Friday, March 27, 2009
Wake up America !
Talk about change, - Obama is quick to bring it. Just a few months in his office, and terrorism no longer exists in Obama land. I wonder where they all disappeared to?
The Obama administration has ordered an end to use of the phrase "Global War on Terror," a label adopted by the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
In a memo sent this week from the Defense Department's office of security to Pentagon staffers, members were told: "This administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'" – Why? Does a change in the vocabulary make the problem go away?
Since English is only about my 4rth language, I looked up the word in my dictionary. It says it means: “a chance, accident or possibility on something uncertain.”
What happened? Are we all of a sudden uncertain who the enemy is?
I admit, the term “War on Terror” was a misnomer because terror was never the cause, only the symptom. Terror was and is used by militant Islam in its world-wide Jihad against the West, - a fanatical religious war.
Obama is so sure it no longer exists; he even wants to disarm our commercial pilots. Newsmax reported that the Obama administration is taking steps to "quietly shut down the program that qualifies commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in jetliner cockpits in order to ward off another 9/11-type attack.” Great, - now you have to think twice before you board a plane, because you may become a passenger on a suicide plane. A Times editorial condemned the Obama administration's action, calling it “completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots.” Does anyone realize how difficult a pilot's job is post-911? These professionals carry a great deal of responsibility on their shoulders, what on earth could be meant by "disciplining" a pilot who steps out of line?
By the way, what should we call suicide bombers these days? – Peace activists?
Our new secretary of homeland security downgraded terrorism to "man-made disasters" or some such nonsense.
Obama announced that he would shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba within one year, raising the prospect of hardened terrorists entering the U.S. criminal justice system, or worse, being released to rejoin al-Qaida. The Obama Administration also dropped the term “enemy combatant” to describe those held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and increased the legal threshold needed to detain them.
Never mind. They were just a few Islamic peace activists who helped to carry out an Islamic Jihad attack on America. According to Obama they were no enemy combatants; - they were just some poor misguided extremists who shouldn’t have to sit in prison for what they did. It was just an unfortunate accident. Why it happened remains uncertain!
We are now friends with these people. After all, that’s what we promised Iran.
Really? – That’s what President Hussein Obama says. After all, he was raised as a Muslim. His people are now our friends!!
Wake up America! - Lilo
Labels:
CHANGE,
contingency operation,
Obama,
war on terror,
word play
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The King of Pop left the Kingdom Hall for the Kaaba!
Did you know that Michael Jackson recently converted to the “peaceful religion of Islam”?
Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, as the seventh child of the Jackson family. He began his professional music career at the age of 11 as a member of “The Jackson 5” and began a solo career in 1971 while still he was still a member of the group.
He was born in Gary, Indiana (an industrial suburb of Chicago, Illinois) to a working-class family. The son of Joseph Walter "Joe" and Katherine Esther, he was the seventh of nine children. His siblings were Rebbie, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Randy and Janet. Jackson was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses by his devout mother.
Well, guess what? The King of Pop left the Kingdom Hall for the Kaaba!
Michael’s intentions to convert to Islam were reported as far back as November 2005 in a report released on the website of the Arab-Israeli newspaper, Panorama. The report was based on information elicited from sources in Bahrain. At that time Jackson had officially announced that he had been following the five tenets of Islam and intended to convert to Islam.
Jackson had also announced he was moving to Bahrain and had purchased some real-estate on an artificial island there. Jackson said he intended on moving all his assets and his studio from the U.S. to Bahrain, and had expressed that this way he would be rid of his various legal troubles. His desire was to enjoy the kind of “freedom” he says he doesn’t have in America. The singer said he felt Islam was the closest religion to his personal beliefs. - The World’s No 1 Pop Music Star Michael Jackson had transformed to Islam changing his name Meekaeel.
Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s brother has also converted to Islam. “There you are protected [from parents' lawsuits]”, he said.
As a matter of fact, Michael Jackson converted to Islam on the very eve of child-molestation charges being filed against him, reports the New York Post.
You may remember that in 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by Evan Chandler, on behalf of his then-13-year-old child, Jordan Chandler. Jackson and Jordan had become friends in May 1992, to the father's disapproval and concern. The friendship became well known, as the tabloid media reported that Jackson became a member of the Chandler family unit. Under the influence of a controversial sedative administered by Evan Chandler, his son said that Jackson had touched his penis. Evan Chandler was tape-recorded threatening to damage the singer's music career, and engaged Jackson in unsuccessful negotiations to resolve the issue with a financial settlement. Jordan Chandler then told a psychiatrist and later police that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation, and oral sex, as well as giving a description of what he alleges were the singer's genitals.
In April of 2004, the grand jury returned an indictment charging 46-year-old Michael Jackson with child molestation and a conspiracy count alleging child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. The indictment also included four counts of lewd acts involving a minor child, one count involving an attempted lewd act upon a child and four counts of administering an intoxicating agent.
So why would Islam be the closest religion to his personal beliefs? Maybe because Islam founder was also a child molester? The mere thought of an old man becoming aroused by a child is one of the most disturbing thoughts that make me cringe as it reminds me of pedophilia and the most despicable people. It is equally difficult to accept that the Muhammad married Aisha when she was 6-years-old and consummated his marriage with her when she was 9. He was then, 54 years old.
Anyway, it's only been a few months since Jack converted to Islam and already he's begun to threaten others with violence and "bloodshed." "Claim: Jacko's Rep Threatened Harm from Nation of Islam," from Fox News, March 24:
Last week, Julien and his partner Martin Nolan entered affidavits into Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that an associate of Jackson’s suggested they were in danger from the Nation of Islam if they didn’t stop the auction scheduled for Los Angeles next month.
Jackson’s representative, James R. Weller, Julien says, met with him and Nolan on February 9, 2009 and threatened him with reciprocity from the Nation of Islam. For most of 2004, Jackson was managed by Leonard Muhammad, son in law of Louis Farrakhan. His security was provided by the NOI as well throughout his 2005 trial for child molestation.
"During the meeting, Weller told Martin and me that our lives would be in danger if we did not postpone the auction. Weller said if we refused to postpone it, we would be in danger from "Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; those people are very protective of Michael."
Julien’s statement continues: "He told us that Dr. Tohme and Michael Jackson wanted to give the message to us that our lives are at stake and there will be bloodshed."...
Oh my, I thought Islam was a peaceful religion? Maybe I was wrong? - Lilo
Labels:
Bahrain,
child molestation,
Islam,
Michael Jackson,
Nation of Islam
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Yesh Din V'Yesh Dayan
President Hussein Obama’s change is becoming evident. More and more Americans are waking up as they witness that their “Messiah” isn’t walking on water after all.
He tried to make friends with the Iranian president Ahmadinejad, the man who wants to wipe Israel off the map. But he recklessly misjudged Iran –because he didn’t distinguish between the regime and the oppressed people of Iran. Iran almost simultaneously announced that the country would ‘finish and operate’ it’s controversial Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant by the end of the year.
Ayatollah Khomeini stressed the uselessness and futility of the current sanctions on Iran:"The world has been convinced that it is not possible to block the Iranian nation's nuclear progress. Iran's progresses in different scientific and non-scientific fields indicate ineffectiveness of the sanctions.”
There is no doubt that Obama’s “change” includes the fact that Washington has now turned against Jerusalem (Israel) and tries to appease Iran.
Last week Israel’s Chief of the Defense Staff Gabi Ashkenazi went to brief the US government on Iran’s nuclear program, but failed to gain access to any US Cabinet member including Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He came to discuss Israeli intelligence on Iran's nuclear reactor and to discuss ways to stop Iran from possibly triggering a third world war. His counterpart, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also found the excuse of having had a pressing prior engagement. Israel's chief of Staff left the USA trip he was on early; because he was ignored there with no one of his level or who had any policy influence on Obama's staff could find the time to meet with him. The U.S. president had other things to do like go and be a guest on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, where he made a fool of himself. No one had time to meet with Israel’s chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to set a plan of action on how to deal with Iran and its nuclear threat, not just against Israel, but against America as well.
This is what an unnamed former US intelligence official has said about the new US relationship with Israel: “I have every reason to believe, based on what I’ve seen at my level of [security] clearance especially over the last several years, that Israel will soon be completely on their own… or worse.” When asked what could be worse than losing the support of the United States, he stated: “when America's administration provides more support to Arab countries [with] financial and military aid, undercutting Israel’s defense efforts all while pushing Israel to succumb to the pressure of unreasonable demands designed to end with their political annihilation as a nation.”
It has long been obvious to me that most Americans don’t understand or don’t care what is actually happening in the Middle East relative to Israel. People don’t understand history, or have been subjected to revisionist history based on lies and more lies. Not to mention the media coverage that fails to provide an accurate assessment of what is taking place in Israel. – http://www.standingwithisrael.org has been trying to educate people for years. Yet, except for a few, most Americans are more interested in their weekends at home, shopping, sports and entertainment, than what goes on in Israel.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Benjamin Netanyahu that he risks isolating Israel on the world stage unless he agrees to the creation of a Palestinian state. "The only choice is between two states for two people or one state for two people. Those who don't see this are lying to themselves and are risking causing great damage to Israel, including losing its international support. Anyone who goes into a government whose coalition guidelines do not include the principle of two states for two peoples is knowingly liable to subject Israel to isolation, the likes of which it has never known since its establishment," he said.
For all those who try to divide the country and capital of Israel, I say, you better listen to this song from Ariel Zilber: "There’s a G-d, and you’re going to have to face Him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2V-BAnlBJk
Shalom - Lilo
Monday, March 23, 2009
Prepare for War
As the world is stumbling, the nations are grumbling. Have you noticed that today everyone is feeling a little weak in the knees? History seems to be speeding up!
We are living in the time of the great battle of Gog and Magog. It is the battle described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, in which the nations of the world join together and come against Jerusalem (Israel). Newspapers and television reports remind us of these matters daily. The world's economy is in shambles.
Russia, today, is again flexing its muscles. It is rattling its sabers beside the Black Sea. Russia dreams of restoring its vast Empire. - Meanwhile Jihad warriors are ambushing coalition troops in the Hindu Kush Mountains. In the Middle East and Asia, Islamists strive on the path of Allah to help speed the victory of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate. These visions motivate and activate Easterners, while Westerners glaze over in disinterest and disbelief. - Nuclear instability rises like a mushroom cloud in the Middle East, along with Islamic Jihad.
Israel, from the beginning, was part of G-D’s prophetic plan. Scripture details how the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) are linked to the land of Canaan (Israel). Moses in Deuteronomy writes regarding the land and the descendents of Jacob who were given the land by G-D in the days of Moses and Joshua.
"It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the L-rd your G-D drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the L-rd swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 9:5)
One hundred years ago, there was no threat of Islam against Israel, because there was no Israel. Today that has all changed, the Muslim nations have raged against it, threatening to send the Jews into the sea from the first day of the reborn Jewish state. Muslim nations surround Israel, and oppose its existence, even after losing five major conflicts. Currently the great Islamic threat comes from Iran, which has openly called for the destruction of the Jewish state, while at the same time trying to develop nuclear capability.
Islam will remain a threat to Israel, until either Islam or Israel attains a decisive victory over the other. Since Israel’s very existence remains in doubt from the world perspective, the conclusion to this Islam/Israel conflict needs to be understood from a biblical viewpoint.
A confederacy of nations comes against Israel, G-D, who through Ezekiel foretells the event, defeats them. This conflict establishes Israel and restores them to the land in preparation of their redemption. The conflict will also remind the world, why Israel went into captivity for the last two-thousand years. (Ezekiel 39:28). - Today, the children of Israel have been brought back to the Land of Israel from the 4 corners of the earth. The stage is set, and the nations of the world are ready to converge on Jerusalem. Everyone wants Jerusalem; - it is the spiritual capital of the world.
G-D's choosing of Israel resulted in Satan targeting Israel for mass destruction. The history of Israel (biblical history) details Satan's repeated attempts to wipe the seed of Abraham and Jacob off the face of the earth. From Pharaoh to Babylon, from Haman to Hadrian, from Hitler and Stalin to Ahmedinejad – God's Jewish flock has always been fending off the baying wolves of Satan's hordes (Ezek.34:5-6).
The Scriptures even describe specific last day’s military battles revolving around the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (Zech.12-14; Joel 3; Ezekiel 37-39 etc). These passages help prepare us, help get us in the frame of mind and understanding – to be ready for a season of war and not to be surprised by it.
We are living in the time of the great battle of Gog and Magog. It is the battle described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, in which the nations of the world join together and come against Jerusalem (Israel). Newspapers and television reports remind us of these matters daily. The world's economy is in shambles.
Russia, today, is again flexing its muscles. It is rattling its sabers beside the Black Sea. Russia dreams of restoring its vast Empire. - Meanwhile Jihad warriors are ambushing coalition troops in the Hindu Kush Mountains. In the Middle East and Asia, Islamists strive on the path of Allah to help speed the victory of a worldwide Islamic Caliphate. These visions motivate and activate Easterners, while Westerners glaze over in disinterest and disbelief. - Nuclear instability rises like a mushroom cloud in the Middle East, along with Islamic Jihad.
Israel, from the beginning, was part of G-D’s prophetic plan. Scripture details how the descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) are linked to the land of Canaan (Israel). Moses in Deuteronomy writes regarding the land and the descendents of Jacob who were given the land by G-D in the days of Moses and Joshua.
"It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the L-rd your G-D drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the L-rd swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 9:5)
One hundred years ago, there was no threat of Islam against Israel, because there was no Israel. Today that has all changed, the Muslim nations have raged against it, threatening to send the Jews into the sea from the first day of the reborn Jewish state. Muslim nations surround Israel, and oppose its existence, even after losing five major conflicts. Currently the great Islamic threat comes from Iran, which has openly called for the destruction of the Jewish state, while at the same time trying to develop nuclear capability.
Islam will remain a threat to Israel, until either Islam or Israel attains a decisive victory over the other. Since Israel’s very existence remains in doubt from the world perspective, the conclusion to this Islam/Israel conflict needs to be understood from a biblical viewpoint.
A confederacy of nations comes against Israel, G-D, who through Ezekiel foretells the event, defeats them. This conflict establishes Israel and restores them to the land in preparation of their redemption. The conflict will also remind the world, why Israel went into captivity for the last two-thousand years. (Ezekiel 39:28). - Today, the children of Israel have been brought back to the Land of Israel from the 4 corners of the earth. The stage is set, and the nations of the world are ready to converge on Jerusalem. Everyone wants Jerusalem; - it is the spiritual capital of the world.
G-D's choosing of Israel resulted in Satan targeting Israel for mass destruction. The history of Israel (biblical history) details Satan's repeated attempts to wipe the seed of Abraham and Jacob off the face of the earth. From Pharaoh to Babylon, from Haman to Hadrian, from Hitler and Stalin to Ahmedinejad – God's Jewish flock has always been fending off the baying wolves of Satan's hordes (Ezek.34:5-6).
The Scriptures even describe specific last day’s military battles revolving around the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem (Zech.12-14; Joel 3; Ezekiel 37-39 etc). These passages help prepare us, help get us in the frame of mind and understanding – to be ready for a season of war and not to be surprised by it.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Coalition Puzzle
I love to read the Dry Bones Comics. Many of the older ones are still relevant today. One Golden Oldie is from 1981 shows Menachim Begin trying to solve the puzzle of how to unite the different ministers to form a new coalition government in the Knesset. It seems that there is nothing new under the sun, because today we're watching Likud leader Bibi Netanyahu doing the same.
He is shown using the Rubik Cube. I am sure you remember the puzzle consisting of twenty-six unique miniature cubes, also called "cubies" or "cubelets". It has twelve edge pieces which show two colored sides each, and eight corner pieces which show three colors. There are 8! (40,320) ways to arrange the corner cubes, and 12!/2 (239,500,800) ways to arrange the edges. Don’t ask me about mathematics, it has something to do with permutations. Although there are a significant number of possible permutations for the Rubik's Cube, there have been a number of solutions developed which allow for the cube to be solved in well under 100 moves.
The Israeli elections have been over for quite some time. But we still do not have a new government and every day that passes sees new possibilities as to what kind of government will eventually emerge. You see, the formation of Israel’s next government has nothing to do with the will of the voters, rather it is Israel's version of the game show, "Let's make a Deal".
While it first appeared that the next government would be dependent upon religious and right wing parties, we now hear that Netanyahu made Barak an offer he cannot refuse. If this materializes then the right wing will have lost its power and the government will be much like the previous one.
So, once again, we see the Israeli democracy proves to be nothing more than a rubber stamp to the secular politicians who care more about their seats then they do about the country they want to run.
Could it be that the Almighty will not allow Israel to have a strong government until they turn to Him for help and guidance?
Shalom – Lilo
Labels:
Bibi,
Coalition,
Dry Bones,
Menachim Begin,
Rubik's Cube
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Silent Exodus
Pierre Rehov’s Middle East Documentary
Silent Exodus was selected at the International Human Rights Film Festival of Paris (2004) and presented at the UN Geneva Human Rights Annual Convention (2004)
In 1948 nearly one million Jews lived in Arab lands. But In barely twenty years, they have become forgotten fugitives, expelled from their native lands, forgotten by history and where the victims themselves have hidden their fate under a cloak of silence.
A people whom legend have always associated with "wandering" many of these Jews from Arab lands had lived there for thousands of years and accepted their fate, through good times and bad times.
But 1948, the beginning of their exodus, also saw the birth of the State of Israel.
And, while the Arab armies were preparing to invade the young refugee-country, the survivors of the Shoah were piling up in rickety boats. Meanwhile a few hundred thousand Arabs from Palestine were getting ready to flee their homes, convinced that they would return as winners and conquerors.
Soon - by a terrible twist of fate they, as well, began to fill up refugee camps and passed on their refugee status to new generations.
The Jews, however, did not receive refugee status.
They had just rediscovered the land of their birthright.
And if they came from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq or from Yemen, if they had lost everything, even their relatives and their cemeteries, they were ready to rebuild their lives in the West and for many - in Israel - and try to forget their past.
Without ever asking for compensation or the right of return, or even wishing that their story be told...
Here is the trailer for the superb filmmaker Pierre Rehov's Silent Exodus. Silent Exodus was selected at the International Human Rights Film Festival of Paris in 2004 and presented at the UN Geneva Human Rights Annual Convention that same year.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Money for Gaza
I wish it was only a nightmare, and I could wake up from a bad dream. But this is all really happening. Crazy things cannot possibly happen in real life, are happening.
The USA – a country who is quickly losing its wealth – is pledging $900 Million to Gaza.
Israel National News reported on February 24, that a senior official in the Obama administration promised, the U.S. would transfer 900 million dollars to Gaza as part of a renovation effort following Operation Cast Lead. The money is supposed to pass through the hands of the UN and non-governmental organizations and not Hamas.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her first foray into Middle East diplomacy, landed in this Red Sea resort on Sunday, carrying a pledge of $300 million for war-torn Gaza.
The United States further promised an additional $600 million to the Palestinian Authority to cover a budget shortfall and to bolster the Palestinian economy. Some of that money may also end up in Gaza, large parts of which are in ruins after Israel’s military assault on the militant group Hamas. Much of it is supposed to go to the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is in control.
Newspapers around the world published the story in disbelief. Has America gone mad?
People are out of work, houses are not selling, nobody is buying, but Obama is passing money out like candy. Where is all that money coming from?
That’s almost a billion dollars! $900 million U.S. taxpayer dollars (in addition to $85 million pledged in December) to bail out Hamas in Gaza? Are they smoking crack in Washington?
What about war torn Israel? Who cares that they still have missiles raining down on them daily... it just doesn’t matter. Who is helping them? Not the USA, as we can see from her actions.
This is the nightmare. How do you wake up from a nightmare when you are not asleep?
No one is starving in Gaza; no one ever did because Israel won't let it happen. But many may soon starve in the USA, because their tax-dollars have to support Islamic Jihadists.
Bailing out mortgages is one thing - bailing out terrorist organizations is something else.
Oh my, have people gone mad in America?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Puzzled in Gaza
Mar. 2, 2009
YVONNE GREEN , THE JERUSALEM POST
I'm a poet, an English Jew and a frequent visitor to Israel. Deeply disturbed by the reports of wanton slaughter and destruction during Operation Cast Lead, I felt I had to see for myself. I flew to Tel Aviv and on Wednesday, January 28, using my press card to cross the Erez checkpoint, I walked across the border into Gaza where I was met by my guide, a Palestinian journalist. He asked if I wanted to meet with Hamas officials. I explained that I'd come to bear witness to the damage and civilian suffering, not to talk politics.
What I saw was that there had been precision attacks made on all of Hamas' infrastructure. Does UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticize the surgical destruction of the explosives cache in the Imad Akhel Mosque, of the National Forces compound, of the Shi Jaya police station, of the Ministry of Prisoners? The Gazans I met weren't mourning the police state. Neither were they radicalized. As Hamas blackshirts menaced the street corners, I witnessed how passersby ignored them.
THERE WERE empty beds at Shifa Hospital and a threatening atmosphere. Hamas is reduced to wielding its unchallengeable authority from extensive air raid shelters which, together with the hospital, were built by Israel 30 years ago. Terrorized Gazans used doublespeak when they told me most of the alleged 5,500 wounded were being treated in Egypt and Jordan. They want it known that the figure is a lie, and showed me that the wounded weren't in Gaza. No evidence exists of their presence in foreign hospitals, or of how they might have gotten there.
From the mansions of the Abu Ayida family at Jebala Rayes to Tallel Howa (Gaza City's densest residential area), Gazans contradicted allegations that Israel had murderously attacked civilians. They told me again and again that both civilians and Hamas fighters had evacuated safely from areas of Hamas activity in response to Israeli telephone calls, leaflets and megaphone warnings.
Seeing Al-Fakhora made it impossible to understand how UN and press reports could ever have alleged that the UNWRA school had been hit by Israeli shells. The school, like most of Gaza, was visibly intact. I was shown where Hamas had been firing from nearby, and the Israeli missile's marks on the road outside the school were unmistakeable. When I met Mona al-Ashkor, one of the 40 people injured running toward Al-Fakhora - rather than inside it as widely and persistently reported - I was told that Israel had warned people not to take shelter in the school because Hamas was operating in the area, and that some people had ignored the warning because UNWRA previously told them that the school would be safe. Press reports that fatalities numbered 40 were denied.
I WAS TOLD stories at Samouni Street which contradicted each other, what I saw and later media accounts. Examples of these inconsistencies are that 24, 31, 34 or more members of the Fatah Samouni family had died. That all the deaths occurred when Israel bombed the safe building it had told 160 family members to shelter in; the safe building was pointed out to me but looked externally intact and washing was still hanging on a line on one of its balconies. That some left the safe building and were shot in another house. That one was shot when outside collecting firewood. That there was no resistance - but the top right hand window of the safe building (which appears in a BBC Panorama film Out of the Ruins" aired February 8) has a black mark above it - a sign I was shown all day of weaponry having been fired from inside. That victims were left bleeding for two or three days.
I saw large scoured craters and a buckled container which appeared to have been damaged by an internal impact (its external surfaces were undamaged). Media accounts of Samouni Street don't mention these possible indications of explosive caches (although the container is visible on media footage). The Samouni family's elder told me during a taped interview that he had a CD film of the killings. As far as I'm aware, no such film has been made public. He also told me that there are members of his family who have still not been found.
The media have manufactured and examined allegations that Israel committed a war crime against the Samounis without mentioning that the family are Fatah and that some of its members are still missing. They have not considered what might flow from those facts: that Hamas might have been active not only in the Samouni killings but in the exertion of force on the Samounis to accuse Israel.
THE GAZA I saw was societally intact. There were no homeless, walking wounded, hungry or underdressed people. The streets were busy, shops were hung with embroidered dresses and gigantic cooking pots, the markets were full of fresh meat and beautiful produce - the red radishes were bigger than grapefruits. Mothers accompanied by a 13-year-old boy told me they were bored of leaving home to sit on rubble all day to tell the press how they'd survived. Women graduates I met in Shijaya spoke of education as power as old men watched over them.
No one praised their government as they showed me the sites of tunnels where fighters had melted away. No one declared Hamas victorious for creating a forced civilian front line as they showed me the remains of booby trapped homes and schools.
From what I saw and was told in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead pinpointed a totalitarian regime's power bases and largely neutralized Hamas's plans to make Israel its tool for the sacrifice of civilian life.
Corroboration of my account may be found in tardy and piecemeal retractions of claims concerning the UNWRA school at Al-Fakhora; an isolated acknowledgment that Gaza is substantially intact by The New York Times; Internet media watch corrections; and the unresolved discrepancy between the alleged wounded and their unreported whereabouts.
The writer is a poet and freelance writer who lives in London. Her collection Boukhara was a 2008 Smith/Doorstop prize winner. She also translates the poetry of Semyon Lipkin, the Russian World War II poet.
Labels:
biased reprting,
Gaza,
Hamas,
lies,
Palestinians,
UN
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Darfur - Islam and Racism
We have heard Sudan periodically mentioned in the news over the last several years. Darfur, a region the size of France, was an independent sultanate until 1916. Its inhabitants are Sudanese farmers, mostly of black African stock and outlook, growing sorghum, millet, groundnuts and tomatoes, and nomadic Arabs, raising camels and cattle, who mostly regard themselves as ethnic. Since the 1970s, climate change has accelerated desertification, adding pressure on northerners to move southward. That led to conflicts in Darfur between settled farmers and nomads migrating in search of water and pastures have been commonplace for centuries, but traditionally solutions were reached by negotiation. The Darfur conflict was driven by "friction between farmers and herders and shepherds. Among the biggest problems is that of water, which is used to exploit the differences and fuel the conflict."
These conflicts, however, intensified during the 1980s and 1990s, aggravated by drought and the government policy of selectively arming tribesmen while removing the weapons of the farmers. Because livestock is Darfur's main export, the pastoralists have more influence in this region than in places where Khartoum favors settled communities.
Many will remember that Osama bin Laden made Sudan his base of operations before he relocated to Afghanistan. Sudan was chosen by Osama bin Laden because it has an Islamic oriented government with whom he had a friendly relationship until he became too much of a liability.
The fact that Osama bin Laden and the Sudanese Government had much in common for several years, should speak volumes about the nature of at least northern Sudan.
The Sudan also made front page news in the 21st century because of its ties to Islamic terrorism. The Sudanese Government and Sudanese Arab militias have been waging a long-term Jihad against the non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese population for decades.
It is a classic Islamic Jihad of the type that has resulted in the slaughter of millions of people over the centuries. The Sudanese Jihad, which most reporters only refer to as "genocide," has killed an estimated 2,000,000 people and rendered countless other people refugees.
Sudanese Jihadists engaged in mass slaughter, gang rape and other terrible atrocities. 60 Minutes reported, for example, that the men in destroyed villages were killed, cut to pieces, and thrown into the water supply in order to contaminate it. One village after another had been completely destroyed by the same combination of terror, slaughter, and expulsion so effectively used by Muhammad to gain mastery of the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century. The Sudanese Muslims appeared to be following Muhammad's example just as the Qur'an commands.
The Sudanese Jihad was carried out in an age of communication ease and technological wonder that would make the reporting of the complete story - despite its remote location - quite feasible. But that was not happening. It was not happening because telling the world that a modern Jihad has been ongoing for years, which has resulted in mass slaughter, rape and genocide, doesn’t fit into the world view of the mainstream media.
The media simply attributed the cause of the conflict to a genocide resulting from "Arab racism." The words Islam and Muslim(s) were never mentioned, even though the conflict has its origin in Islamic doctrine and the northern Muslim southern non-Muslim divide.
The news described the horrific reality of the "genocide" without a connection to Islam. A fitting analogy was made between "Nazi death camps" and the "death villages" in southern Sudan. 60 Minutes aired footage of destroyed villages and starving children. The story also acknowledged that the southern Sudanese are targets because "they are not Arabs." That is true enough, but the story does not explain that the significance of not being Arab is that they are not Muslim which is quite hypocritical given that the mainstream media and academia generally like to praise Islam as having allegedly eliminated racism. 60 Minutes also placed some blame on Sudan's Muslim dictator al-Bashir, without mentioning that he is also a Muslim.
It is clear that Islam is responsible for the genocide in Darfur. Islam's involvement in a long-term genocide is occurring in a country whose national anthem begins with the words: "[W]e are the army of God . . .", wherein the Muslim Jihadists yell "Allahu Akbar" as they attack, slaughter and rape non-Muslims.
Meanwhile, the UN holds world-wide conferences against racism. Three conferences have been held so far, in 1978, 1983 and 2001. The 1978 World Conference against Racism was held in Geneva, Switzerland. A major focus on the conference were South Africa's apartheid policies of racial segregation and discrimination. Entitled "World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance," the conference was discussing unfair treatment of one group against another. The World Conference against Racism in Durban was originally planned as a platform to focus on the world's underrepresented human rights causes.
Yet what was supposed to be a conference against racism turned into a conference of racism against Israel and the Jewish people. How did we all of a sudden get from the Jihad in the Sudan to Israel?
Here is the twist! Instead of focusing on Islamic Jihad in Darfur;
- ... only one nation is singled out for condemnation: Israel.
- …only one cause merits attention: Palestine
- …and only one religion merits protection: Islam
How did this happen? Where did it begin? - Why did a conference to commemorate the dismantling of South Africa as an apartheid state all of a sudden call for the dismantling of Israel as an apartheid state?
Much of the deliberations had overt anti Semitic tones. Disproportionate amount of time was focused specifically on Israeli treatment of Palestinians, while flagrant violations of human rights and genocide in other parts of the world were ignored.
The conference culminated in a call by a majority of countries to re-establish the UNGA 3379 resolution from 1975 equating Zionism with racism!
“The conference really has nothing to do with racism at all,
but it has to do with forcing the nations of the world to accept Islam under the
guise of racism”.
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