BE ON THE BOATS WITH US when we BREAK THE ISRAELI BLOCKADE OF GAZA ! LIVE VIDEO UPDATES CLICK HERE GET ALLLLLL THE INFO AT: www.freegaza.org ############################

Read more!!

DRANT #328: EMMES

Just one small detail. Much much more to come. But- here is the truth - the Emmes- The "truce"  was broken by Israel. This in indisputable. Leaving all else aside, for now - There was a "truce" in place, and it was broken unilaterally by Israel on November 4, 2008. Then, on November 5, 2008, Israel sealed all the borders with Gaza. So- when the endless abominable lies pour from the TV speakers, and major media, and especially when some Israel apologist starts spewing the party line about Hamas ending the truce, and causing all of this- Just know- the Emmes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 November 2008 14.32 GMT   A man sifts throught rubble after Israel's overnight operation Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP A four-month ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was in jeopardy today after Israeli troops killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid into the territory. Hamas responded by firing a wave of rockets into southern Israel, although no one was injured. The violence represented the most serious break in a ceasefire agreed in mid-June, yet both sides suggested they wanted to return to atmosphere of calm. Israeli troops crossed into the Gaza Strip late last night near the town of Deir al-Balah. The Israeli military said the target of the raid was a tunnel that they said Hamas was planning to use to capture Israeli soldiers positioned on the border fence 250m away. Four Israeli soldiers were injured in the operation, two moderately and two lightly, the military said. One Hamas gunman was killed and Palestinians launched a volley of mortars at the Israeli military. An Israeli air strike then killed five more Hamas fighters. In response, Hamas launched 35 rockets into southern Israel, one reaching the city of Ashkelon. "This was a pinpoint operation intended to prevent an immediate threat," the Israeli military said in a statement. "There is no intention to disrupt the ceasefire, rather the purpose of the operation was to remove an immediate and dangerous threat posted by the Hamas terror organisation." In Gaza, a Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said the group had fired rockets out of Gaza as a "response to Israel's massive breach of the truce". "The Israelis began this tension and they must pay an expensive price. They cannot leave us drowning in blood while they sleep soundly in their beds," he said. The attack comes shortly before a key meeting this Sunday in Cairo when Hamas and its political rival Fatah will hold talks on reconciling their differences and creating a single, unified government. It will be the first time the two sides have met at this level since fighting a near civil war more than a year ago. Until now it had appeared both Israel and Hamas, which seized full control of Gaza last summer, had an interest in maintaining the ceasefire. For Israel it has meant an end to the daily barrage of rockets landing in southern towns, particularly Sderot. For Gazans it has meant an end to the regular Israeli military raids that have caused hundreds of casualties, many of them civilian, in the past year. Israel, however, has maintained its economic blockade on the strip, severely limiting imports and preventing all exports from Gaza. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, had personally approved the Gaza raid, the Associated Press said. The Israeli military concluded that Hamas was likely to want to continue the ceasefire despite the raid, it said. The ceasefire was due to run for six months and it is still unclear whether it will stretch beyond that limit.

Read more!!

DRANT #315: FREE GAZA FREEDOM SHIP

Free Gaza: Can unarmed seaborne civilians break the siege of Gaza? August 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Press Releases, International Actions Inaugurating The Free Gaza Movement Sailing to Gaza DESTINATION: GAZA PORT In August, unarmed Palestinians, Israelis and internationals will sail directly to Gaza without going through Israeli territory or seeking permission from Israeli authorities. They include an 81-year-old Catholic nun, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor, Palestinians from Gaza, 17 nationalities, four major religions and the international press (including Tony Blair's journalist sister-in-law, Lauren Booth). On Monday, August 4, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement publicly introduces its international team that will take volunteers from Cyprus to Gaza in popular solidarity with Palestinian human rights. From that day, any attempt to damage the project will be considered an act of aggression against a nonviolent international human rights mission. WATCH VIDEO HERE Media places on the boat are taken. Since there are many journalists on a short list, we suggest journalists work together to find a separate press vessel, and we are prepared to help network those interested. For more information go to www.freegaza.org where the actual voyage can be watched in real time, by video streaming from the satellite broadcasting on board. Since this [non-violent/entirely peaceful] voyage is being funded by private donation, Free Gaza Movement welcomes donations online at its website. For more information contact: Greta Berlin, +357-990 81767 (iristulip@gmail.com) Angela Godfrey-Goldstein: +357-990 75194 (angela@icahd.org ) Angela Godfrey-Goldstein (Action Advocacy Officer) The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)

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DRANT #307: KAFKA SAYS: YOU'RE NEXT !

www.freesaminow.com
"...Dr. Sami Al-Arian's arrest on February 20, 2003, at the behest of the Bush Administration, was the height of injustices committed against Dr. Al-Arian in his three decades as a law-abiding resident who loved his country; a country where he lived twice as long as he had anywhere
else; a country that shared his values and beliefs more than any other; a country where he raised his family to live, learn, work, and contribute to its betterment.

The trial and acquittal of Dr. Al-Arian in 2005 served not only to demonstrate his innocence against the government's unfounded accusations, but also as an affirmation of his decades of public service. ICP and WISE, the institutions that the government attempted
to destroy in its indictment, were ultimately vindicated. Prosecutors could not show any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, witnesses called by the government, including professors, lawyers, and federal agents, testified to the value of these organizations and their genuine
nature. Jurors who sat in the trial for six months drew only the logical conclusion that ICP and WISE were legitimate, law-abiding organizations that were highly regarded.
The government's decision to continue to punish Dr. Al-Arian even after his acquittal demonstrates the politically-motivated nature of the actions against him. This effort has been led by those who are openly opposed to the empowerment of American Muslims in the public
square, and have professed deep hostility to the cause of justice for Palestinians..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you disagree with the government now and then ?
Do you actively support organizations that oppose government policy ?
Have you demonstrated or sent letters or contributed money or signed a petition that resists the government or its policies ?
How about this- do you fully expect that if you were ever tried and found INNOCENT- you would be freed from prison ?
Not true.
Last DRANT was about the Blacklist. This is about the National Gulag.
Its easy to close this now, or tell yourself that you're not a Palestinian, for Allah's sake, just a regular citizen expressing yourself like Americans are supposed to.
Please read this. You know who can be next. There's a list of possible actions below.
Please- perform just one, for the victim and his family, for yourself and your children and their children.
Thanks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Sami Al-Arian's Arraignment on Monday Morning
VIRGINIA -- Tomorrow (Monday) morning, June 30th, at 10 AM sharp, Dr. Al-Arian will have his arraignment at the U.S. Courthouse in
Alexandria. He will appear before Judge Leonie Brinkema. We encourage supporters and people of conscience to attend.

Email samialarianactioncommittee@gmail.com if interested in
coordinating a car pool.

WHAT: Dr. Sami Al-Arian's Arraignment WHEN: Monday, June 30, 10 A.M.
WHERE:
Albert V. Bryan
U.S. Courthouse
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, VA 22314
WHO: We encourage all supporters to attend!

SEE MORE:
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/06/28/dr-sami-al-arian-to-be-arraigned-
at-10-am-on-monday-june-30th/

DIRECTIONS THROUGH GOOGLE MAP:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&geocode=&q=&near=520+King+St+% 23+307,+Alexandria,+VA+22314&sll=38.818378,- 77.044973&sspn=0.018323,0.063343&ie=UTF8&ll=38.800621,- 77.048106&spn=0.009164,0.031672&z=15&iwloc=addr
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Milestone for Dr. Al-Arian Spent in Prison

VIRGINIA-- Last month, Dr. Sami Al-Arian marked the 33rd
anniversary of his arrival to the United States. Dr. Al-Arian, who is
currently being held at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in
Portsmouth, Virginia, awaits deportation by immigration officials
while a Virginia prosecutor attempts to keep Dr. Al-Arian imprisoned
indefinitely.

(this has now turned from possible to actual- the Prosecutor has FILED NEW INDICTMENTS AGAINST Dr. Al-Arian- details below)

Here is Dr/ Al-Arian's story:
On April 11, Dr. Al-Arian completed his sentence, following an
additional year spent in jail for civil contempt for his refusal to testify
before a grand jury. A plea agreement reached with the government in
2006 called for Dr. Al-Arian's immediate release and deportation and
promised to protect him from cooperation. After spending more than
five years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, Dr. Al-
Arian has spent the last six weeks in legal limbo –not serving a
sentence and not charged, but not allowed to leave the country.

On May 21, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian spent the 33rd anniversary of his
arrival to the United States in a 7 x 10 cell in a rural Virginia
jail. The son of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Al-Arian, 50, arrived to
the U.S. from Egypt in 1975 as a 17 year-old college freshman.

He completed his graduate studies almost a decade later, receiving a
doctorate in computer engineering and beginning a successful academic
career at the University of South Florida in Tampa. While there, he
became an award-winning tenured professor. He authored a number of
articles in his field and chapters in textbooks and won several
prestigious research grants for his university. Dr. Al-Arian's work
in the classroom consistently garnered high praise from students and
colleagues alike.

In 1979, he married Nahla Al-Najjar, another Palestinian refugee, who
became the source of love, guidance, and support for her husband as
they embarked on a mission to build a family and a community. Dr. Al-
Arian credits his wife with sharing his devotion and passion for
community building and activism. She was a pioneer for the inclusion
of women in leadership positions within the American Muslim
community. Along with their five children, they lived in Tampa until
2007 when Mrs. Al-Arian and their two youngest children departed for
Egypt, where they eagerly await Dr. Al-Arian's release and
deportation.

In addition to his professional career, Dr. Al-Arian devoted much
time and energy to the building of civic institutions to enhance the
life of the growing American Muslim community. He has played an
integral role in founding and expanding some of the largest national
organizations, including the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and
the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Locally, he founded the
Islamic Community of Tampa Bay at the Al-Qassam mosque. At its
height, the mosque boasted thousands of congregants and became a
leading participant in some of the most important local charitable
work, including the annual Feed the Hungry event hosted by Tampa's
mayor. Dr. Al-Arian, as the imam, also led the mosque to become the
first to join the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality
(HOPE), a social justice coalition made up of nineteen churches.

Pastor Warren Clark of the First United Church in Tampa recalls one
of his earliest conversations with Dr. Al-Arian, following the Muslim
community's participation in a HOPE event. "(Sami) said, `There are
issues in this town that are more than just Muslim issues. We are
called on by the Quran to work for the poor, the outcast, the hungry,
the widows, and the orphans.' He led his community to engage in this
work in many different ways and through many different organizations.
Within the Muslim community, that legacy has continued on, even in
his absence."

One of Dr. Al-Arian's proudest achievements is establishing the
Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF), a full-time school that offered
students the highest quality education while instilling them with a
sense of moral duty to their community and country. He served as
principal of the school for several years, as it became the lifeblood
of the community. Graduates of IAF have gone on to some of the top
universities in America and most have received scholarships and
acceptance to honors programs.

Dr. Al-Arian was also heavily involved in human rights work,
especially with regard to his homeland of Palestine, in an effort to
relieve the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli
occupation. He was outspoken in opposition to Israeli policies and
eager to inform the American public of the plight of Palestinians in
order to effect positive change. The organization he founded, the
Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), held annual national
conferences and organized charitable activities to help needy orphans
in Palestine.

Among his many activities, Dr. Al-Arian actively worked to bridge the
divide between East and West. He promoted interfaith dialogue
individually and institutionally, in an effort to establish peace,
tolerance, and understanding between faiths. Another one of his
initiatives, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), was a
groundbreaking think tank at USF that brought together scholars,
experts, and leading intellectuals from around the world. Its
publications were highly regarded by experts in the field. Through
this work, Dr. Al-Arian developed many important and lasting
friendships.

Melva Underbakke, an instructor at USF and member of Friends of Human
Rights, recalls her first impressions of Dr. Al-Arian:
"I met Sami in the early 1990s. He was giving a presentation for the
teachers at the English Language Institute (ELI) at USF. Most of them
didn't know anything about Middle Eastern culture. People liked him
in the Foreign Languages Department because he was trying to build
bridges between East and West. He had a real reputation for doing
that there."

He soon became recognized as a national leader of the American Muslim
community, receiving invitations to speak at numerous churches,
synagogues, and other institutions, including the U.S. Central
Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

By the mid-1990s, Dr. Al-Arian's activities were centered on the
latest civil rights struggle in American history: the emerging
national effort to end the unjust detention of Arabs and Muslims for
years without trials through the use of secret evidence. Through
tremendous efforts, including coalition-building, grassroots
mobilization, and congressional lobbying, Dr. Al-Arian would come to
be recognized as "one of the country's leading advocates" of the new
civil rights movement, according to Newsweek magazine.

Having lived in the U.S. for over two decades, he was steeped in the
American civil rights tradition and was a strong believer in fighting
for change through the designated avenues. Furthermore, Dr. Al-Arian
worked hard to empower and enfranchise the American Muslim community
on the local and national levels, encouraging Muslims to vote and run
for office.

Dr. Al-Arian's arrest on February 20, 2003, at the behest of the Bush
Administration, was the height of injustices committed against Dr. Al-
Arian in his three decades as a law-abiding resident who loved his
country; a country where he lived twice as long as he had anywhere
else; a country that shared his values and beliefs more than any
other; a country where he raised his family to live, learn, work, and
contribute to its betterment.

The trial and acquittal of Dr. Al-Arian in 2005 served not only to
demonstrate his innocence against the government's unfounded
accusations, but also as an affirmation of his decades of public
service. ICP and WISE, the institutions that the government attempted
to destroy in its indictment, were ultimately vindicated. Prosecutors
could not show any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, witnesses called
by the government, including professors, lawyers, and federal agents,
testified to the value of these organizations and their genuine
nature. Jurors who sat in the trial for six months drew only the
logical conclusion that ICP and WISE were legitimate, law-abiding
organizations that were highly regarded.

The government's decision to continue to punish Dr. Al-Arian even
after his acquittal demonstrates the politically-motivated nature of
the actions against him. This effort has been led by those who are
openly opposed to the empowerment of American Muslims in the public
square, and have professed deep hostility to the cause of justice for
Palestinians.

For the past five years, Dr. Al-Arian has witnessed the gravest of
injustices, some that he spent years of his life fighting against,
and others never thought imaginable in a free society. As he
continues to endure imprisonment with no end in sight, abusive
treatment at the hands of prison officials, and isolation from those
who love and depend on him, many Americans and people the world over
wonder if justice is indeed possible in such dark times when the
abuse of government power knows no bounds.

Dr. Al-Arian, however, maintains his unshakeable faith that the
people, on whom the system of justice depends, will ultimately bring
an end to the abuses committed in their name. Each day, more people
add their voice to the thousands who call on America to live up to
its time-tested principles.

As Pastor Clark recalls, it is Dr. Al-Arian's strong faith that has
always guided him through the toughest of times. "I recall attending
an event at the Islamic Community during the height of the media
campaign against Sami, after 9/11, but before he was arrested. I
asked him how he was doing and I expected him to say things were bad,
but he said, `You know Warren, I feel closer to God now than I have
ever felt.' It was another window into the deep wellspring he uses to
overcome the most terrible circumstances. That really spoke to me."

As we approach a crossroads in the contemporary civil rights
struggle, the case of Dr. Al-Arian takes center stage. Agha Saeed,
chair of the American Muslim Taskforce for Civil Rights and Elections
and a colleague of Dr. Al-Arian's for many years, reflects on the
current situation. "Today, Dr. Al-Arian, one of the most prominent
political prisoners in the United States, symbolizes the struggle for
freedom of Palestine. Tomorrow, let me predict, based on his heroic
sacrifices, he will be recognized as a major 21st century civil
rights leader in the Unites States." Such designations do not come
without a heavy price. It is up to all those who stand for justice to
ensure that the sacrifices made by Dr. Al-Arian are not forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
June 27, 2008

Bush Justice Department Indicts Dr. Sami Al-Arian: The Injustice
Continues

ALEXANDRIA – The Bush Administration's persecution of Dr. Sami Al
Arian reached new heights on Thursday when prosecutors in the Eastern
District of Virginia brought charges against him, entering a new
phase in the politically-motivated campaign of the past five years.

The indictment charges Dr. Al-Arian with two counts of criminal
contempt, relating to two attempts by Virginia prosecutors to bring
him before a grand jury investigating other Muslim organizations.

Dr. Al-Arian had already been held in civil contempt for more than
one year for his refusal to testify. A plea agreement signed with
Florida prosecutors following his 2005 acquittal protected him from
cooperating in any additional cases. It was intended to bring his
case to a close by allowing him to leave the country. Two federal
courts have refused to allow evidentiary hearings that would allow
the plea agreement to be enforced.

Even with the additional time served, Dr. Al-Arian's sentence ended
on April 7 of this year. He was then taken into the custody of
immigration authorities who were making preparations for his
deportation.

In the midst of that process, the Bush Administration made its last
ditch effort to continue its punishment of Dr. Al-Arian by bringing
new charges against him. He now faces additional prison time if
convicted. Criminal contempt is the only charge in American law that
has no maximum penalty.

"This indictment proves that the government was never interested in
any information that Dr. Al-Arian has on the IIIT matter," his
attorney, Professor Jonathan Turley, wrote on his blog. IIIT or the
International Institute of Islamic Thought is the Muslim think tank
that is the target of a six-year witch-hunt by a prosecutor based in
Virginia. "This was a classic perjury trap used repeatedly by the
government to punish those individuals who could not be convicted
before an American jury."

He continues: "They have indicted him despite the fact that the
prosecutors admitted that he is a minor witness in the IIIT
investigation and he has already given two detailed statements under
oath to the government and offered to take a polygraph examination to
prove that he has given true information about his knowledge of IIIT.

Dr. Al-Arian has addressed every document cited by the government as
the reason for his being called before the grand jury. He has shown
that he has no incriminating information to offer against either IIIT
or its officers."

Here's the link to Turley's entire statement:
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/06/26/dr-sami-al-arian-indicted-on-two-
counts-of-criminal-contempt/

These charges follow a string of abuses by a rogue prosecutor whose
actions appear to be politically motivated. Assistant US Attorney
Gordon Kromberg's bigoted remarks against Arabs and Muslims have been
widely publicized in the media and condemned by leading human rights
organizations. His actions have resulted in the unjust prosecution of
many American Muslim activists, including at least one case of a
perjury trap similar to that faced by Dr. Al-Arian.

This indictment is only the latest in what has become the standard by
which the Bush Justice Department operates. After refusing to honor
the agreement it reached with Dr. Al-Arian in April 2006, it never
approached the grand jury process in good faith either. As Dr. Al
Arian's attorney has revealed, prosecutors were not interested in
obtaining any information, but only used the grand jury subpoenas as
a means by which to bring new charges against him and keep him
imprisoned. These actions signal an erosion of the justice system,
much to the dismay of all Americans who trust their officials will
carry out the law on an impartial and depoliticized basis.

TAKE ACTION:

All concerned Americans are urged to continue their protest of the
abuses committed by the Bush Administration in their name. We ask
that you write to the Attorney General about the injustices suffered
by Dr. Al-Arian. We also ask that you contact your representatives in
Congress and members of the Judiciary Committee, requesting that they
investigate the actions of the rogue prosecutor.
Please check www.freesaminow.com for updates regarding the new
charges against Dr. Al-Arian.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax: (202) 307-6777
E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General,
may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.

US Department of Justice
Office of Professional Responsibility
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20530
House Judiciary Chair
The Hon. John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
Fax: (202) 225-0072
E-mail: John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
Senate Judiciary Chair
Sen. Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224- 4242
E-mail: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov

For more information about Dr. Al-Arian's case, please:
See the Washington Post article "Former Professor Indicted In Muslim
Charities Case" by Jerry Markon, Friday, June 27, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR20080
62603664.html

We encourage you to write letters to the editor of the Washington
Post about Dr. Al-Arian's case, expressing your outrage about the new
charges:

The e-mail address is letters@washpost.com.
Do not send attachments; they will not be read.

To contribute to Dr. Al-Arian's legal defense, please send checks to:
National Liberty Fund
P.O. Box 1211
24525 E. Welches Road
Welches, OR 97067


If you have not done so already, please do these 3 SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL ACTS:

1. Call Vincent Archibeque, Assistant Field Office Director of the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE): (703) 285-6221.

Stress that Dr. Al-Arian's prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been COMPLETELY ILLEGAL. Ask Mr. Archibeque to do everything he can to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.

2. Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Department of Homeland Security):
(866)-644-8360 (press 1 for English and then press 5 to leave a message)

Stress that Dr. Al-Arian's prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been COMPLETELY ILLEGAL. Ask that Dr. Al-Arian be released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.

Again, always be polite but firm.

If you don't speak to a live person:

- simply leave a message on the answering machine; and
- call back later that day or the next day to try to get through.

3. Email Attorney General Michael Mukasey: ASKDOJ@usdoj.gov

Ask Mr. Mukasey to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is deported as soon as possible in accordance with the plea agreement.
(For a letter template, please refer to the postings section on this page)

- Before sending the email, make sure to BCC samialarianactioncommittee@gmail.com

NOTE: In any given civil rights campaign, there are always more people willing to make a
phone call than write an email. Your emails are very important. Just use our letter template
and take JUST FIVE MINUTES to write out your message. Precisely because so few people
ever write their own letter, yours will be EXPONENTIALLY more powerful for that.

If you have not signed our petition, please do so by visiting petition.freesaminow.com

To learn how you can help EVEN MORE, please visit:
http://www.freesamialarian.com/help.html

PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

Join our regular Listserv today! Simply send an email to
tampabaycoalitionforjusticeandpeace-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to receive the latest
updates on Dr. Al-Arian!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read more!!

DRANT #300: GLOBAL SHONDA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the winner is ... the Israel lobby
Asia Times Mon, 02 Jun 2008 3:14 AM PDT
WASHINGTON - They're all here - and they're all ready to party. The three United States presidential candidates - John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Madam House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Most US senators and virtually half of the US Congress. Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Empire Burlesque - Chris Floyd

An Agony Foretold: Bitter Roots, Bitter Fruits in the Middle East
Posted: 01 Jun 2008 04:18 PM CDT
Long before the Nabka, long before the Holocaust, the present-day agony in Israel and Palestine had already taken root. The ineradicable core of the conflict is brutally simple: the attempt by one people to take another people's land. In this respect, the turmoil in the Middle East is just another chapter in one of the world's oldest stories, for human beings have always been about the bloody business of conquest, dispossession and domination. The United States, for example, was built on this ancient principle. Its settling was cast largely in the same terms as those used later by the Zionists in Palestine: the claiming and cultivation of a land that was essentially empty -- save for a few savages who could only benefit from the imposition of a superior civilization. (And if they couldn't, so much the worse for them.)

The nascent Americans were fortunate, of course; they land they took was far less populated than it had been not long before. Large swathes of the native populations had been decimated by waves of epidemics, most sparked by contact with the earliest European explorers in the 16th century. By the time that large-scale settlement began in the 17th and 18th centuries, vast regions of North America had been emptied of its population, whole tribes had had been wiped out, and most others left enfeebled, their social, cultural and demographic shattered. Even so, there were still millions of Indians left in the "New World," and it took centuries of war and deceit before they were finally driven off all of the lands that the Europeans wanted.

The Zionist movement was less fortunate in this respect. In relative terms, the Arab population of Palestine was much more numerous and more intact than the Indian tribes of North America....
Read more!!

DRANT #288: COLLECTIVE STRANGULATION

MORE INFO, annnnnd what YOU CAN DO !
PROTEST CALENDAR FOR NY, LA, WASH DC, SF, CHICAGO, SEATTLE.
BUT- CREATE YOUR OWN.

The Lessons of Violence
By Chris Hedges
This is not another typical spat between Israelis and Palestinians. This is the final, collective strangulation of the Palestinians in Gaza. The decision to block shipments of food by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency means that two-thirds of the Palestinians who rely on relief aid will no longer be able to eat when U.N. stockpiles in Gaza run out.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19127.htm

European Collusion in Israel's Slow Genocide
By Omar Barghouti
The European Union, Israel's largest trade partner in the world, is watching by as Israel tightens its barbaric siege on Gaza, collectively punishing 1.5 million Palestinian civilians, condemning them to devastation, and visiting imminent death upon hundreds of kidney dialysis and heart patients, prematurely born babies, and all others dependent on electric power for their very survival.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19121.htm

Pictures Showing The Slaughter In Gaza
So Many Tragedies in Such Little Time
Where to start..., what to talk about...? The crippling electricity shortages, affecting hospitals as well as civilians? The air strikes & on-going, daily bombings by the Israeli army, their indiscriminate targeting of civilians and police stations...?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19128.htm

Palestine / Israel - It Is Not A Religious Conflict
8 Minute Video By Rabbi Weiss
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a spokesman for the Neturei Karta International, ripped into Zionism.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19129.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End the Criminal Israeli Siege of Gaza NOW!
Stop the Collective Punishment of the Palestinian People!

Coalition Calls for Emergency Protests Jan. 25-26 in
Washington, San Francisco, Anaheim and other cities

The A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, joins with the National Council of Arab Americans, Free Palestine Alliance, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, Palestinian American Women’s Association, Al-Awda Palestine Right of Return Coalition and other anti-war and progressive organizations in calling for emergency protests demanding an immediate end to the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza. Protests will take place on January 25-26 at Israeli embassies, consulates, U.S. federal buildings and other locations.

More than 1.5 million Palestinian people living are suffering from life-threatening shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other vital necessities, caused by the Israeli military’s sealing-off of one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Gaza City is blacked-out at night, including hospitals. Doctors must examine patients by candlelight.

The crisis is growing more severe by the day. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the World Food Programme, which together supply food to more than two-thirds of the population, have stated that unless the blockade is lifted they will be forced to stop operations by this weekend. A cut-off in aid would threaten an already food-deprived population with mass starvation. The great majority of Gaza residents are from refugee families, driven out of other parts of Palestine when the state of Israel was created in 1948.

The Israeli government imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Hamas party was democratically elected in January 2006. The Bush administration backed Israel’s action. Last week, Israel tightened the blockade, sealing off Gaza, supposedly because of Palestinian attacks by the military wing of Hamas. Yet, on December 23, 2007, Israel rejected Hamas call for ceasefire negotiations. Since then, Israeli air and ground attacks have killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded hundreds more in Gaza, most of them civilians. In 2007, 373 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and the West Bank, compared to just 13 Israeli deaths.

The Israeli blockade is in clear violation of international law, which strictly forbids collective punishment and labels it a war crime. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) states in part: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Collective punishment is a war crime. Imposing a blockade on the population in Gaza is undeniably a form of collective punishment. The U.S. government, which gives billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Israel every year, shares the guilt for this war crime.

We cannot sustain our work without generous donations of people who share our commitment to end the Iraq war and to defend the people of Palestine. Please click this link to make an urgently needed donation today.

Among the cities where emergency protests will take place are:

Washington DC: Friday, Jan. 25 (time tba), at the Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Dr. N.W.

San Francisco, CA: Friday, Jan. 25, 4 6 p.m., Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St. (near California)

Anaheim, CA: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m. 512 S. Brookhurst St. (Bet. Orange Ave. & Broadway)

New York, NY: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m., at the Israeli Embassy, 43rd St. and 2nd Ave.

Chicago, IL: Tues., Jan. 29, 5pm at the Lakeshore Theater, 3175 North Broadway (at benefit for the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force). Initiated by ISM, endorsed by ANSWER and others. Call 773-463-0311 for more information.

Seattle Demo: Friday, January 25, 4 p.m., Westlake Park, 4th & Pine Sts.

If you are planning your own protest, please let us know so we can post information about your event on the ANSWER website.

Please click this link to make an urgently needed donation today.

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
http://www.answercoalition.org/
info@internationalanswer.org
National Office in Washington DC: 202-544-3389
New York City: 212-694-8720
Los Angeles: 323-464-1636
San Francisco: 415-821-6545
Chicago: 773-463-0311
Seattle: 206-568-1661
Read more!!

DRANT #287: UPDATE WARSAW PALESTINE

The humanitarian impact of Israel's electricity blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Raw sewage in the streets, which will soon seep into houses; asthmatics choking; hospitals on the verge of switching off life support.

The poor and the sick suffer as Israel cuts power to Gaza
Independent, UK -
By Donald Macintyre in Gaza City

Mansour Rahal lay unconscious in the intensive care unit of Gaza City's Shifa hospital, linked to an electrically powered ...

The Gaza time bomb
International Herald Tribune, France - 10 hours ago
By Robert Malley

The Gaza Strip suffers from skyrocketing unemployment and poverty, and lacks medicine, fuel, electricity, food and other essential ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Israel is committing egregious acts on an inhuman scale in Gaza.
Born a Jew, I cannot begin to assimilate what Jews are doing to others.
As human beings, Jews or otherwise, we must all rise up against this, or risk our very humanity.
The Jews are inflicting on the Palestinians exactly what was inflicted on the Jews.
This is Warsaw. This is Dachau.
Did my uncles and aunts and cousins die in ovens so that their children could perpetrate this in their name ?
And don't tell me about how Israel must survive if the Jews are to survive.
NEVER AGAIN applies to everyone.
We must all DO something about this now.
First, risk your closest relationships, and bring this up to everyone, and not back down.
Israel cannot commit these crimes without the extreme financial support of the USA, and the JEWS of the USA.
This must stop.

Or, you can do nothing.
But do not ever EVER say you did not KNOW.
You KNOW.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Death And Darkness In Gaza,
People Are dying, Help Us!
http://www.countercurrents.org/freegaza210108.htm
By Free Gaza
21 January, 2008
Free Gaza

A humanitarian crisis is underway as the Gaza Strip's only power plant began to shut down on Sunday, and the tiny coastal territory entered its third full day without shipments of vital food and fuel supplies due to Israel's punitive sanctions.

The Gaza Strip's power plant has completely shut down on Sunday because it no longer has the fuel needed to keep running. One of the plant's two electricity-generating turbines had already shut down by noon.

This will drastically reduce output to 25 or 30 megawatts, down from the 65 megawatts the plant produces under normal conditions. By Sunday evening the plant will shut down completely, leaving large swaths of the Gaza Strip in darkness.

Omar Kittaneh, the head of the Palestine Energy Authority in Ramallah, confirmed that by tonight, the one remaining operating turbine will be powered down, and the Gaza power plant will no longer be generating any electricity at all.

“We have asked the Israeli government to reverse its decision and to supply fuel to operate the power plant”, Dr. Kittaneh said. “We have talked to the Israeli humanitarian coordination in their Ministry of Energy [National Infrastructure]. We say this is totally Israel’s responsibility, and that reducing the fuel supplies until the plant had to shut down will affect not only the electrical system but the water supply, and the entire infrastructure in Gaza – everything.”

After months of increasingly harsh sanctions, Israel imposed a total closure on the Strip's border crossings, even preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Israeli government says the closure is punishment for an ongoing barrage of Palestinian homemade projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip.

"Famine"

180 fuel stations have shut down after Gaza residents to buy gas for cooking.

A Palestinian economist Hasan Abu Ramadan said the current humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip will be deepened by the blockade on fuel and food supplies. He warned that Gaza Strip could go from a situation of deep poverty to all out famine, disease, and malnutrition.

Abu Ramadan said that more than 80% of the Strip's 1.5 million residents have been surviving with the help of food aid from international organizations such as UNRWA for Palestinian refugees.

International condemnation

Most international actors in the region believe there already is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes, who said at a press conference at UNHQ in New York on Friday that "This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed particular concern, in a statement issued later on Friday through his spokesperson, about the "decision by Israel to close the crossing points in between Gaza and Israel used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals".

The UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied territories, John Dugard, also issued a much sharper statement on Friday, saying that Israel must have foreseen the loss of life and injury to many nearby civilians when it targeted the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City.

This, and the killings of other Palestinians during the week, plus the closures, "raise very serious questions about Israel's respect for international law and its Commitment to the peace process", Dugard said. He said it violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention, and one of the basic principles of international humanitarian law: that military action must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets.
Read more!!

DRANT #287: WARSAW PALESTINE

Israel is committing egregious acts on an inhuman scale in Gaza.
Born a Jew, I cannot begin to assimilate what Jews are doing to others.
As human beings, Jews or otherwise, we must all rise up against this, or risk our very humanity.
The Jews are inflicting on the Palestinians exactly what was inflicted on the Jews.
This is Warsaw. This is Dachau.
Did my uncles and aunts and cousins die in ovens so that their children could perpetrate this in their name ?
And don't tell me about how Israel must survive if the Jews are to survive.
NEVER AGAIN applies to everyone.
We must all DO something about this now.
First, risk your closest relationships, and bring this up to everyone, and not back down.
Israel cannot commit these crimes without the extreme financial support of the USA, and the JEWS of the USA.
This must stop.

Or, you can do nothing.
But do not ever EVER say you did not KNOW.
You KNOW.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Death And Darkness In Gaza,
People Are dying, Help Us!
http://www.countercurrents.org/freegaza210108.htm
By Free Gaza
21 January, 2008
Free Gaza


A humanitarian crisis is underway as the Gaza Strip's only power plant began to shut down on Sunday, and the tiny coastal territory entered its third full day without shipments of vital food and fuel supplies due to Israel's punitive sanctions.

The Gaza Strip's power plant has completely shut down on Sunday because it no longer has the fuel needed to keep running. One of the plant's two electricity-generating turbines had already shut down by noon.

This will drastically reduce output to 25 or 30 megawatts, down from the 65 megawatts the plant produces under normal conditions. By Sunday evening the plant will shut down completely, leaving large swaths of the Gaza Strip in darkness.

Omar Kittaneh, the head of the Palestine Energy Authority in Ramallah, confirmed that by tonight, the one remaining operating turbine will be powered down, and the Gaza power plant will no longer be generating any electricity at all.

“We have asked the Israeli government to reverse its decision and to supply fuel to operate the power plant”, Dr. Kittaneh said. “We have talked to the Israeli humanitarian coordination in their Ministry of Energy [National Infrastructure]. We say this is totally Israel’s responsibility, and that reducing the fuel supplies until the plant had to shut down will affect not only the electrical system but the water supply, and the entire infrastructure in Gaza – everything.”

After months of increasingly harsh sanctions, Israel imposed a total closure on the Strip's border crossings, even preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. The Israeli government says the closure is punishment for an ongoing barrage of Palestinian homemade projectiles fired from the Gaza Strip.

"Famine"

180 fuel stations have shut down after Gaza residents to buy gas for cooking.

A Palestinian economist Hasan Abu Ramadan said the current humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip will be deepened by the blockade on fuel and food supplies. He warned that Gaza Strip could go from a situation of deep poverty to all out famine, disease, and malnutrition.

Abu Ramadan said that more than 80% of the Strip's 1.5 million residents have been surviving with the help of food aid from international organizations such as UNRWA for Palestinian refugees.

International condemnation

Most international actors in the region believe there already is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes, who said at a press conference at UNHQ in New York on Friday that "This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed particular concern, in a statement issued later on Friday through his spokesperson, about the "decision by Israel to close the crossing points in between Gaza and Israel used for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals".

The UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied territories, John Dugard, also issued a much sharper statement on Friday, saying that Israel must have foreseen the loss of life and injury to many nearby civilians when it targeted the Ministry of Interior building in Gaza City.

This, and the killings of other Palestinians during the week, plus the closures, "raise very serious questions about Israel's respect for international law and its Commitment to the peace process", Dugard said. He said it violates the strict prohibition on collective punishment contained in the Fourth Geneva Convention, and one of the basic principles of international humanitarian law: that military action must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets.
Read more!!

DRANT #253: SARAH MAHMOUD AND YEHYA

Diaries: Live from Palestine
Sarah, Mahmoud and Yehya
Yassmin Moor, The Electronic Intifada, Sep 5, 2007

Sarah Abu Ghazal's school uniform still lay on her mattress, untouched as she had left it before running out after her cousins Mahmoud and Yehya Abu Ghazal on Wednesday, 29 August. She was to begin the fourth grade on 2 September, but her friend Amani, who has accompanied her to school since the first grade, would walk alone this year. Sarah's mother had bought her the blue school uniform, blue jeans and the black shoes just the day before she was killed by Israel tank fire. Her mother waited until the last minute to buy Sarah's school supplies because she was waiting for her husband's salary which he had not received since June. Still full of life, Sarah was readying her new clothes for the start of the school year when Yehya called for her to come out and play.

Ten-year-old Mahmoud looked up to Yehya and followed him wherever he went, as he did not have any brothers of his own. On the day he died he had just finished telling his mother not to buy him anything for school until Yehya had acquired his things. He made her promise only to buy the same things that Yehya had. Mahmoud was killed alongside Yehya and now lies buried right beside him.

One of nine children, Yehya was heading to the sixth grade this year after spending most of his summer herding his family's goats. From a small Bedouin community at the northern border of the Gaza Strip, by Beit Hanoun and the Erez border crossing, Yehya's family always bore the brunt of Israel's frequent incursions into and attacks on Gaza. The army rolls in almost every week and usually razes some land, arrests a few men and pulls out again. Yehya's father was arrested in September 2006 and has yet to be tried or charged as he sits in an Israeli prison. After Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the strip was ostensibly free, yet Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza at 3am, raided the family's house and arrested Yehya's father and uncle.

According to his mother, Yehya was walking his goats close to their house on that Wednesday afternoon when he lost sight of his herd. He spotted them sniffing around abandoned rocket launchers, so he went to retrieve them. Yehya followed the goats, trailed by Mahmoud and Sarah. Unseen soldiers in Israeli tanks identified them as "militants" and shot at them. The boys immediately died of their shrapnel wounds. Sarah passed away later that evening, alone in the hospital. Her family did not make it in time to see her because her body was taken to the hospital Beit Lahiya.

The Israeli army stated it had "identified and fired at several rocket launchers aimed at Israel." According to the Abu Ghazal family, rockets had not been fired from that area for the past nine months and the Israeli army knew this. However, the tanks were close enough for the soldiers manning them to see the children and they could have also relied on their large white reconnaissance balloon that constantly hovers over Beit Hanoun.

Trying to find a driver to go to the children's funeral in northern Beit Hanoun, on the second of the three days of mourning, was nearly impossible as it was like asking them to drive into crossfire. Beit Hanoun feels different from the rest of Gaza. The streets are empty, there is rubble everywhere, uprooted trees, razed land and there isn't much of a market. An area that used to be green agricultural land has been turned into an empty no man's land where no one dares to go. If there is a place in Gaza that feels like a war zone devastated by years of conflict, it's Beit Hanoun. The infamous Qassams can be seen and heard as they fly over the Gazan border and into Israel in retaliation to Israeli F-16 and tank shelling. Also overhead is the reconnaissance balloon that constantly tracks one's movement. The F-16s fly over the town more frequently than any other place in Gaza; no wonder drivers or anyone else don't want to go anywhere near Beit Hanoun.

The Bedouin community that the children came from is situated amongst the northern Gaza Strip's razed citrus groves and demolished buildings. Yehya and Mahmoud's fathers are brothers so they lived in the same three-bedroom house. The bedrooms are covered with asbestos, the living room is comprised of a sand floor in front of the bedrooms and the kitchen consists of a small stove and a table with a few pots. They have no electricity and no running water. The fruit of the villagers' daily labor on their lands used to provide for their subsistence but weekly Israeli invasions have destroyed their lands and therefore their livelihoods. They receive some aid from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, but have to travel to Beit Hanoun or Beit Lahiya for everything else. Their means of transportation are animal-drawn carts.

The mothers of all three children sat next to each other at their funeral while Israeli tanks at the border also sat stationed in the background. Yehya and Mahmoud's mothers were each holding a picture of their sons, while Sara's mother was holding a poster with Yehya and Mahmoud's pictures with their names written below. In between their pictures was an image of a bouquet of red roses, with Sarah's name underneath. "Israel just wants to shed our blood," said Yehya's mother, choking on her words. "They didn't do anything wrong ... they had no rockets, no tanks ... they were just playing," added Mahmoud's mother. They were all sitting on the mattress Yehya shared with Mahmoud. Mahmoud would sneak out of his mother's bedroom at night to go and sleep by Yehya. "They were meant to go together," said Yehya's mother, "Mahmoud would not have lived without Yehya. May God rest their souls together."

The next day, on the BBC the Israeli military stated that the killing of Yehya, Mahmoud and Sarah was an accident: "at the very last second, it was apparent that they were children, but it was impossible to stop the explosion." There was no mention of holding accountable the soldiers who killed them or at the very least any offer of support to the families and the community. They cannot leave their area, or their land, as they have nowhere else to go. Where's the justice for 12-year-old Yehya and his childhood, or 10-year-old Mahmoud who wanted nothing more than to have the same things as his friend, or 10-year-old Sarah who never got to wear her new school clothes?

Yassmin Moor is a Palestinian-American writing from Rafah, Gaza. She is currently working to implement a gardening project through an organization she co-founded, Save Gaza. Yassmin can be reached at yasminemoor A T gmail D O T com.
Read more!!

DRANT #238: ISLAMIC TERRORISTS

DRANT 234 and 235 discussed and revealed the truth about how the USA has funded and fomented "Islamic Terrorism," "sectarian violence" and "civil war" in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and Bosnia. (and -- for that matter in Sudan as well.)

DRANT 235:
Here is the real story on Lebanon, Fatah al-Islam, and the ongoing and escalating massacre at the Palestinian refugee camp Narh al-Bared.
You will have read the pimp media's blatant disinformation about an Al Qaeda-connected fanatical group, about a bank robbery, and about how The USA has gloriously come to the rescue of the beleaguered legitimate democratic government of Lebanon.
It's a perfect mirror image of what the USA and its co-conspirators in Israel and around the Middle East and the planet, have been perpetrating for years.
As I have been bleating lo these many months- chaos and disorder is their most important product. Sunni against Shiia. Fatah against Hamas. Arab Sudanese against African Sudanese. As always, the victims are helpless children, old women, the most profoundly disenfranchised and hopelessly poor refugees.
And always, the bodies pile up in the streets, the profits explode at the biggest US arms suppliers, and its WE, (the group formerly known as) THE PEOPLE who are funding it, complicit in it, and letting it all go down.

DRANT 234:
For anyone who believes the "civil war" crap being strewn around by our pimp AIPAC bought media-
Here's the scoop.
"...It is no coincidence that the brain behind this plan is none other than Elliott Abrams with the Central American experience of toppling governments, arming and financing of death squads and Contra forces, and campaigns of assassinations and terror. Abrams has put together a similar plan for the Palestinians and the U.S. Congress has appropriated the funds for this plan. Unlike the Iran-Contra deal, this is not secret and we have read its details in the papers. We know that at least $84 millions have been allocated by the Congress. We also know that the U.S. is openly training, with the assistance of its two client regimes in Jordan and Egypt, the Palestinian Contras. We even know where they are being trained!..."

Here is a brilliant summary of the bigger picture by Michel Chossudovsky.
This is the real deal.
But make no mistake- the U S of A has been doing all this same kind of stuff since Thomas Jefferson's presidency --
This is nothing new, it's just much more extensive and more murderous than any of the previous perps could ever have dreamed.
So many people sadly decry how our great American Heritage has been lost, or gone astray under Bush and Cheney.
The truth is, it's the same as it ever was, just a lot worse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Islamic Terrorists" supported by Uncle Sam: Bush Administration "Black Ops" directed against Iran, Lebanon and Syria
by Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, May 31, 2007
GlobalResearch.ca
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20070531&articleId=5837

The Bush administration has admitted that covert actions of an aggressive nature were applied against Iran and Syria. The stated objective was to wreck the countries' economies and currency systems. The infamous Iran-Syria Policy and Operations Group created in early 2006, integrated by officials from the White House, the State Department, the CIA and the Treasury Department, had a mandate to destabilize Syria and Iran, and bring about "Regime Change" :

"The committee, the Iran-Syria Policy and Operations Group [ISOG], met weekly throughout much of 2006 to coordinate actions such as curtailing Iran's access to credit and banking institutions, organizing the sale of military equipment to Iran's neighbors and supporting forces that oppose the two regimes." (Boston Globe, 25 May 2007)

ISOG had also been providing undercover assistance to Iranian opposition groups and dissidents. The group's propaganda ploy consisted in feeding disinformation into the news chain and "building international outrage toward Iran". (Boston Globe 2, January 2007)

About-Turn in Iran-Syria Policy?

Washington has recently announced an apparent about-turn: no more treacherous covert ops directed against "rogue enemies" in the Middle East. The Iran-Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG) has been disbanded on the orders of President Bush. The US will no longer be involved in "[covert] aggressive actions against Iran and Syria", according to State Department officials.

"The group had become the focus for administration critics who feared that it was plotting covert actions that could escalate into a military conflict with Iran or Syria. The air of secrecy surrounding the group when it was established in March 2006, coupled with the fact that it was modeled after a similar special committee on Iraq, contributed to those suspicions.

A senior State Department official,... said the group [ISOG] was shut down because of a widespread public perception that it was designed to enact regime change. State Department officials have said the focus of the Iran-Syria group was persuading the two regimes to change their behavior, not toppling them." (Ibid)

Believe it or not?

Foreign policy analysts have described Washington's decision as proof of a welcome "softening" of US strategy in the Middle East. The Bush administration is said to have discarded " regime change" in favor of a more flexible approach, consisting of constructive dialogue with Tehran and Damascus. Aggressive covert actions, we are told, have been swapped for bona fide international diplomacy:

The [dissolution of ISOG] comes as the Bush administration has embarked on a significant new effort to hold high-level meetings with Iran and Syria.

...

Shortly before the Iran-Syria group was shut down, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice launched a major initiative to engage Iran and Syria in a regional effort to stabilize Iraq, reversing longstanding U.S. policy against high-level contact with the countries.

For years, the Bush administration has shunned meetings with Syria. ...But Rice met this month with Syria's foreign minister in Egypt, the first such high-level meeting between the two countries since 2004, and on Monday, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, is scheduled to meet his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad.

Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East specialist at the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Congress, said he did not think it was a coincidence that the Iran-Syria group was disbanded at the same time the State Department began its diplomatic outreach.

"I think the rationale for that group was promoting regime change, and Rice is going in a much different direction from that," Katzman said. "The regime-change school within the administration has really gotten quite a bit weaker." (Ibid)

The decision to dismantle ISOG is largely cosmetic. Most of these intelligence operations remain intact. ISOG was one among several covert initiatives to destabilize Iran and Syria. Regime change and outright war are still part of the Administration's agenda. Destabilizing covert intelligence operations directed against Iran and Syria have been stepped up in the course of the last four years.

Moreover, these operations are closely coordinated with Israeli and NATO war plans, which constitute an integral part of the US sponsored military operation directed against Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

The covert ops have been synchronized with the military road map, including the various US war scenarios envisaged since the launching of " Theater Iran Near Term" (TIRANNT) in May 2003, barely a month after the invasion of Iraq. These war-like scenarios explicitly envisage regime change:

... Under TIRANNT, Army and U.S. Central Command planners have been examining both near-term and out-year scenarios for war with Iran, including all aspects of a major combat operation, from mobilization and deployment of forces through postwar stability operations after regime change." (William Arkin, Washington Post, 16 April 2006)

The US is on a war footing and the various covert operations and Psy-Ops --which routinely feed despicable images of the Iranian head of State into the news chain--, are an integral part of the military-intelligence and propaganda arsenal.

In turn, the covert ops are coordinated with US, Israeli and NATO military deployments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf including the conduct of major war games, which have been carried out almost continuously since Summer 2006.

CIA " Black Ops" directed against Iran

Coinciding with the announcement on the closing down of ISOG, "The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, according to current and former officials in the intelligence community... " (ABC News Report 22 May 2007). This parallel CIA sponsored initiative, which "received approval by White House officials and other officials in the intelligence community", has broadly the same mandate as that of the defunct ISOG:

"The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.

"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.

A National Security Council spokesperson, Gordon Johndroe, said, "The White House does not comment on intelligence matters." A CIA spokesperson said, "As a matter of course, we do not comment on allegations of covert activity." (ABC News Report 22 May 2007)

The CIA plan was apparently "designed to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program and end aid to insurgents in Iraq." The covert operation, according to US officials, was a softer alternative to that of a military strike on Iran, an option which was favored by Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawks within the administration:

"Current and former intelligence officials say the approval of the covert action means the Bush administration, for the time being, has decided not to pursue a military option against Iran.

"Vice President Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike," said former CIA official Riedel, "but I think they have come to the conclusion that a military strike has more downsides than upsides." (Ibid)

The covert intelligence operations directed against Iran and Syria is not an alternative to military action. Quite the opposite. The CIA plan was designed to support Washington's strategy to destabilize Iran and Syria, through both military action and non-military means including covert intelligence operations.

Unleashing The Islamic Brigades Inside Iran

In relation to Iran, US intelligence has been supporting a Pakistani based terrorist group, Jundullah (Soldiers of God), that has conducted terrorist raids inside Iran. The group operates "from bases on the rugged Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan 'tri-border region'." According to a report by ABC News:

"A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran.

It has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials." (ABC News, 2 April 2007)

Abd el Malik Regi, the leader of Jundullah, commands a force of several hundred guerrilla fighters "that stage attacks across the border into Iran on Iranian military officers, Iranian intelligence officers, kidnapping them, executing them on camera, ... Most recently, Jundullah took credit for an attack in February that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard riding on a bus in the Iranian city of Zahedan." (Ibid)

US government sources have acknowledged that Jundullah's leader "had regular contact with US officials" but denies any "direct funding" of Jundullah by US intelligence.

Inherent in CIA covert operations, the Agency never grants funding "directly". It invariably proceeds through one of its proxy organizations including Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which historically, since the Soviet-Afghan war, has provided support to Islamic terror groups, including the funding of the training camps and the madrassahs, always acting on behalf of the CIA. In fact this insidious role of Pakistan's ISI (on behalf of the the CIA) is candidly acknowledged by US intelligence:

"American intelligence sources say Jundullah has received money and weapons through the Afghanistan and Pakistan military and Pakistan's intelligence service. Pakistan has officially denied any connection." ( Brian Ross and Christopher Isham, The Secret War Against Iran, April 03, 2007

Other channels used by US intelligence in funding terrorism is through Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, where foundation money is funneled to various militant Islamic groups on behalf of Uncle Sam. "Some former CIA officers say the arrangement is reminiscent of how the U.S. government used proxy armies, funded by other countries including Saudi Arabia, to destabilize the government of Nicaragua in the 1980s." (Ibid)

Consistent Pattern: Historical Origins of "Islamic Terrorism"

Ironically, the Islamic groups are portrayed as working hand in glove with Tehran. Iran, a predominantly Shia country, is accused of harboring Sunni Islamic terrorists, when in fact these Islamic terrorists are " intelligence assets" of the United States, supported indirectly by Washington.

This role of US intelligence in support of "Islamic terrorists" is well established. The covert op applied in Iran are part of a consistent pattern

The not so hidden agenda of US intelligence, applied throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, is to trigger political instability and foment ethnic strife by supporting "Islamic terrorist organizations", ultimately with a view to weakening the Nation State and destabilizing sovereign countries.

From the onslaught of the Soviet-Afghan war and throughout the 1990s, a central feature of CIA activities has consisted in providing covert support to " Islamic terrorist organizations":

In 1979 "the largest covert operation in the history of the CIA" was launched in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in support of the pro-Communist government of Babrak Kamal.(See Fred Halliday, "The Un-great game: the Country that lost the Cold War, Afghanistan, New Republic, 25 March 1996): Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban: Exporting Extremism, Foreign Affairs, November-December 1999. See also Michel Chossudovsky, America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005, Ch. 2.)

With the active encouragement of the CIA and Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence, "some 35,000 Muslim radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan's fight between 1982 and 1992. Tens of thousands more came to study in Pakistani madrasahs. Eventually more than 100,000 foreign Muslim radicals were directly influenced by the Afghan jihad." (See Chossudovsky, op cit)

These covert operations in support of the "Islamic Brigades" continued in the post-Cold war period. The ISI's extensive intelligence military-network was not dismantled in the wake of the Soviet-Afghan war. The CIA continued to support the Islamic "jihad" out of Pakistan. New undercover initiatives were set in motion in Central Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus essentially "served as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia." (Ibid). "Meanwhile, Islamic missionaries of the Wahhabi sect from Saudi Arabia established themselves in the Muslim republics of the Former Soviet Union as well as within the Russian federation encroaching upon the institutions of the secular State." (Ibid)

A similar pattern emerged in the Balkans. Starting in the early 1990s, the Clinton Administration supported the recruitment of Al Qaeda Mujahideen to fight in Bosnia alongside the Bosnian Muslim Army. Ironically, it was the Republican Party in a document published by the Republican Party Committee of the US Senate which accused Clinton not only of a "''hands-on' involvement with the Islamic network's arms pipeline" but also of collaborating with the Third World Relief Agency (TWRA), "a Sudan-based, phony humanitarian organization believed to be connected with such fixtures of the Islamic terror network as Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) and Osama Bin Laden,... " (The original document can be consulted on the website of the US Senate Republican Party Committee (Senator Larry Craig), at http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm )

Since the launching of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) in the wake of September 11, 2001, many of the official documents, which single out the insidious relationship of US intelligence to the "Islamic terror network", have been carefully removed from the public eye.

US Sponsored "Islamic Terrorists" inside Lebanon

The recent killings of civilians in Palestinian refugee camps in northern Lebanon, resulted from the confrontation between Fatah Al Islam and the Lebanese armed forces. Fatah al-Islam is a predominantly non-Palestinian Sunni fundamentalist group, operating inside the refugee camps. Fatah Al Islam is also inspired by the Wahabi sects of Saudi Arabia, which were part of the CIA's covert operations since the onslaught of the Soviet-Afghan war.

The Lebanese armed forces have been involved in raids on the camps, leading to the uprooting of the Palestinians refugees. The number of Fatah al Islam militants (made up of Saudi, Syrian, Yemeni and Moroccan fighters), inside the camp was of the order of 150-200 according to press reports. The Lebanese military offensive has been disproportionate, resulting in countless civilian casualties.

"Yet, the massively disproportionate assault on the camp has been unconditionally endorsed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “The Siniora government is fighting against a very tough extremist foe,” Rice said. “But Lebanon is doing the right thing to try to protect its population, to assert its sovereignty and so we are very supportive of the Siniora government and what it is trying to do.”

Lebanon has used the police action against this tiny group to ask the US for $280 million in military assistance to help put down what it grandiosely calls an “uprising.” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the request for funds, $220 million of which would go to the Lebanese Armed Forces and another $60 million to security forces, was being considered by Washington. The US gave $40 million in military aid to Lebanon last year and an additional $5 million so far this year. (Chris Marsden, 27 May 2007)

Fatah Al Islam has been presented in media reports, in an utterly twisted logic, as an organization linked to the Fatah movement in Palestine, a secular organization, founded by Yaser Arafat. From an ideological standpoint, Fatah al Islam, is similar to Al Qaeda, which is known to financed out of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States and supported by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in liaison with its US counterpart.

According to Seymour Hersh, Saudi Arabia is providing funding as well as covert support to Fatah Al Islam, in close consultation with the Bush administration

Hersh points to a "private agreement" between top NeoCon officials and Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, who worked closely with CIA Director George Tenet, when he was Saudi Ambassador in Washington. The Lebanese government is also involved in this intelligence operation:

“The key player is the Saudis. What I [Hersh] was writing about was sort of a private agreement that was made between the White House, we’re talking about Richard—Dick—Cheney and Elliott Abrams, one of the key aides in the White House, with Bandar [Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national security adviser]. And the idea was to get support, covert support from the Saudis, to support various hard-line jihadists, Sunni groups, particularly in Lebanon, who would be seen in case of an actual confrontation with Hezbollah—the Shia group in the southern Lebanon—would be seen as an asset, .as simple as that.. We're in the business now of supporting the Sunnis anywhere we can against the Shia, against the Shia in Iran, against the Shia in Lebanon, that is Nasrullah. Civil war. We're in a business of creating in some places, Lebanon in particular, a sectarian violence..”(CNN Interview with Seymour Hersh, CNN International's Your World Today, 21 May 2007)

The pattern of Saudi support to Fatah Al Islam is part of a US sponsored covert operation similar to those conducted by the CIA in the 1980s in support of Al Qaeda.

Well, the United States was deeply involved. This was a covert operation that Bandar ran with us. Don't forget, if you remember, you know, we got into the war in Afghanistan with supporting Osama bin Laden, the Mujahideen back in the late 1980s with Bandar and with people like Elliott Abrams around, the idea being that the Saudis promised us they could control -- they could control the jihadists so we spent a lot of money and time, ... in the late 1980s using and supporting the jihadists... And we have the same pattern, ... using the Saudis again to support jihadists [Fatah Al Islam], Saudis assuring us they can control these various group, the groups like the one that is in contact right now in Tripoli with the government. (CNN Interview with Seymour Hersh, CNN International's Your World Today, 21 May 2007)

Staged Event in Lebanon? Building a Humanitarian Justification for Military Intervention

Fatah Al Islam is an "intelligence asset" financed by Saudi Arabia. While the Bush administration accuses Damascus of supporting Fatah Al Islam, there are indications that the killings in the Palestinian refugee camps were the result of a carefully staged military intelligence operation..

Since the Summer 2006 following the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, NATO forces are present inside Lebanon as well as off Syrian-Lebanese coastline. The UN Security Council Resolution allowing for the deployment of NATO peace-keeping forces was the first step in this process, which followed the 2005 withdrawal and Syrian forces from Lebanon.

The objective of the military roadmap, is to create sectarian violence inside Lebanon which will provide a pretext "on humanitarian grounds" for a stepped up military intervention by NATO forces under a formal UN mandate. This humanitarian military NATO intervention in liaison with Israel, is envisaged as a sequel to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005 and the Israeli bombings of 2006. If it were to be launched it could lead to a situation of de facto foreign occupation of Lebanon as well as the enforcement of a economic blockade directed against Syria.

The pretext for these stepped up military actions are Syria's alleged support of Fatah Al Islam and Damascus' supposed involvement in the assassination of Rafiq Hariri. The timely "investigation" into Hariri's assassination and the setting up of a kangaroo court are being used by the coalition to foment anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon. From a military and strategic standpoint, Lebanon is the gateway into Syria. The destabilization of Lebanon supports the US-NATO-Israeli military agenda directed against Syria and Iran. US intelligence sets loose its Islamic brigades, while also accusing the enemy of sponsoring terrorist groups, which are in fact covertly supported and financed by Uncle Sam.
Read more!!

DRANT #235: TRUTH FROM INSIDE NARH AL-BARED

Here is the real story on Lebanon, Fatah al-Islam, and the ongoing and escalating massacre at the Palestinian refugee camp Narh al-Bared.
You will have read the pimp media's blatant disinformation about an Al Qaeda-connected fanatical group, about a bank robbery, and about how The USA has gloriously come to the rescue of the beleaguered legitimate democratic government of Lebanon.
But read the stuff below, and it will ring so true and so loud, you'll send it everywhere, because you'll know its the serious no kidding veraciousness.
It's a perfect mirror image of what the USA and its co-conspirators in Israel and around the Middle East and the planet, have been perpetrating for years.
As I have been bleating lo these many months- chaos and disorder is their most important product. Sunni against Shiia. Fatah against Hamas. Arab Sudanese against African Sudanese. As always, the victims are helpless children, old women, the most profoundly disenfranchised and hopelessly poor refugees.
And always, the bodies pile up in the streets, the profits explode at the biggest US arms suppliers, and its WE, (the group formerly known as) THE PEOPLE who are funding it, complicit in it, and letting it all go down.
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"...Given Bush administration debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan and its encouragement for Israel to continue its destruction of Lebanon this past summer, the situation in Lebanon mirrors, in some respects, the early 1980's when groups sprung up to resist the US green lighted Israeli invasion and occupation. But rather than being Shia and pro-Hezbollah, today's groups are largely Sunni and anti-Hezbollah. Hence they qualify for US aid, funneled by Sunni financial backers in league with the Bush administration which is committed to funding Islamist Sunni groups to weaken Hezbollah..."

"...To understand what is going on with Fatah al-Islam at Nahr el-Bared one would want a brief introduction to Lebanon's amazing, but shadowy 'Welch Club'.
The Club is named for its godfather, David Welch, assistant to Secretary of State Rice who is the point man for the Bush administration and is guided by Eliot Abrams. Key Lebanese members of the Welch Club (aka: the 'Club') include:..."

"...The billionaire, Saudi Sheikh and Club president Saad Hariri leader of the Sunni Future Movement (FM) (which) started setting up Sunni Islamist terrorist cells...to serve as a cover for (anti-Hezbollah) Welch Club projects. The plan was that actions of these cells, of which Fatah el-Islam is one, could be blamed on al Qaeda or Syria or anyone but the Club..."

"...Things started to go very wrong quickly for the Club last week. FM "stopped" the payroll of Fateh el-Islam's account at the Hariri family owned back. Fateh-al-Islam, tried to negotiate at least 'severance pay' with no luck and they felt betrayed. (Remember many of their fighters are easily frustrated teenagers and their pay supports their families). Militia members knocked off the bank which issued their worthless checks..."

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Who's Behind the Fighting in North Lebanon?
Inside Narh al-Bared and Bedawi Refugee Camps
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17763.htm

By Franklin Lamb
Tripoli, Lebanon.

05/24/07 "Counterpunch" -- --- Wearing a beat-up ratty UNCHR tee-shirt left over from Bint Jbeil and the Israeli-Hezbollah July probably helped. As did, I suspect, the Red Cross jersey, my black and white checkered kaffieyh and the Palestinian flag taped to my lapel as I joined a group of Palestinian aid workers and slipped into Nahr el-Bared trying not to look conspicuous.
Our mission was to facilitate the delivery of food, blankets and mattresses, but I was also curious about the political situation. Who was behind the events that erupted so quickly and violently following a claimed 'bank robbery'? A heist that depending on who you talked to, netted the masked bandits $ 150,000, $ 1,500 or $ 150!
It seems that every Beirut media outlet has a different source of 'inside information' based on which Confession owns it and 'knows' the real culprits pulling the strings. But then, even we who are particularly obtuse have realized, as the late Rafic Hariri often counseled: "In Lebanon, believe nothing of what you are told and only half of what you see!"
My friends made we swear out loud that I would claim to be Canadian instead of American if Al Qaeda types stopped us inside the Camp. My impression was that they were not so worried about my safety but for their own if they got caught with me. It would not be the first time that I relied on my northern neighbors to get me out of a potential US nationality jam in the Middle East, so I ditched my American ID.

We were advised as we approached the Fatah al Islam stronghold that we would be in the cross-hairs of Lebanese army snipers from outside of Nahr el-Bared Camp as well as Fatah al-Islam snipers from the inside, and that any false move or bad luck could prove fatal.
After three days of shelling and more than 100 dead and with no electricity or water, Nahr el-Baled reeks of burned and rotting flesh, charred houses with smoldering contents, raw sewage and the acrid smell of exploded mortars and tank rounds.

Press figures of 30,000-32,000 are not accurate. 45,000 live in Bared! Contrary to some reports food and water still not being allowed in.
15 to 70 percent of some areas destroyed. Some light shooting this morning and afternoon. Army shelling at rate of 10-18 shells per minute from 4:30 am to 10 am on Tuesday. Army will not allow Palestinian Red Crescent to move out civilians because they don't trust them. Only the Lebanese Red Cross is allowed. It is possible to enter Bared from the back (east side). The Army taking cameras of journalists they catch. The Lebanese government is controlling the information and don't want extent of damage known yet. Still unrecovered bodies. 40 per cent of the camp population have been evacuated. The rest don't want to leave out of fear of being shot or that they are losing their homes for the 5th time or more for some.
No electricity and cell phone batteries are dying. Relatives who fled are telling families to stay because there are not enough mattresses at Bedawi Camp. Bared evacuees are living up to 25 in one room in Badawi schools etc. 3,000 evacuees in one school in Bedawi. UN aid is starting to arrive at Badawi but workers not able so far to deliver it to Bared due to attack on relief convoy on Tuesday.

I met Abdul Rahman Hallab famous for Lebanese candy factory in Tripoli. Helped him unload 5,000 meals to evacuees from Bared staying in Badawi. He is Lebanese not Palestinian.
The camp population all say that Fatah Al-Islam came in September-October 2006 and have no relatives in the camp. They are from Saudi, Pakistan, Algeria, Iraq, and Tunisia and elsewhere. No Palestinians among them except some hanger ons. Most say they are paid by the Hariri group.
Reports that Fateh al-Islam helps people in Bared are denied. " All they do is pray, one woman told me..and do military training.. They are much more religious than the Shia" she said.
Population of Badawi camp was 15,000 and as of of this morning it is 28,000. Four bodies arrived this morning at Safad, the only Palestinian Red Crescent Hospitals in north Lebanon.
I was told the army will have to destroy every house in Bared to remove Fateh al Islam.

I expect to stay in Bared tonight with aid workers. Some say FAI with die fighting others than a settlement could be negotiated. I may try the latter with NGO from Norway here. Not sure if anyone in government is interested. One minute ago a member of Fateh at_Islam walked into the medical office I am using at Safed Hospital and said they want a permanent ceasefire and do not want more people killed or injured.
They claim to have no problem with the army.

Now some background about Nahr el-Bared. Like the other Palestinian camps in Lebanon, it is inhabited by Palestinians who were forced from their homes, land, and personal property in 1947-48, in order to make room for Jews from Europe and elsewhere prior to the May 15, 1948 founding of Israel.

Of the original 16 Refugee camps, set up to settle the more than 100,000 refugees crossing the border into Lebanon from Palestine during the Nakba, 12 official ones remain. The camp at Tal El-Za`tar was ethnically cleansed by Christian Phalange forces at the beginning of the 1975-1990, Lebanese Civil War and the Nabatieh, Dikwaneh and Jisr el-Basha camps were destroyed by Israeli attacks and Lebanese militia and not rebuilt. Those remaining include the following which currently house more than half of Lebanon's 433,276 Palestinian refugees:
Al-Badawi, Burj El-Barajna, Jal El-Bahr, Sabra and Shatilla, Ain El-Helwa, Nahr El-Bared, Rashidieh, Burj El Shemali, El-Buss, Wavel, Mieh Mieh and Mar Elias.
Nahr el-Bared is 7 miles north of Tripoli near the stunning Mediterranean coast and is home to more than 32,000 refuges many of whom were expelled from the Lake Huleh area of Palestine, including Safed. Like all the official Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, plus several 'unofficial' ones, Nahr el-Bared suffers from serious problems including no proper infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and unemployment.

Tabulated at more than 25%, Nahr el-Bared has the highest percentage of Palestinian refugees anywhere who are living in abject poverty and who are officially registered with the UN as "special hardship" cases. Its residents, like all Palestinians in Lebanon are blatantly discriminated against and not even officially counted. They are denied citizenship and banned from working in the top 70 trades and professions (that includes McDonald's and KFC in downtown Beirut) and cannot own real estate. Palestinians in Lebanon have essentially no social or civil rights and only limited access to government educational facilities. They have no access to public social services. Consequently most rely entirely on the UNRWA as the sole provider for their families needs.

It is not surprising that al-Qaeda sympathies, if not formal affiliations, are found in the 12 official camps as well as 7 unofficial ones. Groups with names such as Fateh al-Islam, Jund al-Shams (Soldier of Damascus) , Ibns al-Shaheed" (sons of the martyrs) Issbat al-Anssar which morphed into Issbat al-Noor - "The Community of Illumination" and many others.
Given Bush administration debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan and its encouragement for Israel to continue its destruction of Lebanon this past summer, the situation in Lebanon mirrors, in some respects, the early 1980's when groups sprung up to resist the US green lighted Israeli invasion and occupation. But rather than being Shia and pro-Hezbollah, today's groups are largely Sunni and anti-Hezbollah. Hence they qualify for US aid, funneled by Sunni financial backers in league with the Bush administration which is committed to funding Islamist Sunni groups to weaken Hezbollah.

This project has become the White House obsession following Israel's July 2006 defeat.
To understand what is going on with Fatah al-Islam at Nahr el-Bared one would want a brief introduction to Lebanon's amazing, but shadowy 'Welch Club'.
The Club is named for its godfather, David Welch, assistant to Secretary of State Rice who is the point man for the Bush administration and is guided by Eliot Abrams.
Key Lebanese members of the Welch Club (aka: the 'Club') include:
The Lebanese civil war veteran, warlord, feudalist and mercurial Walid Jumblatt of the Druze party( the Progressive Socialist Party or PSP)
Another civil war veteran, warlord, terrorist (Served 11 years in prison for massacres committed against fellow Christians among others) Samir Geagea. Leader of the extremist Phalange party and its Lebanese Forces (LF) the group that conducted the Israel organized massacre at Sabra-Shatilla (although led by Elie Hobeika, once Geagea's mentor, Geagea did not take part in the Sept. 1982 slaughter of 1,700 Palestinian and Lebanese).
The billionaire, Saudi Sheikh and Club president Saad Hariri leader of the Sunni Future Movement (FM).

Over a year ago Hariri's Future Movement started setting up Sunni Islamist terrorist cells (the PSP and LF already had their own militia since the civil war and despite the Taif Accords requiring militia to disarm they are now rearmed and itching for action and trying hard to provoke Hezbollah).
The FM created Sunni Islamist 'terrorist' cells were to serve as a cover for (anti-Hezbollah) Welch Club projects. The plan was that actions of these cells, of which Fatah el-Islam is one, could be blamed on al Qaeda or Syria or anyone but the Club.

To staff the new militias, FM rounded up remnants of previous extremists in the Palestinian Refugee camps that had been subdued, marginalized and diminished during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Each fighter got $700 per month, not bad in today's Lebanon.

The first Welch Club funded militia, set up by FM, is known locally as Jund-al-Sham (Soldiers of Sham, where "Sham" in Arabic denotes Syria, Lebanon, Palestine & Jordan) created in Ain-el-Hilwa Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon. This group is also referred to in the Camps as Jund-el-Sitt (Soldiers of the Sitt, where "Sitt" in Sidon, Ain-el-Hilwa and the outskirts pertain to Bahia Hariri, the sister of Rafiq Hariri, aunt of Saad, and Member of Parliament).
The second was Fateh-al-Islam (The name cleverly put together, joining Fateh as in Palestinian and the word Islam as in Qaeda). FM set this Club cell up in Nahr-al-Bared refugee camp north of Tripoli for geographical balance.

Fatah el-Islam had about 400 well paid fighters until three days ago. Today they may have more or fewer plus volunteers. The leaders were provided with ocean view luxury apartments in Tripoli where they stored arms and chilled when not in Nahr-al-Bared. Guess who owns the apartments?
According to members of both Fatah el-Islam and Jund-al-Sham their groups acted on the directive of the Club president, Saad Hariri.
So what went wrong? "Why the bank robbery" and the slaughter at Nahr el-Baled?

According to operatives of Fatah el-Islam, the Bush administration got cold feet with people like Seymour Hersh snooping around and with the White House post-Iraq discipline in free fall. Moreover, Hezbollah intelligence knew all about the Clubs activities and was in a position to flip the two groups who were supposed to ignite a Sunni ­Shia civil war which Hezbollah vows to prevent.

Things started to go very wrong quickly for the Club last week.
FM "stopped" the payroll of Fateh el-Islam's account at the Hariri family owned back.
Fateh-al-Islam, tried to negotiate at least 'severance pay' with no luck and they felt betrayed. (Remember many of their fighters are easily frustrated teenagers and their pay supports their families). Militia members knocked off the bank which issued their worthless checks. They were doubly angry when they learned FM is claiming in the media a loss much greater than they actually snatched and that the Club is going to stiff the insurance company and actually make a huge profit.

Lebanon's Internal Security Forces (newly recruited to serve the bidding of the Club and the Future Movement) assaulted the apartments of Fatah-al-Islam Tripoli. They didn't have much luck and were forced to call in the Lebanese army. Within the hour, Fatah-al-Islam retaliated against Lebanese Army posts, checkpoints and unarmed, off-duty Lebanese soldiers in civilian clothing and committed outrageous killings including severing at four heads. Up to this point Fatah-al-Islam did not retaliate against the Internal Security forces in Tripoli because the ISF is pro-Hariri and some are friends and Fatah al-Islam still hoped to get paid by Hariri. Instead Fatah al Islam went after the Army.

The Seniora cabinet convenes and asks the Lebanese Army to enter the refugee camp and silence (in more ways than one) Fatah-al-Islam. Since entrance into the Camps is forbidden by the 1969 Arab league agreement, the Army refuses after realizing the extent of the conspiracy against it by the Welch Club. The army knows that entering a refugee camp in force will open a front against the Army in all twelve Palestinian refugee camps and tear the army apart along sectarian cracks.
The army feels set up by the Club's Internal Security Forces which did not coordinate with the Lebanese Army, as required by Lebanese law and did not even make them aware of the "inter family operation" the ISF carried out against Fatah-al-Islam safe houses in Tripoli.

Today, tensions are high between the Lebanese army and the Welch Club. Some mention the phrase 'army coup'.
The Club is trying to run Parliament and is prepared to go all the way not to 'lose' Lebanon. It still holds 70 seats in the house of parliament while the Hezbollah led opposition holds 58 seats. It has a dutiful PM in Fouad Siniora.
The club tried to seize control of the presidency and when it failed it marginalized it. Last year it tried to control of the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee, which audits the government's policies, laws and watch dogs their actions. When the Club failed to control it they simply abolished the Constitutional Committee. This key committee no longer exists in Lebanon's government.

The Welch Club's major error was when it attempted to influence the Lebanese Army into disarming the Lebanese Resistance led by Hezbollah. When the Army wisely refused, the Club coordinated with the Bush Administration to pressure Israel to dramatically intensify its retaliation to the capture of the two soldiers by Hezbollah and 'break the rules' regarding the historically more limited response and try to destroy Hezbollah during the July 2006 war.

The Welch Club now considers the Lebanese Army a serious problem. The Bush administration is trying to undermine and marginalize it to eliminate one of the last two obstacles to implementing Israel's agenda in Lebanon.
If the army is weakened, it can not protect over 70% of the Christians in Lebanon who support General Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. The F.P.M. is mainly constituted of well educated, middle class and unarmed Lebanese civilians. The only protection they have is the Lebanese Army which aids in maintaining their presence in the political scene. The other type of Christians in Lebanon is the minority, about 15% of Christians associated with Geagea's Lebanese Forces who are purely militia. If the Club can weaken the Army even more than it is, then this Phalange minority will be the only relatively strong force on the Christian scene and become the "army" of the Club.

Another reason the Club wants to weaken the Lebanese Army is that the Army is nationalistic and is a safety valve for Lebanon to ensure the Palestinian right of return to Palestine, Lebanese nationhood and the resistance culture led by Hezbollah, with which is has excellent relations.
For their part, the Welch Club wants to keep some Palestinians in Lebanon for cheap labor, ship others to countries willing to take them (and be paid handsomely to do so by American taxpayers) and allow at most a few thousand to return to Palestine to settle the 'right of return' issue while at the same time signing a May 17th 1983 type treaty with Israel with enriches the Club members and gives Israel Lebanon's water and much of Lebanon's sovereignty.

Long story short, Fatah el-Islam must be silenced at all costs. Their tale, if told, is poison for the Club and its sponsors. We will likely see their attempted destruction in the coming days.

Hezbollah is watching and supporting the Lebanese army.

Franklin Lamb's recent book, The Price We Pay: A Quarter Century of Israel's use of American Weapon's against Lebanon (1978-2006) is available at Amazon.com.uk. Hezbollah: A Brief Guide for Beginners is expected in early summer.

Dr. Lamb can be reached at fplamb @ gmail.com.
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Hersh: Bush administration arranged support for militants attacking Lebanon
http://rawstory.com/printstory.php?story=6188
05/22/2007 @ 12:19 pm
Filed by David Edwards and Muriel Kane

In an interview on CNN International's Your World Today, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh explains that the current violence in Lebanon is the result of an attempt by the Lebanese government to crack down on a militant Sunni group, Fatah al-Islam, that it formerly supported.
Last March, Hersh reported that American policy in the Middle East had shifted to opposing Iran, Syria, and their Shia allies at any cost, even if it meant backing hardline Sunni jihadists.

A key element of this policy shift was an agreement among Vice President Dick Cheney, Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi national security adviser, whereby the Saudis would covertly fund the Sunni Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon as a counterweight to the Shia Hezbollah.
Hersh points out that the current situation is much like that during the conflict in Afghanistan in the 1980's – which gave rise to al Qaeda – with the same people involved in both the US and Saudi Arabia and the "same pattern" of the US using jihadists that the Saudis assure us they can control.

When asked why the administration would be acting in a way that appears to run counter to US interests, Hersh says that, since the Israelis lost to them last summer, "the fear of Hezbollah in Washington, particularly in the White House, is acute."
As a result, Hersh implies, the Bush administration is no longer acting rationally in its policy. "We're in the business of supporting the Sunnis anywhere we can against the Shia. ... "We're in the business of creating ... sectarian violence." And he describes the scheme of funding Fatah al-Islam as "a covert program we joined in with the Saudis as part of a bigger, broader program of doing everything we could to stop the spread of the Shia world, and it just simply -- it bit us in the rear."
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RUSH TRANSCRIPT
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/22/ywt.01.html

HALA GORANI: Well, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported back in March that in order to defeate Hezbollah, the Lebanese government supported a Sunni militant group, the same ones they're fighting today. Seymour joins us live from Washington. Thanks for being with us. What is the source of the financing according to your reporting on these groups, such as Fatah al-Islam in these camps of Nahr el Bared, for instance? Where are they getting the money and where are they getting the arms?

SEYMOUR HERSH: The key player is the Saudis. What I was writing about was sort of a private agreement that was made between the White House, we're talking about Richard -- Dick -- Cheney and Elliott Abrams, one of the key aides in the White House, with Bandar. And the idea was to get support, covert support from the Saudis, to support various hard-line jihadists, Sunni groups, particularly in Lebanon, who would be seen in case of an actual confrontation with Hezbollah -- the Shia group in the southern Lebanon -- would be seen as an asset, as simple as that.

GORANI: The Senora government, in order to counter the influence of Hezbollah in Lebanon would be covertly according to your reporting funding groups like Fatah al-Islam that they're having issues with right now?

HERSH: Unintended consequences once again, yes.

GORANI: And so if Saudi Arabia and the Senora government are doing this, whether it's unintended or not, therefore it has the United States must have something to say about it or not?

HERSH: Well, the United States was deeply involved. This was a covert operation that Bandar ran with us. Don't forget, if you remember, you know, we got into the war in Afghanistan with supporting Osama bin Laden, the mujahadin back in the late 1980s with Bandar and with people like Elliott Abrams around, the idea being that the Saudis promised us they could control -- they could control the jihadists so we spent a lot of money and time, the United States in the late 1980s using and supporting the jihadists to help us beat the Russians in Afghanistan and they turned on us. And we have the same pattern, not as if there's any lessons learned. It's the same pattern, using the Saudis again to support jihadists, Saudis assuring us they can control these various group, the groups like the one that is in contact right now in Tripoli with the government.

GORANI: Sure, but the mujahadin in the '80s was one era. Why would it be in the best interest of the United States of America right now to indirectly even if it is indirect empower these jihadi movements that are extremists that fight to the death in these Palestinian camps? Doesn't it go against the interests not only of the Senora government but also of America and Lebanon now?

HERSH: The enemy of our enemy is our friend, much as the jihadist groups in Lebanon were also there to go after Nasrullah. Hezbollah, if you remember, last year defeated Israel, whether the Israelis want to acknowledge it, so you have in Hezbollah, a major threat to the American -- look, the American role is very simple. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, has been very articulate about it. We're in the business now of supporting the Sunnis anywhere we can against the Shia, against the Shia in Iran, against the Shia in Lebanon, that is Nasrullah. Civil war. We're in a business of creating in some places, Lebanon in particular, a sectarian violence.

GORANI: The Bush administration, of course, officials would disagree with that, so would the Senora government, openly pointing the finger at Syria, saying this is an offshoot of a Syrian group, Fatah al-Islam is, where else would it get its arms from if not Syria.

HERSH: You have to answer this question. If that's true, Syria which is close -- and criticized greatly by the Bush administration for being very close -- to Hezbollah would also be supporting groups, Salafist groups -- the logic breaks down. What it is simply is a covert program we joined in with the Saudis as part of a bigger broader program of doing everything we could to stop the spread of the Shia, the Shia world, and it bit us in the rear, as it's happened before.

GORANI: Sure, but if it doesn't make any sense for the Syrians to support them, why would it make any sense for the U.S. to indirectly, of course, to support, according to your reporting, by giving a billion dollars in aid, part of it military, to the Senora government -- and if that is dispensed in a way that that government and the U.S. is not controlling extremist groups, then indirectly the United States, according to the article you wrote, would be supporting them. So why would it be in their best interest and what should it do according to the people you've spoken to?

HERSH: You're assuming logic by the United States government. That's okay. We'll forget that one right now. Basically it's very simple. These groups are seeing -- when I was in Beirut doing interviews, I talked to officials who acknowledged the reason they were tolerating the radical jihadist groups was because they were seen as a protection against Hezbollah. The fear of Hezbollah in Washington, particularly in the White House, is acute. They just simply believe that Hassan Nasrallah is intent on waging war in America. Whether it's true or not is another question. There is a supreme overwhelming fear of Hezbollah and we do not want Hezbollah to play an active role in the government in Lebanon and that's been our policy, basically, which is support the Senora government, despite its weakness against the coalition. Not only Senora but Mr. Ahun, former military leader of Lebanon. There in a coalition that we absolutely abhor.

GORANI: All right, Seymour Hersh of "The New Yorker" magazine, thanks for joining us there and hopefully we'll be able to speak a little bit in a few months' time when those developments take shape in Lebanon and we know more. Thanks very much.

HERSH: glad to talk to you.
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