Saturday 19 November 2016

Hezbollah is the new Middle East Army حزب الله جيش الشرق الأوسط الجديد

Hezbollah is the new Middle East Army

Written by Nasser Kandil,

The West and the Zionist movement strived during half of a century since 1947 to make Israel alone the power which possesses an actual army in the Middle East, to be the feared army of the Middle East, which is capable to wage a war whenever it wants and wins due to two criteria a swift war and a decisive victory. Therefore the war of 1967 after twenty years of the birth of the entity was the actual reflection of that aspiration, but after confused experience with the Israeli, French, and British tripartite aggression on Egypt in 1956 Washington was obliged to intervene immediately in order not to enter in a war of attrition through stopping the war. In the war 1973 the image of army of the Middle East has distorted through the achievements of the Syrian and the Egyptian armies in the war of October and the fall of the Israeli defenses armies, surprising them by the decision of war. But Washington has intervened once again to get Egypt out of the war in a way that was neither a winner nor a defeated as Washington wanted in preparation for the final exit of Egypt from the state of war and where Israel can regain the feature of the Middle East Army. The invasion of Lebanon was a sign of the recovery of Israel from the complex of the war of October. Thus the Agreement of Philip Habib of the withdrawal of the Syrian troops to Bekaa, the final exit of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, having a Lebanese President for the Republic within the confines of the occupation, and signing a peace agreement that devotes the high control to Israel which was known by the agreement of the Seventeenth of May are the outcomes of the return of the spirit to the project of the Middle East Army which sticks to the decision of war.
The importance of the Israeli army has been increased according to the West and the Americans in particular especially after the Iranian Revolution and the disintegration of the army of Shah, which was considered the most advanced army among the armies of Washington’s allies. The coups which ravaged of Turkey have encouraged keeping the focus on the Israeli army which has received fixed military aids entitled; that the military superiority must be kept in its favor among the armies of the region. Because of its army Israel has received financial and technical aids that help it to breathe economically.
Furthermore, the Israeli aggressions have received legal and diplomatic protection in order to keep the army able to wage wars, using the banned weapons, and committing the  atrocities and the brutal crimes, they have disrupted all the projects of the settlement of the Arab- Israeli conflict which do not meet the essential condition which is keeping the high control to Israel, normalizing the relation with Israel as well as legitimizing what it occupied of the Palestinian territories, as a condition for any peace , but even a condition for any distinctive relation with Washington in the region.
The US documents which were published of how to deal with the rule of the President Mohammed Mosseadegh in Iran and preparing for a coup against him after the popular revolution which brought him and the desire of his rule to make good relations with Washington clarified that. The reason is his refusal to make relations with Israel as the Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes who was toppled by planned coup for the same reason, despite what the US documents mentioned of American preference of each of Mossadegh and Menderes to Shah and the Turkish military, as what Boutros Boutros-Ghali the former Secretary-General of the United Nations said about the birth of Camp David accord and the visit of the Egyptian Former President Anwar Al Sadat to Jerusalem, he said that the intention of Al Sadat was to visit Washington to sign a cooperation agreement, but the American response was that the way to Washington passes by Jerusalem. The meaning here is the satisfaction of Israel.
Since the eighties of the last century the Middle East Army entered a war of attrition which the Americans tried to save it from in the war of the year 1956, when Syria and Iran despite their concerns and preoccupations they put their importance for its success, they supported without limits the Lebanese resistance which Hezbollah has formed its matured outcome and its pivotal strength, and which its rise has been culminated by two successive victories in the years 2000 and 2006. The Israeli has entered in a historic strategic impasse where it lost its inherent characteristic as the Middle East Army. The war on Syria has occurred to form the challenge and the opportunity for both Hezbollah and Israel to win the title of the Middle East Army. Israel betted on overthrowing Hezbollah through the gate of this war, by a direct confrontation with the force which tried to compete it for the title of the global Middle East Army. The meaning here is Al –Qaeda organization and its factions. After years of the war of Syria it seems that Al-Qaeda organization is at the last gasp, and Israel looks fading, while the hour of raising the sign of victory by Hezbollah by announcing the winning of the title seems close.
Hezbollah’s achievement in Aleppo’s fields and all the war arenas in Syria coincides with the military show which combines between the regular structure, the semi regular structure, the structure of the war of the secret resistance for an army that includes thousands of fighters or ten thousands of fighters, and which forms the center which fights with the capacity of allied and supportive formations, it does not include the regular armies of the allied countries as Syria and Iran, but the popular formations which are similar to armies, from the National Defense in Syria and the Popular Crowd in Iraq and the Popular committees in Yemen that are estimated with approximately million fighters that spread in the Middle East, They participate Hezbollah in its wars, positions, and issues, putting its leader in a special status as a reference in the wars of the Middle East. The new army which is equipped with the latest weapons technology and which perfects the arts of war emerges after it had exceptional experiences from all of its wars with the regular wars, with the modern air weapons, without compromising of the privacy of war of people and guerilla warfare, and having distinguished skilled courage capable elite forces. While Hezbollah proves this capability within a network of allies, the President of the Republic arrives to the Lebanese presidency from the confines of the resistance, Hezbollah responded to the overthrowing of the Syrian return to Beirut by Washington through tearing the agreement of Philip Habbib through the decision of 1559, and what has led to the exit of the Syrian troops by tearing Sykes Picot Agreement which divided the entities of the region, so it performed its military show with the consent of the Syrian country and its blessings inside the Syrian borders, making the extent of the eastern borders toward Al Qalamoun and the northern borders toward Al Quseir a vital extension of the resistance outside the range of the Lebanese political game and its attractions with the consent and the encouragement of the Syrian country and the protection of its common missile networks with Russia, as the Popular Crowd and Ansar Allah create similar situations in the geostrategic areas in the Middle East. The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jayad Zarif in a conference held in Tehran read the new balances of the phase which he described as the international regional transitional phase from the site of Iran which canceled the golden American rule of making Israel a mandatory way to make an agreement with it, Washington was forced to sign the understanding on the Iranian nuclear file without the knowledge of Israel and despite its desire not to sign. Zarif said that the most prominent feature of this phase is the emergence of Hezbollah as a capable force and a force of safety to the movements of the people of the region and the world.
While Israel is losing the title of the Middle East Army, Al-Qaeda organization falls as a supportive project to Israel, the Saudi financial and political role retreats, and while Saudi Arabia and its army sink in the swamps of the war of Yemen, Hezbollah and the network of its allies proceed as a fragile country that lives in the confines of many countries, that does not compete them however integrates with them, coexists with them as a deterrence force and strategic additive value. So it becomes the most important fact which born in the early of the twenty-first century in drawing the equations of the strategies, while the Russian capacity takes the responsibility of paralyzing the regional capabilities such as Turkey, the American capability regresses, and its regression is culminated by the presidential elections that devote the regression to the inward. So there is no longer power that can threaten the growth of the new Middle East Army which is extended from Lebanon to Afghanistan and from Aleppo to Bab Al Mandab.
Translated by Lina Shehadeh,

حزب الله جيش الشرق الأوسط الجديد

 

عرض عسكري ضخم لـ حزب الله في القصير في «يوم الشهيد»
بمشاركة مئات المقاتلين… وسلاح المدرّعات والمدفعيّة


ناصر قنديل


– جهد الغرب وجهدت الحركة الصهيونية خلال نصف قرن ممتدّ منذ العام 1947 أن تكون «إسرائيل»، وحدها من يمتلك جيشاً فعلياً في الشرق الأوسط، فتكون جيش الشرق الأوسط المهاب الجانب، القادر على خوض الحرب ساعة يريد، ويفوز بها بمعيارَيْ، حرب خاطفة ونصر حاسم. وكانت حرب العام 1967 بعد عشرين عاماً على ولادة الكيان الترجمة الفعلية لهذا التطلع، بعد تجربة مرتبكة في العدوان الثلاثي الإسرائيلي الفرنسي البريطاني على مصر عام 1956، اضطرت واشنطن للتدخّل مباشرة لاستنقاذه من الدخول في حرب استنزاف عبر وقف الحرب، وجاءت حرب 1973 لتهزّ صورة جيش الشرق الأوسط، عبر إنجازات الجيشين السوري والمصري في حرب تشرين وسقوط الدفاعات «الإسرائيلية»، ومباغتتها بقرار الحرب، لكن واشنطن تدخلت مرة أخرى لإخراج مصر من الحرب تمهيداً لوقفها على الجبهة السورية بصيغة أرادت لها واشنطن أن تكون لا غالب ولا مغلوب، تمهيداً لخروج نهائي لمصر من حال الحرب، واسترداد «إسرائيل» صفة جيش الشرق الأوسط،ليكون اجتياح لبنان علامة تعافي «إسرائيل» من عقدة حرب تشرين، ويكون اتفاق فيليب حبيب بانسحاب القوات السورية إلى البقاع والخروج النهائي لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية واستيلاد رئيس جمهورية لبناني في كنف الاحتلال، وتوقيع اتفاق سلام يكرّس اليد العليا لـ «إسرائيل» عُرف باتفاق السابع عشر من أيار، كثمرات لعودة الروح لمشروع جيش الشرق الأوسط الممسك بقرار الحرب.

– زادت أهمية الجيش الإسرائيلي بعيون الغرب، والعيون الأميركية، خصوصاً مع الثورة الإيرانية وتفكّك جيش الشاه الذي كان يعتبر الجيش الأشدّ تقدّماً بين جيوش حلفاء واشنطن، كما شجّعت الانقلابات التي عصفت بتركيا في بقاء التركيز على الجيش الإسرائيلي ، الذي حظي بمساعدات عسكرية ثابتة عنوانها أن يبقى التفوّق العسكري في ضفته بين جيوش المنطقة، وحظيت إسرائيل بسبب جيشها بمساعدات مالية وتقنية تتيح لها التنفس اقتصادياً، كما حظيت الاعتداءات الإسرائيلية بالحماية القانونية والدبلوماسية، حفاظاً على اليد الطليقة لجيشها في خوض الحروب واستخدام الأسلحة المحرمة وارتكاب الفظائع والجرائم الوحشية، وعطلت كل المشاريع لتسوية الصراع العربي الإسرائيلي التي لا تلبّي الشرط المحوري وهو بقاء اليد العليا واضحة جلية.إنها اليد الإسرائيلية ، وجعل التطبيع مع إسرائيل وشرعنة ما تحتله من الأراضي الفلسطينية، شرطاً لأيّ سلام، بل شرط كلّ علاقة مميّزة بواشنطن تريدها أيّ دولة من دول المنطقة، كما توضح الوثائق الأميركية المنشورة عن التعامل مع حكم الرئيس محمد مصدق في إيران وتحضير الانقلاب عليه بعد الثورة الشعبية التي جاءت به ورغبة حكمه بعلاقات جيدة مع واشنطن، والسبب هو رفضه إقامة علاقات مع إسرائيل ، مثله مثل رئيس الوزراء التركي عدنان مندريس الذي أطاحه انقلاب مدبّر للسبب ذاته، رغم ما تقوله الوثائق الأميركية من تفضيل أميركي لكلّ من مصدق ومندريس على الشاه والعسكر التركي. ومثل ذلك ما يقوله بطرس بطرس غالي الأمين العام الأسبق للأمم المتحدة عن سياق ولادة اتفاقية كامب ديفيد وزيارة الرئيس المصري الأسبق أنور السادات للقدس، فيقول كانت نية السادات زيارة واشنطن لتوقيع معاهدة تعاون، فكان الجواب الأميركي أنّ الطريق إلى واشنطن يمرّ من القدس والقصد رضا إسرائيل .

– منذ ثمانينيات القرن الماضي كان جيش الشرق الأوسط يدخل حرب الاستنزاف التي سعى الأميركيون لاستنقاذه من مثلها في حرب العام 1956، والتي وضعت سورية وإيران رغم كثرة همومهما وانشغالاتهما، ثقلهما لإنجاحها، فقدّمتا الدعم بلا حدود للمقاومة اللبنانية، التي شكل حزب الله ثمرتها الناضجة وقوتها المحورية، ليتوّج صعوده بنصرين متلاحقين في العامين 2000 و2006، ويدخل إسرائيل في مأزق تاريخي واستراتيجي فقدت معه صفتها الملازمة كجيش للشرق الأوسط.

جاءت الحرب على سورية لتشكل التحدي والفرصة لكلّ من حزب الله و إسرائيل ، للفوز بلقب جيش الشرق الأوسط، فراهنت إسرائيل على إسقاط حزب الله عبر بوابة هذه الحرب بمواجهة مباشرة مع القوة التي سعت لمنافسته على لقب جيش الشرق الأوسط العالمي. والقصد تنظيم القاعدة ومتفرّعاته، وبعد سنوات على حرب سورية، يبدو تنظيم القاعدة يحتضر، وتبدو إسرائيل تذبل، وتبدو ساعة رفع شارة النصر من قبل حزب الله بإعلان الفوز باللقب قريبة.

– يتزامن إنجاز حزب الله في ميادين حلب وسائر ساحات حرب سورية، مع العرض العسكري الجامع بين بنية نظامية وبنية شبه نظامية، وبنية حرب المقاومة السرية، لجيش يضمّ آلاف المقاتلين، أو عشرات الآلاف من المقاتلين، ويشكل النواة التي تقاتل بقدرة تشكيلات رديفة وحليفة، لا تضمّ الجيوش النظامية للدول الحليفة كسورية وإيران، بل تشكيلات شعبية موازية للجيوش ورديفة لها، من الدفاع الوطني في سورية والحشد الشعبي في العراق، واللجان الشعبية في اليمن تقدّر بقرابة مليون مقاتل يمتدّ انتشارهم على مساحة الشرق الأوسط، ويشاركون حزب الله حروبه ومواقفه وقضاياه ويضعون قائده في منزلة خاصة كمرجع لحروب الشرق الأوسط. ويظهر هذا الجيش الجديد، المزوّد بأحدث تقنيات السلاح، والمتقن فنون الحرب، وقد امتلك خبرات استثنائية من جمع حروبه مع الجيوش النظامية، مع أسلحة الجو الحديثة، دون التفريط بخصوصية حرب الشعب وحرب العصابات، وامتلاك قوات نخبة مميّزة فائقة المهارة والبسالة والقدرة، وبينما حزب الله يثبت هذه القدرة، ضمن شبكة عنكبوتية للحلفاء، يوصل رئيس جمهورية من كنف المقاومة إلى سدة الرئاسة اللبنانية، ويردّ بعد إسقاط واشنطن للعودة السورية إلى بيروت بتمزيقها اتفاقية فيليب حبيب، عبر القرار 1559، وما انتهى إليه من خروج للقوات السورية، بتمزيقه لاتفاقية سايكس بيكو التي قسّمت كيانات المنطقة، فينجز عرضه العسكري برضا الدولة السورية ومباركتها، داخل الحدود السورية، جاعلاً مدى الحدود الشرقي نحو القلمون والشمالي نحو القصير، امتداداً حيوياً للمقاومة خارج نطاق اللعبة السياسية اللبنانية وتجاذباتها، برضا وتشجيع الدولة السورية وحماية شبكاتها الصاروخية المشتركة مع روسيا، مثلما يبني الحشد الشعبي ويبني أنصار الله أوضاعاً شبيهة في المناطق ذات الصفة الجيواستراتيجية في الشرق الأوسط، ويخرج وزير الخارجية الإيراني محمد جواد ظريف في مؤتمر منعقد في طهران، ليقرأ في التوازنات الجديدة لما وصفه بالمرحلة الانتقالية الدولية والإقليمية، من موقع إيران التي مزقت القاعدة الأميركية الذهبية بجعل إسرائيل ممراً إلزامياً للاتفاق معها، وأجبرت واشنطن على توقيع التفاهم حول الملف النووي الإيراني، من وراء ظهر إسرائيل ورغماً عن رغبتها بعدم التوقيع، فيقول ظريف إنّ السمة الأبرز لهذه المرحلة ظهور حزب الله كقوة اقتدار وأمان لحركة شعوب المنطقة والعالم.

– بينما تفقد إسرائيل لقب جيش الشرق الأوسط، ويسقط تنظيم القاعدة كمشروع رديف لـ إسرائيل ، ويتقهقهر الدور السعودي المالي والسياسي وتغرق السعودية وجيشها في مستنقعات حرب اليمن، يتقدّم حزب الله وشبكة حلفائه العنكبوتية، كدولة رخوة تعيش في كنف دول عدة، لا تنافسها، تتكامل معها، تعيش وتنمو برضاها كقوة ردع وقيمة مضافة استراتيجية، ليكون الحقيقة الأهمّ التي تولد مطلع القرن الحادي والعشرين، في رسم معادلات الاستراتيجيات، وبينما تتكفل القدرة الروسية بشل قدرات إقليمية مثل تركيا، تتراجع القدرة الأميركية ويتكلل تراجعها بانتخابات رئاسية تكرّس الانكفاء نحو الداخل، فتغيب القوة التي يمكن أن تهدّد نمو جيش الشرق الأوسط الجديد الممتدّ من لبنان حتى أفغانستان ومن حلب حتى باب المندب.


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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Will Trump Drain the Swamp As Promised?

Promises are easy to make, fulfilling them another matter entirely. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Trump has lots of proving to do. I intend cutting him some slack, withholding criticism like media scoundrels and many others until he starts governing – then holding his feet to the fire if he fails to deliver, commending him for what’s praiseworthy.
That’s what fair and unbiased journalism should be all about – available through alternative media sources only, mainstream ones entirely lacking credibility.
They disgracefully denigrated Trump throughout his campaign (while one-sidedly exalting war goddess, racketeer, perjurer Hillary), likely continuing to bash him in office no matter what he does or doesn’t do.
Given America’s sordid political history, I doubt I’ll look back on his years with admiration. Yearning for real change like millions of others, I hope he’ll prove critics wrong. If so, his tenure will be historic.
I remember Jack Kennedy fondly. In June 1956, as a junior Massachusetts senator, he concluded his commencement address to my class, saying “if more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a better place in which to live…”
If they knew Shakespeare, Tennyson, Neruda, Yeats, Keats, Emerson, Thoreau, Twain, Sandburg, Pushkin, others like them and internalized their thinking, perhaps we’d have a much better world.
Instead, we have to play the hand dealt us, striving hard for beneficial change, never losing hope, never yielding to Machiavellian evil.
Trump campaigned against deep-seated corruption, dishonesty, hypocrisy and “liars,” promising he’d do better.
Beginning January 20, it’s put up or shut up time. On the stump and via Twitter, he said he’ll make government honest again, close all loopholes and “drain the swamp.” Here are some promises:
  • he’ll ban all executive branch officials from lobbying government for five years after they leave office;
  • he’ll “ask Congress to institute its own 5-year ban on lobbying by former members…and their staffs;”
  • he’ll expand the definition of lobbying so former government officials can’t circumvent rules by calling themselves consultants, advisors or other designation concealing their lobbying intentions;
  • he’ll “issue a lifetime ban against senior executive branch officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government;”
  • he’ll “ask Congress to pass campaign finance reform that prevents registered foreign lobbyist from raising money in American elections;
It takes a giant leap of faith to believe he’ll “end our government corruption.” Let’s see what steps he takes and judge him accordingly.
  • he’ll “end economic stagnation” – helicopter money for Main Street, not Wall Street, would be a good way to start;
  • he’ll “push for a Constitutional Amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress” –
It requires two-thirds supermajority approval by House and Senate member or a (never before used) two-thirds supermajority national convention vote – called by Congress at the request of at least 34 state legislatures.
If one of the above two options is achieved, a three-fourths supermajority of state legislatures or state ratifying conventions is required for adoption.
The process was successfully completed 27 times before, including for the Bill of Rights, the Constitution’s first 10 amendments – so a 28th amendment is possible, but only after a lengthy, arduous process.
Trump said he’ll “enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.”
He failed to explain over-classification abuses, maintaining secrecy on things everyone has a right to know, including serious government wrongdoing – why courageous whistleblowers exist. They should be honored, not prosecuted and imprisoned.
Incarcerated heroes like Chelsea Manning and all other political prisoners should be freed straightaway once Trump is inaugurated. Indictments of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange on phony espionage charges should be dropped.
Trump: “I am going to forbid senior officials from trading favors for cash by preventing them from collecting lavish speaking fees through their spouses when they serve.”
“I am going to ask my senior officials to sign an agreement not to accept speaking fees from corporations with a registered lobbyist for five years after leaving office, or from any entity tied to a foreign government.”
“I am going to restore honor to our government. We’ve seen the corruption of Hillary Clinton, the mass email deletions, the pay-for-play at the State Department, the profiteering, the favors given to foreign corporations and governments at your expense.”
“We’ve seen a former Secretary of State lie to Congress about her illegal email scheme, risk innocent American lives, and bring dishonor onto our government.”
Will he hold her accountable or go back on his word to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her wrongdoing? He told CBS’ 60 Minutes he’s “going to think about it,” adding he wants to focus on jobs, healthcare, border control and immigration  – then saying:
“I don’t want to hurt them (meaning Bill and Hillary). They’re good people,” suggesting accountability won’t be forthcoming on his watch.
Trump: “I know the system better than anybody else and I’m the only one up here that’s going to be able to fix that system because that system is wrong.”
“Our campaign is about breaking-up the special interest monopoly in Washington, DC. We’re trying to disrupt the collusion between the wealthy donors, the large corporations, and the media executives.”
“They’re all part of the same rigged political establishment. They go to the same restaurants, they attend the same conferences, they have the same friends and connections. And they are all in for a big day of reckoning on November 8th.”
“The Big Banks and Wall Street donors who want nothing to change are throwing millions and millions at my opponent. These are the same people who paid Bill and Hillary Clinton $150 million for speeches.”
“Hillary Clinton’s campaign is all about protecting the powerful. Our campaign is about protecting those who have no power.”
“Together, we are going to give working people a voice for the first time in a very, very long time.”
“On every issue, our campaign is about making life better for working people. But we can’t accomplish that goal unless we break-up the special interest monopoly and give power back to the citizens.”
“(G)lobalization wiped out our middle class. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can turn it all around – and we can turn it around fast.”
“If I am elected President, I will end the special interest monopoly in Washington, DC.”
Bold pledges! Will he deliver? What about ending America’s permanent war agenda, its imperial ambitions for unchallenged world dominance, wanting US-controlled puppet regimes replacing sovereign independent ones?
Will he normalize relations with Russia, ending illegal sanctions and the threat of possible nuclear war? Will he “make America great again” for all its people, not just its privileged few like it’s always been from inception?
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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‘Liberal Internationalism Has Become a Godless Religion’

Interesting discussion on what Trump’s victory may mean both for America and for Europe.
From the video description:
Guillaume Durocher is a French political writer and historian. He has lived in many European countries and worked in politics and journalism. He writes for several Alt-Right publications, including The Occidental Observer, Counter-Currents, and Radix.
We begin by discussing the results of the recent election. Guillaume compares Trump’s victory to Brexit, for the mainstream media – through its polls and pundits – failed to accurately predict either. We discuss what this means for not only America, but the West as a whole. Guillaume explains that the American nation-state is now run by a wildcard, and that if Trump drastically alters the course of America, Europe will follow suit.

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Friday 18 November 2016

When Olives Need Harvesting

The challenges faced by Palestinian olive farmers during harvest season each year are considerable. This year has been no different.
Report: Israeli Settlers Steal Harvest of 400 Olive Trees
Occupying Israeli settlers have stolen the harvest of 400 olive trees planted on private Palestinian land, farmers in Nablus told Ma’an News earlier this week.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that more than 30 Palestinian families from the Nablus district village of Deir Sharaf entered their agricultural lands yesterday after being banned since Friday by Israeli authorities.
According to Daghlas, the families “were shocked to find out that Israeli settlers had picked the olives of 400 olive trees planted in their lands,” near the illegal Israeli settlement of Shavi Shamron.
“Israeli settlers stealing olive harvests is a crime against Palestinian farmers and their properties,” Daghlas said, denouncing “the Israeli government’s knowledge [of settlers’ actions] and the complete silence of international society and human rights organisations.”
Daghlas also demanded compensation for the Palestinian families who lost their olive harvest.
The olive harvest is an important economic and cultural event for Palestinians, with nearly half of all cultivated land in the occupied Palestinian territory planted with olive trees, according to the United Nations.
However, due to illegal settlement expansion, land confiscation, mobility restrictions due to Israel’s Separation Wall, and various permit laws, Palestinian farmers are often unable to access their land and the number of olive trees is dwindling.
This year’s olive harvest season, which began in October, has already witnessed attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and Israeli regime’s restrictions on Palestinian farmers and their lands.
The Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by illegal occupying Israeli settlers go unpunished.
Israeli human rights groups Yesh Din and B’Tselem have previously condemned the Israeli regime for failing to protect Palestinians from settler violence or to investigate attacks, particularly during olive harvest season when incidents of attacks occur on an almost daily basis.
***
Gaza Farmers Succeed in Tending to Olive Harvest–With International Support
During the recent olive harvest, which lasted from the end of September through October, dozens of Palestinian volunteers joined farmers in their groves near the tense barriers of the Gaza Strip.
The volunteers worked during a week at the height of the harvest season, from 20 to 27 October, in two of the farming districts most often targeted by Israeli forces: Beit Hanoun, around the Erez checkpoint in northern Gaza, and al-Qarara, a town in the Khan Younis area of the southern Gaza Strip.
Along with others near the “buffer zone” separating Gaza from present-day Israel, these areas face regular incursions by Israeli forces, which often send tanks and bulldozers to level farmland. Even more frequent are the bursts of gunfire aimed at farmers or others near the barrier erected by Israel.
These attacks have claimed vast tracts of productive farmland stretching hundreds of meters into the Gaza Strip, converting them to wasteland or fields of low-maintenance crops, most of which are wheat.
Abeer Abu Shawish, project coordinator for the Protection for Better Production campaign — a project of the Arab Center for Agricultural Development — said that more than fifty volunteers joined the effort.
The mobilization involved farmers’ organizations, like the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and other groups across Gaza.
“Our partner organizations mobilized volunteers to help farmers in the restricted area harvest their olives,” Abu Shawish said. “They’re other farmers, civil society activists, women: all these people joined us this year.”
Destruction
“We can just plant wheat and wait,” said Abu Jamal Abu Taima, a farmer in the village of Khuzaa outside Khan Younis. “Other crops need to be tended every day.”
Abu Jamal’s 50 dunams (a dunam is equivalent to 1,000 square meters), which he plans to sow with wheat after the November rains begin, once contained olive groves as well as greenhouses for an array of vegetables.
“We used to grow enough olives for seventy large bottles of olive oil,” he said. “Now? Six.”
In 2002, Israeli forces began razing Palestinian agricultural areas near the barrier, as well as along the Philadelphi Route by the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt.
This included the demolition of Abu Jamal’s olive groves and greenhouses, as well as his home. “The Israelis destroyed them with four bulldozers, five huge tanks and three Hummers,” he said.
Since its occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1967, Israel has uprooted 800,000 olive trees in those territories, Oxfam reported in 2011. As the graphic design activism initiative Visualizing Palestine recently illustrated, those trees would cover an area 33 times the size of New York City’s Central Park.
By 2013, according to the Palestinian ministry of agriculture in Gaza, Israeli forces had leveled “some 20,000 dunams of land areas planted with half a million trees” in the Gaza Strip, contributing to a local deficit in olive oil production of 60 percent (“Israeli crimes against farmers cause 60 percent deficit in olive production,” Palestine News Network, 24 September 2013).
In the West Bank, the destruction of olive trees by both Israeli settlers and occupation forces continues. Stop the Wall and the Palestinian Farmers’ Union have organized an accompaniment project there, the You Are Not Alone campaign. By 8 November, its volunteers had documented the burning and uprooting of 1,905 olive trees by settlers during this harvest season alone.
Toxic sewage
A report by Stop the Wall states that its list of attacks does not “pretend to be complete.” Among the problems encountered by farmers trying to reach their olive trees are “settlers pump[ing] toxic sewage water on agricultural land” (“Settlers burn and uproot 1,905 olive trees during the harvest season,” 8 November 2013).
On 28 October, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published excerpts of a list of settler attacks on Palestinian olive groves and farmers maintained by the Israeli army (“Israeli attacks on Palestinian olive groves kept secret by state.”
The Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din has reported that Israeli occupation police “overwhelmingly failed to investigate the incidents and prosecute offenders,” noting that of 211 investigations actually opened between 2005 and June 2013, only four produced indictments (“97.4 percent of investigative files relating to damage of Palestinian olive trees are closed due to police failings,” 21 October 2013).
On 11 September, the Israeli army’s West Bank commander said his troops would destroy olive groves in the town of Yabad for unspecified “security purposes” (“Israeli authorities to destroy olive groves for ‘security purposes,” Ma’an News Agency, 9 November 2013).
“We are still here”
But the destruction of olive trees in the Gaza Strip is largely complete. For years Israel has used armored Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, accompanied by tanks, to clear away olive trees in the “buffer zone.” Farmers in the area, who face the constant threats of both gunfire and leveling of land, have little reason to plant any crop needing regular attention or significant resources, much less crops that require years of careful cultivation and maintenance.
“I want to plant more olive trees, and other things, but cannot,” Abu Taima said. “For now, I plant wheat.”
With exceptions — most notably a 28 October airstrike on an olive grove near Soudanya in the north of Gaza — the Strip’s olive harvest passed more quietly than most agricultural activities in the territory.
“We try to bring international attention to the farmers and discourage Israeli attacks on them,” the Protection for Better Production campaign’s Abu Shawish said. “By supporting them, we encourage them to access their lands and keep using them. It shows the Israelis we are still here, and we can access our lands without any fears. Farmers in the restricted area can resist the occupation by existing on their own lands.”
The Arab Center for Agricultural Development’s programs for farmers do not end with accompaniment, Abu Shawish explained. The organization has conducted intensive leadership training for 100 farmers from the Gaza Strip’s five governorates, in farmers’ rights as well as skills like public advocacy. It has also held awareness-raising workshops for 500 more farmers.
“We are interested in building a social movement for farmers in Gaza,” she said.
The workshops also aim to build popular support for boycotts of Israeli products and the purchase of Palestinian goods among farmers.
“These workshops are about how to encourage farmers themselves to be involved in the boycott campaign, and how they can help the national economy by boycotting Israeli agriculture,” Abu Shawish said.
“We try to encourage farmers to boycott Israeli agricultural goods and buy Palestinian products to support the local economy. It’s raising awareness. At the same time, it’s about getting farmers involved in the campaign itself.”
Abu Taima, too, has a path of resistance.
“For us, the land is something very important,” he said. “We cannot just leave it. We will not have another 1948. We will not leave our lands again.”
Joe Catron is a US activist in Gaza, Palestine. He co-edited The Prisoners’ Diaries: Palestinian Voices from the Israeli Gulag, an anthology of accounts by detainees freed in the 2011 prisoner exchange. He blogs at joecatron.wordpress.com and tweets @jncatron.
***
Poverty-Stricken Gaza Farmers Cheerful with Good Olive Harvest
GAZA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) — For thousands of farmers in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, olive harvest season is a chance to gain some money amid the dire economic and living conditions caused by Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods.
The family of Kamal Obaid, from Gaza City, work shoulder to shoulder in harvesting their eight donum (1 donum is about 1 acre or a little more than 900 square meters) olive garden with much joy amid a cheerful atmosphere.
In the Gaza Strip, a tiny coastal enclave ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, olive industry has been a major business for thousands of farmers.
The harvest season is largely celebrated by farmers who spend a whole year taking care of the trees to ensure a bountiful crop of olive and an excellent produce of olive oil.
Every single member of Obaid’s family, from grandparents to grandchildren, put their efforts together to harvest their olive trees.
While men harvest the olives using tall ladders, women help by taking different tasks. While some prepare tea for the family, others sit on the ground and very thoroughly pick up the crop and pile it up to be sold.
The 56-year-old man believes this season is the best in decades.
“This season is really great. It is way better than last year. Last season’s whole produce of this garden did not exceed 200 kg, but one tree can produce so much this season which is really great,” Obaid said he collected fresh olive fruits.
The olive harvest season in Palestine starts in the beginning of October till the end of November. Most of farmers sell their crops as raw fruit in local markets, while others take the produce to mills for making oil.
Tens of thousands of olive trees, which are considered symbol of Palestinian culture, have been uprooted by Israeli troops during military conflict with Palestinian armed groups in the past decades in Gaza.
The territory has also been under a tight Israeli blockade since Hamas movement violently took over power there after routing government troops in 2007.
The blockade has pushed Gaza’s two million population deeper into poverty as unemployment rates hit 43 percent.
In the recent years, Israel and Hamas have been engaged in three major wars that claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians.
According to official figures, Israel’s war on Gaza in 2014 destroyed 10,000 donums of land planted with fruits and other crops, 5000 of them were planted with olive trees.
Obaid was one of those farmers who lost some of their olive trees in the war.
“I have another three donum and a half farm of olive trees and it was totally destroyed during the war in 2014,” the man said bitterly as he watched his grandchildren taking part in the harvest.
Obaid added that the uprooted trees were over 60 years of age, saying it was a grave loss since the farm was a respected source of income for his large family.
“It also provided job opportunities for family members who wait for the seasons impatiently,” he explained.
Thanks to this generous season, the Hamas-run agriculture ministry expected that Gaza will not import any olive or olive oil this year.
According to the ministry, Gaza olive farms are expected to produce some 3500 tons of olive oil and 30,000 tons of olive fruits.
The ministry attributed the abundant crops to last winter’s plentiful rain in addition to planting thousands of new blossoming olive trees after the recent wars.
The olive business is considered to be the backbone of Gaza’s agricultural sector as 38,000 donums in the 360 square km seaside territory are planted with olive trees.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Video: The Ugliest War in History (Deleted for the fourth time in less than 24 hours)

فيديو يحذف للمرة الرابعة في أقل من 24 ساعة ماذا يحوي ليحارب هكذا
 

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Syrian War Report – November 17, 2016: al-Nusra Comman Staff Suffers from Russian Air Strikes

17.11.2016
The Syrian army, Hezbollah and other pro-government groups have entered the area of Aqrab in western Aleppo. November 16 morning, the government forces launched a preemptive shelling of Jaish al-Fatah militants in Aqrab and then attacked their positions. Following a series of clashes, the army and its allies boke the militnats’ defenses to seize the area. Most of militants withdrew from Aqrab to al-Rashidin 4. However, some firefights was ongoing in the area. If the government forces fully secure Aqrab, they will reverse all gains achieved by Jaish al-Fatah in western Aleppo during its major offensive in the area.
On November 17, the Syrian army’s Tiger Forces and its allies attacked al-Rashidin 5 from the direction of al-Assad, engaging Jaish al-Fatah militants in a series of firefights. Advances took place amid heavy Russian air strikes in the Aleppo-Idlib countryside.
The Syrian military has deployed a number of Pantsir-S short to medium range air defense systems to the Kuweires Military Airbase near the Syrian city of Aleppo, according to reports. The aim of this move is to defend the government forces in Aleppo from the Turkish Air Force that has been supporting the pro-Ankara militant groups’ advance on the ISIS-controlled town of al-Bab in the province of Aleppo.
The recently appeared photo from the Kuweires Military Airbase confirms that at least one Pantsir-S system has been deployed in the area. Recently, up to 1,000 Syrian army soldiers arrived to the Kuweires Military Airbase to reinforce the government forces invoved in military operations in Aleppo city. Pro-government sources argue that Syrian soldiers have been continuing to arrive to the area.
At least 30 Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, including three field commanders, were killed by raids of Su-33 from Admiral Kuznetsov’s deck in the province of Idlib. “Eliminated field commander Abul Baha al-Asfari was in charge of uniting the remaining reserves of Jabhat al-Nusra groupings in the provinces of Aleppo and Hama, as well as of planning and carrying out another militant attack on Aleppo,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
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Major Russian Geopolitical Moves Going Unnoticed in Wake of US Election

November 17, 2016
Major Russian Geopolitical Moves Going Unnoticed in Wake of US Election
It’s official, Russia has decided to grab the bull by the horns. Just one week after the shocking vote in the US presidential election resulted in a Trump victory, Russia has decided to pull all the stops and take care of some long lingering business while Obama’s administration is working overtime to manage a transition that no one expected would happen and Obama himself is out of the office, making what might be his very last visit to Europe, calming the closest of American allies in a time of serious questions about the future of the American relationship with NATO.
Obama has just two months before Trump will be sworn in and much of the time and energy of his staff will be consumed by briefing Trump and his cabinet, which is not yet fully formed, on their duties and on the situation in the world in general. Perhaps Obama’s own transition team will try to convince the Teflon Don and his staff to pursue a similar policy on many issues, not the least of which include Obamacare and the Paris agreement on climate change. Trump himself has already received a call from Putin shortly after the election, one of Trump’s most publicized calls with world leaders after news of his victory broke, putting even more pressure on Obama’s transition team to get their points across quickly.
In the meantime, Obama is making his last expected tour of Europe before Trump’s inauguration. It is not certain exactly why Obama chose to visit Greece first, but it is certainly significant that he was greeted with tens of thousands of protesters, in the least because it shows the current zeitgeist. Obama has to perform his duties of Salesman in Chief as he goes around to NATO allies and reassures them of budget commitments to American forces stationed abroad. I can only imagine the brain-tingling questions that Obama will have to field from the German and French defense ministers.
The main source of all the sweating European bureaucrats is Trump’s apparent friendliness with Russia and criticism of NATO, which could mean that Brussels will have to have some existential discussions on many long standing policies, including the sanctions against Russia. In fact, if Trump were to recognize Crimea as a legal part of Russia, as he has suggested that he is willing to do, Europe may either have to follow suit and bring down the house of cards commonly referred to as the Ukrainian Crisis or declare an open break with Washington’s foreign policy, a veritable checkmate.
If the current batch of Eurocrats were to keep their jobs (which is looking questionable), they would most probably try to avoid an open break with Washington or, ironically, risk losing their jobs. An open break with Washington would set the European Union into open waters of foreign policy sovereignty, a move that would meet with great resistance from many sources. Either way, an incredible shake-up is coming to Ukraine soon as they are about to have much less friends in the ‘international community’.
However, all of these major theatrical dramas and loud, painful snowflake whines are actually working wonderfully to divert attention from the real news. This last Monday night, Russia did several noteworthy things on a globally relevant geopolitical level that will surely resonate with the global movers and shakers. Russia launched an all-out air assault onto ‘Syrian rebels’ operating in the Homs, Idlib, and Latakia provinces of Syria. Monday night’s military campaign coincided with the biggest corruption bust in the history of modern Russia – the Russian Economy Minister Ulyukaev was taken into custody by the FSB after being caught demanding and accepting a $2 million bribe. Lastly, and perhaps less significantly but just as suddenly and symbolically, Russia has announced that it will no longer participate in the International Criminal Court.
However, in the humble opinion of this author, the most important fact to note connecting these three events is that they represent huge milestones in the modern history of Russia. One event is on the domestic political and economic level, connecting staff thought to be within the inner circle of the Kremlin specifically with financial corruption. The second is purely military in nature and works to show off the power projection capabilities of the modern Russian military. Thirdly, Russia’s decision to leave the ICC is a huge signal to Russia’s positions in the context of international bodies, up to and including the UN.
I would like to highlight this point just one more time to make sure that the meaning doesn’t slide by anyone. The government of Russia has just performed the biggest government shake up since the fall of the Soviet Union, with the FSB arresting the ‘untouchable’ Economy Minister from his post and placing him on a very public trial for extorting a very large bribe. Russia have also launched the biggest attack on an enemy military at least since the Second Chechen conflict, which was the major event of the first few years of Putin’s presidency over 17 years ago, and, at most, since Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989, 27 years ago. And lastly, Russia has made a very major and unexpected decision to abandon the jurisdictions of the ICC, long known for its adherence to justice and fair verdicts (sarcasm). AT NEARLY EXACTLY THE SAME TIME!
Is it just me, or does it seem like the planets are aligning here?
Let’s analyze the first event. Alexei Ulyukaev was accused of extorting a bribe from state-owned oil company Rosneft to tune of $2 million, cold hard cash, and was arrested by investigators (mostly three letter agencies) at night. To top it all off, one official said under condition of anonymity that Ulyukaev’s arrest was the final act in a yearlong investigation by the FSB. Ulyukaev, a member of the Russian government since the break-up of the Soviet Union, has been considered as member of Russia’s liberal, Western-leaning politicians. Of particular interest is Ulyukaev’s CV.
Ulyukaev has held some critical positions in the modern Russian government, including serving under Gaidar and managing the shock privatizations of Soviet assets (as well as the shock hyperinflation) from 1991-1994. He was a deputy to Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin from 2000-2004 before taking a job as the first vice-chairman of the Russian Central Bank, a position that he held from April 2004 to June 2013. When he was arrested, again, in the middle of the night, he was the acting Economy Minister.
Ulyukaev was certainly high on the list of those considered to be untouchable.
Along with Ulyukaev, the vice-governor of Saint Petersburg and some high-ranking officials in the regional government of the Kemerovo region have also been arrested for corruption after investigations by the FSB.
Various commentary has already surfaced claiming that Putin has turned to the age old Russian tradition of the Purge. Opinion leaders in the community are writing that no ‘chinovnik’ or oligarch could feel that ‘untouchable’ anymore after Ulyukaev’s arrest and that corrupt officials better behave or face the ax. Still others are claiming that Putin is consolidating his power and is preparing to become a dictator in the classic sense. No matter which explanation you prefer, the fact remains that the Russian government is powerfully expressing its political and economic sovereignty and is publicly making a loud statement against corruption.
The second incident was a comprehensive and simultaneous assault on rebel targets all over Syria in a very short time frame. Targets were struck with a bevy of missiles launched both from sea and by land. One of the most surprising features of this massive campaign is the sheer size and diversity of it. The Bastion system, highlighted as a defensive surface-to-surface missile system, showed off its potent attack power, engaging targets up to 300 miles away.
IHS Janes reports on the news that Russia is “not known to have previously claimed” that the Bastion, which is originally an anti-ship missile, “has a land attack capability”. It turns out that missile ‘defense’ systems designed to engage land targets, such as the United States Missile Defense systems in Poland and Romania, can easily be used to engage in attacks on land targets. Surprise, surprise.
However, the brunt of the missile strikes done by Kalibr missiles launched from the Mediterranean Sea, most notably from Russia’s new and improved frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich. In fact, the Russian naval group, led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, made ‘waves’ in Europe as the group was headed to their final destination, the Syrian coast, from which they launched volley after volley of high precision cruise missiles at targets from what is most likely a confusing medley of rebel groups. It is highly likely that, among the rebel groups which met the explosive end of a Russian cruise missile, some were directly funded by American allies, and less likely that the Russians even targeted groups directly trained or supplied by the CIA.
This major military move actually kills two birds with one stone. First, it provides Russia’s allies and ‘partners’ in the area with a bit of information about how far and in what quantity the Russian military can project its power. Further, it reveals that the Russians are most likely purposefully understating the power and capabilities of many of their newest technologies (although this should come as a surprise to no one). Also to this point, the Russian government did not ask permission of any international body when it passed through international waters and made its way to Syria, despite the ‘uncomfort’ felt in London. The second stone is that Russia has engaged in one of the most effective and convincing advertising campaigns for their newest export model military products. With loud fanfare, the Russians showed the world that Russian arms still give great bang for the buck.
The last major move, but, in the view of this author, not nearly as significant as the other two, is Russia’s decision to withdraw its signature from the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court. This move was sudden and symbolic, coming after the ICC ruled Russia’s ‘annexation’ Crimea illegal and called the current situation an ‘occupation’, but will lead to no noticeable change in real terms, since Russia never actually ratified the Rome Statute, meaning that it never submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the ICC to begin with.
One can write more on the nature and meaning of the withdrawal of Russia from the ICC, but the readers are welcome to find their own facts and form their own opinions. I will also stop short of giving my opinion on this strange set of geopolitical ‘coincidences’, and finish only with a invitation for speculation on what these facts could mean for the future of Russia, Russia’s relationship with Europe and the world, and the global security structure as a whole.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!