Palestine – Features

By Bouthiana Shabaan

(source: Rise For The Truth)

Vice President Biden’s speech in Israel on March 11 sounded like an official American statement, providing absolute support to all the crimes committed by Israel. Biden’s speech was full of anachronisms aimed at polishing the image of Zionism tarnished by the blood of civilians, particularly children. Biden was not hypocritical like most Western politicians. He was candid and transparent.

In his speech, Biden said: “I had said in a speech in the United States some years ago for which I got some criticism, if I am not a Jew, I would be a Zionist. And it got a lot of national publicity, how could I say that, until I was reminded by my father you need not be a Jew to be a Zionist”. I do not know why the Vice-President should feel proud about being a Zionist and what are the achievements of Zionism that make Biden want to belong to it. Is it the displacement of millions of Palestinians from their homeland, Palestine, the incarceration of millions of others in the big prison called Israel, where they are subjected daily to ethnic cleansing and where their children, women and elderly killed and imprisoned?

Read More »Where are the rulers of arab muslim countries? joe bidens empty desert

(source: Reuters)

Australia’s government said on Monday it had ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake passports in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai  in January.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said a police investigation had left no doubt Israeli intelligence services had been behind the forgery of four Australian passports used by suspects in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room.

"These investigations and advice have left the government in no doubt that Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports," Smith told Australia’s parliament. "These are not the actions of a friend.

Read More »Australia expels Isaraeli diplomat over dubai hit

By Dr Firoz Osman

(source: Star, 12/08/2010, PG18)

The disfigured face of Aisha, ostensibly perpetrated by the Taliban, on the cover of Time Magazine (below:‘what happens if We leave Afghanistan’) is a deceitful attempt to demonise Muslims and vilify Islam.

The failure of the 28- nation member NATO invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in order to flush out Osama bin Laden (dead or alive), and crush Al Qaeda, necessitated another fabricated subterfuge to vindicate the Western world’s presence in Kabul.

Throughout history the hegemonic powers cloaked their rapacious, greedy ambitions in the guise of doing something moral and praiseworthy. The underlying purpose was always to obtain a strategic military or economic benefit.

Read More »Time cover vilifies muslims

By Navi Pillay

(source: Star Newspaper, 15-02-2011, pg11)

It is a great pleasure to be here, on my first visit to the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel since I took up office as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

I was received with courtesy by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, meeting with both President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and a number of Ministers, state officials and other interlocutors in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). I would like to express my deep appreciation for the good cooperation which has characterized this visit.

I met Palestinian victims of human rights violations in a variety of locations in the oPt, including East Jerusalem and several towns and villages in the West Bank and Gaza.  I and my team also met with victims in Sderot, West Jerusalem and the Negev desert. They explained their extreme hardships to us with great patience and dignity, and left me with a profound impression of the difficult human rights situation of so many civilians, because of the conflict, occupation and discriminatory laws and practices. I also had very informative meetings with four different groups of exceptionally dedicated human rights defenders in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza City.

Collectively, my many interlocutors raised a wide range of complex multi-layered human rights issues and situations, intertwined with the ever-present, and ever complicating, security concerns and political considerations.

Read More »Back to the wall on human rights