The Other "N" Word: Nukes

Left: Nuclear mushroom_cloud

Despite all the attention given to Iran's nuclear program, the underside of that discourse is Israel's nuclear weapons. Israel's nuclear proliferation usually, receives scant attention in diplomatic circles and the media. The very mention of Israel's nuclear weapons functions in a sphere of unconscionable transgression guarded by a geo-political correctness, a tacit self-rectifying concept preventing any utterance, which effectively, serves as the other "N" word.

For quite some time now, Washington officials have been pressuring the IAEA to find Iran's nuclear power program in "material breach" of its treaty obligations not to develop nuclear weapons.

The rubric of the UN facilitated the passing of UN Security Council resolution 1696 (2006), under Chapter VII, by a vote of 14 in favor to 1 against (Qatar), to express the convictions of the "international community" that suspension, as well as full, verified Iranian compliance with the IAEA Board of Governor’s requirements, would contribute to a diplomatic, negotiated solution that guaranteed Iran’s nuclear programme was for exclusively peaceful purposes. Instead of concentrating on fathom Iranian nukes, which is decades away from acquiring nuclear weapons, even if it chose that path, a similar resolution on Israel's existing nuclear arsenal would actually, be revolutionary in establishing peace, stability and security in the Middle East.

Iran is a Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signatory and there is no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Moreover, the NPT affords signatories the use of civilian nuclear energy including enrichment for civic purposes. Whereas, Israel has never signed the NPT and possesses around 400 various types of nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), in its arsenal and is not amenable to any regulations.

The tough talk against Iran has inadvertently put on the table a program that no one in Washington wants to discuss openly — Israel's nuclear weapons program.

In fact, Middle East nuclear weapons programs began as a response to Israel's development of nuclear weapons. That program started in the late 1940s and had secretly yielded many bombs by the 1967 war. It is the existence of the Israeli nuclear weapons that have been driving nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East.

Left: Cloud blast from nuclear bomb

A draft resolution, which sought to bring to light and label Israel's nuclear capabilities a threat and call upon Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was blocked from going to a vote by Israel and its allies during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), annual meeting in Vienna.

The UN nuclear watchdog agency instead, adopted a separate, non-binding resolution calling on all Middle Eastern nations to accept IAEA safeguards and take steps toward the establishment of a nuclear weapons free zone. Israel and the United States were the only two countries that voted against it. Three countries abstained.

The measure calling Israel's program a threat, which was cosponsored by Iran, was kept from going to a vote after 45 nations backed a no-action motion by the Canadian delegate, effectively adjourning the debate.

Among those supporting the effort to block the vote were the United States, Israel, France, Germany and Britain. Those abstaining included China, Russia and Nigeria, among others.

Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, stated "Iran ... has always called for establishing a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. ... It is of profound regret that this issue is trapped in a vicious cycle."

2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Director General of the IAEA, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, introduced a resolution in the UN proposing the monitoring of all nuclear fission and guaranteeing that non-nuclear weapons states would be able to obtain adequate supplies for their nonmilitary usage of enriched plutonium.

One nation has publicly accepted ElBaradei’s proposal, that country is Iran.

An overwhelming silence has shrouded Israel's nuclear arsenal for 40 years. Israel neither confirms nor denies its nuclear status, known as "nuclear opacity," but is the only nation in the region with nuclear weapons. Israel continues to refuse IAEA controls on its nuclear activities.

Israel's ambassador to the IAEA said efforts to bring security to the Middle East should be focused on peace efforts, not necessarily arms control. "The fundamental goal in the Middle East, as in other regions, is obtaining regional peace, security and stability, not arms control per se," Israel Michaeli said.

The draft resolution was submitted earlier last week by 15 nations: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Left: Atomic Bomb Blast from artillery shells

Nuclear domino instead of Democratic dominoes

Instead of establishing peace, stability and security in the Middle East, Israel's nuclear arsenal has in effect masked transparency and contributed to sentient uncertainty and a seeming necessity of proliferation in the region. In the past, Libya and Iraq have both had their nuclear facilities bombed in attempts to control the evident ramifications of the Israeli nuclear threat as experienced by its neighbors.

Egypt to Start building nuclear power plants

Gamal Mubarak, who is slated to follow Hosni Mubarak, his father and President of Egypt, recently, announced Egypt would revive plans for a nuclear program that was publicly shelved in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. The plan calls for a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant to be built at El-Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast. The proposed program is described by Gamal Mubarak as a civilian nuclear regime.

In February 2005, the IAEA disclosed that it was investigating Egypt's nuclear activities. It concluded that Egypt had conducted atomic research for as long as four decades, but that the research did not aim to develop nuclear weapons and did not include uranium enrichment. The UN nuclear watchdog was looking into rumors that Egypt had aimed to develop an independent nuclear fuel cycle at its two research reactors.

Egypt has signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and has long called for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.

Strategic omissions

Israel is never mentioned in semiannual reports even though, the US Congress requires the intelligence agencies to prepare on "the acquisition by foreign countries during the preceding six months of dual-use and other technology useful for the development or production of weapons of mass destruction."

The agencies provide their assessment of programs in Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan and others, but Israel (and Egypt) are omitted. This pattern is repeated across the board.

For example, the 2003 report on the ballistic and cruise missile threat from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center lists 18 nations with missiles, including US allies Bulgaria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen, and Egypt — but not Israel.

Yet, Israel is the only nation in the Middle East with nuclear weapons and an array of medium-range missiles that could deliver them.

Selective Ignorance - Of course, the United States does not see Israel as a threat — but other nations in the region do. That is the whole point.

By ignoring Israel's WMD programs in order to protect Israel and perceived geopolitical interests, the US may actually, be increasing their danger. The inherent double standard of this policy is counterproductive because of US loyalty to Israel, while also, managing important relations with others in region with less fidelity. This uneven policy ultimately, works against US national and strategic interests in the Middle East and elsewhere therefore, leaving the region enmeshed in a perpetual web of instability and conflict.

Nevertheless, repeated UN resolutions calling for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons have been undermined by the US, Israel and their allies.

The US has developed a proliferation policy that attempts to neutralize rogue or "axis of evil" regimes seeking these deadly arsenals while tolerating, even encouraging, their possession by States deemed responsible.

The aiding and abetting of not only Israel, but also, Pakistan and India, and promising to give India advanced nuclear technology, when all three have nuclear weapons while, none are NPT signatories only confound the issue in a dynamic of arbitrary preferential treatment. The policy becomes evidently, skewed when one considers States like Brazil and EU nations that maintain nuclear facilities enriching their own uranium, but do not meet the ire of the "international community."

This policy can work piecemeal, as in Iraq and Libya, but cannot systematically, work because the proliferation impetus transcends particular regimes. The problem of nuclear proliferation has its best chance of successful resolution in a just, fair and balanced global policy that treats all actors equally - a dynamic lacking the current nepotistic tendencies. The transparency involved in South African nuclear disarmament, under the auspices of the IAEA, represents a clearer policy for peace, stability and security.

Proliferation issues remain in the West's vision of a "new Middle East"

Even if a prophetic democratic transformation sweeps the Middle East, a new Iraq and a new Iran would still desire nuclear weapons as long as Israel has them. This drive simmers and becomes more prevalent when nuclear weapons have proven to be the proven means of maintaining sovereignty and preventing regime change - a la North Korea.

The Iranian nuclear program began under the Shah in 1958, with the first US-supplied reactor going online in 1967. The program will likely continue under future governments unless fundamental regional dynamics are altered.

Prevention over proliferation

Lost in the cycle of Israeli-Arab wars including surgical strikes on Iraq, Palestinian Occupied Territories violence and nearly 30 years of overt invasions into Lebanon is the fact that Israel has never been more secure from external threats. Israeli conventional forces can easily defeat any conceivable combination of Arab armies. One of its key regional opponents Iraq has not been militarily capable to challenge Israel's hegemony since its military was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War.

Syria's forces has been maneuvered out of Lebanon, the Taliban has been removed from power in Afghanistan and there is no longer a Soviet Union to arm and encourage Arab regimes hostile to Israeli dominance. Furthermore, Israel enjoys the friendship, albeit at times with stealth, with the majority of Arab and Muslim States, including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Moreover, there is now a substantial US naval, air and ground force in the region.

Therefore, Israel has less need of nuclear weapons now then at any time in its history. Unfortunately, the asserted necessity of an Israeli nuclear arsenal is a non sequitur to regional peace. As long as Israel's nuclear weapons point outward targeting cities around the Middle East, there will be a drive to obtain a balance to this threat - only capacity, resources and will stand in the way. Israel's maintenance of nuclear weapons is illogical and absurd in the advance of peace, stability and security in the Middle East because it has a clear intent in preventing any other regional power from getting the one weapon that could offset its conventional superiority and hegemonic designs.

Opportunity for change and new directives

Arab and Muslim nations now believe that their suspicions of US regional goals in tandem with Israel have been verified - if they were not forwarned - by the failure to turn up any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq while, the continued threat to remove other regional governments looms emimently. This fearful environment breeds clandestine efforts by many States who find themselves without the sanction or umbrella of US protection.

Nuclear bombs cloaked in the closet

Instead of alleviating these threats and suspicions, the United States wrongly, adopts a preferential policy that views Israeli non-conventional weapons in the Middle East as a means to regional peace, stability and security.

Everyone already whispers about Israel's dirty little secret in the closet. Bringing it out into the open and putting it on the negotiating table as part of a regional deal may be the only way to prevent others from building their own nuclear bombs under the table. The Israeli "N" word must not remain in a mantra of geo-political correctness.

In the face of current diffusion of technology, ever so prevalent in the region, this is precisely the time to intensify efforts to create a zone free of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in the Middle East.

The Western powers have invariably, allowed undeclared possession of nuclear weapons in Israel to thrive under a system of exaggerated security threats. Israel has willfully, continued to foster conflict with the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states often, claiming that its existence is not recognized and the aim is to destroy it when in fact Israel itself poses the threat to the region and is not in any existential danger. There are ample examples of Israeli false flag operations or provocations, which exacerbate tensions in the region that are blamed on its neighbors.



Above: Map of Israeli Nuclear weapons related facilities

The roots of the Israeli "N" word - not to be mentioned in civic circles

Israel began its search for nuclear weapons at the inception of the state in 1948. As compensation for Israeli participation in the Suez Crisis of 1956, France provided nuclear expertise and constructed a reactor complex for Israel at Dimona capable of large-scale plutonium production and reprocessing. The French nuclear weapons program in effect became Israeli because of mutual research and development activities.

The United States discovered the facility by 1958 and it was a subject of continual discussions between American presidents and Israeli prime ministers. Israel used delay and deception to at first keep the US at bay, and later used the nuclear option as a bargaining chip for a consistent American conventional arms supply. After French disengagement in the early 1960s, Israel progressed on its own and collaborated with South Africa, including several covert operations, to project completion.

Before the 1967 Six-Day War, they felt their nuclear facility threatened and reportedly assembled several nuclear devices. By the 1973 Yom Kippur War Israel had a number of sophisticated nuclear bombs, deployed them, and considered using them. The Arabs may have limited their war aims because of their knowledge of the Israeli nuclear weapons.

Israel has probably, conducted several nuclear bomb tests. They have continued to modernize and vertically proliferate and are now one of the world's larger nuclear powers in possession of nuclear land mines and mini-nukes. Israel also possesses ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers capable of reaching all corners of the globe. It also has cruise missiles and artillery shells with a range of 45 miles. A staple of the Israeli nuclear arsenal is its production of neutron bombs, miniaturized thermonuclear bombs designed to maximize deadly gamma radiation while minimizing blast effects and long term radiation - in essence designed to kill people while leaving property intact.

Below: Estimates of the Israeli Nuclear Arsenal


Using “bomb in the basement” nuclear opacity, Israel has been able to use its arsenal as a deterrent to the Arab world while not 'technically,' violating American nonproliferation requirements. This of course involves a "leap of faith" precisely, because the US is well aware of the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal.

Former Israeli President Ezer Weizman who died a few years ago said “the nuclear issue is gaining momentum [and the] next war will not be conventional."

Can we continue to trust nuclear weapons in the hands of Israelis who shoot kids dead in cold blood and who recently, saturated southern Lebanon with over a million cluster bomb bomblets and hundreds of thousands of landmines - in effect preventing the return of some 200,000 Lebanese to their homes?

Whereas Iran's nuclear reactor that the US and Israel may opt to destroy was designed for generating power; Israel's nuclear reactor was by purpose, configured for nuclear weapons production.

The rest of the middle east will certainly, breathe a sigh of relief once extricated under the permanent threat of being holocaustic victims of Israeli nuclear weapons, if and when nuclear weapons are seen for the potential woe they represent in the hands of any nation.

One of the processes in preparing mined uranium for use in a power station is to separate the highly radioactive U235 (used for fuel rods) from the U238. The U238 still containing a small amount of U235 (Depleted Uranium) is a highly toxic waste product from the process. So, because of its high density and spontaneous combustion on impact military researchers thought it would be ideal for military application as highly penetrating projectiles. Voila, a waste product that was very expensive to dispose now, becomes a highly profitable, but deadly resource. The toxic waste is now disposed on the field of battle contaminating the vicinity for thousands of years. More information can be found on DU here. The Middle East has continued to serve as a laboratory for these types of "cutting edge" weaponry.

"We could destroy all European Capitals."

We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets of our air force. Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.

Our armed forces are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that this will happen before Israel goes under.

Israel is a nuclear power yet, neither the Dimona nuclear weapons factory, which Mordechai Vanunu exposed, nor Israel's biological and chemical weapons factory in Nes Zion, are open to international inspections. And yet America was busy searching for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction in Tikrit and Baghdad, Iraq and perhaps soon in Tehran.

This is not the only reason why it would seem to be an imperative that the world finally, does something about Israel's fissile bombs. The correct measure would be to declare the Middle East a nuclear-weapon-free zone - including Israel, of course.

Remember when you are bombarded with all the rant about the dangers of Iran's nuclear technology, that Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty therefore, submits to IAEA supervision and Israel is not. Not only does Israel refuse IAEA oversight, it doesn't officially, acknowledge its possession of hundreds of various classes of nukes. Moreover, where Israel has attacked and continue to threaten its neighbors, Iran has not been belligerent or acted in an offensive manner in over 200 years nor does it occupy the lands of other people like Israel.

Left: Picture of Mordechai Vanunu in custody of Israeli militarily personnel

The power held in the whispers heard around the world of the Israeli "N" word - created in part by Mordechai Vanunu, who chose to tell the globe in 1986 that Israel was the greatest threat to the Middle East, that it had "clandestinely," produced a stockpile of hundreds of nuclear weapons - should be amplified. An act of conscience for which he was punished by craven men with 18 years of incarceration. Mr. Vanunu spent over 11 of those years in complete isolation. He was forced to spend 18 long years in prison and remain under strict travel restrictions and is precluded from having contact with foreigners.

Left: Mordechai Vanunu after release in 2004, met with cheering crowds supportive of peace and Nuclear disarmament

Once everyone has the freedom of thought to shout the Israeli "N" word and overthrow its reign of secrecy, propaganda and political correctness shielding its usage and effective reality the sooner the inherent detriment of the Israeli "N" word will subside and forego its choke hold on discourse - thereby, freeing its stranglehold on both, Israel and its victims in the Middle East and availing an adroit resolution for peace, stability and security in the Middle East.

Noam Chomsky: A Question of Zionism

CHOMSKY IS A ZIONIST!

HUGO CHAVEZ MAKDE A MISTAKE!



I adore Hugo Chavez, but I was very disappointed with him when he introduced Chomsky’s book as his choice to educate the world’s public on the perils of imperialism. There are many great writers who write about the subject more eloquently and lucidly than Chomsky. My gripe with Chomsky is that he is a ZIONIST! If you ever watched any of hid DVD’s, he talks about when he was a youngster and how he and his family were yearning and longing to settle in Palestine and waiting for the right opportune time to snatch the land from the Arabs. Chomsky is anti-imperialist as it applies to the rest of the world with the exception of Palestine. Chomsky being raised a Zionist is very emotional when it comes to his Zionist state.

Here are two excerpts by Jeff Blankfort (also Jewish) about Chomsky.
...............
Yes, Chomsky tends to simplify US politics, blaming everything on the elites and whoever is in the White House while avoiding the role of Congress. Today, eleven members of the Senate are Jewish, that is 11% of the 100 members while only 2% of the American population is Jewish. He and his supporters, either directly or indirectly, raise the specter of anti-Semitism, of provoking anti-Semitism, and what happens is that people keep their mouth shut. Now, Chomsky, who was a Zionist when he was younger--he lived in Israel, he has friends in Israel, was considering moving to Israel-- admitted in 1974 that this might influence his perspective – and he wanted his readers to know that. He wrote this in 1974 and yet few people who read Chomsky today know that. They do not know that he was Zionist, that he considered living in Israel.

Chomsky, of course, is the most important one. They criticize Israel, you see, because that's important, you have to do that, but they deflect the main responsibility on to the US and thus while not absolving Israel, shield it from punishment such as sanctions, boycotts and divestment.

Zionist Chomsky 1974" -sophie

The crux of this comment of course brings into question professor Noam Chomsky's integrity and his adroitness about long-standing ties to Zionism and how his volumes on empire and Palestine malaise coexist in an apparent dichotomy.

It can be said that these charges against Mr. Chomsky are unfair and delve into a genre of oversimplification, i.e., the issue is not a simple, either or, matter. Mr. Chomsky of course being of Jewish descent should necessarily, love who he is and have linkages to his people and culture. The ability to be "one's self," whether Arab, Asian, Aborigine, etc., is at the nucleus of the Peace and Justice Movement.

A query must arise at this juncture to ascertain whether Jewishness amounts to Zionism? Are they the same - or one being the facilitator of the other? This is the case in some instances, but is not universalized.

Wherefore, we should not preclude this innate right of Jewishness in the guise of weeding out sinister Zionists. Nevertheless, the stark implication remains that Zionism must account for the ills perpetrated against Palestinians.

Moreover, can it honestly, be held that being against the abuses meted out by Israel on the Palestinians and having a love for Israel [as problematic as its creation was and continues to be] are diametrically, opposing concepts? Are they mutually exclusive notions that cannot exist in one entity, in the heart and mind of Mr. Chomsky - in the reality of the Levant? I think the possibility is all too, possible and their congruence, if at all possible, suggest that such a merger signals a hopeful mindset, which may avail a future normalcy, wherein a just solution may emanate.

Is this assertion wishful thinking or, does it serve justice and peace?

The question of course remains whether agitating for Palestinian aspirations within a confine of deep seated convictions of justice and equality can exist simultaneously, with a fait accompli of a homeland for Jews created by decree of world powers without the consent or counsel of the indigenous people?

It is without doubt that the Palestinian people have suffered at the hands of the Zionist State and its supporters in the West and elsewhere. It is also a certainty that the Jewish State seems entrenched in Palestine and sits with a conventional and nuclear arsenal facing outward, which is pointed at anyone who it perceives as a threat. It is similarly, obvious that Palestinians will not relinquish their sociopolitical rights despite the overwhelming econo-military power of Israel and are set on using any means necessary to assert these dutiful aspirations.

Can we turn back the clock? This is impossible as far as we know. Is there a solution that can both, satisfy Zionism and the panoply of usurped Palestinians' rights? We must find one.

What are your views on the ostensibly, dubious intellectual and political integrity of those who manage to merge these opposing and contradictory views into a body as Noam Chomsky is accused? Finally, has Mr. Chomsky moved on from the original views of 1974 and now holds mitigating and neutral views?


Below are some articles that highlight the authors' views on the dubious intellectual and political integrity of Noam Chomsky.

Please, at your leisure address these questions. Thanking you in advance for your input and your continued agitation for peace and justice.

One love,
Ricot

Please find below the list of the above mentioned articles.

1. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2006/02/jeffrey-blankfort-interview-must-read.html

2. http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Blankfort0525.htm

3. http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20060328.htm

4. http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2006/02/23/p6720

5. http://peacepalestinedocuments.blogspot.com/2005/07/about-noam-chomsky-reflections-from.html

6. http://www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org/mkabed.htm

7. http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2006/01/01/p5648

8. http://www.doublestandards.org/merhav1.html

9. http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=144&num=21643

10. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5240

11. http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=6109§ionID=22

12. http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=6110§ionID=22

Prime Minister Sharret Diary - Sacred Terrorism

http://www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/essays/rokach.html

Confer http://www.geocities.com/alabasters_archive/sacred_terror.html

1) Chomsky was for sanctions against Apartheid South Africa but not against his Zionist state.

2) Chomsky was for boycotts against South Africa but opposes it for his Zionist state.

Dear Anomalous:

I don’t know what “Jewishness” means and I don’t give a damn! My objection is that an alien European people used various excuses to steal Palestine:

A) [god gave them Arab land.] I say ‘FUCK THE JEW GOD! if he is the type of god who encourages his ‘chosen’ to be damned thieves.

B) [They are coming back after two thousands years.] how is the European Jew with no ancestry to the land coming back to the Arab soil?

C) [The United Nations gave the European Jewry Arab soil.] As the Iranian president said in his recent UN speech, is there a single member who would vote for the theft of the land had it been his own land? Of course not! Don’t forget my post earlier today directing viewers to go to the online Truman library. There, we learn that Jews (1) intimidated the American president (Truman) to go along with the theft of Arab land (2) those conniving Jews called heads of state such Haiti, pretending to be Truman, and threatened them with withdrawal of American fund unless they voted for the Jew state. Haiti changed its vote to ‘yes’ believing it was indeed the president of the United States who was on the other end of the phone line.

D) [The Germans and most Europeans hated the Jews.] But what have the Arabs got to do with it?

No Anomalous! there will never be peace as long as these criminal murdering european Jews are in the midst of Arabs. The European Jews came to Palestine hoping to duplicate the native American Indians' fate upon the Palestinians, but the European Jews have been disappointed, and the Jews’ disappointment looms larger as evidenced by the tenacity of the Lebanese resistance warriors.

Anomalous: next time you have doubts in your head about if and when the Arabs should love Europe’s Jewry, ask a rape victim. Ask her what her notions are about her rapist. There you will find the answers to most of your questions above. Sophie.


Albeit, there are doubts in my head about a plethora of things however, love between Palestinians and Europe's Jewry is not one of them. The point I was trying to make although, loosely, connected to a general concept of love, revolves around current reality - stoic and coldly calculated.

So please don't shoot the messenger, offer water instead. Avail the courtesy of a welcoming chair to ease the strains of a long journey.

The time for old questions is fading fast over the horizon and the dawn of new solutions glows and arises bright like the sun into our realm - to be touched, full of adoring scents and viewed with gleeful eyes. Far in the distance wanes certitude and universals enmeshed in an intransigent tradition of pointed queries and finger pointing that must necessarily, be vanquished by an overwhelming, looming realization that peace among 'humanity' is wrought with compromise and arduous travail. Therefore, if and when must become then and now - from pain to gain - which may avail a viable solution. Dream with me Sophie! Because dreams are the building blocks we utilize to shape the world anew.

U.S. Jewish Solidarity with Muslim and Arab Peoples of the Middle East:

As Jews of conscience living in the United States, we are outraged by the violence being perpetrated in our name both as Jews and as U.S. citizens. We, the undersigned, represent Jews across the United States who are choosing to stand in solidarity with the peoples of Gaza and Lebanon.

Mr. Chomsky of course being of Jewish descent should necessarily, love who he is and have linkages to his people and culture.
tom to Anomalous

What is usually unstated or unnoticed is that there is big strain of Jewish self hatred in Zionist ideology. In many ways the ideal Zionist is the complete opposite of the caricature of the Diaspora Jew, who is usually portrayed in Zionist literature as a weak, bookish victim, unwilling to defend himself. In fact, the opportunity to oppress Arabs is seen as a chance too exorcise his own victimhood and transform his identity.

There is a strain of idealism in Zionism, that serves as a fig leaf for its more brutal and inhumane aspects, as long as the issue is not looked at too closely. This idealism is what attracted the young Chomsky. Unfortunately, when the expulsion and occupation of the Palestinians is unable to be ignored by would be idealists any longer, the usual response is not only to stop vocally supporting Israel, but to stop talking about the issue at all.

Sophie,

I like you too. However, simple is sometimes best. Moreover, an invocation of simplicity doesn't add much.

Besides, there isn't much of a gulf between our conceptions of this matter. The striking difference being temporal, instead of a focus on the spatial.

Inherent in my comments were some of the things you mentioned in your last post. A resolute future encompassing justice would of course necessitate a new Zion, but also deem a new Palestine. This offing does not signify a Palestine that has acquiesced its rightful throne instead speaks to a transformed Palestine in the throes of a mutual peace. All in all, this offing commands an offering at the altar of peace, love and justice.

I will read the piece you recommended and hope it doesn't harden my heart once more before my long journey to this place where solutions reign supreme.

Dear Anomalous:

You are a sweetie! I like you. trust me, coming from me, it is a huge compliment to you, because I am brutally honest. you are about the only one to be complimented on this site.

I am not a regular poster here. I initially came here lured by a mirage, the name of the site was alluring, only to find out that the site-holder is not angry at al, but a mousy, mild, timid and a disgraceful apologist for Jews. I also hold the opinion that he is genuinely retarded for reasons stated earlier. If you are curious, search for the world ‘retarded’ on this message thread (I believe it was on this message thread, I could be wrong)

I would like for to read the following links and get back to me at sophie8844@gmail.com

http://theunjustmedia.com/the%20zionist_plan_for_the_middle_east.htm

http://www.marxists.de/middleast/schoenman/

http://www.christusrex.org/www2/koestler/

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/wright.htm

sophie ,
I share your suspicion to chomsky,but I believe your reason that his family when he was child wanted to immigrate to Israel m is not good enough to label him with such word , in my opinion.
I have another reason, in "Peace propaganda & the promised land" , he insists that Israel's policy of remaining in ocupied territory after 1967 UN resolution is very condemnable , he criticizes Israel a lot , but he never mentions that basicaly UN 1948 statement which has created Israel was one terrible mistake . I felt like he was condemning Israel's greed rather than it's existence .

here professor Abukhalil (maybe) refers to it :

"...I will give you one example: when Chomsky left the meeting with Nasrallah he was under the impression, as he told a friend in Beirut, that Nasrallah had told him that he believes in distributing Palestinians around the Arab world. My friend immediately realized that this must have been an error in translation by Nasrallah's interpreter ,... "

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2006/07/nasrallahs-profile-in-washington-post.html

It comes after owner of this blog repeats it over and over that chomsky liked nasrallah (for ex. told this to his sister)

but still I want to be just suspicious of him and wait for better evidences.-lida

US Tax payer: CHOMSKY A GATEKEEPER FOR ZIONISM

SHAHAK ON CHOMSKY: HE "HELPS THE ZIONISTS VERY MUCH"

Israel Shahak wrote the following to Jeff Blankfort:

I had the same, only greater, differences of opinion with Noam Chomsky, who is my personal friend for quite a time, on the subject of AIPAC and the influence of the Jewish lobby in general as you have. What is more, a number of mutual friends of Chomsky and me have also tried to influence him, in vain, on that point.

I am afraid that he is, with all his wonderful qualities and the work he does, quite dogmatic on many things. I have no doubt that his grievous mistake about the lack of importance of AIPAC, which he repeats quite often, helps the Zionists very much as you so graphically described. [64]

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May05/Blankfort0525.htm

Like As'ad and Joseph Massad, Chomsky and Zunes are gatekeepers for the Israel Lobby: they have played a key role in neutralizing any effective political resistance to Zionist influence on US policy with their lies and disinformation, artfully mixed in with many accurate insights.

Why and how Chomsky obfuscate his Zionism in a mantra of anti-imperialism

http://www.palestinesolidaritymovement.org/mkabed.htm

Sophie: Chomsky being very biased in favor of his own tribe, the European Jews. Take a look. These excerpts are from the article.

1. Chomsky’s version of the ‘argument from prudence’ takes note of the ‘international support’ that exists for the two-state program but fails to mention consistent international support for the return of the refugees.

2. The best explanation of this selective deference is the exceptionalism that, as Noah Cohen and others have explained so clearly, propels Chomsky to resist the implementation of basic human rights in Palestine on the grounds that Israel’s ‘historical vulnerability’ makes it unique amongst colonial nations that commit massive atrocities against the indigenous peoples they conquer.

3. As a result, the logic goes, Israel ought to be held to a different set of standards

We can whirl Chomsky until the cows home. Except for the gullible, the writing is clearly on the wall that Chomsky is a Zionist at heart. Yes, Chomsky does advocate to be anti-imperialist, but that ideology stops at the gates of his fake stolen Jew state they have deceptively named “Israel”. Yea, right, I can also call myself the Queen of Sheba, right? does that make me one? So funny these Zionist Jews! You should see them huffin’ and puffin' to proclaim themselves as ‘Israelis’, but mention the word ‘Jew’ and you will observe them wilt. I think they need to believe that there is no shame in being a Jew, no need to hide behind a biblical hocus/pocus called ‘Israeli’. Self-respect begins at home.

Virgil Johnson: There are a number of things that I agree with Chomsky, and there are a few things I disagree with on. It is indeed hard to extricate yourself from an empathy with people of your origin - it almost creates a desperation at times.

Then again, I have always wondered why in the end Chomsky makes a judgement that it may be politically impossible to change the current state of affairs in Palestine. At the same time I see him lending his support to almost every worthy endeavor to expose what is taking place. It is like a tautology to me, perhaps it is beyond my understanding.

Another instance that disturbs me with regard to Chomsky is his heavy criticism of America's foreign aggression, and yet when it comes time to vote he tells people to vote for individuals like Kerry (last election). Why would you even imply that this is the direction that people should vote? Especially in light of his excessive sword rattling against the Middle Eastern region - as if to outdo Bush.

I do not know Mr. Chomsky personally, but if I were to meet him and had the chance I would question him in regard to these issues. That is all I have to say regarding this matter.

Orbitz: "It is indeed hard to extricate yourself from an empathy with people of your origin - it almost creates a desperation at times."

No, I agree with that point. I don't think it's human nature (if you do think it is, then you'll open a big kettle of fish). I would more prefer to think we are socialised into our identities.

We can all feel a sense of empathy to those who share a common origin with us, but beyond that, can we identify with a movements and governments that claim a representative role of a people or a nation. Above that, can we reduce a people to those who claim this role? Here prejudicial attitudes enter, leading to racism and bigotry of different forms.

Interestingly, certain societies socialise their people with high communal identities, I think America is a case example. Please correct me if I am wrong, but the whole curriculum, the allengiance given to a flag and the curriculum taught enforce this from a tender age. The question is not to feel an empathy to a people, but how can we divorce people from those who use this empathy to then proclaim that they are the nation or the people. Empathy, shouldn't be used as a battering ram for a form of tribalism and identity, regardless of the equation of the oppressor and the opressed. Sophie, was claiming Chomsky was using the latter form of empathy I described, and she views all "Jews" behaving in that form only. Yet, there is no proof for such a claim, either way it does not matter, because in her logic a "Jew will be a Jew will be a Jew"

Yes, Chomsky is contradicting himself if he claims that a two state solution is politically impossible to zionism to then jump to a conclusion it is the only pragmatic solution. But can you prove that he his behaving in the racist caricature of the "internationist Jew", using his aura of objectivity to pass in a deceptive way his propaganda, in a way that only"Jews can do", ad infinitum to anyother racist caricature of any people on the planet.

Orbitz: (replying to Sophie) "It shows up very rarely and when it does, the blame is shifted onto AMERICA. Clever dude, this Chomsky dude, huh?"

Could it be possible that this is a valid point, made by many commentators across the board. Why do you suppose this position is due to his ethnicity and not due to a valid political position. Have you considered the arguments he makes for this position? A position that I happen to agree with, due to the nature of imperialism.

Sophie, in terms of your conclusions we agree! But it's your prejudice and sometimes racism that I have a real problem with, you don't need it, and you can reach the same conclusion without using it. Above all it's false. Many of the strongest opponents of Zionism come from European Jewish backgorunds.

Orbitz,

I read, Finkelstein’s Boycott: A Meta-Narrative on the Ills of 'Liberal
-Zionism,’ by Mohammed Abed and found it on point. Reparations and restoration is indeed the moral solution to the Zionist-Palestinian issue.

Do you have any statistics on post-Apartheid migration from South Africa of the white minority? Presumably, the former rulers have maintained economic their economic power and the attached privileges therefrom inside the new regime of formal equality.

If migration has been minimal then it could instruct on the future state of affairs inside a just state in historic Palestine. I tend to think that in the case of historic Palestine there would be an exodus, if not en masse certainly, over a relatively short time span.

Yes, restoration of Palestinian refugees is the deep dark taboo. In fact the Israeli encroachments may be directly, related to it. Zionists may calculate that the more lands they confiscate the greater leverage they will obtain to nullify any political state that would preclude Jewish exclusivity.

Drowsy Africans, the Nightmare of Muslims and the Imperialist Dream

Left: The current Darfur conflict dates back to 2003, when rebel groups including the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) took up arms against Sudanese government forces

The pride of a continent, Africa's gifts to the world. From music through literature to politics and science, men and women who have battled tough upbringings are now leaders in their fields.

Be as it may, the accumulated "gifts" of Africa remain a taboo in many circles of elite discourse. The truth of the matter is, the sources of the plight of Africa is the sister of the Zionist elephant in the room however, the topic is draped with an opaque shape-shifting curtain of lies.

Western policy is in near despair over Darfur and governments are turning to Russia and China to see if they can put pressure on the Sudanese government to accept a UN peacekeeping force.

The Arab Janjaweed militias have attacked black Africans from the Fur, Massaleet and Zagawa ethnic groups with a ruthlessness that has not been seen in the region for some time, report aid agencies and the refugees themselves.

Left: The Janjaweed often fight on horseback, or use camels

They have killed, raped, maimed, looted and burned down tens of thousands of village homes. It has been estimated that 400,000 have been killed and nearly 3 million people displaced to neighboring States or internal refugee camps.

Left: 2.8 million people in Darfur have been displaced to neighboring States or internal refugee camps.

The Janjaweed are vestiges of the private militias that used to protect the slave routes heading north and ultimately, to Europe. Darfur represents a seminal manifestation of an age long disparity of economic and human rights - the problems did not suddenly, appear 3 years ago when the Darfur rebels took up arms.


Left: African Slave Trade circa, 1450

Consider this economic dynamic in the potent exposé of human traffic in the West by Louisa Waugh's Selling Olga, which investigates seething facets of slave culture across Europe alive today. Therefore, simplistic condemnations only obscures the complex nature of slavery and how it has imbued itself in many aspects of modern life both, western and eastern.

The annual profit of traffickers bringing sex workers into Western Europe is estimated at $5bn to $7bn. That doesn't include money made once these women are prostituted and resold. Beaten, degraded, gang-raped, they are sometimes literally worked to death.

Left: Interesting to note how the "war of civilizations" is framed in a Suffragette discourse. Islamic misogyny is balanced against the full freedom enjoyed by women in western culture and the world is asked to choose which system is best. Whereas, Muslims are almost exclusively protrayed in macho masculine lexicon - devoid of women and children in the Islamic world.

Olena Popik was pimped across five countries in three years. This 21-year-old Ukrainian was still being rented out at Bosnian truck stops while dying from Aids.

Left: Suffragette aspirations reduced to a formal social freedom to model a revealing bikini

Nevertheless, simple is ample and is exemplified by this WaPo entry aptly framed as, "Arab Genocide, Arab Silence"

What responsibility do Arabs have to stop genocide being committed by Arabs?

Genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan, inflicted on mostly Muslim African tribes people by the nomadic Arab militias called Janjaweed with the enthusiastic assistance of the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, has been going on for over three years now. In response, nations from western and central Africa have sent peacekeeping troops.

Left: African Union Forces in Darfur

While, various Western countries, including the United States, have pledged many millions of dollars in aid. Western diplomats led by Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick have worked feverishly to stop the massacres, rapes and forced relocation that the Sudanese government has employed as its weapons of choice.

Absent from the picture have been the other Arab states. This is exceedingly strange, and not just because most of Darfur's victims are Muslims. Darfur is thousands of miles away from any of the Western countries trying to stop the genocide there; even the African nations sending peacekeepers are remote. Meanwhile, Egypt, with a huge army, a modern air force and more contacts within Sudan than every Western country combined, has looked on while as many as 400,000 people have been slaughtered just beyond its southern border and has, in effect, done nothing.

The writer concludes by stating that the situation is exceedingly fragile and preventing genocide by Arabs in Darfur from continuing "is a task for the civilized world, one in which the Arab countries need to join."


Left: Humnan emotional mourning expressing sorrow and pain by Muslims

Nowhere is the hundreds of years of European slavery mentioned nor the subservient role Arabs played in that system. Neither, are the hundreds of thousands of Arabs killed in the past 15 years because of ill-advised policies emanating from the West considered as variants of genocide. Again, focusing on particular atrocities that happen to occur in Muslim areas, whether the West is complicit or not only, serve as a mechanism to shift focus from the problem as a whole. This roundabout discourse of prioritization necessarily, prevent viable prescriptions from even reaching the stage of discussion.


Left: Mullahs, Sayyed, Imans, etc., become mere inciters of violence, whereas Priest, Preachers and Rabbis are moral and spiritual leaders

Meanwhile others frame Darfur and the larger African depression as an ongoing encroachment by Semites on the peoples of Africa. The claim states that when one looks at a map of the world and sees Sudan, Somalia and a number of Black nations are suddenly, classified as "Arab," in a wholesale swallowing of African lands, extermination of African people, enslavement and destroying of African men, women and children, and imposing of non-African religions and culture that is totally against African traditions.

The claim being asserted is that Arab and other Semites continue the extermination of Black Africans in order to depopulate the continent of Blacks and occupy it, as Arabs have done in Northern Africa. An ancient and outrageous war of genocide against Blacks, which began with the invasion of Nubia by the Arab-Berber armies during the 600s AD. a thousand years before the European onslaught.

Many such apologetic and incomplete analysis of the ills of Africa in the West are quick to point out that Islam still practices and endorses slavery without a word to the malaise in the West. Africans are often complementarily, blamed for their continued state of deprivation without placing this dire affair in the global context of slavery, empire and colonialism. These purveyors of the civilizing effect of Western contact with Africa buttress this obfuscation by insisting that fortunately, the good Christian colonists ultimately, forbade the evil practice but, sneaky Islamo-Fascists kept the whole evil system going to date.

The situation in Sudan especially, Darfur has recently, served in this obscure role of guiding blame elsewhere. Islam is therefore, vilified through a process of transference wherein, Africans, whether they be Islamic, Christian or otherwise, their woes are blamed on Islam wherever possible. The West is now, crying out to save Darfur whereas, reaction of elites in the West was muted when millions of Africans were being slaughtered in the genocide of the Congo and Rwanda. The striking difference of course being that the "Darfuri" are Muslims and so are the government and the Janjaweed. Therefore, the Muslim factor represents quite a convenient opportunity in the lexicon of the "war on terror" to color the enemy in an appropriate light.


Left: As masked Muslims Westerners internalize the image with a view of criminalization

Also notice how Saddam Hussein's trial grabs headlines such as "genocide trial." The case is being adjudicated in a zoo-like setting not at the Hague or a proper international Court, but instead under a nonexistent Iraqi sovereignty. The ousted president and six others are on trial for the Operation Anfal crackdown on Kurdish rebels in the late 1980s. The prosecution claims about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. Another case of those bad Muslims killing other Muslims. The inescapable point here is: "How are we, who not even being Muslims, supposed to be safe from their madness when other Muslims are routinely facing genocide from them?" The same dynamism can be invoked about the sectarian violence currently, unfolding in Iraq today.

Left: Islamic jihad - in the 'war on terror' Islam and Jihad are both equated with terrorism without a nexus to stories, lives or world views being established at a conscious level

The poignant point here is that half truths make the best propaganda tools precisely, because they are founded on a measure of certitude, which ultimately, defaces and circumvents the underlying facts.

The reality of the matter is Europe having moved into a new genre of economic exploitation of Africa and the "new world" surreptitiously, decreed the practice of slavery an affront to humanity. Nevertheless, the scourge remains in places like Mauritania, Sudan and elsewhere. But, the prolonged life of slavery was directly, linked to the colonial superstructure whose headquarters were in Europe. The condominium administrative approach of conquered Islamic areas by Europe permitted the slave system to continue unhindered. The preferred imperial means of maintaining order in their colonies was to encourage established elites to maintain their social positions as long as the empire received its justly desserts.


Left: Glass, Steel and frills but dare to feel and never bow to a toe or heel or answer to a call of 'heal'

The singling out of Islam in the traffic of humans signals hypocrisy precisely, because the practice is widely, known not to have been limited to Islam. Unfortunately, Africans have served a vital economic role in imperial designs through subjugation, enslavement and colonialization. However, the world's gain through this millennia holocaust is in fact endemic to Africa's social epidemics.

Generations of Africans [mostly, the young and strong - a brain-drain if you will] have been expunged through slavery whereas, the institution served as the main facilitating force for innovation, population growth and social mobility for
perpetrators of this tragedy.

Jewish, Christian, Muslims and other groups even Black Africans themselves were inextricably, tied to the most lucrative business of their day.

Christian Europe however, radically, revamped the age old institution of slavery, taking the practice to unchartered chattel heights. Christendom was able to sustain entire continents in the 'new world' and itself through the slave system. For half a millennium, Christians enlisted Jewish and Islamic subcontractors in the venture.

Although, many have accused Jews in this advanced form of slavery as the main insurers and bankers, the fact remains that evidence is sparse and where the charge proves applicable it only aims to adjust culpability. Moreover, the system involved all "faiths" and mostly, benefited Europe. It would be more productive to view slavery within its global dynamic instead of attempting to place blame on limited sectors of the institution. One indubitable factor in solidifying the slave empire however, was the overwhelming effect of interdicting new projectile weaponry in securing these economic ends.


Left: Capital, Speculation and interests a virtual prison for your mind

Slavery was to old Europe what capital, speculation and interest represent today. Africa is still drowsy from the nightmare the system represented - notwithstanding the deafening reality of its vestiges and economic mutations.

Coversation with a Zionist

First time you're right Amir
There's no such thing as Sudan Tribune, a complete hoax, intended to dupe reader who trying to get piece information about Darfur, therea are NO news website in english in Sudan. Just take alook at the website, poorly created, Fake article. Anyone who claim this as a source is an idiot
Freefaller

I can't vouch for the Sudan Tribune however, I've read newspapers from Sudan that are published in English [online] while researching for a long overdue piece on Darfur. (lol... I should get to work on that)

Nevertheless, our world of human relations is often murky lurking with fringes of gray strewn with overlaping shadows and nuances. In that precarious world there are obvious parallel and perpendicular motivations for keeping the pressure on Khartoum and emphasizing the genocide.

In a similar vein, the statements made by the Bashir government about covert designs to destabilize Khartoum as a goal to effectuate regime change are plausible on some level, but do not represent the entire set of reasons. The quarter of million murdered is REAL. It is ethnic cleansing and a horrible genocide. Nearly 3 million have been made homeless by violence, rape and plunder.

We must accept that half-truths must come into play - precisely, because they are most potent when there is a measure of truth present. However, we must learn to understand the underlying goals of all actors and work to expose the fallacies for what they are.

I don't think any intelligent and intellectually, honest person frequenting this blog see all Jews as the embodiment of evil and the nemesis of all things Semitic.

Everyone is aware that there is a cross section of beliefs, class and world views in Israel. Many of the progressive "voices" on this blog have repeatedly, acknowledged that the Israeli occupation doesn't merely, hurt Palestinians and Arabs, but also detrimentally, affect the average Jewish Israeli too. Especially, those lured to the settlements and the North with Zionist slogans and promises of social mobility.

Although there is social dividends afforded to the vast majority of Jews in Israel at the expense of the oppressed Palestinians nevertheless, their shares are comparatively crumbs thrown off the tables of the religious, commercial and military elite tables to garner their tacit and overt political support.

I don't dismiss that some Arabs hate everything Israel - whether as reflexive reaction to the oppression or not - just as no one can doubt there are Jews that hate everything Arab and Islamic. But, if you remember correctly, even H. Nasrallah recognized the sutures and plateaus of Israeli society during the war. In fact, he used those internal sociopolitical strata in a strategic manner to exert pressure on Tel Aviv.

Maybe if it was pure blind hate without a modicum of logic and political reality things would be simpler. Sorry, it is not that way. The contention of the resistance has always been plain, simple and clear - Give back the Land for a lasting Peace.

1) Palestinians were not Nazis, why must they pay the price for Europe's crimes
a.- why must they lose their lands
b.- why can't they return to their ancestral lands - Europe's refugees inherit their lands and they become the refugees
c.- Palestinians are not Egyptians Jordanians and Syrians, why are they paying for the 67 and 73 war?

Anyway, I just wanted to convey that Jews are not blindly hated nor do the animosity against the policy of European colonists living in Israel as Zionist exist in a vacuum. Israel is holding all the cards, has all the keys and all the weapons. Peace instead of pieces of lead all in the head please no more bled till dead.

So yes, there are Jews in Israel and elsewhere who realize that the occupation is evil and these progresive people are the seeds of a better future.

What is so strange about citizens of Israel and Jews in the Diaspora acting humane about the tragedy in Darfur? Maybe the average Israeli isn't as dogmatic as the think tank Zionists would want them to be.

Anamolous, what of the Jews expelled from Arab lands? What rights and recourse do they have? It's not just about "European" refugees. And when you say 'return the land' for peace, which land needs to be returned?
Ya'but | 09.17.06

Ya'but

Everything else you said and implied about the Darfur situation stand - the ratio of dead, the Israeli response and the muted Muslim outrage too. I just don't see the relation
between Darfur and the Isreali-Arab conflict. If you're trying to invoke the old adage "if you're Black take two steps back - whack smack and some flack for good measure" then I hear you loud and clear.

Shalom

PS,
Are the Black Israelites full citizens of Israel yet? Last I read, they were not required to participate in the IDF at any level, civilian or otherwise.

The Mizrahim? What is the percentage of them in Israel and are they the elite level of the society? The facts say around 20 percent and second class citizens.

As far as the recourse for the displaces Sephardi and Mizrahi what would you suggest? Many are still living in Arab countries even Iran has thousands. I guess they are trying to lighten the family in Israel - isn't that enough of a recourse?

Zionism has in fact been a detriment to these Levantine and Arab Jews. Zionism has always looked at the people of the East as inferior, including Jews from Arab countries. From the turn of the century, Zionists tried to bring Arab Jews to Palestine as cheap labor. Up to now, there are Arab Jews in Israel who are discriminated against within the Jewish population. [Let us whisper kooshim together and break bread]It is largely the European Jews who set the tone.

The rise of Arab nationalism and the forceful rise of Islam did not create a less problematic condition for diverse minorities, who have also suffered, but for the Arab Jews, it has been one of the most complicated stories, precisely because of the establishment of the state of Israel. For the first time in their history, Arab Jews had to choose between being Jews and being Arabs. So you see, the Zionism itself led to the woes of Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews living in Arab countries.

Israel is an internationally, recognized State with nuclear weapons. I don't see it going anywhere. Do you? Are there any hidden lands not specified in the UN resolutions compelling Israel to return that I need to know about?

You know Ya'but, often systems and concepts become greater than the people they represent - snuffing out the intial goals of their constitutiency and taking a life of their own. People have to reestablish their power with those institutions to keep them from going astray. I think this is the case with Zionism.

Ya'but: Anomalous,

My understanding is that the Ethiopians have been fully integrated. Those of age have, and continue, to serve in the IDF. I recall seeing pics of the wounded linked to one of Anti-Humus' little jingles.

http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/CONCEPTS/aliyah5.html Shalom

Well, if I meant Ethiopians I would have said so. I guess you don't know about the Black Caribbean and Americans who call themselves Black Israelites living in Israel.

The site above was very vague and old and doesn't really go to the fate of Ethiopians in Israeli society - if that was my original question since it wasn't some harm but not much.

Ya'but: Anomolous,

Despite the UN resolutions, don't you sense that the Arab street is divided into 4 basic solution camps in regards to Israel and the Jews:

A) Return to '67
B) Return to '48
C) Return to '47
D) Return to Creator

How then will peace ever be attained when concensus will never occur, and while there will always be a significant militant camp that favors Option D (Death and Destruction)?

Some die-hard gun ho Zionists will never accept peace either. They are focused on an Eretz Yisrael, a greater Israel and don't factor in reason and compromise.

Option D, therefore applies to both parties, don't you think? These types of groups that harness such options exist not only in the two communities but most likely, everywhere. Nevertheless, the majority of the people, the moderates manage to rein them in.

Once a just political resolution is fashioned and implemented, a Palestinian state can also rein in these elements. The power vacuum and politico-social limbo serves as a petrie dish for extremism.

Whether a solution embodies two separate entities or one congruent State, one is in desperate need. It seems that the elite in Israel and the OT wish to maintain a pergutarory status quo - instead of reaching out for an unknown tomorrow fret with peace, they opt for the familiarity and predictability of war.

Take a chance, you have to be in it to win it.

Ya'but: Anomalous,

In Vegas, taking a chance is always easier for the high roller with deep pockets who can afford to lose.

Unfortunately, small ME sidebets have so far failed to pay off. Yes, there's peace with the Egyptian and Jordanian governments, but not necessarily with the street.

When you're talking about a country smaller than Lake Michigan, it's understandably harder to double down the land for peace bet, especially after being burned in Lebanon and Gaza. Look at the original partition map -- notice the choke point?

I think the next confidence building measure has to come from the arab side. Reigning in the extremists would be a good place to start.

Israel had to do the same early in its history when it became obvious that militant factions endangered the bigger picture. Israel had to come to grips with its terrorists.

Otherwise, negotiating peace is like trying to negotiate a contract with a schizophrenic. Sure he'll sign on the dotted line, but there's no telling what his fourteen other personalities have in mind.

Whisleblower: Ya'but | 9:50 am

...the Arab street is divided into 4 basic solution camps in regards to Israel and the Jews:

A) Return to '67
B) Return to '48
C) Return to '47
D) Return to Creator

the Arab street is definitely agreed on:

E) Return to Khazaria

A Labor of Love: The Truth About Labor Day

Left: A mass Labor movement somehow lost in the crossroads of class mobility - a subterfuge of the sacrifices and pledges of workers' rights.

The first Monday in September is Labor Day in the United States -- a national holiday established more than a century ago to honor the American worker. Americans typically spend the day away from work, enjoying picnics in the park or visiting the beach or swimming pools on what for many is the last holiday of the summer vacation season.

In every country today except Canada, the United States, and South Africa, May 1st is the day the struggles and contributions of workers are celebrated. And so it was in America until that day became associated with "radicalism."

In 1889, during the First (Paris) Congress of the Second Socialist International, May First was selected as a day for international celebration of the worker, no matter what day of the week it fell on. May first was chosen in commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre which occurred in Chicago in 1886. The elite in the US worked dilligently to distance the American worker movement from its international context. Henceforth, May Day in the US has been associated with radicalism.

After a number of suggestions from labor leaders for the establishment of a unique American "labor day" celebration, Grover Cleveland, a strong anti-labor president (who was seeking re-election and needed the union vote) agreed to a law establishing September 5th as Labor Day. This concession seemed motivated by a desire to distance American workers from the leftist political leanings of May Day celebrators worldwide, and to wrestle control away from workers and put it in the hands of government. In 1894, the first Monday in September was established as a federal holiday in the United States.

Left: Chicago Knights of Labor organized workers for an 8-hour day.

The observation of Labor Day is rooted in the Haymarket Massacre of 1886.

On May 1, 1886, Albert Parsons, head of the Chicago Knights of Labor, led 80,000 people through the city’s streets in support of the eight-hour day. In the next few days they were joined nationwide by 350,000 workers who went on strike at 1,200 factories.

The nation-wide strike for the 8-hour workday began May 1, 1886. In the following days of the strike at the McCormick Reaper Works, violence erupted between police and strikers on May 3, where two workers were shot. The May 4th rally at the Haymarket Square was held to protest the events of May 3rd.

Left:Advertising-flyer for the Haymarket rally.

A mass meeting was held in the Chicago haymarket to protest the deadly police action of the previous day. The rally began about 8:30 p.m. May 4 at the Haymarket, a site on Randolph between Halsted and Des Plaines Street, but due to low attendance it was moved a half block away to Des Plaines Street north of Randolph Street. After 10 p.m., as the rally drew to a close, 176 policemen led by Inspector John Bonfield moved in demanding immediate dispersal of the remaining 200 workers. Suddenly a bomb exploded. In the chaos that followed shots were fired by police and perhaps by workers. One police officer was killed by the bomb, six officers died later and sixty others were injured. No official count was made of civilian deaths or injuries probably because friends and/or relatives carried them off immediately. Medical evidence later showed that most of the injuries suffered by the police were caused by their own bullets.

Left:Lithograph of the Haymarket massacre.

All well known organizers, socialists and anarchists were rounded up and arrested in the days following the massacre. Thirty one of them were named in criminal indictments and eight held for trial.

Left: Police arrest leading Union orginazers and Worker activists.

Although the bomb thrower has never been identified the eight indicted men were convicted by a court which held that the "inflammatory speeches and publications" of these eight incited the actions of the mob. The Illinois and U.S. Supreme Courts upheld the verdict.

On November 11, 1887 four of the accused were hanged. One committed suicide in jail, two had their sentences commuted to life in prison and one remained in prison even though there was no case against him.

THE LABOR DAY MARTYRS:

Left:The five men are, clockwise from 1:00 o'clock: A. R. Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, August Spies, and Louis Lingg, in the middle.

The first four were hanged on Friday, November 11, 1887. Lingg committed suicide on November 10, 1887 detonating dynamite in his mouth.

Labor Day a May Day Alternative

"There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today!" -- Spoken by August Spies, one of the hanged.

Left: Workers gather at the Haymarket Massacre site more than a century later to commemorate the sacrifices of the fallen.

It's easy to forget that US workers had to literally fight for their rights to a decent wage and improved working conditions -- and many lost their lives trying to organize. The major figures in industry at that time utilized violent union-busting tactics to maintain control and obtain maximum profitability.

Left:Depiction of a 1932 workers' rally on May Day.

As late as 1932, many workers were still celebrating May 1 as the day of labor struggles, despite the government's efforts to shift emphasis to the 5th of September. The association between May 1st and socialism increasingly, became uncomfortable for unions, industrialists and government alike.

On this Labor Day, the memory of those millions who took to the streets in opposition to capital, interest and speculation's stranglehold lives on. They viewed Capital as the enemy of the worker, the enemy of the immigrant, the enemy of all freedom loving people. They rejected its wars, its governments, its immigration laws, and its exploitation and degradation of life. True, many things have changed in the past century however, these presumptuous relations remain.

In our day, labor unions in the United States face a very uncertain future. Membership has declined dramatically. Unionized workers make up only about eight percent of the private-sector labor force.

The villification of the Haymarket massacre led unions away from the radicalism around the turn of the 20th century. American unions allowed themselves to be manipulated -- and co-opted - and that even the establishment of Labor Day was a sign capital won out against labor. The strategy of capitalists have historically, been to make concession in a way that divides labor, divides the people on the street.

The American Labor Day has been made separate from the May Day. So, right away, those who want to celebrate May Day are fighting with those who want to celebrate Labor Day. Those who want to think of the labor movement as part of an international struggle for workers' rights and economic democracy are separated from those who want Labor Day as an American institution. If you don't celebrate that day, you're 'anti-American.' If you do celebrate that day, you're denying the internationalism of labor.

The civilizing advances we enjoy, when it comes to working people – child labor laws, collective bargaining rights, Social Security, Medicare, decent and secure pensions, etc., - were fought for by worker movements. Therefore, we should build on their sacrifices so that we the people, the workers will seize control of our own lives, workplaces, and communities.

Land mines & Cluster bombs in Lebanon

If the Israélis estimated their landmines, booby traps and unspent clusterbomb bomblets as a de facto buffer zone in southern Lebanon then the measure backfired.

If the Israélis are having difficulty remembering where they placed their unexploded ordinance how are Lebanese civilians returning to their homes in the south to fair in the roulette of death these traps represent?

Left: An Israéli army tank takes a hill top near the southern border town of Wazzani, Lebanon.

An Israéli soldier was killed and three others wounded in southern Lebanon when their tank drove over a landmine. - one of the many left over by the Israélis after they withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, ending 22 years of occupation.

Left: Israéli soldiers at the Israélo-Lebanese frontier after the deadly explosion.

Providing maps for these minefields is required from Israél under UN cease-fire resolution 1701 that ended the latest fighting.

Above: The map shows the extent of mine and/or unexploded ordinance problems in Lebanon (shaded in pink)

Israél dropped at least 15 thousand cluster bombs, each carrying anywhere from 80 to 600 small bomblets, [of softball size] on hundreds of villages in southern Lebanon during its recent war against Hizballah. These cluster bombs have a dud rate [not exploding on contact] of about 30% to 40%. The bomblets that failed to explode are now a deadly trap for civilians.

UN officials estimate that southern Lebanon is littered with more than a million cluster-bomb bomblets dropped by Israel in the waning days of the war. The deadly bombs are stuck in the branches of olive trees and the broad leaves of banana trees. They are on rooftops, mixed in with rubble, littered across fields, farms, driveways, roads and outside schools.

At least eighteen people were recently, killed and 109 others wounded from these unexploded bomblets. The removal of cluster bombs will take over a year to complete. In addition to this new danger it is estimated that there are still some 2,500 minefields containing 800,000 landmines.

According to UNIFIL officials, at the current rate of clearance, it will take approximately 37 years to clear Lebanese land of mines. The cleanup cost of this hazard has been estimated at a billion US dollars.

DANGER DO NOT ENTER - de facto militarized zone

Israél has refused to hand over maps of landmines planted in southern Lebanon during and after the occupation as a ploy to prevent the movement of Hizballah – essentially, creating a buffer zone inside Lebanon. It’s a particularly, cruel form of strategy for those who aren’t guerillas and who also happen to be its major victims.

The vast majority of the mines were laid by Israéli forces in the last two decades. The Israéli Defense Force (IDF), breached U.N. peace-keeping lines to plant booby-traps close to the Litani River, an area consisting in part of arable land and farmland.

Around every artillery position or military outpost previously, occupied by the IDF, or their SLA collaborators, lie acres of dormant ordinance waiting to explode at the slightest misstep. This problem is not confined to the south. In the Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese Army (LA), estimates approximately eleven tons of mines and unexploded ordinance (UXO), are scattered in a forty four square mile area inhabited by 40,000 people. That area, much of which is farmland, is highly contaminated with cluster bombs and UXO.

The social impact of this threat is devastating. Farmland can not be used safely, and convincing villagers of the danger and keeping them off farmland is a tremendous challenge. In a country as small as Lebanon, the civilian dependence on farmland for subsistence is critical. The vast amount of UXO in effect creates no-go zones, which depolutates vast areas.

Left: The soil is dark with iron mineralisation (normal metal detectors may be useless in these conditions) and shallow over limestone rocks.

Landmines, cluster bombs as death traps in everyday life

In an interview on Democracy Now Bilal Beydoun explains the danger posed by unexploded ordinance: "I found an unexploded bomb on my front porch and an unexploded missile on my back porch. And I don't know where I’m going to sleep tonight. I mean, I can't even go in my backyard, because the grass is high, and you just can't go back there. You don't know where you're going to step. Your next step might be your last step."

Another Lebanese villager in the south complained: "You can’t walk in this area. You can see all the bombs around you. You might step on one of these. You can see it. Boom! Kill you."

The UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) will coordinate the expansion of clearance efforts to mitigate the increasing deadly threat.

In addition to the ongoing TV, radio and leaflet/poster campaigns on UXO safety and awareness, UNICEF with the assistance of numerous NGOs, plan further action on Mine Risk Education and Mine Victim Assistance.


Left: Shepherds in the valley in the foreground have received mine injuries. Snow and water dislodged mines into the ravines below.


Background - A UXO littered Lebanese landscape

The recent war exacerbates a longstanding problem with unexploded weapons in Lebanon. The problem of landmines in Lebanon goes back to WWII. Armed forces from several States, including Lebanon, Israél, and the US, as well as numerous non-state groups, used explosive ordinance and landmines until the end of the Israéli occupation on May 24, 2000. Consequently, antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines and UXO can be found throughout the country.

An estimated 75 percent of the hundreds of thousands of buried landmines are in the immediate area of the U.N. delineated Blue Line near the border, affecting more than 100,000 inhabitants. The remaining 200,000 mines are scattered throughout the rest of the country. In June 2005, the LA stated that 3,975 landmine casualties (1,835 killed and 2,140 injured) had been identified since 1970.

Clearing the landmines - an uphill battle

The LA has neither the technical ability nor the resources to manage the problem. This has resulted in a high rate of casualties. An additional obstacle to neutralizing unexploded ordinance is the fact that they do not possess necessary information about the weaponry. Some of this information is classified by the governments that sell the ordinance or mines, including the US, the main supplier of Israéli armament. Although, Israél is also, a producer of landmines.

Israéli subversion of UN resolutions

Following the Israéli withdrawal from most of Lebanon in 2000, the UN made the following recommendations on February 16, 2001:

- To recognize and treat the situation of landmines and UXO in Lebanon as a humanitarian crisis;

- To pressure Israél to cooperate. Specifically, to compel Israél, in whatever ways possible, to produce complete and precise information regarding the location, numbers and types of mines it planted in Lebanon;

- To pressure the US and other countries that supplied the weaponry to provide specific technical assistance to Lebanon with regard to render-safe procedures for their weaponry;

The landmine maps provision adopted in UNSC resolution 1701 was part of a Hizballah-Lebanese government seven-point plan put forward at the international conference on the crisis in Rome on July 26, 2006. The landmine issue, the occupied Sha'aba Farms area and the release of Lebanese prisoners from Israéli prisons have been goals of the Lebanese government, as early as 2000 and are not exclusive Hizballah demands.

UNSC resolution 1701 states in pertinent parts:

OP8. provision to the United Nations of all remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israél's possession;

The Government of Israél has addressed the question of these maps in the same manner it treats other issues -- with procrastination and prefabrication. The maps received by Lebanon and UNIFIL were incomplete and covered only very small areas of the territory that was under Israéli occupation. Often the tendered maps indicated minefields, but did not contain information about the actual number or location of the mines within the fields. What are the Israéli motives for deliberately, comfounding efforts to rid Lebanon of dangerous ordinance?

Israél's northern border is a virtual fortress. The laying of hundreds of thousands of ordinance and booby-traps in southern Lebanon amounts to an overkill. Israél defends its northern border with cordons of electrified fences and mines equipped with sophisticated detection devices, which make any infiltration nearly impossible. The electronic monitors can locate any intrusion within a third of a mile. Patrol roads run behind the line, covered with constant mobile and foot patrols on the move day and night. The sophisticated fence system consists of control panels that give early warning of anyone trying to cross. There are also ground, infra-red, radio and television monitors at strategic points and routine road patrols along the security road, with vehicles on lookout day and night. Other than the standard land-mines, foot patrols or observation posts, other defensive measures such as sattelite and airborne assets exist. The border fence system is an ample last line of defense.

In light of these austere security measures the so-called buffer zone lends concern to the skeptic about the underlying purpose of saturating southern Lebanon with landmines and UXO. After six years of mirrors and sleight of hand diplomacy, Israél has yet to submit accurate landmine maps. Israél must not choose to ignore yet, another UN resolution, and continue to hamper critical efforts to restore normal living conditions in southern Lebanon. Israél should embrace this "opportunity" to assist in correcting the abuses of the past – and release the documents that can prevent further injuries or deaths of innocent civilians. The international community must remain vigilant and rein in Israél from the continued use of these unexploded munitions to extort concessions from Lebanon, prevent mobility and usage of lands by keeping the Lebanese population hostage in their own country.

Israél's rush order to the US to ‘quickly’ send more multi-head cluster bombs implicates it further in its duplicitous depopulation scheme. These cluster bombs would have served to cleanse more people from southern Lebanon had the US sent the extra cluster bombs. Fortunately, a well-placed leak, media exposure and public outcry dessuaded the Bush administration from sending the shipments.

There’s also the all-important matter of the waters of the Litani River in southern Lebanon to compile in the litany of Israéli motivation of devastation. The IDF might as well prepare the terrain for an eventual annexation by making conditions in the area inhabitable. One-third of the 650,000 residents of southern Lebanon have been prevented from returning home because of these cluster-bombs. Israél has thus, prepared south Lebanon with vast amounts of UXO as a de facto buffer zone and more.