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Land thieves -Israeli settlers steal land and distort the truth
Paul J. Balles
In April 2008, Jeremy Ben-Ami wrote in Forward about Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine:
Somehow, for American politicians or activists to express opposition to settlement expansion – or support for active American diplomacy, dialogue with Syria or engagement with Iran – has become subversive and radical, inviting vile, hateful emails and a place on public lists of Israel-haters and anti-Semites. For the particularly unlucky, it leads to public, personal attacks on one’s family and heritage.
My own experience bore out Jeremy’s. In one article, I had referred to the settlers as “land thieves”. A reader complained, saying the label was “a racial slur, and textbook anti-Semitic”. While it was a slur against illegal settlers in Palestine, and critical of Israeli occupation and settlement behaviour, it could not qualify as anti-Semitic, textbook or otherwise.
GOP History: 100 Years of Crooks, Liars and Failures
Len Hart
In a bit over 100 yeas, the GOP loosed upon an unsuspecting nation the likes of Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding, Herbert Hoover, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. Coolidge said little and did less. Harding died in the middle of a scandal --the Tea Pot Dome Scandal.
The exact cause of Harding's death was never learned because Mrs. Harding refused to allow an autopsy. She also declined the casting of a death mask. And the body was embalmed immediately, before it ever left the hotel. All this led to rumors that Mrs. Harding had poisoned the President while they were alone together shortly before his death, perhaps with the help or knowledge of Dr. Sawyer.
A New Political Party Is Needed
Joel S. Hirschhorn
Set aside any Obama euphoria you feel. The other important news is that third-party presidential candidates had a miserable showing this year, totaling just over one percent of the grand total with 1.5 million votes nationwide, compared to some 123 million votes for Barack Obama and John McCain.
It couldn’t be clearer that Americans are not willing to voice their political discontent by voting for third-party presidential candidates. The two-party duopoly and plutocracy is completely dominant. The US lacks the political competition that exists in other western democracies. Without real political competition there is insufficient political choice.
A key problem is that for many years, third parties have not offered presidential candidates that capture the attention and commitment of even a modest fraction of Americans, unlike Ross Perot (8.4 percent in 1996 and 18.9 percent in 1992), and John Anderson (6.6 percent in 1980).
Global Economic Tremors
Stephen Lendman
On October 28, the Financial Times' columnist Martin Wolf wrote: "Preventing a global slump must be the priority." He cited Nouriel Roubini back in February listing "twelve steps to financial disaster," all of which the US took and dragged the whole world down with it.
Priority one is to rescue it and avoid a possible depression. "Given the near-disintegration of the western world's banking system, the flight to safe assets, the tightening of credit to the real economy, collapsing equity prices, turmoil on currency markets, continued steep declines in house prices, rapid withdrawal of funds from hedge funds and ongoing collapse of the so-called "shadow banking system." More worrisome is that "next year could be far worse" so what does Wolf think should be done?
Shajarian -"Darvag"
Mohammad-Reza Shajarian & Nima Yooshij
Mohammad Reza Shajarian (Persian: محمد رضا شجريان) (born September 23, 1940 in Mashhad, Iran) is an internationally and critically acclaimed Persian traditional singer, composer and Master (Ostad) of Persian music. A living legend of Persian classical music, Shajarian is also known for his mastery of Persian calligraphy and humanitarian activities.
Shajarian is considered as one of the most celebrated world music artists. His best works has been in collaboration with Parviz Meshkatian, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Hossein Alizadeh, and Faramarz Payvar. His singing is widely believed to be technically flawless, powerful, and strongly emotional. In Persian classical Dastgah music, singing is the most difficult art to master and Shajarian is the embodiment of the perfect singer and a major source of inspiration. In 1999 UNESCO in France presented him with the prestigious Picasso Award, one of Europe's highest honors.He studied singing at the early age of five under the supervision of his father, and at the age of twelve, he began studying the traditional classical repertoire known as the Radif. Shajarian started his singing career in 1959 at Radio Khorasan, rising to prominence in the 1960s with his distinct style of singing. Since then, he has had an illustrious career that includes teaching at Tehran University's Department of Fine Arts (among other places), working at National Radio and Television, researching Iranian music, and making numerous important recordings. The great ancient poets of Persia (Iran) have illustrated their feelings, senses and thoughts through poems. One can read, study and really enjoy these poems, but in order to feel the whole greatness one should just listen to the heavenly voice of Shajarian!
The Obama Drama, Osama and Al Qaeda Marching Band
Les Visible
I want to give Obama a chance. I really do but then he put that Mossad Capo with short man’s disease in charge of who sees Obama and what Obama hears …and now comes another curious thing which actually should be put in the “None of Obama’s Business File” and I’m starting to think that Ozzy Osborne may be singing “Chosen One.” to the tune of “Fortunate Son.” at the inaugural ball.
Look, the truth is that Lieberman is a neo-con who puts Israel first before the interests of the United States. That is a given. He should be stripped of his committee chairmanships at the very least because he is a traitor to the party he is supposed to serve. I don’t want to hear about how he is now an Independent. He promised certain things and then didn’t do them. He’s a weasel. If he isn’t punished for what he’s done then it’s just one more example of who controls America and one more example of why America is going down the tubes. It’s none of Obama’s business what Congress does in its internal workings. I seem to remember that that was why they separated the branches of government and we’ve seen what has happened over the last eight years when those lines were muddied to the point of no longer being visible at all.
As if Rahm weren't bad enough...
Michael Flynn
[I hadn't realized that another notorious vampire from the Israel Lobby's well-stocked crypt...Dennis Ross, is in the Obamamix too. -Michael J. Smith] Obama adviser Dennis Ross's dodgy record. With the 2008 presidential campaign at its end, pundits have begun to discuss in earnest what expected winner Barack Obama's administration might look like. An important piece of evidence is Obama's campaign team, which largely escaped the harsh scrutiny that his opponent's lobbyist-laden team received.
Because of Obama's relative inexperience on foreign policy, it is this part of his team that is getting much of the attention, and one adviser in particular -- Dennis Ross, Bill Clinton's Middle East envoy whose record includes supporting the pro-Iraq War advocacy campaigns of the Project for the New American Century and serving as a consultant to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a bastion of Israel-centric policy thinking in Washington.
PALESTINIANS CAN KISS THE IDEA OF NATIONHOOD GOODBYE IF NETANYAHU GAINS POWER IN ISRAEL
Damien Lataan
The Western world should be quite clear about this; Benjamin Netanyahu will never ever allow a Palestinian state to exist in the West Bank, Gaza Strip or any where else that the Israeli right-wing Zionists considers to be part of an eventual Greater Israel.
The West should not be fooled by Netanyahu’s recent remarks about wanting to ‘seek an alternative to current peace talks’ if he becomes Prime Minister of Israel at their elections next February. Netanyahu is seeking only to play for time. He has absolutely no interest whatsoever in making peace with the Palestinian people and even less interest in allowing the Palestinians to have any kind of sovereign state of their own.
The question of the right of return of the refugees is a Palestinian demand that is not negotiable with any Israeli leader. The question of East Jerusalem is also not negotiable as far as the Palestinians are concerned. There is, therefore, only deadlock since Netanyahu is equally steadfast in his refusal to even consider the right of return of the refugees and handing over any part of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
12-year-old beaten and imprisoned with adults
B'Tselem
[Muhammad Khawajah at his family's grocery store in Ni'lin. Photo: Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 18 Oct. 2008.] I live with my family in Ni’lin. We live on the ground floor of the house, my two uncles and their families live on the first floor, and my grandmother lives on the second floor.
Last Thursday [11 September], around 3:00 A.M., I woke up from my mother’s shouts. She was shouting, “Get up! Get up! The army is here!” My father wasn’t home that night. I got up and went out with her to the inner courtyard of the house. There were about 12 soldiers there, and their faces were painted black. One soldier wore a black hat that covered his face. He sat on the stairs outside the house and didn’t take part. I think he was a collaborator who led them to houses.
The soldiers were on the first floor. I heard them tell my Uncle Sami to direct them to our floor. One of the soldiers asked, “Where is Muhammad?”, and I realized he was asking about me. The soldier told my uncle to call me, so he did. I started walking towards them. Two soldiers grabbed me and took me outside. I realized they wanted to arrest me. I was afraid, and began to cry, and called my uncle to come with me.
How Can You Ignore Your Sisters’ Violation?
Haifa Zangana
To those who describe the act of killing American soldiers as brutal, we say: was the treatment and rape of men, women and children in Abu Ghraib humane?
In his 1947 work “The Plague,” the French philosopher Albert Camus, who fought in the ranks of the resistance against the Nazi occupation and the puppet French Vichy government, offered us a new definition of heroism: when ordinary people undertake extraordinary acts out of a feeling of moral responsibility.
With this definition, heroism was now possible by everyone, not just by the elite in society. From this viewpoint, we can understand the position of a young Iraqi male, Ibrahim Alqarghouli, who on Tuesday was sentenced to death by hanging for killing three American soldiers in 2006, an incident described as ‘brutal’ according to a statement released by the occupying U.S. forces last Tuesday and reproduced by Arab and world news agencies.
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