UN DEMANDS WAR CRIMES ENQUIRY AGAINST ISRAEL - US Wants Israel to Investigate itself

One of the questions which arises concerning the recent conflict in Gaza is whether President Obama supports Israeli Racist Apartheid System. He must look at both sides of the conflict and not just automatically take the side of Israel. He must spend time listening to the Palestinians side of the issue. He can not expect the Palestinians to make concessions without insisting on some concessions from Israel. If he wants to improve America's reputation he must develop honest and even-handed relations with Muslim and Arab nations In doing so President Obama can not at the same time act as if only Israel's interests are of importance to the United States and not the interests of other nations and peoples. If President Obama uses America's influence in the UN to favor Israel over other nations then why should other nations consider Obama to be a fair and even-handed broker for peace in the Middle East.

If allegations for instance are made against Israel for committing War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza and the occupied territories then Obama should either be a voice for doing the right thing and insisting on investigations into these allegations or he should stand aside and allow the UN to do its duty . But we know the Americans always stand up for the Israelis and it appears Obama so for is no exception and in fact will do whatever he can to protect the Israeli government and the Israeli armed forces.

Protest For Gaza: Universal Support from every religion & every country for Palestine, 24/01/2009

This is the people's voice demanding justice for the Palestininian people. War Criminal should be brought to justice and charged. israeli war crimes





We can only hope that the UN can proceed first with investigation with suboena powers followed by Indictments and trials if it is deemed appropriate. If necessary the trials could take place in abstentia. As it appears now Israel backed by President Obama and the US are going to do whateve they can to interfere with these investigations and possible trials. If Israeli officials can be put on trial it would mean that these International Laws and the International Court are viable . What bothers some Americans is that if Israel can be investigated and put on trial then those Americans' responsible can be put on trial for their war crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan.

UN DEMANDS WAR CRIMES ENQUIRY AGAINST ISRAEL | Gaza war prompts UN to demand an enquiry
Jan. 30, 2009

The UN's humanitarian chief has said the situation in Gaza after a three-week Israeli offensive against Hamas was worse than he anticipated.

Sir John Holmes, who visited Gaza on Thursday, said he was shocked by "the systematic nature of the destruction".
He said that the territory's economic activity had been set back by years.

The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) president Jakob Kellenberger said conditions in Gazan hospitals were the worst he had seen.


and :

Israel faces calls for Gaza war crimes probe - 30 Jan 09

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is seeking to punish Israel for alleged war crimes. He has called for an international investigation panel.

Al Jazeera has been out with Amnesty International investigators conducting house-to-house searches in Gaza and collecting all of the evidence, such as shrapnel fragments, that will aid ithe investigation.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad reports.




Anyway here is a clip showing how the Israeli's discriminate against Palestinians and control them in every way that they can .
Palestinians need permits for just about anything they want to do to travel, to work to walk down a street etc. But doesn't it sound like the American southern states Apartheid of Jim Crow and segregation or South African Apartheid. In the clip below several Palestinians get a court order so that they are permitted to walk down the main street of their town which they were not permitted to do by the IDF and the Jewish Settlers. It is unfortunate that Americans in general including President Obama and his Secretary of State and his envoys to the Middle East are unaware how draconian the Israeli State has become in regards to the Palestinians. For the moment we can give them the benefit of the doubt . But it is up to them since they are fond of making grandiose statements about wanting to help ease tensions in the Middle East then they should educate themselves about what is actually going on and not just accept anything they are told by the Israelis for example at face value.

aint this some israeli bullsh*t Israeli Apartheid




According to Susan Rice, the new US ambassador to the (UN ), said on Thursday that Israel should carry out its own investigation into possible abuses by its forces." The alleged criminals she claims are to investigate themselves to see if they did anything wrong... well I predict their answer is as usual we the IDF and Israel did nothing wrong. Now we are all reassured . So you get a bank robber to investigate whether or not they did something wrong. It is like asking a corporation to investigate whether or not it is guilty of selling inferior goods or underpaying employees or overpaying its CEOs or whether it is guilty of polluting the air or rivers and streams. The Corporation will say no way and so the public is according to Susan Rice's logic supposed to accept their findings at face value. This is nonsense.

Is Obama just naive or does he really believe Israel is going to do an honest and thorough investigation. The Israelis have said they have done nothing wrong so are they going to change their tune or will they offer up a few low ranking scape goats the way the Americans have done about their own war crimes in Iraq at Abu Ghraib or the killing of innocent civilians or raping young Iraqi girls etc. To those only interested in maintaining their control over large areas of the Globe a few thousand dead civilians or a few thousand abused and tortured detainees is just " collateral damage " No wonder President Obama like former President Bush does not want to investigate American forces alleged war crimes. As Bush assured Americans " we do not torture " and Cheney said " stuff happens " especially in the other rationalization known as "The Fog Of War " or " So" meaning who cares the people abused or beaten or tortured or raped or killed were after all not American citizens.

" UN to probe Gaza compound attack " Media With Connscience Jan. 30, 2009

The Security Council has yet to take a position on the UN investigation, but Susan Rice, the new US ambassador to the body, said on Thursday that Israel should carry out its own investigation into possible abuses by its forces.

"We expect Israel will meet its international obligations to investigate and we also call upon all members of the international community to refrain from politicising these important issues," she said.

In her debut speech at the UN Security Council in New York, Rice also said that Hamas was guilty of violating international law "through its rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in southern Israel and the use of civilian facilities to provide protection for its terrorist attacks".

also see: "Israel 'hides settlements data" BBC.co Jan. 30, 2009

The Israeli defence ministry has concealed information about the extent of illegal settlement-building in the West Bank, a leading newspaper reports.

A classified database of construction compiled by the ministry was leaked to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

It suggests most construction took place without the right permits, and more than 30 settlements were built in part on land owned by Palestinians.

Settlements are a contentious issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The defence ministry has not commented on the report, which appears to contradict Israel's official position that it does not requisition private land for settlements

and for an informative and succinct article on Christian Zionism see: "Christians and Zion: British stirrings " Part 1 in a series of 5 articles on Christian Zionism: by Donald Wagner 10/09/03 (Daily Star)

The term Christian Zionism is of relatively recent vintage and was rarely used prior to the early 1990s. Self-proclaimed Christian Zionist organizations such as the International Christian Embassy-Jerusalem and the US-based Bridges for Peace, both with offices in Jerusalem, have been operating for 20 years, but were under the radar of most Middle East experts and the mainstream media until after Sept. 11, 2001.

Briefly stated, Christian Zionism is a movement within Protestant fundamentalism that sees the modern state of Israel as the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and thus deserving of political, financial and religious support. Christian Zionists work closely with the Israeli government, religious and secular Jewish Zionist organizations, and are particularly empowered during periods when the more conservative Likud Party is in control of the Knesset. Both the secular and religious media place Christian Zionism in the Protestant evangelical movement, which claims upward of 100-125 million members in the US. However, one would more accurately categorize it as part of the fundamentalist wing of Protestant Christianity, since the evangelical movement is far larger and more diverse in its theology and historical development.

and :

Christian Zionists and premillennial dispensationalists have a pessimistic view of history and wait in eager anticipation for the unfolding of a series of wars and tragedies pointing to the return of Jesus. The establishment of the state of Israel, the rebuilding of the Third Temple, the rise of the Antichrist and the buildup of armies poised to attack Israel, are among the signs leading to the final battle and Jesus’ return. Leading Christian Zionist authorities in Bible prophecy seek to interpret political developments according to the prophetic schedule of events that should unfold according to their view of scripture. As an apocalyptic and dualistic type of theology, the movement looks in history for the escalation of power and influence of satanic forces aligned to the Antichrist, who, as the end draws near, will do battle with Israel and those aligned with it. Judgment will befall nations and individuals according to how they “bless Israel” (Genesis 12:3).

and the movement is growing in America and Britain and other countries and has an effect on foreign policy decisions being made in those countries especially regarding Israel and the Middle East :

...Christian Zionism is a growing political and religious movement within the most conservative branches of Protestant fundamentalism, but it can also be found in the broader evangelical branches of Christianity, including the evangelical wings of the mainline Presbyterian, United Methodist, Lutheran and other Protestant churches. It thrives during periods of political and economic unrest such as the present, characterized by international terrorism, global recession and fear of wars in the Middle East. With its pessimistic view of history, Christian Zionism seeks to provide simple and clear answers through a literal and predictive approach to the Bible. Some estimate that 20-25 million American fundamentalist Christians hold these views, and the phenomenon is growing.

and so it goes,
GORD.

We Will Not Go Down (Song For Gaza ) Michael Heart / Israeli War Crimes and Obama Condemns Hamas While Defending Israel & The Status Quo

UPDATE: Jan. 30, 2009

Anyway it is not just the Palestinians or Arab Israelis who seem unmovable and not open to compromise as these quotes from Ben Gurion and Golda Meir two former Prime Ministers of Israel illustrate:

"We must expel Arabs and take their places."
-- David Ben Gurion, 1937, Ben Gurion and the Palestine Arabs, Oxford University Press, 1985.


"Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist. Not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either. Nahlal arose in the place of Mahlul; Kibbutz Gvat in the place of Jibta; Kibbutz Sarid in the place of Huneifis; and Kefar Yehushua in the place of Tal al-Shuman. There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population."

-- David Ben Gurion, quoted in The Jewish Paradox, by Nahum Goldmann, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978, p. 99.

"Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves ... politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves... The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country."
-- David Ben Gurion, quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky's Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan's "Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.

David Ben Gurion Prime Minister of Israel 1949 - 1954,1955 - 1963

"There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist."
-- Golda Meir, statement to The Sunday Times, 15 June, 1969.

"How can we return the occupied territories? There is nobody to return them to."
-- Golda Meir, March 8, 1969.

"Any one who speaks in favor of bringing the Arab refugees back must also say how he expects to take the responsibility for it, if he is interested in the state of Israel. It is better that things are stated clearly and plainly: We shall not let this happen."
-- Golda Meir, 1961, in a speech to the Knesset, reported in Ner, October 1961

"This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy."
-- Golda Meir, Le Monde, 15 October 1971

Golda Meir Prime Minister of Israel 1969 - 1974

above quotes from website:
Middle East Conflict: Zionist Quotes
-------------------------
We will not go down (Song for Gaza)
This is a song of hope for the Palestinians in Gaza, by Michael Heart
Copyright 2009. http://www.michaelheart.com/




Latest on Israeli War Crimes:

Israel to shield Gaza ' War crimes' soldiers



and the Israeli Propaganda War on the InterNet

Israeli propaganda using images taken in 2007 to justify UN school bombing in 2009 ????




As this clip shows the Israeli spokesperson sees no reason not to shell repeatedly on UN facility even though this is against International Law. If the soldiers are under fire they can reposition themselves rather than blowing up a school or hospital etc. Israel doesn't recognize the UN or International Law. Israeli forces also over and over again use Arab, Palestinian civilians as human shields . See Breaking the Silence Israeli soldiers talk about the occupied territories

BBC argues with Israeli Spokesman over UN School Bombing



also see:

" Israeli Troops Killed Gaza Children Carrying White Flag, witnesses say " By Dion Nissenbaum January 28, 2009 "McClatchy Newspapers" Jan. 28,2009

The allegation is one of at least five such white flag incidents that human rights investigators are looking into across the Gaza Strip. It's part of a growing pattern of alleged abuses that have raised concerns that some Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes during their 22-day military campaign in Gaza.

"The evidence we've gathered in two of the cases so far is exceedingly strong," said Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch working in the Gaza Strip. "All the research so far suggests they shot civilians that were leaving their homes with white flags."

Along with the white flag incidents, Human Rights Watch is calling for an international investigation into widespread charges that Israel prevented medical teams from helping wounded Palestinians trapped in their homes and needlessly demolished hundreds of houses, including dozens in Ezbt Abed Rabbo.

"This was not a rogue unit," said Abrahams. "The needless civilian deaths resulted from concrete decisions made by the military."

---------------
As for President Obama he once again has reiterated his and America's unconditional and immutable support for Israel and blames Hamas and its rockets for the slaughter by the Israeli's of the people of Gaza. He does not bother to comment on the allegations of War Crimes committed by Israel and just brushes these of as typical anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic tactics and propaganda. Like the Israeli Regime Obama it appears holds the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and humanitarian aid organizations and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Israel's Btselem or Israeli soldiers group " Breaking the Silence etc. But if President Obama paid attention to these groups he might also have to deal with the various allegations made about US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and as we see that ain't going to happen. In this regard Obama is with the status quo.

As we know this plays well at home in America especially with Republicans, ultraconservatives and the Religious Right and a large portion of Evangelical Christians who are Pro-Israel . He does not insist that Israel abide by the various rulings of the UN that is to return to the pre-existing borders before the Six Day War of 1967 nor does he insists on the Palestinians or Arabs right of return or even that Israel dismantle its obscene wall or its hundreds of segregationist Apartheid style laws . Obama puts all the onus and responsibility on Hamas and the Palestinians. He appears uninterested in their side of the story. So his solution is no solution. Given the military power Israel has combined with the backing of President Obama and the US why should Israel want in any way shape or form bother talking to Hamas . In diplomacy there is supposed to be some give and take all that Obama has suggested is that Hamas give in to Israel's demands and Israel can continue to keep Gaza isolated to a greater or lesser degree depending on the Israeli's whims.

For instance Drew Western in an article at Huffington Post applauds President Obama for backing Israel and condemning Hamas and ignoring all these silly allegations about War Crimes because war is messy and collateral damage is to be expected and so what if Israel uses White Phosphorus or other weapons on civilians as America did the same in Fallujah and in Vietnam and so what if Israel deliberately bombed UN schools and the major UN Compound etc. So like most Americans he too has a hate on for the UN and the Red Cross because it is Israel and the US against the world. Well actually I have to add my own country Canada as also a cheerleader for anything and everything Israel and its armed forces do because Israel is never wrong or in the wrong.

as he says :

" It isn't easy to be an "honest broker" in the Middle East. Israel is our strongest ally and the only democracy in the region, our other allies are largely autocratic rulers of countries whose people despise us or harbor tremendous ambivalence toward us, and Bush's new flagship democracies in the region have had a nasty habit of choosing the leaders of terrorist organizations (Hamas and Hezbollah) as their leaders."

see: " Obama's Impressive Beginnings as an Honest Broker in the Middle East: The Psychology of Perspective-taking Where Perspective is Hard to Find " by Drew Westen Jan. 29, 2009

also see: " For Palestinians, Obama's Message is Crystal Clear " by Ramzy Baroud January 29, 2009 by CommonDreams.org Jan.29,2009

Anyway here is website for you to peruse to obtain some useful information on Israel and the history of Zionism.

The website is ZioNation: Progressive Zionism Web-Log.

The Site begins with several definitions of Zionism:

Definition of Zionism history zionism * history zionism * history zionism * history zionism * history zionism * history zionism *

The word "Zionism" has several different meanings:

1. An ideology - Zionist ideology holds that the Jews are a people or nation like any other, and should gather together in a single homeland. Zionism was self-consciously the Jewish analogue of Italian and German national liberation movements of the nineteenth century. The term "Zionism" was apparently coined in 1891 by the Austrian publicist Nathan Birnbaum, to describe the new ideology, but it was used retroactively to describe earlier efforts and ideas to return the Jews to their homeland for whatever reasons, and it is applied to Evangelical Christians who want people of the Jewish religion to return to Israel in order to hasten the second coming. "Christian Zionism" is also used to describe any Christian support for Israel.

2. A descriptive term - The term "Zionism" was apparently coined in 1891 by the Austrian publicist Nathan Birnbaum, to describe the new ideology. It is also used to describe anyone who believes Jews should return to their ancient homeland.

3. A political movement - The Zionist movement was founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897, incorporating the ideas of early thinkers as well as the organization built by Hovevei Tziyon ("lovers of Zion").

(more Definitions of Zionism )

"Zionism" derives its name from "Zion," (pronounced "Tzyion" in Hebrew) a hill in Jerusalem. The word means "marker" or commemoration. "Shivath Tzion" is one of the traditional terms for the return of Jewish exiles. "Zionism" is not a monolithic ideological movement. It includes, for example, socialist Zionists such as Ber Borochov, religious Zionists such as rabbi Kook, revisionist nationalists such as Jabotinsky and cultural Zionists exemplified by Asher Ginsberg (Achad Haam). Zionist ideas evolved over time and were influenced by circumstances as well as by social and cultural movements popular in Europe at different times, including socialism, nationalism and colonialism, and assumed different "flavors" depending on the country of origin of the thinkers and prevalent contemporary intellectual currents. Accordingly, no single person, publication, quote or pronouncement should be taken as embodying "official" Zionist ideology.

Anyway here is an example of how extreme are the views of some of the Jewish Israeli Zionists. As in any country there are citizens with various views about their country from the pro-nationalists who take exception to any criticism of the state to those with more moderate or liberal views of the state and its policies .

But when it comes to the State of Israel there are those who wish to return to the borders that existed prior to the Six Day War of 1967 to those who want to recreate ancient Israel's borders as defined in the Bible. The latter group believe this is God's covenant and command to the Jewish people . Once Eretz Israel is created then will come some sort of Golden Age or the Messiah will come and the Jewish people will be blessed by God . There are variations on these themes as there is in the Millennialists and dispensationalists views of Christians and how they see the End-Times being played out. There are also those Jews who believe the Nation State of Israel is a man made secular construct and what is most important is the ongoing existence of the Jewish people who await the Messiah and not the continuing existence of this Nation State. There are those with more extreme views who see the Nation State of Israel as an abomination and a sin against God because it is in their view up to God's will whether or not the Jews are to be gathered once again into Israel.

Check out this article below for what is considered allowable discourse in Israel - odd given the sentiments of this article that Israel is described as a Democratic society- but isn't part of an open and democratic society the right of dissent to argue over public policies- what the writer assumes is any Jewish Israeli who objects to certain policies must be a self-hating Jew and anti-Israel and I guess an anti-Semitic Jew.

So what policies a particular Israeli government comes up with all Israeli citizens must fall into line and not complain or criticize.

Note the author refers to these critics not just as " self-hating Jews but also as " traitors " and " vermin" who should be imprisoned or hanged- it is not merely that there is a legitimate disagreement over a particular policy but to object to a policy is an act of "heresy ".
Punishment for self hating anti-Israel Jewish traitors
She also accuses various Jewish Israeli human rights organizations and other humanitarian organizations including the UN and the International Court of Justive as being anti-Israel and by extension anti-Semitic since they don't care about the lives of Jews.
And anyone who objects to the Israeli Wall are on the side of the " terrorists ".

"Punishment for self hating anti-Israel Jewish traitors" by Ami Isseroff at Zionism -Israel Web Log 6/11/2008

Every day there is another disturbing and embarrassing example of the work of self-hating Jews. The saddest part of the anti-Zionist and anti-Israel campaign are the degrading exhibitions put on by these self-hating anti-Israel and anti-Zionist traitors. The most hurtful and vile accusation made by these people is that Zionism = Nazism. But the accusation that may cause the most damage in terms of Israeli lives is the insistence that the Security Fence is an Apartheid separation wall and a land grab, that is not needed for Israeli defense against terror. The hallmark of recent anti-Zionist propaganda since about 2003 is the propaganda against the fence.

If Israel is ever forced to remove the security fence, there is little doubt that the flow of suicide bombers, now frustrated by Israeli security measures, will be renewed. We will again be collecting body parts at Seder celebrations. All true friends of Israel understand this. Therefore, Israel has braved the censure of the International Court of Justice regarding the Security fence ...The Jews want the fence down because they are self hating Jews or ordinary anti-Semites...

The Security Fence is a matter of Zionist consensus, is it not? Aren't those who are fighting the fence allies of terrorism and won't they be accomplices in murder after the fact?

There are some who insist that Jewish traitors of this type deserve the death penalty. We have often seen "Hang the Oslo traitors" emblazoned as a slogan in the Web sites of true blue Israel advocates. The Massada2000 Web site has a hit list of such traitors. ..

I am sure you will therefore be as angry as I am about two egregious recent bits of anti-Israel propaganda that have issued from the self-hating Jewish enemies. Here is the first one:

"...the [apartheid wall] is worse than useless. It is no more than the product of momentary hysteria and a Maginot-line mentality that seized some of our politicians, who deluded themselves into thinking that terrorism could be "fenced out."...

The time has come to take a good look at this outlandish project. Does it make any sense to continue building it? And maybe we should begin considering dismantling what has already been built. Do our politicians have the courage to admit they made a mistake?"

"Worse than Useless" - of course, it prevents terrorists from having their way, so the fence is worse than useless according to the enemies of the Jewish people. As you can imagine, this article appeared in the left wing Ha'aretz... Perhaps it will be cited by UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard. Our self-hating Jews never tire of providing source material for the enemies of Israel. ..

But there is worse to come. A rabbi no less, said that "Israeli expulsion forces" were like the Nazis in Poland. How low can you go? ...

It gets even worse. This so-called Rabbi, a filthy shtinker moser (informer) and rodef (persecutor) is a paid employee of the Israeli government. I pay for this miserable anti-Zionist vermin who insults our officials. And this is not the first time he has spread his hateful bilge. The ADL has had this man in their sights for a while. ..

On Christian Zionism check out these articles for example:

Evangelical Zionism" at Reformation Theology

and from a Jewish perspective Christian Zionism and the U.S.-Israel Relationship" by Jonathan Calt Harris inFocus
Spring 2008 The Jewish Policy Center

and this at times funny and disturbing article as the author talks about the reactions of some American and British Christian Evangelicals in Israel during the Gaza conflict
Onward Christian Zionists by Rod little The Spectator Jan. 7, 2009



and so it goes,
GORD.

Israeli Apartheid and Anti-Semitism & Israeli Extremists

UPDATE: 10:26 AM & 12:01 PM Jan. 29, 2009

Anyway President Obama refuses to take sides over Israeli action in Gaza as if they were equal opponents. If the the situation were reversed in all probability Obama would not be reluctant to speak out criticizing the Palestinians - Maybe Obama needs to find out more about how the Palestinians are treated by the Israelis from Independent sources rather than from his more prejudicial and biased pro-Israel advisers such as Hillary Clinton.There must surely be a few less biased middle east experts he could call on. Or maybe Obama needs to see the Israeli Wall and checkpoints and visit Gaza and the West Bank and see it for himself. But if he or a member of his administration go to Israel they will probably be taken on a sanitized tour by Israeli officials who have no interest in showing them how bad things are.
Otherwise President will settle for the same old status quo in regards to Israel.
Obaam should speak to the various Humanitarian aid organizations and NGOs and those in Israel who are outspoken in their criticism of Israeli policies.

Post Menu:
Israeli Apartheid human rights & the Palestinians
The right to question Israeli policies
Critics silenced by charge of anti-Semitism
Checkpoints & MachsomWatch
Children during curfew use rooftops to go to school
Israeli soldiers speak out about abuses
Israeli War Crime petition to the UN



Although 14 percent of their children were already suffering from levels of malnutrition that match sub-Saharan Africa, food supplies into Gaza were restricted. "It's like a meeting with a dietician. We have to make them much thinner, but not enough to die," said the prime minister's adviser Dov Weissglas. Feb.16, 2006 Haaretz

"[The Palestinians] are beasts walking on two legs."

-- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, "Begin and the 'Beasts,"' New Statesman, June 25, 1982.

"The Partition of Palestine is illegal. It will never be recognized .... Jerusalem was and will for ever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for Ever."
-- Menachem Begin, the day after the U.N. vote to partition Palestine.


see more at: Zionist Quotes

As we see below when Sharon's government allowed members of the extremist & racist National Union Party to join his cabinet.The US media who should have seen this as a bad sign for the Peace Process instead ignored it.

US media ignore Sharon's embrace of ethnic cleansers in new Israeli cabinet by Ali Abunimah, Michael Brown & Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada, 3 March 2003

The inclusion in the new Israeli government of the racist National Union, which openly calls for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, received muted coverage in the US media and passed largely without comment.

The National Union is an alliance of three small parties: Moledet, Tekuma and Yisrael Beitenu. Moledet calls openly for "solving" the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by forcing millions of Palestinians out of their homeland, while the National Union's joint platform states that all three parties espouse "transfer" and "population exchange."

On its website, Moledet, led by Benny Elon, states that the party, whose name means "homeland," is "an ideological political party in Israel that embraces the idea of population transfer as an integral part of comprehensive plan [sic] to achieve real peace between the Jews and the Arabs Living in the Land of Israel."

If we review the various statements made by Israel's heroes and most distinguished politicians and generals what we find is some common themes which have become part of the mindset of many Israelis. There is the underlying view that Israel is not merely a nation state like any other but is exceptional. The reason Israel is exceptional to begin with is because Israel was given to the ancient Israelites and their modern descendants by God/ Jehovah/ Yahweh. Many of Israel's leaders promise that one day Israel will be expanded to take in all of the land promised to them in the Jewish Bible and this would include the land now occupied by the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and beyond . This larger piece of property with its boundaries or borders spelled out in the Bible is referred to as Eretz Israel. The so called Settlers Movement are those Jewish Israelis who insist on expanding the borders of Israel while driving out most of the Arabs who occupy these lands. Over the years since the Six-Day War in 1967 the Settlers first in small groups set up their tiny communities bu these have now expanded so that there are over 300,000 settlers illegally occupying land within the so called Occupied territories. These settlements are no longer just a few crude shelters but are towns and cities which are still growing.

The Settlers Movement believes that once they are fully established in these disputed areas they would have established "Facts on the Ground " and that the Israeli government would not dare remove them from these areas. Sometimes the Israelis will remove some small community of settlers but usually it is more to do with Public Relations than an actual policy.The Settlers Movement has a disproportionate sway over the Israeli government and the Israeli army. Israel itself has in a sense become captive to this extremist faction which is unwilling to compromise with the Palestinians or Arab Israelis or their neighboring Arab countries. So while the Israeli government might say it is willing to compromise with the Palestinians etc. this more often than not seems like more of a ploy to give them time to eventually achieve the agenda of the Settlers Movement.

Israel has become less and less democratic over the decades reducing the Palestinians to a meagre existence. An Arab town begins to grow and prosper and the IDF go in and purposely disturb and harass the local population destroying their homes and businesses disrupting their daily lives in a hundred different ways. Then losing patience the Palestinians strike back which then brings more reprisals and even stricter controls over the Palestinians daily lives ,restricting their movements , creating a cumbersome rigid bureaucracy and the infamous Checkpoints and system of permits creating modern roads for Jewish Israelis only while Palestinians and Arabs are forced to travel on old decrepit roads .

So given this duplicity it is easier to understand why Israel treat Palestinians and Arab Israelis unjustly and inhumanely . The recent conflict in Gaza could have been avoided for example. Hamas was elected legally and was willing to work with the Israeli government but Israel made excuses even while Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and stopped suicide bombings Israel put in place a full scale blockade and siege on Gaza while six months before the conflict the Israelis planned for it in detail .The Israelis decided it was best to undertake this action in Gaza during the presidential transition period in the US after the election and before the next president was put into office who would most likely be a Democrat who might be more apt to be somewhat critical of Israel's action. And so all went according to plan. Gaza which was already in desperate shape has been largely reduced to rubble with most of its infrastructure destroyed. Because of the checkpoints a trip that should take an hour takes three or four on a good day and the list of issues seems almost endless as soldiers at a checkpoint can make up the rules as they see fit or just out of spite, revenge and callousness.

As we see in the second clip below in times of curfews which can last for days weeks or months the Arab children find ingenious ways to get to their schools. One wonders why the Israelis would prevent children from attending schools often run by the UN. Is it to deprive these people of a proper education and thereby keep them in their place as White Supremacists did in Southern United States by allowing Black children to attend inferior schools and doing everything possible to keep them from going to colleges or universities.

This is the reality of the authoritarian and draconian police state which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama support . They claim as the Israeli government does that Israel is a shinning example of a Democracy with equal rights for all . But they have been duped or know but don't care as once many Americans didn't want to know how bad things were for Black people especially in the South their lives restricted by JIM CROW the Klan and the lynch mobs. But in Israel the Palestinians and Arab Israelis are second class citizens. And anyone who is too outspoken against the government or who criticizes the fanatical Jewish Israeli Settlers Movement risk losing their livelihood and their freedom they can be tossed in jail for indefinite periods and denied their rights , they can be beaten and tortured.

Video of checkpoint at Bethlehem Machsom Watch.org

MachsomWatch, in existence since 2001, is an organisation of peace activist- Israeli women against the Israeli Occupation of the territories and the systematic repression of the Palestinian nation. We call for Palestinian freedom of movement within their own territory and for an end to the Occupation that destroys Palestinian society and inflicts grievous harm on Israeli society.

The Entrance to Bethlehem Checkpoint

housands of people have to wait in line for hours on their way to work. This is the line leading to the checkpoint itself. Inside the checkpoint they will have to go through additional checks and wait once more in long lines.

Filmed by Neta Efroni.
Edited by Hadass Shuve.



Anyway we are informed that it is tantamount to anti-Semitism to criticize Israeli policies related to the Palestinians or Arab Israelis . This is especially true if one makes the comparison to South African Apartheid . What's considered worse is to compare Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto. It doesn't matter whether the comparisons have any validity.

from AntiWar blog State Dept: Criticism of Israel = Anti-Semitism? March 14, 2008 by Jim Lobe

In the most recent edition of its annual “Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism” released Thursday, the State Department — and hence the U.S. government — moves ever more closely to a long-standing neo-conservative tenet: that criticism of Israel or Israeli policies often, if not always, equals anti-Semitism. The report also suggests that comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to South African apartheid — as former President Jimmy Carter did in his 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid — also amounts to anti-Semitism. And it focuses on the United Nations as a breeding ground for anti-Semitism as expressed through criticism of Israel, another major neo-conservative theme that has intensified sharply over the past five years, notably through the efforts of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, the National Review Online and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page.

and the new definition of anti-Semitism includes:

....“Comparing contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is increasingly commonplace. Anti-Semitism couched as criticism of Zionism or Israel often escapes condemnation since it can be more subtle than traditional forms of anti-Semitism, and promoting anti-Semitic attitudes may not be the conscious intent of the purveyor. Israel’s policies and practices must be subject to responsible criticism and scrutiny to the same degree as those of any other country. At the same time, those criticizing Israel have a responsibility to consider the effect their actions may have in prompting hatred of Jews. At times hostility toward Israel has translated into physical violence directed at Jews in general. There was, for example, a sharp upsurge in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide during the conflict between Hizballah and Israel in the summer of 2006.” [Italics added.]

--but given this wide interpretation of anti-Semitism one wonders if reasonable criticism of Israel could ever be permitted. Part of the Problem is that one of the reasons for the comparing of Israeli policies to South African Apartheid is that Jews who lived in South Africa who moved to Israel often make the comparison because it is a system which they fought against in South Africa and they are outraged to see similar attitudes in the government and the media which are shared by a large number of Jewish citizens of Israel towards the Palestinians.

As the next author points out the Israelis don't want to carefully examine their own actions or their basic beliefs about Israel's moral superiority. Reality is that which most Jewish Israelis want to avoid. They like many other people prefer their fantasy world which they have spent an enormous amount of energy and time creating. Or as they say they don't want to think about anything that might undermine their delusions.

" Gaza: Israel's (And America's) Moral Equivalent Of The Warsaw Ghetto " Ruminant With A View by Elizabeth Boleman-Herring Jan. 11, 2009

...But, people of Israel, if I, a resident of New Jersey, have to bite my own bullet, and admit that my own deeply flawed country has sinned, again and again, on the world stage, by manipulating this or that group, supposedly in my country's best interests, then, some day, you, too, will come to the realization that what you have done, what you continue to do, in the name of God, to the Palestinian people, IS the moral equivalent of what was done to your fellow European Jews at the hands of the Nazis (to the American Indians at the hands of the white "settlers" of North America, to the Armenians and the Kurds at the hands of the Turks, to the Blacks of South Africa at the hands of the White Africaaners and. . .but oh, hell, the list is endless). Your time in the dock of self-realization will come.

To deny the ongoing Palestinian genocide is, I believe strongly, the moral equivalent of denying the Holocaust. But can I get an "Amen, Sister!" only from Jimmy Carter* and Dr. Ron Paul? How long will it take for your hearts to soften, Oh Israel, your eyes to see? When does Israel's Twelve-Step-Program begin?

Can I get some readers in Israel to write me and admit the painful, the excruciating, truth of just how they came by their current homeland, and how they have—funded by America, it's true—marginalized and ghetto-ized the Palestinian people. . .before it's really too late for their, our, everyone's salvation?

Because I'm here to tell you—and, after their slimy, sucking-it-up "campaign" speeches at AIPAC, I hope Brother Barack and Sister Hillary are listening to me—if the Messiah were to come back right now, I think he'd be thumping a lot of American and Israeli heads into ploughshares, perhaps with a great big, old, fat copy of the Koran. "People of the book, my ass!" He'd be yelling. "Did you miss the part about loving thy neighbor? Did you miss the part where you Jews actually morphed into Pharaoh and the Philistines?"

I'm not kidding, Israel. Ask the Nazis. Ask the Africaaners. Ask the folks who locked the Indians up on the reservations. Ask the Turks who massacred the Armenians. (Well, don't ask the Turks quite yet: they're still coming to grips with their own inner Adolph.) When you create a ghetto, and wall in the folks you consider "other," you pull the pin from the very grenade that will blow off your own short-sighted head.

The scenes depicted in this video below are of Palestinian children trying to get to school during an Israeli imposed curfew. This clip runs for five minutes. Imagine children putting themselves at risk just to get to school. The question is why would the Israelis want to keep Arab children from attending school. You would think if the children are in school then they wouldn't be somewhere else possibly causing trouble.

The Israeli intent is to undermine any semblance of normality in Palestinian towns . Bit by bit the Israelis using the IDF chip away at the living conditions of Palestinians hoping the Palestinians will leave these areas . Or do the Israelis want to push the Palestinians into a corner as it were keeping them under control or are they doing so hoping that the Palestinians might fight back and give the IDF the excuse to kill Palestinians , to destroy their homes and towns so that the Israelis can then take control of these lands . Once the Israelis take control of another piece of land a village or town or some farms which once were occupied by Palestinians the Israelis can say but the Palestinians abandoned these areas voluntarily.

The Israelis treat the Arabs and Palestinians as the Africaaners treated black South Africans or as the white Americans in Southern United States treated African-Americans. The Africaaners and Southern White Supremacist believed that these people whom they treated unfairly were a constant threat to their way of life that their values were inferior to that of the Africaaners or the Southern Whites or Jewish Israelis and so were subhuman. So do the average Israeli believe all Arabs are subhuman or is it that an extremist group of racist Israelis have taken contol in Israel .

Secret Hebron: The School Run - 28-min documentary

March 2003
Palestinian children in Hebron regularly risk being attacked by Israeli soldiers as they try to go school.

Children in the old part of Hebron are kept under curfew for months at a time, making it impossible for them to go to class. However, instead of giving up on their right to an education, the children scramble across the roofs to avoid soldiers. "Whenever I go to school it's so scary. When we meet soldiers they force us back with tear gas or percussion grenades," states 12 year old Islam. A local doctor reports treating children whose legs or hands have been broken by soldiers. The violence and disruption has a severe psychological impact on the children. Pass rates in Arabic fell from 71% to 38% between 2000 and 2001 and parents claim that the children are becoming more violent. With even young children now being treated as terrorists, the prospect of peace looks distant.





What Americans Don't Want to Know
Even President Obama appears indifferent to the suffering of Palestinians
Israel Wall racial segregation wall- Israeli Apartheid Supported By The US
Israeli West Bank Wall
physical barrier between the Israeli and Palestinians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_...




Village Destroyed for Israeli Security Wall
Nov. 26, 2007
http://www.btselem.org/english/Video/

More than 200 Palestinians lived in Khirbet Qasa, West of Hebron. The village was an enclave in the area between the Green Line and the Separation Barrier, whose construction was recently completed. www.btselem.org

B'Tselem is an Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories



Another group of Jewish Israelis formed an organization to bring out into the open the routine crimes committed by Israeli soldiers told by the soldiers themselves who act as witnesses to the truth and act as the conscience of Israel.

Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk about the Occupied Territories

Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely. Cases of abuse towards Palestinians, looting, and destruction of property have been the norm for years, but are still excused as military necessities, or explained as extreme and unique cases. Our testimonies portray a different and grim picture of questionable orders in many areas regarding Palestinian civilians. These demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military. While this reality which is known to Israeli soldiers and commanders exists in Israel's back yard, Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name. Discharged soldiers who return to civilian life discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the Territories , and the silence which they encounter at home. In order to become a civilian again, soldiers are forced to ignore their past experiences. Breaking the Silence voices the experiences of those soldiers, in order to force Israeli society to address the reality which it created.

And for those who might be interested there is petition to be sent to the UN regarding Israel's alleged War Crimes:

To: President and Member States of United Nations General Assembly PETITION To President and Member States of United Nations General Assembly The Creation of a Special Tribunal to try Israeli War Criminals

Recalling that Israel was created by virtue of a General Assembly Resolution in 1947 against the wishes of the indigenous population of Palestine;

Recalling that the creation of Israel was achieved through the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population, which resulted in the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, and that more than half of the population of 1.5 millions of the Palestinian Occupied Territory called the Gaza Strip are Palestinian refugees who have become, with the other civilian population, victims of the recent Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip;

Noting that the UN Human Rights Council, in its ninth Special Session, has adopted on 12 January 2009, a resolution “on the grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including the recent aggression of the occupied Gaza Strip” in which it “strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli military operation which had resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people and systematic destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure”; and “decided to dispatch an urgent independent international fact-finding mission to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying power against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory”(United Nations Press Release of 12 January 2009, Human Rights Council, ROUNDUP);

Recalling that Israel has in the past refused to cooperate with similar fact-finding commissions or even give them visas to enter;

Recalling Article 22 of the Charter of the United Nations

Recalling further the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9th July 2004 on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall by Israel, the occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in which the Court emphasized the special responsibility of the General Assembly for the Question of Palestine;


The undersigned NGOs and individuals

Call upon the General Assembly to create a special international tribunal to try Israel, its political and military leaders, for such crimes in violation of international law, human rights law and international humanitarian law in the Palestinian Occupied Territory of which they may be charged.


also see: Rehavam Ze'evi: A controversial figure CNN.com April 28, 2002

and:
The forthright politician sparked controversy in July for referring to Palestinians working and living illegally in Israel as "lice" and a "cancer."

Hatikvah: Nationalist Party for 'Tel Aviv Settlers' by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Israel National News Nov.2007

"I, personally, for instance, am a settler in Tel Aviv, a settler in Ramat Aviv," Breiman confessed. "I think that for the 'orange seculars' in Ramat Aviv and throughout the center of the country, there is no real address for their vote. We want to be that address for them, in order to return the State of Israel to Zionism. Instead of worrying about the 'right of return' for Arabs, worry about our return to Zionism."
and also see:
"Israeli Cabinet Approves Adding Ultra-Nationalist Party to Coalition".Publication: Israel Faxx Date: Tuesday, October 31 2006

and:
Dec 18, 2008 Moledet breaks from newly formed Bayit Hayehudi
By ABE SELIG Jerusalem Post

and :
ISRAEL'S IMAGE by Shifra Hoffman Shuva Return Blog January 13, 2009 in which she writes that Hamas has won the propaganda war-

Also see for views by Israel's right wing Moledet. org Website

the following is a statement on their website:

Moledet, Israel’s foremost right-wing political party, was founded in 1988 by General Rechavam Ze’evy (res.).

The following is a brief synopsis of Moledet’s objectives, as stated in the party’s platform.
Introduction

* Moledet seeks to achieve the vision of settling the Land of Israel, as was promised to the Jewish People.
* Moledet follows the guidelines set by the founding fathers of Zionism, who recognized the exclusive right of the Jewish nation to settle in Eretz Yisrael, building a great country with peace and security, and ensuring that the Land of Israel remains in the hands of the Jewish People.
* The Moledet Party is comprised of both secular and religious constituents who share common beliefs such as unity among Jews, and the staunch support of the Nation of Israel, the Land of Israel, and the Jewish Bible.


and so it goes,
GORD.

BBC Banned Gaza Humanitarian Aid Appeal Video & The End of Zionism

UPDATE: Jan. 28, 2009 11:20 & 11:43 AM.

- Banned Video of Humanitarian aid appeal for Gaza
Sending aid to Gaza is seen as promoting terrorism
- Video Gaza 101- the children of Gaza
- Avraham Burg's " The End of Zionism "
- Israeli settler Rabbi preaches hate against Palestinians
- Israel defends IDF against possible War Crimes charges- officials say no one has a right to judge Israeli action in Gaza.
- President Obama says he will not take sides - Israel's bombing UN facilities and schools etc. is not his concern

I am posting this video because the BBC and others refuse to show it . They claim that because the group is asking for donations for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza it is therefore a condemnation of Israel and therefore biased towards Hamas. This seems an outrageous attack on humanitarian aid organizations whose work is to help those who are suffering the consequences of a catastrophic event whether it is man made as in the case of a war or whether it is due to a natural event such as a Tsunami or Hurricane etc. This has been the attitude for years on the part of the Israeli government and the IDF towards any humanitarian aid groups such as the UN or the International Committee of the Red Cross or human rights groups such as Amnesty International working in Gaza. The Israelis are suspicious of all such groups and see them as part of the problem in Gaza. To the Israelis anyone who helps the people of Gaza are enemies of Israel.

OFFICIAL: DEC Gaza Aid Appeal: BANNED by the BBC and SKY



What Israelis and Americans Don't want to know about Gaza.

Gaza's Reality (Occupation 101 Movie Clip)
The living conditions of Palestinian refugees living in Gaza. A short clip from the award-winning film 'Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority."
For more info please visit www.occupation101.com.
DVD also available on AMAZON.COM !!



Settlers dominate Israeli Policies - CBS Speaks the Unspeakable
How the Israelis Forces the IDF do as they please in The West Bank etc.
CBS 60 Minutes Exposing Israeli Apartheid - 1/ Jan. 25, 2009

On Sunday, January 25, CBS 60 Minutes aired an amazing segment exposing Israel's apartheid against Palestinians. The piece is by Senior CBS Foreign Correspondent Bob Simon, who is Jewish living outside Tel-Aviv and produced by Robert G, Anderson





After the current conflict in Gaza Israelis should be pondering what kind of state are they defending and what kind of state they hope to achieve. Is it a state they would be proud of ?
Is Israel to take the path of justice or injustice . Surely the desire for security should not lead to the virtual incarceration of a whole people who are humiliated on a daily basis whose livelihood can be stripped away on a whim whose basic human rights are denied to them and yet are told that they are not permitted to complain and that they must turn the other cheek when they are struck while those who oppress them may treat them as they see fit.

Anyway here is part of an insightful article which attempts to cut through the Fog of War and never ending conflict which speaks to the humanity of those people of Israel who's hearts are not yet turned to lead or stone who are willing to step into the shoes of those they call their enemy and even for a moment or an hour or two feel what they feel daily.

" The end of Zionism:Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy " Avraham Burg guardian.co.uk, 15 September 2003

The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.

There is time to change course, but not much. What is needed is a new vision of a just society and the political will to implement it. Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out.

The opposition does not exist, and the coalition, with Ariel Sharon at its head, claims the right to remain silent. In a nation of chatterboxes, everyone has suddenly fallen dumb, because there's nothing left to say. We live in a thunderously failed reality. Yes, we have revived the Hebrew language, created a marvellous theatre and a strong national currency. Our Jewish minds are as sharp as ever. We are traded on the Nasdaq. But is this why we created a state? The Jewish people did not survive for two millennia in order to pioneer new weaponry, computer security programs or anti-missile missiles. We were supposed to be a light unto the nations. In this we have failed.

It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.

It is very comfortable to be a Zionist in West Bank settlements such as Beit El and Ofra. The biblical landscape is charming. You can gaze through the geraniums and bougainvilleas and not see the occupation. Travelling on the fast highway that skirts barely a half-mile west of the Palestinian roadblocks, it's hard to comprehend the humiliating experience of the despised Arab who must creep for hours along the pocked, blockaded roads assigned to him. One road for the occupier, one road for the occupied.

This cannot work. Even if the Arabs lower their heads and swallow their shame and anger for ever, it won't work. A structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself. Note this moment well: Zionism's superstructure is already collapsing like a cheap Jerusalem wedding hall. Only madmen continue dancing on the top floor while the pillars below are collapsing...

Avraham Burg was speaker of Israel's Knesset in 1999-2003 and is a former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

There are claims that Israelis involved in War Crimes in Gaza may be arrested if they enter those countries which still respect International Law and the " Rule Of Law ". President Obama talks about the Rule of Law but it is mere rhetoric since his administration defends Israel's War Crimes and he defends America's War Crimes committed by American forces in Iraq and elsewhere. It's about time the rest of the world stood up to any nation which has or is alleged to have committed War Crimes. It should not matter if that country is the US or Israel or any other nation - either all nations are to be held accountable for their crimes or none are. Such nations which refuse to take action on their own to see that justice is done and which refuse to permit their citizens to be brought before an International Court on War Crimes should be deemed an outlaw state or Rogue Nation. As the UN and America were quite willing to demand sanctions on Iraq under Saddam so why shouldn't the same principles be applied to other nations including the US and Israel when they commit War Crimes or refuse to obey International Law. Otherwise we might as well dismantle the UN and other International bodies.

Israel's Leaders Are Frantically Trying to Prevent War Crimes Proceedings for Their Gaza Atrocities By Jonathan Cook, AlterNet. Jan. 26, 2009.

Israeli officials are in a frenzy of activity to forestall legal actions abroad over their involvement in the recent Gaza offensive.

Mounting fear in Israel that the country's leaders face war crimes charges over their involvement in the recent Gaza offensive pushed officials into a frenzy of activity at the weekend to forestall legal actions abroad.

The urgency was underlined after rumors last week that Belgian authorities might arrest Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, if she attended a summit of European counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday. In an indication of how seriously the matter is judged, Ms Livni's advisers were on the verge of canceling her trip when the story was revealed to be a hoax.

Nonetheless, officials are braced for real attempts to arrest senior political and military figures following a warning from the country's chief law officer, Menachem Mazuz, that Israel will soon face "a wave of international lawsuits".

In response, the government is setting up a special task force to work on legal defenses, has barred the media from naming or photographing army officers involved in the Gaza attack, and has placed restrictions on overseas visits. Today, ministers were expected to approve an aid package to help soldiers fight warrants abroad for their arrest.

---
It is not surprising that an Israeli Rabbi handed out pamphlets to Israeli soldiers telling them not to show mercy to Palestinians in Gaza since the whole tone of the Israeli government has become more and more racist in its views about all Arabs.

"" "Rabbi told Israeli troops 'to show no mercy' in Gaza"AFP Jan. 26, 2009

– An Israeli human rights group on Monday called for the immediate dismissal of the chief military rabbi, claiming he gave soldiers fighting in Gaza pamphlets urging them to show no mercy.

Yesh Din said it had written to both Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, urging them to "take this incitement seriously and fire Chief Military Rabbi" Brigadier General Avi Ronzki.

It said a pamphlet distributed to soldiers taking part in Operation Cast Lead stressed that the troops should show no mercy to their enemies, and that the pamphlet borders "on incitement and racism against the Palestinian people."

"When you show mercy to a cruel enemy you are being cruel to pure and honest soldiers. These are not games at the amusement park where sportsmanship teaches one to make concessions. This is a war on murderers," Yesh Din quoted the pamphlet as saying.

It said the pamphlet quotes at length statements by Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a spiritual leader of the Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank who opposes any compromise with Palestinians.

"The Palestinians claim they deserve a state here, when in reality there was never a Palestinian or Arab state within the borders of our country," the pamphlet quoted Aviner as saying.

The rights group said the pamphlet contains "degrading and belittling messages that border on incitement and racism against the Palestinian people. These messages can be interpreted as a call to act outside of the confines of international laws of war."

The Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday that far right-wing groups also gave out pamphlets bearing racist messages on military bases.

And once again on the overwhelming military might which Israel brought down upon the people of Gaza to keep them in their place to destroy what was left of their meagre existence after a two year siege in which the people were denied the basic necessities of existence except for that which the Israelis allowed to trickle in. And so the Gazans relied on hundreds of tunnels to bring in supplies. The Israelis claimed the tunnels were used to bring in large numbers of sophisticated weapons and maybe even a few WMDs they managed to sneak out of Iraq .Did Hamas hide them as Bush claimed Saddam had hid his WMDs . If Hamas was so well armed why was there not more well staged attacks on the Israeli Forces why was there almost no resistance. Shouldn't Hamas been able to bring down a few Apache helicopters or F16s that is if they were so well organized and well equipped. Or is it just that a few Religious Fanatics and the militarists have taken control of the country . Are the Israelis just caught up in a vicious cycle of violence and revenge in which they kill 100 Palestinians for each Israeli killed.

"How to Kill a Palestinian " by Elias Akleh, Media With Conscience, Jan.27, 2009

The Israeli bombardment targeted everything in Gaza including government buildings, police headquarters, banks and business offices, the main university, 67 schools sheltering civilians, shopping centers and market places, factories, water, sewer, and electricity infrastructures, private homes and apartment towers and charity organizations. Farms, including their animals, were also targeted and hundreds of acres of crops and fruit groves were incinerated. Religious buildings, where civilians usually seek shelter, were specifically targeted. Israeli fighter planes had completely destroyed 41 mosques, and partially damaged 51 others. One church was also targeted. Even cemeteries were not spared; 5 of them were bombed.

Although the Israeli army was given the exact GPS co-ordinates of every UN structure, as asserted by Christopher Gunness, the UNRWA spokesman, Israeli F-16 planes had repeatedly dropped phosphorous bombed on UN schools knowing very well that hundreds of civilians had taken shelter there. At least 45 children and women were burnt and murdered there.

The UN headquarters in Gaza City was also hit with three, not just one, phosphorous bombs burning tons of humanitarian aid and food stuff. The fire kept on burning for three days. UN-flagged humanitarian convoy was also shelled killing one driver.

Medical centers and paramedics were not spared. The Red Crescent Al-Quds hospital in Tal el-Hawa neighborhood was hit by Israeli shells and caught on fire. Other two hospitals; Al-Wafa and Al-Fata hospitals, were also shelled, leading the World Health Organization to express its deep concern about the serious implications of such bombardments. 16 other smaller health clinics and 16 ambulances were also damaged. Medics were targeted and prevented from helping the injured. Ten of them, including two doctors, were murdered.

Media centers were particularly targeted. Local and international news reporters were prevented from entering Gaza. Those, who were able to enter, were directly targeted. The Al-Shuruq office tower housing several international and Arab media outlets was directly hit. Two cameramen working for Abu Dhabi TV were injured, while the offices of Reuters News Agency, Fox TV, Sky, and Al-Arabiya TV offices were damaged. Another raid had damaged the headquarter offices of Al-Resala newspaper.

Similar to all their previous wars the Israeli soldiers had committed massacres against Palestinian unarmed civilians. They have used internationally banned weapons such as phosphorous bombs, DIME, and depleted uranium, as reported by international physicians, eyewitnesses, and military experts. Israeli soldiers had mutilated the bodies of their victims to instill terror in the hearts of people hoping they will leave Gaza. Israeli soldiers herded many families in one building using them as human shield, and then later on bombed the building on top of them. They shot civilians, mainly children, directly and at point blank. The bodies of some children were found shot several times; as many as 18 bullets in the body of a 12 years old girl, and 12 bullets in the body of her 2 years old sister.

--------
Chris Hedges argues in this next article that the coverage by the US Media of the Israeli invasion of Gaza was not even handed but tended to accept Israel's version of events uncritically. The narrative taken up by the US media was that Hamas was a well armed formidable adversary which was a real threat to the State of Israel which was far from the truth. Hamas spokespersons unfortunately at times themselves over stated their military capacity in a bit of bravado. The American journalists given this Israeli version of reality tended to perceive all of the people of Gaza as if they were all potential terrorists . Therefore Americans reasoned that it was ok to mass murder civilians as the Americans have been accused of doing in their invasion and occupation of Iraq.


" With Gaza, Journalists Fail Again " by Chris Hedges Truthdig.com Jan. 26, 2009

The assault on Gaza exposed not only Israel's callous disregard for international law but the gutlessness of the American press. There were no major newspapers, television networks or radio stations that challenged Israel's fabricated version of events that led to the Gaza attack or the daily lies Israel used to justify the unjustifiable. Nearly all reporters were, as during the buildup to the Iraq war, pliant stenographers and echo chambers. If we as journalists have a product to sell, it is credibility. Take that credibility away and we become little more than propagandists and advertisers. By refusing to expose lies we destroy, in the end, ourselves.

... Israel's brutal military tactics, despite the lack of coverage in the American press, have come under intense international scrutiny. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, blame the high civilian death toll on indiscriminate firing and shelling, as well as the use of white phosphorus shells in civilian areas. Israel has admitted using white phosphorus in Gaza but insists the chemical, used for smoke screens and to mark spots to be shelled or bombed, was not used directly against civilians.

...But Hamas, elected to power in 2006, also brought effective civil control to Gaza. ..Hamas, once it assumed power, halted suicide bombing attacks on Israel. It ended rocket fire into Israel for almost a year. It upheld its agreement with Israel. ..

... Israel is now destroying Hamas. Radical Islamic groups, such as al-Qaida, far more violent and irrational, stand poised to replace Hamas...

The Israeli government bears the responsibility for its crimes. But by giving credibility to the lies and false narratives Israel uses to justify wholesale slaughter we empower not only Israel's willful self-destruction but our own. The press, as happened during the buildup to the Iraq war, was again feckless and gutless. It bent to the will of the powerful. It abandoned its sacred contract with its readers, listeners and viewers to always tell the truth. It chattered about nothing. It obscured the facts. It did this while hundreds of women and children were torn to shreds by iron fragmentation bombs in a flagrant violation of international law. And as it failed it lauded itself for doing "a fair, balanced and complete job."

-----------------
and so it goes,
GORD.

President Obama Drinks The Bush Kool-Aid Says No Laws Were Broken: UPDATED!

UPDATED: Jan. 28, 3:25 PM- Corrections made as the video from the Young Turks has been removed from YouTube as have about 20 other TYT videos possibly for copyright?
added videos from Rachel Maddow & Keith Olbermann on the issue of US government spying on journalists .

Is Obama started to sound like the same old same old or what - dropping bombs on civilians - refusing to recognize Hamas which was democratically elected - defending Israel's WAR CRIMES - defending corrupt & criminal Americans who worked for Bush and His Gang of Thugs ??? Defending the torturers and those who mass murdered the citizens of Iraq -

FLOBOTS - The Same Thing




IN CASE PRESIDENT OBAMA MISSED IT- Crimes Mr. Obama were committed !!!
Olbermann list the crimes and misdemeanors and lies of the eight years of the Bush Regime.
Keith Olbermann- 8 years in 8 minutes





In the clip below it is absolutely incredible and unbelievable that President Obama says " no one has broken the law " Bush and Cheney broke US laws and International Laws. Where was he the last eight years. Did he purposely avoid watching Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow or Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! Did he spend too much time watching the apologists on the Mainstream Media such as CNN and Fox News etc.

The Real News Network - A New Sheriff in Town ?
January 23, 2009
President Obama announces plans for Guantánamo, Afghanistan and the Middle East



So it appears detainees could still be held indefinitely but not at Guantanamo. Obama also referred to the US Military Field Manual but it nis a flawed document which allows for enhanced interrogation techniques which are not permitted under the Geneva Conventions . Is President Obama aware of this or is he just playing the same old shell game that Bush played that is by making something legal under American law which in fact contravenes International Law. It is also not the case that just a couple of detainees were abused and tortured but that thousands may have been abused and tortured by American personnel or their proxies. For instance it is against the Geneva Conventions to hand over a detainee to any organization or state which it is believed torture or abuses prisoners.

"Official: UN May Prosecute Bush Administration, Regardless Of US Action" By David Edwards Raw Story , Jan. 23, 2009

-- The UN's special torture rapporteur called on the US Tuesday to pursue former president George W. Bush and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of Guantanamo prisoners.

"Judicially speaking, the United States has a clear obligation" to bring proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak said, in remarks to be broadcast on Germany's ZDF television Tuesday evening.

He noted Washington had ratified the UN convention on torture which required "all means, particularly penal law" to be used to bring proceedings against those violating it.

"We have all these documents that are now publicly available that prove that these methods of interrogation were intentionally ordered by Rumsfeld," against detainees at the US prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Nowak said.

"But obviously the highest authorities in the United States were aware of this," added Nowak, who authored a UN investigation report on the Guantanamo prison.

Bush stepped down from power Tuesday, with Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States.

Asked about chances to bring legal action against Bush and Rumsfeld, Nowak said: "In principle yes. I think the evidence is on the table."

At issue, however, is whether "American law will recognise these forms of torture."

A bipartisan Senate report released last month found Rumsfeld and other top administration officials responsible for abuse of Guantanamo detainees in US custody.

It said Rumsfeld authorized harsh interrogation techniques on December 2, 2002 at the Guantanamo prison, although he ruled them out a month later.

The coercive measures were based on a document signed by Bush in February, 2002.

French, German and US rights groups have previously said they wanted to bring legal action against Rumsfeld.

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If the UN or some other International Body or Organization could in fact bring these people to justice this would mean to the rest of the world that the Rule of Law does mean something.

This in effect would take the pressure off of President Obama. But it still shows President Obama to not have the courage to take such action that is to apply the Rule Of Law to anyone who has committed a criminal act whether under American Law or International Law . And further he could show the world that America applies the law equally to former Presidents or military personnel whether generals or privates to those who are even among the rich and powerful . Many people had hoped President Obama would make those who committed crimes accountable including those Americans who voted for him and those around the world who had high hopes for his presidency. For some reason he seems to feel more obligated to the political hacks and the elite and other vested interests in Washington than to his own supporters.

The Bush/ Cheney Regime is probably going to go unpunished for its myriad of crimes and misdemeanors with President Obama's help. The ultraconservatives and the Neocons are delighted and are sounding triumphant . They either now feel vindicated because if they had really done anything illegal then President Obama would surely as a man of principle and integrity would be forced to do something about it. But President Obama has not and says he will not so the Bushies were not that bad afterall. Or the Bushies believe President Obama doesn't have enough proof of wrong-doing so the Bushies can claim victory for having done a good job covering their tracks. But maybe President Obama is afraid to take action because some Democrats and even some who are connected with his administration might be implicated in all the crimes and misdemeanors and cover-ups of the Bush Regime. One of the other rationalizations President Obama may consider is that he fears that prosecutions might harm America's reputation. As far as the International community goes America's reputation would be restored if President Obama was willing to take action.

But certain crimes such as the abuse and torture of detainees and the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses and the various war crimes committed by the Bush Regime violated not just US Law but International Laws and the Geneva Conventions and the US forces would be accountable to the United Nations and other International bodies. I fear that President Obama as an American is unwilling to allow any foreign or International Court or body to be permitted to pass judgement on American policies and actions.

But it could be that President Obama has his own self-interest in mind as Paul Craig Roberts points out in this next article:


"In America, Speaking the Truth Is a Career-ending Event " By Paul Craig Roberts Information Clearing House, Jan. 26, 2009

...The same calculation of self-interest causes American journalists to serve as shills for Israeli and US government propaganda and the US Congress to endorse Israeli war crimes that the rest of the world condemns.

When US military officers saw that torture was a policy coming down from the top, they knew that doing the right thing would cost them their careers. They trimmed their sails. One who did not was Major General Antonio Taguba. Instead of covering up the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal, General Taguba wrote an honest report that terminated his career.

Despite legislation that protects whistleblowers, it is always the whistleblower, not the wrongdoer, who suffers. When it finally became public that the Bush regime was committing felonies under US law by using the NSA to spy on Americans, the Justice (sic) Department went after the whistleblower. Nothing was done about the felonies.

Yet Bush and the Justice (sic) Department continued to assert that “we are a nation of law.”

The Bush regime was a lawless regime. This makes it difficult for the Obama regime to be a lawful one. A torture inquiry would lead naturally into a war crimes inquiry. General Taguba said that the Bush regime committed war crimes. President Obama was a war criminal by his third day in office when he ordered illegal cross-border drone attacks on Pakistan that murdered 20 people, including 3 children. The bombing and strafing of homes and villages in Afghanistan by US forces and America’s NATO puppets are also war crimes. Obama cannot enforce the law, because he himself has already violated it.

For decades the US government has taken the position that Israel’s territorial expansion is not constrained by any international law. The US government is complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank.

The entire world knows that Israel is guilty of war crimes and that the US government made the crimes possible by providing the weapons and diplomatic support. What Israel and the US did in Lebanon and Gaza is no different from crimes for which Nazis were tried at Nuremberg. Israel understands this, and the Israeli government is currently preparing its defense, which will be led by Israeli Justice (sic) Minister Daniel Friedman. UN war crimes official Richard Falk has compared Israel’s massacre of Gazans to the Nazi starvation and massacre of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. Amnesty International and the Red Cross have demanded Israel be held accountable for war crimes. Even eight Israeli human rights groups have called for an investigation into Israel’s war crimes.

Obama’s order to close Guantanamo Prison means very little. Essentially, Obama’s order is a public relations event. The tribunal process had already been shut down by US courts and by military lawyers, who refused to prosecute the fabricated cases. The vast majority of the prisoners were hapless individuals captured by Afghan warlords and sold for money to the stupid Americans as “terrorists.” Most of the prisoners, people the Bush regime told us were “the most dangerous people alive,” have already been released.

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as for other crimes committed by Bush it appears he and his thugs will get a free ride once again . But how could it be otherwise . All those for instance in the Media who did not speak out about the Bush Regime's crimes are themselves guilty of complicity in those crimes.

For instance Bush claimed he was not illegally wiretapping and was getting court orders for wiretaps and that any wiretaping that was done was related to terrorist activity. But he lied and was illegally wiretaping the phones of a large number of American citizens . But the conservatives defended him claiming Bush had every right to wiretap all those leftist and liberal journalists and any organization or individual who was critical of any of his policies or who might make fun of him in a conversation or in a Blog. Didn't Saddam also keep a close watch on the citizens of Iraq.

- Now Bush should be under investigation and if necessary be indicted and put in jail but Obama is not interested in applying American laws to Bush & Co. or International Law when applicable. So is Obama saying that the rule of law does not come into play after the fact- so when does one bring in the rule of law. Is Obama afraid that in the future in the name of America's Security and interests he may feel the need to break US law or International Laws for which he might be held accountable.

We can see why Hillary Clinton and President Obama are so obsessed with defending Israel in the commission of similar Criminal activities from spying on its own citizens to the abuse and torture of detainees to various war crimes. Heaven forbid an Israeli administration or its military forces have to act according to International Laws or the Geneva Conventions or to act morally or even with some common decency.

So their reasoning might be that if Israel were made to be accountable to the UN or any other international Body for its War Crimes the next thing you know the nations of the world might insist that the US also be held accountable for its actions and policies.

In that case a handful or a large number of people in the former Bush administration and the US military might have to appear before an International Body to answer for their crimes. Maybe as an American who believes in American exceptionalism even to President Obama this is unthinkable since no one dictates to Americans about what is or is not a crime. If this is so then this is a major character flaw on his part and all his talk about open government , honesty and integrity are just bits of empty rhetoric.
odd how terrorists target journalists and so does America and Israel and other not so democratic state.

In this case the Bush Regime spied on American journalists since they believed many Journalists were out to undermine the Bush Regime and were therefore acting as enemies of the United States. Bush personnel conflated any criticism of the Bush Regime as being enemies of America. Saddam and other dictators supported by the US government over the last sixty years have also had a similar attitude towards the Press (ie Pinochet of Chile, , Shah of Iran , Franco of Spain,Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua,Col. Hugo Banzer of Bolivia,Papa Doc of Haiti, Trujillo of the Dominican Republic,Batista of Cuba, Gen. Branco of Brazil, Stressner of Paraquay, Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina , Suharto of Indonesia see for instance US-sponsored Murderous Dictatorships:A List . According to conservative Americans these dictators were to be praised as the great defenders of Western Civilization and Christendom. But then again the Tzar of Russia and later the Communists of Russia also curtail the Freedom of the Press.

Olbermann Breaking News - Bush Adm. Wiretapped Reporters
The Young Turks commentary - Bush lied and broke the law

Rachel Maddow continues the examination of domestic wiretapping revelations 01-23-09

Rachel Maddow continues examining the newly revealed evidence that the Bush Administration was spying on journalists, politicians, soldiers, and other civilians without a court order. Most egregious seems to be that they were listening in on 'pillow talk' and marital fights among soldiers serving the US military.



KO Countdown : Wiretap : Journalist Reaction- Jan. 22, 2009
Journalist reacts to wiretapping revelations

The New York Times James Risen responds to the claims by former NSA intelligence analyst Russell Tice that journalists were targets of the Bush administrations wiretapping.




The US forces in Iraq have been accused of firing on Journalists which contravenes International Law. But there is testimony from a member of US Intelligence who was working in Iraq at the time and can testify on the facts.
Further evidence is that three of the American soldiers involved were found guilty in abstentia in a Spanish court but the US government refused to extradite these soldiers to Spain.

If these allegations are true then those responsible should be held accountable. This would mean that the soldiers and their commanders in the field and anyone above them who ordered the shelling of journalists would also be accountable. If there was a cover up of this incident at higher levels those people too should be indicted and incarcerated. Otherwise International Law has no force over the American military or the US administrations . So if Dick Cheney or Bush or Rumsfeld gave the order to fire on journalists President Obama is going to defend the criminals because Americans do not recognize International Law including the Geneva Conventions.

That the Bush Regime refused to turn these soldiers over to the Spanish government was to be expected . The question is will the Obama administration do the right thing and hand these soldiers over to the Spanish government .

We can see why Hillary Clinton and President Obama are so obsessed with defending Israel in similar Criminal activities. Otherwise a few hundred people in the Bush administration and the US military might have to appear before an International Body to answer for their crimes. Even to President Obama this is unthinkable since no one dictates to Americans about what is or is not a crime.

It is no wonder then that the Israeli's in their conflict in Gaza also feel they have no reason to adhere to International Law and the Geneva Conventions. The Israelis are also accused of targeting Journalists and other personnel such as medics and members of Human Rights organizations or the UN etc. If America can do what it likes during a conflict then Israel believes it should have the same rights.

Anyway American forces were accused of targeting journalists and there is concrete evidence of this but it doesn't register with the mainstream media or for President Obama. After all they only killed a couple of "liberal " or Left wing journalists who don't always buy into the lies those in power love to sell.


Former Military Intelligence Officer Speaks Out-1/5- Democracy Now!
American forces in Iraq deliberately target journalists in Hotel Palestine

DEMOCRACY NOW! EXCLUSIVE: Fmr. Military Intelligence Officer Reveals US Listed Palestine Hotel in Baghdad as Target Prior to Killing of Two Journalists in 2003



Former Military Intelligence Officer Speaks Out-2/5- Democracy Now



also see:

A CNN Executive Says G.I.s in Iraq Target Journalists
By RODERICK BOYD, Staff Reporter of the Sun | February 8, 2005

The head of CNN's news division, Eason Jordan, ignited an Internet firestorm last week when he told a panel at a World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, that the American military had targeted journalists during operations in Iraq.

Mr. Jordan, speaking in a panel discussion titled "Will Democracy Survive the Media?" said "he knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy," said Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat of Massachusetts who was on the panel with Mr. Jordan.

In an interview with The New York Sun, Mr. Frank said Mr. Jordan discussed in detail the plight of an Al-Jazeera reporter who had been detained by American forces, was made to eat his shoes while incarcerated in the Abu Ghraib prison, and was repeatedly mocked by his interrogators as "Al-Jazeera boy."

and so it goes,

GORD.