Monday, June 05, 2006

[political-research] Bloglines - Framing Patsies in Toronto and London


Another Day in the Empire

Framing Patsies in Toronto and London

By Administrator on Uncategorized

Not only did the “terrorists” in Canada not have a target for their so-called fertilizer bomb, the fertilizer was delivered by the RCMP as part of a sting operation (i.e., the suspects were framed), according to the Toronto Star. “Sources say investigators who had learned of the group’s alleged plan to build a bomb were controlling the sale and transport of the massive amount of fertilizer, a key component in creating explosives. Once the deal was done, the RCMP-led anti-terrorism task force moved in for the arrests…. At a news conference yesterday morning, the RCMP displayed a sample of ammonium nitrate and a crude cell phone detonator they say was seized in the massive police sweep when the 17 were taken into custody. However, they made no mention of the police force’s involvement in the sale.”

Of course not. Because the entire affair is little more than a dog and pony show designed to convince Canadians local Muslims pose a threat to the country. Meanwhile, some Canadians have responded in the desired manner. “The vandalizing of a Toronto mosque on the weekend could be part of a reaction against Islam after police arrested 17 Muslim men and youth in southern Ontario amid accusations of an al-Qaeda-inspired bombing plot, an imam says,” reports CBC News, making sure to link “al-Qaeda” to the suspects, who are of course guilty until proven innocent.

Naturally, the corporate media and “experts” on such matters are clueless. “A Canadian terrorism expert said the type of fertilizer ordered by the group—34-0-0—is the highest grade and the best for making explosives,” reports the neocon National Post, not bothering to mention the fact Canadian police arranged the delivery of the fertilizer. “This would indicate that they had done their homework,” Tom Quiggin, a senior fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security in Singapore, told the discredited newspaper, basically a neocon propaganda tool. In fact, it appears the RCMP “had done their homework,” not the patsies.

In order to demonize the suspects, or rather patsies, the National Post and other newspapers in Canada have gone out of their way to establish, at best tenuously, an “al-Qaeda” connection. “Fahim Ahmad, 21, and Zakaria Amara, 20, are being described as the key figures among the 12 adults and five juveniles charged over the weekend with terrorism-related offences…. Both had been followers of Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, a senior member of the Al-Rahman Islamic Centre in Mississauga and the oldest of the 17 accused.” Jamal, according to the National Post, quoting Aly Hindy, imam at the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in Scarborough, “was upset at the way some in Toronto’s Muslim community have distanced themselves from the Khadrs, the Toronto family that once lived in Osama bin Laden’s compound in Afghanistan.”

In 2004, the Khadr family was at the center of an effort to amend Canada’s Citizenship Act after they supposedly admitted “patriarchal links to Osama bin Laden,” as CTV put it. “It’s very regrettable that the Conservatives would exploit the fear of terrorism to identify an individual or two individuals and somehow suggest their citizenship should be revoked,” Peter Kormos of the NDP said at the time. “It’s very dangerous to use a single instance like that to set a precedent or paint a broad sweep.” But then, of course, the “conservatives” (neocons) in Canada and the United States are all about “broad sweeps” and obviously sting operations, if they forward the agenda.

Meanwhile, so-called “counter-terrorism officials” have admitted “that lethal chemical devices they feared had been stored at an east London house raided on Friday may never have existed,” the Guardian reports. “Confidence among officials appeared to be waning as searches at the address continued to yield no evidence of a plot for an attack with cyanide or other chemicals. A man was shot during the raid, adding to pressure on the authorities for answers about the accuracy of the intelligence that led them to send 250 officers to storm the man’s family home at dawn.” But then the idea here is not “a duty of care to the general public,” as officials claim, but rather to create irrational hysteria and animosity toward Muslims.

It does not matter a chemical attack never occurred, or the police are unable to find chemicals or deadly substances, because simply mentioning “cyanide or other chemicals” and the same sentence with “terrorists” is enough to provoke a stampede, almost the same as an actual attack occurring. It worked famously in the lead-up to the neocon invasion of Iraq. How many people still believe Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, even though there is absolutely no evidence of this? How many people, thanks to misrepresentation and outright lies parroted by the corporate media, cannot tell the difference between Saddam is Osama? How many people believe the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in response to nine eleven? Millions.

And now millions believe there are Muslim terrorists in our midst, even though the latest incidents are farcical and obvious set-ups engineered to ramp up the paranoia and fear in preparation for the next phase of the “long war” against Muslim society and culture. The Straussian neocons, firmly entrenched in the Pentagon and foreign policy establishment, are only peripherally interested in consensus, although a bit more paranoia, fear, and anger—the latter resulting in vandalism at the International Muslims Organization of Toronto—is helpful in creating the appropriate domestic conditions for the commencement of criminal mass murder in Iran.

Comments



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[political-research] The Crumbling GOP Base (Jeff Jacoby)


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/31/the_crumbling_gop_base?mode=PF

Comment:

The Republican Party and the conservative movement have been destroyed by a toxic alliance of neoconservatives and Christian fundamentalists -- neither group could care less about traditional conservative values of limited government and fiscal responsibility. What Jeff Jacoby fails to mention is that he himself, as a card-carrying neoconservative, contributed to the ruination of the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party, which is also controlled by neoconservatives (neoliberals like Joseph Lieberman and Hillary Clinton) is in even worse shape than the Republican Party. We are on the verge of a major political revolution and realignment of forces in America. Thanks to the neocons and fundies, all the old political categories are coming crashing down. Either you are against the Judeo-Christians fascists or you are with the Judeo-Christian fascists. This is now the most significant political divide in American politics.

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[political-research] Bloglines - The New York Times Covers the Chicago Conference


9/11 Blogger - Blogging 9/11 Related Alternative News
All comments are welcome! but please avoid hate speech and profanity, and use references when possible.

The New York Times Covers the Chicago Conference

By dz

500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11 - NYTimes.com
For the record, I am not a 'conspiracy buff' - nor would I consider many of those at the conference 'conspiracy buffs'. In fact I am a concerned citizen that believes my own government was involved in 9/11 - an opinion that came after many months of reading and researching, an opinion I believe any open minded researcher would reach as well.
In the foyer, there were stick-pins for sale ("More gin, less Rummy"), and in the lecture halls discussions of the melting point of steel. "It's all documented," people said. Or: "The mass media is mass deception." Or, as strangers from the Internet shook hands: "Great to meet you. Love the work."

Such was the coming-out for the movement known as "9/11 Truth," a society of skeptics and scientists who believe the government was complicit in the terrorist attacks. In colleges and chat rooms on the Internet, this band of disbelievers has been trying for years to prove that 9/11 was an inside job.
..
"We feel at this point we've done a lot of solid research, but the American public still is not informed," said Michael Berger, press director for 911Truth.org, which sponsored the event. "We had to come up with a disciplined approach to get it out."
..
The former owner of a recycling plant outside St. Louis, Mr. Berger joined the movement when he grew skeptical of why the 9/11 Commission had failed, to his sense of sufficiency, to answer how the building at 7 World Trade Center collapsed like a ton of bricks. It was his "9/11 trigger," the incident that drew him in, he said. For others, it might be the fact that the air-defense network did not prevent the attacks that day, or the appearance of thousands of "puts" — or short-sell bids — on the nation's airline stocks. (The 9/11 Commission found the sales innocuous.)

Such "red flags," as they are sometimes called, were the meat and potatoes of the keynote speech on Friday night by Alex Jones, who is the William Jennings Bryan of the 9/11 band. Mr. Jones, a syndicated radio host, is known for his larynx-tearing screeds against corruption — fiery, almost preacherly, addresses in which he sweats, balls his fists and often swerves from quoting Roman history to using foul language in a single breath.

I don't think I have ever seen Alex Jones use 'foul language', in fact he avoids it.
At the lectern Friday night, beside a digital projection reading "History of Government Sponsored Terrorism," Mr. Jones set forth the central tenets of 9/11 Truth: that the military command that monitors aircraft "stood down" on the day of the attacks; that President Bush addressed children in a Florida classroom instead of being whisked off to the White House; that the hijackers, despite what the authorities say, were trained at American military bases; and that the towers did not collapse because of burning fuel and weakened steel but because of a "controlled demolition" caused by pre-set bombs.
..
Like a prior generation of skeptics — those who doubted, say, the Warren Commission or the government's account of the Gulf of Tonkin attack — the 9/11 Truthers are dogged, at home and in the office, by friends and family who suspect that they may, in fact, be completely nuts.

For those that missed it, the government released new documents at the end of last year proving that the Gulf of Tonkin never did occur, you can find them here.
It would even seem the Truthers are not alone in believing the whole truth has not come out. A poll released last month by Zogby International found that 42 percent of all Americans believe the 9/11 Commission "concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence" in the attacks. This is in addition to the Zogby poll two years ago that found that 49 percent of New York City residents agreed with the idea that some leaders "knew in advance" that the attacks were planned and failed to act.
..
"I hope you don't end up dead somewhere," a companion said to a participant, hours earlier as he dropped him at the Loop. "Don't worry," the participant said. "There's too many of us for that."

I did hear/see a few responses at the plaza including being flipped the bird, and "I hope the terrorists drop a bomb right here and kill all of you" - typical emotional responses.

Be sure to send the author of this article, Alan Feuer, a thank you and encourage him to continue his coverage of the subject. You can find an email link to him on this page here.




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[political-research] 9/11: Wild Conspiracies and Rational Concerns


http://www.alternet.org/story/37046/

"Even when you cut through the conspiracy theories about 9/11 and head straight for the facts, the government's version still seems fuzzy."

Fuzzy? How about a ridiculous insult to one's intelligence? A laughingstock?

500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11 - New York Times

500 Conspiracy Buffs Meet to Seek the Truth of 9/11 - New York Times

[political-research] Bill Kristol: 'Maybe Bush will become Supreme Leader...


http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/06/04.html#a8572

It has been the neocon strategy all along to use, manipulate and prop up Bush as their tool to create a military police state in the United States and all around the world. Bush is a mere figurehead, and could be easily discarded at any moment. The neocon/neolib political machine in the Republican and Democratic Parties and the mainstream media is vastly more wealthy and more powerful than the hapless bumbler Bush.

The neocons have left behind themselves a long trail of candid statements which express their totalitarian agenda, but the mainstream media (which they of course control) are systematically disconnecting the dots.

Unless a critical mass of American leaders challenges this political machine effectively now, we truly are facing an immense disaster. But there is a catch: any American who dares to challenge the neocons and neolibs instantly comes under devastating attack. The neorads so far have been easily able to pick off and bury their critics one by one. They are much better organized, better funded and more highly motivated than their opponents.

[political-research]U.N. Ambassador John Bolton: Unilateral Military Action against Iran is ‘On The Table’


<http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20060604&articleId=2572>

John Bolton is acting as an agent of the Israeli government in promoting a unilateral American military attack on Iran. Nowhere in any of Bolton's statements can one find the least sign of concern for what effects such a policy might have on American strategic interests and the quality of life of Americans.

Are the Israeli gatekeepers in the alternative media, like Michael Ruppert, Al Franken and Jon Stewart discussing the nature of Bolton's agenda? Nope. Not a word. They are helping grease the wheels for World War III/IV and a self-fulfilling Armageddon. It is impossible to oppose and stop a political juggernaut if one refuses to name and confront the main parties that are propelling it.

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Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule - Los Angeles Times

Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule - Los Angeles Times

[political-research] Bloglines - The mask falls


Blogoland
Not really a blog

The mask falls

By Jonathan

Mark Steyn, objectively pro-massacre:

Anyone who supports the launching of a war should be clear-sighted enough to know that, when the troops go in, a few of them will kill civilians, bomb schools, torture prisoners. It happens in every war in human history, even the good ones. Individual Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians did bad things in World War II and World War I. These aren't stunning surprises, they're inevitable: It might be a bombed mosque or a gunned-down pregnant woman or a slaughtered wedding party, but it will certainly be something. And, in the scales of history, it makes no difference to the justice of the cause and the need for victory.


You'll be hearing a lot of this deranged talk in the coming weeks and months. Be prepared. [via TBogg]




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Palestine Chronicle - Linda McQuaig: Union Drawing Attention to Israeli Injustice

Palestine Chronicle - Linda McQuaig: Union Drawing Attention to Israeli Injustice

Palestine Chronicle - Rosemary Ruether: Israel's Targeted Assassination Policy

Palestine Chronicle - Rosemary Ruether: Israel's Targeted Assassination Policy

[september_eleven_vreeland] Digest Number 1380

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There is 1 message in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

1. Video: Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World - Aspartame Cancer, Parts 1,2
From: "shane_digital" shane_digital@yahoo.com

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Message: 1
Date: Sun Jun 4, 2006 4:36 am (PDT)
From: "shane_digital" shane_digital@yahoo.com
Subject: Video: Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World - Aspartame Cancer, Parts 1,2

Aspartame causes Cancer (Diet Soda, sugar-free candy, sugar-free gum,
chewable vitamins(children's chewable vitamins also!)

The FDA would not approve a poison to put on grocery store shelves and
in hundreds of products just because a few political favors were
pulled in, would they?

After 7000 miles, and 25 hours of footage, "Sweet Misery" reveals one
of the most pervasive, insidious forms of corporate negligence in the
history of the industrial revolution.

"Aspartame is inherently, markedly and uniquely unstable in aqueous
media" is a quote from the congressional record in 1985, yet it was
approved for use in soft drinks and other beverages.

So what happened?

Is there credible evidence if you look beyond the smokescreen of
corporate medicine? The primary research and interviews have been
quite disturbing.

Dr. Woodrow C. Monte wrote: "Methanol [one of the breakdown products
of aspartame] has no therapeutic properties and is considered only as
a toxicant. The ingestion of two teaspoons is considered lethal in
humans" (Monte, Woodrow, "Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health",
Journal of Applied Nutrition, Vol. 36, Number 1, 1984, p. 44).

Long-term use can create a ticking time-bomb for a large array of
neurological illnesses, including (but not limited to) Brain Cancer,
Lou Gehrig's Disease, Graves Disease, Chronic Fatigue, MS and Epilepsy.

video:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/010606Aspartame.htm

________________________________________________________________________
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A Hopeful sign of MSM sanity... Not quite

The American Thinker

Washington Post: Combating the Truth of 9/11

Born With the Desire to Know the Unknown:


"The United States appears to be especially fertile ground for conspiracy theories, said Chip Berlet, who studies such theories at Political Research Associates, a think tank in Somerville, Mass"

News Analysis: How a Typical New York Times Article is Really Bushevik Propaganda Disguised as News

News Analysis: How a Typical New York Times Article is Really Bushevik Propaganda Disguised as News

Hamas Rejects Abbas Ultimatum Over Israel, Palestinian Confrontation Looms As Hamas Rejects Abbas Ultimatum Over Recognizing Israel - CBS News

Hamas Rejects Abbas Ultimatum Over Israel, Palestinian Confrontation Looms As Hamas Rejects Abbas Ultimatum Over Recognizing Israel - CBS News

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Officials admit doubts over chemical plot

Guardian Unlimited The Guardian Officials admit doubts over chemical plot

Blogger Thoughts: John Gibson of Fox News somehow forgot to mention this last night.

new articles on APFN

Stop the NAIS = National Animal Identification System — Dr. Ron Paul, Sun Jun 4 02:16
there was no plane - and something please help me with — Christopher Hume, Sun Jun 4 02:32
Swedes Protest Police Shutdown of Web Site — By ADAM EWING, Sun Jun 4 02:35
United States Intelligence Activities — Executive Order l2333, Sun Jun 4 03:00
This video is not for the timid or faint of heart — The Last Outpost, Sun Jun 4 03:14
The Professors 9/11 Enigma — Foreign Press Foundation - Henk Ruyssenaars, Sun Jun 4 04:02
Laura left Bushit-over black meat — archers, Sun Jun 4 07:44
Video--Baby killers — archers, Sun Jun 4 09:11
06/03/06 Bobby Kennedy Vote Fraud — "RADIO YOUR WAY", Sun Jun 4 15:54
Take over DOD — kathaksung - IP: 207.200.116.134, Sun Jun 4 17:51
Re: there was no plane - and something please help me with — SwampFox, Sun Jun 4 18:31
Go NOW to see "An Inconvenient Truth" — Charles Shaw, Sun Jun 4 21:25
Complete 911 Timeline — The Center for Cooperative Research, Sun Jun 4 21:33
Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State — by Allan Uthman, Sun Jun 4 22:01
re: Free Energy - sustainable technologies. — Coast to Coast Am, Mon Jun 5 00:49
Fanciful Tale — Vicky Davis, Mon Jun 5 00:50

Please click here to unsubscribe.

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[imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1409 (11 messages)

imra Mon Jun 5 00:29:52 2006 Volume 2 : Issue 1409

In this issue of the imra daily Digest:

Fatah deploys new [illegal] militia to
counter [illegal] Hamas militia
NEC Poll of Palestinians:
decline in support for Abu Mazen
and "Prisoners Agreement"
EXCERPTS: Egyptian ferry tragedy costing over
1,000 lives a "misdemeanour" 3 June 2006
Divine Strake Underground Bunker Bombing
Test Postponed Due Legal Proceedings
Gaza retreat planner Maj. Gen. Eiland slams
Sharon for lack of planning, slams Olmert plan
Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe
CABINET COMMUNIQUE
Rethinking humanitarian aid to the PA
Excerpts: Al-Qaeda militant attack in Damascus.
Terrorism in Canada.Thousands of Pro Hizbollah
Shiite Muslims riot at TV spoof 4 June 2006
Congressman raps Saudis over anti-Israel boycott
Dichter: Reoccupy parts of Gaza

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Fatah deploys new [illegal] militia to
counter [illegal] Hamas militia

Fatah deploys new militia

2,500-member security unit takes up positions in West Bank town of Jenin in
show of force against Hamas government;
Ali Waked YNET 3 June 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3258207,00.html

The Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas deployed a
new militia in the streets of the West Bank town of Jenin on Saturday, in a
show of force against the Hamas government.

The new unit, which Fatah officials said numbers 2,500 members, is the
movement's answer to a new militia of 3,000 Hamas activists that the
government deployed last month defying Abbas' objection. The presence of a
new Fatah militia, on top of the official security branches that the
movement dominates, ratchets up tensions between Fatah and Hamas that have
already erupted in deadly violence and raised the specter of all-out civil
war.

Hamas spokesmen weren't immediately available for comment. More than 2,000
members of the new unit gathered in Jenin on Saturday morning wearing black
T-shirts emblazoned with "Special Protection Unit" on the back, and a photo
of the iconic Palestinian leader, the late Yasser Arafat, on the front. Some
60 to 70 were armed with assault rifles, and several dozens carried pistols.

Aim: To back up official security branches

A Fatah leader in Jenin, Ata Abu Rmeileh, said the aim of the force was to
back the official Palestinian security branches.

"You are here to protect your people and the Palestinian Authority
institutions," Abu Rmeileh exhorted the force over a loudspeaker at the
local high school where it gathered. "We are loyal to our people, not like
those who have sold themselves to Arab and non-Arab capitals," he said, in a
thinly veiled reference to Hamas, which is supported by Syria and Iran. The
new fighters raised their arms in a salute and shouted "Fatah, Fatah."

The force then split into 23 groups that paraded throughout the streets of
Jenin. The deployment of the militia on Saturday was intended to drive home
the message that unless Hamas disbands its new force, then Fatah will create
parallel units across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Fatah officials said on
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose policy
to the press.

Fatah officials said they have information that Hamas, whose power base is
in Gaza, has begun organizing a militia in the West Bank. Hamas has not
confirmed this.

Violence in PA

Meanwhile, on Saturday Nabil Amr, a media consultant to Abbas, reiterated
that the president would not travel to Gaza unless Hamas dissolved its
recently deployed militia.

Fatah's militia was deployed just hours after a senior member of Hamas'
military wing was shot in the chest in a drive-by shooting.

Also Saturday, Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that two infant sisters
were lightly to moderately wounded by shrapnel from IDF shells. According to
the report, the shells hit a home in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. The IDF,
however, said they had not fired any shells in the direction of Beit Lahiya
Saturday, but did confirm targeting Beit Hanoun in a reprisal after two
Qassam rockets were fired at Israel earlier in the day.

AP contributed to the report

(06.03.06, 12:32)

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: NEC Poll of Palestinians:
decline in support for Abu Mazen
and "Prisoners Agreement"

The Palestinian National Dialogue and call for a Referendum
Survey #2 - 03 June 2006

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
NEC
HSBC Building, 3rd floor
RAMALLAH
Tel: 02-2961436
Fax: 02-2963114
info@neareastconsulting.com
www.neareastconsulting.com

On 02 June 2006, Near East Consulting (NEC) conducted a short survey.

The results are based on a sample of 767 successful telephone interviews.
The margin of error for this survey is +/- 3.5% and a 95% confidence level.

The NEC team would like to thank the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC) for its contribution to this survey.

In the 19 May NEC survey, before Abu Mazen's call for a referendum on the
PrisonersAgreement in case the national dialogue fails, trust in Abu Mazen
(51%) and Ismael Hanieh (49%) was quite evenly divided. By the 27 May NEC
survey, popular trust in Abu Mazen was substantially boosted by his call for
a referendum to 62%. In the 2 June NEC survey, Abu Mazen (55%) has again
lost some of the popular trust to the benefit of Ismael Hanieh (45%).

Trust in Abu Mazen versus trust in Ismael Hanieh
19 May: Abu Mazen 51% Ismael Hanieh 49%
27 May: Abu Mazen 62% Ismael Hanieh 38%
2 June: Abu Mazen 55% Ismael Hanieh 45%

Support or opposition to the Prisoners Agreement
19 May: Support 80% Oppose 20%
27 May: Support 89% Oppose 11%
2 June: Support 76% Oppose 24%

Expectations about the on-going national dialogue
27 May: It will succeed 65% It will fail 35%
2 June: It will succeed 53% It will fail 47%

Support or opposition to Abu Mazen's call for a referendum
27 May: Support 81% Oppose 19%
2 June: Support 76% Oppose 24%

Would you vote in favour or against the Prisoners Agreement?
27 May: I would vote in favour 85% against 15%
2 June: I would vote in favour 77% against 23%

Support or opposition to a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967
borders
27 May Support 71% Oppose 29%
2 June Support 64% Oppose 36%

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: EXCERPTS: Egyptian ferry tragedy costing over
1,000 lives a "misdemeanour" 3 June 2006

EXCERPTS: Egyptian ferry tragedy costing over 1,000 lives a "misdemeanour" 3
June 2006

+++AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 1-7 June '06 Justice lost at sea?"

HEADING:"The owner of the sunken ferry that claimed the lives of more than
1,000 people was only charged with a misdemeanour. Magda El-Ghitany wonders
if he will even make it to court"
QUOTE FROM TEXT:
"Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies described
misdemeanour charge as 'outrageous' " ...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... Mamdouh Ismail ..... A Shura Council member and the owner of the
Al-Salam 98 ferry that sunk in February, killing over 1,000 people, Ismail
...made his way to London a few days after the tragedy .... the
prosecutor-general had only decided to refer Ismail to a misdemeanour court,
which means he is likely to face manslaughter, rather than murder, charges
for his role in the ferry passengers' untimely deaths.
Al-Salam 98 went down while sailing from the Saudi port of Daba to the
Egyptian port of Safaga. Most of the 1,318 passengers on board, as well as
the captain and crew, perished. Two reports ... stressed Ismail's gross
negligence ... operating the ferry without the necessary maritime safety
precautions and equipment.... The reports also accused Ismail and his son
Amr, the company's deputy director, of overloading the ferry with too many
passengers.
...told that the ferry was sinking, they did not report the dangerous
situation to the Safaga Port Authority. They also instructed the captain of
another one of their ferries -- the Saint Catherine, which was travelling
nearby -- not to stop and rescue the Al-Salam 98 victims. These
facts,...indicate that Ismail should be charged with a crime, rather than a
misdemeanour.
... a third report, prepared by the government, ...portrayed the disaster as
"an act of fate"....guided by this interpretation of events,
Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed said that Ismail, his son and four
others will face charges of "negligence, and failure to rescue the victims"
in front of a misdemeanour court on 5 June.
The prosecutor-general's decision,...Ismail might eventually be acquitted on
all charges.
...the deputy director of Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic
Studies, described the misdemeanour charge as "outrageous" ...For-Ghatit,
the international law professor, Ismail's status as a British national -- if
true -- should not affect his legal position, or responsibility for the
tragedy.

Sue Lerner - Associate - IMRA

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Divine Strake Underground Bunker Bombing
Test Postponed Due Legal Proceedings

Divine Strake
www.dtra.mil/divinestrake/index.cfm

The Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is
planning to conduct an experiment, Divine Strake, at the National Nuclear
Security Administration's (NNSA) Nevada Test Site. The experiment,
originally scheduled for June 2, 2006, will not be conducted earlier than
June 23, 2006. The NNSA Nevada Site Office decided to postpone the
experiment due to the scheduling of legal proceedings.

The experiment will consist of the detonation of 700 tons of ammonium
nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) above an existing tunnel constructed for other
research efforts. ANFO is commonly used in mining and commercial blasting
operations. The amount of explosive was selected to achieve differing levels
of ground shock-severe to light-along the length of the tunnel.

This experiment supports the Tunnel Target Defeat Advanced Concept
Technology Demonstration, which is intended to improve and validate computer
model planning tools used to defeat hardened and deeply buried targets.
Specifically, the Divine Strake experiment will validate and assess the
capability of computer codes to predict the ground-shock environment and how
the tunnel responds to that shock. This experiment is not being conducted to
support any specific, existing or planned conventional or nuclear weapon.
Nor does it represent a specific target.

The NNSA Nevada Site Office has issued a revised environmental assessment.
The NNSA Nevada Site Office has determined that there is no residual
radiation from previous testing elsewhere on the range in the vicinity of
the detonation site.
The tunnel has never been used for nuclear testing. There is no danger to
the population of Las Vegas and the surrounding communities from this
experiment. DIVINE STRAKE does not use a nuclear device, and it does not
test a weapon. The NNSA Nevada Site Office and DTRA have determined that the
proposed action will not significantly impact the quality of the human
environment. As a result, NNSA Nevada Site Office and DTRA issued a Revised
Finding of No Significant Impact and authorized the proposed experiment to
be conducted within the limits of applicable permits and regulations.

The explosion from the experiment will create a dust cloud that may reach an
altitude of 10,000 feet, but it is not expected to be visible off the Nevada
Test Site. The ground motion from the experiment is expected to be
negligible away from the test site.

For additional information, please contact DTRA Public Affairs:
Email: PublicAffairs@dtra.mil
Phone: 1-800-701-5096

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Gaza retreat planner Maj. Gen. Eiland slams
Sharon for lack of planning, slams Olmert plan

[IMRA: While civil servants employed in other democracies might feel
compelled to resign when they realize that they are involved in a
disaster-in-the making so that they may warn the public, there is no such
tradition in Israel.]

Eiland: 'The disengagement was a missed opportunity of historic proportions'
By Ari Shavit Haaretz 4 June 2006
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/722351.html

In an interview to Haaretz, the outgoing head of the National Security
Council (NSC), Major General Giora Eiland describes the disengagement from
the Gaza Strip as a "missed opportunity of historic proportions." The man
whose last posting in the IDF was as head of operations, also warns that the
convergence plan will not bring stability to the Middle East. After two and
a half years at the NSC, Eiland also comments on the informal way strategic
decisions are made in Israel.

You planned the disengagement for former prime minister Ariel Sharon. Was
the disengagement a right move or a mistake?

Eiland: "The disengagement was a missed opportunity of historic proportions.
I would like to explain. The disengagement contributed nothing to the
solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

In the government establishment, in which you were a member, was there an
organized discussion on whether the disengagement was the right move?

"No. When I assumed my office, on 18 January, 2004, there was only an
amorphous term 'disengagement' from a speech in Herzliya. I asked Sharon how
much time I had to formulate a plan and he told me, four months. But very
quickly it became clear to me that [PM Sharon's adviser] Dov Weissglas had
already met with the Americans and committed us to a major unilateral step
both in Gaza and the West Bank.

"Immediately after, Sharon committed himself to the evacuation of 18
settlements in the Gaza Strip in an interview to [Haaretz's] Yoel Marcus,
and at that point the game was up. The planning process I had began blew
up."

Was the question of what we could get in exchange for the Gaza Strip asked?

"That question was raised much later."

Was that not a strategic mistake?

"Condoleezza Rice told us, 'Let me explain to you what the meaning of a
unilateral step is. You make a unilateral step when it is good for you.
Therefore, you do not expect to receive anything in return for a step that
you are doing because it is good for you.'"

And this is the crux of the missed opportunity in your view?

"Yes. The disengagement was a missed opportunity of historical proportions
because at the end of 2003 both Israel and the world had reached the
conclusion that on the one hand it was important to end the conflict
quickly, and on the other hand, in the existing paradigm it is impossible to
solve it.

"Why is it impossible to solve? Because the maximum that Israel can give is
less than the minimum that the Palestinians must accept. I think that was a
rare opportunity to offer a new paradigm. But the disengagement simply said
the occupation was bad, that there is no chance for an agreement so long as
there is occupation, and therefore, let us narrow the occupation.

"The same is said by the convergence. There is logic in the thinking, but it
does not lead to long-term stability. The move along a unilateral path leads
us to the classic solution of two states for two peoples, and I think this
is an impossible solution."

Explain it to me.

"When we talk of a solution of two states for two peoples we make two
assumptions: that it is possible to solve the conflict in the area between
the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, and that the reference for a border
between the two states are the 1967 lines with minor changes. I reject these
two assumptions. I think that between the sea and the river there is not
enough area to contain two states, and I think that in order to maintain a
defensible border, Israel needs at least 12 percent of the West Bank. The
1967 lines, even the Clinton Plan, do not give Israel defensible borders."

And a Palestinian state in only 88 percent of the West Bank territory is a
viable state?

"That is the second mistake. I argue that even a Palestinian state with 100
percent of the Gaza Strip and 97 percent of the West Bank is not viable.
Such a country will be poor, radical, restive, where the demographic
pressures will be unbearable. In 2020 there will be 2.5 million people in
the Gaza Strip, in area of 365 square kilometers. This will inevitably lead
to pressure against the fences."

Do you have an alternative proposal?

"My proposal from 2004, which I put forth to Sharon, calls for a regional
solution. Adding 600 square kilometers to Gaza in northern Sinai, to allow
for the construction of an international port and airport, and a city in
which millions of Palestinians can live. Granting 600 square kilometers to
Israel in the West Bank in order to guarantee defensible borders. Compensate
Egypt with 150 square kilometers in the southern Negev, and compensation in
the form of international economic aid and a tunnel connecting Egypt with
Jordan, north of Eilat. The transfer of about 100 square kilometers on the
east bank of the river to the Palestinians, granting them 105 percent of the
territory they are asking today."

Are the Palestinians willing to consider your proposal?

"All the Fatah people who saw the plan expressed interest. Abu Ala, Mohammed
Dahlan and others. The Palestinians are more practical than we tend to
think."

Egypt? The Jordanians?

"I believe it is possible to make them a sufficiently attractive offer."

Do you see the convergence creating conditions of stable coexistence with
the Palestinians?

"The convergence will not bring stability. It will not solve the conflict.
But it will encourage Hamas to keep the calm. There is a convergence of
interests between the government of Israel and Hamas."

What kind of reality will there be after the withdrawal?

"A reality of two states without an agreement. The Palestinian state will be
a radical Hamas state, not satisfied and not viable. There will be
continuous instability."

Did you talk with Olmert about the convergence?

"No."

How is that?

"I read about it in the papers like every other citizen. I have no problem
with this. The prime minister is a very intelligent man, capable of making
decisions, and is handling the situation in an impressive manner. I am sure
he consulted with other people."

But in the government establishment there has not been a discussion on
whether the convergence is good for Israel.

"Right."

Not related to Olmert or Sharon specifically, the decision-making process in
Israel appears to be sound to you?

"No."

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe

[IMRA: It remains unclear if Mr. Greenberg asked policy questions to see if
Israel's retreats have also been "rewarded" by a shift in favor of Israeli
"red line" such as right of return. Back in 2002 Greenberg made the rounds
in Israel with polls of Americans to promote Israeli withdrawals as a way to
improve Israel's standing.

Buried within the findings at the time was the startling and distubing
result that a large portion of Americand, including "national opinion
formers" favor the right of return of Palestinian refugees to within Israel.
At the time, Greenberg's recommendations did not address the need to
directly address this very dangerous attitude.

Greenberg is a partner in GCS - Israel Issue Management.

The consultancy's initials (GCS) stand for its five partners' surnames: The
"G" is for Stanley Greenberg (Clinton's own polling
specialist) and for Moshe Gaon; "C" is James Carville, Clinton's chief
campaign strategist, credited with making Bill the "comeback kid."; "S" is
for another Clinton spin doc, media consultant Robert Schrum, and, of
course, for Silberstein himself.

GCS's first major deal was a multimillion contract to represent the three
cellular telephone companies. The contract, granted to GCS without a tender,
was signed shortly after Ehud Barak was elected. At the time, the cellular
companies were facing heavy public pressure out of concern for the possible
radiation hazard presented by the many cellular telephone antennas placed
across the country.]

Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe
THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 3, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1148482098416&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

New public opinion surveys conducted among "opinion elites" in Europe show
that support for the Palestinians has fallen precipitously, according to a
leading international pollster, Stan Greenberg, who has been briefing
Israeli leaders on his findings in the past few days. There has not
necessarily been "a rush to Israel" but there has been a "crash" in backing
for the Palestinians, he noted.

Greenberg, a key pollster for president Clinton who also worked with former
Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, conducted the surveys for the Israel
Project, a US-based non-profit organization devoted to educating the press
and the public about Israel.

Greenberg told The Jerusalem Post that the shifts in attitudes reflected in
the surveys were so dramatic that he "redid" some of the polls to ensure
there had been no error.

He singled out France as the country where attitudes had changed most
dramatically. Three years ago, 60 percent of French respondents said they
took a side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of that 60%, four out
of five backed the Palestinians. Today, by contrast, 60% of French
respondents did not take a side in the conflict, and support for the
Palestinians had dropped by half among those who did express a preference.

Greenberg said the figures were still being finalized, and so did not go
into further details. But shifts such as these, he said, represented "an
incredible pace of change," with significant consequences.

Until recently, he said, "It was hard for Israel to communicate its
interests in its own name" in Europe. "It was hard for Israel to be heard.
Nowadays, it is heard on its own interests, such as Iran and Hamas." Much of
the "old sense of hostility," had dissipated, he said.

At the root of the change, said Greenberg, was a fundamental remaking in
Europe of the "framework" through which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is
viewed.

Three years ago, he said, the conflict was perceived "in a post-colonial
framework."

There was a sense "that Europe could cancel out its own colonial history by
taking the 'right' side" - the Palestinian side. Yasser Arafat was viewed as
"an anti-colonial, liberation leader." The US was seen as a global imperial
power, added Greenberg, and the fact that it was backing Israel only added
to the "instinctive" sense of the Palestinians as victims.

France, with the largest Muslim population - moreover an entirely Arab
Muslim population - with the direct experience of Algeria and the most
anti-US positions, was most prey to this mindset.

Today, by contrast, the Europeans "are focused on fundamentalist Islam and
its impact on them," he said. The Europeans were now asking themselves "who
is the moderate in this conflict, and who is the extremist? And suddenly it
is the Palestinians who may be the extremists, or who are allied with
extremists who threaten Europe's own society."

An increasing proportion of Europeans are concluding that "maybe the
Palestinians are not the colonialist victims" after all.
Furthermore, the pollster said, the question of which side held "absolute,"
uncompromising positions had also shifted - to Israel's benefit. The
sea-change in attitudes, he said, had been accelerated by the fact that
former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who had been widely regarded as an
ideological "absolutist," had surprised Europe with his disengagement
initiative. And at about the same time, the Palestinians had chosen the
"absolutists" of Hamas as their leadership.

An opinion poll for the Israel Project among "opinion elites" in the US
released last month found that 80% believed that US should not fund the
Palestinian Authority until its Hamas-led government renounced violence,
recognized Israel and ended terrorism, 93% said Palestinian leaders must end
the culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers and
78% had a favorable view of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's
"realignment" plan. Asked if they considered themselves supporters of Israel
or supporters of the Palestinians, 58% in that survey said they backed
Israel, while 10% said they supported the Palestinians. Another 33% said
they supported neither side, were undecided or didn't know.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: CABINET COMMUNIQUE

CABINET COMMUNIQUE
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 4.6.06:

1. Israel Security Agency Director Yuval Diskin and the IDF Intelligence
Corps Director of Research briefed ministers on the current state of affairs
in the Palestinian Authority.

2. The Cabinet decided to allocate NIS 40 million in 2006 to repair the
damages (to highways, the electricity grid and sewage/drainage
infrastructure) stemming from the floods that struck the Wadi Ara and
western Galilee districts as a result of the strong rains that fell in April
of this year. See http://tinyurl.com/frv5w for details.

3. Pursuant to article 18 of Basic Law: The President of the State (
http://tinyurl.com/ywatb ), the Cabinet approved President Moshe Katsav's
upcoming official visits to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, at the
invitation of Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Czech President Vaclav
Klaus, respectively. The Cabinet also noted that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
will travel to Sharm e-Sheikh today in for a meeting with Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Rethinking humanitarian aid to the PA

Rethinking humanitarian aid
Efraim Inbar, THE JERUSALEM POST June 4, 2006

www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1148482098877&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

While most of the international community has suspended financial support to
the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority, several states have sought ways to
circumvent the Hamas-controlled bureaucracy in order to deliver humanitarian
aid directly to the Palestinian people. Such attempts are functionally and
morally misguided.
Humanitarian aid is almost always political. It's governments and
organizations with clear political agendas who dispense most "humanitarian"
funds. A close look at foreign aid indicates that the self-interest of the
donor rather than altruism usually motivates such programs.
The French directed economic aid, primarily to former African colonies, for
years in order to further a Francophone community. Meanwhile, European aid
programs to the Palestinians are a way to exercise a diplomatic role in a
conflict in which most of the shots are called by the Americans.
FOREIGN AID is seen as buying influence. While establishing a clear
connection between economic dependence and political compliance is
problematic, such a link is on the minds of decision makers.

Secondly, decisions on financial aid are hardly based on a meticulous
comparative analysis of the respective needs of various hard-hit groups
around the globe. Aid programs are only minimally related to an objective
evaluation of the economic situation of potential recipients. Simply put, it
is not the poorest that get the most money.

For example, Palestinians receive substantially larger amounts of money per
capita than do far more destitute populations in Africa - the Sudan, for
instance. There are many countries whose populations suffer far more than do
the Palestinian Arabs on such key indices as life expectancy and average
caloric intake.

Thirdly, rendering financial aid strengthens the donor political
organizations and states dispensing it. This is precisely why several
European states toy with the idea of sending money directly to Mahmoud
Abbas, representing "the good guys," rather than to Hamas, perceived (for
the time being) as "the bad guys." The fact that Abbas chaired a corrupt and
inept government seems irrelevant.

FOURTHLY, there is the "CNN effect," which is responsible for eliciting a
significant portion of the humanitarian aid provided. Disasters that attract
the attention of the media for extended periods are inevitably viewed as
good tools for public diplomacy. Such disasters are capitalized upon to
announce generous offers of foreign aid (not always fully delivered) in
order to enhance national reputations.

The Palestinians, now partly under economic siege, have a clear interest in
playing up the idea that they face a humanitarian disaster. It's a way to
overcome political obstacles and speed up delayed financial contributions.

Of course, generous donations (usually from Western states) do not always
reach the intended recipients. Some leaders in the less-developed world are
ingenious at siphoning aid away from those who truly need it.

Many top-ranking Palestinians have enjoyed the fruits of the donors'
gullibility. Moreover, in war-torn societies it is the guys with the guns
who usually end up with the food supplies and other goodies provided by
well-intentioned foreigners. Food and medicines sent to the Palestinians
will invariably end up in the hands of the armed militias.

THE PAVLOVIAN response of sending money to societies unable to put their
houses in order must therefore be questioned.
Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar of the 11th century, established a
clear hierarchy of philanthropic acts. In his view, the most valuable
philanthropic deed involves aid directed at enabling the recipient to become
economically independent. His insight is validated by the history of
humanitarian aid in the past century, which shows that outside economic aid
is only as good as the ability of a recipient's economy and government to
use it prudently and productively.

Thus it is not at all clear that sending more money to the dysfunctional
Palestinian economy will do any good. After all, millions of euros
transferred to the PA since the 1993 Oslo Accords have been squandered and
misused.

Indeed, the Palestinian arena provides a telling example of an utterly
dysfunctional welfare institution, UNRWA, whose stated goal is to set the
Palestinian refugees "on the road to self-reliance and sustainable human
development."

The expectation that UNRWA will help the refugees rebuild their lives and
stop living on charity remains unfulfilled.

Surprisingly, according to the organization's own figures, the number of
refugees has grown, from hundreds of thousands in 1948 to over 4 million in
2004. These numbers indicate a colossal failure on part of UNRWA to turn the
refugees into self-reliant individuals.

We know that welfare can be addictive. In the case of UNRWA, its activities
have created a multi-generational dependence. UNRWA has, in fact, become the
main tool for not solving the refugee issue.

UNRWA has subordinated the welfare of the people it is supposed to be
helping to the political needs of Israel's enemies by ensuring that the
refugees stay addicted to foreign welfare.

In the final analysis, humanitarian aid should be dispensed judiciously,
while making sure that it does not preserve poverty and dependence.

Addiction can be treated in several ways. "Cold turkey" is one approach, and
the Palestinians should be induced to try it.

The writer is professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and
director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Excerpts: Al-Qaeda militant attack in Damascus.
Terrorism in Canada.Thousands of Pro Hizbollah
Shiite Muslims riot at TV spoof 4 June 2006

Excerpts: Al-Qaeda militant attack in Damascus.Terrorism in Canada.Thousands
of Pro Hizbollah Shiite Muslims riot at TV spoof 4 June 2006

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 3 June'06:
"5 Killed, 4 Injured in Damascus Clashes"Associated Press -
security forces suspected an 'Extremist terrorist unit'
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:

DAMASCUS, 3 June 2006 - Clashes between Syrian security forces and militants
yesterday in an area of Damascus filled with government buildings left five
dead and four wounded, officials said.
...Four militants were arrested and all those involved were Syrian ......
... the incident occurred after security forces suspected an "extremist
terrorist unit" was in the area and engaged it. ...It was not immediately
known whether the attackers belong to the militant group Jund Al-Sham that
has clashed with Syrian security forces on several occasions. Jund Al-Sham
was formed in Afghanistan by Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian militants
with links to ... the head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. . . .
Syria has been under pressure to root out suspected militants the United
States claims use Syrian territory to plan attacks in Israel and Iraq.
In December, Syrian anti-terrorist forces clashed with Islamic militants in
Idlib, 330 kilometers north of Damascus, killing five of them. Three others,
wearing explosives' belts, blew themselves up.
Also in December, Syria announced it had uncovered a bomb-making factory in
the northern city of Aleppo, discovering plans for attacks on public
buildings and security headquarters in Syria.

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 4 June '06: ":Canadian Govt Foils Terror Plot, Arrests
17 Suspects",Beth Duff-Brown, Associated Press -
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"Canadian youths ... upset about the treatment of Muslims worldwide,
were among those arrested"
"at least 50 terror groups now have some presence (in Canada)"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:

TORONTO, 4 June 2006 - Seventeen Canadian residents were in custody
yesterday on terrorism-related charges, including plots to use explosives in
attacks on Canadian soil, authorities said....12 male adults and five youth
and foiled plans for terrorist attacks against targets in southern Ontario.

"This group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other
components necessary to create explosive devices," said assistant Royal
Canadian Mounted Police commissioner Mike McDonell said....that is three
times the amount used to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma
City.... the suspects were either Canadian citizens or residents of Canada
and had trained together.
...The Toronto Star reported yesterday that Canadian youths in their teens
and 20s, upset at the treatment of Muslims worldwide, were among those
arrested.. . .The Canadian anti-terrorism law was passed swiftly following
the Sept. 11 assaults, particularly after Osama bin-Laden's named Canada one
of five so-called Christian nations that should be targeted for acts of
terror. . . ..
Though many view Canada as an unassuming neutral nation that has skirted
terrorist attacks, it has suffered its share of aggression, including the
1985 Air India bombing, in which 329 people were killed, most of them
Canadian citizens.
Intelligence officials believe at least 50 terror groups now have some
presence in the North American nation and have long complained that the
country's immigration laws and border security are too weak to weed out
potential terrorists.

+++JORDAN TIMES 4 June, 2006:
"Riots burn Lebanon's reputation as most tolerant Arab nation" by Bassem
Mroue, Associated Press
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"burned Lebanon's reputation as te most politically tolerant nation in the
Arab world"
"demanded an apology from the private channel which broadcast the show"
"lengths ...Hizbollah goes to justify keeping its weapons"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:
BEIRUT - Every week, Lebanese tune into the TV programme "A Nation's Smiles"
for a dose of satire on their leaders. But when an actor in clerical robes
and fake beard spoofed the leader of Hizbollah this week, mocking the
group's fight against Israel, it took only minutes for thousands of Shiite
viewers to turn into rioters.
For the next five hours, Shiite Muslims thronged the streets of south Beirut
and other towns in Lebanon, waving yellow Hizbollah flags, blocking
traffic - including cars trying to get to Beirut airport - and burning
tyres.
They also burned Lebanon's reputation as the most politically tolerant
nation in the Arab world.
...The target of Thursday night's spoof, Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan
Nasrallah,,,,appealed on the party's TV channel for his supporters "to end
the gatherings and go home." The producer of the TV satire, Charbel Khalil,
apologised.
He said he deeply respected Nasrallah and the show was "was not meant to
offend him." For some, this was not enough. Abdul-Hadi Mahfouz, the chairman
of the National Media Council, Lebanon's press watchdog, convened an
emergency meeting Friday and demanded an apology from the private channel
that broadcast the show, Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.. If LBC did not
apologise, he added, it could face legal action.
Satellite service providers in south Beirut, where Hizbollah enjoys strong
support, announced Friday they would boycott LBC until the channel
apologised.
The chief of LBC, Pierre Daher, issued a statement arguing that the
programme dealt with Nasrallah as a political leader "not as a religious
personality or a leader of the resistance" - the accepted term for Hizbollah
figthers.
Daher added that freedom of opinion was enshrined in Lebanon's
constitution.. . ..
The fuss reflected the political tension in Lebanon between the pro- and
anti-Syrian camps. Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has been accused by
the anti-Syrian majority in parliament of serving Syria's interests. The
pro-Syrians accuse the majority of working for the United States.
A possible element in the unrest is that LBC is a Christian-owned channel
that is close to the Lebanese forces . . .In the scene that provoked the
riot, a woman - played by a man in drag - asks Nasrallah whether Hizbollah
would lay down its arms after Israel's withdraws from Shebaa Farms - a
disputed piece of land on south Lebanon's border where Hizbollah fighters
frequently fight Israeli troops.
Nasrallah replies that Hizbollah's weapons will still be needed for
"liberating the house of Abu Hassan in Detroit from his Jewish neighbour."
Abu Hassan is a common Shiite name, and many Shiites of Lebanese origin live
in Detroit. So the remark was a dig at the lengths to which Hizbollah goes
to justify keeping its weapons - despite a UN Security Council resolution
calling for Hizbollah to be disarmed.
Police hardly intervened during the unrest. But 10 rioters were detained,
and soldiers deployed along the border between Christian and Muslim
neighbourhoods of south Beirut to prevent sectarian friction.. .

Sue Lerner - Associate - IMRA

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Congressman raps Saudis over anti-Israel boycott

Congressman raps Saudis over anti-Israel boycott
By Michael Freund The Jerusalem Post, June 4, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1148482101640&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShow

In the wake of a report in Tuesday's Jerusalem Post regarding Saudi Arabia's
ongoing enforcement of an anti-Israel trade embargo, a prominent Republican
Congressman sharply criticized the desert kingdom and said he plans to raise
the issue with senior Bush administration officials.

"It is unacceptable," New Jersey Rep. Mike Ferguson, a member of the House
of Representatives" influential Subcommittee on Commerce and Trade, told the
Post. "My colleagues and I raised a number of concerns last year about Saudi
Arabia joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), including their
participation in the Arab boycott of Israel.

"Now that the Saudis have joined the WTO," Ferguson said, "what we are
finding is that they are not following the rules."
As the Post first reported on May 30, Saudi officials continue to bar entry
to Israeli-made goods despite repeated promises to Washington that they
would drop their decades-old boycott of the Jewish state. The Bush
Administration had conditioned Riyadh's entry into the WTO on such a move.

The WTO, which granted membership to the Saudis in December, prohibits
signatories from engaging in discriminatory trade practices, such as
embargoes or boycotts.

Nonetheless, in recent months the Saudis have hosted a major international
conference aimed at strengthening the trade embargo against the Jewish
state, and they sent an official delegation to Damascus to take part in a
meeting of the Arab League's boycott office.

"Saudi Arabia has a responsibility to follow the provisions of the WTO,"
Ferguson said. "There is not one set of rules for the Saudis, and one for
everyone else."

The congressman said that he plans to meet soon with US Trade
Representative-nominee Susan Schwab in order to raise his concerns about
Saudi Arabia's policy regarding Israel and its WTO commitments.

Contacted by the Post, Stephen J. Norton, a spokesman for the US Trade
Representative, said that Washington has received assurances from the Saudis
that they are not enforcing a boycott of the Jewish state.

"Saudi officials have affirmed on several occasions, at meetings in
Washington and in Riyadh, and in written correspondence, that they
understand their WTO commitments and that they will abide by them," he said.

"As recently as April," Norton added, the US Trade Representative had
"received a letter from the Saudi Commerce Minister restating that
position."

Asked what measures would be taken if Saudi Arabia were found to be
violating its pledge, he declined to comment.

US State Department spokesman Tom Casey told the Post via e-mail that the
Bush Administration has "raised this issue directly with senior Saudi
officials on several occasions. In all instances, we have received
assurances that Saudi Arabia understands and remains committed to their WTO
obligations, including the obligation to treat all WTO members according to
WTO rules."

Ferguson, however, was less sanguine. "Their actions don't seem to be
matching their rhetoric," he said. "And this sends a very bad message to the
world that the WTO doesn't take its own rules seriously."

"The US," he declared, "has an important role to play to encourage and
cajole the Saudis to follow the rules."

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Dichter: Reoccupy parts of Gaza

Dichter: Reoccupy parts of Gaza

During cabinet meeting, internal security minister demands Qassam fire from
northern Gaza Strip be stopped at any cost; defense minister in response:
Occupying parts of Gaza is irrelevant
Attila Somfalvi YNET 4 June 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3258534,00.html

During Sunday's cabinet meeting, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter
urged Israel to step-up operations in Gaza and reoccupy territories there to
prevent ongoing Qassam attacks on the western Negev.

"We must act (in Gaza) as in the north," Dichter said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said in response: "Occupying parts of Gaza is
irrelevant. The security establish has been working successfully for a long
time in the face of the threats while examining new methods and tools of
employing force."

Dichter demanded the prime minister stop Qassm fire from northern Gaza at
any cost, "as the IDF paralyzed Hizbullah this week."

He added: "If need be, we can turn Beit Hanoun into a ghost town. We need to
return the balance of deterrence. It can't be that in one week, we can stop
Hizbullah fire but not Qassam fire."

Regarding the Palestinian prisoners' document, Dichter said: "These are not
just prisoners but murderers. There is nothing in their letter that upholds
the prime minister's demands. They ask for refugees rights as legitimate
right; they ask to continue terrorism with the 1967 lines, and they do not
recognize Israel. It mentions a Palestinian nation of the 67 borders with
its capital in Jerusalem."

PM: Prisoners' document irrelevant

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the Palestinian's list of principles
known as the "Prisoners' document " is nothing new from Israel's
perspective.

"Its contents are completely unacceptable and it isn't a basis for anything.
I wouldn't bother to respond to it because it is an internal Palestinian
issue," Olmert said during the meeting.
Ultimatum

The document was drafted by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, and was
signed by leading figures from other Palestinian factions in prison with
him, and called for the acceptance of a Palestinian state alongside Israel
on the '67 borders. Thus far, the Islamic Jihad agreed to endorse it but it
was rejected by the Hamas government.

According to the prime minister, "not everything needs Israel's commentary.
Not every fragment of every process demands the response of ministers. I don't
intend to personally offend this or that minister, but before everything
else we are ministers - there are commentators in the media. The
Palestinians should be allowed to mind their business themselves. We will
not conduct negotiations with them except for on the basis of the road map
and the quartet, and I will tell Mubarak that."

Regarding Israel's sensitive relationship with the Palestinian Authority,
Olmert said, "We aren't boycotting Abbas. We would be happy if he had the
ability to enforce his will on the PA. Everyone knows and recognizes this,
including our neighbors and including Abbas himself. The struggle against
terrorism is always combining maximal activity and balances."

Olmert added: "We have severe means in our arsenal, but sometimes, with
international consideration, they are not effective. It is not good to hurt
civilians, and therefore - anti-terror activity combines a few
considerations. We must weigh what is effective and when."

Olmert praises Peretz

After last week, when in the midst of discussions about defense budget cuts
the relationship between Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz was on the
rocks , on Sunday Olmert treated Peretz with equanimity.

"All of the operations carried out recently in Gaza brought very good
results. For that, the defense establishment - and the defense minister -
deserve all our respect," he said.

Regarding Lebanon and the escalation along the northern border last week,
Olmert said: "We are walking on a balanced and responsible line. Shell-fire?
Do you think it is easy? It is not. We always fear a shell will veer off its
course and hit innocents."

"Don't forget that all those terrorists and terror organizations are there
because someone brought them there. We will always keep our eyes open on all
fronts. We have the right to protect ourselves. If sharper measures become
necessary, we will use them," Olmert assured.

(06.04.06, 13:13)

------------------------------

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Subject: IMRA Subscription Info

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End of [imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1409 (11 messages)
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[political-research] On Glenn Reynolds' Threats Against the Enemies of the Neocons


http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/000958.html

Excerpt:

This reminds me of Goebbels' promise to the party faithful of a "victory orgy" after the war -- when they'd "settle accounts" with the traitors, defeatists and nay-sayers.

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[political-research] Bloglines - Glenn Reynolds’ Warning

Antiwar.com Blog

Glenn Reynolds’ Warning

By Matt Barganier on News

Jonathan Schwarz has some important thoughts on Glenn Reynolds’ warning to antiwar Americans, particularly his stunning update, here. And let’s be perfectly clear about this: Ingemi and Reynolds are warning us to shut the f*ck up about war crimes or face the armed wrath of the war-supporters.

Now Alan Dershowitz has shown that law profs at even elite universities are not necessarily geniuses, but anyone who can pass the reading comprehension portion of the GED knows exactly what Ingemi meant. His (and Reynolds’) more-in-sadness-than-in-anger tone doesn’t change anything, nor does the fact (alluded to in one of Reynolds’ updates) that a minor New York politician made a stupid joke about shooting Bush. I have no doubt that Ingemi, Reynolds, and their ilk are, for the most part, blustering wimps who faint at the sight of blood, but a warning is a warning. Take heed.

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