'B. F. P. O'*. [*British Forces Posted Overseas]
Army dreamers.
'Mammy's hero'.
'B. F. P. O'.
'Mammy's hero'.
Our little army boy
Is coming home from B. F. P. O.
I've a bunch of purple flowers
To decorate a mammy's hero.
Mourning in the aerodrome,
The weather warmer, he is colder.
Four men in uniform
To carry home my little soldier.
'What could he do?
Should have been a rock star'.
But he didn't have the money for a guitar.
'What could he do?
Should have been a politician'.
But he never had a proper education.
'What could he do?
Should have been a father'.
But he never even made it to his twenties.
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste of
Army dreamers.
Tears o'er a tin box.
Oh, Jesus Christ, he wasn't to know,
Like a chicken with a fox,
He couldn't win the war with ego.
Give the kid the pick of pips,
And give him all your stripes and ribbons.
Now he's sitting in his hole,
He might as well have buttons and bows.
***
What a waste...
Army dreamers.
Ooh, what a waste...
Army dreamers.
Army Dreamers, Kate Bush
"The mission... is critical to making sure that this place does not again become a training ground and a place that sponsors violence and terrorism that is visited on innocent people around the world, but particularly on innocent Australians." (Prime Minister Julia Gillard honours fallen troops in Afghanistan, Mark Kenny, Herald Sun, 3/10/10)
"Kerry, I'm just going to be upfront about this: foreign policy is not my passion." (Julia Gillard, Gillard on Afghanistan, The 7.30 Report, 5/10/10)
"Taliban representatives and the government of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, Afghan and Arab sources say." (After 9 years of war & the loss of thousands of lives - including 21 Australians - The Taliban finally talk peace, Sydney Morning Herald, 7/10/10)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Bara(c)k's Generous Offer
What goes around comes around, as they say.
At the beginning of the decade we had Barak's famous 'generous offer' to Yasser Arafat, which the latter, so the story goes, spurned. Spurn! Spurn! And now, at the end of the decade, we've got Barack's generous offer to Benjamin Netanyahu, also spurned, which, as it turns out, was actually - you guessed it - another of Barak's generous offers, which just goes to show, if you're still with me, that if even Bibi's allergic to Barak's generous offers, Arafat can hardly be blamed for knocking him back way back when. Not to mention the fact that that loser Barak sounds like he couldn't even flog beer in a brewery. But, hey, I'm getting ahead of himself.
First, Barack's generous offer:
"The disclosure of the details of a letter reportedly sent by president Barack Obama last week to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will cause Palestinians to be even more skeptical about US and Israeli roles in the current peace talks. According to the leak, Obama made a series of extraordinarily generous offers to Israel, many of them at the expense of the Palestinians, in return for a single minor concession from Netanyahu: a 2-month extension of the partial freeze on settlement growth. A previous 10-month freeze, which ended a week ago, has not so far been renewed by Netanyahu, threatening to bring the negotiations to an abrupt halt. The Palestinians are expected to decide whether to quit the talks over the coming days. Netanyahu was reported last week to have declined the US offer. The White House has denied that a letter was sent, but, according to the Israeli media, officials in Washington are privately incensed by Netanyahu's rejection." (Obama letter suggests US not honest broker, Jonathan Cook, antiwar.com, 4/10/10)
Incensed? Did he say incensed? You bet. Despite the code of silence that prevails among these guys, some of them were so bloody incensed they could be overheard muttering: 'Those bloody Israelis never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity'.
"The disclosures were made by an informed source: David Makovsky, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a close associate of Dennis Ross, Obama's chief adviser on the Middle East, who is said to have initiated the offer." (ibid)
The offer? Oh yes, the offer:
"[I]n return for the 60-day settlement moratorium, the US promised to veto any UN Security Council proposal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the next year, and committed to not seek any further extensions of the freeze. The future of the settlements would be addressed only in a final agreement. The White House would also allow Israel to keep a military presence in the West Bank's Jordan Valley, even after the creation of a Palestinian state; continue controlling the borders of the Palestinian territories to prevent smuggling; provide Israel with enhanced weapons systems and security guarantees and increase its billions of dollars in annual aid; and create a regional security pact against Iran." (ibid)
And Barak? Where does he fit in?
"In fact, the terms of Obama's letter were drafted in cooperation with Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister..." (ibid)
Say no more.
At the beginning of the decade we had Barak's famous 'generous offer' to Yasser Arafat, which the latter, so the story goes, spurned. Spurn! Spurn! And now, at the end of the decade, we've got Barack's generous offer to Benjamin Netanyahu, also spurned, which, as it turns out, was actually - you guessed it - another of Barak's generous offers, which just goes to show, if you're still with me, that if even Bibi's allergic to Barak's generous offers, Arafat can hardly be blamed for knocking him back way back when. Not to mention the fact that that loser Barak sounds like he couldn't even flog beer in a brewery. But, hey, I'm getting ahead of himself.
First, Barack's generous offer:
"The disclosure of the details of a letter reportedly sent by president Barack Obama last week to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will cause Palestinians to be even more skeptical about US and Israeli roles in the current peace talks. According to the leak, Obama made a series of extraordinarily generous offers to Israel, many of them at the expense of the Palestinians, in return for a single minor concession from Netanyahu: a 2-month extension of the partial freeze on settlement growth. A previous 10-month freeze, which ended a week ago, has not so far been renewed by Netanyahu, threatening to bring the negotiations to an abrupt halt. The Palestinians are expected to decide whether to quit the talks over the coming days. Netanyahu was reported last week to have declined the US offer. The White House has denied that a letter was sent, but, according to the Israeli media, officials in Washington are privately incensed by Netanyahu's rejection." (Obama letter suggests US not honest broker, Jonathan Cook, antiwar.com, 4/10/10)
Incensed? Did he say incensed? You bet. Despite the code of silence that prevails among these guys, some of them were so bloody incensed they could be overheard muttering: 'Those bloody Israelis never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity'.
"The disclosures were made by an informed source: David Makovsky, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a close associate of Dennis Ross, Obama's chief adviser on the Middle East, who is said to have initiated the offer." (ibid)
The offer? Oh yes, the offer:
"[I]n return for the 60-day settlement moratorium, the US promised to veto any UN Security Council proposal on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the next year, and committed to not seek any further extensions of the freeze. The future of the settlements would be addressed only in a final agreement. The White House would also allow Israel to keep a military presence in the West Bank's Jordan Valley, even after the creation of a Palestinian state; continue controlling the borders of the Palestinian territories to prevent smuggling; provide Israel with enhanced weapons systems and security guarantees and increase its billions of dollars in annual aid; and create a regional security pact against Iran." (ibid)
And Barak? Where does he fit in?
"In fact, the terms of Obama's letter were drafted in cooperation with Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister..." (ibid)
Say no more.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Smell the Fear
To anyone familiar with the history and modus operandi of Zionist war criminality, the following will not have come as a shock:
"The report of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla released last week shows conclusively, for the first time, that US citizen Furkan Dogan and 5 Turkish citizens were murdered execution-style by Israeli commandos. The report reveals that Dogan, the 19-year-old US citizen of Turkish descent, was filming with a small video camera on the top deck of the Mavi Marmara when he was shot twice in the head, once in the back and in the left leg and foot, and that he was shot at point blank range while lying on the ground. The report says Dogan had apparently been 'lying on the deck in a conscious or semi-conscious state for some time before being shot in his face'... Based on both 'forensic and firearm evidence', the fact-finding panel concluded that Dogan's killing and that of 5 Turkish citizens by the Israeli troops on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 'can be characterized as extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions'." (UN fact-finding mission says Israelis 'executed' US citizen Furkan Dogan, Gareth Porter, truth-out.org, 27/9/10)
What I do find shocking, however, is Porter's revelation of the omerta-style silence of the US administration and corporate media with regard to the report's findings. Reading the following paragraphs from his article, you can literally smell the fear of the US imperial state when confronted with yet another example of its supposed vassal's barbarous conduct, and one, moreover, involving one of its own citizens. Further confirmation, if it were needed, of just who controls who:
"The report confirmed what the Obama administration already knew from the autopsy report on Dogan, but the administration has remained silent about his killing, which could be an extremely difficult political problem for the administration in its relations with Israel. The Turkish government gave the autopsy report on Dogan to the US Embassy in July and it was then passed on to the Department of Justice, according to a US government source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the administration's policy of silence on the matter. The source said the purpose of obtaining the report was to determine whether an investigation of the killing by the Justice Department (DOJ) was appropriate. Asked by this writer whether the DOJ had received the autopsy report on Dogan, DOJ spokesperson Laura Sweeney refused to comment. The administration has not volunteered any comment on the fact-finding mission's report and was not asked to do so by any news organization. In response to an enquiry from Truthout, a State Department official, who could not speak on the record, read a statement that did not explicitly acknowledge the report's conclusion about the Israeli executions... Although the report's revelations and conclusions about the killing of Dogan and the 5 other victims were widely reported in the Turkish media last week, not a single story on the report has appeared in US news media. The administration has made it clear through its inaction and its explicit public posture that it has no intention of pressing the issue of the murder of a US citizen in cold blood by Israeli commandos." (ibid)
Israel lobby? What Israel lobby?
"The report of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla released last week shows conclusively, for the first time, that US citizen Furkan Dogan and 5 Turkish citizens were murdered execution-style by Israeli commandos. The report reveals that Dogan, the 19-year-old US citizen of Turkish descent, was filming with a small video camera on the top deck of the Mavi Marmara when he was shot twice in the head, once in the back and in the left leg and foot, and that he was shot at point blank range while lying on the ground. The report says Dogan had apparently been 'lying on the deck in a conscious or semi-conscious state for some time before being shot in his face'... Based on both 'forensic and firearm evidence', the fact-finding panel concluded that Dogan's killing and that of 5 Turkish citizens by the Israeli troops on the Mavi Marmara, May 31, 'can be characterized as extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions'." (UN fact-finding mission says Israelis 'executed' US citizen Furkan Dogan, Gareth Porter, truth-out.org, 27/9/10)
What I do find shocking, however, is Porter's revelation of the omerta-style silence of the US administration and corporate media with regard to the report's findings. Reading the following paragraphs from his article, you can literally smell the fear of the US imperial state when confronted with yet another example of its supposed vassal's barbarous conduct, and one, moreover, involving one of its own citizens. Further confirmation, if it were needed, of just who controls who:
"The report confirmed what the Obama administration already knew from the autopsy report on Dogan, but the administration has remained silent about his killing, which could be an extremely difficult political problem for the administration in its relations with Israel. The Turkish government gave the autopsy report on Dogan to the US Embassy in July and it was then passed on to the Department of Justice, according to a US government source who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the administration's policy of silence on the matter. The source said the purpose of obtaining the report was to determine whether an investigation of the killing by the Justice Department (DOJ) was appropriate. Asked by this writer whether the DOJ had received the autopsy report on Dogan, DOJ spokesperson Laura Sweeney refused to comment. The administration has not volunteered any comment on the fact-finding mission's report and was not asked to do so by any news organization. In response to an enquiry from Truthout, a State Department official, who could not speak on the record, read a statement that did not explicitly acknowledge the report's conclusion about the Israeli executions... Although the report's revelations and conclusions about the killing of Dogan and the 5 other victims were widely reported in the Turkish media last week, not a single story on the report has appeared in US news media. The administration has made it clear through its inaction and its explicit public posture that it has no intention of pressing the issue of the murder of a US citizen in cold blood by Israeli commandos." (ibid)
Israel lobby? What Israel lobby?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Round Round Get Around... 6
They get around:
"An ugly anti-Muslim chauvinism accompanies India's violence. It has been open season on Muslims since 9/11, when the liberation struggle in Kashmir was conveniently subsumed under the war on terror and Israeli military officers were invited to visit Akhnur military base in the province and advise on counter-terrorism measures. The website India Defence noted in September 2008 that 'Maj-Gen Avi Mizrahi paid an unscheduled visit to the state of Kashmir last week to get an up-close look at the challenges the Indian military faces in its fight against Islamic insurgents. Mizrahi was in India for 3 days of meetings with the country's military brass and to discuss a plan the IDF is drafting for Israeli commandos to train Indian counterterror forces'. Their advice was straightforward: do as we do in Palestine and buy our weapons. In the 6 years since 2002 New Delhi had purchased $5 billion-worth of weaponry from the Israelis, to good effect." (Not crushed, merely ignored, Tariq Ali, London Review of Books, 22/7/10)
"Israeli and Greek leaders discussed expanding military ties on Tuesday including sharing military know-how and holding joint war games, officials said. Israel has been keen to expand ties with Greece as its relations with Turkey - another strategic Mediterranean partner - soured since an Israeli raid on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip in May. As he wrapped up his two-day trip to Greece, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - the highest ranking Israeli to visit the country - said the two nations were 'opening a new chapter'." (Israel & Greece to expand military ties, Reuters, 17/8/10)
"The Israeli head of a labor recruiting company accused of exploiting 400 workers from Thailand and forcing them to work on US farms is under arrest and pleading not guilty. Los Angeles-based Global Horizons Manpower Inc. CEO Mordechai Orian surrendered Friday in Honolulu... The FBI says it is the largest human-trafficking case ever charged in US history." (LA: Israeli charged with human trafficking, AP/Ynet, 4/9/10)
"First, Israel will beef up Russia's robotic air force. Down the road, perhaps, Vladimir Putin may return the favor by equipping Israeli drones with Russian laser tech. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his Russian counterpart... signed a first-of-its kind military agreement between the two countries. It's the latest step towards cooperation for two countries that have traditionally been at each other's throats. In 2009, Moscow bought a dozen Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles... That was after Georgia relied on Israeli spy drones during the South Ossetia War. Now, Russian officials say, Jerusalem and Moscow have agreed to a second, $100 million deal for another 36 drones. " (Israel, Russia in drone deal: Laser tech next? Noah Shachtman, wired.com, 7/9/10)
"Five doctors from South Africa's health group Netcare have been charged for allegedly participating in an international kidney trading syndicate. Netcare's hospital in Durban allegedly conducted more than 100 operations in 2001-03 in which poor Brazilians and Romanians were paid to donate kidneys to wealthy Israelis." (Charges on South Africa 'kidney trafficking syndicate', bbc.co.uk, 16/9/10)
"Colombian Congress asked the government to make another attempt to have Israeli mercenary Yair Klein extradited from Russia to Colombia... 'It is urgent that the Israeli mercenary face [Colombian] justice for his multiple crimes committed in the 1980s', [Congressman Ivan] Cepada said. He added that trying Klein will 'ensure the right to truth for victims of crimes against humanity committed by paramilitary groups'. Colombia has previously requested that Klein be extradited to the South American country, where he is accused of creating training camps for private armies that worked for drug lords, including the infamous Pablo Escobar. These groups later developed Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups. Colombia's request was denied in April, with the European Court citing human rights concerns as the reason Klein would not be delivered to Colombian authorities. The former Israeli army lieutenant colonel was convicted in absentia by a Colombian court in 2001 for training illegal armed groups in the 1980s." (Congress requests extradition of Israeli mercenary, Teresa Welsh, colombiareports.com, 23/9/100
"A computer worm that targets industrial and factory systems is almost certainly the work of a national government agency, say security experts who warn it could be near-impossible to identify the culprit. There has been speculation that the target of the virus was Iran's controversial Bushehr nuclear power plant and that it was created by Israeli hackers. The Stuxnet computer worm, which has been described as one of the 'most refined pieces of malware ever discovered', has been most active in Iran according to security firm Symantec." (State-backed cyber attack targets Iran, Josh Halliday, Guardian/Age, 26/9/10)
"An ugly anti-Muslim chauvinism accompanies India's violence. It has been open season on Muslims since 9/11, when the liberation struggle in Kashmir was conveniently subsumed under the war on terror and Israeli military officers were invited to visit Akhnur military base in the province and advise on counter-terrorism measures. The website India Defence noted in September 2008 that 'Maj-Gen Avi Mizrahi paid an unscheduled visit to the state of Kashmir last week to get an up-close look at the challenges the Indian military faces in its fight against Islamic insurgents. Mizrahi was in India for 3 days of meetings with the country's military brass and to discuss a plan the IDF is drafting for Israeli commandos to train Indian counterterror forces'. Their advice was straightforward: do as we do in Palestine and buy our weapons. In the 6 years since 2002 New Delhi had purchased $5 billion-worth of weaponry from the Israelis, to good effect." (Not crushed, merely ignored, Tariq Ali, London Review of Books, 22/7/10)
"Israeli and Greek leaders discussed expanding military ties on Tuesday including sharing military know-how and holding joint war games, officials said. Israel has been keen to expand ties with Greece as its relations with Turkey - another strategic Mediterranean partner - soured since an Israeli raid on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip in May. As he wrapped up his two-day trip to Greece, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - the highest ranking Israeli to visit the country - said the two nations were 'opening a new chapter'." (Israel & Greece to expand military ties, Reuters, 17/8/10)
"The Israeli head of a labor recruiting company accused of exploiting 400 workers from Thailand and forcing them to work on US farms is under arrest and pleading not guilty. Los Angeles-based Global Horizons Manpower Inc. CEO Mordechai Orian surrendered Friday in Honolulu... The FBI says it is the largest human-trafficking case ever charged in US history." (LA: Israeli charged with human trafficking, AP/Ynet, 4/9/10)
"First, Israel will beef up Russia's robotic air force. Down the road, perhaps, Vladimir Putin may return the favor by equipping Israeli drones with Russian laser tech. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his Russian counterpart... signed a first-of-its kind military agreement between the two countries. It's the latest step towards cooperation for two countries that have traditionally been at each other's throats. In 2009, Moscow bought a dozen Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles... That was after Georgia relied on Israeli spy drones during the South Ossetia War. Now, Russian officials say, Jerusalem and Moscow have agreed to a second, $100 million deal for another 36 drones. " (Israel, Russia in drone deal: Laser tech next? Noah Shachtman, wired.com, 7/9/10)
"Five doctors from South Africa's health group Netcare have been charged for allegedly participating in an international kidney trading syndicate. Netcare's hospital in Durban allegedly conducted more than 100 operations in 2001-03 in which poor Brazilians and Romanians were paid to donate kidneys to wealthy Israelis." (Charges on South Africa 'kidney trafficking syndicate', bbc.co.uk, 16/9/10)
"Colombian Congress asked the government to make another attempt to have Israeli mercenary Yair Klein extradited from Russia to Colombia... 'It is urgent that the Israeli mercenary face [Colombian] justice for his multiple crimes committed in the 1980s', [Congressman Ivan] Cepada said. He added that trying Klein will 'ensure the right to truth for victims of crimes against humanity committed by paramilitary groups'. Colombia has previously requested that Klein be extradited to the South American country, where he is accused of creating training camps for private armies that worked for drug lords, including the infamous Pablo Escobar. These groups later developed Colombia's right-wing paramilitary groups. Colombia's request was denied in April, with the European Court citing human rights concerns as the reason Klein would not be delivered to Colombian authorities. The former Israeli army lieutenant colonel was convicted in absentia by a Colombian court in 2001 for training illegal armed groups in the 1980s." (Congress requests extradition of Israeli mercenary, Teresa Welsh, colombiareports.com, 23/9/100
"A computer worm that targets industrial and factory systems is almost certainly the work of a national government agency, say security experts who warn it could be near-impossible to identify the culprit. There has been speculation that the target of the virus was Iran's controversial Bushehr nuclear power plant and that it was created by Israeli hackers. The Stuxnet computer worm, which has been described as one of the 'most refined pieces of malware ever discovered', has been most active in Iran according to security firm Symantec." (State-backed cyber attack targets Iran, Josh Halliday, Guardian/Age, 26/9/10)
Chalk & Cheese
Neocon persiflage from Murdoch fishwrapper:
"I believe the US-led invasion of Iraq was a mistake, but once it was done it was a job that needed to be completed. History will show that invasion has most likely had the adverse effect of strengthening the arm of fundamentalist Islamo-fascists who seek to subjugate their people under a theocratic dictatorship. But unlike Iraq, the decision by John Howard to send troops into Afghanistan was not so much to maintain our alliance with the US but to defend the values of liberty, equality and justice that are fundamental to our way of life... Failure to defeat the totalitarian far right wing Islamo-fascists, who distort the Islamic faith to suit their extremist ideology, could set off a domino effect in the Middle East with the potential to unleash a new global force, hell-bent on subjugation under their ugly ideology." (Why we need to be there, Paul Howes, The Sunday Telegraph, 3/10/10)
Scholarly reflection from Cambridge University Press:
"Initially, it would seem, the radical Islamism of the twenty-first century belongs to an inclusive class of revolutionary movements that might best be identified, didactically, as antidemocratic - one of an indeterminate number of movements that include a wide variety of related forms - among which one might find a subclass of neofascisms. For the purpose of our analysis, however, Islam's jihadists-salafists hardly qualify for membership in the latter category. Today's Islamists are religious eccentrics, antinationalists of conviction, political reactionaries, indifferent to economic growth and industrial development, and committed to terrorism as their principal method of restoring the dignity and glory of their ummah. They simply do not satisfy the criteria that would make them credible neofascists. The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of religious movements that might conceivably be considered neofascist; Islamic fundamentalism, struggling to restore an Islam of yesteryear, happens not to be of their number." (The Search for Neofascism: The Use & Abuse of Social Science, A James Gregor, 2006, pp 195-196)
"I believe the US-led invasion of Iraq was a mistake, but once it was done it was a job that needed to be completed. History will show that invasion has most likely had the adverse effect of strengthening the arm of fundamentalist Islamo-fascists who seek to subjugate their people under a theocratic dictatorship. But unlike Iraq, the decision by John Howard to send troops into Afghanistan was not so much to maintain our alliance with the US but to defend the values of liberty, equality and justice that are fundamental to our way of life... Failure to defeat the totalitarian far right wing Islamo-fascists, who distort the Islamic faith to suit their extremist ideology, could set off a domino effect in the Middle East with the potential to unleash a new global force, hell-bent on subjugation under their ugly ideology." (Why we need to be there, Paul Howes, The Sunday Telegraph, 3/10/10)
Scholarly reflection from Cambridge University Press:
"Initially, it would seem, the radical Islamism of the twenty-first century belongs to an inclusive class of revolutionary movements that might best be identified, didactically, as antidemocratic - one of an indeterminate number of movements that include a wide variety of related forms - among which one might find a subclass of neofascisms. For the purpose of our analysis, however, Islam's jihadists-salafists hardly qualify for membership in the latter category. Today's Islamists are religious eccentrics, antinationalists of conviction, political reactionaries, indifferent to economic growth and industrial development, and committed to terrorism as their principal method of restoring the dignity and glory of their ummah. They simply do not satisfy the criteria that would make them credible neofascists. The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of religious movements that might conceivably be considered neofascist; Islamic fundamentalism, struggling to restore an Islam of yesteryear, happens not to be of their number." (The Search for Neofascism: The Use & Abuse of Social Science, A James Gregor, 2006, pp 195-196)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
The Perfect Mix
Quality journalism is all about balance and harmony. At The Australian we believe that our feature articles on the Middle East conflict should contain the perfect balance of Israeli settler pain with Palestinian inconvenience:
"Two baby boys, one Jewish and one Palestinian; two men, one Jewish and one Palestinian. Four lives that have never intersected but this week were all touched by one relentless tragedy, the Middle East conflict." (Peace hostage to old hatreds, John Lyons, 2/10/10)
Muhammed Abu Shara, 1, an asthma sufferer, died after inhaling Israeli tear gas after "clashes" between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators following the murder of a Palestinian man by a settler in East Jerusalem's Silwan district. However, "Three days later another baby became a victim."
Yeah? You mean he's dead too?
Well, not quite, but remember we've got a magic formula going here: "Sharon Zucker and his wife Neta, 9 months pregnant, were driving near their settlement. A car drove next to them and opened fire. They survived and drove to the nearest hospital, where a boy was born. The baby survived, but what a way to enter the world."
Right.
"Then there are the 2 adults. the first is Atta Jaber, a Palestinian whose farm is opposite the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, which adjoins Hebron and is home to some hardline settlers... Jaber says his family has farmed this land for 7 generations but lately settlers have been attacking with the aim, he believes, of forcing him out. He says they have pulled out his crops and begun arriving at 5am, trying to break in. 'They yell, 'You are a thief, this is Israeli state land, this belongs to Abraham and Moses', he says."
Poor man. "But the settlers point to violence against them, such as the recent drive-by killings."
Oh yes, drive-by killings followed by driving the natives off their land, or is it the other way around? It's all so terribly confusing, John! Old hatreds indeed. Stretching back to time immemorial, no doubt. Lost in the proverbial mists of time... I'll just pop it into the too-hard basket, shall I?
"Under international law, all Jewish settlements on occupied territory are illegal. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention says: 'The occuping power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies'."
Enough said? Definitely not: "Israel insists the settlements are legal."
Man, that's sooo beautifully yin and yang! And the second victim of this relentless tragedy whose orgins go back to the Flintstones?
"Born in the US as David Axelrod, he changed his name to David Ha'Ivri, or David the Hebrew. As director of the Shomron Liaison Office, Ha'Ivri has become a spokesman [a Mark Regev?] for settlers and has travelled to Australia** and elsewhere to enlist support for them. As I stand with him watching a ceremony he has organised to mark the end of the freeze, he looks anything but a victim. He doesn't have to endure 5am intimidation from settlers."
Er, John, could it be he doesn't look like a victim because he isn't? Just asking.
"But his home is in doubt. He lives in a small settlement, and if Israel signs an agreement with the Palestinians, Ha'Ivri will probably have to leave."
Shucks. Definitely a victim. Like the Zucker baby.
"So life goes on in the West Bank. The only common ground is the disputed [!] rocky and sandy ground we're standing on, which has absorbed so much blood and may absorb much more yet."
What a tragedy! So, John, you a betting man? Whose blood do you reckon that stony ground's going to absorb, Jaber's or Ha'Ivri's? What's that? Both? Oh, yes, the formula...
[*"Ha'Ivri was in Australia as a guest of Australian Friends of Gush Katif & the Shomron - a small organization that encourages Jewish people to settle across the biblical land of Israel, and which strongly opposed the disengagement from Gaza. During Ha'Ivri's visit, he met community leaders, journalists and Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby." (Another side of the debate, The Australian Jewish News, 2/11/09)]
PS (10/10/10): In its AJN 'Media Week' column of 8/10/10, taking issue with Lyons' piece, AIJAC's Jamie Hyams writes, "Article 49 only applies to the forced transfer of population, such as the Nazis perpetrated, and therefore has not been breached by Israel." Don't you just love Zionist lawyering? In The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective (1990), John Quigley writes, "The Geneva Convention requires an occupying power to change the existing order as little as possible during its tenure... To [Israel's claim that its settlement policy in the occupied territories doesn't breach Article 49] it was replied that Israel funded the settlements and that it had used the IDF to establish many of them. One particular use was that the government placed many recent immigrants in the settlements." (pp 177-178)
"Two baby boys, one Jewish and one Palestinian; two men, one Jewish and one Palestinian. Four lives that have never intersected but this week were all touched by one relentless tragedy, the Middle East conflict." (Peace hostage to old hatreds, John Lyons, 2/10/10)
Muhammed Abu Shara, 1, an asthma sufferer, died after inhaling Israeli tear gas after "clashes" between Israeli police and Palestinian demonstrators following the murder of a Palestinian man by a settler in East Jerusalem's Silwan district. However, "Three days later another baby became a victim."
Yeah? You mean he's dead too?
Well, not quite, but remember we've got a magic formula going here: "Sharon Zucker and his wife Neta, 9 months pregnant, were driving near their settlement. A car drove next to them and opened fire. They survived and drove to the nearest hospital, where a boy was born. The baby survived, but what a way to enter the world."
Right.
"Then there are the 2 adults. the first is Atta Jaber, a Palestinian whose farm is opposite the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, which adjoins Hebron and is home to some hardline settlers... Jaber says his family has farmed this land for 7 generations but lately settlers have been attacking with the aim, he believes, of forcing him out. He says they have pulled out his crops and begun arriving at 5am, trying to break in. 'They yell, 'You are a thief, this is Israeli state land, this belongs to Abraham and Moses', he says."
Poor man. "But the settlers point to violence against them, such as the recent drive-by killings."
Oh yes, drive-by killings followed by driving the natives off their land, or is it the other way around? It's all so terribly confusing, John! Old hatreds indeed. Stretching back to time immemorial, no doubt. Lost in the proverbial mists of time... I'll just pop it into the too-hard basket, shall I?
"Under international law, all Jewish settlements on occupied territory are illegal. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention says: 'The occuping power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies'."
Enough said? Definitely not: "Israel insists the settlements are legal."
Man, that's sooo beautifully yin and yang! And the second victim of this relentless tragedy whose orgins go back to the Flintstones?
"Born in the US as David Axelrod, he changed his name to David Ha'Ivri, or David the Hebrew. As director of the Shomron Liaison Office, Ha'Ivri has become a spokesman [a Mark Regev?] for settlers and has travelled to Australia** and elsewhere to enlist support for them. As I stand with him watching a ceremony he has organised to mark the end of the freeze, he looks anything but a victim. He doesn't have to endure 5am intimidation from settlers."
Er, John, could it be he doesn't look like a victim because he isn't? Just asking.
"But his home is in doubt. He lives in a small settlement, and if Israel signs an agreement with the Palestinians, Ha'Ivri will probably have to leave."
Shucks. Definitely a victim. Like the Zucker baby.
"So life goes on in the West Bank. The only common ground is the disputed [!] rocky and sandy ground we're standing on, which has absorbed so much blood and may absorb much more yet."
What a tragedy! So, John, you a betting man? Whose blood do you reckon that stony ground's going to absorb, Jaber's or Ha'Ivri's? What's that? Both? Oh, yes, the formula...
[*"Ha'Ivri was in Australia as a guest of Australian Friends of Gush Katif & the Shomron - a small organization that encourages Jewish people to settle across the biblical land of Israel, and which strongly opposed the disengagement from Gaza. During Ha'Ivri's visit, he met community leaders, journalists and Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby." (Another side of the debate, The Australian Jewish News, 2/11/09)]
PS (10/10/10): In its AJN 'Media Week' column of 8/10/10, taking issue with Lyons' piece, AIJAC's Jamie Hyams writes, "Article 49 only applies to the forced transfer of population, such as the Nazis perpetrated, and therefore has not been breached by Israel." Don't you just love Zionist lawyering? In The Case for Palestine: An International Law Perspective (1990), John Quigley writes, "The Geneva Convention requires an occupying power to change the existing order as little as possible during its tenure... To [Israel's claim that its settlement policy in the occupied territories doesn't breach Article 49] it was replied that Israel funded the settlements and that it had used the IDF to establish many of them. One particular use was that the government placed many recent immigrants in the settlements." (pp 177-178)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Once Were Radicals
Meredith Burgmann, one time anti-Apartheid activist, long time Labor member of the NSW Legislative Council (1991-2007), and now president of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), typifies the career politician for whom toeing the party line has become second nature.
Having secured a place as NGO representative on the Australian delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Millenium Development Goals, she writes, in a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, "It has given me a unique opportunity to see the Australian delegation undertaking its international obligations for the first time under the leadership of [now foreign minister] Kevin Rudd." (Rudd's finest hour could be yet to come, 30/9/10)
Not to mention a unique opportunity to participate in the ritual giving of the finger to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "I have participated in some political walkouts in my time, but none have matched the thrill of being part of the Australian walkout at the United Nations in the middle of the speech by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, alleging the September 11 attacks were an American conspiracy."
The Australian walkout?
As distinct from the American-orchestrated walkout? Who is she kidding?
Nor, as Burgmann claims, did the Iranian leader allege the September 11 attacks were an American conspiracy. If she had stayed, she might have heard Ahmadinejad outline 3 viewpoints on the subject and ask, pertinently: "Assuming the viewpoint of the American government, is it rational to launch a classic war through widespread deployment of troops that led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people to counter a terrorist group?"
In addition, she might have listened to his equally pertinent words on the subject of Palestine:
"The oppressed people of Palestine have lived under the rule an occupying regime for 60 years, and been deprived of freedom, security and the right to self-determination, while the occupiers are given recognition. On a daily basis, the houses are being destroyed over the heads of innocent women and children. People are deprived of water, food and medicine in their own homeland. The Zionists have imposed 5 all-out wars on the neighboring countries and on the Palestinian people. The Zionists committed the most horrible crimes against defenseless people in the wars against Lebanon and Gaza. The Zionist regime attacked a humanitarian flotilla in blatant defiance of all international norms and killed civilians. This regime, which enjoys the absolute support of some western countries, regularly threatens the countries in the region and continues publicly announced assassinations of Palestinian figures and others, while Palestinian defenders and those opposing this regime are pressured, and labelled as terrorists and anti-Semites. All values, even the freedom of expression in Europe and the US are being sacrificed on the altar of Zionism. Solutions are doomed to fail because the right of the Palestinian people is not taken into account. Would we have witnessed such horrendous crimes if, instead of recognizing the occupation, the sovereign right of the Palestinian people had been recognized? Our unambiguous proposition is the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the reference to the vote of the people of Palestine to exercise their sovereignty and decide on the type of governance."
While Labor luvvies such as Burgmann shed few tears over Palestinians (at least that I'm aware of) they can get quite dewy-eyed over the memory of the sainted Dr H V Evatt, Labor foreign minister from 1941-1949, and chairman of the UN committee which proposed the partition of Palestine in 1947, arguably the dodgiest and most fateful colonial manoeuvre of modern times. Observing Rudd on the run, Burgmann fancies she's seeing a reincarnation of this Labor legend:
"As I watched Rudd pursue his relentless schedule of meetings it reminded me of a predecessor in the foreign affairs portfolio, Herbert Vere Evatt, during the early years of the UN. I wrote my masters thesis on Evatt and his fight to empower the small-and middle-sized nations at the UN. Evatt also punched above his weight. It seems to me there is much of Evatt's legacy in Rudd - burning passion, unlimited capacity for hard work, obsession with accountability and concern for the underdog. Perhaps, like Evatt, he will find his greatness in being foreign minister rather than being leader of the Labor Party."
Burgmann may be on to something here. Yet how typical of your Labor apparatchik to leave out Rudd's Zionism. This too harks back to Evatt, the name Rudd routinely drops at Zionist tea parties (See my 14/3/08 post The Israeli Occupation of Federal Parliament 3).
Certainly, the following account of Evatt playing to a Zionist crowd in Sydney in 1949 contains more than an echo of Rudd's shameless claim that 'support for Israel is in my DNA':
"Dr H V Evatt's speech in the Paddington Town Hall, where he was given an enthusiastic welcome by Sydney's Zionist community, attracted a big audience. One could sense the happiness of the speaker when he gave his report on the part which Australia played in the ups and downs of events which led, in 1947, to UNO's decision to partition Palestine, and recently to the 'full recognition' of the State of Israel by Australia and other States. Several speakers expressed in dignified variations their sincere thanks to Dr Evatt for his great contribution to the settlement of the thorny problem of Palestine. One does not miss the mark if the motives for Dr Evatt's championship of the Jewish cause are ascribed primarily to his righteousness and sense of justice. By avocation a judge, Dr Evatt was perhaps more qualified than other members of the UNO Assembly to go into the roots of the Jewish problem. Having gained the conviction that our cause is a just one he upheld the principles which guided his judgment against all our adversaries. That he did not yield to temptations of expediency and opportunism although pressed by [British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ernest] Bevin's heavy political weight, will be gratefully recorded in the annals of Jewish history. It is noteworthy that Dr Evatt did not once mention Bevin's name throughout his address... From some of his remarks it became evident that our Minister of Foreign Affairs was well aware of the currents and cross-currents within the Australian people concerning the Palestinian problem. In this connection he paid special tribute to [Anglican Judeophile] Bishop Pilcher's upright stand for the cause of the Jews. The gathering was deeply touched when Dr Evatt respectfully referred to President Dr Weizmann, who in spite of his state of ill-health appeared before the UNO as spokesman of his people. When Mr Steigrad in his vote of thanks characterised Dr Evatt's speech as 'intimate, free and friendly', all listeners acclaimed the guest of honour who appeared to be as happy as only the righteous man can be. The friendly tone in which Dr Evatt referred to the leaders of the Sydney Zionists indicated his pleasure at their satisfaction with the course of the events." (Sydney's Jewish Community, Staedter & Kimmel, 1953, pp 87-88)
The amazing thing is though, whereas Evatt could perhaps be excused as having been too much under the influence of the Eurocentrism and colonialism of the time to fully grasp what he was aiding and abetting, Rudd, over 6 decades later, with the enormity of the crime which is apartheid Israel exposed for all to see, has no such excuse. Burgmann's silence on this aspect of the Evatt legacy does her little credit.
Having secured a place as NGO representative on the Australian delegation to the United Nations Conference on the Millenium Development Goals, she writes, in a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, "It has given me a unique opportunity to see the Australian delegation undertaking its international obligations for the first time under the leadership of [now foreign minister] Kevin Rudd." (Rudd's finest hour could be yet to come, 30/9/10)
Not to mention a unique opportunity to participate in the ritual giving of the finger to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "I have participated in some political walkouts in my time, but none have matched the thrill of being part of the Australian walkout at the United Nations in the middle of the speech by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, alleging the September 11 attacks were an American conspiracy."
The Australian walkout?
As distinct from the American-orchestrated walkout? Who is she kidding?
Nor, as Burgmann claims, did the Iranian leader allege the September 11 attacks were an American conspiracy. If she had stayed, she might have heard Ahmadinejad outline 3 viewpoints on the subject and ask, pertinently: "Assuming the viewpoint of the American government, is it rational to launch a classic war through widespread deployment of troops that led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people to counter a terrorist group?"
In addition, she might have listened to his equally pertinent words on the subject of Palestine:
"The oppressed people of Palestine have lived under the rule an occupying regime for 60 years, and been deprived of freedom, security and the right to self-determination, while the occupiers are given recognition. On a daily basis, the houses are being destroyed over the heads of innocent women and children. People are deprived of water, food and medicine in their own homeland. The Zionists have imposed 5 all-out wars on the neighboring countries and on the Palestinian people. The Zionists committed the most horrible crimes against defenseless people in the wars against Lebanon and Gaza. The Zionist regime attacked a humanitarian flotilla in blatant defiance of all international norms and killed civilians. This regime, which enjoys the absolute support of some western countries, regularly threatens the countries in the region and continues publicly announced assassinations of Palestinian figures and others, while Palestinian defenders and those opposing this regime are pressured, and labelled as terrorists and anti-Semites. All values, even the freedom of expression in Europe and the US are being sacrificed on the altar of Zionism. Solutions are doomed to fail because the right of the Palestinian people is not taken into account. Would we have witnessed such horrendous crimes if, instead of recognizing the occupation, the sovereign right of the Palestinian people had been recognized? Our unambiguous proposition is the return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the reference to the vote of the people of Palestine to exercise their sovereignty and decide on the type of governance."
While Labor luvvies such as Burgmann shed few tears over Palestinians (at least that I'm aware of) they can get quite dewy-eyed over the memory of the sainted Dr H V Evatt, Labor foreign minister from 1941-1949, and chairman of the UN committee which proposed the partition of Palestine in 1947, arguably the dodgiest and most fateful colonial manoeuvre of modern times. Observing Rudd on the run, Burgmann fancies she's seeing a reincarnation of this Labor legend:
"As I watched Rudd pursue his relentless schedule of meetings it reminded me of a predecessor in the foreign affairs portfolio, Herbert Vere Evatt, during the early years of the UN. I wrote my masters thesis on Evatt and his fight to empower the small-and middle-sized nations at the UN. Evatt also punched above his weight. It seems to me there is much of Evatt's legacy in Rudd - burning passion, unlimited capacity for hard work, obsession with accountability and concern for the underdog. Perhaps, like Evatt, he will find his greatness in being foreign minister rather than being leader of the Labor Party."
Burgmann may be on to something here. Yet how typical of your Labor apparatchik to leave out Rudd's Zionism. This too harks back to Evatt, the name Rudd routinely drops at Zionist tea parties (See my 14/3/08 post The Israeli Occupation of Federal Parliament 3).
Certainly, the following account of Evatt playing to a Zionist crowd in Sydney in 1949 contains more than an echo of Rudd's shameless claim that 'support for Israel is in my DNA':
"Dr H V Evatt's speech in the Paddington Town Hall, where he was given an enthusiastic welcome by Sydney's Zionist community, attracted a big audience. One could sense the happiness of the speaker when he gave his report on the part which Australia played in the ups and downs of events which led, in 1947, to UNO's decision to partition Palestine, and recently to the 'full recognition' of the State of Israel by Australia and other States. Several speakers expressed in dignified variations their sincere thanks to Dr Evatt for his great contribution to the settlement of the thorny problem of Palestine. One does not miss the mark if the motives for Dr Evatt's championship of the Jewish cause are ascribed primarily to his righteousness and sense of justice. By avocation a judge, Dr Evatt was perhaps more qualified than other members of the UNO Assembly to go into the roots of the Jewish problem. Having gained the conviction that our cause is a just one he upheld the principles which guided his judgment against all our adversaries. That he did not yield to temptations of expediency and opportunism although pressed by [British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ernest] Bevin's heavy political weight, will be gratefully recorded in the annals of Jewish history. It is noteworthy that Dr Evatt did not once mention Bevin's name throughout his address... From some of his remarks it became evident that our Minister of Foreign Affairs was well aware of the currents and cross-currents within the Australian people concerning the Palestinian problem. In this connection he paid special tribute to [Anglican Judeophile] Bishop Pilcher's upright stand for the cause of the Jews. The gathering was deeply touched when Dr Evatt respectfully referred to President Dr Weizmann, who in spite of his state of ill-health appeared before the UNO as spokesman of his people. When Mr Steigrad in his vote of thanks characterised Dr Evatt's speech as 'intimate, free and friendly', all listeners acclaimed the guest of honour who appeared to be as happy as only the righteous man can be. The friendly tone in which Dr Evatt referred to the leaders of the Sydney Zionists indicated his pleasure at their satisfaction with the course of the events." (Sydney's Jewish Community, Staedter & Kimmel, 1953, pp 87-88)
The amazing thing is though, whereas Evatt could perhaps be excused as having been too much under the influence of the Eurocentrism and colonialism of the time to fully grasp what he was aiding and abetting, Rudd, over 6 decades later, with the enormity of the crime which is apartheid Israel exposed for all to see, has no such excuse. Burgmann's silence on this aspect of the Evatt legacy does her little credit.
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