25 March 2009

Ramallah: Mustafa Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative condemned heavily yesterday Israeli aggression consisting in shutting down and beating Palestinian activists and journalist during the press conference held by the parents of Tristan Anderson, the American peace activist who was shot in Ni’lin last week.

“The boundaries of minimum respect for the victims have been crossed once again. We feel that there are no limits in the Israeli troops behaviour, no respect for the grieving of Tristan’s family”, the deputy said, shocked.

Tristan Anderson, 37 years old, an American citizen and peace activist, had an Israeli high velocity gas canister shot at his head in Ni’lin on the 13th of March. His skulls shattered several injuries and he was left in a very critical state at Tel Aviv hospital.

On Monday, during a press conference held by Tristan’s parents, a woman and a journalist were beaten by the Israeli troops. 11 persons were detained including 3 foreign peace activists.

The press conference was held in a very symbolic place, known as the ‘protest tent’, in Sheikh Jarrah, where the Al Kurd family has taken up residence for months after being evicted from their home.

Several journalists were reported being prevented to attend the conference. The Israeli army demanded that the event will be shut down. As several refused, they assaulted the audience, beating and detaining activists, media crews and officials.

“Such a raid leaves me speechless”, condemns the Deputy. ‘But we have to stand up loud. The Anderson family has the right to tell the world what Tristan has endured and express solidarity and their indignation and feelings regarding the shooting of their son. America is a country where freedom of speech is a core value. But once entering the Israeli controlled territory, nothing prevails anymore. Israeli soldiers have no shame and this should be reported. Loudly.”

James Galbraith: Obama Isnt Doing Enough to Solve the Financial Crisis | Mother Jones - CLICK ME

Here’s a cool site that let’s you think about and then calculate an estimate of how much water you personally consume per year….your “water footprint”. It’s a sobering exercise to be sure. We all know how wasteful we all are here in the US, and how flagrantly we take for granted that most essential ingredient of life, water. Now you can see it calculated for you and it will make you think. I truly believe that water resource wars will be the source of much strife in the not too distant future, so whatever we all can do to reduce our consumption is in our own best interests and those of our descendants.

Waterfootprint.org: Water footprint and virtual water

Smoke This Recession / Its simple: First we tax the booze. Then we legalize the pot. Done.

After 30 years of Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza territories, Israel effectively controls the US media’s coverage of its Palestinian oppression. Yes, Palestinians have never managed to build a functioning economy. Yes, they continue to hurl rockets clumsily at Israeli towns in frustration. No, Israel has never given them an opportunity to become anything but demoralized, impoverished, angry protestors. How can you build a viable state when you have no contiguous land? They’ve got nothing but tiny pockets of land they’re allowed to live on, surrounded by barbed wire, checkpoints and continual military occupation. Land for peace? Never actually happened. It was These tactics are in stark opposition to the Jewish religion, or any religion frankly, and have come to be known as Zionism…the ruthless pursuit of Israeli domination of the middle east, through any means necessary. I’m done not paying attention. The latest Gaza massacre finally broke through the haze of indiffernce we Americans so carefully wrap our consciences in, and the media whitewashing so carefully crafted by Israeli media lobbyists. Don’t think they exist…think again. Why don’t we ever hear the phrase “occupied territory” in the news? They’d have us believe that those lands BELONG rightfully to Israel and that the Palestinians are ungrateful thugs who can’t be happy with the benevolent rule of the IDF. What a load of crap. The UN has always considered Israel’s capture of the West Bank and Gaza an illegal occupation, and still does. Why don’t we in America hear it described that way? For thoughts on that, check out this documentary: Hidden Truth about Israeli Control of American Media

At any rate, Jewish and Muslim groups all over Europe, the US and the UK are banding together to call for a boycott of those companies who do business with the Zionist controllers of the state of Israel. It’s an effort much like the anti-apartheid movement for South Africa. I can only hope that Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni can survive the inevitable death threats and be allowed to lead Israel away from the ultimately self-defeating policies of a far-right, hawkish Zionist government. A significant percentage of Israelis would like her to as well.

Check the following out and read about it yourself. No more wanton murder and intimidation of Palestine please. I can’t take it anymore.

http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-faq.html

Israel FM: ‘Give land for peace’
Netanyahu halted the peace process when he was prime minister by allowing settlement building [AFP]

Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister who is hoping to become the country’s next prime minister, has said that Israel must give up considerable territory to gain peace with the Palestinians.

Livni made the comments at a convention of US Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Monday.

She said that Israel needed to “give up parts of the Land of Israel” - referring to biblical borders that today includes Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

“The majority of Israelis understand that if Israel wants to remain an independent Jewish state, in the end the territory will have to be divided,” Livni, leader of the Kadima party, said.

Livni has in the past said that Israel must withdraw from Palestinian areas to continue as a Jewish state.

Her fresh comments are in contrast to the position of Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party and Livni’s main rival to become next prime minister.

US Intel Confirms Iran Not Developing Nukes : Information Clearing House - ICH

By Press TV

February 13, 2009 “Press TV” — -The new chief of US intelligence has confirmed the findings of a 2007 intelligence report that Iran has no nuclear weapons program.

Dennis Blair told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his organization has assessed that Tehran does not have nuclear weapons design and weaponization work.

A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), issued in November 2007 by the sixteen US intelligence agencies, clarified that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

The 2007 intelligence report was widely seen as a setback for Bush administration efforts to pressure Iran and halt its nuclear program.

The UN nuclear watchdog, which has carried out the highest number of inspections in its history on Iranian nuclear sites, has also found nothing to indicate that the program has diverted toward weaponization.

Blair also acknowledged that Tehran has made significant progress in its uranium enrichment program during the past two years.

“Although we do not know whether Iran currently intends to develop nuclear weapons, we assess Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop them,” said the retired admiral.

He, however, did not elaborate on how his organization can assess that Tehran intends at a minimum level to keep open the option to develop nuclear weapons.

The US official added that the intelligence agency believes Iran is unlikely to be able to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon before 2013.

“US intelligence assesses that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon, and does not yet have enough fissile material for one,” he affirmed.

Blair confirmed that the international community remains divided in dealing with the country’s nuclear drive. Both Russia and China are against the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities.

The UN Security Council, influenced by the Bush administration, has intervened in Iran’s nuclear dossier, slapping three rounds of sanctions against Tehran.

Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), says the only aim of its program is the civilian applications of the technology.