Israel to Expel 400 children, by Jason Koutsoukis

I got a rude email today accusing me of being a cult, a crackpot conspiracy theorist and a Jew hater for writing about what's happening to Oliver Stone. This is for Richard:

Israel to expel 400 children
JASON KOUTSOUKIS, JERUSALEM
August 3, 2010

http://www.theage.com.au/world/israel-to-expel-400-children-20100802-1139p.html
ISRAEL will expel 400 native-born children of non-Jewish foreign workers to help safeguard the country's Jewish identity.

Migrant advocacy groups responded angrily, arguing that the decision would punish innocent children by sending them back to impoverished nations their parents left in search of better lives in Israel.

Announcing the decision on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the policy was also aimed at halting the flow of illegal immigrants across the southern border with Egypt.

''On the one hand, this problem is a humanitarian problem, we all feel and understand the hearts of children,'' Mr Netanyahu said. ''But on the other hand, there are Zionist considerations and ensuring the Jewish character of the state of Israel.''

Under the new rules, children born to foreign workers who entered Israel legally, and who have lived in Israel for five years or more, speak Hebrew and are enrolled in an Israeli school, will be eligible for permanent residency.

After considering the issue for more than a year, the Israeli cabinet voted 13 to 10 in favour of the decision.

Some ministers voted against the move because not enough children were being expelled. Other ministers were opposed to expelling any children.

About 400 children of foreign workers will have to leave Israel by the end of the month, while another 800 children will be eligible to stay.

''This isn't the state of the Jews that I know, that expels children,'' said Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a Labour Party member. ''This is not the right time to let people see Israel expelling 400 children.''

Rotem Ilan, chairman of Israeli Children, an advocacy group for migrant workers' families, said: ''We're talking about children here. They are the children of people who came to Israel legally to work.

''We brought these people here to plough our fields, build our houses and take care of our grandparents. And with people, come families.''

Ms Ilan argued that it was the deportation of children that threatened Israel's Jewish character.

''The obligation to act with kindness and compassion to foreigners is the most frequently repeated commandment in the Torah,'' she said.

Some Jews obviously still think the Torah is Jewish Law. Does that make them anti Semitic? What is the "Jewish identity" that the Zionists want to "safeguard?" Why do I always get the same hate mails every time I write something about someone who is under attack for telling the truth about Israel and the Zionist influence on the American media? Jewish Who's Whos always boast of the Jewish prominence in industry and the arts. Israeli technology dominates the global market. The Israeli military has the U.S. military doing its bidding in the Middle East. These are facts, and to quote Barbra Streisand, "I've got no axe to grind.. but hey... what are ya.... blind?"

Richard, were you trained at the same school in Israel as all the other Zionist drones who monitor the internet for "hate speech?" You people are almost as entertaining as Jesse Ventura.

Hamas appeal to the EU? Why?

I can't help noticing how much more often the Palestinians are said to be appealing to the EU and the UN. Whatever legitimacy they have is diminished by their association with the international communitarian trade and justice system. This deserves further study... it really does get to the heart of the insanity. I feel like I did when I learned the people in Palestine appealed to the League of Nations in 1933 to curb Jewish immigration. They obviously didn't know who the League of Nations was. But you'd think after 77 years they'd have figured it out.

http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/22/1010741/hamas-to-eu-put-israel-on-terrorism-list

Why it takes so many Mossad agents to kill a Palestinian with a Pillow?
by Gilad Atzmon

Monday, March 1, 2010

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/why-it-takes-so-many-mossad-agents-to-kill-a-palestinian-wit.html

While in Britain, France, USA and Argentina the Mossad enjoys the support of thousands of local Sayanim, Jews who are happy to betray their neighbours for their beloved Jewish state, when operating in Arab countries the Mossad has to schlep its very many assassins and their assistants using different fraudulent methods.

Yet one may wonder why does it take 26 Mossad agents to carry out a single murder of an unarmed Palestinian freedom fighter with a pillow*. I will try to throw some light on the puzzling question.

The Mossad is not just an ordinary intelligence agency run by boring gentiles. It is actually run by Chosen people and it is there to serve the interests of the Jewish state and the Jewish national project. In recent days we learned that more than two dozen Mossad agents have been identified so far by the Dubai police. One would expect that with such a varied and extended collective of Jewish murderers operating in an hostile Arab country at least one combatant Rabbi is needed just to keep the Kosher regulations, maintaining an open line with God and sustaining a revengeful Jewish spirit.

As much as food in Dubai is known to be amazingly delicious, not many kosher delicatessens are currently operating downtown. Hence, we also need a Jewishly trained expert that would purchase the fish for the gefilte and the chicken for the soup. We would need at least one chef who knows how to transform chicken and water into Jewish Power (chicken soup). You have to remember that from a Jewish perspective, food is of the essence. Unlike animals who kill only when they need to eat or are detecting an imminent danger, the Israeli kills for "ulterior motives" (democracy, pluralism, war 'against terror' etc') and then prefers to do it when their belly is full.

Between the culinary concerns and the Kosher diet regulations we already allocated 3 members of the team. Still 23 potential assassins are more than enough for just one single kill.

But there are more facts to take into account. Bearing in mind the recent revelations about some Mossad members' mental instability, it is more than likely that a Psychiatrist, a Freudian analyst, a psychiatric paramedic and a nurse were needed to assist the Jewish lethal heroes 'before and after'. This indeed brings our team to just 19 potential assassins.

As we learn from the press, 6 of the Mossad agents were women. This would mean that we need some beauty experts. A hairdresser who specialises in 'curly situations'. We would also need a Jewish Cosmetic consultant, and one who knows about manicure and pedicure. One who can transform the Jewish female nail into a Zionist lethal sword (just in case a technical pillow failure occurs). We also need a wig specialist, one who knows how to transform a boy from Tel Aviv into a lad from Essex. The 'J beauty specialists' reduce our team of assassins to 17.

But we are not finished yet, as we learn from the press. Our Mossad killers were rather enthusiastic about tennis. Clearly they wouldn't trust an Arab or Jihady referee, they must have brought their own. They probably needed a Kosher Israeli tennis referee and a few athletic settlers who run after their balls. Let us assume that we need 2-3 ball runners and one referee, this would bring our potential assassin team to just 14.

According to The Times, the Holocaust play a major role in Mossad's philosophy. "We should be strong, use our brain, and defend ourselves so that the Holocaust will never be repeated", says Meir Dagan the Mossad 's current chief. As it happens, the Mossad is killing in the name of the Jewish past. It is more than likely that the Mossad schleped to Dubai some of its best Holocaust priests, those who remind the spies why should they execute and why they should depart from the human family. Considering the six figure narrative, it would be reasonable to assume that the Mossad sent to Dubai at least six Holocaust mentors: one for each million.

However, as we know, the Nazi Holocaust is just one event among countless other Judeocides. 'Never to Forgive Never to Forget' is apparently the prospect of Jewish future. All together we can count 9 or 10 Jewish Judeocide priests to include the 19th century East European Pogroms, the Inquisition, Amalek and so on. This would bring down our list of potential hit men to just 5.

Yet as much as nationalist Jews and their spiritual leaders vow 'never to forget' and always to remember, there are some things they really insist to overlook, push aside or dismiss. For instance, they seem to fail to grasp the real meaning of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict known as the Goldstone report. They insist to dismiss Shlomo Sand's reading of their history as a bundle of invented phatasmic tales on the verge of total fallacy. They insist to turn a blind eye to the fact that AIPAC, AJC, ADL, LFI and CFI dispatches are all lobbying for racist expansionist ideology (Zionism) in our midst. With British Foreign Secretary David Miliband being listed as an "Israeli Hasbara (propaganda) Author" and Zionists preaching for interventionist wars in the Media, with Bernie Madoff teaching us about Ponzi schemes and Alan Greenspan who brought on us the biggest financial meltdown ever. We need some Jewish specialists who can indoctrinate Mossad agents into total blindness and complete amnesia. I would guess that with Wolfowitz, Miliband, Goldstone, Abe Foxman, Greenspan, Madoff, Olmert, Livni Sharon, Peres and too many more, we may need just more than 5 experts to convince the Mossad's hit-squad that the Jewish cause is truly kosher.

As we can see, we already counted 26 necessary assistants to murder without even mentioning a single Mossad pillow operator. As we see, it takes far more than just 26 Mossad agents to murder an unarmed Palestinian. I guess that in the coming days the Dubai police will bring up many more photos of Israelis in wigs.

I must admit that with Israel around, life is always full of surprises. What are we going to do when it is gone?

What are we going to do when it is gone? Is destroying Israel the ultimate goal of the planners? Was the State of Israel created as the antithesis to Islam? Maybe I should go read some more of Barry Chamish's writings, he was the first Israeli writer I met via the ACL who sugessted the Jewish settlers in Israel are being sacrificed for the CFR. My take on all this is based only on what I've read and not any RL experience. All I know for sure is the international orgs seek validation, they need it to expand their global power. The enemies of "peace" have to be obviously horrible before the people of the world will beg for salvation in an international court. The more pleas to the EU and the UN I see coming from Palestine, the more I think about why they think they need to appeal to a European court based in supremacy of communitarian law, the same system Etzioni endorses and suggests should have full use of the military might of the United States.

Here's another link from Peter Myers that pertains to the role the Middle East plays:
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65720/zbigniew-brzezinski/from-hope-to-audacity

The Illuminati are the Nephilim, by Jeffery Grupp

This is wild. I just learned what anti-matter is last night, from a trashy novel I grabbed from a box of throwaway paperbacks up at Tims. It's called Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and I thought it would be mindless fun to read it at the same time I'm studying Malachai's "novel."

The entire plot of this fiction thriller is somebody acting like Illuminati stole the first collected specimen of anti-matter. So the author had to spend a few pages explaining it to dummies like me. Brown also gives a history of the Illuminatti that I've never read, and I've read quite a bit now. Fiction or fact - oh how the lines are blurred. How can anyone call THAT illuminated? And then, I only opened this email because I'm making a gertee DVD and am interested in how people are marketing them now. I was blown away by name of the maker's radio show, and then I took the link to the preview of his DVD Series. It's taking forever to download so I haven't seen it yet, but it sure looks like it ties into the topics I'm "studying" lately.

The mysteries of who we are and where we came from always lead back to the same sources. Maybe the information about the Illuminati is part of the plan for diverting humans from the present. Maybe it leads to the original founders of the plan. I don't know. Our focus had been primarily on the current manifestation of communitarianism. I prefer using current, verifiable sources. But who's to say whether one version of ancient history is more accurate than another, when there is evidence of all sorts of secret socieities, plots, (H) assassinations, poisonings, intriques, gossip, rumors, rapes, pillages, crusades, wars of aggression, religious persecution and sacrifices, human slavery, torture, mass genocide and canibalism.

There is ample evidence of communitarian ethics and morals in the news today. I don't know if they're illuminated into Light Beings or not, but our modern moral leaders recycle the human organs of their enemies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/21/israeli-pathologists-harvested-organs

I used to try to maintain a certain journalistic standard, as with all my citations in my lengthy quasi academic papers designed to challenge Etzioni and his Network. When I had to include a topic at the ACL I knew academia deemed "conspiracy theory," I tried to be as detached as possible and presented all sides of the topic. There are always many sides to every topic under the communitarian umbrella, and sadly, most (if not all) are completely controlled by communitarian facilitators. Over the years I realized this is my blog and I don't have to kow tow to the information gatekeepers here. That's when I started having fun with it and posting photos of things like my tents, my camps, my projects, Obama as a Pharoh and Chris Katko's political cartoons. Today I'll write about and post anything I want on my blog. I've been called a conspiracy theorist for so long I'm numb to it.

This whole concept of natural science based entirely upon universal law of opposites is causing my brain to do flip flops. Why does everything appear to support Hegel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3_unm0Vv7k

Jeffrey Grupp
Web site: www.AbstractAtom.com
Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/antimatterradio

Israeli Terrorism Against America?? INCONCEIVABLE.

We just rented The Princess Bride for Freddie last month, so everytime I read the word "inconceivable" I clearly heard the voice of the character in the movie. which made this especially entertaining in a very strange way. Anyway, I like Mark Glenn, I referenced some of his work at the ACL a long time ago, even though I saw the leftist ties to the international peace set in his earlier work too. This article has punch. Thanks Susie! The comments look to be interesting too, a little bit of Constance Cumby's crowd, a little bit of religion and a whole lot of anti Israeli, plus a long response to Gilad Atzmon's defense of some guy named Larry who uriniated on a holy relic or something? Didn't have time to read the whole thing.. have to get back to work on the book. The worst part about having internet again is I have lots of online distractions, and all of them are worth my time too. But reading doesn't pay the bills, there does come a point when words need to appear on the page, and I can't live off melted snow forever. :)

http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/israeli-terrorism-against-america-inconceivable/

Obama's Communitarian Humanitariansm - the un-named consensus

His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population. (Nobel Press Release, October 9, 2009)

From our friend Pete this morning we get the whole truth about Obama's Noble & Peaceful intentions, well, everything except the philosophy, law and religion that are shared by the mystical majority who support him. Most people have no idea what values they share with each other, and it certainly helps to keep them in the dark when respected, talented writers like Michael Chussudovsky leave it out of every article they write. What if Michael had included just one line about Obama's humantarian guru Dr. Amitai Etzioni (GWU-PNAC-CFR-IDF-Palmach-EU-NATO-UN-ABCD) and the fact that the Pentagon quotes his books in their Daily Briefings, or expounded just a bite on the communitarian theory that justifies Just War?

My 19 year old son is one of the US Marines heading for Afghanistan next month. :(

Obama and the Nobel Prize: When War Becomes Peace, When the Lie Becomes the Truth

by Michel Chossudovsky


When war becomes peace,

When concepts and realities are turned upside down,

When fiction becomes truth and truth becomes fiction.

When a global military agenda is heralded as a humanitarian endeavor,

When the killing of civilians is upheld as "collateral damage,"

When those who resist the US-NATO led invasion of their homeland are categorized as "insurgents" or "terrorists."

When preemptive nuclear war is upheld as self-defense.

When advanced torture and "interrogation" techniques are routinely used to "protect peacekeeping operations,"

When tactical nuclear weapons are heralded by the Pentagon as "harmless to the surrounding civilian population"

When three quarters of US personal federal income tax revenues are allocated to financing what is euphemistically referred to as "national defense"

When the Commander in Chief of the largest military force on planet earth is presented as a global peace-maker,

When the Lie becomes the Truth.

Obama's "War Without Borders"

We are the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history. The US in partnership with NATO and Israel has launched a global military adventure which, in a very real sense, threatens the future of humanity.

At this critical juncture in our history, the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to President and Commander in Chief Barack Obama constitutes an unmitigated tool of propaganda and distortion, which unreservedly supports the Pentagon's "Long War": "A War without Borders" in the true sense of the word, characterised by the Worldwide deployment of US military might.

Apart from the diplomatic rhetoric, there has been no meaningful reversal of US foreign policy in relation to the George W. Bush presidency, which might have remotely justified the granting of the Nobel Prize to Obama. In fact quite the opposite. The Obama military agenda has sought to extend the war into new frontiers. With a new team of military and foreign policy advisers, the Obama war agenda has been far more effective in fostering military escalation than that formulated by the NeoCons.

Since the very outset of the Obama presidency, this global military project has become increasingly pervasive, with the reinforcement of US military presence in all major regions of the World and the development of new advanced weapons systems on an unprecedented scale.

Granting the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama provides legitimacy to the illegal practices of war, to the military occupation of foreign lands, to the relentless killings of civilians in the name of "democracy."

Both the Obama administration and NATO are directly threatening Russia, China and Iran. The US under Obama is developing "a First Strike Global Missile Shield System":

"Along with space-based weapons, the Airborne Laser is the next defense frontier. ... Never has Ronald Reagan's dream of layered missile defenses – Star Wars, for short – been as...close, at least technologically, to becoming realized."

Reacting to this consolidation, streamlining and upgrading of American global nuclear strike potential, on August 11 the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, the same Alexander Zelin cited earlier on the threat of U.S. strikes from space on all of his nation, said that the "Russian Air Force is preparing to meet the threats resulting from the creation of the Global Strike Command in the U.S. Air Force" and that Russia is developing "appropriate systems to meet the threats that may arise." (Rick Rozoff, Showdown with Russia and China: U.S. Advances First Strike Global Missile Shield System, Global Research, August 19, 2009)

At no time since the Cuban missile crisis has the World been closer to the unthinkable: a World War III scenario, a global military conflict involving the use of nuclear weapons.

1. The so-called missile defense shield or Star Wars initiative involving the first strike use of nuclear weapons is now to be developed globally in different regions of the World. The missile shield is largely directed against Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
2. New US military bases have been set up with a view to establishing US spheres of influence in every region of the World as well as surrounding and confronting Russia and China.
3. There has been an escalation in the Central Asian Middle East war. The "defense budget" under Obama has spiraled with increased allocations to both Afghanistan and Iraq.
4. Under orders of president Obama, acting as Commander in Chief, Pakistan is now the object of routine US aerial bombardments in violation of its territorial sovereignty, using the "Global War on Terrorism" as a justification.
5. The construction of new military bases is envisaged in Latin America including Colombia on the immediate border of Venezuela.
6. Military aid to Israel has increased. The Obama presidency has expressed its unbending support for Israel and the Israeli military. Obama has remained mum on the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza. There has not even been a semblance of renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
7. There has been a reinforcement of the new regional commands including AFRICOM and SOUTHCOM.
8. A new round of threats has been directed against Iran.
9. The US is intent upon fostering further divisions between Pakistan and India, which could lead to a regional war, as well as using India's nuclear arsenal as an indirect means to threaten China.

The diabolical nature of this military project was outlined in the 2000 Project for a New American Century (PNAC). The PNAC's declared objectives are:

* defend the American homeland;
* fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars;
* perform the "constabulary" duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;
* transform U.S. forces to exploit the "revolution in military affairs;" (Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding Americas Defenses.pdf, September 2000)

The "Revolution in Military Affairs" refers to the development of new advanced weapons systems. The militarization of space, new advanced chemical and biological weapons, sophisticated laser-guided missiles, bunker buster bombs, not to mention the US Air Force's climatic warfare program (HAARP) based in Gokona, Alaska, are part of Obama's "humanitarian arsenal."

War against the Truth

This is a war against the truth. When war becomes peace, the world is turned upside down. Conceptualization is no longer possible. An inquisitorial social system emerges.

An understanding of fundamental social and political events is replaced by a World of sheer fantasy, where "evil folks" are lurking. The objective of the "Global War on Terrorism" which has been fully endorsed by Obama administration has been to galvanize public support for a Worldwide campaign against heresy.

In the eyes of public opinion, possessing a "just cause" for waging war is central. A war is said to be Just if it is waged on moral, religious or ethical grounds. The consensus is to wage war. People can longer think for themselves. They accept the authority and wisdom of the established social order.

The Nobel Committee says that President Obama has given the world "hope for a better future." The prize is awarded for Obama's

"extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."

...His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population. (Nobel Press Release, October 9, 2009)

The granting of the Nobel "peace prize" to president Barack Obama has become an integral part of the Pentagon's propaganda machine. It provides a human face to the invaders, it upholds the demonization of those who oppose US military intervention.

The decision to grant Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was no doubt carefully negotiated with the Norwegian Committee at the highest levels of the US government. It has far-reaching implications.

It unequivocally upholds the US-led war as a "Just Cause." It erases the war crimes committed both by the Bush and Obama administrations.

War Propaganda: Jus ad Bellum

The "Just War" theory serves to camouflage the nature of US foreign policy, while providing a human face to the invaders.

In both its classical and contemporary versions, the Just war theory upholds war as a "humanitarian operation." It calls for military intervention on ethical and moral grounds against "insurgents," "terrorists," "failed" or "rogue states."

The Just War has been heralded by the Nobel Committee as an instrument of Peace. Obama personifies the "Just War."

Taught in US military academies, a modern-day version of the "Just War" theory has been embodied into US military doctrine. The "war on terrorism" and the notion of "preemption" are predicated on the right to "self-defense." They define "when it is permissible to wage war": jus ad bellum.

Jus ad bellum has served to build a consensus within the Armed Forces command structures. It has also served to convince the troops that they are fighting for a "just cause." More generally, the Just War theory in its modern day version is an integral part of war propaganda and media disinformation, applied to gain public support for a war agenda. Under Obama as Nobel Peace Laureate, the Just War becomes universally accepted, upheld by the so-called international community.

The ultimate objective is to subdue the citizens, totally depoliticize social life in America, prevent people from thinking and conceptualizing, from analyzing facts and challenging the legitimacy of the US-NATO-led war.

War becomes peace, a worthwhile "humanitarian undertaking." Peaceful dissent becomes heresy.

Military Escalation with a Human Face. Nobel Committee grants the "Green Light"

More significantly, the Nobel Peace Prize grants legitimacy to an unprecedented "escalation" of US-NATO-led military operations under the banner of peacemaking.

It contributes to falsifying the nature of the US-NATO military agenda.

Between 40,000 to 60,000 more US and allied troops are to be sent to Afghanistan under a peacemaking banner. On the 8th of October, a day prior to the Nobel Committee's decision, the US congress granted Obama a 680-billion-dollar defense authorization bill, which is slated to finance the process of military escalation:

"Washington and its NATO allies are planning an unprecedented increase of troops for the war in Afghanistan, even in addition to the 17,000 new American and several thousand NATO forces that have been committed to the war so far this year."

The number, based on as yet unsubstantiated reports of what U.S. and NATO commander Stanley McChrystal and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen have demanded of the White House, range from 10,000 to 45,000.

Fox News has cited figures as high as 45,000 more American soldiers and ABC News as many as 40,000. On September 15 the Christian Science Monitor wrote of "perhaps as many as 45,000."

The similarity of the estimates indicate that a number has been agreed upon and America's obedient media is preparing domestic audiences for the possibility of the largest escalation of foreign armed forces in Afghanistan's history. Only seven years ago the United States had 5,000 troops in the country, but was scheduled to have 68,000 by December even before the reports of new deployments surfaced. (Rick Rozoff, U.S., NATO Poised For Most Massive War In Afghanistan's History, Global Research, September 24, 2009)

Within hours of the decision of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Obama met with the War Council, or should we call it the "Peace Council." This meeting had been carefully scheduled to coincide with that of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

This key meeting behind closed doors in the Situation Room of the White House included Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and key political and military advisers. General Stanley McChrystal participated in the meeting via video link from Kabul.

General Stanley McChrystal is said to have offered the Commander in Chief "several alternative options" "including a maximum injection of 60,000 extra troops." The 60,000 figure was quoted following a leak of the Wall Street Journal (AFP: After Nobel nod, Obama convenes Afghan war council, October 9, 2009).

"The president had a robust conversation about the security and political challenges in Afghanistan and the options for building a strategic approach going forward," according to an administration official (quoted in AFP: After Nobel nod, Obama convenes Afghan war council October 9, 2009).

The Nobel committee had in a sense given Obama a green light. The October 9 meeting in the Situation Room was to set the groundwork for a further escalation of the conflict under the banner of counterinsurgency and democracy building.

Meanwhile, in the course of the last few months, US forces have stepped up their aerial bombardments of village communities in the northern tribal areas of Pakistan, under the banner of combating Al Qaeda.

This article originally appeared on GlobalResearch.ca.

October 12, 2009

Michel Chossudovsky is the publisher of GlobalResearch.ca.

Copyright © 2009 Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research


http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/chossudovsky1.1.1.html

US State Dept. not sure if Pasta is a "dual-use" item

How many posts can I make in one day? I know it's a bit much today, but this was just too good to not share before it went deeper into the black hole called my inbox. I'm flying through my email, trying to sort through all the stuff going on... and on.... and on... and then I read this, from Peter Myer's elist:

(2) US State Dept. not sure if Pasta is a "dual-use" item

From: Sadanand, Nanjundiah (Physics Earth Sciences) <sadanand@mail.ccsu.edu> Date: 05.03.2009 05:47 PM

The extent to which the US administration (Democratic or Republican Party, it makes little difference) kowtows to the repressive policies of the Israeli government is illustrated by this excerpt from a press briefing at the State Dept.

The spokesman cannot find words to describe Israel's illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip that is barely keeping 1.5 million people at survival levels.
Read this ludicrous exchange between a reporter and spokesperson Robert Wood last week. For reference, the report below,“The pasta, paper and hearing aids that could threaten Israeli security”, is useful

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-pasta-paper-and-hearing-aids-that-could-threaten-israeli-security-1635143.html

From State Department Daily Press Briefing

February 25, 2009

QUESTION: But can you imagine any circumstance under which pasta could be considered a dual-use item? Or is there some -- you know, is rigatoni somehow going to be used as a weapon? (Laughter.)

MR. WOOD: I'm not involved in those discussions, so I -

QUESTION: Well, I mean -- I mean, it just seems to be absurd on the face of it, if that's what happening.

MR. WOOD: Well, there are people on the ground who are dealing with these issues. And I think we should leave it --

QUESTION: Dealing with the pasta dual-use issue?

QUESTION: Yeah, can you take a question on the pasta, please?

MR. WOOD: I'm not going to take the question on the pasta --

QUESTION: Why?

MR. WOOD: -- because it's -

QUESTION: Well, the United States is obviously pushing it, so obviously it's something --

MR. WOOD: We're trying to get humanitarian supplies in - on the ground to the people in Gaza.

QUESTION: Do you think food is a humanitarian supply?

MR. WOOD: Food certainly is.

QUESTION: All kinds of food?

MR. WOOD: I - I'm not able to tell you from here whether it -

QUESTION: Can you get a - can you take the question of what kind of food that the U.S. thinks is a humanitarian supply?

MR. WOOD: I'm not going to take that question, because I don't think it's a legitimate question.

QUESTION: You don't think it's legitimate that the Palestinians need certain foods and is - should Israel decide what food the Palestinians need?

MR. WOOD: I'm sorry, Elise, I'm not going to - I've spoken on it.

Every day brings new sophisticated ways of ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians while expanding the colonial settlements that increasing surround the few remaining Bantustans where those of us who remain here try to cling to a semblance of life (and not just the areas occupied since 1967 but also in places like Jaffa, the Negev, and the Galilee). I would like to impose on you to read a few of these case studies that are compiled by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) for the West Bank. You will be disturbed to see extremely well documented examples of the violence of land confiscation and ethnic cleansing. If you review just a few of those hundreds of stories, you will likely ask yourself why there is so little violent resistance! While awaiting International Criminal Courts to finally take-up these cases, we need to think what we can do together. How much we can get beyond our normal functioning and expand our activism and/or make it more effective (while guarding against compassion fatigue). The best answer for most people is to engage in boycotts, divestments, and sanctions based on the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action and we urge you to join the call (see below)

ARIJ’s Case Studies (in Ethnic Cleansing and apartheid master plans)

http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/index.php?Y=2009

I have to go poke around Mary's site now and see what her and Gilad have on this Q&A. There's so many angles to this story, not the least being the speculation that we are seeing the end of zionism. Maybe Barry Chamish was right about the Israeli Jews being set up by the CFR to be sacrificed again. How long before Gaza's pain is everybody's pain?

Most of the educated writing I see about the conflict always refers to a dependency or hope on the ICC. It would be wonderful to see a shift in any other direction.

I've never heard the term "compassion fatigue" before, but it sure rings true to me. Sounds a lot better than labeling myself as having a disease.

ICC Prosecutor looks at ways to put Israeli officers on trial for Gaza 'war crimes'

The Israeli-Hamas conflict is synthesizing. Establishing jurisdiction is a key element in all court procedures, it's the process where a court confirms or denies their authority to hear and rule on a case. To date, neither the U.S. or Israel recognise the International Criminal Court's (ICC) jurisdiction over them. The Palestinian Authority has not been recognised by any nation as sovereign state. While the U.S. government was quick to recognise the Bolsheviks in Russia and the Jewish Israeli revolutionaries "right of return" to Palestine, official U.S. recognition of the Arab-Muslim Palestinian state is non-existent.

In the U.S., the accepted, "unofficial" attitude toward the Palestinian people is that they are all a bunch of fanatical whacked out Jihad terrorists who threaten Israel's (and America's) existence. To be pro-Palestinian rights in the U.S. is considered anti-Semitic by the ADL. One doesn't even have to be a gentile or in favour of eliminating Israel to be accused of anti-Semitism. According to the ADL, anyone speaking out against Israel is guilty of anti-Semitism and can/should be charged with a hate crime. As the ADL's (established in 1913, the same year the international bankers got the Federal Reserve Act passed) U.S. tax funded presence on the internet gains them more power to crush all U.S. opposition opinions, it will also create an international backlash against them. The way I see it, the ADL's assumption of dictatorial control over published content also plays right into the hands of the people who want to give the ICC more power.

There were 2 articles about this in Peter Myer's email forward, but, as usual, the UK press article includes more relevant information:

(2) ICC is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over Gaza

From: IHR News <news@ihr.org> Date: 04.02.2009 03:51 PM

Prosecutor looks at ways to put Israeli officers on trial for Gaza 'war crimes'

Catherine Philp in Davos and James Hider in Jerusalem

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5636069.ece

From The Times

February 2, 2009

The International Criminal Court is exploring ways to prosecute Israeli commanders over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The alleged crimes include the use of deadly white phosphorus in densely populated civilian areas, as revealed in an investigation by The Times last month. Israel initially denied using the controversial weapon, which causes horrific burns, but was forced later, in the face of mounting evidence, to admit to having deployed it.

When Palestinian groups petitioned the ICC this month, its prosecutor said that it was unable to take the case because it had no jurisdiction over Israel, a nonsignatory to the court. Now, however, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor, has told The Times that he is examining the case for Palestinian jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Gaza.

Palestinian groups have submitted arguments asserting that the Palestinian Authority is the de facto state in the territory where the crimes were allegedly committed.

“It is the territorial state that has to make a reference to the court. They are making an argument that the Palestinian Authority is, in reality, that state,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo told The Times at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Part of the Palestinian argument rests on the Israeli insistence that it has no responsibility for Gaza under international law since it withdrew from the territory in 2006. “They are quoting jurisprudence,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo said. “It’s very complicated. It’s a different kind of analysis I am doing. It may take a long time but I will make a decision according to law.”

Mr Moreno-Ocampo said that his examination of the case did not necessarily reflect a belief that war crimes had been committed in Gaza. Determining jurisdiction was a first step, he said, and only after it had been decided could he launch an investigation.

The prosecutor’s office has already received several files on alleged crimes from Palestinian groups and is awaiting further reports from the Arab League and Amnesty International containing evidence gathered in Gaza.

Under the Rome treaty that founded it, the ICC can investigate and prosecute allegations of the most serious war crimes only if the country responsible is unwilling or unable to do so through its national courts.

States that are party to the treaty can refer cases of crimes committed by their citizens or on their territory. Cases involving the citizens or territory of a country that has not signed up to the court can be referred by the United Nations Security Council – as in the case of Darfur. Ivory Coast set a precedent as the first nonstate party to accept the ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged war crimes on its territory. It signed the Rome treaty but never ratified it. In 2005 it lodged a declaration with the court accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction over crimes committed there since September 2002.

Palestinian lawyers argue that the Palestinian Authority should be allowed to refer the cases in Gaza on this same ad hoc basis – despite its lack of internationally recognised statehood.

The case has wide-reaching ramifications for the Palestinian case for statehood. If the court rejects the case, it will highlight the legal black hole that Palestinians find themselves in while they remain stateless. However, it also underlines some of Israel’s worst fears about a Palestinian state on its borders. A Palestinian state that ratified the Rome treaty would then be able to refer alleged Israeli war crimes to the court without the current legal wrangling. The case could also lead to snowballing international recognition of a Palestinian state by countries eager to see Israel prosecuted.

One avenue would be for Israel to agree to investigate its commanders and prosecute any crimes discovered. That would remove any case from the orbit of the international court. So far that appears unlikely, given Israel’s repeated denials of war crimes in Gaza.

The Israeli army has, however, launched an internal inquiry into whether white phosphorus was used in some cases in built-up areas, having eventually admitted that it did use the incendiary substance, which is not illegal as a battlefield smokescreen but is banned from being used in civilian areas. Camera footage from one such attack shows what appears to be white phosphorous raining down on a UN school in Beit Lahiya, where Red Crescent ambulances and their crews were stationed.

A coalition of Israeli human rights groups has urged the country’s attorney-general to open an independent investigation into allegations of war crimes by troops, urging that to do so could head off international court cases. The groups, including the antisettlement organisation B’Tselem, said that there had been reports of Israeli forces firing into civilian areas, denying medical aid to the wounded and preventing Palestinian ambulances from reaching them, and of firing at people carrying white flags.

Meanwhile, the UN is preparing an inquiry into the bombardment of a UN school in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces fired artillery shells outside the school, which had been converted into a refugee shelter for Gazans fleeing their homes. At least 43 people were killed. Israel said that Palestinian militants had fired from the compound, which was denied by the UN.