Is Israel Really America's Ally? - Stephen M. Walt

Stephen M. Walt
Professor of International Relations
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

Mirroring the British Empire Against the IRA????

On 10 October 2010 the Israeli cabinet approved a loyalty oath bill requiring all future non-Jews applying for an Israeli citizenship to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state. However, on October 18, current prime minister Netanyahu ordered Justice minister Ya'akov Ne'eman to extend Cabinet-level debate on the bill in order to add amendments which make the loyalty oath universal to both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the state, including Jewish immigrants who seek citizenship.

Richard Cohen in the Washington Post noted that while Lieberman a "nationalist" he was also an "anti-Arab demagogue".

The oath would suggest that any Arab-Israeli who did not agree that Israel is a Jewish State and a Democratic state would be deported or not be allowed as citizens.

Israel Confiscated Phones and Cameras on the Flotillas

Member of the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission says Israel is trying maintain a monopoly over its version of the deadly May 31 events aboard the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara.

The three independent, UN-appointed experts said Israeli soldiers confiscated photos and video material from more than two dozen journalists and others aboard the flotilla during the raid, which killed nine pro-Palestinian activists.

"When the military took over the ships, they scrupulously confiscated all photographic material," said Karl T. Hudson-Phillips, a former judge at the International Criminal Court who chaired the panel. "All cameras were seized, all cell phones were seized, all laptops were confiscated."

"From this one would conclude that part of the strategy, as we indicated in our report, was to control information and to have a monopoly on versions as to what existed," he said.

Israel used confiscated videos to justify why its troops opened fire after rappelling onto the deck, saying they came under attack by activists wielding clubs, axes and metal rods. The army says its soldiers were armed with non-lethal paintball guns as their primary weapons and only resorted to using their handguns after they were assaulted.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Gets Deported

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire refused to board a U.K.-bound flight on Tuesday after being barred by security from entering Israel.

Maguire's entry was barred due to her participation in an attempt to violate Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip aboard the aid ship Rachel Corrie in June. The vessel was intercepted and boarded by the Israeli Navy and led to Ashdod harbor, with Maguire being deported from Israel, along with the ship's other passengers.

Palestinians Pushed out of East Jerusalem

Justices Yoram Danziger, Esther Hayut and Miriam Naor unanimously rejected an appeal by Palestinians claiming to own a large plot in the western portion of the neighborhood. The court ruled that the custodian general, and other owners, including settler representatives, succeeded in proving they owned the property.

The decision means the properties' owners will be able to initiate proceedings for the eviction of dozens of Palestinian families living on the property.

Moreover, the settlers will be able to move ahead with plans to build in the area.

Aryeh King, one of the leaders of the settlement movement in East Jerusalem said yesterday that in two days three Palestinian families whose leases are ending are expected to be evicted from their homes. The plan is for Jewish families to move in.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/dozens-of-arab-families-may-be-evicted-from-east-jerusalem-neighborhood-under-court-ruling-1.316055

America needs to connect the dots, ...

Rami Khouri in the DailyStar:

"... There has been much talk in the United States since September 11, 2001 about the importance of “connecting the dots” in analyzing global intelligence information. This means that different bits of information from various sources should be linked to each other to provide a fuller picture of an actual or imminent security threat that is not apparent from a single act or source of intelligence.

The same process of connecting the dots is useful for any American interested in learning why the United States now finds itself in the unenviable situation of fighting two wars in the greater Middle East with limited success, pushing very hard for a resumption of Arab-Israeli peace negotiations with equally elusive achievements, steadily moving towards a more strident confrontation with Iran, and, seeing Arab public perception of the US drop precipitously in the past year.

Here are four dots that thoughtful Americans should ponder carefully, while they connect them to learn why the US in much of the world has become the beacon of democracy and freedom at home, but also dishonesty abroad. These are three moves in the Congress (mainly the House of Representatives) to support an Israeli military attack against Iran, to suspend and review American military assistance to Lebanon for fear that US weapons might be used to fight Israel, and, to review financial support for the United Nations agency UNRWA, which provides basic health, food and education needs for Palestinian refugees, because of alleged anti-Israeli actions among UNRWA staff or facilities.

The fourth dot is the annual public opinion poll of four Arab countries released last week by the University of Maryland (conducted by Shibley Telhami) and Zogby International, showing that Arab views of President Barack Obama and the United States have plunged sharply in the past year. This year only 16 percent of Arabs are hopeful about US policy in the Middle East – compared to a healthy 51 percent just a year ago. More significantly, a whopping 61 percent of Arabs polled said that US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the most important reason for their disappointment with Washington. Arab support for Iran’s nuclear rights is massive and keeps increasing, while Arabs regard the US and Israel as their principal threat.

The three dynamics in the House of Representatives reflect the core problem with American foreign policy in the Middle East as seen through Arab eyes: Washington’s severe tilt toward pro-Israel positions is so intense that it wipes out prospects for the US to be a truly impartial mediator in peace negotiations, and hurts many other American interests in the region.

These three congressional initiatives will probably not be voted into law, but that is besides the point. In domestic American political terms, the point is that any public discussion of Arab-Israeli or other Middle Eastern issues must be framed squarely, repeatedly, and solely through the lens of what right-wing Israelis and other Zionists feel is in their interest. Everything else – Arab rights, American strategic interests, the vulnerability of young American troops in the region, the stability of Arab regimes – is secondary.

So the message from political America is that Israeli sensitivities, security and, in some instances, colonization policies, are the criteria by which all American actions in the Middle East are measured.American foreign policy thus becomes a proxy for Zionist fears and Israeli militarism. So Arabs get US military aid but cannot use it to defend themselves against Israeli threats or aggression. UN agencies that provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians should be emasculated in order for the Palestinian refugee issue to melt away. All support should be provided to Israel to attack Iran. If any American politician resists these rules, they either quickly conform or are booted out of office.

It took the Arab world about two generations to wake up to the reality that noble and widely operative American principles of fair play, even-handedness, justice and equality are almost totally sidelined when Arab-Israeli issues are concerned. Three principal reactions to this can be observed to date, and continue to develop: Islamist and resistance movements continue to strengthen and act throughout the Middle East; public opinion remains deeply skeptical and critical of US policy; and, once firm American allies (like Iran and Turkey) carve out very different, independent postures for themselves.

This leaves the US anchored in the region only to a wildly militaristic and increasingly isolated and even delegitimized Israeli government, along with Arab governments that are steadily finding themselves more distant from their own people’s sentiments and values.

There are enough dots to connect here to keep people busy in Washington for some months, if anyone there dares or cares to deal with the Middle East’s realities, as opposed only to those pertaining to domestic American power politics. "

Elias Murr to Howard Berman: "Keep your money ... Better yet, give it to Israel"

Whoever sets as a condition that the aid should not be used to protect Lebanon's land, people and borders from the (Israeli) enemy can keep their money," Defense Minister Elias Murr told a news conference. "Let them keep their money or give it to Israel. We will confront (Israel) with the capabilities we own."

From Russia With Love

"...Russia will begin to load fuel into the reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station on August 21, a spokesman for Russia's state atomic corporation said on Friday.The spokesman said that loading the reactor with fuel would be a key step towards starting up the reactor at the Islamic Republic's first nuclear power plant, though the reactor would not be considered operational from that date.

"The fuel will be loaded on Aug 21," Rosatom spokesmen Sergei Novikov said by telephone. "This is the start of the physical launch (of the reactor)."According to the Interfax agency, Novikov will be travel to Iran on that date in order to attend a ceremony marking the arrival of the fuel.

ITAR-TASS news agency reported earlier that the reactor would be started up on August 21, citing a statement posted on the website operated by Russia's state nuclear corporation. ..."

Haaretz: "Saad Hariri suggests evidence presented by Hezbollah could point to Israeli involvement in the assassination of his father"

Haaretz/ here

"... Saad Hariri told associates that the maximum amount of time and effort should be invested to check the information presented by Nasrallah..."

"US Army must stay in Iraq until 2020"

The Guardian:

"...Lieutenant General Babakir Zebari told a defence conference in Baghdad that the Iraqi army would be unable to cope without backing from US forces.He suggested the Iraqi army would be incapable of assuming control for another decade.

"If I were asked about the withdrawal, I would say to politicians: the US army must stay until the Iraqi army is fully ready in 2020," he said.

This is not the first time Zebari has said Iraq needs the Americans to stay longer, but the timing of his comments makes them significant..."

What you need to know about the last week

Rami Khouri in the Daily Star:

"Solving a murder is always a riveting experience for any audience, as is following the intricacies of Lebanese politics with its many regional and international links. When you combine the two, as Hizbullah’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, did on Monday night in his televised news conference, the result is gripping political theater.

But was his performance any more than that? The answer to that question depends largely on whether we see Nasrallah as playing the role of prosecutor or defense attorney in a murder trial. In fact, he was trying to do both, which is a pretty hard act to pull off.

Nasrallah provided a variety of fascinating pieces of information and images on alleged and confirmed Israeli spies in Lebanon, intercepted Israeli unmanned drone surveillance films of assorted sites in Lebanon, Israeli official and media statements accusing Hizbullah of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in early 2005, and other bits and pieces that he wove into a tapestry that aimed to make Israel the likely culprit in the killing.

Nasrallah was playing a difficult part in this drama that actually reflected his different roles, equivalent to an accused party, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer in a real murder trial case. He was trying to achieve four related aims: deflect attention from the widely expected accusation that Hizbullah or some of its members will be indicted for the murder by the UN-mandated Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL); provide evidence that would make Israel a credible suspect in the crime; question the legitimacy or fairness of the STL investigation during the past five years; and prod the Lebanese government to undertake its own analysis of the credibility of available evidence and witnesses related to the crime investigation.

Nasrallah’s evidence was intriguing, often captivating, but, as he himself said, inconclusive. That was not a critical flaw in itself, because his main role these days is that of defense lawyer for the accused. Had he wanted to prosecute Israel in the court of public opinion – the only court he has access to right now since he rejects the STL as politicized – he would have provided more compelling and convincing evidence. His tactic as chief defense lawyer, however, was primarily to sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of the court, to provide just enough evidence to makes the STL prosecutor and judges – and the Lebanese government and public opinion – wonder if there is “reasonable doubt” about the widespread murder accusations against Syria and the growing accusations against Hizbullah members.

The doctrine of finding an accused person “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt” is one of the great foundations of criminal justice in the Western world, and Nasrallah knows that this is the moral and legal basis on which the STL and any other such international court operates. He cannot prove Hizbullah’s innocence because he believes the STL was a hatchet job from the start that aimed to discredit Syria and Hizbullah, regardless of the quality of its evidence. He also cannot prove Israel’s guilt because he does not seem to have sufficient conclusive evidence, or he is not revealing it now.

So his best option seems to be the one he has chosen, to promote “reasonable doubt” in several spheres: Has the available evidence all been thoroughly assessed? Have all existing and potential witnesses been credibly screened? Have the full consequences of Israeli spies and previous commando operations and murders in Lebanon been thoroughly vetted for possible links to the Hariri murder, however farfetched that possibility may seem in the eyes of those Lebanese and world powers behind the STL and the UN investigation?

In the past five years, when the Lebanese government took decisions that Hizbullah disliked or found threatening, Hizbullah responded by occupying parts of the downtown area or militarily taking over selected symbolic buildings in West Beirut. Today, when Hizbullah feels threatened again, it responds (for now) with … a multimedia show on primetime television. It challenges and rejects the ongoing STL investigation but also offers evidence for the court to consider. Its suggestion that the Lebanese government launch an honest investigation into the issues and evidence it has put on the table is, like the evidence offered Monday night, intriguing but not fully convincing.

Serious crime investigators explore all possible leads, however dubious they may feel about some of them. Hizbullah’s evidence may be merely a diversionary or delaying tactic, or, it could hold some important credible leads. The Lebanese government, the STL and Hizbullah are involved in a life-and-death dual political and legal process. The credibility of the political dimension requires absolute professionalism and impartiality in the quest for justice sphere, which means that all “reasonable doubt“ issues must be addressed firmly and quickly. "

Neo-Cons Tryin to Run the Game

"...For generations, the Lebanese army has been among the world’s most timid. It went through the motions of fighting Israel briefly in 1948 and took no part in subsequent Arab-Israel wars. It has consistently been a non-factor, or rather non-actor, in Lebanon’s civil wars these past 35 years, bringing to mind the old quip about the Soviet satellite states: that they were so neutral they did not even intervene in their own internal affairs.
Why the sudden daring?
Because Hezbollah now largely controls Lebanon, and Iran owns Hezbollah, and both are feeling their oats. Initiating the skirmish with Israel was of a piece with the boast by Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff just three days earlier that Iran could build a nuclear bomb....., the Lebanese deliberately staged the incident to heat up the border in order to deflect the UN investigation of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which reportedly is leading directly to the doorsteps of the Syrian government and Hezbollah. .....
Democracies don’t ever go to war with one another, (ambitious: israel and lebanon are thus democracies')but they often have gotten into wars with dictatorial regimes, and often those wars have been provoked by the democracies’ natural tendency toward pacificism, which leads ambitious authoritarians to overreach. Thus, Germany counted on England’s aversion to war in 1914; Hitler dismissed the democracies as soft in the 1930s; Dean Acheson declared South Korea outside of America’s “defense perimeter”; and April Glaspie told Saddam Hussein that America does not intervene in intra-Arab conflicts. In the end, democracies do fight, as they did in those instances, but often they might not have needed to had they not tempted the aggressors by a display of weakness.
Obama’s softness toward Iran has emboldened Ahmadinejad; and his similar stance toward Syria had led to the collapse of Lebanese independence that had nearly been restored in 2005. In the end, the US is likely to fight, and Israel certainly will. The steady growth of the radicals’ self-assuredness, stoked by Obama’s appeasement, will end in a big blow-up."

Considering evidence shows that Israel is the primary suspect behind the assassinations, it would make sense that neo-cons in the USA are trying to divert US attention from Israeli actions and intents and into the dead end of a conspiracy that is being molded on a daily basis. Iran telling Lebanese to defend the tree that was being uprooted.....yeah.....and I had a conversation with Marvin Gaye last night......give me a break

"...Nasrallah appears to be offering the prime minister a way out of potential crisis,..."

OxfAn: excerpt:

"...Nasrallah suggested that if his evidence was not taken seriously, the next press conference would be more politically damaging to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and his allies, including naming politicians close to the younger Hariri whom he alleges have tampered with tribunal evidence. A Lebanese military prosecutor today charged Fayez Karam of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian political party allied with Hizbollah, with spying for Israel. Karam was formerly the head of a counter-terrorism and espionage unit in the army. A series of arrests of suspected spies in recent weeks had added to domestic tension and to Hizbollah's accusations. Nasrallah appears to be offering the prime minister a way out of potential crisis, if he and others agree to lay the blame for the assassination on Israel. If they do not, the likelihood of government collapse and the return to violence will increase unless a regional agreement can be reached which moderates Hizbollah's response..."

State Department Shmate Department

"... U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Tuesday that "Iran's activities compromise Lebanese sovereignty," after Iran offered to support Lebanon's army if the U.S. were to discontinue military aid..."

wowwwwwww. smart guy huh?

1 move to change history

Jeff Goldberg in the Atlantic:

"... When the Israelis begin to bomb the uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz, the formerly secret enrichment site at Qom, the nuclear-research center at Esfahan, and possibly even the Bushehr reactor, along with the other main sites of the Iranian nuclear program, a short while after they depart en masse from their bases across Israel—regardless of whether they succeed in destroying Iran’s centrifuges and warhead and missile plants, or whether they fail miserably to even make a dent in Iran’s nuclear program—they stand a good chance of changing the Middle East forever; of sparking lethal reprisals, and even a full-blown regional war that could lead to the deaths of thousands of Israelis and Iranians, and possibly Arabs and Americans as well; of creating a crisis for Barack Obama that will dwarf Afghanistan in significance and complexity; of rupturing relations between Jerusalem and Washington, which is Israel’s only meaningful ally; of inadvertently solidifying the somewhat tenuous rule of the mullahs in Tehran; of causing the price of oil to spike to cataclysmic highs, launching the world economy into a period of turbulence not experienced since the autumn of 2008, or possibly since the oil shock of 1973; of placing communities across the Jewish diaspora in mortal danger, by making them targets of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks, as they have been in the past, in a limited though already lethal way; and of accelerating Israel’s conversion from a once-admired refuge for a persecuted people into a leper among nations...."

Steve Clemons sums it up rather well:

"...I think based on the interviews he has shared with all parties that more rational heads will prevail in finding a way to contain or redirect Iran's course. Otherwise, as in a simple game theory exercise, both Israel and the US may end up in the box of very worst outcomes with none of their basic strategic objectives achieved." (similar to Lebanon August 06')

Israeli Censorship

" I am told that both Haaretz and Jerusalem Post ignored the section of the speech in which Nasrallah showed Hizbullah's interception of Israeli spy plane's video transmission. " - Angry Arab --- http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

WOWWWW. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART Israeli citizens are not allowed to see. WHAT a coincidence

Aug 9 2010

What was revealed in the Speech: July 9th August 2010, (8:30pm-11pm)

1) Israeli spy captured in the 90's confessed that he was ordered to control Rafic Hariri's driving routes throughout Beirut, by convincing him in the 1993-1994 period that 2 men from Hizballah would kill his sister so that the Prime Minister would be lured to to Saida for the funeral, where he would be whacked. (This caused the PM and his security men to believe that they could trust these info men - who were actually spies. Their routes were being controlled then told back to base.)

2) The US to Syria a few months before the adoption of UNSC 1559: "You can stay in Lebanon, do what you want, on one condition... you dismantle or weaken Hizballah and its arms capabilities"

3) Israel has a presence in Lebanon that spans from : "satellite imaging planes, live cameras on streets and popular areas, cell phone tapping, spies on the street, informers."

4) Spies listed; name, origin, year of work, information sent to Israel.

Spy 1 - Sent info of current president's house, rooms, cars parked outside and near. Also on the General's yacht.

(No questioning of the spies or the Israeli generals have taken place. Syrian generals have been questioned)

Spy 2 - Killed 3 Hizballah members. Helped transfer Israelis into Lebanon. Set up an Israeli made bomb, which was supposed to kill Nabih Berri (head of Amal movement). The spy did not know who the bomb was killed, his orders were simply "set it up" (the typical interaction from base to spy). Bomb was supposed to promote civil war considering blame was on Shi'a Hizballah for Harriri's death (a Sunni) , the new bomb would spell Sunni retaliation towards Shi'a leader.

Spy 3 - transported Israeli's to Lebanon, along with weapons and black suitcases. Taken to mountains, where they would be picked up and taken someplace else.

5) "Prior to 1997" - Hizballah intercepted UAV plane signals to Israel. "Hizballah could see what Israel was seeing with its planes. "

6) Before 2005, Israeli planes were video-taping three different and exact routes the Prime Minister would take. 1 was from Beirut to Faqra where he has a house.

Another was from Beirut to Saida, which passed Jiyeh rd (where the beaches are) focusing specifically on the route the PM would take, turn by turn. The planes did not appear to look at roads which the PM would not have taken, every turn the camera made was significant to the route that was to be taken.

Another video was of Beirut. In which many different planes, at different times, were videotaping the length of the 2 routes which the PM would usually take to get to his palace. One of the routes went through the coastal rd, the other went through bliss st, pass the American University and then connecting to the coastal road.

The planes slowly (with detail) zoomed in and out on all corners along these roads. (corners are when cars slow down) The planes put heavy focus on the St. Georges marina, the same area of the assassination. (the intersection 2 mins from the house was shwon) popular areas of Beirut are in the videos, Lebanese going about their daily lives, were being videotaped. The footage shows the focus of the planes was on the specific roads and conditions of the roads which the PM would take.

"Is this all a coincidence? asked Nasrallah"

7) Israeli spy was at the St.Georges (area of assassination) on the 13th. (A day before the incident)

8) "... February 13 AWACS over Saida ... Hours before the assassination, drone flew over Beirut along with a squadron of Israeli fighters ... AWACS over Beirut coupled with 'intensive jet fighters' activity'

"What about this evidence suggests coincidence?" Nasrallah asked.

This evidence should be looked at by the Special Tribunal currently accusing Hizballah members of being behind the assassination, and by the International community. This evidence needs to be looked at.

"Don't help the Lebanese Army, or else they'll do their JOB!"

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he had spoken to France and the United States about the Jewish state's worries.

He said : "We think it is a mistake to arm the Lebanese army with weapons, with advanced systems," (lol, advanced weapons = snipers and doodads- let us not even bring up the very advanced systems Israel has been given!)

Barak said in an interview with Israel Radio earlier this week. "Because these things are liable to be -- we used to describe the danger that these things would end up in Hezbollah hands, but before our eyes something more troubling is happening, and they are being used directly by the Lebanese army against us."

hmmmmm.....very troubling of course that Israel is fired upon when pulling a tree from Lebanese soil very troubling indeed. What Israel is saying, is that the Lebanese Army should not be helped, because (in case of war with Israel) American weapons would be used against Israel......

"What Israel wants, we'll give it to her, so that she doesn't cry" - is probably what Obama thinks.

She's a girl who gets her way, and if she doesn't, she'll bring the whole house down, or try at least.

A fisherman is not even safe

Saturday morning, the Lebanese army reported that an Israeli ship fired at a fisherman's boat and killed the poor man on the sea.

They are so trigger happy, they might even shoot a fish jumping out of water.

Nostalgia 77 ft. Alice Russell - Seven nation army grant phabao remix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csOrfhiwbBo

Is the Government waiting for the Sea to turn black?

Excellent Greenpeace-Lebanon designs. (our poor waters are being killed daily, overfishing, pollution, you name it we got it. The Phoenicians were men of the sea, today the sea remains a haven for those "brave" enough to face dirt and strong salt.

Publicis Graphics-Beirut Creative Director: Sami Saab

Does USA Support Lebanese Army doing their job? DO THEY!??

Israel wants the USA to stop funding ( USA LOANED Lebanese Army a number of sniper rifles) After the incident on the border lines, Israel asked the USA to take back those guns, and so they did.

Take a step back, what does this mean? USA who gave the weapons to the army, so that the army could take military control besides Hizballah (which is funny), are now being taken back because Israel complained that Lebanese army guys protecting their land are acts of aggression. So can the army do a damn thing?

If shooting warning shots, then reacting to Israelis shelling causing 1 ISRAELI casualty (with 4 lebanese casualties) is an act of aggression necessitating the taking back of loaned guns, then to someone who may not know much about US foreign policy, this is quite clear, who the USA chooses to keep happy, even if that means going against all ideals and realities of patriotism, sovereignty and self defense.

North American Jewry Education Initiatives after 2001

"Our challenge is to make our students’ connection to Israel come alive"

Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York - After the Sept 11 attacks.

We cannot watch from the sidelines and allow Israel to stand alone. We, as American Jews, must understand our responsibility to stand by Israel and actively demonstrate our support – support that is desperately needed now. The North American Jewish community is mobilizing at the national level as the United Jewish Communities (UJC) unveils the Israel NOW Solidarity Initiative - a comprehensive program of education, advocacy and financial assistance to give North American Jewry the tools and opportunities to express its unwavering unity with Israel

"After more than a year of terrorism, death and destruction in Israel, we Jews are especially shell shocked. The coordinate terrorist acts of at least four Terrorist organizations in Israel has resulted in the death and maiming of hundreds of young Israelis. Hundreds of families are ruined for life. The pain is so great, hearts are ready to explode. At the same time we learn of great acts of courage. We take our cues from the courageous Israelis, from Mr. Sharon, Israel’s Prime Minister, from President Bush and from Mr.. Guilliani, the New York Mayor, who all say that we cannot allow the murderers to win, life must go on."

As Jewish educators we need to put the events of September 11th in a specific Jewish framework; a Jewish perspective.

--- hundreds of Israelis?? Really?REALLLLLYYYY!!!!????? their lives are ruined? huh i see.... so the lives of palestinians are dandy...i see.

http://www.jewishfederations.org/local_includes/downloads/1403.pdf

Gaza - Power Outages 12-14 hours daily!!!

"By January 2008, operations were at 30% of capacity, causing outages up to eight hours daily — now 12 since January 2010 for lack of fuel and funds.

Gaza needs from 240-280 MW, almost half purchased through 10 high-voltage Israeli lines, 17 MW (6-7%) coming from Egypt to the Rafah area, and the rest (107 MW) supplied internally when GPP is fully operational, hampered by Gaza’s dependence on Israeli diesel, severely restricted under siege."

- AL Jazeera Blogs

Where the hell is the great international police.!!!!! In other news, most of the medicines that came from the flotillas from Turkey were unusable due to the fact that many of them were on the verge of expiring. (This makes you think, how long did the Israeli's keep the medicines in their hands until transferring them?"

Monday .... a day for the Middle East

"Nasrallah is to speak on Monday. Word is a lot will be laid out on the table, politicians will be exposed, and secrets uncovered. Monday will be a big day, for the whole world"

Stay tuned....

Warnings, Israel may Bomb Iran

http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2010/080310c.html

http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2010/07/31/the-real-aim-of-israels-bomb-iran-campaign/

Israel is trying to tell the world, that the question of "to bomb or not to bomb" is similar to them, as "life or death". They are trying to relate there current situation to that of 1948, to convince the world that the Iranian regime will inevitably attack Israel unless Israel takes the first step, delivers the first blow. (Such an act will hide anyones intents and will just equal (israel vs iran -- war time) which will inevitably cause Iran to react - which would be read by USA as evidence of "planned" warfare with Israel - not retaliation. Israel is, so it seems, in the process of trying to drag America into a war. Israel, "who's interests are supposedly the same as USA's", wants more American blood.....

Such a tactic would take the world eye off gaza and lebanon, allowing Israel to engage. While forcefully dragging in the USA to support it. This will cause an increase in troops in the area, more american deaths for what!!! for ISRAEL!!! Hopefully in such a case the American citizens will be wise enough to revolt. All eyes on Israel. If it chooses to make such moves, it will hurt itself drastically.

Castro Warns of USA "secrets"

He accused the US of planning to attack Iran and North Korea and appealed to President Barack Obama to prevent such a conflict happening.

(REcently Iranian president has asked Obama to speak with him man to man)

Meanwhile ... Israel and some other Gulf nations in the middle east are urging USA daily!!! to bomb the hell out of Iran. The focus is not to disable the nuclear enrichment (something everyone should have) but to topple the regime. THe Israeli's and Americans are simply interested in taking Ahmadinejad out.

"Republicans in the US House of Representatives have introduced a measure that would green-light a possible Israeli bombing campaign against Iran.

Resolution 1553 provides explicit support for military strikes against Iran, stating that Congress backs Israel's use of 'all means necessary' against Iran, "including the use of military force,"

ALL THIS TO MAKE SURE NOT TO PROTECT...BUT TO MAKE SURE THAT ISRAEL IS THE STRONGEST IN THE REGION. It is like keeping all the blacks in a majority black neighborhood oppressed and weak so that the small KKK group can thrive and survive illegally.

Mad Lion - Take it easy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1lOyTFsJs

Ethnic Cleansing in the NEgev

(A man's history, his land, his home HIS FUCKING CASTLE, destroyed for what? He doesn't know. Reports say: a Jewish National Forest......)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IetPRdD2F2A&feature=related

A little background : http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2007/06/07/ethnic-cleansing-of-bedouin-in-israel/

Wikipedia on the Negev Bedouins: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negev_Bedouin

Israelis leave about 250 people homeless, foodless, hopeless. They watch as their homes get destroyed for reasons they do not know. They are ALL ISRAELI CITIZENS, considering the NEGEv is in ISrael. THe Israeli's say that their existence on the land has been illegal for some time now. So whats the reason for such sudden movement on their behalf? --- "A Jewish National forest" a park sort of thing is more important than those who live their. Some of whom's homes date back to the 1920's. Ethnic cleansing pure and simple.

MUST READ : International Crisis Group files on Israel and the Axis of Resistance

http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Lebanon/97%20Drums%20of%20War%20-%20Israel%20and%20the%20Axis%20of%20Resistance.ashx

Palestinian Boy Begs for the Release of his Father

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcC1sXsu6Sw

4 dead today

4 lebanese men have been killed (3 Lebanese soldiers killed, 4 injured, 1 journalist killed, 3 civilians injured) on Lebanese soil, during clashes between Army + IDF. Why does it always seem like Israel is poking at the lion, constantly?? maybe cuz its the fact.

U.N urging Israel + Lebanon to "restrain"

Nasrallah will speak tonight. we will listen

The Blog that keeps up with the Special Tribunal of Lebanon

http://cldh-tribunal-liban.blogspot.com/

WIKI on the TRibunal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Tribunal_for_Lebanon

Patterns

In 2006, after Syrian forces left Lebanon and Israel realized it was its best opportunity to strike Hizballah and Dahieh, it realized that the lack of Syrian presence had nothing to do with Hizballah's capability. As I speculate the Israeli assasination of Rafik Harriri, it makes you think why the war drums would be sounding. Well considering the Israeli's understand that the current president of Lebanon is a relatively powerless, and quite moderate (not ballsy) man, it seems the president category for war is golden. Considering the Special Tribunal of Lebanon whioch is aiming to find out if Hizballah had "rogue elements" which caused the assasination, Lebanon experienced some internal confusion, which is just what IDF wants. However, Hassan Nasrallah quickly put down any opinion of possible rogue elements in Hizballah by making it clear that the accusation of Hizballah by the international and national community is something that is anticipated in Israel and the United States, it is all appart of the organized pattern. He asked the people of Lebanon; "Has anyone blamed Israel of USA of the assasination? ANYONE??"

Israel - realizing that the prospects for internal disputes between Hizballah supporters and Harriri supporters are decreasing daily, it is finding it increasingly difficult to hold back its trigger finger. While it waits, Hizballah has only gotten stronger and its support has sored, along with its national presence and imagery. If Israel wants to play a game of typical patterns, then it will soon attack, as hard as it can on Hizballah "positions" (even though it has not even a clue the extent of the militia's positions) and it will attack in Civilian territories like Dahieh and the Bekaa (to hit the farming industry and starve the people).

If Israel plays the game, than it would aim at bringing in the USA into the fight, to promote the entry of Iran, so that the world eye is occupied on the bigger picture (USA IRan, or USA SYRIA) while the Israelis can take advantage of the cloak and slaughter as many people from Gaza and Lebanon and possible.

PATTERNS WILL TURN AGAINST THOSE WHO USE THEM

The War Drums

International Crisis Group (ICG) says a new war between Lebanon and Israel would be more devastating to both sides, more casualties and more destruction. The conflict would likely bring other nations into the war. Considering Israel has not yet accepted the fact that Hizballah does not stand on its own two feet, but is held up by true Lebanese who beleive in resistance and in justice. To Israel, anyone who opposes them is a terrorist. Israel would be making a very very big mistake if it chose to attack Lebanese soil. a very very big one.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=117779#axzz0vu6d95nr