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The Palestine Papers and Us

By Gilad Atzmon | January 27, 2011

I have a rule — I never intervene in Palestinian political matters. I never comment on Palestinian internal debate. I do not think that I have the right to do so : I am an ex-Israeli and an ex-Jew, and I write about Israel, Jewish Identity politics, and Zionism.

For me, the leaked Palestinian Papers provide us with a valuable glimpse into Israeli politics and Western complicity in the crimes carried out against the Palestinian people.  I do realise that most Palestinian commentators agree that the leaked papers have “damaged whatever little credibility the Ramallah-based authority still enjoyed among Palestinians” ; yet, more than anything else, the Papers prove beyond doubt that Israel is  not a partner for peace — In spite of the weaknesses that have been shown by the PA since the 1990’s, Israel has failed to secure a peace deal, and has consistently failed to show any will to bring the conflict to an end. In short — Israel has always wanted more.

The Papers have also clearly shown that whilst Israel likes to present an image of ‘political pluralism’ , that is little more than a deception : there is not much difference at all between  Tzipi Livni and Avigdor Lieberman. Both are Zionist enthusiasts, and both are interested in a ‘Jews only state’ — Indeed, just like Lieberman Livni too,offered to “transfer Israeli Arabs.”

Yesterday, we learned that as far back as 2004, the British MI6 was assisting the PA in the war against Hamas :  according to The Guardian “The Palestinian Authority’s security strategy to crush Hamas and other armed groups on the West Bank was originally drawn up by Britain’s intelligence service, MI6”.

So, at the time that the British Government was supposedly advocating “democracy” in Palestine, the reality was quite different : British ‘James Bonds’ were investing enormous effort in trying to destroy the rising political power in Palestine. One may wonder : what kind of ‘British interests’ was the MI6 serving in doing so ?  It is far from being a secret that  in 2004 Tony Blair  was primarily funded by Labour Friends of Israel ; his NO 1 fund raiser  was Lord Levy.

The Palestinian  people will liberate themselves eventually — but it is also about time we all liberate ourselves from the grip of Israeli and Jewish lobbies.

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Solidarity and Activism, Subjugation - Torture, Wars for Israel | Leave a comment

Threats to academic freedom surround pro-Palestinian college professors

Israel – Palestine News | January 27, 2011

Kristofer Petersen-Overton, a political science doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate Center, has been fired from his position as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College one week before his course on Middle East politics was slated to begin.

The case was taken up by the Brooklyn College administration after a student enrolled in his course raised concerns that Mr. Petersen-Overton’s alleged pro-Palestinian bias would prevent him from conducting a balanced seminar. The student expressed these concerns with the political science department but agreed not to pursue further action until after the course actually began. However, this student contacted state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who then characterized Mr. Petersen-Overton as “pro-suicide bomber” in a letter to the college President.

In a response sent to Hamodia newspaper on Wednesday, Mr. Petersen-Overton expressed concerns “that a state official would denounce my work so strongly without, apparently, having offered it more than a cursory reading. [Hikind’s] press release … is slander pure and simple.” Mr. Petersen-Overton emphasized that his work has little to do with suicide bombers and that Mr. Hikind deliberately twisted his conclusions to make it appear otherwise.

“I was not contacted by Brooklyn College administration at any time during their decision-making process. This politically motivated action undermines CUNY’s longstanding legacy as a stalwart defender of academic freedom,” Mr. Petersen-Overton said.

The allegations against Mr. Petersen-Overton center on time he spent in the Gaza Strip working for the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and on an unpublished scholarly paper that analyzes the symbolic place of martyrdom in Palestinian nationalism. Petersen-Overton’s detractors also took issue with the fact that, according to his personal website, he still maintains “close contact” with the Palestinian activist community.

Mr. Petersen-Overton’s academic work deals broadly with issues of identity formation in Israel and Palestine.

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Aletho News | Leave a comment

The Palestine Papers and the “Gaza coup”

By Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 27 January 2011

It has long been known that following Hamas’ victory in Palestinian Authority legislative elections in January 2006, Israel and its allies, particularly the United States, worked to undermine the Hamas-led government. Their aim was to restore the authority of the Fatah movement led by Mahmoud Abbas, which had controlled the PA since it was created in 1994 after the Oslo accords were signed the previous year.
In February 2007, after months of clashes between their supporters, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a “national unity government” headed by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Enraged by this, the US government hatched a plot, along with Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, to engage Hamas militarily in Gaza. But the plot failed and in June 2007 Hamas turned the tables and overran Dahlan’s US-supported militias.

Until now, the most comprehensive and essential account of these events was contained in David Rose’s April 2008 Vanity Fair article, “The Gaza Bombshell.”

An initial reading of the Palestine Papers supports Rose’s account and provides details of hitherto unknown secret, high-level “Quadripartite” meetings among Israeli, American, Egyptian and Palestinian officials whose explicit goal appears to have been to undermine the national unity government. The essential point here is that part of the PA — loyal to Mahmoud Abbas and backed by the US — was actively plotting with Israel and its allies against the legitimately-constituted unity government.

Two documents in the Palestine Papers contain minutes of these meetings. The first is dated 11 March 2007 and titled “Quadripartite Meeting of the Gaza Security Committee.”

The Palestinians in attendance were Dahlan, Jamal Quaeid, Rashid Abu Shbak, Basil Jaber and one more whose name has been redacted by Al Jazeera. The American team was headed by US Army Lt. General Keith Dayton, the Israeli team by General Amos Gilad and the Egyptian team by one General Sharif.

This first meeting was intended to establish the “quadirpartite forum” and lay down “rules of engagement.” Firstly it was agreed that only Gaza would be discussed, not the West Bank.

Secrecy was to be the top priority. According to the rules of engagement, “All parties made very clear that nothing discussed in the meeting should be shared with anyone outside the forum. All parties made clear that any leakages would greatly hurt the forum and all those participating. All parties made clear that any leakages would immediately result in the cessation of the use of this forum and the projects being aborted. Also not to be shared is the fact that the forum exists, nor should who is attending the meetings be leaked. The press will not be involved.”

The minutes also note that “The forum is backed by the highest political echelons of each government represented.” In terms of substance, the record notes that “The implications of the national unity government were discussed by all parties in general terms.”

The Israeli team then presented their “perception of the security situation in Gaza, focusing on Hamas activities.” The Israelis, according to the minutes, “highlighted the use of tunnels for all purposes including storage and meeting areas, the import/smuggling of advanced weaponry.” The Israeli team alleged that Hamas fighters were being trained in Iran and that Hamas was attempting to “emulate the Hizballah model, which in turn is based on the Iranian model.” The Israelis asserted that “The main strategic goal of Hamas is to take over the PA then the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization]. Most Palestinians do not adhere to this Hamas ideology.”

Referring to these and other Israeli positions, the minutes note that “The Palestinians agreed that this may be part of the analysis” — an indication of complete agreement that Hamas was the common enemy.

The second “Quadripartite Security Meeting,” held on 3 April 2007, focused on the political situation and stopping the tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Lt. General Dayton observed that “The purpose of these efforts is to prevent Hamas from using the NUG [National Unity Government] as a means of gaining more powers and building up more arms.”

He also advised the Palestinians: “If you can keep Hamas from overwhelming the PLO forces, and keep Fatah together, until Hamas is no longer an attractive option — you prevent it from winning militarily until the next elections.” Dayton clearly saw his role as preparing Fatah for military confrontation with Hamas.

During a discussion of Egypt’s role, Israeli General Amos Gilad had high praise for Egypt’s repressive state security services. “I always believed in the abilities of the Egyptian Intelligence service [GIS],” he said. “It keeps order and security among 70 millions — 20 millions in one city — this is a great achievement, for which you deserve a medal. It is the best asset for the middle east.”

The Palestinian team gave a PowerPoint presentation of its plans to destroy the Gaza tunnels which included suggestions to destroy Palestinian homes near the border wall — as Israel had previously done. At one point Dayton asked Palestinian officer Rashid Abu Shbak “When Israel tells you about a tunnel, what do you do?” Abu Shbak replied, “In the past there was a good level of cooperation. But recently it is inadequate. Despite that, we deal seriously with every information they give us.”

Overall, many documents among the Palestine Papers indicate a deep “security” relationship — even codependency — between Israel, the occupying power, and the Palestinian Authority, supposedly representing the occupied. The “Quadripartite” forum sheds new light on the joint effort to overthrow the Hamas-led national unity government.

Yet there also appear to be notable gaps in the Palestine Papers. Hamas routed the US-backed PA forces in Gaza between 7-14 June 2007. The minutes and documents immediately before, during and after that period are curiously silent about the momentous events in Gaza. It is difficult to believe that the Hamas takeover would not have been the primary concern of all the actors so this absence suggests that whoever leaked the documents to Al Jazeera has been careful to hold back some material.

There do not appear to be any other records of the Quadripartite Forum. Is this because the meetings ceased or because no more minutes were leaked? Is it because amid the disarray Dahlan and Abu Shbak fled from Gaza to the West Bank and were discredited?

As revealing as the Palestine Papers are, clearly there is still much we don’t know. But one thing is certain: the divide and rule tactics used by outside powers, and the willingness of some Palestinians to go along with them, have been debilitating to the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | Leave a comment

Video : Confront the Wall

maserve | October 18, 2010

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture, Timeless or most popular, Video | Leave a comment

Fatah fighters point fingers to PA for ’05 assassination

Ma’an – 27/01/2011

GAZA CITY — The Fatah-aligned Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades named names on Thursday, identifying four PA officials who they said were behind the 2005 assassination of a leader within the militant wing.

Former Fatah strongman in Gaza Muhammad Dahlan topped the list, along with PA security forces leaders Naser Yousef, Samir Al-Mashharawi, and Rashid Abu Shabak.

The four, Al-Aqsa spokesman said, were responsible for the death of Hassan Madhoun.

Speaking from Gaza City, the militant wing leader called for a revolution Friday, and a “day of anger” against the “corrupted and the conspirators with the occupation.”

Madhoun was killed on 11 January 2005 along with a Hamas-affiliated Al-Qassam Brigades member Fawzi Abu Qaraan. The two were in a car with government license plates when they were hit. Resistance factions in Gaza at the time vowed retaliation on Israel.

“There will be many chances to defend this crime,” Al-Aqsa said, adding that a chance would be taken “in the coming days.”

On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera and The Guardian leaked documents that quoted Israeli officials asking Palestinians to assassinate Madhoun.

According to handwritten Arabic notes obtained by the Qatar-based news station, former Israeli Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz asked the former PA interior minister Nasser Yasouf to assassinate the fighter.

“We know his address … Why don’t you kill him?” Mofaz said. “He is not Hamas and you can kill him.”

Later, Yousef answers that “We’re working” on taking action against Madhoun and others. “The environment is not easy, our capabilities are limited, and you haven’t offered anything.”

Addressing the reports, the Al-Aqsa fighter said the brigades learned “noting new” from the leaked documents, but analysis of the report “proved the PA involvement in the crime.”

PA officials have called into question the validity of the 1,600 documents which cover 10 years of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials, while others accused the satellite channel of pushing a political agenda and seeking to destabilize the West Bank.

January 27, 2011 Posted by | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Hillary backs Mubarak while Obama ‘Stands with the Tunisian People’

By Ahmed Amr | Media Monitors | January 26, 2011

America has never met an Arab despot it couldn’t coddle. Before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Reagan and Bush had a nice working relationship with Saddam Hussein. In fact, when the Iraqi dictator invaded Iran, they went so far as to supply him with chemical weapons and intelligence. After ‘liberating’ Kuwait, the powers that be in Washington had no qualms about re-installing the Emir as the absolute ruler of his people.

Ben Ali counted on the enthusiastic support of Washington until the Tunisian people revolted and ran him out of town. The Tunisian dictator took refuge in Saudi Arabia – another one of those ‘moderate’ Arab oil plantations that Washington showers with affection.

In his recent State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama declared that “the United States stands with the people of Tunisia and supports the democratic aspirations of all people.” He should have qualified that by noting that exceptions would be made for Egyptians. A day earlier, Hillary Rodham Clinton was reassuring Mubarak’s regime that it would continue to support the Egyptian government in its confrontation with pro-democracy demonstrators. The way Hillary sees things – “Egypt’s government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the needs of Egyptians.” I suppose those needs couldn’t possibly include democracy. After thirty years of dictatorship, Mubarak is feeding Egyptians subsidized bread. What more could they possibly ask for?

To be fair, America is not the only Western country that romances Middle Eastern despots. Three days before Ben Ali’s police state apparatus crumbled, France offered the Tunisian mafia chief assistance in putting down the uprising. So don’t just blame Washington; even the folks who invented liberty and egalitarianism don’t want the Arabs to be free.

Let it never be said that the gurus at the State Department and the National Security Council are inconsistent. The Washington foreign policy establishment cringes at the thought of Arabs lining up at ballot boxes. They’ve seen where that leads. Free elections in Algeria, Gaza, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq have all resulted in victories for the dreaded Islamic parties.

Mindful of that, the neo-con wizards had a plan worked out to circumvent any democratic hassles after the ‘liberation’ of Iraq. To avoid the risks of free elections, they set up the Iraqi Governing Council as an interim government. All twenty-five members of the council were appointed by Paul Bremer, the newly crowned emperor of Baghdad. Many of his appointees were Iraqi exiles like the infamous Ahmed Chalabi, the man groomed to be Iraq’s velvet-gloved dictator. When queried about the democracy promised by the American invaders, Bremer was dismissive. He famously said “elections that are held too early can be destructive.”

Even after the events in Tunisia, it’s unlikely that we will see any changes in America’s hostility towards political reform in the Middle East. Take Hillary at her word. The United States will continue to support the despotic regimes in the Middle East. It’s not just a matter of habit or perceived strategic and economic interests. It goes much deeper than that. There is a political culture that is deeply entrenched in the State Department, The national security apparatus, the Washington think tanks and the media. Simply put; Washington’s political establishment despises Muslims in general and Arabs in particular and they distrust their electoral choices.

When it comes to the Middle East, Washington is a Stalinist echo chamber where anti-Arab rhetoric has its rewards. Part of the reason is that the State Department and Congress are Israeli occupied territories. Regardless of who occupies the White House, one has to pass a Likudnik loyalty test to land a job as doorman at Foggy Bottom.

Just take a look at the resume of Jeffrey Feltman, the American diplomat dispatched to Tunis to sort things out. He’s a protégé of Martin Indyk, the Israeli lobbyist who was recruited directly from AIPAC to serve as American ambassador to Israel but never failed to perform his duties as an Israeli envoy to the State Department. On any policy issue pertaining to the Middle East, Israeli lobby operatives have the last word.

It’s no secret that committed Likudniks like Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith were the driving force behind America’s trillion dollar misadventure in Iraq or that the same dark forces are braying for a confrontation with Iran. They even consider Turkey a mortal threat. American blood and treasure are of no consequence to these committed and disciplined Zionist ideologues. They march to the beat of an Israeli drum and as long as they remain entrenched in the State Department and the National Security Council, the essential acid test for American Foreign policy will be “Is it good for Israel?”

So take a moment and ponder what all the pundits and wizards in Washington have not lamented about the Tunisian revolt. Saddam could have very easily gone that way of Ben Ali. At the time of the invasion and due to the effectiveness of the no-fly zones, the Iraqi dictator’s security forces barely held sway over a third of the country and Saddam was so insecure about the sentiments of his people that he couldn’t risk sleeping in the same bed for two nights running. American and British planes bombed Iraq at will. I’m not only certain that Bush and Blair knew that Saddam had no WMDs; I’ve asserted before that if they really thought he had them, they wouldn’t have risked an invasion.

For all practical measures, Saddam was the mayor of Baghdad – a defanged delusional tiger who spent his last days in power penning love stories. Saddam was contained by brutal sanctions and the United States had already made contacts with Iraqi generals who agreed to stand down and offer no resistance. When he finally realized the end was near, Saddam used back channels and offered every conceivable concession to avoid an American invasion. Of course, after taking control of the country, the neo-cons stabbed the generals in the back and disbanded the army because of their obsession with de-Ba’athication. Absent American military intervention, Iraqis might very well have managed to remove their despotic leader and resurrect a secular republic. It wouldn’t have been perfect but it would certainly not have turned into a failed theocratic state in Iran’s sphere of influence.

At the cost of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties, 4,500 American fatalities, two million refugees that include half of Iraq’s pre-war Christian population and a trillion dollars borrowed from the Chinese, George Bush rolled out the red carpet for Iranian allied sectarian parties. Why? Because his advisers – Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith – thought it would be good for Israel. The outcomes in Iraq obviously didn’t match the Likudniks’ wet dreams but had they removed their ideological blinders, the war party might have been more sober in doing their risk assessments and spared Americans a disastrous foreign policy fiasco and the enduring enmity of tens of millions of people in the Middle East and beyond.

So there should be no confusion about Hillary’s stand on Mubarak as opposed to Obama’s latent support of the Tunisian revolutionaries. The inconsistencies are in perfect harmony with the Israeli lobby’s traditional hostility towards the Arab people. It is a hostility that has very little to do with America’s national interests and everything to do with the Likudnik architects of America’s foreign policy in the region.

Make no mistake, the Arabs will soon reach the mountain top and taste the sweet wine of liberty but it will be not thanks to Hillary, Obama or the Israeli Lobby.

January 26, 2011 Posted by | Progressive Hypocrite, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | Leave a comment

In the Chaos, Let’s Not Forget about Israel

By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH – January 26, 2011

As Palestinians bicker over who has sold out and who should step down following the release of the Palestine Papers, another separate but still relevant thought occurred to me the other day as I was crossing the infamous Qalandiya checkpoint on my way home. If there is one constant thread in this insane situation where accusations and conspiracy theories run wild it is that the Israelis have already cemented a system of segregation in place regardless of what scandalous reports or documents are leaked to the public. For Israel, whether the Palestinian leadership is shamed before its people or not is of no concern. For Israel, the Palestinians are right where it wants them.

I’m wondering how many people actually contemplate the many divisions Israel has categorized us under. In the occupied territories, there are the “purebred” Palestinians – those who carry green ID cards and passports (I use this term loosely), who are, for all practical purposes, at the bottom of the food chain. That is, if we exclude the truly unlucky souls isolated in the Gaza Strip. West Bankers must cross Israeli checkpoints even to go from one Palestinian city to the next; they must obtain visas for just about any country they wish to travel to save Jordan and Malaysia. They cannot enter Jerusalem or Israel without an Israeli permit and, if they are unlucky enough to live close to a Jewish settlement, to a bypass road, a military outpost or the separation wall – all Israeli presences in the West Bank – then they are under constant threat of land confiscation or home demolitions.

At Qalandiya checkpoint, for those few West Bankers who do have an Israeli permit to cross into Jerusalem, the line to cross is always long. For one, West Bankers are only allowed to cross from three of the 11 or so checkpoints around Jerusalem and must always do so on foot. This brings us to Class B of Israel’s categorization, the Jerusalemites.

Carrying blue ID cards, these are the Palestinians who were included in the national consensus after the 1967 War and after Israel unilaterally annexed occupied east Jerusalem. One rung up from the West Bankers in terms of travel restrictions, Palestinian Jerusalemites must also get down at Qalandiya checkpoint and walk through if they are traveling by public transportation. There are exceptions though for Jerusalemites. Mothers with small children and the elderly are allowed to stay on the bus (West Bankers don’t enjoy this luxury). And if they have a car, they can also drive through the inspection (if they have a good hour or so to waste waiting for their turn). Still, Jerusalemites, who have permanent residency in the city but not citizenship, can travel between their city and Ramallah without a permit. They can also travel abroad through Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, another luxury denied to West Bankers, who are forced to cross the Allenby Bridge to Jordan.

Jerusalemites can cross the bridge as well. But again, Israel has made a distinction between them and West Bankers at the crossing too. There are separate entrances for those with West Bank IDs and those with Jerusalem IDs, which makes it a bit tricky when, like myself, one parent is a West Banker while the children are Jerusalemites.

There are even more categories Israel has corralled us into, like Palestinians who live inside of Israel. Israel likes to call them “Israeli-Arabs” a term I reject and resent. These are Palestinians who were somehow able to resist expulsion, massacre and fleeing during the 1948 War and remained after the State of Israel was established. They are Palestinians first, Arabs second. Unlike those who live in the West Bank, their very identity is being challenged on a daily basis with attempts by Israel’s establishment to either annihilate it altogether or at least neutralize it and mesh it into an innocuous version of one more minority living in the Jewish state.

In any case, let’s not forget another category Israel created and enforced upon us with a vengeance, that of Palestinian refugees. This category, perhaps the most painful, has been an open wound for all Palestinians since the creation of the problem after the 1948 war. Although over 60 years have passed since then and refugees have made their homes (however bleak) in camps throughout the Arab world or elsewhere, most will still stubbornly hold on to this classification when asked. Not because they are so pleased with being called refugees but the relinquishing of the title means the relinquishing of the right to return, which they are not willing to do.

It is almost amazing that such a small nation – in all, the Palestinians everywhere comprise approximately 10 million people – could be dissected and divided into so many groups. But again, Israel knows what it’s doing. Enforcing a different set of rules for each category is one method to conquer and divide – it is much easier to oppress sub-groups than one united and cohesive people.

And here lies the crux. Palestinians themselves must not be sucked into this evil scheme. If anything is to be learned from the now infamous Palestine Papers it is that Israel is succeeding brilliantly in its grand plan of turning us against ourselves. We see no rebuttal from Israeli leaders to the information from the leaked documents. They don’t care. They are happy with the status quo. And, unlike us, they are united and unrelenting in their Zionist dream of a Jewish state for the Jewish people. We can actually learn quite a bit from them.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

January 26, 2011 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture, Timeless or most popular | Leave a comment

Video: Ali Wall

mirasalazzeh | September 20, 2010

January 26, 2011 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

Cooperation with China to boost Venezuela’s industrial capacity: minister

Xinhua | January 25, 2011

Technology cooperation with China will bolster Venezuela’s industrial capacity, a government minister said.

The bilateral strategic ties are “very important” to Venezuela, Basic Industry and Mining Minister Jose Khan told Xinhua on Sunday, adding that the joint commissions of the two nations have held nine meetings to design production projects to boost Venezuelan economic development.

He said that the plans designed would cover various fundamental areas, such as transportation, agriculture, food production and telecom.

“In the case of basic industries, we have been discussing and approving a series of projects which will allow in 2011 the basic industries to recover their production and improve their productiveness,” he said.

Khan also told Xinhua the government plans to expand ports along the Orinoco River, the major transport system for eastern and interior Venezuela, in order to streamline the transportation of mining products.

There are also plans to buy hi-tech machinery for iron extraction, he said. In the case of aluminum, the government plans to upgrade existing plants and build new extraction plants.

He said these projects will improve “not only the conditions of the workers, but also the conditions of the people, because these materials will be used for the national housing plan.”

January 26, 2011 Posted by | Economics | Leave a comment

Anti-Wall Popular Committee Leader Beaten, Two Children Arrested

By Circarre Parrhesia – IMEMC & Agencies – January 26, 2011

Islam Tamimi was arrested Sunday in Nabi Saleh. Picture Credit: Alison Rammer

Following the arrests of Karim Saleh al-Tamimi and, his brother, Islam, the leader of the Popular Commitee Against The Wall & Settlements in Nabi Saleh, Bassam Tamimi has been arrested, on Wednesday, along with two fifteen year old boys.

Bassam Tamimi was taken from the village, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, at midday on Wednesday, and according to eye witnesses was beaten during his abduction. Tamimi was released an hour later, and confirmed the eye witness report, but the whereabouts of the two fifteen year old children are, as yet, unknown.

Karim al-Tamini, ten years old, was arrested on Tuesday, but was released to his father after seven hours in custody due to the work of an Israeli law firm.

His brother, Islam, fourteen years old, was abducted in a raid on Sunday, and was brought before a court today. Following his abduction, the second in three weeks, Islam was interrogated for eight hours.

He was denied access to legal council for the first five hours, during which he confessed to throwing stones during the weekly protest against the annexation wall, and his parents were denied access to their son during the interrogation; their legal right.

Islam will remain in prison Wednesday night, and will appear in front of the court once more on Thursday.

The village of an-Nabi Saleh joined the call to protest against the building of the annexation wall, the construction of settlements in the Occupied West Bank, and Israel’s military occupation one year ago, following the confiscation of a local spring, Ein al-Kus, by settlers from the nearby Halamish. Since then the village has come under harassment in the form of regular detentions of the villagers, and the violent repression of the Friday protests, including the use of live ammunition.

January 26, 2011 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Illegal Occupation, Subjugation - Torture | Leave a comment

The almost invisible hand of the US in Tunisia’s “jasmine revolution”

By Ein Katzenfreund | January 25, 2011

There is every reason to congratulate the Tunisian people for being rid of the dictator Ben Ali. His corrupt regime was a plague for the people and a shame for the country. The saga is that after Mohamed Bouazizi from Sidi Bouzid immolated himself, a heroic and protesting people managed to oust the corrupt dictator Ben Ali of the French client state using demonstrations and communicating via Twitter and Facebook. There is just one problem with this saga. It’s just one half of the truth.

This half of the truth says protests beginning in Sidi Bouzid spread accross the country, reached the capital Tunisia and ousted Ben Ali. Crucial in this process were a few internet activists for freedom of speech, transparency and democracy like @wedaddy, @slim404, @nawaat, @benmhennilina and @SBZ_news, which are all well connected to each other. These activists were spreading the news of the protests nationwide and made sure they reached the capital, using US based social media like Twitter and Facebook. Finally, after more than 70 deaths, the protests culminated in Tunis and forced Ben Ali to flee.

The other half of the truth is the covert hand of the United States, which planned, oversaw and directed the colored “jasmine revolution”. While the Tunesian people can rightly be proud to have become rid of Ben Ali, the helpful hidden hand of the United States may bring a high political price with it.

Wherever the United States has formed a colored revolution and successfully dominated  the post revolution process of building democracy, the outcome has been an ugly right wing puppet regime of the United States, and some of these pseudo democracies proved to be even worse than what the people had before. One may take as a reference war criminal Saakashvili of Georgia, NATO mad man Yushchenko of Ukraine or dictator Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan.

So, how can we help prevent Tunisia becoming a US puppet right wing pseudo democracy? First of all, make the almost invisible hand of the United States visible.

On January 7th, Elliott Abrams, GW Bush’s “Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy”, welcomed the collapse of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia a week before it happened:

“Tunisia, whose literacy rate has long been the highest in Africa at nearly 80% and whose per capita GDP is about $8,000, should have the ability to sustain a democratic government — once the Ben Ali regime collapses.”

This is an interesting statement. Most of the world expected at that time, that dictator Ben Ali would order security forces to strike hard under false security pretenses and have his police and military shoot the protesters down until the country would become deathly quiet. A “miracle” saved Tunisia from this fate. Tunisian military Chief of Staff Rachid Ammar sided with the protesting people on January, 13th, and forced the Tunisian dictator Ben Ali to flee with this historic decision. Thierry Meyssan says, before making this critical decision, Rachid Ammar had been contacted by Africom Commander General William Ward. Whether this claim is true or not, I do not dare to say, but it’s clear, that the Tunisian regime was so angry with the U.S. for backing the regime change that it had summoned Washington’s ambassador to Tunisia, Gordon Gray, days before Rachid Ammar made his historic decision to let the uprising succeed and I don’t believe in “miracles”, especially when they are predicted by regime change specialists of the U.S. government.

On January 15th, one day after Ben Ali fled, David Kenner was quoted at the elite foreignpolicy.com website; Scott Carpenter, GW Bush’s point man of his MEPI regime change program, confirming a hidden U.S. hand in Tunisia:

“We were doing a lot of stuff very, very quietly – not to say covert, but very quietly.”

Shortly after, Ben Ali’s prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi became the prime minister of the revolution and he promised to build a national unity transition government, restore freedom and hold elections soon. Rachid Ammar’s military forces successfully faught Ben Ali’s security forces and restored the public order. Union bosses formerly in bed with Ben Ali were to take part as ministers in the transition government and US-friendly opposition “leader” Ahmed Najib Chebbi became Regional Development Minister – in a cabinet where all crucial positions were held by former Ben Ali cronies in the RCD party. So the US seemed happy, the Tunisian revolution was labeled “Jasmine revolution” and it seemed to be a sure pro-US pro-Israeli finish, when after the promised elections Ahmed Najib Chebbi would be president.

Then something unexpected happened. The bases of the unions forced their bosses to resign from the transitional unity government and staged protests to oust Mohamed Ghannouchi and the whole corrupt RCD party formed by Ben Ali with him.

US-backed Rashid Ammar went to the protesters telling them to stop trying to oust the RCD cronies, telling them this would destroy the revolution. And while their fellow Tunisians protested on the streets to oust the RCD, the attitudes of pro-democracy and transparency Twitter activists, who managed the communication process of the Tunisian uprising, also changed. Very interesting tweets came from @Wedaddy, well funded by organizations like the right wing Bradley Foundation who tweets, though also fluent in French, Hebrew and Spanish, mostly in English and Arabic, at 25th Jan 2011:

A lot of soldiers worked VERY hard in the shadow, behind the scenes, to get google Facebook to intervene #sidibouzid

Soldiers worked in the shadow. Interesting statement for a pro-democracy and pro-transparency activist, isn’t it? And these shadow soldiers seemed to have a lot of influence, at least so much, that they were able to push Facebook to close some of their notorious security holes due to the Tunesian uprising, as the Zionist magazine The Atlantic happily laid out.

If the revelation of soldiers working in the shadow for regime change is interesting, the following statement of wedaddy from Jan 25th is even more interesting:

The day will come where we will tell the full story of what happened behind the scenes during #sidibouzid now isn’t the time.

So Ben Ali is definitely ousted, but it’s a bad time for the truth? That is completely contradictory to all stated democracy and transparency goals of the revolution. So, what is Wedaddy waiting for? For the end of the unexpected protests after Ben Ali was ousted, so he can be sure the pro-US forces have their power secured in Tunisia? Wadaddy doesn’t say, why is there no time for truth on processes behind the scenes after Ben Ali was ousted.

But there is another very interesting Tweet. Look at this Wedaddy tweet of 25th Jan 2011:

2 ppl who played a pivotal role in the electronic war against Ammar404 behind the scenes: @Rafik @netfreedom #sidibouzid

So, wedaddy speaks of two people played “a pivotal role behind the scenes” in the Tunisian revolution. Have a look yourself, who @netfreedom is: it is Robert Guerra, director of the Internet Freedom project at Freedom House soft war organization. “Freedom house” is the right wing US organisation close to the CIA which played a pivotal role in the string of “colored revolutions” of the last decade, which put US lackeys like war criminal Saakashvili into power and called it democratisation. And see here a fresh presentation of Robert Guerra, where he takes pride for what he calls the “Jasmine revolution”. Now you know, where the term “Jasmine Revolution” comes from. It’s a term of Freedom house, invented probably long before it happened.

So, can we now expect that right wing US protagonists will seek to destroy leftist movements, islamic movements and real unions and bring instead a rightwing US puppet regime in Tunisia? Have a look, who just went to Tunisia: Jeffrey Feltman. Jeffrey Feltman is the chief enabler for the Zionist apartheid state in the Obama administration, who orchestrated the bloody US-sponsored Israeli campaign of lies and terror against the people’s resistance in Lebanon – calling it “cedar revolution”. And what do Feltman and the US currently do in Tunisia? They are trying to destroy the influence of unions, leftists and islamic popular resistance.

Tunisia can still prevent the Sidi Bouzid revolution being stolen but the US and the Zionists are trying to steal the #sidibouzid revolution, to make a “Jasmine Revolution” out of it and to install a rightwing pro-zionist regime as they did in so many countries before which had colored revolutions with almost invisible hands of Freedom House and friends in it.

The following is a time-line prepared by Aangarifan:

  • 2000 – President Ben Ali broke all diplomatic ties with Israel
  • 2003 – Ben Ali refused to take part in either of the two wars against Iraq.
  • 2009 – Sakhr El Materi, chairman of the Tunisia-US Parliamentary Friendship Group, met the US ambassador at Materi’s home (Tunisia: Dinner With Sakher El Materi – TuniLeaks) “The Ambassador raised economic liberalization, noting the importance of opening up to franchising.”
  • 2010 – A report (Transformation: Tunisia) notes: “Despite the formal abolition of trade barriers for industrial goods with the European Union as of 1 January 2008, in practice, Tunisia has seen too little progress in terms of trade liberalization.”
  • May 2010 – General William E. Ward, commander of U.S. Africa Command, visited Tunisia and met Tunisian Minister of Defense Ridha Grira. “Minister Grira had recently returned from very positive talks in Washington with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.” (Tunisia – U.S. Africa Command Blog)
  • October 2010 – Sakhr El Materi, chairman of the Tunisia-US Parliamentary Friendship Group, had talks with top Americans in the Pentagon and the State Department.
  • November 2010 – A cable from the US embassy in Tunis released by wikileaks describes Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s family entourage as a “quasi Mafia” because of its “organized corruption”.
  • 17 December – Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university graduate, reportedly set himself alight in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid in a protest over unemployment. He reportedly died on January 5 from burn wounds.
  • 24 December 2010 – an important Washington think tank (Institute for Policy Studiesa) had an article about a possible change of regime in Tunisia (Foreign Policy In Focus.): “It would do Tunisians, even (Tunisian President) Ben Ali, well to recall how many US allies different American administrations have discarded…”
  • 7 January 2011 – the Council on Foreign Relations’s Elliott Abrams (Elliott Abrams: Is Tunisia Next?) seems to suggest that the fall of Ben Ali would be a good thing. “Tunisians are clearly sick of looking at all the giant photos and paintings of Ben Ali that appear on walls, posters, and billboards all over the country… “If Tunisia can move toward democracy, Algerians and Egyptians and even Libyans will wonder why they cannot.”
  • 8-10 January – More people die in three days of rioting. Mysterious rooftop snipers are at work.
  • 13 January – The army withdraws from Tunis, which remains occupied by special forces. The leaders of the North African branch of Al-Qaeda/the CIA call for the overthrow of Ben Ali.
  • 14 January – Ben Ali leaves the country.

January 25, 2011 Posted by | Deception, Wars for Israel | Leave a comment

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