A life in ruins Peter Beaumont The force of the explosion that destroyed Shifa Salman’s house in the northern Gaza district of Jabal al-Rayas folded floor into floor as easily as pastry. It pushed pillars through concrete, reconfiguring her home into a bristling dome. The tail-fin of one of the Israeli bombs responsible still sits on top of the rubble, innocuous as a child’s discarded toy. These days, pigeons and sparrows nest in the cave-like space carved out by the detonation inside the ruins where mattresses and bags of flour are stored, the latter stencilled with the initials of the World Food Programme. Sleek, aggressive cockerels patrol the floor, flying at intruders… continua / continued  [55712] [ 05-jul-2009 17:53 ECT ]

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Video: Gaza activist talks to Al Jazeera from Israeli jail – 4 Jul 09 AljaeeraEnglish Fourteen people remain in custody after an aid ship bound for Gaza was seized by the Israeli navy on Tuesday. Among them are a nobel peace prize winner, and two Al Jazeera journalists. The Free Gaza movement sent the ship loaded with humanitarian supplies from Cyprus, in defiance of Israel’s crippling 2-year blockade. Mairead Maguire, a peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke to us from inside Tel Aviv’s Ramla Givon high security prison… continua / continued  [55710] [ 05-jul-2009 16:51 ECT ]

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Kosovo in ‘organ trafficking’ probe By Barnaby Phillips in Albania, Aljazeera.net …It was Carla Del Ponte, the former United Nations war crimes prosecutor, who drew attention to this farmhouse in her recently published memoir, looking back at her time in the former Yugoslavia. She describes how “credible” sources had told her that, during the war, Kosovan ethnic Albanian fighters had taken hundreds of prisoners over the mountains, into the neighbouring country of Albania. The sources said that some of these prisoners had been taken to the farmhouse, which had been turned into a makeshift operating theatre. Here, so the story goes, their organs were removed, and then carried to an airport near Tirana, to be flown out of the country.. continua / continued  [55709] [ 05-jul-2009 16:38 ECT ]

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Lest We Don’t Forget by Erin Cunningham They are little white, yellow or green pills and are available almost anywhere. At the pharmacies or in the market, they are accessible, addictive and cheap. “I take them because it makes me forget, at least for a little while, that I’m in Gaza,” says Abu Ala’a, a resident of the strip and father of four. “There is no alternative.” Looking to escape years of war, searing poverty and an unrelenting economic blockade, medical officials in the Gaza Strip say residents have developed a serious addiction to the narcotic painkiller Tramadol… continua / continued  [55707] [ 05-jul-2009 16:05 ECT ]

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Independence, Interdependence and HUMANITY Eileen Fleming, thepeoplesvoice.org “It appears as though the Israeli government is drilling for natural gas in the buffer zone. That gas belongs to the people of Gaza. It seems to be one of their reasons for stopping us, perhaps they’re worried that we may go back and tell the world what we have seen.” On the morning of July 2, 2009 upon discovering the FREE GAZA website had crashed [due to heavy traffic] I phoned Greta Berlin, a founder and coordinator for the movement regarding the status of the 21 activists who were kidnapped on June 30th at gun point by Israeli Naval forces from the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, while it was sailing in international waters 23 miles off the coast of Gaza… continua / continued  [55706] [ 05-jul-2009 16:00 ECT ]

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GI Special 7G4: “We Need The Storm” [ 4 July 2009 ] Thomas F. Barton For this occasion, July 4, reprinted below, in full, without one word cut out by hacks and “edotprs,” is the most powerful Fourth of July Oration ever made in the USA, so far. So that it may be thoughtfully considered, and weighed against both the times in which it was given, and these times today, no other articles will appear in this GI Special. It may be that printing it out, for consideration over some days, may be more productive that merely viewing it as an email. Fourth of July Oration: “For It Is Not Light That Is Needed, But Fire; It Is Not The Gentle Shower, But Thunder” . “We Need The Storm, The Whirlwind, And The Earthquake”. [continued inside] continua / continued  [55705] [ 05-jul-2009 13:54 ECT ]

New Wave of Violence Against Iraqi Gays By IWPR trainees in Baghdad …Long suggested that some members of Mehdi Army were trying to act as “agents of moral regeneration” in an attempt to regain some control over Shia neighbourhoods, following massive military operations that weakened the militia. “My sense is that they probably initiated the campaign [of violence] because the Mehdi Army was trying to come back,” he said. “It is pretty clear that sermons started being preached in Shia mosques, particularly ones in areas that are heavily influenced by the Sadrists earlier this year, on the dangers of homosexuality [in the weeks prior to the wave of killings].” Hili suspects Mehdi Army involvement in the violence in Sadr City because they are “are ruling and acting as a government [there]. There is no other force in Sadr City but Mehdi Army”… continua / continued  [55703] [ 05-jul-2009 05:44 ECT ]

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IOA detains Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ramle prison Palestinian Information Center Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have detained the Qatari TV network’s correspondent Othman Al-Battiri and cameraman Mansour Al-Ibbi along with the crew of the spirit of humanity boat in Ramle prison without determining a date for deporting them to their countries. Al-Jazeera said on Saturday that Battiri confirmed in a telephone contact that their fate was not clear, adding that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) exercised psychological pressures on them. He said that the IOA asked them to sign a document stipulating that they have “illegally” entered Israel but they all refused to sign, stressing that the IOF soldiers had kidnapped them… continua / continued  [55702] [ 05-jul-2009 05:41 ECT ] Neda Agha Soltan by Latuff Carlos Latuff Neda Agha Soltan, shot dead by Iranian forces during the 2009 Iranian election protests (June 20). May she rest in peace. continua / continued  [55699] [ 05-jul-2009 04:46 ECT ] Netanyahu reaffirms commitment to racism and expansionism – thanks to US tax dollars By Saree Makdisi To judge by the next day’s headlines, Binyamin Netanyahu’s policy speech last month was a great success. “Israeli premier backs state for Palestinians,” declared the New York Times. “Israel endorses two-state goal,” said the Washington Post. “Netanyahu backs Palestinian state,” announced the Guardian. He did no such thing, of course, unless by “state” one understands an amorphous entity lacking a definite territory, not allowed to control its own borders or airspace, shorn of any vestige of sovereignty (other than a flag and perhaps a national anthem), not allowed to enter into treaties with other states – and permanently disarmed and hence at the mercy of Israel. It would make about as much sense to call an apple an orange or a piano a speedboat as to call such a construct a state, and yet those are the conditions that Netanyahu imposed on the creation of such an entity for the Palestinians (if they get that far in the first place)… continua / continued  [55696] [ 04-jul-2009 22:56 ECT ] Torture by Permission of Judiciary Reflects Official Terrorism of IOA (Report) Palestinian Information Center Amid the laughter of Israeli soldiers mocking all norms and values, the officer calls out: “Number Three: step forward.” With weak and hesitant steps, one of the six Palestinian children steps forward to receive several blows on his skinny body and then return to his comrades. Then another child is called forth to undergo the same treatment while the soldiers laugh. For 14 hours six children from Ramallah were continuously subjected to brutal torture, beatings, sitting in awkward positions, and a stream of insults and threats, after being abducted from the street on their way home from school… continua / continued  [55695] [ 04-jul-2009 18:54 ECT ] Russia to allow US arms shipments to Afghanistan By NATALIYA VASILYEVA, AP Russia said Friday it will allow the United States to ship weapons across its territory to Afghanistan, a long-sought move that bolsters U.S. military operations but potentially gives the Kremlin leverage over critical American supplies. The announcement by a top Kremlin aide came ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow next week, when the deal is expected to be signed during a summit aimed at improving the nations’ strained relations… continua / continued  [55694] [ 04-jul-2009 18:46 ECT ] Israel cuts off water to Arab Druze towns on hottest day of year Saed Bannoura – IMEMC The Israeli National Water Company has cut off the water supply to two Arab Druze towns inside Israel. While water cut-offs by Israeli authorities are common within the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank, they are fairly unheard of within Israel itself. While the National Water Company, Mekorot, blamed the municipal authorities in the towns of Daliyat al-Karmel and Usafiya for collecting the fees and then keeping them instead of passing them on to the water company, the municipal authorities say the Ministry of Interior is to blame… continua / continued  [55693] [ 04-jul-2009 18:33 ECT ] Our Independence Day. Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues Today is the 4th of July. American day of so called Independence. So you’re independent are you ? Wallahee, tell me, what are you independent from ?… We are Iraqis. Do you know what Iraqis are — you arrogant, ignorant, backward people. Of course you would not know. You know nothing. We’ve been around for thousands of years. Well before the Persians, Greeks, Romans… and well before you. We are the first people and will be the last people. History started with us and will end with us. Of that I am absolutely certain. Because you will be history. Your fake, empty empire will be history… continua / continued  [55692] [ 04-jul-2009 18:02 ECT ] FOURTH OF JULY By Husayn Al-Kurdi and June C. Terpstra Americans are programmed to be an ignorant and arrogant people whose culture is mainly derived from three key factors: money, media, and an ignorant, violent, racist version of Christianity. No adequate understanding of American culture and cultural celebrations such as the Fourth of July is possible without first examining these three major elements and the pervading impact they have had on the people. The USA’s cultural system has proven functionally useful globally to imperialists because it provides them with citizens, soldiers, suckers, and slaves whose conditioned behavior patterns of obedience and consumption dominates their daily life. These accepted behavioral patterns have been developed over a short period of little more than two hundred years and are celebrated on holidays saturated with drunkenness, barbecued pork and all manner of self-indulgent excess. It must be remembered that the founders of the USA are the children of imperialist Europe. Like their European forebears they commonly accept a view of the world as basically “for the taking and raping.” They christened it as their “Manifest Destiny.” They called it “Discovery” in the past and they call it “Democratization” today… continua / continued  [55690] [ 04-jul-2009 17:20 ECT ] Urgent and Important Message from the Leader of Al-Rashedeen Army to Army’s Battalions and Brigades Leaders Al-Rashedeen Army in Iraq …And the coming of new president to United States who do well in the arts of conversation and conspiracy will not fold us from our jihad project, as it had been clear that it is only a night wants to pass destroying our religion in its darkness and gloominess. As for the story that US will withdraw from Iraq, it is craftiness they are doing. Since the Security Agreement which had been signed is the plant for the American existence in Iraq after it had been permitted and legislated by the subordinators of the American project by its operation which had been named “political” without any support from Allah book (Quran) or statement from our prophet (Piece Been Upon Him) (Hadith) or even positive law or social opinion… continua / continued  [55689] [ 04-jul-2009 16:27 ECT ] Obama sends marines to suppress population of southern Afghanistan By James Cogan The Obama administration has ordered the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2 MEB) into a potentially bloody offensive in the southern province of Helmand. The objective is the suppression of the ethnic Pashtun population, which is overwhelmingly hostile to the seven-and-a-half year US and NATO occupation of the country and rejects the legitimacy of the Afghan puppet government headed by President Hamid Karzai. Early Thursday morning, 2 MEB began what has been described as the biggest airlift of marines since the Vietnam War. Code-named “Khanjar”—Pashtun for “strike of the sword”—the operation is the largest undertaken by the Marine Corp since it led the assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah in November 2004. In all, some 4,000 marines and a 600-strong battalion of the Afghan Army are involved, supported by an array of jet fighters, unmanned drones and helicopter gunships… continua / continued  [55688] [ 04-jul-2009 14:59 ECT ] Iran Supreme Leader aide claims Mousavi is U.S. Agent By ALI AKBAR DAREINI A top aide to Iran’s supreme leader called the country’s main opposition figure a U.S. agent and accused him in an editorial Saturday of committing crimes against the nation . While hard-line figures had previously demanded Mir Hossein Mousavi to be prosecuted for describing Iran’s June 12 elections fraudulent and leading demonstrations afterward, the editorial was the first public declaration that the opposition leader was a foreign agent… continua / continued  [55687] [ 04-jul-2009 14:40 ECT ] Israeli Housing Minister Concerned over increasing Arab population Saed Bannoura – IMEMC Israeli Housing Minister of the extremist Shas movement stated Thursday that it is essential for the state of Israel to construct settlements in the Negev and the Galilee to ‘counter the increasing number of Arabs who do not love Israel’. Eitas stated that he is concerned about the increasing number of Arabs in different parts of Israel, and that he believes bringing more settlers to the Horesh religious Jewish settlement is a national task, the Arabs48 news website reported… continua / continued  [55686] [ 04-jul-2009 14:30 ECT ] OBAMA HAS NO LEGAL AUTHORITY TO ESCALATE AFGHAN WAR AND IS CREATING “HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE” IN PAKISTAN By Sherwood Ross President Obama has no legal authority either from the United Nations or the U.S. Congress under the War Powers Resolution(WPR) to escalate the war in Afghanistan, a distinguished professor of international law says. “President Obama’s surge of 21,000 troops now engaged in combat in Afghanistan comes on top of the 60,000 we already had there,” says Francis Boyle, professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law at Champaign… continua / continued  [55684] [ 04-jul-2009 14:18 ECT ] Reviewing Marjorie Cohn and Kathleen Gilberd’s “Rules of Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military Dissent” by Stephen Lendman Marjorie Cohn is a Distinguished Law Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego where she’s taught since 1991 and is the current President of the National Lawyers Guild. She’s also been a criminal defense attorney at the trial and appellate levels, is an author, and writes many articles for professional journals, other publications, and numerous popular web sites. Her record of achievements, distinctions, and awards are many and varied – for her teaching, writing, and her work as a lawyer and activist for peace, social and economic justice, and respect for the rule of law. Cohn’s previous books include “Cameras in the Courtroom: Television and the Pursuit of Justice” and “Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law.”… continua / continued  [55685] [ 04-jul-2009 14:18 ECT ] AIC Testifies to UN Fact Finding Commission on Gaza Conflict: “Israeli Business Interests Determine Diet of Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza” The Alternative Information Center (AIC) “The world should be aware of the human implications of Israel’s policy of ‘no development, no prosperity’ in the Gaza Strip,” noted AIC economist Shir Hever, as he testified today (2 July 2009) in Amman before the United Nations Fact Finding Commission on the Gaza Conflict. The AIC was invited to testify before this important body following intensive work in gathering and publishing primary information and analyses during Israel’s recent military attacks on the Gaza Strip. In addition to today’s personal testimony, the AIC submitted two documents to the UN Fact Finding Commission: a collection of AIC original articles focusing on the political, social and legal developments in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Israel and the Gaza Strip during the Israeli attacks on the latter, with an emphasis on Israeli oppression of popular protests against the military attacks, particularly by Palestinian citizens and residents of Israel; restrictions on reporting from and about the Gaza Strip; and reviews of the economic, social and legal aspects of the attacks… continua / continued  [55682] [ 04-jul-2009 14:09 ECT ] Cyber Command Launched. U.S. Strategic Command to Oversee Offensive Military Operations Tom Burghardt, Antifascist Calling… U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed a memorandum June 23 that announced the launch of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). A scheme by securocrats in the works for several years, the order specifies that the new office will be a “subordinate unified command” under U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). According to the memorandum, CYBERCOM “will reach initial operating capability (IOC) not later than October 2009 and full operating capability (FOC) not later than October 2010.”… continua / continued  [55681] [ 04-jul-2009 13:50 ECT ] The still-growing NPR “torture” controversy Glenn Greenwald There are several noteworthy developments since I wrote on Tuesday about the refusal of NPR’s Ombdusman, Alica Shepard, to be interviewed by me about NPR’s ban on using the word “torture” to describe the Bush administration’s interrogation tactics. Given the utter vapidity of her rationale (“there are two sides to the issue. And I’m not sure, why is it so important to call something torture?”), I was momentarily amazed to learn that she actually teaches “Media Ethics” to graduate students at Georgetown University (my amazement quickly dissipated once I recalled that this is the same institution that, until last year, paid Doug Feith — Doug Feith — to teach students “national security policy” and that Berkeley Law School has John Yoo “teaching law” to its students; next semester at Georgetown: Karl Rove teaches Civility in a Post-Partisan Age, Bill Kristol lectures on Accountability in Punditry, while David Gregory examines The Role of Intellect in Adversarial Questioning)… continua / continued  [55676] [ 04-jul-2009 06:00 ECT ]