The Panama Deception

For those of you who have never seen this…..time you did.

In memorium of the >4000 victims of the US invasion of Panama

Twenty years ago

The Road to Iraq and Afghanistan (and maybe Iran and Pakistan) started with the invasion of Panama under the direction of George H.W. Bush, the father.

The “surgical strike” designed to remove CIA partner Manual Noriega from office, killed an estimated 10,000 civilians.

Deemed a “narco-terrorist,” Noriega was the main banker for the cocaine trade.

This involved him in Bush’s Iran-Contra program, a triangular trade which involved selling arms to Iran (for a private profit), importing cocaine into the US (for a private profit) and delivering arms to the Contras (for a private profit.)

After the invasion, billions of dollars were removed from the Panamanian banking system by federal mandate, just in time to help bail out the failed S & L industry which collapsed under the weight of corruption and “deregulation.”

You couldn’t make up this stuff if you tried.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the invasion. Who wants to bet it’s not mentioned on so-called mainstream news?

COMMENT: Of course the US is a fascist state, and always has been. Your elections are shams, lately blatantly stolen. Your populace is brainwashed from childhood, the accepted range of opinion in your increasingly narrowly owned media is miniscule and you are amongst the most closely monitored populaces anywhere. Your economic system is brutally inegalitarian, your ruling elites insatiably avaricious. Your global empire is a vast archipelago of bases, from which you spread murder, torture and savagery to every corner of the planet. You oppose and overturn all decent regimes, and have established and maintained a pandaemonium of evil butchers and psychopaths for centuries. Throughout the world, save amongst the corrupt and evil, your country is feared and despised. You have led the world not only into economic collapse, unparalleled inequality and poverty, but to the edge of the abyss of Peak Oil and other reserve depletion and runaway anthropogenic climate change. When some alien archeologist inspects the detritus of our ‘civilization’ or interprets our radio and TV broadcasts, they will surely be dumbfounded not just at such relentless cruelty, and such self-delusion as to portray, and apparently believe, yourselves as the epitome of goodness, but at the craven cowardice and impotence of the rest of the planet who let you get away with it. Of course where I say ‘you’ I mean the US power elite, and the obtunded US public, not the elightened few, such as yourself, who see the naked emperor as he really is.

CIA mock-execution of Iran diplomat

CIA mock-execution of Iran diplomat

Jalal Sharafi’s psychiatrist says the diplomat is constantly reliving the trauma of his torture, including mock executions by his US and Iraqi captors.

Doctors treating the second secretary of Iran’s embassy in Baghdad Jalal Sharafi say the psychological and physical damage the Iranian diplomat endured are “overwhelming.”

Reports have emerged that former Iraqi intelligent operatives had been involved in Sharafi’s torture under the aegis of CIA.

The doctors told journalists in a press conference on Wednesday that it may take years for Sharafi to recover from the ordeal he went through while in US custody in Baghdad.

Doctor Ali-Reza Hosseini, a dermatologist and Doctor Ali Sharifi a trained psychiatrist, explained the medical procedures the Iranian official has undergone in light of the injuries he sustained while imprisoned by US forces.

Doctor Hosseini maintained that Sharafi has undergone continuous medical examinations considering the serious condition he was in after returning to Iran upon his released on April 3, 2007.

According to Hosseini, a thorough medical examination shows scars and deep wounds on Sharafi’s head, nose, ear, and dark bruises on his back which are clear indicators that he was severely beaten in those areas.

According to Sharafi’s personal physician, the sudden weight loss the Iranian diplomat experienced is a sign that his body was under constant and severe pressure.

Doctor Hosseini revealed that Sharafi suffered from intestinal bleeding as a result of the severe blows he suffered on his sides and stomach.

Meanwhile, Sharafi’s psychiatrist stated that his patient is a true victim of “intense psychological torture.”

According to Doctor Ali Sharifi, unlike a normal prisoner who knows the identity of his captors and what he is up against, the Iranian diplomat was never charged with any crime and was completely left in the dark regarding his fate which all mounts up to psychological torture.

Throughout the 57 days Sharafi endured these excruciating circumstances most of which was spent in solitary confinement without light, sound or anything to read, the diplomat is partly deprived of his senses, his psychiatrist said.

The experience has left a damaging effect on Sharafi, who is continually reliving the trauma of his torture and sleep deprivations, solitary confinements and mock executions, causing problems in seeing and hearing for the official, the psychologist said.

The second secretary at Iran’s Baghdad embassy gave a detailed account of beatings and interrogations, including being whipped on his feet with cables, gagged and threatened with his life.

A frail looking Sharafi who was brought to the press conference in a wheelchair said, “They tied my feet and hands and lashed my soles hundreds of times with cables and kicked and punched me.”

The Iranian official who went missing in Baghdad more than two months back also showed traces of slash marks on his back.
Sharafi revealed that his captors “performed mock executions while my eyes were blindfolded and my hands and feet were bound.” He said the drill torture occurred early in his captivity, and beatings took place throughout. Sharafi showed reporters nine holes in his ankle and foot he said were caused by a drill.

According to the diplomat’s psychiatrist, exposing Sharafi to mock executions and threatening to give him to wild dogs along with food and sleep deprivation, has damaged parts of his brain.

The diplomat’s psychologist asserted that Sharafi is extremely sensitive to sound, adding, “every time a door opens or closes he jumps up” as he is being reminded of the time his captors would come into his cell to torture him.

The psychologist also pointed to the fact that Sharifi is currently suffering from acute stress disorder for which he said may need to undergo months if not years of therapy.

Sharafi has repeatedly said that a U.S. official had been present when holes were drilled into his feet. The 40-year old diplomat stated that “The American began with a soft attitude at first but turned harsh “when he could not get what he wanted from me.”

Jalal Sharafi, was released nine days ago, more than two months after armed gunmen wearing uniforms of the elite Iraqi Commando Battalion abducted the diplomat in central Baghdad where he was carrying a gift for his daughter.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation, Peter Stocker, visited Sharafi at an Iranian hospital, where he has been treated for injuries he sustained while in US custody in Iraq.

Stocker, who had personally examined Sharafi, told an AP correspondent that the Iranian official’s wounds “happened during his detention,” in Iraq.

American/Israeli Crimes in Palestine Continue to Multiply

[Everyday it becomes more apparent that Obama is merely a continuation of Bush.   All the crazy neocon war plans of Cheney and Wolfowitz go on.  The United States and Israel have been turning their Palestinian Authority into another “Vichy” collaborator government for a long time.  In case anyone forgot, remember that this arrogant criminal power play undertaken on Israel’s behalf or (upon its command) caused the split in Palestinian unity, resulting directly in the fascist attacks upon the innocent people in Gaza to eliminate the forces of Hamas (which themselves are a creation of Israel).  Bush is directly responsible for the criminal assault on Gaza, as will be Obama if he continues in the monster’s footprints.] The Dayton-Fayyad Project: Eliminate the Resistance…Fatah as Well

Mohamad Shmaysani Readers Number : 200

01/07/2009 Palestinian Prime Minister designate, Salam Fayyad, appears to have his own agenda, or rather the same agenda as US General Keith Dayton’s. Dayton is appointed by former US President George W. Bush and maintained by the new Obama administration, to the post of Coordinator for US Security in the Palestinian Territories. Since Dayton’s arrival, Fayyad seems to be following his guidelines, stipulating Israel will always have the upper hand over Palestinian rights. According to Palestinian columnist, Mounir Chafik, the goal is not to repress the factions of the Palestinian resistance, Hamas and Jihad, but also to eradicate Fatah elements from the circles of the Palestinian Authority and civil security services. Thus, Dayton was able to train and arm a 900-strong force dependent on the paramilitary leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. The force is named Bader and it is aimed at replacing the various Palestinian security forces under Fatah, founded by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Having participated actively in the second intifada against the Israeli enemy, the decision was made to sack them. Effectively, Keith Dayton dismissed 7000 Fatah members to recruit new ones, teaching them a whole new ideology hostile to the resistance, and whose mission is to perform the dirty jobs of the soldiers of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank: liquidate the cells of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah. Charity associations, educational and health facilities belonging to those factions will not be spared as well. Quoting the words of Dayton, in his speech at the Washington Institute in May 2009 that “the performance of Bader force has stunned the Israelis,” Chafik concludes that it is through this Palestinian force that Israeli troops in the West Bank were able to go to Gaza, to conduct the war in December-January. Chafik also discussed Fayyad’s last speech on June 21, which he delivered at the University of Jerusalem, in the town of Aboudiss. The US-backed PM designate said he would “create institutions of an independent state within two years , based on a mature power … “. Fayyad’s comments suggest a process similar to that adopted with the security forces: a smooth removal of the remaining Fatah officials to replace them with “elements loyal to Fayyad and the duo (George) Mitchell-Dayton,” says Chafik. But what worries the Palestinian analyst the most in Fayyad’s speech is a five-word sentence that may have gone unnoticed: “We are meeting in Jerusalem,” he began his speech, knowing that he was speaking in Aboudiss, a city located outside the occupied holy city of Jerusalem; the same city that the Israelis insist on trying to impose as the capital of the “state” of Palestine. However, Fayyad is going to have to accept that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had unequivocally and firmly rejected in Camp David in 2000 to give up Al-Quds as the capital of Palestine. Presumably, Fayyad cannot act without the green light of Mahmoud Abbas. Worth mentioning, the PM designate’s illusive comments to the Palestinian public have backlashed, as distributing roles requires one who creates a fait-accompli and another who distracts the Palestinian people who has, so far, led two Intifadas for the sake of their just cause.

Mossad Relies On Saudi Information

Arab country ‘cooperates with Mossad’

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:57:02 GMT

Assassinated Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh

The Israeli spy agency Mossad may have used intelligence provided by an Arab country to carry out assassinations in the region.

Israeli sources confirmed on Monday that Mossad chief Meir Dagan’s reliance on cooperation with an Arab country was the reason behind the successful completion of Israeli operations in various countries, IRNA reported.

The Arab country does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, the sources added.

Among the operations attributed to the Israeli regime is the assassination of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement’s top commander Imad Mughniyah and Syrian army officer Brigadier-General Mohammed Suleiman.

Israel is also accused of carrying out the recent bombings in Syria and Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV station reported on Monday that Saudi Arabia was the country that provided the intelligence to Mossad, suggesting that Saudi Secretary General of the National Security Council Prince Bandar bin Sultan played a role in the cooperation between the intelligence agencies.

Up for barter, Trading Children Like Livestock

Up for barter

Dawn Editorial

Seven-year-old, Zahida Bibi,a resident of Azam Busti who was forced by her father to marriage in exchange of his second marriage along with her parent and relatives presents at Memoodabad police station in Karachi. — Dawn

Metropolitan

50-year-old man killed by wife, teenage son in Karachi

SUMMER AND THE SEA

Silhouettes and Sunsets

Our collective conscience is silent each time humanism stands compromised. The age-old price tag slapped on the female of the species is a common example as young girls continue to be ‘auctioned’ to the highest bidder or traded in transactions such as vatta satta and other forms of barter.

The latest reported victim is eight-year-old Zahida who was ‘married’ to a teenager in Karachi. Reports say the bargain was engineered by her father who wanted to marry the groom’s sister. The great paradox is that these incidents abound at a time when women’s rights’ awareness is at an all-time high across the globe.

The prime culprit remains the state; it has consistently failed to enforce laws that provide protection or establish shelters for victims. Secondly, it extends implicit sanction to such excesses by overlooking the provision of legal aid, women police personnel and stations, and laws that guarantee security and women-friendly legal processes.

On the other end, child marriages such as Zahida’s not only sustain a self-perpetuating cycle but throw up tragic consequences — loss of education, rise in infant and maternal mortality, and more victims of domestic torture. These ‘marriages’ are one of our saddest social truths that are not just embedded in poverty and ignorance but in the menace of male supremacy. Also, this practice has to be seen as a heinous form of child abuse and the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1927 that prescribes imprisonment for perpetrators should be brought into force.

Despite Pakistan’s status as a signatory to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action that protect children from abuse, low-income segments of the country remain bereft of the concept of child rights. Organisations such as Unicef and Sparc need to initiate aggressive advocacy campaigns that target rural, feudal and low-income environments, focusing on elders who have the power to curb such customs.

Last but not least, parliamentarians must overhaul existing laws, police stations and relevant authorities to ascertain that ‘conventions’ extend beyond paper. Healthy childhoods cannot be distant dreams but realities made possible through sensitised legislature and media.

Army guns eye North Waziristan

By: Shaiq Hussain

ISLAMABAD – In the wake of deadliest militants’ attack on military convoy in North Waziristan Sunday evening, Pakistani security forces may launch another offensive in this tribal region along with the ongoing operation in the adjoining South Waziristan Agency.
The Taliban militants, led by influential commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, not only killed over 20 military personnel in the deadly ambush in North Waziristan but also announced scrapping of peace deal that they reached with the North Waziristan’s administration in early 2008 citing the repeated US missile strikes and army offensive in the adjacent semi-tribal area of Jani Khel as the major reasons behind their decision.
“The top security brass is engaged in hectic consultations on possible military operation against Gul Bahadur after the current offensive against Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan and there is a likelihood it will be launched in next few days,” said a senior official here on Tuesday requesting anonymity.
However, he said that a final decision had not been taken so far as the security circles had also concerns that the army had been overstretched because of ongoing operations at different places such as Swat, Buner, Dir, Bajaur, Jani Khel and South Waziristan and another operation would prove to be a daunting task for it.

He said that militarily Gul Bahadur was said to be more dangerous than Baitullah Mehsud whose sole dreadful weapon was the suicide bombings. “But that doesn’t mean that the militants who ambushed the military convoy would be spared,” he said.
When asked about other possible measures by the security forces against the Gul Bahadur led militants if the government decided against the full-fledged military operation against them, the official said that the government could resort to economic blockade of the tribal areas controlled by those militants in North Waziristan.
The security forces also went for the economic blockade of Baitullah Mehsud’s held areas in South Waziristan including Makeen and Ladha etc. Apart from that, the fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) are also pounding these areas on regular basis.
According to official, the security forces could also go for air strikes in areas controlled by Gul Bahadur. However, he hastened to add that so far no decision had been taken on that count.
“In the coming few days, a final decision on action against the militants in North Waziristan will be taken and after that they will be taken to task,” he said.

Pak. Army Dutifully Follows American Demands, Civil War in All Tribal Agencies

[Everything is going according to the Imperial game plan–American drones attack all pro-Pakistani militant leaders, ignoring everyone who is killing Pakistanis.  The targeted leaders coalesce into a powerful, motivated union.  Predator attacks upon Mullah Nazir intensify, until he begins to fight back, forcing the Army to scrap plans to divide the Taliban as a way to avoid a massive tribal war, focusing only on Mehsud.  Bahadur becomes a target; he fights back, forcing the Army to broaden their planned offensive to N. Waziristan.  Never once, do the generals complain, or offer resistance to American violations of sovereignty. Instead, they follow the orders of their American masters, while the President of Pakistan continues to represent the President of the United States, instead of his own people, who are being killed by the dozens and the hundreds by the good old USA!]

Warplanes pound militant positions in NWA

By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Malik Mumtaz Khan

PESHAWAR/MIRAMSHAH: The government finally reacted to the militants’ brazen terrorist activities in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) by targeting the suspected positions of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led Taliban fighters by warplanes on Tuesday.

Also, fearing losses in the likely military operation against the militants, hundreds of Utmanzai tribal families started migration to relatively safer places in towns of Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Peshawar.

Some of the families living on the Pak-Afghan border villages like Madakhel, Dattakhel and Lowara Mandi even crossed into neighbouring Afghanistan’s Urgoon area, where an Afghan official welcomed the displaced tribal families and gave $300 to each family.

Situation in the volatile North Waziristan tribal region turned tense after two attacks on the Pakistan Army convoys by the local militants and then scrapping their peace accord with the government.

Security forces suffered heavy losses in the two attacks that led to heavy bombing by the PAF fighter planes on suspected positions of the militants. Before the warplanes could arrive, Security forces based at Dattakhel and Gharlamay military camps continued shelling the suspected positions of the militants.

Tribal sources said two warplanes arrived in the afternoon and started heavy bombing on suspected locations of Gul Bahadur-led militants at Lattaka and Doga villages of Madakhel. Heavy explosions caused by bombing on Madakhel village were heard in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan.

Madakhel, which is hometown of Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, is about 50 kilometres west of Miramshah. There were no details about the losses suffered by the militants and local tribesmen in the bombing.

A senior military official, when reached by telephone, told The News that bombing by jets on Madakhel was a reaction to the Sunday’s attack on the military convoy by terrorists in which 30 soldiers — three of them officers — were killed and 35 others injured.

He did not confirm whether the government was going to launch a military operation against the militants in North Waziristan. The government may not open another dangerous front for security forces, which had been engaged in the non-stop battle against the militants in almost all the seven tribal regions as well as the restive Malakand Division.

Though the Taliban scrapped the peace accord with the government and said they closed all doors for talks, tribal elders and senior clerics continued efforts for defusing the tension between the government and the Taliban.

The Jirga members were satisfied with positive response from the government officials regarding peace talks with the militants. Pleading anonymity, one of the Jirga members seemed hopeful about their efforts and said they would soon bring the two sides on the negotiation table.

Dozens of families were seen fleeing their homes at the border area and shifting to other towns in Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Peshawar. Some of the tribal families crossed the border and went to Urgoon town in Afghanistan’s Paktika province to evade losses in case the government launched the military operation. According to tribal sources, an Afghan official was deputed on the Pak-Afghan border to receive the displaced Pakistani tribal families.

Pakistan’s Malaria Emergency

by Dan Carucci

On top of dealing with drones, a Taliban insurgency, and a government crackdown on that insurgency, the more than 2 million recently displaced persons in Pakistan will be forced to face a new and equally daunting challenge coming in three weeks, the rainy season and the malaria-bearing mosquitoes that soon follow.

This threat is particularly dire because the 18,000-plus families arriving every day, a migration that the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has called one the worst since the genocide in Rwanda, have been displaced from regions, the Swat, Lower Dir, and Buner districts of the Northwest Frontier Province, where malaria is not endemic. Refugees are ill-prepared to deal with the disease both because the refugee population has no pre-existing immunity to malaria and because the flow of internally displaced people (IDPs) is quickly overwhelming available resources, including access to life-saving bednets.

To meet the challenge, UNHCR and the UN Foundation have issued an emergency appeal for 150,000 anti-malarial bed nets to protect the most vulnerable. A bed net costs only $10 to produce, deliver, and train a family on its use, and it dramatically reduces the incidence of malaria. You can help the UNHCR protect these populations by making an emergency, tax-deductible donation today to send insecticide-treated bed nets to families in need.

UNHCR and the UN Foundation are no strangers to facing down malaria in refugee camps. This year, we’ve already partnered to send more than 275,000 bed nets to protect 27 vulnerable refugee populations in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Tanzania through the UN Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign, an effort to prevent malaria in Africa.

The UN Foundation and UNHCR have the experience, the skill, and the established framework necessary to respond to a crisis of this magnitude with the urgency it demands. But these nets can not be sent without the support of individuals like you. Together, we can provide life-saving bed nets to families who’ve lost everything, and ensure that they can at least sleep in peace, protected from malaria.

Daniel J. Carucci is Vice President for Global Health at the UN Foundation

Iranian Embassy comes under attack in Bern

Iran says its Embassy in the Swiss capital of Bern has been attacked by an unidentified assailant while people were protesting the result of the June 12 presidential election outside the building.

Swiss police said protesters were staging a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy in Bern on Monday when an unidentified assailant threw a hand-made Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb or gasoline bomb, inside the building.

The police have begun investigating the incident.

The attack comes as earlier on Friday a similar attack happened outside the Iranian Embassy in Sweden.

According to Swedish police, one of the Embassy personnel sustained serious injuries in the attack.

We Are Our Enemies

We Are Our Enemies

Shakil Ahmad
Make no mistake in realizing the fact that only America, India and Israel are not responsible for our destruction. We are also ourselves responsible for our miseries and steady disintegration. Look at our civil and military leadership. The richest beggar of the world is shamelessly begging around the globe to disgrace the whole nation, whereas the other is killing our own people under the cover of American war on terror. What the hell, we can expect from such politicians, who are 80% traitors or their next generation. They have a history of betraying the fellow Muslims and conspiring with the English rulers for estates in reward. These dirty politicians are the root cause of our miseries. In a country where the leadership is sincere and committed to the nation, the military can’t dare to interfere with the affairs of state. But in the absence of sincere leadership, the military intervenes over and again on the pretext of reforms. The people always trust them, as they would do something better for the country and it’s people. Whereas our military leadership is equally corrupt, so it always fails to deliver any better, as they promise at time of coup. Since both the major arms of the state are corrupt and American puppets, they engage in a give and take, as sacrificing the national dignity, prosperity and integrity. In such a criminal situation with no accountability, the bureaucracy, which has to be the servant of the public, treats the people nothing more than slaves. Who are these people? Are they Americans, Israelis or the Indians? No, they are the bloody black sheep of our society, who deserve to be treated as the enemies of state. Where the nations are strong, no foreign power can dare to destroy them. As you can see Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam, Korea and many others. Where the public trusts the leadership and rallies around them in time of war and peace.

The foreign powers always have their agents in every strategic country. Like CIA,  RAW and Moused in Pakistan. Where they operate covertly to seek their motives. The agents don’t have horns on their head and most of the time, they are from the local population for convenience. But in Pakistan, the scope of agents is very bright and secure as protected by the state machinery. It’s a shame to see the direct dictation by Obama, Gen Petraeus and Halbrooke. Because they know, whom they are dictating, are their own people. Do you ever see the President, PM or the Chief criticising any of such dictations? Neve ever. So who is working against Pakistan? The Americans don’t need to waste their men and ammunition, if they are getting a cheap and loyal alternate to promote their agenda and eliminating all such elements who are resisting their agenda. While the whole nation is trapped in financial hardship and scared of the brutalities of police and agencies to silence their agitation.

The anti-Pakistan agencies simply fanned the spark into a flame by dividing the whole society into fundamentalists and seculars, as they did in Egypt, Morocco, etc. to control by proxy of puppets. Now in Pakistan, they have a very broad network of local agents in government, military and the bureaucracy. In cooperation with our black sheep, they have sponsored plenty of scholars, intellectuals, politicians, civil & military officials and above all the foreign funded NGOs. All such Pakistani, undercover agents, are published in newspapers and aired on different televisions to poison the public mind and reform the opinion in favour of Indo-American agenda. In Pakistan, there are more than 60 local Tv channels. Most of them don’t have enough business to meet their expenses. So where are they getting the funds from? Make no mistake, as they have partnerships with companies in India, America and Europe, who control their policies and programs against heavy funding. So who is the real criminal then? The Americans, Indians or our own black sheep who are betraying the nation, as every moment passes? Our media is only interested in breaking the news, without verification. Whether right or wrong, in favour or against Pakistan, is not their headache. But surely, they are slowly brain washing the nation to surrender to Indo-American pressure, in terms of their political and economic supremacy in the region.

There is no doubt that there are a lot many foreign agents working on the soil of Pakistan but most of them are working with the consent of our government and establishment. So if the interest of both the parties is the same then who would catch them? Even in the Presidency there is a CIA cell for the protection of the President. As they find him more precious to US instead of Pakistan. A large strength of American agents is working across Pakistan in different civil and military establishments and you can see the results in terms of policy and econo-political disasters in Pakistan. So why to blame America only? If our puppy and puppet civil and military leadership has acknowledged them as their Big Brother for their own survival and monetary benefit, then it’s our fault. You can’t treat a disease unless you believe it’s a disease.

The most critical thing in terms of “intelligence” is that it creates a situation where the friends are turned into foes seamlessly with a very logical explanation. It simply exploit the socio-political and econo-religious frictions to trigger a civil war. Which generates a vicious cycle of retaliations causing a chain of attacks and counter attacks on both sides. Same they are doing in Pakistan by branding yesterday’s Mujahedin as today’s terrorists then getting them crushed through the sponsored security forces. This way they are seeking a dual benefit, where Muslims are killed on both ends and our civil and military strength is being neutralized. Though through propaganda, they have confused and divided the nation, but one thing is history true, that we turn our friends into foes and when they pick the gun in retaliation, we brand them as terrorist. Same it happened in East Pakistan, Sind and Baluchistan. Think about it….why is that? Because our pro-American leadership has always been serving the purpose of English command to break the nuclear Islamic Republic of Pakistan into econo-politically handicapped minor secular states, with India as the big brother. Which would have no danger to the supremacy of their masters in the world and their pursuit of natural resources in the region.

It’s our duty to forge a bond of Islamic unity, for which Pakistan was created instead of dividing into ethnicities and ending up in Indian slavery, as to be worse than pre partition in 1947. This country belongs to sincere Pakistanis and they have to rise against these puppets and puppies and snatch the control from the criminal leadership. In case of any disaster, nobody else but we solely stand responsible for it. Since we are, mainly, responsible for our disgrace and miseries, so we have to fix it. The enemies are always there to cause damage but we have to distinguish between the friends and foes. Think and do something practically, whatever you can in any possible capacity you have to rescue our sinking ship. As obeying the unconstitutional and unlawful order is also a crime. By sacrificing your personal interest, political affiliation and disobeying any unlawful order, you can make a whole lot difference.

May Allah give us the strength to sacrifice our personal benefit over the national interest  to sort out our traitors. Amin!

Israel Preparing 34,348 Acres of West Bank for “Natural Growth”

Israel to register 34,348 acres near WB settlement

* Israeli soldiers scuffle with activists in West Bank
* Gaza-Egypt crossing opens for patients, students

JERUSALEM: Israel has decided to register some 13,900 hectares of land adjacent to its largest West Bank settlement, a step that could pave the way for its expansion, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper published an order on Friday from the Israeli military telling Arab residents living near the massive Maale Adumim settlement outside Jerusalem to register their land within 45 days.

On Saturday the newspaper reported that the order concerns some 13,900 hectares (about 34,348 acres) of land east of Maale Adumim, near the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley.

The sparsely populated desert region is mostly inhabited by Arab Bedouin tribes, who have been expelled during previous expansions of the settlement, the boundaries of which already extend to the Jordan Valley.

US President Barack Obama has pressed Israel to halt all settlement activity, including the so-called “natural growth” in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank, in order to re-launch peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not build new settlements but will allow growth in existing ones, including Maale Adumim, which Israel intends to keep in any future peace deal.

Israel has long sought to expand Maale Adumim westward to incorporate the so-called E-1 area of land that would link it to Jerusalem, but has frozen the project in the face of US pressure.

The Palestinians have vigorously opposed any expansion into E-1, saying its incorporation into Maale Adumim would split the occupied West Bank in half and severely threaten the viability of their future state.

Scuffle: Meanwhile, several people were wounded on Saturday in scuffles between Israeli soldiers and peace activists accompanying Palestinians to agricultural fields in the occupied West Bank, witnesses said.

Palestinian witnesses said several people, including a Reuters photographer, were treated for bruises and minor wounds.

The scuffles erupted when soldiers tried to prevent Israeli peace activists from entering fields in Safa, north of the city of Hebron. An army spokesman said the area was a military zone closed to Israelis and foreigners but open to Palestinians. He said some 15 people were arrested.

Crossing: Also on Saturday, the Rafah crossing with Egypt was opened to allow more than 100 patients, students and visa holders leave the besieged Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an official at the crossing said. The crossing was to remain open for three days, the official added.

Israel has sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid and has strictly limited movement into and out of the territory since the Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.

Egypt has largely complied with the restrictions, though it occasionally opens Rafah – the only Gaza crossing that bypasses Israel – to allow aid in and students and medical cases out. agencies

ISRAEL KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES

ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES

For more information contact:

Greta Berlin (English)  tel: +357 99 081 767 / friends@freegaza.org

Caoimhe Butterly (Arabic/English/Spanish): tel: +357 99 077 820 / sahara78@hotmail.co.uk

http://www.FreeGaza.org

[23 miles off the coast of Gaza, 15:30] – Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (see below for a complete list of passengers). The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We’re asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”

According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released yesterday, the Palestinians living in Gaza are “trapped in despair.” Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed earlier during Israel’s December/January massacre are still without shelter despite pledges of almost $4.5 billion in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other building material into the Gaza Strip. The report also notes that hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel’s disruption of medical supplies.

“The aid we were carrying is a symbol of hope for the people of Gaza, hope that the sea route would open for them, and they would be able to transport their own materials to begin to reconstruct the schools, hospitals and thousands of homes destroyed during the onslaught of “Cast Lead”. Our mission is a gesture to the people of Gaza that we stand by them and that they are not alone” said fellow passenger Mairead Maguire, winner of a Noble Peace Prize for her work in Northern Ireland.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: “No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry  medical and reconstruction supplies, and children’s toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters.”

Arraf continued, “Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release.”

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WHAT YOU CAN DO!

CONTACT the Israeli Ministry of Justice

tel: +972 2646 6666 or +972 2646 6340

fax: +972 2646 6357

CONTACT the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

tel: +972 2530 3111

fax: +972 2530 3367

CONTACT Mark Regev in the Prime Minister’s office at:

tel: +972 5 0620 3264 or +972 2670 5354

mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

CONTACT the International Committee of the Red Cross to ask for their assistance in establishing the wellbeing of the kidnapped human rights workers and help in securing their immediate release!

Red Cross Israel

tel: +972 3524 5286

fax: +972 3527 0370

tel_aviv.tel@icrc.org

Red Cross Switzerland:

tel: +41 22 730 3443

fax: +41 22 734 8280

Red Cross USA:

tel: +1 212 599 6021

fax: +1 212 599 6009

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Kidnapped Passengers from the Spirit of Humanity include:

Khalad Abdelkader, Bahrain

Khalad is an engineer representing the Islamic Charitable Association of Bahrain.

Othman Abufalah, Jordan

Othman is a world-renowned journalist with al-Jazeera TV.

Khaled Al-Shenoo, Bahrain

Khaled is a lecturer with the University of Bahrain.

Mansour Al-Abi, Yemen

Mansour is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera TV.

Fatima Al-Attawi, Bahrain

Fatima is a relief worker and community activist from Bahrain.

Juhaina Alqaed, Bahrain

Juhaina is a journalist & human rights activist.

Huwaida Arraf, US

Huwaida is the Chair of the Free Gaza Movement and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.

Ishmahil Blagrove, UK

Ishmahil is a Jamaican-born journalist, documentary film maker and founder of the Rice & Peas film production company. His documentaries focus on international struggles for social justice.

Kaltham Ghloom, Bahrain

Kaltham is a community activist.

Derek Graham, Ireland

Derek Graham is an electrician, Free Gaza organizer, and first mate aboard the Spirit of Humanity.

Alex Harrison, UK

Alex is a solidarity worker from Britain. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Denis Healey, UK

Denis is Captain of the Spirit of Humanity. This will be his fifth voyage to Gaza.

Fathi Jaouadi, UK

Fathi is a British journalist, Free Gaza organizer, and delegation co-coordinator for this voyage.

Mairead Maguire, Ireland

Mairead is a Nobel laureate and renowned peace activist.

Lubna Masarwa, Palestine/Israel

Lubna is a Palestinian human rights activist and Free Gaza organizer.

Theresa McDermott, Scotland

Theresa is a solidarity worker from Scotland. She is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Cynthia McKinney, US

Cynthia McKinney is an outspoken advocate for human rights and social justice issues, as well as a former U.S. congressperson and presidential candidate.

Adnan Mormesh, UK

Adnan is a solidarity worker from Britain. He is traveling to Gaza to do long-term human rights monitoring.

Adam Qvist, Denmark

Adam is a solidarity worker from Denmark. He is traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.

Adam Shapiro, US

Adam is an American documentary film maker and human rights activist.

Kathy Sheetz, US

Kathy is a nurse and film maker, traveling to Gaza to do human rights monitoring.

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Responses to Israeli lies

concerning our voyage

All,

We’re hearing 3 things from the Israeli propagandists regarding the kidnapping of our people:

1) We violated Cypriot law by stating on the exit papers that we would sail to Egypt;
2) We violated international law by changing course to Gaza after we left Cyprus;
3) We violated Israeli law by entering Gaza in violation of their “right” under the Oslo Accords to control the waters outside Gaza.

All 3 Israeli talking points are nonsense.

First, “Gaza Seaport” is not an officially recognized port anywhere, so it is not possible to use it as a destination. Instead, you have to file your exit papers for a recognized port & then change course once you’re underway. This is what we have been told by Cypriot officials, and this is what we did. Once underway we publicly informed Cyprus of the course change to Gaza via open radio, as well as calling the port and letting them know. They had NO problem with this whatsoever.

Secondly, changing course while underway is not illegal, so long as you have permission for the change from your destination port – in this case Gaza. We did. We also publicly released (via internet & through direct faxes) an official letter of notification to the Israeli government that we intended to sail to Gaza.

Finally, it is true that under the Oslo Accords Israel has the right to patrol Gaza waters. However, Israel formally withdrew from Oslo 10 years ago – so I don’t think it applies anymore. Regardless, as the Occupying Power of Gaza, Israel has a responsibility under the 4th Geneva Convention to provide for the welfare of the Palestinians living in Gaza. They are in abject violation of their 4th Geneva Convention obligations.

Furthermore, whether or not Israel has a “right” to patrol Gaza waters may or may not be a point of legal contention under international law, but it is immaterial. Even if we granted that they have this right (which we do not) – it does not mean that they can collectively punish the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. To argue by analogy, the fact that a police officer has the “right” to carry a gun & make arrests does not mean that he can legally break into an apartment building and massacre everyone living there. That’s nonsense.

-R

UK freezes $1.6 billion of Iran’s Assets

Monday, June 22, 2009

The UK government has frozen $1.6 billion of Iran’s assets.
British officials made the announcement on Thursday and claim that the money was frozen under international sanctions imposed over
Tehran’s nuclear program. You know, the nuclear program which Iran has every legal right to pursue under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

UK’s economic secretary to the Treasury Ian Pearson said in a written statement to parliament “The total assets frozen in the UK under the EU (European Union) and UN sanctions against Iran are approximately 976,110,000 pounds.” Pearson did not elaborate.

The EU has frozen assets of Iran’s biggest bank, Bank Melli.

Excerpts from the 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate on Iran
“We assess with high confidence that until fall 2003, Iranian military entities were working under government direction to
develop nuclear weapons.”

“We judge with high confidence that the halt (of a nuclear weapon program) lasted at least several years.”

“We assess with moderate confidence Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.”

“We continue to assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon.”