Well this is a good thing, Obama better corral the murdering Zionist Israelis, otherwise there won'e be any Iranians left. Israel's greatest dream, wipe out all Arabs and own the entire Middle East.
TEHRAN, April 2 (UPI) -- Iran is a nation that seeks peace and constructive dialogue, the Iranian president said amid a thawing diplomatic climate.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck a conciliatory tone on the heels of a major conference on Afghanistan that saw U.S. and Iranian officials embracing common themes.
"The Iranian nation is a peace-loving, civilized one which sponsors talks, logic, justice and forbearance," Ahmadinejad said in statements published by Press TV.
British officials have softened their position on the controversial Iranian nuclear program, opening the door for possible diplomatic engagement.
Washington, for its part, has unveiled a sweeping policy of engagement following years of isolation under George W. Bush. U.S. President Barack Obama offered a warm message to the Iranian people on the occasion of the Iranian new year, while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has offered Iran a seat at the table for talks on Afghanistan.
Ahmadinejad said his nation wants to pursue a "peaceful" and "rational dialogue" with the West amid the climate of engagement, Press TV reports.
The relationship between the Islamic republic and Western nations is historically acrimonious. Apart from its proxies in Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran faces increasing pressure to abandon its controversial nuclear program. SOURCE
Zionism is the cancer eating away at Israel and I believe that ultimately it will cause the self destruction of the State of Israel. The following is an excellent article written by Ben Ehrenreich, a Jew, who writes on the subject of Zionism. He says that Zionism is the root problem of Israel today. That Zionism is the cause of conflict in the Middle East. A personal story and an important story. I commend this man for the courage to write this as judging from the comments in the comment section of the article; he is taking a beating from fellow Jews who are Zionists. Feel free to head over after reading and leave a positive comment for this man who has spoken out. Story below:
The Zionist ideal of a Jewish state is keeping Israelis and Palestinians from living in peace
It's hard to imagine now, but in 1944, six years after Kristallnacht, Lessing J. Rosenwald, president of the American Council for Judaism, felt comfortable equating the Zionist ideal of Jewish statehood with "the concept of a racial state -- the Hitlerian concept." For most of the last century, a principled opposition to Zionism was a mainstream stance within American Judaism.
Even after the foundation of Israel, anti-Zionism was not a particularly heretical position. Assimilated Reform Jews like Rosenwald believed that Judaism should remain a matter of religious rather than political allegiance; the ultra-Orthodox saw Jewish statehood as an impious attempt to "push the hand of God"; and Marxist Jews -- my grandparents among them -- tended to see Zionism (and all nationalisms) as a distraction from the more essential struggle between classes.
To be Jewish, I was raised to believe, meant understanding oneself as a member of a tribe that over and over had been cast out, mistreated, slaughtered. Millennia of oppression that preceded it did not entitle us to a homeland or a right to self-defense that superseded anyone else's. If they offered us anything exceptional, it was a perspective on oppression and an obligation born of the prophetic tradition: to act on behalf of the oppressed and to cry out at the oppressor.
For the past several decades, though, it has been all but impossible to cry out against the Israeli state without being smeared as an anti-Semite, or worse. To question not just Israel's actions, but the Zionist tenets on which the state is founded, has for too long been regarded an almost unspeakable blasphemy.
Yet it is no longer possible to believe with an honest conscience that the deplorable conditions in which Palestinians live and die in Gaza and the West Bank come as the result of specific policies, leaders or parties on either side of the impasse. The problem is fundamental: Founding a modern state on a single ethnic or religious identity in a territory that is ethnically and religiously diverse leads inexorably either to politics of exclusion (think of the 139-square-mile prison camp that Gaza has become) or to wholesale ethnic cleansing.
Put simply, the problem is Zionism.
Buber, Hannah Arendt and Gershom Scholem -- argued for a secular, binational state in Palestine in which Jews and Arabs would be accorded equal status. Their concerns were both moral and pragmatic. The establishment of a Jewish state, Buber feared, would mean "premeditated national suicide."
The fate Buber foresaw is upon us: a nation that has lived in a state of war for decades; a quarter-million Arab citizens with second-class status; and more than 5 million Palestinians deprived of the most basic political and human rights. If two decades ago comparisons to the South African apartheid system felt like hyperbole, they now feel charitable. The white South African regime, for all its crimes, never attacked the Bantustans with anything like the destructive power Israel visited on Gaza in December and January, when nearly 1,300 Palestinians were killed, one-third of them children.
Israeli policies have rendered the once apparently inevitable two-state solution less and less feasible. Years of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have methodically diminished the viability of a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, the characterization of anti-Zionism as an "epidemic" more dangerous than anti-Semitism reveals only the unsustainability of the position into which Israel's apologists have been forced. Faced with international condemnation, they seek to limit the discourse, to erect walls that delineate what can and can't be said. It's not working. Opposing Zionism is neither anti-Semitic nor particularly radical. It requires only that we take our own values seriously and no longer, as the book of Amos has it, "turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground."
Establishing a secular, pluralist, democratic government in Israel and Palestine would, of course, mean the abandonment of the Zionist dream. It might also mean the only salvation for the Jewish ideals of justice that date back to Jeremiah. Full Article HERE
You just couldn’t make this stuff up. Forget Obama and Clinton, forget Fatah and Hamas. Homer’s got it in the bag. Yes, Homer to save the world and bring peace to the Middle East, no really, not kidding, it says so here so it must be true:
Homer Simpson could be the answer to world peace, according to the show's executive producer.
Al Jean, who has helmed The Simpsons since 2001, said the dysfunctional cartoon family's next venture would be to the Middle East.
"I think we're going to do one next year where they go to the Holy Land as we haven't been there yet. The premise will be that the Christians, the Jews and Muslims are united in that they all get mad at Homer. It's the only thing they can agree on," he said.
The family has travelled to countries such as Brazil, France and Australia, and their latest venture is set in Ireland.
Al said he wasn't worried about the reception of the episode In The Name Of The Grandfather, which features yuppie Leprechauns and claims Guinness is made from chocolate syrup and bog water.
Chocolate syrup and Bog Water??? Them's fightin words Homer!
Ever feel like you’re being shunned? Ever feel like you are invisible? Ever feel like you weren't told about the secret handshake? Ever feel like you weren't invited to the party?
Well that’s exactly what Israel’s Chief of Staff feels like after coming to America. It looks like the bloom is off the rose for Israel, it’s about time. Obama may actually earn my respect one day if he keeps putting Israel in it’s place, e.g. out of American politics.
Here ya go, well worth a read, and try not to laugh too hard:)
Israel's visiting chief of staff finds doors closed in Obama's Washington
WASHINGTON — Last year, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi had no problem setting up meetings with top officials in the U.S. government.
On his current trip to Washington, Ashkenazi sought to meet the administration of President Barack Obama, but most officials were unavailable.
Diplomatic sources said Ashkenazi failed to obtain access to any Cabinet member, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The Israeli military chief, who sought to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat, won't even meet his counterpart, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran," a diplomat who has been following U.S.-Israel relations said.
On March 12, Ashkenazi left for a five-day visit to the United States meant to lobby the Obama administration to abandon the planned U.S. dialogue with Iran. Ashkenazi, scheduled to meet with the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, (AIPAC the cancer in American Politics!!!!)was expected to have brought new Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear weapons and missile programs.
But the diplomatic sources said the administration made it clear that nobody in a policy-making position was available to sit with Ashkenazi.(are you laughing yet???) This included the president, Vice President Joseph Biden, Gates, National Intelligence director Dennis Blair or Mullen.
"The Obama administration believes that Israel is as much or more of a problem as it is an ally, at least until Israel's disagreements with its neighbors are resolved," former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said. Bolton envisioned that the White House would pressure Israel to legitimize Hamas and Hizbullah. At the same time, he said, Obama would continue to woo Iran.
Already, economic and diplomatic advisers to Obama have urged the president to launch a U.S. dialogue with Hamas. The US/Middle East Project, which includes such Obama supporters as former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Hagel, was said to have elicited a promise from Obama to listen to any proposals made by Hamas.
The diplomatic sources said the White House and the senior echelon of the Obama administration have refused a dialogue with Israel on the Iranian threat. (THANK GOD FOR THAT!!) They said Ms. Clinton, during her visit to Israel, was largely silent during briefings by Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
"The Israeli government and military have been alarmed by the rapid and dramatic reversal in the U.S. policy toward Iran," the source said. "This reversal took place without any consultation with Israel, Gulf Arab countries or even Congress." (Ok you must be laughing by now, Imagine, how dare the USA makes it’s own decisions and policy!! Without “informing Israel and getting permission. Perhaps AIPAC should have left Freeman alone, payback is a bitch!)
But Obama and his top aides appear uninterested in hearing Israel's position. The sources said a key aim of Ashkenazi was to urge the administration to release weapons and systems long sought by Israel in the area of aerial refueling, air-to-ground weapons, sensors as well as the F-22 fighter-jet.
"Ashkenazi sees this U.S. refusal as what has been undermining Israeli deterrence toward Iran and boosting the confidence of the Teheran regime," the source said. "The mullahs in regime have concluded that America has dropped the military option and won't allow such an option to Israel." (HASBARA anyone???)
You cannot exclude the democratically elected officials of the Palestinian people, and that means HAMAS. They have a electoral mandate and have every right to be included in any negotiations.
From the BBC:
Egypt seeks softer US Hamas line
Egypt's intelligence chief is visiting Washington in what officials say is a push for a more flexible US stance on Hamas, to aid Palestinian unity talks.
An unnamed US official told AFP news agency that Mr Suleiman had met US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Tuesday and might meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.
Egyptian and Palestinian officials told AP news agency that Egypt is suggesting the US would accept a commitment from Hamas to "respect" existing Palestinian agreements with Israel, rather than "commit" to them.
Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of Israel, although the group has also offered a long-term truce if Israel withdraws to its pre-5 June 1967 borders. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit is currently in Brussels for talks with officials including European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
A previous unity agreement fell apart after Israel and its international backers refused to deal with Hamas.
Egypt reopens border with Gaza for two days 1 hour ago
RAFAH, Egypt (AFP) — Egypt reopened its Rafah border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday for two days to enable students and the sick to cross, a security official told AFP.
"The border has opened for two days to allow the passage of Palestinian students and the sick who are stuck on the Egyptian side," the border official said, asking not to be named.
"Palestinian patients who finished their treatment at Egyptian hospitals and other humanitarian cases will be allowed to return back home," Egypt's official MENA news agency quoted Palestinian embassy official Mohammed Arafat as saying on Monday.
Foreign passport holders, students studying outside the Palestinian territories and humanitarian cases will also cross into Egypt, Arafat said.
US policy towards Iran shaping up The Obama administration is finalising its policy for engaging Iran.
The approach is likely to involve a combination of small steps to initiate contact between the two countries and may include an overture in the form of a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, according to Western diplomats and senior US officials.
A senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters that he expected the letter to be sent to Mr Khamenei before the Iranian elections this summer, although Washington's allies would prefer this step to be taken after the vote, to avoid influencing the election. The last time reports about a letter to Iran circulated, the White House emphatically denied it. But last week a State Department spokesman said he did not have anything to say about a letter, adding that he would not discuss the options being considered. He then referred reporters to the White House. A similar type of letter was drafted during the Bush administration but never sent.
Delicate balance US officials insist that no final decisions have been made and no announcements are expected for at least another 10 days while Dennis Ross - the top official in charge of reviewing US policy towards Iran - conducts an assessment. Even after his policy review is finalised, it is unclear how much of it will be made public. "Iran recognises that its regional influence derives in large measure from its defiance of the United States, so Iran would prefer not to publicly advertise its discussions with the United States unless or until real progress has been made," said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad will have to strike a delicate balance, where his most powerful backers are anti-American while a lot of Iranian people are favourably inclined to the US."
The engagement with Tehran started with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's public invitation to Tehran to attend a conference in the Hague on 31 March to discuss Afghanistan. The invitation was in line with what has been Mrs Clinton's general approach to diplomacy - focus on areas of overlapping concern to help foster dialogue in the build-up to tougher discussions.
This would allow the two countries, which have had little contact in 30 years, to "reacquaint themselves with each other" and slowly build trust before any substantive discussions, according to Mr Sadjadpour.
To Palestine: Rath na Raithne ort (Long may you flourish!)
You are listening to a special Irish Blessing on St Patrick's Day. The song and words are dedicated to all our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and to Palestine supporters and bloggers all around the world, (Don't worry the song is in English when it get's going *smile*) So take a few minutes and listen to the song whilst you think of Palestine today.
May we all have success and be blessed in our work to Free Palestine and bring peace and prosperity to the people of Palestine.
Beannacht Dé leat God Bless you Ban Sidhe (Irish4Palestine)
Well, I’ve seen this before. Irish Republicans will recognise this tactic very well. Renounce violence and come into politics. The USA really is modelling the ME peace process after the NI peace process to quite a degree so far I must say. Hamas needs to make sure they don’t allow FATAH to give everything away and control all the negotiations. We faced much the same here when the US and England attempted to make deals with the soft Nationalist party the SDLP, our version of FATAH. Not until they learned the hard way, after many more ended ceasefires by the IRA, that they had to talk to Sinn Fein, who had a huge elected mandate (Like HAMAS) Only then, did they ever get anywhere. A peace process is just that, a "process" and a very LONG process at that! Our war with England has lasted for hundreds of years, and the Peace Process only started 13 years ago after 30 years of a well targeted war by the IRA. This, after many failed attemtps, and the actual decommissioning of weapons dumps only just ended this many years later. Yet even today we still have problems, like I said, it's a process.........
Paul Volcker, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, has urged him to break with US policy and open talks with Hamas in order to test the militant group's willingness to join a unified Palestinian government.
Mr Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman who was picked by the president to head his new economic recovery advisory board, signed a letter with nine other Washington veterans and senior ex-officials urging him to open dialogue. Other signatories of the letter, delivered to the president days before he took office, include Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to the first George Bush, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, who performed the same role under Jimmy Carter. The group is expected to be granted an audience at the White House as early as this week to make their case that lines of communication should be opened with the group
They are likely to make a forceful case given their personal experience of tortuous Middle East negotiations. "I see no reason not to talk to Hamas," Mr Scowcroft told the Boston Globe. "The main gist is that you need to push hard on the Palestinian peace process. Don't move it to end of your agenda and say you have too much to do."
Mr Obama has made peace in the Middle East a central goal of his presidency. Within days of taking office he appointed former senator George Mitchell, a heavy-hitting veteran of the Northern Ireland peace process, as a special envoy to the region. Some in Washington see a rare opportunity to open talks with Hamas now that the group is discussing a unity government with Fatah, the more moderate Palestinian faction. Hamas was elected to power in Gaza in 2007 and has been shunned by the US for its refusal to renounce violence or recognize Israel's legitimacy.
Only HAMAS will know if it is the right time for political negotiations. Only HAMAS will know during any negotiations if they have enough concessions to go forward politically. In Ireland, our people have gone to Gaza and met with both ABBAS and HAMAS in an attempt for them to learn from Sinn Fein and the IRA's political strategy and negotiations. During this last visit as expected, Israel was not amused and refused to meet with Adams because Adams was talking to HAMAS. Video's below of interview with Ahmad Yousuf after meeting with Sinn Fein and another very short recent video with Adams on the Middle East conflict vs the Irish conflict.
IRISH SHIP TO GAZA WAS SABOTAGED BY ISRAEL. OUR SHIP WILL SAIL AFTER REPAIRS IN THE AUTUMN. WE SAIL UNTIL GAZA IS FREE!! PLEASE DONATE TO HELP US PAY FOR REPAIRS
