The World From an Ant's View

New York Times to block British readers from seeing an article detailing the liquid terror plot

2006-09-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

From Uruknet

British Ministry Of Truth Wants To Prosecute American Bloggers

If our Government doesn't like your news you may be a criminal, Next things to be banned on planes may be newspapers

Steve Watson / Infowars

August 31, 2006

The decision made by the New York Times to block British readers from seeing an article detailing the liquid terror plot suspects has raised vital questions regarding freedom of information in this country and within cyberspace.

The New York Times said on Tuesday it had blocked British Internet readers from seeing a story detailing elements of the investigation into a suspected plot to blow up airliners between Britain and the United States.

However, this raises the question, what action could be taken against anyone else in America who posts details of the information on their own blog or website?

Well it turns out that you could be prosecuted by the redcoat government.

"There has not been a prosecution for contempt over anybody publishing outside this jurisdiction (Britain), but logically there is no reason why there should not be," said Caroline Kean, partner at UK media law firm Wiggin.

This means that should Alex Jones or Jeff Rense, or anyone in the alternative media in America, post the New York Times story online for all to see then they could face criminal proceedings.

The official reason the story was banned is because it may influence jurors and prevent suspects receiving a "fair trial."

The story reportedly raised questions over the authenticity of the entire plot and suggested that an attempt to blow up the airliners was not as imminent as authorities had suggested.

Any juror in this case that would be influenced by such information would no doubt also be influenced by the furor that the government has made out the alleged plot and its own milking to death of it in an attempt to fear-monger the British public into total subservience and acquiescence.

Whilst many people in this country seem to be scared to death and accepting of whatever the authorities tell them is going to happen, many more seem to have finally woken up and are able to see straight through the mist of lies and spin, doubting that any plot ever existed in the first place.

A Guardian/ICM poll last week revealed that just 20% of British voters believe the government is telling the truth about the threat to bomb transatlantic airliners using liquid explosives - meaning 80% of the country do not trust Blair and the war on terror agenda.

This means that it's OK for the government to make public whatever information it sees fit and influence the trials of the suspects as well as shaping public opinion, but for anyone else to do so, either in the UK or in other countries, is a criminal offence.

British newspapers the Times and the Daily Mail also published details from the New York Times article. According to a Reuters report, a government source said no injunctions had been taken out against the British papers, but action could not be ruled out.

So what happens if you attempt to bring a copy of the New York Times in on a plane? Is that terrorism now? Should newspapers be banned on all flights as well as baby milk and i-pods?

This highlights how much of a threat our governments now see the internet as. The free flow of information between people around the world is breaking down and dissipating the lies and spin that they have come to rely on to plough ahead with their chosen foreign and domestic agendas.

This week it has also been revealed that Government spending on spin has almost quadrupled since Labour came to power nine years ago. The Government spent £154 million on advertising over the past 12 months – making it the third biggest advertising outlet in the country in front of almost every major global corporation that has a UK base.

It is telling that the government feels that only by keeping people entirely in the dark and suffocating them with their own brand of propaganda can they operate without hindrance. This blackout media, a tactic regularly used in Communist China, is transgressing borders now and targeting the individual citizen, regardless of the sovereign laws of their country. Is any of this indicative of a free society?

:: Article nr. 26297 sent on 01-sep-2006 02:53 ECT

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WALL STREET AND THE RISE OF HITLER: Stan Monteith interviews Anthony Sutton

2006-08-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION

Unexplored Facets of Naziism

Since the early 1920s unsubstantiated reports have circulated to the effect that not only German industrialists, but also Wall Street financiers, had some role — possibly a substantial role — in the rise of Hitler and Naziism. This book presents previously unpublished evidence, a great deal from files of the Nuremburg Military Tribunals, to support this hypothesis. However, the full impact and suggestiveness of the evidence cannot be found from reading this volume alone. Two previous books in this series, Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution1 and Wall Street and FDR,2 described the roles of the same firms, and often the same individuals and their fellow directors, hard at work manipulating and assisting the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917, backing Franklin D. Roosevelt for President in the United States in 1933, as well as aiding the rise of Hitler in pre-war Germany. in brief, this book is part of a more extensive study of the rise of modern socialism and the corporate socialists.

This politically active Wall Street group is more or less the same elitist circle known generally among Conservatives as the "Liberal Establishment," by liberals (for instance G. William Domhoff) as "the ruling class,"3 and by conspiratorial theorists Gary Allen4 and Dan Smoot5 as the "Insiders." But whatever we call this self-perpetuating elitist group, it is apparently fundamentally significant in the determination of world affairs, at a level far behind and above that of the elected politicians.

The influence and work of this same group in the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany is the topic of this book. This is an area of historical research almost totally unexplored by the academic world. It is an historical minefield for the unwary and the careless not aware of the intricacies of research procedures. The Soviets have long accused Wall Street bankers of backing international fascism, but their own record of historical accuracy hardly lends their accusations much credence in the West, and they do not of course criticize support of their own brand of fascism.

This author falls into a different camp. Previously accused of being overly critical of Sovietism and domestic socialism, while ignoring Wall Street and the rise of Hitler, this book hopefully will redress an assumed and quite inaccurate philosophical imbalance and emphasize the real point at issue: Whatever you call the collectivist system — Soviet socialism, New Deal socialism, corporate socialism, or National socialism — it is the average citizen, the guy in the street, that ultimately loses out to the boys running the operation at the top. Each system in its own way is a system of plunder, an organizational device to get everyone living (or attempting to live) at the expense of everyone else, while the elitist leaders, the rulers and the politicians, scalp the cream off the top...

read the whole book here

http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/index.html

Manik Vision: A Message from the Iraqi Resistance to the American People

2006-08-10T21:16:00.000-07:00


This is a video made by Iraqi's who want the world to know what is really going on in the Iraq war. I hope people will get to see the real war crimes being commited by the Bush Regime in an unjust war for personal gain by the International bankering cartel, Zionists, and Military-Industrial-Corporate-Media Complex that has formed a conferation to create World Government...

An Interview Exposing the Truth about the Media's relationship with Israel

2006-08-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

George Gallaway, the British MP, exposes the lies of the corporate media. Notice that the anchor tries to change the word kidnapping of civilians into capture and deliberately make the crisis look like it was new. Also the channel, Sky, owned by Rupert Murdoch the owner of Fox, lowers Galloway's voice and adds and tries to distract the viewers attention with almost constant footage of injured Israeli troops from the Israeli attack on Lebanon.

Manik Vision: Videos with News Highlights from the Middle East August 1-3, 2006

2006-08-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

The Peabody Award-winning Mosaic News Service;

Features selections from daily news programs from the Middle East
Link TV is an independent network
Link TV gives a global perspective on world issues and cultures
Link TV is said to be available in 1/4 American homes

News Coverage includes these pieces from the following stations;

Israel being pushed out of Lebanon (Al Jazeera TV, Qatar)
Damages in Israel (IBA TV, Israel)
Israel losing Strength (Al-Arabiya TV, UAE)
High Demand of Coffins in Lebanon (Future TV, Lebanon)
Aid to Lebanon from Persian Gulf (Abu Dhabi TV, UAE)
Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza & Lebanon (IRIB 2 English Sevice, Iran)

News Coverage includes these pieces from the following stations;

Israel kidnaps civilians & raids Baalbek (Al Jazeera TV, Qatar)
New Barrage of rockets and damage in Israel (IBA TV, Israel)
Effects of Israeli attacks on Lebanese Tourism & Economy (Future TV, Lebanon)
Problems in Lebanese Health Sector due to Israeli attacks (NBN TV, Lebanon)
Western negotations with Syria, Israeli-U.S. plans to attakc Syria (Abu Dhabi TV, UAE)
The role of negoations with Syria and Iran (International Arab News Broadcasters, UK)
Khamenei Denounces Israel-U.S., Global protests against Israel & U.S. (IRIB 2 English Service, Iran)

News Coverage includes these pieces from the following stations;

Qana Massacre, Arab populations ready to explode (Al Jazeera TV, Qatar)
Red Cross Interview in regards to captured Israeli troops (IBA TV, Israel)
Hezbollah pushing back Israeli Forces (NBN TV, Lebanon)
Palestinian Parliament Condemns Qana Massacre (Palestine TV, Gaza Strip)
Lebanon being turned into total wasteland (Future TV, Lebanon)
Qana Massacre, Iran refuses demands to stop Nuclear Program (IRIB 2 English Service, Iran)

Manik Vision: Secrets of the CIA

2006-08-03T22:28:00.000-07:00


Secrets of the CIA

Manik Vision: The Hidden Agenda for World Government

2006-08-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

As Revealed by Norman Dodd, Congressional Investigator of Tax-Exempt Foundations

1990

This Interview is of Great Significance; in modern times wars have been bank rolled by the same sources. The same sources financed Adolf Hitler and world communist movements that finance Western governments. This interview exposes the financial means and goal of using the monopoly and totalitarian aspects of the U.S.S.R. in a world government where these 'Sources in the West' have total control. If one asks ones self who sent Lenin into Czarist Russia from capitalist Germany or why did a pro-German United States of America do a total u-turn and enter the war against Germany in WWI, they will realize that something is wrong. This interview will place one on the path towards this realization.

Mahdi Nazemroaya

The Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside view of International Banking - Ed. Griffin

2006-08-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Edward Griffin - The Capitalist Conspiracy: An Inside view of International Banking

Written and narrated by G. Edward Griffin
(1960's) An old film, made sometime in the 60's.

This is an adaptation of a documentary filmstrip tracing the history of a small group of people who control the money systems of the world. It shows how this group is protected by governments and how its wealth is derived by creating money out of nothing. We see
how this group wields power through government, foundations, education, and the mass media. It has aided such regimes as Russia and China, not because it is pro-Communist, but because a visible enemy and the threat of war have been useful in persuading the masses to embrace the group's ultimate goal: a world government which they expect to control from behind the scenes. They are now working to replace fear of nuclear war with fear of global pollution as the motivation for world government. It is clear that the plan revealed in this program continues to unfold.

Monopoly is not an outgrowth of capitalism. Monopolists lobby for laws that give them advantages in the market place. Monopoloy is not based on free-enterprise competition, but the escape from it. It is not the product of capitalism but the bedfellow of socialism.

Recommended books:
- The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin

Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq war

2006-08-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

The War on Iraq, filmmaker Robert Greenwald chronicles the Bush Administration's determined quest to invade Iraq following the events of September 11, 2001. The film deconstructs the administration's case for war through interviews with U.S intelligence and defense officials, foreign service experts, and U.N. weapons inspectors -- including a former CIA director, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and even President Bush's Secretary of the Army. Their analyses and conclusions are sobering, and often disturbing, regardless of one's political affiliations.

Sustainable Ceasefire means Appeasement of Israel & Exposing some Israeli Claims

2006-08-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

‘Sustainable Ceasefire’ means nothing short of the appeasement of Israel and the continuation of war crimes against Lebanon and Palestine and the breach of international law, the rules of war, and humanitarian laws by Israel—with the help of the same American and British officials that blocked any demands for a ceasefire during an international conference in Rome, Italy and blocked any U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an end to all violence.

The war has two fronts and one is definitely at the PR (public relations) level. Israel has waged a worldwide campaign in coordination with the Israeli-American lobby and the U.S. government to conceal the true nature of the conflict and Israeli crimes. Everything is being used from the corporate media to the internet to manipulation of government wordings—yes, words are a weapon of war—such as the term 'sustainable ceasefire.' A sustainable ceasefire is not an immediate ceasefire and gives Israel the manoeuvring room to continue its massacre of innocent Lebanese civilians, the majority of which are innocent children.

Below: Map of Bomb locatons in Lebanon up till August 1,2006

At the same time the Israeli government has made numerous threats against Lebanon, such as threatening to destroy 10 apartment buildings for every rocket that Hezbollah launches into Israel. The Israeli military and government have even given shrouded threats to level Beirut, the Lebanese capital, to the ground which has been repulsed by Hezbollah threatening to start targeting Tel Aviv, the de facto capital of the State of Israel.

Israel Targeting Civilians, Hospitals & Kidnapping Lebanese Civilians

It must also be noted that there is a very significant difference between campaign tactics of Hezbollah and Israel; most of Hezbollah's kills are military, while almost all of Israel's are civilians and non-involved parties (such as the U.N., journalists, and members of the Lebanese Armed Forces).

Additionally, a Lebanese greengrocer (A CIVILIAN) was kidnapped, after all he was abducted from his home along with his family, just becuase his name was Hassan Nasrallah. Israel tried to make a claim it was the Secretary-General of Hezbollah that was captured, but was later silent when the truth came out that an innocent civilian was kidnapped. At the same time Israeli commandos attacked a Lebanese Hospital, becuase they "beleived it was a Hezbollah base."

During the span of the Israeli attacks the Israeli military and media have also been making names for fictional Hezbollah leaders that they have been capturing, such as Abu Jihad (!?).

Enter Osama bin Laden Jr., More Israeli-American Propaganda!

Another example of attempts to demonize Hezbollah and Lebanon is the claim that Osama bin Laden's son has left Iran (was he ever there?!) to start jihad in Lebanon against Israel. These attempts at demonizing Lebanon are also supported by false claims that Al-Qaeda now support Hezbollah. This is totally false and ridicules becuase in Iraq Al-Qaeda is supposedly against the Sia Muslims and helping kill them, but in Lebanon it is with the Shia Muslims? This is a lie and counter to logic, and that is if you even beleive Al-Qaeda exists.

As for an example of Israeli propaganda here it is. The Israelis claim that Hezbollah is hidding behind civilians or firing rockets from civilian areas and has given so-called video evidence.

These videos are not really evidence, but the footage that damns the Israelis as liers...

So-called Israeli Evidence; More Fabrication

After you look at this video, you might be convinced that the Israelis are telling the proof, but one should not accept what they are told by an entity that is world famous for deceit…there are many unresolved questions about these mysterious Israeli tapes.

Firstly, why is the aerial resonance—an Israeli fighter aircraft—watching the rockets get launched before attacking the ‘so-called attackers in civilian zones?’ Does that not defeat the whole point of trying to stop the attacks? Where is the Israeli response? The Israeli military is openly an aggressive force and it is hard to believe they will let these rockets be launched and watch ideally.

Secondly, where are some of the rockets in some of the footage being released?

Thirdly, some of this footage could be—and it should not be ruled out—from Anglo-American occupied Iraq or the Occupied Territories (the West Bank and Gaza Strip), and Afghanistan. After all the Israeli military and state are not trustworthy.

Beirut: Before Israeli Attacks & After Israeli Attacks

2006-08-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Beirut, Before the Israeli Attacks on Lebanon
Click to Enlarge Pictures

Beirut, After the Israeli Attacks on Lebanon
Click to Enlarge Pictures

Israeli War Crimes: The Qana Massacre of July 2006, Déjà Vu of the Qana Massacre of April 1996

2006-08-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Short Clip on American Media Attempts to Blame Hezbollah

Qana: A History

Qana is said by the Lebanese and others in the Levant to be a place where the Prophet Jesus performed miracles and spent time.

Before the recent massacre of civilians in Qana, located near Tyre in South Lebanon, even took place there was another massacre and attack of civilians and U.N. observes in the town of Qana. On April 18, 1996 during the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, "Operation Grapes of Wrath", a Fijian U.N. compound in Qana was knowingly bombed by Israeli artillery.

Almost a 1000 Lebanese civilians who were refugees were attacked. 106 were butchered and more than 100 others injured and harmed. U.N. observers were also attacked and hurt. With these attacks and others on both the U.N. and civilians Israel has established a precedent of deviant behaviour in regards to international normas and humanitarian laws.

Qana II

Right after another massacre of Lebanese civilians in Qana on July 30, 2006, the Lebanese Prime Minister and government were forced not only to renounce the "Israeli war criminals," but also stop all public meetings with American officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Several members of the government and members of the Future Movement were attacked by crowds of various political fractions and sectarian divisions in Lebanon. The additional massacre of Qana along with other Israeli war crimes in Lebanon has resulted in over 90% of Lebanon supporting Hezbollah and total distrust for the American government, the British government, and pro-American Arab governments such as those of the U.A.E., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

Above: A Lebanese vigil in Beirut for the victims of Qana and other Israeli massacres

Protests turned into riots in Beirut as politicians in the Al-Hariri camp were chased and demonstration in central Beirut attacked the U.N. headquarters. They were calmed calmed down only when Hezbollah members asked to stop so that the Israelis and Americans would not use the event to degrade the image of the Lebanese as animals.

Most of the dead victims and injured were women and children. An estimated 40% of the victims of the Israeli raids and attacks on Lebanon are children and almost all are civilians and refugees.

Israeli False Claims: A History of Israeli Lies & Shamelessness

In the first Qana Massacre of 1996 Israeli military commander, Major General Levine, said days before the massacre in Lebanon that “the residents in South Lebanon who are under the responsibility of Hezbollah will be hit harder.” This was a clear warning of the characteristic Israeli collective punishment of civilian populations to come. Israel has claimed that Hezbollah is using civilians as human shields, but this is angrily refuted by locals as Israeli deceit and lies to the outside world in all attacked areas. Officials and the Red Cross have added their voices to the residence of Qana that Hezbollah did not launch any rockets from Qana. This would also fall in line with and help explain the targeting of U.N. observers, the Red Cross, and journalists by the Israeli military. In the first place human shields are used to deter aggression by the attacking party or entity. Israel is claming that Hezbollah believes that Israel will not attack them if they have civilians as hostages or shields, but if this case, Israel has demonstrated over and over again throughout its existence from 1948, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Israel is not deterred in any manner whatsoever from using devastating and fatal force against enemies, regardless of whether civilians are in the area. In Palestine whole families in houses or cars are targeted just to kill a single political opponent regularly. Israel is obviously untruthful in its assertions.

"In less hectic days we saw how the Israeli government plants the idea that somehow an event did not happen as widely reported. The Israeli shell that landed on th Gaza beach killing a family on a day out was alleged to be a Palestinian booby trap laid to stop Israeli commando raids. Shrapnel supposedly found in the victims taken to Israeli hospitals was alleged to prove that it was not a shell. Unfortunately a former Pentagon expert was on the spot and examined the scene in person. He made it clear that the blast hole pattern and debris was consistent with a shell landing, not a buried charge going off. That does not make much of a difference. Newspaper reports will be out there and can be called upon to muddy the waters of history.

During all This Red Cross Ambulances are Being Targeted by the Israeli Air Force

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Expressions of International and Regional Outrage

Anger at the Qana Massacres has resulted in international outrage, which some say has pressured Israel into halting for 48 hours to investigate, let humanitarian aid into the area, and let refugees flee South Lebanon. The truth of the matter is the cease fire that was used as a public relations move by the U.S.A. and Israel was really to do mechanical checks and maintenance work on the Israeli jets. The supposed cease fire or pause was not really kept as bombing never stopped and it was disengaged before 12 hours was reached.

Qana 1996, Qana 2006 and The Arab Dis-League
Mohamed Khodr , ICH

July 2006

"Information Clearing House" -- -- The Arab Dis-League and Arab leaders "condemnation", "express of outrage", "placing responsibility on Israel", or "complain to the United Nations Security Council" brought any comfort to a Muslim mother burying her killed and burned children in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, or Afghanistan?
...
Qana I in 1996 and Qana II in 2006 happened under the cover of the "Peace Process", "The Road Map", the "Saudi [Arabian] Arab League Surrender Plan", and Arab condemnation of Hezbollah.

Qana Massacre...
Riverbend, Bagdad burning

July 30, 2006

Although the sun is blinding this time of year in our part of the world, the Middle East is seeing some of its darkest days…

I woke up this morning to scenes of carnage and destruction on the television and for the briefest of moments, I thought it was footage of Iraq. It took me a few seconds to realize it was actually Qana in Lebanon. The latest village to see Israeli air strikes. The images were beyond gruesome- body parts and corpses being hauled out from under tons of debris. Wailing relatives and friends, searching for loved ones… So far, according to humanitarian organizations, 34 were children. They killed them while they were sleeping inside their bomb shelters- much like the Amriya Shelter massacre in 1991.

Israeli Prime Minister on Qana.
The Angry Arab News Service

Israeli Prime Minister on Qana. "Olmert: Hezbollah used Qana as base to launch 100s of rockets", so we decided to kill all the women and children who are launching these rockets. I proudly announce to the Israeli nation that we have succeeded in killing a large number of the women and children of the enemy today, and will kill more tomorrow. This is the essence of Zionism. And we shall continue to kill their women and children; this has been the mission of our proud IDF. And if anybody protests, we can easily call those women and children terrorists--whether they are PLO, Hizbullah, Communists, it does not matter.

More “Birth Pangs” in Condi’s “New Middle East”
Mike Whitney

July 30, 2006

Nations are like people; ultimately they return to the habits with which they feel most comfortable. In Israel’s case, the infrequent periods of peace typically end with a return to the familiar pattern of war crimes and human rights abuse. Last night was no different.
...
No matter; Israel will continue with its ridiculous defense until the lie is reiterated from every media soapbox in the United States.

Already the nascent public relations campaign is in full swing. Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns appeared on the Sunday talk shows defending Israeli aggression as the necessary path to achieving a "durable peace". In the Orwellian-world of Bush doublespeak, a "sustainable cease-fire" is a tacit endorsement of perennial war. Washington’s "green light" to Israel has already turned Lebanon into a basket case; its pristine coastline is awash in oil, its main industries are hobbled or ruined outright, and its civilian infrastructure is in tatters. Now, we can add war crimes to the list of triumphs in the "Bush-Olmert Lebanon policy".

The Angry Arab News Service

If they ask you who did that to Lebanon and to the Lebanese, tell them: Israel. TELL THEM: ISRAEL. If they ask you who supported the Israeli war of aggression (directly and indirectly), tell them: US, EU, UN, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jumblat, Hariri, Patriarch Sfayr, and Sanyurah. And if they ask you whether the victims will be forgotten, tell them: NEVER. And if they ask you whether Israel (as a racist, colonialist, and occupying state) will be integrated into the region, also tell them: NEVER.
...
There was a coup d'etat in Lebanon yesterday. Beirut has changed, and not to US/Israeli liking. In two days, a seismic change in Lebanese political attitudes can be noticed. And I am not only talking about public opinion. I am talking about the opinion of members of the Hariri coalition. In the last two days alone, all those Sunni Hariri deputies have clearly distanced themselves from remarks made by Walid Jumblat (although they have not named him): Muhammad Qabbani, Bahiyyah Al-Hariri, `Ammar Huri, Ahmad Fatfat, Samir Al-Jisr, among others). Bahiyya Hariri yesterday criticized the US "green light" on AlJazeera TV. Many of these politicians called AlJazeera live to express their condemnation of Israel and US. Many of them sounded as if they were pleading for their lives. The demonstrators yesterday, who stormed in the UN building in downtown Beirut where my sister works, chanted angry slogans not only against Arab regimes, Israel, and US, but also against Hariri. One chant went like this: "Beirut shall always be free, free; Hariri get the hell out." The demonstrators were planning to head to the US embassy, but Hizbullah and Amal members of parliament present prevented them. They clearly were afraid of things getting out of hand. They almost did. The second time around it could be ugly. I could see that; it is worrisome. The car of the Ping Pong Minister (Hariri acting Minister of Interior Ahmad Fatfat) was attacked. One demonstrator according to the right-wing sectarian Christian daily, AnNahar, asked the press to note that she was Sunni. An-Nahar among other newspapers noted that the Sunni Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah was heavily present in the demonstration.

Yesterday, marks the end of the Hariri coalition in Lebanon. You can read its future on the face of Walid Jumblat--when he shows his face to the press as he has confined his interviews as of late to phone interviews. And the "decision" by Fu'ad Sanyurah yesterday was not his decision. There was a coup d'etat in Lebanon yesterday. Nabih Birri visited the prime minister and requested that decision. Sanyurah, the Abu Mazen of Lebanon, had no choice. The "street" was boiling, and his master, Sa`d Hariri, was nowhere to be seen. He was asking for a cease-fire from....Tunisia. The longer the Israeli aggression continues, the more the scale will weigh heavily to the side of Hizbullah. And then you think of those smiling faces around Bush in the White House's National Security Council who only a week ago thought, so foolishly and callously thought, that they were in the midst of a great Middle East politics game.

Qana II in Pictures

Significant Speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General About Real Motives of Israeli attacks on Lebanon

2006-07-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Significant Speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General About Real Motives of Israeli attacks on Lebanon

Places Targeted by Israeli in Lebanon & Areas Under Threat in the Middle East

2006-07-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

Click the images below to enlarge

Professor Michel Chossudovsky & Lebanon one step closer to the Coming Nuclear Attacks Against Iran

2006-07-28T15:29:00.000-07:00


Professor Chossudovsky gives a speech at the Perdana Global Peace Forum in Malyasia, 2005

The Israeli attacks against Lebanon are part of an agenda to attack Iran & eventually control world oil reserves...

The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil by Michel Chossudovsky

Russian Base in Syria, a Symmetrical Strategic Move by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

The Militarisation of the Eastern Mediterranean: Israel's Stake in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline by Michel Chossudovsky

'UK government sources confirm war with Iran is on' by Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, Online Journal Contributing Writer

Back to Hariri’s Murder

Hariri Reportedly Assassinated To Make Way For Large US Air Base in Lebanon by Wayne Madsen, Online Journal Contributing Writer

Mahdi Nazemroaya

'Real Lebanese and Arab Public Opinion;' What people are really thinking in Lebanon...

2006-07-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

The following are some comments from the Angry Arab that illustrate Arab Public Opinion and the atmosphere in Lebanon; you get a feeling of what people are really thinking from all the following statments. These statements are very imortant in understanding what the people of Lebanon are thinking...

Why do you get the feeling that Israeli propagandists are sweating? "Online controversy over graffiti by Israeli kids"

So if the news that Israel was able to occupy Marun Ar-Ras is true, it means this: Israel occupied Sinai, Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in 6 days in 1967 but it took Israel 11 days to occupy Marun Ar-Ras.

A friend sent me this from North Lebanon: "After Rice's latest statements, the mood seems to have changed in the country. An uncle of mine who was middle-of-the-road and was blaming Hezbollah now is saying that it is clear that this is a US/Israel plan to destroy the country. A friend of mine with Kataeb leanings has said the same."

I still find it most ironic, but not surprising, that the Palestinian people have been the most sympathetic and supportive toward the Lebanese people.

The lawyer for Miss Lebanon in Beirut denied news reports in a California newspaper to the effect that Miss Lebanon and Miss Israel are "best of friends." Israeli propaganda often circulate news of that sort by the way.

Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border." (But notice how careful and cautious the language of Human Rights Watch is)

Not all are Hizbullah. Not all the Southern Lebanese who are fighting the brutal Israeli occupation troops are members of Hizbullah. Today, the Lebanese Communist Party announced the death of two members who were fighting the occupation troops.

The US ambassador in Lebanon was looking for a propaganda event when he met the press today in Beirut to announce some medical aid for Lebanon. The press skewered the ambassador, and asked him about the weapons used on Lebanese civilians. He said that he is not a "medical expert."

The ever-shifting Walid Jumblat--who discovers "documents" on the internet--just made a speech in which he sent "salutations" to Hizbullah for its resistance against Israeli occupation troops. Yesterday, he supported the demands of Israel in a meeting with Rice, and today he supports Hizbullah. This is the star of the Lebanese "Cedar Revolution." PS It is hilarious: just as Jumblat was making this statement, MEMRI was circulating an interview with Jumblat from a few days ago in which he criticized Nasrallah. Do you think that MEMRI will circulate the new remarks?

Egyptian star `Adil Imam joins other Egyptian in a rally against Israel. It is amazing how much you miss if you only follow the Middle East from English language newspapers. The Egyptian government also prevented several demonstrations for Lebanon from reaching their destination. Husni Mubarak said that Egypt "will not join a war against Israel for Lebanon." US Congress immediately noted an advance in the democratic "credentials" of Mubarak.

"Hizbullah is ratcheting up its kill ratio with the Israeli military toward 1:1, something no other Arab fighting force has even approached."

All former (Sunni) prime ministers of Lebanon met, and they issued a declaration and expressed strong support for Hizbullah. Saudi/US plans to divide Sunnis and Shi`ites are not always successful, it seems, especially when Israeli bombs fall on Sunnis, Shi`ites, Druzes, atheists, and Christians.

"For the second time in eight days, the Israelis committed a war crime yesterday. They ordered the villagers of Taire, near the border, to leave their homes and then - as their convoy of cars and minibuses obediently trailed northwards - the Israeli air force fired a missile into the rear minibus, killing three refugees and seriously wounding 13 other civilians. The rocket that killed them is believed to have been a Hellfire missile made by Lockheed Martin in Florida."

I keep receiving accounts from Lebanon regarding Hariri Inc (Tayyar Al-Mustaqbal): they not only steal some of the aid donated to Lebanon and place their labels on them, but many of their fanatics have been insulting the refugees form South Lebanon.

So what do the Lebanese people really think? Now that there are American Zionists who regularly speak on behalf of the Lebanese people, now that I have seen Bush--BUSH--speak about what the people of Lebanon need, and now that some Lebanese mercenaries and war criminals have been anointed to speak on behalf of Lebanon, we have at least a survey of Lebanese public opinion. It was conducted by the reliable Markaz Bayrut li-l-Abhath (and I thank `Abduh and Amal for sharing the unpublished results with me). These are some of the highlights: 70 % support the capture of the two Israeli soldiers (73.1 among Sunnis, 96.3 among Shi`ites, 40% among Druzes, and 55 among Christians); 87% support that "the resistance fight Israeli aggression on Lebanon" (88.9 among Sunnis, 96.3 among Shi`ites, 80% among Druzes, and 80% among Christians); 8% think that America adopted a positive position toward Lebanon during this war (7.9% among Sunnis, 4 among Shi`ites, 13.6 among Druzes, and 15 among Christians).
PS Sample size is 800. The overwhelming majority were face- to -face interviews (including all displaced individuals).

What is significant is Saudi public opinion. So Saudi clerics and "liberal reformers" have both broken with the regime and signed petitions against the House of Saud's position. And when you watch call-in shows on Arabic TV: many of the angry callers who blast Arab regimes are from Saudi Arabia. But don't tell Bush. He still thinks that House of Saud speaks for all Arabs, just as the Clean Break crowd thought that the Iraqi people are going to demand the Hashemites of Jordan to rule over them

The one Lebanese politician who has been most candid and most truthful is Usamah Sa`d of Sidon. This secular, leftist, Arab nationalist member of parliament has been quite honest with the Lebanese people about the nature of the conspiracy against Lebanon and its local allies. Hizbullah, typically playing behind too much Lebanese dissimulation, refuses to criticize any political leader or party in Lebanon, and has not even criticized Saudi Arabia or any other Arab government. The brave Usamah Sa`d said the obvious: that there are personalities in Lebanon who are part of this Israeli/Arab conspiracy against Lebanon.

It is hilarious. I was looking at some right-wing American Zionist sites and publications. Did you notice how favorable they have become toward the House of Saud? Did you notice that suddenly the religious intolerance, misogyny, and institutional anti-Semitism of the Saudi government have all been forgiven because the House of Saud is supporting the Israeli war on Lebanon? Some American Zionist sites have turned into tributes to the House of Saud. Live and see.

"Is it possible - is it conceivable - that Israel is losing its war in Lebanon? From this hill village in the south of the country, I am watching the clouds of brown and black smoke rising from its latest disaster in the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil: up to 13 Israeli soldiers dead, and others surrounded, after a devastating ambush by Hizbollah guerrillas in what was supposed to be a successful Israeli military advance against a "terrorist centre"."

Thursday, July 27, 2006
Ayman Adh-Dhawahiri and the Saudi role in the Conspiracy. It is a sign that Ayman Adh-Dhawihiri showed up his face and gave one of his tedious fulminations--fortunately, all his calls fall on deaf Muslim ears. But it was public opinion pressures--even Al-Qa`idah feels them. This is a sign of what is building up among he Arab/Muslim public although I would never expect revolutionary momentum to topple regimes any time soon. But the new US/Israeli/Arab conspiracy required an Arab role in fomenting Sunni-Shi`ite divisions and seditions. The plan would have worked, had the US selected a more credible leader of Arab Sunnis than the Guardian of the Two Holy things. The Saudi King? Are you kidding me? He does not even speak for the Sunni House of Saud. If anything: whatever is supported by the Saudi King will be ridiculed and mocked by Arab public. Do you know how wildly detested the Gulf royals are? During the Arab Cold War, the Arab public threw its lot with Nasser. There was no mistake about it; even some members of the royal family joined Nasser--how much Prince Talal would like to forget that. What I find more noteworthy than Dhawahiri's statement--and it is significant in the way he falsely presented Al-Qa`idah as an organization that sought to unite Muslims (it was also significant that he used the Qur'anic term mustadh`afin, which was quite popularized by Khumayni)--is the statement by the well-known fundamentalist "thinker", Yusuf Al-Qaradawi. Now Qaradawi speaks for important segments of Muslim Sunni public opinion. His statement was made--in support of Hizbullah--as part of his taped Sunday show on Al-Jazeera. And AlJazeera made sure to air it today. But Nasrallah and Qaradawi--many people don't know--have been friends, or friendly, although Salafi groups attacked Qaradawi for his meetings with Nasrallah. And even the Muslim Brotherhood (not to mention Saudi intellectuals and clerics) in Egypt officially disagreed with the Saudi position on Lebanon. The Saudi position in the current conspiracy seems to be weakening: Saudi Arabia is showing signs of embarrassment and confusion. I don't think that brilliant planners of House of Saud--and US and Israel behind them, or ahead of them--expected the Sunni Arab opinion to be so solidly behind Hizbullah's stance in South Lebanon. They really expected--how foolish, come to think of it--Arab public opinion to rally behind Mubarak, and the two royal `Abdullahs. Say what you wish about Arab public opinion but it never rallied behind those royals. The sudden announcement of the Saudi financial gift to Lebanon--which it will not materialize, mark my words--was intended to beautify the Saudi image not only in Lebanon, but in the larger Arab world, more importantly. Similarly, Israeli bombers have allowed Jordanian planes to bring medical supplies to Beirut airport, also to help them out in this "PR" mess. What will this mean? Saudi Arabia is embarrassed, and that explains their last statement warning (the US, presumably) that things would get worse in the Middle East. If Hizbullah does not respond directly to the Saudi role in this conspiracy after all this is over it will only reinforce the view that they allow themselves to be used in Iranian foreign policy.

Typical British diplomacy. The UK's minister in the Foreign Office visited Lebanon and Israel. In Lebanon, he strongly criticized and blamed Israel. In Israel, he strongly criticized and blamed Hizbullah.

"The Israelis are radicalising Lebanon, even liberal democrats like me. I took part in last year's demonstrations against Syria. I was a critic of Hizbullah. Now I cannot help but support Hizbullah's fighters who are defending our country." What about Hizbullah's rocket attacks on Haifa? "It's right," she replied. "It's not only Lebanese who should have to suffer. Are human rights available only to Israelis? You can't have winter and summer on the same roof."

Lies of Israeli propaganda: "General Adam, who met reporters in a pine forest at dusk, acknowledged that after two days of bitter combat that had left 10 soldiers dead, Bint Jbail was still not under Israeli control." Do you know that two days ago Israeli propaganda AND Hariri newspaper, Al-Mustaqbal, claimed that Bin Jubayl was already under Israeli occupation control?

The foolish political miscalculations of Hizbullah: the Lebanese political scene. My sister and comrades in Lebanon have asked me to refrain in this period from criticizing Hizbullah. But how could I not? After listening to the official statement of the Council of Ministers today? When I watched Minister of Information, Ghazi Al-`Aridi, pay one tribute-after-another to the Saudi Guardian of the Two Holy things, I could not believe my eyes. Here is the Saudi government officially endorsing the Israeli war of aggression on Lebanon while pledging some millions to Lebanon--Saudi Arabia is notorious for not giving what it pledges, you may ask the Palestinians about that. Here is Saudi Arabia and Fu`d As-Sanyurah providing the political cover for the Israeli war of aggression, and Hizbullah remains in the cabinet, and refrains from criticizing either Sanyurah or Saudi Arabia. This is like when I hear Hamas leader, Isma`il Haniyyah, sending salutations to "brother president, Abu Mazen". What is that? What can't they see?

It is hilarious to see Western media quoting the Kuwaiti daily, As-Siyasah, not knowing that its reports on Lebanon over the last two years have been as reliable as Bush's allegations of Iraqi WMDs. And is it not funny when they treat the publisher, Ahmad Al-Jarallah, as a real "journalist"? But as long as the manufactured news fit with the Zionist standards, they are reliable. And Ahmad Al-Jarallah was a close ally of Al-Asad family: the dispute was financial from what I am told.

I am opposed to inviting Israeli propagandists on Arab TV. I am opposed to normalization with a state that is premised on religious preference, racism, terror, mass violence, and displacement. But Arab news stations now invite Israeli propagandists. AlJazeera today invited this really fascist Israeli professor at Bar Ilan University--he fulminated and got so angry, that he started to drool. He said many crazy things. One of them: he said that there have been clashes in South Lebanon between "Khizbullakh"--I think that he meant Hizbullah here but I am not sure--and other Shi`ites opposed to "Khizbullakh," and he accused AlJazeera of suppressing those news. He did not identify who those Shi`ites were. Could they have been supporters of Michael Husayn Young, the well-known leader in South Lebanon? He also promised the people of South Lebanon that villages will be destroyed one after another.

Lies of Israeli propaganda: well, even Marun Ar-Ras is not "subdued". "Two days ago, Israeli military officials on the border confidently announced that first the village of Marun al-Ras and then the larger town of Bint Jbail had been subdued. But renewed fighting erupted in the region around daybreak Wednesday, and by afternoon military officers were being more circumspect about their progress. In the village of Marun al-Ras, one Israeli soldier was killed and three more were wounded Wednesday, the Israeli military said. Hezbollah fighters fired an anti-tank rocket that hit the soldiers in a building, it said."

Unintended Consequences. Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah (the Islamic Brotherhood organization in Lebanon) assembled Sunni clerics from around the country. They issued a strongly worded statement supporting Hizbullah. It seems that Israel's war of aggression is really helping Sunni-Shi`ite unity. The statement said that the Israeli plan is directed at "all of us especially in Lebanon."

Since 2000, Hizbullah violated the Blue Line on the Israeli-Lebanese border 100 times, while Israeli violated that line 11,782 times. (These numbers are based on UN observers and were cited by Lebanese Speaker of Parliament in his interview with Al-Arabiya TV).

Hasan Nasrallah's new TV message. This was a new TV message by Hasan Nasrallah released through Al-Manar TV to all Arab media. It was carried by all of them, except the sleaze-and-dance channels funded by House of Saud--who on the side also fund Bin Ladenites, chief among them is the Mufti of Saud Arabia. Visually, as Ghassan Bin Jiddu of Al-Jazeera pointed out: it was much better than his second message (video-taped) during this war of aggression by Israel. The quality of that one was not good, and he looked for some tired. In this one: it was a much more relaxed setting. He was sitting on a chair, with the flags of Lebanon and Hizbullah behind him. He spoke from an outline of a talk--he does not read texts of speeches. His main point was to respond to the charges that Hizbullah erred by capturing the occupation soldiers. To that he said: that there is evidence that Israeli troops have been conducting maneuvers and exercises for a large-scale attack on Lebanon to begin in September or October of this year. He did not cite sources for the information. He said that this on-going large-scale attack could not logically be a spontaneous response to the capture of the occupation soldiers. He said that the plan--if the timing was giving to Israel to execute in September or October--aims at destroying the command and leadership of the party, to cause paralysis in its rank. He said that the capture of the soldiers gave Hizbullah a tactical advantage--my words. That if the timing was left to Israel to determine, the Party would have been caught by surprise. It seems that Hizbullah, like Israel, does contingency plans. He also said that he would not accept (and he read that part) any settlement that would be insulting to the dignity of the country and of the resistance. He also said that the timing of the war was determined by the US: he said that the US has been sending one military delegation after another in the last year, trying to determine the ability and willingness of the Lebanese Army to fight against Hizbullah. He said that this was part of a plan against Hamas, Hizbullah, Iranian regime, and the Syrian regime. He said that the US realized that the new Lebanese army would not accept to do that job

Israeli military Orientalism: "“We were almost immediately ambushed. The Hezbollah know every rock and bush there,” said another of the soldiers. “We called in a chopper and it fired missiles. We used to fight the Palestinians, but these are a different breed of warriors, these Shi’ites.”"

This New York Times' account clashes with the account of Michael Husayn Young below: "Whatever the target, the result was an emotional outpouring in support of Hezbollah. Standing near a cluster of dangling electrical wires, a group of men began to chant. “By our blood and our soul, we’ll fight for you, Nasrallah!” they said, referring to Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. In a foggy double image, another small group chanted the same thing, as if answering, on the other side of the smoke."

THE TRUTH & LIES OF 9/11

2006-07-27T02:04:00.000-07:00


This pioneering, groundbreaking expose of 9-11, now two years old, painted a stark and accurate picture of our world today and TOMMORROW. Mike's new introduction "connects the dots." Other search word: Conpiracy

9/11 In Plane Site - The Director's Cut

2006-07-27T02:03:00.000-07:00


This groundbreaking documentary by Dave vonKleist of the Power Hour radio show addresses the evidence that lead to the conclusion that 9/11 was an inside job. Using photographic and video evidence, vonKleist brings you through all of the unseen evidence.

Webster Tarpley - The 9/11 issue - How to stop World War III

2006-07-26T23:48:00.000-07:00


Webster Tarpley in New York on January 15, 2006. The 9/11 issue - How to stop World War III. Everybody should read his latest book called This was an amazing presentation and should be fed to everyone on the planet 24/7.

Arab Prisoners; Some Facts

2006-07-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Prisoners from Palestine

The surprising fact that is not commonly known is that according to the Ramallah-based Mandela Institute for Human Rights, named after Nelson Mandela, and other credible organizations there are approximately 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers.

Among them 130 Palestinian women, to date.

Defence for Children International puts the number of Palestinian children in Israeli detention at a figure of 388.

Arrests and incarceration by the Israeli military and security apparatus are such a commonplace experience for the people of Palestine and for many residence of South Lebanon during the Israeli occupation that they have become a rite of passage for Palestinian boys.

Almost all Palestinians in Israeli jails are civilians, few were/are resistance fighters, who , in the first place, are/were legally entitled to resist Israeli occupation under international law

The fighting in Gaza Strip was initiated by Israel because an Israeli corporal was captured, but little is reported about the 2 Palestinians that were kidnapped without charges by Israeli commandos on June, 23, 2006. Who is really at fault?

Prisoners from Lebanon

The Lebanese Prisoners that Israel is keeping are not criminals. They are arrested for the following reasons;

Resistance to the Israeli occupation;

Refusal to enlist in Israeli controlled militias

Refusal to pay the Israelis or those working for the Israelis

Interacting with the Lebanese government and providing information to Lebanon

Possession of a cell phone

Refusing Israeli assistance and the organization of tourist visits to Israel

Mahdi Nazemroaya

Focus on Lebanon: The Unfolding of Events

2006-07-25T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Truth is Starting to Come Out...

The original story, as most media tell it, is this: Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol station, killing some Israeli soldiers and taking two soldiers as prisoners. The incident supposedly happened near the Lebanese-Israel border and within Israeli territory. It is turning out now that this claim seems to be fabricated by the Israelis with American support. It seems that in reality that Israel had sent special commando forces into South Lebanon and was subsequently attacked by Hezbollah near the village of Aitaa Al-Chaab, well inside Lebanese territory. It was at this point that an Israeli tank was struck by Hezbollah fighters, which resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the death of some others.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP), one of the three largest news agencies in the world, has reported that, “According to the Lebanese police force, the two Israeli soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aitaa Al-Chaab, near the border with Israel, where an Israeli unit had penetrated in the middle of morning.” Other news sources from the Middle East and Europe have also confirmed this story dated, June 18, 2006. This does make sense taking to account that Israel also started the crisis in the Gaza Strip by sending Israeli commandos to arrest without any known cause a Palestinian doctor and a family member on June 24, 2006 before the Palestinians in retaliation captured two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli excuses for the bringing of death and destruction to Lebanon seems to be centred on a shame that is also been reported as being part of year long plan that was centred on regime change in both Lebanon and Syria and involved the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri.

The reality of this discourse is that Israel wasn't reacting to immediate circumstances at all, the Jerusalem Post on the 12th July 2006, the same day as the two Israeli soldiers were captured by Hezbollah, let the background information on Israeli objectives slip; Israeli reserve forces had been mobilized “weeks ago”. Weeks ago means before the start of the Israeli aerial attacks and bombardment of Lebanon. The infamous Jerusalem Post, an agent of fascist Israeli propaganda also said, “Only weeks ago, an entire reserve division was drafted in order to train for an operation such as this.”

To see the actual article, please click here.

Also according to Wesley Clark, retired American general and the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, the White House and Pentagon, by late 2001, were planning on attacking Lebanon, as well as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Libya.

To see Wesley Clark's statment click this link.

American Plans for Total Domination in the Middle East: Beirut to Tehran

It is reasonable to suppose that Israeli and U.S. strategists are definitively working together and preparing for a wider war. Both Israel and the U.S.A. seem to be calculating that the Israeli aggression in Lebanon will remove two obstacles. In the short term the aim is to decimate Hezbollah’s military capacity to attack Israel or defend Lebanon through the current Israeli air assaults, thus removing an important Iranian deterrent to an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran.

At the same time the Israelis, Americans, and British are pushing hard to manufacture an Iranian smoking gun in Lebanon. It seems that due to the lack of ‘a smoking Iranian gun,’ which Israel and the U.S.A. could use as a means of overcoming the near universal international opposition to military action against Iran. Parts of the ‘smoking gun,’ are already being manufactured by the media with allegations that Iran and Syria ordered Hezbollah to capture the two Israeli solders. The concocted ‘Iranian smoking gun’ in Lebanon could then be used to justify direct military action against Iran and Iranian interests.

The U.S. government is also rushing $210 million (US) worth of aviation fuel for Israeli jets which was were ordered in the early days of the Israeli attacks after the Americans vetoed the U.N. Security Council Resolution asking Israel to stop. The U.S. government on July 21, 2006, has also disclosed that the White House is also rushing a delivery of precision guided bombs to Israel.

The attacks in Lebanon are part of a wider scene in the Middle East as was demonstrated by the clear Israeli expectation for the U.S.A. to form a collation in regards to Iran. Simon Peres, told Israeli Army Radio, “We will leave Iran to the world community; and Syria as well. It’s very important to understand that we are not instilling world order.”

Syria on the other hand might be another story, if the Israelis or the Americans have concluded that it would be in their best interests to attack or draw Syria into a regional war, they could agitate or take provocative action against Syria.

Already the corporate media is wasting no time in blaming Syria and Iran for the crisis. For example the Boston Herald featured an article on Saturday, July 22, 2006, by Peter Brooks, titled ‘Ground zero for Mid-East instability is Iran: Arab World, take notice.’ The title of the article is very descriptive of the articles material. The Boston Herald rights: “While the world focuses on the smouldering conflict in the Middle East, the war’s instigator and puppeteer, Iran, must be pretty darn pleased with itself. While Iranian-backed Hezbollah jolts Israeli cities with rockets and Israeli forces ferret out terrorist militants across Lebanon, Iran has suffered nary a nick, verbally or otherwise. Moreover, Tehran was skilfully able to keep its atomic aspirations out of the limelight at the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. But when the current clash ultimately subsides, the international community, especially the Middle East, should turn its attention to Tehran’s treachery and expose Iran for what it is—a serious threat to regional stability.”

Still other reports from Israeli and American sources are talking about Al-Qaeda of Lebanon and its links to Syria or speculation of Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon hell bent on liquidating Israel. There is evidentially a program to blame Syria and Iran for the Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Already bogus reports are being publicized by the Israelis followed by the American media making claims of a Saudi Arabian fatwa against Hezbollah.

Syria Warns Israel

As the Israelis have sent ground forces in South Lebanon that might go straight to Beirut and near or maybe even to Damascus, the Syrian government and Syrian military commanders have declared they will enter the war against Israel. “If Israel makes a land entry into Lebanon, they can get to within 20km of Damascus. What will we do? Stand by with our arms folded? Absolutely not, said Mohsen Al-Bilal, Syria's Information Minister, “Without any doubt, Syria will intervene in the conflict!"

Official Remarks from Lebanese Defence Minister & Lebanese Armed Forces

The Lebanese Defence Minister, Elias Al-Murr, has officially stated that, “any Lebanese citizens, Christians or Muslims, who want to defend their land [Lebanon], are welcomed.” A land invasion of Lebanon by the Israeli attackers would not be tolerated by the Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces he pointed out in an interview. The Lebanese army and military has not actively engaged in battle against the Israeli military, but would do so once an Israeli invasion of Lebanon was initiated. When asked if the Lebanese military would fight alongside Hezbollah against any land incursion by Israel, Defence Minister Elias Al-Murr said yes and that it is the Lebanese Armed Forces constitutional duty to defend Lebanon from attackers such as Israel.

Lebanon United Against Israel

The Lebanese establishment is determined not to allow division or any initiation of civil war. A conference of Lebanese political and religious leaders, such as Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora, Speaker Nabih Al-Berri, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Al-Qabbani and Higher Shia Muslim Council Vice-President Sheikh Abdel-Amir Al-Qabalan, called for Israel to face legal consequences for war crimes it is committing in Lebanon. "Israel should be held accountable for the crimes it committed in Lebanon and should be tried for having violated international law," said a statement issued following the meeting. The attendees called for Lebanese unity amongst all the people of Lebanon regardless of region or religion and expressed concern over the continued Israeli assault being conducted under international political cover and American protection.

The Israeli attacks are unifying the people of Lebanon. Amal Movement and various other Lebanese factions also pledged to continue the fight with Israel, alongside Hezbollah. Amal MP Ali Ammar said the resistance would continue to fight Israeli aggression in Lebanon “regardless of all the sacrifices.”

Speaking to reporters after a meeting Tuesday with party the leader of Amal, the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon, Nabih Al-Berri, Ali Ammar held the Americans responsible for “all the crimes” being committed against Lebanese civilians. Al-Berri also had a meeting with Condoleezza Rice where expressed his anger at the American betrayal of Lebanon.

Lebanese President Gives Full Support to Hezbollah

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud also urged the Lebanese to remain united in the face of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and not to fall into the Israeli trap of blaming each other for Israeli aggression. He also expressed the anger of Lebanon and the sense of betrayal and manipulation. In an interview with CNN, President Lahoud called for a ceasefire and said that if this can’t be brokered or respected by Israel, that the Lebanese military is prepared to defend Lebanon and that Lebanese solidarity ultimately will save the nation. The President added that Lebanon has had lots of officials coming from abroad, “but unfortunately with no result. He said that this makes the Lebanese think that there might be something behind that, and perhaps they want to give more time to Israel to hit more, thinking that maybe Hezbollah will give up,” and that “Hezbollah will not give up.” The President also said that if Israel believes it will win, it is mistaken. President Lahoud also pointed out that Hezbollah was the main liberator of the land, and that there is no animosity between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hezbollah.

American-Israeli Plans for Regime Change in Lebanon

The Israeli operation also seems to have either a direct, active or indirect, passive regime change agenda for Lebanon. Deliberately attacking Lebanon to instigate another civil war in Lebanon with the different fractions, political parties, and sectarian groups seems to be an additional objective of the Israeli campaign against Lebanon and the Lebanese people. In Lebanon, the government and political establishment, outside of Hezbollah, seem to be in a state of paralysis, “We are facing real annihilation carried out by Israel,” said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi after an emergency cabinet meeting. The pro-American fractions of the government and political establishment seem to feel that the U.S. government has sacrificed them or seen them as hopeless in gaining full control of Lebanon, effectively combating Syria, and being ammunition against Iran.

Foreign Embassies Helping Israel Against Lebanon

Hezbollah has also reported further foreign conformity with Israel through reports that the foreign embassies of Western countries are taking polls from the people of Lebanon asking them if they support Hezbollah or not. This has a very sinister link to the bombing campaign against Lebanon. It seems the information might, as Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has suggested, be passed on to the Israelis to help them in their campaign.

Israel Using Internationally Prohibited Weapons on Lebanese Civilians

Reports and pictures are turning up now that verify that Israel is using international prohibited weapons against Lebanese civilians. The Lebanese Information Minister has reported that, “Israel is using internationally prohibited weapons against civilians.” He did not elaborate on the weapons used, but Lebanese media reports said Israel had used phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs, which suck up the air and collapse buildings. This could explain the Israeli attacks on media outlets throughout Lebanon, including such stations as LBC (LBCI), which have been critical of Hezbollah’s capture of the two Israeli soldiers.

Electromagnetic arms are said to be used by Israel. A spokesman for the Lebanese military officially said that the Israelis are using “bombs with special fillings” that Lebanon is sure contain internationally forbidden material. This is verified by all the hospitals of South Lebanon. In the South Lebanon the cases are all described similarly by officials, ‘burnt not burnt corpses, swallowed, no bleeding , the unbearable smell.’

These weapons have a connection with the disaster in Iraq. These seem to be in the same scope of weaponry used in Iraq by the Americans. They were either domestically developed by Israel or were jointly developed with the U.S.A. or by the American military. The California Center for Strategic Studies (CCSS) has gathered evidence that the U.S. government has deployed a very dangerous new form of weapon in Iraq, apparently without congressional approval.

Large areas of the suburbs of Beirut have been found covered by fine white dust after aerial attacks by American made Israeli jets. It is worthy that the white dust was also reported found in Fallujah, Iraq after the U.S. Marines attacked the Iraqi city.

Israeli aims for Civil War in Lebanon and crushing Hezbollah

Beirut has been crippled once again, Lebanon’s economy has been crushed, and a sense of victimization has started to give way to anger in the streets uniting the country against Israel, Arab leaders, and the American government.

Over 100, 000 refugees, and counting, have arrived around Beirut, while it is said that another 100, 000 refugees are taking shelter in Syria. About 1 million refugees are now stranded in Lebanon and Syria. Residents in cities such as Tyre have been trapped with bridges and roads deliberately blown up with the Israeli Air Force.

Hezbollah’s role seems to be in question, the elections in Lebanon last year gave Hezbollah a strong parliament presence and two seats in the Lebanese Cabinet were Hezbollah has ministers. Israeli attacks on civilians are deliberately aimed on the Lebanese population against Hezbollah, but is instead strengthening the support of Hezbollah amongst the Lebanese and the Arab World, while also silencing Hezbollah’s opponents in Lebanon. It seems to enjoy the widest support in Lebanon as a political party, but know it is being claimed by Western, Israeli, and pro-American Arab media that the new fighting has deepened the divisions in Lebanon, mostly along sectarian lines. The country’s more than 1.2 million Shia Muslims mostly seems to support the group along with a fraction of the countries Lebanese Christians and Sunni Muslims. This could very well be part of the Israeli-American aims of starting a civil war in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has a militia of about 6,000 fighters, which is less than 10% of the size of the 70,000 manned Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel has also tried to coerce the Lebanese government to get the Lebanese military to confront Hezbollah in South Lebanon. They have demanded that the Lebanese government send the Lebanese Armed Forces to act as a buffer force between Israel and Hezbollah in South Lebanon, while Israel possibly continues its campaign.

It seems now that the Israelis want NATO troops to essentially ‘occupy’ South Lebanon. This is a very suspicious suggestion that sends red flags to Lebanon, Russia, Syria, Iran, and China. It further illustrates an American role and resonates of the state of affairs in Afghanistan and the American project for the Middle East.

American Betrayal of Lebanese Government

American President, George W, Bush Jr. has said “Part of those terrorist attacks are inspired by nation-states like Syria and Iran. And in order to be able to deal with this crisis, the world must deal with Hezbollah, with Syria, and to continue to work to isolate Iran.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s American peace mission to Lebanon was an empty handed gesture that also illustrated the general unwelcoming attitude and anger towards the U.S.A. by the Lebanese. She delivered the Israeli ultimatum to the Lebanese government and to Hezbollah, but was rebutted. Her meetings with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora, a fervent pro-American leader, and the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament went very negatively.

On Tuesday, July 18, 2006 the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution backing Israel, condemning Hezbollah and the Palestinian government, formed by Hamas, and calling for Iran and Syria to be held accountable in the conflict.

Growing Anger in the Middle East and Arab World, Betrayal of Lebanon by Arab Leaders

The Israeli attacks in Lebanon seem to be destined to target Syria and Iran, but there is also another factor. With Israeli confrontation with Hezbollah and Lebanon lurching closer to an ‘all out war,’ especially with the Israeli land invasion, the winds of anger are blowing through the Middle East that are likely to strengthen the revolt in the populations from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. The popular view is that the Arab leaders are traitors who work for the Americans and the Israelis and Hezbollah and Iran are the antithesis of this.

The Arab League, after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo, said that the Middle East peace process has failed, and called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene to stop the escalating violence. This has been seen by Arab populations as a betrayal to Lebanon and Palestine. The Arab foreign ministers also drafted a resolution supporting Lebanon and the Palestinians, but with critical wording that was also seen as devoid of real meaning or action.

Arab Leaugue Secretary-General Amr Mousa said in Cairo at the 22 member Arab League headquarters, that the Middle East was in danger of erupting into anarchy and regional crisis.

Tayseer Khalid, member in PLO executive committee and member in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) political bureau, stated on Sunday that the Arab League meeting at the foreign ministerial level was disappointing. The DFLP opined that the meeting was merely a sedative injection in an attempt to calm the Arab public opinion and to absorb the fury dominating the Arab World that was turning dangerous due to the passive official Arab stands towards the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s strongest and most popular opposition movement against stated its strong support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran and condemned Arab governments for passive support of Israel. Hamas is an informal offshoot of the Brotherhood.

In Egypt citizens are claiming that government in Cairo claimed that peace with Israel would create prosperity and jobs, but over 20 years have passed and prosperity has not materialized. In Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Arab Sheikhdoms the populations and the government have contrasting views too.

The Arab leaders are now worried about their own domestic situations and their own security. “Israel will not emerge as a victor in this war. It will only create more enemies,” Egyptian President Mubarak said on July 17, 2006.

Iran: U.S.A., Israel, and Britain an Axis of Evil, Warns Israel

In Iran the Iranian President has advised Israel to pack its bags and leave the Middle East because it has committed unbearable atrocities against the region, while earlier the Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian Parliament debated entry into the conflict to intervene on behalf of Lebanon. Apparently mocking President Bush's reference in 2002 to the “Axis of Evil” the Supreme Commandant of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps described the alliance of United States, Britain, and Israel as the “real Axis of Evil.” Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi made his remark on July 16, 2006, saying: “Today, the global axis of evil – the U.S.A., the Zionists [Israelis], and Britain – are showing their true colors of world devouring and exploitation through their occupation and the killing of defenseless people.” Major General Safavi, promised of “disgraceful defeat” for its atrocities against innocent civilians in Palestine and Lebanon.

Also on the sidelines of one of the sessions of the Iranian branches of government, the Expediency Council, Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said that vital energy supplies of the West are in the Middle East region, and called on Arab states in the region to stop exporting their oil to Israel while also stating that the United States of America, Britain, and Israel made the decision to attack Lebanon and that “the war is part of the American Greater Middle East Initiative which the U.S. government is striving to materialize.”

In reply to this Shimon Peres said, “Iran has made a laughing stock of the world community,” while pointing the finger at Tehran as the source of world instability. Peres went on to tell Israel Radio that, “Since World War Two, I haven't seen such a situation of international weakness,” The international news agency Reuters, which is partly owned by Rupert Murdoch, said that Shimon Peres defended his country’s intense bombings of Lebanon as self-defence and said the international community seemed too weak to resolve the crisis.

Iran Considering Cutting Oil, with or without Arab Support

Iran in response to the situation has threaten that it could use its oil weapon if Syria gets drawn into the conflict between Israel and Lebanon, besides military action, but the Arab oil producers will not withhold their crude exports to exert pressure either in support of Lebanon or Syria. The only oil that could disappear from the energy market if this crisis develops is Iranian oil said the Gulf Research Council in Dubai.

Cutting oil is not an option that Arab leaders are interested in implied former Kuwaiti oil minister Ali Al-Baghli. “Arab countries decided not to use this [oil] weapon again,” he said referring to 2002, when Iraq and Iran called for a month long ban on oil exports in protest against Israeli incursions into Palestinian territories. Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states refused, justifying their refusal that oil was not a weapon and that its revenues should be used for the development of Arab countries. Critics say they could not halt oil because of their relationship to the Americans.

International Eye on Israel

President Vladimir Putin said at the start of the crisis that the Russian government believed Israel was pursuing wider goals in its military campaign than the return of abducted soldiers.

“However complicated the questions are, maximum efforts must be applied to resolve the situation in a peaceful way and I think all efforts have not been exhausted. However, it is our impression that aside from seeking to return the abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing wider goals,” President Putin said at a news conference at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Russian leaders are not alone in these views; George Galloway, British Member of Parliament (MP,), has written in a recent article titles ‘Watch out, Iran,’ “that an axis of aggression links Tel Aviv and Washington, with London at the midpoint. And it has Tehran in its sights.”

George Galloway has pointed out “that Lebanon if destroyed every bridge in Israel, blew up the international airport, seized the airspace and turned it into a free-fire zone, blockaded the ports, severed every arterial road and ordered people to leave their homes, then bombing them to pieces when they did,” that Western leaders would never overlook the situation.

George Galloway has goes onto point that the British media is covering or trying to cover up the fact that Britain and the U.S.A. prevented the G8 summit from drafting a ceasefire agreement and that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the British government prevented the European Union from issuing a condemnation of Israeli aggression. “No one should be in any doubt why: George Bush and Blair want Israel to continue its assault on Lebanon, and they are intervening to quell international condemnation of the attack,” George Galloway wrote.

Israel Caught Red Handed: Israeli attacks on U.N. & Red Cross

Meanwhile, a U.N. observation post in Israel was struck during fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military blamed Hezbollah rockets but a U.N. officer said it was an artillery shell fired deliberately by the Israeli military at the post. Days after the incident with the U.N. observation post within Israel, 4 international members—from China, Austria, Canada, and Finland—of the U.N. observer force were shout at and killed in South Lebanon by Israeli fire. Israel has also been targeting the Red Cross and its medics.

Turkey Warns Europe & Block of Iran

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after talks with the Iranian President said that if this “wrath,” referring to the Israeli onslaught against the Lebanese and Palestinians, reaches a critical point, deep-rooted ties of regional states with Europeans will be seriously challenged and fundamentally shifted.

Days after the Turkish Prime Minister’s warnings to the West and Europe, both Turkey and Saudi Arabia have also blocked Iran for using their airspaces to send aid and humanitarian relief to Lebanon by not granting permission for Iranian over flights.

More Betrayal for Lebanon; the Dirty Hand of Arab Leaders

Lebanon seems to have been betrayed by its own politicians, the U.S.A., and by the pro-American Arab regimes, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Arab Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf. It is also worth to note that the Saudi Arabian media defended the Israeli incursions and that the Saudi Arabians were leading the thriving prostitution and sex industry in Lebanon. It is reported that more than 20,000 prostitutes have been imported into Lebanon from Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and other parts of Eastern Europe by Saudi Arabian nationals. 12,000 Saudi Arabians alone, not including other nationals from the Arab Sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf were sex tourists who abandoned Lebanon back to their countries or to Syria.

Hezbollah is Doing more than Arab Armies Did

Hezbollah seems to be doing what most the Arabs united together could not; it is making real headway against Israel. It is holding its ground and making hell for Israel. Hezbollah might just defeat the Israelis again, as it did before when it forced them to leave Lebanon.

Mahdi Nazemroaya

Manik Vision: Videos with News Highlights from the Middle East July 24, 2006

2006-07-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

The Peabody Award-winning Mosaic News Service;

Features selections from daily news programs from the Middle East
Link TV is an independent network
Link TV gives a global perspective on world issues and cultures
Link TV is said to be available in 1/4 American homes

News coverage includes following topics and networks;

More Israeli Murder in Lebanon (Future TV, Lebanon)
American visit Mid-East (IBA TV, Israel)
Rockets Hit Sederot, Israel I(BA TV, Israel)
Absence of Air-Raid Shelters for Arabs in Israel (Al-Jazeera, Qatar)
Lebanese Refugees Support Hezbollah (Abu Dhabi TV, UAE)
Israel Wages Propaganda War andCensors the Media (Algeria TV, Algeria)
Hezbollah is winning battles, UN & Lebanon (IRIB 2 English Service, Iran)
Beirut Heavily Damaged (Al-Alam Arabic Service TV, Iran)
Israeli attacks civilians in Palestine (Palestine TV, Gaza)

The Precedent for the Implementation of U.N. Resolutions, Double Standards

2006-07-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

United Nations Security Council resolutions are a testimony to the unfair nature of interests ruling the world. U.N. resolutions are only passed and more importantly ‘enforced’ when they serve the benefit of certain interests. As far as the Security Council is concerned as a body, it is not too important because the veto-yielding permanent members, especially the U.S.A. keep it from being important and consistent with principles of international law. It only serves specific agendas and interests. The U.S.A. systematically prevents any enforcement of any resolutions regarding Israel, the primary violator of U.N. resolutions The U.S. government as a virtual rule usually vetoes all resolutions asking Israel to adhere to the human rights charter or international laws, but when it does not these resolutions are not enforced and mere jokes that are not worth the paper they have been printed on. What is the difference when Iraq and Israel, when it comes to U.N. resolutions? Why the double standards?

U.S.A. Vetos U.N. Resolution on Israel

A recent failed U.N. resolution demanded an end to the Israeli military campaign. The resolution was almost passed had it not been for the American 'veto.' The resolution would also have been unanimously passed, had it not been for the single American vote opposing U.N. action. The American decision to block the resolution from passing was also followed by consistant American statments of support for Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon. France, Greece, Russia, China, Ghana, Congo, Argentina, Qatar, Tanzania, and Japan all voted for the resolution and demanded Israel discontinue the attacks against Lebanon and the Palestinians in contrast to U.S. representatives who blamed the Lebanese and Palestinians for the Israeli aggression. Out of 15 nations that constituting the U.N. Security Council 10 voted to pass the resolution condemning Israel, compared to 1, the United States of America, whose vote also followed an additional veto. Four nations, with pro-American governments that are partners or vassals in the American scheme of things in the world, abstained from voting so as not to enrage their own domestic populations and possibly further tarnish their world images further from prior events. There countries were Britain, Peru, Denmark, and Slovenia.

Previous U.N. resolutions ignored and defied by Israel with American backing;

.1. Resolution 106: "... 'condemns' Israel for Gaza raid"

.2. Resolution 111: "...'condemns' Israel for raid on Syria that killed fifty-six people"

.3. Resolution 127: "...'recommends' Israel suspend its 'no-man's zone' in Jerusalem"
.
4. Resolution 162: "...'urges' Israel to comply with UN decisions"

.5. Resolution 171: "...determines flagrant violations' by Israel in its attack on Syria"

.6. Resolution 228: "...'censures' Israel for its attack on Samu in the West Bank, then under Jordanian control"

.7. Resolution 237: "...'urges' Israel to allow return of new 1967 Palestinian refugees"

.8. Resolution 248: "...'condemns' Israel for its massive attack on Karameh in Jordan"

.9. Resolution 250: "... 'calls' on Israel to refrain from holding military parade in Jerusalem"

.10. Resolution 251: "... 'deeply deplores' Israeli military parade in Jerusalem in defiance of Resolution 250"

.11. Resolution 252: "...'declares invalid' Israel's acts to unify Jerusalem as Jewish capital"

.12. Resolution 256: "... 'condemns' Israeli raids on Jordan as 'flagrant violation"
.13. Resolution 259: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to accept UN mission to probe occupation"

.14. Resolution 262: "...'condemns' Israel for attack on Beirut airport"

.15. Resolution 265: "... 'condemns' Israel for air attacks for Salt in Jordan"

.16. Resolution 267: "...'censures' Israel for administrative acts to change the status of Jerusalem"

.17. Resolution 270: "...'condemns' Israel for air attacks on villages in southern Lebanon"

.18. Resolution 271: "...'condemns' Israel's failure to obey UN resolutions on Jerusalem"

.19. Resolution 279: "...'demands' withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon"

.20. Resolution 280: "....'condemns' Israeli's attacks against Lebanon"

.21. Resolution 285: "...'demands' immediate Israeli withdrawal form Lebanon"

.22. Resolution 298: "...'deplores' Israel's changing of the status of Jerusalem"

.23. Resolution 313: "...'demands' that Israel stop attacks against Lebanon"

.24. Resolution 316: "...'condemns' Israel for repeated attacks on Lebanon"

.25. Resolution 317: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to release Arabs abducted in Lebanon"

.26. Resolution 332: "...'condemns' Israel's repeated attacks against Lebanon"

.27. Resolution 337: "...'condemns' Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty"

.28. Resolution 347: "...'condemns' Israeli attacks on Lebanon"

.29. Resolution 425: "...'calls' on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon"

.30. Resolution 427: "...'calls' on Israel to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon'

.31. Resolution 444: "...'deplores' Israel's lack of cooperation with UN peacekeeping forces"

.32. Resolution 446: "...'determines' that Israeli settlements are a 'serious obstruction' to peace and calls on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention"

.33. Resolution 450: "...'calls' on Israel to stop attacking Lebanon"

.34. Resolution 452: "...'calls' on Israel to cease building settlements in occupied territories"

.35. Resolution 465: "...'deplores' Israel's settlements and asks all member states not to assist Israel's settlements program"

.36. Resolution 467: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's military intervention in Lebanon"

.37. Resolution 468: "...'calls' on Israel to rescind illegal expulsions of two Palestinian mayors and a judge and to facilitate their return"

.38. Resolution 469: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's failure to observe the council's order not to deport Palestinians" 39. Resolution 471: "... 'expresses deep concern' at Israel's failure to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention"

.40. Resolution 476: "... 'reiterates' that Israel's claims to Jerusalem are 'null and void'

.41. Resolution 478: "...'censures (Israel) in the strongest terms' for its claim to Jerusalem in its 'Basic Law'

.42. Resolution 484: "...'declares it imperative' that Israel re-admit two deported Palestinian mayors"

.43. Resolution 487: "...'strongly condemns' Israel for its attack on Iraq's nuclear facility"

.44. Resolution 497: "...'decides' that Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan Heights is 'null and void' and demands that Israel rescind its decision forthwith"

.45. Resolution 498: "...'calls' on Israel to withdraw from Lebanon"

.46. Resolution 501: "...'calls' on Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon and withdraw its troops"

.47. Resolution 509: "...'demands' that Israel withdraw its forces forthwith and unconditionally from Lebanon"

.48. Resolution 515: "...'demands' that Israel lift its siege of Beirut and allow food supplies to be brought in"

.49. Resolution 517: "...'censures' Israel for failing to obey UN resolutions and demands that Israel withdraw its forces from Lebanon"

.50. Resolution 518: "...'demands' that Israel cooperate fully with UN forces in Lebanon"

.51. Resolution 520: "...'condemns' Israel's attack into West Beirut"

.52. Resolution 573: "...'condemns' Israel 'vigorously' for bombing Tunisia in attack on PLO headquarters

.53. Resolution 587: "...'takes note' of previous calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and urges all parties to withdraw"

.54. Resolution 592: "...'strongly deplores' the killing of Palestinian students at Bir Zeit University by Israeli troops" 55. Resolution 605: "...'strongly deplores' Israel's policies and practices denying the human rights of Palestinians

.56. Resolution 607: "...'calls' on Israel not to deport Palestinians and strongly requests it to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention

.57. Resolution 608: "...'deeply regrets' that Israel has defied the United Nations and deported Palestinian civilians"

.58. Resolution 636: "...'deeply regrets' Israeli deportation of Palestinian civilians

.59. Resolution 641: "...'deplores' Israel's continuing deportation of Palestinians

.60. Resolution 672: "...'condemns' Israel for violence against Palestinians at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount

.61. Resolution 673: "...'deplores' Israel's refusal to cooperate with the United Nations

.62. Resolution 681: "...'deplores' Israel's resumption of the deportation of Palestinians

.63. Resolution 694: "...'deplores' Israel's deportation of Palestinians and calls on it to ensure their safe and immediate return

.64. Resolution 726: "...'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of Palestinians

.65. Resolution 799: "...'strongly condemns' Israel's deportation of 413 Palestinians and calls for their immediate return.

Mahdi Nazemroaya

Focus on Lebanon: Israeli War Crimes Against Civilians in Photos

2006-07-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Middle Eastern populations the Test Subjects of Illegal Weapons

Reports and pictures are turning up now that verify that Israel is using internationally prohibited weapons against Lebanese civilians. The Lebanese Information Minister has reported that, “Israel is using internationally prohibited weapons against civilians.” He did not elaborate on the weapons used, but Lebanese media reports said Israel had used phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs, which suck up the air and collapse buildings. This could explain the Israeli attacks on media outlets throughout Lebanon, including such stations as LBC (LBCI), which have been critical of Hezbollah’s capture of the two Israeli soldiers. Electromagnetic arms are said to be used by Israel. A spokesman for the Lebanese military officially said that the Israelis are using “bombs with special fillings” that Lebanon is sure contain internationally forbidden material. This is verified by all the hospitals of South Lebanon. In the South Lebanon the cases are all described similarly by officials, ‘burnt not burnt corpses , swallowed, no bleeding , the unbearable smell.’

Above: 17 month old who dies hours after an Israeli air attack on Tyre, Lebanon
Why? Where is the Humanity?

These weapons have a connection with the disaster in Iraq. These seem to be in the same scope of weaponry used in Iraq by the Americans. They were either domestically developed by Israel or were jointly developed with the U.S.A. or by the American military. The California Center for Strategic Studies (CCSS) has gathered evidence that the U.S. government has deployed a very dangerous new form of weapon in Iraq, apparently without congressional approval.

Large areas of the suburbs of Beirut have been found covered by fine white dust after aerial attacks by American made Israeli jets. It is worthy to note that the white dust was also reported found in Fallujah, Iraq after the U.S. Marines attacked the Iraqi city.

Israeli Crimes in Pictures: Why? Is life not sacred? Is life not a gift? Why?

Mahdi Nazemroaya

The Dark Face of Media Censorship: Case Study, the Israeli Model

2006-07-23T02:25:00.000-07:00

Media Censorship: A Daily Reality Worldwide

When is censorship a necessity? Times of war, crisis, and emergency are regularly cited and have been openly utilized as periods of censorship in certain countries while other countries, such as Israel and the Arab Dictatorships, have used censorship on a daily basis. When is censorship used as an unjustifiable excuse for deceiving the public and hiding crimes?

Censorship is a universal plague worldwide, but to varying degrees. The argument for the acceptability or necessity of censorship still does justify cover-ups or censorship used as a tool of exploitation. Manipulation of the media which is aimed at manipulation of general populations is make easier through network or state censorship

The masters of the corporate media are motivated by common interests to give a particulate direction of thought to views. Governments (including the defence, intelligence, and security apparatus of a state), the media, and corporations form the ‘trinity’ of interlocked interests that facilitate media censorship, which also embrace self-censorship.

In the Middle East information experiences censorship in matters that are critical of the government and certain interests, including those of the elite, corporation, and the U.S. government. Much of the criticism directed by the Middle Eastern media towards the U.S.A. is done so to appease the general population. Although stations such as Al-Jazeera from the Persian Gulf are known for lack of censorship, in reality this falls lack of censorship falls short when the local Qatari ruler and democracy are subject matters. Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan face major censorship. Milder, but also potentially harsh censorship, are experienced in Iran and the Arab Sheikdoms.

Israeli Censorship

The State of Israel applies tight control of Israeli media and all forms of journalism carried out in Israel. Israeli journalists and writers have found themselves harassed for exercising their rights of free speech and association. These systematic violations are exercised on Israelis, Palestinians, and foreigners by the State of Israel.

Muted documents have been published condemning Israeli censorship of human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The banning of books, frequent raids, the shut down of media, disruption of educational institutes, and control of airwaves are all part of Israeli censorship of the Palestinians. The harassment, physical abuse, arrest, detention, imprisonment and deportation of journalists, writers and academics in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for engaging in their legitimate occupations and reporting has been common. International journalist have also been harassed, targeted, abused, arrested, and even killed by the Israelis. British freelance cameraman James Miller one is one such journalist who was shot by Israeli snipers while covering the illegal destruction of houses by the Israeli military in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. James Miller and the team of journalists he was with were verified as waving white flags visible to the Israeli troops while wearing ‘media vests.’

You be the judge; make your own choices on the morality and reasoning behind Israeli censorship after reading the article featured in the Globe and Mail of Canada, watching the short video clip, and reading the highlights of the Al-Jazeera transcript with the Hezbollah Secretary-General.

http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/

Who is Mord ecai Vanunu? How has censorship effected the life of this Israeli citizen?

Here is an article from the Associated Press, posted in the Globe and Mail in regards to Israeli Censorship. In frankness while this article by the Associated Press is diverging the truth it is simultaneously also trying to act as ‘damage control’ on the cracks and contradictions that are beginning to emerge from Israel and the Israeli media, including internal criticism about media censorship in Israel. This internal criticism about media censorship highlights the fact that this is not the Israeli peoples’ war; this is the Israeli government’s war, which has not only failed to consult the Israeli people, but has also not declared war so as to bypass authorization from the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament). This last sentence should have sounded very familiar to the behaviour of the Bush Jr. Administration.

Below: Haifa hit by rockets from Lebanon

'Israeli Censor wields Great Power over Coverage of Rocket Attacks'

Global and Mail, Canada

Here's some news you may never hear about Israel's war against Hezbollah: a missile falls into the sea, a strategic military installation is hit, a cabinet minister plans to visit the front lines.

All these topics are subject to review by Israel's chief military censor, who has — in her own words — “extraordinary power.” She can silence a broadcaster, block information and put journalists in jail.

“I can, for example, publish an order that no material can be published. I can close a newspaper or shut down a station. I can do almost anything,” Col. Sima Vaknin said Wednesday.

Israel believes that as a small country in a near constant state of conflict, having a say over what information gets out to the world is vital to its security. Critics say the policy is a slippery slope not fit for a democracy.

The Associated Press has agreed, like other organizations, to abide by the rules of the censor, which is a condition for receiving permission to operate as a media organization in Israel.

Reporters are expected to censor themselves and not report any of the forbidden material. When in doubt, they can submit a story to the censor who will hand it back, possibly with deletions. The AP will note in a story if any deletions have been made. If a reporter violates the rules, he or she suffers the consequences.
The rules include no real-time reports giving the exact locations of guerrilla missile hits; no reports of missile hits — or misses — on strategic targets; and no reports telling when citizens are allowed to leave their bunkers for supplies.
_______________________________________

Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (2 minutes:56 seconds)

Israel claims censorship is for tactical, strategic, and security reasons, including safety and it very well is, but not most the time, unless you count morale and deception of the Israeli public. The ‘logic of wartime censorship’ is merely an excuse to hide Israeli crimes, atrocity, and defeats.

The ‘logic of wartime censorship’ to protect coordinates of Israeli towns and military positions is an excuse to conceal the true scene of the war on the Israeli side because it will have definite impact on the Israeli population and the Israeli morale, while it may also incite the populations of Lebanon, Palestine, and the Arab World. Possibly extending the fighting and rallying broader support for Hezbollah. The coordinates of all Israeli positions are already known to Hezbollah and the Lebanese; this is why they are being targeted in the first place. The Israeli political-military establishment, the Israeli government and the Israeli military are trying to conceal the true scope of the battlefront in Northern Israel which will divulge the myth of the Israeli war machine.

Israeli anti-war activist arrested by police for opposing Attacks on Lebanon!

Israel Censoring Real Costs of Hezbollah Attacks: An Al-Jazeera Interview

Transcript of a July 20, 2006 Interview by Ghassan Bin-Jiddu of Qatari-based Al-Jazeera with Hassan Nasraalah, General-Secretary of Hezbollah

Nasrallah: The general headline we can speak about clearly on the military level is steadfastness--the great and significant steadfastness first and, secondly, full absorption of the Israeli strike. Over the past few days, the Israelis, in our opinion, did the maximum that they can do, from the air and the sea. Of course, we will discuss the ground option shortly. There is no target—old, new, assumed, expected, based on information or analysis—that they did not hit. Also, when we speak about what was hit, this includes military and civilian targets, but I want to speak now about the military aspect.

I can confirm at this moment—this is not an exaggeration and not part of psychological warfare, but facts—that the command structure of Hezbollah has not been harmed. Yesterday night, they conducted a very violent raid on a building in the southern suburb [of Beirut]. (…) They said that they made an achievement and killed some Hezbollah leaders and a large number of members of the resistance. This is not true. At any rate, your correspondent reported that he saw the area and that no ambulances came to the scene and no rescue efforts were made because the building is vacant and is under construction. The entire command structure of Hezbollah, including the political, jihadist, executive, and social—so far, the Zionists [Israelis] have not managed to kill any Hezbollah cadre or leader at any level.

Reporter: Do you mean the political leaders or the military commanders?

Nasrallah: All of them! Certainly, I would like to tell you and tell the viewers that when a martyr falls [or a resistance fighter becomes a martyr], we [Hezbollah] inform his family and we then announce this. We do not hide our martyrs until the end of the battle. We have never done this. On the contrary, we always take pride in our martyrs [fallen individuals]. Until this very moment, praise be to God, anything that could affect the command or administrative structure that is managing the battle or that is not managing the battle—those who are directly linked to the battle or have a relationship to some aspects of the existing situation—this structure has remained intact. This is especially true in the case of the military structure that is present in the field. This is first. The second thing that I can confirm is that all the Israeli talk that they hit 50 per cent of our rocket capability and warehouses—all of this is untrue and nonsense. Until this moment, they have not been able to hit anything in this context. I confirm this to you. The evidence is that the resistance has continued to fire rockets—not the regular Katyusha rockets that are fired on the frontline settlements—the resistance is still striking Haifa, Tiberias, Safad [Zefat] and deep [into Israel] as well. We control even the number of rockets that are fired. Today, the resistance can fire hundreds of rockets in a single day. There is no obstacle in the field despite the intensive air activity of the Zionists [Israelis].

We control the number [of rockets] because we are managing our battle. (…) We have the ability to go on for a long time. Also, the fighters in the field have not started action so far. The ground confrontations that occurred over the past two days are the beginnings of the confrontation. The fighters on the border have so far not made a strenuous effort over the past few days. We are still at the beginning of action. (…) The strike against the battleship off the coast of Beirut has made the Israelis decide to keep all their warships away from the Lebanese coast by tens of kilometres. What is reported sometimes in the media, to the effect that warships are bombarding the suburb or a certain area, is wrong. This is not true. The warships are not bombarding most areas because they are far away from the coast. The Israeli air force is the one that is conducting the bombing. In all events, this air force is a superior force. This is the picture of the field situation. Of course, in the confrontations that occurred, a number of Mirkava tanks have been destroyed so far. Some of these tanks are Mirkava of the fourth generation, which are the most advanced type of the Israeli Mirkava. (…) I can confirm that Hezbollah has so far remained steadfast; secondly, it has managed to absorb the strike; thirdly, to move to the stage of taking the initiative; and fourthly, to offer some surprises, which it has promised. There is still a number of surprises, which we reserve to ourselves in the next stage. In the field, Hezbollah is still managing the battle calmly, slowly, quietly, and without any emotional reaction. You can see this.

Reporter: Excuse me your eminence, what guarantees that what you are kindly describing as calm is not confusion, and what guarantees or confirms that you are running the battle calmly, not with emotional reaction to conceal the inflicted enormous military losses as Israel claims?

Nasrallah: First, you know Lebanon. Today, the Israelis tightened the noose on the mass media in northern occupied Palestine and occupied Palestine. No one can report any news or broadcast any footage. [News reports] are subject to the Israeli censorship which permits and disseminates them. Even you at Al-Jazeera Channel were subjected to arrests, interrogation, restricted activities, and the like. Why do the Israelis resort to concealing the truth on the other side? Why? Do they do that only because they accuse the media outlets of setting the coordinates? This is nonsense. We have the coordinates of these Israeli settlements and military positions in the north, centre, or in any part of occupied Palestine. We do not need anybody to give us information, images, or the like. In that case, they want to conceal the true scene of the war on the other side because it will have definite impact on the Israeli street and media and the morale of the Israelis. This is what Olmert's government and the Israeli Army fear. On the other side, the media outlets in Lebanon today are reporting on everything, including the raids, the civilian martyrs, the combatant martyrs, and the roads. The towns are open, even the Southern Suburb. The media outlets entered it. The media outlets entered and videotaped the place, which was bombarded yesterday at dawn, actually today at dawn. So, everything is evident. You know Lebanon more than anybody else that there are no secrets in Lebanon. If we have martyrs, we can only conceal them for an hour or two because their families and the residents of their village will know about it. Those are not fighters from another country; they are from the citizens of this country. If one of the leaders of Hezbollah is martyred, this will be made known within few hours. Therefore, we do not conceal our martyrs and we are proud of them. Secondly, as for the structure [of the resistance], its performance practically assert that things are still ongoing well. Moreover, the Israelis gave a while ago a picture of trucks to the mass media claiming that these trucks are transporting ammunition to Hezbollah. Well, if they videotape every target they strike, let them provide pictures of the rocket launchers, the launching pads, and the military bases that were bombarded. Thus far, they have been bombarding wrong targets. This indicates a technical failure on the one hand and an intelligence failure on the other. (…) If they are depending on the reconnaissance aircraft, this is a technical failure. If they are depending on the agents on the ground, this is an intelligence failure. So, if they have pictures, let them show them to the world. (…) an air force effectively and strongly present in various ways with the reconnaissance aircraft controlling the airspace of Lebanon - could not until this very minute even stop firing rockets or target the missile force. It is very evident.
Reporter: Can we say that the onset of the ground battle has begun or not?

Nasrallah: We cannot say that accurately. Until now, what have been taking place are infiltration attempts in certain points on the borders. In this context, the Israelis are seeking to make any achievements. I tell that the only achievement made by the Israelis can be made by any air force in the world. It does not need the grandeur of the Israeli Air Force, namely destroying the bridges, the airport, striking at the ports, factories, the houses. This does not need any [special air force]. Any army that has some aircraft can do that. However, they failed in the face of the military infrastructure of the resistance. They succeeded in killing the children, women, and the elderly. They succeeded in displacing some people. As for the structure of the resistance, I affirm to you that it is present. They know that they are NOT hiding-- as they claim-- among the civilians. [The battle] is taking place in the frontlines, the mountains, the valleys, and between the trees in a wide area. They are looking for achievements. They talked at dawn today about the bombing of this building in the Southern Suburbs [South Lebanon]. I heard over the past two or three days that they are talking about great, huge, fortified Hezbollah barracks along the borders that were destroyed.

Let me ask: Where are the fortified barracks on the borders of the Resistance? The border posts are actually surveillance posts consisting of a column on which an antenna is attached and another on which a camera is placed. (…) These posts were evacuated right from the first day. If they come today to say that they destroyed frontline positions. They mean these places. If they say that occupied frontline posts, these posts exist along the barbed wires and we evacuated them since the first day when we captured the soldiers. Now that the Israelis' helplessness has been proved, we affirm to you that they have a problem in receiving intelligence from the air and from the ground. Most of their agents are at large, some were arrested, and some disappeared. The agents are facing difficulties in their movements now on the ground to locate or give some information [to Israel]. At any rate, they need some commandoes groups to enter the Lebanese territories, either to collect intelligence or to correct some of the mistakes they made in their strikes on the frontlines. They also need them to conduct operations to capture or kill some of the units of the resistance, or even to say that they killed or made field achievement since the Israeli Navy retreated and was hit. I do not believe that the air raids are an achievement. So, they are looking for an achievement on the ground. (…) they [the Israeli military] are admitting that some of the tanks were destroyed, and that some people were killed (…) I do not want to raise the ceiling of expectations (…) our equation and principles are the following: When the Israelis enter, they must pay dearly in terms of their tanks, officers, soldiers. This is what we pledge to do and we will honour our pledge, God willing.
Reporter: Do you expect that the battles will be long? Are you preparing, as one of the generals inside [Lebanon ] warned, for a war of attrition?

Nasrallah: We are not convinced at all--perhaps during the first hours we can say that the reaction that took place was a natural reaction to the capturing of Israeli soldiers--but hours after this, the issue has gone far beyond a reaction to the capturing of the soldiers. The Israelis entered [ Lebanon ] with a plan. The officials in charge of this plan, commanders, and news media used to talk about it with varying degrees, which we will analyse later. However, they, for example, spoke about destroying Hezbollah, not the missile force, but destroying Hezbollah. Some sides say the dismantling of the military structure of Hezbollah. Others said the annihilation and destruction of the missile force of the military structure, and others said we cannot destroy the military force of Hezbollah, but we want to pain Hezbollah and weaken this force. Then they said pushing Hezbollah far from the borders. Those who talk about pushing Hezbollah 10 or 20 km know that this does not mean pushing the missile force far from the borders. The one who attacks Haifa, Afula, and farther villages, and has the power to attack farther than this, then the story of 10 or 20 km is considered simple details. Some sides said that the objective of the operation is to free the two prisoners. I assure you that the objective of the operation is not to free the two prisoners. At any rate, the slogans on the one hand, and the objectives that were announced for the operation on the other, means that the operation would take a long time. I cannot say one week, two weeks, three weeks, one month, more, or less. This issue depends on the field…

Reporter: [Interrupts] Excuse me. Does it depend on you or on Israel?

Nasrallah: On us and on them. The course of the battle--I will say how--for example, today, the talk began in Israel, and this is a logical analysis, to the effect that the Israeli military operation has reached its peak. What is more than this? I will answer you. What can the Israelis do more than what they did? What is left is the ground incursion, which is costly at any rate. There is an argument, not among the politicians on the political level, even on the military and security levels there is a real argument on the level of the military and security commands. What is left is the ground incursion. Except the incursion, everything the Israelis could do have done. So, they have reached the peak. Now, they have one of two choices: When they reach the peak they either proceed horizontally, or in other words, continue with the same standard (…) or they will begin to decline. So, the military operation will begin to decline and to calm down gradually to pave the way for a political settlement. The entire economy in the north [of Israel] is brought to a halt. The factories, trade, tourism, and economic movement are all brought to a halt. The number of the killed and injured on their side could be much less than on our side, but this is natural. (…) They have a huge destructive power. There is no exaggeration here. They also have shelters. Give me one village in the south that has shelters in it. Up till now a large part of the people of the south are still in the south. Had there been shelters, the people would have remained there and would not have left. (…) However, on their side, from the borders to deep in the north, there are shelters in the settlements. So, it is only logical that the number of those killed and wounded on their side is less than on our side. (…) They promised them with a quick operation within a few days. The first day and then the second day passed, and every day they say three or four times in the Israeli news media that they have killed me, killed the Hezbollah leaders, and made false achievements. So, what is next? Until when will this continue? The Israeli society is so far rallying round the government. We have seen this experience in 1993, in 1996, and in past wars, but this solidarity will begin to vanish with the passage of time. So, if the military operation took a horizontal direction or began to decline, then the peak that is higher than this is the ground incursion. I am sure that the ground incursion will be a catastrophe to the Israeli army. This is not a threat. You know from day one that I speak calmly and objectively on these issues. The issue now, if it continues...

Above: Protest in Australia against Israeli Attacks in the Middle East. Notice the banner asking for fair/full media coverage?

The American Connection to Censorship of the Israeli Attacks on Lebanon & in Palestine

The largest and most influential media corporations in the U.S.A. are;

General Electric Company which owns NBC Universal
Viacom Incorporated which owns Paramount Pictures, the video game company Sega, Blockbuster Video, and numerous cable networks such as CBS, Spike TV, MTV, and BET

The Walt Disney Company which owns ABC, Touchstone Television, Miramax, and Buena Vista TV network

Time-Warner Inc., which owns CNN, Time Magazine, AOL (America On Line), TBS, TNT, and Sports Illustrated

News Corporation Ltd., which owns the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox, Fox News, etc.) and TV Guide

Mark Schneider writes in the Palestine Chronicle

See full article

With some remarkable exceptions, the US media fails to accurately report from the Palestinian perspective, or even a balanced human-rights perspective.

I used to be sceptical about such allegations of censorship and self-censorship in the American media, but now I've seen it first-hand. Some examples:

Back in mid-February, 2001, the US launched a large bombing raid on Iraq, outside of the internationally disputed "no-fly-zones." It was Bush Jr's first massive bombing of Iraq since taking office. Knowing my group would protest this bombing one of the local TV stations called us for an interview. In the studio hours later, a spokesperson for our group, Rev. Bob Kinsey, was asked by one of the station's veteran reporters, what he thought were the main reasons for the troubles in the Middle East. Rev. Kinsey spoke of the massive US military aid to Israel and the resulting instability it caused. The reporter's stunning reply, "While I agree with you, if I say anything about US geopolitical interests with Israel, I might as well clean off my desk." Of course this interview was never aired.

_________________________________________________________

Mahdi Nazemroaya

Manik Vision: Videos with News Highlights from the Middle East July 19-20, 2006

2006-07-22T01:25:00.000-07:00

The Peabody Award-winning Mosaic News Service;

Features selections from daily news programs from the Middle East
Link TV is an independent network
Link TV gives a global perspective on world issues and cultures
Link TV is said to be available in 1/4 American homes

News Coverage includes tht following stations;

IBA TV, Israel
Future TV, Lebanon
Abu Dhabi TV, UAE
Oman TV, Oman
LBC TV, Lebanon
Al-Jazeera TV, Qatar
IRIB 2 English Service, Iran
Palestine TV, Gaza Strip

News Coverage includes these pieces from the following stations;

Spy Caught in Lebanon (LBC TV, Lebanon)
Attacks in Israel, Battle in Gaza (IBA TV, Israel)
Civilians Massacred in Lebanon (Al-Alam Arabic Service TV, Iran)
Hariri, Future Movement Support Hezbollah (Al -Arabiya TV, UAE)
Demonstrations againt Israeli Attacks (IRIB 2 English Service, Iran)
Crimes against Civilians in Palestine (Palestine TV, Gaza Strip)
Death in Iraq (Abu Dhabi TV, UAE)

These clips highlight the growing anger of Arab populations with their governments and leaders, besides reporting the ground facts from the conflict zones. The citizens and people of both Palestine and Lebanon are also upset with Arab leaders who they see as American pawns. The highlights of the videos are from Al-Arabiya's interview with Al-Hariri, the report from Lebanon on Al-Alam (the Arabic Service Channel from Iran), Palestine TV, and IRNA JNN English Service.

Links to Lebanese, Palestinian, and Israeli broadcasters and news

NBN, the National Broadcasting Network, is a Lebanese private company by shares, founded in 1996. On July 1st, 1999 the decision was implemented to reorient the station to become the first News and Thematic Station in Lebanon. NBN is privately owned by Nabih Al-Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and head of the political party Amal, Hezbollah’s political ally and secular competitor. NBN has been claimed to be propably the most unbiased major network in Lebanon with the least sectarian views.

http://www.nbn.com.lb/default.aspx

Future TV, founded in 1993, is privately owned and is in collaboration with MBC, a Saudi Arabian TV network which is based in Dubai. Future TV was founded by the late Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV presents local and international news broadcast in Arabic, English, French, and Armenian. It has a strong association with the Future Movement lead by the son of the assasinated Rafik Al-Hariri, Saadeddine Rafik Al-Hariri. Future TV has been criticized for having strong Saudi Arabian and even American influences.

http://www.futuretvnetwork.com/

Al Manar (Arabic: The Beacon) is a major Lebanese radio and television news organization. Al-Manar is surrounded with controversy due to its self-proclaimed ties to Hezbollah. In the U.S.A., Al-Manar was categorized as a terrorist organization. This is has been a justification and pretext for the bombings of the broadcast station and its network during the Israeli assault on Lebanon. Al-Manar, has become the first ever news organization classified as a terrorist organization under a decision made by the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to Executive Order 13224, prohibiting Al-Manar access to American news outlets. Many European countries have also prohibited Al-Manar broadcasts after joint American and Israeli pressure.

http://www.manartv.com/NewsSite/News.aspx

LBC or the L eb anese Broadcasting Corporation International, widely known as LBCI, was founded in 1985 and is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al Fadi'ya Al Lubnaniya (Arabic for Lebanese satellite channel) covering the Middle East. It has generally been alleged to be representative of the mainly Lebanese political right's views, such as the Kataeb Social Democratic Party (Phalange)

http://www.lbcgroup.tv/lbc/en/home/

The Palestinian Satellite Channel is operated by the Palestinian Broadcast Corporation under the besieged Palestinian Ministry of Information, a ministry of the of the Palestinian National Authority. The channel is a 24-hour station with a focus on new, current affairs, films, documentaries, entertainment, culture, and music. It has been operating under financial hardship that limits its news to studio reports, wire stories and feeds from other broadcasters. The TV network has been a victim of Israeli aggression and violence. The main office and studios were burned in 2001, the first year of the Intifada, and PSC has since been operating from temporary headquarters in Ramallah and Gaza. A live stream is available on their site.

http://www.psctv.com

The IBA, Is rael Broadcasting Authority (Hebrew: Rashùt Ha-Shidúr) is the national broadcasting network of Israel. It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on 14 May 1948. The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951. The law creating the Israel Broadcasting Authority was passed by the Knesset or Israeli Parliament on 6 June 1965. Television broadcasts commenced on 2 May 1968, with colour television following on 13 January 1981.

The Arabic Channel of the Israel Broadcast Authority was launched in June, 2002 after an Israeli Supreme Court ruling pronouncing that Arabic service was obligatory in the State of Israel.

http://www.iba.org.il

Mahdi Nazemroaya

The Free Press(?): A Tool of Control

2006-07-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

The corporate media is now or more correctly has been used as a weapon for waging war and for fooling whole populations. This sequence of videos is to be watched in order. Once watched, the viewer will understand a great deal more about what is happening in the world around us, insects! Everything from politics, to war, and rogue states are to be questioned...

Who is Rupert Murdoch?

Let us look at Rupert Murdoch as an example of how public control and manipulation takes place through the media, but before looking at the following video let us learn about the man. Rupert Murdoch II, is one of the most influential men in the world who most people do not even recognize or know. He is a media mogul and model transnational elite, part of the small circle of truly borderless, stateless powerful individuals whose control is global and far reaching. He is labeled as a leader in the global conservative movement, that world conservative establishment regularly pays homage to from Australian Prime Minister John Howard to U.S. Republicans and Stephen Harper of Canada. He has shaped the political landscape in various countries for years. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, after winning his first election, with other members of the British government went to Australia to pay homage to Murdoch. Murdoch is an Australian and American citizen. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of News Corporation, one of the worlds top news mediums that owns such assets as Weekly Times Ltd in Australia, Festival Mushroom Records, Foxtel pay network, Fox and Fox News. Murdoch’s News Corporation, along with less than 10 other corporations, have a virtual monopoly on most the worlds news sources. Murdoch is exceptional in that he is a CEO of a multinational media corporation who has enormous and vast control on his companies and the information they release.

Murdoch literally controls the perspective of information medium in American dominated Asian countries, the U.S.A., Australia, and other places in the world. Murdoch’s influence reaches from Britain and Europe to North America. Murdoch is also the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and other large business assets outside of the media empire.

Among Murdoch’s positions in Britain (the U.K.) are the News of the World, The Sun, The Times, and The Sunday Times. Upon Murdoch’s purchase of The Times he used it as a tool to influence and control British politics were he had politicians subverting themselves before him. Murdoch was the main force behind the constraint and weakening of unions in the British media establishment. Ironically as a conservative Murdoch is one of the factors that led to the win of Tony Blair and the Labour Party of Britain, after Murdoch had a falling out with the Conservative Party of Britain’s leadership over laws that would make the media more accountable and impartial. His middling with journalism and information for a personal agenda and motivations led directly to the establishment of British daily that the world renowned British journalist Robert Fisk would correspond for, The Independent in 1986, as an alternative and trustworthy British source of information. In Britain Murdoch runs BSkyB which has dominated the British market.

NSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting) is a company founded when Murdoch’s Sky Television merged with rival British Satellite Broadcasting. Sky Television satellite network incurred massive losses in its early years of operation and was deliberately heavily subsidized with profits from Murdoch’s other holdings until he was able to force rival satellite operator British Satellite Broadcasting to accept a merger on his terms and surrender.

In the U.S.A. Rupert Murdoch owns or has owned the San Antonio Express-News, the Star supermarket tabloid, the New York Post, The Herald, and Weekly Standard amongst numerous other printed medium. Murdoch became an American citizen so that he could by network television stations. In 1995, Murdoch's Fox Network became the object of scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when it was alleged that News Limited’s Australian affiliation made Murdoch’s ownership of Fox unlawful. U.S. law recognizes the fact that foreign ownership can influence and alter national policy in the United States of America and for that reason has ownership restrictions in place. The U.S. government however, ruled in Murdoch’s favour, stating that “Murdochs ownership of Fox was in the public's best interests.”

In 1996, Fox established the Fox News Channel, a 24-hour cable news station. Since its launch it has consistently eroded Time-Warner’s share of the market vis-à-vis CNN and it now bills itself as “the most-watched cable news channel.” With Fox and the branching of Fox, Murdoch used it as a significant tool in American politics and manipulation of public opinion. Murdoch enjoys close ties and association with the late President Ronald Regan and the Bush family, which is reflected in Fox’s bias towards their policies. Fox has also taken onto itself to attack all of George W. Bush's political opposition. In fact a lot of the top brass as Fox are former officials of Republican presidential administrations. Analysts point out that Fox is the main reason that George W. Bush Jr. was able to win the U.S. presidential elections against Al Gore and deceive the public on his win.

Watch all these videos in sequence to decipher the illusions and rhetoric of today’s media. The first one is the longest and the rest are short, please watch in order from top to bottom.

"Outfoxed" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This video provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know. This video is only segments of the whole film; the interviews. Some of the other film is in the clips below. I advise anyone to watch the full film.

The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person.

This documentary also reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

Governor exposing bias of Fox based on the above documentary, ‘Outfoxed.’ (2 minutes: 47 seconds)

In this clip during the Democratic Convention, in which the Fox reporter insults the Democrats. Howard Dean, the Governor of Vermont (Democrat) exposes Fox and Sean Hannity, with their own dirty tactics and brings up the above documentary, ‘Outfoxed.’

Fox News Personality, Bill O'Reilly, lying on air (37 seconds)

Bill O'Reilly lying and threatening Canada (1 minute)

Bill O'Reilly lying with rebuttal (2 minutes: 36 seconds)

Bill O'Reilly angry about the documentary Outfoxed exposing the manipulation of the media and Fox.

Congressmen Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (Republican) of Texas exposing Fox News bias and fabricated accusations against Iran (5 minutes: 34 seconds)

After watching all the other clips in order; it will be easy to spot the media tactics used by Fox News to manipulate public thoughts. Congressmen Ron Paul of Texas (Republican) does a brilliant job of exposing the misrepresentation of information. The Fox News anchor is visibly biased and stumbling to demonize Iran, but the Congressman Ron Paul proves his arguments wrong.

Mahdi Nazemroaya

Focus on Lebanon: The Israeli Siege

2006-07-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Israeli siege of Lebanon seems to be intensifying. At the same time the situations with the Palestinians and Iraq are not improving either. The following gives limited Middle Eastern perspectives on the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

The Peabody Award-winning Mosaic News Service;

features selections from daily news programs from the Middle East
Link TV is an independent network
Link TV gives a global perspective on world issues and cultures
Link TV is said to be available in 1/4 American homes

News Coverage includes these pieces from the following stations;

Attack on Lebanon Reaches Sixth Day (Future TV, Lebanon)
Hezbollah Missiles Can Strike Beyond Haifa (LBC TV, Lebanon)
Images of the Massacre in Marwahiya, Lebanon (NBN TV, Lebanon)
Haifa is Hit by a Barrage of Rockets (IBA TV, Israel)
Analysis on the Outcome of the War (IBA TV, Israel)
Hezbollah Capabilities against Israel (Al-Arabiya TV, UAE)
Egyptians Outraged at Israel (Nile TV, Egypt)
Hezbollah Strikes Back (IRIB 2 English Service, Iran)
Palestinians under Attack in Gaza (Abu Dhabi TV, UAE)

Above: An Israeli rescue worker scrambling to help a man in Haifa, Israel. Let us not forget that Israeli civilians have been victimized too by the actions of the Israeli government that have resulted in the rocket counter-attacks of Hezbollah.

________________________________________________

The following are extractions from a July 16, 2006 article from the ‘Bullet.’ If anyone wishes to see the article directly or visit the page this is the page; The Bullet

Lebanon in a State of Siege

This is the transcript of a direct phone interview of Saseen Kawzally, abbreviated to KS, in Beirut, Lebanon by Jerome Klassen, abbreviated to JK, from Toronto, Canada. Saseen Kawzally (SK) describes the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the crisis.

JK: Israel has imposed a siege on Lebanon and is bombing the country from the air and the sea. Can you describe the situation?

SK: Israel has bombed and shelled the country for four days. It has destroyed every road and bridge from the south of the country to Beirut. It has bombed the international road between Damascus and Beirut, as well as the airport and vital civilian infrastructures. Neighborhoods and houses in Beirut and in the South have been hit hard. A total siege has been imposed on the airports and seaports, both of which have been bombed. More than 100 civilians have been killed, and the massacres are forcing an evacuation of people from the South and from the suburbs of Beirut. Israel is also bombing buses and cars of people as they try to find safe shelter. Israel has said that 'no place is safe' in Lebanon, and they have attacked without regard for life, safety, or proportionality. They have once again brought disaster to Lebanon.

JK: Politicians and media in North America say that Israel is an innocent player in this conflict, and that Hezbollah's initial operation was unprovoked. Can you provide a different context to the conflict?

SK: The real background is the ongoing aggression inflicted upon Lebanon by Israel since the Liberation in 2000. Israel still holds Lebanese prisoners. It still occupies the Sheeba farms in South Lebanon. On a weekly basis, it invades Lebanese airspace and coastal waters, and it regularly makes incursions over the Blue Line. It also has committed numerous assassinations in Lebanon in recent years. And it continually threatens the Lebanese government, for example, by breaking the sound barrier over Parliament when the government and cabinet are in session. Furthermore, Lebanese villages and farmers in the South are shelled on a regular basis, resulting in death and destruction. So, to speak of Israeli innocence is to hide the reality of non-stop aggression and war against Lebanon. These issues provide the real context to the recent conflict. Indeed, for over one year, Hezbollah has said that it would capture Israeli soldiers if the Lebanese prisoners were not returned. This was the first goal of the operation, as outlined by Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in the aftermath.

JK: And the Israeli response?

SK: Israel's reaction by-passed the fundamental issues and took the conflict to a completely different and unjustifiable level. Even though Israel has agreed to prisoner swaps in the past, it is now determined to destroy Hezbollah, both militarily and politically. To do this, it is trying to explode the contradictions inside the Lebanese government in order to force the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1559, which calls for Hezbollah to disarm without forcing Israel to cease its war of aggression and occupation.

Since the Cedar Revolution of 2005, a crack has emerged in the Lebanese government. On the one hand, Hezbollah has joined the cabinet based on the government's official recognition that Israel is an enemy that continues to occupy Lebanese territory and hold Lebanese prisoners. So, the initial operation needs to be viewed in light of the official government position. On the other hand, there are factions inside the government that oppose the resistance and that support the American agenda for Lebanon and the Middle East, including Resolution 1559. Israel is hoping that the mass bombing will break the cracks inside the cabinet and isolate Hezbollah from pro-U.S. sections of the government, leading to a disarming of the resistance. In other words, it is trying to aggravate the contradictions internal to Lebanese politics, and to fortify the relations between the U.S. and certain parts of the government, including Prime Minister Siniora. On the military side, Israel is trying to punish the nation until it turns against Hezbollah.

However, the Israeli strategy cannot work. It will not win over Lebanese public opinion through bombing and destruction. In fact, the opposite will occur. As more bombs are dropped, more support is likely to flow to Hezbollah, especially if Hezbollah continues to run efficient military operations. The collective punishment has no justification and will only produce a collective resistance. Whatever people think of the initial operation by Hezbollah, they agree that the Israeli response has been completely unjustified and out of proportion. There is no excuse for the level of destruction being inflicted on us.

JK: What about the Lebanese government?

SK: The government has committed major political sins: instead of supporting the fight to liberate our prisoners, it has tried to discredit Hezbollah and it has allowed Israel to destroy the country. If the government falls -- and it should -- everything will change. Hezbollah and its Christian allies can form a much more powerful government, and a more representative one as well, one that is willing to speak for the people's choice. This does not mean that everyone agrees with Hezbollah, but they agree on their opposition to Israel.

JK: What's the American role?

SK: Bush's attempt to blame Syria signifies that the Israeli operation is not without American goals as well. Remember, the U.S. failed to topple the Syrian regime last year, and it also failed to disarm Hezbollah. This is because Hezbollah is a legitimate resistance movement. Even the United Nations accepted this in the 1996 ceasefire agreement. At the time, it was accepted that, if Lebanese civilians were hit, the resistance could respond. It was only after the American-funded and -staged Cedar Revolution that the shady UNSC resolution came to life. So, the U.S. is clearly implicated in this conflict, and generally speaking it has the same goals as Israel.

JK: What's happening on a regional scale?

SK: The regional dynamics are going to become absolutely critical in the next few days. There are reports that Israel has already bombed a Syrian town and that Israel has given Syria a 72-hour ultimatum to stop attacks by Hezbollah. The Arab Foreign Ministers conference issued the same-old bulls**t, and exposed the degenerate nature of the regimes. At the same time, popular protests have begun in Cairo, Baghdad, Amman, and the UAE, with some supporting Hezbollah and others just opposing the Israeli attacks. Iran has also threatened to become involved in any conflict between Syria and Israel, so there is potential for the conflict to evolve into a regional war. At this point, it is unclear if Israel is actively pushing for this scenario, but it is a real possibility. What is clear, though, is that Israel intends to crush the resistance and to resettle the geo-political map of the Middle East. The unresolved conflicts between Israel and Lebanon could not have continued forever. With a dead peace process, unlimited support from the USA, and a shameful silence from the international community, Israel feels it can set new rules, maybe even new borders.

JK: In what directions could the fighting move?

SK: Right now, there are two possible trajectories. First, there could emerge a full-scale regional conflict, taking the form of a popular war against Israel and the Arab regimes, with the possibility of Syria and Iran providing some kind of military resources. This would be highly destabilizing for the region, but it could lead to a final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. With the U.S. bogged down in Iraq, there are many who see the present as the best time to have this fight.

Second, if the conflict does not spread, it could lead to negotiations and a final settlement between Israel and Lebanon. Right now, neither Israel nor Hezbollah is backing down. Israel has given its generals the green light to burn Lebanon, and Hezbollah has maintained its military capabilities and still has cards up its sleeve. According to Nasrallah, Israel has chosen 'open war', and Hezbollah is 'ready for it.' Given the problems of the U.S. in Iraq, the scale of the Israeli response, and the internal balance of power in Lebanon, Nasrallah has decided that there is no better time to settle the conflict.

The tragedy is that Lebanon must endure this violence. If the government were to challenge Hezbollah and the resistance, it would restart the Lebanese civil war. The country, then, has no option but to sustain the injuries and wait for Israel to negotiate. However, in the end, the injuries will be seen as part of our victory. Israel will be forced down, and it will experience some of the loss inflicted upon us for more than two decades.

JK: Any closing comments?

SK: This battle is going to be won by the side that is steadfast to the end. It is sickening how Israeli military force is so accepted by the world, and how easily people of the world are abandoned by the USA. The U.S. is not even willing to defend those whom it considers allies. But, sooner or later, if this goes on long enough, things will change. This is an un-avoidable battle.

Manik Vision: Videos in Context of Events in Lebanon & Palestine

2006-07-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Occupation Basics; the Treatment of Arabs by Israel (3 Minutes: 45 Seconds)

Reality in Lebanon (5 minutes: 11 seconds)

Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (2 minutes:56 seconds)

Polite argument between Israeli and Palestinian Ambassadors at U.N. (57 seconds)

Trailer - If Americans Only Knew (5 minutes: 36 seconds)

Evacuation of Lebanon (1 minute: 8 seconds)

Gives a clue to American military readiness to fight Syria, aid Israel

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (10 minutes: 13 minutes)

Israeli, Arab TV News Show Different Sides of Israeli Attacks on Lebanon; Also Insightful American coverage! (10 minutes: 15 seconds)

Who are Hezbollah? (5 minutes: 49 seconds)

Lebanon bombed by Israel; the Destruction Shown (Arabic) (4 minutes: 38 seconds)

1st 3 days of July Attacks on Lebanon; photos from Lebanon of the real victims of Israel! (3 minutes: 25 seconds)

Manik Vision: Robert Frisk's Conquest of the Middle East

2006-07-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Some information on Robert Fisk

Robert Frisk is a British journalist and a famous international figure in the world of journalism, currently correspondent for the British newspaper, The Independent, on the Middle East.

The New York Times has said Robert Frisk is, "probably the most famous foreign correspondent in Britain." Robert Frisk also has many years of experience in international reporting, dating from the 1970s in Northern Ireland to current events in the Middle East. He has also covered Portugal's 1974 Carnation Revolution, the Lebanese Civil War and the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon from 1975-1990 and 1982-2000, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the long Iran-Iraq War from 1980-1988, the War in Afghanistan, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Iranian Reform movement, the Intifada of Palestine, the Anglo-American 2003 Invasion of Iraq, the Intifada-al-Istiqlal of Lebanon (commonly called the Cedar Spring or Revolution) and the Iranian Nuclear Program.

He is the world's most-decorated foreign correspondent, having received numerous awards including the the British Press Awards, the British International Journalist of the Year award seven times. Robert Fisk is one of the few Western journalists to have interviewed the infamous Osama bin Laden. Remarkably he has done so three times between 1994 and 1997.

Robert Frisk often is a strong critic of Middle Eastern governments such as those of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey as well as what he perceives as mainly hypocrisy in British and American foreign policy. His philosophy in regards to journalism is that it must "challenge all authority for the truth," especially so when governments and leaders take the masses to wars and conflicts.

He is in the same line of though as the Israeli journalist, Amira Hass; "There is a misconception that journalists can be objective ... What journalism is really about is to monitor power and the centres of power."

Decent people everywhere should take very seriously the comments and reports by Robert Fisk. Robert Fisk, including a whole host of other journalists, have given account of the real force behind terrorism and chaos in Iraq and the Middle East. Robert Fisk is also very properly circumspect in view, because, not surprisingly, he is not actually privy to the identities of the perpetrators, but he still does clearly points to Anglo-American complicity in the Iraqi Mosque Bombings and subsequent atrocities through Anglo-American controlled death squads.

His April 28, 2006, article, Seen through a Syrian lens, 'unknown Americans' are provoking civil war in Iraq, gives a chilling exposure to the truth about the Anglo-American orchestrated death machine in Iraq.

Robert Fisk: Conquest of the Middle East 1/4 (14 minutes: 24 seconds)

Robert Fisk: Conquest of the Middle East 2/4 (14 minutes: 45 seconds)

Robert Fisk: Conquest of the Middle East 3/4 (13 minutes: 15 seconds)

Robert Fisk: Conquest of the Middle East 4/4 (13 minutes: 37 seconds)

Seen through a Syrian lens, Unknown Americans are provoking Civil war in Iraq

By Robert Fisk - 28 April 2006

The Independent, U.K
Information Clearinghouse

In Syria, the world appears through a glass, darkly. As dark as the smoked windows of the car which takes me to a building on the western side of Damascus where a man I have known for 15 years - we shall call him a "security source", which is the name given by American correspondents to their own powerful intelligence officers - waits with his own ferocious narrative of disaster in Iraq and dangers in the Middle East.

His is a fearful portrait of an America trapped in the bloody sands of Iraq, desperately trying to provoke a civil war around Baghdad in order to reduce its own military casualties. It is a scenario in which Saddam Hussein remains Washington's best friend, in which Syria has struck at the Iraqi insurgents with a ruthlessness that the United States wilfully ignores. And in which Syria's Interior Minister, found shot dead in his office last year, committed suicide because of his own mental instability.

The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces. "I swear to you that we have very good information," my source says, finger stabbing the air in front of him. "One young Iraqi man told us that he was trained by the Americans as a policeman in Baghdad and he spent 70 per cent of his time learning to drive and 30 per cent in weapons training. They said to him: 'Come back in a week.' When he went back, they gave him a mobile phone and told him to drive into a crowded area near a mosque and phone them. He waited in the car but couldn't get the right mobile signal. So he got out of the car to where he received a better signal. Then his car blew up."

Impossible, I think to myself. But then I remember how many times Iraqis in Baghdad have told me similar stories. These reports are believed even if they seem unbelievable. And I know where much of the Syrian information is gleaned: from the tens of thousands of Shia Muslim pilgrims who come to pray at the Sayda Zeinab mosque outside Damascus. These men and women come from the slums of Baghdad, Hillah and Iskandariyah as well as the cities of Najaf and Basra. Sunnis from Fallujah and Ramadi also visit Damascus to see friends and relatives and talk freely of American tactics in Iraq.

"There was another man, trained by the Americans for the police. He too was given a mobile and told to drive to an area where there was a crowd - maybe a protest - and to call them and tell them what was happening. Again, his new mobile was not working. So he went to a landline phone and called the Americans and told them: 'Here I am, in the place you sent me and I can tell you what's happening here.' And at that moment there was a big explosion in his car."

Just who these "Americans" might be, my source did not say. In the anarchic and panic-stricken world of Iraq, there are many US groups - including countless outfits supposedly working for the American military and the new Western-backed Iraqi Interior Ministry - who operate outside any laws or rules. No one can account for the murder of 191 university teachers and professors since the 2003 invasion - nor the fact that more than 50 former Iraqi fighter-bomber pilots who attacked Iran in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war have been assassinated in their home towns in Iraq in the past three years.

Amid this chaos, a colleague of my source asked me, how could Syria be expected to lessen the number of attacks on Americans inside Iraq? "It was never safe, our border," he said. "During Saddam's time, criminals and Saddam's terrorists crossed our borders to attack our government. I built a wall of earth and sand along the border at that time. But three car bombs from Saddam's agents exploded in Damascus and Tartous- I was the one who captured the criminals responsible. But we couldn't stop them."

Now, he told me, the rampart running for hundreds of miles along Syria's border with Iraq had been heightened. "I have had barbed wire put on top and up to now we have caught 1,500 non-Syrian and non-Iraqi Arabs trying to cross and we have stopped 2,700 Syrians from crossing ... Our army is there - but the Iraqi army and the Americans are not there on the other side."

Behind these grave suspicions in Damascus lies the memory of Saddam's long friendship with the United States. "Our Hafez el-Assad [the former Syrian president who died in 2000] learnt that Saddam, in his early days, met with American officials 20 times in four weeks. This convinced Assad that, in his words, 'Saddam is with the Americans'. Saddam was the biggest helper of the Americans in the Middle East (when he attacked Iran in 1980) after the fall of the Shah. And he still is! After all, he brought the Americans to Iraq!"

So I turn to a story which is more distressing for my sources: the death by shooting of Brigadier General Ghazi Kenaan, former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon - an awesomely powerful position - and Syrian Minister of Interior when his suicide was announced by the Damascus government last year.

Widespread rumours outside Syria suggested that Kenaan was suspected by UN investigators of involvement in the murder of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in a massive car bomb in Beirut last year - and that he had been "suicided" by Syrian government agents to prevent him telling the truth.

Not so, insisted my original interlocutor. "General Ghazi was a man who believed he could give orders and anything he wanted would happen. Something happened that he could not reconcile - something that made him realise he was not all-powerful. On the day of his death, he went to his office at the Interior Ministry and then he left and went home for half an hour. Then he came back with a pistol. He left a message for his wife in which he said goodbye to her and asked her to look after their children and he said that what he was going to do was 'for the good of Syria'. Then he shot himself in the mouth."

Of Hariri's assassination, Syrian officials like to recall his relationship with the former Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Alawi - a self-confessed former agent for the CIA and MI6 - and an alleged $20bn arms deal between the Russians and Saudi Arabia in which they claim Hariri was involved.

Hariri's Lebanese supporters continue to dismiss the Syrian argument on the grounds that Syria had identified Hariri as the joint author with his friend, French President Jacques Chirac, of the UN Security Council resolution which demanded the retreat of the Syrians from Lebanese territory.

But if the Syrians are understandably obsessed with the American occupation of Iraq, their long hatred for Saddam - something which they shared with most Iraqis - is still intact. When I asked my first "security" source what would happen to the former Iraqi dictator, he replied, banging his fist into his hand: "He will be killed. He will be killed. He will be killed."

Injustice in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: The Broken Promise before the Israeli Yoke

2006-07-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

After the Great Arab Revolt in the Middle East: The British Mandate of Palestine

It is historically ironic that the Children of Israel have taken part in doing exactly what was done to them in the past to a fraction of their cousins, the Children of Ismail/Ishmael, but it is also sad because it is another indication that men are not seeing past the glitters and mirages that form a veil around their experiences and the path of history. The stages for the modern conflict in Palestine were set through a British declarion made in 1922 to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This declaration was passed on September 11, 1922. The British declaration was a follow up to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which promised the Zionists and their backers a Jewish state. The man who the declaration is named after, Lord Balfour, the British foreign secretary said, "In Palestine we [the British] do not propose to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants [the Palestinians and Bedouins] of the country [Palestine and Jordan]. Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-old traditions, in present needs, in future hopes of far profounder import than the desires or prejudices of the 700,000 [or more] Arabs who now inhabit this ancient land.” It was the same brand of British officialdom that also gave way to the same school of colonial thought that gave way to Apartheid system in South Africa.

Left : The empire of the Turks, The Ottoman Empire sided against the British (Allies), opting to side with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Central Powers) during WWI

The Legal Foundations for the Creation of Israel and the Division of Palestine: Legal?

The British Mandate of Palestine was basically ‘a fledgling state that was deemed to need support by a much more established and mature country until it was ready to become fully independent.’ That is why in 1945, the year that the Charter of the United Nations went into force, the mandates, such as Palestine established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nation, became categorized as ‘U.N. Trust Territories.’ These fledgling countries were basically taken care of by a mentoring custodial state until they were ready to declare their independence. These lands were not colonies; a colony belongs to another state. The international legal status of a mandate was very different form a colony. These lands were partially developed states that needed some carrying and some time before they could be fully sovereign. So the question is how could Britain or any other country take it on themselves to divide a country up, especially one where they had no legal framework to do so? In fact the British promised the Palestinians their independence when Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. Palestine, like Syria, which Lebanon was a part of until it was divided by the French to shelter the sizable Christian minority of Syria, was a mandate that was formerly a part of the Ottoman Empire. The Arabs had helped the British and the French defeat the Ottoman Turks in the Middle East in exchange for the promise of Arab independent from the Turks. The Arabs were clearly misled in certain ways.

The world is called upon by those in power to condemn suicide bombers, but can those who are mindful ignore the long road that led these individuals to forfeit their lives? The loss of life is tragic in all circumstances. Are the suicide members victims themselves of a society and world of oppression? Or are they heartless, hate-filled cold blooded murders who were born in such a state? Life is sacred despite national title, but murder is not necessary a direct act, it can be spiritual, psychological, and indirect. Whole groups of people can slowly be put to death through poverty, restriction, and limitation.

September 11: Not only an American Monopoly on Tragedy

September 11 is not only a half forgotten day of tragedy for the Palestinians, who discovered they were deceived to by the British, it is also called ‘the Day that Democracy Died,’ in Chile. On September 11, 1973, the worlds first freely elected democratic leader of Marxist ideology, President Salvador Allende, and his popular democratic government were overthrown by a military coup d’état led by the infamous General Augusto Pinochet and orchestrated by the U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. President Allende was killed and General Pinochet goes onto becomes the head of a military dictatorship that executed about 3,000 known Chilean citizens and tortured and imprisoned almost another 30,000 for the interests of the U.S. government. September 11, 1990 was also the same day that President George H. Bush Sr., made a speech declaring war against Iraq, under President Saddam Hussein. Iraq was an ally until that point, which had helped bog down the Iranians for eight years in the longest conventional war in modern history, in the process ruining itself and weakening Iran to the joy of the American and Israeli strategists who wanted to say the two states cripple each other.

Recommended Israeli/Palestinian Link: http://gush-shalom.org/media/seperationmap_eng.swf

Highlights of Legal Case for establishment of Israel in Palestine

There were plans from the era of the First World War to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine, before Adolf Hitler and the Nazis even took power in Germany, before the Second World War, and before the Jewish Holocaust. Zionist plans for such a state even pre-date this timeline.

There are numerous claims of Zionists being involved with the murder of innocent European Jews so as to convence the Jews of the world that a Jewish homeland is needed and to have grounds for the creation of a state.

The British, Canada, and the U.S.A. were aware of what was happening to the European Jews and even turning many of them back when they asked for safe havens as refugees. One example is the the St. Louis, a ship filled with German Jews, from Hamburg seeking safety. After the St. Louis was turned back by both Canada and the U.S.A., amongst other countries, the ship returned to Germany, where all its passengers ended up in concentration camps.

Britain had no legal right to divide Palestine, it was a mandate and not legally a colony or British property.

Britain and France had promised the Arabs their own states if the Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire. These promises were broken, but exist as a matter of public historical record forgotten by the masses.

Herbert Samuel, First British High Commissioner, in Palestine was a Zionist and the first person claiming to practice the Jewish faith in the British cabinet.

British leaders such as Churchill believed that the action(s)' of Britain were legitimate because they were the actions of Britain. They supported the displacing of Arabs, Africans, Native Americans, and other peoples. Churchill has portrayed this view by writing about the “the Red Indians [Natives] of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race, has come in and taken their place.”

By Mahid Nazemroaya

....

Focus on Lebanon: An Israeli Replay of June, 1982

2006-07-15T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Damage of Beirut’s Airpot: The Al-Hariri Connection

Beirut’s beautiful international airport, ‘Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport,’ located in Southern Beirut off the Mediterranean Sea and a testimony on the progress of Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese Civil War and Israeli occupation has been repeatedly bombarded by the American made jets of the Israeli Air Force. The trampled international airport is named in honour of assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, which is spelled ‘Rafic’ in Lebanon and the Levant. Beirut’s airport has nothing to do with Hezbollah, and Hezbollah does not have an air force, unless you count the Iranian made unmanned drone planes used for spying on Israel or as a report on Friday, July 14, 2006, would have it, devastating an Israeli warship attacking Lebanon; this seems to have been done with attached explosives on the remote controlled Iranian spy droid. So what are the significant strategic values of putting Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport out of service, besides hurting the general population in Lebanon?

Above: The Sa'ar 5-class missile boat INS Hanit (Hebrew: Spear) near Ashdod, Israel for repairs after being hit by a Hezbollah missile at its waterline, severely damaging the $260 million warship.

The name of this international airport has a history too; a history that tells the narrative of blood lost in Lebanon as a covert and overt battle ground. One can be excused for the well thought and informed assessment that the late Prime Minister, Rafik Al-Hariri, was the victim of the Israelis who, with the support and knowledge of the Americans, assassinated him. Why would one come to such a conclusion? Syria is contently blamed for this assassination by the White House, the U.S. State Departments, Israeli, and several other interested parties. There has been no solid proof to date that Syria was behind the assasination, but there is a lot of factors that seem to point to the notion that Syria was framed. What could have been the motives for Syria assassinating Al-Hariri who at the time was not even a Prime Minister or public official anymore? One must ask themselves the question of ‘who benefits from such a crime?’ How has Syria benefited from the assassination of Al-Hariri? The immediate consequences of the murder of Rafik Al-Hariri where demonstrations organized by the anti-Syrian political factions in Lebanon demanding that Syrian troops leave Lebanon and the U.S.A. forcefully trying to promote regime change in Damascus and isolate Syria in the region and on the world stage as a pariah.

The timing of the murder of the late former Prime Minister fit perfectly with the, at the time, strategic environment and direction that the Americans wanted to create in the Middle East. The Americans were having problems in post-invasion Iraq, as they still do, and from their own suggestions could not move on to Syria, Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, Iran, and beyond which were all, and still are, part of the greater picture of American strategy in the Middle East and Central Asia. The assassination of Al-Hariri was an act done in the hopes of weakening resistance to Israeli hegemony in the region by turning Lebanon and Syria against each other and causing internal hostilities within both Lebanon and Syria. The assassination of Al-Hariri was followed by such consequences; all of which were extremely threatening to the Syrian government and also to the stability of Lebanon and Lebanese society. Another civil war in Lebanon would have also kept Lebanon too weak and busy to challenge Israel in any way, distract Syria, and also to a certain degree distract Iran. Who would gain? Who or which parties would benefit from the instability of both Syria and Lebanon? The question of ‘who or which parties would benefits’ is definitely worth pursuing and thinking over. This course of action to weaken both Lebanon and Syria would keep in sequence with the Americans plans for transforming the Middle East to the benefit of the linked strategic aims and interests of America and Israel.

Above: Katyusha rockets launched into Israel after the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, include rocket counter-attacks on Haifa, one of Israel's bigest cities.

Israeli Pretense and Duplicity

‘Israelis and the Israeli lobby in North America, and their supports are upset that the United Nations Security Council can act with lightning speed when it comes to rebuking Israel for its incursions into the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.’ The lighting speed rebuking is standard when it comes to legitimate cases that are also important to much of the worlds population. Invasion of a sovereign state is a serious matter. The Israeli point out that the move from the U.N. is painfully slow in rebuking any of the following states, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea, especially Iran. It must be pointed out to them that Israeli actions institute crimes in themselves and violate the international legal concept of ‘jus ad bellum,’ the model for waging, forgive the oxymoron, a ‘just war,’ while none of the other states actions even remotely fall under this category. North Korea has not acted outside international law. North Korea has not violated any other countries air space vis-à-vis its missile tests nor has it performed any acts of aggression. Sudan is the best case to be taken by the U.N. Security Council. There is a conflict in Darfur, Sudan but not ethnic genocide. It is also interesting to note that there is a lot of oil there and that the British and Americans seem to have a hand in cultivating the whole situation. Iran has been taken to the U.N. Security Council because its nuclear program has been politicized by the U.S.A. and Israel. There is no shred of evidence that there is a militarized nuclear agenda in Iran and the case has been solely perused by the U.S.A. on baseless claims. In fact, the U.S.A. is probably the nation that is the guiltiest party in the breaching the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Instead of reducing its nuclear arsenal as it is obligated to do the U.S.A. is actually further building/developing it and upgrading its nuclear weaponry counter to its treaty commitments.

Nothing is mentioned about the scale of damage in Lebanon that is making the country look like it was 1982 again. Nor is anything really being mentioned about the heavy Israeli raids and bombardment of Baalbek, Tripoli (Trablos), Beirut, Tyre (Sur), and Sidon (Saida) or the virtually total blockade of Lebanon. Lebanon has been shut in through the air by the Israeli attacks on Beirut’s airport, and Israeli air patrols, while the sea route has been cut by a naval blockade of Lebanon. Israeli jets have also attacked Lebanese military infrastructure including army bases and military runways. This is appalling since the Lebanese military is trying not to engage in combat with Israel. In Beirut, the area of al-Dahiya, alone, with at least 500,000 people has been heavily targeted by the Israelis. Outside of help in Beirut there is very little reported help on the ground and the roads can not be used so many can not leave and stay in the path of direct danger.

Above: the aftermath of an Israeli attack on civilians on July 15th 2006 in South Lebanon near the village of Ter Hafra, after Israeli troops commanded its people to leave their homes.

The Israeli military has bombed all streets and bridges in Sidon, south of Beirut, in consequence trapping 200,000 or more residents in the city. While the Israelis use a volley of high explosives and precision munitions that have killed civilians, and children, the Israelis try and veil their crimes. Brigadier General Dan Halutz, a commanding officer of the Israeli military has even publicly stated that “Nothing is safe [in all of Lebanon],” to the Israeli media.

‘Operation Truthful Promise;’ Did Israel Entice Hezbollah?

Israel and Lebanon never did sign a ceasefire or peace treaty after the Israeli pullout form Lebanon. The Israelis also knew very well that there was a risk that there soldiers could be captured if they went too close to Lebanese territory. The patrols of Israeli troops so close to Lebanon has even been suggest as being Israeli bait to start a war.

It is also very important to remember that Hezbollah dubbed its operation to capture the Israeli soldiers, “Truthful Promise.” During a prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel in 2004, Sheikh Nasrallah, the General-Secretary of Hezbollah, vowed that if all Lebanese detainees were not freed from Israeli jails, Hezbollah would eventually abduct more Israeli soldiers to exchange for the freedom of Lebanese prisoners in Israel. The real question is whether the current crisis could have been avoided, had all Lebanese prisoners been freed in Israel.

Lebanese Ambassador leaving Washington D.C. for Defending Lebanon

The Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S.A., Farid Abboud, has also been called back to Beirut and relieved of his official responsibilities until further notice after he made public statements supporting Hezbollah and the resistance to Israeli attacks in an interview with CNN, which outraged Israeli lobbyists in the U.S.A., the White House, and the Lebanese government. Ambassador Abboud has also ironically been accused of contradicting Lebanon’s official stance by his own government, the government of Lebanon. The official explanation that Ambassador Abboud was recalled from his post in Washington D.C. was because he supported Hezbollah’s position and fight against Israel, which contradict the Lebanese government’s official stance. The pro-American segments of the Lebanese government seem to expose themselves through this action. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora was enraged by the remarks and ordered Ambassador Abboud removed from his official duties, maintaining that the ambassador’s statments contradict the Lebanese government’s official position. A statement issued by the Lebanese government said that the government of Lebanon in Beirut had nothing to do with Hezbollah’s activities on the border.

Ambassador Abboud stated in his television interview (CNN):

“We did not declare war. It was declared against us when our country was occupied by the Israelis, with prisoners taken from Lebanon into Israel, and with Palestinian prisoners pushed into Lebanon's territory. We did not occupy Israel and we did not declare war on it.”

“At this stage any solution must be negotiations on Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories and a release of the Lebanese prisoners. We have our prisoners. They have prisoners. An exchange would be appropriate, and I think it will resolve the problem,” Abboud added.

“[The] Lebanese government has nothing to do with Hezbollah!”

The International Reaction to the Israeli Attacks

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday, July 13, 2006, brought to a vote a resolution that would have condemned Israel for using “disproportionate force” in responding to the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border. It must be noted that Israeli troops were kidnapped by Hezbollah to be used in retaining the freedom of Lebanese prisoners still held in Israel; a move promised by Hezbollah unless all Lebanese prisoners were freed since the end of the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon. The failed U.N. resolution demanded an end to the Israeli military campaign. The resolution was almost passed had it not been for the American 'veto.' The resolution would also have been unanimously passed, had it not been for the single American vote opposing U.N. action. The American decision to block the resolution from passing was also followed by consistant American statments of support for Israeli actions in Gaza and Lebanon. France, Greece, Russia, China, Ghana, Congo, Argentina, Qatar, Tanzania, and Japan all voted for the resolution and demanded Israel discontinue the attacks against Lebanon and the Palestinians in contrast to U.S. representatives who blamed the Lebanese and Palestinians for the Israeli aggression. Out of 15 nations that constituting the U.N. Security Council 10 voted to pass the resolution condemning Israel, compared to 1, the United States of America, whose vote also followed an additional veto. Four nations, with pro-American governments that are partners or vassals in the American scheme of things in the world, abstained from voting so as not to enrage their own domestic populations and possibly further tarnish their world images further from prior events. There countries were Britain, Peru, Denmark, and Slovenia.

Amr Muse: Secretary-General of the Cairo-based Arab League

Outside the U.N. the Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Mussa called on the U.N. to collaborate with the Arab League for stopping the Israeli military and to establish peace. In the Middle East, the Iranian President, Professor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Friday, July 14, 2006, a day after the U.N. Resolution was vetoed by the U.S.A. warned the U.N. not to become part of “Zionist [Israeli] crimes in Lebanon and Occupied Palestine.” Iran furthermore has given several warnings to Israel not to dare attack Syria. The Iranian government has threatened to go to war with Israel in accordance with the Iranian-Syrian military pact if Syria is attacked by Israel. Both Syria and Iran condemned Israel and any country supporting Israel jointly. The BBC has reported that diplomats in Syria say that the country feels strengthened by Iranian support and knows that the U.S.A. would want to prevent a wider conflict involving Iran.

"The United Nations, the Security Council, and the United States should explain their silence towards the Zionist [Israeli] regime's crimes, otherwise they would be held responsible for being part of these crimes,” the Iranian President declared in a public speech demonstrating Iranian support for the Palestinians and Lebanon. In regards to the Iranian position on any possible attempts by Israel to assault or harass Iran, the Iranian President later went on to say; "Despite the barbaric and criminal nature of the occupiers of Jerusalem [the Israelis], the regime and its Western supporters do not even have the power to give Iran a nasty look.”

Israel was also warned of "unimaginable losses" if it chose to attack Syria, with foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi vowing that Iran was standing by the Syrian people in the events of Israeli attacks on Syria. “We hope the Zionist regime [Israel] does not make the mistake of attacking Syria, because extending the front would definitely make the Zionist [Israeli] regime face unimaginable losses,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman also forewarned the world from Tehran.

Above: World Leaders at G-8 Summit, 2006 discuss Israeli Attacks on Lebanon

The whole Middle East has voiced opposition to Israeli actions in Lebanon and against the Palestinian population, but many of these declarations have no substance and are issued by regimes seen as subservient cronies to American interests. The condemnations of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, and the Arab Sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf have all fallen short of forceful denouncements of Israel and are also not genuine in nature.

The world’s Christian Churches have also asked for a halt to the violance. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano on Friday, July 14, 2006 singled out Israel, in line with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, calling its strikes on Lebanon an attack on a sovereign and free nation. Reverend Samuel Kobia, the General-Secretary of the World Council of Churches, the world’s largest church grouping that virtually includes every Christian denomination and church aside from the Roman Catholic Church, has asked Israel to stop it ‘retribution’ and to ‘respect international laws.’

Outside the Middle East, the Iranian and Arab foreign ministers exchanged affirmations with Russia, prior to the G-8 Summit, and other nations calling for a halt to the Israeli offenses. While Israeli aggression against Lebanon has stirred up continuing disapproving and critical statements from the Russian Federation, the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, China, the European Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and France, amongst others the U.S. government has repeatedly defended the Israeli incursions in both the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The U.S.A. has publicly given both a free hand and the green light to Israel to escalate its attacks. At a joint press conference in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel before leaving for the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, President George W. Bush Jr. depicted Israel as the victim of terrorism, radicals, and extremists. He stated that, “Israel has the right to defend itself,” and added, “There are a group of terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace.”

The Americans only concern, reflected by President George W. Bush Jr. and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is that whatever Israel does it should not weaken the pro-American and anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Al-Siniora. The Al-Siniora government is the product of an American backed campaign that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but the U.S.A. is willing to sacrifice the current Lebanese government and Lebanon as a whole for its goals of energy security which leds to eventual conflict with Syria, Iran, Russia, and China. The U.S. government is also demanding that Syria stop Hezbollah and holds the Syrians responsible for the events on the Lebanese-Israeli border. Iran is also being blamed, but in a milder manner by both the U.S.A. and Israel.

The Americans failed to get France, Japan, Canada, Germany, Russia, and Italy at the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia to go along with explicitly accusing Syria and Iran of complicity in the conflict; not surprisingly, only British Prime Minister Tony Blair blamed Iran and Syria for the latest eruption of violence in the Middle East. Prime Minister Blair told reporters: “Sometimes there’s been a hesitation in putting the real truth of the situation up there in front of people. The fact is there are people in that region, notably Iran and Syria, who do not want this process of democratization and peace and negotiation to succeed.”

The President of the Russian Federation, an Iranian ally and strategic partner, Vladimir Putin, was one of several world leaders who stated bluntly there was more to the Israeli agenda than merely getting back their soldiers...something sinister.

The Iranian Factor

Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon and the most prominent Druze leader in Lebanon said that Lebanon has become a proxy battleground for Iran in its war against the United States of America over the Iranian nuclear program and control of the Middle East. He was quoted as saying that “the war is no longer Lebanon’s,” and that the confrontation was “an Iranian war [with the U.S.A. and Israel],” by the Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya.

Since the Israelis are now also making lots of noises and even threats directed at Syria and even making noises about Iranian involvement in the Hezbollah actions against Israel that has prompted the disproportionate Israeli attacks against Lebanon, there are indications that these noises are intended to encourage and generate American involvement in attacking Syria and Iran with Israel or on behalf of Israel. It seems that the Israeli attacks could be the tip of an American bayonet aimed at both Syria and Iran. Israel could be planning to pitch the entire region into war, thus drawing in the Americans who would face war with the Iranians and Syrians or the U.S.A. might even be part of this scheme of broader war, where it could attempt removing the governments of Iran and Syria and installing its own yes men as it has done in Afghanistan or Latin American, the Caribbean, and Asia in the past. The ultimate threat for Israel is Iran and as the Iranians draws closer to full nuclear aptitude, an Israeli and/or American showdown with Iran and other players becomes increasingly likely. Lebanon it seems is still a battle ground for foreign powers.

Above: Left,Deputy Commander of the Syrian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Hassan Ali Turkmani; Right, Iranian Defence Minister, General Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.

There are various accounts from the Israeli military that have claimed that Hezbollah has been either using Iranian manufactured missiles in its attacks, especially in regards to Haifa, which has sent shocks across Israel. The Israeli military has also alleged that both the Iranian Regular Force and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are operating in opposition to Israel in Lebanon. Israel also has claimed it also has information that Hezbollah wants to transfer the two captured Israeli servicemen to Iran. Maybe this is an Israeli hint that if we can not find them in Lebanon, they must be in Iran or being moved there from Syria?

The Commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Safavi, meanwhile issued a statement that the Supreme National Security Council of Iran was to hold an emergency meeting on the conflict and the measures Iran will be taking in the coming days; no doubt the Iranian defence and security establishment will discuss ways to assist Lebanon and the Palestinians against Israel, as well as provisions for possible strikes against Israel or possible war between Iran, Syria, and Lebanon with the U.S.A. and Israel. The Iranian General also called on the nations of the Middle East and the world, especially those identifying themselves as Muslim and/or Arab to specify their stances in the pressure of American and Israeli hostility.

Within Israel itself, there is growing anxiety over the prospect of full-scale war with Lebanon that will draw in Syria and ultimately Iran in an even wider conflict in the Middle East. This was reflected in an editorial published in Haaretz, an Israeli editorial, under the headline “No to Lebanon War II.”

The Exodus of Tourists from Lebanon

Tourists from allover the world have found themselves stranded or struggling to leave Lebanon, unfortunately this has been made harder to do by the bombing of the Beirut-Damascus Highway and the bombing of eastern portions of Lebanon by Israel. Approximately 25, 000 American nationals of Lebanese or Arab background are stranded in the area, alone. Substantial amounts of other nationals from Canada, Brazil, Australia, the Persian Gulf, Iran, and Europe are also either stuck in the region or making their way to Syria or are waiting to go home from Syria. Already 7 Canadians, including 4 children, of Lebanese background from Montréal, Québec have been killed by Israeli bombardment. A family of 4 Brazilians of Lebanese background, including 2 children, were also killed in the Israeli bombings in Srifa.

Italy and Britain both have sent navy warships to the Eastern Mediterranean as most of the G-8 countries made plans to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon and Israel. Iranians and citizens from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf have mostly been evacuated or facilitated home through Syria. Italy became the first G-8 country to start evacuation. Early yesterday, about 200 Italians and 200 other foreign tourists arrived in Rome aboard C-130 Hercules transport airplanes from Syria, where they had arrived on buses from Beirut. The Italian destroyer Durand de la Penne is anchored off the coast of Lebanon should the roughly 1000 nationals still there need to be evacuated, Italy’s foreign ministry said on its website. Italian military transport planes brought Spaniards, Italians, Austrians, Czechs and others who had left Lebanon for Syria, according to Cyprus' Foreign Ministry. The British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and the assault ship HMS Bulwark went to the region as a “precautionary” measure claims the British government.

The Greek government has said it would continue special flights from Lebanon to Syria to help up to 2,500 of its citizens leave the country if they wished. It is being claimed by new sources that France is sending a ferry to Lebanon from Cyprus to evacuate about 1,200 of the country’s almost 20,000 citizens living there. The Russian government foresees an “immediate” evacuation of its nationals from the area, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday. Russia has evacuated about 74 people through Jordan from the Occupied Territories, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Russians in Lebanon are being evacuated by boat from Beirut. Sweden, Poland and Romania have also announced initiatives to transport hundreds of their citizens out of Lebanon. Most involved bus trips to neighboring Syria.

Extra Dimensions of Israeli Aggression in Lebanon

The Israeli naval blockade of Lebanon, Israeli verbal threats to the Arab World, and Israeli military attacks against civilian targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, from power stations to vital bridges, the Beirut-Damascus highway of Lebanon, schools, television stations, and the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza are stirred growing international condemnation and repeated warnings the conflict could spread in the Middle East and spill over the conflicts present geographic boundaries.

Russia as an Iranian ally has refused to support the American posturing on Israel and Lebanon. This has led to one serious event for the G-8 Summit. As a result of further Russian support and coordination with Iran in the Middle East, the nuclear dispute with the U.S.A., and Central Asia the U.S.A. and Russia are finding themselves in a state of a collapsing relationship. China is also gradually going into a state of frostier relations with the U.S.A. too. As a result Russia has been openly defying the U.S.A. more and more. The Israeli attacks on Lebanon are no exception. Russia not only refused to shrug the issue it also refused to blame its Iranian ally or Syria as the U.S.A. and Britain wanted. The major manifest outcome of the G-8 Summit was that the U.S.A. has at long last blocked Russian entry into the World Trade Organization on Saturday, July 15, 2006. This will further insure Russian opposition to American and Israeli maneuvers in the Middle East. President Vladimir Putin scornfully said Russia doesn’t want the kind of violence plagued democracy the U.S.A. has fostered in Iraq. This is a major event, which will further guarantee Iran will further procure its interests in the Middle East.

It is being predicted that Israel will try to include the de facto or ‘informal’ annexation of a southern portion of Lebanon as a practical extensional buffer zone of Israel. Israel will try to control or annex more Arab lands. The recent events in the region seem like Israel has orchestrated the attacks in order to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and parts of South Lebanon, vanquish the democratically elected Hamas forming the Palestinian Authority, and do the same with Hezbollah in Lebanon, while bringing about new and more docile governments in Ramallah and Beirut that would serve Israeli interests.

The question boils down to this: can Israeli win a war with Hezbollah without American intervention? The answer is, clearly no, the lessons of 1982 say otherwise. The last time the Americans were in Beirut they left humiliated. If the Americans come they will not stay. Beirut might be a stepping stone to Damascus and from Damascus, the big prize, Tehran. Meanwhile world oil prices hit a record $78 (U.S.) on Friday, amid concerns over the volatile situation in the Middle East.

By Mahdi Nazemroaya

Right:Middle East Theatre of War/Conflict