Aletho News

Osama Bin Laden has been dead for a while! Show me the body like Saddam Hussein’s two sons were put on display

LoneStarWatchDog | May 2, 2011

This smells to high heaven and seems like an act of political desperation. It has been confirmed by many sources Bin Laden could not survive in a cave because he needed kidney dialysis. The CIA asset died of natural causes many years ago. Every video and audio recording was a fake and a fraud concocted by our intelligence agencies to raise terrorist warnings for political purposes.

I want to see the body. What was the purpose to quickly bury Osama bin laden at sea. I want to see the body and then I will believe the news. I want to see the dialysis marks on his body. Then which Bin Laden is it. Was it the one smiling who was writing with his right hand when he is left handed? Was it the Bin Laden with the grey beard and the one with a regular brown beard? What ship buried Bin Laden at sea?

This seems like a political move because Barrack Obama the President is in trouble with very low approval ratings. If he really wants to prove it. At least President George W. Bush during the Iraq conflict had Saddam Hussein’s two sons on public display before they were laid to rest. There was no observance to Islamic law concerning burial of the bodies. They had no trouble hanging Saddam Hussein on video. Why so secretive if they really killed Osama Bin Laden. I want to see the body. Then I will believe the news.

This President is in hot water with the American people. The people no longer have confidence in his leadership and his ability to lead. Using the Osama Bin Laden card was an act of political desperation. Next there might be a false flag attack claiming to be in retaliation to killing Osama Bin Laden might be in the cards. I approach this breaking news with great skepticism because there is no evidence there was any operation took place. No video of burial at sea or the body. All we have to go on is the President’s words in which we have no confidence in what he says because the words he is speaking are coming from a teleprompter.

May 2, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Israeli settler shot dead, 4 injured in Nablus

Ma’an – 24/04/2011

NABLUS — An Israeli settler was shot dead and four others were injured early Sunday after a group of Jewish worshippers snuck into Nablus without coordinating with Palestinian or Israeli security, officials said.

Settler sources named the man killed in the incident as Jerusalem resident Ben-Yosef Livnat, a 24-year-old father of four who is the nephew of hawkish culture minister Limor Livnat, and was born in the Nablus-area settlement Elon Moreh.

The shooting took place when dozens of armed ultra-Orthodox settlers entered the Joseph’s Tomb site without an Israeli military escort.

The Palestinian officers told the group that they were not allowed in the area and said that in response settlers pulled out their own guns and pointed them toward the officers. Israel’s military confirmed no coordination attempts had been made.

Security forces first fired warning shots into the air, according to Palestinian officials, while a statement from Israel’s army said Palestinian officials said shots were fired “after identifying suspicious movements.”

Yaakov David Ha’ivri, a settler leader in the northern West Bank, said the four were shot as they left the tomb after an unauthorized visit.

The incident put “a great question mark over the ability of the Palestinian Authority to protect the security of Jewish worshipers,” he said. “It could encourage the Israeli side to take more responsibility.”

Visits to the tomb, in the Nablus-area town of Balatta, have in the past years been conducted at night. Israeli forces enter the area and impose a military curfew, preventing civilians from leaving their homes from the hours of midnight to dawn.

Palestinian police operating in the area during an Israeli military operation are told to evacuate.

Palestinian Authority security services spokesman Adnan Dmeiri told Ma’an that officers on duty at the site had been summoned to give testimonies as witnesses to the incident, but said none had been detained.

Dmeiri said a committee had been formed to investigate the shooting but said it would not include Israeli officials. He denied media reports that the investigation would be under US supervision.

Mixed reactions

“This was an abnormal event which does not characterize the nature of the relationship,” an Israeli military official told Ynet, a news site based in Tel Aviv. “It is possible that the group’s failure to coordinate the visit caused a misunderstanding,” the official said.

The governor of Nablus, Jibril Al-Bakri, added that the shooting was unintentional and said it was still being investigated.

The army said its senior officials were expected to meet with Palestinian security officers Sunday to examine the incident.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement “strongly condemning” the incident and calling on the army and Palestinian Authority to investigate.

“No breakdown in coordination can justify an event of this nature and firing at innocent people,” he said.

Following the incident, Israeli forces closed the Beit Furik checkpoint east of Nablus and intensified inspections at Za’tara and Huwwara checkpoints in the area.

Clashes erupted around Joseph’s Tomb as Israeli forces launched tear gas at young Palestinians protesting in the area.

After Israeli forces withdrew, Palestinians set fire to the site.

AFP contributed to this report

April 24, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Bahrain fires 1,000 striking workers

Press TV – April 6, 2011

A number of major Bahraini companies have laid off over 1,000 workers as a punishment for taking part in the country’s general strikes that were planned for a show of solidarity with anti-government protesters.

Bahrain’s main opposition bloc says the firms include Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals Bahrain, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) called for a nationwide strike first on February 20 and then from March 13 to 22 as protests continued due to the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the tiny Persian Gulf littoral state.

Officials at Batelco, Gulf Air, Bahrain Airport Services and APM Terminals Bahrain said they had laid off more than 200 workers due to absence during the strike.

“It’s illegal in Bahrain and anywhere else in the world to just strike. You have to give two weeks’ notice to your employer,” said one executive who did not wish to be named.

The strike followed a brutal crackdown on protesters by the government in the capital Manama. More lay-offs are expected at Bahrain Petroleum, which has fired the head of its workers’ union.

More than 25 people have been killed, hundreds arrested and thousands injured in the government-authorized violence in Bahrain since February 14, when the public started a popular revolution against the monarchy, which has been ruling the tiny island for more than 200 years.

In March, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait deployed their troops to Bahrain to reinforce a massive armed crackdown on the popular uprising.

April 6, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Ivorian forces storm Gbagbo residence

Press TV – April 6, 2011

Pro-Ouattara forces have surrounded the presidential residence in Abidjan

Forces loyal to Ivorian president-elect Alassane Ouattara say they have launched a final assault on the residents of incumbent Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan.

Gbagbo has been holed up in a bunker at his home after being cornered by Ouattara followers.

A spokeswoman for Ouattara forces said on Wednesday that pro-Ouattara forces were closing in on the bunker where Gbagbo is hiding.

“Yes they (Ouattara forces) are in the process of entering the residence to seize Gbagbo, they have not taken him yet, but they are in the process, they are in the building,” Reuters quoted Spokesman Affousy Bamba as saying.

Heavy weapons fire and explosions have been heard near Gbagbo’s residence and the presidential palace. Gbagbo has denied reports that he wants to surrender.

This comes after the UN said three generals loyal to Gbagbo are negotiating conditions for his surrender in return for guarantees of his safety.

Meanwhile, France has denied alleged involvement in attacks on Gbagbo’s residence.

While much of the international community has recognized Ouattara as the winner of the vote, Gbagbo refused to cede power. Tensions further escalated after they both claimed victory and appointed separate cabinets.

Hundreds of people have lost their lives since the controversial presidential election in November 2010.

~

Cynthia McKinney:

Black Agenda Report | April 5, 2011

When I was in the Congress, I received a phone call from Alassane Ouattara from aboard Henry Kissinger’s yacht. I had received many such calls from people wanting to benefit from my good reputation within the human rights and peace community in the United States and they wanted me to sell their particular potion of iniquity to people inside the United States and to the world. Usually, these people were the kind of people accustomed to buying the consciences of public persons, so my “no” resounded rather sharply to them, and I earned yet another set of crosshairs on my forehead, I guess.

Alassane Ouattara and his Zionist wife, Dominique, were seeking my assistance–or maybe my silence–in his effort to become President of Ivory Coast. I applaud Laurent Gbagbo in his efforts to stave off imperialism in Ivory Coast, one of the few African countries that has not one iota of a relationship with the U.S. military. However, Democracy Now, FOX, CNN, AP, Reuters, and all the rest didn’t tell you that when they ran their many stories about Ivory Coast. While the world will celebrate “democracy” arriving in Ivory Coast once Gbagbo is gone, the exact opposite will actually be the case. Handing Ivory Coast over to Henry Kissinger and his ilk is the policy of the Obama Administration. I guess, President Obama is proving his worth: perhaps no one could have done it better.

April 6, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Yemeni Forces Martyr 15 Protesters in Taez

Al-Manar – April 4, 2011

Yemeni security forces shot dead 15 anti-regime demonstrators and wounded scores more on Monday, on the second day of lethal clashes in Taez, south of the capital, medics said.

The bloodshed came as demonstrators staged a march on the governorate headquarters in the city to demand the ouster of Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Witnesses said the demonstrators stormed the courtyard of the governorate and that plainclothes gunmen opened fire in an attempt to push them back.

The bloodshed, a day after another protester was shot dead in Taez, sent the death toll to more than 100 in a crackdown on protests in the impoverished Arabian peninsula state since late January.

In a similar confrontation, 13 people were shot and wounded late on Sunday as police clashed with tens of thousands of demonstrators in the western city of Hudaydah, according to witnesses.

Police opened fire as the protesters marched on to the Red City sea’s main local government building, the witnesses said. Thirteen were wounded by live bullets, another 30 by batons and rocks, while 400 others suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

According to a report in the New York Times on Sunday, citing US and Yemeni officials, the US government is dropping its support for Saleh and taking part in efforts to negotiate his departure and a transitional handover.

US officials have told allies they see Saleh’s position as untenable due to the widespread protests, and believe he should leave office, the paper said, adding that negotiations over his departure began more than a week ago.

April 4, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Goldstone’s forced redaction does not clear Israeli war crimes

By Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi | April 3, 2011

Judge Richard Goldstone’s op-ed in The Washington Post is a direct result of tremendous and fierce pressure practiced by the Israeli and the Zionist lobby against him, his family and his friends in a frenzied campaign to force him to retreat from his report, an objective yet strong international condemnation against war crimes committed by Israel during its aggression against the Gaza Strip two years ago.

Goldstone’s personal revision –  done under duress – does not change anything related to the report. While carrying his name, it was not developed or written solely by him, but by a Commission he headed. The report remains a document adopted by the Human Rights Council and UN bodies.

Goldstone cannot undo or change a single fact of the report, which has become the most important document for the international condemnation of Israel and the war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is trying to exaggerate Goldstone’s statements, although it refused to allow him access to the West Bank and has refused to cooperate with the committee. What we are witnessing is the result of a campaign against Goldstone to force him to say things he is not convinced of. It is a model for the ferocity of the Zionist lobby when it decides to target a person or institution.

This campaign against Goldstone is aimed at clearing the face of Israel to justify a new aggression on Gaza. What is required from the Palestinian Liberation Organization is to take the Goldstone report and the decision of the Hague Tribunal on the apartheid wall and settlements, which has been neglected for a period of six years, to the General Assembly of the United Nations. There they should explicitly demand sanctions on Israel and state that any laxity in the use of these important documents would encourage Israel to launch a counter attack to cancel their influence.

While Benajmin Netanyahu said the Goldstone report should go to the dustbin of history, it is the system of apartheid that should be relegated to history’s dustbin. Israel’s apartheid and the policy of the coalition government of the settlers represented by Netanyahu. As the people of South Africa were liberated, the Palestinian people will be liberated and one day Israel will be condemned its war crimes in Gaza and be convicted of all its previous crimes.

April 3, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Palestinian child run over by settler

Ma’an – April 1, 2011

HEBRON — An Israeli settler ran over a three-year-old girl and fled the scene in central Hebron on Thursday, locals said.

Lana Al-Ja’bari was transferred to hospital with moderate injuries, her relatives said

She was run over near the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the presence of Israeli soldiers, witnesses said.

On Monday, an Israeli settler ran down a Palestinian girl on her way to school south of Hebron. He remained in the area until police arrived.

However, in two other incidents in March, Israeli settlers driving in the West Bank struck Palestinians and drove away.

April 1, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

BDS victory against Ahava in UK

By Anna Stevens | International Solidarity Movement | March 31, 2011

Protesters outside Ahava, London

In a victory for the BDS movement, the UK flagship store of Ahava has been forced to relocate after years of protests and direct action. Ahava, an Israeli company which sells cosmetic products produced in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem has been a target for protesters in the UK who have sought to drive it out of London and challenge the legality of the company’s practices. In the past two and a half years protesters have blockaded the shop a number of times, preventing the store from trading. Ahava have so far been unsuccessful in securing any convictions for these actions in court. Under UK law, the crime of aggravated trespass is committed if one disrupts or obstructs a lawful activity on someone else’s property. However activists have argued that Ahava’s business is not lawful as it operates out of an illegal settlement. Ahava has also been under scrutiny for labelling its products as ‘made in Israel’ misleading customers and violating domestic consumer law. They have also been accused of evading tax by mislabelling their products.

Every fortnight the UK flagship store in Covent Garden, London is the site of a protest which regularly draws in large numbers of BDS and Palestine supporters. According to The Jewish Chronicle online these protests have resulted in complaints being made against the company by the neighbouring businesses which have led to a decision not to renew their lease when it expires. The protests have also seemingly effected Ahava UK’s profits, with their accounts up until the end of 2009 showing a total loss of more than £250,000, despite receiving more than £300,000 from its Israeli parent company, with no repayment plan.

April 1, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Netanyahu to Abbas: You Can’t Have ‘Peace’ with Both Israel and Hamas

Al-Manar – March 29, 2011

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas could spell the end of the so-called peace process, after an aide to Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian president would be willing to give up U.S. aid if needed to secure unity with the rival faction, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.

“You can’t have peace with both Israel and Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “Choose peace with Israel.”

Abbas is making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas, and a senior adviser said Monday that he was prepared to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid if that was what it takes to forge a Palestinian unity deal.

“Of course we need the American money. But if they use it as a way of pressuring us, we are ready to relinquish that aid,” said adviser Azzam Ahmed.

The Palestinian unity government is “isolated internationally” because of Hamas’ refusal to recognize the Zionist entity.

Abbas has offered to visit Gaza to lay the groundwork for national elections. Over the weekend, he met with local Hamas officials in the West Bank.

“The president is working hard in order to bring about a unified Palestinian territory before he goes to the UN,” Ahmed said.

“This visit should be for the sake of achieving progress on the ground and not only for photos and media coverage, said Mushir al Masri,” a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. “The problem is not in forming the government; it’s in reaching an agreement.”

The Palestinians receive more than $470 million a year in direct financial assistance from the U.S. The U.S. hasn’t said what it will do if Hamas returns to power in the West Bank, but it will likely cut off the funds unless Hamas agrees to renounce “violence” and recognize “Israel”. Hamas has given no indication it is prepared to do either, according to Haaretz.

March 29, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

Turkey defers purchase of F-35 jets

Press TV – March 24, 2011

Turkey has postponed the purchase of 100 US-made F-35 warplanes in objection to the American’s refusal to share the aircraft’s technology.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Tuesday that negotiations with Pentagon officials over procurement of source codes used in the software designed for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), and codes used externally to operate the military aircraft had not yielded “satisfactory results,” Today’s Zaman newspaper reported on Thursday.

He said a range of topics has been covered in the talks but stressed that it did not yield sufficient grounds to convince Turkey to purchase the jets.

“We will evaluate the order in the next meeting of Turkey’s Defense Industry Implementation Committee,” Gonul said.

Turkish engineers reportedly would not be able to make any changes to the software that operates F-35 fighter jets without the source codes. The external flight codes are also necessary to navigate the jets.

The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II — also known as Joint Strike Fighter or JSF — is a single-seat, single-engine and multi-role fighter. The aircraft can conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.

The F-35 Lightning II is manufactured in three different main versions; conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier variant (CV) as well as a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL). A fourth variant, the F-35 I, is a version exclusively manufactured for the Israeli regime.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Norway and Denmark have contributed financially to the development of F-35. Israel and Singapore have joined the project as security partners.

March 24, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

‘Yemeni president seeks Saudi asylum’

Press TV – March 22, 2011

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly requested asylum from Saudi Arabia after announcing he will step down by the end of the year.

On Monday night, Saleh told Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz during a telephone conversation that he will be forced to give up power and requested him and his family’s asylum to Saudi Arabia, nahrainnet reported.

Earlier Tuesday, Saleh had expressed his willingness to step down by the year’s end to prepare a peaceful transfer of power in the impoverished Arab nation.

The announcement came as a reversal of Saleh’s recent comments in which he had said he would remain in power until the end of his term in 2013.

During talks with the Saudi officials, Saleh discussed the defection of senior military officials to the opposition and the resignation of many other officials from their posts.

A senior Saudi official is expected to visit Sana’a in the next 24 hours to plan Saleh and his family’s departure to Riyadh.

Saleh has been in office for more than three decades, with several opposition members arguing that his long-promised reforms have not materialized.

Protests began to sweep Yemen in January. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds more have been injured in a brutal crackdown by security forces.

Some 40 percent of Yemen’s population lives on under $2 a day or less, and a third is wrestling with chronic hunger, reports say.

March 22, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment

In Palestine, Everything is Relative: The Settler Violence You Won’t Hear About

By Yousef Munnayer | Permission to Narrate | March 14, 2011

When I heard the horrific news last night that 5 Israeli settlers were murdered in their home in the settlement of Itamar, I knew it would only be a matter of hours before a shoddy piece of journalism describes the murders as the end of a “lull in the violence” or the end of “relative calm” since 4 Israeli settlers were killed in an attack near Hebron last summer. At that time, the Washington Post ran an editorial saying that the attacks then ended “three years of peace” in the region which we posted about.

So I suppose it should come as no surprise that the Washington Post’s own Janine Zacharia leads the way this morning by displaying a complete ignorance of the situation she is supposedly covering or an overt pro-Israel bias (or both). Here’s Zacharia’s story and the critical excerpt:

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz, citing a preliminary investigation, reported that the children killed were ages 11, 3 and a 3-month-old baby. The newspaper also said that another 12-year-old daughter and two of her younger brothers managed to escape.

The attack shattered a relative calm that had prevailed in the West Bank in recent months as Palestinian security forces assert greater control in the territories where they are allowed by Israel to operate and as Israeli and Palestinians forces coordinate security efforts.

Last August, four Jewish settlers were killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank.

Zacharia’s chronology is likely representative of the broader mainstream media’s coverage of these events, sadly. American readers or consumers of mainstream media (MSM) are delivered a simple, straightforward message: Israelis are killed about 6 months apart and in between everything was calm.

The problem is that for Zacharia and much of the MSM “relative calm” means no Israelis were attacked, injured or killed and ignores the ongoing occupation and violence against Palestinians.

In this period of “relative calm”, the Israeli Human Rights group B’Tselem recorded at least 41 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in occupied Palestinian territory. This includes Omar Qawasmeh, the 66 year old Palestinian civilian who was massacred in his bed while he slept by raiding Israeli soldiers and two 20-something Palestinian unarmed civilians shot and killed at the same checkpoint less than a week apart.

March 14, 2011 Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Leave a comment