Zionism – Features

By Ibrahim Vawda

The Media Review Network notes that the Middle East talks, convened by Barack Obama, are being proclaimed in the media as “talks” between Israel and the “Palestinians”, symbolised by Mahmood Abbas.   Mahmood Abbas is just another “Bantustan” leader, who lost his legitimacy when his term of office ended when his Party, Fatah, lost the elections in 2006. He is embarking on yet another odyssey of national betrayal.
Talks  with a defeated leader of a political Party cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be projected as talks with Palestinians. It is precisely for this reason that the Media Review Network would like to appeal to the South African Media not to refer to these “talks” as between Israel and the "Palestinians". The “Bantustan regime” of Mahmood Abbas is illicit and is no more than a surrogate appendage of Israel and Washington. He is merely a pliant tool of the US dependent on US sponsorship and support to remain in power against an impatient and hostile Palestinian population.

A very well known Arab proverb says: “The Mountain went into labour, and then gave birth to a rat.” This likely scenario of the Middle East talks in Washington today, is more than mere speculation.

Read More »Appeal to media do not distort middle east talks

By Robert Fisk

(source: Robert Fisk’s ZSpace Page)

The latest cables released by Wikileaks show that the emirate’s growing power is seen as a threat elsewhere. Despite the leaked US diplomatic reports on Qatar and their claim that it is a major source of “terrorist” funding, Washington would do well not to mess with the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

He is the only world leader to march out of an American vice-president’s office in fury after just seven seconds. And his Al-Jazeera television station – for truly it does belong to him – has revolutionised reporting in the Middle East. Qatar may be tiny but in the region, it is very, very big indeed.

The Emir is a sharp man with an equally sharp sense of humour. He is known to have told a visitor that if he threw the Americans off their vast airbase at Doha – the largest US installation of its kind in the Middle East – “my Arab brothers would invade Qatar.” Asked what he would do if this was ever reported, he burst into laughter and said he would deny ever having said it. I imagine that’s what he’ll say about the latest trove of US diplomat-speak from WikiLeaks, which suggest that his television station has “proved itself a useful tool for [its] political masters”, providing “a substantial source of leverage for Qatar, one which it is unlikely to relinquish”. I doubt if the Emir could care less.

Al-Jazeera, of course, has been enjoying Washington’s embarrassment, sharing the disclosures with viewers on both its news channels, Arabic and English, while squeezing American government spokesmen and women dry. When the Iraq cables came out, proving that the US had turned a blind eye to torture by the Maliki government, Al-Jazeera put the former US commander in Iraq on screen; his attempts to wriggle out of the questions were deeply embarrassing.

Read More »Qatars the star “ and washington is worried