The World Has become A Global Village And It Is About Time That The Village Focus On Sanity And Stability In The Middle East.
"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!"
- Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) –
Please See The Note At The End Of This Post:
The occupation debate in Israel
Daniel Levy: Most Americans are not hearing the full debate
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, THE REAL NEWS NETWORK:
Thank you for joining us for our interview with Daniel Levy. In this part of the interview we're going to discuss the debate within Israel. Daniel, there seems to be different fracture lines in Israeli society—settlements, no settlement; a greater Israel, a real two-state solution. There's even a small segment of opinion in Israel for a one-state solution that includes everyone. There's a debate, and I think a very big one, over the question of whether to have a secular state in Israel. [There are] a lot of secular people that are fed up with the control that the religious right and fundamentalists have over the Israeli state. And there's even some debate—I guess not too much among the Jewish population, but certainly amongst the non-Jewish population—whether in this day and age there should even be such a thing as a Jewish state, as opposed to a secular democratic state. Tell us the way this debate unfolds.
Daniel Levy: AIPAC aggressive positions not supported by most American Jews and Israeli opinion is split
What does it mean to be "pro-Israel"? Levy says one side ways it means to support the occupation. But there are many Jews in Israel and the US who oppose the occupation and the bellicose policies of Israel's government. AIPAC acts as if there is only one "pro-Israel" position when in fact, in the US, they represent the minority.
From The Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/12/31/israelis_consider_48_hour_truce
JERUSALEM - With its punishing air attacks on Gaza about to enter a fifth day, its gunboats gathering near the Gaza port, and its ground forces poised for imminent action, Israel said yesterday that it was considering a 48-hour cease-fire that would also require Hamas to stop its rocket fire.
The idea was in an early stage, the result of a conversation between Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France and Defense Minister Ehud Barak of Israel seeking at least a temporary pause in the fighting that would allow humanitarian relief to be delivered to the besieged coastal strip. Aides to Barak said he was interested in exploring it and would do so with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the rest of the Cabinet today.
"The leading option right now is still a ground invasion but the target of this operation is an improved cease-fire, and if that can come without the invasion, fine," said a close aide to Barak, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity because he is not Barak's authorized spokesman. "But, of course, Hamas has to agree, and there has to be a mechanism to make it work."
In Paris, where Kouchner was meeting with his European Union colleagues over the Gaza crisis, he called publicly for a permanent cease-fire. A similar call came from the so-called Quartet focused on the region - the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia.
President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made phone calls to Israeli and Arab leaders to explore prospects for halting the fighting. They emphasized that any cease-fire should be "durable and sustainable," compelling Hamas to end its rocket attacks, a State Department spokesman said.
"That is different from the cease-fire that existed in the last six months," the spokesman, Gordon Duguid, said, noting that Hamas routinely violated the previous agreement by firing rockets into southern Israel.
The flurry of diplomacy appeared to be mostly byplay in Jerusalem and Gaza, as Israeli officials spoke of a continuing and expanding military operation, and Hamas vowed to step up its resistance. Israeli warplanes attacked tunnels used to smuggle supplies in southern Gaza and destroyed the home of a top militant leader.
Olmert told the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, that the air strikes were the first of several planned phases, according to spokesmen for the officials. It was also clear that the number of targets available from the air was declining, making the likelihood of a ground offensive greater.
In Gaza, Hamas militants issued a taped statement vowing revenge for those killed in the Israeli air raids since Saturday and warning that a ground invasion would prove painful for Israel. Palestinian officials say more than 370 people have been killed - among them, the United Nations says, at least 62 women and children and an unknown number of civilian men. Two sisters, ages 4 and 11, were killed in a strike in the north as concern was growing around the world that the assault was taking a terrible toll on civilians.
"It would be easier to dry the sea of Gaza than to defeat the resistance and uproot Hamas, which is in every house of Gaza," said the statement from the military wing of Hamas. It was played on Hamas's television station, which had been shut down by an Israeli missile but went back on the air by broadcasting from a van. The statement added that if there was a ground invasion, "the children of Gaza will be collecting the body parts of your soldiers and the ruins of tanks."
Hamas continued to fire longer-range rockets at Israel, shooting deep into the city of Ashdod for a second day as well as into Beersheba, a major city in Israel's south, where one landed in an empty kindergarten. There was a report of light injuries and a number of people in shock.
Israeli warplanes, returning repeatedly to the same section of Gaza City overnight, pummeled the main government complex with about 20 missiles, locals said. The complex had been evacuated since the start of the operation Saturday, which also hit nearly all of Hamas's security complexes, its university, and other symbols of its sovereignty and power.
The Nakhala family, which lives next to the compound, was inspecting the damage yesterday morning and recounting the utter fear and panic they all felt as the missiles hit.
"We have no shelters in Gaza," said the father, Osama Nakhala. "Where shall we go? I also have to worry about my mother, who is 80 years old and paralyzed."
His 13-year-old son, Yousef, was with him. When asked his view of the situation, he took an unusual stand for someone in Gaza, where Israel is being cursed by most everyone. "I blame Hamas. It doesn't want to recognize Israel. If they did so there could be peace," he said. "Egypt made a peace treaty with Israel, and nothing is happening to them."
His brother Amjad, 16, disagreed and blamed the Palestinian president in the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, saying that he had sided with Israel.
Gaza City was entirely without electricity for the first time, the result of an air attack that hit the system's infrastructure. Repair workers said they were afraid to work because of the possibility of more raids.
The few open bakeries and grocery stores had lines stretching outside as people tried to stock up. But essentials - like diapers, baby food, bread, potatoes, and fresh vegetables - were in short supply and costlier than normal.
Israel sent in about 100 trucks with emergency supplies of food and medicine, the military reported.
At the Hassouna Bakery near Shifa Hospital, about 100 men and 50 women waited in separate lines to buy bread. Amal Altayan was telling others in the line that she kept her cellphone in her pocket so that if an Israeli missile destroyed her house she would be able to phone for help. The other women mocked her, saying that if a missile hit her house, she would be gone.
Showing familiarity with the kind of knowledge circulating in Gaza these days, Altayan replied: "It depends. If it is an F-16 I will turn into biscuits, but if it is an Apache I may have a chance."
Osama Alaf, 41, said he spent four hours waiting in line to buy bread. "I bought flour until now," he said. "I don't have cooking gas, but I make a fire out of cartons and paper and make bread that way."
Asked whom he blamed, he said, "Israel, which is slaughtering us, and whoever is cooperating with Israel, like Egypt."
Anger at Egypt has grown across the Arab and Muslim worlds because it has declined to open its border with Gaza and is seen as cooperating with Israel.
The Comments:
AND A DANGEROUS REMINDER
VOTE FOR THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR QUESTION NOW ON THE OBAMA SITE
We all understand the historical urgency and imperative of holding Bush and Cheney accountable for their grave crimes against our own country and all of humanity.
And we haven't got alot of time to move on the particular action in this alert so please go to the Obama change site TODAY (voting closes 12/31 at midnight), where there is already a question calling for a special prosecutor, and
1. Sign in at http://change.gov/openforquestions
2. Search for "Fitzgerald"
3. This will display several similar questions, so look carefully for "Bob Fertik" (who started the question)
4. Look right for the checkbox, mouseover it so it goes from white to dark, then click to cast your vote
And let's all vote for the SAME question (don't start another new one) and demonstrate to our new incoming administration that letting the crimes of the past slide without retribution is NOT an option.
THEN GET YOUR NEW CONVICT DICK & W CAP TO DEMONSTRATE WITH
As we in the White House accountability movement look forward, whether it's impeachment, federal prosecution, or state by state prosecutions as a last resort, the key work is "convict". And that is why we are introducing a new cap to wear to continue to carry the ball with that says "CONVICT DICK & W" in red, white and blue. If you want to be one of the first to get one of these new caps please submit the page below.
New Convict Dick & W Cap: http://www.usalone.com/convict_cap.php
We are not setting a price for these. You can have one for a contribution of any amount. We just want to put as many out there as possible. And we will have much more news for you soon about planned actions to pressure prosecutors at all levels to step up to the plate and do their duty.
We are in this thing for the long haul, folks. The criminal dictators of the future can only be constrained by pursuing prosecution NOW of the criminal dictators of the present and past. In some cases it has taken many years of work by dedicated activists to bring criminal former heads of state to justice.
We the people will never forget the crimes of the Bush/Cheney administration. How can we? Their willful disasters will cripple our economy, our military, every aspect of our government and our own personal lives for many years to come. But if we just continue to speak out, someday soon enough there WILL be prosecutors at some level who will have the integrity, backbone and determination to do what Congress to their eternal shame did not.
Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.
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