Palestine – Breaking News

Who will evict Isarael from Lebanon?

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Who Will Evict Israel from Lebanon?

By Franklin Lamb – Northwest of Ghajar Village, South Lebanon "We, as Lebanese, are here to confirm that we cling to freeing every grain of our soil. We will not abandon the great national cause, which is the continuation of the liberation of our land. The resistance looks forward to hoisting the flags of victory again over the Kfarshuba hills, Shebaa Farms, Ghajar and Abbasieh where 80 percent of the land is still occupied" — Sheik Nabil Qwork, Hezbollah leader addressing villagers at Abbasieh Village, 10/2008 Under pressure from the lame duck Bush Administration to withdraw from territory that the Lebanese Resistance did not liberate during its May 2000 rout of the Israel army and its surrogate SLA militia, Israel to date remains unwilling to budge. One reason is that it claims the Bush Administration reneged on secret pledges to bomb Iran.

Press statement expression of regret from mercedes benz south Africa

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

PRESS STATEMENT: Expression of ‘Regret’ from Mercedes Benz South Africa

The Media Review Network announces that it has received an apology from the President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Mr. Hansgeorg Niefer.

In his response to our correspondence Vis a Vis the Islamophobic material emanating from staff members, Mr. Niefer articulated his company’s regret and we quote: “I would like to express my deep and sincere regret for this incident….” Mr. Niefer assured Media Review Network that the employees acted on their own initiative.

The policy of Mercedes-Benz South Africa, with regard to company resources is zero tolerance and according to Mr. Niefer, “we instantly initiated disciplinary action”. Mr. Niefer also gave the assurance that Mercedes-Benz South Africa will ensure that “something like this does not happen again”.

Mr. Niefer not only spoke on behalf of Mercedes-Benz South Africa but also for Daimler AG in Germany.

Pr Nigerian abductions

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

18 September 2008

Press Release

Nigerian Abductions

Media Review Network (MRN) is extremely concerned about the safety of South African oil-worker, Dan Laarman, another unidentified South African, as well as the British, Ukrainian and Nigerian citizens who were kidnapped almost two weeks ago by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). It is hoped that the South African Consulate in Nigeria is doing everything in their power to free these men, so that they may be returned safely to their families.

MRN insists that the South African government, together with the African Union (AU), demand greater transparency and accountability from transnational oil companies and African government about the income generated by the oil industry. Further, the AU must force oil companies operating in Africa to be more equitable and just in their dealings with indigenous communities. Unless these basic requirements are fulfilled, more foreign workers are likely to be held hostage again.

We pray that the families of these oil-workers are endowed with patience, strength and courage during this difficult time, and that their loved ones will be returned to them safely.

Issued by:
Iqbal Jassat
Chairman
Media Review Network

(Media Review Network is an advocacy group based in Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa)

No peace without justice the london session of the russell tribunal on Palestine

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Frank Barat and Michael Mansfield QC

(source: middleeastmonitor.org.uk)

Countless United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions have been passed and violated; The Goldstone Report has been attacked and dismissed and the recent UNHRC fact finding Mission on the Freedom Flotilla incident, condemning Israel’s actions in the strongest possible terms, has been rejected as biased by Israel and was hardly mentioned in the higher spheres of the UN. The reason most often given to explain this lack of political action being that ‘it will harm the peace process.’

We are made to believe that the Israel/Palestine conflict is a never ending one and that, when it comes to this issue, International Law is irrelevant.

But civil society knows better. This conflict is about International Law and nothing else. Not harming the peace process means not harming more than 17 years (from the Oslo agreement in 1993 until now) of settlement building, bombing, murder and assassination, Israeli army aggression, land grab, US vetoes, dispossessions and humiliation of the Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel.

Civil society also knows that under a facade of bland statements ‘condemning’ Israel’s actions, the EU, the USA and the whole international community are in fact actively complicit in those crimes.

That’s where the Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) comes in.