Skip to content

No ceasefire without lifting the siege

  • by

 
Haniya, no ceasefire without lifting the siege 14 December, 2008 From Khalid Amayreh in occupied East Jerusalem
 
 In a triumphant speech marking Hamas’s 21st anniversary, Ismael Haniya, the Prime Minister of the Gaza-based Palestinian government, said the Islamic movement and other Palestinian resistance groups wouldn’t extend the present fragile truce with Israel unless the Israeli occupation army lifted its harsh blockade of the Gaza Strip and allowed Gazans free movement from and to the coastal territory.

 The six-month-old truce, or “the calm,” is slated to expire on Friday, amid fears that violence and bloodshed on a larger scale would brake out in the absence of a new agreement or understanding to renew the ceasefire. He pointed out that last month alone, the Israeli occupation army killed more than 20 Palestinians in addition to tightening the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Read More »No ceasefire without lifting the siege

Afghanistan the arrogance and ignorance

  • by

 
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:54 AM
Subject: Afghanistan: The Arrogance and Ignorance!!

The Arrogance and Ignorance

By Yvonne Ridley
[www.informationclearinghouse.info]

December 10, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" — THE Taliban now holds a permanent presence of 72 per cent of Afghanistan according to the latest report by an influential think tank.

But within hours of the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) releasing this news various politicians and ambassadors from Afghanistan, America and Britain criticised its contents.

The reality is none of these people really know what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan because it is not safe to travel and if any of them do venture out it is rarely beyond the confines of Kabul.

The reason I know the ICOS report carries weight is because I have just returned from Afghanistan myself and, unlike most politicians, diplomats and journalists who go to the country, I went in unescorted.

Read More »Afghanistan the arrogance and ignorance

The message of h e ayatullah khamenei to the hajj pilgrims from the whole world

  • by

 

The message of H. E. Ayatullah Khamenei to the Hajj pilgrims from the whole world (2008/12/07 – 12:05)

In the Name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

Once again the Land of Revelation has gathered legions of true-believers for its annual banquet.  In the birthplace of Islam and the Holy Qur’an, eager hearts from throughout the world are now engaged in such rites which indeed show a sign of the eternal lesson of Islam and the Holy Qur’an to mankind: symbolic steps for implementing and applying such a lesson.

The aim of this great lesson is to ensure the eternal salvation and dignity of mankind by training righteous people and establishing a righteous society; people who worship the One and Only God in their hearts and in practice and cleanse themselves from polytheism, moral impurities and deviant desires, and a society built out of justice, freedom, faith, vitality and all the other signs of life and progress.

 

Read More »The message of h e ayatullah khamenei to the hajj pilgrims from the whole world

If the Obama administration truly seeks a break through on the Isarael Palestine conflict

  • by

 

FRAMING, PRINCIPLES AND ELEMENTS: IF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TRULY SEEKS A BREAK-THROUGH ON THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT

Jeff Halper

December 10, 2008

Writing recently in The Washington Post ("Middle East Priorities," Nov. 21), Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, two former US National Security Advisors, a Republican and a Democrat, declared: "We believe that the Arab-Israeli peace process is one issue that requires priority attention [from the incoming Obama Administration]." 

Their assessment is correct, of course. Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an urgent priority. It is a conflict with global ramifications in a part of the world crucial to Western, and especially American, political and economic interests. The Israeli Occupation fuels anger and alienation among Muslims – as well as among peoples beyond the Muslim world, including in Europe – towards the US and its European allies. And the Palestinians are the gatekeepers that cannot be by-passed. No matter what peace plan is devised or how much pressure is exerted on the Palestinian leadership to accept it, until the Palestinian people everywhere, including the refugee camps, say that the conflict is in fact over, it’s not over. This is their ultimate clout. Only when a just solution is reached that genuinely addresses their grievances and needs will they signal to the rest of the Arab and Muslim worlds that the time has come to normalize relations with Israel and its American and Western patrons. This reality is obliquely acknowledged by Scowcroft and Brzezinski when they write: "Not everyone in the Middle East views the Palestinian issue as the greatest regional challenge, but the deep sense of injustice it stimulates is genuine and pervasive." 

 

Read More »If the Obama administration truly seeks a break through on the Isarael Palestine conflict