By Akiva Eldar
You had to read it twice to believe it: "Criticism of the United States in Jerusalem." A senior Israeli official warns: "We are disappointed." The fly hovering about is complaining that the elephant is not obeying its orders. What chutzpah on the part of Barack Obama. He just entered the White House and already has something to say - about how many new houses we are building in Ofra, and about when we will dismantle the walls in the "illegal outposts," which are already beginning to disintegrate because of old age.
Instead of dismantling settlements, he would do better to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program. Otherwise Jerusalem will reassess its special relationship with Washington, and will reconsider its commitment to ensuring the qualitative advantage of the United States. If this situation continues, we may even stop vetoing anti-American decisions in the United Nations Security Council.
Let's assume that there is some point to the criticism of the U.S. president's determined insistence on petty details when it comes to Jewish construction in the territories. Let's agree that Obama in his naivete really has become preoccupied with inconsequential matters, such as a handful of pathetic outposts. Should the State of Israel risk a crisis with the most important power in the world because of what it considers "inconsequential matters"? Does Israel have a greater existential strategic asset than its relations with the U.S. and its neighbors' understanding that these intimate relations are unshakable?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1089478.html
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
U.S. man gets no jail time in 'mysterious' case of spying for Israel
By Reuters
An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was fined but avoided prison time on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to giving classified documents to Israel in the 1980s, in a case the sentencing judge said was "shrouded in mystery."
Court documents showed that Ben-Ami Kadish, who was fined $50,000 but spared prison time, reported to the same handler as Jonathan Pollard, an American who spied for Israel in the 1980s and triggered a scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations.
"Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery," U.S. District Judge William Pauley said during the sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court. "It is clear the [U.S.] government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes."
Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel. He was arrested in April 2008 on four counts of conspiracy and espionage. The spying charge, dropped under a plea deal, had carried a possible death sentence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088991.html
An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was fined but avoided prison time on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to giving classified documents to Israel in the 1980s, in a case the sentencing judge said was "shrouded in mystery."
Court documents showed that Ben-Ami Kadish, who was fined $50,000 but spared prison time, reported to the same handler as Jonathan Pollard, an American who spied for Israel in the 1980s and triggered a scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations.
"Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery," U.S. District Judge William Pauley said during the sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court. "It is clear the [U.S.] government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes."
Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel. He was arrested in April 2008 on four counts of conspiracy and espionage. The spying charge, dropped under a plea deal, had carried a possible death sentence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088991.html
Netanyahu: "What the hell do they want from me?"
Thu, 05/28/2009 - 7:17pm
Last night, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration "wants to see a stop to settlements -- not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidante. Referring to Clinton's call for a settlement freeze, Netanyahu groused, "What the hell do they want from me?" according to his associate, who added, "I gathered that he heard some bad vibes in his meetings with [U.S.] congressional delegations this week."
In the 10 days since Netanyahu and President Barack Obama held a meeting at the White House, the Obama administration has made clear in public and private meetings with Israeli officials that it intends to hold a firm line on Obama's call to stop Israeli settlements. According to many observers in Washington and Israel, the Israeli prime minister, looking for loopholes and hidden agreements that have often existed in the past with Washington, has been flummoxed by an unusually united line that has come not just from Obama White House and the secretary of state, but also from pro-Israel congressmen and women who have come through Israel for meetings with him over Memorial Day recess. To Netanyahu's dismay, Obama doesn't appear to have a hidden policy. It is what he said it was.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/28/netanyahu_what_the_hell_do_they_want_with_me
Last night, shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told journalists that the Obama administration "wants to see a stop to settlements -- not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a confidante. Referring to Clinton's call for a settlement freeze, Netanyahu groused, "What the hell do they want from me?" according to his associate, who added, "I gathered that he heard some bad vibes in his meetings with [U.S.] congressional delegations this week."
In the 10 days since Netanyahu and President Barack Obama held a meeting at the White House, the Obama administration has made clear in public and private meetings with Israeli officials that it intends to hold a firm line on Obama's call to stop Israeli settlements. According to many observers in Washington and Israel, the Israeli prime minister, looking for loopholes and hidden agreements that have often existed in the past with Washington, has been flummoxed by an unusually united line that has come not just from Obama White House and the secretary of state, but also from pro-Israel congressmen and women who have come through Israel for meetings with him over Memorial Day recess. To Netanyahu's dismay, Obama doesn't appear to have a hidden policy. It is what he said it was.
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/28/netanyahu_what_the_hell_do_they_want_with_me
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Amnesty: Israel repeatedly breached rules of war in Gaza
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent
Amnesty International has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the rules of armed conflict during its recent offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli forces repeatedly breached the laws of war, including by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians," the human rights watchdog said in its annual report.
The report states that 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the offensive - including 300 children - and that 5,000 people were wounded. The Israel Defense Forces, however, says 1,166 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority of whom were Hamas militants.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088912.html
Amnesty International has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the rules of armed conflict during its recent offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli forces repeatedly breached the laws of war, including by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians," the human rights watchdog said in its annual report.
The report states that 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the offensive - including 300 children - and that 5,000 people were wounded. The Israel Defense Forces, however, says 1,166 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority of whom were Hamas militants.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088912.html
Then Call Me an Anti-Semite
"The Missiles, the bombs the helicopter gunships etc. etc. all carried Jewish symbols and yet we can't refer to them as being Jewish without it being antisemitic." Do you remember when the word "nice" that used to MEAN something? Or "gay" was a happy light feeling rather than a sexual deviance?
It is my belief that if a word is misused enough that its TRUE intention is lost, or if it is abused enough especially at the cost of truth and ethics, then USE IT.
In today's world I am proud to call myself antisemitic if it means I can say, "YES, these bombs are from Israel courtesy of the States, and YES they were kissed by pretty little Jewish girls from Israel."
If being antisemitic means I can say what was done in Gaza by the Talmudic Zionist-driven satanic rabbinical leaders and the IDF and IOF, then I will choose antisemitism.
If being antisemitic means I can say I side with the victims instead of the oppressors, victims being driven into extinction for political greed and religious hatred, then I am proud to be antisemitic.
If I curse a caterpillar tank adorned with the star of David tearing down a Palestinian farm and centuries old olive groves being ripped up and sold elsewhere, throwing entire families into poverty, then call me antisemitic.
If being antisemitic means calling a spade a spade and saying, You are starving the people of Gaza and sending back 250 tons of food and boats of medical necessities; they are dieing because of your brutality", then I am antisemitic.
If I boycott and advocate the boycott of Israeli goods, I am proudly antisemitic.
If I weep for handsome young Bessem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh, slaughtered at Bilin for calling out "Listen we have children and Israelis with us", or decry the murder of Rachel Corie, the attack on Tristan Anderson, then I am antisemitic.
If I point a finger at those behind all this, say the Mossad is largely behind 911, or that the Jews attacked the USS Liberty and Israelis are the greatest terrorists of all, behind the Bolshevik Red Terror that killed 100 000 000 Christians and Catholics, now living in a nation built on theft and nourished on blood, I am antisemitic.
And if I point to the terrorism that is rife in America, created by B'nai Brith that is an arm of the Freemasons of Scottish Right Illuminati, NOT JEWISH in final goals, and controls AIPAC as well as the ADL and JDL, and works to change our western society and subjugate us all to NWO conditioning, then I am again proudly antisemitic.
If I point out that most of the Jews in Israel are NOT of semitic blood, but are Ashkenazim from Europe, Russia, North America, Africa, etc etc, then I am antisemitic. Now THAT one really confuses the hell out of me!
This word "antisemitic" is overused to the nth degree whenever one becomes dangerous to the status quo's wishes.
I have done my homework for 40 years and no longer buy the lies. By the way, I also am a humanist enough to thoroughly appreciate anyone who has a good soul and heart no matter where they come from or what their race so do not call me a hater of the Jews or Americans or anyone else.
There are great movers and shakers for the peace movement from all parts of the globe. It is the Zionist owned media that keeps everyone from knowing of their existence.
I reserve my antisemitism for the criminals amongst us who use that word "antisemitism" like a sword to cut with and a shield to hide behind as they kill and ruin the young men of our country by sending them out to destroy others while they sit back and profit and wait for the arrival of Lucifer and their evil New World Order.
Until people begin to THINK about things this way and stop CARING about such labels, these creatures will continue to suck our life source and kill with impunity the innocent of the planet. And get away with it.
I also believe, if we are still around, 10 ~ 15 years from now, those of us who have NOT stood up and spoken out and said, YES, I am antisemitic, I stand for decency and human values, we will feel, deep in our souls, shamed.
http://ziopedia.org/articles/anti-semitism/if_telling_the_truth_makes_me_an_anti-semite.../
It is my belief that if a word is misused enough that its TRUE intention is lost, or if it is abused enough especially at the cost of truth and ethics, then USE IT.
In today's world I am proud to call myself antisemitic if it means I can say, "YES, these bombs are from Israel courtesy of the States, and YES they were kissed by pretty little Jewish girls from Israel."
If being antisemitic means I can say what was done in Gaza by the Talmudic Zionist-driven satanic rabbinical leaders and the IDF and IOF, then I will choose antisemitism.
If being antisemitic means I can say I side with the victims instead of the oppressors, victims being driven into extinction for political greed and religious hatred, then I am proud to be antisemitic.
If I curse a caterpillar tank adorned with the star of David tearing down a Palestinian farm and centuries old olive groves being ripped up and sold elsewhere, throwing entire families into poverty, then call me antisemitic.
If being antisemitic means calling a spade a spade and saying, You are starving the people of Gaza and sending back 250 tons of food and boats of medical necessities; they are dieing because of your brutality", then I am antisemitic.
If I boycott and advocate the boycott of Israeli goods, I am proudly antisemitic.
If I weep for handsome young Bessem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh, slaughtered at Bilin for calling out "Listen we have children and Israelis with us", or decry the murder of Rachel Corie, the attack on Tristan Anderson, then I am antisemitic.
If I point a finger at those behind all this, say the Mossad is largely behind 911, or that the Jews attacked the USS Liberty and Israelis are the greatest terrorists of all, behind the Bolshevik Red Terror that killed 100 000 000 Christians and Catholics, now living in a nation built on theft and nourished on blood, I am antisemitic.
And if I point to the terrorism that is rife in America, created by B'nai Brith that is an arm of the Freemasons of Scottish Right Illuminati, NOT JEWISH in final goals, and controls AIPAC as well as the ADL and JDL, and works to change our western society and subjugate us all to NWO conditioning, then I am again proudly antisemitic.
If I point out that most of the Jews in Israel are NOT of semitic blood, but are Ashkenazim from Europe, Russia, North America, Africa, etc etc, then I am antisemitic. Now THAT one really confuses the hell out of me!
This word "antisemitic" is overused to the nth degree whenever one becomes dangerous to the status quo's wishes.
I have done my homework for 40 years and no longer buy the lies. By the way, I also am a humanist enough to thoroughly appreciate anyone who has a good soul and heart no matter where they come from or what their race so do not call me a hater of the Jews or Americans or anyone else.
There are great movers and shakers for the peace movement from all parts of the globe. It is the Zionist owned media that keeps everyone from knowing of their existence.
I reserve my antisemitism for the criminals amongst us who use that word "antisemitism" like a sword to cut with and a shield to hide behind as they kill and ruin the young men of our country by sending them out to destroy others while they sit back and profit and wait for the arrival of Lucifer and their evil New World Order.
Until people begin to THINK about things this way and stop CARING about such labels, these creatures will continue to suck our life source and kill with impunity the innocent of the planet. And get away with it.
I also believe, if we are still around, 10 ~ 15 years from now, those of us who have NOT stood up and spoken out and said, YES, I am antisemitic, I stand for decency and human values, we will feel, deep in our souls, shamed.
http://ziopedia.org/articles/anti-semitism/if_telling_the_truth_makes_me_an_anti-semite.../
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Yet Another Bogus 'Terror' Plot
By Robert Dreyfuss,
The Nation, May 23, 2009.
By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.
I've seen this movie before.
In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself. Noted the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/437864/yet_another_bogus_terror_plot?rel=hpbox
The Nation, May 23, 2009.
By the now, it's maddeningly familiar. A scary terrorist plot is announced. Then it's revealed that the suspects are a hapless bunch of ne'er-do-wells or run-of-the-mill thugs without the slightest connection to any terrorists at all, never mind to Al Qaeda. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle: the entire plot is revealed to have been cooked up by a scummy government agent-provocateur.
I've seen this movie before.
In this case, the alleged perps -- Onta Williams, James Cromitie, David Williams, and Laguerre Payen -- were losers, ex-cons, drug addicts. Al Qaeda they're not. Without the assistance of the agent who entrapped them, they would never have dreamed of committing political violence, nor would they have had the slightest idea about where to acquire plastic explosives or a Stinger missile. That didn't stop prosecutors from acting as if they'd captured Osama bin Laden himself. Noted the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/dreyfuss/437864/yet_another_bogus_terror_plot?rel=hpbox
Friday, May 22, 2009
Muslim migrants riot in Greece over defacement of Koran
Muslim migrants riot in Greece over defacement of Koran
By The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - Dozens of cars were smashed and 14 people were
hospitalized with injuries after protests by Muslim immigrants angered at the alleged defacement of a Quran by a Greek policeman ended in a riot.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of protesters outside parliament and elsewhere in the Athens city center. The government said 46protesters were arrested and 75 cars were damaged.
Chanting "God is great!" and waving leather-bound copies of Islam's holy book, about 1,500 Muslim immigrants - mostly young men - marched to Parliament in the center of Athens to express their anger. The clashes occurred after the protest had dwindled to about 300.
Rioters hurled rocks at police and attacked police cordons with sticks and their belts, ignoring pleas for calm in Arabic and Greek from protest
organizers. The violence spread as young men overturned cars, set fire to
trash bins and attacked several banks.
Seven policemen and seven immigrants were being treated in hospital for
injuries, police said.
Onlookers, including tourists in Athens' central square, watched, with some holding up their cell phones to photograph the protesters.
Police said they will investigate the allegation that a police officer tore up the Iraqi immigrant's copy of the Quran while checking his identity papers in Athens on Wednesday.
"Anyone found responsible will be strictly held to account. But this isolated incident cannot justify these acts of violence," said Christos Markoyiannakis, a minister in charge of police.
Police released photographs of the torn Quran but gave no further details.
"We want the officer or officers involved to be prosecuted, and the government to issue an apology," protester Manala Mohammed, a Syrian national who helped organize the rally, told The Associated Press. "We want people to show us respect."
Most Greece's native born population of 10.7 million are baptized into the Christian Orthodox Church.
Waves of illegal immigration over the past few years have led to an influx of Muslims, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many live in squalid, overcrowded apartments in run-down parts of central Athens.
In 2008, Greek authorities arrested more than 145,000 migrants entering the country illegally, a 30 percent increase from the previous year and a 54 percent jump from 2006, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Greek rights activist Thanassis Kourkoulas, one of the protest organizers, said the marches were intended to show that immigrants have a voice.
"What happened is a great insult to every Muslim, every immigrant and every Greek who respects democracy," he said.
By The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece - Dozens of cars were smashed and 14 people were
hospitalized with injuries after protests by Muslim immigrants angered at the alleged defacement of a Quran by a Greek policeman ended in a riot.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of protesters outside parliament and elsewhere in the Athens city center. The government said 46protesters were arrested and 75 cars were damaged.
Chanting "God is great!" and waving leather-bound copies of Islam's holy book, about 1,500 Muslim immigrants - mostly young men - marched to Parliament in the center of Athens to express their anger. The clashes occurred after the protest had dwindled to about 300.
Rioters hurled rocks at police and attacked police cordons with sticks and their belts, ignoring pleas for calm in Arabic and Greek from protest
organizers. The violence spread as young men overturned cars, set fire to
trash bins and attacked several banks.
Seven policemen and seven immigrants were being treated in hospital for
injuries, police said.
Onlookers, including tourists in Athens' central square, watched, with some holding up their cell phones to photograph the protesters.
Police said they will investigate the allegation that a police officer tore up the Iraqi immigrant's copy of the Quran while checking his identity papers in Athens on Wednesday.
"Anyone found responsible will be strictly held to account. But this isolated incident cannot justify these acts of violence," said Christos Markoyiannakis, a minister in charge of police.
Police released photographs of the torn Quran but gave no further details.
"We want the officer or officers involved to be prosecuted, and the government to issue an apology," protester Manala Mohammed, a Syrian national who helped organize the rally, told The Associated Press. "We want people to show us respect."
Most Greece's native born population of 10.7 million are baptized into the Christian Orthodox Church.
Waves of illegal immigration over the past few years have led to an influx of Muslims, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many live in squalid, overcrowded apartments in run-down parts of central Athens.
In 2008, Greek authorities arrested more than 145,000 migrants entering the country illegally, a 30 percent increase from the previous year and a 54 percent jump from 2006, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Greek rights activist Thanassis Kourkoulas, one of the protest organizers, said the marches were intended to show that immigrants have a voice.
"What happened is a great insult to every Muslim, every immigrant and every Greek who respects democracy," he said.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Exclusive: How MI5 blackmails British Muslims
TERI PENGILLEY
Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants.
The men claim they were given a choice of working for the Security Service or face detention and harassment in the UK and overseas.
They have made official complaints to the police, to the body which oversees the work of the Security Service and to their local MP Frank Dobson. Now they have decided to speak publicly about their experiences in the hope that publicity will stop similar tactics being used in the future.
"The MI5 agent said, 'Mohamed if you do not work for us we will tell any foreign country you try to travel to that you are a suspected terrorist.'"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-how-mi5-blackmails-british-muslims-1688618.html
Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants.
The men claim they were given a choice of working for the Security Service or face detention and harassment in the UK and overseas.
They have made official complaints to the police, to the body which oversees the work of the Security Service and to their local MP Frank Dobson. Now they have decided to speak publicly about their experiences in the hope that publicity will stop similar tactics being used in the future.
"The MI5 agent said, 'Mohamed if you do not work for us we will tell any foreign country you try to travel to that you are a suspected terrorist.'"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-how-mi5-blackmails-british-muslims-1688618.html
Edinburgh film festival refuses Israeli grant due to pressure by Ken Loach
Edinburgh film festival refuses Israeli grant due to pressure by Ken Loach
By Haaretz Service
The Edinburgh International Film Festival on Tuesday returned a 300-pound grant from the Israeli embassy, after bowing to pressure from director Ken Loach, the British Times reported on Wednesday.
The grant was intended to enable Tel Aviv University graduate Tali Shalom Ezer to travel to Scotland for a screening of her film, Surrogate.
According to the Times, Ezer's film is a romance set in a sex-therapy clinic, and makes no reference to war or politics. It recently won the award for best film at an international women's film festival in Israel.
Loach on Monday urged film goers to boycott the festival after pro-Palestinian activists protested the grant for the Israeli film. Loach has long been an outspoken critic of Israel and its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
"The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make this money unacceptable," the Times quoted Loach as saying. "With regret, I must urge all who might consider visiting the festival to show their support for the Palestinian nation and stay away."
In a statement, festival representatives said that Loach spoke "on behalf of the film community, [and] therefore we will be returning the funding issued by the Israeli Embassy," the Times reported.
Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the former chief executive of Channel Four, told the Times that the festival's organizers made "an appalling decision" and urged them to reconsider.
Isaacs called Loach's intervention an act of censorship, and added: "They must not allow someone who has no real position, no rock to stand on, to interfere with their programming."
A festival spokesman said it would fund Shalom Ezer's travel to Edinburgh using its own budget.
By Haaretz Service
The Edinburgh International Film Festival on Tuesday returned a 300-pound grant from the Israeli embassy, after bowing to pressure from director Ken Loach, the British Times reported on Wednesday.
The grant was intended to enable Tel Aviv University graduate Tali Shalom Ezer to travel to Scotland for a screening of her film, Surrogate.
According to the Times, Ezer's film is a romance set in a sex-therapy clinic, and makes no reference to war or politics. It recently won the award for best film at an international women's film festival in Israel.
Loach on Monday urged film goers to boycott the festival after pro-Palestinian activists protested the grant for the Israeli film. Loach has long been an outspoken critic of Israel and its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
"The massacres and state terrorism in Gaza make this money unacceptable," the Times quoted Loach as saying. "With regret, I must urge all who might consider visiting the festival to show their support for the Palestinian nation and stay away."
In a statement, festival representatives said that Loach spoke "on behalf of the film community, [and] therefore we will be returning the funding issued by the Israeli Embassy," the Times reported.
Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the former chief executive of Channel Four, told the Times that the festival's organizers made "an appalling decision" and urged them to reconsider.
Isaacs called Loach's intervention an act of censorship, and added: "They must not allow someone who has no real position, no rock to stand on, to interfere with their programming."
A festival spokesman said it would fund Shalom Ezer's travel to Edinburgh using its own budget.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Reclaiming Einstein: New Book Reveals Famed Scientist as an Opponent of Israel
Einstein on Zionism and Israel: His Provocative Ideas About the Middle East
By Fred Jerome
St. Martin’s Press, May 2009
Countless books and articles have been written about the life of the great physicist and thinker Albert Einstein, and since his death in 1955, a near consensus has existed that Einstein was a staunch supporter of the state of Israel.
Veteran journalist Fred Jerome uses hundreds of pages of Einstein’s own letters, articles and interviews — many published for the first time — to refute this thesis.
It is well known that Einstein, a German Jew, witnessed European anti-Semitism firsthand and spoke out against both prejudice and Nazism. These experiences convinced Einstein to support Zionism and a Jewish homeland. After gaining immense fame for his scientific breakthroughs, he was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 after the death of the country’s first president, Chaim Weizmann.
In reality, while Einstein was sympathetic to the Zionist cause, he repeatedly warned that a “narrow nationalism” may arise if a Jewish-only state was founded and peaceful co-existence with the Palestinians was not achieved. Instead, Einstein advocated Cultural Zionism — the creation of Jewish cultural and educational centers within a bi-national state with equal rights for both Arabs and Jews.
http://www.indypendent.org/2009/05/14/reclaiming-einstein/
By Fred Jerome
St. Martin’s Press, May 2009
Countless books and articles have been written about the life of the great physicist and thinker Albert Einstein, and since his death in 1955, a near consensus has existed that Einstein was a staunch supporter of the state of Israel.
Veteran journalist Fred Jerome uses hundreds of pages of Einstein’s own letters, articles and interviews — many published for the first time — to refute this thesis.
It is well known that Einstein, a German Jew, witnessed European anti-Semitism firsthand and spoke out against both prejudice and Nazism. These experiences convinced Einstein to support Zionism and a Jewish homeland. After gaining immense fame for his scientific breakthroughs, he was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 after the death of the country’s first president, Chaim Weizmann.
In reality, while Einstein was sympathetic to the Zionist cause, he repeatedly warned that a “narrow nationalism” may arise if a Jewish-only state was founded and peaceful co-existence with the Palestinians was not achieved. Instead, Einstein advocated Cultural Zionism — the creation of Jewish cultural and educational centers within a bi-national state with equal rights for both Arabs and Jews.
http://www.indypendent.org/2009/05/14/reclaiming-einstein/
Life among the ruins in Gaza
By Amira Hass
GAZA - Wadi Gaza is an agricultural region southeast of Gaza City. The ruins of Hussein al Aaidy's family home are immediately apparent. The houses (and several other heaps of ruins) are scattered among budding hills, lazing goats and fields that have been plowed but not sown. Up until nine years ago, these houses were surrounded by orchards and other fruit trees. Until the Israel Defense Forces bulldozers uprooted everything in order to safeguard the Israelis driving to the settlement of Netzarim.
The thousands of heaps of ruins in the Strip have now become part of the landscape. What attracts attention is when one pile of ruins or another disappears. The Gaza Public Works Bureau has already solicited bids for clearing away the ruins of several public buildings and several mosques. Building contractors have begun to evacuate the rubble, and tents have been set up on the site in order to serve the public and for prayers.
But these are the exceptions. There is no point in clearing away the ruins of the 4,000 buildings and homes that have been totally destroyed, so long as Israel does not permit building materials to be brought into the Strip.
The Gazan Ministry of Public Works also warns citizens not to clear away ruins through private initiative: It's too dangerous. At least 50,000 people, members of 8,000 families whose homes have been destroyed, know that the temporary solution they have found is liable to become a long-term one.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085622.html
GAZA - Wadi Gaza is an agricultural region southeast of Gaza City. The ruins of Hussein al Aaidy's family home are immediately apparent. The houses (and several other heaps of ruins) are scattered among budding hills, lazing goats and fields that have been plowed but not sown. Up until nine years ago, these houses were surrounded by orchards and other fruit trees. Until the Israel Defense Forces bulldozers uprooted everything in order to safeguard the Israelis driving to the settlement of Netzarim.
The thousands of heaps of ruins in the Strip have now become part of the landscape. What attracts attention is when one pile of ruins or another disappears. The Gaza Public Works Bureau has already solicited bids for clearing away the ruins of several public buildings and several mosques. Building contractors have begun to evacuate the rubble, and tents have been set up on the site in order to serve the public and for prayers.
But these are the exceptions. There is no point in clearing away the ruins of the 4,000 buildings and homes that have been totally destroyed, so long as Israel does not permit building materials to be brought into the Strip.
The Gazan Ministry of Public Works also warns citizens not to clear away ruins through private initiative: It's too dangerous. At least 50,000 people, members of 8,000 families whose homes have been destroyed, know that the temporary solution they have found is liable to become a long-term one.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085622.html
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Obama warns Netanyahu: Don't surprise me with Iran strike
Obama warns Netanyahu: Don't surprise me with Iran strike
By Aluf Benn
U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran. The message was conveyed by a senior American official who met in Israel with Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials. Earlier, Netanyahu's envoy visited Washington and met with National Security Adviser James Jones and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and discussed the dialogue Obama has initiated with Tehran.
The message from the American envoy to the prime minister reveals U.S. concern that Israel could lose patience and act against Iran. It is important to the Americans that they not be caught off guard and find themselves facing facts on the ground at the last minute.
Obama did not wait for his White House meeting with Netanyahu, scheduled for next Monday, to deliver his message, but rather sent it ahead of time with his envoy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085466.html
By Aluf Benn
U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran. The message was conveyed by a senior American official who met in Israel with Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials. Earlier, Netanyahu's envoy visited Washington and met with National Security Adviser James Jones and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and discussed the dialogue Obama has initiated with Tehran.
The message from the American envoy to the prime minister reveals U.S. concern that Israel could lose patience and act against Iran. It is important to the Americans that they not be caught off guard and find themselves facing facts on the ground at the last minute.
Obama did not wait for his White House meeting with Netanyahu, scheduled for next Monday, to deliver his message, but rather sent it ahead of time with his envoy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085466.html
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
UN: Israel gives Lebanon cluster bomb data from 2006 war
By The Associated Press
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces has handed over data on cluster bombs fired during the 2006 war with the militant Hezbollah group.
The move follows UN and Lebanese calls for information that could help
eliminate the threat that has killed more than 20 civilians and wounded about 200 since the fighting.
According to a UN statement from Lebanon, peacekeepers received technical strike data and related maps Tuesday and will pass them on to the Lebanese army.
The UN and human rights groups say Israel dropped about 4 million cluster
bomblets during the month long war. Up to 1 million failed to explode and can detonate at the slightest disturbance. Lebanon's south is also riddled with land mines
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said on Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces has handed over data on cluster bombs fired during the 2006 war with the militant Hezbollah group.
The move follows UN and Lebanese calls for information that could help
eliminate the threat that has killed more than 20 civilians and wounded about 200 since the fighting.
According to a UN statement from Lebanon, peacekeepers received technical strike data and related maps Tuesday and will pass them on to the Lebanese army.
The UN and human rights groups say Israel dropped about 4 million cluster
bomblets during the month long war. Up to 1 million failed to explode and can detonate at the slightest disturbance. Lebanon's south is also riddled with land mines
Facebook about-face: Site won't ban Holocaust deniers
The popular social networking site Facebook will not disqualify users who use the site as a forum to deny the Holocaust, a spokesperson for the company told an Internet tech blog on Tuesday.
Responding to widespread indignation, Facebook appeared Monday to have taken down several Holocaust denial sites, though several others were still viewable.
The move came after a Facebook spokesman had earlier declined to shut down the Holocaust denial groups with names like Holocaust: A Series of Lies, Holohoax, and Holocaust is a Myth. While these sites were still live on Monday, others were deleted, including: Based on the facts ... there was no Holocaust, and Holocaust is a Holohoax.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084940.html
Responding to widespread indignation, Facebook appeared Monday to have taken down several Holocaust denial sites, though several others were still viewable.
The move came after a Facebook spokesman had earlier declined to shut down the Holocaust denial groups with names like Holocaust: A Series of Lies, Holohoax, and Holocaust is a Myth. While these sites were still live on Monday, others were deleted, including: Based on the facts ... there was no Holocaust, and Holocaust is a Holohoax.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084940.html
Monday, May 11, 2009
Did U.S. help Lebanon crack alleged Israeli spy rings?
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and AP
Tags: Israel News, U.S., Lebanon
Lebanon arrested five people over the weekend suspected of belonging to an intelligence cell transmitting information about Hezbollah to Israel, the most recent arrests in a two-month crackdown apparently aided by American training and equipment.
Al Jazeera TV broadcast images on Sunday of a small table containing hidden communication devices, a modem concealing transmission equipment and forged passports - all allegedly used by the suspects.
Hezbollah-controlled Al-Manar television reported that the suspects' job was to collect information on potential targets such as the group's installations and the homes of its leaders.
The suspects are among 17 people allegedly belonging to six espionage cells who have been arrested in Lebanon in the past two months on suspicion of transmitting intelligence information to Israel.
It is unclear, however, if the cells are connected. Lebanese security sources indicated that the coming days might see the arrest of other suspected intelligence agents working for Israel.
The sources attribute the recent arrests to improved cooperation between Lebanon's many security agencies, saying that with the help of better-trained personnel and access to more sophisticated equipment, the Internal Security Forces have been intensifying their efforts to uncover espionage networks as part of an attempt to develop a pan-Lebanese image.
The Internal Security Forces have long been accused of representing the interests of Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, son of slain prime minister Rafik Hariri, and his supporters.
"This organization is seen as a more reliable one than the army, which still appears to be close to Syria and Hezbollah," one of the sources said.
The United States has provided $1 billion in aid since 2006, including $410 million in security assistance to the Lebanese military and police. But U.S. officials have said they would review aid to Lebanon depending on the results of the June 7 election, which could oust the U.S.-backed government.
Israel has expressed reservations about American aid to the Lebanese army and security services, saying those organizations will ultimately be unable to contend with Hezbollah and that any aid is liable to serve Hezbollah's interests.
Tags: Israel News, U.S., Lebanon
Lebanon arrested five people over the weekend suspected of belonging to an intelligence cell transmitting information about Hezbollah to Israel, the most recent arrests in a two-month crackdown apparently aided by American training and equipment.
Al Jazeera TV broadcast images on Sunday of a small table containing hidden communication devices, a modem concealing transmission equipment and forged passports - all allegedly used by the suspects.
Hezbollah-controlled Al-Manar television reported that the suspects' job was to collect information on potential targets such as the group's installations and the homes of its leaders.
The suspects are among 17 people allegedly belonging to six espionage cells who have been arrested in Lebanon in the past two months on suspicion of transmitting intelligence information to Israel.
It is unclear, however, if the cells are connected. Lebanese security sources indicated that the coming days might see the arrest of other suspected intelligence agents working for Israel.
The sources attribute the recent arrests to improved cooperation between Lebanon's many security agencies, saying that with the help of better-trained personnel and access to more sophisticated equipment, the Internal Security Forces have been intensifying their efforts to uncover espionage networks as part of an attempt to develop a pan-Lebanese image.
The Internal Security Forces have long been accused of representing the interests of Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, son of slain prime minister Rafik Hariri, and his supporters.
"This organization is seen as a more reliable one than the army, which still appears to be close to Syria and Hezbollah," one of the sources said.
The United States has provided $1 billion in aid since 2006, including $410 million in security assistance to the Lebanese military and police. But U.S. officials have said they would review aid to Lebanon depending on the results of the June 7 election, which could oust the U.S.-backed government.
Israel has expressed reservations about American aid to the Lebanese army and security services, saying those organizations will ultimately be unable to contend with Hezbollah and that any aid is liable to serve Hezbollah's interests.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Robert Fisk: Civilians pay price of war from above
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Of course there will be an inquiry. And in the meantime, we shall be told that all the dead Afghan civilians were being used as "human shields" by the Taliban and we shall say that we "deeply regret" innocent lives that were lost. But we shall say that it's all the fault of the terrorists, not our heroic pilots and the US Marine special forces who were target spotting around Bala Baluk and Ganjabad.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-civilians-pay-price-of--war-from-above-1680408.html
Of course there will be an inquiry. And in the meantime, we shall be told that all the dead Afghan civilians were being used as "human shields" by the Taliban and we shall say that we "deeply regret" innocent lives that were lost. But we shall say that it's all the fault of the terrorists, not our heroic pilots and the US Marine special forces who were target spotting around Bala Baluk and Ganjabad.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-civilians-pay-price-of--war-from-above-1680408.html
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
What the Pope won't see...
What the Pope won't see...
Donald Macintyre: At 5am, Palestinians wait at a checkpoint in Bethlehem to work in Jerusalem... and they are the lucky ones.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
By the time Pope Benedict arrives at Gilo the crush of thousands of Palestinian workers will be over
By the time Pope Benedict arrives at Gilo the crush of thousands of Palestinian workers will be over
It is 5.45am, just a few minutes before sunrise, when the bottleneck at the entrance to the narrow, fenced-in checkpoint path in Bethlehem is at its worst. There is scuffling when the tempers of the men, many of whom have been up since 3am, begin to fray as they compete to squeeze into the alley to queue for a lengthy series of Israeli security checks of their IDs, work permits, and biometric palm prints.
A sort of order is restored when Mohammed Abed, 48, standing in the queue that snakes back along the grey eight-metre concrete slabs that make up the separation wall, remonstrates. Pressed by the jostling crowd against an older man who by now is wincing and distinctly pale, Mr Abed warns in a loud authoritative voice: "People are coming in without waiting in line."
This is the first stage of a journey that will – just over an hour later if all goes smoothly, but up to three hours (or not at all) if it doesn't – land the Palestinian men in Jerusalem with the highly-prized prospect of a day's hard labour on an Israeli building site, earning between £32 and £40 a day.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/what-the-pope-wont-see-1679011.html
Donald Macintyre: At 5am, Palestinians wait at a checkpoint in Bethlehem to work in Jerusalem... and they are the lucky ones.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
By the time Pope Benedict arrives at Gilo the crush of thousands of Palestinian workers will be over
By the time Pope Benedict arrives at Gilo the crush of thousands of Palestinian workers will be over
It is 5.45am, just a few minutes before sunrise, when the bottleneck at the entrance to the narrow, fenced-in checkpoint path in Bethlehem is at its worst. There is scuffling when the tempers of the men, many of whom have been up since 3am, begin to fray as they compete to squeeze into the alley to queue for a lengthy series of Israeli security checks of their IDs, work permits, and biometric palm prints.
A sort of order is restored when Mohammed Abed, 48, standing in the queue that snakes back along the grey eight-metre concrete slabs that make up the separation wall, remonstrates. Pressed by the jostling crowd against an older man who by now is wincing and distinctly pale, Mr Abed warns in a loud authoritative voice: "People are coming in without waiting in line."
This is the first stage of a journey that will – just over an hour later if all goes smoothly, but up to three hours (or not at all) if it doesn't – land the Palestinian men in Jerusalem with the highly-prized prospect of a day's hard labour on an Israeli building site, earning between £32 and £40 a day.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/what-the-pope-wont-see-1679011.html
Monday, May 4, 2009
Interview with Khalid Meshal, political leader of Hamas
Addressing U.S., Hamas Says It Grounded Rockets
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ETHAN BRONNER
Published: May 4, 2009
DAMASCUS, Syria — The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967.
“I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period,” the leader, Khaled Meshal, said during a five-hour interview with The New York Times spread over two days in his home office here in the Syrian capital.
Speaking in Arabic in a house heavily guarded by Syrian and Palestinian security agents, Mr. Meshal, 53, gave off an air of serene self-confidence, having been re-elected a fourth time to a four-year term as the leader of the Hamas political bureau, the top position in the movement. His conciliation went only so far, however. He repeated that he would not recognize Israel, saying to fellow Arab leaders, “There is only one enemy in the region, and that is Israel.”
But he urged outsiders to ignore the Hamas charter, which calls for the obliteration of Israel through jihad and cites as fact the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Mr. Meshal did not offer to revoke the charter, but said it was 20 years old, adding, “We are shaped by our experiences.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/world/middleeast/05meshal.html?_r=1&hp
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY and ETHAN BRONNER
Published: May 4, 2009
DAMASCUS, Syria — The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now. He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967.
“I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period,” the leader, Khaled Meshal, said during a five-hour interview with The New York Times spread over two days in his home office here in the Syrian capital.
Speaking in Arabic in a house heavily guarded by Syrian and Palestinian security agents, Mr. Meshal, 53, gave off an air of serene self-confidence, having been re-elected a fourth time to a four-year term as the leader of the Hamas political bureau, the top position in the movement. His conciliation went only so far, however. He repeated that he would not recognize Israel, saying to fellow Arab leaders, “There is only one enemy in the region, and that is Israel.”
But he urged outsiders to ignore the Hamas charter, which calls for the obliteration of Israel through jihad and cites as fact the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Mr. Meshal did not offer to revoke the charter, but said it was 20 years old, adding, “We are shaped by our experiences.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/world/middleeast/05meshal.html?_r=1&hp
Obama gets tougher with Israel on Palestinians, Iran
By Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington May 17 approaches, the United States is sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.
Gen. James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be "forceful" with Israel.
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told an AIPAC conference last night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083080.html
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington May 17 approaches, the United States is sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.
Gen. James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be "forceful" with Israel.
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told an AIPAC conference last night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083080.html
Sunday, May 3, 2009
'IDF staged drills over Gibraltar, in preparation for Iran strike'
The Israel Air Force recently staged military exercises over between Israel and the British colony of Gibraltar near southern Spain, the French newspaper L'Express reported on Saturday.
The fact that the drills were held 3,800 kilometers away from Israel "confirms that the Israel Defense Forces is making concrete preparations" to attack Iran over its refusal to cooperate with the international community over its contentious nuclear program, according to L'Express.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082625.html
The fact that the drills were held 3,800 kilometers away from Israel "confirms that the Israel Defense Forces is making concrete preparations" to attack Iran over its refusal to cooperate with the international community over its contentious nuclear program, according to L'Express.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082625.html
Friday, May 1, 2009
UN: Israel must freeze East Jerusalem home demolitions
The United Nations is demanding that Israel freeze all pending demolition orders against Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.
The orders were issued because the homes were built illegally. But a new report by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that Palestinians face serious obstacles in building legally, as only 13 percent of East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian construction, while Jewish "settlements" occupy 35 percent of East Jerusalem, "in violation of international law."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082149.html
The orders were issued because the homes were built illegally. But a new report by the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that Palestinians face serious obstacles in building legally, as only 13 percent of East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian construction, while Jewish "settlements" occupy 35 percent of East Jerusalem, "in violation of international law."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1082149.html
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