Friday, October 16, 2009

Read the Bills Roundup


From TheHill.com:

Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), one of the Democrats to sign onto an effort to require a 72-hour window for a bill to be posted online before a vote in Congress, said he might vote against a healthcare reform bill if that principle is not honored. . . .
The Washington Democrat withheld his vote last week from a defense authorization bill containing some benefits for his district because he was not given a similar window to study the law. “It’s not because I don’t care about the nation’s defense, but because we had 24 hours to read it," he told the Chronicle. "If you do care about national defense, shouldn’t you care enough to read it?”

R. Cellan in the Missoulian:

To Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus:
To be up-front, we are seniors and depend on Medicare for our health plan. But we can still read, so give us a chance to do so before you enact your health bill. We will take the time, even if you don't seem have enough time.
We all know this is all smoke and mirrors. You don't intend to let us read the bill. You don't want us to be informed. You don't want to face us. You are afraid of us.

Kathleen Hartnett White of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in the Waco Tribune-Herald:

Law is a most solemn product of our representative democracy. It concretizes the will of the supreme power of the state and binds all citizens to obey. The fate of nations has been shaped by wise and unwise laws.
Take the time. Our Congress must not only read these bills but let us do the same.

Colin A. Hanna of Let Freedom Ring, in the Baltimore Sun:

Amending the House rules to require the online posting of bills for representatives and the public alike to read and review would change the legislative process for the better. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not agree with the American people on this issue. Instead, she is working to stall the "Read the Bill" resolution in the House Rules Committee. If this continues, the resolution will not even be voted on.
There is one way to get around the speaker's roadblock. Rep. Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon, has filed a petition to force the speaker to schedule a vote on the resolution if it attracts 218 signatures from members of Congress. So far, 182 members have signed the petition, leaving it 36 short of reaching the House floor.

Note: this is the "72 hour" rule that we endorse because it will pave the way for the more effective "7 day" Read the Bills Act. You can send a letter to Congress to pass the 72 hour rule here. And go here to tell them to introduce and pass the Read the Bills Act.


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Can You Expose the Cover-up of the Cover-up?


Media Alert: Downsize DC President Jim Babka will be on WBCR 1470 AM in Knoxville, Tennessee today (Thursday) during the 4 o'clock hour, Eastern time. It's unclear to us whether you can listen online, but the station's website is www.truthradio.tv

Congressional leaders want to engage in a double cover-up, by hiding a bill designed to suppress evidence in a piece of completely unrelated legislation.

We must . . .

* Expose these cover-ups by letting Congress know that we know what they're doing
* Prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future by compelling Congress to introduce and pass the "One Subject at a Time Act"

Please send Congress a letter for this purpose.

You can use my letter to Congress as a model for you own . . .

There appears to be photographic evidence that government officials have committed the crime of abusing prisoners held in their custody. This evidence should be exposed in a court of law, but instead . . .

The Graham-Lieberman bill (H.R. 2892) would suppress the evidence. This is a cover-up -- a crime on top of a crime. But it gets worse . . .

The Graham-Lieberman cover-up bill lacks the votes to pass, so Congressional leaders are hiding it in an appropriations bill for the Homeland Security Department. This amounts to a cover-up of a cover-up.

The Graham-Lieberman evidence suppression bill isn't an appropriation for Homeland Security, and the criminal actions it seeks to hide were committed by people in the Defense Department, not the Department of Homeland Security.

You are supposed to represent me. You take actions in my name. Please do not participate in these cover-ups. Do not vote for the Homeland Security appropriations bill if it contains the completely unrelated Graham-Lieberman cover-up bill.

I'll be watching to see what you do. In the long run . . .

Please show me that you are a responsible representative by introducing DownsizeDC.org's "One Subject at a Time Act." Each bill you vote on should only be about one subject only. For instance, if you approve of something like the Graham-Lieberman cover-up bill then you should have the courage to vote for it as a stand-alone measure.

END OF LETTER TO CONGRESS

You can send your own letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org



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Is Your Bank Shorting the Dollar?


It doesn't matter how many times you've sent Congress a letter on a given issue, or even if you sent one yesterday -- every new fact we give you is a new opportunity to tell Congress what you want. Seize the opportunity!

Send Congress another letter telling them to break the Federal Reserve's monopoly control over your money.

My sample letter to Congress gives you three new facts you can use for this purpose . . .

Last April the monetary base (which is the number of circulating dollars) stood at $830 billion. Since then the Federal Reserve has created nearly a trillion new dollars out of thin air. The monetary base now stands at nearly $1.8 trillion, and rose by nearly $100 billion in September alone.

This legalized counterfeiting is why I believe reports that oil producing nations are planning to abandon the dollar. They would be foolish to do otherwise.

The gold market seems to agree. The one-ounce price of gold has risen nearly $400 in the last year. People are trading their inflated Federal Reserve Notes for assets that will retain their value.

And even U.S. banks are fleeing the dollar. The New York Post reports that U.S. banks used to hold about 2/3rds of their reserves in dollars, but they're now holding nearly 70% in Euros and Yen.

Foreign nations and powerful institutions can escape the dollar, but I don't have the same freedom. Various federal laws force me to conduct my business in devaluing Federal Reserve Notes. I would prefer to use honest, free market money, like gold and silver, but if I attempt to do that YOUR laws threaten to point a policeman's gun at my head.

You're supposed to represent and protect me. You do not work for the Congressional leadership, the Federal Reserve, or the banks. You work for me. Please represent me. Please protect me. Please break the Federal Reserve's monopoly control over my money. Introduce legislation to repeal the laws that force me to use Federal Reserve Notes.

END OF SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESS

You can send your letter to Congress using the proprietary Educate the Powerful System at DownsizeDC.org.

Spread the word to others.

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org. Inc.

Sources:

Federal Reserve report on the Monetary Base: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/BOGUMBNS.txt
Historical Gold Prices: http://66.38.218.33/charts/historicalgold.html
New York Post report on bank reserves in Euros and Yen versus the dollar: http://tinyurl.com/yzxbphx

Source: Downsize DC.Org


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Actress Mia Farrow voices outrage at Gaza blockade


American actress Mia Farrow said she was outraged at the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip because of the deplorable conditions it has created for children.

"All people of conscious are offended and outraged by this situation," Farrow told reporters in Gaza, as quoted by AP. "And we sincerely hope that measures will be taken to alleviate this situation as soon as possible."

Farrow visited Gaza in her role as goodwill ambassador for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). In the territory she visited a school where said children appeared badly affected by Israel's recent war on the Gaza Strip.

"The children appear traumatized," she said at a news conference, according to AFP.

"The teachers say that when they hear a loud noise they (the children) look to the sky and cry out and weep. They don't know what the future holds," she said, speaking alongside Egyptian actor Mahmoud Kabil, also a UNICEF ambassador.

"They deserve better," she said, as quoted by AFP.

Later the same day, Farrow visited an elementary school in Sderot, southern Israel, where she reportedly met with the parents of children who were killed by projectile attacks fired from the Gaza Strip.

Farrow, the star of such films as Rosemary's Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors, was named UNICEF's goodwill ambassador in 2000.

Israel, with Egypt's cooperation, has maintained a land, sea, and air blockade of the Gaza Strip since June 2007, severely limiting shipments of food, medicine, fuel, and hundreds of other essential supplies. In addition, Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants are banned from travelling.

Last December Israel launched a three-week-long onslaught on Gaza that ultimately left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, the majority of them women and children.

An Israeli ban on shipments of construction materials means that Palestinians have been prevented from rebuilding homes, government buildings and hundreds of other structures destroyed during by the Israeli military.

Source: Institute for Middle east Understanding

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High Court Ponders Fate of Tax Rebel


The Supreme Court will huddle on October 19 to consider whether to hear the appeal of a strong tax rebel who argues that the federal income tax is unconstitutional on numerous grounds. It is believed to be the first time that a classic tax rebel’s case has gone so far.

The justices met privately, which is routine, to decide whether to hear the case of Thomas T. Scambos, Jr. v. U.S. Department of Justice on October 19. Their decision has not yet been made public. If Scambos prevails, it will be the first time the high court has heard open arguments from a classic tax rebel. It will be a dramatic moment in history that the mainstream media will be compelled to cover.

It requires the approval of four justices for the case to be heard. A possible vote for approval is Justice Clarence Thomas, who also has called for hearing challenges to President Obama’s constitutional qualifications for office on grounds he was born in Africa, not Hawaii. The fearful court refused to accept that challenge. If the other self-proclaimed “conservatives” vote according to the views they voice, the case will be heard.

They are: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito. Scambos has petitioned for a writ of certiorari, which asks the high court to take his case from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and directly hear his appeal.

Of his numerous challenges to lower court dismissals of cases by tax rebels, Scambos attacked the rejection of constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition against compelling a citizen to be a “witness against himself.” Courts have long agreed that this includes surrendering personal documents.

In 1886, his petition says, “the question of Fifth Amendment protection for the books, records and personal documents of a witness who may be implicated in a crime was first considered in Boyd v. United States, where the Supreme Court expanded Fifth Amendment protection against compulsory testimony to include the books and records of the witness.”

The court said: “Any compulsory discovery by extorting the party’s oath, or compelling the production of his private books and papers, to convict him of a crime, or to forfeit his property, is contrary to the principles of a free government. It is abhorrent to the instincts of an Englishman; it is abhorrent to the instincts of an American. It may suit the purposes of a despotic power, but it cannot abide the pure atmosphere of political liberty and personal freedom.”

The court further said: “And we are further of the opinion that a compulsory production of the private books and papers of the owner of goods sought to be forfeited in such a suit is compelling him to be a witness against himself, within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment. [It] is the equivalent of a search and seizure—and an unreasonable search and seizure— within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.”

Source: American Free Press

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Friday, October 9, 2009

BILDERBERGERS WANT GLOBAL CURRENCY NOW:


But nationalists and populists around the world ready to fight to retain financial sovereignty

Bilderberg has had front-men call anew for creating a global currency and establishing major European Union-style regions for the administrative convenience of a planned world government. Both steps were taken in September, one by the new Bilderberg-crowned prime minister of Japan and one separately by the UN.

The Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) called for a global currency in a report made public on September 7. UN countries should agree on a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, UNCTAD said. The dollar’s role in international trade should be reduced to protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation, it said.

Heiner Flassbeck, a former German deputy finance minister, is co-author of the report calling for a global currency. He worked with then U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers in 1997-98 to contain the Asian financial crisis. Summers is a longtime Bilderberg luminary and has been photographed by AFP at annual secret Bilderberg confabs.

Eliminating national currencies has long been a goal of Bilderberg as a crucial step in its plan to establish a world government. A nation’s currency is a symbol of sovereignty, so Bilderberg wants to divide the world into three giant regions, each with its regional currency, for the administrative convenience of its world government bureaucrats.

Bilderberg used its immense power to get Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan elected over the Liberal Democratic Party, which had led the nation for 64 years. Hatoyama obediently called for an Asian economic bloc, similar to the EU, complete with a regional currency.

Bilderberg’s goal is an “Asian-Pacific Union” and an “American Union,” both modeled after the EU. The EU has its common currency, the euro, and a European Parliament that can impose laws on the once sovereign nations of Europe and a European Court superior to the highest courts of member states. The EU is effectively a single super-state.

The “American Union” is to evolve from the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, as it extends throughout the Western Hemisphere. The common currency is to be the “amero.” Fortunately, Bilderberg’s efforts in the Western Hemisphere have been stalled but the campaign continues using “free trade” propaganda.

Ultimately, the UN is to function as a world government with the General Assembly serving as a world parliament. Bilderberg, a secret organization of international financiers and political leaders, will serve as a world shadow government that dictates to the UN.

Source: American Free press
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‘TARP’ Turning Out to Be Largest Taxpayer Swindle in U.S. History


CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE have been busy lately patting themselves on the back for staving off financial armageddon by handing out taxpayer money to Wall Street like it was Halloween candy. But while they’re trumpeting the fact that some financial firms have returned a tiny portion of the trillions of dollars that were given to banks, reality is setting in that Americans will never see that money again and will be paying it off for many, many years to come.

In late September, legislators quietly assessed whether they should begin phasing out some government aid programs like the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which appropriated $700 billion— all of which had to be borrowed from bankers and foreign countries—to purchase bad investments, known as toxic assets, owned by financial firms.

So far, more than 600 potentially insolvent banks have been propped up by TARP. However, the program is set to expire at the end of this year, and doubts remain as to whether many lending institutions will be able to hold on without continued handouts from taxpayers.

TARP was initiated in late September 2008 following the collapse of the stock market. Since that time, a handful of firms have reimbursed taxpayers for money they received under the program to the tune of about $70 billion, or 10 percent of what has been given out. The debate in Congress comes as the chief bureaucrat tasked with watching over TARP recently conceded during Senate testimony that taxpayers will most likely not be paid back for all of the money they gave Wall Street.

Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee on Sept. 25, Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP, said that it is “extremely unlikely that the taxpayer will see a full return on its TARP investment.”

By now, many policymakers inside the Beltway presume that Americans have forgotten how Bush’s Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke originally sold the massive payout by claiming that taxpayers would eventually reap “returns” on their “investment” in Wall Street.

Today, we’re being told that we should be happy that we will get back even some of that money. So now we know the truth about the TARP: It wasn’t enacted to protect the economy. It was created for the purpose of covering up the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in the history of the United States.

Source: American Free Press
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We Told You So: FBI Hides Truth About OKC Bombing


Only Americans with short memories were surprised by the new accusations of the FBI’s ongoing cover-up of the Oklahoma City bombing, as charged by Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue. It actually has been going on since about 2 p.m. on April 19, 1995—following five hours of honest reporting by news people on the scene.

The remarkable change in the official story and the twisting of the facts made it plain that the federal government and the controlled news media had collaborated to deceive us. The initial reports that we have maintained on videotape for the past 14 years reveal an altogether different story than what’s in the history books.

Immediately, the tragedy was thought to be (and reported as) a gas explosion from inside the building as evidenced by the immense amount of rubble blown out into the street and beyond. A worker from the newspaper office across the street later told us of the children’s toys from the Murrah nursery being blown through his windows. However, it took only a few minutes to cast aside the accident theory and realize that a bomb had exploded inside.

Next it was announced that this was not only some kind of terrorist attack but that an unexploded bomb was discovered in the rubble and was being removed by the Oklahoma County bomb squad. Soon there was another.

“The first bomb did go off,” says the OKC reporter. “The second and third explosives, if you can imagine this, were larger than the first. It is just incredible to think that there was that much heavy artillery that was somehow moved into the downtown federal building.”

Indeed it was, but such truth would lead to demands for an investigation that might reveal way too much information (just as the independent investigations later did) and had to be quashed.

These reports, of course, came before the federal government and a compliant national media could combine to massage the data, change the number of explosions to one, change its position to out in the street and change the bomb’s components to non-existent ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO).

Gov. Frank Keating, a former FBI agent and high-ranking BATF official before his 1994 election to the state’s highest office, went on TV to say, “Obviously, whatever did the damage to the Murrah Building was a tremendous, a very sophisticated explosive device.”

“It had to have been done by an explosives expert,” said government officials.

During these news reports in the first few hours, we also saw hundreds of people fleeing down the street away from the Murrah Building when the FBI had announced the necessity of clearing the area because of the danger of the second and third devices being accidentally detonated during removal. Actually, it was a ploy to remove file cabinets and surveillance tapes with fewer witnesses.

By 2 o’clock, newsmen were singing a different tune, because Mayor Ron Norick had just told them that it was “a car bomb loaded with 1,200 pounds of ANFO, and we have confirmed that with the BATF.”

The reported 1,200 pounds would then begin to increase to 2,000, 3,000 and finally 4,800 pounds, by the next day—the amount necessary to meet the area’s damage.

However, this also required that the transporting vehicle be expanded to a “truck” because a car could not have handled the required load.

It was a total fabrication, as future tests and examinations showed no evidence whatsoever of any ANFO in the blast area. ANFO has two distinguishing characteristics following its detonation: lingering nitrate gas and flames.

Neither was present at the Murrah Building following the blasts. The only visible flames were the gasoline fires from the cars in the parking lot, and rescue workers were on the scene immediately without gas masks.

Before the case was three days old, the FBI didn’t want to hear any information that did not pertain to their two designated patsies: Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

County K-9 Deputy Don Browning was on the scene in the early minutes and was soon subjected to intentional disinformation, as later admitted to him by an FBI agent. He was told that “the Middle Easterners seen beating a hasty retreat from the scene in two cars and a yellow pickup truck” was a story made up to “confuse the news media.”

“Problem was, it confused the rest of law enforcement, too,” says Browning. He had also witnessed the FBI agents removing the surveillance cameras and tapes from their mounts. These were the tapes that the FBI denied even existed for more than 14 years before finally surrendering them last month, but only with doctored results.

“I got angry all over again last week,” Browning told AFP, “when they quit lying about the existence of those tapes and produced them.”

Oklahoma rancher Hoppy Heidelberg was on the federal grand jury and saw first-hand the railroading of the two patsies. When he complained and tried to investigate, as a grand juror should, he was kicked out and sent home by Judge David Russell. He was later delivered a surreptitious message telling him that “if I didn’t sue, they would let me live.”

An Oklahoma City police sergeant wasn’t so lucky. He was murdered the following year because he would not relent in his pursuit for truth. Stabbed 13 times and shot through the head, Terry Yeakey’s death in a rural cow pasture was ruled a suicide.

When Yeakey’s body was discovered, 40 uniformed officers combed the area for an hour in a search for the gun, without success. However, when FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Ricks arrived by helicopter, it took him less than five minutes to “discover” a revolver in the grass near the body.

The official OKC bombing story has never been anything but a cover-up, and the FBI has been the chief architect of the cover-up from the beginning.

SOurce: American Free Press

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Disobey Call for Forced Vaccinations


A number of “stop the vax” efforts are taking place across America amid persistent warnings of a possible mandated “swine flu” mass vaccination of the populace, with alternative and mainstream news reports ranging from ominous scenarios of a deliberately created pandemic and planned large-scale crippling and killing of the population on the one extreme, to casual “the shots are available if you want them” reports on the other extreme.

Military exercises are even cited as possible dress rehearsals for gunpoint vaccinations and quarantines.

Yet, other sources suggest a lot more normalcy: one Midwestern daily newspaper noted that those catching the “swine flu” should just stay home at least 24 hours “after fever breaks,” implying that it’s unlikely this flu will kill anyone. Precautions for those who are still well are simply to wash your hands often with soap or sanitizer for “at least 20 seconds.”

In this age of hard-hitting news on the Internet that feeble mainstream sources will not report—but with the potential for falsehoods, exaggerations and deliberately planted urban legends also present on the Internet—it’s no easy task to say with certainty just how hard county, state, U.S. and global H1N1/swine flu shot advocates will push to vaccinate the greater population in the coming weeks. Yet, the bottom line is that more and more people will not take the shot.

Considering the known dangers of adjuvants and other highly suspect ingredients in modern vaccines, refusing the shot itself and avoiding any kind of nasal vaccine in spray form seem to be the only sensible course—no matter what plot is brewing. The best vaccination is no vaccination.

News reports appeared October 6 showing health care workers in Indiana, Illinois and Tennessee taking the nasal vaccine, FluMist, like willing sheep. Indeed, what is just as disturbing as government medical tyranny is the servility of Americans, particularly health care workers, to blindly accept the H1N1 nasal spray vaccine, amid troubling allegations that the spray—which is heavy with live viruses—could enable the viruses to incubate in the nasal tissue and then be released into the air by sneezing. This spreads the virus, possibly starting the very pandemic that thus far has not materialized, contrary to World Health Organization claims.

No matter what, Americans must refuse the H1N1 vaccine in needle and nasal form. But Americans must go beyond that and change every law in every state and at the national level that requires vaccinations.

Americans can force authorities at all levels and the profit-seeking drug companies that make these vaccinations to back down in a major way, and to “clean house” regarding any current or future attempts by megalomaniacs and mindless believers in all aspects of modern medicine to imperil the fabric of society with sordid medical schemes.

There are a number of good signs of much-needed resistance out there. New York healthcare workers held a morning rally at the state capitol in Albany September 29 “to protest the new regulations mandating that all healthcare workers with patient contact receive all CDC ‘recommended’ flu vaccines… including the just licensed, un-safety-tested ‘swine flu’ 2009 ‘H1N1-A.’

Members of [Ron Paul’s] Campaign for Liberty are taking an active role in this rally,” as noted in a news bulletin posted at HealthFreedomUSA.org.

So, in the short term we must greet “the shot” and “the spray” with bald-faced refusal and press on to expose the vast medical fraud that is our current system.

Remember, the clamor for national healthcare is about giving Big Medicine even more money and covering only conventional medical treatments.

Call and write your local and state health departments, local media and state representatives, contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control, and annoy your member of Congress and your U.S. senators about this H1N1 “swine flu” situation. Make it known that the vaccine is not needed and is unacceptable in any form under any pretense.

Source: American Free Press

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

SNIPPITS and SNAPPITS: HEALTH ~ 50 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOURS...

SNIPPITS and SNAPPITS: HEALTH ~ 50 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOURS...


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HEROIC ‘SELF-HATING JEWS’ ON WORLD TOUR


These youngsters deserve a ticker tape parade in every city they visit…..


Why We Refuse-World Tour

Some of the bravest Israelis that I know are on tour right now in the United States and South Africa. The “Shministim” (12th grade high school students) are on speaking tours talking about the reality of Israeli conscientious objectors and the peace movement in Israel in general. For more information and tour dates, please visit the website.


Phil Weiss has an excellent comment on a recent Shministim event at NYU on his website:

Among the Shministim– excommunication and self-hatred

The two visiting Israeli women who refused to serve in the army spoke at NYU last night. I ran into a woman whom I’d gone to Gaza with on the elevator. We sat together, and I told her about my plan to visit Israel. I feel a need to go see my family friend who moved there a long time ago and talk the situation over. “I’m in the Jewish community the way you’re in the Episcopalian community,” I said, “and she’s a better Jew than I am.” I saw Terry’s face fall, and I felt pathetic. “Is that ridiculous?” “Not ridiculous emotionally. Though it is ridiculous on its face.” Well I meant that my parents’ friend was religious and had raised her children as Jews. Still I could see Terry was disturbed by my comment, that it expressed some self-loathing.
Read the rest of this entry »

Source



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A Golden Opportunity to Declaw PATRIOT Act



You remember the USA PATRIOT Act, don’t you? It was that 342-page bill that sped through a supplicant Congress within weeks of 9/11, dismantling our privacy rights like a castoff Hollywood set. A reauthorization in 2006 made some things better and some worse, but mostly the law stayed the same – really bad for American freedom.

Well, it is time to revisit this act of congressional cowardice that vastly expanded the ability of the government to unjustly intrude on our private lives. Three provisions will expire by the end of the year, which means Congress will have to act.

The Senate Judiciary Committee debated a reauthorization bill on Thursday offered by committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. The measure falls short of resurrecting our shattered liberties, but it is a starting point.

You would think that with solid Democratic majorities in Congress, the PATRIOT Act’s unleashing of FBI surveillance on innocent Americans would finally be redressed. But the fear among lawmakers is palpable that doing anything to return a constitutional balance to domestic spying operations will play badly come election time.

I can see the Dittoheads now, on the one hand demanding that big government stay out of providing health insurance options, while on the other hand insisting that Big Brother be allowed to continue to peer into the financial, travel, communications, and library records of anyone it wants with little or no evidence of wrongdoing. Principled consistency has never been one of their strong suits.

Here are the sections of the act that will expire...

please read the full article here:

http://original.antiwar.c...

DO SOMETHING !! TAKE ACTION NOW!!
PATRIOT ACT ACTION CENTER
http://get-fisa-right.wet...

output

Source: The Daily Paul

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Was Gaza Genocide Pre-Planned?



It appears the plan to cut off, strangle and destroy Gaza including punishing the entire population was in the works long ago.
Additionally there appeared to be much discussion by all Zionists regarding the finer points of destroying and murdering a community of Civilians.

Avigdor Lieberman and his extremist killers had a plan. The plan also calls for bombing whole Gaza neighbourhoods in response to rocket-fire, ending visitation rights for PA prisoners, severing Gaza from all other border states and stopping diplomatic contacts with any and all PA officials, including Mahmoud Abbas.

Now, here’s the interesting part, this is a report from May 2007, a full 18 months before the Gaza Genocide. Moreover, there were other ideas put forth to add to Lieberman’s original plan. The plan was ultimately put forth to Olmert. Evidently Olmert had other ideas at the time, but clearly the overwhelming support was for destroying Gaza and that included the civilian population, its infrastructure, its government, its water, and its electricity, the ability of civilians to enter and leave Gaza for any reason. More after this from May 2007:
Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman announced a plan Thursday that calls for a “completion of the Disengagement.” Lieberman explained to Army Radio: “We expelled all the Jews from Gaza and left there completely, but still provide it with economic support, water and electricity. We must sever all connections with Gaza and declare it an independent enemy entity,” he said. “There is no reason Egypt cannot supply the electricity and water for Gaza and let the European Union build infrastructure and provide security if they care about the poor Palestinians so much,” he added. “Membership in the axis of evil has a heavy price—financially, politically, and militarily.”
So, we are all members of the "Axis of Evil" Totally Awesome.........Cos like I'd never want to be on the same side as racist killers like Lieberman. More:
Lieberman said his plan includes a complete closure of all crossings between Gaza and Israel through which PA Arab workers currently cross into Israel and through which aid passes to Gaza. His plan also calls for bombing Gaza neighbourhoods in response to rocket-fire, ending visitation rights for PA terrorists (He means illegally interned Palestinians) until kidnapped (He means Prisoner Of War) IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is released, severing Gaza from Judea and Samaria and stopping diplomatic contacts with any and all PA officials, including Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas.

Lieberman said the plan would come into effect in 2008 and be modelled after how Israel related to the Sinai after withdrawal. "Just as Israel did not continue to provide anything to Sinai after it withdrew, there is no reason why it should act any differently toward Gaza, especially in the current situation," he said.
Well that's all fine well and good, except you cannot block all aid, cut off the border crossings, shut down the electricity and water, and then NOT allow the International community to help the victims. If Israel takes the position of being the occupier and controller of Gaza and its borders, then it is ultimately Israel’s responsibility to protect the Civilian population and take care of them. It's called international law and the Geneva Convention. Israel are the "military Occupiers and Controllers of Gaza" and that brings with it humanitarian responsibilities, which really pisses off Israel. So they allow a tiny "trickle" through once in a while in order to point to their so called "Humanitarian Side" and to offer up as "proof" they are allowing aid into Gaza. Typical Israeli trickery. However, this is no longer hidden from the world. We now see what the Zionist killers "allow and disallow" into Gaza. Things such as paper for kids to write on at school, or pasta, not allowed, all must be considered as terrorist material. After all, HAMAS could cause a severe paper cut to an Israeli solder! Or create some devastating "Pasta Bomb" covered in "Non-Kosher" spaghetti sauce, heaven forbid… More:
Lieberman, The Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) chairman said he would present his plan to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the rest of the government Thursday
Now, as stated, at the time Olmert had other plans of action, but clearly the most extreme elements within the Israeli government were beginning to exert pressure on the less extreme (all of them are extreme and hate filled, it’s just a matter of who is the lesser evil I guess) So, the Minister of Labour and Trade offered this little “Add On” to Lieberman’s plan below. The beginning of targeting civilians on a massive scale. See here:
Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Eli Yishai (Shas) suggested that Israel launch air strikes to destroy entire PA villages in response to rocket fire, after warning the Arab residents to vacate their homes.
Whoa, does that sound "familiar????" Except that Israel claimed it warned people but that is yet another Israeli trick as I will point out. They say this in order to keep up that pretence of "Fake Humanity" for the world;o) The problem with a so called "warning" is thus: Where were they, the civilians, supposed to go for safety after receiving this "So Called Warning?" Hmmmm, let's see now.... Schools? Nope, Israel bombed them. Mosques? Nope, Israel bombed them too! Hospitals? Nope, Israel bombed them too! Police Station? Nope, Israel bombed that too! UN Facilities? Nope, Israel bombed them too! So, in essence a so called "Warning" means eff-all for Palestinians in Gaza. More murder planning:
Fellow Shas MK Yitzhak Cohen suggested Israel cut off electricity, water and gas to Gaza an idea backed by Shabak (General Security Service) chief Yuval Diskin and rehashed in Lieberman’s proposal.
And what else I find interesting is this next bit regarding Egypt, Jordan, the European Union and NATO.
Minister Rafi Eitan (Pensioners) recently suggested a similar idea, involving bringing Egyptian troops into Gaza and Jordanians into Judea and Samaria. "The same thing [as happened following the Second Lebanon War – the deployment of international troops –ed.] sooner or later, will happen in the Gaza Strip, with the senior partner in such a force being Egypt because it has no choice," Eitan told government radio.
You will love the reasoning next:
“When the Egyptians are there, when 500 or 600 (Palestinian) civilians are killed, no one will say anything. That is what will eventually happen. We are getting there, gradually.” Eitan added that he also sees a future deployment of Jordanians in Judea and Samaria.

NATO troops would be called upon to provide security and the European Union would be invited to provide infrastructure and jobs for PA Arabs
Get out your wallets folks. Now, it makes one wonder if this is actually the Ultimate Israeli plan or wish list. Note that it was stated by Lieberman that “his” plan would come into effect in 2008. And when did we see Gaza attacked? December 2008. And we also saw Lieberman brought into government as well. Additionally we have witnessed many of these “suggestions” implemented since May 2007. And from the comments below which I pilfered from the comment section of this 18 month old article seem to bear out much support to wipe out civilians and implement Lieberman’s extremist plan . Note that many comments are filled with vitriol for Olmert for not immediately taking up Lieberman’s suggestions. And one more interesting aspect of this after what follows below (NOTE-I have not bothered to correct the terrible spelling of these morons. Perhaps if they used their brains for something other than racist hatred of Arabs, then maybe some of those spelling lessons would have stuck!)
We suffered no such rockets while we had Gaza. The answer is obvious. Retake Gaza forever! Rebuild Gush Katif better than ever. We know "Disengagement" was a horrid failure. It's time to right the wrong and completely abandon the idiotic, suicidal policy of Israeli retreat.
Chaim, (31/05/07)

29. Gaza Is Part of Biblical Israel: We Cannot Abandon It!
Avigdor Lieberman may be well-intentioned, but unfortunately, through no fault of his own he is an Am Haaretz lacks Torah education.

50. get it over with already!!!
All they do is attack Jews who they say are occupying their land. What chutzpah !(NOTE= See the irony there? Attack Jews who are occupying their land???? Moron just stated the answer to Israel's entire problem) Get rid of this obnoxious vermin that infests the Land of Israel; send them all to Paradise. Fivish, London (31/05/07)(NOTE=this boy's real intelligent, I'd say he has at least a room temperature IQ of around 70 or so)

59. I've got a better idea!
1. IDF must reoccupy parts of Israel lost to "disengagement" and reunite the country. 2. Eng all aid to PA. Use the savings to compensate Israelis deported from parts of Israel under "disengagement". 3. Ban foreign workers, including Palestinians. Give their jobs to Israelis who lost their livelihoods under "disengagement". 4. End negotiations with terrorists and their representatives.
Daniel J. Vandeberg, St. Paul, MN US (01/06/07)
Right, now this next part is very telling. Note that Israel perceives a problem for themselves should Palestine ever be declared a “state” see below:
65. Statehood for the Palestinians is a problem for Israel
In principle I agree with Avigdor Lieberman.However wouldnt declaring them as an enemy state give them soverign rights and a possible association with the U.N. (as being recognized as an independant state.If Israel were to attack them then,there would be dire consequences for Israel maybe and ultimately tying the hands of the U.S. in helping Israel.My opinion is to cut off everything,power,any aide,water and jobs until they release the IDF soldier... Dont help them to ultimately undermine Israel. John, USA (01/06/07)

73. Don't declare no stupid "state": kick them out!!!
Declaring them a state will only add insult to injury. They must be treated as the land-usurping outlaws they are.
Amazing but these sick twisted people have somehow convinced themselves that the reverse is happening. E.g. Palestinians are taking Israeli land LOL Perhaps all Zionists are inflicted with ass-backwards reasoning? more:
Take Gaza back in Jewish hands, and kick them OUT once and for all. Kicking innocent Jewish farmers has proven a total failure, put the Jews back there, it is the ARABS you must kick out. Period.
Rafael V Rabinovich, (03/06/07)
So, this “plan” was beginning to be conceived in 2007 by Lieberman and his extremist racist murdering cohorts and was ultimately fine tuned and later adopted by the Israeli Government. Although some small aspects have changed along the way, for instance the Zionists are “working” with Abbas, but that is merely because they (and America) have turned him using power, money and support. He now works for The United States of Israel. The rest of the plan we have seen come to fruition in Gaza. I also believe that the Zionists may attempt to block Palestine from becoming a state because it would then pose a threat to Israel both politically and on the world stage. THAT threatens Israel’s hold and raises a whole host of legal questions and dilemmas for Israel worldwide.
link

Source: Irish 4 Palestine
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ZIONISTS FEAR THAT THE TRUTH WILL ‘SPUR ANTI-SEMITISM’


How pathetic is this? Three young Israeli conscientious objectors plan on a visit to South Africa…. and the zionists are panicking. ARE THEY AFRAID OF PEACE? It certainly looks that way.

Cape Town: ‘Conscientious objectors’ visit may spur anti-Semitism’

By RUTH EGLASH

Jews in Cape Town expressed deep concern Tuesday that a visit to their city by three representatives of the Shministim, conscientious objectors to IDF service, could fuel anti-Israel sentiment and even anti-Semitism.

A poster advertising the...

A poster advertising the Shministim’s appearance in Cape Town.

Sponsored by South Africa’s End Conscription Campaign (ECC) and the Open Shuhada Street (OSS), a non-profit organization campaigning to open a Hebron street, Yuval Ophir-Auron, 20, Omer Goldman, 20 and Sahar Vardi, 19 arrived in the country on October 2.

Among their scheduled appearances are interviews on television and radio shows, as well as numerous presentations at local schools and universities.

“They are speaking out to the greater South African population, that does not really know or understand the complex issues of the conflict in Israel,” commented National Vice Chairman of the South African Zionist Federation David Hirsch.

The rest of this trash can be read HERE

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The Unacceptable Cost of Judeo-Christianity; Its Legacy of Pain



Charles E. Carlson Oct 05, 2009

"The Unacceptable Cost of Christian Zionism" is offered as memorial to eight dead American soldiers, who did not need to die, and uncounted Afghans, Iraqis, and Palestinians, all killed the first four days of October. We also memorialize the calculated assassination of a thing we all use and depend upon, the “Dollar,” destroyed in a large part by unnecessary and contrived Serial Wars.

The Death of the Dollar” is a passing that will bring deprivation to a class of Americans who never dreamed it could befall them. In the “Unacceptable Cost” first published in August 30, 2007, we explain why we place the blame for Serial Wars and destroyed dreams upon America’s churches and church leaders, not all of them mind you, but most. They alone, as institutions, have the responsibility to know the truth and tell it, regardless of the cost. Truth is the product of Jesus’ work, but those who claim to follow Him from the mega-church pulpits have played the monopoly game of war along with the bankers and politicians. We blame them, and we see no reason why God will not; stop following them! Read the rest HERE

Source: Curtmaynardsnewestblog
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Chicago suburban cop beats teen for untucked shirt


By Carlos Miller
He was 15 years old. A special needs student. And his shirt wasn’t tucked in.

For that, Marshawn Pitts was severely beaten by a police officer in the hallway of his school. And it was all caught on surveillance video.

The suburban Chicago police officer first shoved him against a wall. Then when the scrawny teen tried to stand back up, the officer began pummeling him with his fists.

Th brawny officer then sat on top of the teen, shoving his face into the floor in what is called a “face-down take-down,”a controversial hold that is illegal in eight states because it has resulted in at least 20 deaths, according to the CBS news report.

Pitts ended up with a broken nose, a swollen lip and cuts to his face.

All for an untucked shirt.

But it was in bad taste for CBS to title their news report “a painful lesson” because it insinuates the teen deserved the beating, which he did not.

The incident occurred in May 2009 at the Academy of Learning at Dolton, which is a school that specializes in special needs students. Pitts has a learning disability stemming from a previous head injury.

The name of the Dolton police officer, who works as a school resource officer, has not been published. I’m betting it is not the first time he’s done that.


Source: Photography is Not a Crime

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ANOTHER FIRM JOINS THE ‘BOYCOTT LIST


In its Code of Conduct, the Volvo Group commits itself to support and respect the protection of human rights and to ensure that it is not complicit in human rights abuses. However, by providing construction and transportation equipment that facilitates Israel’s occupation, the company violates this Code of Conduct on a daily basis.

With increasing calls for boycott of and divestment from companies that support Israel’s occupation, Volvo Group can expect activists around the world to put pressure on responsible investors to divest from the company and to call on public bus companies not to buy Volvo buses.

Volvo providing armored buses for Israeli settlements
Adri Nieuwhof

Merkavim’s promotional video shows Israeli soldiers boarding an armored bus.
Following reports published by The Electronic Intifada on the use of Volvo equipment in the demolition of Palestinian houses in 2007, the Volvo Group stated that it did not condone the use of its equipment for such purposes. Claiming to have no control over the use of its products, Volvo affirmed that its Code of Conduct decries unethical behavior. In spite of these claims, The Electronic Intifada has found that through its Volvo Buses branch, the Volvo Group is providing armored buses to transport Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Volvo Buses is co-owner of Merkavim Ltd., an Israeli transport technology company. Another shareholder in the company is Mayer’s Cars and Trucks, the exclusive Israeli representative of companies from the Volvo Group. According to Merkavim’s website, the company was chosen by Volvo as “its major body builder in the Middle East.” However, the Who Profits from the Occupation? project recently reported that Merkavim manufactures an armored version of Volvo’s Mars Defender bus for the Israeli public transport company Egged. Egged uses the Mars Defender to provide bus services for illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Merkavim proudly announced on its website that the Mars Defender offers protection and ultimate comfort when traveling through war zones or routes susceptible to terrorist attacks. In a promotional video the armored bus is shown driving along Israel’s wall in the West Bank and crossing checkpoints (

http://www.merkavim.co.il/upload/defender.wmv, accessed 6 October). In another video on Merkavim’s homepage, Volvo’s Senior Vice-President of Business Region Europe, Lars Blom, declares that “Three core values that are very important to us are quality, environmental care and safety. … [T]he products we are developing with Merkavim also deliver these three core values plus reliability” (http://www.merkavim.co.il/movies_library/merkavim.wmv, accessed 7 October 2009)

According to Merkavim, in the video promoting the bus, the Mars Defender “looks like any other modern bus,” but it is “the world’s most armored bus.” Indeed, the company calls it “the bus that saves lives!” As the narrator explains that the bus is “designed to safeguard the most precious cargo,” the camera pans over Israeli soldiers lining up to board the bus and on patrol with their machine guns at the ready. The video explains that Israel has “adapted its world renowned expertise in military and defense technologies to deal with” the “growing threat” of “terrorists and hostile forces.” It adds that Merkavim “blends this state of the art know-how with its own expertise” to produce the Mars Defender. Built on a Volvo chassis, the Mars Defender’s sides, front, roof and floor are shielded with steel armored panels and it is fitted with bullet- and explosion-proof armored glass windows as well as “run-flat” tires. According to the company, these safety measures allow the bus to withstand “grenades, car bombs, roadside charges and 7.62 caliber armor-piercing bullets.” Merkavim claims that these features are needed because “people trust this bus with their lives.”

The 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Israel’s wall in the West Bank confirmed that settlements violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Article 49 explicitly states that the Occupying Power is not allowed to deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Bus services with Volvo subsidiary’s Mars Defender armored buses facilitate the maintaining of illegal settlements in the OPT.

In its Code of Conduct, the Volvo Group commits itself to support and respect the protection of human rights and to ensure that it is not complicit in human rights abuses. However, by providing construction and transportation equipment that facilitates Israel’s occupation, the company violates this Code of Conduct on a daily basis. With increasing calls for boycott of and divestment from companies that support Israel’s occupation, Volvo Group can expect activists around the world to put pressure on responsible investors to divest from the company and to call on public bus companies not to buy Volvo buses.

Source: Dessert Peace


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NO AGE LIMIT FOR HEROISM

Israeli highschoolers choose jail over occupation army service

Nora Barrows-Friedman

Refuseniks Maya Wind and Netta Mishly. (whywerefuse.org)

As US-made Hellfire missiles and white phosphorus rained down on the entrapped people of the Gaza Strip earlier this year, a number of “refuseniks,” young Israeli men and women who refuse to serve mandatory military conscription after high school, along with anti-occupation activists attempted to shut down the Israeli Air Force base near Tel Aviv. It was from this base that airborne weapons of war, flown by their former classmates, took off to kill Palestinians just miles down the beach in Gaza.

From chronic checkpoint beatings, to the use of Palestinian children as human shields during invasions, to widespread use of torture and interrogation in detention camps, to the killing of unarmed civilians during incursions and wide-scale massacres that spur international condemnation, Israel’s soldiers are the face of the state’s expanding and illegal occupation and colonization of Palestine. And a new generation of conscripts have just finished boot camp, eager to carry on this vicious tradition of occupation.

Within mainstream Israeli Jewish society, mandatory conscription into the military is regarded as a rite of passage; a normalized violent adventure meant to codify nationalism and Zionist supremacy while carrying out Israel’s policies of aggression. (Paradoxically, a few thousand non-Jewish, “Arab-Israeli” citizens have also served in the army — see Jonathan Cook’s recent article “

False promise of integration for Palestinian soldiers in Israel.”) Recently, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman repeated an oft-heard mantra as he attempted to defend the state’s criminal massacres in Gaza earlier this year. “Israel,” Lieberman claimed, “has the most moral army in the world.”

However, a growing number of Israeli Jewish youth facing mandatory military conscription — the Shministim — are breaking the chain of conventional cooperation with the occupation. Refusing to participate in a system they agree to be immoral as well as illegal, these young people exemplify complicity with their ethical values rather than their state’s colonialist policies.

The Shministim have also started linking up with American military resisters to strategize and build an international movement of opposition to the state-sponsored violence of occupation — from the West Bank and Gaza to Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, these young people are speaking directly to Jewish audiences across the US who may romanticize Israel’s perceived “need” for an aggressive military system, hoping to inspire critical thought centered on the actual reality for Palestinians affected by Israel’s actions.

Since 1970, groups of Shministim — Hebrew for 12th-graders — have emerged, turning against the overwhelming current of generational militarism. Writing public letters to Israeli heads of state, Shministim cohorts refuse to participate in the system of occupation, and, more broadly, vociferously challenge a national attitude of supremacy and racist entitlement over historic Palestine’s indigenous population.

Though personal stories of revelatory tenacity are wholly unique for each young person who stands up, the shock of collective reality and personal responsibility is a common theme. After witnessing brutal violence carried out by Israeli occupation soldiers against Palestinians in the West Bank village of Bilin, 19-year-old Shministim member Maya Wind says that “the only moral option for me was to refuse.”

Not surprisingly, the Israeli government does not concur with Wind’s revelation. Shministim refuseniks face draconian jail sentences in repeated cycles until they reach 21 years old or manage to secure a discharge on the basis of medical or mental health.

Israeli youth who refuse to cooperate with Israel’s military occupation are sent into a lengthy and relentless labyrinth of court martials and consecutive jail terms in what Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard, representing Shministim, calls a “price tag” meant to deter other young Israelis from non-participation. “Otherwise,” he says, “[the Israeli government's] argument says, everyone — of ideological or personal reasons — will refuse to serve.”

I recently interviewed Wind and her Shministim cohort, Netta Mishly, during their tour in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wind says that the political and ultra-religious environment in her high school led her to question the reality behind the ideologies of her government and her fellow students. “A lot of my classmates were settlers, including extremists from [settlements in] the West Bank … there were a lot of questions that surfaced for me. I didn’t even use the word ‘occupation’ back then.” Through a discussion group with Palestinians in Jerusalem, Wind says that she awakened to a different reality than the one offered to her inside Israeli-Jewish society. “I figured I needed to learn more. Through a conversation with a Palestinian girl, I started to question more. I started going to the West Bank.”

Wind was sent to jail during the third week of the Gaza massacres, and spent several weeks behind bars. Sentenced four times, she spent a cumulative two months in detention and another 42 days in a military prison altogether. She was subjected to a “humiliating” array of psychiatrists and psychologists sent by the military to determine her mental fitness, required to serve in the army. Wind says that all of the Shministim were labeled mentally unfit by these health professionals, therefore giving Israel the excuse that the problem was not with the policies or the morality of the military, but with the Shministim themselves.

Netta Mishly, also 19 years old and from Tel Aviv, was active in several political groups from early adolescence and supported by parents who encouraged her to think critically. She said that her decision to refuse was made clear during her activity against Israel’s wall in the West Bank. “After I was there, and I saw how the soldiers attack civilians without any security justification, after I saw how the state steals land from [Palestinians] … For me, not going to the army was a decision I came to after visiting the West Bank for the first time.”

She says that her life changed completely after returning to school. “I kept hearing the same line [in class] — that we need to defend ourselves, and we need to go to the army. I couldn’t believe this anymore because I saw how the soldiers act on the ground. I connected with other activists and we started thinking about how we were going to take this difficult step, and we decided to keep working in the same tradition that started before us. We drafted a letter to the government, saying that we wouldn’t take part in the terrible crimes that Israel is doing in our name. After that, one by one, each one of us went to jail.”

Mishly was sentenced to a week in detention at the military base because there was “no room” in the regular prison (during the December-January attacks on Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel who participated in protests were rounded up and thrown into Israeli jails, on charges of treason and incitement). After the trial, one of the highest-ranking Israeli military justices decided they could re-try Mishly and she received another 20 days. “When you make the decision not to go to the army, you don’t know where [the punishment] is going to end,” she says.

Meanwhile, as US President Barack Obama readies another “troop surge” to entrench the interminable American occupation of Afghanistan, Wind and Mishly are meeting with US military resisters in order, Wind says, to expand international rejection of militarism. “I think that’s why Netta and I have come to the US. It’s not just about the Israeli occupation. It’s not just an Israeli thing. The US is occupying. And there are all forms of racism, prejudice and violence … these are not just phenomenons particular to the Middle East, you have this in the US as well. It’s towards immigrants, Mexicans, towards Iraq and Afghanistan. I think we’re trying to show that these are global phenomenons and we all have to create a broader justice movement.”

Sarah Lazare of the Bay Area-based GI Resistance support organization Courage to Resist is helping to organize an upcoming delegation of US war resisters to Palestine-Israel, she says, to connect with Israeli refuseniks. Calling itself Dialogue Against Militarism, the group intends to discuss similar experiences and learn from each other’s strategies for confronting war and occupation, while engaging with the effects of militarism in their respective societies.

“It is extremely powerful that war resisters in Israel are connecting with war resisters in the US,” says Lazare. “Given the close relationship between the so-called ‘War on Terror’ and the Israeli occupation, it is vital for resisters in these two countries to join forces, in order to build a movement strong enough to take on the forces we’re up against. Israeli and US war resisters are having exciting discussions, sharing experiences, and showing direct solidarity with each other, and I think this is a powerful step towards stopping US and Israeli-led occupations.”

In January, upon her sentencing, Maya Wind offered her declaration of conscience to the military court. “We can no longer term our military a ‘Defense Force,’” she asserted.

“A defense force does not conquer lands of another people. A defense force does not assist in the building of settlements on those lands. A defense force does not permit settlers to throw stones at Palestinian civilians, nor does it deny them access to their lands and source of livelihood. None of these are acts of a defense force.”

“The occupation has no defensive advantages. On the contrary, the pointless occupation of millions of people only leads to radicalization of opinions, hatred and the escalation of violence. Violence is a cycle that feeds into itself. This cycle will not stop until someone stands up and refuses uncompromisingly to take part in it. This is what I am doing today.”

Several other Shministim are gearing up for a similar speaking tour in South Africa during October.

Source: Dessert Peace

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‘HEROIC’ ISRAELI SOLDIERS CAUGHT ON FILM


IDF soldier arrested for beating Palestinian man
By Amira Hass

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of beating a Palestinian resident during a nighttime raid in the West Bank village of Bil’in, Israeli activists against the separation fence said.

The soldier was remanded by a military tribunal until Monday. The IDF Spokesman’s Office confirmed the report and said a gag order had been imposed on information about the soldier or the investigation. The soldier’s arrest followed a complaint lodged with the investigations department of the Military Police by Mohammed Hatib, 35, through attorney Michael Sfard of Yesh Din – a human rights volunteer organisation.

According to the complaint, on the night of September 16, IDF forces raided the home of a resident of Bil’in. The woman who owns the house asked Hatib, who is the head of Bil’in’s committee against the separation fence, to come to the house. When Hatib asked to speak to the officer in charge, the soldiers beat him severely. He was hospitalized overnight at the hospital in Ramallah.



The complaint states that one of the soldiers, whom the residents call “Captain Fuad” threatened Hatib that if protests in Bil’in did not stop, he “would end up like Bassem,” an apparent reference to Bassem Abu Rahmeh, a Bil’in resident who was shot and killed by IDF fire on April 17 during protests against the fence.

Village residents say the IDF conducts nighttime raids up to four times a week, sometimes using percussion grenades and tear gas and sometimes also entering homes, which has led to Israeli activists staying overnight in village homes.


Source: Dessert Peace

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THE TEN PLAGUES OF EAST JERUSALEM


evictions2

Ten plagues inflicted on East Jerusalem
By Meir Margalit

The disturbances in East Jerusalem are unlikely to surprise anyone following the situation in the city, and anyone who is attentive to the voices emanating from it. Claims that a small group of inciters seeking political profit is behind the disturbances prove that people supporting such claims know next to nothing about the true situation on the ground. If they were acquainted with events unfolding in the city’s backyard, they would know that the eruption was predictable – and only its time was unknown.

Much has changed in East Jerusalem over the past decade – to the point of becoming intolerable. When Teddy Kollek was Jerusalem’s mayor, its Arab citizens were disadvantaged, but their honour was scrupulously defended. They felt that at least they received civilized treatment. Recently though, several moves have made their lives unbearable and- the most difficult to bear- they feel their honour is being trodden underfoot. Ten plagues are being inflicted on East Jerusalem’s Arab citizens, and they cannot be ranked by gravity.

The first plague: the option of lawfully building a home has become almost impossible. Here, the difficulties have been accumulating for years: proving ownership, the absence of infrastructures, low building percentages, the reduction of areas permitted for construction – all of these have worsened due to the migration of scores of families across the separation fence into the `right side`, risking the loss of their blue (Israeli) identity cards.

The second plague: the separation fence – has not only created a wave of internal migration, but has cut the migrants off from their families, relatives, and loved ones. Matters have become highly complicated and a family visit which in the past entailed a short journey of minutes has become a `journey into the unknown`, in which no one can guess how long it will take to reach the destination, or to return from it. Everything depends on the mood of the soldier standing at the checkpoint.

The third plague: in tandem, the Interior Ministry has intensified the campaign of confiscating identity cards from people whom it maintains are living beyond the municipal borders. Many find that one day their citizenship status has been revoked without their knowledge, and they must retain a lawyer’s services to get it back.

The fourth plague – the Interior Ministry continues to prevent East Jerusalem residents from uniting with their families or spouses and are forced to live in the town without permits, almost in an underground, out of fear of being arrested by the police.

The fifth plague: the settlers are completely unrestrained in their attempts to take over every spot of land in the city`s eastern half. Their irritation has intensified with the rumours and headlines about a political process that is taking shape. Very recently, without any qualms, they have removed entire families from their homes, imposing fear everywhere they go.

The sixth plague: the destruction of homes which threatens thousands of families. This is not because the municipality is capable of demolishing such a huge number of homes, but because none of the thousands of families who received demolition orders knows who the blow will land on, and when their turn to lose their home will arrive. In this situation, every family lives on borrowed time and the stress is a form of torture.

The seventh plague: the economic crisis has caused calamity in the eastern city, with close to 70% of all families there living below the “poverty line”. In the absence of any prospects for improving the situation, they have very little to lose.

The eighth plague: the humiliating attitude of the Border Police, which has become unrestrained and ever more violent, gross and hot-headed. Its soldiers disdain everything that appears Arab, and injure the deepest sensibilities of Arab citizens.

The ninth plague: the archaeological excavations that the state is carrying out close to the Temple Mount, both in the Givati car-park and in El Wad Street, are generating immense concern among those who believe they are intended to cause the collapse of mosques. It is a belief nurtured by their `intimate` knowledge of the settlers who are conducting the excavations and the nationalist-Messianic agenda that motivates them. It may not be true, but in East Jerusalem even a feeling or a rumour can ignite a conflagration.

The tenth plague: the low level of municipal services, ranging from garbage collection, to the education system which determines their inferior status. Every time Arab citizens cross to the western part of the city and see how great the divide is between their own standard of living and that of their Jewish neighbours, it is seared into their awareness.

Apparently most Israelis prefer not to know what is happening in East Jerusalem, but the city’s leaders would do well if they rethink their policies before the huge explosion – of which we’ve seen just a short “trailer” in the past few days.

Dr. Meir Margalit, Member of the Jerusalem City Council for the Meretz faction.


Source: Dessert Peace

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