Headlines for March 18 - March 24

A Stand For Justice


The Crisis That Wasn’t by Philip Giraldi
the truly amazing part was that the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was so confident of the outcome that it didn’t even bother to hide very much of what it was doing, hardly deigning to engage in its usual clandestine arm twisting and slipped under the door "position papers." It immediately issued a public statement slamming the White House, asserting that "The Obama Administration’s recent statements regarding the US relationship with Israel are a matter of serious concern. AIPAC calls on the Administration to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State." It then unleashed its friends in Congress and the media. Its brazen campaign against the American president was executed all out on public view, right up front and recorded on the AIPAC website. I conjure you to read this excellent article by former CIA Philip Giraldi, my fellow citizens.


Israeli troops kill four Palestinians as West Bank unrest deepens
Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers who said that the men had attacked one of their comrades with pitchforks at a checkpoint outside Nablus. The unrest was prompted by Palestinian anger at restrictions on access to farmland which is close to an Israeli settlement, near the village of Iraq Burin......This followed the funerals of two other Palestinians, Mohammed Kaddous, 16, and his cousin, Osaid, 17, shot dead by Israeli troops confronting stone-throwing Palestinian youths


Palestinians warn Israel after troops kill 4
Palestinian medics said Mohammed Kaddous, 16, and Osaid Kaddous, 17, were killed by gunfire during a confrontation on Saturday between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths. Ahmad Hammad, a Nablus doctor, showed a Reuters journalist a photograph of what he said was a bullet entry wound in Mohammed Kaddous's chest and an exit wound in his back.....Villagers in Iraq Burin have been staging protests over Israeli–imposed restrictions on access to farmland that lies near the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. Jewish residents there say they are anxious to expand their land holdings rapidly.


Gaza rocket kills Thai farm worker in Israel
A small Islamist faction calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack. Similar hardline groups, which are inspired by al-Qaida's radical ideology and see Gaza's Hamas rulers as too moderate, have been responsible for most of the attacks since the Gaza war ended in January 2009.


UN chief says Israeli settlements must be stopped
Visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki–moon said Saturday that Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped, while a Palestinian teenager was killed in clashes with Israeli troops elsewhere in the West Bank.


Israel: East Jerusalem construction to continue
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said troops in the West Bank shot dead two Palestinians carrying pitchforks and an ax who tried to attack a soldier. A third Palestinian died of a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by an Israeli soldier at a demonstration the day before. His brother died Saturday in the same protest.



U.N.'s Ban in Gaza, calls on Israel to end closures
Ban's visit to the blockaded territory follows a trip made by the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who entered the coastal enclave last week. "The Palestinian people are living under very difficult circumstances where normal lives are restricted by closures security checks and road blocks," Ban said.



Clinton: US wants biting sanctions on Iran
Headline should be changed to : 'Clinton: AIPAC said that the US wants biting sanctions on Iran'


Congress speaks in 'one voice' in support of Israel: lawmaker
"We in Congress stand by Israel,"


Besieged Gaza Denied Water
80 per cent of Gazans lack access to clean water.


Egypt destroys tunnel under Gaza border in bid to curb smuggling
Anonymous security sources last week told the Egyptian daily al-Shorouq that Egypt had almost completed a reinforced, underground steel wall along the border.



A Third Muslim-World War?
"Secure in the support of its powerful friend, the weak ally can choose the objectives and methods of its foreign policy to suit itself," Morgenthau warned. "The powerful nation then finds it must support interests not its own and that it is unable to compromise on issues that are vital not to itself, but only to its ally." This is what George Washington warned us about in his Farewell Address - the evils of a passionate attachment. Read entire article if you can, paying attention to the last paragraph.


US Department of Justice Asked to Regulate AIPAC as a Foreign Agent of the Israeli Government
2.AIPAC's founder Isaiah L. Kenen was the chief information officer for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New York and for a time duly registered in that role. http://www.IRmep.org/Kenen.pdf The Justice Department ordered Kenen to personally re-register after he formally left the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to head up private lobbying and publicity for the Israeli government at the nonprofit American Zionist Council. Kenen never complied with the order


Rupert Cornwell: Obama won't restrain Israel - he can't
power lies in the perception of power, and no organisation in Washington is perceived to wield more power than AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. For proof, look no further than January 2009, when most of the rest of the world was horrified at the Israeli offensive in Gaza. At that moment the US House of Representatives, by a vote of 390 to five, chose to blame the entire crisis on Hamas.



Obama: No crisis in U.S. ties with Israel
"Israel is one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away," Obama said in an interview with Fox News.


US Lawmakers Stand Up Against Obama for Israel
For whom do they work?


Mideast Quartet tells Israel to halt settlements
"The Quartet urges the government of Israel to freeze all settlement activity," UN Secretary General Ban Ki–moon said after the meeting of the Quartet of the United States, the United Nations, European Union and Russia.



Israeli settlements buried two-state solution -expert
With Israel seeking to keep large settlement blocs under any deal, Benvenisti said only 40 percent of West Bank land was actually up for discussion, making Palestinian statehood unviable.


UN chief backs Palestinian state on Mideast mission
The international community "strongly supports" Palestinian efforts to build a state, UN chief Ban Ki–moon said, branding all Israeli settlement activity illegal.



U.S. holds firm against Israel settlement policy
A senior Republican member of the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, criticized the Obama administration's firm line on Israeli settlements, highlighting what could become an emotive issue in this year's U.S. congressional elections.



Obama fails to move Netanyahu on settlement construction
Netanyahu, who was showered with expressions of support Tuesday in a visit to Capitol Hill , has successfully refused White House demands – relayed directly by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – that Israel halt construction in the eastern sector of the holy city, also claimed by the Palestinians.



Netanyahu in U.S.: Jerusalem not a settlement
E. Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, according to international law. Any Israeli settlements therein are a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions.


Israeli leader gets warmer welcome in Congress
The bipartisan welcome underscored the breadth of congressional support for Israel even when a U.S. president wants to keep his distance. And it pointed to the limited options, beyond verbal rebukes, that the Obama administration faces in pressuring the Jewish state.
Congress is Israeli-occupied territory.


Israeli settlements threaten world security
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Absolutely. It threatens the lives of American soldiers stationed in the Middle East and fighting in Afghanistan because it intensifies support for Muslim extremism.


Israel approves new building in east Jerusalem
The Obama administration is seeking "clarification" of the latest building plan and continues to believe Israeli construction in Jerusalem is destructive to the Mideast peace process, said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.



Clinton: US commitment to Israel 'rock solid'
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the settlements were "illegal as well as being a roadblock" in the effort to achieve peace through a two–state solution.



Israel to ask US for bombs in the fight against Iran's Nuclear sites
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will use a visit to Washington this week to press the US to release sophisticated bunker-busting bombs needed for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.


Abbas: Palestinian people have national right to resistance
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said that the Palestinian people had a national right to resistance against Israeli occupation, adding that his government would not acquiesce to any Israeli demands with which it disagreed. Did our colonists not resist the British occupation in the 1700s?


Pressure on Israel?



The ties that bind America to Israel are beginning to fray and break



Two meetings, but no agreement between Obama and Netanyahu
the second meeting between the two also ended in disagreement, and they could not even reach a consensus on a joint statement. Netanyahu and Ehud Barak then left the White House for the Israeli embassy in Washington


Former Obama Aide New Head of AIPAC
Lee “Rosy” Rosenberg, a jazz recording industry veteran capitalist who accompanied U.S. President Barack Obama on his campaign trip to Israel two years ago, takes over on Sunday as the new president of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rosenberg also served on the president’s national campaign finance committee.


UnPACking AIPAC’s White House Slam, Israeli style
according to AIPAC, all responsibility for the disharmony between Israel and the US lies with the misguided American administration, and none with any of the politicians on the Israeli side.


British warning: Watch your passports
Amidst forged passport scandal, Britain updates Israel travel advisory; 'We recommend that you only hand your passport over to third parties including Israeli officials when absolutely necessary; Foreign Office says


U.S. presses Israel for Mideast goodwill steps
Officials, including U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, held consultations in Netanyahu's Washington hotel even as new settlement expansion plans on disputed land in Jerusalem threatened further strains between Washington and its close ally. "The president asked the prime minister to take steps to build confidence for proximity talks so that progress can be made toward comprehensive peace," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters, referring to indirect negotiations.



Researchers dig up controversy in Jerusalem
Archaeologists in Jerusalem are competing to unearth artifacts pointing to the ancient city's Jewish past, which are used to justify Israel's claim to all of it as the indivisible capital of the modern Jewish state. But critics say some of "finds" are really just bending science to prove a "Biblical heritage" that is open to dispute.
I could probably find artifacts from MY ancestors all over Europe. Does that mean that I have the right to take by force the property of the current owners? Completely preposterous. Imagine if we all did that. It has no legal basis.


Is Obama anti-Semitic Netanyahu brother-in-law causes ruckus.



Analysis: Spat with Israel strengthens US hand



Analysis: Obama risks alienating Jewish voters
Jewish political activists are also important financial contributors, and their support will be important both in this year's midterm elections and in the 2012 presidential contest. If they decide to pare back those contributions because of misgivings about Obama's support for Israel, that could prove costly to Democratic candidates......Whereas the president usually leads on most foreign policy and national security issues, Congress appears to have a stronger hand on Israel–related matters because of the strength of the lobby and strong bipartisan support for Israel.

The pro–Israel lobby "is almost like a 51st state," said James Thurber, a political scientist at American University. "It's strong. It has one issue." And they are what, 2% of the population. What about the rest of us? I guess we don't matter.


UK to expel Israeli diplomat over Dubai case
Britain plans to expel an Israeli diplomat Tuesday to rebuke Israel for its alleged use of forged British passports in the assassination of a Hamas operative in a suspected Mossad hit, a U.K. government official said.



2nd mystery 'hit': Israeli jet flyover amid Hungary slay
In a possible sequel to the Dubai assassination, Israeli spy planes flew uninvited and unannounced over Budapest the same day a Syrian man was shot to death in his car, Hungarian media reported yesterday.


Clinton: Settlements undermine U.S. role



Eric Cantor to the Forward: Administration Is 'Bullying Israel'
Cantor and several other Republican lawmakers have criticized the administration’s tough stance on Israel in light of the dispute over the Jewish state’s approval of another 1,600 homes in contested East Jerusalem. Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent, and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, have also said that the Obama administration was wrong in pressuring Israel. I'm going to remind readers what former CIA head of the Bin Laden unit has to say about Israel in this CSpan video. Long, but worth the watch.


Are Israel’s Policies a Threat to the U.S.?
Suggestions that Israeli policies might threaten American national security thus far seem not to have gained much traction among lawmakers, said an official with a pro-Israel organization in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that the prevailing attitude on Capitol Hill is still that Israel is a security asset in the Middle East, not a burden. Congress- AIPAC's overwhelming influence thereof - is the real problem. We've got Congressmen and women that have the passionate attachment to Israel, and the rest are beholden to Israel's lobby. Our support for Israel is in fact a danger to this nation. And anyone in Congress that supports this is betraying the majority of the American people.


World will do "whatever it takes" to stop Iran nuke: Blair
"Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons capability. Iran must know that we will do whatever it takes to stop them getting it," Blair told the pro–Israel lobby AIPAC, adding it was a matter of global security.



Lebanese army fires on Israeli warplanes: military
Lebanese anti–aircraft guns opened fire on two Israeli warplanes that were violating its airspace at medium altitude on Sunday, the military said....Israel's regular overflights into southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, are a breach of Resolution 1701 Why no sanctions for Israel?


Sen. Lindsey Graham: Any Attack on Iran Must Be Full-Scale
added Graham, a member of the Senate armed services committee, "sometimes it is better to go to war than to allow the Holocaust to develop a second time." And he told the crowd that "time is not on our side" and that this AIPAC conference could be the last of the lobby's annual get-togethers before Iran possesses nuclear weapons. Military action ought to be taken against Iran, he said, before the country acquires a nuclear bomb.


Netanyahu to AIPAC: Stop Iran or Israel Will
After the worst week in U.S.-Israel relations in 35 years, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Washington Monday and gave a powerful and effective speech at the AIPAC gala dinner at the Washington Convention Center, warning the world to stop Iran — or Israel will — and respectfully but directly challenging the Obama administration on Jerusalem and the peace process.....Netanyahu received scores of standing ovations from the 7,800 guests in attendance, the biggest event in the history of AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee). More than half of the members of the U.S. House and Senate were there Note the comments by Schumer and Graham.


Israel & Aid By Ralph Nader
Since 1996, the American taxpayers are still sending Israel $3 billion a year and providing assorted loan guarantees, waivers, rich technology transfers and other indirect assistance. Before George W. Bush left office a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Israel stipulated an assistance package of $30 billion over the next ten years to be transferred in a lump sum at the beginning of every fiscal year. Israel’s wars and colonies still receive U.S. taxpayer monies....the U.S. economy is mired in a recession, with large rates of growing poverty, unemployment, consumer debt and state and federal deficits. In some states, public schools are shutting, public health services are being slashed, and universities are increasing tuition while also cutting programs. Even state government buildings are being sold off. Read on.


Zionism’s Dark Forces Don’t Want the Lights On
blind though AIPAC is for that reason, it’s not completely out of touch with reality. It knows that the more Zionism’s on-going colonisation is exposed to the light, the more the world understands that Israel is the obstacle to peace. (The world now includes some of the U.S.’s top military men who are going on the public record with their view that support for Israel right or wrong is not in the best interests of America).



Report: Current Knesset most racist of all time
Year imprisonment to anyone who denies the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic country – initiated by MK Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi)



Syrian murder, Israeli planes not linked: official
Two Israeli airforce planes that made a low-level pass over Budapest this week had nothing to do with the killing of a Syrian man in the Hungarian capital on the same day, Hungarian officials said on Friday. Come on, really, Hungary?


Israel to replace 'Mossad officer' expelled by UK
The Israeli diplomat who is to be expelled from Britain over the alleged forgery of British passports connected to the killing of a top Hamas militant, is a Mossad officer who will be replaced by the Jewish state, Israeli media reports said on Wednesday.


The American Conservative » Neocons Target Rand Paul
neoconservatives still set the foreign-policy agenda for the GOP. But they’re genuinely worried that the combination of a grassroots movement and an independently-minded candidate will deliver a blow to their power — especially if Rand Paul becomes only the first of many by showing that there is an alternative to Bushes and Kristols.


The ADL targeting ….Gen. Petraeus



Squeeze Israel by cutting US aid? Not likely
Notice how the author attempts to downplay the amount of aid to Israel by stating that the US aid really only makes its way back into the US anyway (by way of military purchases). Um, yes, SOME of it does, but much of it also comes back in the form of political contributions; a win-win cycle for Israel and its minions here in the US. But there is other peripheral aid Israel receives as well, that makes it the recipient of the most US foreign aid by any country on the planet.


Israel Lobby Wants Iran, not the Peace Process to Top the U.S. Agenda
The amateur activists were preparing for Tuesday's blitz of Congress that has become a ritual of the annual policy conference of AIPAC, one of the nation's most influential interest groups. This year, according to Aserkoff, as many as 4,000 activists will hold roughly 500 meetings with their members of Congress or their staff.
This is possible, this overwhelming influence on Congress by the Israeli lobby, because YOU are not paying attention. The apathy on the part of the American people is half the problem. The lobby fills the void that should be filled by ordinary Americans that have no passionate attachment to Israel.


Analysis: Israel weathers round with White House
a half–measure offered by Israel that Washington accepts because it fears the consequences of a full confrontation with Israel and its powerful supporters in the United States.



Israel’s ‘No renting to Arabs’ policy
“I have always loved Israel,” said Mrs Zakai, 43. “But to see the depth of the racism of our neighbours has made me question why we live in this country.”


Israel's Troubling Tilt Toward Apartheid
the Obama administration’s complaint about Atias’s housing decision during Biden’s visit prompted Netanyahu’s brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi, to label Obama as “anti-Semitic,” adding: “it's not that Obama doesn't sympathize with [Netanyahu]. He doesn't sympathize with the people of Israel."


Behind the Biden Flap
So what explains the tragedy of errors that has marked Israel’s officials these last several weeks? Some analysts charge it to incompetence, others to the vagaries of coalition government, which in the current instance has led to an especially unruly Cabinet of 29 members. Some think it all a result of Israel’s obsession with Iran, explaining the insult to Vice President Biden as a way of expressing Israel’s displeasure with what it perceives as America’s sluggishness in implementing meaningful sanctions against Iran, while others think it a clumsy rebuke of the Obama administration or, more Machiavellian, an effort to weaken Obama et al. in the hope that he will be a one-term president and be followed by a Bushier president, one who leaves Israel to its own devices


Why AIPAC Feels 'Like Shit'
Note how effortlessly this kid moves from "anti-semitism" to "anti-Israel." That's how AIPAC has always recruited youth: Take Americans who have never experienced anti-semitism personally and make them believe that, even if they haven't seen any enemies, those enemies are out there, lurking everywhere, disguised as "critics of Israel," just waiting to pounce on poor, unsuspecting Jews.


U.S. aviation security pick favors Israeli model
President Barack Obama's nominee to oversee security at U.S. airports said on Tuesday he wants to shift screening closer to the Israeli model to include more behavior detection in a bid to thwart terrorism plots.
Yes, that's just what we need - to become more like Israel. We wouldn't need much if any security measures were it not for our support for Israel. THAT'S the real problem.


AIPAC's Talking Points On Iran and Palestinians
AIPAC has also posted their talking points memo regarding making the case for final passage of "crippling" Iran sanctions and pressing for better enforcement of existing sanctions - Crippling Sanctions Needed to Prevent Nuclear Iran .

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