The impact of the Zionist project on Palestine and the region. By Roland Rance

Via: International Viewpoint.

Since the start of the second Intifada in Palestine, we have seen the collapse of imperialism’s Plan B for the region. Plan A had been simply to allow Israel to hold on to the territories it occupied in 1967. Following the first Intifada, it became clear that this approach was not viable, and a new plan “B” was adopted.

This Plan B proposed the establishment of something that could be presented as a Palestinian state – alongside the state of Israel. We know that it would have been nothing of the sort: the proposed Palestinian state would have had NO control of its own borders or airspace, NO armed forces, been unable to absorb the Palestinian refugees, and crucially, have had NO control of its water resources. But this Plan B has been the position of the imperialists, supported verbally by most Arab regimes and the Israeli government for the last several years.

Now this approach has collapsed and it appears that imperialism has no fall-back plan, instead reverting to a revised version of Plan A which gives Israel carte blanche in the region.

Background and Perspectives

In the past, imperialism – in its own interests – divided the Arab world into separate states with no material historical, geographical, economic or social basis. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Britain and France rushed to stake their claims in the Middle East. Having encouraged nationalist risings against the Turks, they then made it clear that they had no intention of honouring their promises, or even of observing US President Wilson’s famous “Nineteen Principles”. Thus imperialism chose to dissociate the peoples of the region from its natural resources, and has fostered the development of local military or feudal leaderships with no local legitimacy and no reason to act in the interests of their subjects.

Some of these states were established in order to limit the independence of potentially powerful neighbours. Thus Kuwait was established in order to deny sea access to Iraq, a country with vast oil reserves. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia was ringed by a chain of feudal monarchies with strong defence ties with Britain. Others, notably Lebanon, were established on a spurious religio-ethnic basis, in order to deepen the confessionalism of the Middle East and undermine the appeal of Arab unity.

There can be no solution for the problems of the Arab world, including the many national minorities, in the framework of this division.

Israeli mind-scanner may take over US airports

Via: Press TV.
As part of stringent measures to beef up airport security, US authorities may use an Israeli-made mind-reading scanner that allegedly predicts whether a passenger is a potential threat or not.

The Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) and the Homeland Security are considering the installment of a controversial mind-reading system, that was recently developed by the Israeli-based WeCU Technologies, in all American airports, AP reported on Thursday.

The device, which functions by blending high computer technology and behavioral psychology, is essentially designed to “get inside the evildoers head” without the subject’s knowledge and prevent him or her from placing the lives of fellow travelers in jeopardy.

According to WeCU Technologies CEO, Ehud Givon, people cannot help reacting mechanically to recognizable images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places.

With that in mind, the system aims to project images onto airport screens, such as symbols affiliated with a terrorist group or signs only a terrorist would recognize.

Givon said while the WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing, it would rely largely on concealed cameras or covert biometric sensors that can distinguish a rise in body temperature and heart rate, however slight it may be.

“One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent,” Givon claimed.

The controversial device has sparked an outcry among civil rights groups, who argue that a system that combs through your brain to look for evil intentions is “Orwellian” and akin to “brain fingerprinting.”

The groups note that the US should not follow in Israeli footsteps with regards to Airport security. At the Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel, Jewish Israelis pass through smoothly, while Arab Palestinians are taken aside for closer interrogation or even strip searches.

The US is already subjected to wide-spread controversy over the appliance of full body scanners, which according to critics, are in violation of child protection laws as well as the right of travelers to privacy.

Waziristan: the option not taken. By Ayaz Wazir

Via: The News.

Our media was taking great interest in the operation in South Waziristan before its launch on Oct 17. It was termed the “mother of all operations” by some. But when the facts emerged it dawned on everyone that it was just not that. The media was denied the opportunity of giving full and impartial coverage. Only journalists approved by the authorities could enter the area to cover the operation. The media was thus forced to apply the brakes in covering the territory, which pushed the operation to the public blind spot, where it remains now.

Almost all our armchair experts on FATA presented a rosy picture of the situation, saying that the operation would eliminate the militancy in Waziristan. Their argument may have been convincing for those not having visited the area, and those not being familiar with the terrain and the people of Waziristan. But it just does not cut any ice with those are familiar with the area and with people who were born and bred there.

Firstly, their conclusions were based solely on the fallacious reasoning that the militants, following classic battle tactics, would stand their ground and fight head-on in the open, and be overwhelmed by a superior force. They did not take into account the likelihood of the militants’ following hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, melting into the familiar terrain after a strike, and then trying to win over the relatives of the civilian casualties of this war. We forgot that the operation was not launched against the entire population of Waziristan, after all, but a limited number of militants.

Secondly, the best bulwark against militants and terrorism is the economic and social uplift of the area concerned and the weal of its inhabitants. Sadly, provision of health or education facilities or opportunities for employment has never figured on the list of any government. Sadder still, there is no indication that any lessons have been learned. It is unknown whether in the future too these issues will be accorded any priority.

Blair survives Iraq Inquiry without a scratch. By Stuart Littlewood

Via: Redress.

Claims Saddam threatened the world and picks fight with Iran

Stuart Littlewood considers the failure of the Iraq Inquiry rigorously to question former Prime Minister Tony Blair about his decision to join the US in committing aggression against Iraq, and reflects on Blair’s use of the inquiry as a platform to promote aggression against Iran.

”What has been so obvious to the general public all along is that Blair and his co-criminals – the supine cabinet and the main opposition party – failed to exercise due diligence, the thorough investigation and careful regard for information and legal considerations normally expected of a commercial organization before making a large-scale investment. Obviously something similar, at minimum, should apply within government when planning to risk vast sums of taxpayers’ money, innocent lives and national reputation in an armed assault on another country for questionable motives, and for which the leadership might afterwards be held to account.”

Tony Blair, the poodle of the White House and darling of the Israel lobby, met the pussy-cats of the Iraq Inquiry on Friday 29 January, tickled their tummies and was purred to throughout. It was more like a cosy fireside chat, with the inquisitors falling over backwards to be polite and not probe too much.

And that was in public. If it had been in private, as originally planned, it is easy to imagine them all playing with a ball of wool on the sofa.

Repression in Honduras. By César Silva

Via: Monthly Review.

This powerful video was made by César Silva, a publicist who before the coup in Honduras worked for Channel 8, the State Television Channel.  He made this video in collaboration with Edwin Renán Fajardo Argueta.  Once the coup happened, and Channel 8 was no longer directed by the Zelaya government, César continued his work as a journalist, but as an individual in collaboration with Edwin.

After this video was finished, César and Edwin began traveling around to the barrios in Tegucigalpa, showing the video, and educating people about what happened with the coup.  This activity led to both of these young men becoming targets of the death squads.  Edwin was assassinated on December 22, 2009.  He was found in his apartment hanging from the ceiling, haven been strangled with a piece of wire.  There was an attempt to make his death look like a suicide, but it is clear from the evidence that it was a murder.

Right after Edwin’s body was found, César was chased down and dragged out of a taxi.  He was taken into custody and tortured for about 30 hours.  At that point, he was told: “You have an angel out there somewhere, and he has requested that we release you.”  And they let him go.  At that point César decided that it wasn’t safe for him to remain in the country, so he decided to flee.  He has released this video while in exile, and will continue to produce more videos from the raw material which he still has.

The footage includes up-close documentation of the repression which has occurred repeatedly over the last seven months.  In the video, César is one of the people carrying Isis Murillo, the young man shot in the head by a sharpshooter at the Tegucigalpa airport last July 5th.  It strikes right at the heart of claims that there was limited repression carried out by the coup regime.

Special thanks to Sofia Jarrin T., who added the subtitles to this video.  Please share the video with all of your friends and contacts, and feel free to link to it and embed it on your web sites.

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Jeremy John is Technology Director of the Quixote Center.  This article was first published on the center’s Web site on 27 January 2010.  The Spanish-language version of Repression in Honduras is available at <vimeo.com/8912236>.

Nationalism and Racism. By Stuart Munckton

Via: Green Left.

In the lead-up to “Australia Day” on January 26, former TV host Ray Martin restarted a debate about the need to change the Australian flag.

Martin pointed out the obvious: the flag, with the Union Jack in the top left-hand corner, is inherently divisive.

It excludes Aboriginal people, for whom British colonialism meant genocide. And it excludes a whole swath of migrants with no ties to Britain.

The debate around a new flag echoes the debate about the need to change the date of Australia Day, with January 26 being recognised as Invasion Day by Aboriginal people.

Celebrating the day that began the British invasion and genocide is a permanent slap in the face for Aboriginal people.

Whatever rhetoric accompanies the celebrations, it sends a message that Australia is first and foremost a country for white Europeans.

The debate is also partly fuelled by the rising use of symbols of Australian nationalism as weapons to target non-whites (especially Muslims). This was most dramatically expressed in the 2005 Cronulla riots.

This racism can be seen in violent assaults on Indian students and the spread of Facebook groups with titles such as “If you live in Australia and don’t speak English, you can fuck off!”

Those who set up such groups inevitably claim they are not racists, merely defending the “Australian way of life”.

Unreported World: The Battle for Israel’s Soul

Via: Channel4 Unreported World.

Rogue State: Israeli Violations of U.N. Security Council Resolutions. By Jeremy R. Hammond

Via: Foreign Policy Journal.

Following is a list of United Nations Security Council resolutions directly critical of Israel for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international terrorism, or other violations of international law.

Res. 57 (Sep. 18, 1948) – Expresses deep shock at the assassination of the U.N. Mediator in Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte, by Zionist terrorists.

Res. 89 (Nov. 17, 1950) – Requests that attention be given to the expulsion of “thousands of Palestine Arabs” and calls upon concerned governments to take no further action “involving the transfer of persons across international frontiers or armistice lines”, and notes that Israel announced that it would withdraw to the armistice lines.

Res. 93 (May 18, 1951) – Finds that Israeli airstrikes on Syria on April 5, 1951 constitutes “a violation of the cease-fire”, and decides that Arab civilians expelled from the demilitarized zone by Israel should be allowed to return.

Res. 100 (Oct. 27, 1953) – Notes that Israel had said it would stop work it started in the demilitarized zone on September 2, 1953.

Res. 101 (Nov. 24, 1953) – Finds Israel’s attack on Qibya, Jordan on October 14-15, 1953 to be a violation of the cease-fire and “Expresses the strongest censure of that action”.

Res. 106 (Mar. 29, 1955) – Condemns Israel’s attack on Egyptian forces in the Gaza Strip on February 28, 1955.

Res. 111 (Jan. 19, 1956) – Condemns Israel’s attack on Syria on December 11, 1955 as “a flagrant violation of the cease-fire” and armistice agreement.

Res. 119 (Oct. 31, 1956) – Considers that “a grave situation has been created” by the attack against Egypt by the forces of Britain, France, and Israel.

We are Haitians. We are Like People Like Anybody Else. By Lenore Daniels

Via: Common Dreams.

“The past is never dead-it’s not even past.”
– William Faulkner

From the ground, people hear the sound of helicopters above. Twenty Black Hawk helicopters circling the airport!

Water! Food! Medical supplies!

The people wait as the helicopters of the 82nd Airborne division land and hundreds of U.S. paratroopers become visible. But the paratroopers are in combat gear and armed with automatic machine guns.

There they’re at the General Hospital and the Palace.

Water! Food! Medical supplies!

SECURITY!

No food or water or medical supplies until Haiti is SECURE! The U.S. announces that over 2,000 paratroopers will be followed by 8,000 more heavily armed U.S. Marines. Almost two weeks since the earthquake hit Haiti, whole communities have yet to receive water, food, or medical attention. But the whole world watched the U.S. show of power:

Watch and listen Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia-Haiti belongs to the U.S.!

This is Haiti several days after the January 12, 2010 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Over 2 million Haitians are starving. Hundreds are dying from lack of medical attention. It’s estimated that over 200, 000 Haitians died as a direct result of the 7.3 earthquake.

But the U.S. thinks as an Empire thinks! It thinks militarization, invasion, occupation, corporatization, privatization-more resources and an expanded labor base. It thinks: HAITI NEEDS TO BE SECURE. Is it really a surprise that the U.S. command at the airport in Haiti 3 times turned away 5 Medecins San Frontieres (MSF) planes carrying 12 tons of much needed medical supplies?

Humanitarian relief in Haiti: Some shocking facts

Via: PSLweb.org.

The U.S. government dispatched more than 12,000 troops and $379 million in “aid to Haiti” after the earthquake. As many as 250,000 people have died. The train of misery is growing daily.

Out of every dollar spent on U.S. "aid" to Haiti, 33 cents go to the U.S. military, while only 9 cents pay for food and another 9 pay for food transportation.

The phrase “aid to Haiti” might not be entirely accurate.

For every dollar spent in the “aid” effort, 33 cents pay for the U.S. military force that has taken control of the country. In contrast, the U.S. government is spending only 9 cents of every dollar on food and another 9 cents to transport the food. The military expenditures in Haiti are on top of the annual U.S. military budget.

The statistical breakdown of how U.S. earthquake aid is being spent was undertaken by a review conducted by the Associated Press, and reported by AP on January 27, 2010. AP also reports that Haitians are being hired at meager wages to assist the U.S. efforts.

“The Obama administration is putting five cents of each dollar into efforts to pay survivors to work. One program already in place describes paying 40,000 Haitians $3 per day for 20 days to clean up around hospitals and dig latrines,” according to the AP report.

The U.S. military immediately took control of the airport and ports in Haiti following the earthquake. The U.S. priority was to land contingents of what will be a 12,000-plus military force. This prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Haiti.

After not being able to land for days, the World Food Program was finally allowed access to the airfield, according to another report in the New York Times. The group had been denied access to the airstrip for days so that U.S. troops and military equipment could land.

The $379 million that the U.S. is spending on Haiti is less than the cost of one day spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan occupation. That number is approximately $480 million each day.

Warmongers, disloyal mandarins and WMD. By Sabah Jawad

Via: Socialist Review.

The Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war opened amid widespread scepticism in Britain and internationally.

There is concern that the investigation – the fifth of its kind since 2003 – will be another whitewash. Critics argue that the British government will try to prevent the truth from coming out, fearing the serious political and legal repercussions that might follow.

Anti-war campaigners also cite the remit and composition of the inquiry team as pointers for a probable cover-up. Four knights and a baroness investigating a war crime to learn lessons for the future!

Prior to his appearance before the inquiry, Tony Blair admitted unexpectedly that he would have gone to war regardless of whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction or not. His decision to do this comes from an awareness that public pressure for full exposure of the facts will be relentless and lasting. He probably also suspects that some disloyal mandarin or politician is lurking around with incriminating evidence, ready to spill the beans.

This is a strong indication that popular pressure is bearing fruit and that it will be unacceptable to hide the lies and deceptions which accompanied preparations for the war. There is an overwhelming determination by peace and justice campaigners to expose the truth and bring those responsible for this war crime to justice.

The war and occupation of Iraq have so far led to the deaths of 179 British soldiers and more than 4,370 US troops.

But they have had a much more devastating impact on the people of Iraq and their land and waters. More than 1 million people were killed, millions were widowed and orphaned and 4 million refugees have been created internally and in neighbouring countries. The war has wrought environmental disaster and deformity of the newly-born, land and water has been contaminated and basic infrastructure and services have been destroyed.

Baffle Them with Bull Feathers. By Jeff Huber

Via: AntiWar.

Bull Feather Merchants discussed how fighting propaganda wars became the Pentagon’s primary mission during young Mr. Bush’s administration. This piece describes how the ubiquitous warmongery continues to manipulate American and the world into a constant state of armed conflict.

Candidate Obama stepped into a steaming pile of gotcha when he promised to “finish the job” in Afghanistan.  He did so in response to heat he was taking for having voted in the Senate against the surge that turned out to be such a “success” and that, as FOX News noted, his presidential opponent “John McCain courageously fought for.”  The “successful surge” in Iraq has been one of the warmongery’s most successful PR ploys to date.

As official stenographer to the General David Petraeus and former journalist Thomas E. Ricks has artlessly blabbed, “King David” did, indeed, “betray us.”  Petraeus misled Congress and the public into believing he was trying to create conditions in Iraq “that would allow our soldiers to disengage” when he was actually creating conditions that would support the Pentagon’s Long War, a stratagem that will keep America’s military, especially its Army, engaged in low level, indecisive conflicts against numerically and technologically inferior opponents for 50 years or longer.

To pacify critics of the war, Petraeus artificially reduced violence statistics through bribery and by cooking the figures: Sunnis killed by Sunnis, Shiites killed by Shiites, Iraqis killed by car bombs and people shot in the front of the head instead of the back of the head didn’t count.  High-ranking officials at the five-sided echo chamber repeated the “successful surge” mantra at every opportunity, as did Republican politicians and wonks hoping to put McCain in the White House.