Contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest extant Qur'an in the world. Dating from 655, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to Saint Petersburg. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1989.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tashkent ... Uzbekistan
Telyashayakh Mosque (Khast Imam Mosque)
Contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest extant Qur'an in the world. Dating from 655, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to Saint Petersburg. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1989.
Contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest extant Qur'an in the world. Dating from 655, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to Saint Petersburg. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1989.
Uzbekistan ... A magnificent country
Tashkent طشقند
(Tash in Turkish language means stone. Kand, qand, kent, kad, kath, kud—all meaning a city—are derived from the Persian/Sogdian, kanda, meaning a town or a city. They are found in city names like Samarkand, Yarkand, Penjikent etc.).
Chorsu Bazaar .. Near the Kukeldash Madrassa, this huge open air bazaar is the center of the old town of Tashkent.
Open art gallery .. next to Independance Avenue
(Tash in Turkish language means stone. Kand, qand, kent, kad, kath, kud—all meaning a city—are derived from the Persian/Sogdian, kanda, meaning a town or a city. They are found in city names like Samarkand, Yarkand, Penjikent etc.).
Art Gallery of Uzbekistan
Chorsu Bazaar .. Near the Kukeldash Madrassa, this huge open air bazaar is the center of the old town of Tashkent.
Palace of Prince Romanov .. During the 19th century Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich (1850-1918), a first cousin of Alexander III of Russia was banished to Tashkent for some shady deals involving the Russian Crown Jewels. His palace still survives in the centre of the city. Once a museum, it has been appropriated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Open art gallery .. next to Independance Avenue
Friday, May 22, 2009
Palestine 1948-2009
Translation of Haroun Hashem Rashid poem in commemoration of occupied Palestine. Sang later by Fairouz:
We shall return
We shall return one day to our village
and drown in the warmth of hope
We shall return though time passes by
We shall return though time passes by
and distances grow between us.
O heart do not drop wearied
on the path of our return
How it wounds our pride that birds
How it wounds our pride that birds
will return tomorrow while we are still here.
There are hills over there
There are hills over there
sleeping and waking on our pledge
and people who are the love,their days comprised
and people who are the love,their days comprised
of silent waiting and nostalgic songs
Places filled with willows as far as the eyes can see,
willows tired and bent over the water
while afternoons in their shade
drink the smell of silence and purity of happiness.
We shall return,the nightingale told me
We shall return,the nightingale told me
when we met on a hill,
that nightingales are still there,
that nightingales are still there,
living on our dreams
and that among the hills of yearnings
and the yearning people is a place for us
O heart how often has the wind scattered us
O heart how often has the wind scattered us
Come along, we shall return, let us go.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Gaza sky rains Israeli white phosphorus and cluster bombs over civilian homes
Israel is bombing Palestinians in Gaza with white phosphorus and cluster bombs. Images of the brutal damage inflicted on women and children are seen on the wide media coverage of Algazeera. Meanwhile, Israel bans international journalists from entering the Gaza strip. The US have started shipping 350 containers of weapons to Israel from its Europe stores.White phosphorus and cluster bombs are internationaly banned weapons. A war crime that will haunt Israel for a long time. A true holocaust.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Nobel Peace Prize winner .... Shimon Peres
" In our war on Gaza, we did not kill any children or civilians" .... Shimon Peres on TV on 6th Jan 09. One hell of a liar.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Samera Baalusha carries her surviving child, Mohamad, while crying over the body of her daughter, Jawaher Baalusha, four, during her funeral. Jawaher and four of her sisters were killed during an Israeli air raid.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All The Way, Oh What Fun it is, To Murder Palestinians, In that Cowardly Israeli Way
The Israeli Deputy Defense Minister, Matan Velnai, threatened on 10 Dec 08 the Palestinians in Gaza with a Holocaust. And a true Holocaust it was. The Israeli air attacks started on Saturday 27 Dec 08 and is still on non stop day and night. 310 Palestinians are killed and over 1400 injured. Many are civilians. The camera lens does not lie.
The Israeli air strikes have been characterized by their unprecedented fierceness. Police stations located in densely populated neighborhoods were attacked, destroying them and causing severe damage to tens of schools and homes and killing dozens of civilians, including children and old people.
Additionally, dozens of homes were destroyed, along with tens of UNRWA and government schools and clinics. Local government offices and private vehicles were also destroyed.
This comes amidst unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian conditions Gaza's 1.5 million people face owing to Israel's tight siege which prevents their access to food, medicine and power. Ordinary Gazans have particularly been suffering from shortages in water supplies, cooking gas and foodstuffs. The siege has also impacted on hospitals' capacity to function under severe shortages in medicines and equipment. Hospitals' ability to handle very high numbers of casualties in a short time since yesterday has been particularly problematic; and particularly during the first hour after the first wave of attacks. 
I have been following the CNN and the BBC to learn how western media is 
conveying this Holocaust. I am sad, but not surprised, to see how the western media is affected by the Israeli PR campaigns that twisted the facts again. The western media has not been fair in reporting this massacre. They are echoing Israeli excuses. The cause of the Palestinian tragedy must be addressed and not the symptoms. The Israeli state-terror and occupation must end. Palestine must be free.
The Israeli air strikes have been characterized by their unprecedented fierceness. Police stations located in densely populated neighborhoods were attacked, destroying them and causing severe damage to tens of schools and homes and killing dozens of civilians, including children and old people.
Additionally, dozens of homes were destroyed, along with tens of UNRWA and government schools and clinics. Local government offices and private vehicles were also destroyed.
This comes amidst unprecedented deterioration of the humanitarian conditions Gaza's 1.5 million people face owing to Israel's tight siege which prevents their access to food, medicine and power. Ordinary Gazans have particularly been suffering from shortages in water supplies, cooking gas and foodstuffs. The siege has also impacted on hospitals' capacity to function under severe shortages in medicines and equipment. Hospitals' ability to handle very high numbers of casualties in a short time since yesterday has been particularly problematic; and particularly during the first hour after the first wave of attacks. I have been following the CNN and the BBC to learn how western media is 
conveying this Holocaust. I am sad, but not surprised, to see how the western media is affected by the Israeli PR campaigns that twisted the facts again. The western media has not been fair in reporting this massacre. They are echoing Israeli excuses. The cause of the Palestinian tragedy must be addressed and not the symptoms. The Israeli state-terror and occupation must end. Palestine must be free.Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Agatha Christie at ... Room 203 Baron Hotel in Allepo
Allepo ... 10:30 pm on the 19th Dec 2008.
The receptionist gave me the keys to room 203. As I climbed the stairs, my heart was beating with excitement, thrill and fear. I entered the room, and what a feeling. A very different life experience. Why not, for this is Agatha Christie's room ... where she stayed at the Baron Hotel in Allepo and wrote "Murder on the Orient Express" back in 1934.
Room 203: the Agatha Christie room.
Agatha Christie trilled a cheery "Good morning!" every day as she descended the broad staircase on her way to the terrace; there, she sipped tea while writing "Murder on the Orient Express".
The receptionist gave me the keys to room 203. As I climbed the stairs, my heart was beating with excitement, thrill and fear. I entered the room, and what a feeling. A very different life experience. Why not, for this is Agatha Christie's room ... where she stayed at the Baron Hotel in Allepo and wrote "Murder on the Orient Express" back in 1934.
Room 203: the Agatha Christie room. You could imagine the English lady seated on the Thonet chair at the dark dressing-table with its bevelled mirrors, its fine marquetry, and its gold-handled drawers. These are the original furnishings from the 1920s.
The 2nd floor of the Hotel Baron is a journey through the history of the 20th century: Lawrence of Arabia slept in Room 202; from the balcony in Room 215, King Faisal declared Syria's independence. The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by Sweden's King Gustaf Adolf, Egypt's Jamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's former President Hafiz Al Assad, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (the founder of the United Arab Emirates), and the American billionaire David Rockefeller.
In the main dining room on the ground floor, the Hotel Baron once held lavish banquets in their honour. Today, the guests have their breakfast here, surrounded by wood-panelled walls, massive double doors, crooked lampshades, and ceramic tiles of green, beige and brown. It's the details that make the Baron so unique: the chunky, grass-green telephone system at the reception; T.E. Lawrence's, Lawrence of Arabia's, bill framed and displayed in the lounge.
In 1909, amongst the gardens on the outskirts of Aleppo, the Mazloumian family built the first floor of the current building; the second floor followed in 1911, and the third in 1940. In recent years, this top storey has been thoroughly renovated and modernised.
The 2nd floor of the Hotel Baron is a journey through the history of the 20th century: Lawrence of Arabia slept in Room 202; from the balcony in Room 215, King Faisal declared Syria's independence. The Presidential Suite was occupied in turn by Sweden's King Gustaf Adolf, Egypt's Jamal Abdel Nasser, Syria's former President Hafiz Al Assad, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (the founder of the United Arab Emirates), and the American billionaire David Rockefeller.In the main dining room on the ground floor, the Hotel Baron once held lavish banquets in their honour. Today, the guests have their breakfast here, surrounded by wood-panelled walls, massive double doors, crooked lampshades, and ceramic tiles of green, beige and brown. It's the details that make the Baron so unique: the chunky, grass-green telephone system at the reception; T.E. Lawrence's, Lawrence of Arabia's, bill framed and displayed in the lounge.
In 1909, amongst the gardens on the outskirts of Aleppo, the Mazloumian family built the first floor of the current building; the second floor followed in 1911, and the third in 1940. In recent years, this top storey has been thoroughly renovated and modernised.Agatha Christie trilled a cheery "Good morning!" every day as she descended the broad staircase on her way to the terrace; there, she sipped tea while writing "Murder on the Orient Express". It was an exceptional unforgettable night in Room 203 at the Baron Hotel in Allepo.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Amman Sunset ... The day when the Sun was on fire
Clouds look like smoke coming out of a Sun on fire !
I took the picture in October 08 from the highest point in Abdoun looking West.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
FM 100 Hue Test
The FM 100 Hue Test is a seemingly simple test of your ability to discern close hue relationships, a sort of “color IQ test”. The interactive is provided by x-rite, a company that makes Munsell-based color measurement products.
It consists of four bands of small squares of varying colors. Each band represents a scale of colors between two specific hues, represented by fixed squares at either end. The task is to rearrange the drag-and-drop squares within each row to set them in the appropriate order of hue.
When you get down to the fine discrimination between hues that are very close, it becomes harder than it seems at first. You get a score at the end, “0″ being perfect, and the opportunity to compare your score to others of your gender and age group. There is also a feature, that I was unable to take advantage of because I came up with a perfect score, that allows you to see the color ranges within which you had the most difficulty discerning the close hue relationships.
Scorekeeping and the game-like element aside, this is an enlightening exercise in comparing closely related hues, something of concern to anyone working in color, particularly painters looking to match the colors they see when mixing paint.
As always when viewing or judging color, whether in isolation, on a palette, in a digital color picker or in a painting, the important factor is the relationship of a color to its adjacent colors.
The test is this site http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Matan Vilnai ... Threatening Palestinians with a Holocaust
Gaza to face a holocaust. Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai has provoked outrage after threatening Palestinians with a "holocaust", but the same media that was obsessed about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "wipe Israel off the map" misquote are scurrying to defend Vilnai's disgraceful comments.Can anybody understand how the same people that have suffered the Nazi Holocaust, actually threaten others with a Holocaust?
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff (Brasil).
Carlos Latuff and Stephen Walt .. The Israel lobby
"Right now, this has become a subject that you can barely talk about without people immediately trying to silence you, immediately trying to discredit you in various ways, such that no American politicians will touch this, which is quite remarkable when you consider how much Americans argue about every other controversial political issue. To me, this is a national security priority for us, and we ought to be having an open debate on it, not one where only one side is being heard from."
(Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, on a University of California, Berkeley, TV show called Conversations With History last fall, speaking about the chilling effect of the Israel lobby).
Read 'Ferment Over 'The Israel Lobby'' by Philip Weiss'
Cartoon by Carlos Latuff (Brasil).
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Different types of clouds formation .... fascinating ... particularly the lower transperant layer of clouds.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words
If it was a Muslim or an Arab, there will be an outcry and denounciation for this unacceptable behaviour. An Israeli settler in Palestine is training school boys on how to use guns. A strong doctrine and solid determination for cleansing Palestine of all Palestinians."Israel is a Jewish state .... No place for Palestinians .... Kill all Arabs" are slogans that are always heard and practiced on a daily basis. Has anyone heard of any real effort for achieving Peace when the other party is engaged in state terrorism and "teaching school boys on how to shoot and kill Palestinians".
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Nathem Hamed
Born in 1951 in Iraq. B.Sc degree in Fine Arts from the Fine Arts Academy, Baghdad University 1976. Master degree in Drawing from Baghdad University 1981. One of the most distinguished impressionist artist in Iraq and the Arab world. Studied painting under the great artist Faik Hassan. Renowned for his strong interest in the Arab townscapes and preservation of the urban and architectural heritage. Participated in many solo and joint exhibitions in many countries.Paul Panossian
Paul Panossian is an American artist of Arminian origin. Born in Los Angeles 1965. His strength is in the composition of his paintings. Panossian displayed an inherent artistic ability. His yearning desire to draw and paint prompted his elementary school teacher to recommend professional painting instruction; his parents gladly provided the needed means and opportunity to learn and grow under the tutelage of professional artists from the age of six and continued private instruction throughout High School.
In 1988, Panossian graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Art from California State University, Northridge where he had the opportunity to study under master artist, Hans Burkhardt. After completing his formal education Panossian went to Europe to study.
Trained in traditional art with an emphasis in oil painting, his personal artwork is characterized by intense colour, sophisticated composition, and a painterly technique that has been immediately widely recognized.
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Friday, September 12, 2008
A message from US Jews to Hollywood stars
US Jews to Hollywood stars: Boycott Israel celebration!
The following has been sent as an open letter to Jason Alexander, Heidi Klum, Debi Mazar, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Stone, Kiefer Sutherland, and all other confirmed attendees of the September 18 celebration of Israel at Paramount Studios.
It has also been sent to unconfirmed guests Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Adam Sandler.
September 12, 2008
We write to you with sadness and outrage as we learn that you plan to attend the September 18 event "From Vision to Reality," a Hollywood celebration of sixty years since the establishment of the state ofIsrael. The vision that led to the reality of the Israeli state is one of systematic and ongoing ethnic and religious discrimination against the Palestinian people. This does not deserve to be celebrated.
Sixty years ago, Zionist groups destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages and made more than 800,000 Palestinian people refugees in order to create a Jewish state in a land where the majority was not Jewish. This has come to be known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or "catastrophe," and this Nakba continues today. Inside of the 1948 borders of Israel, Palestinian citizens are denied equal rights to Jews under the law. Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are denied access to land, water, healthcare, and other basic resources. Today there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees throughout the world, all of whom are denied their internationally recognized right to return to their homes and land simply because they are not Jewish.
As Jewish North Americans, we are outraged at the policies the state of Israel has implemented in our names and with our government's financial support for more than sixty years. At the same time, we are inspired by the ongoing creative resistance of the Palestinian people, and most recently the unified civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law. We ask you to heed this call. Boycott is a nonviolent tool that has been used by ordinary people countless times to hold countries responsible for atrocities when our governments fail to do so. In South Africa, the boycott movement helped bring about an end to the apartheid system. In the case of Israel/Palestine, it can do the same.
Whether you attend or not, you are making a statement. If you attend, you indicate that you support the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people (now millions) and ongoing policies of ethnic cleansing of an indigenous population from their land. If you cancel your attendance, you indicate that you will not turn a blind eye to both the suffering and the call to action of millions of Palestinian people.
With stature comes responsibility, and we hope you do not take yours lightly.
Sincerely,
The No Time To Celebrate Campaigna campaign organized and implemented by thousands of Jewish people in the US and Canada this year to protest Israeli Independence Day activities, to commemorate the Nakba, and to honor the Palestiniancall for boycott against Israel
http://notimetocelebrate.wordpress.com/
The following has been sent as an open letter to Jason Alexander, Heidi Klum, Debi Mazar, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Stone, Kiefer Sutherland, and all other confirmed attendees of the September 18 celebration of Israel at Paramount Studios.
It has also been sent to unconfirmed guests Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Adam Sandler.
September 12, 2008
We write to you with sadness and outrage as we learn that you plan to attend the September 18 event "From Vision to Reality," a Hollywood celebration of sixty years since the establishment of the state ofIsrael. The vision that led to the reality of the Israeli state is one of systematic and ongoing ethnic and religious discrimination against the Palestinian people. This does not deserve to be celebrated.
Sixty years ago, Zionist groups destroyed over 500 Palestinian villages and made more than 800,000 Palestinian people refugees in order to create a Jewish state in a land where the majority was not Jewish. This has come to be known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or "catastrophe," and this Nakba continues today. Inside of the 1948 borders of Israel, Palestinian citizens are denied equal rights to Jews under the law. Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are denied access to land, water, healthcare, and other basic resources. Today there are more than 7 million Palestinian refugees throughout the world, all of whom are denied their internationally recognized right to return to their homes and land simply because they are not Jewish.
As Jewish North Americans, we are outraged at the policies the state of Israel has implemented in our names and with our government's financial support for more than sixty years. At the same time, we are inspired by the ongoing creative resistance of the Palestinian people, and most recently the unified civil society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law. We ask you to heed this call. Boycott is a nonviolent tool that has been used by ordinary people countless times to hold countries responsible for atrocities when our governments fail to do so. In South Africa, the boycott movement helped bring about an end to the apartheid system. In the case of Israel/Palestine, it can do the same.
Whether you attend or not, you are making a statement. If you attend, you indicate that you support the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people (now millions) and ongoing policies of ethnic cleansing of an indigenous population from their land. If you cancel your attendance, you indicate that you will not turn a blind eye to both the suffering and the call to action of millions of Palestinian people.
With stature comes responsibility, and we hope you do not take yours lightly.
Sincerely,
The No Time To Celebrate Campaigna campaign organized and implemented by thousands of Jewish people in the US and Canada this year to protest Israeli Independence Day activities, to commemorate the Nakba, and to honor the Palestiniancall for boycott against Israel
http://notimetocelebrate.wordpress.com/
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The role of Israel in the Georgian War
by Brian Harring
Georgia became a huge source of income, and military advantage, for the Israeli government and Israeli arms dealers. Israel began selling arms to Georgia about seven years ago, following an initiative by Georgian citizens who immigrated to Israel and became weapons hustlers.
They contacted Israeli defense industry officials and arms dealers and told them that Georgia had relatively large budgets, mostly American grants, and could be interested in purchasing Israeli weapons.
The military cooperation between the countries developed swiftly. The fact that Georgia's defense minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is a former Israeli who is fluent in Hebrew contributed to this cooperation. 'We are now in a fight against the great Russia,' he said, 'and our hope is to receive assistance from the White House, because Georgia cannot survive on its own. '
Kezerashvili's door was always open to the Israelis who came and offered his country arms systems made in Israel. Compared to countries in Eastern Europe, the deals in this country were conducted fast, mainly due to the pro-Israeli defense minister's personal involvement
The Jerusalem Post on August 12, 2008 reported: 'Georgian Prime Minister Vladimer (Lado) Gurgenidze(Jewish) made a special call to Israel Tuesday morning to receive a blessing from one of the Haredi community's most important rabbis and spiritual leaders, Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman.' The Prime Minister of Georgia, principally a nation of Orthodox Christians called Rabbi Steinman saying 'I've heard he is a holy man. I want him to pray for us and our state.'
Among the Israelis who took advantage of the opportunity and began doing business in Georgia were former Minister Roni Milo and his brother Shlomo, former director-general of the Military Industries, Brigadier-General (Res.) Gal Hirsch and Major-General (Res.) Yisrael Ziv.
Roni Milo conducted business in Georgia for Elbit Systems and the Military Industries, and with his help Israel's defense industries managed to sell to Georgia remote-piloted vehicles (RPVs), automatic turrets for armored vehicles, antiaircraft systems, communication systems, shells and rockets.
The Ministry of Defense of Israel had supplied the Georgian government their Hermes 450 UAV spy drones, made by Elbit Maarahot Systems Ltd, for use, under the strict control of Israeli intelligence units, to conduct intelligence-gathering flights over southern Russia and, most especially into a Iran, targeted for Israeli Air Force attacks in the near future.
Two airfields in southern Georgia had been earmarked for the use of Israeli military aircraft, intended to launch an attack on identified targets relating to Iranian atomic energy projects. This attack was approved by President Bush in an undertaking with the government of Israel signed in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2006.
The thrust of this top secret agreement was that the Israeli government would have 'free and unfettered use' of unspecified Georgian airfields, under American control, onto which they could ferry fighter-bombers which then could fly south, over Turkish territory (and with clandestine Turkish permission) to strike at Tehran. The distance from Georgia to Tehran is obviously far less than from Tel Aviv.
No one expected that these attacks would completely destroy Iranian military or scientific targets, but there would be the element of complete surprise coupled with serious property damage which might well interdict future Iranian atomic development and certainly serve as a serious warning to Iran not to threaten Israel again. Using Georgian bases, with the consent and full assistance of, the United States, would make such an attack much more feasible that attempting to fly from Israeli bases with overflights that might have serious regional diplomatic consequences.
Now, thanks to the irrational actions of the thoroughly unstable Georgian president, all of these schemes have collapsed and it is now believed that the Russian special forces have captured, intact, a number of the Israeli drones and, far more important, their radio controlling equipment.
In the main, Israeli military and intelligence units stationed in Georgia were mostly composed of Israel Defense Force reservists working for Global CST, owned by Maj. Gen. Israel Ziv, and Defense Shield, owned by Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch. 'The Israelis should be proud of themselves for the Israeli training and education received by the Georgian soldiers,' Georgian Minister Temur Yakobashvili.
By this manner, Israel could claim that it had a very small number of IDF people in Georgia 'mainly connected with our Embassy in Tiblisi.' The Russians, however, were not fooled by this and their own intelligence had pinpointed Israeli surveillance bases and when they went after the Georgians who invaded South Ossetia, units of the Russian air force bombed the Israeli bases in central Georgia and in the area of the capital, Tbilisi. They also severely damaged the runways and service areas of the two Georgian airbases designed to launch Israeli sir force units in a sudden attack on Iran.
Israel is currently a part of the Anglo-American military axis, which cooperates with the interests of the Western oil giants in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Israel is a partner in the Baku-Tblisi- Ceyhan pipeline which brings oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean. More than 20 percent of Israeli oil is imported from Azerbaijan, of which a large share transits through the BTC pipeline. Controlled by British Petroleum, the BTC pipeline has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucusus:
'[The BTC pipeline] considerably changes the status of the region's countries and cements a new pro-West alliance. Having taken the pipeline to the Mediterranean, Washington has practically set up a new bloc with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel, ' (Komerzant, Moscow, 14 July 2006)
While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will 'channel oil to Western markets', what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel, via Georgia. In this regard, an Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has also been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea.
The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat. The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are far-reaching
What has been planned, is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline, from Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon.
The Isreali unmanned surveillance drones
The unmanned Israeli clandestine surveillance drones are a favorite of intelligence agencies world-wide. Their most popular drone is the Hermes 450 drone aircraft.
The Hermes 450 is a large, capable 450 kg spy drone manufactured by Elbit Systems of Israel. Able to stay airborne for a maximum of 20 hours, it has a 10.5 metre wingspan and is 6.1 metres long. It can carry a variety of different surveillance packages, including the CoMPASS (Compact Multi-Purpose Advanced Stabilised System), which is a combined laser marker and infrared scanner.
Elbit also offers Hermes with the AN/ZPQ-1 TESAR (Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar) from Northrop Grumman of the US, a ground-sweeping radar which can detect objects as small as one foot in size and pick out those which are moving from those which aren't. Radars of this type are essential for full bad weather capability, and help a lot with scanning large areas of terrain. Electro-optical scanners such as CoMPASS tend to offer a 'drink-straw' view of only small areas in detail. The TESAR is the same radar used in the hugely successful 'Predator' drone, in service for several years now with the US forces.
The U.S. Army has a drone training school located at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, an intelligence center located 10 miles from the Mexican border and the home of massive telephonic intelligence intercept units, aimed at Central and South America. At present there are 225 soldiers, reservists, and National Guardsmen training at this school. And on the faculty are three Israeli specialists. This unit is not destined for the middle east or even Pakistan; it has been set up to conduct surveillance of northern Mexico. There are two reasons for wanting to watch our southern neighbor. The first is to watch for great treks of illegal aliens but the second, and most important, is to conduct reconnaissance of territory over which American military units might be traversing in any punitive actions that could very, very well be triggered by the growing political instability in Mexico, caused by a growing struggle between the central government and the very powerful Mexican-based drug lords, who are wreaking havoc in that very corrupt country.
If a highly irate CIA employee, complaining of 'excessive Israeli influence' in his agency, had not passed on files of information to the Russians late last year in Miami, in all probability, we would be reading about a stunning Israeli attack on Tehran. Now, the Iranian anti-aircraft missile batteries, supplied and manned by Russian 'technicians,' have the probable coordinates of such an Israeli surprise attack, from the north, which would give the defenses of Tehran a vital heads-up.
Georgia became a huge source of income, and military advantage, for the Israeli government and Israeli arms dealers. Israel began selling arms to Georgia about seven years ago, following an initiative by Georgian citizens who immigrated to Israel and became weapons hustlers.
They contacted Israeli defense industry officials and arms dealers and told them that Georgia had relatively large budgets, mostly American grants, and could be interested in purchasing Israeli weapons.
The military cooperation between the countries developed swiftly. The fact that Georgia's defense minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is a former Israeli who is fluent in Hebrew contributed to this cooperation. 'We are now in a fight against the great Russia,' he said, 'and our hope is to receive assistance from the White House, because Georgia cannot survive on its own. '
Kezerashvili's door was always open to the Israelis who came and offered his country arms systems made in Israel. Compared to countries in Eastern Europe, the deals in this country were conducted fast, mainly due to the pro-Israeli defense minister's personal involvement
The Jerusalem Post on August 12, 2008 reported: 'Georgian Prime Minister Vladimer (Lado) Gurgenidze(Jewish) made a special call to Israel Tuesday morning to receive a blessing from one of the Haredi community's most important rabbis and spiritual leaders, Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman.' The Prime Minister of Georgia, principally a nation of Orthodox Christians called Rabbi Steinman saying 'I've heard he is a holy man. I want him to pray for us and our state.'
Among the Israelis who took advantage of the opportunity and began doing business in Georgia were former Minister Roni Milo and his brother Shlomo, former director-general of the Military Industries, Brigadier-General (Res.) Gal Hirsch and Major-General (Res.) Yisrael Ziv.
Roni Milo conducted business in Georgia for Elbit Systems and the Military Industries, and with his help Israel's defense industries managed to sell to Georgia remote-piloted vehicles (RPVs), automatic turrets for armored vehicles, antiaircraft systems, communication systems, shells and rockets.
The Ministry of Defense of Israel had supplied the Georgian government their Hermes 450 UAV spy drones, made by Elbit Maarahot Systems Ltd, for use, under the strict control of Israeli intelligence units, to conduct intelligence-gathering flights over southern Russia and, most especially into a Iran, targeted for Israeli Air Force attacks in the near future.
Two airfields in southern Georgia had been earmarked for the use of Israeli military aircraft, intended to launch an attack on identified targets relating to Iranian atomic energy projects. This attack was approved by President Bush in an undertaking with the government of Israel signed in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2006.
The thrust of this top secret agreement was that the Israeli government would have 'free and unfettered use' of unspecified Georgian airfields, under American control, onto which they could ferry fighter-bombers which then could fly south, over Turkish territory (and with clandestine Turkish permission) to strike at Tehran. The distance from Georgia to Tehran is obviously far less than from Tel Aviv.
No one expected that these attacks would completely destroy Iranian military or scientific targets, but there would be the element of complete surprise coupled with serious property damage which might well interdict future Iranian atomic development and certainly serve as a serious warning to Iran not to threaten Israel again. Using Georgian bases, with the consent and full assistance of, the United States, would make such an attack much more feasible that attempting to fly from Israeli bases with overflights that might have serious regional diplomatic consequences.
Now, thanks to the irrational actions of the thoroughly unstable Georgian president, all of these schemes have collapsed and it is now believed that the Russian special forces have captured, intact, a number of the Israeli drones and, far more important, their radio controlling equipment.
In the main, Israeli military and intelligence units stationed in Georgia were mostly composed of Israel Defense Force reservists working for Global CST, owned by Maj. Gen. Israel Ziv, and Defense Shield, owned by Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsch. 'The Israelis should be proud of themselves for the Israeli training and education received by the Georgian soldiers,' Georgian Minister Temur Yakobashvili.
By this manner, Israel could claim that it had a very small number of IDF people in Georgia 'mainly connected with our Embassy in Tiblisi.' The Russians, however, were not fooled by this and their own intelligence had pinpointed Israeli surveillance bases and when they went after the Georgians who invaded South Ossetia, units of the Russian air force bombed the Israeli bases in central Georgia and in the area of the capital, Tbilisi. They also severely damaged the runways and service areas of the two Georgian airbases designed to launch Israeli sir force units in a sudden attack on Iran.
Israel is currently a part of the Anglo-American military axis, which cooperates with the interests of the Western oil giants in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Israel is a partner in the Baku-Tblisi- Ceyhan pipeline which brings oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean. More than 20 percent of Israeli oil is imported from Azerbaijan, of which a large share transits through the BTC pipeline. Controlled by British Petroleum, the BTC pipeline has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucusus:
'[The BTC pipeline] considerably changes the status of the region's countries and cements a new pro-West alliance. Having taken the pipeline to the Mediterranean, Washington has practically set up a new bloc with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel, ' (Komerzant, Moscow, 14 July 2006)
While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will 'channel oil to Western markets', what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel, via Georgia. In this regard, an Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has also been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea.
The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat. The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are far-reaching
What has been planned, is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline, from Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon.
The Isreali unmanned surveillance drones
The unmanned Israeli clandestine surveillance drones are a favorite of intelligence agencies world-wide. Their most popular drone is the Hermes 450 drone aircraft.
The Hermes 450 is a large, capable 450 kg spy drone manufactured by Elbit Systems of Israel. Able to stay airborne for a maximum of 20 hours, it has a 10.5 metre wingspan and is 6.1 metres long. It can carry a variety of different surveillance packages, including the CoMPASS (Compact Multi-Purpose Advanced Stabilised System), which is a combined laser marker and infrared scanner.
Elbit also offers Hermes with the AN/ZPQ-1 TESAR (Tactical Endurance Synthetic Aperture Radar) from Northrop Grumman of the US, a ground-sweeping radar which can detect objects as small as one foot in size and pick out those which are moving from those which aren't. Radars of this type are essential for full bad weather capability, and help a lot with scanning large areas of terrain. Electro-optical scanners such as CoMPASS tend to offer a 'drink-straw' view of only small areas in detail. The TESAR is the same radar used in the hugely successful 'Predator' drone, in service for several years now with the US forces.
The U.S. Army has a drone training school located at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, an intelligence center located 10 miles from the Mexican border and the home of massive telephonic intelligence intercept units, aimed at Central and South America. At present there are 225 soldiers, reservists, and National Guardsmen training at this school. And on the faculty are three Israeli specialists. This unit is not destined for the middle east or even Pakistan; it has been set up to conduct surveillance of northern Mexico. There are two reasons for wanting to watch our southern neighbor. The first is to watch for great treks of illegal aliens but the second, and most important, is to conduct reconnaissance of territory over which American military units might be traversing in any punitive actions that could very, very well be triggered by the growing political instability in Mexico, caused by a growing struggle between the central government and the very powerful Mexican-based drug lords, who are wreaking havoc in that very corrupt country.
If a highly irate CIA employee, complaining of 'excessive Israeli influence' in his agency, had not passed on files of information to the Russians late last year in Miami, in all probability, we would be reading about a stunning Israeli attack on Tehran. Now, the Iranian anti-aircraft missile batteries, supplied and manned by Russian 'technicians,' have the probable coordinates of such an Israeli surprise attack, from the north, which would give the defenses of Tehran a vital heads-up.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Free Gaza ... "Siege-breaking" boats trip sailing today to Gaza
"Siege-breaking boats". A campaign to attract attention to the siege enforced by Israel on over 1.5 million Gazans. No electricity, no medicine, no fuel, no services, no freedom to travel .... an absolute unprecedented human catastrophy ..... Follow the activities of this brave initiative of the 44 pro Palestinans on 3 boats sailing today to Gaza .... on http://www.freegaza.gov/
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
While Nablus is raided: Gordon Brown praises Israel
As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was having an audience with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, the Israeli occupation army was raping anew the Palestinian town of Nablus, rounding up and humiliating innocent people, violating homes and vandalizing businesses.
On Sunday and early Monday, the Israeli Defense Forces raided the northern city, for the fourth time in less than three weeks.
The invading forces arrested dozens of innocent people, including a lawmaker named Mrs. Muna Mansur. The detainees, who are likely to be dumped in an Israeli concentration camp for lengthy periods of time, have committed no felony or even misdemeanor. Their only “guilt” seems to be their conscientious opposition to the Nazi-like Israeli occupation of their country.
Two weeks ago, the same Israeli forces, acting like the German Gestapo, ransacked the main commercial center of Nablus, raiding commercial malls, beauty salons, a major medical center and numerous other institutions, crushing furniture, smashing equipments and vandalizing public and private property.
From Palestine Information Center.
On Sunday and early Monday, the Israeli Defense Forces raided the northern city, for the fourth time in less than three weeks.
The invading forces arrested dozens of innocent people, including a lawmaker named Mrs. Muna Mansur. The detainees, who are likely to be dumped in an Israeli concentration camp for lengthy periods of time, have committed no felony or even misdemeanor. Their only “guilt” seems to be their conscientious opposition to the Nazi-like Israeli occupation of their country.
Two weeks ago, the same Israeli forces, acting like the German Gestapo, ransacked the main commercial center of Nablus, raiding commercial malls, beauty salons, a major medical center and numerous other institutions, crushing furniture, smashing equipments and vandalizing public and private property.
From Palestine Information Center.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Hillary Clinton conceding speech
Hillary Clinton conceded the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama yesterday. A truly fine conceding speech. If she has won anything, this graceful speech was her true victory. An exemplary model in descipline, good sport and clear intelligent choice of words.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Earthquake risk from Dams
Reports on potential collapse of 69 dams in China following the recent Earthquake. An interesting BBC article published 2002
African dams may need more careful planning
By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent, in Nairobi
Bill McGuire, director of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre in London, UK, says rising seismic and volcanic damage is a worldwide problem.
"There's no question that if you dig a big enough reservoir, you're going to get earthquakes. "The Three Gorges Dam in China is going to be a big problem," he told BBC News Online.
"There's also the worry that if you build a dam in mountainous terrain that you will get landslides as it fills."
A huge landslide behind the Vaiont dam in northern Italy in 1963 took the lives of over 2,500 people when a wave of water and debris spilled over the dam and swept away a small town, he explained. Professor Hartnady says the African continental crust is stressed to the "fracture criticality" limit.
Build dams if you must, but engineer them much more sensitively than we do now
Chris Hartnady He told BBC News Online: "Partly this is because of the African superswell, a mass of warm volcanic rock which is rising under much of south-eastern Africa, producing a buoyancy effect which is helping to pull the crust apart. "And partly it's the forces at play in the boundary zone between the Nubian and Somalian tectonic plates. Mining triggers earthquakes in South Africa's high veldt."
Real and present danger
In late October 1995, the reservoir behind the Katse dam in Lesotho began to fill. Days later people started feeling earth tremors, and one measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale was recorded on 3 January 1996.
"I am positive that was cause and effect. In 1964, a dam was built at Koyna in India's Western Ghats. There was a big earthquake in the region in 1967 - cause and effect again.
"So build dams if you must, but engineer them much more sensitively than we do now."
Professor Hartnady believes geohazards, including earthquakes, volcanic activity and shifting soils, are an underestimated problem.
He says: "I wonder whether for Africa they may be a more real and present danger than climate change. We badly need more research, on the sort of scale of the effort going into climate change.
"Geohazards are a problem in developed countries too, in places like California and Japan. The US Geological Survey has a wealth of expertise. But some of their knowledge just isn't applicable in places like Africa with much slower rates of motion. "In the San Andreas Fault in California, the rate is something like 30-50 mm a year, compared with 5-10 mm in the Rift Valley in East Africa. But while 5 mm a year may not be sexy, it could be serious."
Signal in the noise
Compared with the centuries-old records and monitoring from developed countries, Africa's detailed seismological monitoring goes back only about 40 years, Professor Hartnady says.
But he is confident that science means it will soon be possible to predict the risks much more accurately. "We need to leapfrog to a new kind of technology, and it does exist," he says. "There's everything space geodesy can offer, including the global positioning system, very long baseline interferometry, and satellite laser-ranging. These will measure current rates of plate motion.
"I can't tell people now when the risks will become acute. There could be a catastrophe tomorrow, or we could get through this century without one.
"Come back in five to 10 years, though, when we can start to distinguish the signal from the noise, and I'll give you the numbers. The sooner we begin sophisticated monitoring, the sooner we'll have the answers."
African dams may need more careful planning
By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent, in Nairobi
Large dams in mountainous regions could threaten people living near them by stressing the Earth's crust to danger levels, a scientist says.
The researcher says there have been recorded cases in several countries of dam construction causing earthquakes. Large-scale mining, he believes, can sometimes produce the same result.
He says parts of Africa are especially vulnerable because of the tectonic forces that are shaping the continent.
The scientist, Chris Hartnady, is a former associate professor in the department of geological sciences at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was attending a conference here, the Africa Mountains High Summit, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
Pulled apart
Professor Hartnady says in his presentation: "Large areas of the African continent are in an unstable, tectonically active state, and especially in the mountain regions substantial danger is posed to growing populations.
"The economic cost of seismic and volcanic disasters is likely to escalate dramatically during this century.
If you dig a big enough reservoir, you're going to get earthquakes
Bill McGuireBenfield Greig Hazard Research Centre "Mountain areas appear very attractive places in which to site reservoirs or hydro-electric schemes. However, in east and southern Africa, these high-lying areas are usually associated with tectonically active belts near faults and rifts in the Earth's crust."
Bill McGuire, director of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre in London, UK, says rising seismic and volcanic damage is a worldwide problem.
"There's no question that if you dig a big enough reservoir, you're going to get earthquakes. "The Three Gorges Dam in China is going to be a big problem," he told BBC News Online.
"There's also the worry that if you build a dam in mountainous terrain that you will get landslides as it fills."
A huge landslide behind the Vaiont dam in northern Italy in 1963 took the lives of over 2,500 people when a wave of water and debris spilled over the dam and swept away a small town, he explained. Professor Hartnady says the African continental crust is stressed to the "fracture criticality" limit.
Build dams if you must, but engineer them much more sensitively than we do now
Chris Hartnady He told BBC News Online: "Partly this is because of the African superswell, a mass of warm volcanic rock which is rising under much of south-eastern Africa, producing a buoyancy effect which is helping to pull the crust apart. "And partly it's the forces at play in the boundary zone between the Nubian and Somalian tectonic plates. Mining triggers earthquakes in South Africa's high veldt."
Real and present danger
In late October 1995, the reservoir behind the Katse dam in Lesotho began to fill. Days later people started feeling earth tremors, and one measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale was recorded on 3 January 1996.
"I am positive that was cause and effect. In 1964, a dam was built at Koyna in India's Western Ghats. There was a big earthquake in the region in 1967 - cause and effect again.
"So build dams if you must, but engineer them much more sensitively than we do now."
Professor Hartnady believes geohazards, including earthquakes, volcanic activity and shifting soils, are an underestimated problem.
He says: "I wonder whether for Africa they may be a more real and present danger than climate change. We badly need more research, on the sort of scale of the effort going into climate change.
"Geohazards are a problem in developed countries too, in places like California and Japan. The US Geological Survey has a wealth of expertise. But some of their knowledge just isn't applicable in places like Africa with much slower rates of motion. "In the San Andreas Fault in California, the rate is something like 30-50 mm a year, compared with 5-10 mm in the Rift Valley in East Africa. But while 5 mm a year may not be sexy, it could be serious."
Signal in the noise
Compared with the centuries-old records and monitoring from developed countries, Africa's detailed seismological monitoring goes back only about 40 years, Professor Hartnady says.
But he is confident that science means it will soon be possible to predict the risks much more accurately. "We need to leapfrog to a new kind of technology, and it does exist," he says. "There's everything space geodesy can offer, including the global positioning system, very long baseline interferometry, and satellite laser-ranging. These will measure current rates of plate motion.
"I can't tell people now when the risks will become acute. There could be a catastrophe tomorrow, or we could get through this century without one.
"Come back in five to 10 years, though, when we can start to distinguish the signal from the noise, and I'll give you the numbers. The sooner we begin sophisticated monitoring, the sooner we'll have the answers."
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Nelson Mandela's memo to Thomas Friedman on Palestine
Mandela's First Memo to Thomas Friedman
March 28, 2001
To: Thomas L. Friedman (columnist New York Times)
From: Nelson Mandela (former President South Africa)
Dear Thomas,
I know that you and I long for peace in the Middle East, but before you continue to talk about necessary conditions from an Israeli perspective, you need to know what's on my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964.
Let me quote my own words during my trial They are true today as they were then: 'I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'
Today the world, black and white, recognise that Apartheid has no future. In South Africa it has been ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. That mass campaign of defiance and other actions could only culminate in the establishment of Democracy.
Perhaps it is strange for you to observe the situation in Palestine or more specifically, the structure of political and cultural relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, as an Apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly think that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was demonstrated in your recent column 'Bush's First Memo' in the New York Times on March 27, 2001.
You seem to be surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established 'normally' and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not struggling for a 'state' but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa.
In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that Settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea.
Israel was not thinking of a 'state' but of 'separation'. The value of separation is measured in terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national state, or to turn into a state of Apartheid not only de facto, but also de jure.
Thomas, if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of 'I hate Arabs' and 'I wish Arabs would be dead'.
If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 Occupied Territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life.
Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated.
As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The so-called 'Palestinian autonomous areas' are Bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli Apartheid system.
The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the Jewish purity of Israel.
Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian Arabs have no place in a 'Jewish' state.
Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.
The responses made by South Africa to human rights abuses emanating from the removal policies and Apartheid policies respectively, shed light on what Israeli society munecessarily go through before one can speak of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and an end to its Apartheid policies.
Thomas, I'm not abandoning Mideast diplomacy. But I'm not going to indulge you the way your supporters do. If you want peace and democracy, I will support you. If you want formal Apartheid, we will not support you. If you want to support racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, we will oppose you.
When you figure out what you're about, give me a call.
March 28, 2001
To: Thomas L. Friedman (columnist New York Times)
From: Nelson Mandela (former President South Africa)
Dear Thomas,
I know that you and I long for peace in the Middle East, but before you continue to talk about necessary conditions from an Israeli perspective, you need to know what's on my mind. Where to begin? How about 1964.
Let me quote my own words during my trial They are true today as they were then: 'I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'
Today the world, black and white, recognise that Apartheid has no future. In South Africa it has been ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. That mass campaign of defiance and other actions could only culminate in the establishment of Democracy.
Perhaps it is strange for you to observe the situation in Palestine or more specifically, the structure of political and cultural relationships between Palestinians and Israelis, as an Apartheid system. This is because you incorrectly think that the problem of Palestine began in 1967. This was demonstrated in your recent column 'Bush's First Memo' in the New York Times on March 27, 2001.
You seem to be surprised to hear that there are still problems of 1948 to be solved, the most important component of which is the right to return of Palestinian refugees.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not just an issue of military occupation and Israel is not a country that was established 'normally' and happened to occupy another country in 1967. Palestinians are not struggling for a 'state' but for freedom, liberation and equality, just like we were struggling for freedom in South Africa.
In the last few years, and especially during the reign of the Labour Party, Israel showed that it was not even willing to return what it occupied in 1967; that Settlements remain, Jerusalem would be under exclusive Israeli sovereignty, and Palestinians would not have an independent state, but would be under Israeli economic domination with Israeli control of borders, land, air, water and sea.
Israel was not thinking of a 'state' but of 'separation'. The value of separation is measured in terms of the ability of Israel to keep the Jewish state Jewish, and not to have a Palestinian minority that could have the opportunity to become a majority at some time in the future. If this takes place, it would force Israel to either become a secular democratic or bi-national state, or to turn into a state of Apartheid not only de facto, but also de jure.
Thomas, if you follow the polls in Israel for the last 30 or 40 years, you clearly find a vulgar racism that includes a third of the population who openly declare themselves to be racist. This racism is of the nature of 'I hate Arabs' and 'I wish Arabs would be dead'.
If you also follow the judicial system in Israel you will see there is discrimination against Palestinians, and if you further consider the 1967 Occupied Territories you will find there are already two judicial systems in operation that represent two different approaches to human life: one for Palestinian life and the other for Jewish life.
Additionally there are two different approaches to property and to land. Palestinian property is not recognised as private property because it can be confiscated.
As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The so-called 'Palestinian autonomous areas' are Bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli Apartheid system.
The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the Jewish purity of Israel.
Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do. Palestinian Arabs have no place in a 'Jewish' state.
Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.
The responses made by South Africa to human rights abuses emanating from the removal policies and Apartheid policies respectively, shed light on what Israeli society munecessarily go through before one can speak of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and an end to its Apartheid policies.
Thomas, I'm not abandoning Mideast diplomacy. But I'm not going to indulge you the way your supporters do. If you want peace and democracy, I will support you. If you want formal Apartheid, we will not support you. If you want to support racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing, we will oppose you.
When you figure out what you're about, give me a call.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
فلسطين 1948-2008
سنرجع يوما إلى حينا
ونغرق في دافئات المنى
سنرجع مهما يطول الزمان
وتنأى المسافات ما بيننا
سنرجــع يومـــا
شعر: هارون هاشم رشيد
سنرجع يوماً الى حينا............و نغرق في دافئات المنى
سنرجع مهما يطول الزمان...... و تنأى المسافات ما بيننا
فيا قلب مهلآ و لا ترتم............على درب عودتنا موهنا
يعز علينا غداً أن تعود...........رفوف الطيور و نحن هنا
هنالك عند التلال تلال............تنام و تصحو على عهدنا
و ناس هم الحب أيامهم............هدوء انتظار شجي الغنا
ربوع مدى العين صفصافها......على كل ماء وهى فانحنى
تعب الظهيرات في ظلها.........عبير الهدوء و صفو الهنا
سنرجع خبرني العندليب...........غداة التقينا على منحنى
بأن البلابل لما تزل..................هناك تعيش بأشعارنا
و مازال بين تلال الحنين ..........و ناس الحنين مكان لنا
سنرجع مهما يطول الزمان...... و تنأى المسافات ما بيننا
فيا قلب مهلآ و لا ترتم............على درب عودتنا موهنا
يعز علينا غداً أن تعود...........رفوف الطيور و نحن هنا
هنالك عند التلال تلال............تنام و تصحو على عهدنا
و ناس هم الحب أيامهم............هدوء انتظار شجي الغنا
ربوع مدى العين صفصافها......على كل ماء وهى فانحنى
تعب الظهيرات في ظلها.........عبير الهدوء و صفو الهنا
سنرجع خبرني العندليب...........غداة التقينا على منحنى
بأن البلابل لما تزل..................هناك تعيش بأشعارنا
و مازال بين تلال الحنين ..........و ناس الحنين مكان لنا
فيا قلب كم شردتنا رياح.............. تعال سنرجع هيا بنا
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe (1948)
Every year Palestinians commemorate the Nakba ("the catastrophe"): the expulsion and dispossession of hundreds of thousands Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. In 1948 more than 60 percent of the total Palestinian population was expelled. More than 530 Palestinian villages were depopulated and completely destroyed.
To date, Israel has prevented the return of approximately six million Palestinian refugees, who have either been expelled or displaced. Approximately 250,000 internally displaced Palestinian second-class citizens of Israel are prevented from returning to their homes and villages.
To date, Israel has prevented the return of approximately six million Palestinian refugees, who have either been expelled or displaced. Approximately 250,000 internally displaced Palestinian second-class citizens of Israel are prevented from returning to their homes and villages.
Friday, March 28, 2008
560 roadblocks in the West Bank
There are, today, around 560 roadblocks established by the Israeli Occupation forces in the tiny area of the West Bank, which is an incredible number. No roadblocks have been removed; each and every one of them stands in witness to the fact that Israel's promises are not fulfilled and that their declarations and statements on peace are hollow and meaningless.
The $7 billion that were promised at the recent Paris conference to jump-start the Palestinian economy are useless, for without a minimal freedom of movement, there is no way that the economy of the Palestinians can be put on its feet.
The West Bank has an area of 120 km x 50 km.
The $7 billion that were promised at the recent Paris conference to jump-start the Palestinian economy are useless, for without a minimal freedom of movement, there is no way that the economy of the Palestinians can be put on its feet.
The West Bank has an area of 120 km x 50 km.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The American elections
A recent PEW poll shows that 10% of Democrats who support Obama would defect and vote for McCain should Hillary become the candidate. But, a whopping 25% of Democrats who support Hillary would defect and vote for McCain should Obama become the candidate.
Although the poll suggests that the Clinton/Obama have a lead of 5-8% over McCain, I have a feeling that McCain wins the Presidancy. Another 4 years of American war-mentality to come.
Although the poll suggests that the Clinton/Obama have a lead of 5-8% over McCain, I have a feeling that McCain wins the Presidancy. Another 4 years of American war-mentality to come.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff creates artworks that call on the world to condemn Israeli holocaust of Gaza
Carlos Latuff's statement:
I'd like to beg all viewers to spread this image anywhere, as a way to expose Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. Use it on t-shirts, posters, banners. Reproduce it in zines, papers, magazines, and make it visible everywhere. Here is the high-resolution version for printing purposes.
Friday, March 7, 2008
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