be just

Romney's Remarks Against Palestinian Culture Seen as Racist:       Information Clearing House: ICH Romney's Remarks Against Palestinian Culture Seen as Racist By The Associated Press July 30, 2012 "AP" --   JERUSALEM - Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the nearby Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who called his comments racist and out of touch. ``As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,'' the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who breakfasted around a U-shaped table at the luxurious King David Hotel.

'Don't tell my mother that I am blind': Muhammad Brash grasps for light in the darkness of Israeli jail Muhammad Brash (right), and his brother Ramzy are both imprisoned by Israel (Facebook) Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by the Palestinian resistance from his tank and held for five years, is known worldwide as a “victim” of the “terrorist” Palestinians. But seeing how little the world knows of our Palestinian political prisoners infuriates me. There is not only one. Nearly five thousand Palestinians are behind Israeli bars, which are more like “a grave for the living.” as my dad ad, who spent 15 years in Israel’s prisons, frequently describes his detention. Last night, while following the latest news on political prisoners, I saw a headline reading, “The medical situation of the detainee Muhammad Brash is deteriorating.” I’m certain few have read that name before. Muhammad Brash, like every Palestinian hero locked up in Israel’s jails, has his own stor...

Saudi Police Fire Live Rounds On Protesters in Qatif        Information Clearing House: ICH Saudi Police Fire Live Rounds On Protesters in Qatif Video By RT -July 28, 2012 Several demonstrators have been wounded in Saudi Arabia’s eastern district of Qatif after security forces opened fire on protesters. Several demonstrators have been wounded in Saudi Arabia’s eastern district of Qatif after security forces opened fire on protesters. Officers fired live rounds at demonstrators who carried posters of those injured and arrested earlier this month. Spokesmen for the Saudi Interior Ministry said several people were burning tires during the protests, and several arrests were made. Among those arrested today was Mohammed al-Shakhuri, who is on a list of the country’s 23 most-wanted people, Al-Manar News reported. Witnesses said Shakhuri was taken to a military hospital with bullet wounds in his back and neck. “There were no casualties,” the Interior Ministry said in a state...

The Value of Tom Friedman?        Information Clearing House: ICH The Value of Tom Friedman His status among American elites is the single most potent fact for understanding the nation's imperial decline By Glenn Greenwald July 28, 2012 "Salon" - -  Tom Friedman argues that the only thing that could save Syria is if that country is lucky enough to have the U.S. do to it what the U.S. did to Iraq, and in the process, says this: And, for me, the lesson of Iraq is quite simple: You can’t go from Saddam to Switzerland without getting stuck in Hobbes — a war of all against all — unless you have a well-armed external midwife, whom everyone on the ground both fears and trusts to manage the transition. In Iraq, that was America. 

Israel denied me entry on the basis of my skin color and religion Israel attempts to portray itself as a vibrant, liberal country that promotes pluralism and diversity, the only democracy in a region filled with tyrants and despots, a young energetic start-up advocating inclusiveness. So why the need for barefaced racial discrimination at its airports?

Brothers jailed by US and expelled to Gaza speak out When Basman Elashi reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas, Texas on 9 July, he expected nothing unusual. He had visited the federal agency regularly since his release from its custody in March 2009. “At first I was only reporting every six months,” he said over tea in his family’s Gaza home. “Then they reduced it to three months. Then, the last time, they asked me to report the following month.”

  Syria Tightens the Noose Around Its Own Neck       Information Clearing House: ICH The US, France, Turkey and Israel have all finalized their contingency plans for attacking Syria. The biggest winner in such a scenario would be Israel, as it was in the US war against Iraq. Sending Syria into turmoil would eliminate the most important supporter of the Palestinians resistance, cut off Hezbullah, leave it vulnerable to a final assault, and isolate Iran.

Pepe Escobar: Syrian Blood Etches a New Line in the Sand A foreign policy that privileges Sunni jihadis formerly known as terrorists to create a “democratic” state in the Middle East seems to have been conjured by Bane — the Hannibal Lecter meets Darth Vader bad guy in The Dark Knight Rises, the final chapter of the Batman trilogy. And yes, we are his creators. While the best lack all conviction, and the worst are full of passionate intensity, a masked Sunni jihadi superman is slouching towards Damascus to be born.

Africans as "flood," Palestinians as "demographic threat": Ruth Marcus' vulgar racism in Washington Post BLOGS » ALI ABUNIMAH'S BLOG Africans as "flood," Palestinians as "demographic threat": Ruth Marcus’ vulgar racism in Washington Post Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Wed, 07/25/2012 - 12:35 Only when it comes to Israel do “mainstream” American commentators permit themselves to indulge in the kind of racism Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus treats us to when she writes: Israel faces a demographic threat to the Jewish state from its fast-growing Arab population, even without a deluge of African refugees with no religious ties or political loyalties to the country. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that “60,000 infiltrators are liable to become 600,000 and lead to the eradication of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”

Apartment Manager Uncovered NYPD’s Illegal Spying Ring -- News from Antiwar.com A New Brunswick, N.J. 911 audiotape reveals the manner through which one of the NYPD’s illegal out of town surveillance operations was uncovered, as the superintendent of an apartment complex called to report an inspection revealed a “suspicious” dwelling which turned out to be a police safehouse.

German Intelligence: "al-Qaeda" All Over Syria July 24, 2012 "Asia Times" -- German intelligence estimates that "around 90" terror attacks that "can be attributed to organizations that are close to al-Qaeda or jihadist groups" were carried out in Syria between the end of December and the beginning of July, as reported by the German daily Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). This was revealed by the German government in a response to a parliamentary question. In response to the same question, the German government admitted that it had received several reports from the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, on the May 25 massacre in the Syrian town of Houla. But it noted that the content of these reports was to remain classified "by reason of national interest", Like many other Western governments, Germany expelled Syria's ambassador in the immediate aftermath of the massacre, holding the Syrian government responsible f...

Why I tried to arrest Avigdor Lieberman (again) For the second time in as many years, I tried to arrest Avigdor Lieberman today. As soon as I saw the Israeli foreign minister enter a room where he was scheduled to give a press conference in Brussels, I stood up and shouted: “Mr Lieberman, this is a citizen’s arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid.”

Jewish voices call for an end to Israel's occupation of Palestine Jewish voices in calling for a just and lasting peace, which would allow both Israelis and Palestinians to thrive, say that first and foremost this requires an end to the occupation. More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on blogger Share on facebook Jewish Voice for Peace 19 July 2012 THE ISRAELI government often claims to act in the name and interests of all the Jews in the world. However, their actions do not reflect our Jewish values and beliefs. We hold to Rabbi Hillel’s ancient precept: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” We support non-violent efforts that pressure the Israeli government to end its oppressive policies: to remove the illegal settlements, the ‘separation wall,’ and the checkpoints it has built in the West Bank; to end its inhuman siege of Gaza; to respect the full equality of non-Jewish citizens of Israel; to embrac...

THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Local News :: Saudi court sentences Lebanese to year in jail, 200 lashes BEIRUT: A court in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah sentenced an unidentified Lebanese man to one year in prison and 200 lashes after he was convicted of drawing tattoos on the bodies of Saudi women and being a women’s hairdresser, a Saudi newspaper said Tuesday. Al-Madina newspaper reported that the district court also fined the man. The article said the Lebanese man, known as "The King of Tattoos" was arrested when a member of the Squad for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice pretended to be a driver for one of his female clients. The squad confiscated a bag in his possession which contained several lotions, some for weight loss, others for eliminating skin discoloration from the knees, and yet others for breast lifting, massage and enhancement. They also confiscated artificial eye lashes and products for hair coloring. The Saudi paper also said that wh...

Russia Criticizes Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Record Hilarity Ensues as Russia Criticizes Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Record By Mark Adomanis July 17, 2012 "Forbes" --  If you want to find proof of the rank hypocrisy and double standards that underlie international relations in general and the argument over Syria in particular, you could do an awful lot worse than to examine the recent spat between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Saudi Arabia, despite it’s recent embrace of the cause of democracy and freedom in Syria, is and has been for the past 80 odd years one of the most violently repressive and backwards societies in the world: an absolute dictatorship replete with “morality police” and various other kinds of religious totalitarians.*

China Gave Nuclear Weapons to Saudi Arabia :CIA Contractor Scherck's self-published book, "Patriot Lost," claims China gave nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia during George W. Bush's presidency, according to an excerpt from the book available on the Amazon.com Internet page this morning. The book contains other harsh criticisms of the G.W. Bush presidency. Federal prosecutors say in their complaint that Scherck signed secrecy agreements with the CIA in 2004 and 2007, and agreed to let the agency review any materials he planned to publish, including works of fiction, which mention intelligence activities. Scherck submitted the manuscript for "Patriot Lost" to the CIA for review in 2010, and the CIA did not approve its publication, but Scherck published it online a few months later, according to the complaint.

Defected Syrian Ambassador Admits Role in Killing US Troops July 15, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- Confessed terrorist Nawaf Fares has now called for "foreign military intervention," in his latest interview, this time with CNN. During this interview, Fares repeated his farcical claims that the Syrian government was working with, not fighting against, "Al Qaeda," but was more careful not to repeat admissions that he had a role in dealing with them. Fares' role for the West is very simple, repeat even the most absurd claims made by the West against Syria, hoping that with his background, an "appeal to authority" can lend these narratives the credibility they factually lack. July 14, 2012 - Nawaf Fares, former Syrian Ambassador to Iraq who just recently defected and is now harbored in Qatar, admitted in an interview with the London Telegraph that he personally organized "Jihadi units" to fight US troops in Iraq. Fares maintai...

Meeting Mahmoud Sarsak: "It's not my victory, it's yours" Ever since we heard that Mahmoud Sarsak would be freed, people in Gaza waited eagerly for that day, a day that will be commemorated in the history of Palestine. Sarsak would finally be coming home after three years of detention without charge or trial by Israel, and three months of an epic hunger strike. His hunger for freedom had pushed his life to the edge of death. Finally, on 10 July he returned to Gaza, and on Friday, I met and spoke to him...............

WATCH: Ali Abunimah and Commentary's Jonathan Tobin debate Israel's settlements, Jim Crow on Democracy Now

Exclusive: Romney to Host Fundraiser in Jerusalem: July 13, 2012 "Jerusalem Post" --  Presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will host a fundraising event in Jerusalem at $60,000 or more per plate on July 29, The Jerusalem Post learned on Wednesday. Delegates are set to fly in from the US for the event, which a Republican source said would be “a small meeting, but a big fundraiser.” Immediately after the fundraising meeting, Romney will host a conference in Jerusalem, where he will lay out his Middle East policy. Romney plans to visit the UK for two days, attending the opening ceremony of the London Olympics on July 27, before flying to Israel...........

“Tell no lies; claim no easy victories,” said the West African anti-colonial revolutionary Amilcar Cabral in 1965. These words ring true for those of us dedicated to helping end the US-funded Israeli military occupation, and working towards the fulfillment of the full rights of the Palestinian people. We know that the struggle to justice is an uphill one. But after a measure to divest approximately $17 million of the Presbyterian Church USA’s funds from corporations profitting from the Israeli occupation was defeated by only two votes in Pittsburgh tonight, “no easy victories” is just as true for groups who wield much more power and boast far greater resources than the Palestine solidarity movement.

NATO Proxies Turkey and Saudi Arabia Move to War Footing on Eve of Syrian ‘Peace Summit’        : Information Clearing House June 29, 2012 "Information Clearing House" -- The NATO-backed covert aggression against Syria could be reaching a tipping point for all-out war involving state forces. That should be no surprise. For the past 16 months, NATO and its regional proxies have been steadily increasing the violence and turmoil inside and outside Syria, while the Western corporate-controlled media maintain the ridiculous fiction that the bloody chaos is largely due to the government forces of President Bashar Al Assad cracking down on “peaceful protesters”.