tell you about the thousands of Palestinian men and women who are held by the Israeli state without charge or trial. I could not tell you whether their friends and family describe them as peaceful or quiet.

These people are nameless, faceless, reduced to bare life — human beings not entitled to rights, dignity and respect.

Nor do they merit the attention of the BBC, The Globe and Mail, Ha'aretz, or The New York Times.

Unless of course they engage in an act of violence so horrific, so apparently unexplainable and incomprehensible that they must be subject to biography, psychological profiling, a where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-the-aspiring-fun-loving-university-student-type docudrama.

Apparently their suffering does not deserve the attention of the media.

Their incarceration is not the stuff of headlines in the national media. Their detainment is without explanation and justification in the op-ed section of the dailies or subject to the analysis of talking heads on the evening news.

No ink will be spilled over their life stories.

And here lies the tragedy of the Palestinian people. Here lies the tragedy for many of us.

We only know Gilad Shalit.

Fifty Palestinians killed to save one Israeli soldier, and yet Israel claims it has not used excessive force. What, in God's name, would be "excessive" force?

Unprecedented levels of cruelty, even by Israeli standards

Palestinians run for cover as Israeli troops open fire near Beit Lahiya

Below is a statement/petition on the current situation in Palestine being circulated by Britain's Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It is currently being forwarded to British public figures, organizations, trade unions and others who are asked to sign it. The British Palestine Solidarity Campaign has asked sympathizers in other countries to undertake similar initiatives in their own countries. The British initiative has already received considerable support. Here is the text of the British statement:

Emergency in Palestine

The Israeli government's behavior at present is to be comdemned. The failure of our government to speak out against Israel's oppression of the Palestinian population is complicit with those actions of the European Union, the United States and Israel. It is in effect a coordinated attempt to collectively punish the Palestinian people for electing a government of which they disapprove .

Having lectured the people of the Middle East about `democracy' for decades, our government, the EU and the United States are seeking to trample upon the right of the Palestinian people to exercise their democratic right to elect their own government.

The suspension of aid by the EU and the US, the withholding of Palestinian taxes by Israel, and Israel's illegal blockade, are crimes against the Palestinian people.

They are creating a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the West Bank and have emboldened Israel to sustain an unrelenting bomb and missile barrage , which regularly kills innocent children and other noncombatants in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which protects civilians under occupation.

Israel has bombed the only power station in Gaza , destroying electricity and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and forcing tens of thousands to flee from their homes. These are crimes against humanity.

These actions have now culminated in the kidnapping by Israel of a quarter of the parliament elected by the Palestinians, and half of its democratically elected government. They join thousands of other Palestinians illegally kidnapped or imprisoned by Israel, including over 300 children.

We call upon the British government:

1. To immediately work for the restoration of EU aid to the Palestinian Authority.
2. To demand that Israel ends its blockade and restore taxes to the Palestinian Authority.
3. To demand that Israel cease all military action in the Occupied Territories.
4. To demand the release of all elected Palestinian officials held by Israel and the instigation of a programme for the release of all prisoners held in violation of international law.5. To apply pressure through the United Nations for Israel to respect the UN resolutions requiring its withdrawal from the territories it illegally occupied in 1967.
6. To end Britain's arms trade with Israel until it abides by international law.

Website of Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Update:

The statement by the British group Palestine Solidarity Campaign has so far garnered the signatures of the following public figures:

Ken Livingstone
John Pilger
Betty Hunter, Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Lord Eric Avebury
Lord Ian Gilmour
Prof Moshe Machover
Prof Avi Shlaim
Daniel Machover
Juliet Stevenson
Bella Freud
Ahdaf Soueif
Peter Kilfoyle MP
Clare Short MP
Derek Wyatt MP
Helen Goodman MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Paul Flynn MP
Frank Cook MP
John Austin MP
Hywel Williams MP
Mike Hancock MP
Mike Wood MP
Karma Nabulsi
Keith Sonnet UNISON Deputy General Secretary

Rev. Canon Garth Hewitt
Rev. Stephen Sizer

Majed Al Zeer
Andrew De La Tour
Tony Benn
Victoria Brittain
Baroness Jenny Tonge
Bruce Kent
Caryl Churchill
Charles Asprey
Corin Redgrave
Dr. Ghada Karmi
Gargi Bhattacharyya, Vice-President University and College Union (personal capacity)
Andy Bain President TSSA (personal capacity)
Baljeet Ghale NUT Senior Vice-President (personal capacity)
Prof Anthony Zahlan
Prof Hilary Rose
Prof Steven Rose
Ruqayyah Collector, NUS National Black Students Officer
Sacha Craddock
Steve Kemp NUM General Secretary
Susan Wooldridge

No words can describe the suffering of Palestinians

Palestinian children take cover as Israeli tank advances

"Collective punishment is illegitimate and it does not have a smidgeon of intelligence. Where will the inhabitants of Beit Hanun run? With typical hardheartedness the military reporters say they were not "expelled" but that it was "recommended" they leave, for the benefit, of course, of those running for their lives. And what will this inhumane step lead to? Support for the Israeli government? Their enlistment as informants and collaborators for the Shin Bet? Can the miserable farmers of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia do anything about the Qassam rocket-launching cells? Will bombing an already destroyed airport do anything to free the soldier or was it just to decorate the headlines?

"Did anyone think about what would have happened if Syrian planes had managed to down one of the Israeli planes that brazenly buzzed their president's palace? Would we have declared war on Syria? Another "legitimate war"? Will the blackout of Gaza bring down the Hamas government or cause the population to rally around it? And even if the Hamas government falls, as Washington wants, what will happen on the day after? These are questions for which nobody has any real answers. As usual here: Quiet, we're shooting. But this time we are not only shooting. We are bombing and shelling, darkening and destroying, imposing a siege and kidnapping like the worst of terrorists and nobody breaks the silence to ask, what the hell for, and according to what right?"

Read the full article

The poor, poor, Israelis -- so weak and vulnerable

Next thing you know we'll be talking about their "hearts"!!

Click on the picture for a larger image.

"Palestinian lives are nothing, Israeli lives everything"

From a letter by a Naftali Lavie in today's Toronto Star:

"As someone who has served in an Israeli tank unit near Kerem Shalom, I have nothing but sympathy for the bereaved families of Lieut. Hanan Barak and Sgt. Pavel Slutsker, killed in a daring Palestinian commando raid in which Corp. Gilad Shalit was taken captive. But some perspective and some context are necessary.

"This tank base was one of the locations from which Israel has been relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip for several weeks. Further, just one day earlier, on Saturday, Israeli commandos had raided Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, and captured two brothers, Mustafa and Osama Mu'ammar. All of this is well-known, but did not make it to the front page. Can it be that Palestinian lives are nothing, Israeli lives everything?"

I am in a state far beyond anger and indignation. I think I can best describe it as emotional paralysis. Israeli monsters inflict whatever horrific suffering on the completely defenceless Palestinians that they feel like -- with complete impunity, without anyone, least of all the emasculated Arab governments, raising so much as a peep.

Dubya in Vienna

Speaking of swarms of locusts, here is Dubya's own armoured stretch limousine, flown in specially for his Vienna visit. It was a part of a convoy of sixty vehicles that hauled him around town.



And here is the man himself, disgracing himself as usual, this time after being told some truths about what the rest of the world thinks of him.



And here is the welcoming committee.

A Swarm of Locusts

Have you noticed the strange disconnect between the environment movement and the animal rights movement? Neither side seems even to be aware of the other one, despite the fact that (a) animal life on this planet desperately needs the environment to be protected, to put a halt to the mass extinctions that are now all but inevitable; and (b) what is the "environment" that the environmentalists try to protect? Are animals, plants, and the planet's overall biodiversity not integral and inalienable parts of that "environment"?

Yet the environmentalist's sole focus seems to be on how climate change, pollution, and so on, will affect the planet's human population. Their proposed solutions are entirely focussed on trying to reduce or reverse the harm to human communities. One incredibly thoughtless form of this, for instance, is the holy of holies of the environmental movement, namely, alternative sources of energy, such as biofuel, solar energy, and so on. Presumably, vast areas of the planet are to be covered by biofuel-producing forests, by windfarms, and so on. No concern is being shown for the environmental destruction and havoc that such massive schemes would cause.

The animal rights movement, on the other side, seem more concerned about cute and cuddly animals than the other non-so-cuddly ones. The massive extinctions going on at this very moment among fish populations, for instance, seem to be of little concern to them.

Both groups, as with nearly all other activists working within the current socio-economic system, seem entirely obsessed with helping that very system (that very destructive system) to survive and thrive. The environmentalists want to enable the destructive current lifestyles to continue into the far future, albeit in modified forms. And the animal rights movement shows little concern for the systemic causes of the destruction affecting not just cute and cuddly animals, but all animals. They simply want to be able to go on enjoying cute and cuddly animals far into the future.

One of the most disturbing theories I have heard of has to do with the reason for the great diversity of animal life in Africa as opposed to the relative lack of diversity on the other continents. Because human life originated and evolved in Africa, the animals of that continent had the time and opportunity to adapt themselves to this new species. They learned to beware of the ruthless homo sapiens. Avoidance of this dangerous species became a part of the instinctual equipment of African animals.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the animal populations of the other continents were just as diverse as those of Africa. Around 70,000 years ago, a small population of humans left Africa and gradually multiplied and spread itself throughout the rest of the world. Everywhere they went, they destroyed for the sake of destroying, they killed for the sake of killing. The animal populations of Asia, Europe and the Americas were entirely unprepared for this new pestilence.

We are still nothing but a swarm of locusts.

And now for something completely different...

International Philosophy

An Un-Diplomatic Diplomacy: Tehran 1 - Washington 0

Washington’s war-mongers currently find themselves in a highly discredited position vis-à-vis Iran. Washington's lies have come back to haunt it. For months it has been beating the drums of war and “regime change,” proclaiming its holy mission to democratize an already democratic government (while its long-standing Mid-East friends and allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as its new friend Libya, continued to suffer extreme forms of political repression that countenance no opposition).

In the case of Iran, though, Washington was a perfectionist. Iran’s imperfect democracy had to go, and presumably be replaced by a dictatorship mindful of US interests. In reality, Washington was fearful that Iran’s independent political behaviour was setting a bad example for the rest of the Third World.

Washington took advantage of a manufactured nuclear crisis to cloak the nature of its actual concern. The United States, by far the most dangerous country in the world, with more invasions of foreign countries staining its history than one cares to think about, was concerned that Iran, one of the most peaceful countries in the world (it has not invaded a single country in over 250 years) was a danger to world peace. The irony is mind-boggling.

This week, the entire house of cards began to tumble down on the warmongers’ heads. There is nary a mention of “regime change” anymore. Suddenly, Washington finds no difficulty in dealing with the (imperfect) Iranian government, and has, in fact, offered to supply US nuclear know-how in exchange for Iran’s acceptance of highly watered-down conditions. Suddenly, Iran is no longer a nuclear threat, even though nothing has changed on the ground.

Washington, having begun from a position where “all options were on the table,” to quote Condi’s favourite threat, now has nothing left on the table! It has been stripped bare of the last shred of credibility it may still have possessed.

Still, the game’s loser will no doubt try to pretend to have won the game. Washington’s “subtle diplomacy” will be eulogized all around, as if there had been anything subtle about its threats to rain down nuclear missiles on an essentially defenceless nation.

In reality, the prize for diplomatic subtlety should unquestionably go to the government of President Ahmadinejad of Iran. Tehran’s honest dealing finally forced Washington to abandon its sham “diplomacy.” It may not be an exaggeration to say that Tehran has founded a new kind of diplomacy, that is, a diplomacy of telling the whole truth and remaining steadfastly attached to one’s principles, as opposed to what diplomacy has come to mean –- telling advantageous lies. It is also a diplomacy based on peaceful intentions, as opposed to the usual kind of diplomacy, where the threat of initiating warfare in case things do not proceed to one’s liking is always retained in the background.

The metaphor of “carrots and stick” has been used to describe the diplomatic game plan of the Big Six Powers in relation to Iran. In the end, though, Bush, Hugo Chavez’s donkey, finds himself eating the carrots while beating himself over the head with the stick.

Those were the days...

It's so good to be an obedient servant of Washington. The tyrannical Shah of Iran, who recognized no master except Washington, was literally the American nuclear industry's poster boy. This is an ad the nuclear industry ran in the 1970s to promote nuclear energy in the US.


With thanks to Rostam Pourzal

Lest We Forget

Once baby killers, always baby killers.

The American Massacre at My Lai, Vietnam, 1968

The American Massacre at Haditha, Iraq, 2006

In case you have been wondering whether anyone will be punished for the Haditha massacre (and the other massacres in Iraq), I would remind you that out of the 26 military personnel originally charged for the far larger massacre at My Lai, only one man, Lt. William Calley, was ever "punished." His punishment? Three and a half years of house arrest!

"Sometimes things happen that shouldn't happen!"

Big Box Mart

Capitalism in action

US "soldiers" in Iraq to get ethics training!!

As part of the damage-control plan following the revelation of the Haditha massacres, US "soldiers" (who are usually referred to by an epithet in this blog) are to get ethics training. A natural question to ask is: Shouldn't they have received ethics training three years ago? Shouldn't they have received ethics training prior to being sent to Iraq? Shouldn't they have been told long ago that their job was not to kill every "towel-head" that entered the sights of their accursed guns?

Today, as if the US military didn't have enough of a job on its hands with Haditha's damage control, evidence of another massacre has surfaced, this time at the town of Ishaqi, which proves, if any proof were needed, the futility of trying to teach ethics to individuals who don't already know it is wrong to shoot small children.

I have often cursed the media for their supine attitude. In my last post, I wondered why reporters don't ask themselves this logical question: If an atrocity has been revealed only on the basis of an accidental disclosure, doesn't that mean there have likely been a lot of other similar atrocities?

Now I pose another question. What sort of sense is there in having Americans try to impose peace and democracy in the world? The United States is a nation whose ruling class counts on a "morality" of "might is right" to preserve its own power and its empire, and counts on forcing children to grow up to worship guns and killing so they will make docile and willing cannon fodder for its wars. If any nation needs to be saved from itself and the tyranny and immorality of its ruling class, surely that nation is the United States of America.

Update: Iraq rejects US probe clearing troops of killings

A few of the Iraqi "insurgents" the US Marines murdered in cold blood

This case is by no means unique, or even rare. Far from it. Tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi women, men and children have been murdered by uniformed and non-uniformed American thugs and murderers, usually referred to as "soldiers" and "security contractors." Hundreds of thousands of others have been maimed for life. The only difference this time was that the cover-up and the suppression of evidence failed.

Logic tells us that if Abu Ghraib was revealed only through the accident of the publication of some unauthorized pictures, and Haditha was revealed through the accident of the failure of a cover-up, then there must have been many other Abu Ghraibs where no unauthorized pictures were taken, and many other Hadithas where the perpetrators were more skillful in covering their tracks. The members of the "embedded" newsmedia never seem of think of this logic.

Other than Haditha, only a single case is pending against the Marines. It involves last July’s killing in cold blood of the cousin of Iraq’s Ambassador to the United Nations. Do you see the pattern here? Ambassador Samir al-Sumaidaie had sufficient influence to force an investigation, although no results have been announced yet. That killing drew attention and got investigated simply because it happened to involve an ambassador’s cousin. Should the newsmedia not be asking themselves whether there have been other killings that did not accidentally involve relatives of ambassadors and other powerful individuals? Would it not be a logically inescapable conclusion that there have been many other such killings?

Before dismissing the argument as speculation, read the following Reuters story by Michael Georgy:

BAGHDAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Word that U.S. Marines may have killed two dozen Iraqi civilians in "cold-blooded" revenge after an insurgent attack has shocked Americans but many Iraqis shrug it off as an every day fact of life under occupation.

Despite U.S. military denials, many Iraqis believe killing of men, women and children at the hands of careless or angry American soldiers is common. No reliable statistics are available.

Since U.S. officials said last week that charges including murder were possible after an investigation into the deaths at Haditha last November, Iraqi media and politicians have paid scant attention to details leaking out in Washington...

Leaders of the Sunni minority are more critical but say the Haditha incident is only part of a pattern of U.S. behaviour in the Sunni heartlands north and west of Baghdad: "The American soldier has become an expert in killing," said Abdel Salam al- Qubaisy, spokesman for the Sunni Muslim Scholars Association...

In Baghdad's bustling Karrada commercial district, Mohammed Jawdaat, 47, offered a typical view at his store, where business selling firefighting gear is booming amid the chaos of Baghdad:

"It really doesn't surprise me," he said.

Like many in the city, he can recount an incident in which he says he saw U.S. forces open fire on civilians: "Six months ago a car pulled out of a street towards an American convoy and a soldier just opened fire," Jawdaat said.

"The driver was shot in the head and the person behind was killed too. They were innocents. There were no warning shots and the Americans didn't even stop. The police took the wounded." ...

Imad Mohammed, a teenager selling newspapers at a Baghdad intersection, said he had not seen Haditha on any front page and said it simply was not news: "The Americans see a Muslim go into a mosque and just assume he is a terrorist.

"They either arrest him or blow it up."

A more detailed account

"Wait a minute! Back-to-back disses!"

That's Dubya reacting to the news that his beloved Tony Blair is being kicked out of politics. Yes, the Leader of the Free World not only talks like a schoolboy, but also thinks like one.

Meanwhile, there is no love lost between Blair and the British Member of Parliament George Galloway.

Today's Hitlers walking the red carpet

Iran Proposal to U.S. Offered Peace with Israel

By Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service News Agency

WASHINGTON, May 24 (IPS) - Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and to pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to the secret Iranian proposal to the United States.

The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-U.S. agreement covering all the issues separating the two countries, a copy of which was obtained by IPS, was conveyed to the United States in late April or early May 2003. Trita Parsi, a specialist on Iranian foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies who provided the document to IPS, says he got it from an Iranian official earlier this year but is not at liberty to reveal the source.

The two-page document contradicts the official line of the George W. Bush administration that Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel and the sponsorship of terrorism in the region.

Parsi says the document is a summary of an even more detailed Iranian negotiating proposal which he learned about in 2003 from the U.S. intermediary who carried it to the State Department on behalf of the Swiss Embassy in late April or early May 2003. The intermediary has not yet agreed to be identified, according to Parsi.

The Iranian negotiating proposal indicated clearly that Iran was prepared to give up its role as a supporter of armed groups in the region in return for a larger bargain with the United States. What the Iranians wanted in return, as suggested by the document itself as well as expert observers of Iranian policy, was an end to U.S. hostility and recognition of Iran as a legitimate power in the region.

Read more

With thanks to Juan Cole

In Solidarity with the Six Nations Confederacy in Caledonia, Ontario

A native protester showing his feelings about the "offerings" of bread and cheese left by the White settlers after weeks of humiliating the protesters.

Solidarity Links

An Incremental Watershed

From today's headlines:

Bush Says Iraqi Government Formation a `Watershed'

Bush Says Progress in Iraq 'Incremental'


According to the latest report, Dubya's speechwriters are still explaining to him what "incremental" and "watershed" mean.

Dancing all night with military dictators

George W Bush, that Eliza Doolittle of world politics, already bored with Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, his recently-rediscovered love, has found a new dance partner in Korea's Kim Jung-Il:

Washington, May 17 (The New York Times) - President Bush's top advisers have recommended a broad new approach to dealing with North Korea that would include beginning negotiations on a peace treaty, even while efforts to dismantle the country's nuclear program are still under way, senior administration officials and Asian diplomats say.

The lesson for other countries that want to restore their relations with Washington is clear. Become a military dictatorship. Eliminate every single trace of democracy from your society and politics. And... Voila! Washington's suitors will come a-courting to your doorstep before you know it.

As Eliza/Dubya would say:

I could have danced all night!
I could have danced all night!
And still have begged for more.
I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things I've never done before.
I'll never know What made it so exciting;
Why all at once My heart took flight. I only know when he
Began to dance with me I could have danced,
danced, danced all night!

(True, the bit about never having done this sort of thing before is hardly apropos, but that's another story -- a long story.)

"You are a donkey, Mr Danger!"

Hugo Chavez says it all! Americans have a lot to answer for.

Libya: "Democracy" without regime change!

This is not a joke:

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya wants to work with the United States to spread democracy around the world after Washington restored full diplomatic ties with Tripoli, the head of Libya's de facto single ruling party said on Monday.

"We encourage America on the path of cooperation and we hope we will cooperate together through cultural debate to spread democracy around the world together," Mustapha Zaidi, the top official of Libya's Revolutionary Committees, said.

The United States Government has just restored normal relations with Libya. By implication, Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, having kowtowed to Washington's diktat in every possible way since the big scare he got from Saddam's overthrow, has just been anointed a democratic leader. And he will be "working with the United States to spread democracy"!

I wonder what Gaddafi's concept of "democracy" is. More importantly, I wonder what Washington's concept of democracy is. On one hand, it sees nothing wrong with granting an imprimatur of approval to the 35-year-old dictatorship of Gaddafi. On the other hand, it contemplates forcible "regime change" in democratic Iran, and continues to victimize the democratically-elected government of Palestine...

President Al Gore...

... if only...

Going where very few Presidents have gone before

Dubya's "popularity" has dropped into the 20s range. Only three other US Presidents, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Harry Truman, have ever achieved this particular distinction.

President Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush

The full text of President Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush, as published in Le Monde (in English): Letter from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to George W. Bush

According to reports, Bush has been "briefed" on the content of the letter. In other words, he will not (be allowed to) read it. I think it is important that as many other people as possible do read it, both because of the alternative perspective that it presents, and also because the "news" media have already told a lot of lies about what it says.

President Ahmadinejad welcomed to Indonesia during his current visit

A fair comparison

John Bolton, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, in a recent speech addressed to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, asserted: "Rest assured that we are not relying on the Security Council as the only tool in our toolbox." He then gleefully rose up and down on his toes, very pleased with himself for the threat he had just made against Iran (music to the ears of his audience), and literally gave an evil smile.

Compare Bolton's belligerence with the calm manner of Javad Zarif, Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations [the links are given below].

The comparison leaves no doubt in my mind that the current US Administration remains by far the greatest threat to peace and stability in the world.

By the way, isn't John Bolton, in the statement quoted above, actually saying that the United States Government doesn't give a damn about the UN Security Council? Then why is it that when President Ahmadinejad of Iran made a similar remark a few days ago, it was quoted everywhere in the Western press, while Bolton's statement was not even mentioned?

Javad Zarif's enlightening interview, where he calmly clarifies every aspect of the current situation, is here. It is 46 minutes in length.

John Bolton's statement is included in this newscast. The part of the newscast about Iran is 9 minutes long.

Translation of Speech by President Ahmadinejad of Iran

What follows is a full, accurate, and word-for-word translation of the text of President Ahmadinejad’s address at Al-Qods [Jerusalem] International Conference, Tehran, April 14, 2006. I ask the reader to put all preconceptions aside, and to read what he actually says.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Dear Scholars and Thinkers; Honorable Speakers and Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you,

On behalf of our beloved people and the government of the Islamic Republic, I would like to welcome you and express my own thanks and appreciation for your attendance. I hope your blessed and fruitful presence at this conference will help ease the inconvenience of your journey from countries far and near.

Fortunately, this conference coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Islam’s glorious Prophet, which is an auspicious concurrence.

The Prophet of Islam is the messenger of compassion, mercy, justice and human dignity. He is the focus of the unity of all believers in God and all Muslims, and the harbinger of peace and harmony on the basis of justice and faith in God. Our beloved prophet desired the welfare of all humanity, was the pinnacle of human perfection, and the inheritor of all divine prophets. I offer my felicitations on the occasion of the anniversary of this auspicious birth to the honourable participants, to all Muslims and to all humanity.

Excellencies, Dear sisters and brothers;

The question of Palestine has been a tribulation for the people of the region and the Islamic community for the past sixty years. The suffering inflicted by the Zionist occupiers upon the people of the region, Muslims and especially the Palestinian people, is a gnawing torment that cannot easily be redressed, and I would like to give a brief account of it here:

Permanent Threat

The existence of the [Zionist] regime is tantamount to the permanent imposition of an unbridled threat, so that none of the Islamic nations and countries of the region can feel secure from its threat. The closer these countries and nations are to the epicenter of this threat, the more insecure they feel. The people of Palestine exist within the context of such a threat. For that reason, they have not spent even a single day with peace of mind and tranquility for at least the past sixty years. Three generations of the children of Palestine have lived and are presently living under these circumstances. The peoples of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the entire Middle East are essentially in a similar situation.

Waste of the Immense Resources of the Region and the Islamic Community

As a result of the presence of the usurper Zionist regime, an enormous portion of the wealth and assets of the Islamic countries and the region are spent on maintaining defensive strength, and at times on actual defense. In addition, an important part of the human resources, which are the most fundamental assets of any nation, have been expended for the same purpose.

Insult to the Dignity of the Faithful and Believers

The existence of such a threat has tainted the dignity of the Islamic community, the believers, and the faithful. In accordance with the noble verse [from the Qur’an], “God has never opened a path for unbelievers to dominate believers,” the domination of such a regime over the portion of Muslims and believers that reside in the occupied territories and the region is contrary to the will of the Almighty.

By its unending murders and massacres, destruction of homes and farms, desecration of sacred shrines, mosques and churches, unrelenting invasion of residential and non-residential places, planned and announced assassinations, [the Zionist regime] tramples not only on the dignity of Palestinians, but also on the dignity of all Muslims and freedom-loving people of the world.

How long can this situation last and be tolerated? When Imam Ali, Commander of the Faithful [599-661 AD], heard that invading enemies had forcibly removed an anklet from the feet of a Jewish woman in one of the frontier cities under his rule, he said: "One should not blame a man who dies from grief over such an outrage.”

Today, they show no mercy even to children, and target them with their bullets. Palestinian men and women are abducted and tortured in their fearsome prisons. People are shot dead on the streets, at markets, and in schools. Do such scenes befit the dignity and pride of Islam and humanity?

Sowing disunity in the Islamic world and among the nations of the region

Sowing disunity among the nations and governments of the region is the foundation of the continued existence of this usurper regime. By their insidious interference and by creating an atmosphere of mistrust and resentment, they divide the countries and governments of the region, so that in this atmosphere and by setting up certain covert relationships, they make possible the imposition of costly military and economic pacts, along with the disgraceful political burdens of the dominant system on the nations and governments of the region. The Zionist regime is the focus of accord for the bullying countries and the adversaries of the Islamic community, and an adversary of Muslims. Enemies and ill-wishers, by strengthening and supporting such a threat, put effective pressure on the Islamic community and the countries and nations of the region, and, despite their deep and numerous differences, they converge and are united at this single point.

In fact, all of the dominant powers impose their power on Muslims through the regime that occupies Jerusalem; and that regime, as their agent, has assumed the responsibility to terrorize, threaten, sow disunity, and sabotage the political, economic and cultural relations between the countries of the region with each other and with other countries of the world.

Preventing the Progress and Advancement of the Islamic Countries

The bullying powers use various excuses to prevent the transfer of science, technology and progress to the nations of the region, and regard [our advancement] as a threat to the corrupt Zionist regime. They do not allow the countries of the region to tread on the path to progress and advancement. They even oppose indigenous technologies in the Islamic countries, and interpret any scientific advancement as a threat to the security of the regime that occupies Jerusalem.

Do you see how they treat our nation that, relying on the creativity of its own scientists, has been able to achieve access to nuclear technology? Whereas today, nuclear technology is one of the primary foundations for progress and serving the people; and in the not too distant future, nations lacking this technology will have no choice but to resort to it in order to provide their energy needs, as well as to use nuclear technology in scientific, technical, and manufacturing fields.

Affronts against Sanctities and Destruction of Cultural Heritage

The desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the demographic and physical alterations in Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque that are revered by all believers and the followers of all monotheistic religions are the consequences of the Zionist occupation, which has devastated this monotheistic institution, and has ruined this precious heritage of humanity.

The Exile of the Innocent Palestinians

Today, the exile of millions of Palestinians from their fatherland is a pain and brutality whose dimensions are indescribable.

Excellencies; distinguished parliamentarians; dear sisters and brothers;

What I briefly referred to are some of the consequences of the continuation of such an artificial regime. The question is: What is the philosophy behind the establishment and imposition of such a regime by certain Western powers?

Some Western powers believe that during the Second World War they killed a large number of Jewish people, and that they founded the occupying regime in order to atone for such a tragedy.

With reverence towards all ethnicities, nations, and followers of divine religions, our question is this: If such a tragedy is true, why should it be atoned for in Islamic countries, at the expense of the people of this region, through the occupation of Palestinian lands and the unending repression of Palestinian people, the exile of millions of Palestinians, the destruction of their cities, villages, and farms, and with fire, bullets, and force?

Is the tragedy of the establishment of such a regime less of a tragedy than the Holocaust that you have claimed? If there are serious doubts regarding the Holocaust, there is no doubt regarding the Palestinian tragedy and Holocaust.

The Holocaust in Palestine has persisted for more than sixty years.

Excellencies, dear sisters and brothers;

The bitter truth is that, for the last several decades, a widespread network of Zionists, aiming at domination and mastery, has enlisted the services of the bullying and powerful governments, and certain weaker governments in the West have succumbed to the Zionists.

Today, it is not only the Palestinians and the Islamic world that are affected by the threat of Zionism, but also a huge part of the economic and political interests of the people in the West are hostage to the Zionists.

I regret to affirm that the governments under the influence of the Zionists in some European countries, for the sake of consolidating the pillars of their power, are prepared to make the financial, industrial and agricultural resources and key posts of their countries available to them, and to sacrifice the freedom, dignity and honour of their citizens under the feet of the Zionists. There is much to say regarding this matter that, God willing, I will share with all nations, and especially the people of Europe, in due course.

The question of Palestine is not solely a question for the Islamic world, but rather today’s issue for humanity. The tragedy of the occupation in Palestine and daily atrocities have harmed the dignity and honour of humanity.

Can a high-minded person condone what is happening in the occupied territories? So many Palestinians have passed away yearning for return to their homes, and so many Palestinian children live with the dream of returning to Palestine, and hope to return to the homes of their fathers.

What is the remedy, and what is the solution?

Excellencies; dear sisters and brothers;

Peace and harmony can only be based on belief in God, protection of human dignity, and justice.

Oppression and aggression are not compatible with belief in God, human dignity and justice. The Zionist regime is a clear example of oppression, and its fundamental nature represents an actual and permanent threat. Its establishment was for this very purpose, namely to put in place a permanent threat in the region. Therefore, its continued existence is a continuation of threat and oppression, and would not exist without threat and aggression, and is not inherently able to survive in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. Such a regime, even if it remains established in one square meter of the land of Palestine, will continue to be a threat.

Take a good look at the bullying powers of the world. When it comes to supporting the Zionist regime, they recognize no red line and boundaries for justice, human rights and human dignity. The usurper Zionist regime is the point of convergence of all of the corruption and injustices of the corrupt and bullying powers.

Only a popular democratic government can resolve the problem of Palestine and the people of the region. The right to govern belongs to all the people of Palestine, and it is they who must decide their form of government and elect their own officials. For this purpose, there must be an opportunity for all people of Palestinian heritage, whether Muslims, Christians, or Jews, residing within Palestine or in exile in other countries, to participate in a free referendum to decide their form of government and their leaders. In other words, the only wise and rational path that is compatible with the recognized international norms is to hold a referendum with the participation of all people of Palestinian heritage.

The supporters of the Zionist regime are silent in the face of this powerful logic.

I tell them that regardless of what they desire or do not desire, the Zionist regime is falling apart.

The young tree of resistance in Palestine is blooming, and the blossoms of faith and desire for freedom are bearing fruit. The Zionist regime is a decaying and crumbling tree that will break up with a storm. Today even the immigrants inhabiting occupied Palestine, especially the African and Asian immigrants, live in misery and poverty, and discontent.

I tell the governments supporting the Zionist regime:

Open the doors to the prison of occupied Palestine, and allow the immigrants to return to their original homes, and summon the usurpers of the land of Palestine as well. Of course, if you still consider yourself indebted to them, then find a proper place for them in your own territories; otherwise, call upon them to return to their countries of origin to live like their forefathers.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Today we are all accountable in facing the question of Palestine. The enemies of humanity are struggling to preserve this nest of intrigue. They are using the resources and wealth of their own people to keep such a regime in power, at the expense of the poverty and destitution of their own nations.

With the grace of the Almighty, today the nations of the world, especially the Muslim nations, are awake and are the greatest bulwark of the people of Palestine in the struggle against the Zionist usurpers.

Islamic governments can solve the problem of Palestine by their unity and solidarity.

The parliaments of countries can play an important role in awakening and forging unity among nations by placing the question of Palestine in their permanent agenda.

The question of Palestine is the present and lasting concern of not only Muslims, but the entire humanity.

Palestine is the point of convergence and differentiation of right and wrong. The freedom of Palestine is the present aspiration of humanity. We must believe that good will prevail and evil will depart. We must believe that Palestine will soon be free.

A regime based on injustice and threats cannot survive. Today all the necessary conditions for the freedom of Palestine are on hand and available. Vigilance, unity and resistance are the keys to victory.

The destiny of the region will be decided in the land of Jerusalem, and it will be a great honour to share in the victory of Palestine.

I pray to the Almighty for the honour and strength of the Islamic community and the victory of the Palestinian people.

Once again I offer my congratulations on the auspicious birth of our dear Prophet, and thank the organizers of this conference.

I thank all the dear guests and brothers and sisters for their attendance, and hope the results of this conference will be a long step forward in realizing the noble Palestinian cause.