Wexler told Israelis, American people will support attack on Iran if talks are tried and fail

 

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Here are the headlines from Mondoweiss for 11/29/2010: Wexler told Israelis, American people will support attack on Iran if talks are tried and fail The opening of an American mind: Chalmers Johnson Wikileaks ‘Embassy cables’ are now breaking… Egypt’s military dictatorship holds parliamentary elections The regrets of a war-party liberal Yehoshua sanitizes Emily Henochowicz lost an eye? No harm, no foul U.N.: ‘The family has requested a tent as they have nowhere else to live’ (US: ‘What, me worry?’) 25 rendered homeless in latest Israeli demolition JNF embarks on NY gaywashing Wexler told Israelis, American people will support attack on Iran if talks are tried and fail Nov 28, 2010 09:41 pm | Philip Weiss From the Wikileaks US Embassy cables. Robert Wexler is the former Florida congressman who has gone on to head a Jewish organization, and who people are always hinting is about to join the Obama administration as a Middle East envoy. How does he operate? Here are notes of a high-level meeting in Israel in May 2009 in which Wexler is representing Obama's policy to Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Chief, Major General Amos Yadlin: Rep. Wexler went on to discuss that there is a third good option in that the President may have better leverage with the American public to support action if engagement efforts are attempted and failed. Rep Wexler recommended that the Israeli people need to consider the US perspective and public opinion. MG Yadlin responded that he is not recommending the US enter a third front, but it has to be understood that Israel sees things differently and that Israel has to be ready and can not remove the military option from the table. Rep Wexler stated that he expected Israel would be pleasantly surprised by the President's acceptance of all possible options in regards to Iran. And along the same lines, here's Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state [A/S] for political-military affairs (who once said that Lincoln was for a Jewish state), assuring the government of Israel (GOI) in July '09 that diplomacy with Iran will soon be exhausted: A/S Shapiro made clear that a nuclear armed Iran was unacceptable to the United States. He referenced Secretary Clinton's July 15 foreign policy address at the Council on Foreign Relations, noting the offer of engagement with Iran -- but reinforcing that such an offer is not indefinite. A/S Shapiro argued that an Iranian rejection of our offer to engage will only help bolster international support for increased sanctions. He also pointed to the uncertain situation following the Iranian elections -- it was unclear at this point how the regime in Tehran will react to our offer of engagement. That said, he repeated that the engagement offer was not unlimited, noting that the United States will reassess its engagement strategy with Iran later this fall.  How many of these people do you suppose there are?   Comment on this article > The opening of an American mind: Chalmers Johnson Nov 28, 2010 09:40 pm | Matthew Phillips Many readers of Mondoweiss will, I’m sure, be familiar of the work of  Chalmers Johnson. In my last review, dealing with the relevance of imperial and postwar Japan for current American policy in the Middle East, I cited Johnson as notable American scholar of Japan whose work has, I believe, shown us how badly awry we have gone during the War on Terror. It is with great sadness that I learned that Johnson died a few days ago. What I offer is a quick reflection on Johnson’s work and went it meant to me personally. It is important to pay tribute, I think, in however small a way, as a number of rare and indispensable voices have been passing away recently (in the past year and a half alone, the names Howard Zinn, Tony Judt and Amos Elon come to mind, though there are undoubtedly many others). Needless to say, we hardly maintain a surplus of honest and reasonably courageous intellectuals eager to fill the void. One day perhaps someone will put together an anthology showing how and when some of our dissident voices came to the realization that their country was not the very essence of virtue it pretends to be. For Howard Zinn, this apparently came as a bombardier in World War II, when he was involved in air raids over France only weeks before the war in Europe came to an end. For Chalmers Johnson, his awakening came at the end of the Cold War, when he saw that the collapse of the Soviet Union, rather than compelling us to drastically reduce our military posture in the world, had the opposite effect. Johnson observed the immediate replacement of our traditional adversary with new justifications for our militarism, whether it was the defense of George H.W. Bush’s “New World Order” or the neo-liberal economic policies of Clinton and the moral crusade of “humanitarian intervention”. When the Soviet Union collapsed, in other words, so did an entire rationale—that the outrageous amount of money spent on “defense” was necessary because of our conflict with communism. Noting with alarm how desperate we were to find another enemy to justify our posturing (quickly settling on fundamentalist Islam), Johnson would devote the rest of his work, in part, to undermining this central myth of the Cold War. If there is a word often associated with Johnson’s name, it is “prophetic”. This is the label Johnson readily acquired when his book Blowback was published just before the 9/11 attacks. In Blowback, Chalmers Johnson argued that “blowback” (a term the CIA coined after its 1953 overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran ) was the anticipated consequence of not only American actions abroad but also, and crucially, covert actions. Because of the secrecy attending American violence abroad, Johnson argued, if retaliation ever did come the American people would have no way of contextualizing the events. It goes without saying that the Bush administration’s effort to invoke a ready-made answer to the 9/11 attacks, specifically with regard to what Johnson called “that forensic question”—“why do they hate us?”— became a paradigmatic example of what Johnson was warning of in Blowback. Having no real knowledge of U.S. support for dictators, the stationing of troops in Saudi Arabia, U.S crimes against the Iraqi people, or the Palestinians, the only conceivable answer to the question was “they hate us because we are free”, nonsense that Johnson ridiculed but nonsense that was spouted vociferously, and with equal conviction, by both republicans and democrats. This last point brings me to the main lesson that I learned from Johnson, which is that the terms “left” and “right”, and especially the term “conservative”, have become utterly devoid of meaning in the U.S. I’m not sure if he said this explicitly but it was the inescapable conclusion of reading his work. Johnson was undoubtedly an authentic “conservative”, one of the very few remaining, a man loyal to the principles of republican government. The central tenet of Johnson’s writing was that imperial ambitions abroad necessarily corrupt the virtues of republicanism at home. Period. There were no exceptions to this rule, and Johnson was fond of making historical comparisons of the U.S. to Rome in this respect. As readers of his know, he was never shy about using the term “empire” to describe the United States (if I were to offer one mild criticism of Johnson, it would be that he could become somewhat dogmatic in his use of the concept of  “empire”, a term, I think, he somewhat over-relied on). That being said, his concept of the “empire of bases” came as something of a revelation to me. Johnson saw the military base as serving roughly the same function for the American “empire” as the colony did for its European antecedents. His 2005 book The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy and the End of the Republic brilliantly analyzed the system of bases (of which there were, at the time, approximately seven hundred spread out in over one hundred countries) and the culture of militarism they represented, at home and abroad. The book puts the nightmare of Iraq, which was only beginning, in its proper context, along a continuum of American policy (Johnson called them “Iraqi Wars”). The book came out shortly after I began college, when justifications for the war were shifting from nonexistent WMD to democratization, a pretense Johnson utterly demolished. It should be said that Johnson was far more than just a critic of war. He primarily understood war as the inevitable consequence of our military industrial complex, which was his real concern (Johnson, witnessing the total collapse of the legislative branch as a mechanism of oversight, added a third party to Eisenhower’s formula; in Johnson’s words, it became the “military-industrial-congressional complex”). Johnson was nothing if not scathing when he came to the national security state and it’s dissembling, which he felt stole money from Americans to start of fires overseas, while shredding the constitution to boot. On this particular subject, the only one who can match Johnson in the relentlessness of his critique (and wit) is Gore Vidal. That being said, Johnson was essentially a careful and (in another sense) conservative scholar, and was thus quick to emphasize how incomplete his analysis was, given the lengths many governmental agencies go to conceal not only their actions but also—as with the pentagon’s budget—simply the amount of money they spend. When it came to the issue of “secrecy”, another critical harbinger of the unraveling of democracy, the impression one gets from reading Johnson is that of a first-rate private detective hired to discover the inner workings of a supposedly open institution, and coming up short. In any event, if the Republican Party, as well as its Tea Party faction, were in any way “conservative”, Johnson’s The Sorrows of Empire would be their foreign policy handbook. It wouldn’t be unfair to Johnson, I hope, to point out that he was mainly concerned in his work with might be called “costs to us”. Johnson was outraged by U.S. actions abroad, and consistently demonstrated that such interests had nothing to do with the interests of the American people. Johnson wrote much about the costs of what he dubbed “military Keynesianism”, which he defined as the pernicious belief that “public policies focused on frequent wars, huge expenditures on weapons and munitions, and large standing armies can indefinitely sustain a wealthy capitalist economy”. He understood how absurd it was to feign outrage about the economy while continuing to tolerate the astronomical “defense” budget. I think Johnson believed that given the narrowness of the spectrum of opinion in the U.S., the most effective way to protest against policies he deplored would be to focus on why they were  harming the American people. Johnson’s academic interests, however, show that he was hardly any kind of caricature of an “isolationist”— the economic histories of Japan and China were his forte. His popular writing demonstrates that he was widely read in ancient history; and my favorite essay of his from his last book—Dismantling the Empire: America’s Last Best Hope—is called “Smash of Civilizations”, where he recounts the looting of the National Museum in Baghdad, a site once host to some of the most invaluable treasures in mankind’s possession. As Johnson makes clear, the destruction of the museum, whose responsibility lies solely with the occupation forces, can never be forgiven or forgotten. I’ve always thought that the description of Johnson as “prophetic”, however appropriate it is in describing his warnings about the consequences of American policy, might perhaps obscure what I think was Johnson’s most impressive accomplishment: changing his mind. Johnson, who spent years as an analyst for the CIA, once described himself as a “spear-carrier for the empire”. Accused of being inconsistent, Johnson would quote Keynes, who famously responded to the same charge by noting “When I get new information, sir, I change my position. What do you, sir, do with new information?” Unlike neoconservatives such as Norman Podhoretz, who have written tomes describing how remarkable they have been in going from one illusion to the next, Johnson was relatively quiet, as far as I can tell, about his actually meaningful intellectual trajectory. By the end of his life, however, he had become as strident a critic to be found, all the more valuable because of his perspective as one who had once subscribed to the illusions that he worked hard to disabuse himself of. Considering the way in which most people become more entrenched in their thinking as they grow older, this is no small thing. Had Johnson devoted himself to telling himself (and all of us) comforting lies, his writing, given his unimpeachable credentials, would undoubtedly have been featured in op-eds throughout the press and he would have been a frequent guest on television panels alongside David Brooks. He didn’t, however, and outlets like antiwar.com, truthdig and especially tomdispatch.com, the website run by the remarkable Tom Engelhardt, greatly profited from his contributions instead. Johnson’s passing, while undoubtedly an enormous loss, gives an occasion to reflect on the example of  a man who had the courage to reconsider the world around him. Readers of Mondoweiss will agree, I think, that a just peace in Israel/ Palestine and elsewhere in the Middle East crucially depends on many Americans similarly revising deeply-held opinions, though we surely have less time in which to do so. In any event, for his wisdom and personal integrity, Chalmers Johnson deserves to be remembered. Comment on this article > Wikileaks ‘Embassy cables’ are now breaking… Nov 28, 2010 02:33 pm | Philip Weiss The Wikileaks dump of "US Embassy cables" that include Israel Palestine has apparently started dropping. At the Guardian site. Here's a juicy one. Stuart Levey, under secretary of the Treasury in the Bush Administration, goes to Israel two weeks after the presidential election in '08, and promises that the Obama administration will keep up the pressure to stop Iran from getting nukes: In a visit to Israel on 16-17 November, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart A. Levey, reassured GOI officials that no momentum would be lost in USG efforts to combat terrorist financing or to pressure Iran during the transition to a new US administration in January... [Israeli] National Security Council (NCS) Chairman, Dani Arditi, in a November 16 meeting with U/S Stuart Levey, asked whether Levey thought his efforts would continue into the next U.S. administration. Even though he said he planned to resign as required in January, Levey told Arditi that he believed the Obama team would be committed to continuing the ambitious program against terrorism finance that he has shepherded over the last several years. Levey didn't resign by the way. He's still around. Guess he knew something. Comment on this article > Egypt’s military dictatorship holds parliamentary elections Nov 28, 2010 02:13 pm | Ali Glenesk Ali Glenesk is a Berkeley alum currently working as a media monitor at a communications agency in Cairo.student living in Cairo. She blogged about today's elections at her site. She took the shot at left of posters supporting candidates from Mubarak's "National Democratic Party." 508 parliamentary seats are up for grabs in today's elections in Egypt, with over 5000 candidates from a variety of parties vying for votes. While opposition parties, including Al-Wafd, Al-Tagammu, and the Muslim Brotherhood, have mounted campaigns to challenge the ruling National Democratic Party, the NDP, is expected to come out of today's elections on top. Campaigning has been ongoing throughout the day in spite of instructions from the High Electoral Commission, which supposedly forbade campaigning past midnight last night. In Cairo's Sayyeda Zainab neighborhood NDP supporters passed out leaflets at polling stations, and groups of men drove around on trucks mounted with microphones, festively proclaiming their support for ruling party candidates. The atmosphere in most of Egypt however, has been anything but festive, with reports of election-related violence emerging from around the country. Al-Ahram newspaper, which is majority-owned by the Egyptian government, reported seven election-related deaths by the early afternoon. Shots were fired in polling station clashes between MB and NDP supporters in the Monufia Governorate, and police reportedly fired tear gas at voters at multiple polling stations in the delta area. Demonstrations grew in Suez, with some reports indicating that as many as 4000 people had seized a building in protest of election procedures. Al-Jazeera correspondents working in Suez reported having their camera equipment stolen, and foreign correspondents in Al-Arish were refused entrance to polling stations. Additional violence erupted in Mansoura in front of a school when thugs brandishing weapons clashed with Muslim Brotherhood supporters. In Sayyeda Zainab neighborhood, candidates can reportedly buy a vote for as little as 20 Egyptian pounds, while eyewitnesses in Shoubra report votes being bought for as much as 100 pounds. Reports emerged in Qena that a young girl who died twenty years ago was registered to vote for the NDP. Yet in spite of widespread reports of violence, forgery, rigging, and other election irregularities, Al-Ahram reported in the early afternoon that, according to the Head of the High Electoral Commission, the election process was going quite smoothly. Egyptian election monitors were undoubtedly frustrated by the day's events, as the ruling government forbade any foreign groups to monitor the election. In response to a suggestion from the United States that Egypt accept international election observers, an Egyptian government spokesman rebuffed, “We don’t want any international monitoring agencies to interfere in Egypt’s national affairs. This is the business of Egypt.” The violence marking today's elections shows that Mubarak has indeed carried on business as usual, assuring the ruling party's victory with the aid of hired thugs, stifled media, and stuffed ballot boxes. If today’s parliamentary elections are any indicator, the upcoming 2011 presidential election will be anything but democratic. Meanwhile, the United States has been largely silent about Egypt's human rights violations, even though Egypt is one of the largest recipients of American foreign aid, receiving just under US $2 billion from its American ally annually. The United States’ unfettered support for Mubarak’s regime is yet another instance of American leadership funding human rights violations and crimes against humanity. While the United States wages war in the name of democracy in some areas of the Middle East, here in Egypt Mubarak runs his military dictatorship largely on America’s dime. Live Election Coverage here: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/756.aspx You can also follow on twitter tag #egyelections I took these pictures on a walk around my neighborhood today. The one above shows campaign banners strung in the street in front of Sayyeda Zainab mosque. It's interesting because most of the violence from Egypt today came out of poor areas- let another example of the squashing of Egypt's impoverished. My roommate and I passed by about five polling stations. All were crowded with lots of men and some police, some had people outside holding signs and passing out leaflets. A pick-up truck was making rounds about the neighborhood playing festive music and blasting slogans supporting NDP candidates over the microphone. I asked some people around the neighborhood what they thought of the election. The man at the corner store was a hopeful supporter of an Al-Ghad party candidate, and a girl at the grocery store told me that she didn't vote and giggled, as if the election was all a bit of a joke. While many aren't voting due to the election boycott, even more people aren't voting simply out of cynicism. The best reaction came from my bowab (the doorman). When I asked the news of the election and who he supported, he said, "The more important question is who does President Mubarak support. I am just a bowab." Comment on this article > The regrets of a war-party liberal Nov 28, 2010 02:06 pm | Anonymous From the last two paragraphs of George Packer's review in The New Yorker of George W. Bush's book, Decision Points: [Bush's] decisions, he still believes, made America safer, gave Iraqis hope, and changed the future of the Middle East for the better. Of these three claims, only one is true--the second--and it's a truth steeped in tragedy. Bush ends "Decision Points" with the sanguine thought that history's verdict on his Presidency will come only after his death. During his years in office, two wars turned into needless disasters, and the freedom agenda created such deep cynicism around the world that the word itself was spoiled. Note the assurance that Iraqis, in retrospect, would not wish the Iraq war undone: the result has given them hope (though shaded by tragic awareness). This can't be the view of the more than 100,000 dead, or the more than four million refugees. Rather, it is a wishful surmise, by an American journalist who pressed for the war, regarding the judgment of those who survived with a fair portion of their friends, families, and livelihoods intact. There should have been a way, thinks Packer, for Americans to walk in cleanly, after the devastation of Shock and Awe, and help the country back to its feet. That we could not do so is the fault of one man, George W. Bush. The same with Afghanistan--both wars were "needless disasters." Craftily waged, and followed through with a judicious design of nation-building, they could have succeeded. The idealism of liberal empire is still going strong in American think tanks and respectable journalism. Comment on this article > Yehoshua sanitizes Nov 28, 2010 01:35 pm | Philip Weiss Israeli novelist AB Yehoshua is upset by the battle developing over Zionism world-wide, and he is trying to turn down the heat with a piece in Haaretz. I don't think he succeeds. First an excerpt, in which he portrays ethnic discrimination as all in a day's work for nation-states: After the Jewish state, namely the State of Israel, was actually established, the only way in which the meaning of Zionism was expressed was through the principle of the Law of Return.... it is still open to any Jew who wants to become a citizen. Such a law of return exists today in several other countries, including Hungary and Germany. Hopefully a similar law of return will also soon be instituted in the Palestinian state to be established alongside us. And just as that will not be a racist law in the Palestinian state, by the same token the law is not racist in Israel either. When the nations of the world decided in 1947 on the establishment of a Jewish state, they did not tear off part of Palestine for only the 600,000 Jews living there at the time, they did so with the assumption that this state had to provide refuge for any Jew who so desired. This is pabulum. Yes, the world partitioned Palestine in 1947 so as to establish a Jewish state and an Arab one; and that decision-- which the entire Arab neighborhood rejected-- was also a legal one. I acknowledge that. But because Jewish numbers in mandate Palestine were low, the world gerrymandered a state that was Jewish, by about 600,000 to 500,000 non Jews; and before and after that "state" became a state, the Jews expelled almost all those non-Jews and greatly increased their boundaries from the ones the U.N. had granted. So if you really want to talk about "tearing off part of Palestine," well Israel did that to the Palestinians; it leapfrogged the U.N. boundaries and tossed out a lot of Arabs. The Israelis have never acknowledged the expulsion, apologize for it, or made reparations (even as their own state was built with the help of German reparations soon after the war). And as for Yehoshua's wonderful returning, well, many of those Palestinians have sought to return to their homes, a right granted them under international law. The U.N. has stood by that right. Yehoshua seems to imagine them exercising that right some time in the future (as if 60 years is mere preamble) and not to their original lands; but it is dishonest not to acknowledge that the frustration of the exercise of this right has caused seething resentment for decades-- even as 1 million Russians, many of them non-Jews, showed up under Yehoshua's hunky-dory Law of Return. The failure to relate this skewed history is what makes me crazy about Zionism. Back to the video: An Israeli, a Jew, a Palestinian or anyone else who defines himself as a-Zionist is a citizen who is opposed to the Law of Return. This opposition, like any other political viewpoint, is legitimate. An anti-Zionist, on the other hand, is someone who wants to overturn the State of Israel after the fact - and with the exception of extremist sects among the ultra-Orthodox or among radical Jewish circles in the Diaspora, not many Jews hold this view. All of the important and fundamental debates taking place in Israel - annexation or non-annexation of the territories; the relationship between the country's Jewish majority and the Palestinian minority; the relationship between religion and the state; the nature and values of economic policy and the social welfare system; and even the interpretation of historical events - are the sort of debates and controversies that existed and still exist in many countries. Here the taxonomical Yehoshua makes out that the debate that's going on in Israel is a war of foundational ideas like the one in many other countries. I don't think it's the same. Israel is a young country; and it is facing an existential crisis for a very simple reason: it is governing a population of 4-5 million Palestinians who have no rights and by and large do not accept their governance. Yehoshua calls these people a "minority." In fact they may outnumber the Jews (as JPost now reports). The reason that some radicals want to revolutionize the state of Israel, and why even conservative-liberals like myself seek dramatic reform of Israel, is because of this unfairness, which has gone on for many decades. Henry Siegman and Noam Sheizaf have both explained these conditions to us recently. Siegman: "Israel's... denial of all rights to millions of Palestinians for nearly half a century..." Sheizaf: "Palestinians are real people, people older than the age of almost everyone in this room, almost, who have never been one day in their life free." That's the issue, in a region inflamed by imperial occupation; and why this injustice has gained global attention. Comment on this article > Emily Henochowicz lost an eye? No harm, no foul Nov 28, 2010 11:45 am | Philip Weiss Culture of impunity. From Haaretz. The Israeli border police who fired a tear gas canister at American art student Emily Henochowicz, maiming her, inside the Occupied Territories, during a protest last May 31, have been cleared of any wrongdoing. Her lawyer is the great Michael Sfard: "Every investigation of killing or injuries ends up emitting this stench of blamelessness," Sfard said. "This particular case shows that the negligence borders whitewash. Anyone who finds no need to question objective witnesses, who have stated the Border Police officer took direct aim, is obstructing the investigation and is as good as confessing to having no interest in finding the truth." Henochowicz meanwhile is at work on an Adam Shapiro documentary. What doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Comment on this article > U.N.: ‘The family has requested a tent as they have nowhere else to live’ (US: ‘What, me worry?’) Nov 28, 2010 11:35 am | Philip Weiss A friend just sent me a summary of a comprehensive report being circulated inside the U.N. that details the latest house demolitions by Israel. They are not just in the Jordan Valley, as earlier reports suggested, but all over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Below is the roundup in my friend's paraphrase. Note the disputed claims in illegally-occupied territory that are always resolved in Jewish settlers' favor, even on the Mount of Olives. This little list from 4 or 5 days of demolitions and evictions gives a real feel for the enormity of what is taking place daily. If you were Palestinian, you would feel humiliated, despairing, angry-- and as afraid as my ancestors felt when pogroms were happening in Russia 120 years ago. Where is the United States, which claims to be supporting a two-state solution on lands east of the Green Line? From the U.N.: November 22 Israeli forces demolished Palestinian structures in the Al Isawiya area between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maele Adummin. Initial information: at least 2 barracks used for work purposes and some stone walls. Some fence material was also confiscated. This is the second time that barracks here were demolished. Last time was 27 October. November 23 As you know, Israeli police and settlers this morning forcibly evicted 3 Palestinian families from their home in Al Farouq neighbourhood of Jabal al Mukabber in East Jerusalem. A large force of Israeli police and border police were reported to have forcibly evicted the families between 9.00 and 10.00. Immediately following the eviction the building was handed over to a group of settlers that reportedly are affiliated with the settler organization El Ad. The settler group is currently undertaking some work on the premises -- 3 separate apartments located on 3 floors. It was inhabited by the Qara'in family, which includes 3 families of 14 people, among them 5 children ranging from 3 to 10 years of age. The families are currently sheltering with neighbors, they have no place to live. Supposedly the settler group claims to have purchased the building from a deceased relative of the family a few years ago. The family and their lawyer tried to challenge these claims before Israeli courts.  November 24 Israeli forces destroyed a large number of Palestinian-owned structures in several locations in the West Bank, forcibly displacing 23 people, including 16 children , and destroying the livelihood of dozens of others. Also on this day, Israeli settlers took over an uninhabited apartment in East Jerusalem. The reports: --In the At Tur neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem , the Jerusalem Municipality demolished the home of a Palestinian family, forcibly displacing 7 people, including 4 children . The family, which has lived in the building for 8 years, had attempted to obtain an Israeli building permit for the home. The family has requested a tent and other basic humanitarian assistance as they have nowhere else to live. --In the area around Hizma checkpoint , the Jerusalem Municipality demolished 7 work-related Palestinian structures, 6 of them plant nurseries/shops and 1 a furniture business. The demolitions reportedly devastated the livelihoods of 13 Palestinian families and resulted in extensive loss of materials and equipment. --On the Mount of Olives, Israeli settlers took over an apartment on the 3rd floor of a building near an existing Israeli settlement (the one overlooking the Old City). The apartment, which is one of 4 apartments in the building, was uninhabited at the time; it was vacated and sealed last year by a Palestinian family which had purchased it in 2005. Since that time the settlers have disputed the family's ownership. The apartment was sealed last year following an order from the District Court. --On Nov. 23, the Jerusalem Municipality returned to Al Isawiye and completed the demolition of 2 Palestinian work-related structures that were partly demolished on 11 November. This included a stable for horses and a cement structure where some members of the family lived when tending the farm. --In the Abu Al Ajaj area of Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley , the IDF demolished 3 large structures , including 2 buildings (containing 2 units each) that were used for residential and work-related purposes. 2 Palestinian families of 16 people, including 12 children , have lost their home and been forcibly displaced. In addition, a number of young sheep were killed as the structures were demolished on top of them. A considerable amount of fodder was destroyed. The structures in question received demolition orders from Israeli authorities in 2008, but the families were challenging the orders before the Israeli High Court. This is the same area that in recent weeks has been targeted by Israeli settlers from Masu'a settlement, who have made repeated and aggressive attempts to expand the settlement by taking over village land, using illegal fencing that cuts the Palestinian herders residing in the area from their livelihood. For information about these attempts, please see the Humanitarian Monitor for October. * In the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the West Bank, to the north of the Ariel settlement "finger", the IDF reportedly demolished at least 1 work-related Palestinian structure. Levelling of land was reported in nearby Wadi Qana. November 25 Israeli forces have demolished a number of Palestinian structures in at least 2 different locations in the West Bank, displacing at least 31 Palestinians, more than half of them children. --In Khirbet Yasra in the Jordan Valley, Israeli forces demolished at least 7 Palestinian structures. According to the village council, this included 2 houses and 4 work-related structures, as well as a mosque. As a result at least 2 Palestinian families of 11 have been forcibly displaced. --In Ar Rifa'iyya village near Hebron, Israeli forces demolished a building containing 2 apartments, forcibly displacing 2 families of 20 people, including 16 children. Comment on this article > 25 rendered homeless in latest Israeli demolition Nov 28, 2010 11:25 am | Seham and other news from Today in Palestine, for Saturday Nov. 27: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing 25 rendered homeless in latest Israeli demolition HEBRON (Ma’an) -- The extended family of Iyad and Muhammad Musleh Al-Amour, 25 men, women and children in total, had their 250 square meter home demolished by Israeli Civil Administration forces early on Thursday.  The home, in the Ad-Derat area east of Yatta in the southern West Bank, was razed using heavy machinery and in the presence of personnel from 15 military jeeps. Officials on the scene said the home had no permit. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335953 Army Demolishes A House In Yatta VIllage The Palestine News and Information Center,WAFA, reported on Thursday that Israeli soldiers demolished a house of that belongs to two brothers identified as Iyad and Mohammad Al-Ummor, in the village of Yatta in the eastern part of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. http://www.imemc.org/article/60011 Israeli Forces Demolish Mosque in a wave of West Bank Demolitions Israeli forces demolished Palestinian homes in the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills today in what seems as a wave of demolitions following yesterday’s demolitions all across the West Bank. Non-violent leaders from Beit Ummar have also been arrested in night raids. Grassroots organizers Mousa and Yousef Abu Maria were arrested from their homes as harassment continues in Beit Ummar http://josephdana.com/2010/11/israeli-forces-demolish-mosque-in-a-wave-of-west-bank-demolitions/ BBC puts mosque between quotation marks "Israel razes West Bank 'mosque'"   If an Arab puts a "synagogue" between quotation marks, cries of anti-Semitic would follow and the ADL would call on the UN Security Council to convene. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/bbc-puts-mosque-between-quotation-marks.html Israeli settlers expand presence in east Jerusalem (AFP) AFP - Jewish settlers moved into a house in the Al-Tur district of occupied east Jerusalem on Wednesday, just hours after Israeli officials razed another Palestinian home in the same neighbourhood. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101124/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictjerusalem Eviction Notices Not Enforced Against Hebron's Squatter Settlers, Palestine Monitor This week saw Palestinian shopkeepers from Hebron petition the High Court of Israel to honour an eviction notice given to settlers over two and a half years ago. In 2001 settlers moved illegally into part of Hebron market, which remains under the control of Israel's Civil Administration. Today a number of settler families are squatting there, a presence which has severely reduced the numbers of Palestinian visitors and damaged the local economy. http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1629 Israel destroyed his home: if you are an American liberal who supports Israel, don't talk to me http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/israel-destroyed-his-home-if-you-are.html Our Story Released on DVD, Palestine Monitor After generations of one-sided analysis of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi's 'Our Story' finally provides a Palestinian perspective on the history of occupation and ethnic cleansing.  Following an enthusiastic international reception and cinematic release, 'Our Story' provides a definitive account of Palestinian history, charting occupation and displacement from 1948 up to the present day. Featuring shocking accounts from the Gaza war, the film is a must for anybody who wishes to hear the untold truths behind the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1628 Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Four Detained, Many Treated for Tear Gas Inhalation During W.B. Anti Wall Protests Ghassan Bannoura- PNN -  This week four were arrested and dozens of civilians were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked anti wall protests organized at a number of Locations in the West Bank.  Israeli troops detained three Israeli peace activists and one young Palestinian man during the weekly Friday non-violent demonstration in the village of al-Ma'sara , south of Bethlehem. http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9198 Palestinians demonstrate in Jerusalem against house appropriations Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated Friday in the Sheikh Jarrah suburb in Jerusalem to protest the occupation policy of confiscating Palestinian property and passing it on to settlers. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd Majida Abu Rahmah: Al Eid Without a Father and Husband Al Eid is a holy time of the year for Muslims, when families gather and visit each other. But with my husband in Israeli jail, it's hard to enjoy this Al Eid in the same way. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/majda-abu-rahmah/eid-without-a-father-and-_b_786670.html Jewish settlements targeted in divestment campaign (AP) AP - There is a budding movement by foreign investors and activists to join a Palestinian campaign against companies doing business in the West Bank — aimed at hitting them in their pockets. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101124/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_israel_broadening_boycott Scandinavian funds divest from companies involved in occupation of Palestinian land Activists with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (http://www.bdsmovement.net) claimed another victory on Wednesday as Swedish and Norwegian pension funds announced their divestment from companies doing business in Israeli settlements or with the Israeli military occupying Palestinian land. http://www.imemc.org/article/60005 #BDS: Another BDS victory: TEEU votes to Boycott Israel At its biennial conference last weekend, the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) unanimously voted to “support for a boycott campaign of Israeli goods and services and a policy of disinvestment from Israeli companies” as a result of the Israeli state’s continuing breaches of international law and human rights abuses against the people of Palestinian. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) welcomed the passing of the motion[1]. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-another-bds-victory-teeu-votes-to.html Princeton students: Boycott Sabra hummus Palestinian group wants Israeli product removed from campus stores because it serves 'occupation'. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3990406,00.html USPCN Endorses Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign Building upon the USPCN Popular Conference 2010, and its National Call to Action, the US Palestinian Community Network is pleased to announce its endorsement of the Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign.  MN Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC) is a movement advocating for the state of Minnesota to divest from Israel Bonds in solidarity with the 2005 Palestinian Call for BDS (Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions) – http://mn.breakthebonds.org/?p=393 http://palestineconference.org/wp/2010/11/24/uspcn-endorses-minnesota-break-the-bonds-campaign/ Confronting the Hebron Settlers in New York, Max Blumenthal I stood with about 100 demonstrators outside Chelsea Piers in silent protest of the Hebron Fund’s cruise. A group from J Street’s campus division protested nearby, but would not stand with us, which was weird but not unexpected. Regardless, it was nice to see that a few liberal Zionists were willing to back up their talk about removing settlements to make a Palestinian state possible. I hung around for an hour with good people like Joseph Dana, Noam Sheizaf, Adam Shapiro and Huwaida Arraf, Emily Henochowicz, Rebecca Vilkomersen, the Bitar family, Daniel Levy, Daniel May and a former Givati brigade soldier who turned his back on the occupation and now wears a Cynthia McKinney button emblazoned on his IDF uniform. http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/11/confronting-the-hebron-settlers-in-new-york/ #BDS: The Fall - The Fall Gig Targeted By Protesters British rockers THE FALL were targeted by protesters at their London show on Tuesday night (23Nov10) over their plans to play in Israel next year (11).  The post-punk band took to the stage at the Electric Ballroom but their performance was marred by a group of activists who gathered outside the venue waving banners and placards.  The protesters are angry about the band's decision to schedule a concert in Tel Aviv in January (11) and they are urging the group to scrap the show and boycott the country over unrest in the Gaza Strip. The band's gig went ahead uninterrupted, according to NME.com. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-fall-fall-gig-targeted-by.html #BDS: Tell Amazon shoppers it's not OK to buy apartheid products Would you buy products tested on animals, or that you know to be environmentally destructive, or exploit child labor? If you know that a product harms others or violates international law, shouldn't you boycott it?  #BDS: Tell Amazon shoppers it's not OK to buy apartheid products Below, please sign up to help us "save (the) amazon!" It's not good for the world's biggest online retailer to sell products that support inhumane policies. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-tell-amazon-shoppers-its-not-ok-to_24.html #BDS: Act now: Tell BT to hang up on the Occupation BT is complicit in Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people.  BT has recently allowed Israeli company Bezeq into its exclusive BT alliance club. Bezeq provides telecommunications support for Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. BT will remain complicit in Israel's breaches of international law unless it cuts all ties with Bezeq International.  Using the form below, write to BT Chief Executive Ian Livingston to demand that the company hang up on the Occupation. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-act-now-tell-bt-to-hang-up-on.html Thousands write to BT about complicity in occupation Two weeks after the launch of Disconnect Now, thousands of people have emailed BT asking for an end to the company’s complicity in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As BT ignores the human rights implications of their relationship with Bezeq International, activists are calling for people to phone BT and tell them to disconnect now.  A Just Peace for Palestine, along with campaign coalition members War on Want, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and Palestine Solidarity Campaign, are yet to receive any formal response from BT to their letter calling for a meeting to discuss our concerns. http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/2403.shtml #BDS: Veolia and Alstom feel the heat – BNC calls for intensifying pressure! Occupied Palestine, November 2010 - Veolia and Alstom, the two French companies involved in the construction and management of a tramway linking west Jerusalem with illegal Israeli colonial settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory, described by the UN Human Rights Council as a “clear violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions,”1 have both recently been reported to be selling their shares in the consortium that manages the project. There can be little doubt that Veolia and Alstom are responding to the overwhelming campaigns launched against them by the Palestinian-led global movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law (BDS). Campaigners have successfully lobbied for the exclusion of Veolia and Alstom from several large public sector contracts and investment funds – the BDS movement has shown that there is a price to pay for actively supporting Israel‟s system of occupation, colonisation and apartheid. http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-veolia-and-alstom-feel-heat-bnc.html Volvo equipment enabling torture, facilitating occupation Volvo prides itself on being a byword for sturdiness, safety and reliability. After a careful examination of the vehicle-maker's investment in Israel, perhaps it should also become synonymous with enabling torture. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11640.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29 Arava Institute claims to promote peace, but remains silent on justice, Adalah-NY The Arava Institute’s online event “With Earth and Each Other,” held Sunday, November 14, exemplified why the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions is vital. The event was billed as a celebration of Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians working together for the environment. But it failed to educate viewers about the most basic facts of Israeli policies, and thus simply reinforced the status quo. The event, billed as not “political,” suggested that the Middle East conflict can be resolved if people of different religions and ethnicities are nicer to each other. It presented no information on the fundamental and systematic inequalities that are at the root of the conflict. http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/arava-institute-claims-to-promote-peace-while-remaining-silent-on-justice.html Siege/Rights Violations/Restriction of Movement Industrial Fuel – Needs Vs. Supply – Oct 24 – Nov 20 http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/11/industrial-fuel-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-oct-24-%e2%80%93-nov-20/ Goods – Needs Vs. Supply – Oct 24 – Nov 20 http://www.gazagateway.org/2010/11/goods-%e2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%e2%80%93-oct-24-%e2%80%93-nov-20/ Photostory: somber holiday under occupation The holiday of Eid al-Ahda -- the Feast of the Sacrifice -- is celebrated by Muslims across the world to commemorate the prophet Abraham's sacrifice of a sheep in the place of his son Ishmael. Palestine is no different than most countries where the holiday is observed, but with one notable exception: the Israeli occupation. Photographer Sanne Winderickx documents the Eid al-Adha holiday under occupation in the West Bank. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11641.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29 Racism and Discrimination ‘Washington Post’ columnist describes bald racism behind Israeli security, Philip Weiss I keep saying that if our journalists only described conditions in Israel and Palestine honestly, Americans would rise up. But they don't. Which makes all the more refreshing Joel Dreyfuss's piece at the Washington Post, explaining why a multiethnic society would not wish to emulate Israel's security methods at airports. At a time when many mainstream journalists are piping the line that Israel does it right, Dreyfuss recalls a trip to Israel five years ago. Dreyfuss, please go back and visit the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Negev and tell young Americans what's going down, gov't land theft carried out on a racial basis..: http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/washington-post-columnist-describes-bald-racism-behind-israeli-security.html Violence/Aggression & Detainees Israeli forces re-take Nablus during op NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Following an official hand over of military control to Palestinian Authority Security forces one week earlier, Israeli military vehicles were reported moving near the former government compound toward Joseph's Tomb.  Informed Palestinian security sources said the Israeli military had informed the appropriate officials ahead of what was described as a "security activity" in the eastern sector of Nablus, in the region of the Balata refugee camp mid-morning on Friday. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336172 Jewish settlers open random fire at Qalaqalia village A gang of Jewish settlers opened heavy fire on Palestinian homes on Wednesday in the village of Kafr Qadoum, east of Qalalia, the West Bank. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7WtNl9YQmF5iHsEC6gxG4SCgVCqxBzI0%2b0wFmWNhtqs2X%2feibkisc0mBjc6SL%2fgAQsWaCTJfWt1j9Ii5CC2jJ9MzDikMNt1bXwoaKvf%2b32Dc%3d Israel's Arab Helpers Abbas’s militia kidnap a number of pilgrims for meeting with Gaza pilgrims Abbas’s militia kidnapped Majed al-Nouri and his nephew Hazem al-Nouri one day after their return from the pilgrimage trip under the pretext that they met with pilgrims from Gaza during pilgrimage. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc Hamas: PA detains 10 supporters in latest raids BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Hamas officials in the West Bank accused the Palestinian Authority security services of detaining 10 of its supporters from three different municipal regions on Friday.  A statement released the morning after the arrests accused the PA of "continuing their campaign against Hamas supporters," naming ten affiliates from the Nablus, Tulkarem and Hebron regions who were reportedly detained overnight. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336295 Egypt seizes 14 tunnels along Gaza border AL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian forces seized 14 tunnels on the border between Egypt and Gaza on Thursday, Egyptian security sources said.  Two tunnels were seized in As-Sarsuria, where large quantities of paint and iron pipes were found, and a further 12 tunnels were found in Abu Halawa south of Salah Ad-Din, sources said. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336218 Egypt refuses entry of nine "Hope" activists The Egyptian authorities have informed organizers of the European aid convoy "Hope" that it would not allow nine of the accompanying activists to enter Egypt en route to deliver the aid to Gaza. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b Political Developments   U.S. efforts to restart Mideast peace process stumbling JERUSALEM, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two months after the direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations broke down, effort by the U. S. to restart them seems stumbling.  When Israel's 10-month freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank ended in September, so did the U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the two parties. The Palestinians insist that the negotiations can only be continued after settlement construction halts. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-11/26/c_13622717.htm Yediot’s defense analyst on the looming US-Israel ’security catastrophe’, Didi Remez Alex Fishman is Yediot’s veteran defense analyst. Besides providing a detailed post-mortem of the latest fiasco in US-Israeli diplomacy, he makes a very blunt allegation: Netanyahu is selling out the IDF’s self-defined strategic interests and the good will of the US administration in order to buy political time.  In the economic jargon that Netanyahu loves to use, this would be called paying for recurrent expenditures with the proceeds from the sale of national assets. http://coteret.com/2010/11/26/yediot%e2%80%99s-defense-analyst-on-the-looming-us-israel-%e2%80%99security-catastrophe%e2%80%99/ Haniyeh, leftists stress need for unity GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh met with a senior leftist leader in Gaza City on Tuesday, to discuss the latest on the reconciliation efforts between rival parties Hamas and Fatah.  Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine official Salih Zeidan was invited to meet with Haniyeh, who said in a statement following the discussion, that reconciliation efforts were being held up by Fatah. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=335706 Egypt denies rumors that Dahlan is persona non grata CAIRO (Ma'an) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied news reports Thursday alleging ministry officials had informed Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan that he is persona non grata in the country.  Sources in the ministry said in a statement that “the Egyptian government is standing by the side of the Palestinians and their cause to reach just solutions that will end division among them." http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=336128 Other News Despite Netanyahu's promises, battered Israeli women find no relief Of the NIS 5 million the PM pledged, NIS 2 million was to be given as grants to women leaving shelters, enabling them to rent an apartment and finance other initial expenses. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/despite-netanyahu-s-promises-battered-israeli-women-find-no-relief-1.326625?localLinksEnabled=false Culture 'My political party is my poem',   An evening with Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti In today's fast-paced culture poetry readings can seem a little old-fashioned. But the faithful fans of Mourid Barghouti who recently gathered in Doha, Qatar, to hear the Palestinian poet were treated to an evening that was anything but quaint. The author holds a unique position in the Palestinian diaspora. His book, I saw Ramallah, is a seminal work. First published in Arabic in 1997, it has since been translated into many different languages and won him global acclaim. It is in turns warm and touching, funny and politically charged. The Palestinian intellectual Edward Said described it as "one of the finest existential accounts of Palestinian displacement we now have". http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2010/11/2010112616465725613.html Mourid Barghouti poetry reading Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti gives a reading. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Dgg3CceK4&feature=youtube_gdata Analysis/Op-ed Akiva Eldar / Referendum bill uses public as peace deal rubber stamp Knesset approves bill mandating referendum before decision to withdraw from Israeli territory, but does not enable appeal against decision to reject a peace agreement. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/akiva-eldar-referendum-bill-uses-public-as-peace-deal-rubber-stamp-1.326858?localLinksEnabled=false The Palestinian right of return is not for the US, Israel, or Israel’s supporters, to bargain away, Nima Shirazi When discussing possible solutions to the current Israeli/Palestinian impasse during a recent panel discussion entitled "Jewish Perspectives on the Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions Movement," participant Gil Kulick suggested a return to the proposals of the 2000 Clinton Parameters, the 2002 Nusseibeh-Ayalon agreement, and the 2003 Geneva Accords. This would effectively declare the Nakba a Zionist fait accompli and force us to pretend that a wholly demilitarized Palestinian state - existing on 42% of the 80% of the 22% of 100% of their original homeland - is a viable expression of nationhood.  In terms of Israel's actual legal obligations regarding the Palestinian right of return, Kulick said this: "The right of return will have to be exercised within the Palestinian state…and I think everyone understands that." http://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/the-palestinian-right-of-return-is-not-for-the-us-israel-or-israels-supporters-to-bargain-away.html Should Palestine Declare Statehood?, Palestine Monitor It would not be the first time. In 1988, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) unilaterally declared independence in Algeria. Other than an upgrade of the PLO's 1974-acquired observer status though, the Algiers declaration did not have much effect. As dozens of countries - but none of the main Western players - endorsed the declaration, the occupation and the settlement-building went on, and Israel retained main control over the land, the resources and the population. http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1627 There is no "Talibanization" of Gaza To accuse Hamas of marketing fundamentalism and extremism in the Gaza Strip is false and inaccurate. There is no "Talibanization" of Gaza. Such a claim is based on Israeli propaganda and the deliberately distorted accounts of those in Gaza who are politically and ideologically opposed to the government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Ahmed Yousef, Deputy of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comments for The Electronic Intifada. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11639.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29 No Palestinian State without Gaza, Ahmad Yousef - Gaza To accuse Hamas of marketing fundamentalism and extremism in the Gaza Strip is false and inaccurate. There is no "Talibanization" of the Gaza. Such a claim is based on Israeli propaganda and the deliberately distorted accounts of those in Gaza who are politically and ideologically opposed to the government of Ismail Haniya. It is true that some individuals in the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs have acted in an overzealous or misguided manner driven by their own concern to preserve what they see as the culture of the community but their actions were not done so on the basis of any governmental decision or a ministerial policy. In fact on a number of occasions the government directly intervened to reverse their misguided actions. http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16441 America's Latest $3 Billion Bribe to Israel The danger in this latest American bribe is that it comes not as a reward for progress in talks, but as an incentive to the Netanyahu government to agree to stop carrying out actions that are considered illegal by the entire international community, including the US. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/americas-latest-3-billion_b_788334.html Isabel Kershner is outraged 1) Israeli leaders, scholars, and journalists belittle or downplay or disregard Muslim and Christian feelings about Jerusalem on regular basis and that does not produce outrage in the articles of the New York Times.  One lone PA guy (in the collaborationist government set up by Israel) writes one article on a website, and the whole world has to know about it.  It becomes major news story.  2)  Kershner said:  "About 200,000 Jews live in areas of East Jerusalem that have been developed since 1967..." Is "developed" another word for occupied now? 3)  Why no article about the Wailing Wall talks about how the Zionist occupation forces destroyed an entire quarter (the Moroccan residential quarter) to make room for more worshipers at the Wall? http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/isabel-kershner-is-outraged.html What the Oslo Accords were about, from the mouths of babes. Literally, Didi Remez In the second episode, broadcast Tuesday evening, the girls are quizzed in the Channel Ten TV News studio on the Israeli-Arab conflict by high-brow interviewer Yaron London and mythical Palestinian affairs reporter Yoram Binur. Most of the section is heart breaking. At one point, however, viewers are treated to a dose of honest wisdom that would never be broadcast on a “serious” venue [watch the entire episode here; the passage translated below starts at 48:14]. http://coteret.com/2010/11/25/what-the-oslo-accords-were-about-from-the-mouths-of-babes-literally/ Exposing Israel's Fraudulent Third Periodic Report to the UN, Steven Lendman On October 18, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights offered an "Alternative Report" response to Israel's submission, sent to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).  Submitting to the UN, Aharon Leshno Yaar, Israel's Permanent Representative to Geneva said "Israel was proud of its long-lasting recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family," omitting to explain he means only Jews, no others, especially Muslims. State belligerence for over six decades proves it. PCHR reviewed recent facts, documenting them in its report. Previous articles discussed them it detail, but they bear repeating. By so doing, peace and self-determination for a beleaguered people may come sooner. http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/11/exposing-israels-fraudulent-third.html the future of Fayyadism, Max Ajl The apartheid metaphor is fine for polemical purposes. For analytical ends, it is problematic. The central issue is that of labor dependency. Israel long ago replaced Gaza-as-bedroom-community with near-slaves from the Philippines and other Asian countries, and does not rely on West Bank-based Palestinian labor. In contrast, South Africa was vitally dependent on black labor from the Bantustans. So what’s the plan for economic growth in the West Bank (As always, forget Gaza)? A recent essay by Sam Bahour in the Middle East Research and Information Project lays out the economic trajectory of Fayyadism. At best, these economic development programs are composed of industrial zones which “promise menial labor-intensive jobs to Palestinians who are extremely reliant on donor funds to maintain their livelihoods,” meant to shift over to a system based on foreign-capital inflows like the aid-based development model currently prevalent in the West Bank. The forthcoming programs are slightly different in that they “require Palestinians to sell their labor for the benefit of those commercial entities established in the industrial zones, which will depend on Israeli good will to succeed.” http://www.maxajl.com/?p=4483&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+http%2Fwwwmaxajlcom%2Ffeedrss2+%28Jewbonics%29 Amira Hass Eqbal Ahmad Memorial Lecture The brave and gifted Israeli journalist Amira Hass, daughter of Nazi Holocaust survivors and a past resident of Gaza (she authored a book about Gaza in 2000), was a featured lecturer at this year’s Eqbal Ahmad Memorial hosted by Hampshire College. http://pulsemedia.org/2010/11/24/amira-hass-eqbal-ahmad-memorial-lecture/ Everyday heroes: filmmaker Dahna Abourahme interviewed Filmmaker Dahna Abourahme's latest film focuses on the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein al-Hilwe in south Lebanon, and on the women in particular as they reminisce about their roles during the Israeli attack on the camp in 1982-1984. Amany Al-Sayyed interviews for The Electronic Intifada. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11636.shtml?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+electronicIntifadaPalestine+%28Electronic+Intifada+%3A+Palestine+News%29 "Racists and Hypocrites When it Comes to Palestinians" Some stinging remarks about U.S. professors and Palestine from University of Illinois law school professor Francis Boyle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wtE9wd1uU&feature=player_embedded After the Elections: U.S. policy, Israel and Gaza - A conversation with Congressman Brian Baird November 18, 2010 -- Listen to this extraordinary conversation with Congressman Brian Baird on "After the Elections: U.S. Policy, Israel and Gaza." Congressman Baird is the congressman of Rachel Corrie and has traveled to Gaza on four separate occasions.  In this remarkable interview he discusses why he became so involved in the issue of Gaza and his experience in Congress. He reflects on U.S. policy in the Middle East and discusses what he thinks the U.S. should do to protect our security, the security of Israel and justice for the Palestinians. Listen here. http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/after-elections-us-policy-israel-and.html More reasons for U.S. foreign policy foolishness, Stephen M. Walt The writer who pens the "Democracy in America" blog at The Economist has taken mild issue with my post from earlier this week on the negative consequences of America's extraordinarily secure international position. It's a thoughtful comment and well worth reading. http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/24/more_reasons_for_us_foreign_policy_foolishness Robert Fisk: Oceans of blood and profits for the mongers of war Since there are now three conflicts in the greater Middle East; Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel/"Palestine" and maybe another Lebanese war in the offing, it might be a good idea to take a look at the cost of war. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-oceans-of-blood-and-profits-for-the-mongers-of-war-2145037.html Is America on the path to 'permanent war'? Bacevich says the notion that the U.S. military has to stay in Afghanistan to deny al Qaeda a sanctuary doesn't "pass the laugh test." http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/23/war.afghan/index.html When a Saudi propaganda rag attacks Counterpunch, As'ad Abukhalil This is rather a classic definition of irony: a Saudi propaganda rag (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat--the mouthpiece of lousy Prince Salman) labels Counterpunch as example of "yellow journalism".  For Saudi rags to label a newsite or news outlet "yellow journalism" is like Muhammad Dahlan labeling somebody as "collaborator", or is like Sa`d Hariri calling someone "dumb" or like Saudi King calling someone incompetent and inarticulate.  What irony.  In the past, the folks at Counterpunch got mad at me because I did expose that an alleged interview with Hasan Nasrallah was in fact a hoax.  They got mad at me when I in fact was keen on protecting their credibility.  I am a fan of Counterpunch and it has my support although they may sometimes publish what I may deem as unreliable. The pieces on Lebanon by Franklin Lamb (which are peddled by pro-Iranian media in the Middle East) are very unreliable and he has proven consistently to be wrong in his assessments and predictions.  His last piece attributing stuff to Jeffrey Feltman is clearly--in my mind at least made up.  Most importantly, Walid Jumblat who was a witness--according to the account of Lamb--just denied that story categorically.  The language used in the alleged conversation does not sound like one to be used by a US official--as much as I detest the Zionist Feltman. [end] http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-saudi-propaganda-rag-attacks.html Lebanon Lebanon's bedouin still denied citizenship FAOUR: Hiam Abu Ragheb has big dreams for her 19-month-old triplets despite being a bedouin without papers in Lebanon. Her sons will be doctors - Bahaa a gynaecologist and Saad a surgeon - and her daughter Nazek will be a lawyer or journalist. But little Bahaa, Saad and Nazek, namesakes of members of Lebanon's Hariri dynasty might not even make it through school. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=121836 Israel's Ghajar proposal 'fake withdrawal' - Berri BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Friday recent Israeli moves in the direction of a withdrawal from the village of Ghajar represented a masked occupation of Lebanese territories, given that the Lebanese Army was still prevented from deploying in the village. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=121920 The Washington Post on Hariri: or when Jenine Zacharia sees the Hariri light This piece on Hariri in the Washington Post by Jenine Zacharia suffers from the same problems that other articles on the Middle East in mainstream US press suffer from. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/washington-post-on-hariri-or-when.html Iraq Friday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded At least three Iraqis were killed and nine more were wounded in light violence. Both Iranian refugees at Camp Ashraf and Iraqi journalists throughout the country have long maintained they are the targets of illegal harassment under the Maliki government. Two significant stories that were published today appear to support their allegations. European lawmakers are asking the United States and United Nations to help the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (Mujahedeen-e-Khalq). http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/26/friday-3-iraqis-killed-9-wounded/ Thursday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 30 Wounded At least six Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in violence that mostly occurred in the north. Also, Nouri al-Maliki was formally tasked with forming the next government as its prime minister today. http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/25/thursday-6-iraqis-killed-28-wounded/ Iraq blast wounds 3 children An explosion in Abu Ajeil village, southeastern Tikrit, near the house of Mahmoud Ali Issa wounded his three children. Another blast on Thursday night killed an Interior Minister Major due to a bomb stuck to his car in Al Basatin District in Al Shaab region. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-56859-Iraq-blast-wounds-3-children.html Iraqi soldiers suffer from poisoning in camps 12 Iraqi soldiers suffer from poisoning in Al Mostaqbal camp at Baghdad International Airport without knowing the reasons thereof, an informed police source reported. Soldiers were transported to Al Yarmouk Hospital for treatment, the source said. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-56820-Iraqi-soldiers-suffer-from-poisoning-in-camps.html Nineveh Christian families allowed to possess protection arms Nineveh Governor Athil Al Nujaifi announced in a joint press conference with deputy US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Johns that the Iraqi Government decided to grant every Christian family in Nineveh an official permission to possess one piece of arm for protection. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-56825-Nineveh-Christian-families-allowed-to-possess-protection-arms.html Cairo-based TV in church siege row ends Iraq operations (AFP) AFP - Cairo-based satellite TV channel Al-Baghdadiya said Friday it had shut its Iraq operations, weeks after its broadcasts were cut for airing demands of militants who took Christians hostage in a church. http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101126/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestmediareligionchristian Iraq weapon factories turn peaceful In Iraq, dozens of factories which were involved in military industries have realigned their production for peaceful purposes by the orders of the post-invasion US Administrator Paul Bremer. What was once a place for making cluster bomb components is now churning out plumbing pipes and gas fittings. Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports on the turnaround. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXTybbvlO-o&feature=youtube_gdata Sadr sees star rise again in Iraq The radical Shiite cleric's move to support Prime Minister Maliki's bid for a second term has reaped him a political windfall, netting key posts and release from jail for his supporters.  Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr, whose feared militia was crushed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki two years ago, has leveraged support for his former enemy's government into renewed influence over the country's security forces, governors' offices and even its prisons. http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/GoR7WwVJVEY/la-fg-iraq-sadr-20101125,0,1708589.story European Parliament urges Iraq to drop Aziz death sentence The European Parliament urged Iraq on Thursday to drop a death sentence against Tareq Aziz, warning that killing him would “do little to improve the climate of violence.” http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-56857-European-Parliament-urges-Iraq-to-drop-Aziz-death-sentence.html Head-bangers in Baghdad sing of war-torn lives On a makeshift stage in a neglected wedding hall, Ahmed Salhi and his heavy-metal bandmates swigged vodka and screamed into their microphones, even though it was still midafternoon. http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=25ea77c7a21277af71beac58ae769a97 U.S. & Other World News New leaks may harm Pakistan, warns US The United States is reported to have warned Pakistan that it tops a list of countries that may be affected by a leak of secret documents by a whistleblowers’ website. US officials warned that the documents may also contain “unpleasant facts” about US policies in the Pak-Afghan region. http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/new-leaks-may-harm-pakistan,-warns-us-610 WikiLeaks may show US has helped terrorist group Several of the documents set to be published by WikiLeaks this weekend are believed to show the US has been helping Turkey's Kurdish separatist movement the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party. - The documents also say US forces in Iraq have given weapons to the PKK. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-may-show-us-has-helped-terrorist-group-20101126-18avu.html?from=smh_sb US envoys forced to apologise in advance as Wikileaks release looms Frantic behind the scenes wrangling was under way last night as US officials tried to stem the fallout from the expected release of up to three million confidential diplomatic communiques by the Wikileaks website. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/us-envoys-forced-to-apologise-in-advance-as-wikileaks-release-looms-2144993.html Classified Papers Prove German Warnings to Bush It indicates steps by the German government to prevent the war and undermines claims in George W. Bush's memoir that Gerhard Schröder indicated he would support the president should the US go to war. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,730979,00.html The Tea Party and Israel I don't believe this article one bit.  I think that the Tea Party will come around and support Israel and aid to Israel in the same vehemence like the Republican Party leadership.  Remember: Marco Rubio flew to Israel days after his election victory. http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/tea-party-and-israel.html Islam in Tennessee: or the danger of one mosque (or the expansion of an existing mosque) "So perhaps it should not have come as a surprise that three Rutherford County residents filed a lawsuit in September to block construction of the mosque. The plaintiffs believe that they “have been and will be irreparably harmed by the risk of terrorism generated by proselytising for Islam and inciting the practices of sharia law,” which, they claim, “advocates sexual abuse of children, beating and physical abuse of women, death edicts, honour killings, killing of homosexuals, outright lies to Kafirs (those who don’t submit to sharia law), Constitution-free zones, and total world dominion.” Of course, Murfreesboro has had a mosque for decades, and does not seem infested with “Constitution-free zones”; quite how moving to a bigger building in a different location intensifies the risk remains unclear.  The defence called a single witness, who testified that the county’s planning commission followed proper procedure; the plaintiffs called at least 17, including Frank Gaffney, who runs a think-tank in Washington, DC, and speaks often about the dangers of sharia (for whatever that is worth: on the stand he admitted, “I am not an expert on sharia, but I have talked a lot about it as a threat”). Their attorney’s questioning often focused not on the details of open-meetings laws but on the incompatibility of sharia and American law, on whether Islam is a religion (the federal government filed a brief saying that it is) and on whether advocating sharia law ought to be protected by the first amendment."  http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/islam-in-tennessee-or-danger-of-one.html Bolivia rejects US warning on Iran ties "Nobody will stop me" from negotiating with any country, Morales said at the opening of a biannual conference of regional defense ministers attended by Gates. "Bolivia, under my leadership, will have agreements and alliances with everyone," the leftist leader added. http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/11/24/wld03.asp Election troubles in Alexandria Egyptian courts have ordered the cancellation of Sunday's parliamentary election in 24 districts in the city of Alexandria. This is after the government ignored orders to reinstate opposition and independent candidates. The Muslim Brotherhood is competing for a third of Egypt's parliamentary seats and was founded in Alexandria - but has officially been banned in Egypt for over half a century. The Brotherhood has built its support by providing an alternative welfare system, and the ban adds to its appeal. But critics say its main goal is the same as that of all other parties -- to win power. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from Alexandria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8d7wnuYwPI&feature=youtube_gdata Muslim Brotherhood rally Thousands turn up at a Muslim Brotherhood rally in the northern city of Damanhour. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWmas3OWMpA&feature=youtube_gdata Young Egyptians campaign for change Egyptians will vote in parliamentary election on Sunday, but rights groups say the vote will be neither free nor fair. There have been a series of government crackdowns against the media and opposition supporters ahead of the poll. Despite resistance from the government, young Egyptians are beginning to agitate for change. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland has the story in Alexandria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWmas3OWMpA&feature=youtube_gdata Robert Fisk: The man who dares to take on Egypt's brutal regime Ayman Nour touches his sideburns, just a shade grey beneath his black hair: not bad for a 45-year old, but not up to the standard of the absolutely uncompromisingly jet black hair of 82-year-old Egyptian President Hosni Moubarak, whose job – in theory at least – Dr Nour would like. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-man-who-dares-to-take-on-egypts-brutal-regime-2142973.html Egyptian Facebook user faces five years in jail for posts Amnesty International today called on the Egyptian authorities to stop the trial in a military court of a Facebook user facing up to five years in prison after he published public information on Egypt’s military service.  Amnesty International today called on the Egyptian authorities to stop the trial in a military court of a Facebook user facing up to five years in prison after he published public information on Egypt’s military service. Ahmed Hassan Bassyouni, 30, appeared before a military court Tuesday 24 November charged with revealing military secrets, for establishing a Facebook group on carrying out military service and answering questions on the military without permission. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egyptian-facebook-user-faces-five-years-jail-posts-2010-11-26 Inside Story - Egypt's growing sectarian tensions One protester has been killed and dozens injured in clashes between Egyptian police and Coptic Christians over the construction of a new church. How might these growing sectarian tensions impact the upcoming elections? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U_yvNObd1o&feature=youtube_gdata Kuwait urged to release blogger who criticized Prime Minister Journalist and lawyer Muhammad 'Abd al-Qader al-Jasem was sentenced to one year in prison this week after he was convicted of criminal defamation.  Amnesty International has urged the Kuwaiti authorities to release a blogger who was sentenced to one year in prison this week, on charges relating to an article he wrote on his blog criticizing the country's Prime Minister.  A criminal court in the capital, Kuwait City, sentenced the journalist and lawyer Muhammad 'Abd al-Qader al-Jasem on Monday after he was convicted of criminal defamation in a case filed against him by the Prime Minister, Shaikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/kuwait-urged-release-blogger-who-criticized-prime-minister-2010-11-26 Western Sahara: Beatings, Abuse by Moroccan Security Forces (New York) - Moroccan security forces repeatedly beat and abused people they detained following disturbances on November 8, 2010, in the Western Sahara capital city of El-Ayoun, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces also directly attacked civilians, a Human Rights Watch investigation showed. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/11/26/western-sahara-beatings-abuse-moroccan-security-forces Women of Saudi Arabia Emerge on the Bosporus A creative movement based in London and Jidda has organized an exhibition in Istanbul of works from 22 Saudi artists that touch on faith, culture and identity. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/arts/25iht-M25CART.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Bahrain names Jewish woman to parliament King Hamad appoints Nancy Khadhori after fellow Jew, Huda Nono, leaves house to take role of country's US ambassador. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3990184,00.html  www.TheHeadlines.org Comment on this article > JNF embarks on NY gaywashing Nov 28, 2010 10:41 am | Philip Weiss A couple weeks back the Arava Institute for ecology in Israel did a feel-good-we-can-all-get-along online event featuring Pete Seeger, the American icon. The Arava Institute is partnered with the Jewish National Fund, which controls a lot of land in Israel and discriminates against would-be residents who aren't Jewish. Let's not forget that we got rid of such discriminatory covenants in American real estate a long time ago; and the NYT said that his residual anger over anti-Jewish covenants 50 years on played a role in Mayor Bloomberg's heroic stance on the Islamic center in downtown Manhattan. Well, Palestinians have to live with this discrimination every day, and they hate it.  Also, the JNF has spearheaded the repeated demolition of a Bedouin village in the Negev, making the desert bloom for Jews. Now JNF has another idea of messaging to liberal Americans; they're reaching out to gay people, featuring Israel's proud record on gay rights to cover racial discrimination. Ali Abunimah calls these efforts "greenwashing" and "gaywashing." A wine and cheese in New York on December 9 will celebrate JNF's new LGBT committee. Spaces are going fast, they say; you can meet Israel's consul-general in New York, a former leader of Israel's branding campaign. The event will be at the law office of Jordana Gutman-- who is also hooked up with a neoconservative campaign to show that Muslims turn their children into suicide bombers for reasons that have nothing to do with occupation. I'm reminded that in his debate with Noam Sheizaf on Israel's image, former Israeli consul for media, David Saranga, kept emphasizing the LGBT angle. Here's the JNF release: JNF launches gay membership group: Early next month, the Jewish National Fund will open a new chapter in its fund-raising history by reaching out specifically to gay New Yorkers. The century-old organization, which is most famous for foresting Israel, and which has become more involved in recent years in environmentalism and water issues, has started an affinity member group out of its New York office aimed at the LGBT community. The new group will hold its first event Dec. 9 at a private law office, featuring an intimate talk and a wine-and-cheese ceremony with Israel’s acting consul general in New York, Ido Aharoni. Chaired by real-estate lawyer Jordana Gutman, the new JNF committee is seeking to raise $15,000 to cover a scholarship for a member of the LGBT community to attend the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, which brings together Jewish and Arab college students to work on the region’s environmental challenges. “The goal is to provide a gateway for the LGBT community into JNF and to provide targeted programming,” Shira Berenson, the JNF staff member overseeing the new committee, told The Fundermentalist. “The board is really excited about this. We think it is really incredible and we are embracing this new committee. JNF is for Israel for everyone.” Gutman, who had not previously been involved in JNF, said she hopes the initiative will lead to more inclusion for the gay community. While JNF and other organizations have not necessarily been exclusionary, she added, the social settings they present are primarily for heterosexuals, which can lead to a feeling of exclusion for members of the gay community. “For such an old, established institution to be moving toward being so open of alternative lifestyles is nice,” she said. “It sends a positive message.”   Comment on this article > Your donation to Mondoweiss ensures we will continue to cover the most important issues surrounding Israel/Palestine and US foreign policy. Please donate today.   Follow Mondoweiss on Twitter and Facebook   Upcoming Events Thurs, November 11 Church of Gethsemane 1012 Eighth Avenue (bet 10th St. & 11th St.) Brooklyn NY Jewish Perspectives on the BDS Movement A respectful dialogue on BDS—whether you already have a position on it or you want to clarify for yourself the complex issues it raises.  This event will provide an opportunity to hear from people who disagree about whether BDS is an appropriate and effective strategy.     You are receiving this email because you signed up for it on our website Mondoweiss.net. Unsubscribe RePorterNoteBook@Gmail.com from this list. Our mailing address is: Mondoweiss c/o The Nation Institute 116 East 16th Street, 8th Floor New York, New York 10003 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2010 Mondoweiss All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

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Being happy–is it good for the Jews? “Before Professor Dershowitz accused me of being an anti-Semite (news to me), I was a happy person. Since then, I’m still a happy person”. –Michael Santomauro

An antisemite condemns people for being Jews, I am not an antisemite.--Michael Santomauro

Most of us are mentally trapped to think Jewish. Actually, it is safe to say that virtually every mainstream publication or or other type of media organ is "nothing more than a screen to present chosen views." The great battle over the last century has been a battle for the mind of the Western peoples, i.e., non-Jewish Euros. The chosen won it by acquiring control over essentially the complete mainstream news, information, education and entertainment media of every type, and using that control to infuse and disseminate their message, agenda and worldview, their way of thinking, or rather the way they want us to think. Since at least the 1960s this campaign has been effectively complete. Since then they have shaped and controlled the minds of all but a seeming few of us in varying degree with almost no opposition or competition from any alternative worldview. So now most of us are mentally trapped in the box the chosen have made for us, which we have lived in all our lives. Only a few have managed to avoid it or escape it, or to even sometimes see outside of it, and so actually "think outside of the (Jewish) box." --Michael Santomauro

Thank you and remember: 

Peace is patriotic!

Michael Santomauro

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