Saturday, April 30, 2011
Atlas Folks Forced Take Down of Onerous Ads
Atlas readers, writers, and callers -- you are the bomb.
As you know, I have been excoriating Clear Channel for their cowardly cave-in to Jew-haters, for running their hateful ad while refusing our pro-Israel ads. I wrote on it extensively in our press release here and also here.
Geller, however, pointed out in a statement that the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's ads clearly constitute an incitement to violence against Jews. How is cutting military aid to Israel not an incitement to violence against them? With no aid and no military, Israel cannot defend itself, and is vulnerable to attack by its Muslim neighbors. It is also an incitement in the sense that the ad is a direct attempt to break a bond of friendship between the Israel and the United States, and that also renders Israel to attack."
Well, today, Clear Channel cancelled the Jew-hating campaign and will be taking the billboards down. And while I would have preferred to see our magnificent ads up, this is an excellent second best.
Thank you, freedom lovers. I stand in awe.
Pamela Geller
As you know, I have been excoriating Clear Channel for their cowardly cave-in to Jew-haters, for running their hateful ad while refusing our pro-Israel ads. I wrote on it extensively in our press release here and also here.
Geller, however, pointed out in a statement that the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's ads clearly constitute an incitement to violence against Jews. How is cutting military aid to Israel not an incitement to violence against them? With no aid and no military, Israel cannot defend itself, and is vulnerable to attack by its Muslim neighbors. It is also an incitement in the sense that the ad is a direct attempt to break a bond of friendship between the Israel and the United States, and that also renders Israel to attack."
Well, today, Clear Channel cancelled the Jew-hating campaign and will be taking the billboards down. And while I would have preferred to see our magnificent ads up, this is an excellent second best.
Thank you, freedom lovers. I stand in awe.
Pamela Geller
Will UN Turn Two-State Solution into a Land Grab?
Senior Fatah official Tawfiq Tirawi said Thursday that the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation will promote Palestinian interests ahead of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ planned statehood bid in September, making it “more important than peace with Israel.”
“We want this reconciliation to arrive at the UN General Assembly united. Appealing to the United Nations will be done with the support of all Palestinian factions and all the nations that have recognized a Palestinian state until now.”
Fatah and Hamas hate each other and have no desire to cede their respective power. They will keep things together just long enough for September and their hoped-for international recognition. This is exactly what they have done in the past.
And here is how the PA is planning to incorporate Hamas while pretending that “Palestine” accepts Israel’s right to exist:
T
irawi dismissed concerns voiced over the possibility that a future Palestinian government with Hamas in it will refuse to negotiate with Israel, saying that the Palestinian government will have “no say” in such peace talks, since “the only body allowed to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people is the PLO.”
So this is the game:
The PLO is the party that negotiates with Israel, and the party that officially recognizes Israel.
The PA is only responsible for governing the Arabs in the territories, not with any foreign relations.
The PA, despite claims of being democratic, reports to the PLO.
The fake Hamas/Fatah reconciliation is meant to only address the PA, not the PLO. They won’t hold any elections until after September, if ever.
So the PLO will claim to still recognize Israel and be peaceful, as it will claim that from its perspective nothing has changed.
The instant that Palestine is declared a state that is recognized by the world, in part because of these assurances that it is a peaceful state that recognizes Israel, Hamas and Fatah (and all the other terrorist parties that decide to join the government) will immediately take over the PLO’s foreign affairs, as that is what nations do. The PLO’s foreign affairs role will be superseded by “Palestine.”
Which means that the very minute that Palestine is recognized as a state, it will be by definition a terror state that no longer recognizes Israel! And indeed it will not need to. The entire peace process since Oslo has been a sham in order to gain territory, with peace being a tactic, not a strategy.
Hamas will insist that “Palestine”‘s foreign policy adhere to minimal Hamas demands, which is pretty much to insist that all of Israel is occupied territory–a position that the PA and PLO wholly agree with even if they will not say it in English. Their maps and logos show it to be true.
So instead of helping peace, this “unity” agreement is a recipe for prolonging and accelerating a six-decade war between the Arab world and Israel. A new “Palestine” would not help solve any of the real issues–like Jerusalem, “refugees,” water, Gilad Shalit, incitement to terror, actual terrorism. Hamas’ inclusion ensures that it will not be a peaceful state.
Will the West wake up in time to stop this recipe for disaster?
Elder of Ziyon
“We want this reconciliation to arrive at the UN General Assembly united. Appealing to the United Nations will be done with the support of all Palestinian factions and all the nations that have recognized a Palestinian state until now.”
Fatah and Hamas hate each other and have no desire to cede their respective power. They will keep things together just long enough for September and their hoped-for international recognition. This is exactly what they have done in the past.
And here is how the PA is planning to incorporate Hamas while pretending that “Palestine” accepts Israel’s right to exist:
T
irawi dismissed concerns voiced over the possibility that a future Palestinian government with Hamas in it will refuse to negotiate with Israel, saying that the Palestinian government will have “no say” in such peace talks, since “the only body allowed to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian people is the PLO.”
So this is the game:
The PLO is the party that negotiates with Israel, and the party that officially recognizes Israel.
The PA is only responsible for governing the Arabs in the territories, not with any foreign relations.
The PA, despite claims of being democratic, reports to the PLO.
The fake Hamas/Fatah reconciliation is meant to only address the PA, not the PLO. They won’t hold any elections until after September, if ever.
So the PLO will claim to still recognize Israel and be peaceful, as it will claim that from its perspective nothing has changed.
The instant that Palestine is declared a state that is recognized by the world, in part because of these assurances that it is a peaceful state that recognizes Israel, Hamas and Fatah (and all the other terrorist parties that decide to join the government) will immediately take over the PLO’s foreign affairs, as that is what nations do. The PLO’s foreign affairs role will be superseded by “Palestine.”
Which means that the very minute that Palestine is recognized as a state, it will be by definition a terror state that no longer recognizes Israel! And indeed it will not need to. The entire peace process since Oslo has been a sham in order to gain territory, with peace being a tactic, not a strategy.
Hamas will insist that “Palestine”‘s foreign policy adhere to minimal Hamas demands, which is pretty much to insist that all of Israel is occupied territory–a position that the PA and PLO wholly agree with even if they will not say it in English. Their maps and logos show it to be true.
So instead of helping peace, this “unity” agreement is a recipe for prolonging and accelerating a six-decade war between the Arab world and Israel. A new “Palestine” would not help solve any of the real issues–like Jerusalem, “refugees,” water, Gilad Shalit, incitement to terror, actual terrorism. Hamas’ inclusion ensures that it will not be a peaceful state.
Will the West wake up in time to stop this recipe for disaster?
Elder of Ziyon
10000 Arab Scholars Suggest Arab Spring May Be Zionist Plot
KOTTAKKAL, Kerala: The ulema conference organized by the Samastha Kerala Jam’iyathul Ulema, a body of Islamic scholars, has warned against the possibility of the uprisings in Muslim nations into the hands of Zionists.
“The Zionists and colonialists are doing everything at creating cracks in the unity of Ummah on the ethnic and nationalist lines. The Muslims should be cautious about this trap,” a resolution adopted by the three-day conference attended by more than 10,000 scholars said.
It's difficult to find the pattern of Zionist plots, but I think I cracked the code:
Anything going on in the world that you, personally, are uncomfortable with, is a Zionist plot.
Don't thank me, I'm glad to help.
“The Zionists and colonialists are doing everything at creating cracks in the unity of Ummah on the ethnic and nationalist lines. The Muslims should be cautious about this trap,” a resolution adopted by the three-day conference attended by more than 10,000 scholars said.
It's difficult to find the pattern of Zionist plots, but I think I cracked the code:
Anything going on in the world that you, personally, are uncomfortable with, is a Zionist plot.
Don't thank me, I'm glad to help.
Is Ahmadinejad in Political Trouble?
Iran’s president was missing from a cabinet meeting on Wednesday for the second consecutive time adding to speculation that the rift with the country’s supreme leader was widening on Wednesday, agencies reported.
The rift is over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision to dismiss Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi last week, a decision that was revoked by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mr. Moslehi was present on Tuesday at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the body that regulates educational and cultural issues, and which he chairs, Agence-France Press reported.
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s absence in that meeting was particularly noted, as he is known for never missing any opportunity to appear in the media and delivery fiery speeches, AFP said.
No reason was given for his absence by the state’s media.
Earlier on Saturday, in a speech that aired on state TV, Mr. Khamenei said he would intervene in government’s affairs “whenever necessary”—a rebuke to the president for challenging his all-encompassing authority.
The power struggle between the two leaders could be indicative of a serious political crisis in the making—especially ahead of legislative elections scheduled for March 2012. The presidential election will take place in 2013.
Analysts told The Associated Press that Mr. Ahmadinejad is looking to control the intelligence ministry in a bid to influence the next parliament as well as to determine the next president.
However, Mr. Khamenei is also seen as intent on helping shape a new political team, free of Ahmadinejad loyalists, to lead the next government.
It looks like the ayatollah is flexing his muscles to remind Mad Mahmoud exactly what "supreme leader" means.
UPDATE: After I wrote this, AP wrote this up about the topic:
A hard-line cleric warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Friday to end an escalating power struggle with Iran's supreme leader, calling it a religious obligation to do so and accusing the country's enemies of trying to sow rifts among its leadership.
The split threatens to destabilize Iran at a time of tension with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program and appears to center on a battle for influence between the two men over next year's parliamentary election and a presidential election in 2013.
"Obedience to the supreme leader is a religious obligation as well as a legal obligation, without any doubt," said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. He did not mention Ahmadinejad by name, but it was clear he was referring to the president.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has the final word on all matters of state in Iran, and hard-liners consider him above the law and answerable only to God.
As David G wrote in the comments, "'Obedience?!' What does he think Ahmadinejad is? A woman?"
The rift is over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision to dismiss Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi last week, a decision that was revoked by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mr. Moslehi was present on Tuesday at a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, the body that regulates educational and cultural issues, and which he chairs, Agence-France Press reported.
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s absence in that meeting was particularly noted, as he is known for never missing any opportunity to appear in the media and delivery fiery speeches, AFP said.
No reason was given for his absence by the state’s media.
Earlier on Saturday, in a speech that aired on state TV, Mr. Khamenei said he would intervene in government’s affairs “whenever necessary”—a rebuke to the president for challenging his all-encompassing authority.
The power struggle between the two leaders could be indicative of a serious political crisis in the making—especially ahead of legislative elections scheduled for March 2012. The presidential election will take place in 2013.
Analysts told The Associated Press that Mr. Ahmadinejad is looking to control the intelligence ministry in a bid to influence the next parliament as well as to determine the next president.
However, Mr. Khamenei is also seen as intent on helping shape a new political team, free of Ahmadinejad loyalists, to lead the next government.
It looks like the ayatollah is flexing his muscles to remind Mad Mahmoud exactly what "supreme leader" means.
UPDATE: After I wrote this, AP wrote this up about the topic:
A hard-line cleric warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Friday to end an escalating power struggle with Iran's supreme leader, calling it a religious obligation to do so and accusing the country's enemies of trying to sow rifts among its leadership.
The split threatens to destabilize Iran at a time of tension with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear program and appears to center on a battle for influence between the two men over next year's parliamentary election and a presidential election in 2013.
"Obedience to the supreme leader is a religious obligation as well as a legal obligation, without any doubt," said Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. He did not mention Ahmadinejad by name, but it was clear he was referring to the president.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has the final word on all matters of state in Iran, and hard-liners consider him above the law and answerable only to God.
As David G wrote in the comments, "'Obedience?!' What does he think Ahmadinejad is? A woman?"
Moroccan Journalist Arrested
A respected Moroccan journalist named Rachid Nini, who also runs the AlMassae newspaper, has been arrested by Moroccan authorities who were evidently unhappy with how he was exposing corruption.
The charge was "compromising the safety and security of the homeland and citizens."
Elder of Ziyon
The charge was "compromising the safety and security of the homeland and citizens."
Elder of Ziyon
How Arabs Repress the Press Journalists
One of the best parts of Michael Totten's book was where he described exactly how Hezbollah tries to intimidate and threaten reporters - and how reporters are reluctant to report this story.
There are two reasons for this, Totten says. One is that the intimidation often works. The other, simpler reason is that editors will not allow journalists to be part of the story. (p. 157)
Even though readers need to know the context of how a journalist obtained his or her information, so we can evaluate how accurate it is likely to be, it is the rare journalist like Totten who actually explains the situation. So we see a very skewed view of the world in closed societies.
UN Security Council divided over Syria
Smart diplomacy: Syria gloating over US failure at UN
Here's some more smart diplomacy from the Obama administration: Syria is gloating over the failure of the Obama administration to get sanctions enacted and a condemnation of Syria at the United Nations.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Hot Air).
Space Cadet Peres Knows Fatah Hamas Won't Cut It
Even Israel's first space cadet, Shimon Peres, has figured out that a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation is the end of the line for his 'New Middle East' pipe dream (Hat Tip: Lance K).
"The move, as it stands, is a fatal mistake." A Palestinian election could lead to a "terror organization ruling both Gaza and Judea and Samaria and the triumph of Hamas' policies." [Funny, but that was the case from 1993-2006 when Fatah's 'Palestinian Authority' ruled both Gaza and Judea and Samaria. CiJ].
A Palestinian unity government with Hamas – an organization which in its charter seeks the destruction of the State of Israel – leaves Israel without a partner for peace. Instead, as Peres noted, it indicates the Palestinian Authority would prefer "walking hand in hand with a terror organization," than make any effort toward peace.
Peres added that the result of the unity government would be "continued rocket fire, the continued killing of innocent people, and the continuation of Iran's intervention, which supports and funds regional terror."
...
"Unite for peace instead of creating a façade of unity that would prevent you from moving in any direction. The choice is in all our hands and we mustn't miss the opportunity created to make peace in favor of incessant clashes."
No Shimon, it's not a mistake. It's what the 'Palestinians' have wanted all along. Better now than after Israel is suckered into making a massive 'withdrawal' from Judea and Samaria. Now, we know the truth. The 'Palestinians' don't want peace.
Photoshop courtesy of MR (daughter # 3 child # 5).
Labels: Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Shimon Peres
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:43 PM
Hezbollah and Syria Debate Who Firsr to Hit Tel-Aviv
'In case' of war, Syria and Hezbullah have announced that they will compete to see who can hit Tel Aviv first.
If war breaks out between Israel, Syria, and Hezbollah, Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime will "play powerful cards" in south Lebanon and will not hesitate to respond, senior security officials in Syria said, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai.
According to the officials, in case of war with Israel, Syria and Hezbollah will compete with each other over who will fire the first Scud or Fateh missile at Tel Aviv.
The Syrian officials also warned that the deteriorating security situation in Syria and damage to the country's stability may also have an effect on the situation in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon.
I think that the IDF should let its pilots compete over whether Beirut or Damascus will be turned to rubble first. Heh.
Labels: Fateh 110, Hezbullah, scud missiles, Syria
posted by Carl in Jerusalem
Friday, April 29, 2011
Boehner and Ryan Conflict on Oil Subsidies
Speaker of the House John Boehner rejected calls by Democrats for a vote on legislation to repeal tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies Thursday.
“The Speaker wants to increase the supply of American energy to lower gas prices and create millions of American jobs,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an email to The Daily Caller. “Raising taxes will not do that.”
Boehner’s decision comes after a group of 28 Democrats called on him to hold an up-or-down vote on legislation that would end about $8 billion in oil subsidies each year.
“With gas prices on the rise, we would welcome the opportunity to show our constituents that Congress is ready to stop wastefully subsidizing some of the most profitable businesses in the world and instead use that money to reduce the deficit and invest in real relief from high gas prices,” the Democrats wrote to Boehner.
Boehner also had some harsh words for Obama Thursday following the release of weak GDP figures. “Skyrocketing gas prices continue to batter families and small businesses, and the Obama administration is making the problem worse by blocking more American energy production,” said Boehner in a statement.
The Ohio Republican, though, has been walking back comments he made earlier this week that signaled he would be open to ending oil subsidies. Oil companies will “pay their fair share in taxes and they should,” said Boehner in an interview on ABC. On ending the subsidies, the Speaker said it is “certainly something that we oughta be looking at.”
The White House immediately seized on Boehner’s comments and sent a letter to congressional leaders urging action.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California was among the Democrats who called on Boehner to act. “There is no reason American taxpayers should subsidize Big Oil’s profits,” she said in a statement Thursday. ”This week, Speaker Boehner said that oil companies should pay their fair share; it’s now time for him to make good on that statement and schedule a vote next week on ending taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil.”
Gas prices have risen sharply in recent weeks. And while the Obama Administration and some lawmakers are targeting oil companies, attention has also been turned to the role speculators play in driving up prices at the pump. The Department of Justice, in fact, announced a task force last week to investigate fraud and price gauging in the oil market.
In a conference call Thursday with the Center for American Progress (CAP), Michael Greenberger, former director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), stressed the impact speculators have had on gas prices.
“Ever since May of 2008 when we had the last bubble of oil prices and gasoline – there has been evidence…demonstrating that speculating in the price of oil – betting on upward direction of price – sends a signal to the market and has substantial impact on upward price of oil.”
Oil companies release first quarter profits this week, which will likely only cause the debate over high gas prices to intensify. Exxon, for example, reported their largest first-quarter net income increase in eight years with $10.7 billion, a 69 percent increase over last year.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/04/28/boehner-rejects-calls-for-vote-on-legislation-to-end-oil-subsidies/#ixzz1KxHjecQS
Reuters: Syrians Back on Streets
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Suleiman al-Khalidi
AMMAN | Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:56pm EDT
AMMAN (Reuters) - Security forces killed more than 60 people across Syria on Friday during demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, and the United States imposed new sanctions on key figures.
A medical source told Reuters soldiers in Deraa killed 19 people when they fired on thousands of protesters descending from nearby villages in a show of solidarity with the southern city where Syria's uprising broke out six weeks ago.
Syrian human rights group Sawasiah said it had the names of a total of 62 people killed during protests in Deraa, Rustun, Latakia, Homs and the town of Qadam, near Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a similar death toll.
Friday's bloodshed occurred as demonstrators across the country again defied heavy military deployments, mass arrests and a ruthless crackdown on the biggest popular challenge to 48 years of authoritarian Baath Party rule.
U.S. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions against Syrian figures, including a brother of Assad in charge of troops in Deraa, the first diplomatic reprisal for Syria's violent crackdown.
Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the intelligence agency, Assad's cousin Atif Najib and his brother Maher, who commands the army division which stormed into Deraa on Monday.
Shortly after Obama's move, European Union diplomats said they had reached preliminary agreement to impose an arms embargo on Syria and would consider other restrictive measures.
Obama's sanctions, which include asset freezes and bans on U.S. business dealings, build on U.S. measures against Syria in place since 2004, but they may have little impact since Assad's inner circle are thought to hold few U.S. assets.
One official said the White House was "not ready" to call on Assad to step down because Obama and his aides "do not want to get out in front of the Syrian people".
But thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers demanding his removal and pledging support for the residents of Deraa.
"The people want the overthrow of the regime!" demonstrators chanted in many protests, witnesses said.
More demonstrations flared in the central cities of Homs and Hama, Banias on the Mediterranean coast, Qamishly in eastern Syria and Harasta, a Damascus suburb.
Damascus saw the biggest protest in the capital so far, with a crowd swelling to 10,000 as it marched toward the main Ummayad Square before being dispersed by security forces firing tear gas, rights campaigners said.
Syrian rights group Sawasiah said this week at least 500 civilians had been killed since the unrest broke out six weeks ago. Authorities dispute that, saying 78 security forces and 70 civilians died in violence they blame on armed groups.
DERAA SHOOTING
State news agency SANA blamed "armed terrorist groups" for killing eight soldiers near Deraa. It said groups had opened fire on the homes of soldiers in two towns near Deraa and were repelled by guards. SANA said security forces detained 156 members of the group and confiscated 50 motorbikes.
But a witness in Deraa said Syrian forces fired live rounds at thousands of villagers who descended on the besieged city.
"They shot at people at the western gate of Deraa in the Yadoda area, almost three km (two miles) from the center of the city," he said.
A rights campaigner in Deraa said on Friday makeshift morgues in the city contained the bodies of 85 people he said had been killed since the army stormed the city, close to Syria's southern border with Jordan, on Monday.
Assad's violent repression has brought growing condemnation from Western countries which for several years had sought to engage Damascus and loosen its close anti-Israel alliances with Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
The top United Nations human rights body condemned Syria for using deadly force against peaceful protesters and launched an investigation into killings and other alleged crimes.
A U.S. official said Friday's sanctions were meant to show that no member of the Syrian leadership was immune from being held accountable. "Bashar is very much on our radar and if this continues could be soon to follow," the official said.
The new sanctions also target the General Intelligence Directorate and its director, Ali Mamluk. The spy agency is accused by U.S. officials of repressing dissent and of involvement in the killing of protesters in Deraa.
The fifth target is Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- Qods Force. A source familiar with the new sanctions said the force is accused by the Obama administration of being the conduit for support Iran has provided to Syrian authorities in their crackdown on protesters. Syria has denied Iran has played any role in confronting the protests.
Security forces shot dead 120 protesters on Friday April 22, according to a Syrian rights group, in the biggest protests Syria has seen since the uprising ignited in Deraa on March 18.
Three days later an army division under the control of Assad brother's Maher stormed into Deraa. That echoed their father's 1982 attack on Hama to crush an armed revolt led by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing up to 30,000 people.
In a sign of rare dissent within ruling circles, 200 members of the Baath Party resigned on Wednesday in protest at the bloody crackdown.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut, Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Editing by Jon Boyle)
World
United Nations
AMMAN | Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:56pm EDT
AMMAN (Reuters) - Security forces killed more than 60 people across Syria on Friday during demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, and the United States imposed new sanctions on key figures.
A medical source told Reuters soldiers in Deraa killed 19 people when they fired on thousands of protesters descending from nearby villages in a show of solidarity with the southern city where Syria's uprising broke out six weeks ago.
Syrian human rights group Sawasiah said it had the names of a total of 62 people killed during protests in Deraa, Rustun, Latakia, Homs and the town of Qadam, near Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a similar death toll.
Friday's bloodshed occurred as demonstrators across the country again defied heavy military deployments, mass arrests and a ruthless crackdown on the biggest popular challenge to 48 years of authoritarian Baath Party rule.
U.S. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions against Syrian figures, including a brother of Assad in charge of troops in Deraa, the first diplomatic reprisal for Syria's violent crackdown.
Obama signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the intelligence agency, Assad's cousin Atif Najib and his brother Maher, who commands the army division which stormed into Deraa on Monday.
Shortly after Obama's move, European Union diplomats said they had reached preliminary agreement to impose an arms embargo on Syria and would consider other restrictive measures.
Obama's sanctions, which include asset freezes and bans on U.S. business dealings, build on U.S. measures against Syria in place since 2004, but they may have little impact since Assad's inner circle are thought to hold few U.S. assets.
One official said the White House was "not ready" to call on Assad to step down because Obama and his aides "do not want to get out in front of the Syrian people".
But thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country after Friday prayers demanding his removal and pledging support for the residents of Deraa.
"The people want the overthrow of the regime!" demonstrators chanted in many protests, witnesses said.
More demonstrations flared in the central cities of Homs and Hama, Banias on the Mediterranean coast, Qamishly in eastern Syria and Harasta, a Damascus suburb.
Damascus saw the biggest protest in the capital so far, with a crowd swelling to 10,000 as it marched toward the main Ummayad Square before being dispersed by security forces firing tear gas, rights campaigners said.
Syrian rights group Sawasiah said this week at least 500 civilians had been killed since the unrest broke out six weeks ago. Authorities dispute that, saying 78 security forces and 70 civilians died in violence they blame on armed groups.
DERAA SHOOTING
State news agency SANA blamed "armed terrorist groups" for killing eight soldiers near Deraa. It said groups had opened fire on the homes of soldiers in two towns near Deraa and were repelled by guards. SANA said security forces detained 156 members of the group and confiscated 50 motorbikes.
But a witness in Deraa said Syrian forces fired live rounds at thousands of villagers who descended on the besieged city.
"They shot at people at the western gate of Deraa in the Yadoda area, almost three km (two miles) from the center of the city," he said.
A rights campaigner in Deraa said on Friday makeshift morgues in the city contained the bodies of 85 people he said had been killed since the army stormed the city, close to Syria's southern border with Jordan, on Monday.
Assad's violent repression has brought growing condemnation from Western countries which for several years had sought to engage Damascus and loosen its close anti-Israel alliances with Iran and the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
The top United Nations human rights body condemned Syria for using deadly force against peaceful protesters and launched an investigation into killings and other alleged crimes.
A U.S. official said Friday's sanctions were meant to show that no member of the Syrian leadership was immune from being held accountable. "Bashar is very much on our radar and if this continues could be soon to follow," the official said.
The new sanctions also target the General Intelligence Directorate and its director, Ali Mamluk. The spy agency is accused by U.S. officials of repressing dissent and of involvement in the killing of protesters in Deraa.
The fifth target is Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- Qods Force. A source familiar with the new sanctions said the force is accused by the Obama administration of being the conduit for support Iran has provided to Syrian authorities in their crackdown on protesters. Syria has denied Iran has played any role in confronting the protests.
Security forces shot dead 120 protesters on Friday April 22, according to a Syrian rights group, in the biggest protests Syria has seen since the uprising ignited in Deraa on March 18.
Three days later an army division under the control of Assad brother's Maher stormed into Deraa. That echoed their father's 1982 attack on Hama to crush an armed revolt led by the Muslim Brotherhood, killing up to 30,000 people.
In a sign of rare dissent within ruling circles, 200 members of the Baath Party resigned on Wednesday in protest at the bloody crackdown.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy in Beirut, Mark Hosenball and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Editing by Jon Boyle)
World
United Nations
Syrians Back on Streets
Thousands of Syrians once again defied a government crackdown on Friday to call for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Lending their voice to the weeks-long protests, the exiled Muslim Brotherhood called on Syrians to join in demonstrations against Assad. It was the first time that the Brotherhood, which was crushed along with secular leftists under the rule of late President Hafez al-Assad, had thrown its weight behind the demonstrations. In Daraa, where protests erupted weeks ago when the several teens were arrested for drawing graffiti, Syrian soldiers fired into the air to prevent people attending Friday prayers. Also in Daraa, Syria's official state news agency said that an “armed terrorist group” attacked a checkpoint, killing four soldiers and kidnapping two. One resident told Al Jazeera that “snipers are on rooftops of buildings firing at anything that moves.” Another witness said security forces armed with machine guns patrolled the circular road around Damascus. Meanwhile, the European Union is meeting today to discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions against Syria in condemnation of the crackdown that has killed at least 500 people so far.
Read it at Reuters
Obama Bows to Muhammad
If you bow to enough people and spend enough time apologizing, eventually someone is going to decide you're weak and start running roughshod over you. That has apparently now happened to Barack Hussein Obama.
Syrian and Iranian officials have told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that the Middle East will be ablaze if there is any attempt to change the balance of power within it, and threatened that harming the regime in Syria will have grave ramifications for Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan, and for the U.S. forces in the region.
They said that the Syrian regime can allow mujahideen to infiltrate into Iraq to harm American interests there, and that it will be possible to harm Americans in the regions under Taliban control if they act against the Syrian regime.
What could go wrong?
Labels: American exceptionalism, Barack Obama, Syrian uprising
posted by Carl in Jerusalem
Those Jewish Extremists Try to Pray Again
Those Jewish extremists trying to pray again
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT
Official Palestinian Arab news agency WAFA reports:
A group of Jewish settlers prayed at Joseph’s Tomb on Thursday, east of Nablus in the north West Bank, under the protection of Israeli forces.
Local sources said the worshippers snuck into the site under the protection of Israeli soldiers, prayed until the early hours of the morning and left, with no confrontations reported.
Israeli radio said forces stopped and arrested some 13 settlers while they were on their way to the tomb, although another group managed to enter the site despite the road blocks the Israeli army had set up.
I always wonder how they know that the worshipers are "settlers." Oh, right - all Israelis are "settlers"!
Hamas' Palestine Times in Arabic is a bit more strident - and fanciful:
In a new level of arrogance, about twenty Zionist extremist settlers blew up a roadblock Thursday east of Nablus and stormed Joseph's Tomb, where they performed Talmudic rituals, under the protection of the Zionist army, which was spread extensively in the vicinity of the region amid flying reconnaissance planes nearby.
Witnesses said that the settlers went to sabotage public utilities, destroying the electricity grid and throwing dirt and rubbish on the street nearby. They also burned tires during their withdrawal.
Israeli media is apparently not aware of any visits to the tomb last night, saying only that the IDF stopped dozens of would-be worshippers.
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 06:02 AM PDT
Official Palestinian Arab news agency WAFA reports:
A group of Jewish settlers prayed at Joseph’s Tomb on Thursday, east of Nablus in the north West Bank, under the protection of Israeli forces.
Local sources said the worshippers snuck into the site under the protection of Israeli soldiers, prayed until the early hours of the morning and left, with no confrontations reported.
Israeli radio said forces stopped and arrested some 13 settlers while they were on their way to the tomb, although another group managed to enter the site despite the road blocks the Israeli army had set up.
I always wonder how they know that the worshipers are "settlers." Oh, right - all Israelis are "settlers"!
Hamas' Palestine Times in Arabic is a bit more strident - and fanciful:
In a new level of arrogance, about twenty Zionist extremist settlers blew up a roadblock Thursday east of Nablus and stormed Joseph's Tomb, where they performed Talmudic rituals, under the protection of the Zionist army, which was spread extensively in the vicinity of the region amid flying reconnaissance planes nearby.
Witnesses said that the settlers went to sabotage public utilities, destroying the electricity grid and throwing dirt and rubbish on the street nearby. They also burned tires during their withdrawal.
Israeli media is apparently not aware of any visits to the tomb last night, saying only that the IDF stopped dozens of would-be worshippers.
Hamas Tells Its Media Not to Report on Syria
Hamas instructs its media not to report on Syria
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 06:56 AM PDT
Firas Press and other Arabic news sources are claiming that Hamas is putting a news blackout on events in Syria:
Reliable sources close to media officials in Hamas that they have issued strict instructions to all departments, editors of all news sites, forums, and radio TV that belongs to them not to cover or publish any news about events taking place in Syria and massacres there against unarmed citizens.
The sources said that instructions have been issued from the leadership of the Hamas political bureau living on Syrian territory to pursue all of its networks and not to offend any news of the Syrian regime and affect the feelings of the Syrian government.
The sources said the Hamas political bureau wanted to maintain its position with the Syrian regime, which embraced it many years ago.
And a Hamas Palestine network yesterday blocked news about the split within the Syrian army.
This may be a Damascus Hamas directive; the Gaza Hamas sites have some Syrian news and indeed they are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood portion of the uprising.
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 06:56 AM PDT
Firas Press and other Arabic news sources are claiming that Hamas is putting a news blackout on events in Syria:
Reliable sources close to media officials in Hamas that they have issued strict instructions to all departments, editors of all news sites, forums, and radio TV that belongs to them not to cover or publish any news about events taking place in Syria and massacres there against unarmed citizens.
The sources said that instructions have been issued from the leadership of the Hamas political bureau living on Syrian territory to pursue all of its networks and not to offend any news of the Syrian regime and affect the feelings of the Syrian government.
The sources said the Hamas political bureau wanted to maintain its position with the Syrian regime, which embraced it many years ago.
And a Hamas Palestine network yesterday blocked news about the split within the Syrian army.
This may be a Damascus Hamas directive; the Gaza Hamas sites have some Syrian news and indeed they are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood portion of the uprising.
Honor Killing with a Twist
Honor killing in the West Bank: A slight twist and a light sentence
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 07:53 AM PDT
Firas Press reports that a West Bank man who murdered his daughter for "honor" has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
His sentence was reduced from life imprisonment because he is older and the head of a large family, as well as (if I am interpreting it correctly) his "fury" showed that it was a real honor crime, a crime of passion and not just an ordinary murder.
One twist: Not only did he kill his daughter because of his suspicion that she was involved with a man who was not her husband, but he also thought that she was involved in giving intelligence to Israel!
I'm not sure if that was a factor in the light sentence, though.
Posted: 28 Apr 2011 07:53 AM PDT
Firas Press reports that a West Bank man who murdered his daughter for "honor" has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
His sentence was reduced from life imprisonment because he is older and the head of a large family, as well as (if I am interpreting it correctly) his "fury" showed that it was a real honor crime, a crime of passion and not just an ordinary murder.
One twist: Not only did he kill his daughter because of his suspicion that she was involved with a man who was not her husband, but he also thought that she was involved in giving intelligence to Israel!
I'm not sure if that was a factor in the light sentence, though.
Dialogue With A Western Leftist
I mentioned in the Nick Cohen article I had quoted earlier today that it would be perfect for one of those XtraNormal videos that have popped up all over the web.
Reader Angrybell actually made it!
Playboy Germany Arab Woman Appears in the Nude
A MUSLIM actress has caused a storm by posing naked for Playboy.
Click to see cover (NSFW)
Sila Sahin has been branded a "whore" and a "western slut" after appearing topless on the cover of the German edition of the men's magazine.
And Islamic fanatics have posted threatening internet messages.
Sila, raised in Germany by conservative Turkish parents, says she fears being "spat at" and "shamed".
Her parents are said to have reacted with "horror" at the 12-page coverage, and her mother has apparently cut off all contact.
Sila, 25 - star of German soap Good Times, Bad Times - claimed the shoot was a reaction to the "slavery" of her youth.
She added: "What I want to say with these photos is, 'Girls, we don't have to live according to the rules imposed upon us'.
"For years I subordinated myself to various societal constraints. The Playboy photo shoot was a total act of liberation."
But Islamic internet sites are being monitored by the BND - the German intelligence agency - after threats were posted about her "shaming Muslim womanhood" and "prostituting herself for money".
A kebab shop owner, asked on German TV what he would do if Sila were his daughter, replied: "I would kill her. I really mean that. That doesn't fit with my culture."
Tolerance!
(h/t DavidG)
A Small Incident in Gaza: Reconciliation
From PCHR:
At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard, in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas movements declared in the Egypti... At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulted and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants, including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
And what was the spontaneous demonstration for?
To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!
At approximately 20:00 on Wednesday, 27 April 2011, dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women, spontaneously gathered in the Unknown Soldier Yard, in support for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas movements declared in the Egypti... At approximately 20:30, 4 police vehicles arrived at the area, and immediately many police officers, some of whom were wearing civilian clothes, stepped down. They violently beat, insulted and chased the participants. They also arrested 5 of the participants, including Mr. Jamal Farawana, a defender of prisoners’ rights, who was violently beaten, and Mr. Talal Abi Zarifa, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
And what was the spontaneous demonstration for?
To support the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Chevy Volt & Nissan Leaf Rate Tops in Safety
The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf got top safety ratings in some of the first-ever tests of electric cars by an insurer-funded research group.
Both cars earned top scores for front, side and rear-impact crashes and for rollover crash protection, according to results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
While both the Leaf and Volt are classified as small cars, the institute said their heavy battery packs put their weight closer to large sedans. The Volt, for example, weighs 3,760 pounds, which is close to the weight of the Chevrolet Impala. The Leaf weighs 3,370 pounds, which is similar to a Nissan Altima midsize car. That extra mass helps protect their occupants, since heavier cars are less likely to be pushed around in a crash.
The Leaf runs solely on battery power and has a range of around 100 miles. The Volt can go around 40 miles on an electric charge before a small gas engine kicks in.
The institute said it was the first time it has tested road-worthy plug-in cars. Two golf cart-like electric vehicles, the Gem e2 and Wheego Whip, were tested for research purposes but performed poorly in side-impact tests, the group said. But those cars run at very low speeds and aren’t required to meet federal safety standards.
The federal government hasn’t yet released crash-test results for the Volt and Leaf.
“What powers the wheels is different, but the level of safety for the Volt and Leaf is as high as any of our other top crash test performers,” said Joe Nolan, the institute’s chief administrative officer.
The institute, which is funded by insurance companies, buys the cars it tests directly from dealers.
Both cars earned top scores for front, side and rear-impact crashes and for rollover crash protection, according to results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
While both the Leaf and Volt are classified as small cars, the institute said their heavy battery packs put their weight closer to large sedans. The Volt, for example, weighs 3,760 pounds, which is close to the weight of the Chevrolet Impala. The Leaf weighs 3,370 pounds, which is similar to a Nissan Altima midsize car. That extra mass helps protect their occupants, since heavier cars are less likely to be pushed around in a crash.
The Leaf runs solely on battery power and has a range of around 100 miles. The Volt can go around 40 miles on an electric charge before a small gas engine kicks in.
The institute said it was the first time it has tested road-worthy plug-in cars. Two golf cart-like electric vehicles, the Gem e2 and Wheego Whip, were tested for research purposes but performed poorly in side-impact tests, the group said. But those cars run at very low speeds and aren’t required to meet federal safety standards.
The federal government hasn’t yet released crash-test results for the Volt and Leaf.
“What powers the wheels is different, but the level of safety for the Volt and Leaf is as high as any of our other top crash test performers,” said Joe Nolan, the institute’s chief administrative officer.
The institute, which is funded by insurance companies, buys the cars it tests directly from dealers.
Will Syria Join the UNHRC?
United Nations Watch has put together a coalition of human rights groups to oppose the election of Syria to the United Nations 'Human Rights Council.' Elections are scheduled for May 20. Syria is running unopposed.
Led by UN Watch, an independent human rights monitoring group based in Geneva, the coalition of rights groups from Africa, Asia, the U.S. and Europe, (see list of members below) also urged action from the UN Security Council and other international bodies to protect Syria's civilian population from government actions that it said may amount to "war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The election of 15 new council members is scheduled for May 20 at the UN General Assembly in New York. However, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said that "if the council this week declares President Bashar al-Assad unwelcome as a member, it would sound the death knell for Syria's cynical candidacy to be elected a global judge of human rights."
The coalition called for leadership from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, EU foreign minister Catherine Ashton, Ban Ki-moon, and UN rights chief Navi Pillay.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that leadership. On the other hand, you all know that I believe Syria would fit right in at the 'Human Rights Council' anyway.
What's perhaps more intriguing in Neuer's efforts is this.
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey was asked to convene the high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions to address the Syrian army's grave assault on thousands of civilians who are protected as non-combatants under the treaties.
That's a nice idea but there are two small problems with it. First, Calmy-Rey is a loon who's enamored with Bashar al-Assad's friend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The odds of her convening this type of meeting to condemn Assad are not good.
Second, if such a meeting were to be convened, I would bet on the agenda being hijacked to discuss Israel - and more specifically the Goldstone Report.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Geneva Convention, Goldstone Report, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Operation Cast Lead, Syria, Syrian uprising, United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations Watch
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:36 AM
Pew Poll: Egyptians Want to Scrap Camp David
Pew poll: Egyptians want to scrap Camp David, prefer sharia law
Posted: 27 Apr 2011 01:49 AM PDT
A new Pew Research poll of Egypt shows some worrying trends.
No dividend emerges for the United States from the political changes that have occurred in Egypt. Favorable ratings of the U.S. remain as low as they have been in recent years, and many Egyptians say they want a less close relationship with America. Israel fares even more poorly. By a 54%-to-36% margin, Egyptians want the peace treaty with that country annulled.
The military is now almost universally seen (88%) as having a good influence on the way things are going in Egypt. Fully 90% rate military chief Mohamed Tantawi favorably.
Egyptians are welcoming some forms of change more than others. While half say it is very important that religious parties be allowed to be part of the government, only 27% give a similar priority to assuring that the military falls under civilian control. Relatively few (39%) give high priority to women having the same rights as men. Women themselves are more likely to say it is very important that they are assured equal rights than are men (48% vs. 30%). Overall, just 36% think it is very important that Coptic Christians and other religious minorities are able to freely practice their religions.
Egyptians hold diverse views about religion. About six-in-ten (62%) think laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. However, only 31% of Egyptian Muslims say they sympathize with Islamic fundamentalists, while nearly the same number (30%) say they sympathize with those who disagree with the fundamentalists, and 26% have mixed views on this question. Those who disagree with fundamentalists are almost evenly divided on whether the treaty with Israel should be annulled, while others favor ending the pact by a goodly margin.
If more than half of those who favor Shari'a law are not sympathetic to "fundamentalists," this means that the Arab definition of "fundamentalist" is much different than the Western definition. After all, wanting to have the nation ruled by religious law is, by definition, a fundamentalist position.
This means that Western journalists and pundits who try to paint the Muslim Brotherhood as outside the mainstream of Egypt are missing the real story.
Only 20% of Egyptians hold a favorable opinion of the United States, which is nearly identical to the 17% who rated it favorably in 2010. Better educated and younger Egyptians have a slightly more positive attitude toward the U.S. than do other Egyptians.
Looking to the future, few Egyptians (15%) want closer ties with the U.S., while 43% would prefer a more distant relationship, and 40% would like the relationship between the two countries to remain about as close as it has been in recent years.
So in what sense is Egypt considered an "ally" of the US again?
Posted: 27 Apr 2011 01:49 AM PDT
A new Pew Research poll of Egypt shows some worrying trends.
No dividend emerges for the United States from the political changes that have occurred in Egypt. Favorable ratings of the U.S. remain as low as they have been in recent years, and many Egyptians say they want a less close relationship with America. Israel fares even more poorly. By a 54%-to-36% margin, Egyptians want the peace treaty with that country annulled.
The military is now almost universally seen (88%) as having a good influence on the way things are going in Egypt. Fully 90% rate military chief Mohamed Tantawi favorably.
Egyptians are welcoming some forms of change more than others. While half say it is very important that religious parties be allowed to be part of the government, only 27% give a similar priority to assuring that the military falls under civilian control. Relatively few (39%) give high priority to women having the same rights as men. Women themselves are more likely to say it is very important that they are assured equal rights than are men (48% vs. 30%). Overall, just 36% think it is very important that Coptic Christians and other religious minorities are able to freely practice their religions.
Egyptians hold diverse views about religion. About six-in-ten (62%) think laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. However, only 31% of Egyptian Muslims say they sympathize with Islamic fundamentalists, while nearly the same number (30%) say they sympathize with those who disagree with the fundamentalists, and 26% have mixed views on this question. Those who disagree with fundamentalists are almost evenly divided on whether the treaty with Israel should be annulled, while others favor ending the pact by a goodly margin.
If more than half of those who favor Shari'a law are not sympathetic to "fundamentalists," this means that the Arab definition of "fundamentalist" is much different than the Western definition. After all, wanting to have the nation ruled by religious law is, by definition, a fundamentalist position.
This means that Western journalists and pundits who try to paint the Muslim Brotherhood as outside the mainstream of Egypt are missing the real story.
Only 20% of Egyptians hold a favorable opinion of the United States, which is nearly identical to the 17% who rated it favorably in 2010. Better educated and younger Egyptians have a slightly more positive attitude toward the U.S. than do other Egyptians.
Looking to the future, few Egyptians (15%) want closer ties with the U.S., while 43% would prefer a more distant relationship, and 40% would like the relationship between the two countries to remain about as close as it has been in recent years.
So in what sense is Egypt considered an "ally" of the US again?
Terrorist Bishop Spoke at Vittorio's Funeral
At Hamas-supporter Vittorio Arrigoni's funeral in Bulciago, Italy, one of the speakers was Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of the Greek-Melchite Catholic Church. (Italian media said he is the archbishop of Jerusalem, but that appears to be wrong.)
Capucci said, "For us Vittorio is a martyr, a hero and a saint, a bishop who has defended the his flock and the flock was the Palestinian people."
And who is Hilarion Capucci?
From Wikipedia:
On August 18, 1974 [Capucci] was arrested by Israeli police for smuggling weapons into the West Bank in a Mercedes sedan.[2] He was subsesquently convicted by an Israeli court of using his diplomatic status to smuggle arms to the Palestine Liberation Army and sentenced to 12 years in prison.[3][4] Capucci was among the prisoners whose release was demanded by the Palestinian hijackers of the Kfar Yuval hostage crisis in 1975 and of the Palestinian hijackers of Air France Flight 139 in 1976. He was released two years later due to intervention by the Vatican.[2] The governments of Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria have honored Capucci with postage stamps.
This man of peace has also publicly sided with Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on civilians in Syria:
Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of Jerusalem in Exile on Monday stressed that the conspiracy against Syria aims at undermining its pan-Arab principles and firm stances towards the just Arab issues and its support to the just Palestinian Cause.
In his statement on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Evacuation Day (Syria's Independence Day), Capucci said "President Bashar al-Assad's decisions and directives were appeasing on all levels," expressing pride in Syria's leadership and its steadfastness in the face of hatched conspiracies.
Capucci expressed his belief that Syria and the Syrian people with the wisdom of President al-Assad would foil all conspiracies.
You can see how this fake supporter of human rights would fit right in with Vittorio Arrigoni.
(h/t Rudi)
Elder of Ziyon
Capucci said, "For us Vittorio is a martyr, a hero and a saint, a bishop who has defended the his flock and the flock was the Palestinian people."
And who is Hilarion Capucci?
From Wikipedia:
On August 18, 1974 [Capucci] was arrested by Israeli police for smuggling weapons into the West Bank in a Mercedes sedan.[2] He was subsesquently convicted by an Israeli court of using his diplomatic status to smuggle arms to the Palestine Liberation Army and sentenced to 12 years in prison.[3][4] Capucci was among the prisoners whose release was demanded by the Palestinian hijackers of the Kfar Yuval hostage crisis in 1975 and of the Palestinian hijackers of Air France Flight 139 in 1976. He was released two years later due to intervention by the Vatican.[2] The governments of Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria have honored Capucci with postage stamps.
This man of peace has also publicly sided with Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on civilians in Syria:
Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of Jerusalem in Exile on Monday stressed that the conspiracy against Syria aims at undermining its pan-Arab principles and firm stances towards the just Arab issues and its support to the just Palestinian Cause.
In his statement on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Evacuation Day (Syria's Independence Day), Capucci said "President Bashar al-Assad's decisions and directives were appeasing on all levels," expressing pride in Syria's leadership and its steadfastness in the face of hatched conspiracies.
Capucci expressed his belief that Syria and the Syrian people with the wisdom of President al-Assad would foil all conspiracies.
You can see how this fake supporter of human rights would fit right in with Vittorio Arrigoni.
(h/t Rudi)
Elder of Ziyon
PA MP Calls for Medal for Murderer of Jew
Palestine Times reports that a Hamas MP in the West Bank has called for rewarding the policeman who shot and killed Ben-Yosef Livnat as he was returning from prayers at Joseph's Tomb in Shechem (Nablus.)
Sheikh Hamed Al-Betawi, MP for the "Change and Reform" party (Hamas), says that the killer should be released and he should received the Order of Pride Medal, apparently a top PA prize.
He also bitterly complained that PA negotiators were prepared to give the Jews rights to the Western Wall, which he insisted is purely Muslim.
Sheikh Hamed Al-Betawi, MP for the "Change and Reform" party (Hamas), says that the killer should be released and he should received the Order of Pride Medal, apparently a top PA prize.
He also bitterly complained that PA negotiators were prepared to give the Jews rights to the Western Wall, which he insisted is purely Muslim.
Arabs Note They Kill More Arabs than Jews Do
An interesting article by a Syrian journalist in Gulf News:
Funnily enough, comparing the number of Arab people killed during the wars between Israel and Arab countries with the number of Arabs killed locally, one will notice that Arab dictatorships have killed more people.
Sadly enough, some Arab armies and security services have proved to be much more brutal than the Israeli army.
When we compare the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza with the number of Arabs being killed these days by Arab dictators, we will be horribly surprised.
In fact, the Sudanese regime killed hundreds of thousands of its own people in Darfur. The so-called Janjaweed gangs in Sudan used to annihilate the people of Darfur like flies simply because the latter clamoured for their basic rights. An Arab satirist once commented that an Arab dictator would not accept the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza even as an appetiser!
Recently there were reports that deposed Tunisian president Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali ordered his air force to bombard a civilian area in the Al Qasrain region because the people there demonstrated against his regime. Thankfully, the army refused to carry out his order.
Take Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. WikiLeaks has revealed that his ‘chairmanship' gave the green light to American aircraft to bombard civilian areas to quell a local revolt. Add to this, of course, his brutal handling of the Yemeni revolution.
Other Arab despots are reported to have asked their security forces to aim their guns at protesters' heads. Have you ever seen an Israeli officer torturing a Palestinian civilian to death in the street for everybody to see? Definitely not. Many of us have seen that in some Arab towns lately.
It is true that Israel is forcing an embargo on Gaza, but I do not think that the Israelis are preventing the Palestinians from getting their daily bread, whereas the security services in some Arab countries stopped cars carrying food from entering certain areas. Nor are the Israelis cutting off electricity, telephone and other communication services from houses, hospitals and schools.
It has been reported that the security services stopped nurses and doctors from treating the injured during certain Arab demonstrations as a punishment for rising against the ruling regime. The thugs contracted by the police to help quell protests went even further. They shot at ambulances.
Unlike in some Arab countries, Arabs living inside Israel can organise sit-ins very comfortably. And when the Israeli police intervenes, they never beat demonstrators to death. And if we compare how Israel treats Shaikh Raed Salah with the way some Arab dictators treat their opponents, we will be horribly surprised, as the Israelis are very much less brutal.
Israel can always claim it is facing an enemy, whereas Arab dictators are facing their own people. Let us end with a succinct verse from the late poet Omar Abu Risha: ‘‘No one can blame a wolf when it preys on a sheep if the shepherd himself is the enemy of the cattle''.
Elder of Ziyon
Funnily enough, comparing the number of Arab people killed during the wars between Israel and Arab countries with the number of Arabs killed locally, one will notice that Arab dictatorships have killed more people.
Sadly enough, some Arab armies and security services have proved to be much more brutal than the Israeli army.
When we compare the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza with the number of Arabs being killed these days by Arab dictators, we will be horribly surprised.
In fact, the Sudanese regime killed hundreds of thousands of its own people in Darfur. The so-called Janjaweed gangs in Sudan used to annihilate the people of Darfur like flies simply because the latter clamoured for their basic rights. An Arab satirist once commented that an Arab dictator would not accept the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza even as an appetiser!
Recently there were reports that deposed Tunisian president Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali ordered his air force to bombard a civilian area in the Al Qasrain region because the people there demonstrated against his regime. Thankfully, the army refused to carry out his order.
Take Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. WikiLeaks has revealed that his ‘chairmanship' gave the green light to American aircraft to bombard civilian areas to quell a local revolt. Add to this, of course, his brutal handling of the Yemeni revolution.
Other Arab despots are reported to have asked their security forces to aim their guns at protesters' heads. Have you ever seen an Israeli officer torturing a Palestinian civilian to death in the street for everybody to see? Definitely not. Many of us have seen that in some Arab towns lately.
It is true that Israel is forcing an embargo on Gaza, but I do not think that the Israelis are preventing the Palestinians from getting their daily bread, whereas the security services in some Arab countries stopped cars carrying food from entering certain areas. Nor are the Israelis cutting off electricity, telephone and other communication services from houses, hospitals and schools.
It has been reported that the security services stopped nurses and doctors from treating the injured during certain Arab demonstrations as a punishment for rising against the ruling regime. The thugs contracted by the police to help quell protests went even further. They shot at ambulances.
Unlike in some Arab countries, Arabs living inside Israel can organise sit-ins very comfortably. And when the Israeli police intervenes, they never beat demonstrators to death. And if we compare how Israel treats Shaikh Raed Salah with the way some Arab dictators treat their opponents, we will be horribly surprised, as the Israelis are very much less brutal.
Israel can always claim it is facing an enemy, whereas Arab dictators are facing their own people. Let us end with a succinct verse from the late poet Omar Abu Risha: ‘‘No one can blame a wolf when it preys on a sheep if the shepherd himself is the enemy of the cattle''.
Elder of Ziyon
Syhrian Tanks to Deraa Govt Joins UNHRC
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Thursday, April 28, 2011 | 10:48 Beirut Subscribe to NOW Lebanon RSS feeds
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Assad under pressure as hundreds of Baathists quit
April 28, 2011 share
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[Assad under pressure as hundreds of Baathists quit]
An image grab taken from footage uploaded on April 14 by Sham SNN, a Syrian opposition web channel, shows a Syrian security officer kicking an anti-government protester in the face while he is handcuffed with other demonstrators following a crackdown in the northwestern village of Bayda. (AFP/SHAMSNN)
Foreign pressure mounted on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, and hundreds of members resigned from his party, as troops kept their grip on the flashpoint town of Daraa.
Syria's opposition warned Assad that he would be toppled unless he ushered in democratic reforms, although the UN Security Council failed to agree on a condemnation of the violence.
And in a fresh blow to the regime, 233 members of Syria's ruling Baath party announced their resignation in protest at the deadly crackdown on protesters, according to lists seen by AFP.
"The security services have demolished the values with which we grew up. We denounce and condemn everything that has taken place and announce with regret our resignation from the party," they said in a signed statement.
Baath party signatories from the Banias region, which covers Daraa, condemned "the house raids and the indiscriminate use of live fire against people, homes, mosques and churches."
On the international scene, influential US Senator John McCain said Assad has "lost his legitimacy" and called for UN sanctions to force him to halt attacks on his people.
"I obviously think he has lost his legitimacy. He has ordered his army to fire on his own people, and yes I think he should leave," the senator told AFP in Paris.
The Security Council, however, failed to agree on a statement condemning the killing of Syrian protesters, diplomats in New York said. After talks ended in deadlock, Western nations called for an immediate open meeting.
A stormy meeting on Syria, coming only days after the 15-nation body failed to agree a statement on Yemen, highlighted a growing divide on how to handle the uprisings in the Middle East and Arab world, with Russia warning the West that "outside interference" could spark civil war.
France called for "strong measures" if Assad rejects appeals to end violence in which hundreds have died. The United States said Assad must "change course now" and end the use of tanks and guns.
Russia and China blocked the statement proposed by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal that would have condemned the violence and backed calls for an independent investigation.
The European Union, meanwhile, is mulling sanctions and the UN human rights body has called for a special session in the wake of the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Five EU countries were also summoning Syria's ambassadors over the violent crushing of dissent, France said, adding it was joined by Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
According to human rights activists, the military assault on Daraa, 100 kilometers south of Damascus, has left more than 30 people dead since Monday, with at least 453 civilians killed across Syria since protests first erupted in mid-March.
A military source, meanwhile, said soldiers on Wednesday confronted "terrorist armed groups" who had cut off roads and opened fire on passers-by in a Daraa drive-by shooting.
"One member of the armed forces was martyred and five others were wounded," said the source, quoted by the official media, adding that several of the gunmen were also killed.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
PalArab Fake Agreement and WESTERN Amnesia
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement hammered out an agreement with rival group Hamas on Wednesday, setting the stage for forming an interim government as well as fixing a date for a general election.
"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement.
Spokespeople for both Hamas and Fatah confirmed that "all differences" have been worked out between the long-feuding Palestinians political movements.
A spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that Hamas has agreed to hold elections within a year, a part of the reconciliation deal it signed in Cairo.
A Hamas spokesperson said that "all points of differences" between the rival groups have been overcome. He added that officials in Cairo will soon invite top Hamas and Fatah officials for a signing ceremony in the Egyptian capital.
Here is where it is useful to know a little history.
Palestinian Arabs have long been able to put together temporary, paper agreements and truces to achieve larger political goals. Inevitably, Westerners are consistently fooled by these, stupidly believing that short-term absence of violence indicates a long-term shift in attitudes.
In 1947, in the months before the UN Partition vote, virtually all Arab terror against Jews stopped. Amazing! The Arabs were proving to th world that they could act responsibly and run an Arab-led Palestine where they would protect the Jews as Islam requires them to, and they were puching this as an alternate plan to partitioning Palestine.
But within hours of the UN vote to partition Palestine, the Arabs gave up their pretense of peacefulness and started attacking Jews (in those days, they didn't bother with calling them "Zionists.")
In the months before Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas managed miraculously to reduce rocket fire from Gaza, and the rocket count dropped dramatically from 1157 in 2004 to 417 in 2005 as Israel implemented the plan. The next year, the number of rocket attacks increased back up to nearly the pre-disengagement levels.
Now the Palestinian Arabs are faced with another deadline.
The PA is putting all of their eggs in the unilateral recognition basket, that they are hoping the world provides to them in September. The biggest obstacle to that recognition was the simple fact that the PA and Hamas are hopelessly split - ideologically, physically and politically. There is no way that sympathetic Europeans can overlook that problem and support the establishment of a state where there are two competing rulers.
Hamas also recognizes the immense political value that recognition would bring them - something that, like the disengagement, would happen once and would likely never be reversed.
So even though Fatah and Hamas have been negotiating for years over the exact same issues without being able to come to an agreement, they now are agreeing to paper over their differences with vague wording that is just enough to convince the credulous, wishful-thinking West that they major obstacle to Palestinian Arab independence has been removed.
Note the little we do know: "Hamas has agreed to hold elections within a year." You can bet that the elections will be scheduled after September, because the result of elections beforehand - either way - would torpedo any chance for a unity government.
Vagueness will be the hallmark of the agreement - just enough to fool the world into thinking that these two groups can work together. Hamas can play the unity game until September, and, if the world is sufficiently fooled, for a few months afterwards. Then the elections, or absence of elections, will start to rock this false alliance.
By then, they hope, Palestine will already be de facto recognized as a state, and Israel will be on the ropes politically anyway. The world will be cheerleading the PalArab insistence on ethically cleansing the heart of the Land of Israel of Jews, and Hamas-Fatahstan will blame all of their new problems on Israel. They will say things like they cannot accept Palestinian Arab "refugees" in their new state as long as Israel holds any of "their" land. The ever present threat of them exploding in a new terror war will cause the West to pressure Israel, as always, as they insist on Israeli concessions to solve their problems.
The outline of what is coming is clear. Because we've seen this game before. Unfortunately, Western amnesia will help ensure that it plays out the way the PalArabs are planning it.
UPDATE: Barry Rubin concurs.
Elder of Ziyon
"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement.
Spokespeople for both Hamas and Fatah confirmed that "all differences" have been worked out between the long-feuding Palestinians political movements.
A spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that Hamas has agreed to hold elections within a year, a part of the reconciliation deal it signed in Cairo.
A Hamas spokesperson said that "all points of differences" between the rival groups have been overcome. He added that officials in Cairo will soon invite top Hamas and Fatah officials for a signing ceremony in the Egyptian capital.
Here is where it is useful to know a little history.
Palestinian Arabs have long been able to put together temporary, paper agreements and truces to achieve larger political goals. Inevitably, Westerners are consistently fooled by these, stupidly believing that short-term absence of violence indicates a long-term shift in attitudes.
In 1947, in the months before the UN Partition vote, virtually all Arab terror against Jews stopped. Amazing! The Arabs were proving to th world that they could act responsibly and run an Arab-led Palestine where they would protect the Jews as Islam requires them to, and they were puching this as an alternate plan to partitioning Palestine.
But within hours of the UN vote to partition Palestine, the Arabs gave up their pretense of peacefulness and started attacking Jews (in those days, they didn't bother with calling them "Zionists.")
In the months before Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas managed miraculously to reduce rocket fire from Gaza, and the rocket count dropped dramatically from 1157 in 2004 to 417 in 2005 as Israel implemented the plan. The next year, the number of rocket attacks increased back up to nearly the pre-disengagement levels.
Now the Palestinian Arabs are faced with another deadline.
The PA is putting all of their eggs in the unilateral recognition basket, that they are hoping the world provides to them in September. The biggest obstacle to that recognition was the simple fact that the PA and Hamas are hopelessly split - ideologically, physically and politically. There is no way that sympathetic Europeans can overlook that problem and support the establishment of a state where there are two competing rulers.
Hamas also recognizes the immense political value that recognition would bring them - something that, like the disengagement, would happen once and would likely never be reversed.
So even though Fatah and Hamas have been negotiating for years over the exact same issues without being able to come to an agreement, they now are agreeing to paper over their differences with vague wording that is just enough to convince the credulous, wishful-thinking West that they major obstacle to Palestinian Arab independence has been removed.
Note the little we do know: "Hamas has agreed to hold elections within a year." You can bet that the elections will be scheduled after September, because the result of elections beforehand - either way - would torpedo any chance for a unity government.
Vagueness will be the hallmark of the agreement - just enough to fool the world into thinking that these two groups can work together. Hamas can play the unity game until September, and, if the world is sufficiently fooled, for a few months afterwards. Then the elections, or absence of elections, will start to rock this false alliance.
By then, they hope, Palestine will already be de facto recognized as a state, and Israel will be on the ropes politically anyway. The world will be cheerleading the PalArab insistence on ethically cleansing the heart of the Land of Israel of Jews, and Hamas-Fatahstan will blame all of their new problems on Israel. They will say things like they cannot accept Palestinian Arab "refugees" in their new state as long as Israel holds any of "their" land. The ever present threat of them exploding in a new terror war will cause the West to pressure Israel, as always, as they insist on Israeli concessions to solve their problems.
The outline of what is coming is clear. Because we've seen this game before. Unfortunately, Western amnesia will help ensure that it plays out the way the PalArabs are planning it.
UPDATE: Barry Rubin concurs.
Elder of Ziyon
Pressure grows on Syria to stop violence
Latest amateur video from Syria appears to show violent clashes continuing in the city of Deraa, amidst growing international pressure on President Assad to end the crackdown on demonstrators.
Last week Assad lifted a 48 year-old emergency law, but since then human rights' groups say 400 people have been killed and five hundred arrested.
The government crackdown in Deraa started on Friday and has gone on all weekend.
...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Battle for Libya: Uprising in Nalut
#
07:55am
Russia is not planning to respond to Libya's plea that it call an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss what Moscow has described as Western aggression, a foreign ministry official told Itar-TASS news agency.
Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, has criticised the Western countries enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya and said they have gone beyond the limits of a Security Council resolution designed to protect civilians.
#
Timestamp:
07:40am
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught went to the town of Nalut, in the Nefusa mountain range of western Libya, to meet the people testing their new sense of freedom - and the risks that come with it.
The report below includes scenes and images never seen before of the uprising in Nalut:
#
Timestamp:
06:30am
With the conflict raging on in Libya, education is suffering, especially in the rebel-held areas.
Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh has this report from Benghazi, where some students and teachers are finding themselves on the frontline in the battle against government forces:
#
Timestamp:
05:34am
Revolutionary graffiti can be seen emblazoned on walls across the rebel-held cities in eastern Libya.
File 24976
Graffiti seen on March 31 in Adjabiya, the gateway to the east and about 150km south of Benghazi [Reuters]
#
Timestamp:
05:16am
Libya's tribes urged Gaddafi to cede power as rebels backed by NATO air strikes said they forced the missiles out of range of the port city of Misurata.
File 24936
Rebels participate in military training camp in Zintan in the region of Nalut [AFP]
#
Timestamp:
03:34am
Hundreds of migrant workers and Misurata residents have boarded the Red Star to escape the war-torn city in western Libya. The ship achored out at sea because of heavy shelling. The migrants mainly from Niger and Chad came under fire in their makeshift camp near the port.
#
Timestamp:
03:24am
Pro-Gaddafi forces blasted the western rebel-held town of Zintan with rockets on Wednesday, leaving at least three people wounded. A local hospital was also damaged in the attack, according to eyewitnesses.
At least 20 Grad rockets struck Zintan, with three of them crashing near the hospital. The town located southwest of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has been pounded by Gaddafi forces since Sunday.
#
Timestamp:
01:52am
Libya's opposition Transitional National Council hailed a move by the US to ease sanctions to open a stream of funding to forces seeking to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The council said:
The people of Libya are brave and defiant but we need access to oil revenues so that we can feed, protect and defend our families.
These funds are crucial to establishing a stable and secure future nation, and we welcome the US decision to ease sanctions on our exports.
#
Timestamp:
11:18pm
Many Gaddafi aides want to defect but fear is preventing them from abandoning the Libyan leader, the US envoy to Tripoli said on Wednesday.
Referring to Libyan government ministers "and other technocrats" in Gaddafi's inner circle, Ambassador Gene Cretz said in Washington:
They would like to break, but they're, number one, afraid - afraid for their lives. And they're also afraid for their families.
Cretz said Gaddafi's hardcore supporters "probably believe that their last stand has to be with him because they probably don't have a future".
Libya rebels under siege in western Nafusa mountains
Further west in the Nafusa mountains, an area that has remained largely inaccessible to journalists, pro-democracy fighters have been under siege from Muammar Gaddafi's forces for two months. The Nafusa mountain area is home to Libya's Berber minority. The fighting in the mountain region has sent thousands fleeing into nearby Tunisia. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught has traveled there and met a community that says it is gaining ground against Libya's longtime leader. The Libyan pro-democracy forces have been trying since mid-February to end Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule but have struggled against his more experienced and better equipped forces.
(Less)
Fatah and Hamas sign reconciliation deal
Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for a general election, Egyptian intelligence has said.
In February, Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority and a member of Fatah, called for presidential and legislative elections before September, in a move which was rejected by Hamas at the time.
"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement on Wednesday.
More on this from Saree Makdisi, a Palestinian scholar and author of the book "Palestine Inside Out - An Everyday Occupation". He also teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles.
BHO: Conventional Deficit Approach Differs from 2008
Arianna Huffington: At the moment, the White House seems to be following the standard Washington playbook, which is premised on two dubious assumptions: a) elections are decided by "independents" b) "independents" are always to be found in the middle of the road. So, the Beltway thinking goes, count on those in your base to come out, and run a middle-of-the-road campaign to win over those independents before your opponent can. It's the classic way to run a campaign. And it was proven completely wrong in 2008 by the winning coalition that swept Obama to victory. He didn't win by swerving to the middle. Instead of fighting for the ever-dwindling number of swing voters, Obama fought to win over the much larger number of voters who had turned their backs on the process. It was audacious -- and it worked. But what will happen to all those 2008 first-time voters, many of whom have been disproportionately hurt by the recession?
Assault on Misurata: How much longer can it go on?
The scale of destruction is brutal, in every corner a ghost of what could have been a family's escape, only it seems shelling by pro-Gaddafi forces left no refuge for civilians.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, from the besieged city.
Category:
News & Politics
If the citizens of Misurata lose, their children will be sodomized, their mothers raped and fathers beheaded.
David Barton and the US Religious Dimwits
David Barton is a Republican Party activist and a fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history.
April 20, 2011 |
Photo Credit: Empowered From Above
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Newt Gingrich promises to seek his advice and counsel for the 2012 presidential campaign. Mike Huckabee calls him America’s greatest historian, says he should be writing the curriculum for American students, and in fact suggested that all Americans should be “forced at gunpoint” to listen to his broadcasts. Michelle Bachmann calls him “a treasure for our nation” and invited him to teach one of her Tea Party Caucus classes on the Constitution for members of Congress. State legislators from around the country invite him to share his “wisdom” with them. Glenn Beck calls him “the most important man in America.” Who is this guy?
This guy is David Barton, a Republican Party activist and a fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history and the Constitution.
Barton has been profitably peddling a distorted “Christian nation” version of American history to conservative religious audiences for the past two decades. His books and videos denouncing church-state separation have been repeatedly debunked by respected historians, but that hasn’t kept Barton from becoming a folk hero for many in the Religious Right. His eagerness to help elect Republicans has won him gratitude and support from national as well as state and local GOP leaders. Former senator Sam Brownback, now the governor of Kansas, has said that Barton’s research “provides the philosophical underpinning for a lot of the Republican effort in the country today -- bringing God back into the public square.” Indeed, Time Magazine named him one of the nation’s 25 most influential evangelical Christians in 2005.
Barton broadened his audience when Fox News’ Glenn Beck became a fan. Last year, Beck invited Barton to appear regularly on his “Founders’ Fridays” broadcasts, sending Barton’s books up the bestseller lists. And when Beck brought his messianic road show to Washington, D.C. in August 2010, Barton shared the stage with him. At America’s Divine Destiny, the kick-off event on the eve of Beck’s Lincoln Memorial rally, Barton waved copies of old books and sermons and argued that the nation’s founding documents were essentially cribbed from colonial-era sermons.
While Barton is best known for his claims about the religious intentions of the nation’s founders, he has become a full-service pundit for the far-right in Tea Party America. He pushes predictable positions on abortion, gay rights, and the judiciary. But he is also attacking environmentalists working to combat climate change. And he is a key figure for conservative strategists who would love to forge an even stronger political merger between the Tea Party and Religious Right movements between now and the 2012 elections. Barton’s contribution: claiming that a radically limited role for the federal government was God’s idea, and that Jesus and the Bible are opposed to progressive taxation, minimum wage laws, collective bargaining, and “socialist union kind of stuff.”
Why Barton Matters
Barton’s growing visibility and influence with members of Congress and other Republican Party officials is troubling for many reasons: he distorts history and the Constitution for political purposes; he encourages religious divisiveness and unequal treatment for religious minorities; and he feeds a toxic political climate in which one’s political opponents are not just wrong, but evil and anti-God.
Scholars have criticized Barton for presenting facts out of context or in misleading ways, but that hasn’t stopped him from promoting his theories through books, television, and, yes, the textbooks that will teach the next generation of Americans. He promotes conspiracy theories about elites hiding the truth from average Americans in order to undermine the nation from within. Last summer, he declared that liberal and media attacks on the Tea Party were just like attacks on Jesus. In February, Barton spoke at the Connect 2011 Pastors Conference, where he said that Christians needed to control the culture and media so that “guys that have a secular viewpoint cannot survive.” Said Barton, “If the press lacks moral discrimination, it’s because we haven’t been pushing our people to chop that kind of news off.”
NATO will Expand Libya Campaign
With Muammar Gaddafi's once-fragile grip on power in Libya suddenly looking stronger, NATO says it's changing strategies. When the alliance entered the conflict, its airstrikes were intended to hasten a rebel victory by holding back forces loyal to Gaddafi. But with rebels struggling to coalesce and the war headed toward a potential stalemate, NATO now says it's expanding its list of targets to include Gaddafi's palaces, communications centers, and other key institutions. The goal is to prevent effective communication, crippling Gaddafi and his army. That won't end the war, but NATO hopes it might erode confidence enough to peel off key aides and even drive Gaddafi into exile.
Read it at The New York Times
Read it at The New York Times
French Aristocrat Accused of Murdering Family
by Dana Kennedy Info
Dana Kennedy
A French aristocrat is on the lam after his wife, four children and two Labradors were found killed and buried in the family's garden. Dana Kennedy reports from France on the grisly manhunt—and the terrified former mistress.
An international manhunt is under way for a handsome, aristocratic Frenchman police believe may have shot and killed his wife, their four children, and two dogs, burying them all in the garden of their home in Nantes, France.
Meanwhile, his terrified former mistress has gone into hiding, fearing for her life.
Article - Kennedy French Aristocrat Murder
POTUS Doesn't Relate Well to Easter
As part of his Moslem "taghiyah" (lies), Obama attended a Baptist Church founded by slaves as an orchestrated show of "honoring" Easter, yet, though he has proclaimed major days of other religions such as Islamic Ramadan, he "forgot to do an Easter proclamation thus by comparison insulting ALL Christians.
Obama made a video message to the people of Iran for the Persian (Zoroastrian) holiday of Nowruz but didn’t make a video for Easter.
President Obama delivered official messages for Passover, Ramadan and Diwali. But for Easter? Not so much.
The White House came under fire this week for neglecting to issue official statements for either Easter or Good Friday, though Mr. Obama did take time Friday to address Earth Day, a celebration observed by tens of thousands of pagan worshippers of the earth goddess Gaia.
Obama has had a difficult official relationship with Easter.
Atlas is Shrugging
"Atlas is Shrugging"
A bulls-eye from Robert Tracinski of The Intellectual Activist, a paid-only newsletter. Tracinski may not cotton to my running the whole thing, but it is that good. The whole country should read it.
Atlas Is Shrugging
We're Living Through a Live-Action Version of Ayn Rand's Novel by Robert Tracinski
The producers of the new movie version of Atlas Shrugged struggled over how directly they should attempt to tie the story to current events. It turns out they needn't have worried, because events have a way of catching up with the story all on their own.
I was amused to read a blogger's report about going to see Atlas Shrugged at the nearest theater where it was showing: a vast mall built with millions of dollars in government subsidies—which now stands virtually empty. How fitting for a story that shows how government management of the economy is dragging America down into economic collapse. He concludes that the mall is like "a life-sized, 3-D diorama promotional display for Atlas Shrugged."
He understates his case. The whole country is a life-sized, 3-D promotional diorama for Atlas Shrugged. We are all living through a live-action version of the novel.
In Atlas Shrugged, businesses begin moving to Colorado, a state that is denounced as regressive because it has "hardly any government," in order to escape strangling government regulations in their home states. In response, the federal government issues a decree forbidding companies from relocating. Sound fantastical? Last week, in the real world, the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint demanding that Boeing locate its assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in Puget Sound instead of Charleston, South Carolina—on the grounds that Boeing should not be allowed to escape the death grip of the unions by moving to a "right to work" state.
In Atlas Shrugged, a brilliant young oilman invents a revolutionary process to extract oil from shale, but even though the country is desperate for energy, he is shut down by government regulations. Science fiction? In the real world, a process called hydraulic fracturing—hydrofracking or just "fracking" for short—is making it possible to extract astonishing quantities of natural gas from shale formations across the country. This promises to revolutionize domestic energy production. But even though the country is desperate for energy, the media and the government are readying a campaign to impose a moratorium on fracking and smother it in its infancy.
In Atlas Shrugged, productive firms are bled dry to provide bailouts for failing companies which produce "unreliable goods at unpredictable times." In the real world, General Motors and Chrysler were bailed out with $80 billion dollars of our tax money so that they could bring us nine of the eleven "Worst Cars on the Road."
In Atlas Shrugged, men of talent and initiative are disappearing and withdrawing from the economy because they refuse to accept punishment for their hard work and ambition. In the real world, legendary ad man and entrepreneur Jerry Della Femina just announced that he has sold his famous restaurant and is withdrawing from all of his other ventures because "I'm just not ready to have my wealth redistributed. I'm not ready to pay more tax money than the next guy because I provide jobs and because I work a 60-hour week and I earn more than $250,000 a year." And to show that art imitates life imitating art, he explains: "So why am I dropping out? Read a brilliant book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged, and you'll know."
In Atlas Shrugged, the advocates of uncontrolled government keep spending money faster than they can expropriate it from a shrinking number of producers. A chapter later in the novel is titled, "Account Overdrawn." In the real world, S&P has just downgraded the long-term outlook for US government debt, a precursor to downgrading the nation's credit rating. Enough said.
Atlas Shrugged was published more than 50 years ago, and Ayn Rand certainly didn't write it with today's events in mind. But she drew from real-world observations that suggested universal principles. She lived through the Bolshevik takeover in Russia and escaped to America in the Roaring 20s, a period of extraordinary industrial growth and achievement. She then watched in horror as America plunged into the Red Decade and the Great Depression, a permanent "temporary crisis" that was always used as an excuse for the government to grab more power. So when it came to understanding what made America great and what was destroying it, she had plenty of real-life material to draw from.
That's why Atlas Shrugged has been a perennial best-seller that resonates in any era. I remember how I became a convert to Ayn Rand's literature and philosophy. When I first picked up Atlas Shrugged, I read the first 200 pages and put it down, because I thought that her view of the world just wasn't realistic. Then over a period of months, I kept seeing people do or say something that made me think: "That's just like something from Atlas Shrugged." It made me realize that the novel might be realistic after all.
What was this dark, dystopian time that I lived through that made me think Atlas Shrugged was reflected in the real world? It was 1987, during the final years of the Reagan administration—years that seem like a comparative utopia from today's perspective. So I can only imagine what it is like for young people living through today's events.
Around that time, not far from where I grew up, there was a giant warehouse that was half-built and then abandoned by a struggling manufacturing firm. As you drove down I-74 in rural Illinois you could see the unfinished framework of the building, its white-painted girders gleaming like the bleached bones of a dead animal in the desert. At some point, someone had come along and spray-painted on one of those girders a tagline from Atlas Shrugged: "Who is John Galt?"
A bulls-eye from Robert Tracinski of The Intellectual Activist, a paid-only newsletter. Tracinski may not cotton to my running the whole thing, but it is that good. The whole country should read it.
Atlas Is Shrugging
We're Living Through a Live-Action Version of Ayn Rand's Novel by Robert Tracinski
The producers of the new movie version of Atlas Shrugged struggled over how directly they should attempt to tie the story to current events. It turns out they needn't have worried, because events have a way of catching up with the story all on their own.
I was amused to read a blogger's report about going to see Atlas Shrugged at the nearest theater where it was showing: a vast mall built with millions of dollars in government subsidies—which now stands virtually empty. How fitting for a story that shows how government management of the economy is dragging America down into economic collapse. He concludes that the mall is like "a life-sized, 3-D diorama promotional display for Atlas Shrugged."
He understates his case. The whole country is a life-sized, 3-D promotional diorama for Atlas Shrugged. We are all living through a live-action version of the novel.
In Atlas Shrugged, businesses begin moving to Colorado, a state that is denounced as regressive because it has "hardly any government," in order to escape strangling government regulations in their home states. In response, the federal government issues a decree forbidding companies from relocating. Sound fantastical? Last week, in the real world, the Obama administration's National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint demanding that Boeing locate its assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in Puget Sound instead of Charleston, South Carolina—on the grounds that Boeing should not be allowed to escape the death grip of the unions by moving to a "right to work" state.
In Atlas Shrugged, a brilliant young oilman invents a revolutionary process to extract oil from shale, but even though the country is desperate for energy, he is shut down by government regulations. Science fiction? In the real world, a process called hydraulic fracturing—hydrofracking or just "fracking" for short—is making it possible to extract astonishing quantities of natural gas from shale formations across the country. This promises to revolutionize domestic energy production. But even though the country is desperate for energy, the media and the government are readying a campaign to impose a moratorium on fracking and smother it in its infancy.
In Atlas Shrugged, productive firms are bled dry to provide bailouts for failing companies which produce "unreliable goods at unpredictable times." In the real world, General Motors and Chrysler were bailed out with $80 billion dollars of our tax money so that they could bring us nine of the eleven "Worst Cars on the Road."
In Atlas Shrugged, men of talent and initiative are disappearing and withdrawing from the economy because they refuse to accept punishment for their hard work and ambition. In the real world, legendary ad man and entrepreneur Jerry Della Femina just announced that he has sold his famous restaurant and is withdrawing from all of his other ventures because "I'm just not ready to have my wealth redistributed. I'm not ready to pay more tax money than the next guy because I provide jobs and because I work a 60-hour week and I earn more than $250,000 a year." And to show that art imitates life imitating art, he explains: "So why am I dropping out? Read a brilliant book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged, and you'll know."
In Atlas Shrugged, the advocates of uncontrolled government keep spending money faster than they can expropriate it from a shrinking number of producers. A chapter later in the novel is titled, "Account Overdrawn." In the real world, S&P has just downgraded the long-term outlook for US government debt, a precursor to downgrading the nation's credit rating. Enough said.
Atlas Shrugged was published more than 50 years ago, and Ayn Rand certainly didn't write it with today's events in mind. But she drew from real-world observations that suggested universal principles. She lived through the Bolshevik takeover in Russia and escaped to America in the Roaring 20s, a period of extraordinary industrial growth and achievement. She then watched in horror as America plunged into the Red Decade and the Great Depression, a permanent "temporary crisis" that was always used as an excuse for the government to grab more power. So when it came to understanding what made America great and what was destroying it, she had plenty of real-life material to draw from.
That's why Atlas Shrugged has been a perennial best-seller that resonates in any era. I remember how I became a convert to Ayn Rand's literature and philosophy. When I first picked up Atlas Shrugged, I read the first 200 pages and put it down, because I thought that her view of the world just wasn't realistic. Then over a period of months, I kept seeing people do or say something that made me think: "That's just like something from Atlas Shrugged." It made me realize that the novel might be realistic after all.
What was this dark, dystopian time that I lived through that made me think Atlas Shrugged was reflected in the real world? It was 1987, during the final years of the Reagan administration—years that seem like a comparative utopia from today's perspective. So I can only imagine what it is like for young people living through today's events.
Around that time, not far from where I grew up, there was a giant warehouse that was half-built and then abandoned by a struggling manufacturing firm. As you drove down I-74 in rural Illinois you could see the unfinished framework of the building, its white-painted girders gleaming like the bleached bones of a dead animal in the desert. At some point, someone had come along and spray-painted on one of those girders a tagline from Atlas Shrugged: "Who is John Galt?"
Must-See Film on GZMosque Controversey
"Must-See Film on Ground Zero Mosque Controversy"
Pajamas Media has Elise Cooper's excellent review of the AFDI documentary, Ground Zero Mosque, Second Wave of the 911 Attacks. For those of you in the Tampa/St. Pete area, we will be screening the film on Sunday at Muvico Baywalk (151 2nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, more here.) Spencer and I will be speaking and doing a Q&A after the film.
I will be screening the film this week at the University of Delaware and next week at the University of Ohio.
Here'a an excerpt of the PJM review:
Must-See Film on Ground Zero Mosque Controversy hat tip Ruthfully yours
A 13-story mega-mosque is to be built in New York City approximately two blocks from the site of where the World Trade Center used to stand. Since Islamic extremists murdered 3000 people on September 11, 2001, Ground Zero is a cemetery and to many a sacred ground. Movie poster blog Because of the strong outcry against the mosque project, it has publicly morphed from a religious place of worship to a prayer center to a community center.
The Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of 9/11 Attacks powerfully starts by reminding Americans of the horrors of that day: clips of people jumping to their deaths as the World Trade Center became an inferno.
Geller strongly believes that “the 9/11 families took a hit for all Americans on that day when the Islamic extremists declared war on America.” She hopes viewers will be awakened as to why this mosque should never be built near Ground Zero, and to understand that if built, this mosque would be viewed by the jihadists as a triumph.
The movie intends to convey the magnitude of the jihadist threat. The landing gear from one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center was found in the Burlington Coat Factory building, where the mosque is to be built. A powerful statement from the movie: “Ground Zero becomes all about the mosque and no longer about the attack.” Geller wants Americans to understand: “[There] are thousands of mosques throughout the U.S. and hundreds of mosques in New York City. Why build it here?”
Read the whole thing.
Better yet, purchase the film and host a screening -- in your living rooms. Buy one for your friends.
Or better yet, organizr a screening -- in your town or city - your library, church, school, civic center -- anywhere and everywhere, and we will come. Contact me at GroundZeroMosque@aol.com.
Pajamas Media has Elise Cooper's excellent review of the AFDI documentary, Ground Zero Mosque, Second Wave of the 911 Attacks. For those of you in the Tampa/St. Pete area, we will be screening the film on Sunday at Muvico Baywalk (151 2nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, more here.) Spencer and I will be speaking and doing a Q&A after the film.
I will be screening the film this week at the University of Delaware and next week at the University of Ohio.
Here'a an excerpt of the PJM review:
Must-See Film on Ground Zero Mosque Controversy hat tip Ruthfully yours
A 13-story mega-mosque is to be built in New York City approximately two blocks from the site of where the World Trade Center used to stand. Since Islamic extremists murdered 3000 people on September 11, 2001, Ground Zero is a cemetery and to many a sacred ground. Movie poster blog Because of the strong outcry against the mosque project, it has publicly morphed from a religious place of worship to a prayer center to a community center.
The Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of 9/11 Attacks powerfully starts by reminding Americans of the horrors of that day: clips of people jumping to their deaths as the World Trade Center became an inferno.
Geller strongly believes that “the 9/11 families took a hit for all Americans on that day when the Islamic extremists declared war on America.” She hopes viewers will be awakened as to why this mosque should never be built near Ground Zero, and to understand that if built, this mosque would be viewed by the jihadists as a triumph.
The movie intends to convey the magnitude of the jihadist threat. The landing gear from one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center was found in the Burlington Coat Factory building, where the mosque is to be built. A powerful statement from the movie: “Ground Zero becomes all about the mosque and no longer about the attack.” Geller wants Americans to understand: “[There] are thousands of mosques throughout the U.S. and hundreds of mosques in New York City. Why build it here?”
Read the whole thing.
Better yet, purchase the film and host a screening -- in your living rooms. Buy one for your friends.
Or better yet, organizr a screening -- in your town or city - your library, church, school, civic center -- anywhere and everywhere, and we will come. Contact me at GroundZeroMosque@aol.com.
US Officials Suspected Al Jazeera Al Qaeda Link
U.S. Officials Suspected Al-Jazeera Ties to Al-Qaeda
We always knew al jizz was "Terror TV." What's scary is that the President of the United States and his coterie of quislings are big fans of the propaganda broadcast network. Complete coverage of Al Jazeera's invasion of the US airwaves and our press conference here (scroll for text and video).
Terror Ties and Muslim Brotherhood Connections: Read the Explosive U.S. Military Document on Al-Jazeera Here (PDF)
The good news is that Comcast has slammed the door on the poison machine, here.
Here's the latest from the tireless fighter and great American, Cliff Kincaid.
U.S. Officials Suspected Al-Jazeera Ties to Al-Qaeda USA Survival
Al-Jazeera is spinning the newly released “Guantanamo files,” saying they show that dozens of enemy combatants detained at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay were innocent. But that’s not what the previously secret documents say about one high-profile detainee, Sami al-Hajj, an Al-Jazeera journalist released from Guantanamo after legal intervention by his Soros-funded lawyer and protests from human rights and press freedom groups.
The controversial allegations against this former “enemy combatant,” as detailed in this document, are being denounced by al-Hajj’s lawyer as “false and discredited allegations.”
But they show that U.S. officials suspected high-level cooperation between Al-Jazeera and al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The charges also raise serious questions about why officials of the Obama Administration are currently praising the channel and cooperating with it.
The document says about Sami Muheidine Mohamed al-Haj, known as Sami al-Hajj and Prisoner 345, “His involvement as a money courier, involvement in the transfer of weapons and leadership position within the Muslim Brotherhood, along with his numerous connections made through Al-Jazeera and his pro-jihadist propaganda activities, illustrates his intelligence value.”
The detailed Department of Defense document, posted by WikiLeaks, is designated, “SECRET / / NOFORN / / 20330404DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HEADQUARTERS, JOINT TASK FORCE GUANTANAMO U.S. NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA APO AE 09360”
Dated April 4, 2008, it recommends continued detention under Department of Defense control for the “Guantanamo Detainee” and is signed by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby. Incredibly, however, al-Hajj was released only about a month later.
After the leak of this secret prisoner document, Al-Hajj was quick to appear on Al-Jazeera English, which is desperately seeking access to U.S. media markets, to once again proclaim his innocence. He says U.S. interrogators repeatedly asked about a link between Al-Jazeera and al-Qaeda.
Al-Hajj says he is happy that his file and others have been released by WikiLeaks. But the document appears to rely on interviews, interrogations, intelligence sources, and foreign intelligence services that cannot be dismissed out of hand. It’s true that some information is presented in the form of accusations that have not necessarily been verified. But other information is presented in an official manner and as a matter of fact.
It bluntly describes al-Hajj employee as a member of al-Qaeda and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. What’s more, the documents include information indicating that Al-Jazeera had a “relationship” with al-Qaeda dating back to 1997 and that the channel was involved in Muslim Brotherhood operations targeting the U.S.
The specific charges about al-Hajj are more controversial and have been disputed. It says, “Detainee was believed to be a money courier for the UBL [Osama bin Laden] network” It cites a foreign government service as saying that the detainee “was a personal acquaintance of UBL.”
“Detainee is reportedly a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Shura council and was involved in plans and operations to distribute weapons, to include Stinger missiles, and financial support to a foreign government service,” it goes on. “It is assessed that detainee worked directly with Taliban Supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar to procure the missiles.”
In a bombshell, the document alleges that the U.S. was a target of this terrorist network through banking activities that could potentially launder money for terrorist activities. It says, “Detainee traveled to Qatar to meet with the head of al-Jazeera and Yusef al-Karadavi (a main proponent of the Muslim Brotherhood) to discuss creating a banking system controlled by the ‘brothers’ in European countries, the US, and Canada.” The “brothers” is a term used to describe members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the same group now poised to take power in Egypt after the “revolution” fed by Al-Jazeera’s incendiary coverage.
The name, “Yusef al-Karadavi” appears to be Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Al-Jazeera Arabic personality known for his anti-American and anti-Israel views. He is considered the inspiration forn the Muslim Brotherhood.
Whether al-Hajj actually met with him or not, Qatar sponsors and funds Al-Jazeera and hosted al-Qaradawi until his recent triumphant return to Egypt.
Not surprisingly, the 11-page document shows that the Department of Defense believed that al-Hajj could provide evidence of “Al-Jazeera associations with al-Qaida leaders and activities in support of Islamic militant groups,” as well as information about the Muslim Brotherhood “and its links to extremism.” The document confirms his status as an “enemy combatant” with a “high risk” to the U.S. and of “high intelligence value.”
Al-Hajj, of course, claims he was wrongly detained. The allegations against him were “baseless,” Al-Jazeera claimed on his behalf. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International had urged his release. He now covers human rights issues for the channel.
It has never been clear why he was released from Guantanamo. “With no explanation, U.S. military officials last May [2008] flew him to his native Khartoum, and handed him over to Sudanese authorities,” noted Time magazine.
However, speculation has been that the transfer was made, after six years in custody, for foreign policy reasons having to do with U.S. relations with the Sudan, his native country. The bad publicity over holding a “journalist” in the terrorist detention facility could have been another reason.
His British lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has a lot of clout, having been a former “Soros Senior Fellow” associated with the controversial left-wing billionaire, George Soros. Smith visited al-Hajj at Guantanamo in 2006. “His interrogators wanted only to turn him into an informant against Al Jazeera,” Smith claimed at the time.
Smith’s task, as a recipient of a “Soros Justice Fellowship,” was to “organize a coalition to promote enforcement of constitutional and human rights in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (home of a U.S. military base and prison); to produce a best-practices manual for litigating the cases before military commissions; and to write about a selection of Guantanamo prisoners.”
But it doesn’t seem to matter for Al-Jazeera whether the charges are true or not. The channel defended Al-Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni, who was charged, convicted and sentenced to prison in Spain for being an agent of Al-Qaeda. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon alleged that Tayseer Alouni was involved with an al-Qaeda terror cell that helped plan the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. He had been a correspondent for Al-Jazeera in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion after 9/11.
The New York Times did not spin the documents in the same way as Al-Jazeera. It reported, “The documents show that a major reason a Sudanese cameraman for Al Jazeera, Sami al-Hajj, was held at Guantánamo for six years was for questioning about the television network’s ‘training program, telecommunications equipment, and newsgathering operations in Chechnya, Kosovo, and Afghanistan,’ including contacts with terrorist groups. While Mr. Hajj insisted he was just a journalist, his file says he helped Islamic extremist groups courier money and obtain Stinger missiles and cites the United Arab Emirates’ claim that he was a Qaeda member. He was released in 2008 and returned to work for Al Jazeera.”
His “file” is absolute dynamite at a time when Al-Jazeera is currying favor with the U.S. media establishment.
We always knew al jizz was "Terror TV." What's scary is that the President of the United States and his coterie of quislings are big fans of the propaganda broadcast network. Complete coverage of Al Jazeera's invasion of the US airwaves and our press conference here (scroll for text and video).
Terror Ties and Muslim Brotherhood Connections: Read the Explosive U.S. Military Document on Al-Jazeera Here (PDF)
The good news is that Comcast has slammed the door on the poison machine, here.
Here's the latest from the tireless fighter and great American, Cliff Kincaid.
U.S. Officials Suspected Al-Jazeera Ties to Al-Qaeda USA Survival
Al-Jazeera is spinning the newly released “Guantanamo files,” saying they show that dozens of enemy combatants detained at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay were innocent. But that’s not what the previously secret documents say about one high-profile detainee, Sami al-Hajj, an Al-Jazeera journalist released from Guantanamo after legal intervention by his Soros-funded lawyer and protests from human rights and press freedom groups.
The controversial allegations against this former “enemy combatant,” as detailed in this document, are being denounced by al-Hajj’s lawyer as “false and discredited allegations.”
But they show that U.S. officials suspected high-level cooperation between Al-Jazeera and al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The charges also raise serious questions about why officials of the Obama Administration are currently praising the channel and cooperating with it.
The document says about Sami Muheidine Mohamed al-Haj, known as Sami al-Hajj and Prisoner 345, “His involvement as a money courier, involvement in the transfer of weapons and leadership position within the Muslim Brotherhood, along with his numerous connections made through Al-Jazeera and his pro-jihadist propaganda activities, illustrates his intelligence value.”
The detailed Department of Defense document, posted by WikiLeaks, is designated, “SECRET / / NOFORN / / 20330404DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HEADQUARTERS, JOINT TASK FORCE GUANTANAMO U.S. NAVAL STATION, GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA APO AE 09360”
Dated April 4, 2008, it recommends continued detention under Department of Defense control for the “Guantanamo Detainee” and is signed by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby. Incredibly, however, al-Hajj was released only about a month later.
After the leak of this secret prisoner document, Al-Hajj was quick to appear on Al-Jazeera English, which is desperately seeking access to U.S. media markets, to once again proclaim his innocence. He says U.S. interrogators repeatedly asked about a link between Al-Jazeera and al-Qaeda.
Al-Hajj says he is happy that his file and others have been released by WikiLeaks. But the document appears to rely on interviews, interrogations, intelligence sources, and foreign intelligence services that cannot be dismissed out of hand. It’s true that some information is presented in the form of accusations that have not necessarily been verified. But other information is presented in an official manner and as a matter of fact.
It bluntly describes al-Hajj employee as a member of al-Qaeda and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. What’s more, the documents include information indicating that Al-Jazeera had a “relationship” with al-Qaeda dating back to 1997 and that the channel was involved in Muslim Brotherhood operations targeting the U.S.
The specific charges about al-Hajj are more controversial and have been disputed. It says, “Detainee was believed to be a money courier for the UBL [Osama bin Laden] network” It cites a foreign government service as saying that the detainee “was a personal acquaintance of UBL.”
“Detainee is reportedly a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Shura council and was involved in plans and operations to distribute weapons, to include Stinger missiles, and financial support to a foreign government service,” it goes on. “It is assessed that detainee worked directly with Taliban Supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar to procure the missiles.”
In a bombshell, the document alleges that the U.S. was a target of this terrorist network through banking activities that could potentially launder money for terrorist activities. It says, “Detainee traveled to Qatar to meet with the head of al-Jazeera and Yusef al-Karadavi (a main proponent of the Muslim Brotherhood) to discuss creating a banking system controlled by the ‘brothers’ in European countries, the US, and Canada.” The “brothers” is a term used to describe members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the same group now poised to take power in Egypt after the “revolution” fed by Al-Jazeera’s incendiary coverage.
The name, “Yusef al-Karadavi” appears to be Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Al-Jazeera Arabic personality known for his anti-American and anti-Israel views. He is considered the inspiration forn the Muslim Brotherhood.
Whether al-Hajj actually met with him or not, Qatar sponsors and funds Al-Jazeera and hosted al-Qaradawi until his recent triumphant return to Egypt.
Not surprisingly, the 11-page document shows that the Department of Defense believed that al-Hajj could provide evidence of “Al-Jazeera associations with al-Qaida leaders and activities in support of Islamic militant groups,” as well as information about the Muslim Brotherhood “and its links to extremism.” The document confirms his status as an “enemy combatant” with a “high risk” to the U.S. and of “high intelligence value.”
Al-Hajj, of course, claims he was wrongly detained. The allegations against him were “baseless,” Al-Jazeera claimed on his behalf. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International had urged his release. He now covers human rights issues for the channel.
It has never been clear why he was released from Guantanamo. “With no explanation, U.S. military officials last May [2008] flew him to his native Khartoum, and handed him over to Sudanese authorities,” noted Time magazine.
However, speculation has been that the transfer was made, after six years in custody, for foreign policy reasons having to do with U.S. relations with the Sudan, his native country. The bad publicity over holding a “journalist” in the terrorist detention facility could have been another reason.
His British lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has a lot of clout, having been a former “Soros Senior Fellow” associated with the controversial left-wing billionaire, George Soros. Smith visited al-Hajj at Guantanamo in 2006. “His interrogators wanted only to turn him into an informant against Al Jazeera,” Smith claimed at the time.
Smith’s task, as a recipient of a “Soros Justice Fellowship,” was to “organize a coalition to promote enforcement of constitutional and human rights in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (home of a U.S. military base and prison); to produce a best-practices manual for litigating the cases before military commissions; and to write about a selection of Guantanamo prisoners.”
But it doesn’t seem to matter for Al-Jazeera whether the charges are true or not. The channel defended Al-Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni, who was charged, convicted and sentenced to prison in Spain for being an agent of Al-Qaeda. Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon alleged that Tayseer Alouni was involved with an al-Qaeda terror cell that helped plan the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. He had been a correspondent for Al-Jazeera in Afghanistan before the U.S. invasion after 9/11.
The New York Times did not spin the documents in the same way as Al-Jazeera. It reported, “The documents show that a major reason a Sudanese cameraman for Al Jazeera, Sami al-Hajj, was held at Guantánamo for six years was for questioning about the television network’s ‘training program, telecommunications equipment, and newsgathering operations in Chechnya, Kosovo, and Afghanistan,’ including contacts with terrorist groups. While Mr. Hajj insisted he was just a journalist, his file says he helped Islamic extremist groups courier money and obtain Stinger missiles and cites the United Arab Emirates’ claim that he was a Qaeda member. He was released in 2008 and returned to work for Al Jazeera.”
His “file” is absolute dynamite at a time when Al-Jazeera is currying favor with the U.S. media establishment.
High Treason Case Dropped at the Department of Justice: Betraying America Sanctioned by Obama Administration
New_york_crimes_rally_010
And the hits just keep on coming from Obama's Department of Justice -- last week we discovered that the DoJ scuttled the prosecution of Muslim Brotherhood groups in the US (i.e. CAIR, etc.)
We protested this action of sedition back in 2008.
Breaking News Politico
-------------------------------------------------
The Justice Department has dropped its long-running criminal investigation of a lawyer who publicly admitted leaking information about President George W. Bush’s top-secret warrantless wiretapping program to The New York Times – disclosures that Bush denounced as a breach of national security and that stoked a congressional debate about whether the government had overstepped its authority as it scrambled to respond to the 9/11 terror attacks.
The decision not to prosecute former Justice Department lawyer Thomas Tamm means it is unlikely that anyone will ever be charged for the disclosures that led to the Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning story in December 2005 revealing that after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush ordered the interception of certain phone calls and e-mail messages into and out of the U.S. without a warrant — a move many lawyers contend violated the 1978 law governing intelligence-related wiretaps.
Atlas Shrugs
New_york_crimes_rally_010
And the hits just keep on coming from Obama's Department of Justice -- last week we discovered that the DoJ scuttled the prosecution of Muslim Brotherhood groups in the US (i.e. CAIR, etc.)
We protested this action of sedition back in 2008.
Breaking News Politico
-------------------------------------------------
The Justice Department has dropped its long-running criminal investigation of a lawyer who publicly admitted leaking information about President George W. Bush’s top-secret warrantless wiretapping program to The New York Times – disclosures that Bush denounced as a breach of national security and that stoked a congressional debate about whether the government had overstepped its authority as it scrambled to respond to the 9/11 terror attacks.
The decision not to prosecute former Justice Department lawyer Thomas Tamm means it is unlikely that anyone will ever be charged for the disclosures that led to the Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning story in December 2005 revealing that after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush ordered the interception of certain phone calls and e-mail messages into and out of the U.S. without a warrant — a move many lawyers contend violated the 1978 law governing intelligence-related wiretaps.
Atlas Shrugs
Atlas Skulks
From astute Atlas reader van:
Just wanted to give you some thought on the continuing decline of America at the hands of this criminal Presidency.
Shell/BP has quit their plan to drill in the Arctic offshore Alaska after being denied an Air Quality Permit from the EPA and the criminal Lisa Jackson. As you know, destroying the economy is one form of terrorism.
Shell paid $2.2 Billion for the oil leases and put another $4 Billion into exploration. The nearest village is 70 miles from the rig and there are only 243 inhabitants, probably Alaskan native Indians. From what I understand, they were supportive of Shell's plans. The EPA rejected the AQ permit because they claim Shell did not include the exhaust emissions of the icebreaker ship transporting men and equipment to the site! You can't make this shit up, Atlas.
The U.S. portion of the huge estimated oil reserves was 27 Billion barrels, nearly 50% of current gasoline production in this country.
Alaska's general fund receives 90% of it's revenue from the petroleum industry! The State legislators were outraged at the EPA decision. Sarah Palin could probably add a few comments!
There is an ancillary story that the Alaska Pipeline is at risk of falling into destruction because of the low volume of oil being transported. Construction of that pipeline was a monumental achievement necessary to America's oil independence.
This destruction of America is simply NO accident, but the plan of this Administration and its Monetary Policy via the Federal Reserve, as I've opined before.
Obama has targeted the oil speculators. He wants to make them scapegoats and tax the oil companies. Oil prices in the market are a forward pricing mechanism. The speculators are telling us that they think oil will be more expensive in the near future.
We have not increased our domestic production due to onerous regulations for refineries. He has imposed a drilling ban in ANWR, in the Gulf, and other coastal areas, even though other countries are drilling there, including China!
We are subsidizing ethanol production at the cost of a staple food, corn, that is increasing food costs around the world. He wants green technology instead of using abundant coal and nuclear. They will not save us. Oil is the fuel of necessity on this planet. It drives the engine of Capitalism.
Because of liar and tax-cheat Geithner's weak-dollar policy and that of Bernanke's Fed, the price of oil imports and everything else is rising, as is inflation. These two men are responsible for America's economic destruction with the approval of the America Hater-In-Chief. Like you said, it's hard not to hate this guy.
End of story.
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• Email to a friend • Article Search • View comments • [Listen to this article] •
Just wanted to give you some thought on the continuing decline of America at the hands of this criminal Presidency.
Shell/BP has quit their plan to drill in the Arctic offshore Alaska after being denied an Air Quality Permit from the EPA and the criminal Lisa Jackson. As you know, destroying the economy is one form of terrorism.
Shell paid $2.2 Billion for the oil leases and put another $4 Billion into exploration. The nearest village is 70 miles from the rig and there are only 243 inhabitants, probably Alaskan native Indians. From what I understand, they were supportive of Shell's plans. The EPA rejected the AQ permit because they claim Shell did not include the exhaust emissions of the icebreaker ship transporting men and equipment to the site! You can't make this shit up, Atlas.
The U.S. portion of the huge estimated oil reserves was 27 Billion barrels, nearly 50% of current gasoline production in this country.
Alaska's general fund receives 90% of it's revenue from the petroleum industry! The State legislators were outraged at the EPA decision. Sarah Palin could probably add a few comments!
There is an ancillary story that the Alaska Pipeline is at risk of falling into destruction because of the low volume of oil being transported. Construction of that pipeline was a monumental achievement necessary to America's oil independence.
This destruction of America is simply NO accident, but the plan of this Administration and its Monetary Policy via the Federal Reserve, as I've opined before.
Obama has targeted the oil speculators. He wants to make them scapegoats and tax the oil companies. Oil prices in the market are a forward pricing mechanism. The speculators are telling us that they think oil will be more expensive in the near future.
We have not increased our domestic production due to onerous regulations for refineries. He has imposed a drilling ban in ANWR, in the Gulf, and other coastal areas, even though other countries are drilling there, including China!
We are subsidizing ethanol production at the cost of a staple food, corn, that is increasing food costs around the world. He wants green technology instead of using abundant coal and nuclear. They will not save us. Oil is the fuel of necessity on this planet. It drives the engine of Capitalism.
Because of liar and tax-cheat Geithner's weak-dollar policy and that of Bernanke's Fed, the price of oil imports and everything else is rising, as is inflation. These two men are responsible for America's economic destruction with the approval of the America Hater-In-Chief. Like you said, it's hard not to hate this guy.
End of story.
[Like on Facebook]
• Email to a friend • Article Search • View comments • [Listen to this article] •
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