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TechnoratiFor Palestinians, Obama's Message is Crystal Clear
Americans may decry what we can finally dub as the 'Bush legacy', for it brought economic ruin, but also pushed the country into avoidable, if not completely preventable wars, disgracing the collective history of a nation that for long imposed its sense of moral authority on the world.
But the new president is set to change all of that. True, Barack Obama is duly warning of hyped expectations, but, frankly, he can only blame himself for the eagerness and hope, realistic or otherwise, that has engulfed the nation, even the world over. During his presidential campaign he made many promises, the gist of which is that an Obama administration would be everything that the Bush administration was not. That was enough for 'Obamaniacs' to sing and dance the world over.
One cannot expect that Obama has a magic solution for everyone's problems, everywhere. In fact one must be realistic and simply ask Obama to remedy the problems and conflicts that were introduced or provoked, financed and sustained by his own country.
Regarding the Middle East, Obama seems to have hit the ground running, or so we are told. Shortly after his inauguration, he appointed former Senator George Mitchell as special envoy to the region. Mitchell "will bring a wealth of experience and credibility to the job," said CNN.
Once again, Obama is clearly attempting to delineate an early policy that differs from Bush's. The latter was affiliated with the infamous Guantanamo Bay, the 'gulag of our times' - according to Amnesty International - thus Obama ordered it closed, a year from now that is. Bush was blamed for his late arrival to the Middle East peace process scene, thus Obama makes it clear that the peace process is a priority for his administration.
But the question is how different will Obama truly be when his administration is done carrying out a few symbolic gestures to appease the ever-eager public?
Naturally a new administration, promising a new era, requires a new language. Although inundated with lofty terminology, the outlines of Obama's new administration seem, in some instances, a mirror image of Bush.
These are remarks made by Obama (not Bush), on January 22, and seen as the first major statement by his administration regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel's security. And we will always support Israel's right to defend itself against legitimate threats. ..Hamas must meet clear conditions: recognize Israel's right to exist; renounce violence; and abide by past agreements. Going forward, the outline for a durable cease-fire is clear: Hamas must end its rocket fire; Israel will complete the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza; the United States and our partners will support a credible anti-smuggling and interdiction regime, so that Hamas cannot rearm."
Funny how Obama started his statement with "let me be clear." He cannot possibly be any clearer as he spent endless hours for many months assuring Israel and its supporters, while condemning Palestinians without any reservation or remorse.
Those who counted on Obama to bring a just peace to the Middle East must've had their hearts broken watching the man charging against Hamas' terror, as thousands of Gazans were killed and wounded, including 430 children in the matter of three weeks as a result of Israel's barbarous attacks, using mostly American weapons (and full, unqualified US backing.)
And yet, Obama found it fitting to explain that his administration's foreign policy is not only "critical in terms of projecting ... America's power, but also America's values and America's ideals." Of course, it was Palestinian trust in those ideals that led them in droves to the polls in January 2006, and subsequently to their starvation and carnage in Gaza. It is no wonder that Palestinians are unimpressed.
Aside from Obama's unparalleled clarity, thus far, on his utter and "unconditional" commitment to Israel, he, along with his officials, continue to borrow similar vague slogans that were used enthusiastically by the Bush administrations: national security, national interests, spreading of American ideals, values, and all the rest.
Commenting on such sloganeering, Howard Zinn, one of America's most celebrated historians, said, 'We have to think about these words and phrases that are thrown at us without giving us a time to think. And .. we have to redefine these words, like "national security." What is national security? .. having military bases all over the world (or).. having healthcare, having jobs."
Americans will have four years to determine how Obama and his administration define these tired slogans, ones that also include democracy and "terrorism" (is the latter an exclusively Arab tendency, never an Israeli, no matter how many the latter kills?)
Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza hardly have the leverage of time as tens of thousands remain homeless and destitute. More, they have little hope and expectations on Obama or even Mitchell, despite his "wealth of experience and credibility."
"Obama won't bring my husband back to life," Leila Khalil, a Gazan woman, whose husband was killed during Israel's bloody offensive, told AFP. "He was martyred and left me with six children to feed on my own."
Obama's also made himself "clear" regarding the fate of Leila's husband, and thousands like him: "For years, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at innocent Israeli citizens. No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people, nor should the international community, and neither should the Palestinian people themselves, whose interests are only set back by acts of terror."
Luckily, Leila no longer has a TV set to listen to Obama's remarks. It was, along with her home pulverized by Israeli missiles, courtesy of the United States. For Gazans, and most Palestinians, things cannot be any clearer.
229 Comments so far
Show AllDCBeltway, Hello. Opinion? What do you project re Natanz? The U.S., Israel-both? Others drawn in?
Do you think a false-flag attack will begin Act One of this new play?
Any likelihood of a SS-N-22 and an American Carrier shaking hands?
******
Cat's out of the bag DC, after your post re ARAMCO & the coup, one 'informed comment'....I'll query you about Iran if I may, a country I have a lot of feelings for.
ThankYou, azjoe.
I don't want to see Iran attacked. I believe it will destabilize everything from Lebanon to India should Iran be attacked and I doubt Russia will stand by and do nothing this time given all its investments in Iran.
This concerns me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cznZs-swR9k
Is it possible, do you think, that Obama is carefully transforming his language to encourage an atmosphere of compassion and ethical deliberation? And this is torturously slow on this issue? He has been doing it domestically...
Does anyone know who he is really listening to? Can he still be entirely cut off from reality? George Mitchell's work on "October Surprise" conspiracy indicates he is of highest integrity. We must all work reverently to evolve a "clear" universal language of ethical mutualism. That is my best crack at defining an equitable diplomacy without hypocrisy. I hope someone out there understands, agrees and knows better than I how to actualise this ideal.
Ethical Mutalism -------- I like it ------- Excellent!
"Does anyone know who he is really listening to? Can he still be entirely cut off from reality?"
I hold out hope that Obama has stiff moral fiber and can bend...but not too far. If he knows who he is and what he wants to do, and can stay true to himself amidst the massive pressure that he is already getting from the "experts", then he and we may be fine.
The frightening thing is that he has already surrounded himself with people who have gotten us into other messes.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
I don't quite get your point. Too subtle for me, but I get what the now VP said:
March 28, 2007, “I am a Zionist,” stated Senator Biden. “You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist.”
And you think they don't run your country?
Most Americans favor the Israeli side over the Palestinian side. Only Arabs find this shocking. To everyone else, the preference and the reasons for it, are obvious.
"When were the good and brave ever in the majority?" Thoreau
Never - if they don't get the facts.
Joe
Sucks to live in a democracy then doesn't it....
First of all Biden has a habit of saying the stupidest things.
Also, his meaning was that he believed in the state of Israel. He supports the state but that doesn't mean he gets his marching orders from Tel Aviv.
So do you!
Oh so you really do believe that Biden is a Manchurian Candidate?
Besides your own wild conspiracy theory rantings i can't find much evidence to back you up...sorry.
Comments anyone?
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5783
"Though U.S. news coverage isn't as wholly sympathetic to Israel as it once was, the Israelis still managed to make their version of the story central to mainstream media coverage. Millions of Americans who know nothing else about the still ongoing conflict believe that the Israelis are "retaliating against Hamas rockets." What if those millions also knew the Israeli government ignores its own intelligence experts when they say Palestinian leaders are willing to make peace?"
The Israelis are masters at propaganda - par excellence! That they manage to have drones in all sectors of American society, including here, is a testament to their magnificent ability to inject supporters into every corner. Sounds very similar to what those evil Islamists are doing, eh?
Israel does not want peace - it never has. It wants land, and it wants Jews to settle the land it expropriates. It has made no bones of this and it is common knowledge...among those who have knowledge.
History will not treat Israel, nor its supporters, kindly. Unfortunately for them, history is right around the corner.
"All Nature's difference keeps all Nature's peace." Alexander Pope
When Ramzy Baroud weighs the options:1) a Jewish-dominated multi-party bourgeois democracy, where minority rights and workers are protected, to 2)an Arab-dominated military dictatorship, with arbitraty arrest, ethnic cleansing, and where the poorly-connected live in perpetual fear and exploitation, he finds the Arab-dominated arrangement to be preferable.
The point: because Arabists use words like "Progressive" or "human rights" it doesn't mean that those are decisive values for them.
Gosh Judy Levy, but Ramzy Baroud ACTUALLY said this,
"It is always difficult to Fathom Israel's giddiness and sense of triumph as defenseless civilians are pulverized"
Ramzi Baroud. 01/10/09 printed in the Palestine Think Tank.
Therefore your twisted premise starts and ends factually incorrectly. Ramzy Baroud might not be a good source for you Judy Levy, he is on the side of right.
I Thank you for bring his name up.
azjoe.
bligh4
I cannot conceive of one single reason why Israel would want Gaza. Trying to seal off the area to weapons is like trying to catch rain in a seive. Israel should open the airspace, open the port, open the border with Egypt, and do everything that Hamas says it wants.
Of course, the rockets will start again- and this time the Israelis need to seal the border and turn over the problem to the Arab countries.
don't forget the offshore natural gas the zionists are also trying to steal
cheers, b
Listen to my new radio show: Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox where we tackle important issues like this one:
www.CindySheehansSoapbox.com
Peace
Cindy
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to every one striking at the root" HD Thoreau
"..the 'Bush legacy'.. also pushed the country into avoidable, if not completely preventable wars"
I'll skip the bit about moral authority as it is qualified as "US moral authority" and thus subject to whatever is expedient for the time but I am curious to know just what of Bush's avoidable wars were not preventable. Lebanon maybe? Can anyone speculate?
I just read all the comments posted, Steelgray has all the propaganda memorized, but even gray knows the Israelis are the aggressors here.
I think if the UN can vote a nation into existence then it could just as well vote to disband the same state, and that time has arrived.
The Israelis have no love for the land, they've paved over the delicate desert ecosystem, pollute & waste water, all the damage done by their cars,and jew only superhighways, building "tolerance" museum on Muslim cemetaries, not to mention the wasteland they've created by their american taxpayer funded weapons of mass destruction.
Ripped out centuries-old olive groves, fruit trees and destroying agricultural land to deprive Palestinians, who love and care for the land, proves to me that they are the rightful owners.
Polluted the Mediterranean in 2006 aggression against Lebanon, caused huge oil spill, dropped thousands of cluster bombs while knowing a truce would be in effect the next day, still refuse to give the coordinates for the many land mines they planted.
It reminds me of the biblical story where two mothers claim the same baby and King Solomon says he will divide the infant in 1/2. The mother who would rather let her child live,rather than seeing it die was judged to be the true mother.
Contrary to zionist propaganda the Israelis did not make the desert bloom, it was the Palestinians. Who needs another strip mall country? "Give me liberty or at least two shoes to hurl"-Kate Bates
Of course I've admitted that Israel has committed crimes but don't try to imply that i hold them completely responsible. Hamas and the IDF share the blame for this situation.
I suppose the Security Council could in fact 'revoke' a nations nationhood. But do you really think that the Council would?
Neither France, Britain, Russia, China or the US would go along with such a proposal.
What propaganda? Check your history, the land of Palestine was considered a waste land until the Jews arrived. The land Israel was granted by the UN was 3/4 desert...you wouldn't know it today. Yes, they build strip malls and apparently you don't like them but it doesn't really matter what your opinion is.
In Dubai they built a ski slope. Arabs are just as talented in making the desert bloom or in this case snow. Hell they now have build the world islands and the palm island in the Arabian Gulf. If the Israelis want more land why don't they build islands like they do in Dubai?
So what is your point SteelGray?
Are you paying attention?
We aren't talking about Dubai we're talking about Palestine.
The accomplishments in Dubai are substantial indeed but i don't see how it in anyway relates to the lack of accomplishments in Palestine.
Nice try steelgray you were attempting to argue that only the Israelis can make the desert bloom and I proved to you that anyone can including the Arabs. Who knows what the Palestinians could accomplish if they weren't locked up into modern day bantutustans.
You aren't very good at reading are you?
I never said Arabs couldn't make a desert bloom. I would never attempt to label an entire ethnic group.
You on the other hand did say such about the Israeli's:
"Contrary to zionist propaganda the Israelis did not make the desert bloom, it was the Palestinians."
I pointed out is that Palestine was in fact undeveloped before the arrival of Jews. The Roman aqueduct system had fallen into disrepair for instance. The amount of arable land was shrinking every season.
I'm not making any argument for what happened to Palestine but I will correct you mistake.
Now you can try again...
What insult?
It's a legitimate question to ask if DC had bothered to read the entire thread. Had he/she it would have been obvious the conversation was centered on the Palestinians and not Arabs as a whole.
Speaking of insults, why do you feel the need to be condescending in all your post?
Are you completely devoid of manners?
Do you think you might be able to have a civilized conversation?
Tell me what position you hold and the school you work at and I'll give you my mothers email address...
I'm sorry for going offtopic, rubyinthedust, but i always appreciate your screename when i see it. So, again, i must say:
"Hello ruby in the dust, has your band begun to rust?"
peace.
Gaining Public Support On Justice For The Palestinians
"How?"
"We point out that our government's support for Israel puts us all at risk."
"Based on?
"The threats to us that the perpetrators of 9/11 are making."
"Why would the public's response to these threats be to switch its support from Israel to Palestine?"
"Self-interest."
doesn't that make terrorism an effectual tactic? And how would vindicating terrorism as an effect tactic reduce terrorism?
AldoinSF
ok, lets say the iranian provide arms to Hamas, would that be outrageous?
Now lets say the american suply the Israeli with arms, would that be outrageous?
I think that because the american give billions in arms to Israel make them somehow the perpretor of the conflict. They should donate diplomatic grant to Israel instead of amrs.
People who wish to bitch about Hamas and Palestinian home-made rockets fired into Israel should carefully consider what the British Jewish veteran Labour Party MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman, in the following has to say.
"Jewish UK MP Telling the truth about the Zionist state and denounces their war crimes by calling them fools" (5:50),
posted by eshiboi, Jan 16 2009
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=i7lx5ZsUQYE
"dwg January 29th, 2009 6:26 pm
On Lebanon 2006: "Several IDF soldiers who were inside Israel territory were killed and another kidnapped"
That "fact" was and is disputed. A large number of respectable media outlets (AFP, Reuters, Associated Press) reported that the soldiers were killed/captured in LEBANON, not inside Israel."
HAARETZ, and possibly another Israeli news media agency, or two, also had reported and before the end of July 2006, if recalling the dating correctly, that the Hizbollah strike on the Israeli military unit occurred on the Lebanese side of the border, which'd mean that that unit was invading and therefore acting in terms of aggression.
I also read that that the area of the strike against the unit was in [disputed] territory, officially undefined in terms of which of the two countries the area belongs to. But already by the end of July 2006, enough news media agencies reported that it was on the Lebanese side of the border and therefore in Lebanon.
dwg:
"I think you'll find that holding prisoners incommunicado is also a trick both sides are guilty of.... and Israel is holding some that are children."
NOT only that, but when Palestinian and Lebanese forces, even if they're not govt forces, capture and hold Israeli soldiers as prisoners, this is often enough because of wanting to use them to try to negotiate prisoner exchanges, and Israel despotically holds around 10,000 Palestinians, unless some of this number ae Lebanese, in which case most nevertheless are Palestinians. Israel holds them without any just process of law and in awful prison conditions, while many of the (whatever the rigt term is) abducted, and this inside of Palestine and, I suppose, Lebanon, are innocent.
10,000, or more, and you don't even need a whole set of fingers on one hand to count the number of Israelis held by Palestinians and Lebanese combined; while Israel always is the aggressor.
Also, while Kofi Anan was still UNSG he said that it was legitimate for Hizbollah to capture the Israeli soldiers in July 2006 and for the purpose of prisoner exchanges. He was right.
Prisoners in Israel are allowed to see Red Cross representatives, as required by international law. Arab prisoners in Israel receive food, medical treatment, and the opportunity to take university classes on-site. Israeli prisoners in Arab countries are killed and/or mutilated. This is not an area, where the Arab side can stand any comparison.
Judy, i don't know who you are, but this is so far out of reality that i am wondering if you are for real. Seriously.
And in Guantanamo they have facials and gourmet cuisine. Perhaps you are just profoundly naive?
Namaste
Gosh-Palestinian prisoners, the Thousands held without charges Indefinitely can take college classes! Neat!
How about the Children at Khiam? Heard of Khiam Levy? It became notorious. A hole in 'israel' SPECIALIZING IN TORTURING ARAB CHILDREN. By Israeli Jews.
One of the more gentle methods was the Jews defecating into sacks and tying them over the prisoners heads. But then the Tools would come out, the sleeves would be rolled up, and the real WORK would begin.
Because, Arbeit macht frei, right Judy?
In all Muslim-Arab countries, without exception, when a family member is arrested, the rest of the family goes to see the tribal head, to beg him to see that their loved one is returned in pieces that are large enough to bury.
I can't tell, if you think that Guantanamo is in Israel or in an Arab country.
Lets get history straight. Gaza wasn't/isn't being 'punished' for voting for Hamas. That's throwing away years of events between Hamas being elected and the present situation.
Also, Hamas has as much admitted to starting the last war. It has released an internal report holding certain commanders responsible for provoking Israel when Hamas was not prepared for a fight. Read it and weep.
Nice try. Israel had been planning their attack for a year. Whatever precipitated the actual invasion -and there is plausible evidence that Israel entered Gaza and killed several Palestinians to start the ball rolling - regardless of who started it, the actual finger pointing is irrelevant because it was planned to happen sooner or later.
But to take your point further; just how could Hamas ever prepare for that fight as you put it? Basically they have just home made unguided short range rockets and AK-47's. No guided missiles, bombs or even an airforce, no navy, no tanks or heavy weapons, no hi-tech DIME explosives or white phosphorus shells, no nukes and no USA to replenish your stockpile with handfuls of cash. As for Gaza itself, it is a ghetto, a sealed prison with no exit but full of civilians. Just like shooting fish in a barrel.
Just to clarify things, I neither like Hamas nor Israel right now, but the majority of Palestinians that I have met in the past I have liked a lot. From the torrent of Israeli propaganda and collaborative North American MSM and despite my highly active cynic filter even I would probably have a vague fear and distrust of Palestinians had I, like the majority of North Americans, not met any in a meaningful way. To add balance I have also like the majority of Israelis I have met while travelling.
Here in Canada the law allows a person to defend him or herself but only to the extent that they are threatened. You may not legally shoot someone who bumps into you even if they did it deliberately nor may you shoot an unarmed burglar trying to flee your house. There is nuance then to prevent escalation of violence. Perhaps Israel could give nuance a try rather than over-the-top revenge?
Oh and Israel, along the border try a few of those missile shredding gatling guns that naval ships carry for starters. That is if you have any interest in peace -which I seriously doubt.
Nations plan for all sorts of military situations.
The US military regularly up dates it's plans to go to war with Canada. Part of the purpose of a military is to plan for any imaginable scenario.
The Aegis Missile Defense system is being adapeted for border defense as we speak. Israel has said the system will be operational in a few years. It takes a bit of time to transform a defense system that is designed to offer an umbrella around a ship to protect missiles of border.
It takes time to adapt. Nonsense. I have been hearing about these Israeli defensive systems coming soon for years and years. There is little or no technical difference between mounting on a ship or on hard ground - in fact it is easier since you don't need to compensate for ship movement. That aside there are land based systems in operation, mounted on tanks and all over the place. There were radar directed guns in WWII over 60 years ago, for goodness sake.
The reason they are not in place is Israel's desire to keep conflict going for which it needs to be seen as the poor victim. Thus the need to keep a steady flow of pre-WWII technology, militarily insignificant, homemade rockets incoming. The fear they create is necessary; the better to manipulate opinion domestically and worldwide.
Its a matter of adapting to the time frame. The missiles fired from Gaza have a short flight time. To detect, target, and intercept takes time.
Also adapting a ship based defense system to the ground is difficult.
For one, the entire ship is wired into the Aegis System.
Also, when a missile is fired from a aircraft it is fired from a distance and at a straight angle. When a missile is fired from the ground in Gaza it is fired from a short distance and at a sloped angle.
These facts make the Aegis System as it is today ill equipped to defend.
One thing you can't deny is the commitment Israel has to protect it's citizens. The missile shield will be operational as soon as technology permits.
My friend, the fact that there was a plan on the shelf is not that remarkable. Hamas had a plan too. Iran is embarrassed b/c their Revolutionary Guards are the one's that drew it up. ALL militaries have a ready plan in case things get hot. That's just common sense.
Since you claim to be privy to all manner of "plans" perhaps you might offer references and link to this information. Yes, there are contingency plans everywhere, but these are passive plans; Israel's plans were active and likely timed for election politics in Israel and the political situation in the retiring Bush government. Note the amazing coincidence of a ceasefire as Obama took office, even as home made rockets continued to fall in Israel.
What is the matter with you European people WHY did you all think God gave you the right to run around the world stealing and abusing none Europeans all around the world at will.
Whatever catches your fancy you just go and take it and justify it and the victim is always blamed .
When did a none European country go into Europe attack and abused its Citizens ?
It is always the other way around !!!!
Europeans must get out of Palestine and leave those poor people alone in their homeland
When I went to school their was no State of Israel on the map. The area was marked in red and it was called Palestine and it people were known as Palestinians (Simple)
No peoples were spared from you tyrannical plunder from China an Japan in the east Australia New Zealand mass extermination of the Tasmanian peoples, Asia minor The Entire African Continent, destruction of all of the Indigenous Cultures of the Americas including total extinction of the Caribbean peoples and that is but a sample of the nations you plundered
Now here you are again doing it in Palestine and again Justifying it .ENOUGH !! What type of humans are you!!!!!
I'd bet that there are more Muslims living in Europe, than there are Europeans, living in Arab-Islamic countries. Not much point in drawing a boundary, if Muslims aren't going to stay on their side of it.
Plenty of Europeans living in Arab nations but since you haven't been to any and wouldn't be welcome with your attitude you wouldn't know that would you Judy.
Europe was menaced and invaded by Muhammadens many times.
Its Muslims you Islamophobic biggot and we all know about the crusades, the inquisition in Spain which kicked out Muslims and Jews and lets not forget Iraq I and II in recent history.
Cuniverse not all Europeans are bad. The Irish and Scottish were victims of colonization, famine, etc. also.
What were Muslims doing in Spain in the first place? Or in southern Italy? Or in the Greece and the Balkans? Hmmm? Ottoman ships would abduct Irish in their own country and take them back to dar al-islam to be slaves. Know that? You mention the crusades. If wanna take this further, I am sure you'd be surprised to know that Muslims invaded Christian lands many, MANY times more than Christians ever invaded Muslim ones.
With a Lebanese Marrionite Christian(George Mitchell) as the U.S. negotiator I see the annilation of the Palestinians in Gaza and the Zionist officer's wish to play on the beach in Gaza happening within 1-2 years.
As this is being discussed Palestinains have been cleansed by killing or being forced out of an area of the Jordan Valley much larger than Gaza.
George Mitchell is NOT a "Lebanese Marrinote Christian" (sic). His MOTHER was Lebanese ARAB Marionite Christian. His father was Irish.
Mitchell himself is an American and he has proven his ability by negotiating peace in Northern Ireland - the very country his FATHER hailed from.
His track record is exemplary and if I have hope for any reason at all it is because of his recent appointment.
I was less encouraged by the appointment Rahm Emmanuel and Hillary Clinton - two the staunchest and vocal Israel supporters in Washington. They are clearly biased.
Still, my position is that the U.S.'s only role is its leverage with ISRAEL and bringing them to the table - not as a mediator between the two factions. Mediator is someone else's job. Perhaps someone from the EU can be found and play a more neutral role.
i think they will announce dennis ross as the envoy to iran this friday night. normally a slow news night. if and when this does happen, it should make it clear to everyone that obama is in israels pocket. same o same oil
Bias? What Bias?
Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PALESTINEChronicle.com. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His latest book is The Second PALESTINIAN Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
I guess CD's readership doesn't need to hear Israel's side...
CD readers can go to thousands of places in the Corporate Media for Israel's side of the story.
No. CD doesn't need to hear Israel's side any-frakkin'-more. We hear enough of Israel's side from the United States of Israel's "liberal" media, which is, let's see, pretty much ALL of the cable and general news programs, a slew of Israeli apologist bloggers and journalists, Faux News Network, and a couple million rabid and Hypocritic Anti-Anything-Muslim houndogs--most of them conservative whites of Zionist-Jew ancestry.
Godforbid someone should be biased AGAINST Israel when most of what we hear on our idiot Boxes is pandering to the perpetually victimized Children of Israel. Pshaw.
When oh when will the Zionist pundits STFU and stop trying to justify occupation and murder, A.K.A Shadows of Nazi Germany?
So much for learning from history.
- Insurgent
Speaking of hearing Israel's side on all of the news media, and I'll add, for more than 50 years, here is what happens when someone tries to give a more even-handed report on what's going on over there:
(This is taken from an appeal for support from J-Street, a Jewish Peace group)
"This past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a powerful and thoughtful report on the danger that Israeli settlements pose to the chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace. If you haven't watched the segment, it is must-see journalism. (I left out the links because I have read CD doesn't allow them, but jstreet and the same dot org as CD will get you there.)
All week long, 60 Minutes' Bob Simon has been under attack for supposed "anti-Israel bias." CAMERA (the Orwellian-named Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) alerted their activist network - flooding the 60 Minutes' offices and their advertisers with angry phone calls charging media bias. [1] Jewish community leader Abe Foxman fired off a letter calling the piece a "hatchet job on Israel." [2]
Journalists - as well as rabbis, professors and elected officials - know that if they raise questions about what Israel does - they'll often get attacked as anti-Israel. It's one way the forces of the status quo constrain debate and discussion on what's really best for Israel and the United States.
It's time for a reporter like Bob Simon to know that those of us with balanced views value balanced reporting - and we know how to write letters too! If he's getting an earful from CAMERA and others, then the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement should be showing him support."
I hope that you will help out. I wonder why CD doesn't have something on this or did I overlook their article?
I finally see the value of the Third Amendment, against taking over houses for billeting soldiers.
This is a summary / adaptation of an email I got from Peace Action in Silver Spring MD:
Supporters of Israel's policy in Gaza have been jamming the CBS lines, accusing Bob Simon of bias for showing last week's piece about Gaza. Please take a moment to watch the segment, and call or write to CBS to thank them. The content of this piece touches on issues rarely raised in the US mainstream media
Watch it on-line at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/23/60minutes/main4749723.shtml
or: http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=12516621
Send a call or letter of Support to 60 MINUTES
PHONE: (212) 975-3247
EMAIL: 60m@cbsnews.com
Joe
well said
it is refreshing to read some honest writing on the situation
consider these two points, if you will
1. the zionists threaten to nuke the entire world if they don't get their way in palestine - it's called the samson option - read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Samson_Option_(book)
shows how insane the zionists are
2. here is a link that i hope everyone checks out - best seller in israel this past year - written by jew - stating that
1. the jews were never dispersed from palestine - ever
2. the jews were an amalgum of many peoples from around the globe
3. best of all - the palestinians were/are the true inhabitants of what is now israel and they are the true jewish nation - how ironic is that
check it out:
http://www.alternet.org/audits/122810/controversial_bestseller_shakes_th...
the bullshit story of the jews that we have been fed is a creation of the zionists that dates back to the 1800's
so, we see, it is a powerful thing to control the media - you can create alternate realities
throw in the fact that the world is totally indebted to the rothschild banking cartel/war industry and we begin to see how dangerous the fuckers truly are
as eustice mullins calls them: a parasitic people
makes me bitter to hear netanyahu - world terrorist - denounce the oppressed people of palestine as terrorists
israel is not a democracy - that is utter bullshit
cheers, b
Unless the Palestinians can come up with as much money as AIPAC to hynotize to the traitors in Washington, what else to expect?
The American plan to takeover the whole of the M.E. because of its oil and gas is as clear as the nose on your face.
That's why America supports and arms Israel. That's why Obama has made it clear that Israel's interests will be preserved no matter what they do.
It is in America's interest, economic and military, that Greater Israel grow and expand, and that no other Arab country be allowed to have nuclear arms.
America is the problem. It seeks to control the world. Can't you see that?
It must be stopped.
www.dangerouscreation.com
In 1920 or so, Britain and America set up a system which allows us to buy as much oil as we need from the Middle East. We don't need to own the place.
You're going to be lot less happy, producing oil on Iranian or Chinese terms.
Right Judy, that is why when democratically elected Mossadeq nationalized Aramco (the ArabAMERICANOilCompany) and audaciously proposed selling Iranian oil to the West and using the monies for Iranians the CIA overthrew him.
And kept him propped up with the SAVAK, the torture-killers who suppressed all dissidence in Iran for about a quarter century and were trained at Fort Benning Ga.
You are right Judy! America has a long history of "setting up systems," allowing us to "buy as much" raw materials as we require overseas-as opposed to stealing them-and oil from the ME certainly tops that list.
azjoe.
Muslims have a habit of "nationalizing" assets that have been built by other people. Mossadeq was the head of just-another faction on the make.
Levy! The hit and run poster. I've elucidated some specific, factual responses to your racist tripe, and what? You disappear! (Thank God)
Your anti-Arab bigotry smells like rotting pork. Defend baby-killing Levy. So what? The world pukes on your racism. The entire world. Israel-the most Hated country on Earth. Why? 60 years of murder, lies, ethnic cleansing and genocide by government.
The ovens sang at Dachau, now Israeli Jews in Stadiums sing . Crowds. Singing about dead Palestinians babies, celebrating. How long till midnite rallies with torches?
Stop the Pogroms. Stop Israel. No more 2 year old's trading first steps and first words for their mother's body parts. azjoe.
The only productive assets, capable of earning foreign exchange, in the Arab zone are 1)the British built-oil industry, 2)the British-French built Suez Canal, and 3)the British-built tourist industry.
The Arab political order, which is comprised of weak central states and competing clans, fosters a situation in which clans fight one another in order to control national assets. Not unique to Arabs---think of Scotland during the reign of the Tudors.
In Persian-majority Iran, it was going to be Mossadeq, head chimp of Clan A, or it was going to be Reva Pahlavi, head chimp of Clan B. That is all.
ARAMCO was an American Company in Saudi Arabia. Iranians are not Arabs. Mossadeq nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company not ARAMCO. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was a British Company. See the facts here: http://www.iranchamber.com/history/oil_nationalization/oil_nationalization.php
DCBeltway, on May 2nd, 1951 Mossadeq nationalized the Arab American Oil Company aka ARAMCO. Like I thought. Common knowledge, no big deal. I'm gonna go take a bong hit for you, because I think you need one. Or two. This WAS an easily checkable fact you incorrectly call me on. Goodbye now DC, azjoe.
Wait DC, I reread your post and misunderstood part of it, as you did mine. I'm stoned-gimme five, but I think I owe you half an apology which I'm good for. azjoe.
Azjoe no you are wrong did you read the link? You shouldn't post when you are high.
DCBeltway. Hello. I googled 'aramco letters stand for' and the third hit down defined the acronym. Arab American Oil Company. Iranians are Persians. The professor that taught me the acronym's meaning taught middle eastern studies, and it jives with my first 'check.' This makes you factually incorrect, wrong.
Google the words I did, go to the site I did. So what if you are wrong about the acronym. But you are ALSO wrong about this-you state authoritatively and correctly Iranians are not Arabs, but, I did not SAY they were, as you clearly infer in your 'reply,' So you're wrong twice, in just two brief sentences! Thank God you kept it short. azjoe.
ARAMCO=Arab American Oil Company. Per-iod.
ARAMCO started as an American Company (Arabian American Oil Company) hello fact check and has been turned over to the Saudis in the present time starting in the 1980's. Second Mossadeq, an Iranian nationalized the Anglo-Iranian oil company not ARAMCO as you keep stating.
Lets see if you understand
ARAMCO--involved Americans and Saudis
Anglo Iranian Oil-involved Iranians (Persians) and the British (Anglos) the American CIA only later got involved in installing the Shah.
Don't post while stoned Per-iod!
Here is ARAMCO's history
Saudi Aramco dates back to May 29, 1933, when the Government of Saudi Arabia signed a concessionary agreement with Standard Oil of California (Socal) allowing them to explore Saudi Arabia for oil. Standard Oil of California passed this concession to a wholly-owned subsidiary called California-Arabian Standard Oil Co. (Casoc). In 1936 with the company having no success at locating oil, the Texas Oil Company purchased a 50% stake of the concession..
After a long search for oil that lasted around four years without success, the first success came with the seventh drill site in Dammam, an area located a few miles north of Dhahran in 1938, a well referred to as Dammam number 7. The discovery of this well, which immediately produced over 1,500 barrels per day (240 m³/d), gave the company the confidence to continue and flourish. The company name was changed in 1944 from California-Arabian Standard Oil Company to Arabian American Oil Company (or Aramco). In 1948 Standard Oil of California and the Texas Oil Company were joined as investors by Standard Oil of New Jersey who purchased 30% of the company, and Socony Vacuum who purchased 10% of the company, leaving Standard Oil of California and the Texas Oil Company with equal 30% shares.
In 1950, King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud threatened to nationalize his country's oil facilities, thus pressuring Aramco to agree to share its profits on oil sales 50/50. A similar process had taken place with American oil companies in Venezuela a few years earlier. The American government granted US Aramco member companies a tax break known as the Golden gimmick equivalent to the profits lost in sharing oil profits with Ibn Saud.
In 1973 the Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% share of Aramco, increased this to 60% by 1974 and finally acquired full control of Aramco by 1980. In November 1988 the company changed its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company (or Saudi Aramco).
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Here is the Anglo Iranian Oil Company History
[edit] Nationalization
In March 1951, the Iranian parliament (the Majlis) voted to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) and its holdings, and shortly thereafter elected a widely respected statesman and champion of nationalization, Mohammed Mossadegh, Prime Minister.[13] This led to the Abadan Crisis where foreign countries refused to take Iranian oil and Abadan refinery was closed. AIOC withdrew from Iran and increased output of its other reserves in the Persian Gulf.
Mossadeq broke off negotiations with AIOC in July 1951 when the latter threatens to pull its employees out of Iran and warned "tanker owners the receipts from the Iranian government would not be accepted on the world market." [14] The British ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranian government and explored the possibility of an invasion to occupy the oil area. US President Harry S. Truman and US ambasador to Iran Henry Grady opposed intervention in Iran but needed Britain's support for the Korean War. Efforts by America, the International Court of Justice were made to settle the dispute, but a 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement, with recognition of nationalisation, was rejected by both the British government and Prime Minister Mossadegh.
As the months went on the crisis became more acute. By mid-1952 an attempt by the Shah to replace Mossadegh had backfired in nationwide riots and Mossadegh returned with even greater power. But at the same time his coalition was "fraying," as Britain’s boycott of Iran eliminated a major source of government revenue and made Iranians "poorer and unhappier by the day."[15]
[edit] Coup
Main article: 1953 Iranian coup d'état
By 1953 both the US and the UK both had new, more conservative, more anti-communist and more interventionist administrations. America no longer opposed intervention in Iran. Britain was unable to subvert Mossadegh as its embassy and officials had been evicted from Iran in October 1952, but successfully appealed to American anti-communist sentiments, depicting both Mossadegh and Iran as unstable and likely to fall to communism in their weakened state. If Iran fell, the "enormous assets" of "Iranian oil production and reserves" would fall into Communist control, as would "in short order the other areas of the Middle East".[16] In August the American CIA with the help of bribes to politicians, soldiers, mobs, and newspapers, and contacts/information from the British embassy and secret service, organized a coup. Mossadegh was overthrown, and the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi restored.
DCBeltway, Hello there, what an erudite post. Thank You. If we disagree about something, we must be looking hard to find it. Maybe we were.
I appreciate your scholarly reply. Per-iod.
Now, post stoned or not? Drag, my Dr. prescribes it for headaches associated with reading the internet, I have to-Dr's orders and all.
I look forward to spirited and courteous threading with you. azjoe.
We've just discussed ARAMCO, the coup, interesting subsequent quarter century. If you see this, I have a question for you at the top of the thread.
The gas fields extend along the entire coast. Haifa will be the likely point of extraction. It might've been Gaza, to the benefit of Gazans, but they prefer Shaheed and Jihad. Too bad, so sad.
Hi Dave. Dave, how does supporting Israel equate to access to ME oil when it infuriates all the Arab countries who have oil?
This myth, that Israel helps put gas in American Chevy's by fighting our wars for us (killing the terrorist A-rab/Palestinians b4 they get to Wichita) is a darling of AIPAC, William Kristol et al.
You are 100% right we'd like to and recently tried to 'takeover the whole ME,' if Iraq had been the pushover those idiots projected, Syria then Iran were Acts 2 & 3. But Iraq near 'Nammed.
I re-read your blog the other day, updated? Cool, azjoe.
Hi Dave. Dave, how does supporting Israel equate to access to ME oil when it infuriates all the Arab countries who have oil?
This myth, that Israel helps put gas in American Chevy's, fights our wars for us (kills the terrorist A-rabs b4 they get to Wichita) is a darling of AIPAC, William Kristol et al.
You are 100% right we'd like to and recently tried to 'takeover the whole ME,' if Iraq had been the pushover those idiots projected, Syria then Iran were Acts 2 & 3. But Iraq near 'Nammed.
I re-read your blog the other day, updated? RightOn, azjoe.
Hey, Azjoe, America might not have given up its quest to control the M.E., not yet. We'll have to wait and see how Obama jumps in the longterm.
Glad you like my blog. The Masters of the Universe don't like me at all!
www.dangerouscreation.com
Hey Dave, I think BHO's ME truths will be defined by an "incident" in the Straight of Hormuz. I can hear the Islamofascist Centrifuges spinning, enriching Allah Worshiping Uranium destined for Kansas & Tel-Aviv.
Only months ago the now licking their wound scum still tried to get the missiles launched.
Since missiles must be launched, or bombs dropped to vaporize Natanz, why not 2 for 1? An attack of the right magnitude under Obama's watch, with the right MSM spin and timing could vaporize the Dems & Natanz simultaneously.
So, the Iranians the Israelis hate because they can't manipulate them have an 'incident,' think Tonkin, which escalates in minutes with an SS-N-22 slamming into a U.S. Carrier and sinking it. Fired from the Iranian bluffs overlooking the straits....the Mossad is in Iran now....
Technically difficult? A walk in Central Park West compared to 9-11. azjoe.
I still hold some hope that Mitchell and Obama will make progress, as slim and unlikely as that looks.
But what really bothers me is that so much anger is directed at Obama and others unwilling to commit career suicide and none at the people responsible for making this the case.
As someone put it that if the Mufti of Jerusalem didn't exist, he would have to be invented. Here's an excerpt from Peter Novick's The Holocaust in American Life:
The claims of Palestinian complicity in the murder of the European Jews were to some extent a defensive strategy, a preemptive response to the Palestinian complaint that if Israel was recompensed for the Holocaust, it was unjust that Palestinian Muslims should pick up the bill for the crimes of European Christians. The assertion that Palestinians were complicit in the Holocaust was mostly based on the case of the Mufti of Jerusalem, a pre-World War II Palestinian nationalist leader who, to escape imprisonment by the British, sought refuge during the war in Germany. The Mufti was in many ways a disreputable character, but post-war claims that he played any significant part in the Holocaust have never been sustained. This did not prevent the editors of the four-volume Encyclopedia of the Holocaust from giving him a starring role. The article on the Mufti is more than twice as long as the articles on Goebbels and Goering, longer than the articles on Himmler and Heydrich combined, longer than the article on Eichmann--of all the biographical articles, it is exceeded in length, but only slightly, by the entry for Hitler.
I find Ramzy's post very middle of the road.
Obama did make things clear as he said. His silence on the Israeli atrocities speaks just as loud.
He is in the back pocket of AIPAC and the Israeli lobby.
These are the issues here. NOT the Zionist shill arguments about anti-semitism designed to further Israeli propaganda and distract honest CD responders from the real message of The US acquiescence to illegal punishment meted out to civilian non-combatants with illegal weaponry.
Answering steelgray, Judy Levy and the other Israeli 'swiftboaters' detracts from the message.
But I could be wrong !
"Hamas must meet clear conditions: recognize Israel's right to exist; renounce violence; and abide by past agreements. "
It takes two to tango, Mr. Obama...how about Israel recognize Palistine's right to exist within secure defined borders?, renounce violence?, and abide by past agreements?, like the '67 borders?
The best way to end this is to stop arming one side against the other. Fighter jets and White Phosphorus (1400 dead) against feeble home made rockets and AK-47s (6 dead)is NOT a fair deal. As long as one side is butressed into a superior position by the USA, while the other side is starved out by the US, this horror will continue, until Israel owns the whole lot, and Palistinians go the way to the dinosaur.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
'disgracing the collective history of a nation that for so long imposed its sense of moral authority on the world' Which collective history would this be? The extermination of almost the entire indigenous population of the North America,(estimates put the population north and south to be as much as 100 million).The murder of more than 600 thousand in the Philippines,making sure that no more than 5% of Nazi war criminals saw trial but were spirited away to commit terror against a badly damaged Soviet Union or rat-lined out of the country to assist in setting up dictatorships all over Latin America .Others with skills far advanced than our own in chemical,biological and neuclear technologies were brought home,given blancket amnisties dispited having verifiable records of unspeakable crimes against humanity and put to work.Torture clearly was not so much a problem of morality but rather to what end was it being caried out,Qui bono.Perhaps its the 3-5 million slaughtered in S Vietnam,the estimated 6 million in the Congo over the last 10 years,to say nothing of the rapes and savagry of the women of this region or the countless other examples that could be mentioned.No,the last 8 years may have been an atempt to get the world used to an America that no longer has the patiance or will to suger coat its Imperial ambitions is, I think, acurate, but to sugest that this has been a departure from a very long and consistant patern,thats delusional.One is hard pressed to find anything good to say about the last 8 years but inadvertantly the cover has been blown off this show and that presents some interesting possibilities.
The indigenous population of North America in the immediate pre-contact era, is estimated at 3-5 million, same as it is today. No, Amerindians would not prefer to be in the Caliphate.
America is not at all expansionist, having grabbed no territory since 1900. Our global mission is in extending secular democracy. Sovietists and Islamists (two expansionist ideologies, not at all shy about grabbing territiry, btw) are naturally opposed.
Warrior Sole, Excellent points for any post!
Don't you just hate it when the USA starts to beleive its own hype? One of the most agressive hedgmonies of the 18th, 19th and 20th century calling itself the "land of the free"...PULEESE! ...Free to help themselves to whatever they want I guess.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Oh really? Palestine was partitioned and given to the Jews because of an Arab-Nazi alliance? Oh gosh, and here all this time I believed that the reason was because it was the "promised land"! Guess you have to study you zionist propaganda better.
I'm not Jewish so i don't care if they think it's 'The Promised Land.'
I am merely giving you a few lessons in history that you seem to be ignorant on.
Just because you are not Jewish doesn't mean that you are not a Zionist.