A CALL TO ACT, FREEDOM FLOTILLA 2 NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW

DO IT FOR PALESTINE, DO IT FOR IRELAND DO IT FOR FREEDOM, BUT DO IT NOW!!

The I4P writers group rarely ask for help, but we are asking all our supporters, readers and fellow blog friends for urgent help today.

As many of you are aware, Ireland took part on the last Freedom Flotilla to Gaza which came under attack from Israeli Commando Pirates and resulted in the deaths of nine Humanitarian aid workers. Several Irish people were injured,one fairly seriously.

There is another flotilla going to Gaza in early October, organised by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, they were co-organisers of the last flotilla.

You may have noticed we have been posting less on the blog lately. The reason is that several members of our blog are helping to raise money for the Irish Ship to Gaza and some friends will be going on one of the boats in the flotilla. As always, this blog will keep you up to date as the flotilla prepares to break the siege. If Ireland is to be represented on this next flotilla then we need the support of everyone sympathetic to Ireland or Palestine to help us get there.

If you can organise a fundraising event in your area of the world and donate the proceeds to our cause GREAT, we love you and hereby proclaim you as an Honorary Irishmen no matter where you live! If you can’t do fundraising or donate then please re-post this page to your own blog or website along with our wee Irish Ship to Gaza button (code below to copy and paste) so that your readers and supporters can help us. We want Ireland to help brake the siege so help us make it happen! The more boats the flotilla have, the better chance we have of ending this terrible siege.

Listen folks, the reality is that the only place the siege has NOT been broken since the invasion is by sea. Gaza’s seaport remains closed to the world and under siege by Israel. Several convoys have been successful in entering Gaza since the invasion with some aid, the most recent one just weeks ago. Since the flotilla attack on May 31st Rafah has been open more often. However, the amount of aid taken in by convoys may appear large to us, but the fact that Gaza’s population is 1.5 million means that it’s only a wee tiny drop in the bucket and really offers little long term help because it keeps Gazan’s dependant on aid from convoys, humanitarian orgs and the UN. They don’t want to live this way!!

What is needed now is to break the siege by sea, open Gaza’s seaport, so that people in Gaza can get back to work and export their goods and wares to the world, and import building supplies by cargo ships from the world. This will not only ease the humanitarian suffering but will put Gaza people back to work and help their economy become self sufficient so people there can live normal lives like the rest of the free world.

We need everyone to spread the word and help us with this. So, DO IT for Ireland, DO IT for Palestine, DO IT for FREEDOM and DO IT for an end to the Siege!


PLEASE POST THE FOLLOWING CODE INTO YOUR BLOG OR WEBSITE'S SIDEBAR, JUST COPY AND PASTE THIS CODE BELOW:

<a href="http://irishshiptogaza.org/?page_id=10" target="_blank">
<img src=" http://irishshiptogaza.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/istglogo21.jpg" width="119" height="94" border="0" alt="Irish Ship to Gaza"</a>

And Wa La, you will get this lovely wee button below complete with a link to where people can donate to help us:)




FOR BLOGGER BLOGS:For blogger, use the “add text” gadget in “design” mode, then click the top right and make sure it says “rich text” then paste the code into the box, after that go back and click the “rich text” link again and go to html mode and the button with link should appear in the box and also when you click save it will appear on your blog’s sidebar.

FOR WORDPRESS BLOGS: do a text/html widget and copy the code into it then click save.

Go on, click it, it works!! and Whilst you are there get the bank info and send a donation by cheque, wire transfer (c'mon all you rich Irish Americans out there!! Help your fellow Irishmen!), in Europe you can do a bank transfer, in Ireland cold hard cash is also accepted, or if yur in England or Ireland you can do a weekly standing order or transfer or cheque deposit!! There now that's all covered, no excuses now;-)

HELP IRELAND BREAK THE SIEGE
FREEDOM FLOTILLA 2
IRISH SHIP TO GAZA


THANK YOU!!

EXCELLENT READ ON STATUS OF GAZA

And Israel's playing loose with propaganda and words are now exposed:

link What is Gaza's legal status?

Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said Israel “confuses” occupation with colonisation

While Israel withdrew its troops and colonies from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, it has failed to convince the international community that its occupation of the tiny strip of territory has ended. Israel has vowed to stop the flotilla by any means necessary, but under what legal pretext it aims to do so is unclear.

Israel’s flags, tanks and colonists have ended their permanent presence on the strip, but Israel continues to control Gaza’s borders, airspace and territorial waters. The United Nations and the international community continue to consider the strip to be occupied by Israel, along with the West Bank and occupied Arab East Jerusalem.

And here's the million dollar question:

Why then does Israel insist that the occupation of Gaza has ended?

More:

Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said Israel “confuses” occupation with colonisation. While the colonisation of Gaza, in the form of its military and settlement presence there, ended in 2005, its occupation continues, she said.

“After it pulled out [of Gaza], the Israeli government went to the Supreme Court to get an assessment as to whether Gaza was still occupied. The court determined that Gaza was no longer occupied,” she said.

On the contrary, she said, Israel’s occupation of Gaza has intensified, as it controls every aspect of life in Gaza, including the population registry and the issuance of identity documents.

Israel however is expected to face a dilemma in legally justifying any attempt to bar the Freedom Flotilla. If Gaza was indeed liberated territory, any Israeli action in its territorial waters would be considered as having taken place in the waters of another entity.

Israel, however, has a loophole. It has designated Gaza as a “hostile entity” and has reserved the right to protect itself from it. Buttu said that that is where Israel “traps itself”.

“Territory is either occupied or it’s not. There’s no shade in between. It’s like being half-pregnant,” she said.

She stressed, however, that as an occupying power, its laws hold little credibility, saying that international law, and specifically the Fourth Geneva Convention, should be the first reference. If all else fails, Israel could cite the security provisions in the Oslo Accords with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation of 1993, under which it has certain rights in a “security perimeter”.

Buttu argued, however, that those security perimeters were clearly defined in Oslo, but violated by Israel. Not only does Israel extend its activities to further than the defined perimeter, she said, it has also extracted natural gas off Gaza’s coastline, “which belongs to Gaza”.

“The caveat under Oslo is that in 2001 Israel declared Oslo dead… So it’s not really an argument any longer. They can’t say we want to maintain the security aspects of Oslo but we’re going to keep building colonies [in the West Bank] at the same time,” she said.

ISRAEL, ABBAS AND THE FLIP-FLOP

First Israel:

link Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revealed that he has got a U.S. pledge to stop "any provocative activities" by Israel as part of Washington's efforts to resume Middle East peace talks

Now, I don't believe this for one second, but let's just use our imagination for one minute and visualise this.

So,
Israel stops all settlements,
stops passing racist apartheid laws,
stops thwarting attendance at Al Aqsa,
stops demolishing Palestinian homes,
stops using Palestinians as target practice,
stops raiding Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza,
stops arresting and interning Palestinians,
stops settlers and Zionist nutjobs from attacking Palestinians,
stops burning Palestinian land,
stops uprooting Olive trees,
stops stealing Palestinian land,
stops making excuses why Palestinians can't leave Gaza for medical treatment,
stops deporting Palestinians from the West Bank,
stops crossing into Palestine,
stops crossing into Gaza,
stops firing shells into Gaza,
stops shooting at Peaceful protesters....

Phew, that's a long list now isn't it? So this begs the question, if all that were "true" then WHAT would Israel do with all that spare time on it's hands? Find another hobby?

Now for Abbas, the man who has lost his mind. He makes a statement, then reverses it in the next sentence. Someone should get him some help. Witness the "Flip Flop"

FLIP:

"The only demand of the Palestinian side is that Israel must implement the Road Map peace plan," Abbas said, referring to a U.S. -backed plan that envisions a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel and calls for an immediate suspension of Israeli settlement activities in the area.

So this is his "precondition" Wait, not so fast...

FLOP:

He stressed that the call for abiding by the Road Map "was not a precondition."

See what I mean? He's definitely away with the fairies and should not be in any position of handling any negotiations for this very reason.

Tony Blairs Niece Visits Palestine

Eight-year-old Alexandra Darby, the niece of Quartet Envoy Tony Blair, toured the West Bank this week on a bicycle, peddling an estimated 200 kilometers from Amman to Jerusalem.

For those who do not know, Alexandra Darby is the daughter of Lauren Booth:

Lauren Booth is a half-sister of Cherie Blair and the sixth daughter of the actor Tony Booth. She is the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair. She is married to actor Craig Darby, has two children and a home in the South of France.MORE:

Asked what she will tell her school friends about the Peace Cycle journey she participated in, Alex reflected, “I’ll tell them that the people here are very nice, not like they say in the newspapers.”

The West Bank is not a usual vacation site for most eight-year-olds. But, mother, journalist and activist Lauren Booth explained, “She’s been asking me for the last five years why she can’t go to Palestine, and despite fact that the Israelis can make it bloody trying to get in and out, the greeting here I knew would be so sensational for her that I didn’t have a reason not to bring her.”

Why doesn’t Alex think other kids get to come to Palestine? “Because, of course, the telly, which says Palestinians are not like us, that they are a revolting people, a violet people, a nasty people, its mad. In fact it’s the exact opposite, it’s the Israelis.” link

Israel & Obama Have a Deal, But What?

When ever I hear of Israel “suddenly” deciding to offer a “concession” to Obama, I start to worry immediately and look for the real reason. For instance, why would Israel suddenly be publicizing that they will remove “in one day” 23 settlements? What a great sound-bite, but let’s look deeper. Firstly, it is important to note that these “settlements” are actually small horrid little outposts, like Zionist camping grounds existing on Palestinian land. They are NOT the big shiny impressive ones with lots of settler cockroaches living in big beautiful Israeli built homes over looking the hovels of the former residents of said development. No, we are not talking about “those” settlements.

So, there is something amiss, and, upon reflection, I can some up with a few reasons for Israel’s very “sudden” public decision to remove “in one day” 23 illegal “campgrounds” I mean “settlements.”

Israel never does anything for “right or moral” reasons. Only self gratifying selfish ones that advance the rogue Zionist state’s agendas. So:

1. Either Israel is offering this in the hopes it will satisfy Obama and allow Israel to keep the big settlements.

2. Or worse, it’s a token to give Obama so that Obama can claim some sort of victory on the settlement issue and now start demanding double time movement from HAMAS on accepting Israel as a Jewish state, translation, attempting remove the Right of Return for Palestinians who still have keys in their hands.

3. Or, perhaps it is all part of a trade from Israel to Obama, in order to secure Obama’s blessing for an Israeli strike on Iran. Let us not forget that early on Israel said that any peace deals with Palestine would be linked to progress on what Israel sees as needing to happen to Iran. In other words a military strike. See HERE where they link I/P peace to Obama dealing with Iran. So, if Israel is moving on the issue of Campgrounds, I mean settlements, than what deal has been struck, one wonders...

Either way, it’s a ruse by Israel to get something much bigger than what it offers. That’s the “Zionist Style” of negotiation in a nut shell. here's the story:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel plans to remove in a single day all 23 unauthorized settler outposts slated for evacuation in the occupied West Bank, a move that would meet a long-standing pledge to Washington, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The report in Haaretz gave no date for removing the outposts, where some of the most militant settlers in the West Bank live, but said the military held an exercise last week to prepare for their evacuation.

Haaretz, a left-leaning newspaper, said the military was preparing to "forcibly evacuate 23 illegal outposts in one day. The plan was formulated by the security establishment, with the knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

Netanyahu has so far refused to commit to a total freeze, in the most serious rift between Israel and the United States, its main ally, in a decade.

In May, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said the removal of the outposts, often a cluster of caravans on isolated hilltops built without government authorization, had become a "central issue" for the Netanyahu's administration.

COMMITMENT
The Defense Ministry says it will not reveal the locations of all the outposts to maintain an element of surprise but they include those built after March 2001, a group that Israel committed to remove during the administration of former U.S. president George W. Bush.

The evacuation is expected to be met with resistance from the settlers. Wallerstein said that some 8,000 people live at the outposts.

The Haaretz report was written by one of its most respected columnists, Yoel Marcus, who was also the first to disclose the plans of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip, a plan that came to fruition in 2005. source

Yeah, some deal has been done with Obama, what that deal is we will soon find out!

Israel Wakes Up in Bad Mood

Cranky, Cranky Israel, in one sweeping blow, Israel takes aim at the UN over Lebanon, and also an attack on Richard Goldstone, the man leading the investigation into the many war crimes committed by Israel.

Israel blames the UN for recent incidents involving Hezbollah. And….Israel is…. get this: “Complaining” about UN Resolution 1701 being “broken.” Oh, the irony of this is overwhelming. But isn’t it just like Israel to trumpet with rightiousness behind the Resolutions it agrees with, and ignore with deafness all those resolutions it refuses to comply with. How about Israel address the over 60 UN resolutions it has continued to break for years. Let’s start there shall we. Let’s begin with Israel meeting it’s obligation under all those resolutions it ignores. All of which pertain to much of the root cause of the existing problems between Lebanon and Palestine.

Israel says UN encouraged provocation on Lebanese border

In a letter of complaint addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Security Council President Ruhakana Rugunda of Uganda, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev said recent incidents in Lebanon, including an explosion at a Hezbollah weapons cache, have verified that the Shiite group "consistently obstructs the implementation of Resolution 1701 by building new military infrastructure south of the Litani River."

Israel is also seeking a similar condemnation of two more incidents that took place over the weekend, namely the infiltration of 15 unarmed Lebanese civilians into Israel and the attack on UN peacekeepers by villagers in Bir el-Salasel.

"Such violations jeopardize the fragile stability along Israel’s northern border and stand in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1701, in particular paragraph 8 that calls for 'full respect for the Blue Line by both parties'," the letter read.

Respect the “Blue Line” Eh? What about Israel respecting the borders of Palestine, what about Israel respecting international waters surrounding Palestine and additionally Palestinian territorial waters, all of which do not belong to Israel. Yet Israel commits continued acts of Zionist Piracy without punishment. And they go on to “complain and whinge” about Goldstone entering Gaza to speak with the democratically elected Government of Gaza and it’s citizens to carry out this investigation of war crimes. Note that the Evil Rogue State refused to allow Goldstone into it’s country to investigate in an effort to hide the crimes. Can’t have Goldstone talking to any of those brave IDF soldiers who are “breaking the silence” on the genocide. So here’s their whinge about Goldstone and the War Crimes Investigation:

In a separate letter of complaint to Ban, the Israeli ambassador protested the "meetings between Richard Goldstone, head of the Human Rights Council’s 'fact finding' mission to the Gaza Strip, and ministers of the illegal Hamas terrorist government."

"I am confident that, as a member of the Quartet, you are well aware that the Hamas terrorist organization repeatedly refuses to accept the three principles outlined by the Quartet: the commitment to non-violence; the recognition of Israel; and the acceptance of previous agreements and obligations. Thus, the aforementioned meetings with Hamas leaders clearly violated the principles and policy of the Quartet," Shalev wrote.

Temper Tentrum and Mega Whinge Fest. When will Israel realise it cannot control everything and the UN can investigate war crimes where ever it wants to if that country allows the investigators inside. The fact is that the people of Gaza and their Government have cooperated with the UN investigation, Israel, on the other hand, have run away to hide behind their prison walls as usual. This was Israel's answer to Goldstone regarding the UN Investigation HERE

Israel Time Travels To Wild West

In a scene more reminiscent of Wild West Armed Outlaws, today Zionist outlaws on horseback waged a rampage on Palestinian land. Torching 2000 Olive trees owned of course, by native Palestinians. In the attack two Palestinians were injured and as always folks, "No Comment" from the ZOF (Zionist Occupying Force) or the RZP (Racist Zionist Police) it's the old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Cover Up" policy

Settlers on horseback torch WBank trees-Palestinians

Israeli settlers on horseback set fire on Monday to at least 1,500 Palestinian-owned olive trees in the occupied West Bank and others stoned cars, a Palestinian security official said.

Two Palestinian motorists were slightly wounded and five vehicles damaged near the settlement of Yitzhar, outside the Palestinian town of Nablus, said the official, Ghassan Daglas.

He said 10 settlers riding horses and carrying torches set fire to between 1,500 and 2,000 olive trees. Olives are an important cash crop for Palestinians, who have complained of frequent attacks on their groves by settlers.

Israeli military and police spokesmen had no immediate comment. Israeli media reports said the rampage was a response by settlers to the army's destruction hours earlier of a caravan at a settlement outpost built without Israeli government approval.source

Israel Has Big Problem

I recently wrote a piece covering the strategy of any peace deal,pointing out the huge problem Israel has created with regards to any real peace prospects. This problem is self created and is a much more of a serious problem regarding any solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict than the unity of Fatah and HAMAS. Today Haaretz has also touched on this subject as well:

Why should settlers have to pay the price for peace between Israel and the Palestinians?

The answer, in short: Because of what the settlement movement has cost us, cost Israel. And because of what it is costing Israel now.

1. The cost in dollars

The settlement movement has cost Israel some $100 billion over the past 40 years.

Setting aside the considerable waste and graft in building projects in the West Bank and Gaza, the cost to Israel's development has been incalculable. Settlement in remote areas has siphoned off critically needed funds for investment in employment, infrastructure, housing and social welfare in central Israel, the Galillee and the Negev.

Huge expenditures on West Bank road construction, including parallel highways intended only for use by Israelis, and roads built at great expense to remote and often illegal settlements, have taken a human toll as well. They have put off the upgrading of dangerous roads [designated "red highways"] within Israel, adding materially to one of the country's most lethal problems. Last year more than 440 people died on Israel's highways, more than 12 times the number of Israelis killed in terror attacks.

2. The cost to Israel's security

For decades, the enormous burdens of guarding settlements, policing roadblocks and maintaining the far-reaching bureaucracy of occupation have robbed the IDF of vitally needed resources of time and funding for military training.

In recent months, as Haaretz military commentator Amir Oren has reported, Prime Minister Netanyahu's wrangling with President Obama over settlement construction has been doing damage to the IDF's capability to face the threat posed by Iran.

3. The cost to Israeli democracy and the rule of law

The unwillingness of the settlement movement to brook compromise, even when in direct defiance of national consensus, and its explicit threats to exploit Israel's precarious political system to topple any democratically elected government which makes significant progress in negotiations with the Palestinians, places the very nature of Israeli democracy in doubt.

The double standard which for decades has favored settlers with inexpensive housing, heavily subsidized social services, and blind-eye building permits has long been accompanied by a kid-gloves approach regarding settler violence against Palestinians and their property.


4. The cost to Israel's diplomatic credibility

Both in established settlements and in outposts acknowledged by Israel as illegal, settlers and settlement planners have covertly bent and distorted zoning procedures, military directives, and government decrees in order to boost settlement, block Palestinian construction, agriculture, and access to employment, and effectively neutralize measures intended to foster Israeli-Palestinian peace progress.

Measures aimed at driving a secure wedge between settlers and Palestinians have had the effect of tarnishing Israel's international image, and have kept many nations from normalizing and strengthening diplomatic ties with Israel.

The settlers' rejection of all territorial compromise renders moot all proposals similar to the Arab League peace initiative.

5. The cost to Israel's relationship with the U.S.

With every move of ostentatious defiance mounted by the Netanyahu government, the Obama administration finds the Palestinian Authority a more reliant, cooperative, and businesslike partner for diplomacy and West Bank security.

The gratuitous machismo characterizing many of the declarations of right-wing parties, in particular the shrill back-benchers of Netanyahu's Likud and members of Avigdor Lieberman's indictment-shadowed Yisrael Beiteinu, has done little to win domestic backing in Israel, but has landed with dramatic and destructive effect in Washington.

For yet another angle, you can read THIS

"Jew Wars"~Zionists In Attack Mode

All this Irish-Catholic Athiest can say, is "Oye Vey"

What have we here folks? A new Ass Whooping Right Wing Neo-Con nutjob racist Zionist Jihadist group emerging to “challenge” the Pro-Peace Progressive Left group J-Street. Yes, we are witnessing “Jew Wars” with the emergence of J-Street, now the Zio-Jihadists are none too happy that J-Street is having much success with their more rational policies which include; negotiations, not war, returning stolen land for peace, no war on Iran, and a whole host of other rational starting positions. Nah, can’t have that now can we? Gotta get rid of all those "Self Hating" rational Jews who may influence Washington. So, somewhere in a closet, behind white robes with pointy little hats, a shadowy group of two decide to take J-Street on, and have “organised” just last week, when they came out of the closet to sign up for a free wordpress blog. More after the article below:

New Zionist Kid on the Block: 'Z Street' Supports Israel

The group, going by the name Z Street, intends to "serve as an educational force" and "a proud banner" behind which Zionists can rally, according to its founding documents. The group's founders (All two of them) believe the current period is a "time of great danger to the Jewish State of Israel and, increasingly, to world Jewry," warranting the establishment of a new, unabashedly Zionist advocacy group.

"We need to show everyone that it isn't only those on the left who know how to organize," said Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a long-time Zionist activist(well there's one member) and, with Allyson Rowen Taylor, a Z Street founder. (And bringing up the rear, we have member number two!)

In contrast, in her inaugural blog post on behalf of Z Street, Marcus declared: "No more appeasement, no more negotiating with terrorists, no more enabling cowards who fear offending more than they fear another Holocaust

(Oh Nooooo!!!! the GREAT rallying cry of the fear mongering Zio-Jihadists, invoking the big “H” word, be Afraid, be VERY Afraid...Ok here comes their "Platform" or should I say "Racist Agenda" or possibly "Ethnic Cleansing Plan" perhaps?)

Furthermore, the organization's charter makes specific note of the right of Jews to live in Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, Jerusalem and Gaza, all of which it calls "within greater Israel."

(Are we surprised???)HERE'S MORE..

Z Street's first major public act in the offline world is to be a pro-Israel rally at the White House on October 27, 2009 that is the same week that J Street holds its first annual meeting in Washington D.C.

So they are made to sound like a formidable group judging from this big article, right? And they are now planning on “taking it to the streets” (excuse the pun) or rather, to Washington in a show of force against J-Street. Well, have a look at the "impressive" site of this “formidable” organisation. The only post is one big massive Zio-Jihadist Rant in the first and only post. There were 4 comments in the comment section, one of which is the founder thanking the other 3 commenters for stopping by and supporting them with comments. So, look out J-Street, they’re coming fer ya!!!

All two of them.

Now, here’s J-Street Info, which is in line with the Obama Administration's (public policy on the I/P conflict if you believe him that is!),along with the Arab states, and the Palestinian agreed position, including the recent position of Hamas and Syria as well in order to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East:

J Street supports diplomatic solutions over military ones, including in Iran; multilateral over unilateral approaches to conflict resolution; and dialogue over confrontation with a wide range of countries and actors when conflicts do arise.

• The creation of a viable Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution, based on the 1967 borders with agreed reciprocal land swaps. The future Palestinian state will require unprecedented levels of international economic and political support to succeed, including a resolution of the refugee issue within the new Palestinian state and in current host countries;

• An Israeli-Syrian peace agreement based on the land-for-peace formula, security guarantees, and details outlined in previous negotiations;

• A comprehensive regional peace that builds on the Arab Initiative, leading to recognition of Israel by all its neighbours in the Middle East and the creation of a new regional approach to cooperation and security;

• An American policy in the Middle East more broadly based on diplomacy, multilateralism and real partnership with the European Union, the Quartet and others. We support dialogue with a broad range of countries and actors, including Iran, over confrontation in order to find solutions to the region’s conflicts.

To advance these goals, we seek to build a broad and inclusive campaign that crosses ethnic and religious lines and in which American Jews play a prominent role.

we will oppose alliances with the religious right or any radical religious ideologues in the name of supporting Israel as well as efforts to demean and fan fears of Islam or of Muslims.

So there you have it folks, let the “Jew Wars” begin. Now this is important: I have said it before, so I’m saying it again. I prefer that NO foreign country, including Israel, has huge lobby groups that influence American politicians, funnel money to them, and basically buy them. Having said that, American politics being what it is, a big money game, these groups will never disappear. So, I'm rooting for the "sane" people over the "insane" people because it is a place to start inside the "cesspool" of lobby groups of America. In the meantime, it is far better that J-Street has Obama's ear, rather than the Zio-Jihadists. However, If J Street begins to change it's political position, then you can drop your support like a Hot Potato at that time. But for now, it's the rational against the irrational, if you are an American, I suggest you get over to J-street and get on their mailing list, help them have a show of "People on the Ground" force against the Zio-Jihadists come October in Washington when they may, by then, have more than just "two" members, perhaps by borrowing some from AIPAC, the ZOA and the ADL.Videos and links follow:

J-STREET VIDEO


J-STREET FOUNDER TELLS HIS STORY


What J Street says about Avigdor Lieberman

J-Street
http://www.jstreet.org/

J STREET ON TWITTER
http://twitter.com/jstreetdotorg

CNN & Canadian PM Join Zionist Group To Restrict Free Speech

What do CNN and the Canadian Government have in common? Plenty folks! It appears they are both supportive of Zionists and Anti-Free Speech. Well, we already knew that about Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper when he assisted in banning George Galloway from entering Canada to exercise his right to Free Speech. But, what we did not know until now, is that CNN joined the call for Free Speech Restrictions. Wowzer, so much for an Un-Biased press...Maybe it's time to ask CNN why it is engaging in one sided politics.

Canadian pro-Israel students, in the wake of the Iranian "Twitter Revolution," were using the social networking Web site to "expose the lies at the anti-Israel 'academic' conference taking place at York University" in Toronto.

Exposing York, started by Hasbara at York, (AKA World Union of Jewish Students) has developed a following of over 700 users since Monday, when the conference opened. Followers include senior Canadian government officials, major international news agencies, and three Israeli embassies in North America.

A follower under the name "PM Harper" presents himself to be Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but this cannot be confirmed. Other followers include Al Jazeera English and CNN's Anderson Cooper. source

Israeli Bank Steals Holocaust Victims Cash

Greedy, Greedy, Greedy..............Imagine if this had been, Oh, let's say a "non-Jewish" bank, que the outrage. It now appears that the phrase "Never Again" does not apply to Israeli Banks. They have no qualms about stealing from the victims of their biggest and bestest Holy Grail which is used from everything to garnering sympathy so they can murder "those dirty Arabs" under the fight call of "Never Again" to pilfering Billions in US taxpayer money. Yet, this "sacred" holy grail is allowed to be pillaged. yeah, makes perfect sense, just so long as it's "Jewish Bank" crime regarding the "Holocaust", that's "A-Ok" no outrage needed, stand down.

Major Israel bank sued for refusing to return funds to Holocaust survivors

An Israel-based Holocaust restitution organization yesterday sued Bank Leumi, one of Israel's largest banks, for allegedly failing to return funds that belonged to Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The Company for Location and Restitution of Holocaust Victims Assets sued Bank Leumi for NIS 300 million, and claims there are 3,577 accounts at Bank Leumi belonging to Holocaust victims. The bank disputes the claim, pointing to "errors" in the organization's facts and operations.

According to the lawsuit, the accounts belong to European Jews who deposited money in the Anglo-Palestine Bank, which later became Bank Leumi.

By holding onto the funds, Leumi "violated the law," according to the organization's chairman, Menachem Ariav. "We expect the bank's management to act to return the victims' property and help us correct a historical wrong that has lasted for 65 years," he said.

Within the lawsuit, the company also claims Leumi has consistently refused to cooperate with bodies requesting information about deposits that belonged to European Jews, and has refrained to disclose information about unclaimed funds in its possession.

Bank Leumi, headed by CEO Galia Maor, said in response that the claim is unfounded. "Leumi set up all the required resources in order to check the details which were given to it by the organization. It should be said that during the course of working with the organization, problems were found with its operations."

Zionist Terrorists to Pay Up

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon is reportedly considering fining Israel for its attacks on United Nation facilities during Tel Aviv's carnage on the Gaza Strip.

During the carnage, Israeli forces attacked three UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 45 civilians. Most of the victims had taken refuge in the buildings to escape the raining Israeli fire on Gaza.

Israeli soldiers also opened fire on a UN relief agency convoy in the Gaza Strip during a three-hour military ceasefire.

report continues after photos below of War Crimes committed on UN Facilities in Gaza:


The USD 11 million fine was recommended by a committee elected to investigate the damage done by Israel to UN structures during Operation Cast Lead, Ban told a press conference in New York.

Secretary-General Ban's decision to fine Israel over damages to UN buildings come while the loss of over a thousand people in the Gaza Strip has remained uncompensated.

A fifteen-member mission headed by South African Jewish jurist Richard Goldstone entered the impoverished strip in early June to launch an investigation into Israel's alleged war crimes in the region.

Israel, however, made every effort to stall the UN probe. Goldstone's delegation was repeatedly denied visa's into the Gaza Strip in a move labeled as "disappointing" by the UN official.

Israel has refused to cooperate with any systematic investigations. It has rejected the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is not cooperating the United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission to Gaza. source

Settler Cockroaches Want More Homes

Jerusalem – Israel plans to build 250 units of settlement housing after it forcibly evacuates two East Jerusalem families, a lawyer for the Palestinian president’s office said on Tuesday.

Attorney Ahmad Ar-Ruwaidi said Israel plans to level a total of 27 homes on the family’s Shiekh Jarrah properties after the families are removed, “while the world talks about human rights, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.”

“Once again, Israeli judiciary proved that it is a tool in the hands of Israeli settlement organizations which are conducting settlement programs in Al-Bustan and other neighborhoods of Jerusalem,” he said.

The remarks come after the Israeli district court decided on Sunday to fine each family 50,000 US dollars, with a further fine of 50,000 shekels (12,500 US dollars) if they do not evacuate by 19 July, the date of a court hearing.

The eviction order was issued by “Hotza Laphoal” the Israeli institution that executes court orders.

The families are two of the 27 that live in a 28-building complex in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The court ruled in favor of a settler organization, Nahalat Shimon, which claims it is the owner of the buildings. The Palestinians are accused of not paying rent to these self-proclaimed landlords.

Sunday's decision, Ar-Ruwaidi said, is a challenge to the US administration and the whole international community. It is also blocks any initiative to renew peace talks as it would be impossible to talk peace in light of “demographic replacement,” demolition of homes, confiscation of properties, and collective expulsion of Palestinian residents.

Ar-Ruwaidi added that the Palestinian president acted at international levels, and would file a suit at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Among the laws that apply to Jerusalem, he said, is protection of people under occupation according to Geneva and Hague conventions.

Meanwhile on Monday, the United States and European Union lodged official protests with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the eviction orders source

The "Evil" Has Landed

Just was watching the Tee Vee and noticed the "Eagle", I mean "Evil" has landed,in America, and I'm referring to Netanyau of course. Who, has arrived to have some talks with Obama. Regarding those talks there is a great piece from the Telegraphon what "welcome" Bibi may get from Obama. Here's hoping it's true.

Barack Obama is to deliver a blunt warning to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the era of the blank US cheque is over.

The President will use a meeting with Mr Netanyahu in Washington on Monday to tell him that from now on Israel must earn its privileged relationship with America.

Mr Obama will make clear that he will not allow his foreign policy objectives to be dictated by the Jewish state's interests, and that its leaders must resume working for peace with the Palestinians. (Hallelujah, can I get a witness!!!)

The President has already fired warning shots across the bows of the Israeli government to signal that he will not be pushed around by Mr Netanyahu's newly elected right-wing coalition. Many within Israel's government are openly hostile to two key aspects of American policy on the Middle East: statehood for the Palestinians and engagement with Iran.

Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, said: "Netanyahu is caught between a rock and a hard place, the rock being the president's determination to achieve a two-state solution and the hard place being his political base which opposes it. (Perhaps Israel should not have created this monster, now it will have to deal with the Zionist right wing population it has created, Ooooops, plan backfired)

Mr Netanyahu's political survival may depend on him sticking to his position. Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister whose right-wing party is essential to the survival of the Likud-led coalition, is forthrightly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state

But Mr Obama's hand in confronting Mr Netanyahu was strengthened last week by a new Zogby poll revealing that voters who backed him in the election overwhelmingly support a policy which amounts to "get tough with Israel" - ending illegal Israeli settlements within Palestinian territory and establishing a Palestinian state. Jewish voters, 78 per cent of whom voted for Mr Obama, are among the strongest supporters of the plan.

Mr Obama has already shocked Israeli officials by publicly declaring that a two state solution was in America's national interest - a clear sign that Washington will no longer automatically leap to support Israel regardless of the impact on the US.

The Obama administration has also broken a long-standing taboo against discussing Israel's nuclear weapons, by calling for Israel to declare and give up its weapons arsenal, said to number around 50 warheads. A senior State Department official said the US wants Israel to sign the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and commit to disarmament. What he has not done yet, is query the $3 billion in military aid which US taxpayers send Israel every year, although that could yet happen given the straitened times>(Yes, take the money away, hit them in the wallet!!!)

Mr Obama also sent his CIA chief, Leon Panetta, on a discreet mission to Israel two weeks ago to warn Mr Netanyahu not to lose patience over Iran's progress to nuclear weapons - and above all, not to launch preemptive air strikes against suspected nuclear enrichment facilities.

Mr Panetta's message to the Israeli prime minister was that Iran would not be a serious threat even if it develops a nuclear weapon. With the outcome of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq still in doubt, the US has neither the stomach nor the manpower to take on another major conflict which Israel will not be able to fight on its own.

The Times They Are A Changing

Israel, May 13, (Pal Telegraph) - The Jewish and Arab populations in Israel and the Palestinian territories will reach an equal number by 2016, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The data, which was published as part of a special study to mark 61 years since Israel's independence ? or Naqba, as referred to by Palestinians ? cites a growth of more than nine million self-identified Palestinians since 1948.

Palestinians and Israeli Jews to reach equal number by 2016, data shows

There were 1.4 million Palestinians recorded in the area in 1948, whereas by 2008 the number of self-identified Palestinians worldwide hit a census of 10.6 million.

According to the Bureau, 5.1 million of those who call themselves Palestinians reside in Israel or the Palestinian territories. Currently, there are 5.6 million Jews living in Israel.

Palestinian refugees worldwide comprise 44.3 percent of the self-identified population. Some 16.3 percent living in the West Bank, 23 percent in the Gaza Strip, 41.8 percent in Jordan, 9.9 percent in Syria and 9 percent in Lebanon. According to the data, one-third of Palestinian refugees live in camp enclaves.

The bureau's data relies on the fact that many Israeli Arabs also identify themselves as Palestinians. PalTel

The Pope Says "Nope" to the Truth

Uh Oh, exit stage left, the Pope walked out during a meeting where Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi lambasted Israel (e.g. told the truth!) and the Pope left before the speech ended, whoever he did shake Tamimi's hand before leaving.

Chief Islamic Judge of the Palestinian Authority, Sheikh Tayseer Rajab Tamimi, launched a poisonous verbal attack at Israel at a Monday night gathering attended by Pope Benedict XVI.

In a meeting with organizations involved in inter-religious dialogue at the Notre Dame Jerusalem Center, Tamimi called upon Muslims and Christians to unite against what he said were the murderous Israelis.

Taking the podium after the pope without being on the original list of speakers scheduled for the evening, Tamimi, speaking at length in Arabic, accused Israel of murdering women and children in Gaza and making Palestinians refugees, and declared Jerusalem the eternal Palestinian capital.

Following the diatribe and before the meeting was officially over, the pope exited the premises. Army Radio reported that the pope shook Tamimi's hand before walking out.link

Peace is Not the Absence of Conflict

Excellent op-ed by Ken Foley today on the Palestinian conflict seen through the eyes of an Irish Republican. Ken is a member of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign and also a member of Sinn Fein.

The recent Israeli actions in Gaza demonstrated not only the brutal nature of the occupation and the ideology behind it, but also the deep internal division within the Palestinian body politic. It was already common knowledge that Israel had effectively ended the ceasefire on 4 November with an attack that left six members of Hamas dead. Yet, as pictures of dead, dying and wounded Palestinian police cadets flashed through the world's television screens, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was busy toeing the Israeli line that Hamas was responsible for the ending of ceasefire. He said this, not because it was true, but as a way of undermining the political authority of Hamas in Gaza and increasing his own. Ordinary Palestinians saw through the quite crude and transparent attempt, forcing Abbas to backtrack on his earlier assertion.

The now un-mandated Palestinian president has overseen a situation where his political legitimacy rests, not on his acceptance by the Palestinian people, but on his acceptance by Israel and the West as "a man we can do business with." Of course they mean business on their terms, not on terms that will bring about a lasting peace but on terms that will preserve Israeli hegemony and reinforce the notion among Palestinians that they are a defeated people. Coming from Ireland and understanding the nature of conflict resolution in the case of the Irish peace process, it is clear that peace is not achieved on such terms. Without justice there can be no peace.

Peace is sometimes defined as an absence of conflict. However, I would define it as an absence of injustice. In the years leading up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the British government approached the concept of peace in the narrow terms of defeating and undermining armed resistance, primarily by the Irish Republican Army, against the British occupation of Ireland. For them, armed resistance was a direct challenge to their position of dominance and privilege.

The Good Friday Agreement was not the first attempt to end conflict in the north of Ireland. The Sunningdale and Anglo-Irish Agreements in the 1970s and '80s respectively were attempts to end conflict but also to preserve the status quo position of dominance and privilege. There was no acceptance that the armed conflict was the inevitable manifestation of the political conditions in which Nationalist Republicans found themselves. The institutionalized discrimination in areas such as jobs and housing were still a daily reality. In addition, there were concerted attempts to treat the situation in the north of Ireland as a simple security situation that could be defeated militarily. The aim was to reinforce in the minds of Irish Republicans that they were a defeated people. However, the resistance, both politically and militarily, continued against the politics of occupation, subjugation and discrimination until the more recent peace process began. Read more HERE

Pope Visit~The Wall Will be Seen

Pope Visit Update:
Israel has done what it can in its attempt to cover up its racist apartheid behaviour. They have attempted to keep any and all photographs of their illegal wall out of the lime light during the Pope's visit. Additionally they have attempted to keep the Pope from seeing or commenting on any of the recent Gaza holocaust. However, it now looks as if all of Israels feeble attempts to hide it's dirty secrets, the wall will be seen after all. Israel would have been better off ringing David Copperfield and asking him to make the wall disappear during the Pope's visit, Ah well, too late...........

AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Palestinian Christians want Pope Benedict XVI to bear witness to a symbol of their daily sufferings; Israel’s towering apartheid wall that is eating up their land.

"We want the world to see him with the wall and the Israeli army watchtower behind him," Adnan Ajarmeh, a member of the committee that will welcome the pontiff in his visit to Aida refugee camp outside the West Bank city of Bethlehem, told Agence France Press (AFP) on Monday, May 11.

The committee hopes that when he comes on Wednesday, May 13, Pope Benedict would put the Israeli separation wall erected illegally on their land under the international spotlight.

Pope Snub Upsets Gaza Christians

The steel and concrete wall is snaking some 900 kilometers along the occupied West Bank, leaving larger swathes of it on the Israeli side.

The barrier leaves many Palestinian families cut off and deprived of their livelihoods.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued a landmark ruling branding the wall as illegal and asking Israel to compensate affected Palestinians.

The welcoming committee initially wanted to receive the pope on a specially built stage right against the imposing wall that snakes around much of the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ.

But after Israel banned the platform construction, the committee bowed to organize the event at a UN-run school nearby.

Nevertheless, the stage on which the pope will stand beside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be sufficiently elevated that cameras recording the visit will capture the separation wall.

Coming and going from the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, Pope Benedict will move through a checkpoint in the steel and concrete wall. source

Moon Shines at UN

Someone put lead in Ban Ki Moon's pencil, today he blasted Israel, about time. Of course, we can thank Russia for calling the meeting. Chip, Chip, Chipping away at Israel. And Richard Goldstone and he crew arriving in Gaza soon for their fact finding mission. They shouldn't have trouble finding facts, there are facts all over the place. Bombed hospitals, UN facilities, school,s refugee camps, hundreds of dead children and women. Like I said, plenty of facts to charge Israel with war crimes.

UN urges Israel to change settlement policies

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council on Monday kicked off a debate on how to revive the stalled Middle East peace process, with a call on Israel to change its policy of building settlements in the Palestinian territories.

"The time has come for Israel to fundamentally change its policies in this regard as it has repeatedly promised to do," UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the ministerial session called by Russia in its capacity as chair of the 15-member body this month.

Ban said the Palestinians "continue to see unacceptable unilateral actions in East Jerusalem and the remainder of the West Bank -- house demolitions, intensified settlement activity, settler violence, and oppressive movement restrictions due to permits, checkpoints, and the barrier, which are intimately connected to settlements."

The UN boss also slammed Israel's "continued closure" of the Gaza Strip, saying it "does not weaken Israel's adversaries in Gaza, but does untold damage to the fabric of civilian life."

He noted that four months after Israel's punishing offensive in Gaza to stop rocket attacks on its territory, "we cannot get anything beyond food and medicine into Gaza to assist a population that had been in the midst of a war zone. This is completely unacceptable." source

New Palestinian Government in 2 Days?

Sounds too good to be true, and it is.....Only one big fat glaring problem, HAMAS is not included, so you can't really all it a government now can you. Not when you exclude a huge portion of the electorate and whom they voted for. Nice try tho.........

New Palestinian govt within 48 hours: Abbas
3 hours ago

RAMALLAH — President Mahmud Abbas said on Monday that a new Palestinian government will be formed within 48 hours, to replace the current cabinet headed by Salam Fayyad.

"A new government will be formed within the next 48 hours," Abbas told a meeting of his secular Fatah party.

According to Palestinian officials, Abbas will once again ask Fayyad to form the new government that will not include the rival Islamist movement Hamas.

But Abbas also said that a new Fayyad-led government will step down if Egyptian-brokered negotiations between Hamas and Fatah to set up a unity cabinet succeed.

"If the dialogue succeeds, the government will step aside for a unity cabinet," he said at the meeting in the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.

Hamas, which won the last Palestinian election in 2006 but whose government was boycotted by Israel and the West, reacted by accusing Abbas of trying to sabotage the reconciliation talks which have going on in Cairo.

"He is already penning the obituary of the (inter-Palestinian) dialogue, and this reflects the absence of any will to reach an agreement," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement.

"This decision could cement divisions."

Fayyad, a US-educated economist widely respected in the West, announced on April 1 that he would remain in office until the end of unity talks between Hamas and Fatah.

The two factions long been at odds and their feud boiled over when the Islamists grabbed power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after a week of deadly clashes, booting out supporters of Abbas's party.

The two factions have held several rounds of talks in Egypt trying to cobble together a unity government, with an initial target of March 31. But negotiations were adjourned last month to May 16.

source