Saturday 20 August 2011

Two Israelis die, 10 wounded in resistance retaliatory strikes



[ 21/08/2011 - 11:55 AM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Israelis died and ten were wounded in the Palestinian resistance’s retaliatory strikes on Saturday evening to the Israeli occupation forces’ bloody attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Hebrew media reported that the Palestinian rockets fell on Beer Sheba and Ofakim settlement, adding that one of the houses was badly damaged when a rocket slammed into it, wounding four settlers.
The Israeli authorities called on all citizens to remain in shelters.
One of the rockets hit a factory in Ofakim inflicting severe material damage.
The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced for the first time on Saturday evening the firing of four rockets at Ofakim.

Palestinian Resistance Rocket Kills One Israeli, Injures 10
Local Editor
As the Israeli aggression against Gaza proceeds, and PM Benjamin Netanyahu still vows more, the Palestinian resistance has began its response Saturday by firing tens of missiles at the southern region in the occupied territories.

In a rocket it fired Saturday evening, the Palestinian resistance have targeted Beer Sabee, killing one Israeli man and injuring around 10 others, four of them with deep injures.

Salah El-Din brigades, armed wing of the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees have adopted the operation and continued early Sunday, along with other Palestinian resistance groups including the Islamic Jihad and Al-Qassam brigades, firing rockets at the Israeli entity.

The Israeli Billion-Dollar Iron Dome system failed to shot down all the Palestinian rockets. It successfully blocked only four of them.

15 Gazans have been killed by the Israeli bombardment on Gaza in the last two days. Two others were injured after an attack on North Gaza Sunday morning.

In response to its attacks on Gaza civilians, Resistance Grads kills an Israeli man

20-08-2011,22:11
Al Qassam website - In response to the Israeli killings against the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, An Israeli man was killed and ten others wounded, including four seriously injured, following the fall of "Grad" missiles at a house in the city of "Beersheba" on Saturday night.
In response to its attacks on Gaza civilians, Resistance Grads kills an Israeli manIn the evening of Saturday, a rise in numbers of rockets fired by Palestinian resistance factions on Israeli military bases and sites surrounding the Gaza Strip.

Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of Hamas - claimed responsibility for firing four missiles "Grad" on the "Ofukeem", which lies 20 kilometers west of the city of "Beersheba" in response to the Israeli attacks against Gaza residents.

The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the shelling was in response to the continued Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip."
Also the PRC claimed responsibility for bombing "Azata" with four-missiles "lGrad", bringing the number of rockets fired in response to the Israeli attacks since the morning to 34 missiles

Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of Islamic Jihad - has announced a series of missile launches throughout the daylight hours in response to Israeli attacks.

Also Abu Ali Mustafa - the military wing of the Popular Front - claimed responsibility for launching three mortars on the military site "Kissufim" east of Khanyounis city.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Will Obama pull the plug on NATO’S “Imminent Liberation of Tripoli”?



Dispatch from Tripoli


Franklin Lamb
Tripoli
Al-Manar
 Since this observer is not privy to any secrets around here and would not share them if he were, it’s fair enough to engage in frank discussions with former colleagues in Congress and new cyber acquaintances who work on the Hill.
I got an ear full this week from sources familiar with John Kerry’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee activities about President Obama’s semi-private views on what is happening in Libya and the President's rapidly growing doubts about NATO’s role in bombing this unlucky country.
Contrary to some Washington speculation that Obama’s new Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (some Congressional staffers who know him well good naturely refer to his as “Leon the Lite”) is in charge of overseeing NATO while Obama faces a slew of political and economic problems, the reality is different. President Obama said to be “hands on” and is closely following NATO’s use of “ all necessary measures to protect civilians.” NATO bombing here, including this morning’s 5 a.m. seven bomb drop near my hotel, has become a cruel hoax for the people of Libya and all who reject the claimed right of NATO to” destroy as a necessity to save & protect.”

Unlike his two predecessors in the Oval office and also “VP Joe,” Obama disapproves of officials using colorful language that might offend voters. But he did reportedly tell his friend who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently that “We have stepped into a pot of s---and we need to get out of it!”
Part of Obama’s growing concern is said to be about his prospects for re-election. The Democratic National Committee sent Senator Kerry and the White House a “for your eyes only” memo on just how bleak the President’s re-election prospects are looking as the campaign season begins. Far worse than his new record low of 35-39% approval ratings which continue to slide amidst economic uncertainties and doubts about the Obama stewardship generally.

According to Congressional sources working on the Libya crisis, some Obama advisors see Libya as becoming another Iraq if NATO continues forbidding its rebels from negotiating with the Kaddafi government or if “the leader” is killed.

Assassinating Kaddafi is widely believed here to be the only reason NATO continues to re-bomb, some as many as five times, the so-called“command and control center“ sites that these days could be just about anywhere in Tripoli.

Yesterday, at precisely noon, this observer was meeting with two officials at the Foreign Ministry. One is in charge of the American Bureau, and we were discussing a range of subjects. Suddenly within a five minute period four NATO bombs exploded very loudly and close to the Foreign Ministry. I eyed the massively thick conference table we were sitting at and even considered scrambling under it—just in case- as my interlocutors quickly exited the room—without even saying ‘goodbye.’ They seemed surprised, maybe amused also, when they returned to continue the meeting and I was still sitting at the table reading my notes. “Have we all become NATO targets?” one asked, “private homes, our universities, hospitals all are legitimate targets now according to NATO?”My upturned hands were the only reply I could think to offer.
Supporters of Gadaffi soon arrived at the house show their support
Obama and some of his advisors like Senator John Kerry are said to be wondering the same thing that some Libyan officials are. One staffer volunteered to me this week:
“Both the CIA and Pentagon told our committee that green lighting NATO to bomb Libya would be really quick and not even very dirty. Now it’s become a potentially endless nightmare and it’s down to who wins: “Its either Kaddafi or NATO.”
 
NATO insiders have advised Congressional staffers recently that the apparent eternal US armed “coalition of the willing” cannot afford another humiliation from its point of view, given Iraq and Afghanistan, so NATO has no plans to stop the bombing until one of three events occur. Those three in order of NATO preference are:
  Kaddafi is killed, Kaddafi “surrenders” or Kaddafi flees Libya.
The White House is said to be increasingly dubious that any of these eventualities will happen before Obama’s 2012 election. President Obama is being advised by some members of the Foreign Relations Committee among others to “just pull NATO’s god-damned plug and get this mess behind us!”
The much disparaged NATO weekly “Carman and Roland show” live from Brussels and Naples, billed as “NATO’s Media Conferences to inform the public” adds to the concerns of some in Washington. Carman & Roland’s explanations to increasingly incredulous journalists, including one from Jane’s Defense Weekly, make plain that NATO feels it could potentially bomb for years as part of “necessary measures to protect Libya’s civilians.”

In a long overdue turnaround from last February, when the main stream media here parroted those who for years had been working on toppling Kaddafi about his alleged killing Libyans, CNN just this morning aired a down right balanced report about how NATO claims that it is protecting Libyan civilians are doubous and in fact the main cause of civilians being slaughtered here in NATO sorties, now nearly 20,000 with more than 8,000 bombing sites.
It appears from talking with many people here, including the media, that virtually no one but the script writers for the “Carman & Roland show” believe NATO bombings have anything to do with fulfilling the original objectives of UNSCR’s 1970 and 1973.

Carmen told reporters following her and Roland’s 8/16/11 briefing show that NATO expects no problem with an expected un extension next month when NATO’s June renewal expires. She may know what she is talking about because NATO has reportedly been intensively lobbying the White House to bar Kaddafi’s government from the coming UN debate. The Libyan government, which is keeping statistics on NATO caused civilian deaths may not even be able to present its facts to the UN meeting next month. The reason is because Secretary of State Clinton has refused to grant Libya’s UN ambassador a visa. Clinton, according to committee staffers mentioned above, plans to arrange at the last minute for the National Transitional Council to represent the views of those being bombed by NATO.


Kerry’s committee staff is fairly confident that the rebels will not oppose an extension of NATO bombing of their country. Indeed their political and financial futures depend on NATO doing just that.

Yet, the White House has been advised by Committee staffers that NATO has become the main danger to civilians in Libya and that a political solution can be reached if Obama orders a ceasefire.

The President is said to be thinking about doing just that.

Egypt gets its 'apology', but

Turkey not so lucky!


http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-and-egypt-to-hold-joint-probe-into-deaths-of-egyptian-policemen-1.379666
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Libya and the end of Western illusions


by Thierry Meyssan / Voltairenet.org

Thierry MeyssanFive months into the bombing campaign, it is no longer possible to believe the initial official version of the events and the massacres attributed to the "Gaddafi regime". Moreover, it is now essential to take into account Libya’s legal and diplomatic rebuttal, highlighting the crimes against peace committed by television propaganda, the war crimes perpetrated by NATO military forces, and the crimes against humanity sponsored by political leaders of the Atlantic Alliance.

Just under half of Europeans still support the war against Libya. Their position is based on erroneous information. They still believe, in fact, that in February the "Gaddafi regime" crushed the protests in Benghazi with brutal force and bombed civilian districts in Tripoli, while the Colonel himself was warning of "rivers of blood" if his compatriots continued to challenge his authority.

During my two months’ investigation on the ground, I was able to verify that these accusations were pure propaganda intoxication, designed by the NATO powers to create the conditions for war, and relayed around the world by their television media, in particular Al-Jazeera, CNN, BBC and France24.

However, the reader who doesn’t know where he stands on this issue and who - despite the brainwashing of September 11 and Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction - is reluctant to accept that the United States, France, the UK and Qatar were actually capable of fabricating such lies, will be able to forge an opinion over time. NATO, the largest military coalition in history, has failed after five months of bombardments to overthrow the one it designated as a "tyrant."

Every Friday, a large demonstration in support of the regime is organized in a different city and all experts are unanimous in considering that Colonel Gaddafi enjoys at least 90% of popular support in Tripolitania and 70% across the entire country, including the "rebel" areas. These are people who every single day put up with the blockade, aerial bombardments and ground fighting. Never would they be defending with their flesh and blood someone who committed against them the crimes of which he has been accused by the "international community." The difference between those in the West who believe that Gaddafi is a tyrant who fired on his own people, and those in Libya who believe that he is a hero of the anti-imperialist struggle, is that the former live in an illusion created by TV propaganda, whereas the others are exposed to the concrete reality on the ground.

That said, there is a second illusion to which the West has succumbed - and in the "Western" camp I now include not only Israel, where it has always claimed to belong, but also the monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Turkey which, though of Eastern culture, have chosen to embrace it -, the illusion to think that it is still possible to devastate a country and kill its people without legal consequences. It is true that, until now, international justice has been the justice of the victors or the powerful. One may recall the Nazi official who heckled the judges at Nuremberg telling them that if the Reich had won the war, the judges would have been the Nazis while those held accountable for the war crimes would have been the Allies.

More recently, we saw how NATO used the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to try to justify post facto that the war in Kosovo was "the first humanitarian war in History," according to the expression employed by Tony Blair. Or again, how the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was used in an attempt to overthrow the Syrian government, then to decapitate the Lebanese Hezbollah, and probably soon to accuse the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Not to mention, the International Criminal Court, the secular arm of the European colonial powers in Africa.

However, the development of instruments and organs of international justice throughout the twentieth century has gradually established an international order with which the superpowers themselves will have to comply or which they will have to sabotage in order to escape their responsibilities. In the case of Libya, the violations of international law are countless. The main ones, presented below, were established by the Provisional Technical Committee, a Libyan ministerial coordination organ, and expounded at various press conferences by the legal adviser to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, French attorney Marcel Ceccaldi [1].

TV channels which, under the leadership of their respective Governments, have manufactured false information to lead to war, are guilty of "crimes against peace", as defined by the relevant UN General Assembly resolutions in the aftermath of World War II [2]. The journalist-propagandists should be considered even more culpable than the military who perpetrated war crimes or crimes against humanity, to the extent that none of these crimes would have been possible without the one that preceded them: the "crime against peace."

The political leaders of the Atlantic Alliance, who diverted the object and purpose of Resolution 1973 to engage in a war of aggression against a sovereign state, are personally responsible before international justice. Indeed, according to the jurisprudence established by the Tokyo Court following the Second World War, crimes cannot be ascribed to either States or organizations, but to individuals. Plundering the assets of a state, establishing a naval blockade and bombing infrastructure to cause people to suffer, attacking an army inside its barracks and ordering the assassination of enemy leaders or, failing this, terrorizing them by murdering their families, all amount to war crimes. Their systematic perpetration, as is the case today, constitutes a crime against humanity. This crime is imprescriptible, which means that Messrs. Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Al-Thani will be pursued by the law for the rest of their lives.


NATO, as an organization, is legally responsible for the material and human damage of this war. The law leaves no room for doubt that the organization must pay, even though it will surely try to invoke a privilege of jurisdiction to dodge its responsibilities. It will be up to the Alliance to decide how the bill for the conflict should be split among Member States, even though some of them may be on the verge of bankruptcy. This will be followed by disastrous economic consequences for their peoples, guilty of having endorsed such crimes. In a democracy, no one can claim to be innocent of the crimes committed in its name.

International justice will have to address more specifically the case of the Sarkozy "administration" - I use this Anglicism here to underscore the fact that the French president has been piloting his Government’s policy directly, without going through his prime minister. Indeed, France has played a central role in preparing for this war since October 2010 by organizing a failed military coup and then, as early as November 2010, by planning with the United Kingdom the bombing of Libya and the landing of ground troops on its soil, which was then believed to be feasible, and finally by actively conspiring in the lethal unrest in Benghazi which led to the war.

In addition, France, more than any other power, has deployed Special Forces on the ground - without uniforms, no doubt - and violated the arms embargo by supplying the insurgents, either directly or through Qatari airplanes. Not to mention that France has violated the UN freeze of Libyan assets, funnelling part of the fabulous cash from the Libyan Sovereign Fund to the CNT puppets, to the detriment of the Libyan people who wanted to guarantee the well-being of their children in the face of oil depletion.

These gentlemen from NATO, who hoped to escape international justice by crushing their victim, Libya, in a few short days so that it would not survive to pursue them, will be disenchanted. Libya is still there. She is filing complaints with the International Criminal Court, the Belgian courts (whose jurisdiction NATO falls under), the European Court of Justice, and the national courts of aggressor states. She is undertaking steps before the Council of Human Rights in Geneva, the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations. It will be not be possible for the big powers to extinguish these fires all at once. Worse, the arguments they will use to evade a court will ricochet against them in another court. In a few weeks or months, if they have not succeeded in destroying Tripoli, they will have no other way out to avoid humiliating convictions than to negotiate the withdrawal of the complaints at a very high price.
[1] Putting an end to the confusion that prevailed at the beginning of the war when various departments hired lawyers for different disorderly proceedings, Libya has appointed Marcel Ceccaldi in July to oversee all proceedings.

[2] “Journalists who engage in war propaganda must be held accountable”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 16 August 2011.


Thierry Meyssan French intellectual, founder and chairman of Voltaire Network and the Axis for Peace Conference. His columns specializing in international relations feature in daily newspapers and weekly magazines in Arabic, Spanish and Russian. His last two books published in English : 9/11 the Big Lie and Pentagate.   Thierry Meyssan


Alan Duncan irks British Israel Lobby

British Israel Lobby’s mouthpiece, Jewish Chronicle, has been running a campaign of character-assassination against British Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan for a while for speaking a few truths in public about the Zionist entity. Alan Duncan works under Andrew Mitchell, the Secretary of State. Lobby’s anti-Alan campaign has already effected Alan’s position in the ruling Conservative Party. He was demoted from shadow leader of the house to shadow prison minister before Conservative victory. Alan is known for having close personal relations with Israel-Firsters prime minister David Cameron and foreign secretary William Hague. British daily, The Telegraph, had reported on November 29, 2010 that Alan Duncan had been spied upon by CIA (why not Mossad?).

Alan visited the West Bank in July 2011. He did not visit Gaza as London, under Israeli pressure, doesn’t recognize democratically elected Hamas as true Palestinian representative authority. That was no problem for the British Israel Lobby. However, while in the West Bank, Alan made a few statements which made him 101% anti-Semite. For example Alan criticized Israel’s so-called ‘security wall’ – calling it a Jewish tactic to grab more Palestinian land. Alan also claimed that Jew settlers are stealing water from the Native Palestinian Muslim and Christian farmers (watch a video below).
Israel’s ‘Security Wall’ was condemned by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – as an ‘Apartheid Wall’ in 2004.

“The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated régime, are contrary to international law,” ruled the ICJ by a vote of fourteen to one. “Israel is under an obligation to terminate its breaches of international law; it is under an obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated, and to repeal or render ineffective forthwith all legislative and regulatory acts relating thereto.”

Furthermore, ruled the ICJ, “All States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction; all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.”

Since 1948 – when the European powers created the Zionist entity in the Muslim Middle East to solve their centuries-old ‘Jewish Problem’ – Jewish settlers have been stealing Arab waters from Jordan River, Litani River and the Nile.

Israelis and Jewish settlers in the West Bank consume 78% of the groundwater, leaving only 22% for its native Palestinians. From the Gaza Strip, Jews steal 50% of the groundwater. the rate of water consumption by the Israeli Jews is 344 cubic meter per year as compared to 93 million cubic meter per year by Palestinians


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Hezbollah: TIME Magazine Interview Fabricated by STL

Hezbollah:
Hezbollah denied on Saturday that one of the four suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has been interviewed by the TIME magazine, and considered that the mentioned interview was fabricated by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The TIME magazine has claimed that its reporter was meeting with a Hezbollah source when he found himself introduced to the suspect who arrived alone aboard a scooter at the home of his Hezbollah comrade. “While discussing the indictments, he revealed his true identity and confirmed it by showing an old ID card, but agreed to be interviewed only on condition that neither his nor the location be revealed,” the daily claimed.
In a statement it released, Hezbollah stressed that any Hezbollah official source did not meet the TIME magazine’s reporter. “Thus, the mentioned report is inaccurate, as the claimed interview did not even happen,” the statement said. It considered that the whole issue was fabricated by the STL, after it made us used to wrong and fabricated detective novels.

The magazine has claimed that the suspect said that the Lebanese authorities would have arrested him if they wanted to. “The Lebanese authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have done it a long time ago. Simply, they cannot,” he was quoted as saying.
Source: Hezbollah Media Relations

Hariri Slams Hezbollah…
Former Prime Miniser Saad Hariri slammed Hezbollah and the cabinet over the ‘fabricated’ TIME magazine interview with one of the four suspects named in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment.

Hariri’s press office issued a statement on Saturday in which he claimed that Hezbollah considers that the State, its institutions, its government and its security and judiciary forces are only tools to protect Hezbollah… and to cover up what he called “their violations and abuses against Lebanon and the Lebanese.”

The statement went on to say that Hezbollah wants the state to cover up its political, military and security existence, stressing that “some officials in the cabinet are providing this cover and participating with Hezbollah in their policy to escape from the truth and justice.”

Hariri wondered if President Michel Suleiman, PM Najib Miqati and his cabinet are aware of the interview published by the magazine. “It seems that none of them want to hear, read, see or talk about anything linked to Hezbollah and their dominance over the government’s decision… and no one can contradict the opinion and the will of the supreme leader of the Lebanese Republic,” the statement added.
Source: Website Team

TIME interviews one of the Hezbollah accused men

During a recent conversation with a Hizballah source, a TIME reporter found himself introduced to one of the four members of the organization accused of playing a role in the assassination of Rafik Hariri. The accused man arrived alone aboard a scooter at the home of his Hizballah comrade. While discussing the indictments, he revealed his true identity and confirmed it by showing an old ID card, but agreed to be interviewed only on condition that neither his name nor the location be revealed. �
TIME: Why did you agree to this interview? �
I want to send a message to the world that I wasn't involved in the assassination of Rafik Hariri and that all the charges attributed to me are empty.

TIME: But what can you say about the cellphone data analysis?
Everyone knows that the Mossad can manipulate the cellphone data with the help of spies, and some of the spies were arrested which gives clear evidence that Israel can manipulate the telecommunications data. If the tribunal was built on [genuine] evidence I would have given myself [up] from the first day. �

TIME: Let's go back to the day of the assassination. Where were you on February 14, 2005? �
I was carrying out my [military] work and I cannot reveal where, but I can prove that I wasn't in the area of [the] Saint George [Hotel], the place of the assassination, and I was at least an hour-and-a-half away from that area. �

TIME: Then you deny your participation in this terrorist act? �
Absolutely. I was even surprised when I heard the news that Hariri was assassinated, and I stopped with a friend of mine in one of the coffee shops to watch it on TV. And the next day I went to my work as usual and people saw me. If I had participated in the assassination I would have taken more measures. �

TIME:� After the formation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, did you expect you would be among the four defendants? �
For several years, Syria was accused of the assassination, and the whole international community encircled Syria on this basis. But after Syria's cooperation with the international community, Hizballah was accused of the assassination and � they put our names as the killers. �

TIME: Why don't you hand yourself over to the Tribunal? �
I will not turn myself in to a tribunal the main goal of which is to end Hizballah and not ... [to] reveal the [identity] of the real assassins. This is a politicized tribunal � admitted to even by some of its members. If they are looking for the truth, let them search somewhere else than Lebanon. Let them go to neighboring countries and they will find the real suspects. �

TIME: Do you mean Syria? �
Of course not. They have to go to Israel which has the first and only interest in the killing of Hariri. Can't you see that the only beneficiary from this assassination is Israel and its allies? �

TIME: Do you think Hizballah will deliver you to the Tribunal? �
If I was guilty, Hizballah would have turned me over from the first day to the so-called international justice. I said it once and will repeat it for the last time: I am innocent of all charges against me. �

TIME: The Lebanese authorities are also looking for you. �
The Lebanese authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have done it a long time ago. Simply, they cannot. �

TIME: What do you think will happen to the Tribunal? �
Since the day of its formation, the Tribunal has had no credibility. I am sure it will continue, but Lebanon will not execute any of its resolutions. The international community has to find a better way to end the Resistance [Hizballah], Syria, and Iran. �

TIME: What are your future plans? �
I will continue living my ordinary life without giving any attention to the Tribunal and any of its resolutions.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Egyptian security experts warn Israel planning on occupying part of Sinai


[ 20/08/2011 - 12:47 PM ]
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Egyptian security experts warn Israel is planning on taking control in part of the Sinai Peninsula with support from the United States.
The move would be a proactive step by the Israelis after the ouster of Israeli ally and former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Former Major General Sameh Seif El-Yezel, an expert on national security and intelligence, said that Israel was planning on crossing Egyptian borders and occupying somewhere between five and seven kilometers of the Sinai Peninsula in order to secure its borders. He pointed out that world powers would support Israel in case that happened.
Another security expert Ibrahim Salah said the plan had leaked during the onset of Egypt’s Jan. 25 revolution. He said that Israel managed to convince the U.S. that the Mubarak removal would threaten the stability of its borders with Egypt and that it was in the best interest to secure those boundaries by occupying part of Sinai by any means necessary.
Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yawm quoted Egyptian security sources as saying that the situation in Sinai has become serious, as tensions rise at home and abroad. He said on one hand there is an internal conflict across the peninsula between elements from the Egyptian armed forces and armed groups, and on the other hand, the Israelis have attacked in the north, confirming fears that Israel has intent to move into the peninsula.
The sources said that Israel wanted to demonstrate that Egypt was unable to control security in Sinai and that its borders with Egypt are not secure. He also said there was a possibility that in the near future, Israel would ask for international armed forces to be deployed to monitor its borders with Egypt.
Meanwhile, Israeli war minister Ehud Barak has instructed to take additional contractors to accelerate the constructing of a security fence on its boundaries with Egypt following the Elat attacks. The new plan is to have the wall built by the end of 2012 instead of 2013 as initially planned. 


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Geagea Convinced STL Indictment Accurate! - Vera Yammine: Other Bloc’s Rhetoric… Polluted!

Vera Yammine: Other Bloc’s Rhetoric… Polluted!
Hussein Assi
Vera Yammine to Al-Manar Website:
  • Other Bloc’s Rhetoric… Polluted!
  • Indictment Illegal, Same as Whole Tribunal
  • Sun of Justice Arose Many and Many Times!
  • Which Sovereignty We Are Talking about?!
  • Wise Men Committed to Topple Sedition Plot
  • Do We Finance STL to Get Such Indictment?

Al-Marada movement politburo member in Lebanon Vera Yammine said that the indictment in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri’s case was illegal, just like the whole work of the international tribunal. She wondered whether Lebanon was obliged to finance the so-called international tribunal for six years to get such a weak indictment at the end of the day.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Manar Website, Yammine regretted the “polluted rhetoric” adopted by the other bloc as if it was translating the international community’s intention to create sedition in Lebanon. Yet, she assured everybody that the wise men of the country, at the top of which comes those directly concerned with the indictment i.e. Hezbollah and the Resistance alongside all those convinced that the tribunal was politicized, were committed to overthrow this scheme. While recalling that the ‘sun of justice’ has arisen many and many times for this bloc, she wished a new sun would not arise when the international political balances change.

Commenting on the STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen latest statement in which he established jurisdiction over three attacks relating to former ministers Marwan Hamadeh and Elias al-Murr and former head of the Lebanese Communist Party George Hawi, Yammine wondered which sovereignty and state we can speak of when the justice abandons its duties.

WEAK INDICTMENT…

Mrs. Vera Yammine told Al-Manar Website that, regardless of her evaluation of the indictment released two days ago, she believes that this indictment was released a long time ago and that it was illegal, just like the whole tribunal’s work. She noted that the weakness of the indictment consolidated this belief, and wondered whether Lebanon was obliged to finance the so-called international tribunal for more than six years to get such a weak and politicized indictment at the end of the day.

While noting that justice experts have confirmed the weakness of the indictment, she highlighted that the main and political goal of the tribunal was to create repercussions that translate, in one sense or another, the international community’s intention to create sedition. Yet, she assured that the wise men of the country, at the top of which comes those directly concerned with the indictment i.e. Hezbollah and the Resistance alongside all those convinced that the tribunal was politicized, were committed to overthrow this scheme.

BETWEEN SANIORA AND SUN OF JUSTICE

Yammine wished the other bloc would be responsible enough to refuse to translate the international community’s intentions in Lebanon, and regretted their ‘polluted rhetoric’. She found strange how this bloc could accept to reflect an international will seeking to create sedition in Lebanon.

Answering a question on the other bloc’s support of the indictment despite the weakness of its evidence, Yammine laughed at the “suns of justice” that arise many and many times according to the other bloc’s logic. “We all remember when former PM Fouad Saniora claimed, with tearful eyes, that the sun of justice arose when the unfair indictment against the four officers has been released. Now, it appears that this sun has vanished, paving the floor for the appearance of another sun from another place.”

WHAT ABOUT A THIRD SUN?!

Yammine stressed that she doesn’t find strange the other bloc’s rhetoric, given that they have anticipated the indictment, in harmony with media leaks of German daily Der Spiegel, Canadian CBC network, Israeli daily Yedihot Ahronot and other international media panels. However, she noted that, although she was not surprised with such rhetoric, she was hurt become some Lebanese voices are translating the international will to create sedition in the country. “We wish they won’t provide us with a third sun of justice, according to the new international political balances,” she added.

Answering a question about the presence of specific fears, Yammine noted that sedition needs two parties, which is not the case here. “The majority is committed to national unity and civil peace. It has proven this through its way of facing the security incidents that recently erupted,” she went on to say.

WHICH SOVEREIGNTY AND STATE?

Yammine expressed belief in the Lebanese army’s ability to protect all Lebanon, and noted the army was part of the golden formula, as Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah described it. She was referring to the Resistance-Army-People balance.

Commenting on the STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen latest statement in which he established jurisdiction over three attacks relating to former ministers Marwan Hamadeh and Elias al-Murr and former head of the Lebanese Communist Party George Hawi, Yammine wondered which sovereignty and state we can speak of when the justice abandons its duties. “We must unite in the internal scene to force the foreigners to deal with us as strong people and stop considering us as underage.”

 
Source: Al-Manar Website

Geagea Convinced STL Indictment Accurate!
Despite its weakness and the absence of evidence, the indictment released by the so-called Special Tribunal for Lebanon someone to defend it.
It’s Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea who held a press conference on Saturday to reject solid arguments that the indictment was politicized, and claim that it contains ‘enough evidence’ to accuse those who were accused.

According to Geagea’s ‘logic’, the indictment is based on circumstantial evidence, documents and witness accounts. He ruled out the ability of Israel or the US to manipulate telecom data. Telecom uncovered 90% of Israeli spies, he said. “Had it (Israel) been able to control the telecom sector it would have protected its agents.”

The LF chief claimed that the evidence provided by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor in the indictment draws question marks on the role of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran in former PM Rafiq Hariri’s February 2005 assassination.
Source: Website Team

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Fabricating False Witnesses…How was the STL Indictment Devised?

Nedal Hamadeh

On August 22, 2006, that is within less than ten days from the end of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, “Le Figaro’s” Georges Malbrunot, published an article titled "The Shadow of Hezbollah in the Assassination of Hariri." He mentioned certain information in which he referred to close Lebanese sources to Hariri’s family divulging the responsibility of members from Hezbollah in the assassination of PM Rafiq Hariri. Malbrunot's report was the starting point for launching the accusations lying ahead against Hezbollah after every possibility to accuse Syria was exhausted.
Malbrunot's report in the French paper "Le Figaro" was republished by the German magazine "Der Spiegel" after two and a half years of the first release; later it republished the same report many times which eventually turned out to be the precisely verbatim phraseology of the SITL indictment in this case.
Georges Malbrunot
At that time, and after my return from Beirut to Paris, I met Georges Malbrunot on the margin of a press conference at a foreign press club in Paris. On that day, Georges was occupying the second floor at the International Radio of France. He and I went into a discussion in which he uncovered the party that had phrased and fabricated the indictment, which was issued two days ago.
What Does "Georges Malburnot" say about this Issue?
When we met, I went through my observations on his reputable report in "Le Figaro" in relation to the timing of publishing his report synchronized with halting the military operations in Lebanon and Palestine, in addition to the pressure exercised on Hezbollah from the corner of discord especially that the diplomatic controversy was at its climax with regard to allowing new UNIFIL, mainly made of European forces including French, to be deployed in the South of Lebanon. I, also, said to him exactly that his report was neither innocent nor credible. The French right wing and the close-minded reporter to the neoconservatives of the U.S.A. responded abruptly. He jumped up to his feet protesting to my attributing untrustworthiness to his report and he said, "I assure you that those words were relayed by a Lebanese official close to Hariri; also, I can add that the French Intelligence are aware of the meeting between the source and I in Paris during the war." When I asked him about the identity of that source close to Hariri family, he refused to divulge the name, however, the French media, then, spoke of Lieutenant Colonel Wissam Al-Hasan, the Head of the Lebanese Intelligence, that he was the one who had provided Gergoes Malbrunot with the news.
Surprisingly, it was the same news which turned out to be but the same SITL indictment issued after 5 years from the date the same news was issued by "Le Figaro."
The article-indictment in "Le Figaro" did not give the result expected both because of the French involvement in Hariri court as a party and because of the personality of the reporter Malbrunot in "Le Figaro," as he was the one who addressed all his articles about Syria, but suddenly he changed his direction. This was the reason that made the French paper and the French reporter lose their credibility and, subsequently, the article was not given the expected stimulation, yet it was rather away for two and a half years from the scene till it was republished, but this time in the German magazine "Der Spiegel" in an attempt to redraw a map for dealing with the STL and for the way of media promotional methodology.
The change in the media mechanism with a consideration for the new need to focus on Hezbollah and its responsibility resulted from several external reasons which are namely French ones:
a. France having been exposed as a direct party in the case of Hariri case after the endeavors made by Jacques Chirac in the case and his reception the “king” false witness Mohammad Zuhair Al-Siddique, which dismisses France as a source of truth in the case.
b. The approval by Hezbollah then to allow French forces within the UNIFIL in the South of Lebanon made France review its burden of accusing Hezbollah even in the media context.
c. France's desire to have Germany in the front of the evolving events in this case, especially after the scandals of Judge Detlev Mehlis and his corruption, lies, and his false representations.
Malbrunot's speaking of the French Intelligence knowledge of this meeting between Wissam Al-Hasan and him, which took place at a Parisian restaurant according to what he told me himself clearly indicates that the intelligence involvement in this case and in charging members of Hezbollah have been the foundation, apart from the sorrowful songs about the faultless STL court, its judges, and the neutrality of the international law that never moves except upon the desires of the authoritative states and their intelligence; and the rest is to come yet…
Source: Al-Manar Website

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Book: Buying Jewish business is ‘anti-Semitism’


No kidding! Paris-based American author, Hal Vaughan, in his new book, entitled ‘Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War’ has accused the French fasion icon of anti-Semitism. No;
she did not criticized Jews as British fashion designer John Galliano did early this year. She is accused of wresting the control of the Chanel perfume line from the Jewish Wertheimer brothers in the 1940s.

Chanel 5 issued a statement debunking Hal Vaughan’s lie: “She would hardly have formed a relationship with the family or counted Jewish people among her close friends and professional partners”.

Let me get Chanel 5′s above statement straight. The Jewish family which made billions of dollars during the last eight decades from Coco’s perfume and using her as company’s trademark – is not “close friendship and professional partnership”!!

Any thoughts on Hugo Boss, who designed Nazi uniforms which also were worn by 150,000 German Jews serving in the Nazi Army!

Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel (1883-1971) was born into a poor French family. She grew-up in an orphange and started her career as a singer to survive. She was a self-made businesswoman. Over 57 books and even a movie (Coco Avant Chanel) have been made about her life. However, none of them mentioned Hal Vaughan’s accusation that Ms Chanel was a Nazi spy.

When the Germans entered Paris in June 1940, Coco closed her fashion house and moved into the Ritz hotel with German intelligence officer, Hans Gunther von Dincklage. She was even involved in an anti-Semitic attempt to negotiate a separate British-German peace in 1943 through her friends in the British royalty and aristocracy. Her plan failed thanks to the World Zionist movement which had declared boycott of German good in 1933.

The pink suit worn by Jackie Kennedy (died May 19, 1994) in Dallas on the day of her husband’s assassination by Israeli Mossad agents in 1963 was a Coco Chanel creation.
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Egypt to Withdraw Envoy to Israel, Barak ’Regrets’ - Thousands of Egyptians protest, demand removal of Israeli ambassador

Egypt to Withdraw Envoy to Israel, Barak ’Regrets’
Egypt has decided Saturday to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv to protest the killing of five policemen on the border during attacks on Palestinian resistance fighters, state television said Saturday.

The Egyptian government had asked "for an official apology from Israel" at the end of a crisis meeting overnight, the state-run MENA news agency reported in a statement.

Just hours later, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed ‘regret’ over the deaths of Egyptian policemen and promised a full investigation. He said he ordered the "army to open an investigation" into the killings. "The circumstances of this incident will be examined jointly with the Egyptian army," and the conclusions will be drawn in light of the results of the probe, he said in a statement. He also insisted that the peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel was "strategic and highly important for stability in the Middle East."

A top Israeli defense official stressed meanwhile that peace with Egypt "is a strategic asset" and it would be unthinkable for Israeli personnel to target their Egyptian counterparts.

Amos Gilad, head of the defense ministry political department, also urged patience until the results of a probe are known. "Nobody in the army, nobody anywhere in the security establishment has any intention of harming Egyptian soldiers or Egyptian policemen, on the contrary, the intention of course is to not harm them," he said. "No soldier would consciously aim his weapon at Egyptian soldiers or policemen," Gilad told Israeli public radio.
High-ranking Egyptian politicians have reacted to the deadly incident.
“Israel has to realize that the days in which our sons are killed without an appropriate and strong reaction are forever gone,” said Amr Moussa, the former foreign minister and head of the Arab League, on his personal Twitter account.
Former Egyptian ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy has also stated that such violence against a “democratic Egypt” is unacceptable.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has said in a message published on his Facebook page: "Egyptian blood is too precious to be spilled for no reason." "Our glorious revolution took place so that Egyptians could regain their dignity at home and abroad. What was tolerated in pre-revolution Egypt will not be in post-revolution Egypt," he said.
Egypt's cabinet has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Cairo over the issue, expressing regret over the reaction of Tel Aviv to the incident. "Egypt deplores the irresponsible and hasty statements made by some leaders in Israel, which lack the wisdom and prudence and pass judgment before arriving at the truth, particularly keeping in mind the sensitivity of Egyptian-Israeli relations," the cabinet said in a statement.
Meanwhile, angry Egyptians have continued their protest outside the Tel Aviv embassy in Cairo, calling on authorities to cut ties with the Tel Aviv regime and expel its ambassador.
Information Minister Osama Heykal was quoted as saying by MENA that five policemen were killed "inside Egyptian territory as a result of an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and armed elements inside Israeli territory."

Egypt's military chief of staff, Sami Enan, headed to the Sinai on Friday to probe the deaths of the policemen killed a day earlier. There have been conflicting reports from the Egyptian military and police about how they lost their lives.

A military official told Egypt's official MENA news agency on Thursday that they were killed by stray Israeli helicopter fire aimed at the fleeing gunmen. But on Friday, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper quoted a military official as saying the policemen were killed by gunmen trying to slip in from “Israel”.

Enan's visit was announced shortly after another policeman was declared dead following a border gunfight on Friday, which left one of his comrades gravely wounded with a bullet in the head.
Source: AFP


Thousands of Egyptians protest, demand removal of Israeli ambassador

[ 20/08/2011 - 10:29 AM ] 

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Thousands of Egyptians continue to demonstrate outside of the Israeli embassy in Cairo demanding the removal of the Israeli ambassador in response to Israeli gunfire that killed five men from the Egyptian security forces.

The demonstrations began on Friday after sermons and congregational prayers in several cities across the country. The largest have taken place in Cairo and Alexandria.
Our correspondent in Cairo has learned that those behind the Egyptian revolution in January have refused to respond to requests to disperse by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. He said there are intentions to turn the demonstration into a sit-in that would carry on until the embassy was shut down.

Egypt has protested after Israel killed five of its troops in Sinai on its borders with the Palestinian territories.

Egyptian media outlets have quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Egypt has recalled its ambassador to Israel.

Egypt’s MENA has quoted one military official as saying the soldiers were killed by a missile fired from an Israeli helicopter in pursuit of activists near the Egyptian borders.

Among those who have taken part in the protests is presidential candidate Abdul-Mun’im Abul Fattouh. He called for considering what happened as an opportunity to amend the country’s peace treaty with Israel and allow more Egyptian troops to be deployed along the borders.
In Alexandria, protesters have tried to enter the Israeli consulate in the city’s Kafr Abdo district as military police have surrounded the area with tanks and barbed wire in order to stop them.
A number of youths managed to ascend to the top of the building where the consulate is located and raise Egyptian and Palestinian flags.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Attorney General in El-Arish has issued its first report on the Sinai killings, saying that Israel used projectiles that explode inside the body, confirming the intent to kill.

The report added that one of the soldiers was hit by seven bullets to various parts of the body and another in the chest and abdomen, confirming that there was intent to kill the targets.

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