Power Plant Bombed In Gaza Is Insured By U.S. Government
Posted:
07/30/2014
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Thursday, July 31, 2014
Power Plant Bombed In Gaza Is Insured By U.S. Government
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
WASHINGTON -- As lawmakers on Capitol Hill scrambled to
approve increased military funding for Israel this week, a little-noted
federal agency across town prepared to spend as much as $84 million to compensate an American company for losses sustained in the Israeli bombardment of a Gaza power plant.
Microsoft ordered to hand over overseas email, throwing EU privacy rights in the fire
Microsoft ordered to hand over overseas email, throwing EU privacy rights in the fire
Summary: US law can apply anywhere in the world, so long as a technology company has control over foreign data, a court rules.
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-ordered-to-hand-over-overseas-email-throwing-eu-privacy-rights-in-the-fire-7000032210/?s_cid=e589&ttag=e589&ftag=TREc64629f
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More coverage:
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It’s all Hamas’ fault, right Israel?
It’s all Hamas’ fault, right Israel?
More than 1,200 Gazans have been killed, about 80 percent of them civilians. But Israelis’ hands are clean and their consciences are quiet - so quiet you could cry.
By Gideon Levyhttp://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.608118
The Next Cuban Missile Crisis: The Showdown in Ukraine?
The Next Cuban Missile Crisis: The Showdown in Ukraine?
07/30/14
Tom Thomson
Security, Ukraine
The
window of opportunity for multilateral talks to end the violence in the
Ukraine is closing fast. The EU's fears of imposing stronger economic
sanctions against Russia has fallen away in response to its outrage over
the MH17 tragedy and evidence that Russia continues to supply heavy
weapons to Ukrainian separatists. The US is expected within days to
follow with even more crippling sanctions.
The
positions held by all parties to the conflict - Ukraine, the
pro-Russian separatists, Russia, EU and the US - are solidifying to a
point where opportunities are becoming fewer for starting negotiations
to reduce tensions and prevent future miscalculations like the MH17
disaster that could push Russia and Ukraine closer to war.
During
the Cold War, the Soviets and the Western Alliance were implacable
enemies. Still, these foes understood the limits of a confrontation in
order to avoid miscalculations that could lead to war. During the 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy and Khrushchev chose flexibility over
hardened positions to avoid a military confrontation that could have
started World War III, and afterwards installed the hotline between the
US White House and the Kremlin to help prevent future crises.
In
2014, the stakes for the global community on the worsening situation in
Ukraine are not as high as they were in the waters off the coast of
Cuba in 1962. But there is little doubt that all parties to the crisis
in Ukraine have become vested in the correctness of their national
viewpoint and have little room, if any, for compromise.
All
sides share some of the blame. In Russia, President Putin enjoys
record high public support for his position on the Ukrainian
separatists, annexing Crimea and reclaiming Russia's role as a global
power. Polling data and anecdotal findings shows a majority of Russians
across all age groups are sympathetic to this view.
In
the US, a rigorous national policy debate over the crisis in Ukraine
and Russia is long overdue. The Cold War rhetoric and the demonizing of
Russia and President Putin in the media and by several members of the
U.S. Congress is driving the policy debate toward knee jerk reactions
and away from thoughtful deliberations to forge a consistent long-term
Russia policy. Thomas Graham and Jeffrey Mankoff presented compelling
arguments in this publication for such a reexamination of policy.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-next-cuban-missile-crisis-the-showdown-ukraine-10981
Making Sanctions Against Russia Work
Making Sanctions Against Russia Work
07/30/14
Paul R. Pillar
Russia Ukraine,
Deputy
National Security Adviser Tony Blinken was admirably clear and focused
in speaking to reporters about the intentions behind the newest round of
sanctions against Russia. The purpose, said Blinken, “is not to punish
Russia but to make clear that it must cease its support for the
separatists and stop destabilizing Ukraine.” We should hope that
everything communicated about the sanctions, including what is discussed
with Russian officials in private, exhibits comparable clarity and
focus.
We can't be sure about that. President Obama's announcement
of the new sanctions began with a discussion of the downing of the
Malaysian airliner. He referred to buildups of troops on the Russian
side of the Russian-Ukrainian side of the border. He talked about how
sanctions already imposed have “made a weak Russian economy even
weaker.” The reporters present did not help to restore focus. The only
two questions the president took were about whether there is a new Cold
War and whether he is considering lethal aid for Ukraine.
General
discourse about sanctions, whether against Russia or against Iran or
some other country, too often treats them as if they really were about
punishment. The weakening of someone else's economy gets discussed as if
such weakening were itself a plus for U.S. interests, which it is not.
The weakening is only a means to some other end, involving a change in
the target country's behavior.
Sometimes
one might inflict punishment for a past deed in the hope of deterring
similar deeds in the future, by either the same perpetrator or someone
else. If that is being done, however, the punishment is a one-off action
with a definite ending that does not depend on any changes in the other
country's behavior. That is not the case with these latest sanctions.
Moreover, the downing of the airliner is a poor focus for that kind of
punishment because of the accidental nature of the incident.
The tragedy of the airliner helps to demonstrate the danger of giving
lethal toys to rebels, and politically it clearly had a significant role
in moving the Europeans to take stronger action against Russia, but
logically and strategically the sanctions should not be thought of as a
response to that incident.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/making-sanctions-against-russia-work-10988
Compromise: The Only Way to Achieve Peace in the Holy Land
Compromise: The Only Way to Achieve Peace in the Holy Land
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/compromise-the-only-way-achieve-peace-the-holy-land-10984
The ISIS Caliphate’s Frightening First Month A month after the founding of the so-called Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, it’s richer, better armed, more durable—and dangerous—than ever before.
The ISIS Caliphate’s Frightening First Month
A
month after the founding of the so-called Caliphate in Iraq and Syria,
it’s richer, better armed, more durable—and dangerous—than ever before.
- See more at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/29/putting-the-isis-caliphate-in-focus.html#sthash.V593kcu1.dpufhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/29/putting-the-isis-caliphate-in-focus.html
CFR Daily News Brief 7/31 Israel Vows to Destroy Gaza Tunnels
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Note to airport police: An Israeli terrorist is the same as a Syrian one by Robert Fisk
Note to airport police: An Israeli terrorist is the same as a Syrian one by Robert Fisk
I don't want to bump into a chap who's been firing missiles at Christian families in Syria. But on the other hand, I also don't want to bump into a chap who's been firing tank shells into the homes of Palestinians in Gaza.http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/robert-fisk/note-to-airport-police-an-israeli-terrorist-is-the-same-as-a-syrian-one-30472419.html
US Complicit In Gaza Slaughter Supplies Israel With Bombs Amid Gaza Blitz
US Complicit In Gaza Slaughter
Supplies Israel With Bombs Amid Gaza Blitz
Pentagon says Israel allowed to tap local US arms stockpile in past week to resupply it with grenades and mortar rounds.
By Al Jazeera and Agencies
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39279.htm
Supplies Israel With Bombs Amid Gaza Blitz
Pentagon says Israel allowed to tap local US arms stockpile in past week to resupply it with grenades and mortar rounds.
By Al Jazeera and Agencies
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39279.htm
Tomgram: Nick Turse, An East-West Showdown in the Heart of Africa?
Tomgram: Nick Turse, An East-West Showdown in the Heart of Africa?
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175875/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_an_east-west_showdown_in_the_heart_of_africa/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tomdispatch%2FesUU+%28TomDispatch%3A+The+latest+Tomgram%29
http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175875/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_an_east-west_showdown_in_the_heart_of_africa/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tomdispatch%2FesUU+%28TomDispatch%3A+The+latest+Tomgram%29
'The world stands disgraced' - Israeli shelling of school kills at least 15
'The world stands disgraced' - Israeli shelling of school kills at least 15
• UN condemns IDF attack on sleeping children as violation of international law
• Strike on crowded market in Shujai'iya during ceasefire kills 17
• Death toll now more than 1,300 after three weeks of fighting
• Strike on crowded market in Shujai'iya during ceasefire kills 17
• Death toll now more than 1,300 after three weeks of fighting
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/30/world-disgrace-gaza-un-shelter-school-israel
US and Israeli interests clash over Gaza
A Chinese analysis. Note the purported transcript of the Obama-Netanyahu telephone call.
US and Israeli interests clash over Gaza
- By Zhao Jinglun
- China.org.cn, August 1, 2014
Libya
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Libya has reached a crisis point. Widespread and confused fighting has escalated, with casualties now quoted in the low hundreds. In Tripoli, previously calm, there has been a major conflict between forces led by militias from Misurata, Libya's third city east of Tripoli, and those from Zintan in the Western Mountain south of Tripoli, the former being associated with Islamism and the latter opposed to it. The airport has been knocked out, creating an acute problem both for Libyans and more particularly for the international community. Foreign workers have been leaving as best they can, some evacuated by a French frigate. Most embassies have closed, though not the British or the Italians. Oil storage facilities near the airport have been set on fire, creating a huge humanitarian and environmental threat, and the Italians have responded to a Libyan appeal for help in putting it out. Separately fighting has continued in Cyrenaica in the east between former general Khalifa Haftar’s Operation Dignity (Karama) and Saiqa Special Forces of the army on one side and the extreme Islamist Ansar al-Sharia and its allies on the other (the London based Al Hayat reports today 31 July that Haftar has gone to Egypt "to be with his family during the Eid holiday")..http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2820afb1fbae0c99e88fb6f52&id=ecfab5e0d3&e=672f0b89c4
Talking to China's "Web Junkies" - The New Yorker
Talking to China's "Web Junkies" - The New Yorker Opening
August 6th at Film Forum, “Web Junkie,” by the Israeli filmmakers Shosh
Shlam and Hilla Medalia, takes us inside an Internet-addiction
treatment center in Beijing, one of hundreds across China, to chronicle
the ways in which technology, wealth, and autonomy are altering the ties
between young people and the elders who strain to comprehend those
changes. The film’s best moments have the patience of ethnography,
lingering in the background of communities that are usually out of view.
Alongside Shlam and Medalia, the credits for “Web Junkie” contain a
list of Chinese “fixers” and other crew members, and anyone who has
worked in China will know how important that was to building trust with
the participants.http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/talking-chinas-web-junkies?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=deddf3e251-Sinocism07_31_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-deddf3e251-29615013&mc_cid=deddf3e251&mc_eid=5935182a65
Microsoft's Ties with Gov't on Rocks as Offices in Four Cities Raided - Caixin In
June 2013, companies in China complained that Microsoft did not release
information about Windows operating systems and Office software, and
the lack of information caused compatibility problems with other
software. Companies also griped they had to buy the entire Office
package as one, instead of being able to separately purchase Word and
PowerPoint, for example. There were also complaints that Internet
Explorer and other software had to be installed along with Windows. The
regulator said that after investigating for one year it could not dispel
suspicions that Microsoft's behavior violated the country's
Anti-Monopoly Law.http://english.caixin.com/2014-07-30/100710968.html?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=deddf3e251-Sinocism07_31_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-deddf3e251-29615013&mc_cid=deddf3e251&mc_eid=5935182a65/article/2014/7/30/china/china-steps-arms-race-digital-cold-war?modapt=&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=deddf3e251-Sinocism07_31_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-deddf3e251-29615013&mc_cid=deddf3e251&mc_eid=5935182a65
China steps up the arms race in the digital cold war | Business Spectator
China steps up the arms race in the digital cold war | Business Spectator The
era in which US technology firms have dominated the globe at the same
time as its government engages in the most far-reaching espionage may be
drawing to a close. Snowden’s revelations are starting to look like a
catalyst of sorts that is accelerating the process of China’s own rise
as an internet and technology force. Chinese President Xi Jinping is
clearly taking a personal interest in selling China’s technological
prowess to countries who are now more open to alternatives to
potentially compromised US products and services. In Brazil two weeks
ago, Xi witnessed the launch of the Portuguese version of China’s Baidu
search engine. Baidu’s Robin Li, Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Huawei’s Ren
Zhengfei had accompanied Xi to South Korea just a few weeks earlier.http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/7/30/china/china-steps-arms-race-digital-cold-war?modapt=&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=deddf3e251-Sinocism07_31_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-deddf3e251-29615013&mc_cid=deddf3e251&mc_eid=5935182a65
‘President Xi Jinping seeks his place in history – among the party greats’ | South China Morning Post
‘President Xi Jinping seeks his place in history – among the party greats’ | South China Morning Post A
strong desire to leave a legacy comparable to that of Deng Xiaoping and
a sense of crisis over the survival of the Communist Party are driving
President Xi Jinping's relentless fight against corruption, say people
connected to the party's inner circle. The president will use the
crusade against corruption to sweep away resistance to his ambitious
reform agenda, as entrenched interest groups have become too powerful
and are reluctant to change, they say. Xi, who greatly admires Deng,
wanted to become a leader in a similar vein, who could lead China into a
new era of reform and growth, said sources including senior officials
and "princelings" - the children of former high-ranking leaders.http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1563061/president-xi-jinping-seeks-place-history-alongside-deng-xiaoping-say?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=deddf3e251-Sinocism07_31_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-deddf3e251-29615013&mc_cid=deddf3e251&mc_eid=5935182a65
Daring and lethal Palestinian raids from Gaza sap Israeli morale
Daring and lethal Palestinian raids from Gaza sap Israeli morale
Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Wed, 07/30/2014
(Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
The attacks are feeding a sense in Israel that its ground assault on Gaza is turning into a disaster and there are indications that Israeli anger and frustration are being taken out with even more deliberate killings of Palestinian civilians.
Israel mobilises extra troops as US tops up army's ammo
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-
Israel mobilises extra troops as US tops up army's ammo
Wife Beating Gets a Standing Ovation in Baltimore
Wife Beating Gets a Standing Ovation in Baltimore
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-07-30/wife-beating-gets-a-standing-ovation-in-baltimore
Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout
Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/healthcaregov-probe-rollout-flaws-109546.html?hp=r8
Obamacare Web Cost Approaches $1 Billion as Fixes Needed
Obamacare Web Cost Approaches $1 Billion as Fixes Needed
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/obamacare-web-cost-approaches-1-billion-as-fixes-needed.html
Hillary Clinton and Trade Deals: That “Giant Sucking Sound”
Hillary Clinton and Trade Deals: That “Giant Sucking Sound”
In the 1992 Presidential campaign, Ross Perot famously said in debate:
We have got to stop sending jobs overseas. It’s pretty simple: If you’re paying $12, $13, $14 an hour for factory workers and you can move your factory South of the border, pay a dollar an hour for labor,…have no health care—that’s the most expensive single element in making a car— have no environmental controls, no pollution controls and no retirement, and you don’t care about anything but making money, there will be a giant sucking sound going south.Bill Clinton, who as President got NAFTA ratified[1], disagreed. Remarks on Naming William M. Daley as NAFTA Task Force Chairman and an Exchange With Reporters, 1993:
…when [Mexico's] jobs come up from a dollar an hour to six dollars an hour, and ours go down to six dollars an hour, and then it’s leveled again. But in the meantime, you’ve wrecked the country with these kinds of deals.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/07/hillary-clinton-trade-deals-giant-sucking-sound.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29
The ObamaCare Chimera The metaphysics of legislative history.
The ObamaCare Chimera
The metaphysics of legislative history.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/best-of-the-web-today-the-obamacare-chimera-1406750614
Is Obamacare still casting cloud over GDP? Probably
Is Obamacare still casting cloud over GDP? Probably
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/07/30/is-obamacare-still-casting-cloud-over-gdp-probably/
Congress receives FMS request notifications for Iraq
Congress receives FMS request notifications for Iraq
Washington (UPI) Jul 30, 2013 - The U.S. government is moving ahead with the possible supply of thousands of Hellfire missiles to Iraq as the country battles Islamic insurgent forces. The missiles - a total of 5,000 AGM-114K/N/R Hellfires - would be procured by Baghdad under a U.S. Foreign Military Sales deal worth an estimated $700 million. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its required notifi ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Congress_receives_FMS_request_notifications_for_Iraq_999.html
Washington (UPI) Jul 30, 2013 - The U.S. government is moving ahead with the possible supply of thousands of Hellfire missiles to Iraq as the country battles Islamic insurgent forces. The missiles - a total of 5,000 AGM-114K/N/R Hellfires - would be procured by Baghdad under a U.S. Foreign Military Sales deal worth an estimated $700 million. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its required notifi ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Congress_receives_FMS_request_notifications_for_Iraq_999.html
N. Korea may be closer to full ICBM test: US think-tank
N. Korea may be closer to full ICBM test: US think-tank
Seoul (AFP) July 30, 2014 - Fresh satellite images suggest North Korea might be wrapping up engine trials on an intercontinental ballistic missile, fuelling speculation of a full-scale flight test to come, a US think-tank said Wednesday. Development of a working ICBM would be a game-changing step, bringing the continental United States into range and adding a whole new threat level to the North's regular nuclear-strike ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/N_Korea_may_be_closer_to_full_ICBM_test_US_think-tank_999.html
Seoul (AFP) July 30, 2014 - Fresh satellite images suggest North Korea might be wrapping up engine trials on an intercontinental ballistic missile, fuelling speculation of a full-scale flight test to come, a US think-tank said Wednesday. Development of a working ICBM would be a game-changing step, bringing the continental United States into range and adding a whole new threat level to the North's regular nuclear-strike ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/N_Korea_may_be_closer_to_full_ICBM_test_US_think-tank_999.html
Back to square one
Back to square one
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 30, 2014 - The Iraq and Afghan wars have cost the U.S. taxpayer upwards of $2 trillion thus far - and the meter is still running in both theaters. In Afghanistan, after 12 years of combat operations and the costly training and equipping of a 360,000-strong army, and the loss of 2,800 U.S. killed in action, Taliban, the enemy we went in to defeat, is making steady gains around the capital. ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Back_to_square_one_999.html
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 30, 2014 - The Iraq and Afghan wars have cost the U.S. taxpayer upwards of $2 trillion thus far - and the meter is still running in both theaters. In Afghanistan, after 12 years of combat operations and the costly training and equipping of a 360,000-strong army, and the loss of 2,800 U.S. killed in action, Taliban, the enemy we went in to defeat, is making steady gains around the capital. ... morehttp://www.spacewar.com/reports/Back_to_square_one_999.html
Did Libya Prove War Hawks Right or Wrong?
The Atlantic |
24
Did Libya Prove War Hawks Right or Wrong?
The unintended consequences of military intervention are nearly impossible to predict.
Conor Friedersdorf Jul 29 2014http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/did-the-war-in-libya-prove-the-interventionists-right-or-wrong/375211/
What Comes After the Parallel Failures of Bush and Obama?
What Comes After the Parallel Failures of Bush and Obama? // Ronald Brownstein
After Bush and Obama, how can presidential contenders truly increase America's ability to shape global events in 2016? By Ronald Brownstein http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2014/07/what-comes-after-parallel-failures-bush-and-obama/90158/?oref=defenseone_today_nlThe Brics bank is a glimpse of the future
| The Brics bank is a glimpse of the future |
| The Brics’ plan is good for the world. If the postwar order is being upended, the right response is ‘hear, hear’http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f7b876a0-170e-11e4-b0d7-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2014731/nbe/Comment/product&siteedition=intl#axzz3939fwBqv |
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
ISIS Atrocity Underscores the Importance of Religious Freedom
ISIS Atrocity Underscores the Importance of Religious Freedom
Denver Archbishop Calls for 'Involvement of People of Authentic Faith in the Political System, at All Levels'
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/isis-atrocity-underscores-the-importance-of-religious-freedomTexas Bishops Ask Lawmakers for 'Time, Resources, Commitment' to Meet Needs of Refugee Children at Border
Texas Bishops Ask Lawmakers for 'Time, Resources, Commitment' to Meet Needs of Refugee Children at Border
"Eschew the bitterness of contemporary political rhetoric and instead uphold the best of American principles"
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/texas-bishops-ask-lawmakers-for-time-resources-commitment-to-meet-needs-of-refugee-children-at
New Report Shows Edward Snowden's Revelations Are Seriously Damaging U.S. Tech Firms
New Report Shows Edward Snowden's Revelations Are Seriously Damaging U.S. Tech Firms
http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-us-tech-firms-2014-7CDC issues Ebola airline advisory
CDC issues Ebola airline advisory
Guidelines warn of 'severe, often-fatal disease'
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/cdc-downplays-ebola-but-issues-airline-advisory/#OE7K0YXYS7w6y3Uo.99
In Gaza, no one knows who will survive
'World Stands Disgraced' as Israel Bombs Another UN-Designated Shelter in Gaza
'World Stands Disgraced' as Israel Bombs Another UN-Designated Shelter in Gaza
http://commondreams.org/news/2014/07/30/world-stands-disgraced-israel-bombs-another-un-designated-shelter-gaza
http://commondreams.org/news/2014/07/30/world-stands-disgraced-israel-bombs-another-un-designated-shelter-gaza
Jeremy Scahill: White House Censoring What US Public Can Know About Torture Program
Jeremy Scahill: White House Censoring What US Public Can Know About Torture Program http://commondreams.org/news/2014/07/30/jeremy-scahill-white-house-censoring-what-us-public-can-know-about-torture-program
Israeli Official: Obama, Leave us Alone!
Israeli Official: Obama, Leave us Alone!
A top Israeli official wants President Barack Obama to stop meddling with the
Jewish state during its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking to Israel’s Army Radio, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel
criticized Obama telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there
should be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/israeli-official-obama-leave-us-alone/
DoD has Apparently Lost 747,000 Weapons in Afghanistan
DoD has Apparently Lost 747,000 Weapons in Afghanistan
The United States’ Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
(SIGAR), in a new report, notes that “747,000 weapons and auxiliary
equipment” given to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by the United
States Department of Defense (DoD) are unaccounted for.
The United States has been training and supporting the ANSF to foster
self-sufficiency in the Afghan National [...]
http://www.darkgovernment.com/
Some Jews Fleeing Europe....Again
Some Jews Fleeing Europe....Again
The mob howled for vengeance, the missiles raining down on the synagogue walls
as the worshipers huddled inside. It was a scene from Europe in the 1930s –
except this was eastern Paris on the evening of July 13th, 2014.
Thousands had gathered to demonstrate against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But the protest soon turned [...]http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/some-jews-fleeing-europe-again/
Some Successful Initiatives by Civil Society to prompt Corruption-Related Litigation
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In The Midst Of The Conflict With Israel, A Leading Hamas Figure Is Making His Move
In The Midst Of The Conflict With Israel, A Leading Hamas Figure Is Making His Move
http://www.businessinsider.com/dief-emerging-as-hamas-leader-2014-7?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Wednesday%20Friday%29%202014-07-30&utm_content=emailshare
Israeli Intelligence Says Hamas Members Trained For Paraglider Attacks On Israel
Israeli Intelligence Says Hamas Members Trained For Paraglider Attacks On Israel
http://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-members-trained-for-paraglider-attacks-2014-7?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20%28Wednesday%20Friday%29%202014-07-30&utm_content=emailshare
A Pariah State?
A Pariah State?
William Pfaff
Paris, July 30, 2014
-- Israeli attacks on hospitals and UNRWA refugee shelters brought the
total of Palestinian dead to 1,224 according to the UN this morning,
with more no doubt to come. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just
promised his people “a prolonged campaign” in Gaza. If it is, Israel may
find itself considered, even by Americans, a pariah state.
Children on playgrounds and in shelters will undoubtedly again be among the victims. Those killed on Monday,
the Israeli Defense Forces say, were not killed by them, but by Hamas
missiles aimed at Israel. The 19 killed yesterday were the victims of
artillery fire.
Diligent readers will recall that last week’s
attack on the URWA school at Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, killing 16
women and children and wounding more than 100, was described by Israel
as a matter of “Hamas rockets or mortar shells falling short,” as the
IDF explained to London’s Financial Times.
Later, the explanation
was changed to one of Israeli forces responding to “intense fire from
the school area,” and was meant to eliminate the threat. U.N. Refugee
Works officials said they had informed the Israelis twelve times of the
school’s coordinates, pleading for permission from the IDF to evacuate
the civilians, which never was given. Yesterday's school attack
disregarded 17 UN warnings.http://www.williampfaff.com/article.php?storyid=689
Ties between the new America and the new Israel, a growing challenge
Ties between the new America and the new Israel, a growing challenge
Leon HadarJuly 30th 2014
Want to find out whether the American you're about to meet justifies Israel's military action in Gaza? Here is a simple rule of a thumb. If he is a an over 50 white American man and is also a conservative Christian who votes for Republicans, your new acquaintance is a die-hard supporter of the Jewish state who would probably justify the Israeli operation in Gaza.
But if the American you encounter is a black female in her 20s, who adheres to liberal positions and voted for Barack Obama, there is more than an even chance that she has reservations about Israel׳s policy toward the Palestinians and and its operation in Gaza. http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/38658-140730-ties-between-the-new-america-and-the-new-israel-a-growing-challenge
Racism is the Foundation of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge
Racism is the Foundation of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge
How pervasive anti-Arabism has paved the way for Israel's latest assault on Gaza.by JOEL BEININ
On June 30 Ayelet Shaked, chairwoman of the Knesset faction of the ultra-right wing ha-Bayit ha-Yehudi (Jewish Home) Party, a key member of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, posted on her Facebook page a previously unpublished article written by the late Uri Elitzur. Elitzur, a pro-settler journalist and former chief-of-staff to Netanyahu, wrote
Behind every terrorist stand dozens of men and women, without whom he could not engage in terrorism… They are all enemy combatants, and their blood shall be on all their heads. Now, this also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They must follow their sons. Nothing would be more just. They should go, as well as the physical homes in which they raised the snakes. Otherwise, more little snakes will be raised there. http://stanfordpress.typepad.com/blog/2014/07/racism-is-the-foundation-of-israels-operation-protective-edge.html
Rep. Keith Ellison: End the Gaza blockade to achieve peace
Please
help spread this all around. It doesn't matter if you don't think it's
perfect; spreading it around doesn't mean you agree with every word.
What matters is that we don't have anything else like this in mainstream
U.S. political discourse. Rep. Ellison has moved the ball. Rally around
him!
By Keith Ellison July 29
Keith Ellison, a Democrat, represents Minnesota’s 5th District in the House of Representatives.
It
seems as though each day brings new horrors and heartbreaks in the Holy
Land. More than 1,000 dead. Gazan children blown up on the beach. A
U.N. shelter hit. Two-thirds of Israelis living in fear from
indiscriminate rocket fire launched by Hamas. But as the calls for a
cease-fire gain momentum, it is important to understand that many Gazans
who have no association with Hamas view the return to the way things
were as unacceptable.
These people aren’t rocket shooters or combatants.
For the past several years they have lived in dreadful isolation. The
status quo for ordinary Gazans is a continuation of no jobs and no
freedom. This is not an attractive future. Gazans want and deserve the
dignity of economic opportunity and freedom to move. This can be
accomplished only with an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which
must be considered within the framework of a cease-fire. Israelis
likewise deserve to live free of rocket fire and terror attacks. In
order for Israelis to live safely and securely in their homes, Hamas
must give up its rockets and other weapons.
I have traveled to Gaza three times since 2009 and
have visited hospitals and schools there. As I have talked with ordinary
Gazans, I have not encountered anyone representing Hamas. During one
visit, I had the opportunity to meet Scott Anderson, deputy director of
the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Anderson, a 21-year veteran of
the U.S. Army, said it best when I spoke to him again this week:
“Unless there is material change to the status quo, you’re just
resetting the clock for another cycle of violence.” Continuing to block
goods and services to and from Gaza keeps the keys to opportunity away
from the people who just want to live, work and travel.
The vast majority of Gazans do not support firing
rockets into Israel or killing Israelis. In fact, the majority of people
in Gaza are women and children. During my first visit to the region,
this fact was clear: There were kids everywhere. This week, I also spoke
with Yousef Moussa, chief area operations officer at the UNRWA office
in Rafah. He puts this observation in context, noting, “50 percent of
Gazans are under the age of 18. Seventy percent of Gazans are women and
children. 80 percent of Gazans live below the poverty line. Relatively
few Gazans are associated with Hamas.”
So how can the international community support
those Gazans who don’t support indiscriminate rocket fire? We could
take steps to allow for the safe flow of goods and services into Gaza
and the export of goods and services to neighboring countries. We could
advocate for Gazans to have freedom of movement. Now, if you’re a Gazan
traveling in the West Bank, the Israeli military can forcibly return you
to Gaza. Being able to import goods such as food, fuel and medicine
would mean that Gazans would not be forced to buy necessities from a
tunnel economy controlled by extremists. International actors should be
involved in the process to address Israel’s security concerns about
lifting the blockade.
The blockade prevents development in Gaza.
Egypt and Israel argue that the blockade is designed to cut off
resources from terrorists, but really it has brought those who want a
better life to their knees while the bad actors still have their
rockets. Before the blockade, the United Nations provided food to 80,000
in Gaza; today it provides food to 830,000 .
Israel and Egypt also view the blockade as a success
because it pushed Hamas into a financial crisis. This is short-term
thinking. It ignores the fact that the economic devastation from the
blockade weakens the public and private sectors in Gaza and strengthens
extremists and smuggling enterprises. Repression and deprivation fuel
terrorism; economic development and inclusion can fuel long-term peace.
A viable path beyond the current crisis would
empower Gazans and weaken extremists who benefit from their suffering.
The international community, especially nations in the region, should
help Gazans rebuild their demolished homes and businesses. But who will
invest if war will predictably break out every two years?
There is no military solution to this
conflict. The status quo brings only continued pain, suffering and war.
Promoting economic development and social interaction in Gaza is in the
long-term security interest of Israel and the rest of the region. The
relative calm that existed during Secretary of State John Kerry’s
extended diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinians during
2013-14 shows that engaging in dialogue is the first step toward
stopping the violence.
Ultimately, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be
resolved with a final status agreement, and ending the violence and the
blockade is a first step toward a permanent solution.
===
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman@justforeignpolicy.org
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman@justforeignpolicy.org
Letter from Tel Aviv
Someone
I know just received this Letter from Tel Aviv from her friend Hilla
Dayan. Hilla is an Israeli, married to a Dutch guy (PW Zuidhof) who
lives in Holland. She happened to be "on vacation" during the onset of
the assault on Gaza. She offers a view from Tel Aviv from a sadly too
rare perspective.
Letter from Tel Aviv
Why do Israelis support a costly ground invasion to Gaza?
The
summer in Israel was planned long in advance. Eager to go, our three
small children were excited to start their Lego themed summer camp. We
landed in Tel Aviv in steamy mid July, just when the current violence
started. As a Dutch-Israeli family from Amsterdam that travels
frequently to Israel we are used to being teased in calmer times about
why, for our own sanity, we do not choose a real holiday destination
instead of a conflict zone. Friends and relatives in the Netherlands are
now worried. They inquire politely as to our safety and wellbeing. On
facebook they see our shared images of dead and wounded children in
Gaza, war horrors, anti-war demonstrations, international condemnations,
outraged op-eds and petitions calling for immediate ceasefire. Pictures
from home of smiling blond kids in green parks and sunny beaches are
flickering in glaring contrast to the barrage of depressing feeds from
our “vacation.”
Our
family here knows we are appalled by the war and condemn the atrocities
in Gaza but there is no point talking about it with them. As Israeli
and Dutch citizens who want to see an end to the occupation our politics
combined with the fact that we don't live in Israel makes us outsiders,
if not outright “traitors.” We are naïve if we don’t see that hitting
Gaza hard is necessary in response to the existential threat of Hamas.
The weight of the overwhelming support for the war descends upon us
daily, heavy and inescapable like the 90% humidity in the air. In
Kindergartens, Pilates studios, hairdressers, office building signs are
posted as people collect goodies for packages to send to our soldiers in
the front. Soldiers are on everyone’s mind since the first smiley
profiles of dead young man appeared in the news. At night many Tel Aviv
restaurants and bars are empty or closed. Summer events and music
concerts are cancelled so our sister and sister-in-law doda (aunt) miki
the producer has plenty of time to spoil our children. This is war.
One of the many ironies of this “war
vacation” is that the war and the vacation do coincide. Unlike many
Israelis we are privileged to be able to take off for several weeks each
summer. We got lucky with a house swap and stay at the very heart of
Tel Aviv, complete with its Bauhaus glory and shady broad boulevards. So
we take the kids on evening strolls on Rothschild Boulevard; hang out
at Habima square, go to the beach and the pool, occasionally dine out.
Our war amounts to spending a few minutes in a friendly meet and greet
in the staircase of the apartment building if we happen to be home with
the children when the siren is on. At night we do not disturb the kids’
sleep and skip the neighborly meet and greet, like last night when the
siren went off at 2.30am.
It took us few rather disorienting days here to slowly come to the
conclusion that the palpable collective fear is disproportionate to the
actual threat. Government propaganda, lies and deceptions to galvanize
support for the war is relentless and the Iron Dome system, the system
that intercepts Hamas rockets, is just part of it. An expert opinion
according to which the Israeli population is almost 100% safe even
without it because of the inferiority of Hamas' weapons and the
abundance of shelter infrastructure seemed credible. Deep inside, we
believe, everyone knows that the chance something will happen to you
here is statistically negligible. It can happen, like the chance of
dying in a shocking aviation disaster as what happened this summer to
hundreds of Dutch citizens, but it is very unlikely. One commentator
rightly said that Iron Dome functions as the Deus-ex-Machina of this
war. Everyone but us is convinced it saves lives. We see it more as a
psychological warfare device. Curiously, much of the explosion sound
that gets people so worked up here is largely produced by the Iron Dome
system itself. What is striking if not outright suspicious is that there
is hardly any information in the aftermath of interceptions; we know
nothing about it and nobody cares. The threat of warheads in any case
gradually subsides as we write giving way to fear from terrorist
infiltration from the Gaza tunnels. This shift happened within days from
the ground invasion, which marked a notable decrease in the number of
Iron Dome alarms.
How come everyone, even in our leftie
circles, is so psychologically affected by this war? Why are they so
afraid? earlier rounds - the second Intifada with buses and markets
exploding - were much more terrifying. Of course far too many are first
and foremost afraid for the lives of their loved ones, soldiers and
reservists in Gaza. In my family a distant relative was wounded; the
brother of a friend is "inside"; The ex of a friend, who I know way back
from our military service during the first Intifada, was drafted. With
more than forty soldiers dead, it appears that the imaginary threshold
of a war too costly to wage has not been crossed. As we write this,
carnage in Gaza and the death of scores of soldiers is authorized to
continue. Why? The Israeli narcissism that concerns itself only with IDF
casualties while hundreds of bodies pile up in Gaza is nothing new. The
logic of war normality we experience here in Tel Aviv just confirms it.
The soldiers die so that we can live “normally.” Violence is inevitable
because Israel is under attack. One has to be here to understand fully
that the legitimacy of this war is not just manufactured top down by the
Israeli government. It is a genuine and widespread social reality.
Everyone, even those few hundreds opposing the war, us included, take
part daily in its production. Take for instance the dynamic of normal
routine interrupted regularly by sirens. In no time, these interruptions
themselves became a normal routine. We all got used to the “pending
emergency” situation. We are all on an emergency-normality switch mode.
People stop cars in the middle of the road to seek shelter in nearby
buildings only to go back behind the wheel and honk impatiently at the
other drivers as if nothing happened; In cafes people nervously react to
suspicious sounds, jump from their seats to the sound of sirens, and
return seconds later to their relaxed posture sipping their espressos
and so on.
Many Israelis, including very young
children, incessantly consume updates on strikes and interceptions
through the “red color” app. The app with the red icon on their
smartphones is decorated with a sound radiation sign resembling the
nuclear danger logo. Authorities, institutions, employers, all heighten
security procedures, producing signs, road signs and flyers with
instructions on buildings “safe spaces”. Municipalities put on giant
billboards with patriotic slogans, one more offensively patriotic than
the other. We received a leaflet to parents from the kids’ summer camp
advising us on how to maintain “emotional safe spaces” for our children.
On TV mainly men talk: brain-dead, repetitive, militaristic
tactic-talk. The blogger Idan Landau once aptly called this tsunami of
public appearances at times of war zman hagvarim - "the time of men."
At the same time, the witch hunt of dissenters has reached epidemic
proportions, targeting many, and women especially, who dare speak their
minds against the war. Orna Banai, Gila Almagor, Shira Gefen are famous
celebrities who were vilified for speaking out; a Palestinian
psychologist working for the Lod municipality and many like her got
fired for what they posted on facebook. The Open House LGBT organization
in Jerusalem came under attack after Elinor Sidi, its director, took a
stance against the war. In academia, university presidents published
statements warning that they monitor staff and students expressions on
social media and will resort to sanctions if they express “too extreme”
opinions. This blunt assault is what happens publicly. In private, we
know from our friends, many who are politically colored as unpatriotic
or anti-Zionist pay a great personal price. Candidates for jobs are
asked to write letters renouncing their political opinions. University
presidents intervene personally to block “controversial” appointments.
Ron Shoval, former leader of Im Tirtzu organizations called to put to
use the boycott law, from its sinful inception no more than a dead
letter law, to preemptively prosecute and jail human rights defenders.
The idea is to prevent human rights organizations from reporting to an
international investigation like the Goldstone commission after
operation Cast Lead. This witch hunt did not begin yesterday, but the
war made things much worse. We encounter both this white fascism running
through the main echelons of Israeli society, and the street fascism,
those small but well organized gangs of the extreme right who mobilize
to beat and intimidate anti-war protestors when they take to the street.
In the cultural war raging here it is the Mizrahi face of the extreme
right chanting “death to Arab” on the street that grabs all the
attention. Haaretz is covering this Mizrahi extreme right extensively.
Indeed, it is perceived by lefties especially as menacing, as the
“sewage” flooding civilized Israel. But, the white fascism of university
presidents or Im Tirtzu is far worse, far more dangerous. One Ron
Shoval is more effective in crushing dissent than a thousand street
gangs. Those are the people who really hold the key to a complete
breakdown of the façade of Israeli democracy.
We attempted to describe the regime
of manufactured fear and psychological support for the war, penetrating
all aspects of life in all directions. For the vast majority of the
country this fear is disproportionate to the actual threat. We described
also a climate of threat of violence and violence directed against any
form of dissent. In an atmosphere of pending emergency dissent is
forbidden and any government action addressing the collective paranoia
from the threat of Hamas is seen in a positive light. Needless to say,
the government does nothing to curb the climate of violence against
dissenters. Instead it incites it with reckless disregard to its
potentially disastrous consequences. We do not fear to go and
demonstrate, we are still able to do that with reasonable safety, but
staying safe on the street is a slightly more complicated task than
calculating where the nearest building entrance is in case of a siren
alarm. This regime of collective fear and collective mobilization in
support of the war is so intense, that our “war vacation” is starting to
feel like we took the wrong flight and landed in North Korea.
*
“They
are all animals” a tattooed man in his 30s muttered in our direction as
we just got up to pay for our coffee. "Are you sure ALL of them are?"
one of us replied later contemplating the stupidity of a casual response
that could have easily provoked violence. Hamas is seen as a mortal,
inhuman enemy, which must be crushed, decimated. In line with Prime
Minister Netanyahu it is for many heir to Amalek in ancient times and
Hitler. This is no apology but Israelis have been traumatized by the
savage campaigns of suicide bombings of Hamas beginning in the 1990s,
and so it is psychologically impossible for many to acknowledge that
however criminal the actions of military resistance to the occupation
sometimes are, in fact as soon as Hamas took power over Gaza in 2006 it
became an intimate strategic partner of the militant Israeli government.
Mash'al and Bibi are caught like lovers on an airplane about to crash
in a deadly embrace for their own survival. Although the IDF now deals
Hamas a military blow, the government is in fact desperate to keep the
organization somehow alive. Military sources said from the outset of the
operation that the purpose of the invasion this time is not to
“break Hamas.” Hamas’ demands for a ceasefire in turn reflect just how
addicted it became to the crumbs falling from the Israeli government
table. The script for a ceasefire was already written before the ground
invasion began. It is a matter of ending the bloody spectacle with a
mere semblance of two sides mutually bettering their positions. The
tragedy of course is that so many stand-ins and movie extras must die so
spectacularly in vain for the status quo of occupation-resistance to
continue. It may sound crazy, given all that we have said so far about
Israel in the grip of fascism, but right to left people understand
perfectly well the futility of the bloodshed. They already talk about
the next round as inevitable. Depressed and helpless to stop it many
express confusion and are simply torn between their instinct of
victimization and sense of horror at the high price in human life. What
is entirely lost or powerfully sublimated is the consequence of being
implicated in and authorizing crimes against humanity. Israelis consider
the war of position between Hamas and their government to be an
existential war, and the conduct of their enemy, they feel, absolves
them from any accountability. In their battle of survival, real and
imaginary, it only makes sense to let the enemy die and verify the
killing (vidu hariga). In this savage place no laws of war apply.
*
Our
children's renewed Israeli passports arrived just before the ground
invasion. Staring at their pictures, Israeli IDs and passport numbers,
the thought crossed our minds - why can't they be spared this terrible
burden? Why should they carry an identity associated with cruelty,
horrors, war, occupation, apartheid, crimes against humanity? They are
Dutch kids after all, fluent in Hebrew but with a thick Amsterdam
accent. Why can't they just sleep in their beds safely without their
parents agonizing about children killed in their name? We should go home
to Amsterdam or join our relatives vacationing in la Palma, a Canary
island. This war vacation and the summer disaster in the Netherlands
made us aware of our fragility, temporariness, and inability to control
what is happening in our environment. It also sharpened our differences.
At times like these mom is better off here in this normal-savage place
where she is from, and where she directly partakes in efforts to stop
the war. For dad it is crazy to be here, where he is surrounded by
supporters of war crimes, who seem superficially normal and go about
their normal lives. The kids, they just soak up the sun and enjoy
themselves tremendously, their family and friends keep them happy. Their
happiness and safety is comforting, but what would we say when they
start asking us: mom, dad, what is war, who is doing it, and why can’t
you stop it?
Hilla Dayan and PW Zuidhof
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