Zionism – more than traditional colonialism and apartheid. By Lasse Wilhelmson

Via: Rebel News.

The Jewish colonisation of Palestine under the Zionist slogan “the land without people to the people without a land” started almost a hundred years ago and reached its first climax with the proclamation of The Jewish State of Israel in 1948. A second climax is now in the offing through the ongoing colonisation of the West Bank and Gaza.

A Jewish state needs a substantial majority of Jews in the population. This has been insured by means of immigration, terror and expulsion of the native Palestine population. Jewish hegemony in Israel today is secured through a system of apartheid inherent in all aspects of Society, be it law, administration or religion. Israel lacks a constitution and fixed boarders, which is fully consistent with Zionism’s call for continual expansion.

Israel – not even a democracy for Jews

There is a law in Israel, passed in 1985, which forbids political parties to openly oppose the principle of a Jewish state. Neither are they allowed to work for a change of this principle through democratic means. A party so doing will be banned from elections to the Knesset.

Democracy is thus denied to those citizens – even Jews – who wish to work within the parliamentary system towards replacing the Jewish state with a secular state which represents all its citizens’ equal rights regardless of religion or ethnic origin. This law alone prevents Israel from being seen as a liberal democracy of Western type.

All Jews living outside Israel are entitled by law to immigrate and become citizens immediately, while the Palestinian refugees who were expelled from their homes are prohibited from returning. This is a violation of international law.

It’s Obama’s War Now. By Gary Leupp

Via: Counter Punch.

There are now at present some 68,000 U.S. troops and 42,000 allied forces occupying Afghanistan, in league with the Northern Alliance warlords and the corrupt and feeble Karzai regime in Kabul. President Obama clearly wishes to increase the figure and will announce before an audience of West Point cadets Tuesday that he will add over 30,000 more while pushing the Europeans to add 10,000. This will bring the total number of occupation forces to around the level of the Soviet deployment at its peak in the 1980s.

The Soviets were trying to protect the secular government in Afghanistan and to discourage Islamic fundamentalism, a potential threat to the neighboring Soviet Central Asian republics such as Uzbekistan. What is Obama trying to do?

Because make no mistake about it, this is Barack Obama’s war now. With this announcement he will have personally increased the force in Afghanistan by over 50,000 troops in response to appeals from his generals.

Obama’s mantra about the conflict in Afghanistan is that it is a “war of necessity.” But this is really just a version of the neocon “War on Terror” trope, which is to say that it implies that it is the natural, reasonable retaliatory response to the 9-11 attacks. (They started it, after all, so we have to take the war to them.)

But neocon strategy has always required the simplistic conflation of disparate phenomena, and the exploitation of public ignorance and fear, in the execution of policy. Who are they, after all? The invasion of Iraq required the Big Lie that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9-11. The earlier invasion of Afghanistan required the clever sleight-of-hand by which the mainly Saudi Arab but international al-Qaeda was equated with the purely Afghan Taliban. “We don’t distinguish between terrorists and the governments that support them,” Bush declared.

The five-month salary of an Afghan soldier is equal to one day fare of a General’s transportation

Via: Rawa News.

US military from the Camp Eggers rented out 31 armored vehicles for the generals of Defense Ministry each costing USD 500 per day

Afghanistan’s Finance Ministry denied all kinds of government intervention in the one-year contract of renting out 31 armored vehicles (each car costing $500 per day) for high-ranked officials of Defense Ministry.

The head of Logistics of Defense Ministry, General Azizuddin Yousafzai confirmed that the US military from the Camp Eggers (the US military advisors who are responsible for mobilizing Afghan Army in Afghanistan) rented out 31 armored vehicles for the generals of Defense Ministry a month back.

Jangul Karger, the representative of Parwan province in the parliament gave this report to PAN according to which each armored Land Cruiser is rented out for $500 each day.

Karger said that all these cars belonged to a private company and each vehicle costs around $120,000 but he did not name the company.

Muhammad Naeem Deendar, the head of investigation and control department of Finance Ministry told PAN that after contacting the investigators of this issue in Defense Ministry, it denied the complete interference of the government and partial involvement of the Defense Ministry.

According to Deendar, these vehicles were provided by the military groups of US to the Defense Ministry and there is no contract or proposal from the Defense Ministry.

Just recently, PAN has received reports that some independent and government offices such as Interior Ministry, National Security Directorate and Independent Election Commission also have contracts to rent out new model vehicles with private companies but it is not confirmed as yet.

Imperial Inertia. By Jim Miles

Via: The Palestine Chronicle.

The task of saving and reviving humanity oft times appears overwhelming when studied from a fully global perspective: occupations, wars, and terror abounds; starvation, disease, poverty, homelessness, accompany the wars and are also an integral part of global economic structures; of which, the current debt crises robs the working class of their wealth while the elites roll in the beneficence of corporate/government welfare. To top all that off is the rush towards global environmental changes, changes that are occurring at ever faster – and faster than predicted – rates, while governments put forth only mild platitudes acknowledging that there is a problem of some kind, placing weak futuristic recommendations out to try and placate the scientists and concerned public. It is enough to render reviewing books a seemingly worthless task when nothing changes and the inertia of the U.S. and western corporate/government/military liaisons continues to steer the ship of state, apparently without working radar or rudder, on its destructive course through this complex web of problems.

Palestine as the Centre

When I first started my research/reviews, it quickly became apparent that Palestine was not only a metaphorical centre for the problems of many of the peoples of the world, but it is also the reality of much of the political-military manoeuvring that continues not only in the Middle East, but throughout the world, as the demands for resource control and market control begins shifting from west to east. Yet it is easy to lose site of the situation in Palestine.

The western media is staunchly on the side of the Israeli powers, and what little reaches publication provides the Benny Morris version of events in which Israel is the victim of Palestinian intransigence and fundamentalist terror rather than Palestine as the victim of an internationally illegal occupation, an internationally illegal wall, and various internationally illegal acts of war and suppression and a Jewish fundamentalism that allows no citizens other than its one ethnic cadre with Eretz Israel.

What Happens to Citibank’s $8 Billion Loan to Dubai?

Via: Washington’s Blog.

On Friday, I provided some specifics about who had loaned Dubai money, and the potential fallout from Dubai’s debt crisis.

But I just found another interesting tidbit.

Specifically, 7 Days – one of the largest papers in Dubai – wrote in March:

The US public will be “outraged” by Citibank’s $8 billion loan to Dubai just six weeks after the bank was bailed out, US House of Representatives domestic policy subcommittee chair-man has said. Dennis Kucinich commented on the Dubai loan and other US banking investments as a congressional panel released a report that strongly questioned Citibank’s actions. The report, shown to 7DAYS, cites the Dubai loan as the largest of the “questionable transactions” by banks after the US government bailed them out. It notes that the loan to Dubai’s public sector came on December 14, just six weeks after the US government gave Citibank a $25 billion bail-out.

The report quotes Win Bischoof, then chairman of Citi, as saying the bank agreed to the Dubai loan because “we continue to place the Gulf region among our globally most significant markets”. The report also questions JP Morgan’s $1 billion investment in India and Bank of America’s $7 billion investment in China. “When the American people find that their tax dollars, which were supposed to be used to get us out of this financial crisis, are instead being used to ship jobs and investments overseas, there will be outrage,” Kucinich said. The report notes the loans were not illegal and that it is not known if they were directly funded by bail-out funds. A Citibank official was quoted at the time as saying the $8 billion came from the bank’s own funds and third party sources. The report was released as the committee prepares to question banking chiefs about their use of bail-out funds.

Will Citi be repaid in full on its $8 Billion loan, which apparently came out taxpayer bailout money?

Argentina – Proof that Israel is no Refuge from Anti-Semitism. By Tony Greenstein

Via: Tony Greenstein’s Blog.

Post 1945 there was one regime that murdered Jews because they were Jews and in particular because they were left-wing Jews. In Argentina between 1976 and 1983 3,000 of the Disappeared Ones were Jewish, 10% of those murdered by the fascists. Yet there was not one word of protest from Israel. Quite the contrary. It would seem that Israel was actually advising these torturers on ‘counter-insurgency’.

‘they interviewed in Europe Mr. Peregrino Fernandez, a policeman who broke down and confessed that much of the atrocities committed by him and his cronies. Peregrino, during the lengthy confession, gave details of how Herzl Inbar, minister counselor of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, gave “counterinsurgency instructions”.’

The major excuse for Jews to support Israel is that in the event of anti-Semitism reoccurring, then Israel will provide a safe haven. Argentina proves the opposite. If a regime comes to power that is anti-Semitic it will also be an authoritarian right-wing, probably semi-fascist friend of the United States and therefore Israel. Israel is likely to be supplying it with arms and advice. It is hardly likely therefore that Israel will stretch out the hand of friendship to its victims.

I came across the following article in yesterday’s Ha’aretz. It is perhaps the ultimate in Zionist hypocrisy. The Knesset refused to debate the plight of Argentinian Jews when they were being murdered. Israel’s Embassy in Argentina deliberately refused to process their visas because it traded in arms with this very same anti-Semitic Junta. The Zionists now want to bury the dead bodies of the same Jews it abandoned. Read the full article Here.

Bananastan Delusions. By Jeff Huber

Via: Pen and Sword.

President Obama’s Dec. 1 speech about his decision on the Bananastans (Afghanistan and Pakistan) is unlikely to surprise anyone. The sanctioned leaks have been coming fast and furious the past few days, and it appears that Gen. Stanley McChrystal will get what he asked for. Maybe.

He’ll get his 40,000 extra troops, 34,000 to come from the U.S. and 6,000 or so to come from NATO nations. He’ll train Afghanistan security forces to a total strength of 400,000. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will eliminate corruption in his government.

Right.

At a million smackers per troop per year, the annual cost of the war bumps up by $34 billion, and that’s probably a conservative estimate. Many other expenses will be involved. Democratic leadership in Congress doesn’t much care for that aspect. Congressman David Obey, (D-WI.), wants to pay taxes to pay for any escalation of the war.

Europe is not all shot up about sending more troops to Afghanistan. France, Germany and England have had significant anti-Afghan war protests.

McChrystal will have a tough time getting Afghanistan’s police and military forces up to 400,000. The Afghan National Army’s rate of turnover–due to desertion, absenteeism and lack of reenlistment–is atrocious.

The White House called Hamid Karzai the “legitimate” leader of Afghanistan after he stole two elections. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on Karzai to make a “new compact” with the people of Afghanistan. Get real, Hillary. Karzai is one of the biggest crooks in the second most corrupt country in the world. (Somalia is the most corrupt. Iraq is number four.)

A grim journey through Sri Lanka’s war zone

Via: World Socialist Web Site.

By wsws correspondent.

The full scale of the destruction caused to the northern Vanni area in Sri Lanka by the Rajapakse government’s military offensive against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is still not known to the outside world, even though the war ended after the defeat of the LTTE more than six months ago.

A vast area from Mannar on the northwestern coast through Kilinochchi to the Mullaithivu district on the eastern coast was depopulated and properties were destroyed in the military offensive. Thousands of Tamil civilians were killed and tens of thousands maimed in the indiscriminate bombing and shelling. More than 250,000 people fled to government-controlled areas, only to detained under squalid conditions in huge camps near Vavuniya and elsewhere.

The military recently allowed limited passenger transport from Jaffna to the south via the A9 road that passes through the Vanni. A WSWS reporter took the trip in order to test the government’s claims of “free movement” and provide a glimpse of the destruction caused by the war.

I travelled from Jaffna to Colombo one day after Major General G. A. Chandrasiri, the governor of Northern Province, declared on November 18 that “the government has decided to remove all obstacles that restrict the free movement of civilians from Jaffna to Colombo.” My journey proved the bogus character of the government’s claim, and revealed the harassment being experienced by Tamils.

Previously, everyone had to obtain a security clearance from the office of the Jaffna Commander to travel to Colombo or any other part of the south. Applicants had to cite reasons for travelling and give the addresses where they were going to stay at their destinations. Permission was at the sole discretion of the commander’s office. Despite General Chandrasiri’s announcement of the removal of this restriction, travelling from the Jaffna Peninsula, which is under tight military occupation, is not as free as the government boasted. All Tamils are treated as suspicious.

Shattering Canada’s Collective Myths. By Sandro Contenta

Via: Global Post.

Toronto, Canada – There are moments in a country’s history when collective myths become so divorced from reality that almost everyone can hear them burst with a pop.

It happened last week in Canada, when stories in the media proclaimed the end of a national identity as peacekeepers, and the birth of one as warriors. This is no small change.

Canada practically invented the notion of international peacekeeping. In 1956, a Canadian diplomat named Lester B. Pearson — who later became prime minister — was instrumental in setting up the United Nations’ first peacekeeping force, which helped end the Suez Canal crisis. Pearson won the Noble Peace Prize for his efforts.

That action solidified Canada’s international role as a middle power mediator, respected by both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for example, and opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 because it wasn’t approved by the U.N.

This collective self-image — and the foreign policy that flowed from it — began to change when the Canadian government sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002. There was much talk about rebuilding the war-ravaged country. But when Canadian forces took command of operations in violent Kandahar province, it became clear that killing the Taliban was the main goal.

In 2006, staunch conservative Stephen Harper became prime minister. Almost overnight, Canada became more hawkish than the U.S. in its support for the Israeli government and its revulsion for Iran.

UN Partition of Palestine.

Via: Australians For Palestine.

By Mazin Qumsiyeh PhD -  29 November 2009

The UN General assembly voted 29 November 1947 to recommend partition of Palestine to give the Zionist movement control over 55% of Palestine and leave the Palestinians with 45% of Palestine. The Palestinian natives were then more than 2/3rd of the population and owned 93% of the land.  Jews constituted a third of the population (most of them illegal new immigrants) who had land ownership of less than 7%.

In the planned “Jewish state”, there would be almost an equal number of Christian and Muslim Palestinians as Jews. The Zionist movement accepted the idea of a Jewish state but rejected the other parts of the proposal:  borders designated, Internationalization of Jerusalem, economic union, and no ethnic cleansing.  There were no viable local leaders of Palestinians (decimated by the British between 1936-1939 and sold-out by dictatorial Arab regimes).  The people (and here we are talking about Christians, Muslim, and Jewish native Palestinians) were however largely against partition of their country. The illegal “vote” at the UN (illegal because it violated the UN charter) succeeded because of significant pressure from the US government. President Truman pushed and pressured governments to adopt it because of his need for Jewish support in elections (see http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0994/9409074.htm  ).  Other factors sometimes cited are sympathy for the Zionist movement following the genocides of WWII and perhaps a way of getting rid of the “Jewish problem” in the West by dumping it on Palestine. There was however strong collaboration by the Zionist movement with both the Nazis themselves and the Nazi goals (see Lenni Brenner “51 Documents: history of the Nazi-Zionist collaboration and look at books and articles written about the successful efforts of the Zionist movement to prevent opening migration doors in Western countries to European Jews).

FBI Paid Controversial Blogger for help.

Via: Salon.

Report: Agency paid blogger — charged with death threats against judges — to report on hate groups
By Associated Press

A New Jersey blogger about to stand trial on charges he made death threats against federal judges apparently was paid by the FBI in its battle against domestic terrorism, according to a published report.

The Record of Bergen County reported Sunday that Hal Turner received thousands of dollars from the FBI to report on neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups and was sent undercover to Brazil.

Turner also claims the FBI coached him to make racist, anti-Semitic and other threatening statements on his radio show, but the newspaper also found many federal officials were concerned that his audience might follow up on his violence rhetoric.

The newspaper reviewed numerous government documents, e-mails, court records and almost 20 hours of jailhouse interviews with Turner.

He goes on trial Tuesday in New York, accused of making death threats against three Chicago-based federal appeals judges after saying in Internet postings in June the judges “deserve to be killed” because they had refused to overturn handgun bans in Chicago and suburban Oak Park. Read the rest Here.

The Real Story behind the Thanksgiving Day. By Habib Siddiqui

Via: Media Monitors Network.

Thanksgiving Day is the most observed holiday in the USA, which is celebrated by people of all races, colors, ethnicities and even religions. It is a day in which family members gather to eat turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. According to some estimates, nearly 40 million turkeys are eaten over this long weekend. Thanksgiving holiday falls on the last Thursday of November. There is even a White House event in which the President pardons a turkey on Wednesday. That lucky turkey gets to live — and fly first class to Disneyland, where it is grand marshal in the Thanksgiving Day parade. Unfortunately, another nameless bird gets slaughtered in his place. Of course, many would find something wrong with this concept, which sounds like “A Tale of Two Cities!” The turkey-pardoning is supposed to be a long-running national tradition, but it officially only dates back to George H. W. Bush and 1989.

Like every other major popular celebration in our world, Thanksgiving has its history, and if I may say, not a pleasant one – the kind that we often hear which associates it with the “Pilgrims” that landed in the New World. According to a single-paragraph account in the writings of one Pilgrim, a harvest feast did take place in Plymouth in 1621, probably in mid-October, but the Indians who attended were not even invited. Though, it later became known as “Thanksgiving,” with giving thanks to God for the harvests of the land, the Pilgrims never called it that.

So, what did really happen in Plymouth in 1621? For that we have to dig deeper into history, away from popular myths and traditions — the imagery of a picnic of interracial harmony — and come to terms with some of the most terrifying bloodsheds in New World history. [In what follows below I summarize some historical accounts. Interested readers may like to read the book - "The Hidden history of Massachusetts: A Guide for Black Folks," by Tingba Apidta and other books that were written by the descendants of Native American Indians.]