Riyadh to receive French-made arms intended for Lebanon
Press TV – March 5, 2016
Saudi Arabia will take delivery of French-manufactured arms originally ordered for the Lebanese army, following Riyadh’s recent decision to retract USD four billion in military aid to Beirut.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the plan on Saturday during a visit to France.
Last month, the Saudi regime said it had suspended USD three billion in military assistance to the Lebanese military and another USD one billion to the country’s internal security forces.
The aid was cut after Lebanon refrained from endorsing Saudi-crafted statements against Iran at separate meetings held in Cairo and Jeddah.
The move also followed victories by the Syrian army, which is backed by fighters of Lebanon’s resistance movement of Hezbollah, in its battle against Takfiri terrorists battling to topple the government in Damascus.
“We made the decision that we will stop the USD three billion from going to the Lebanese military and instead they will be re-diverted to the Saudi military,” Jubeir told journalists in Paris, adding, “So the contracts (with France) will be completed but the clients will be the Saudi military.”
The aid is vital as the Lebanese army is fighting Takfiri militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and Daesh near the country’s northeastern border with Syria.
France’s arms delivery to Saudi Arabia comes amid Riyadh’s ongoing military aggression against Yemen and its support for militant groups in Syria.
Several European countries including Germany, Britain and France have been engaged in major arms deals with the Saudi regime, turning a blind eye to calls by rights groups to cancel the agreements.
Back in February, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the imposition of an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia, and urging EU member states to stop selling weapons to Riyadh as it is accused of targeting civilians in Yemen.
According to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Saudi Arabia’s imports for 2011-15 increased by 275 percent compared with 2006–10. The British government has licensed USD 7.8 billion in sales of arms, fighter jets and other military hardware to Riyadh since Prime Minister David Cameron came to power in 2010. France also signed USD-12-billion contracts with Saudi Arabia in 2015 alone.
Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015. More than 8,300 people, among them 2,236 children, have been killed. The strikes have taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.
‘Everyone is being framed’, journalist deported from Turkey tells RT amid govt media takeover
RT | March 5, 2016
The latest government takeover of the Zaman media outlet in Istanbul is “not a surprise at all,” a journalist who had been working in the country told RT, adding that “the press has never been free in Turkey.”
“Everybody who opposes them [the government], every journalist who is against the government is being framed. I was framed as a terrorist supporter and Zaman is linked to the Gulen movement – which is a movement of a religious Turkish leader [Sunni cleric Fethullah Gulen] who is based in the US, and they say he is trying to stage a coup against the government. So now Zaman journalists and people who read Zaman are being framed as coup supporters, that’s how the government is doing it,” Frederike Geerdink, Dutch freelance journalist who was deported from Turkey last year, told RT.
On Friday, the Istanbul-based Turkish-language Zaman newspaper, which has been sharply critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was ordered into administration by a court decision. Following the order, which the outlet journalists proclaimed an “unlawful takeover,” the paper’s editor-in-chief Abdulhamit Bilici was fired by trustees, while police put barbed wire around the headquarters.
“All content management systems at Zaman” have also been blocked by the new administration, Zaman’s sister publication in English, Today’s Zaman, said, with its journalists covering the situation via social media and posting updates on Twitter.
“All internet connection is cut off at the seized Zaman building by police raid,” they posted, adding that after the takeover of the headquarters in Istanbul, the Ankara office has also “lost access to company internal servers.”
Government affiliates have also taken under control and blocked access to the outlet’s Cihan news agency, Today’s Zaman reported, adding that it is “the only news agency that was monitoring elections besides state-run Anadolu.”
“It’s not a surprise at all. Several of the government newspapers have in the last couple of weeks hinted at this [takeover] already, and other media who are linked to the Gulen movement have come under the same procedure with trustees,” Frederike Geerdink, who has herself been prosecuted in Turkey “for making propaganda for a terrorist organization,” said.
The journalist told RT that she has been in contact with one of Zaman’s employees, who told her weeks ago that they had been “having a difficult time” because of government pressure. Zaman was losing advertisers and readers, “because if you work for the state you cannot be seen with Zaman under your arm, as it can lead to losing your job,” the Dutch journalist was told by her Turkish colleague.
“Zaman was being attacked for months,” she said, but added that the current situation with the media in the country “is not something new.”
Two years ago, one of Today’s Zaman journalists, Azerbaijan national Mahir Zeynalov, was deported from Turkey after having worked at the Turkish newspaper for years. The reporter was facing prosecution related to a tweet, his employers said, adding that a complaint against Zeynalov was filed by then PM Erdogan, accusing the journalist of “defamation and inciting public to hatred.”
“People now think that Erdogan invented the lack of press freedom in Turkey – which is totally not true. He takes it to extreme heights – that’s definitely true, but the press has never been free in Turkey,” Geerdink told RT. “For example, 20 years ago nobody could go to the southeast to report on the realities there. At the time it was the army that was censoring the press, and now Erdogan is using the same mechanisms to silence opponents,” she said.
Not only government-owned media outlets are being biased in Turkey, the Dutch journalist said. Some are under indirect, economic pressure.
“Most of the big papers and big channels, also the ones we call ‘mainstream’ which are not necessarily total mouthpieces of the government, have economic ties to the government, because they are part of big companies, and have to report in line with general government policy. [Otherwise] these companies lose contracts in the telecom market,” Geerdink said, adding that CNN Turk – which hasn’t been covering the Zaman protests, is one example.
“CNN Turk cancelled two rather popular talk shows of people who are not really in line with the government – and that is another problem in Turkey,” she said.
Cuban Doctors Have Saved 87,000 Lives in Bolivia Since 2006
teleSUR | March 5, 2016
Cuba is known for sending medical personnel overseas as part of its medical brigade program which was launched during the 1959 Revolution.
The Bolivian Health Ministry thanked Cuban doctors and the Cuban government Friday for the solidarity offered to their country as part of Cuba’s medical internationalism over the past 10 years.
Ariana Campero, the head of agency of the decade-long program, congratulated the local partners and conveyed greetings from President Evo Morales. “Thank you very much to Fidel Castro, Commander Raul Castro and the Cuban people. We are sending you all an embrace of solidarity from Bolivia.”
According to Dr. Pavel Noa, the national coordinator of the mission, the most important results that protrude from the mission encompass more than 63 million consultations offered to the Bolivian people, 179,282 surgical interventions performed and a total of 86,983 lives saved.
Medical workers are often believed to be Cuba’s most important export, having served in countries all over the world and in particular in Latin America, Africa and, more recently in Oceania.
Dr. Alina Ochoa, head of Medical Assistance Brigade, stressed the importance of cooperation in the healthcare sector and said the aim was to ensure the health of the Bolivian people. “Cuba has a long and successful history in providing medical staff worldwide, which was ratified in Bolivia with the presence of more than 700 collaborators.”
The representative of the Pan American Health Organization, Luis Fernando Leanes, acknowledged the work of the Cuban mission, which he described as wonderful and very important. “How nice to be in this country and see Cubans and Bolivians working together for peace and welfare”, he said.
Cuba´s efforts in providing medical services to the poor have been acknowledged internationally as it was among the first countries to respond when the World Health Organization called for medical staff to help with the Ebola crisis. Fidel Castro proudly described the 12,000 medical volunteers who signed up as “an army of white coats”.
OCHA condemns Israel for declaring W. Bank areas “firing zone”
Palestinian Information Center – March 5, 2016
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has strongly denounced Israel for declaring 18 percent of the West Bank territory, particularly in Area C, “a shooting zone.”
38 Palestinian communities are located in this area, where the Israeli army continually demolishes homes.
OCHA also warned that the expansion of this Israeli shooting zone would considerably affect the lives of marginalized and disadvantaged groups (Bedouins) in these areas.
The UN organization underlined that international law and humanitarian law prohibit such Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.
It noted that the Israeli army had demolished, since the start of 2016, 323 Palestinian homes and structures in different areas of the West Bank, most of them in Area C.
Those demolitions led to the displacement of about 440 Palestinians, more than half of them children, and rendered about 17,000 without any means of livelihood.
Copyright © The Palestinian Information Center
More on Israel’s combating BDS
By Miko Peled | American Herald Tribune | March 5, 2016
It is strange to see a newspaper in a country that considers itself a democracy, commit itself to silencing freedom of speech and the call for freedom from oppression. But here we see that Israel’s daily Yediot Aharonot and Ynet are persistent in their attempts to fight BDS. One would think that a newspaper would want to ensure that freedom of speech and opposition to oppression are protected and that members of society can make up their own minds about any given issue. But not this newspaper. Yediot Aharonot is dedicated to fighting BDS and has published a series of reports and articles under the headline “Fighting the Boycott.” They feature interviews with, the “people on the front line in the fight against the boycott movement” as Ynet describes them.
It is worth to take a minute and think about the use of the term “front line.” It is interesting to note that there are people who are considered as being on the “front line,” a term which suggests there is a war going on and certain people are sent to the front, and are in real danger. This terminology is no doubt part of the effort to paint BDS as violent movement. Israel, a society not unlike Sparta, which only understands war, is trying to paint BDS as a threat that it can kill. But even they admit that BDS is a campaign “without knives or missiles.” So who are the people in the “front line?” the answer, at least in part, is in this piece on Ynet.
“De-legitimization of Israel must be fought, and you are on the front lines.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this to attendees, in a letter read aloud at a BDS emergency summit organized by Sheldon Adelson in Las Vegas.” A conference at one of Adleson’s Las Vegas casinos, “Front line” indeed. The same story continues to tell us that “One hundred million Israeli Shekels are planned to be allocated to the Strategic Affairs and Information Minister Gilad Erdan, whose office’s purview includes fighting BDS.” That’s about twenty-five million dollars, “Erdan’s office will also receive ten new positions for employees who will deal solely with the boycott and de-legitimization activities against Israel […] Erdan estimated that the budget can double or triple to NIS 300 million with the help of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations.” Perhaps they can triple their money but to what purpose?
Nowhere in the articles and reports published by Ynet is there any real substantial argument to oppose BDS. Surely, I thought to myself, there must be some content with which Ynet and Adelson and all the others mean to utilize in this fight. If there is any content I couldn’t find it. In a piece in Hebrew, titled, “The Snakes Head – the Academic Boycott,” Tsahi Gavrieli writes that if Israel wants to discover how it ended up in the midst of a debate questioning its own legitimacy, the answer is to be found on US campuses. That would not be the first place I would look. Had I been charged with discovering the reasons behind the emergence and the growth of BDS as a movement and as an idea, I would visit Palestinian refugee camps. I would see the camps in Lebanon and Syria, Jordan and of course all over Palestine. I would look into the conditions in which thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are held by Israel. I would examine what takes place when Israeli jets attack Palestinian targets, I would look at the countless cases where thousands of unarmed Palestinian civilians were killed, maimed and made homeless by Israel. I would look at the Israeli Knesset which regularly spits out new laws that make the oppression and dispossession of Palestinians “legal.” I would look to the total disregard that Israeli society has toward the lives of Palestinians.
The most common question asked by those who want to “combat” BDS, is “Why Israel?” and there are several answers to that. First of all, why not? Then they ask, why not boycott all the other racist and brutal regimes around the world that are even worse than Israel. And the reply is – no reason we can’t do both. In fact, sanctions and boycotts have been used against many regimes and many states. Using BDS, or in other words, imposing boycotts, divesting and imposing sanctions is very common. It was used against Iraq, Iran, it was used against South Africa during apartheid, the Indian resistance under Gandhi used boycott as a tool, and now the US is leading sanctions against Russia and the list goes on.
Besides the obvious facts that point to Israel as a state and as a society that for seven decades continue to commit the crimes of ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide, and therefore deserve to be punished, there is one other answer. Palestinian civil society has told the world that this is how to best support the Palestinian cause. They have given the rest of the world a road map for supporting the Palestinian struggle. They have asked the world, and by doing so gave the world a gift, by guiding people of conscience as to how best they can support the people of Palestine in their struggle for freedom. That road map is BDS.
Another piece by Ynet uses the only image Israel understands, the military metaphor: “Those involved in this fight warn that these are critical moments in the war on BDS.” Actually there is no war. There is a legitimate, unarmed struggle to free Palestine from the Spartan regime Israel has imposed upon it. They go on to say that “A worldwide call to arms must be issued, as the battle will be conducted at all levels […] It is the hope that this conference will be the first shot in the war against the BDS movement, a war where there is no other option but to win.” Ynet clearly understands that BDS is posing a serious threat. It also seems to understand that Israel is unprepared and unequipped to deal with this threat, in fact Israel is doing everything to strengthen the struggle and garner more support for BDS. It seems to be the case that violent, racist regimes are also incredibly stupid, and that is quite often their downfall. Blinded by their own racism they are incapable of understanding their shortcomings. There is every reason to expect that Zionism in Palestine will fall for these same reasons.
Miko Peled is an Israeli writer and activist living in the US. He was born and raised in Jerusalem. His father was the late Israeli General Matti Peled. Driven by a personal family tragedy to explore Palestine, its people and their narrative. He has written a book about his journey from the sphere of the privileged Israeli to that of the oppressed Palestinians. His book is titled “The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine.” Peled speaks nationally and internationally on the issue of Palestine. Peled supports the creation of a single democratic state in all of Palestine, he is also a firm supporter of BDS.
US Treasury Urged to Sanction Iran Airline Partners for Aiding Hezbollah
Sputnik — 05.03.2016
The US government has been urged to impose economic sanctions on any company doing business with the private Iranian airline Mahan Air, four US senators wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
The US Department of the Treasury has designated Mahan Air for its support for terrorism and funneling of weapons to Hezbollah and to the government of President Bashar Assad in Syria, yet the airline continues to operate with a network of partners throughout Europe, the senators pointed out.
“Mahan Air continues to operate and even expand its international business network… It is time to impose sanctions now on companies aiding Mahan Air,” Senators Kelly Ayotte, Chris Coons, Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal wrote in the letter on Friday.
“We urge you to immediately identify to us all known entities engaged in commercial transactions with Mahan Air and take action now to sanction those companies, including freezing all assets of those entities found under US jurisdiction,” the lawmakers said.
Mahan Air flies to and from Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, as well as Persian Gulf Arab allied nations. The airline has recently introduced new flights to Russia, the senators added.
Bahrain King Meets Rabbi: Arab-Israeli Diplomatic Ties ‘Matter of Time’
Al-Manar – March 5, 2016
The King of Bahrain has met Israeli Rabbi and ‘recommended’ that the recent blacklisting of Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, as a “terrorist organization” by the Gulf Cooperation Council be taken up by the Arab League as well, Israeli daily, Jerusalem Post reported.
Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa received Rabbi Marc Schneier, and president of the Foundation of Ethnic Understanding based in New York, in the royal palace in Manama in order to discuss “concerns in the Middle East,” JP reported.
The six-member GCC formally blacklisted Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization” on Wednesday.
During Scheier’s meeting with Khalifa, the king noted that there were one or two countries among the GCC who had wanted to distinguish between Hezbollah’s military wing and its political wing, although this was rejected, the Israeli paper said.
According to Schneier, who has met with Khalifa on two other occasions, the king told him “he was advocating for the struggle against Hezbollah to be expanded as widely as possible in the Arab world, stating that the Arab League and its 22 members should take up this mantle and label the group as terrorists.”
“Iran is not only an obstacle but an opportunity for peace between Israel and Arab nations,” Schneier told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday after his meeting on Wednesday with Khalifa.
“Both Israel and the Gulf states share a common enemy, so it’s the makings of a natural alliance, in terms of joining forces against the evil of terrorism, religious extremism and fanaticism,” the Israeli Rabbi said.
“It’s a real opportunity and a silver lining in the dark cloud of terrorism. The Gulf states recognize Israel as an ally against Iran, and its ability to stabilize the region and support moderate Arab countries, so this could be a game changer in the geopolitical climate of the Middle East.”
Schneier added that Khalifa has also said during their meeting that in his opinion “it is just a matter of time before some Arab countries begin opening diplomatic ties” with the Zionist entity.