Bangladesh: Women power politics

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
Interview: Bangladesh urged to protect mangrove forest

www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-22 23:14:48 Print

By Huang Yanan
SUNDARBANS, Bangladesh, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi southern Sundarbans area has the largest mangrove forest in the world. But as poaching and tree cutting become common in recent years, the natural reserve is being threatened
Muhammad Shahed, assistant commissioner of Bagarhat district, 178 km southwest of capital Dhaka, told Xinhua Thursday Sundarbans needs protection. He called on the government and international community to give more concern to this.
Sundarbans is a forest reserve area, including parts of Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat districts. It is the home of Bengal Tiger with a area of about 6,000 square kilometers. According to Shahed, there are around 500 tigers, thousands of deers and other wild animals in Sundarbans.
Shahed said some poor people living nearby poach wild animals to eat, others poach rare animals for profit.
The people who live in surrounding islands are mostly poor fishermen. They use firewood to cook. The trees in Sundarbans become their target.
"Nobody is allowed to cut trees in Sundarbans," he said.
Shahed said Sundarbans is so big, the forest officers cannot monitor all the areas at the same. So that's why the people usually take the loophole to do the illegal things.
He said, "We need more people to do this job, to protect Sundarbans."
Except poaching and tree cutting, the cyclone "Sidr" which attacked Bangladesh last Thursday damaged a lot of trees in Sundarbans.
Dublar Char, one part of Sundarbans, was the first place attacked by the cyclone. Damaged trees could be seen everywhere.
Shahed said Sundarbans, a world heritage, is the country's national resource. It should be protected.
He hoped one day Sundarbans will become the world famous place for sight seeing to attract more people from home and abroad to visit.
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/
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Massive relief operation launched: US amphibious ships with 20 copters arrive, water purification plants installed; Plan to feed 25 lakh people for four months

The Government has promised to feed 2.5 million people left destitute by the super cyclone SIDR on November 15 for at least next four months, while a US Navy ship yesterday anchored off the Chittagong coast to join the relief operation.(New NationBd) • FULL STORY
Much more needed to be done for Sidr victims
Lakhs of people looking for shelters, food, water, medicine

Many of the affected people have started leaving their battered homes in search of safe water, food and shelter as their habitats, houses, green and ripe crop fields and woodlands have been turned into valley of death(Bangladesh Today) • FULL STORY
Relief Distribution in Cyclone-hit Areas
Poor coordination cause of concern

Relief efforts in the cyclone-hit districts seem to centre in areas that have been widely reported in the media while out-of-the-way places still wait to receive much-needed food and medical supplies.(Daily StarBD) • FULL STORY
Mainul at cyclone-hit Bhola: Coordinated efforts help reduce people's sufferings
"As an honest and dignified nation, we have to put in all our efforts to recover the losses caused by the cyclone."

Adviser for Law and Information Barrister Mainul Hosein said the sufferings of people in the cyclone-hit areas have been reduced to a greater extent due to coordinated efforts of the government with the local people.(New NationbD) • FULL STORY
Pakistan Army medical team reaches Barisal

A medical team of Pakistan Army equipped with ambulance, field hospital and operation theatre facilities for the SIDR affected people reached Barisal Friday noon. The 77-member Pakistan medical team led by Lt Col Shawkat of the Army Medical Corps included surgeons, physicians, heart and child specialists, nurses, paramedics and health assistants and a fully equipped 30-bed field hospital. (The New Nation ) • FULL STORY
Army chief rejects plea for lifting emergency
Relief operation has no link with politics: Moeen

Army chief General Moeen U Ahmed Friday apparently dismissed some political parties'' plea for lifting the state of emergency to make way for their effective participation in on-going relief works(News TodayBD). • FULL STORY
Khaleda challenges ACC notice on her wealth statement in HC

Detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia Thursday challenged the Anticorruption Commission's notice on her wealth statement, in a writ petition filed with the High Court, her lawyer said(Financial ExpressBD) • FULL STORY
Three Bangladeshi cattle traders were shot dead by Indian Border Security Force (BSF)

Three Bangladeshi cattle traders were shot dead by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Putkhali frontier here early Friday(News TodayBD) • FULL STORY
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Donors pledge $550m
Govt plans to repair roads, houses; save Sundarbans

Donor nations and agencies have so far pledged over $550 million in assistance for the cyclone Sidr-hit people in south and southwestern districts as the government yesterday unveiled a three-phase rehabilitation plan.(Daily StarBD) • FULL STORY

Bangladesh: Women power politics
Society + Culture
By MWC NEWS
Translation
Both the dominant parties have boycotted parliament and used protests as negotiating tactics when in opposition [AFP]
Bangladesh formed part of British India until the end of colonial rule in 1947, when it became East Pakistan.
Independence was achieved in 1971 following a nine-month guerrilla war by Bengali nationalists backed by the Indian military.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated and poorest countries in the world.
The majority of its 147 million citizens live in poverty, with over half forced to survive on less than one dollar a day.
Bangladesh is a secular nation although Muslims form a majority of its population.
What is the political situation in Bangladesh?
The country is run as a multi-party parliamentary democracy with the prime minister at the head of the government.
The two main parties are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League.
Divisions between the two have subjected the country to violent coup and countercoups.
The BNP and the Awami League have both regularly boycotted parliament and staged national strikes as negotiating tactics when in opposition.
What are the details of the current crisis?
So bitter are the political divisions in Bangladesh that one of the 13 amendments made to the constitution since 1972 stipulates that a caretaker government takes over 90 days before any election to organise the vote and ensure its impartiality.
However, after Khaleda Zia of the BNP stood down at the end of her five-year term as prime minister on October 28 last year, the political parties have clashed over the appointment of the interim administration and at least 25 people have been killed.
Bangladesh
SIZE:
144,000sq km
POPULATION:
147 million, growing by 2% a year
LANGUAGE:
Bangla or Bengali, also spoken in eastern India
RELIGION:
Muslim (Sunni) 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1%
ECONOMY:
Agriculture (rice, jute, tea) - 25% of GDP;
Industry (garments, jute goods, frozen fish) - 26% of GDP
INCOME:
GDP per capita (at purchasing power parity) $2,100

Iajuddin Ahmed, the president, took over as head of the caretaker government but a 19-party opposition alliance, led by the Awami League, accused the temporary administration of favouring the BNP and organised a series of protests and nationwide strikes.
The resulting violence has so far left 45 people dead.
The Awami League and its leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed has claimed the voter list for the election has flaws, including fake names.
Earlier this month, the Awami League-led opposition alliance said it would boycott elections scheduled for January 22 unless the caretaker government met two main demands – the resignation of Ahmed and the revision of the voter list.
The alliance is also demanding the use of transparent ballot boxes and the removal of about 345 field-level election officials it alleges are biased towards Zia.
Last month, the US-based National Democratic Institute's Dhaka office said in a report that 10m names on the current voting list were "errors" or duplications - representing 13 per cent of the country's 93m voters.
The UN and the European Union election observation mission have also suspended activities and support for the country, citing lack of legitimacy of the balloting.
On January 11, in the wake of mass protests and the threat of more violent demonstrations ahead of the vote by supporters of the opposition, Iajuddin stood down as leader of the interim government, postponing the elections.
He also declared a state of emergency, imposing an indefinite nighttime curfew.
Who are the principal players?
Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League leader [EPA]
The current crisis is linked to the personal enmity between the female leadership of the Awami League and the BNP, as well as a longstanding disagreement over the country’s declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The Awami League says it was the party's late supreme leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father, who declared the nation independent over state radio before being arrested by Pakistani troops.
But the BNP rejects this claim and say it was Khaleda's late husband, army major Ziaur Rahman, who proclaimed independence.
Mujib subsequently became Bangladesh's first president and later the prime minister by popular vote in 1973.
He was killed, along with most of his family, in a military coup in August 1975.
After a period of political turbulence, Ziaur Rahman came to power and went on to win presidential elections before he was also killed in an coup in 1981.
Lieutenant-General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, the army chief, seized power in 1982, suspending the constitution and imposing martial law. But popular protests and general strikes led by Khaleda and Hasina resulted in his resignation in 1991.
Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP [EPA]
Since unifying their forces to topple Ershad, however, the two women have been political rivals.
So far, Khaleda has been prime minister twice and Hasina once.
What will happen now?
After his resignation as head of the caretaker government, Iajuddin swore in Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former governor of Bangladeshi's central bank, as the interim leader.
Under the constitution, the state of emergency suspends the fundamental rights of citizens, including holding rallies and protests and restrictions have been put on the media.
The night-time curfew passed without incident following the resignation announcement on Thursday, and there are now hopes that the violence may subside.
As most of the presidential advisers resigned along with Iajuddin, it is unlikely that elections will proceed as scheduled.
Government officials have said it could take months for a new vote to be organised.

Disease deaths in Bangladesh
SCI-TECH
By Agencies

Flood-affected people continue to wait for aid amid threats of water-borne disease [AFP]
At least two people have reportedly died from water-borne disease in cyclone-ravaged Bangladesh.

The diarrhoea deaths are said to have occurred in the district of Patuakhali on Wednesday, the Daily Star newspaper in Dhaka, the capital, reported, quoting local health officials.

Government officials were not immediately available to confirm the newspaper report.

Food, fresh water and shelter were still not within the reach of many of the survivors, six days after Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh.

The town of Ashar Char, on the southern tip of Bangladesh's coastline with the Bay of Bengal, took the full force of the storm and suffered heavy casualties.
Some 241 people have been buried and more than 500 are still missing, feared dead, according to Jahandir Alam, a local government official.
Despite the huge loss of life, basic day-to-day needs are an immediate concern as local residents wait for desperately needed food.
"The last six days we spent cooking rotten rice," Abdul Gafur, a resident, said.
"[Until now] we have not received any aid from anyone. No boat came to us as most of them had been damaged or washed away."
Ripon Molla, a fisherman, said: "Even our market which before was full of food items has been wiped out."
'National calamity'
In a televised speech on Tuesday, Fakhruddin Ahmed, Bangladesh's interim leader, described the cyclone as "a national calamity" and urged citizens to help the affected people.
Ahmed said: "The destruction of houses, roads, trees and crops by the hurricane is unimaginable."
He also said that around 3,000 army soldiers, two cargo aircraft, 12 helicopters and 10 ships were working to distribute aid to survivors.
Menwhile, the government said international aid worth about $120 million had so far been promised.
General Moeen Ahmed, the head of the army, tried to reassure villagers that aid was on its way during a visit to some of the worst affected areas.
"Not a single man shall die without food as the government has sufficient stock of foodstuffs," he said.
He pledged to set up a "floating hospital" to provide urgent medical treatment, including surgery.
The death toll stands at least 3,500, but officials say that many people were missing and that the number was expected to rise.
It is feared that the final toll could be between 5,000 and 10,000.
The UN Children's Fund (Unicef), estimated that nearly half of those affected by the disaster were children, an estimated 400,000 of them under the age of five.
Significant damage
Douglas Casson Coutts, the World Food Programme representative for Bangladesh, said the extent of the devastation would make it difficult for people to rebuild their lives.
"There is significant damage to the infrastructure. There will definitely have to be longer term assistance to get people on their feet again," he said.
Heather Blackwell, the Bangladesh head of the British aid group Oxfam, said: "People here are resilient. However, the scale is such that it will take months for people to be able to return to their normal lives."

Naroda Patiya to Nandigram
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
/III.
http://www.indianex press.com/ story/241952. html

Naroda Patiya to Nandigram
Pamela Philipose
Posted online: Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST

It is inevitable that when large-scale violence, which has the open or tacit support of the state, takes place, Gujarat 2002 is recalled — just as Gujarat 2002 itself drew parallels with Delhi 1984. Such comparisons, by their very nature, are hasty, casual and therefore not wholly accurate, even though politicians belonging to the three major national parties, which have in their own ways presided over these three blots on India’s recent history, are partial to making such comparisons. They do this in a bid to absolve themselves of their own responsibilities as actors in such orgies of violence and to appear morally superior and politically more credible than their rivals.
There are significant differences between the violence in Nandigram and Gujarat of course. For one, the violence in Nandigram was confined — as CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat underlined — to one block of West Bengal. The 2002 killings in Gujarat, in contrast, were far more widespread — according to a state intelligence bureau report, communal violence had affected 24 of the 25 districts in Gujarat, although of course it was in places like Naroda Patiya that it was concentrated. Gujarat’s violence also involved a hugely greater number of people, and had a communal focus rather than the more defused targeting of those perceived to be political opponents, as in Nandigram. So when the CPM leadership attacks the NHRC for terming Nandigram the “worst scar on the face of the nation” and says that “superficial comparisons with Nandigram tend to undermine and trivialise the trauma and the suffering of the Muslim minorities in Gujarat”, it has half a point.
Having said that, there are disturbing commonalities too, and not just in the fact that the two political parties — the CPM and the BJP — claim to be parties with a difference. The first commonality is, of course, the sheer scale of the domination that both parties have exercised, and continue to exercise, over their respective states: West Bengal and Gujarat. Of course the BJP in Gujarat is still a long way from achieving 30 years of uninterrupted rule, which the CPM has managed to do in Bengal; but 12 years and three consecutive and handsome election victories is almost halfway there. The important point to note is the relatively unassailable electoral entrenchment both parties have achieved in these states: in the 2002 Gujarat assembly election, the BJP won 126 out of 182 seats; in the 2006 West Bengal assembly election, the CPM-led front swept to power in 233 out of 293 constituencies.
There is a logic to such overwhelming dominance — and this brings us to the second commonality: the impunity with which both state governments have chosen to run their show. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’ s chief-ministerial arrogance finds an eerie echo in the Narendra Modi model. Both men incidentally claim that they are doing this for the greater good, progress and growth of their states, and have, in fact, the figures to prove this claim. Both chief ministers have emerged as exemplars in administrative acumen, and are committed to making their regions investment friendly by cutting down on red tape and working to root out endemic corruption. But impunity also means that many deemed to be “outside” the periphery of the government’s interests remain isolated, with their welfare unaddressed. A recent report by Neera Chandhoke et al in the Economic and Political Weekly, on those displaced by riots in Ahmedabad, points out that while Modi claims to speak for all of Gujarat’s citizens, “‘representation’ happens to be a deeply problematic concept”. It goes on to observe that the Gujarat government has done “practically nothing” for those affected by the 2002 pogrom, adding, “It is clear that for the present government these families do not form an integral part of Gujarati society and politics, they have been expelled both spatially and socially to the margins of the city.”
For the West Bengal government, representation is defined in party terms. When Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, speaking as CM from Writers’ Building, justified the bloody actions of CPM cadres, said that they were only “paying them back in their own coin”, he may not have immediately recalled how another chief minister had explained away the widespread murder and mayhem that followed Godhra in a startingly similar fashion. Clearly, chief ministers who are less certain of power, more dependent on cultivating the oppositional space, more fearful of being swept out of their chairs, would not employ the language of Us versus The Other in this fashion. It is the impunity that comes from assured and uninterrupted power that prompts such a stance.
An extensive patronage network and cadre base built up over the years, is the third commonality to note. If the Sangh Parivar provided the muscle and support base for the BJP in Gujarat, and ensured sufficient numbers of hewers of wood and throwers of gas cylinders to create mayhem in Gujarat in 2002, the CPM has over 30 years of power in Bengal created a formidable cadre that has become increasingly lumpenised, criminalised, armed and parasitical on the state. They have come to exercise absolute control over every aspect of people’s lives at the grassroots in West Bengal today.
Finally, there is the fourth similiarity: a clear disdain for institutions and institutional correctives. The Modi government fed the National Human Rights Commission a tissue of falsehoods when it came inquiring into the Gujarat pogrom. The ‘official version’ did not even have a mention of the role played by the VHP and Bajrang Dal. The state government also attacked the Election Commissioner and the man who headed it, when it sought to update post-pogrom electoral rolls and raised diversionary arguments before a Supreme Court concerned about the Gujarat events. Today, the CPM is displaying a similar hypersensitivity to the adverse comment being made on its conduct of the Nandigram events, whether it was from the governor, the Calcutta High Court or, indeed, the NHRC.
The CPM can explain to whoever is prepared to listen that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is not Narendra Modi, that Nandigram is not Gujarat. But the record shows disturbing similitudes that the party cannot air-brush out of the frame. It would need great introspection and much wisdom to set that record straight.
III.
http://www.merinews .com/catFull. jsp?articleID= 127949

Nandigram: Buddhadeb does a Narendra Modi
Rishabh Srivastava, 22 November 2007, Thursday

The ruling CPM party in West Bengal clearly believes that Nandigram is an issue over which it has the final say and upon which other institutions of governance have no standing to comment. It believes Parliament has nothing to do with Nandigram!

BRINDA KARAT, when interviewed recently by Karan Thapar, who played the ‘Devil’s Advocate’, revealed the ugliness that lies beneath her fair skin. To refresh everyone’s memory, it was Brinda Karat, who in the run up to the State- sponsored civil war on Nanidgram, had called for a dose of “dum dum dawai” or mob lynching. When asked about the rape of a woman in Nandigram by CPM cadres, she talked of some stringent action against the culprits. By stringent action against the culprit, she was not referring to the action that would be taken against the rapists but the action that would be taken against the doctor who examined the victim!

Events in Nandigram and Kolkata over the past year (and especially in the last fortnight) reveal much about the conflicting conceptions of the rule of law and governance in contemporary India. The ruling CPM party in West Bengal clearly believes that Nandigram is an issue over which it has the final say and upon which other institutions of governance have no standing to comment. In recent days, the CPM is reported to have asked the Parliament to stay away from the issue because it is a ’State subject’. CPM considers Nandigram its own property. Its party cadres have taken control of the land by forcing the villagers to toe their line; the common man’s land would remain with the CPM and they would hand over the land to industries that are planning to set up SEZs here. What an irony! The left parties always talked about people’s rights. Now they are snatching it by force. This is hypocrisy and fascism on the part of Karat.

I quote from Barkha Dutt’s article which was recently published in ‘Hindustan Times’. Here are excerpts from Dutt’s piece: "This time the violence has unfolded behind a veil of intrigue and secrecy. Unlike in March, when an entire country watched horrified as police guns pummelled unarmed villagers with bullets and bulldozed their way through Nandigram, this week Marxist foot soldiers made sure that blockades and threats and the stealth of the night would keep them protected from public gaze. But, as horror stories managed to break through the shroud of silence — bone chilling stories of rape, plunder and murder — the West Bengal chief minister gave away the game himself. With the transparent aggression that marks a man with a guilty conscience, he flared up in rare anger and told journalists that the protestors in Nandigram had been “paid back in their own coin.”

Background: The Nandigram SEZ controversy, which led to the Nandigram massacre, started when the West Bengal government decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ provisions, at Nandigram, a rural area in the district of Purba Medinipur. The villagers took over the administration of the area and all the roads to the villages were cut off. The administration was directed to break the Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee’s (BUPC) resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation with at least 3,000 policemen was launched on March 14, 2007. However, prior information of the impending action had leaked out to the BUPC which amassed a crowd of roughly 2,000 villagers at the entry points to Nandigram with women and children lining up in front. In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed.

Industrialisation versus livelihood is a subject of intense debate. In a democracy, such debates should be sorted out by persuasion. If the government thinks an SEZ in Nandigram is in the larger interest of the State, it should convince the protesters to see reason. The use of force will send the wrong message. The police over-reacted by opening fire and killing people who no doubt were indulging in stone throwing and other violent activities. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should defuse the explosive situation which is threatening to go out of control.

The major problem has been the total failure of the police network and police support for the ruling party activists. Presently, a large number of Nandigram residents have been forced to live in camps. The Trinamool Congress and the ruling communist parties are blaming each other for this problem; however, the biggest casualty is the village community of Nandigram; these people have been victimized in their own country by their own government.

Democracy and human rights are nowhere visible at Nandigram. Media persons are not allowed; opposition leaders are heckled and police personnel stay away. This is the situation in a part of the world’s largest democracy. Human right activists have compared the Nandigram violence to Gujarat riots.

Is Nandigram 2007 similar to Gujarat 2002? Such comparisons are not realistic. Every crime is horrifying in its own way. Yet there is something outrageous about the way in which the CPM is trying to evade responsibility for the blunder it committed in Nandigram. The ones who were pointing guns at the culprits behind Gujarat violence now find themselves in the "same nappy." The so-called "communal forces" are now targeting the so-called "secular forces" for sweeping the crime under the carpet. Ironically, the majority of the victims are from a minority community. It seems that the vote bank doesn’t matter here for the Congress; or for some other reason, the Congress has refrained from answering questions on Nandigram.

If the BJP’s Narendra Modi who responds to riots within 48 hours is called a “Modern Day Nero”, what title will the sanctimonious conscience-keepers confer on this chief minister of Bengal who has slept over the complete breakdown of government and constitution in Nandigram? If spontaneous riots and mob hysteria in Gujarat are termed a holocaust by our lame duck Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, why is he at a loss for words to describe the pre-meditated acts of war in Nanidgram that have been waged with the active connivance of the Police and the CPI-M?

The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been taking us for a ride with her sweet-talks on minoritism. The next time the Congress brings up the Sachar Report and the Prime Minister talks about equity for Muslims as reasons to seek votes, we should remind them of that one word that never crossed their lips - Nandigram!

Apartheid Israel killing Arab Infants
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
China calls for early warning system to stabilize oil supplies

www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-24 23:17:33 Print

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC)on Saturday urged local commerce bureaus to set up and improve early warning system amid efforts to stabilize domestic oil supplies.
Many filling stations across the country are experiencing shortages.
Experts have said that the government should reform the oil pricing mechanism to reflect international levels and allow oil firms to transfer the cost to customers.
The MOC ordered local commerce authorities to closely monitor the oil market and set up and improve early warning system to tackle emergency fuel shortages.
The commerce bureaus should urge local refineries to increase and rationally distribute fuel supplies, the MOC said in a notice.
The MOC called on China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), the nation's two largest oil producers, to go all out to ensure the fuel supplies.
The fuel shortages have been eased to some extent after the price hikes early this month, but many regions still face tight diesel supply, according to the notice.
China raised the prices of gasoline, diesel and aviation kerosene by 500 yuan (67.6 U.S. dollars) per ton, almost a 10 percent rise, starting from November 1.

News Update from Citizens for Legitimate Government
23 Nov 2007
http://www.legitgov.org/
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news
U.S. Navy steps up fuel deliveries to Gulf forces 23 Nov 2007 The U.S. military has stepped up chartering of tankers and requests for extra fuel in the U.S. Central Command area, which includes the Gulf, shipping and oil industry sources say. A Gulf oil industry source said the charters suggested there would be high naval activity, possibly including a demonstration to Iran that the U.S. Navy will protect the Strait of Hormuz oil shipping route during tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Please forward this update to anyone you think might be interested. Those who'd like to be added to the Newsletter list can sign up: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg.
Please write to: signup@legitgov.org for inquiries.
_._,_.___
Palestinian Genocide
Editorial
By Gideon Polya
Apartheid Israel killing Arab Infants
MWC NEWS readers would no doubt have been shocked at the recent MWC News report of the dreadful circumstances of Palestinian Children under the heel of Racist Zionist Apartheid Israel (see “One third of Palestinians “food insecure”; MWC News, March 22 2007 ). However it is very important to estimate the actual bottom-line mortality consequences of the Racist Zionist Palestinian Genocide.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Division provide up-dated demographic data from which we can estimate that the post-invasion excess deaths (avoidable deaths, deaths that did not have to happen) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories now total 0.3 million and the post-invasion under-5 infant deaths total 0.2 million. However what is the CURRENT position in relation to the avoidable deaths of Arab children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory?
UNICEF data (2005 figures) inform that the “annual under-5 infant death rate” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is 23 deaths/1,000 births as compared to 6 in Apartheid Israel proper and in its staunch supporter Racist White Australia. Accordingly the “annual avoidable under-5 infant death rate” is 23 – 6 = 17 deaths/1,000 births.
UN Population Division data indicate that the population of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is 3,762,000 and the annual birth rate is 37.5/1,000 of population. Accordingly the annual number of births is 37.5 x 3,762 = 141,075.
Using the above information we can calculate that the “annual under-5 infant deaths” in the OPT = 23 x 141.075 = 3,245 and that the “AVOIDABLE annual under-5 infant deaths” in the OPT = 17 x 141.075 = 2,398.
What do these numbers mean?
The Racist Zionist justification for the continuing Occupation by Apartheid Israel is “terror”. Taking the Racist Zionists (RZs) at their word we can turn to the official site of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerned with “terrorism deaths in Israel”.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs site states that “from 1920 through 1999, a total of 2,580 residents of Mandatory Palestine and, since 1948, the State of Israel fell victims to hostile enemy action; in most cases, terrorist attacks” and “1,130 people have been killed by Palestinian violence and terrorism since September 2000.” Deducting the pre-1949 deaths specified on this site yields post-1948 Israeli deaths from “terrorism” as 2,646.
Thus EACH YEAR nearly as many Occupied Palestinian under-5 year old infants die AVOIDABLY as have Israeli victims of “terrorism” over the LAST SIXTY (60) YEARS.
Further, we can estimate that so far in the first 7 years of this century the total AVOIDABLE Occupied Palestinian under-5 infant deaths total about 17,000, over 6 times the number of Israelis killed by “terrorism” over the last 60 years. And, of course, one notes that “avoidable under-5 infant deaths” is just one component (albeit a major component) of the “total avoidable deaths”.
Who is responsible?
What Catholic theologians call the Natural Law says that the Ruler is responsible for the Ruled. This is stated in greater detail by the Internationally-agreed Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which unequivocally insists that the Occupier is obliged “to the fullest extent of the means available to it” to preserve the health and lives of its Conquered subjects. Thus the following excerpts:
Article 38- “ the situation of protected persons shall continue to be regulated, in principle, by the provisions concerning aliens in time of peace. In any case, the following rights shall be granted to them: … 5. Children under fifteen years, pregnant women and mothers of children under seven years shall benefit by any preferential treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.”
Article 55 – “To the fullest extent of the means available to it the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population; it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical stores and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate …”
Article 56 – “To the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring and maintaining, with the cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics. Medical personnel of all categories shall be allowed to carry out their duties …”

Conclusions
Racist Zionist Apartheid Israel steadfastly refuses to meet its obligations as an Occupier under the Geneva Conventions and this deliberate refusal is associated with horrendous avoidable deaths of the Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the annual avoidable under-5 infant deaths alone totalling about 2,400.
The UN Genocide Convention Article II defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. Apartheid Israel, with the support of Racist Zionist-perverted Western nations, is clearly involved in a slow Palestinian Genocide.
Racism is indefensible and Genocide the worst of crimes. Racist Zionist (RZ)-ruled Apartheid Israel (AI) is deliberately killing SEVEN ARAB INFANT DAILY. The Gaza Strip has become a Concentration Camp for Palestinians run by Western -backed Apartheid Israel. About half of the Palestinians are Children and three quarters Women and Children.
Jews, Americans, Anglo-Celts – indeed anyone – who deny, ignore, minimize, excuse, obfuscate, support, advocate or are otherwise complicit in gross abuses of Women and Children (as in the Palestinian Genocide) – or indeed of anyone - have crossed the line between decent humanity and proto-Nazi barbarism. Intra-national and inter-national Sanctions and Boycotts (successful in bringing down the Apartheid régime in South Africa) must be urgently applied to halt the genocidal crimes of US-Israeli State Terrorism (USIST), Israeli S tate terrorism (IST), Racist Zionism (RZ) and Apartheid Israel (AI).
Dr Gideon Polya, MWC News Chief political editor, published some 130 works in a 4 decade scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London, 2003), and is currently writing a book on global mortality ---
Other articles by this author
Palestinians Targeted With Death Threats | Print | E-mail
Human Rights
By HRW
Iraqi Government Must Protect Besieged Community
Shi`a armed groups have threatened to kill Palestinian refugees living in Baghdad if they do not leave Iraq within 72 hours, said Human Rights Watch.
Human Rights Watch urged the Iraqi government and the Multi-National Forces to investigate these threats and provide greater security to Palestinians in Iraq.

A new leaflet obtained by Human Rights Watch and bearing the name of the Al-Bayt Revenge Brigade – Rapid Response Units states that “there is no place for Palestinians in the Iraq of Ali, Hassan, and Hussain.” The names refer to three revered Shi`a imams; in contrast, virtually all Palestinians are Sunni Muslim. The leaflet also warns that “our swords can reach necks” and urges Palestinians to leave within 72 hours and “fight occupation in your own country,” referring to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

According to Baghdad residents, trucks with loudspeakers passed through the al-Dura neighborhood on September 25 and September 30 issuing death threats against Palestinians.

“These death threats to Palestinians underscore the constant violence against Palestinian refugees in Iraq in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s government,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The Iraqi government and international forces in Iraq must take urgent steps to protect this community at risk.”
These death threats to Palestinians underscore the constant violence against Palestinian refugees in Iraq in the aftermath of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s government. The Iraqi government and international forces in Iraq must take urgent steps to protect this community at risk.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

Armed groups in Iraq have killed dozens of Palestinian refugees since 2003. Last month, Human Rights Watch documented killings, threats of violence and other security concerns of the estimated 34,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq in the report, “Nowhere to Flee: The Perilous Situation of Palestinians in Iraq”.

Over the past two years, successive Iraqi governments have done little to protect Palestinian refugees and have often displayed open hostility to them, claiming they are involved in terrorism and supporting the insurgency. Officials in Iraq’s ministry of interior have arbitrarily arrested, beaten, tortured and, in a few cases, been implicated in the forcible disappearance of Palestinian residents. Moreover, the interior ministry has imposed onerous registration requirements on Palestinians, forcing them to constantly renew short-term residency permits. The ministry also subjects Palestinians to harassment rather than affording them the treatment they are entitled to because of their status as refugees, which was formally recognized by the Iraqi government.

“The Iraqi government and the U.S.-led forces must provide adequate security to the Palestinian community in Baghdad,” Whitson said. “The Iraqi government has a duty to investigate and prosecute those responsible for attacks and continued threats against Palestinians.”

Human Rights Watch urged neighboring countries, including Jordan and Syria, to open their borders to Palestinian refugees fleeing Iraq. The international community should provide financial assistance to the host countries and offer third-country resettlement opportunities.

“Jordan and Syria have provided refuge to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens fleeing Iraq, but they have closed their borders to Palestinian refugees from Iraq,” Whitson said. “When neighboring countries reject Palestinians fleeing serious threats in Iraq, they are forcibly returning them to persecution.”

The Human Rights Watch report of October 2005, “A Face and a Name: Civilian Victims of Insurgent Groups in Iraq,” documented widespread unlawful attacks by insurgent groups against Iraqi and other civilians from different ethnic and religious groups.

The Course of History | Print | E-mail
Society + Culture
By MWC NEWS
Article Index
The Course of History
Page 2
Page 1 of 2
Translation

The Course of History
By Dan Lieberman

Ben Heine / MWC NEWS
A return to the natural course of history might resolve the Middle East Crisis
The Middle East crisis, originally a struggle between native Palestinians and early Zionists for control of a land, has grown into a battle between Israel and the Arab world.
A solution to the conflict has defied resolution – and for good reason – the imposition of artificial factors after World War I contradicted a course of history that predicted the Palestinians would control their destiny and form a nation in lands they had owned and occupied for centuries. This contradicted previous shaping of the Middle East which always coursed into a return of lands to native inhabitants.
The Shaping of the Middle East
Assyrian, Babylonian, Phoenician and Persian empires shaped the early Middle East and started its history. Foreign invaders – Greeks, Romans and Mongols - were eventually displaced by native movements. Indigenous Arabs ruled for centuries until being finally replaced by nomadic Turks who formed the Ottoman Empire. Each of these civilizations impelled a thrust of history that did not degenerate until the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. From the final gasp of the Turkish Empire, the victorious allies carved out a complement of nations at the end of World War I. Decades of painful struggles subdued French and British spheres of influence and the lands returned to the sovereignty of Arab peoples. After more than several decades, the borders of these nations have been accepted, except for those who want to divide Iraq, those who believe in a Greater Syria and those who don’t accept the extended Israel.
Each new Middle East nation found its peoples. Not all peoples found their nations. The Palestinians were forced to share their land with settlers from western nations, who arrived with a Zionist program – a national home for Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine and supported by the Balfour Declaration.
Balfour Declaration, 2 November, 1917
His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, 24 July, 1922
Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country...
The inhabitants of Palestine refused to accept a Balfour Declaration that lacked legal force. Nevertheless, the League of Nations’ approval of the British mandate in Palestine prevented the formation of a national Palestinian governing body. Overlooked, is that history would have pursued a less confrontational course if the early Zionists used the opportunity to solicit the North African and Middle East Jews (Mizrahim), many who considered themselves Arabs, to move to Palestine and establish a homeland together with the Palestinians. Instead the Zionists promoted the immigration of European Jews, some of whom came to work in the British administration together with Palestinians. The inordinate number of Jewish immigrants from western nations provoked a conflict. If Mizrahim had originally settled in the area, the conflict might have remained a more manageable dispute between Middle-East populations.
The two pronouncements diverted the natural course of history and unleashed hostilities that have grown with each decade and have reached a perilous state.
The Course of History
The Zionist entrance into Palestine changed the course of Middle East history and with dubious benefit. Despite the propaganda and rhetoric, an analysis of the settlement of Palestine and the creation of an Israel state does not validate a successful result of the original Zionist mission or the creation of a state that is Jewish and protects Jews. The principal result of the original Zionist agenda is that people of uncertain circumstances and favored by the Zionists have been transferred from their home countries to a new land, while people of more certain circumstances and not favored by the Zionists have been displaced from their homes. The less favored have become refugees and, in many cases, been reduced to poverty.
Relatively few Jews who consider themselves ardent Zionists have left their homes and immigrated to Israel, which means that few Jews are active Zionists. The Jews who immigrated to Israel after 1948 arrived for mainly economic and political reasons and not to fulfill a Zionist agenda. Zionism has not persuaded Jews to leave their western nations, not deterred them from greatly participating in their nations’ economic and social gains and not prevented them from integrating themselves into their nations’ cultures. The Economist (Jan.11, 2007) mentions that only 17% of American Jews today regard themselves as pro-Zionist and only 57% say that caring about Israel is a very important part of being Jewish.
Israel is the most obvious place in the world where Jews are less safe; attacks against Israel are common. A November 2003 European Union poll selected Israel as the greatest threat to world peace. Overall, 59 percent of Europeans placed Israel in the top position, ahead of Iran and North Korea. Verbal and physical attacks against Jews are increasing in many countries and the principal reason for the attacks is the antagonism towards Israel being deflected from Israel and to its Jewish supporters.
The language of force | Print | E-mail
Special Features
By MWC NEWS
Article Index
The language of force
Page 2
Page 1 of 2
Translation

The language of force
By Uri Avnery
SOON AFTER coming to power, Ariel Sharon started to commission public opinion polls. He kept the results to himself. This week, a reporter of Israel's TV Channel 10 succeeded in obtaining some of them.
Among other things, Sharon wanted to know what the public thought about peace. He did not dream of starting on this road himself, but he felt it important to be informed about the trends.
In these polls, the public was presented with a question that came close to the final Clinton Proposal and the Geneva Initiative: Are you for a peace that would include a Palestinian state, withdrawal from almost all occupied territories, giving up the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and dismantling most settlements?
The results were very instructive. In 2002, 73% (seventy three percent!) supported this solution. In the next two years, support declined, but it was still accepted by the majority. In 2005 the percentage of supporters slipped under the 50% line.
What had changed in these years?
The TV presenter painted in the context: in 2002 the second intifada had reached its climax. There were frequent attacks in Israeli cities, people were being killed. The majority in Israel preferred to pay the price of peace than to suffer the bloodshed.
Later, the intifada declined, together with the Israeli public's readiness for compromise. In 2005, Sharon carried out the "unilateral separation". It seemed to many Israelis that they could manage without an agreement with the Palestinians. The readiness for peace dropped below the half mark.
A POPULAR Israeli saying has it that "The Arabs understand only the language of force." This poll may confirm what many Palestinians think: that it is the Israelis themselves who don't understand any other language.
Both versions are true, of course.
I have often said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a clash between an irresistible force and an immovable object. A clash is a matter of force.
The present lamentable state of the Palestinians, with half of them living under occupation and the other half as refugees, is a direct result of the Palestinian defeat in the 1948 war. The first part of that war, from December 1947 to May 1948, was a clash between the Palestinian people and the Hebrew community (the "yishuv"). It resulted in a resounding defeat for the Palestinians. (When the armies of the neighboring Arab states then entered the fray, the Palestinians became irrelevant to the struggle.)
That was a military defeat, of course, but its roots extended far beyond the narrow military field. It followed from the lack of cohesion of Palestinian society at the time, its failure to set up a functioning leadership and a unified military command, to mobilize and concentrate its forces. Every region fought alone, without coordination with the next one. Abd-al-Kader Husseini in the Jerusalem area fought independently of Fawzy al-Kaukji in the North. The yishuv, in contradistinction, was unified and strictly organized, and therefore won - in spite of the fact that in numbers it was hardly equal to half the Palestinian population.
HAMAS LEADERS mock Mahmoud Abbas and his supporters in Ramallah for expecting an Israeli withdrawal without armed struggle.
They point out that even the Oslo agreement (to which they object) was achieved only after six years of the first intifada, which convinced Yitzhak Rabin that no military solution was possible.
They aver that Ehud Barak left South Lebanon in 2000 only after the resounding success of the Shiite guerillas
Their conclusion: even a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders will not come into being unless the "Palestinian resistance" inflicts on the Israelis sufficient casualties and damage to convince them that it is in their interest to withdraw from the occupied territories.
The Israelis, they say, will not give up one square inch without being compelled to do so. Sharon's poll may well reinforce them in that belief.
The people around Abbas respond by mocking Hamas for believing that they can win against Israel by force of arms.
They point to the immense superiority of Israeli forces. According to them, all the violent actions of the Palestinians have only provided Israel with a pretext to reinforce the occupation, steal more land and increase the misery of the occupied population.
And indeed, the personal situation of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is now incomparably worse that it was on the eve of the first intifada, when they could reach any place in the country, work in all Israeli towns, bathe on the Tel-Aviv sea-shore and fly from Ben-Gurion airport.
Both views contain much truth. Yasser Arafat understood this. That's why he did everything to keep the Palestinians united at any cost, encourage the Israeli peace forces and gather international support, without giving up the deterrence of the "armed struggle". He succeeded in this up to a point, and as a result was removed.
The Mother of all Pretexts | Print | E-mail
Special Features
By Uri Avnery
Article Index
The Mother of all Pretexts
Page 2
Page 1 of 2
Translation

The Mother of all Pretexts

Ben Heine/ MWC NEWS
WHEN I hear mention of the "Clash of Civilizations" I don't know whether to laugh or to cry.
To laugh, because it is such a silly notion.
To cry, because it is liable to cause untold disasters.
To cry even more, because our leaders are exploiting this slogan as a pretext for sabotaging any possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. It is just one more in a long line of pretexts.
WHY WAS the Zionist movement in need of excuses to justify the way it treated the Palestinian people?
At its birth, it was an idealistic movement. It laid great weight on its moral basis. Not just in order to convince the world, but above all in order to set its own conscience at rest.
From early childhood we learned about the pioneers, many of them sons and daughters of well-to-do and well-educated families, who left behind a comfortable life in Europe in order to start a new life in a far-away and - by the standards of the time - primitive country. Here, in a savage climate they were not used to, often hungry and sick, they performed bone-breaking physical labor under a brutal sun.
For that, they needed an absolute belief in the rightness of their cause. Not only did they believe in the need to save the Jews of Europe from persecution and pogroms, but also in the creation of a society so just as never seen before, an egalitarian society that would be a model for the entire world. Leo Tolstoy was no less important for them than Theodor Herzl. The kibbutz and the moshav were symbols of the whole enterprise.
But this idealistic movement aimed at settling in a country inhabited by another people. How to bridge this contradiction between its sublime ideals and the fact that their realization necessitated the expulsion of the people of the land?
The easiest way was to repress the problem altogether, ignoring its very existence: the land, we told ourselves, was empty, there was no people living here at all. That was the justification that served as a bridge over the moral abyss.
Only one of the Founding Fathers of the Zionist movement was courageous enough to call a spade a spade. Ze'ev Jabotinsky wrote as early as 80 years ago that it was impossible to deceive the Palestinian people (whose existence he recognized) and to buy their consent to the Zionist aspirations. We are white settlers colonizing the land of the native people, he said, and there is no chance whatsoever that the natives will resign themselves to this voluntarily. They will resist violently, like all the native peoples in the European colonies. Therefore we need an "Iron Wall" to protect the Zionist enterprise.
When Jabotinsky was told that his approach was immoral, he replied that the Jews were trying to save themselves from the disaster threatening them in Europe, and, therefore, their morality trumped the morality of the Arabs in Palestine.
Most Zionists were not prepared to accept this force-oriented approach. They searched fervently for a moral justification they could live with.
Thus started the long quest for justifications - with each pretext supplanting the previous one, according to the changing spiritual fashions in the world.
THE FIRST justification was precisely the one mocked by Jabotinsky: we were actually coming to benefit the Arabs. We shall redeem them from their primitive living conditions, from ignorance and disease. We shall teach them modern methods of agriculture and bring them advanced medicine. Everything - except employment, because we needed every job for the Jews we were bringing here, which we were transforming from ghetto-Jews into a people of workers and tillers of the soil.
When the ungrateful Arabs went on to resist our grand project, in spite of all the benefits we were supposedly bringing them, we found a Marxist justification: It's not the Arabs who oppose us, but only the "effendis". The rich Arabs, the great landowners, are afraid that the glowing example of the egalitarian Hebrew community would attract the exploited Arab proletariat and cause them to rise against their oppressors.
That, too, did not work for long, perhaps because the Arabs saw how the Zionists bought the land from those very same "effendis" and drove out the tenants who had been cultivating it for generations.
The rise of the Nazis in Europe brought masses of Jews to the country. The Arab public saw how the land was being withdrawn from under their feet, and started a rebellion against the British and the Jews in 1936. Why, the Arabs asked, should they pay for the persecution of the Jews by the Europeans? But the Arab Revolt gave us a new justification: the Arabs support the Nazis. And indeed, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, was photographed sitting next to Hitler. Some people "discovered" that the Mufti was the real instigator of the Holocaust. (Years later it was revealed that Hitler had detested the Mufti, who had no influence whatsoever over the Nazis.)
World War II came to an end, to be followed by the 1948 war. Half of the vanquished Palestinian people became refugees. That did not trouble the Zionist conscience, because everybody knew: They ran away of their own free will. Their leaders had called upon them to leave their homes, to return later with the victorious Arab armies. True, no evidence was ever found to support this absurd claim, but it has sufficed to soothe our conscience to this day.

Death of Peace Or Revival of A Palestinian Era?
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
One-third of Palestinians

IRAN: "Inevitability of US attack"

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
NO NEWS: Curious `Globe & Mail' piece suggests inevitability of US
attack on Iran
Written by Randy Talbot
Friday, 23 November 2007
http://www.ufppc. org/content/ view/6869/ 35/
A long article on page 18 of Thursday's Globe and Mail (Canada)
relates U.S. plans to unleash "[m]assive, devastating air strikes, a
full dose of `shock and awe' with hundreds of bunker-busting bombs
slicing through concrete at more than a dozen nuclear sites across
Iran" in a matter-of-fact manner, suggesting it is inevitable
that "bombing may be needed."[1] -- The article, by Paul Koring,
Washington bureau chief for the Globe and Mail, is less remarkable
for what it says than for what it does not say. -- Koring
maintains a resolute silence concerning any number of significant
facts: -- 1) The fact that such strikes would be a flagrant
violation of international law and the United Nations Charter and
would constitute an impeachable offense; -- 2) The fact that there
is no concrete evidence that the Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons; -
- 3) The fact that Israel and the Israel lobby in the U.S. are
leading voices pressing for such an attack; -- 4) The fact that
resistance to the attack that is widely reported to be building
within the Pentagon; -- 5) The fact that Vice President Dick
Cheney and the cohort of Iran hawks around him are pushing for an
attack; -- 6) The fact that appeals from onlookers like Chris
Hedges or retired U.S. Army Col. (ret.) Ann Wright or former French
Prime Minister Michel Rocard are being made to those in the U.S.
military to refuse to carry out such an attack. -- Koring's piece
also contains curious self-contradictions . -- Early on, Koring
states that "effectively destroying Iran's widely scattered and
deeply buried nuclear facilities would be . . . achievable,
according to air-power experts" who go unnamed, but in the fifth-
from-last paragraph, we read: "Whether even weeks of bombing would
cripple Iran's nuclear program cannot be known," and Koring notes in
his third paragraph that "skepticism remains about whether any
amount of bombing can substantially delay Iran's entry into the
nuclear-weapons club." -- In June 2006, Anthony Cordesman, co-
author of a book entitled Iran's Weapons of Mass Destruction, wrote
that Iran "can disperse most or all its critical technology base
well enough to survive any Israeli or U.S. attack and then rebuild
its program with scattered facilities that would be extremely
difficult to target and destroy. It can appear to agree and comply,
get as much technology and enriched fuel as possible, develop the
ability to suddenly cannibalize its `peaceful' nuclear power
program, and create another sudden `break-out' capability. It can
follow plenty of previous `retreat and cheat' models: Israel, Iraq,
North Korea, and Pakistan." -- And a report from the Oxford
Research Group in March 2007 argued that the belief that Iran will
build a nuclear bomb is likely to turn out to be a self-fulfilling
prophecy, especially if it results in illegal aggression against
Iran. -- In February 2006, the same group, which correctly
predicted the consequences of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, forecast that
such an attack "would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in
the Middle East." -- Though the Globe and Mail article seems
calculated to foster an air of inevitability about an impending
attack on Iran, it also announces that "air strikes don't seem
imminent," which makes the publication of the article, devoid of any
news, even more curious. -- BACKGROUND: We have no good
explanation for the decision of the Globe and Mail to publish this
bland form of anti-Iran propaganda, which employs the common
technique known as "card-stacking, " or selective omission, one the
seven principal techniques identified by the Institute for
Propaganda Analysis in 1938. -- In card-stacking, most or all of
the information is true, but important information is omitted. --
The Globe and Mail has not been a leading participant heretofore in
the anti-Iran propaganda campaign that has been ongoing for several
years in Western mainstream media, and has even published pieces
resisting this campaign. -- For example, in September 2007, the
Globe and Mail published a trenchant criticism of the orientalism
inherent in the attacks on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
during his visit to the United States.[2] -- (On Dec. 31, 2005,
the Globe and Mail even published an article examining the U.S.'s
1920s and 1930s war plans for conquering Canada, known as War Plan
CRIMSON, which included plans for the strategic bombing of Halifax,
Montreal, and Quebec City, and the use of chemical weapons against
Canada.) -- ON THE GLOBE AND MAIL: The prestigious Globe and Mail
is Canada's leading national newspaper (circ. 2.0m). -- It is
controlled by the richest family in Canada; the net worth of the
patriarch, Kenneth Thomson (1923-2006), was estimated by Forbes at
the time of his death at more than $20b. -- Thomson was also 2nd
Baron Thomson of Fleet; he once said: "In London I'm Lord Thomson,
in Toronto I'm Ken. I have two sets of Christmas cards and two sets
of stationery. You might say I'm having my cake and eating it
too." -- Since his death, the chairman of the Thomson Corporation
is 50-year-old David Kenneth Roy Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of
Fleet. -- As for Paul Koring, he is a Canadian journalist who has
worked as a foreign correspondent since 1980. -- He joined the
Globe and Mail in 1987, working primarily in Europe and the Middle
East. -- He covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
subsequent "revolutions" in formerly Communist Europe, including the
Slovene, Croatian, and Bosnian wars. -- He returned to Canada in
the autumn of 1995 and was based in the Ottawa bureau covering
mainly defense issues. -- In 1996 Koring took a one-year leave of
absence from the newspaper, living in Washington, D.C. -- Born in
Montreal, he was educated at the University of Toronto and New York
University.. ..
Arab leaders hold mini-summit Arab World
By Agencies

King Abdullah and Mubarak held talks at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday [AFP]
The Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders have expressed optimism over the outcome the US-sponsored conference in Annapolis next week.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, met Jordan's King Abdullah II and Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Thursday to discuss the forthcoming meeting.

Suleiman Awad, Mubarak's spokesman, said: "It is clear that President Bush and the current American administration is achieving progress that will pave the way to the establishment of the two states and an independent Palestinian state within the next year and before the end of Bush's term.

Awad said: "This is a commitment for a timetable that we hear for the first time."
He said the three leaders agreed that "the conference gives a large space for optimism".

Meanwhile, Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, has said that his country is deploying diplomatic efforts to convince Syria to attend the Annapolis summit.

"Spanish diplomacy is currently working so that Syria is present at Annapolis," he said on Thursday.
Draft revealed

The developments come as an Israeli newspaper says that a draft of the joint document that Israel and the Palestinians hope to present at the conference, shows wide gaps.

Israel has avoided mention of issues that have derailed peace talks in the past, including final borders, Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, the Haaretz said on its website on Thursday.

Dated November 17, and drafted at Jerusalem's King David Hotel, the document came complete with handwritten notes in English and Hebrew penned by negotiators in the margins.

However, many hours of negotiations have followed since that draft was written, and revisions might have been made since that date.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator identified in the report as one of its authors, denied its authenticity, but acknowledged recent negotiations "have run into serious difficulties".

Israel would not comment on the report, though officials did not dispute its authenticity.
Hamas dismissal

Amid the flurry of diplomatic developments, Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the dismissed Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, has again criticised the Annapolis conference.

"This meeting will be stillborn and will not allow the Palestinian people to win their rights or realise their political aspirations," he said on Thursday.
The previous day, Mahmoud al-Zahar, the former Palestinian foreign minister from Hamas, said that nothing positive would come from the talks.

He questioned the sincerity of the US, saying that after leaving aside the Middle East conflict for seven years, the Bush administration was now trying to "make an impression that something can be squeezed by such a meeting ... in the last moment".
Invitations sent

The US has sent out 49 invites for the November 27 talks, including to Israel, Abbas, and other Arab leaders.

Egypt and Jordan have said they will attend but it is unclear if Saudi Arabia will and Syria seems unlikely to send a senior representative, if any.

The Golan Heights is a Syrian territory occupied by Israel.

The Arab League is to meet in Cairo on Friday to devise policy for the Annapolis summit.

Preventing the Impending War on Iran
Editorial
By Marjorie Cohn
Translation

Preventing the Impending War on Iran
Carlos Latuff/ MWC NEWS
Rhetoric flowing out of the White House indicates the Bush administration is planning a military attack on Iran. Officials in Saudi Arabia, a close Bush ally, think the handwriting is on the wall. "George Bush's tone makes us think he has decided what he is going to do," according to Rihab Massoud, Prince Bandar ben Sultan's right-hand man. Saudi Social Affairs Minister Abdel Mohsen Hakas told Le Figaro, "We are getting closer and closer to a confrontation."
As Bush and Cheney try to whip us into a frenzy about the dangers Iran poses, their argument comes up short. They say Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says there is "no evidence" of this. They say Iran is sending deadly weapons into Iraq to kill U.S. troops, but those devices can be manufactured in any Iraqi machine shop. Now the New York Times reports most of the foreign fighters in Iraq come, not from Iran, but from two Bush allies - Saudi Arabia and Libya. An estimated 90 percent of suicide bombings are carried out by foreign fighters. And senior U.S. military officials believe the financial support for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia comes primarily from Saudi Arabia.
Yet the Bush/Cheney polemics about Iran continue to escalate. In light of the lack of evidence Iran is actually developing nukes, Bush equated Iranian "knowledge" to make nuclear weapons with World War III. "If you

Pak sectarian clashes and Suicide Bombing

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@gmail.com
Two near-simultaneous suicide bombings killed at least 30 people, most of them military personnel, and injured many others in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Military Spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said that the blasts occurred almost simultaneously at 7.45 am local time. While one blast took place at a check post near the gate of the army's headquarters, another targeted a bus carrying defence ministry personnel near a key ISI facility on the Faizabad-Murree Road.
At least 30 people were killed and many injured in the twin bombings, security sources were quoted as saying by the media. Some reports suggested that the death toll could even be 35.
President Pervez Musharraf , who had cited increasing extremism and a series of suicide attacks as one of the main reasons for imposing emergency, condemned the twin bombings.
Such acts could not deter the government from continuing its fight against terrorism, said Musharraf.
He directed the authorities to investigate the attacks and crack down on the "masterminds responsible for this heinous crime".
In the attack near the army headquarters, two soldiers manning the check post in Saddar area were injured when the suicide attacker blew himself up, Arshad said.
The second attack occurred at a site opposite the defence ministry's Ojri camp and near the gate of ISI's Hamza camp facility. The suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the bus carrying defence ministry personnel, Arshad said.
The blast triggered a devastating fire that completely destroyed the bus. Many of the dead were burnt alive while over a dozen people were injured, eye witnesses said.
The injured were rushed to various hospitals in Rawalpindi and doctors said that the condition of several was critical.
Security agencies immediately cordoned off the site of the blasts and prevented journalists from entering the area. Forensic investigators and bomb disposal experts scoured the sites for evidence.
Security was also beefed up across Rawalpindi and Islamabad, particularly around defence installations.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.
However, a top militant spokesman in the Swat valley, Sirajuddin, had warned that the ultras might launch suicide attacks in retaliation to a food blockade imposed by authorities in that area. Swat is located just 160 kms from Islamabad.
Arshad also dismissed speculations about security lapses, saying, "It was a suicide attack and it was foiled near the headquarters because of security precautions which were being taken. Otherwise, the casualties would have been much higher."
The general headquarters has the offices of several top army generals, including the principal staff officers, while the Ojri camp is an installation of the defence ministry.
Today's blasts were the latest in a string of suicide attacks on Pakistani military installations and personnel. On November 1, at least 11 people were killed when a suicide attacker rammed his motorcycle into a bus carrying Pakistan air force personnel near the Sargodha airbase in Punjab.
On October 30, at least seven people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the official residence of General Tariq Majeed, the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
50 die in Pak sectarian clashes
At least 50 people were killed in renewed sectarian fighting overnight in a remote Pakistani district engulfed by unrest since last week, officials said today.Heavy fighting broke out at several places in the Parachinar district late yesterday and continued throughout the night, a local administration official said.
''We have reports that more than 50 people died in the clashes,'' the official said, adding that the fighting subsided early today.
Last week rival Shiite and Sunni groups fought fierce gunbattles which left around 112 people dead, forcing the government to deploy troops to restore order.
The sectarian bloodshed adds to concerns facing key US ally President Pervez Musharraf, who is already facing a bloody militant revolt in northern Swat valley and frequent suicide attacks in the rest of the country.

Sharif to return to Pakistan on Sunday
Rezaul H Laskar in Islamabad
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/nov/24pakemergency6.htm
Nearly two months after he was unceremoniously deported on his arrival in Islamabad, exiled former premier Nawaz Sharif is set to return to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia on Sunday following Riyadh's intervention.
Sharif, who has been living in Jeddah since he was deported to Saudi Arabia by President Pervez Musharraf [Images] soon after he landed in Islamabad on September 10 after a seven-year exile, would fly to Lahore [Images] in a special aircraft provided by the Saudi government, his nephew Hamza Sharif announced on Saturday.
Unlike last time when Saudi Arabia had opposed his move to travel to Pakistan, Sharif's return this time has been cleared by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz whom he met late Saturday night in Riyadh. Musharraf had made a brief visit to Saudi Arabia on November 20 where he met the King and apparently discussed the issue of Sharif's return.
Though the military ruler's spokesman said there was no contact between Musharraf and Sharif, it is believed that Sharif met Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj, chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, who accompanied Musharraf to Riyadh.
"The flight (carrying Sharif) will reach (Lahore) at 4 pm Pakistan time (4.30 pm IST). We have galvanised our party and are holding several meetings. The party is gearing up to accord him a rousing welcome," Hamza told Dawn News channel.
Sharif will be accompanied by his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who has also been living in exile in London [Images].
Asked what the Pakistan Muslim League would do if authorities tried to deport Sharif again, Hamza said: "We are hopeful that no hurdles will be created but if there are any, then we would face them."
"He is determined to come to his country... It is his fundamental right under the constitution to participate in the politics of Pakistan and duly fight the upcoming elections," he said.
PML-N leaders obtained nomination papers on behalf of Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif and his wife Kulsoom in Lahore on Thursday.
PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said the party's central working committee would discuss the political situation and the option of boycotting the January 8 polls.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chief of the ruling PML-Q, has said that Sharif is due to return under a new deal he had worked out with the Saudi leadership.
Sharif, who was deposed by President Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, had originally gone into exile in Saudi Arabia in 2000 in exchange for the dropping of a prison term awarded to him.
When the two-time prime minister flew into Islamabad from London in September after the Supreme Court cleared his homecoming, he was arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia.
Political circles in Pakistan have been abuzz with reports that Musharraf is reaching out to Sharif following the breakdown of his talks with former premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] on a possible power-sharing arrangement.
The Saudi leadership, which had agreed to host Sharif, is believed to have conveyed to Musharraf that it could not hold back the PML-N chief after the Pakistan government allowed former premier Benazir Bhutto to return home from eight years in self-exile.
Troops amassing for Dir operation
* Food supplies to areas where militants are holed up stopped
* Reports of food shortage in Kabal, Matta and adjoining areas
* Forces kill civilian mistaking him as `potential threat'
By Saleem Athar
http://www.dailytim es.com.pk/ default.asp? page=2007\11\24\story_ 24-11-
2007_pg1_9
MINGORA: Fresh reinforcements have reached Swat amid increasing
fears of an operation against suspected militants in Dir district
bordering Afghanistan' s Kunar province where Al Qaeda and the
Taliban were giving a stiff resistance to the American and coalition
forces, officials and eyewitnesses said on Friday.
Authorities disconnected cell-phone services during the army
movement to prevent the militants from using the service to plot
attacks on the arriving soldiers. "The mobile-phone service was
restored at 4:00pm," said Jehanzeb, a shopkeeper.
"The soldiers are positioning themselves in Timergara, the Lower
Dir's headquarters, and, as we know, this district is underlined for
hosting militants, even foreigners," said official sources in
Peshawar wishing not to be named.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad played down the
significance of increased troops' activity in Lower Dir. "We are
there since long," he told Daily Times. He, however, stopped short
of saying that any operation in that district was also imminent.
Army helicopters were patrolling the area to foil any attack on the
security forces, said residents who were stuck at their homes due to
a curfew.
Food supply: Authorities imposed a food blockade and a 12-hour
curfew in Swat, AFP quoted officials as saying on Friday.
Intelligence officials said food supplies to the areas where
militants are holed up had been stopped. "Ten trucks loaded with
food supplies were ordered last night to stop in Mingora," an
intelligence official said.
The residents told Daily Times that there was food shortage in
Kabal, Matta, Kuzza Banda and adjoining areas.
Government spokesman Amjad Iqbal said the curfew had been imposed
because of the "operational needs" of the security forces.
Civilian killed: Akbar Khan, a civilian, was killed in Kabal tehsil
as the security forces mistook him as a "potential threat", the
residents said. A government official regretted the loss of
an "innocent civilian". The military, however, said, "Police sources
have confirmed that two suspected individuals heading towards Kabal
police station were signalled to stop. They did not stop and
therefore were fired upon."Resultantly, one individual was killed
and the other, who was believed to be wearing a suicide belt, fled
the scene." Gen Waheed said the media was "misreporting" about
civilian casualties. He also denied that the government was doing
little to help the displaced people.
"The army is setting up a camp for such people in Risalpur," he
said. He gave no timeline as to when the Swat operation would be
wound up. He said ground forces would be used if needed.
APP quoted an ISPR official as saying on Friday that the security
forces arrested four miscreants in the Fazagat area of Swat when
they were trying to flee the area disguised as women.
2007-11-23 00:00:00
"Bhutto and Musharraf's struggle on the outskirts of the American
empire"
[Editorial, Al-Hayat]
http://www.mideastw ire.com/topstory .php?id=19723
Azmi Bishara, the ex Arab MP in the Israeli Knesset, wrote in the
independent Saudi owned newspaper Al-Hayat on November 22: "There
are those who believe that the best way for staving off disaster is
by direct American military intervention in Pakistan before
the "tottering regime" starts losing control over whole provinces
that would separate from the state along ethnic and tribal lines. It
is true that those calling for such intervention are only a few neo-
conservatives who have changed into "neo- miserable" such as Paul
Kagan from the American Enterprise Institution and Michael Hanlon
from the Brookings Institution but major newspapers such as the New
York Times are publishing their articles. Maybe some of the American
presidential candidates are starting to listen to them such as
Rudolph Giuliani because of the ever-present American nightmare
about nuclear weapons falling in the hands of Islamic terrorist
organizations.
"Any person reading the New York Times on the 18th of November would
find it difficult to believe his own eyes as the newspaper talks
about the need for a million American soldiers who would take a year
to be transported to Pakistan and about the necessity of supporting
the forces friendly to the United States until these soldiers get
there, especially among the military as the articles written by the
aforementioned "experts" also state matter-of-factly that there are
factions in the Pakistani security and armed forces that are spying
on behalf of the Taliban and Al-Qa'idah. The two writers moderate
their attitudes when they claim that moving the Pakistani nuclear
material to New Mexico is unrealistic and that it is better to guard
them using elite Pakistani forces supported and supervised by
international troops.
"Of course, in those two articles you will not find a single word
about the possible reaction of the Pakistani population or their
possible resistance. You will also not find a word about the effects
on the economy and on the people of the destruction of their state.
It is clear that we are facing maniacs with a new cure for their
illnesses. One gets the shivers just recalling that these people
used to have a say in the decision making in this empire when it
waged war on Iraq… Maybe the New York Times is trying to show that
the United States' policy towards Pakistan, despite its many
contradictions and meandering, is wise and benefited from the Iraqi
experience. This policy shows that the United States still looks at
the situation from the perspective of friend and enemy and that a
friendly dictator must be supported at all costs…
"Bush claimed that he believes Musharraf when he tells him that
there will be no more Al-Qa'idah or the Taliban, then Musharraf
declared a truce with the Taliban in 2006. When Bush called him to
congratulate him on this achievement, the Taliban withdrew from the
truce and Musharraf proved that he is unable to wage a real military
campaign on the Taliban and the Islamic factions that use the tribal
area as their refuge and stronghold…. For Musharraf to be able to
lead Pakistan into such a confrontation with an alliance with the
United States in light of the existence of a wide Islamic opposition
in his country, he had to choose one of two options: either he
expands the base of the regime by allowing a less dangerous
opposition that enjoys America's approval and that knows that it
can't rule the country without the army, or he imposes a state of
emergency in the country and prohibits any outbursts by the
opposition.
"Musharraf refused to allow Nawwaz Sharif to return because he
considered him too close to the powerful Islamic opposition and thus
can't help provide his regime with legitimacy. Then there came an
American-British attempt to bring Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, who
is acceptable to the Americans, closer together… But the Islamists'
reaction, since they considered Bhutto's flirtations with Musharraf
an act of complicity with the dictator and a step closer to
secularism by Musharraf, as well as Bhutto's political ambitions
that were not restrained by explosions or the murder of her
supporters or by the fact that she is to become a partner in power
thanks to an American effort, pushed Musharraf to stick to option
number two.
"Of course, it is hard to decide about what is worst in Bhutto: her
bloody and limitless desire for power or her willingness to play
along with a dictatorship to acquire the largest possible slice of
power under it? Thus the current bloody struggle continues between
Bhutto's opposition, the People's Party, and the ruling regime but
inside the American universe. Western media appointed Bhutto, for
some reason, head of the Pakistani opposition. This means that both
the regime and its opposition are loyal to America… Thus we have yet
another example of a real struggle on the outskirts of the American
empire…" - Al-Hayat, United Kingdom

Mystery shrouds Balach's killing
* Nawab Marri won't receive condolences until he sees body
* BLA says it possesses body
* Brother says body to be buried in Afghanistan
By Malik Siraj Akbar
http://www.dailytim es.com.