Iran plans to establish international NAM news agency
Press TV – July 31, 2012
Iran plans to accomplish one of the main objectives of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) since its inception by launching the movement’s international news agency.
Mohammad Sheikhan, deputy head of the 16th NAM summit for public relations and communications, said in a Tuesday briefing in the Iranian capital city, Tehran, that the establishment of the news agency has long been an unfulfilled objective of the NAM.
“Since Iran assumes the presidency of the NAM for the next three years, we plan to establish the news agency and the decision will soon be put into action,” he said.
The 16th summit of the NAM member states will be held on August 26-31 in the Iranian capital, Tehran, during which the Islamic Republic will assume the rotating presidency of the movement for three years.
Sheikhan expressed Iran’s readiness to provide media coverage for the summit and noted that Tehran will prepare all the equipment required by the press.
NAM, an international organization with 120 member states and 17 observer countries, is considered as not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
The organization was founded in the former Yugoslavia in 1961. NAM’s purpose, as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979, is to ensure “the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries.”
Venezuela formally joins Mercosur trading bloc
Press TV – July 31, 2012
Venezuela has become a full member of the Mercosur regional trading bloc following a six-year-long delay.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is now set to take part in a ceremony in Brasilia, which celebrates Caracas’ membership in the South American trade bloc.
The visit to Brasilia will be Chavez’s first official trip abroad in a year after his being diagnosed with cancer in June 2011 and his treatment process in Cuba.
Mercosur is an economic union and political agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay founded in 1991. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency.
The bloc’s combined market encompasses more than 250 million people and accounts for more than three-quarters of the economic activity on the continent, or a combined GDP of USD 1.1 trillion.
Although the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay had approved Venezuela’s admission into the bloc in 2006, the accession was delayed pending ratification by the Paraguayan congress.
This is while Paraguay has recently been suspended from the group over the controversial dismissal of President Fernando Lugo.
The lower house of the Paraguayan congress impeached Lugo on June 21. The senate opened his trial a day later and quickly reached a guilty verdict, ousting the president.
Mercosur’s leaders did not impose economic sanctions on Paraguay, but banned Paraguayan officials from participating in the bloc’s meetings.
Paraguay’s suspension created an opportunity for Venezuela to be incorporated into the bloc since the opposition in the Paraguayan congress was the only obstacle to Caracas’ membership.
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- Venezuela to join Mercosur on July 31 (alethonews.wordpress.com)
Why The NSA Can’t Be Trusted to Run U.S. Cybersecurity Programs
By Mark M. Jaycox and Lee Tien and Trevor Timm | EFF | July 30, 2012
This week, the Senate will be voting on a slew of amendments to the newest version of the Senate’s cybersecurity bill. Senators John McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison have proposed several amendments that would hand the reins of our nation’s cybersecurity systems to the National Security Agency (NSA). All of the cybersecurity bills that have been proposed would provide avenues for companies to collect sensitive information on users and pass that data to the government. Trying to strike the balance between individual privacy and facilitating communication about threats is a challenge, but one thing is certain: the NSA has proven it can’t be trusted with that responsibility. The NSA’s dark history of repeated privacy violations, flouting of domestic law, and resistance to transparency makes it clear that the nation’s cybersecurity should not be in its hands.
In case you need a refresher, here’s an overview of why handing cybersecurity to the NSA would be a terrible idea:
- An executive order generally prohibits NSA from conducting intelligence on Americans’ domestic activities
Executive Order 12333 signed by President Reagan in 1981 (and amended a few times since1), largely prohibits the NSA from spying on domestic activities:no foreign intelligence collection by such elements [of the Intelligence Community] may be undertaken for the purpose of acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of United States persons.
If amended, the Cybersecurity Act would allow the NSA to gain information related to “cybersecurity threat indicators,” which would allow it to collect vast quantities of data that could include personally identifiable information of U.S. persons on American soil. Law enforcement and civilian agencies are tasked with investigating and overseeing domestic safety. The NSA, on the other hand, is an unaccountable military intelligence agency that is supposed to focus on foreign signals intelligence—and it’s frankly dangerous to expand the NSA’s access to information about domestic communications.
- NSA has a dark history of violating Americans’ constitutional rightsIn the 1960’s, a Congressional investigation, led by four-term Senator Frank Church, found that the NSA had engaged in widespread and warrantless spying on Americans citizens. Church was so stunned at what he found, he remarked that the National Security Agency’s “capability at any time could be turned around on the American people, andno American would have any privacy left, such is the capability to monitor everything.” (emphasis added) The investigation led to the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provided stronger privacy protections for Americans’ communications—that is, until it was weakened by the USA-PATRIOT Act and other reactions to 9/11.
- NSA has continued its warrantless wiretapping scandalIn 2005, the New York Times revealed that the NSA set up a massive warrantless wiretapping program shortly after 9/11, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and several federal laws. This was later confirmed by virtually every major media organization in the country. It led to Congressional investigations and several ongoing lawsuits, including EFF’s. Congress passed the FISA Amendments Act to granttelecom companies retroactive immunity for participating in illegal spying and severely weaken privacy safeguards for Americans communicating overseas.Since the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) passed, the NSA has continued collecting emails of Americans. A 2009 New York Times investigation described how a “significant and systemic” practice of “overcollection” of communications resulted in the NSA’s intercepting millions of purely domestic emails and phone calls between Americans. In addition, documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU, although heavily redacted, revealed “that violations [of the FAA and the Constitution] continued to occur on a regular basis through at least March 2010″— the last month anyone has public data for.
- NSA recently admitted to violating the Constitution.Just last week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence—which oversees the NSA—begrudgingly acknowledged that “on at least one occasion” the secret FISA court “held that some collection… used by the government was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” Wired called it a “federal sidestep of a major section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” and it confirmed the many reports over the last few years: the NSA has violated the Constitution.
- NSA keeps much of what it does classified and secretBecause cybersecurity policy is inescapably tied to our online civil liberties, it’s essential to maximize government transparency and accountability here. The NSA may be the worst government entity on this score. Much of the NSA’s work is exempt from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure because Congress generally shielded NSA activities from FOIA2. Even aside from specific exemption statutes, much information about NSA activities is classified on national security grounds. The NSA has also stonewalled organizations trying to bring public-interest issues to light by claiming the “state secrets” privilege in court. EFF has been involved in lawsuits challenging the NSA’s warrantless surveillance program since 2006. Despite years of litigation, the government continues to maintain that the “state secrets” privilege prevents any challenge from being heard. Transparency and accountability simply are not the NSA’s strong suit.
We remain unconvinced that we need any of the proposed cybersecurity bills, but we’re particularly worried about attempts to deputize the NSA as the head of our cybersecurity systems. And even the NSA has admitted that it does “not want to run cyber security for the United States government.”
Thankfully, new privacy changes in the cybersecurity bill heading towards the Senate floor have explicitly barred intelligence agencies like the NSA from serving as the center of information gathering for cybersecurity. We need to safeguard those protections and fend off amendments that give additional authority to the NSA. We’re asking concerned individuals to use our Stop Cyber Spying tool to tweet at their Senators or use the American Library Association’s simple tool to call Senators. We need to speak out in force this week to ensure that America’s cybersecurity systems aren’t handed to the NSA.
- 1. Executive Order 12333 was amended in 2003 by Executive Order 13284, in 2004 by Executive Order 13355, and in 2008 by Executive Order 13470. The resulting text of Executive Order 12333 is available here (pdf).
- 2. Three of the most common statutes that NSA uses to fight transparency: Section 6 of the National Security Agency Act of 1959 (Public Law 86-36, 50 U.S.C. Sec. 402 note), which provides that no law shall be construed to require the disclosure of, inter alia, the functions or activities of NSA; The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, 50 U.S.C. Sec. 403- 1(i), which requires under the Responsibilities and Authorities of the Director of National Intelligence that we protect information pertaining to intelligence sources and methods; and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 798, which prohibits the release of classified information concerning communications intelligence and communications security information to unauthorized persons.
Related articles
- Congress Must Act After US Government Admits To Unconstitutional Warrantless Wiretapping For the First Time (eff.org)
- Why won’t the Obama administration reveal how many Americans’ emails the NSA has collected and reviewed without a warrant? (eff.org)
- NSA whistle blowers allege data being collected on every American (rawstory.com)
- Why won’t the Obama administration reveal how many Americans’ emails the NSA has collected and reviewed without a warrant? (informationliberation.com)
Turkey’s Hatay Province, Mossad, CIA spy hub: Turkish MP
Press TV – July 31, 2012
A member of Turkey’s parliament says the country’s Hatay Province on the border with Syria has become a hub for swarms of CIA and Mossad spies infiltrating into Syria freely.
The legislator of the Republican People’s Party, Refik Er-Yilmaz, said that thousands of CIA and Mossad agents are currently in the province and are moving freely in the area, Turkish media reported.
He noted that local people in the province are getting agitated over the presence of the strangers.
Turkish police remain mute spectators as the spies carry various types of identification, Er-Yimaz went on to say.
He also accused the authorities of allowing American and Israeli troopers on Turkish soil without any approval from the parliament.
Er-Yilmaz’s comments came after the deputy of the Republican People’s Party, Osman Faruk Logoglu, on Monday blamed Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party for fomenting the unrest in Syria.
Logoglu criticized the Turkish government for aggravating the situation by sending military forces and vehicles towards the Syrian border.
The former Turkish ambassador to the United States also criticized Turkey’s foreign policy towards its neighbor, saying it has been irrational and unsuccessful.
Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of many people, including large numbers of security forces.
Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
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Al-Aqsa to be Converted into a Park by Israelis
Ma’an – 31/07/2012
Bulldozers carry out work on a pathway next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem (MaanImages/Magnus Johansson, File)
JERUSALEM – The deputy leader of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Kamal al-Khateib, said Tuesday that the Israeli municipal council of Jerusalem planned to transform the yards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound into public parks and gardens, to make them accessible for the Jews to visit at any time.
Speaking to reporters, Al-Khateib said that the process of ‘Judaising’ Jerusalem had been accelerated since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. “The occupation is working to efface the Palestinian features in the holy city through unprecedented procedures they carried out this month,” he added.
“For the first time, the occupation has allowed settlers and extremists to access Al-Aqsa compound during Ramadan paying no attention to the feelings of the Muslim worshipers there,” he said. “Meanwhile, the municipality which represents the occupation approved a decision to consider the yards in Al-Aqsa compound public parks which anybody can access.”
In mid-July Palestinian officials denounced Yehuda Weinstein, the Israeli attorney general, after he claimed that the Al-Aqsa area was part of Israel and referred to the mosque’s courtyards as public space.
Weinstein was quoted on Israeli news sites as saying the area was under Israeli jurisdiction for matters such as planning and building, and said the courtyard was for public use.
In his remarks Tuesday, Al-Khateib said soldiers detained the imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday while he was praying. “Israeli troops stormed the mosque and prevented worshipers from completing their prayer,” he said.
On Thursday a mosque guard told Ma’an that 20 rightists entered the grounds of the holy site.
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- Israel destroys Umayyad palaces next to Al-Aqsa Mosque (altahrir.wordpress.com)
- Islamic official: Al Aqsa belongs to Muslims, not Israel (altahrir.wordpress.com)
- Palestinian Youths detained, beaten and banned from al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli Intelligence (altahrir.wordpress.com)
- Army Invades Al-Aqsa Mosque, Attack Worshipers, kidnaps two (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)
Israeli occupation forces seize two farm tractors used to supply Bedouins with water
Palestine Information Center – 31/07/2012
JORDAN VALLEY — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday morning confiscated two farm tractors used to transport water supplies to Bedouin hamlets near Khirbet Al-Mita village in the northern Jordan Valley region.
Head of the municipal council of these Bedouin areas Aref Daraghmeh said the IOF took the tractor in order to punish the Bedouin communities for their steadfastness against Israel’s attempt to evacuate them from their native land.
Daraghmeh stated that Israeli troops stormed Khirbet Al-Mita village and seized two tractors less than 24 hours after they ordered the Bedouin shepherds to stop erecting tents and demolish their homes and structures in the area.
He affirmed that the act was aimed at forcing the Bedouin communities to leave the area.
For his part, Hasan Makhamra, a Bedouin native, said this Israeli campaign started two months ago during which the IOF confiscated dozens of water containers used for drinking supplies.
Makhamra asserted that the Bedouin families direly need these containers to supply themselves with water after Israel appropriated water springs, wells and resources.
He pointed out that Israel extends its control over 98 percent of water resources in the Jordan Valley including the Jordan river and the dead sea for the benefit of about 7,000 Jewish settlers living in settlement outposts near the Bedouin areas.
In a separate incident, the IOF closed two roads used by Palestinian farmers in the vicinity of Deir Estia village in Salfit city, thus raising the number of agricultural roads closed in the village to six.
This Israeli measure is aimed to enable the Jewish settlers to tighten their control over the area near Qana Valley.
Head of Deir Estia municipal council Nadmi Salman said an Israeli bulldozer escorted by troops closed the roads of Abu Naser and Qattan Al-Jamea with soil barriers and huge boulders.
He added that the closure of these two roads prevented the Palestinian farmers from reaching their agricultural lands.
Related articles
- Bedouins forced to leave their homes to make way for Israeli maneuvers (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Jordan Valley: Palestinian family’s water confiscated, internationals arrested (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Report details Israeli violations and seizure of West Bank land (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)
- New Israeli colony in Abu al Ajaj (alethonews.wordpress.com)
Tuesday Raids Follow Monday Killing
By Craig Harrington | IMEMC & Agencies | July 31, 2012
On Tuesday the Israeli military raided several refugee camps south of Hebron and detained two residents. Five more Palestinians were arrested simultaneously around the West Bank.
The arrests of seven Palestinians on Tuesday morning as part of strategic Israeli raids into refugee areas continued what has already been a violent week in the West Bank. A series of raids into Palestinian homes and villages led to the arrest of two Palestinians near Hebron and five others around the West Bank, according to Ma’an News. The Israeli military has released no charges for the detainees or any cause for the raids.
The violence on Tuesday followed shocking news from Monday in which three Palestinians were shot at an Israeli checkpoint between the West Bank capital of Ramallah and occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli military released no reason for the shooting but sources did confirm that 40-year old Akram Dair was killed, reports Al Jazeera.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has blamed the Israeli military for the checkpoint killing, reports Ma’an News. The Israeli military has released no comment on what it simply referred to as ‘the incident’.
News of killings is often followed by other news of arrests in the immediate area or elsewhere in the Occupied Territories. Some have argued that the summary harassment and arrest of Palestinians is a tactic where raids are used as a means to stamp out local resentment for Israeli killings. The raids on Tuesday are not necessarily linked directly to Monday’s killing, but it is further evidence of Israeli occupation strategy.
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- Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (altahrir.wordpress.com)
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- #VIDEO | Israeli soldier headbutts Palestinian teen (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)
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One year after killings: Iraq Burin continues its struggle
31 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Three days before the start of Ramadan, the small mountainside town of Iraq Burin was attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal colony of Bracha. The attackers descended from the settlement at 12:30 a.m. and were soon followed by the Israeli military, shooting tear-gas and sound grenades.
“Since Ramadan started, things have been relatively calm here,” says Yousef, a resident of Iraq Burin, “earlier we used to have trouble all the time.”
Ironically, the settler attacks are most common on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, which traditionally is revered as a day of rest.
“But there have also been plenty of attacks on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” says Yousef.
The settlers target farmers closest to the settlement, making it impossible for them to work their land due to risk of being attacked or shot. The farmers’ lack of activity is then used against them as settlers claim the land to be abandoned and subsequently annex it. By these means, the illegal settlements across the West Bank continue to steal the lands of neighboring Palestinian villages.
Bracha is one of over 250 Israeli settlements and outposts erected in the Palestinian West Bank and violating Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. “Seizure of land for settlement building and future expansion has resulted in the shrinking of space available for Palestinians to sustain their livelihoods and develop adequate housing, basic infrastructure and services,” wrote the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From Yousef’s rooftop one can see clearly where the irrigated fields of Bracha have stretched down into the valley since its construction in the early 1980′s.
Of the 2000 dunums that originally was Iraq Burin, 300 have been annexed by the settlement of Bracha and many hundreds have become inaccessible to Palestinians due to the risk of violent attacks. To protest this, the village has been holding demonstrations every Saturday for the past year. Similar to numerous protests across the West Bank, Iraq Burin’s regular demonstrations are met with brute force by the Israeli army.
“The failure to respect international law, along with the lack of adequate law enforcement vis-àvis settler violence and takeover of land has led to a state of impunity, which encourages further violence and undermines the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians. Those protesting settlement expansion or access restrictions imposed for the benefit of settlements (including the Barrier) are regularly exposed to injury and arrest by Israeli forces,” noted OCHA.
For a short while, the demonstrations ceased after 2 young men, Muhammad and Usaid Qadus, were shot dead at close range by an Israeli soldier.
“But our peaceful struggle will continue among both the young and the old,” promises Yousef.
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- Hebron: Over 30 detained (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Ultimate goal of Israeli policies in Hebron: ethnic cleansing (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Report details Israeli violations and seizure of West Bank land (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)
- Palestinian voice from Susiya, a Palestinian village that existed before the establishment of the State of Israel (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Number of Jewish settlers in West Bank doubled in 12 years (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Sleepless nights in Burin (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)
- Daglas: Settlers have formed special teams to attack the Palestinians (occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com)