Shadi Fadda brings us today's headlines relating to Palestine and other news from around the internet.
Land Theft and Destruction
EU criticises new Israeli funds for settlements
BRUSSELS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The European Union on Friday criticised an Israeli plan to increase funding for Jewish settlements, saying it could be an obstacle to resuming peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.alertnet.org/
UN envoy: Israel's settlement freeze is insignificant
Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace processsaid Thursday that recent activities by both Israel and the Palestinians are not contributing to settling their conflict and confidence remains low as 2009 draws to a close.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
The moment of truth
Issa Samander - Bitterlemons - And what is this freeze? It is a temporary, 10-month construction halt for private housing units not already approved in some parts of the occupied territory. East Jerusalem is exempted, as are 3,000 housing units already approved and buildings "necessary for normal life", from synagogues to kindergartens. It is, in other words, not a freeze at all.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_
Notes from Area C / Portrait of a building bandit, Amira Hass
This is the profile of a construction offender in the Qalqilyah district: a young father, who is trying to work in his profession (as an electrician, carpenter, handyman, car repairman) and live an independent life. He is fed up with life in his parents' crowded, noisy house with his brothers and their children. He is part of a new generation that aspires to privacy and independence. He does not have enough money to move to a large city like Ramallah or Nablus like some of his acquaintances. Immigrating abroad is beyond the realm of his imagination. He also prefers to stay in the environment he knows. He considers it absurd to pay rent, and in any case there are very few rental apartments. He might consider buying an apartment in a housing project if his village and the provincial capital Qalqilyah had land to enable centralized planning and housing projects for young couples.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Sheikh Jarrah is no fairy tale
Galit Hasan-Rokem - Haaretz - For all the bad feelings generated by the event itself, what is worse is the feelings that surface when thinking of the absence of wisdom and integrity entailed in defending the rights of provocative extremists to settle in this neighborhood. A few such extremists participated in the event. Their fiery hatred directed at the Palestinians as well as the Jewish demonstrators was sickening, as was the thought of the danger of violence that is now being carried out in other places in the occupied territories.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Telling Lies about Sheikh Jarrah
In June 2008, I wrote an article called 'Telling Lies about Bil'in' in which I outlined how the Israeli military, assisted by Israel's corporate Zionist media lied about a peaceful non-violent demonstration in the Palestinian village of Bil'in, depicting it as 'violent' in order to justify the Israeli Occupation Forces use of unrestrained violence against the peaceful demonstrators. After 42 years of attempting to justify its brutal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the Israeli Occupation Forces lies have become a matter of course. This week the Israeli Occupation Forces and the Israeli police once again engaged in the violent suppression of a non-violent demonstration and then lied about their actions. The only difference this time around was that it took place in Sheikh Jarrah in Occupied East Jerusalem, rather than in Bil'in in the Occupied West Bank.
http://
US Campaign member group rep: "Settlements, attacks drive out Palestinians"
Check out this great op-ed in the Cedar Rapids Gazette Online from Sarah McDonald, who works with US Campaign member group Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. McDonald was one of the CPT members who was attacked by Israeli settlers recently. Here, she comments on the contrast between settler violence and rhetoric about settlements in the United States.
http://endtheoccupationblog.
Activism/Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Demonstration outside Jelemeh prison in solidarity with arrested Palestinian grassroots activist
A demonstration was held outside Jelemeh prison in Haifa today in protest against the arrest and imprisonment of grassroots activist Wa’el Al Faqeeh Abu As Sabe. Demonstrators planted olive trees and hung Palestinian flags and banners outside the prison gates, calling for the release of Palestinian political prisoners. The night that the army arrested Wa’el Al Faqeeh, they also arrested 8 other grassroot activists from Nablus and surrounding areas.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/
Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested in Jerusalem (AFP)
AFP - Ten activists were arrested on Friday during a protest against the eviction of Palestinians in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, an AFP photographer reported.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Now with Code Pink, ex-Diller teen prepares for Gaza Freedom March
Rae Abileah first visited Israel with her BBYO chapter, then as a Diller Teen fellow. She remembers feeling “an amazing homecoming” the first time she stepped on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport. That was then. Now, as the grassroots coordinator for far-left organization Code Pink: Women for Peace, she takes part in protests against Israel and what she calls the “illegal siege” of Gaza.
http://www.jweekly.com/
Viva Palestina campaign sees 86 aid vehicles destined for Gaza
BEIRUT: It was a typically cold London day in January earlier this year when, in front of thousands of people demonstrating against the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, British MP George Galloway announced a convoy of aid would be travelling from London to Gaza under the banner "Viva Palestina."Almost a year later and after two successful convoys.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Shoulder to shoulder with the Strip
Freedom marches have a noble pedigree. Hundreds of thousands marched for racial equality in the 1960s US; among them was Martin Luther King Jr, who delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at the march on Washington in 1963. Now, thousands of miles away, the tradition is being revived for an equally important cause. One year after Israel's attacks on Gaza, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians - many of them civilians - the Gaza Freedom March will highlight the effects of the onslaught and call for an end to the siege on the Strip by both Israel and Egypt (it was revealed recently that Egypt, with US backing, is building a huge metal wall along its border with Gaza, allegedly to stop smuggling).
http://www.newstatesman.com/
‘Shemesh, your family’: Jewish Israelis struggle with the Nakba
The following is an email exchange between Eitan Bronstein, the executive director of the Israeli organization Zochrot, and a Jewish Israeli supporter of the organization. Zochrot’s mission is to make the history of the Nakba accessible to Israeli Jews. As part of this work they offer guided tours for Israelis of destroyed Palestinian villages. In addition they advocate for "equal rights for all the peoples of this land, including the right of Palestinians to return to their homes."
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/shemesh-your-family-jewish-israelis-struggle-with-the-nakba.html
EI reader appeal: Your support makes our work on Palestine possibleThe following is an email exchange between Eitan Bronstein, the executive director of the Israeli organization Zochrot, and a Jewish Israeli supporter of the organization. Zochrot’s mission is to make the history of the Nakba accessible to Israeli Jews. As part of this work they offer guided tours for Israelis of destroyed Palestinian villages. In addition they advocate for "equal rights for all the peoples of this land, including the right of Palestinians to return to their homes."
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
What was the most inspiring, informative, motivating article you read on The Electronic Intifada in 2009? Take a look at some of our highlights. Thousands of people read EI every day in almost every country around the world, finding the information they can't get elsewhere. In its annual appeal, EI asks its readers for the financial support that will enable us to continue our groundbreaking, fearless and independent reporting on Palestine in 2010.
http://electronicintifada.net/
Violence and Aggression
PCHR Weekly Report: 1 Palestinian killed, 4 wounded, mosque burned by settlers this week
In the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights' Weekly Report: On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, during the week of 10- 15 Dec 2009, a Palestinian civilian was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, and 3 Palestinian civilians were wounded by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/index.
Humanitarian/Human Rights
Israel shuts down all commercial crossings with Gaza
GAZA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli authorities closed down all the commercial crossings between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, the Palestinian side said. Raed Fatouh, chief of goods coordination between Gaza and Israel, said in a statement that the Israeli authorities have informed the Palestinian side that it decided to shut down all the crossings on Friday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Egyptian activist: Egypt should be helping Gaza rather than building walls
Hafeth Abu Sa'dah criticised Cairo's intention to build a wall of steel on its border with the Gaza Strip saying that such a step contradicts Egypt's duty towards the Palestinian people.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Palestinians renovate mosque burned by Jewish settlers
RAMALLAH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian residents of the village of Yasoof in northern West Bank rebuilt and renovated the only mosque in the village which was attacked and burned by Jewish settlers last week. The residents said that official and popular figures and notables coming from allover the West Bank held the weekly Friday prayers at the mosque in the village to express sympathy and solidarity with the residents of the village.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Israeli Racism and Discrimination
MK aims to keep Palestinians married to Israelis from gaining citizenship
The ministerial committee on legislation is to vote Sunday on an amendment proposed by MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beiteinu) to the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, intended to bring it into line with the controversial Citizenship and Entry to Israel Law.
Rotem believes the Knesset must keep the High Court of Justice from annulling a controversial law that denies citizenship to Palestinians married to Israelis.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Arab filmmaker wins prize, Israel airline security nabs it, By Amira Hass
Thirty-five days after returning from Barcelona on a Sun D'Or flight, items belonging to documentary film director Sahera Dirbas, which Israeli security people had removed from her luggage and sent separately, were returned to her. Among them was a bronze figurine she had won at the International Euro-Arab Amal Film Festival in Spain for best documentary - awarded for her film "Stranger in My Home."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Israel's and America's Palestinian Helpers
CIA working with Palestinian security agents
US agency co-operating with Palestinian counterparts who allegedly torture Hamas supporters in West Bank.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
CIA linked to Palestinian 'torture'
Palestinian security agents who have allegedly tortured Hamas supporters in the West Bank have been working closely with the CIA, the UK's Guardian newspaper has reported. The US Central Intelligence Agency has co-operated with the Preventive Security Force (PSF) and General Intelligence Service (GI) in the Palestinian territory, the report on Friday said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
War Criminals
Italian researchers say toxic materials found in Gaza soil after war
GAZA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Gaza Strip's soil contains poisonous and cancer-causing materials due to weapons Israel used during its major offensive in the territory nearly a year ago, Italian specialists said Thursday. The weapons Israel used in the Operation Cast Lead from Dec. 27to Jan. 18 left traces that could not be seen neither by unaided eyes nor equipment in Gaza hospitals and it is difficult to recognize them, said Professor Paola Manduca, a geneticist from the University of Rome.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Go back unto death: Life in postwar Gaza
Gaza - Ma'an - In one corner of Salah Samouni’s modest living room hangs a “martyr poster” – a customary honor printed for those killed in all Israeli attacks, in the West Bank and Gaza over the years.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Accountability is coming for Israel and its followers
The attempt by pro-Palestinian groups in the UK to legally apprehend Israeli politician Tzipi Livni has caused outrage in the Zionist world and corporate press. The Jerusalem Post helpfully provides a summary (and note the outrage that an Israeli, or by implication any Western leader, would ever need to answer for their actions).
http://antonyloewenstein.com/2009/12/18/accountability-is-coming-for-israel-and-its-followers/
I also welcome Livni: An open letter to PM Gordon Brown
Dear Mr Prime Minister, There are countless reasons for which I take pride in being a British citizen, most prominent of all is knowing that the British legal system operates in a fair and just manner, independent of governmental interference. Moreover, that the British judiciary, following the ratification of various international conventions and treaties, understands its vital role and obligations under universal jurisdiction to pursue serious allegations of war crimes. The British courts set an international precedent in 1998 with the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London when a Spanish warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of genocide, torture and terrorism.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=247608
This is what accountability looks like
Maybe like this: Following a letter from Oxfam to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown which "raised humanitarian concerns about the impact of the occupied Israeli territories on the Palestinian people," the UK is requiring retailers to clearly label products which come from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Check out coverage of this development here.
http://endtheoccupationblog.The attempt by pro-Palestinian groups in the UK to legally apprehend Israeli politician Tzipi Livni has caused outrage in the Zionist world and corporate press. The Jerusalem Post helpfully provides a summary (and note the outrage that an Israeli, or by implication any Western leader, would ever need to answer for their actions).
http://antonyloewenstein.com/
I also welcome Livni: An open letter to PM Gordon Brown
Dear Mr Prime Minister, There are countless reasons for which I take pride in being a British citizen, most prominent of all is knowing that the British legal system operates in a fair and just manner, independent of governmental interference. Moreover, that the British judiciary, following the ratification of various international conventions and treaties, understands its vital role and obligations under universal jurisdiction to pursue serious allegations of war crimes. The British courts set an international precedent in 1998 with the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London when a Spanish warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of genocide, torture and terrorism.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
This is what accountability looks like
Maybe like this: Following a letter from Oxfam to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown which "raised humanitarian concerns about the impact of the occupied Israeli territories on the Palestinian people," the UK is requiring retailers to clearly label products which come from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Check out coverage of this development here.
Political Developments
Israel: EU official's 'occupation' remark casts pall on ties
Government officials in Jerusalem harshly criticized the new European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, for her scathing remarks about the "Israeli occupation" in her maiden speech. Ashton on Tuesday leveled scathing criticism at Israeli policy in her first speech as the European Union's first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Zionist Wahhabis
Hesder yeshiva rabbis: Torah law is above IDF
Rabbis and teachers from Hesder yeshivas, which offer Torah studies alongside military service, released a letter to students in which they reiterated their assertion that soldiers must refuse orders if they are commanded to evacuate settlements, arguing that Torah law is above the Israel Defense Forces. The letter emphasizes the importance of enlisting to the military, but instructs soldiers to adhere to Jewish law when it conflicts with orders handed down from superiors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Other News
Gaza police: Breaking into the PNGO network offices in Gaza was an internal job
The Palestinian police in Gaza have reportedly arrested a man suspected of breaking into the offices of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations Network in Gaza City a few days ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.
Bethlehem police take charge of Christmas security
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Police trained in Bethlehem will take full charge of safety precautions during the city's Christmas celebrations, rather than supplementing the city’s forces with officers from other district as in previous years, Bethlehem District Police Chief Khalid At-Tamimi said on Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/
Gaza ranks near the top of Twitter topics in 2009
http://mondoweiss.net/2009/12/
Miss Palestine is shy on numbers
RAMALLAH // Just as a fair selection of the world’s media began to assemble at a small hotel in Ramallah on Wednesday for what was billed as the first heat in the first ever Miss Palestine competition, two girls stormed out the front door, followed by one of the members of the press. “We are not talking, and we are no longer taking part,” one of the girls called out over her shoulder to the pursuing reporter, who gave up the chase. Inside the lobby, a gaggle of photographers stood around looking forlorn.
http://www.thenational.ae/
Israeli Hasbara and Shamelessness
Lieberman: Ball in Palestinian court
Foreign minister says construction in settlements to resume after 10-month. Adds freeze is Israel's last gesture, 'Palestinians can decide whether they want to come to the negotiations table or not'.
http://www.ynetnews.com/
Analysis/Op-ed/Human Interest
An honourable exit, Azmi Bishara
Al-Ahram Weekly online "Is there any way for the Palestinian Authority to escape its current predicament? Yes, says Azmi Bishara, but only if long bankrupt strategies are jettisoned once and for all."
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
Banning Christmas in Jerusalem
A group calling itself "Lobby for Jewish Values" is handing out fliers condemning Christmas, pushing for a ban on all public displays of Christmas trees and other "foolish" Christian symbols and asking the public to boycott restaurants and other public institutions which do so. I guess it's really true - the abused often grow up to become the abusers.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/
Palestine 'paying for occupation', Sousan Hammad
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) recently reported that the Palestinian economy has hit an all-time low. With the Middle East peace process locked in stalemate, Al Jazeera speaks to Atif Kubursi, a professor of economics at Canada's McMaster University and a former UN development expert, about the future of the Palestinian economy under occupation.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
BBC slanders pro-Palestine debate
A friend drew my attention to this story at the BBC. It alleges that one Jonathan Hoffman appeared at a SOAS debate on Palestine and, when he mentioned his name (they helpfully point out that it is of German-Jewish extraction) he was booed and called 'Jewish' as if it were an insult. This is the video.
http://leninology.blogspot.
Being Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionist Is the "New Anti-Semitism"
I am sorry the woman fears anti-Semitism, pogroms and hatred around every corner. It's not my problem, frankly. Let her get therapy. Does that sound harsh? Sorry, again. But I for one get pretty irritated hearing false cries of anti-Semitism against anyone who criticizes Israel, its human rights crimes, its crazy settler movement, its unique brand of crypto-racism against non-Jews living within the state and its occupied territories.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Are we like Sudan? By Gideon Levy
Not only is the whole world against us, we're against the whole world - Israel is acting contrary to the standards of the new world. In his Nobel Prize speech this month in Oslo, U.S. President Barack Obama outlined three conditions for a just war: a last means of self-defense, the proportional use of force and refraining as far as possible from harming civilians. Even if there is disagreement over whether we met the first condition during Operation Cast Lead - which brought us arrest warrants and harsh reports - it's hard to prove that the attack on Gaza met the other two criteria: our use of force was not proportional and we did not do enough to prevent harm to civilians.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
UNRWA's Challenges and Mixed Record
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees’ (UNRWA) sixtieth anniversary has now come and gone. Is this a sign of success or of profound failure? And for whom? The answer will vary depending on perspective: UNRWA’s, the refugees, and the states in which it operates. Nevertheless, the continued existence of an agency that was originally intended as a temporary relief and works organization until the legal and political rights of displaced refugees are restored is testimony to the failure of the whole world to address and solve the tragedy of the so-far ongoing Palestinian refugee crisis.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Iraq
Thursday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded
At least three Iraqis were killed and four more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, Iraq politicians are asking candidates in next year's national elections to avoid politicizing recent security lapses. Also, Iraqi militants have apparently used an inexpensive computer program to hack into U.S. military drone feeds.
http://original.antiwar.com/
Iraq: Dozens of suspects held in Baghdad blasts
BAGHDAD (AP) -- An Iraqi official says security forces have rounded up dozens of suspects in last week suicide bombings in Baghdad. Clearing up a misunderstanding, the Iraqi said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's remarks yesterday didn't mean the suspects themselves were members of various security forces.
http://www.weartv.com/
Iraq army on alert over threats against Christians (AFP)
AFP - The Iraqi army has been put on alert because of threats against the country's Christian minority over the coming Christmas holidays, the defence ministry spokesman said on Friday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Iranian forces take over Iraq oil well (AFP)
AFP - Iranian forces took control of a southern Iraqi oil well in a disputed section of the border on Friday, US and Iraqi officials told AFP.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Security checks choking and costing Baghdad dearly (AFP)
AFP - A million dollars in exhaust fumes pollutes the air of Baghdad daily thanks to traffic jams caused by security checkpoints that have proliferated after the waves of bombings that have hit the city.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Inside Iraq - Iraq's Oil Law - 18 Dec 09
" Iraq floats on oil " is one mantra repeated all over the Middle East, " The Americans invaded Iraq to steal its oil " is another. However, recently Iraq has signed one oil contract and several memoranda of understanding with different energy companies. While these contracts are " service contracts " and not the dreaded " profit sharing agreements " the question is are they legal? With no oil law in place, what will happen to these contracts in the future? Will they be challenged by a concerned Iraqi parliament? To discuss this Jasim Azawi is joined by Hussain al-Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, and Issam al-Chalabi, the former Iraqi oil minister.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Babylon's last alcohol seller arrested: family (AFP)
AFP - The last alcohol vendor in Iraq's Babylon province, a member of the ancient Yazidi religious sect, has been arrested, his family told AFP on Thursday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/
Lebanon
Video (Arabic) of Sayyed Nasrallah's Speech Made on December 17, 2009 ('Ashura Day)
http://www.almanar.com.lb/
Rights group 'shocked' as Hezbollah official speaks at Sorbonne
A French human rights group Thursday protested the appearance of a member of the militant Lebanese organization Hezbollah at the Sorbonne.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Lebanon’s Ebenezer Scrooge, Franklin Lamb
Surely we should all have known better. It was just too good to last. It seemed to some Americans in Lebanon that nearly all the Lebanese and their political leaders were ready to try to more of less work together for the good of the country. Many even seemed to be getting excited about Christmas. Several of the diverse sects’ zaim’s (leaders) were seen on TV enjoying attending public lightings of Christmas trees, praising the new unity government and some humming their favorite holiday tunes during family visits to places like the crowded Beirut and City Malls.
http://palestinechronicle.com/
Other Arab News
Now we know why US sells those corrupt monarchies advanced weapons
"The United Arab Emirates, a key US ally in the Persian Gulf, has the capability to overpower Iran's Air Force, US Centcom commander Gen. David Petraeus said last week." Petraeus added that the UAE armed forces would perform as brilliantly as the Kuwaiti armed forces back in 1990 against Iraq.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Demolitions spark clashes in Egypt - 17 Dec 09
In the Egyptian capital, Cairo, residents of poorer areas are resisting government efforts to demolish their homes. Tensions are high after residents clashed with police. As Rawya Rageh reports, the confrontation highlights the long running struggle involving illegally built slums which are home to many Egyptians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Male prejudice hinders female Saudi graduates
RIYADH: Saudi female university students are ambitious and eager for job opportunities but their more conservative male counterparts are likely to put barriers in their way, a pioneering new survey shows. The study of more than 4,400 university students also suggested that religious beliefs in the Muslim kingdom were not the main barrier to women finding jobs.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Saudi Arabia, Egypt put most curbs on religion
DALLAS, Texas: Saudi Arabia and Egypt are among 10 - mostly Muslim - nations whose governments impose the most curbs on religion, according to a report on Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Afghanistan's government also ranked poorly, highlighting a potentially sensitive diplomatic flashpoint as US President Barack Obama sends more troops to the country to quell a growing insurgency.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
The TV of King Fahd's Brother-in-law: whatever you want, o Israel, As`ad Abukhalil
So I was watching the news of Al-Arabiyyah TV, and basically the Arab-Israeli conflict has ended, and Israel has withdrawn from all occupied Arab lands. That is the message you receive in Saudi propaganda stations. They begin the news and end them with stories (real and often fabricated) about Iranian advances, invasions, plots, schemes, and conspiracies. The every anti-Semitic conspiratorial scenarios that have filled Saudi propaganda for decades, are now switched to damn the "Persians". Let us face it: no one is more skilled at hate, prejudice, and bigotry than the House of Saud and their Wahhabi allies. So the news this morning started with an "Iranian invasion" of an Iraqi...oil field. The anchor went on talking at length about that horrible violation of Iraqi sovereignty--a sovereignty that is preserved by tens of thousands of US troops, of course--and the report ended--YES ENDED--with a quotation from an official at the Iraqi oil ministry denying the very story that you just heard. Kid you not. Aljazeera, on the other hand, began the news with a report on the Guardian story about CIA training and sponsorship of PA torturers. [end]
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
The funniest Arab leader ever: the "Jack Ass" is dead, As`ad Abukhalil
Amin Al-Hafiz has died: the former president of Syria prior to the Ba`thist coup of 1966. I was thinking about him all day yesterday although I was a kid when he was president. But the era of the 1950s and 1960s had far more interesting and colorful characters in Arab politics, politics aside. That is what Malcolm Kerr possibly meant when he wrote in his introduction to his classic book, The Arab Cold War, that Arab politics was "fun." It is not fun anymore. There is not a single Arab leader who is interesting. Amin Hafiz was certainly interesting and colorful. He was a mega buffoon but an interesting and funny buffoon. I mean, between the buffoon Sa'ib `Urayqat and Amin Hafiz, I take Hafiz any day. I sometimes go back to my archives and read some of his press conferences from the 1960s: the man could talk, and talk he did, non stop. His press conferences were a mixture of bravado, bombast, polemics, humor, story telling, digressions, sarcasm, mockery, bullshit, and tons of quotations from classical Arabic poetry. He really knew classical Arabic poetry and had a quotation for every occasion. Of course, his rule was an oppressive rule, and he is remembered for claiming to have a plan for the full liberation of Palestine in THREE DAYS. It is time, then, that I tell you that in his political life he was nicknamed "Al-Jahsh" (the Jack Ass). A fitting description for the man, for sure. Comrade Kamal tells me that he may be the first contemporary Arab leader to order the bombing of a mosque back in 1964 in Hamah. Now the propaganda stories about Elie Cohen (and all of them, especially the Zionist ones in the US, exaggerate the status and achievements of this spy) often claimed that Cohen had known Al-Hafiz when the latter was a military attache in Argentina in the 1950s. The Ba`thist loved to peddle this story. That story is not true. He in fact proved that he could not have met Cohen during those times in Argentina. He was physically courageous, I will say: when the Ba`thist coup struck his regime in 1966, he fought and called on his son to fight with him against those who came to arrest him. He was injured. He was arrested but was released from jail after the defeat in 1967. He subsequently sought shelter in Iraq, and joined the rank of pro-Saddam Syrian dissidents. He left Iraq after the American invasion of the country, and was received in Syria, provided--of course--that he does not speak. [end]
www.TheHeadlines.org
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