NADEEM MALIK: BOYCOTT ISRAELI PRODUCTS NOW!!!

Re: BOYCOTT ISRAELI PRODUCTS NOW!!!

ASA Imam Kashif,

Yes, It has changed. Pepsi entered Israel in 1992. You can read more
about it at this Israeli website:

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/israel.asp

I believe all right minded people have a powerful weapon to fight
against Israeli aggression and to show support for the Gazans and all
suffering Palestinians with a boycott. We simply can just stop buying
products that support Israel. If millions of people who support the
Palestinians and condemn what the Israelis are doing in Gaza would
boycott the products listed in the link below, it will do much to hurt
Israel. BUT THIS CAN'T BE A FAD DONE ONLY BECAUSE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING
NOW. THIS NEEDS TO BE A PERMANENT BOYCOTT TO REALLY HAVE SOME TEETHE.

www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.html

I repeat the words of our beloved Ptophet (saaw). We really need to do
something about this travesty:

"Whoever of you sees wrong being committed, let him rectify it with
his hand, if he is unable, then with his tongue, and if he is unable,
then with his heart, and this is the weakest of faith…" Prophet
Muhammad (saaw)

From: "gnkashif@..." <gnkashif@...>
To: Strategicalliance-2@yahoogroups.com;
WorldMuslimCongress@yahoogroups.com; MIKEGHOUSE@...
Cc: aplacefortruth@yahoogroups.com;
strategicalliance-2@yahoogroups.com; togethernet@yahoogroups.com;
bangla-vision@yahoogroups.com; islamcity@yahoogroups.com;
palestinianchristians@yahoogroups.com; 911TruthAction@yahoogroups.com;
MUSLIM-UMMA@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2009 7:07:50 PM
Subject: [APFT] Re: [Strategicalliance-2] BOYCOTT ISRAELI PRODUCTS NOW!!!

ASA

Recheck Pepsi. During the last boycott, few decades ago, Pepsi was not
included. during my Hajj trip, coke was out but Pepsi was accepted.
Has this changed.? It's doesn't seem to be listed in the item
rendered below....... .......gnk

-- Nashid Abdul-Khaaliq <nashidg@yahoo. com> wrote:

More than 380 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1700 are
injured in recent air strikes in Gaza and the numbers are growing. The
suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza is unimaginable and the UN has
declared Gaza to be a humanitarian crisis.. Since most of us can't
pick up arms against the Zionists, let's all do something that we can
do. If we can't be there to bring food, medicines, and needed aid to
the Palestinians, let's hit the Zionists where it hurts—Let's BOYCOTT
all Israeli products now!!! Rather than have this boycott be a fad
that comes and goes, let's make it a permanent, unswerving practice of
resistance. Among other products, I will never buy a coke, Pepsi,
Nokia phone or eat at McDonalds or drink a cup of coffee from
Starbucks again!!!

Please click the following link for a detailed listing of Israeli
products and companies supporting Israel:

www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.html

People of good conscience have chosen to boycott Israeli products and
companies supporting the Zionist entity. Their ethical purchasing
decision however is frustrated by the lack of accurate information as
to which companies to boycott.

We have carried out extensive research to identify the guilty
companies. All our findings are provided here. Where ever possible, we
have included full references for the source of our information so
that you may independently verify its accuracy and understand exactly
how each company is contributing its support to Israel. We thank all
those organizations whose research we have utilized.

BOYCOTT ISRAEL COMPANY LIST

AOL Time Warner

Apax Partners & Co Ltd

Coca-Cola

Danone
Delta Galil Disney
Estée Lauder IBM
Johnson & Johnson Kimberly-Clark
Lewis Trust Group Ltd L'Oreal
Marks & Spencer Nestle
News Corporation Nokia
Revlon Sara Lee
Selfridges The Limited Inc
Home Depot Intel
Starbucks Timberland
McDonald's Arsenal FC

The companies can also be viewed listed by their brands & labels:

View by Brand- brands and labels to boycott

http://www.boycotti sraeligoods. org/

As shown above Pepsi Co., Coca-Cola, Mc Donald, Nestle, Johnson &
Johnson, Mac Donald's, Nokia, etc. are big supporters of Israel.

Statistics of the Palestinian losses during 9/29/2000 to 7/31/2004
from Israeli attacks is listed below. Keep in mind that since the time
these statistics have been taken the deaths and losses of Palestinians
have been growing at a phenomenal rate:

No. of Palestinian children(below 18 years) killed: 643
No. of killed females: 239
Total No. of killed people: 3473
Total No. of wounded Palestinians: 41,424
No. of houses completely demolished: 6,757
No. of houses partially demolished: 59,107

Please try to print this article in your Local magazines, newspapers,
newsletter, etc. Forward this email to as many people as possible.

------------------------------------
To portray this as a conflict between equals requires some imagination

By Mark Steel:

January 01, 2009 "The Independent" --- When you read the statements
from Israeli and US politicians, and try to match them with the
pictures of devastation, there seems to be only one explanation. They
must have one of those conditions, called something like "Visual
Carnage Responsibility Back To Front Upside Down Massacre Disorder".
For example, Condoleezza Rice, having observed that more than 300
Gazans were dead, said: "We are deeply concerned about the escalating
violence. We strongly condemn the attacks on Israel and hold Hamas
responsible."

Someone should ask her to comment on teenage knife-crime, to see if
she'd say: "I strongly condemn the people who've been stabbed, and
until they abandon their practice of wandering around clutching their
sides and bleeding, there is no hope for peace."

The Israeli government suffers terribly from this confusion. They
probably have adverts on Israeli television in which a man falls off a
ladder and screams, "Eeeeugh", then a voice says, "Have you caused an
accident at work in the last 12 months?" and the bloke who pushed him
gets £3,000.

The gap between the might of Israel's F-16 bombers and Apache
helicopters, and the Palestinians' catapulty thing is so ridiculous
that to try and portray the situation as between two equal sides
requires the imagination of a children's story writer.
The reporter on News at Ten said the rockets "may be ineffective, but
they ARE symbolic." So they might not have weapons but they have got
symbolism, the canny brutes.

It's no wonder the Israeli Air Force had to demolish a few housing
estates, otherwise Hamas might have tried to mock Israel through a
performance of expressive dance.
The rockets may be unable to to kill on the scale of the Israeli Air
Force, said one spokesman, but they are "intended to kill".

Maybe he went on: "And we have evidence that Hamas supporters have
dreams, and that in these dreams bad things happen to Israeli
citizens, they burst, or turn into cactus, or run through Woolworths
naked, so it's not important whether it can happen, what matters is
that they WANT it to happen, so we blew up their university."

Or there's the outrage that Hamas has been supported by Iran. Well
that's just breaking the rules. Because say what you will about the
Israelis, they get no arms supplies or funding or political support
from a country that's more powerful than them, they just go their own
way and make all their weapons in an arts and crafts workshop in
Jerusalem.

But mostly the Israelis justify themselves with a disappointing lack
of imagination, such as the line that they had to destroy an ambulance
because Hamas cynically put their weapons inside ambulances.

They should be more creative, and say Hamas were planning to aim the
flashing blue light at Israeli epileptics in an attempt to make them
go into a fit, get dizzy and wander off into Syria where they would be
captured.

Maybe they could turn it into a huge nationalfestival, with
decorations and mince pies and shops playing "I Wish We Could Bomb
Gaza Every Day".

In a similar tone Dov Weisglas, Ariel Sharon's chief of staff,
referred to the siege of Gaza that preceded this bombing, a siege in
which the Israelis prevented the population from receiving essential
supplies of food, medicine, electricity and water, by saying, "We put
them on a diet."

It's the arrogance of the East End gangster, so it wouldn't be out of
character if the Israeli Prime Minister's press conference began: "Oh
dear or dear. It looks like those Palestinians have had a little, er,
accident. All their buildings have been knocked down – they want to be
more careful, hee hee."

And almost certainly one of the reasons this is happening now is
because the government wants to appear hard as it wants to win an
election. Maybe with typical Israeli frankness they'll show a party
political broadcast in which Ehud Olmert says, "This is why I think
you should vote for me", then shows film of Gaza and yells: "Wa-hey,
that bloke in the corner is on FIRE."

And Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues, and the specially appointed
Middle East Peace Envoy, could then all shake their heads and say:
"Disgraceful. The way he's flapping around like that could cause
someone to have a nasty accident."

-------------------------------------------------
Gaza Massacre: The Truth About Those Hamas Rockets by Dennis Rahkonen

Five years ago, the Bush administration lied about weapons of mass
destruction to dupe us into supporting an illegal, immoral invasion of
Iraq.

A few days ago, Israel trotted out only an infinitesimally more
credible excuse — the Hamas rockets case — as justification for its
own murderous shock and awe in Gaza, a long-planned campaign
perniciously aimed at ousting a "regime" that came to power via
popular, democratic vote.

Yes, such rockets exist, but they're little more than slingshots
against Israel's incredible military might, and they're used out of
desperation by Palestinians who've never been accorded the democratic
space within which to gain redress of their eminently just grievances.

Israeli apologists have presented absurd propaganda about those devices.

We've been asked, for instance, what would we do if rockets were being
launched on our homes in New York or Texas, from Canada or Mexico?

The proper answer is that, if those two nations had been unlawfully
occupied or embargoed by the United States for 60 years of relentless
oppression and repression, and if all attempts at peaceful change had
been forcefully prevented or scuttled by the U.S., then such attacks
would be an understandable, indeed a justifiable attempt at gaining
intolerably deferred liberty.

Our appropriate response wouldn't be to bomb the hell out of the
nearest Canadian or Mexican city, but to collectively look into
mirrors and earnestly ask ourselves, "What have we done wrong to incur
their wrath?"

Conscientious Israelis acknowledge that the Hamas rockets rationale is
fraudulent. For instance, Jerusalem Post writer Larry Derfner has
noted, "We don't want to see how people in Gaza are living, we block
it out of our minds — which, I suppose, is natural for a society at
war, but which also keeps that war going longer than it might if we
would recognize that Gaza is getting so much the worst of it.

"The [Palestinian] Kassam [rockets] have terrorized the 25,000 people
in Sderot and its environs, but have caused very, very few deaths or
serious wounds. By contrast, Israel has terrorized 1.5 million Gazans,
locked them inside their awfully narrow borders, throttled their
economy, and killed and seriously wounded thousands of them . . .

"This is crazy. Israel is the superpower of the Middle East, but
because we still think we're the Jews of Europe in the 1930s, or the
Israelites under Pharaoh, we spend a lot more time fighting our
enemies than we might if we looked at the whole picture, not just our
half of it . . ."

As Gazan hospitals and morgues fill beyond capacity because of an
ongoing air assault that cruelly began at precisely the hour when
countless children were heading home from school, we're expected to
believe that small craters mostly in empty Israeli fields constitute
this terrible episode's chief sin.

Bugs bothered by sporadically impacting, glorified fireworks cobbled
together in backyard garages are ludicrously supposed to be the
primary problem, not human limbs and lives shattered by the most
destructive weapons that military science can produce!

At any point during the past six decades, Israel could have had peace,
simply by assenting to the great moral imperative of our time, namely
the Palestinians' right to their own, unitary, sovereign homeland.

Something which Israel continues to resist tooth and nail.

Two years ago, in Southern Lebanon, Israel engaged in similar bombings
in civilian areas. Then, too, it maintained that only "terrorist"
targets were being hit. As impartial observers finally ascertained the
truth, clear evidence of enormous civilian carnage surfaced.

The Israeli leadership lied then, and it's lying now.

There's a veritable holocaust occurring in densely packed Gaza. Think
Guernica, or the Warsaw Ghetto, with all the searing irony that
comparison involves.

Apart from being an ethical travesty offending all decent hearts, it's
an unpardonable outrage to especially Arab/Islamic peoples around the
world.

Witness the angry demonstrations in cities across the planet.

It takes no extraordinary analytical prowess to appreciate that, when
the White House ridiculously blames what's currently happening on
"thugs" in Gaza, and when moderate Arab states adopt an
accommodationist position pleasing the U.S. and Israel, a profound
Arab/Islamic radicalization billows and swells.

New Osama bin Ladens are being born as innocents in Gaza are getting
ripped to death by American-made Hellfire missiles, dispatched toward
fleshly targets by Israeli pilots.

In fact, the almost certain, counterproductive outcome of Israel's
action makes us necessarily suspect that secret motives mistakenly
judged by Tel Aviv to be worth the risk are actually at play.

Three possibilities spring immediately to mind:

1) Obscenely using de facto genocide to give the present Israeli
government a "tough" image before upcoming national elections.

2) Roping Barack Obama into a harder pro-Israeli stance than Tel Aviv
fears he'd otherwise take.

3) Creating a manipulated, intensely propagandized situation that
would enable a desired Israeli attack on Iran.

Whatever the most deeply hidden reality, Israel's gargantuan crime
must be universally condemned in the strongest
possible terms . . . and halted at once!

Dennis
Rahkonen of Superior, Wisconsin, has been writing progressive
commentary with a Heartland perspective for various outlets since the
'60s.

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

ran's Air Force is on alert after the country's president envisaged
major regional developments in the wake of the Israeli raids on Gaza.

The chief Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Hassan
Shah-Safi said on Wednesday that the ongoing critical situation in the
Middle East has prompted the Iranian military to take necessary
measures to ensure readiness in the event of the country becoming the
target of an offensive.

"Iran's Air Force has of late carried out 120 successful sorties along
with long-range flights of 2,000 kilometers, and has also conducted
unprecedented aerial missions," Brig. Gen. Shah-Safi said.

The Air Force commander added that the enemy has been closely
monitoring Iranian military planes. He went on to say that "unless
Iran's military remains constantly vigilant the enemy will deliver a
blow, even a minor one, to our forces".

The remarks come as Israeli strikes on Gaza entered a fifth day,
without an end in sight to the largest assault on the beleaguered
strip in decades.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that the fierce
Israeli air assault on Gaza, which "aims to root out Hamas and the
Palestinians", would only lead to the "disintegration of the Israeli
regime".

Facing growing international pressure, Israel's top leaders have so
far rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire.

Israel is also massing its gunboats near the Gaza port and its ground
forces along the border with Gaza in preparation for a possible ground
offensive.

Earlier on Monday, a senior Iranian commander floated the idea that
the time has come for Muslims to militarily stop Israeli crimes in
Gaza.

"Only the military option can save Gaza," said Brigadier General
Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, Head of the Foundation for the Remembrance of
the Holy Defense

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

Gaza Strip, 30 Dec, 2008-Israeli air force still launching the
heaviest bombardments in Gaza ever. The fourth day of Israeli military
operation started with heavy bombings west of Gaza City in addition to
killing 2 children and around 10 in various places in Gaza to raise
death toll to 390 while wounded people up to one thousand and most of
them civilians.

The Israeli announced decapitation strategy of targeting Hamas
movement and avoiding civilians clearly unveiled. The F16s targeted a
group of governmental building using tons of explosion resulting in
killing at least 4 Palestinians. The bombings lasted for 30 minutes
echoed across Gaza City causing great trauma and panic for civilians.
Total damage stormed the buildings while partially destroyed some
neighboring populated buildings.

Israeli warplanes, drones, artillery machines, and apache helicopters
broadly took part in the nightly raids. Israeli air raids destroyed a
sport club and a building inside the Islamic University of Gaza IUG.
IUG was hit Monday night and 2 building were destroyed. One of the
destroyed building was the laboratory funded by Islamic Development
Bank estimated of millions of dollars.

The bombings continued for the whole night in separated areas in Gaza
Strip. Many civic targets were bombs including mosques in Khanyonis
City. Old man was killed in south of Gaza in Rafah City.

A run-Hamas police station was hit in El Burej refugee camp mid of
Gaza and another one in Bait lahia. The naval forces participated in
bombing Gaza destroying many buildings and premises on the coastal
areas. Information office I linked to Popular Resistance Committees
based in a residential building was hit and medical sources reported
some that some people wounded in the raid.

Tuesday morning two female children aged 4 and 11 years killed in
North of Gaza while they were on a donkey-driven carriage. The bombing
of these children debunks the Israeli allegation of only targeting
Hamas militants. They were bombed by High-tech F16 in daylight.

A boat sailing from Cyrprus to Gaza loaded with 3 tons of medical aids
was not far away from Israeli army fire. The boat was hit despite it
was not loaded with weapons for Hamas which is clearly deflate the
Israeli propaganda. The boat was exposed to fire of Israeli naval
gunboats and partial damage took place in the body of the boat. The
relief boat still in the territorial waters and it's seeking a seaport
to anchor.

On the midday of Tuesday, a new phase of the military operation
started. F16s started to break the sound barrier of Gaza. Raids of
sonic bombs occurred causing a trauma and panic atmosphere across Gaza
residents.

The death toll has reached 390 with more than 1,700 injured, 2
hundreds are in critical conditions while there is a severe shortages
in medicines. Medical sources announced a collapse in medical sector
and Gaza hospitals. Muhamad El Khozndar a doctor at Al Sehfa' hospital
said on a local radio station that Gaza hospitals are no longer
working properly. Bandaging stuff, medical tools, medical machines and
general cleaning unavailable at the hospitals. Additionally, windows
of the hospitals crashed due to a nearby bombings hit a mosque.

The early hours of Tuesday night witnessed a set of Israeli missiles
west of Gaza City. Medical reports said a number of injured arrived to
Al shifa' hospital including some casualties. Many tanks shelled the
norther eastern area of Gaza City.

It's remarkable that humanitarian stage in Gaza is totally collapsed
and disastrous as aspects life vanished. All oil derivatives of fuel,
gasoline and cocking gas unavailable in Gaza due to a siege imposed
two years ago. Bread, milk, rice, sugar, cooking oil are not available
and what is inside Gaza is limited quantities stored at homes.

Add to that, it is very dangerous for people to leave their house in
search of food supplies. Any mobile car, bicycle or walking persons
turned to targets for Israeli military machine.

Main Military Actions in Day 4

*Casualties of Israeli heavy bombings reached 360 while wounded rise
up to 1800 persons, a big number of them civilians. Around 200 in
critical conditions and they are exposed to slow death due to lack of
medicines.

*Israel started the day with 20 heavy missiles of F16s. The
bombardments targeted governmental offices and damaged some houses
nearby. The sound of bombings echoed in all Gaza city resulting in a
panic status and trauma for children.

*Two siblings aged 4 and 11 years killed in Israeli air raid north of
Gaza town of Bait Lahia.

*Many houses shelled in the early morning in the North of Gaza.
Victims of the north area are 60 alone.

*Neither fuel, nor gasoline nor Benzin in Gaza. Power cuts up to 21 hours.

*Israeli navy fired on the dignity boat and hurting it. The boat was
to deown and now it has gone to Lebanon ports. The boat was loaded
with 3 tons of Medical aids needed to Gaza hospitals.

*Medical sector collapsed in Gaza. Doctors request medical airplane to
evacuate wounded people who are slowly dying. Only 10 wounded left to
Egypt due to lack of Ambulances equipped with ICU.
*Windows of Al shifa' hospital destroyed in bombings nearby while
stormy and rainy weather in
*Two Israelis killed in Palestinian homemade rockets.

Sameh A. Habeeb, B.A.
Photojournalist & Peace Activist
Humanitarian, Child Relief Worker
Gaza Strip, Palestine
Mob: 00972599306096
Tel: 0097282802825
E-mail: Sam_hab@hotmail.com
Sameh.habeeb@gmail.com
Skype: Gazatoday, Facebook: Sameh A. habeeb
Web: www.gazatoday.blogspot.com
Daily Photos:http://picasaweb.google.com/sameh.habeeb

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

I apologize! This is the article about Merkel.

By Dietmar Henning
2 January 2009
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has given her full backing to the
murderous attack launched by Israel on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, government spokesman Thomas Steg said that Merkel, in a
telephone call to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, declared that
the responsibility for the war lay "clearly and exclusively" with
Hamas.

"The chancellor attaches importance to the fact that in evaluating the
situation in the Middle East there should be no mistaking or
forgetting the chain of cause and effect," Steg said. Merkel is of the
opinion, he continued, that Israel has the right to protect its
population and defend its national territory.

While millions of people all over the world have been shocked and
horrified by the Israeli military machine's bombardment of defenseless
Palestinian civilians, Merkel did not issue a word of regret for the
suffering of Israel's victims. Instead, she remarked cynically that
she presumed the Israeli government was doing everything it could to
avoid civilian casualties.

According to Israeli sources, on the first day of the offensive its
military dropped no less than 100 tons of bombs on a densely populated
area approximately 40 kilometers by 10 kilometers and home to 1.5
million people. The first attack took place during daylight, at a time
when many Palestinians, including school children, were conducting
everyday business.
Merkel went on to demand that Hamas "immediately and permanently" stop
its rocket attacks on Israeli territory. Not a single Israeli had been
killed by the primitive Kassam rockets fired by Hamas in recent weeks,
while repeated provocations by the Israeli military over the same
period had killed many Palestinians.

According to eyewitness reports, the situation in the Gaza Strip has
becomes increasingly desperate. At the start of the Israeli
bombardment, Spiegel Online reported on the difficulties in treating
the thousands of injured, writing, "In the Schifa hospital in Gaza the
injured are being treated on the floor because no more stretchers or
beds are free." The report quoted Raed al-Arini of the hospital
administration: "The hospital has a bed capacity of 585, but we have
700 injured here."

Contrary to the declarations of the German chancellor, the Israeli
offensive is not aimed at the protection of Israeli territory or its
population. The purpose of the "shock and awe" campaign against Gaza
is to overthrow the Hamas government. This policy of "regime change"
is the very policy conducted by the US in Iraq.

When Merkel speaks of cause and effect, she completely distorts the
historical facts.

Since 1967, Israel has defied all relevant United Nations resolutions
and, contrary to international law, either occupied or imposed siege
conditions on the Gaza Strip. In 1967, the strip of land was inhabited
by 380,000 people, half of whom were Palestinian refugees from Israel.
Today, approximately 1.5 million live in the Gaza Strip, more than two
thirds of whom are either refugees or their descendants.

In 2005 the Israelis withdrew their troops, and some right-wing
settlers also had to leave the area. But Israel kept control of the
air space, the territorial waters and the border crossings. This makes
the entire Gaza Strip into little more than a huge prison camp.

Since the victory by Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian elections—elections
hailed by the US and the European Union before the result was known as
an important "democratic change"—the US and Israel have worked to
force Hamas from power in Gaza.

When all its attempts failed, Israel imposed a blockade, preventing
supplies of food, medicine, drinking water and electricity to the Gaza
Strip and provoking a humanitarian disaster. Three quarters of the
population depend on food assistance and 80 percent live below the
poverty level. Some 90 percent of factories in Gaza were forced to
close down last year.

Whenever the Israeli government considers it necessary, it closes the
border crossings and bombards the Palestinian areas. In the past eight
years the Israeli military has killed nearly 5,000 Palestinians.

What the German government terms the "criminal activity" of Hamas is,
in fact, its efforts to counter this desperate situation. However, the
Islamic Hamas movement has no real perspective to counter the Israeli
offensive. The firing of Kassam rockets on Israel and the dispatch of
desperate young Palestinians to carry out suicide missions are aimed
at pressuring Israel to return to the negotiating table in order to
secure a lifting of sanctions.

In 2003, Merkel, in her function as chairman of the Christian
Democratic Union, unconditionally threw her weight behind the US in
the Iraq war. She supported the illegal US invasion at that time and
since then, as chancellor, has supported the CIA practices of
kidnapping and torture—all in the name of the "anti-terror" struggle.

Her full support for Israeli war crimes in Gaza is consistent with
this record of complicity with US imperialism and its chief ally
Israel in the Middle East.

About the WSWS | Contact Us | Privacy Statement | Top of page

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/merk-j02.shtml

"The battle...has to begin here. In America. The only institution more
powerful than the U.S. government is American civil society. The rest
of us are subjects of slave nations. We are by no means powerless, but
you have the power of proximity. You have access to the Imperial
Palace and the Emperor's chambers. Empire's conquests are being
carried out in your name."
Arundhati Roy

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

MP Eleni Theocharous has said that the dignity of Europe, which has not
reacted to the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, has been
tarnished, just as "SS Dignity" has been damaged by the Israeli navy.

Speaking
upon her return home, after SS Dignity, which tried to break the
Israeli blockage of Gaza to take humanitarian aid to the Palestinians,
was intercepted and hit by the Israeli navy, Theocharous said: "One way
or another, Israel has never displayed dignity in these issues.

"Israel
is behaving like a terrorist state, using the support of superpowers
and the military machine it has created, in order to slaughter peoples
under its occupation," she said.

On Monday, SS Dignity,
carrying three Cypriots, including Theocharous, and other volunteers
sailed from the southern port of Larnaca for Gaza to take humanitarian
and medical aid.

The Israeli navy intercepted the boat and hit its left side, forcing
it to change course and head for Lebanon.

The mission was, for the time being, aborted and the three Cypriots
returned home by air, via Beirut.

Theocharous said that the boat was travelling on its course, in line
with international law.

"We
did not violate any rule and the interception occurred in international
waters, 73 kilometres west of Haifa, and this is a violation of
international law and a crime against humanity. What happened was
attempted murder," she said.

Describing the dramatic moments
of the collision, Theocharous said, "we were thrice thrown from one
side of the boat to the other and in the end we landed on the floor."

She
said the decision to sail to Lebanon was kept secret. Nevertheless, the
destination of the boat was not kept secret, because as soon as the
boat changed course, CNN announced that the mission was heading to
Lebanon.

Theocharous praised the representations of the
Cypriot government about the incident, thanks to which the boat was
allowed to moor in Lebanon.

SS Dignity is being guarded at
Tyre port in Lebanon on the instructions of the Lebanese president,
after representations made by the Republic of Cyprus.

- (KYPE)

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

By Dennis Rahkonen

January 01, 2009 "Online Journal" -- Five years ago, the Bush
administration lied about weapons of mass destruction to dupe us into
supporting an illegal, immoral invasion of Iraq.

A few days ago, Israel trotted out only an infinitesimally more
credible excuse -- the Hamas rockets case -- as justification for its
own murderous shock and awe in Gaza, a long-planned campaign
perniciously aimed at ousting a "regime" that came to power via
popular, democratic vote.

Israeli apologists have presented absurd propaganda about those devices.

We've been asked, for instance, what would we do if rockets were being
launched on our homes in New York or Texas, from Canada or Mexico?

And then act to correct the situation.

Conscientious Israelis acknowledge that the Hamas rockets rationale is
fraudulent. For instance, Jerusalem Post writer Larry Derfner has
noted, "We don't want to see how people in Gaza are living, we block
it out of our minds -- which, I suppose, is natural for a society at
war, but which also keeps that war going longer than it might if we
would recognize that Gaza is getting so much the worst of it.

Something which Israel continues to resist tooth and nail.

The Israeli leadership lied then, and it's lying now.

There's a veritable holocaust occurring in densely packed Gaza. Think
Guernica, or the Warsaw Ghetto, with all the searing irony that
comparison involves.

Apart from being an ethical travesty offending all decent hearts, it's
an unpardonable outrage to especially Arab/Islamic peoples around the
world.

Witness the angry demonstrations in cities across the planet.

New Osama bin Ladens are being born as innocents in Gaza are getting
ripped to death by American-made Hellfire missiles, dispatched toward
fleshly targets by Israeli pilots.

In fact, the almost certain, counterproductive outcome of Israel's
action makes us necessarily suspect that secret motives mistakenly
judged by Tel Aviv to be worth the risk are actually at play.

Three possibilities spring immediately to mind:

1) Obscenely using de facto genocide to give the present Israeli
government a "tough" image before upcoming national elections.

2) Roping Barack Obama into a harder pro-Israeli stance than Tel Aviv
fears he'd otherwise take.

3) Creating a manipulated, intensely propagandized situation that
would enable a desired Israeli attack on Iran.

Whatever the most deeply hidden reality, Israel's gargantuan crime
must be universally condemned in the strongest possible terms . . .
and halted at once!
Dennis Rahkonen of Superior, Wisconsin, has been writing progressive
commentary with a Heartland perspective for various outlets since the
'60s.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21596.htm

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

By Azmi Keshawi in Bureij, Gaza Strip

January 01, 2009 "The Times" -- -Their windows smashed in the dead of
winter by bomb blasts, Jihad Hamed, his wife and seven children huddle
together every night in one bedroom of their freezing house, trying to
keep warm and as far away as possible from the next explosion,
wherever it might come from.

Aside from the terror of the Israeli bombs, Gazans also have to
contend with more insidious enemies: cold, hunger, and the risk of
falling ill when almost all medical supplies have run out.

There has been no electricity for days, causing pumps to fail and
water supplies to run dry. Toilets and showers are a forgotten luxury
for a population merely trying to stay alive in a withering aerial
blitz that has shocked even war-hardened Gazans.

"Now the situation is tragic for me and the kids," said Mr Hatem, a
45-year-old caretaker, whose family survives on his meager salary of
900 shekels (£164) a month. "I'm sure my kids will get sick from the
cold and I don't have the money to buy any medicine, and the hospitals
can only take seriously wounded people." Even before the onslaught
started, Mr Hamed struggled to get by, often having to rely on the
charity of richer neighbours. "Now the rich and poor are the same, you
can't buy electricity," because for those lucky enough to have
generators, almost no fuel can get into the blockaded territory. "Rich
and poor are in the same boat," he said.

Hatem Baana, the manager of a medical supply store, said many of his
medical products spoiled because without electricity his storage
fridges no longer work. Desperate aid groups supporting Gaza's
overwhelmed hospitals have contacted him to buy whatever he might
have, but he cannot help them.

And Hatem al-Shurab, an aid worker for the British charity Islamic
Relief, said that some people had been reduced to foraging for wild
mallow plants as their emergency food stocks dwindled to nothing.
"People are finding it hard to feed their families," he said.

Even in her cold homes, Gazans do not feel safe, since they do not
know what constitutes a target for the Israeli bombers which have
broadened their mission to include mosques, sport centres, and even
money changers transferring funds for Hamas.

Recorded phone messages warn people their buildings will be blown up
if there are Hamas members there: the problem is that nobody really
knows if their neighbour might be a member of Hamas's shadowy military
wing.

"Nobody knows what the next target will be," said Mr al-Shurab.

Police are still patrolling important areas such as markets and
hospitals to prevent looting or robberies, but to avoid being hit they
wear civilian clothes and keep their pistols tucked down the back of
the trousers. They have vowed to track down anyone daring to exploit
the chaos to loot or rob.

Cold, hungry and afraid, Gazans are directing their anger at their
neighbours. "I blame the Arab countries first and foremost," said Mr
Hamed. "They are the once who have left us to our fate without any
support. We are civilians, we have no hand in political disputes. We
are the victims of both the siege and of politics."

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

1) POLITICIANS, MUSICIANS, WRITERS JOIN GAZA PROTEST
2) SHOES OF OUTRAGE FOR GAZA
3) MASS PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI EMBASSY
4) HELP STEWARD THE LONDON DEMONSTRATION
5) LOCAL ACTION ROUND THE COUNTRY
6) NO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA
7) FUNDS NEEDED URGENTLY

***************************************
1) POLITICIANS, MUSICIANS, WRITERS JOIN GAZA PROTEST

Singer Annie Lennox, human rights activist Bianca Jagger,
comedian and author Alexei Sayle, Ken Livingstone, Jeremy
Corbyn MP, writer Tariq Ali and musician Brian Eno are among
the prominent politicians, musicians, activists and writers
attending a press conference on Friday 2 January to urge
people to join Saturday's demonstration in London.

All the signs are that this will be a very large
demonstration, reflecting the anger and outrage at Israel's
barbaric devastation of Gaza and its people. Please do all
you can to encourage friends, relatives, work colleagues,
fellow students, etc, to join us. (For those unable to join
the national demonstration, see details of local protests
below).

NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 3 JANUARY
HANDS OFF GAZA: STOP THE BOMBING: FREE PALESTINE
ASSEMBLE 12.30 PM EMBANKMENT, LONDON WC2
Nearest tube Embankment or Charing Cross
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE

LEAFLET FOR DOWNLOADING: http://tinyurl.com/97udra
DEMO UPDATES: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

TRANSPORT FOR NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION:
Local Stop the War groups who have arranged transport to
London include Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester and
Walsall. For details go to: http://tinyurl.com/9e4ecb

SEE BELOW FOR LOCAL PROTESTS ROUND THE COUNTRY

***************************************
2) SHOES OF OUTRAGE FOR GAZA

With the death toll in Gaza now over 400, with 2000 more
injured, and with the United Nations saying the population
are on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, Gordon Brown
has cloaked himself in Tony Blair's mantle. Brown says he
supports the call for a ceasefire but, just as Blair did in
the Lebanon war in 2006, Brown has slavishly tied himself to
George Bush in blocking a move by the United Nations to call
on Israel to stop bombing Gaza immediately.

In the spirit of Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi, who
used his shoes to protest over George Bush's war crimes, and
to register our disgust at Brown's hypocrisy, we are asking
protestors at London's demonstration on Saturday 3 January
to bring old shoes to leave for Brown when the march passes
Downing Street.

***************************************
3) MASS PROTEST OUTSIDE ISRAELI EMBASSY
Following Saturday's national demonstration, there will be a
mass protest outside the Israeli Embassy from 4.00 - 6.00
pm. Please join if you are attending the national
demonstration.

MASS PROTEST AT ISRAELI EMBASSY
After national demonstration
SATURDAY 3 JANUARY 4.00 - 6.00 PM
KENSINGTON HIGH STREET W8
(Nearest tube High Street Kensington)

***************************************
4) HELP STEWARD THE LONDON DEMONSTRATION

With a large turnout expected on Saturday we need more
stewards to help organise the demonstration. If you would
like to help, call or text 07958 745802

***************************************
5) LOCAL PROTESTS AROUND THE COUNTRY

For people unable to attend the London national
demonstration there are an ever growing number of local
protests, which we are publicising as soon as we receive
details. The current list is Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol,
Cardiff, Caernarfon, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Hull,
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham,
Norwich, Portsmouth, Preston, Sheffield, Southampton,
Swansea, Tunbridge Wells, Walsall and York.
FOR FULL DETAILS OF LOCAL DEMONSTRATIONS, SEE:
http://tinyurl.com/9e4ecb

***************************************
6) NO HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA

* TZIPI LIVNI, Israel's foreign minister:
"There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and therefore there
is no need for a humanitarian truce."

* RICHARD FALK, United Nations Human Rights Council:
The Israeli airstrikes, and the catastrophic human toll that
they caused, challenge those countries that have been and
remain complicit, either directly or indirectly, in Israel's
violations of international law. That complicity includes
those countries knowingly providing the military equipment
including warplanes and missiles used in these illegal
attacks, as well as those countries who have supported and
participated in the siege of Gaza that itself has caused a
humanitarian catastrophe.

I remind all member states of the United Nations that the UN
continues to be bound to an independent obligation to
protect any civilian population facing massive violations of
international humanitarian law - regardless of what country
may be responsible for those violations. I call on all
Member States, as well as officials and every relevant organ
of the United Nations system, to move on an emergency basis
not only to condemn Israel's serious violations, but to
develop new approaches to providing real protection for the
Palestinian people. (SEE http://tinyurl.com/a9co4l)

***************************************
7) FUNDS NEEDED URGENTLY

Stop the War urgently needs funds to help organise
Saturday's emergency demonstration and for the peace
activities we have planned for the coming months. Please
donate if you can. There are three ways to donate:

* ONLINE: http://tinyurl.com/3dhzpn ;
* BY POST: Cheques made to "Stop the War Coalition". Send to
27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP
* BY CREDIT/DEBIT CARD (from 5 January): Tel 020 7278 6694

***************************************
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 3 JANUARY
HANDS OFF GAZA: STOP THE BOMBING: FREE PALESTINE
ASSEMBLE 12.30 PM EMBANKMENT, LONDON WC2
Nearest tube Embankment or Charing Cross
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE

LEAFLET FOR DOWNLOADING: http://tinyurl.com/97udra
DEMO UPDATES: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/)

MASS PROTEST AT ISRAELI EMBASSY
After national demonstration
SATURDAY 3 JANUARY 4.00 - 6.00 PM
KENSINGTON HIGH STREET W8
(Nearest tube High Street Kensington)

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

Lo and Behold: JUDAISM in practical implementation:

http://www.honestmediatoday.com/RealityOfPalestine.pps

Some Pictures of the Recent Victims of the Israeli Terror Machine
http://www.honestmediatoday.com/some_of_the_victims_of_the_israeli_terror_ma
chine.htm

Israeli air strikes on Gaza recorded on camera
http://www.honestmediatoday.com/israeli_air_strikes_on_camera.htm

Also, see the Recent News:
http://www.honestmediatoday.com/RecentNews.htm

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

IDF admits to overestimating Gaza rocket severity, but warns worst may be
yet to come

By Amos Harel and Ruth Sinai, Correspondent
Haaretz
January 2, 2008

The threat that Hamas' ballistic capabilities pose to the people of the
Negev is less serious than initially presumed and the residents of the
targeted areas are not demonstrating signs of panic, according to an interim
analysis by the Israel Defense Forces of the situation nearly a week after
the launching of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

The analysis, which the IDF compiled with the Defense Ministry, also said
the authorities' ability to tend to the needs of the population has much
improved compared to their performance in the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who toured the Negev yesterday with Deputy
Defense Minister Matan Vilani, said that Hamas' capabilities "cannot be
compared" with those of Hezbollah.

In six days of fighting, Hamas has fired some 350 rockets into Israel. In
2006, Kiryat Shmona and its immediate surroundings alone took 1,000 rockets.

These figures show that IDF officers and defense experts overestimated
Hamas' ballistic capabilities so far, which were said to allow the
organization to launch up to 200 rockets every day while under fire from
launcher-hunting Israel Air Force crafts.

Of the 350 rockets that Hamas has fired since Saturday, at least 40 were
Katyusha rockets with a range of 40 kilometers. In some cases, Hamas'
rockets even reached 43 kilometers from the launch sites.

Vilnai nonetheless added that should the IDF mount a ground invasion into
the Strip, Hamas is expected to pick up the pace and take more risks in
launching rockets.

A marked improvement

"The significant change since the last war is the level of commitment which
the state feels toward its citizens," Vilnai said. "The State of Israel is
functioning quite well in the south.

The municipalities understand their responsibilities to their residents and
the degree of coordination between the National Emergency Authority and the
home Front Command and the various authorities is quite high."

In what can be seen as proof of the improved performance under fire, the
National Emergency Authority recently turned down a request by a charity
that wanted to supply 400 meals to the people of Sderot.

The nonprofit, the Rashi Fund, was answering a call for help which the
municipality issued, but sought to receive the Authority's approval as per
Vilnai's instructions on charity. In a move which would have been almost
unthinkable in 2006, the authority informed the Rashi Fund that its help was
unnecessary, and that the authorities would provide the donation.

The authority was set up following the Winograd Committee of inquiry into
the performance of decision-makers during the Second Lebanon War, and under
Vilnai, the authority's leadership has made an effort to demonstrate that it
is in control of the situation.

The demand that all charity projects and municipality works go through the
authority is presumably part of that effort. In preparing for the current
round of hostilities, the authority's staff received guidance and counseling
from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and other large
charities, while exercising emergency scenarios.

In carrying out its missions on the ground, the bodies that coordinate
relief efforts for the people of the Negev with the authority rely on
several hundreds of Home Front Command soldiers which the army has put at
their disposal.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052046.html

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

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

[Note also the quote below by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni; "[There is] no
humanitarian crisis in the strip, and therefore there is no need for a
humanitarian truce." If death from starvation by blockade and death and
wounding by bombing do not qualify, what would? SR]

Gaza assault boosts Barak

By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem, Peggy Hollinger in Paris and Heba Saleh in
Cairo
Financial Times
January 1 2009

Israel's continuing attacks on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are likely to
play a key role in shaping the outcome of February's Israeli general
election, with polls on Thursday indicating growing support for Ehud Barak,
the defence minister and Labour party leader.

Opinion polls also showed that more than half of Israelis were in favour of
continuing air strikes on Gaza, but less than a fifth wanted the government
to order a full-scale ground offensive.

Israeli attacks on Hamas targets in the territory have so far killed more
than 400 Palestinians and wounded at least 2,000 in six days of bombardment.
Four Israelis have died as a result of rocket fire from Gaza.

On Thursday an Israeli missile killed Nizar Rayan, a Hamas leader and the
most senior member of the group to die in the conflict so far.

Mr Barak was until recently expected to lead his centre-left party to a
crushing defeat in the February 10 election, with most polls predicting a
two-way race between the centrist Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni, the
foreign minister, and the rightwing opposition Likud party under Benjamin
Netanyahu.

But a poll published by the Haaretz newspaper on Thursday showed that many
Israelis were now warming to Mr Barak, who is playing a pivotal role in
steering the assault on Gaza. Fifty-three per cent of respondents said they
were satisfied with the defence minister's performance - up from 34 per cent
six months ago.

Labour's surge means that rightwing and religious parties appear no longer
to command a majority in the polls, a striking reversal from recent
forecasts and welcome news for Ms Livni, who now has a better chance of
renewing the current coalition centred on Kadima and Labour.

Thursday also saw fresh diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, as Ms Livni
travelled to Paris for a meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.

However, she again rejected international appeals for an immediate end to
the hostilities, saying there was "no humanitarian crisis in the strip, and
therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce".

A senior European Union delegation is due to visit Israel on Monday to
reinforce calls for a truce. A delegation of eight Arab foreign ministers,
headed by Saudi Arabia, is preparing to travel to New York to press for a
United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The Security Council was due to hold further consultations on Gaza after
failing to agree on a such a resolution on Wednesday night.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5ca7f9e4-d838-11dd-bcc0-000077b07658.html?nclick_c
heck=1

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

Party to Murder

Posted on Dec 29, 2008

AP photo / Fadi Adwan
The body of a Palestinian security force officer lies in the rubble
after an Israeli missile strike on a building in Gaza City on Sunday.

By Chris Hedges

Editor's note: In light of the recent fighting in Gaza, Truthdig asked
Chris Hedges, who covered the Mideast for The New York Times for seven
years, to update a previous column on Gaza.

Can anyone who is following the Israeli air attacks on Gaza—the
buildings blown to rubble, the children killed on their way to school,
the long rows of mutilated corpses, the wailing mothers and wives, the
crowds of terrified Palestinians not knowing where to flee, the
hospitals so overburdened and out of supplies they cannot treat the
wounded, and our studied, callous indifference to this widespread
human suffering—wonder why we are hated?

Our self-righteous celebration of ourselves and our supposed virtue is
as false as that of Israel. We have become monsters, militarized
bullies, heartless and savage. We are a party to human slaughter, a
flagrant war crime, and do nothing. We forget that the innocents who
suffer and die in Gaza are a reflection of ourselves, of how we might
have been should fate and time and geography have made the
circumstances of our birth different. We forget that we are all absurd
and vulnerable creatures. We all have the capacity to fear and hate
and love. "Expose thyself to what wretches feel," King Lear said,
entering the mud and straw hovel of Poor Tom, "and show the heavens
more just."

Privilege and power, especially military power, is a dangerous
narcotic. Violence destroys those who bear the brunt of its force, but
also those who try to use it to become gods. Over 350 Palestinians
have been killed, many of them civilians, and over 1,000 have been
wounded since the air attacks began on Saturday. Ehud Barak, Israel's
defense minister, said Israel is engaged in a "war to the bitter end"
against Hamas in Gaza. A war? Israel uses sophisticated attack jets
and naval vessels to bomb densely crowded refugee camps and slums, to
attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no
heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command and
control, no army, and calls it a war. It is not a war. It is murder.

The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied
Palestinian territory, former Princeton University law professor
Richard Falk, has labeled what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million
Palestinians in Gaza "a crime against humanity." Falk, who is Jewish,
has condemned the collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza as
"a flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as
laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention." He has asked
for "the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation,
and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military
commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and
prosecuted for violations of international criminal law."

Falk's unflinching honesty has enraged Israel. He was banned from
entering the country on Dec. 14 during his attempt to visit Gaza and
the West Bank.

"After being denied entry I was put in a holding room with about 20
others experiencing entry problems," he said. "At this point I was
treated not as a U.N. representative, but as some sort of security
threat, subjected to an inch-by-inch body search, and the most
meticulous luggage inspection I have ever witnessed. I was separated
from my two U.N. companions, who were allowed to enter Israel. At this
point I was taken to the airport detention facility a mile or so away,
required to put all my bags and cell phone in a room, taken to a
locked, tiny room that had five other detainees, smelled of urine and
filth, and was an unwelcome invitation to claustrophobia. I spent the
next 15 hours so confined, which amounted to a cram course on the
miseries of prison life, including dirty sheets, inedible food, and
either lights that were too bright or darkness controlled from the
guard office."

The foreign press has been, like Falk, barred by Israel from entering
Gaza to report on the destruction.

Israel's stated aim of halting homemade rockets fired from Gaza into
Israel remains unfulfilled. Gaza militants have fired more than 100
rockets and mortars into Israel, killing four people and wounding
nearly two dozen more, since Israel unleashed its air assault. Israel
has threatened to launch a ground assault and has called up 6,500 army
reservists. It has massed tanks on the Gaza border and declared the
area a closed military zone.

The rocket attacks by Hamas are, as Falk points out, also criminal
violations of international law. But as Falk notes, "... such
Palestinian behavior does not legalize Israel's imposition of a
collective punishment of a life- and health-threatening character on
the people of Gaza, and should not distract the U.N. or international
society from discharging their fundamental moral and legal duty to
render protection to the Palestinian people."

"It is an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that each day poses the
entire 1.5 million Gazans to an unspeakable ordeal, to a struggle to
survive in terms of their health," Falk has said of the ongoing
Israeli blockade of Gaza. "This is an increasingly precarious
condition. A recent study reports that 46 percent of all Gazan
children suffer from acute anemia. There are reports that the sonic
booms associated with Israeli overflights have caused widespread
deafness, especially among children. Gazan children need thousands of
hearing aids. Malnutrition is extremely high in a number of different
dimensions and affects 75 percent of Gazans. There are widespread
mental disorders, especially among young people without the will to
live. Over 50 percent of Gazan children under the age of 12 have been
found to have no will to live."

Before the air assaults, Gaza spent 12 hours a day without power,
which can be a death sentence to the severely ill in hospitals. Most
of Gaza is now without power. There are few drugs and little medicine,
including no cancer or cystic fibrosis medication. Hospitals have
generators but often lack fuel. Medical equipment, including one of
Gaza's three CT scanners, has been destroyed by power surges and
fluctuations. Medical staff cannot control the temperature of
incubators for newborns. And Israel has revoked most exit visas,
meaning some of those who need specialized care, including cancer
patients and those in need of kidney dialysis, have died. Of the 230
Gazans estimated to have died last year because they were denied
proper medical care, several spent their final hours at Israeli
crossing points where they were refused entry into Israel. The
statistics gathered on children—half of Gaza's population is under the
age of 17—are increasingly grim. About 45 percent of children in Gaza
have iron deficiency from a lack of fruit and vegetables, and 18
percent have stunted growth.

"It is macabre," Falk said of the blockade. "I don't know of anything
that exactly fits this situation. People have been referring to the
Warsaw ghetto as the nearest analog in modern times."

"There is no structure of an occupation that endured for decades and
involved this kind of oppressive circumstances," the rapporteur added.
"The magnitude, the deliberateness, the violations of international
humanitarian law, the impact on the health, lives and survival and the
overall conditions warrant the characterization of a crime against
humanity. This occupation is the direct intention by the Israeli
military and civilian authorities. They are responsible and should be
held accountable."

The point of the Israeli attack, ostensibly, is to break Hamas, the
radical Islamic group that was elected to power in 2007. But Hamas has
repeatedly proposed long-term truces with Israel and offered to
negotiate a permanent truce. During the last cease-fire, established
through Egyptian intermediaries in July, Hamas upheld the truce
although Israel refused to ease the blockade. It was Israel that, on
Nov. 4, initiated an armed attack that violated the truce and killed
six Palestinians. It was only then that Hamas resumed firing rockets
at Israel.

"This is a crime of survival," Falk said of the rocket attacks by
Palestinians. "Israel has put the Gazans in a set of circumstances
where they either have to accept whatever is imposed on them or resist
in any way available to them. That is a horrible dilemma to impose
upon a people. This does not alleviate the Palestinians, and Gazans in
particular, for accountability for doing these acts involving rocket
fire, but it also imposes some responsibility on Israel for creating
these circumstances."

Israel seeks to break the will of the Palestinians to resist. The
Israeli government has demonstrated little interest in diplomacy or a
peaceful solution. The rapid expansion of Jewish settlements on the
West Bank is an effort to thwart the possibility of a two-state
solution by gobbling up vast tracts of Palestinian real estate. Israel
also appears to want to thrust the impoverished Gaza Strip onto Egypt.
Dozens of tunnels had been the principal means for food and goods,
connecting Gaza to Egypt. Israel had permitted the tunnels to operate,
most likely as part of an effort to further cut Gaza off from Israel.
This ended, however, on Sunday when Israeli fighter jets bombed over
40 tunnels along Gaza's border with Egypt. The Israeli military said
that the tunnels, on the Gaza side of the border, were used for
smuggling weapons, explosives and fugitives. Egypt has sealed its
border and refused to let distraught Palestinians enter its territory.

"Israel, all along, has not been prepared to enter into diplomatic
process that gives the Palestinians a viable state," Falk said. "They
[the Israelis] feel time is on their side. They feel they can create
enough facts on the ground so people will come to the conclusion a
viable state cannot emerge."

The use of terror and hunger to break a hostile population is one of
the oldest forms of warfare. I watched the Bosnian Serbs employ the
same tactic in Sarajevo. Those who orchestrate such sieges do not
grasp the terrible rage born of long humiliation, indiscriminate
violence and abuse. A father or a mother whose child dies because of a
lack of vaccines or proper medical care does not forget. A boy whose
ill grandmother dies while detained at an Israel checkpoint does not
forget. A family that loses a child in an airstrike does not forget.
All who endure humiliation, abuse and the murder of family members do
not forget. This rage becomes a virus within those who, eventually,
stumble out into the daylight. Is it any wonder that 71 percent of
children interviewed at a school in Gaza recently said they wanted to
be a "martyr"?

The Israelis in Gaza, like the American forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan, are foolishly breeding the next generation of militants
and Islamic radicals. Jihadists, enraged by the injustices done by
Israel and the United States, seek to carry out reciprocal acts of
savagery, even at the cost of their own lives. The violence unleashed
on Palestinian children will, one day, be the violence unleashed on
Israeli children. This is the tragedy of Gaza. This is the tragedy of
Israel.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081229_party_to_murder/

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

y Jerry Ghinelli

January 01, 2009 "Information Clearinghouse"' -- The government of
Israel today launched a massive air assault on suspected terrorist
targets along major coastal cities in the United States of America. In
an operation termed "Friendly Enemy," hundreds of Israeli F-16 fighter
jets streaked across the Atlantic in precise formation and fired
surgical air strikes at alleged terrorist strongholds in densely
populated Muslim communities all along the northeast corridor of the
United States. The American-made Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets
then continued south, inflicting massive destruction in densely
populated Muslim communities along many southeastern US states as
well.

Reaction to the attacks on the US was swift. President Bush and
President-Elect Obama both appealed for restraint, but stated
emphatically, "Israel has the right to defend itself."

President Bush, who took an oath to defend the US and to preserve,
protect and defend it against all foreign and domestic enemies, stated
that the War on Terror must be fought anywhere and everywhere in the
world, even on US soil, if necessary. "Our close relationship with
Israel, our steadfast ally in the War on Terror, requires
extraordinary sacrifices by the American people and requires
exceptions to both US and international law," said Bush.

President-Elect Barack Obama reiterated, "There is only one president
at a time, and President [George] Bush speaks for the United States of
America until January 20th…" Obama did, however, declare his
"unconditional, unquestioning support of Israel's right to
self-defense and to wage preemptive attacks whenever and wherever
necessary to combat terrorism." He said, "There will be no change in
my administration when it comes to our unquestioning allegiance to the
State of Israel…that is a promise you can [most certainly] believe
in," said Obama.

Earlier in the day, the US Senate had passed a nearly unanimous
resolution supporting Israel. Even northeast Senators Frank Lautenberg
(NJ), Charles Schumer (NY), Joe Lieberman (CT) and John Kerry (MA),
whose states were attacked, voted along with 93 other US Senators,
backing Israel's right to "self-defense." Only Wisconsin Senator Russ
Feingold voted against the resolution. There were two absentees.

In an emergency special session of the US Senate, Hillary Clinton
claimed there were terrorists hiding in US cities who had links to
Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah. Hillary Clinton, President-Elect
Obama's incoming Secretary of State, who has been a staunch supporter
of Israel during her tenure as senator from New York, pledged her
continued unwavering and unquestioning support of Israel. America's
position "[when it comes to Israel] is unchanging, our resolve
unyielding, our stance non-negotiable," she emphasized.

Vice-President Elect, Senator Joe Biden (DE), who is currently the
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also declared his
unwavering support for the Jewish state. "You don't have to be Jewish
to be a Zionist," Biden declared.

Barack Obama's incoming Chief of Staff, former US Representative Rahm
Emanuel, 5th Congressional District of Illinois, who has dual American
and Israeli citizenship and is known as the Zionist pit bull, remained
uncharacteristically silent. Embroiled in the Illinois Governor Rod
Blagojevich scandal, Emanuel refused to comment on the Israeli attacks
on US cities. Blagojevich was arrested and charged with trying to sell
President-Elect Obama's vacated Illinois senate seat. Congressman
Emanuel had made several "suggestions" on who the embattled Governor
should appoint. Emanuel has not been charged with any wrongdoing at
this time.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, key Democrats, most notably
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, harshly criticized the Bush administration
for mismanaging the economy, ignoring the 2001 Bin Laden threats, and
botching the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Now they are criticizing
President Bush for not doing enough to investigate potential terrorist
sanctuaries in US cities, thereby forcing the Israelis to act
unilaterally.

The Israeli incursion was the first on American soil by a foreign
government since the December 1941 incursion by the empire of Japan.
But on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli jet fighters also
attacked a neutral US Navy technical research ship named the USS
Liberty, killing 34 crewmen and wounding 172 others. Israel later
apologized for the incident, suggesting its forces had attacked the
USS Liberty in error. The Israelis claimed it had misidentified the
Liberty as an unknown destroyer. Surviving Liberty crewmen claim that
the attack was deliberate and premeditated. Israel's attack on the USS
Liberty remains the only major maritime incident in American history
not investigated by Congress.

Across the US, those Americans unaffected by the Israeli attacks were
mainly concerned how this incident might affect the already fragile US
economy. Most Americans continued their holiday vacations, largely
unconcerned with the massive loss of life but quite concerned whether
stricken areas might further impact the plummeting value of their
homes.

The mainstream media, always cautious of being branded anti-Semitic
and thus losing advertising revenue, especially during difficult
economic times, repeatedly defended the Israeli attacks as
proportionate and justified.

Any critics who called the Israeli incursion an attack on the US and
demanded retribution were labeled anti-Semites and soft on terrorism.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni defended her country's
use of force. "There are no safe havens anywhere in the world when it
comes to fighting terror," said Livni. The American death toll is
expected to be "only" in the hundreds, still far below the deaths that
occurred on 9/11 by Islamic terrorists. Israeli pilots use only the
finest precision weapons. Terrorists use crude devices like
box-cutters, suicide vests and IEDs (Impoverished Explosive Devices).
"We abhor the death of any innocent Americans killed by our precision
air strikes, but you have to lay the blame on the terrorists who are
hiding in these crowded American cities," she rationalized.

Livni's justification for the US incursion relied heavily on US
Vice-President Richard "Dick" Cheney's "1%" doctrine, which treats
suspicions of terrorist involvement with a likelihood of even 1% as a
certainty. "[If] we think, therefore there are," she said
philosophically.

The British and Canadian Prime Ministers, Gordon Brown and Stephen
Harper respectively, also supported the Israeli incursion into the US.
Both deeply regretted the loss of any innocent American lives. British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the Israeli incursion "just and
proportionate." President Bush phoned Prime Minister Brown and thanked
him for his support during this difficult time.

President Bush noted that the American casualties from the Israeli
raids were not equal to those killed in terrorist attacks on 9/11.
"There is no moral equivalence between those killed in self-defense by
Israeli warriors fighting for a democratically elected government and
those killed by rogue [Al-Qaeda] terrorists who hate the freedoms we
enjoy," Bush suggested.

Despite some minor collateral damage to some synagogues, traditional
liberal Jewish-American leaders remained steadfast in their unwavering
defense of Israel. There was far more criticism and debate of the
Israeli attacks on the US in the Knesset and among the Israeli public
than there was in the US Congress or the American Jewish community,
respectively.

Those few critics of the incursion contend that all Americans are
protected by American and international law, and the strikes against
the US should be construed as war crimes. US law prohibits the use of
American-made weapons to be used for offensive purposes. Attorney
General Michael B. Mukasey stated that the war on terror supersedes
all constitutional guarantees, and international law does not apply to
anyone engaging in or even thinking about engaging in terrorism.
Israel's actions were in self-defense, he added.

In the UN, a Security Council resolution introduced by France,
condemning the Israeli attacks on the United States was vetoed by the
United States.

Local hospitals overflowed with American survivors of the Israeli air
strikes. This time, though, the victims asked not "why do they hate
us?" but "why do we love them?"

jerryghinelli@...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21598.htm
--------------------------------------

So What Have The Palestinians Got To Complain About?

To portray this as a conflict between equals requires some imagination

By Mark Steel:

The reporter on News at Ten said the rockets "may be ineffective, but
they ARE symbolic." So they might not have weapons but they have got
symbolism, the canny brutes.

It's no wonder the Israeli Air Force had to demolish a few housing
estates, otherwise Hamas might have tried to mock Israel through a
performance of expressive dance.

The rockets may be unable to to kill on the scale of the Israeli Air
Force, said one spokesman, but they are "intended to kill".

But they prefer a direct approach, such as the statement from Ofer
Schmerling, an Israeli Civil Defence official who said on al-Jazeera,
"I shall play music and celebrate what the Israeli Air Force is
doing."
Maybe they could turn it into a huge nationalfestival, with
decorations and mince pies and shops playing "I Wish We Could Bomb
Gaza Every Day".

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21595.htm

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

Israel dropped a ONE TON bomb on the home of an Islamic scholar, Dr.
Nizar Rayyan, in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. He was
killed along with his wife, 4 children and 4 visitors. He was a deeply
spiritual man, dedicated to the worship of Allah, a salafi scholar in
the truest sense of the word of those who follow the salaf [the
sahaba]. He had a Ph.D and used to lecture in the university in Gaza.
Israel wanted to destroy him for quite some time.
The death toll in Gaza has reached 412 killed, 2020 wounded. Fuel and
electricity have been cut off by the Israelis. UN sources says 25% of
those killed by Israel are women and children. Israel is attacking
mosques and has bombed the islamic university.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings to our Muslim readers on the start of the new Islamic year
1430. The Islamic calendar begins with the Hijra [migration] of
Muhammad, peace be on him, from Makkah to Madinah. He gave up
everything for the sake of the Islamic way of life. He rejected
cooperation with oppressors. This speaks in particular to U.S. Muslim
elites who are hand-in-glove with the greatest oppressors of the
Muslim world and yet claim that they are Muslims.
The Islamic calendar was officially adopted by the Caliph Omar, r.a.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Our greeting go out to our non-Muslim readers for the start of the new
year 2009. Peace is possible if the American people rein in the
Zionists and focus on the Constitution of the United States [as
amended].
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel attacked Gaza during Hanukkah. Christian scholar Mark Glenn
says Israeli blood lust is rooted in Judaism. Zionism is a product of
Judaism rooted in the distorted stories of Abraham, Moses and David
in the Old Testament of the Bible. We are mistaken in seeing Zionism
as separate from Judaism, he says. Shocking but difficult to dispute.
Please scroll way down.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Open Letter to U.S. Muslims
What can U.S. Muslims do to Counter Israel? by Kaukab Siddique

Dear Muslims, asalamu alaikum
Let us accept the Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah of Muhammad,
pbuh, as our guidance. If the acceptance of the basic texts is not
there, the use of the word "Muslim" and "Islamic" amounts to false
advertising and is a form of hypocrisy. Acceptance means obedience.
We live in the country which funds and arms the terrorist entity
known as Israel, which was carved out of Palestine by force of arms.
If that is a fact, and no one can deny it, then we must recognize the
Qur'anic command:

"Drive them out from where they drove you out." [The Qur'an]. Under
Islamic Law no military usurpation of an Islamic land can be justified
under any circumstances, let alone the land of Palestine where our
first Qibla is located.
The Jews are a small minority in America, yet they have taken over
this country by devious and immoral means. They control the
government, the media, education, the libraries, the book chains, the
banks, Hollywood, Wall Street, Madison Avenue... That is not a
conpiracy theory. Check it out. [Major corporations in America, which
are not Jewish, fund Israel. Go to: www.newtrendmag.org and click on
BOYCOTT.]
Unless the stranglehold of American Jews and other Zionists on the
American power structure is broken, the U.S. will continue to fund and
arm Israel.
Where U.S. Muslims went Wrong:

1. Muslims did NOT use the Qur'an and Hadith as Guidance [with
the exception of a few like Jamaat al-Muslimeen].
2. Muslim leaders wanted to be part of the power structure.
3. Hence they got involved in appeals to the very people who
want to kill them. They supported Clinton and then did a bloc vote for
Bush and now support Obama.
4. Muslims have not had the patience or the ability to form a
power bloc whose support non-Muslims would want. They have neglected
the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden [going to them only to
give charity] while buttering up the rich and the powerful.
5. Muslim elites recognized Israel and kept silent about the
listing of Muslim groups around the world as "terrorists."
6. Thus, having given away the main point of contention, there
is no need for American leaders to seek Muslim support: they already
have it! All they have to do is whistle and Muslim "leaders" will come
running, wagging their tales with pleasure.
7. The highly publicized "leadership" of the Muslims was taken
over by funded groups closely allied to the White House, the State
Department, the Pentagon and the FBI, such as ISNA, CAIR, W.D.
Muhammad etc. as can be seen in their own publications. For them the
Qur'an and Hadith have no relevance and they have not cared to explain
in the slightest on what Islamic basis they can cooperate with the
oppressors. Opportunists like Siraj Wahhaj and al-Amoudi helped put
the greatest Islamic scholar of Egypt, Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman in
prison and to ignore Imam Jamil al-Amin's mistreatment in years of
solitary confinement. At a time when Muslim unity is needed as never
before, Siraj Wahhaj has come out with a race based organization and
he himself continues to work with ISNA and CAIR.
8. The desire to assimilate with the U.S. power structure and to
win recognition from the people in power has gone so far that now the
Muslim elites will not PROTEST against ANY evil, be it the occupation
of Iraq, the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, the attacks
on Pakistan [including the destruction of the Red Mosque and Jamia
Hafsa] or even Salman Rushdie!
9. The same pattern can be seen in the context of the ISRAELI
ASSAULT on GAZA. The elite groups came out with very mild statements
condemning the bombing of Gaza but not condemning Israel or
challenging the legitimacy of Israel in the least. [Many iberal Jews
are doing better in condemning the bombing of Gaza than the Muslims.
These well fed elites can't reach the level of Jews like Amy Goodman
and Noam Chomsky, let alone what Islam teaches.]

Here is what U.S. Muslims can do without any Problem
Condemn Israel, not just its atrocities. Israel itself is an atrocity
forced on Palestine by force of arms.
Say that Israel is an ILLEGITIMATE, TERRORIST entity. Don't be afraid.
As U.S. citizens, we have the freedom of expression just as the Jews
do.
Do not buy anything which would help Israel financially: Coca Cola,
Starbucks, Nestle, Disney, McDonald and others are funding Israel.
Don't waste your money on them.
Support Muslim and African businesses. Travel to Muslim and African
countries for holidays, not to Europe.
Fight the media battle. Pick up the phone. Call the local radio or TV
station. Use your mosque newsletter to inform the local community.
They are not interested in how many times you pray. Discuss Palestine,
Kashmir, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan. That's what's needed: Not the
stories about hijab. America is quite tolerant about hijab. There is
religious freedom here. Go pray as much as you want, but can you speak
the truth?
Participate in all human rights causes, not just Muslim causes.
Seek support from and give da'wah to women in general as well as
African-Americans, Hispanics and selected European groups such as
Germans and Irish.
DO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH JEWS unless they clearly say that Israel is
illegitimate. If you are careless, you might find that you have a
doctor or a lawyer who supports Israel. You can pick and choose
lawyers and doctors. Rabbis are the worst of the lot. [ISNA's 'imam'
Magid and Syed Syeed need to apologize to the Ummah for their Rabbi
boot licking activities.]
Open up the DISCUSSION of the HOLOCAUST story. What did really happen
in World War II? The Auschwitz "gas chambers" story has been
meticulously analyzed, rebutted and destroyed by critics like Mark
Weber, David Irving. Germar Rudolf and Wilhelm Staeglich. These are
scholars following the highest levels of scholarship. Notice that the
chain bookstores do not carry their books and the corporate media
simply don't mention them. Read even one of them and you'll be rid of
the holocaust myth forever.
Don't take the "holocaust" issue lightly. It is the main source of
funds for international Jewry. It is Israel's milk cow. [Don't be
misled by fakes like Hamza Yusuf, who claimed that if Muslims decry
the holocaust, then the Qur'an can't be believed either! Hamza Yusuf
and his sidekick Zaid Shakir need to be investigated for their
shameful activities and for their sources of income.]
Dear Muslims, I have no personal animosity against any of these Muslim
elites. Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me everything a Muslim can wish
for. My life is filled with Islamic blessings. I criticize these
groups and people because I know that Islam ABSOLUTELY does not permit
compromise with the kuffar, the munafiqeen and the tawaghit.
We are 7 to 9 million Muslims in America, probably more in numbers
than the Jews. Should we be so insignificant that Obama does not want
Muslim women to be seen, even inadvertently, in a photo with him? Why
are we so ridiculous in spite of all the bootlicking of Rabbis ISNA
has done? Think about it.
In this country, the Qur'an was put in the latrine, the Prophet, pbuh,
was abused and insulted, Salman Rushdie has become a semi-star, Ayesha
Siddiqa, r.a. was targeted for abuse, our leaders are in prison, wars
are launched against the Muslim world and we continue merrily along
our way begging to be included in the power structure.
Finally, be humble, study the Qur'an and Hadith, and form independent
Muslim organizations based NOT on money and rich people but on faith,
hard work, and the Sunnah.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial by Kaukab Siddique: Try Hosni Mubarak for High Treason
What Would Happen if Israel Entered Gaza and smashed Hamas? It Won't
be able to Win. Here is Why. Munafiqueen are the Real Problem

In Israel we have the worst enemies of Islam, whose hate for
Islam and Muslims is not hidden, carrying out the worst possible
crimes against our Palestinian brothers, sisters and children. Try to
imagine SIXTY latest jet fighters and dozens of helicopters [all
produced in America] raining death and destruction on a defenseless
Muslim population which is packed into a small area and which has NO
DEFENSES against air attack. On the ground too, its weapons are not
anywhere near the fire power of the Zionist Jews in the terrorist
entity known as Israel.

The Zionist Jews have killed at least 400 Palestinian Muslims in
FOUR days and wounded 1542 at last count. They have lost only 4 killed
by the primitive home-made rockets fired by the Palestinians. Among
those murdered by the Jews are 40 women and 30 children.
What the Palestinians in Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups
have as their source of power is an unwavering faith in Allah and the
Hereafter. Four days of bombing, which have traumatized every child in
Palesitine have left the people of Gaza bleeding but unbowed. They are
not willing to surrender or accept the diktat of the Israelis. Hamas
and Islamic Jihad are people like you and me. They have families,
homes, children. They are not some strange and alien people in Gaza.
They are the people of Gaza. Don't let the corporate media convince
you that they are "terrorists."
If the Jews attack with tanks and helicopter gunships and enter
the homes of the downtrodden and the oppressed, the Muslims will
fight.
This is the DILEMMA the Israelis face. If they are unable to
destroy Hamas, that will be the beginning of the end for Israel. The
very fact that the most powerful military force in the middle east
cannot defeat a poorly armed population whose main "weapon" is faith,
will mean that Israel's end is near. Bankrupt America may not be able
to keep providing Israel with expensive military weapons when Islamic
forces in Afghanistan and Iraq are already tying down two American
armies.
God forbid, if the Jews do succeed in drowning Hamas and the
children of Gaza in blood and gore, even then the Israelis can't win.
Such ruthless blood letting will further radicalize the Palestinians.
If Hamas wavers, Islamic Jihad organization will gain more support.
There have been waverers in the past in Hamas. If somehow Hamas really
can't resist the Jewish juggernaut, Al-Qaida may well gain ground in
Gaza. War can have unforeseen consequences. Who could have thought
that al-Qaida would emerge in Iraq and fight an army of 150,000 elite
U.S. forces to a standstill. And al-Qaida is not known to ever want
cease fire with the anti-Islamic armies.
Thus, in spite of its air power and tanks, Israel is facing a NO
WIN situation in Gaza.

The real danger to Palestine comes from the munafiqueen. Mahmoud
Abbas, Hosni Mubarak and the "hashemite" king of Jordan are more
effective in undermining Palestine than the Israelis. They have in
fact been defending Israel's borders and stopping the Muslims of the
world from going forth to fight Israel. Without these munafiqs,
Muslims from all over the world would be in Palestine, teaching Israel
some real lessons in war.
The Qur'an teaches Muslims to fight not only against the kuffar
but also against the munafiqueen. [9:73]. Many Muslims think that
fighting against the munafiqueen is not allowed and they say that even
when Muhammad, pbuh, knew who were the munafiqueen, he did not fight
them. This is a deeply flawed understanding of Islam. The munafiqueen
in the Prophet's, pbuh, time did not take up weapons to fight him, nor
did they openly join the ranks of the kuffar or make secret agreements
with the kuffar.
In the time of Abu Bakr, r.a., the munafiqueen came out openly,
picked up the sword and refused to pay zakat. Abu Bakr, r.a., fought
them and the ENTIRE community of the sahaba, r.a., agreed with Abu
Bakr, r.a. Thus there is the strongest possible IJMA' in this matter.
The Muslims of Egypt are the key to the situation. In every city
in Egypt there have been demonstrations against Israel and for Gaza.
However, the tyrant of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, continues to support
Israel and does not have the decency to open the Rafah crossing into
Gaza.
HOSNI MUBARAK should BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL as a traitor against
Islam. His regime is known for random arrests and terrorism against
Muslims, torture, entry into mosques, rape of Islamic women and
plunder of Islamic properties.
With the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian front will be
opened up against Israel and the situation will change.
Hosni is desperate. He doesn't know what to say to calm the people
down. He is abusing and insulting Shaikh Nasrallah of Hizbullah simply
because Nasrallah said that Egypt must open the Rafah crossing.
Islam is a clear message which teaches that Allah is the Ruler
and to follow Allah we must follow the Example of Muhammad, peace be
on him. Our leader Muhammad, peace be on him, taught about three
levels of iman when confronted with evil. The highest level is to stop
evil physically. If we are too weak for that, the second level is that
of speaking out clearly and strongly against evil. If we are too weak
even for that, then, our leader said: We must consider it evil in our
hearts and that is the weakest level of faith.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jamaat al-Muslimeen [News]
P.O. Box 10881
Baltimore, MD 21234

U.S. Muslims Join Rallies: Wordwide Protests Against Israeli Mass
Murder of Palestinians

On December 30, more than 200 people demonstrated in
Greensboro, Norh Carolina, to condemn the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
The rally was led by Imam Badi Ali, Jamaat al-Muslimeen National
Shoora leader. Most participants were Palestinians along with a few
White Americans.

The demonstration went on for more than two hours with Palestinian
flags and slogans.
A similar demonstration was held on December 31, with Iraqis joining
the Palestinians. ALL the radio and TV channels in the area, as well
as newspapers, including the African-American paper, carried reports
of the protests. Local media are not controlled by the Zionists.

Similar demonstrations have been held in Houston, Washington, DC,
Detroit and Chicago. More rallies are planned in the coming days. The
biggest was in Los Angeles on December 31.

[Muslims around the world have held poweful expressions of anguish and
horror at the bloodletting of defenseless Islamic people by the
terrorist Israeli air force armed with American weapons.]
---------------------------
Jamaat Analysis of Israeli Attack Comes out Just Right

On December 30, Israel came out with the purpose of the assault
on Gaza. It is meant to replace Hamas with Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel announced that it would stop attacking the minute Hamas was
replaced with a "moderate" group [with Zionist commentators adding
that the only signicant "moderate" group is that of Mahmoud Abbas.]
[Did you notice that New Trend gave number two position to Abbas in
the list of Top Ten Idiots of the year.]
To top it off, Hosni Mubarak announced that he would open the Rafah
crossing into Gaza only if Abbas is in control.
Jamaat al-Muslimeen contended that Bush is behind the attack and has
given the Israelis the "go ahead" signal. [Behind Bush are American
Jewish groups who also supported his attack on Iraq.]
All the way from December 27, 28, 29 to 30 Bush refused to come out of
his ranch in Crawford, Texas letting the Israelis go on with murder
and mayhem. Then on Dec. 31 his spokesman came out to claim that it's
all Hamas' fault and "we" are concerned about civilian losses
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demonstrations in support of Gaza in Syria, Jordan, Dubai and Turkey.
[Courtesy Jasarat]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hanukkah Massacre in Gaza–Judaism in its Finest Hour

Distorted Stories about Abraham, Moses and David feed Jewry: Israel
today is doing what is "ordained" in the Old Testament of the Bible
by Mark Glenn [Idaho]

"When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are to possess
and casts out the many peoples living there, you shall then slaughter
them all and utterly destroy them…You shall make no agreements with
them nor show them any mercy…You shall destroy their altars, break
down their images, cut down their groves and burn their graven images
with fire. For you are a holy people unto the LORD thy God and He has
chosen you to be a special people above all others upon the face of
the earth…"
–Book of Deuteronomy, 7:1-8
The aerial assault on Gaza thus far resulting in several hundred
deaths and close to a thousand casualties (much of which will result
in even more deaths) must–if it is to be understood correctly–be
placed within the historical context of the religious ideas expounded
by Judaism since its inception and which today constitute the
philosophical lifeblood of the state of Israel.

It is an increasingly popular fad these days amongst those taking the
moral high road against Israel's 60 year-long orgy of violence and
bloodshed against the indigenous Semites of Palestine, Lebanon and
other surrounding areas to erect a separation wall between "Zionism"
as a violent, racist political movement and "Judaism" as a holy
religion devoted to the worship of God. Such arguments, whether made
by groups such as Neturei Karta or "Rabbis For Human Rights" maintain
that the two ideologies are as different from each other as the lion
is to the lamb. Some go so far as to refer to Herzl, the founding
father of Zionism as a "heretic" who abandoned the "godliness" of
Judaism in favor of a secular, Marxist ideology responsible for
creating the modern Jewish state.

Despite some very impressive arguments made by prominent individuals
and groups in trying to paint this picture however, the fact is that
the aforementioned argument is as real as any other fantasy created by
Jewish Hollywood that defies the laws of reason or reality. Modern day
Zionism and Judaism are synonymous, and it has been the fundamental
misunderstanding of this fact that has brought the situation to where
it is today, both in the Holy Land and in the present "Clash of
Civilizations" between the West and the Islamic world.

Judaism is based upon the Old Testament, and in particular, the first
five books that constitute "The Law", referred to as "The Torah". As
many undoubtedly remember from their Sunday school classes, it begins
with the story of creation, the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, Noah's
ark and other seemingly harmless tales of persons and events.

The point at which it transforms into the creature responsible for so
much of today's mayhem is when Abraham, a landless, penniless nomad
living in modern day Iraq, begins hearing voices in his head telling
him he has been favored by a God named Yahweh who than promises him a
future of wealth, land, power and superiority over all other persons,
encapsulating this idea with "I will bless those who bless thee and
curse those who curse thee". Shortly thereafter, he again hears voices
in his head telling him to engage in the barbarity of human sacrifice
by killing his own son Isaac in worshipping this God named Yahweh.
With knife at the throat of his son, he is then prevented from doing
so by an angel, and some 3 generations later, his descendents (made up
by 12 tribes) come to be known as "Israelites".

Not long afterwards an Israelite named Moses also begins hearing
voices from this same god, telling him to rescue the Israelites being
"oppressed and persecuted" by the Egyptians. After a series of plagues
brought against the oppressors–seemingly a fulfillment of Yahweh's
promise to "Curse those who curse" the descendents of Abraham,
Moses–again, under the direction of the voices he is hearing–orders
the Israelites to steal all the gold and silver of Egypt and to follow
him to the land "promised" them by Yahweh residing between the two
great rivers, the Nile and the Euphrates. Before entering this land
however, Moses instructs the Israelites that they are to kill all the
inhabitants, man, woman and child–"infant and suckling" and to rob
them of all their possessions. An extermination campaign is mounted,
left unfinished by Moses but taken up again by his protégé Joshua and
other subsequent leaders such as Saul and David.

By the time all is said and done, 31 cities inhabited by non-Israelite
peoples–including but not limited to the Midianites, Canaanites,
Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Hivites–have been
completely destroyed. The only non-Israelites allowed to remain alive
are young girls "who have never slept with man" who then become
concubines for the Israelites as well as those adults who resign
themselves to live as "carriers of water and hewers of wood"–in
effect, slaves for God's chosen people.

So in other words, Zionism–the idea that the "Chosen people" were
promised the land encompassing modern day Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan,
Syria and elsewhere and were given the commandment to expel, murder
and enslave the peoples and civilizations already there got its start
with Abraham and later put into practice by Moses and those who came
after him. By definition then, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saul, David and
all the other "Patriarchs" (the George Washingtons, Thomas Jeffersons
and John Adams of "Israel") were Zionists.

Putting this into context, any other person or group of persons
claiming to have received divine messages from some "higher power"
telling them they were superior creatures and commanding them to
invade, slaughter, enslave and rob other peoples not like them
would–rightly–be branded criminally insane, delusional, fanatical and
locked away for life. As it is today though, this situation is not
categorized as such. Rather, it has been made into a religion that
guides the actions of a nuclear-armed nation.

As all who understand the situation in Palestine can attest, the
moment the Jews made their "exodus" from the various lands they
previously inhabited and returned to "redeem and make clean" the
Promised land, they have repeated the very same process of killing,
expelling and enslaving today's version of the ancient Midianites,
Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Hivites, etc of
Moses' heyday. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. The Jews of today are in effect
trying to implement 21st century BC ideas in a 21st century AD world
with results no different than what took place as recounted in the Old
Testament. It is this history that forms the foundation of their
existence as a people and now as a nuclear-armed, messianic nation.
The only difference between the Israelites of old and those of today
is that when today's Israelites "smite" the non-Israelite inhabitants
living in close proximity to them they do not hack them to pieces with
the edge of a sword or an axe but rather blow them to pieces with
hellfire missiles, Apache attack helicopters and one-ton bombs made in
the USA.

This being the case, it only stands to reason then that massacres such
as what took place 2 days after Christians celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ occur. Just as Christians go to church on Sundays and
Muslims to mosque on Fridays to commemorate the persons and
circumstances of their respective faiths, so too must the Jews engage
in the same type of holy war against the non-Israelite peoples living
in or near their "promised land" as a means of "keeping the Lord's day
holy". This genocide against civilians is the glue that holds them
together as a people and prevents the nation from disintegrating from
within. The fact that this latest massacre took place during the
religious festival of Hanukkah, (the festival of lights) where the
Jews celebrate the "temple" being rescued and redeemed from the
Assyrians over 2,000 years ago lends even more credence to the notion
that for them it is all about religion and has nothing to do with the
stated justifications of "security". The fact that the Gazans were
starved for months upon months prior to this recent holocaust is yet
one more manifestation of this religious mindset, and in particular
the commandment to "Cut down the groves" of the non-Israelites living
in the promised land.

A recent case (covered by Palestinian journalist Khalid Ameyreh)
taking place in Israel just prior to the Gaza massacre adds even more
proof to this idea of "Judaism VS the world". Said case involves
Daniela Weise, a rabidly anti-Gentile "Israelite" who regularly quotes
from the Old Testament, telling hundreds of Jewish fanatics it is a
mitzvah (religious commandment) to attack Arabs and murder them
because "their lives have no sanctity and their property belongs to
us" and adding that "The Bible shows us the way we should be dealing
with the Arabs. The Bible can't be wrong". In another similar case, an
American tourist in Israel recently engaged in a discussion with a Jew
where the following exchange took place–

Israeli Jew–"You are a Christian, aren't you?"

American–"Yes"

Israeli Jew–"Do you believe in the Bible?"

American–"Yes"

Israeli Jew–"Well then, you know God ordered the ancient Israelites to
wipe off the goyim (gentiles) from the holy land of Israel. If that
was right then, why can't it be right now?"

As all are told (and have been on a daily basis now for the last
century) Israel is not like other nations. Both secular and religious
leaders have gone to great lengths in trying to sell the idea that the
Jewish state is the "embodiment of God's word" on earth. As former
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once quipped Israel is "The
fulfillment of a promise made by God Himself…It would be ridiculous to
ask it to account for its legitimacy."

What all of this means in the final analysis is that as long as Israel
(a nation founded on the Old Testament tales of genocide, rape,
pillage, expulsion and enslavement of "the other") exists, massacres
such as the one taking place against the Palestinians in Gaza will be
a regular occurrence, just as they have been throughout the last 60
years. Having been nursed on the poisoned milk of tribal supremacism
first envisioned by a greedy, covetous, ambitious nomad hearing voices
in his head complimenting his own delusions of grandeur and later
adopted by the great "Patriarchs" that manifested itself in violence
and bloodshed of innocents as extolled in the religion known as
Judaism means that the Jewish state MUST engage in these acts as a
means of paying homage to the deity Yahweh.

Although 2,000 years too late, it is imperative now more than ever
that the world come to grips with these facts, and until it does that
"great day of reckoning" commonly referred to as Armageddon will
continue to barrel towards civilization like an out-of-control freight
train. The curing of any disease begins with isolating the cause, and
in the case of the present circumstance involving the Jewish state
being at war with the entire world (and more specifically against the
Arabs in Palestine) it is the recognition of the "I will bless those
who bless thee and curse those who curse thee" mindset coupled with
the justification of genocide and enslavement of "the other" that
threatens all life on earth.

Anyone needing proof of this should simply visit some of the photos of
the most recent massacre taking place against the
Palestinians–Christian and Muslim alike–who are and have been
sacrificed now for the last 60 years on the altar of twisted Judaistic
thinking. This most recent massacre taking place during the Jewish
"festival of lights", where Gaza was "lighted up" with balls of fire
after 200,000 lbs of high-explosives were dropped on schoolchildren is
proof positive that Israel is not a nation of people devoted to a
righteous, loving God, but rather a civilization of vampires making up
the caricature of the beast described in the Book of Revelations that
threatens all life on earth. And unless the rest of the world comes to
this "revelation", they too will soon find themselves in the same
place as those today being exterminated in the interests of appeasing
the "God" of the Jews.

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

Pakistanis throng to streets to condemn Israeli bombing on Gaza

LAHORE, December 28: Protest demonstrations were held Sunday across
the country on the appeal of Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Qazi Hussain Ahmad
to condemn the brutal Israeli bombardment on Gaza which left more than
300 innocent people martyred and 800 injured. The local leadership of
Jamaat addressed these rallies.

A large protest demonstration was taken outside JI headquarters
Mansoorah (Lahore) which was addressed by the party's naib ameer
Liaqat Baloch, Hafiz Mohammad Idress and Dr Farid Ahmad Piracha.

Identical protest demonstration in Islamabad was led by JI local ameer
Syed Bilal and was addressed by Hafiz Tanvir and Mian Mohammad Aslam.
A large protest demonstration was taken outside Karachi Jamia Benori
Town which was led by JI secretary general Syed Munawar Hassan and was
addressed by local ameer Mohammad Hussain Mehnati and other leaders.
The JI protest demo in Rawalpindi among others was addressed by local
ameer Dr Mohammad Kamal, Raja Abdul Wahid, Advocate. In the provincial
metropolis of NWFP, the JI demonstration was held outside Peshawar
Press Club and was addressed by niab ameer Abdul Akbar Chitrali,
Zahoor Ahmad.

The charged protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed
with anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans. They were chanting
slogans against Zionist naked aggression on the Palestinians.

Addressing the JI protest demo outside Mansoorah the JI naib ameer
Liaqat Baloch said India, Israel and America were the axis of evil. He
said, the polices adopted by these countries have ruined the world. He
said peace could only be established if the US relinquish her
double-standard and stop using the UNO as her hand-picked body. He
strongly condemned the American patronage to Israeli brutalities.

Speaking on this occasion JI naib ameer Hafiz Mohammad Idrees said
that every Muslim is sad on the plight of their Palestinian brethrens.
He lauded the steadfastness of Gazans who did not compromise on the
principled stance for their motherland and paid this heavy price of
their blood. In his speech former MNA and JI Deputy Secretary General
Dr. Farid Ahmad Piracha help the US and Israel jointly responsible for
attack on Gaza. He also blasted the mum maintained by some of Muslim
rulers which has emboldened the Zionist state of Israel to go to this
extent.

Addressing a large protest demonstration outside Jamia Binori town in
Karachi the JI secretary General Syed Munawar Hassan blasted Egypt,
Syria regimes and those of other neighboring countries saying that
the standing armies of these countries have become silent spectators
of the Israeli bombing. He was of the view that Arab League has now
become a tool in the hands of UNO and Security Council. They should
have met forthwith to formulate concrete plan to counter the Israeli
attack but regretfully they are busy in their service to Americans.

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

IRAQ:

The war continues but is not reported. According to "icasualties" 14
U.S. troops were killed in Iraq during December and 48 wounded. Not
one incident of fighting was reported by the U.S. media.

In heavy fighting owing to Sh'ite troops trying to take Mosul, at
least 299 Shi'ite troops were killed in December. Islamic resistance
losses must have been high but are not available.

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

Afghanistan:

In the latest fighting, Taliban scored heavily. They are trying to
re-take Musa Qala in Helmand province. In the process they attacked a
security force planted there by Karzai and wiped out the entire unit.
Canadian troops retreated after running into a Taliban ambush, losing
2 elite troops in the process.
A British soldier was killed on the last day of the year.
----------------------------
PAKISTAN:
Almost ALL of Swat is now under Taliban control. As the Pakistani
forces withdrew, the Taliban returned and took over. They are
enforcing Sharia and going after pornography and drugs. [Swat is
OUTSIDE the tribal area and its return to Taliban control is a major
victory for the Taliban.]

The NATO supply line from Pakistan has been cut off. However on
December 30, Pakistani forces launched an offensive to try to re-open
the supply line. At least three Taliban were killed by the Paks.

More Pak troops have moved to the Indian frontier as the Indians
prepare for a strike.

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

SADDAM HUSSAIN's ANNIVERSARY teaches an important lesson:

December 31 was the anniversary of President Saddam Hussain's
martyrdom. The last decade of his life showed that he was a changed
man, striving to atone for his sins:

He gave general amnesty to Shias and Kurds, even those who rose up in
arms at Iranian and U.S. instigation.
He gave complete freedom to imams to prepare the people for jihad.
He studied the Qur'an regularly and prayed regularly.
When the U.S. attacked with overwhelming force, he had little to fight
back with but still would not surrender.
He fought till he was captured. No Arab ruler in recent history is
comparable in resistance.
Even when in the hands of his worst enemies, he refused to ask for
mercy. To humiliate the Muslims, he was executed on Eid al-Adha
He would come to the court with the Qur'an in his hand. He went to his
death reciting the kalima and urging the people to resist.
This was indeed a martyr. Islam can change anyone.

[It is a shame that a U.S. Muslim Zaid Shakir claimed that it was okay
to execute Saddam on his holy day. This featherhead, Zaid Shakir, has
still not apologized for his shameful behavior and now is in the front
ranks of ISNA. Such are the 'leaders' being foisted on U.S. Muslims.]

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

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
01 Jan 2009
http://www.legitgov.org/
All items are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Israel defies peacemakers and prepares for invasion --Security cabinet
rejects EU-backed peace proposal as tanks mass on the border with Gaza
01 Jan 2009 Israel has defied a formidable international consensus in
favour of a ceasefire in Gaza by opting to continue its unprecedented
fierce air attacks on Hamas targets and stepping up preparations for a
possible ground offensive.

Israel rejects Gaza truce calls 31 Dec 2008 Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert has rejected international calls for a 48-hour truce in
the Gaza Strip to allow in more humanitarian aid. Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to stop peace talks with the
Israelis if the strikes continued.

Palestinian official: Israeli offensive so far leaves 400 dead, 2,000
wounded 01 Jan 2009 The Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip continued on
Thursday for the sixth day in a row, with warplanes striking at more
targets in the Hamas-controlled territory. Mu'awia Hassanien, a
Palestinian health emergency official, said the offensive had so far
killed 400 Palestinians and left 2,000 wounded.

Israel accused of downplaying food crisis --Israel was last night
accused of downplaying the humanitarian suffering in Gaza in order to
justify continuing its military assault. 01 Jan 2009 The director of
the World Food Programme operation said she was "furious'' when she
learned Israel was claiming warehouses were full of supplies.
Christine van Nieuwenhuyse said WPF stocks in Gaza showed a 30 per
cent shortfall of dry goods such as flour and a much greater shortfall
of 'ready-to-eat' goods which are in dire need in Gaza because of the
acute shortage of power and gas for cooking. Tzipi Livni, the Israeli
foreign minister, speaking during a visit to Paris denied the 1.5
million-strong population of Gaza was suffering a humanitarian crisis.

Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrike --Nizar Rayyan and his family
die in raid on home as Israel rejects calls for a ceasefire 01 Jan
2009 A senior member of Hamas was killed in an Israeli airstrike on
his home today, after Israel rejected any temporary halt to its
bombing campaign. Nizar Rayyan, a strong advocate of renewed suicide
bombings who had close ties to the military wing of Hamas, was killed
with members of his family.

7,000 students register in Iran's Isfahan to fight Israel 30 Dec 2008
Seven thousand university students from Iran's central city of Isfahan
registered on Monday to fight Israel, the semi-official Fars news
agency reported.

Gaza and the rise of the Fourth Reich By Hedieh Ghavidel 01 Jan 2009
The title of 'settlers' given to Israeli land-thieves is a very
appropriate one. It is the same designation given to those in America
in the 1800s who progressively murdered their way across stolen native
land while claiming a manifest destiny from God in doing so. The
German philosopher Hegel once said that history teaches that history
teaches us nothing. While the Berlin wall has come down, Israel puts
one up, and the hypocritical governments who purport to be democracies
and to advocate human rights make mild and symbolic protests while
allowing crimes against humanity to continue.

Iraq signs foreign troops deals --US: 140,000 troops to stay until end
of 2011 31 Dec 2008 Iraq has signed deals with Britain and Australia
for their troops to stay in the country after a UN mandate expires on
1 January, Iraq's government says. It says the accords authorise UK
and Australian forces to stay until July. The US - who led the 2003
invasion into Iraq - earlier this year signed a deal with Baghdad
allowing its 140,000 forces to stay until the end of 2011.

Iraq allows British, Australian troops pullout within 7 months 31 Dec
2008 The Iraqi government said Wednesday that it has signed agreements
with Britain and Australia that allow their troops to stay in Iraq
until the end of July. Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari
said that the agreements stated that the troops of the two countries
would pull out from Iraq within seven months.

'The Americans will supervise us.' U.S. Soldiers Will Remain in Green
Zone Next 90 Days 01 Jan 2009 The United States on Thursday handed the
Iraqi government formal control of the Green Zone, the locus
[*locusts*] of power in the country and symbol of American influence
for the past five years, but officials announced that U.S soldiers
would continue to help maintain security in occupy the area for at
least the next 90 days. [And, after 90 days? Lemme guess: Afghanistan.
Gotta keep the gas/opium pipelines flowing.]

As Clock Strikes 12, U.S. Hands Iraq Control of Green Zone 01 Jan 2009
The walls of the majestic Republican Palace in Baghdad's Green Zone
have been stripped bare. The vaults that secured American cash and
classified documents are gone, and the cement blast walls that
protected the front entrance were taken down this week. The U.S.
military dining facility inside what was once the American Embassy
served its last meal New Year's Eve.

British troops hand over Basra airport to Iraqis 01 Jan 2009 British
forces on Thursday handed over control of Barsa airport to the Iraqi
authorities, according to an agreement signed earlier between the two
sides. In a ceremony held at the airport, the Iraqi governor of Basra
Mohammad Musabah al-Waeli hailed the transfer, saying "it is an
important day that we control the tower and the entire airport."

Election candidate shot dead in northern Iraq 31 Dec 2008 A candidate
standing in Iraq's provincial elections in January was shot dead in a
cafe in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday, police said.
Mowaffaq al-Hamdani, a candidate for the Sunni Arab party Iraq for Us,
was killed by [Blackwater?] gunmen who walked into the cafe in the
center of the city, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, they said.
One policeman was killed and another wounded when police gave chase to
the fleeing gunmen.

UK hands murder suspects over to Iraq 01 Jan 2009 The United Kingdom
has defied the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by handing over
two Iraqi men accused of murdering British soldiers to the Iraqi
authorities. Strasbourg judges had blocked the transfer of Faisal
Al-Saadoon and Khalaf Mufdhi after their lawyers claimed they would
face the death penalty if convicted by the Iraqi criminal courts. But
ministers said they had chosen to ignore the ruling.

Iran grants scholarship to Iraqi shoe-throwing journalist 31 Dec 2008
Iran's Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad
Hosseini announced that his country was ready to grant scholarship to
the Iraqi shoe-throwing journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the official
IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. "Al-Zaidi can continue his
studies in any of the Iranian universities that he chooses," the
report quoted Hosseini as saying.

Britain ready to take in Guantánamo prisoners --Deal will help Obama
to close terror jail 01 Jan 2009 Britain is preparing to receive
foreign terror suspects from Guantánamo Bay so that Barack Obama can
shut it down, The Times has learnt. Government sources say that
Britain now supports moves to rehouse the prisoners... A Downing
Street official said that a process to deal with the detainees was
being put in place and that decisions "would be for the Home Secretary
to decide on a case-by-case basis".

20,000 GIs to surge into Afghanistan 01 Jan 2009 In what amounts to an
Afghan version of the [failed] surge in Iraq, the U.S. is preparing to
pour at least 20,000 extra troops into the south, augmenting 12,500
NATO soldiers who have proved too few to cope with a Taliban
'insurgency' that is fiercer than NATO leaders expected. New
construction at Kandahar Air Field foreshadows the upcoming infusion
of American power. Runways and housing are being built, along with two
new U.S. outposts in Taliban-held regions of Kandahar province.

NATO says soldier killed in Afghanistan 01 Jan 2009 The NATO-led force
helping to fight 'insurgents' in Afghanistan has announced the death
of a second foreign soldier on New Year's Eve, after Britain said a
Royal Marine had been killed. The International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) did not release the nationality of the soldier killed in
the volatile south of the country on Wednesday, leaving that task to
the trooper's home nation.

2008 deadliest year for US forces in Afghanistan 01 Jan 2009 A record
number of American troops have died in Afghanistan over the past year,
as the United States prepares to send extra forces to the war-torn
country. A total of 151 members of the American military died in
Afghanistan in 2008.

U.S. Losing 'Secret' War in Somalia 30 Dec 2008 For several years the
U.S. military has fought a covert war in Somalia, using gunships,
drones and Special Forces to break up suspected terror networks -- and
enlisting Ethiopia's aid in propping up a pro-U.S. "transitional"
government. It's a relatively unknown front in the "war on terror,"
and one where the U.S. and its allies are losing ground, fast. [What a
shame!]

Suspicious driver arrested near White House 31 Dec 2008 Authorities
near the White House arrested a man after he drove up to a security
checkpoint in his car and drew the attention of wary police dogs
Wednesday night, police said. The car approached a checkpoint at an
intersection near Lafayette Park, just north of the White House, soon
after 6 p.m. and police dogs grew suspicious of the car, according to
police accounts. Several fire trucks, police cars and other emergency
vehicles reported to the area after the driver was taken into custody.

Aspen bomb suspect had previous contacts with law enforcement 01 Jan
2009 A man delivered bombs wrapped as Christmas presents to two banks
Wednesday along with a note threatening "mass death" if they did not
turn over tens of thousands of dollars, Aspen, Colorado, police said
Thursday. Authorities were quickly alerted, and the man apparently
halted his plan -- leaving two bombs that were intended for other
banks in an alley, police said. The man, identified as James Blanning,
72, who had had previous contacts with law enforcement, was later
found dead after apparently shooting himself, police said. His body
was found in his car in a rural area east of Aspen.

Aspen bomb suspect found dead 01 Jan 2009 Aspen bomb threat suspect
Jim Blanning has been found dead, east of town, according to Aspen
police. Blanning was being sought in connection with two bomb threats
at Aspen banks on Wednesday that forced authorities to evacuate a
16-block area, effectively shutting down the resort on New Year's Eve.
A statement issued early Thursday by police indicated Blanning is
dead.

Burris Asks Illinois Court to Order Certification for Senate 01 Jan
2009 The Illinois Supreme Court was asked by Roland Burris, the man
nominated by Governor Rod Blagojevich to fill the U.S. Senate seat
vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, to compel a state official to
certify his appointment. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general,
yesterday filed with the state's highest court a 19-page petition
asking it for permission to bring an action to compel Secretary of
State Jesse White to sign off on Blagojevich's selection.

US stocks suffer worst year since Great Depression 31 Dec 2008 The
worst annual performance for Wall Street stocks since the Great
Depression ended with a modest rally on the final day of trading as
the Federal Reserve pushed ahead with its plan to buy mortgage-backed
securities. The central bank's plan to buy up to $500bn of mortgage
bonds by the middle of 2009 helped spur a 1.4 per cent gain on the day
for the S&P, which finished 2008 at 903.25.

Record stock market falls in 2008 31 Dec 2008 Global markets saw
record falls in 2008 as the financial turmoil and economic slowdown
ended the stock market boom. Britain's FTSE 100 had its worst year on
record, down 31.3%, with similar falls in Paris and Frankfurt. In New
York, the Dow Jones was up slightly on the day, but it has lost almost
34% of its value in 2008, its worst year since 1931.

Treasury Has Pledged More Rescue Funds Than Authorized 31 Dec 2008 The
Treasury Department has committed nearly $10 billion more than the
$350 billion Congress has authorized to date for the financial-sector
rescue package, which could constrain how the incoming Obama
administration deploys the rest of the fund. Treasury's announcement
Monday that it is directing $6 billion to auto-finance company GMAC
LLC brought to $358.4 billion the total funds from the Troubled Asset
Relief Program that have been pledged to a variety of programs and
guarantees. That suggests Treasury is tapping into the second half of
the $700 billion set aside in October before it has been released by
Congress.

Banker Buys $37 Million Apartment After Getting $25 Million Buyout --
for Doing Virtually Nothing 30 Dec 2008 A former top executive at
Merrill Lynch who received a $25 million golden parachute after just
three months of work has purchased a $37 million Park Avenue palace.
Peter Kraus paid the staggering sum for a five-bedroom co-op on New
York's posh Park Avenue after getting a $25 million buyout from
Merrill Lynch when the company was sold to Bank of America in
September, the New York Post reported.

Three genes can turn normal flu into a killer, University of
Wisconsin-Madison researchers find 30 Dec 2008 Three key genes can
turn a regular flu virus into a super killer like the strain that
devastated the world 90 years ago and one that could come again,
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers found in a study involving
ferrets. The discovery by a team led by virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka
could help scientists better recognize new flu strains capable of
causing a global epidemic, or pandemic, and develop drugs to ward off
any kind of flu, the researchers said. Kawaoka said the goal was to
find out why recreate the 1918 flu virus, known as the Spanish flu,
was so deadly, killing up to 50 million people.

US, Japanese Researchers Mix Samples of 1918 Flu Pandemic to Recreate
Deadly Code --Compiled by Lori Price 30 Dec 2008 Why? And, why is no
one *asking* why?

Clintons Drop Ball In Times Sq. Posted by CBS 01 Jan 2009 Bill and
Hillary Clinton rang in the New Year in New York's Times Square where
they initiated the ball drop, then danced the night away. (Video)

New Year's parties start as huge fireworks displays herald 2009 31 Dec
2008 New Year's celebrations are underway around the world, with
firework displays in Auckland and Sydney starting a night of global
partying. Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean was the first to
welcome in 2009 at 10am Greenwich Mean Time. before the New Year
arrived in New Zealand an hour later.

CLG needs your support.
http://www.legitgov.org/#contribute
Or, please mail a check or money order to CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible

Previous lead stories: Bolton: Gaza raids precursor to Iran war 31 Dec
2008 Former top US diplomat John Bolton says Israeli strikes on Gaza
have ignited a multi-front war which could lead to a US attack on
Iran. Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN, accused Iran of
supplying arms and equipment to Hamas and making efforts to develop a
nuclear bomb. "I don't think there's anything at this point standing
between Iran and nuclear weapons other than the possibility of the use
of military force possibly by the United States, possibly by Israel,"
Bolton told FoxNews. "So while our focus obviously is on Gaza right
now, this could turn out to be a much larger conflict," said the
hawkish US official, adding, "We're looking at potentially a
multi-front war."

IDF launches YouTube Gaza channel 30 Dec 2008 In the midst of its Gaza
operations, the IDF is entering yet another conflict zone: the
Internet. The Israeli army announced yesterday the creation of its own
YouTube channel, through which it will disseminate footage of
precision bombing operations in the Gaza Strip, as well as aid
distribution and other footage of interest to the international
community.

Iraq opens nearly 90 pct of its oil reserves to foreign firms --Among
those bidding: Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp.,
Chevron Corp. and Total. 31 Dec 2008 Iraq, the holder of the world's
third-largest oil reserves, has opened nearly 90 percent of its
reserves to international oil companies for development in two major
bidding rounds this year. Iraq, with at least 115 billion barrels in
reserves, plans to add 4 million to 4.5 million barrels a day to its
current 2.4 million barrels per day capacity over the next four to six
years. On Wednesday, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani kicked off
the country's second postwar bidding round, naming 11 oil and gas
fields or groups of fields as eligible for development proposals.

Those who'd like to be added to the list can go here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name.Those who
wish to be removed from the list can access the same link and click
'unsubscribe.'
Please write to: signup at legitgov.org for inquiries/issues/concerns
with your subscription.

Nadeem Malik

Friday, January 02, 2009

BOYCOTT ISRAELI PRODUCTS NOW!!!

NADEEM MALIK LIVE