A study of public opinion in predominantly Muslim countries reveals that very large majorities continue to renounce the use of attacks on civilians as a means of pursuing political goals. At the same time large majorities agree with al Qaeda’s goal of pushing the United States to remove its military forces from all Muslim countries and substantial numbers, in some cases majorities, approve of attacks on US troops in Muslim countries.
Why Turkey will no longer remain silent in the face of Israeli crimes in Palestine. The Jewish state’s isolation over its barbarity grows. Over to you, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan:
We are always telling them [Hamas)]to act differently, that we are for a two-state solution: Palestine and Israel. They have to accept this, but Israel also has to accept Palestine. Is Israel right now accepting Palestine? They are still not accepting them. But it is being expected of the Palestinian people to accept Israel. Now go and ask Mr Netanyahu if he is accepting Palestine.
Hamas doesn’t have any planes. Hamas doesn’t have any tanks or artillery, and with the use of disproportionate force Gaza was being put under fire. One thousand, one hundred and 30people have died. We have more than 5,500 injured. Who is going to ask: what has happened here and who is going to pay the price for this?
Why Hizbollah rules southern Lebanon.
A Jerusalem Post columnist asks the difference between the counter-insurgency tactics employed by Israel and Sri Lanka.
He can’t understand why the Jewish state is condemned for tackling “terrorism”, but Sri Lanka is seemingly praised for routing the Tamil Tigers.
In fact, both countries employ terror to achieve their goals and neither will succeed.
Of course, if Sri Lanka wants to use Israel as its model, it will soon find itself isolated by the bulk of the world.
European Union aid has been given to an Israeli oil company which has reduced the supply of fuel to Gaza as part of an economic blockade internationally recognized as illegal, Brussels officials have admitted.
Tony Karon, Time.com, February 12:
Fatah leaders see the Israeli election as confirming what they already knew: there’s nothing to be gained by continuing the charade of U.S.-sponsored talks about talks with the Israelis. Palestinians could not get what they needed from Olmert, and they know that his successors will take even more of a hard line. From the Palestinian perspective, the past eight years of waiting for negotiations with Israel have left Abbas empty-handed, while the latest Gaza conflict has put Hamas in a stronger position than ever in the court of Palestinian public opinion. Despite the violence by Hamas gunmen against Fatah activists in Gaza since the Israeli offensive, many in Fatah view their movement’s only hope of re-establishing a leading role in Palestinian politics as being to join a unity government with Hamas — and begin to directly challenge the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The fact that such a sentiment coincides with Israel’s electing a more hawkish government suggests that the Middle East could be in for a long, hot summer.
…It’s time that Israel and virtually the entire international community be held to account for the humanitarian ramifications of the past 20 months’ economic warfare against the population of Gaza.
The following report, published in Hebrew in Ma’ariv on February 23, has been translated by Melbourne-based Sol Salbe.
The content speaks for itself and proves, yet again, that the Jewish state’s behaviour is causing anti-Semitism around the world:
Olmert: Antisemitism on the rise – because of the Occupation
During the weekly full ministry meeting Olmert argued that the rise in the level of antisemitism in the world is caused by the Occupation. “That situation provides an opening to attack Israel.”
22/02/2009 18.27 [Israel time]
Eli Bradenstein
During the weekly ministry meeting that took place yesterday (Sunday) the Prime Minster dealt with the rising tide of antisemitism throughout the world. He suggested that the reason for it was the blockade of the Gaza Strip. “We need to remember that the Occupation is a problem for us”, he explained.
During the discussion of annual report of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute report of the Jewish people, the Prime Minster emphasised that “As long as this situation exists, it provides an opening to attack Israel and provides an opportunity for anti-Jewish forces to raise their voice.”
According to him: “We need to remember that the complex situation in which we are in (ie the Occupation – EB) promotes antisemitism.”
He further argued: “As long as we are presented as Occupiers, we will continue to suffer from antisemitic incidents. It is best that we don’t forget the broad picture and the compound implication of being Occupiers.”
In addition Olmert warned against the formation of a government of the extreme Right: “It must be understood not only what we faced in the past but what we will face in the future, if we project a world outlook in which ruling over another people is an integral part of our world outlook, one in which we have no interest to change.
A timely exert from Noam Chomsky’s book, Understanding Power, in which he proves yet again the gutlessness of the mainstream media:
[A] few years ago George Will wrote a column in Newsweek called “Mideast Truth and Falsehood,” about how peace activists are lying about the Middle East, everything they say is a lie. And in the article, there was one statement that had a vague relation to fact: He said that Sadat had refused to deal with Israel until 1977. So I wrote them a letter, the kind of letter you write to Newsweek–you know, four lines–in which I said, “Will has one statement of fact, it’s false; Sadat made a peace offer in 1971, and Israel and the United States turned it down.” Well, a couple days later I got a call from a research editor who checks facts for the Newsweek “Letters” column. She said: “We’re kind of interested in your letter; where did you get those facts?” So I told her, “Well, they’re published in Newsweek, on February 8, 1971″ –which is true, because it was a big proposal, it just happened to go down the memory hole in the United States because it was the wrong story. So she looked it up and called me back, and said, “Yeah, you’re right, we found it there; okay, we’ll run your letter.” An hour later she called again and said, “Gee, I’m sorry, but we can’t run the letter.” I said, “What’s the problem?” She said, “Well, the editor mentioned it to Will and he’s having a tantrum; they decided they can’t run it.” Well, okay.
New York Times columnist Roger Cohen on the relationship between Iran and its Jewish minority.
Like I wrote in my book, The Blogging Revolution, the myth of Jews being oppressed in the Islamic Republic is simply propaganda.
In this powerful speech, the great author Haruki Murakami explains his controversial decision to accept a literary prize in Israel and why we need to fight the System.
Noam Chomsky argues in a recent interview, in views that I share, that Hamas is far more amenable to peace than the US or Israel:
Well for several years Hamas has been very clear and explicit, repeatedly, that they favor a two state settlement on the international border. They said they would not recognize Israel but they would accept a two state settlement and a prolonged truce, maybe decades, maybe 50 years. Now, that’s not exactly the international consensus but it’s pretty close to it. On the other hand, the United States and Israel flatly reject it. They reject it in deeds, that’s why they are building all the construction development activities in the West Bank, not only in violation of international laws, US and Israel know that the illegal constructions are designed explicitly to convert the West Bank into what the architect of the policy, Arial Sharon, called bantustan. Israel takes over what it wants, break up Palestine into unviable fragments. That’s undermining a political settlement.
