Showing posts with label Arabs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arabs. Show all posts

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The New York Times Magazine has dedicated an entire issue to a single story: the Arab world’s undoing since the invasion of Iraq



Top Stories

August 11, 2016



TOP STORIES


Thursday, August 11, 2016 7:00 PM EDT

More than a decade of war, terror and revolution has left a trail of ruin in the Arab world. This is the story of how a region came apart, seen through the eyes of six people whose lives were changed forever.

Monday, March 09, 2015

Arab League calls for multinational force to fight militants




Foreign ministers of the Arab League take part in an emergency meeting at the League's headquarters in Cairo March 9, 2015. (Reuters)

Reuters, Cairo
Monday, 9 March 2015

The Arab League called for the creation of a regional force to combat militants as countries face a growing threat from Islamic State and other groups.

The ultra-radical group has taken over swathes of Iraq and Syria and splinter groups in other countries like Egypt and Libya have pledged allegiance to it. Yemen's al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is also very active.

The United States leads a coalition that is fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Washington says Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Bahrain have participated in or supported air strikes in Syria. Iran is also playing a major role in fighting Islamic State in Iraq.

Egypt, the most populous Arab state, struck Islamic State targets in Libya last month after the militants beheaded 21 Egyptians.

But there has been no comprehensive Arab force to fight militants. Previous calls for a unified force have failed to produce results.

Speaking at the opening session of an Arab League meeting of foreign ministers, Secretary General Nabil el-Araby called for action.

"What is required now and urgently is to look into creating a...multi-national force that is able to look at what unites them in terms of responsibilities in the areas of quick intervention to fight terrorism, the activities of terrorist groups, helping in peacekeeping operations and securing humanitarian operations," he said.

It was not immediately clear which countries would join such a force or where or when it would be created.

The Arab League is due to hold a summit of Arab leaders later this month in Sharm el-Sheikh.


Last Update: Monday, 9 March 2015 KSA 21:05 - GMT 18:05


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Sunday, January 15, 2012

U.N. Chief Says Syria's Assad Must End Violence

MIDDLE EAST NEWS
JANUARY 15, 2012, 11:20 A.M. ET



Associated Press

BEIRUT—The U.N. chief demanded Sunday that Syria's president stop killing his own people and said the "old order" of one-man rule and family dynasties is over in the Middle East.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, delivering the keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, said the revolutions of the Arab Spring show people will no longer accept tyranny.

"Today, I say again to President (Bashar) Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people," Mr. Ban said.



Reuters
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon demanded that Syria's leader stop killing his own people, addressing a conference on democracy in Beirut on Sunday.


Thousands of people have been killed in the government's crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising, which has turned increasingly militarized in recent months with a growing risk of civil war.

Syria agreed last month to an Arab League plan that calls for a halt to the crackdown, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, such as tanks, from cities, the release of all political prisoners, and allowing in foreign journalists and rights workers. About 200 Arab League observers are working in Syria to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent.

Observers visited the coastal city of Banias and the restive town of Maaret al-Numan in northern Syria on Sunday, where they were met with thousands of anti-Assad protesters chanting for his downfall.

Amateur video posted by activists on the Internet showed the monitors watching and filming from a balcony as a large protest unfolded on the streets below. "Victory for our revolution!" the protesters shouted.

The monitors also visited the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, which activists say has come under an intense crackdown in the past few days.

"The authorities pulled out tanks and stopped firing just before the observers arrived," said one activist in Zabadani, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals. "But they saw with their own eyes the destruction and fear," he said, adding people took to the streets in huge protests while the monitors were there.

But the presence of the observers hasn't put a stop to bloodshed and the U.S. and many in the Syrian opposition say killings have accelerated. The U.N. says about 400 people have been killed in the past three weeks alone, on top of an earlier estimate of more than 5,000 killed since March.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported Sunday that at least five factory workers were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near the bus they were traveling in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria.

The Observatory and other activists said seven other people died in the central city of Homs, including three from indiscriminate gunfire and one in the northern province of Idlib.

"The killings still continue and still there are people arrested," said Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby in Bahrain. He said there will be a meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the end of the week in Cairo to decide on the next steps.

Syria's state news agency reported that Mr. Assad granted a general amnesty for "crimes" committed during the uprising, and officials said authorities have begun granting local and foreign media outlets approvals to work in Syria. It wasn't clear how many prisoners would be released.

Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud said the level of "incitement and distortion of facts" has doubled since the media was allowed in along with the Arab League observers who started work late last month.

Mr. Ban acknowledged challenges facing Arab states in the wake of the uprisings sweeping the Arab world, in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria.

"It is sometimes said that authoritarian regimes, whatever else their faults, at least kept a lid on sectarian conflict. This is a cruel canard," Mr. Ban said in Beirut. "Yet it would be equally mistaken to assume that all of the new regimes now emerging will automatically uphold universal human rights," he said.

"Democracy is not easy," he added. "It takes time and effort to build. It does not come into being with one or two elections. Yet there is no going back."

He encouraged Arab countries to usher in real reforms and dialogue, and to respect the role of women and youth.

"The old way, the old order, is crumbling,"
Mr. Ban said.
"One-man rule and the perpetuation of family dynasties, monopolies of wealth and power, the silencing of the media, the deprivation of fundamental freedoms that are the birthright of every man, woman and child on this planet —to all of this, the people say: Enough!"

The U.N. chief also urged an end to Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories.

"Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state."

The foreign minister of Tunisia, which became the first Arab country to oust a dictator through a peaceful revolution one year ago, said there is no escape from the process of democratization and freedoms in the Arab world.

"My message (to the Syrian regime) is to hear and to listen to the will of the people," Rafik Abdessalem told APTN in an interview in Beirut on Sunday.

On Saturday, the leader of Qatar was quoted as saying that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop a deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests. Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani's comments to CBS's "60 Minutes," which will be aired Sunday, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria.

Asked whether he is in favor of Arab nations intervening in Syria, Sheik Hamad said: "For such a situation to stop, the killing some troops should go to stop the killing."

Excerpts of the interview were sent to The Associated Press by CBS on Saturday.

Qatar, which once had close relations with Damascus, has been a harsh critic of the crackdown by Mr. Assad's regime. The wealthy and influential Gulf state withdrew its ambassador to Syria in the summer to protest the killings.

Source

Monday, November 28, 2011

There is unrest in Arab world's includes Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia


By Gobby Wang
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2011-11-28 09:22 AM

Associated Press ()
According to AP, it reported, Arab world's unrests in Egypt, Syria = Syria, Morocco,Libya = Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia. Below is each notion’s issue.

EGYPT

On the eve of landmark elections, Egypt's military ruler warns of "extremely grave" consequences if the turbulent nation does not pull through its current crisis — an attempt to rally the public behind his council of generals in the face of pressure from protesters to step down immediately. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi urges voters to turn out for the start of parliamentary elections Monday despite nine days of protests and clashes that some have dubbed a "second revolution."

SYRIA

In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab nation, the Arab League approves economic sanctions on Syria = Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly suppression of an 8-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. But even as world leaders abandon Assad, the regime refuses to ease a military assault on dissent that already has killed more than 3,500 people. Damascus slams the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity and insists a foreign conspiracy is behind the revolt.

MOROCCO

Morocco's Interior Ministry says an Islamist party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections and is set to lead the country's next government. Announcing final results, the ministry said the Justice and Development Party had taken 107 seats in the 395-seat legislature following the nationwide vote two days earlier. The PJD — known by its French initials — is the latest Islamist party to win an election brought about by the Arab Spring. The right-of-center Istiqlal, a potential ally for the PJD, placed second with 60 seats.

LIBYA

Hundreds of people push their way to the door of the Libya = Libyan prime minister's office, demanding representation in government for the Amazigh, one of the country's largest ethnic minorities. The Amazigh, whose culture was suppressed during the decades of Moammar Gadhafi's rule, say they're angry that they are not part of a new transitional government, despite their large size and contribution to toppling Gadhafi. The tensions reflect simmering tribal tensions — one of many challenges facing the interim government as it tries build democratic institutions from scratch.

YEMEN

Yemen's vice president issues a decree assigning a veteran independent politician to form a national unity government. This is part of the power transfer deal signed by Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh last week. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's decree follows the part of the accord that requires the new government to include equal number of ministers from the opposition and Saleh's party. The choice for premier, Mohammed Basindwa, an independent, held several positions in Saleh's government, including foreign and information minister.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain's state media says the country's king has ordered the creation of a special commission to study recommendations from an independent investigation into political unrest. The decision by King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa follows the release last week of a 500-page report that detailed abuses such as torture and excessive force in a crackdown on protests by Bahrain's majority Shiites for greater rights.

TUNISIA

Tunisian airlines suspends flights to Libya = Libya's capital Tripoli after armed men swarm the runway and stop a plane from taking off. Flights are suspended until "an improvement in the security conditions," says Soulafa Mokaddem, a spokeswoman for Tunisair. On Saturday afternoon, a TunisAir flight leaving from Tripoli's military airport of Maitiga carrying 47 wounded Libya = Libyans to be treated in Tunisia was stopped by 300 armed men.


Source


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Are Christians facing extinction on the Arab street?

The 'panda syndrome' saw Christians protected by Arab leaders, but this relationship is in dramatic decline

Massimo Franco

guardian.co.uk,

Article history

Egyptian Coptic Christians carry coffins during a mass funeral in Cairo
Egyptian Coptic Christians carry coffins during a mass funeral in Cairo for victims of sectarian clashes in October. Photograph: Mohamed Abd El-Ghany/Reuters






























The killing of dozens of Coptic Christian protesters during the recent turmoil in Cairo is one of the by-products of the Arab spring – and, unfortunately, a predictable one. Secular dictatorships such as those of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and even of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Muammar Gadaffi in Libya were a bloody nightmare for political dissidents. But Christian minorities felt protected from Islamic persecution and were allowed to practise their religious faith. In exchange, respecting a tacit compromise, they stood at a distance from politics. This is known in the Vatican as "the panda syndrome", after the name of those inoffensive, vegetarian bears protected by Chinese authorities, to prevent their extinction. "But when a species has to be protected, it means it's already disappearing," points out the Egyptian Jesuit Samir Khalil Samir.

Samir is an expert. Pope Benedict XVI asked him to organise the synod of Middle Eastern bishops in October 2010 in Rome. And he knows that Christian "pandas" in his land and in all the Arab world are fighting a desperate battle for survival. That's why many local Catholic bishops greeted the revolts in the Maghreb and elsewhere around the Mediterranean with open scepticism and concern. They foresaw that political progress could be matched with religious regress, and a worsening of their condition as non-Islamic citizens.

This is what seems to have happened. The new ruling classes differ from one country to the other but they tend to have in common a stronger Islamic identity. Their more extremist factions push to punish Christian minorities for what is perceived as a double original sin: being allies of former hated regimes, and being "agents of western values", although they have been living there for 2,000 years or so. The result is that the prospect of their extinction as a community is growing.

It has happened already in Iraq, due to the "Anglo-American war" started in 2003. At that time, the number of Chaldeans, the Christian Iraqis, was between 800,000 and 1.4 million. In 2009-2010, it was estimated are between 400,000 and 500,000, and rapidly decreasing. Cairo's violent repression shows a similar process is under way in Egypt as well, where they still represent roughly 10% of the population.

This represents a georeligious tragedy for the Vatican, which always tried to maintain a frustrating dialogue with Islamic authorities, and which right up to the end persisted in invoking a pacific coexistence in the area.

But it is also a geopolitical failure for the west, and paradoxically for Islam as well. Christian communities have been historically a bridge between western and Arab culture; and a factor of moderation and mutual understanding between the two worlds. Their dramatic decline signals the collapse of this symbolic bridge, and the growing strength of an "Arab street" fed with consumerism but also with prejudices and a widespread hostile mood against Christians.

For the Holy See, the attempt to obtain reciprocity on the thorny issue of religious faith has always been difficult, and in some cases brutally refused. When some years ago Pope John Paul II asked Saudi Arabia's then top ruler if a Catholic church could be built there, the answer was a blunt "no": his country was Muhammad's holy land. The Polish pontiff tried to reply that in Rome a mosque had been erected, but the subtle and unanswerable retort was: "In Rome – not inside the Vatican City."



Tuesday, May 03, 2011

COMECE Bishops see in the Arab Spring a clear sign of hope










#138 - Mai 2011



The COMECE Bishops dedicated their Spring Plenary Session to “Christian Churches in Maghreb and Mashriq”.

Although there has been ferment for quite some time in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, few people could have anticipated the revolutions and regime changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. In his opening address at the Plenary Session, Mgr Adrianus van Luyn, President of COMECE, admitted, “When we decided at the beginning of January that the next Plenary Assembly should focus on the Middle East, we were still recovering from the shock of the bloody attacks against Christian churches in Egypt and Iraq. The pressing plight of Christians in these countries seemed to us sufficiently important for us to occupy ourselves with this more thoroughly at our meeting. Despite the developments in recent weeks, the position of religious minorities – not only Christians – remains precarious.” However, following the different popular uprisings occurring in the past few months, great expectations as well as many questions were raised that became more pressing than the question of Christians in the Middle East: What developments should we expect following the retreat, even the expulsion, of the former dictators? Is there any real chance that western-style democracy could gain foothold in these countries when, in contrast with the political changes in 1989, there is no earlier tradition of democracy to provide firm ground? What can the new European External Action Service actually do in this area?

Looking for answers to all these questions, the COMECE Bishops had the opportunity to listen to reports from experts from several European institutions, especially the EU’s new European External Action Service. Furthermore, in order to better understand the new situation in the Arab world, COMECE invited Professor Khalife, a specialist in geopolitics, Mgr Soueif, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus (and also the special Secretary of the recent Synod on the Middle East), and Cardinal Antonius Naguib, Catholic Patriarch of the Copts in Alexandria. All three had already met together in Strasbourg during the European Parliament’s Plenary Session in April, to report to the MEPs and the media on the situation of Christians in the Arab world.

Worries and hopes arising from the Arab Spring

Cardinal Naguib’s report to the COMECE Bishops dwelled in particular on a number of concrete issues that were causing problems with respect to the Egyptian Constitution. In its Articles 40 and 46 the Constitution states that citizens are equal under the law, whatever their race, language or creed, and that the State guarantees freedom of conscience and freedom of practice of religious rites. In parallel, Article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that Islam is the State religion, Arabic its official language and that Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) is the principal source of legislation. This article, the second of the 211 articles making up the Egyptian Constitution, has a dominant position and all articles that follow are subordinate to it. Practice bears this out : the law courts of the country clearly make the principles of freedom subordinate to the Islamic Sharia law. Similarly, observance of Sharia law influences how Egypt ratifies international Treaties, sometimes to the point of cancelling out their effectiveness. This is the case with the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Egypt in 1982.

Despite these reservations, Cardinal Naguib added “The 25th of January revolution generated hope that the constitution would be changed. In consideration and anticipation of the criticality of the early post-revolution phase, the Churches decided not to raise the issue of Article 2. The objective is clearly to enhance the national cohesion that emerged during the revolutionary movement... It is, however, the intention to re-address this crucial topic in a later phase, in which a change of constitution will take place.”

Cardinal Naguib sees two advantages in this Arab Spring – it is multiconvictional and led by the younger generation. “That’s why we were so happy to see the harmonious and total unity between Moslems and Christians at the beginning of the revolution. We have seen the Egyptians come together, drawn by a common cause and a common objective: Copts and Muslims joined hands against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak .The mixed crowd chanted, ‘We are one’, holding up Qurans and Crosses.”

He further believes that the youth of this movement is also a harbinger of hope. In fact, the promoters of “Change in 2011” are mainly young people (60% of the population of the Middle East and of North Africa are aged under 30) who have had the advantage of a mostly good education and are perfectly able to use the internet and its possibilities. But their prospects for the future are bleak indeed.

He therefore called upon the COMECE Bishops to support this movement of hope, particularly by helping young people to acquire some knowledge of politics and democracy and to train themselves in leadership.

Echoing the conclusions of the Synod on the Middle East, the COMECE Bishops, at the end of their Plenary Assembly, declared their strong belief that Christians in these countries share the same citizenship with their fellow citizens of other religions and that every one of them belongs fully to their societies. The Bishops called upon them to play their part, on the basis of their faith, in the change towards democracy in their countries, side by side with their fellow citizens.

These are the recommendations that the COMECE Bishops wish to present to the European Union:

- Greater and more concrete solidarity among the Member States of the EU is urgently needed to help in facing the inflow of migrants and refugees from North Africa and the Middle East (as provisioned in Directive 2001/55/EC on temporary protection)

- the EU should help in improving the deplorable situation in these countries by developing new tools to efficiently foster modernisation and democratisation in their societies

-in the context of changes in the Arab world, the EU should stress the importance of granting equal rights to all citizens of those countries, irrespective their ethnic or religious origin; including Christians.

For their part, the Bishops discussed the following possible actions:

- to organise regular exchanges with the Bishops’ Conferences of North Africa and the Middle East in order to assess better the expectations of their local population towards the EU;

- to encourage reflexion on “Democracy and Religion” together with Christians and Muslims from North Africa and the Middle East;

- to promote the social and political education of young people from North Africa and the Middle East

They also addressed a letter to their fellow Bishops in the Middle East and North Africa in which they expressed their solidarity and shared communion in prayers.

The insecurity and threats that Christian minorities are facing increasingly often in the Arab World are clearly intolerable. The COMECE Bishops expressed similar concern about the way religious minorities are sometimes treated in Europe. They therefore called upon all citizens, especially Christians, as well as the political leaders in Europe to assume their responsibilities for promoting dialogue between cultures and civilisations in Europe as well as in the rest of the world.

As Mgr van Luyn acknowledged, the Catholic Church has no coherent strategy, nor plans of action or ready-made responses to face this challenge. On the other hand, she is able to offer her help in discussing and drawing up solutions. Hence the COMECE Bishops have taken concrete actions in support of this movement of hope in the Arab world, and from analysing the situation they have drawn several lessons for application to we Europeans: the duty of majorities towards the minorities in Europe and the need for dialogue between religious communities.



Johanna Touzel

translated from the original French

Source


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Friday, April 02, 2010

Secretary Napolitano's Meeting with Faith-Based and Community Leaders


Readout of Secretary Napolitano's Meeting with Faith-Based and Community Leaders


Release Date: January 28, 2010


For Immediate Release

Office of the Press SecretaryContact: 202-282-8010


Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today met with leaders from Muslim, Sikh, South Asian and Arab communities—key partners in homeland security that contribute to many different parts of American life and exemplify the diversity that is a hallmark of our country—to discuss ways the Department can increase engagement, dialogue and coordination, and enhance information sharing between DHS and faith- and community-based groups.

"In times of crisis, leaders of faith-based communities and other grassroots organizations often play a critical role in the broad and timely dissemination of accurate information," said Secretary Napolitano. "Strengthening our partnerships with faith- and community-based groups will allow improved information sharing and better coordination in preparing for, assessing and responding to threats."
During the meeting, Secretary Napolitano and leaders in attendance examined existing information sharing capabilities such as the Secure Community Network—a model for information sharing with faith- and community-based communities designed to quickly improve overall security awareness in a crisis situation—and discussed ways to expand and enhance current initiatives and partnerships.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov/crcl.

###


This page was last reviewed/modified on January 28, 2010.

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Monday, February 01, 2010

Netanyahu risks Muslim wrath over Jerusalem holy site

Old City of Jerusalem(Archive)

Netanyahu risks Muslim wrath over Jerusalem holy site
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent


Will Netanyahu use a court decision to forgo a plan to alter the Mughrabi Gate? King Abdullah of Jordan is distancing himself from Israel's prime minister because of the violation of the status quo in East Jerusalem. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is waiting in the corner for the slightest provocation against Islamic holy places by the Israeli government. The only trouble Benjamin Netanyahu is still missing is that of the Mughrabi Gate, at the entrance to the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary compound.

Whether he likes it or not, that problem is already nearing boiling point. But two weeks ago, the Jerusalem District Court supplied him with a ladder. Now, the prime minister must decide whether he wants to use it to climb down from the ramp, or whether he prefers to climb up, and gamble with what is left of Israel's relations with the Muslim world.

Next week will mark the third anniversary of the start of the salvage dig at this sensitive site, which leads to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and overlooks the Western Wall. Back then, close to 2,000 policemen accompanied archaeologists and workers to the compound. Their assignment was to prepare for restoration work at the site, after cracks were discovered in the ramp leading to the gate in 2004.

Rumors flew through the Arab world that the Jews were trying to undermine the foundations of the mosque and prepare the area for the construction of a third Temple. The Jordanian king warned that the work would undermine the stability of the Middle East. A Hamas spokesman warned that damage to the mosque would put an end to the temporary cease-fire. A few months later, a team of experts from Turkey examined the excavations and asserted that this was an attempt to destroy cultural assets from the Islamic period.

The Western Wall Rabbi, Shmuel Rabinowitz, is a man of action: He never for a moment hid his intention of exploiting the repair of the ramp to turn the unused space below it into an extension of the women's prayer section. He would joke that the Lord had answered his prayers by putting cracks in the ramp, which would make it possible to reduce the crowding at the Western Wall Plaza. The rabbi also used his connections in earthly Jerusalem - namely, in the office of then prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Together with the Company for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter, Rabinowitz promoted a detailed plan for changing the face of the Mughrabi ramp. And Olmert even put himself at the head of a special ministerial committee for advancing the project. The plan went from one planning committee to another until it reached the National Planning and Building Committee.

But two weeks ago, something happened in Jerusalem that threatens to spoil the plan. The president of the Jerusalem District Court, Judge Moussia Arad, took a look at the pictures shown her by attorney Kais Nasser, who is representing Islamic historian Dr. Mahmoud Massalha in his petition against the plan. She looked, and it apparently had an effect.

According to the pictures, which were taken in 2004, the damage to the ramp is small and concentrated mainly in its northern section. An expert opinion accompanying the photographs stated that the cracks did not affect the other parts of the ramp at all, so it is possible to renovate it quickly, at a cost of no more than NIS 50,000.

Arad ordered representatives of the Prime Minister's Office to get back to her within a month about whether their boss would accept her proposal to shelve the project for expanding the women's prayer section. Meanwhile, Nasser will obtain UNESCO's opinion of the plan. The United Nations organization has been monitoring the project from its inception to ensure that the work does no harm to the site.

But Nasser's joy is mixed with skepticism. "We have proved that the fall of a few stones was exploited in order to change the appearance of a site of unparalleled sensitivity and explosiveness," the Jerusalem attorney said Monday. But he quickly added: "Unfortunately, in view of the opposition of the Western Wall lobby and its great influence, I find it difficult to believe the state will accept the court's proposal."

So what if the Turks are angry? Their ambassador has not sat on a sofa opposite Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon for a long time.

The shallow Left

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has nicknamed the Israeli Left the "Deep Left," turning this depleted camp into a strike force that threatens the peace initiative of his friend, Benjamin Netanyahu. In a new book published by Am Oved, "Malkodet Hakav Hayarok" ("The Green Line Trap"), Prof. Yehouda Shenhav joins in dancing on the grave of the Zionist Left that supports a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.

The Tel Aviv University sociologist, one of the leaders of the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition, puts the word "Left" in quotes and claims that it formulates its perception of the conflict out of a cultural, economic and political worldview that is essentially sectorial and conservative. In his eyes, the 1967 paradigm is the main consciousness barrier Israelis face in addressing the conflict, and he prophesies that it will collapse in favor of the 1948 paradigm.

In Shenhav's view, the liberal Left focuses on the war against the settlements in order to preserve Israel within the Green Line, and in this way sentences the refugee issue to oblivion. The return of tens of thousands of settlers to within the Green Line is, in his opinion, a fantasy of the liberal Left, which does not deal at all with the morality of such an evacuation. And as if that were not enough, he adds: "The 'moderate Left' participated actively in normalizing the moral injustices that Green-Line Israel created." Shenhav claims that the mental terror created by the demographic discourse does violence to the Palestinians and, no less so, to the Jews.

Shenhav says he does not deny the right of the Jews, as a national collective, to self-determination. But at the same time, he proposes a model that will include the return of any Palestinian refugees that so desire, so as to realize the legitimate rights of both nations in the space they share.

After being attacked by Barak from the right and by philosophers such as Shenhav from the left, it is not surprising that the peace camp is in trouble.


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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Providence, Miracle, or What Really Happened - Part 1/4




Providence, Miracle, or What Really Happened - Part 1/4
Written by www.daily.pk
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 13:46

The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other.

The following Glossary, abbreviations and essay will help the reader understand how Theodor Herzl on August 29, 1897 predicted that within fifty years there would be a Jewish state.

Zionism: an organization of Jews who believed the Jewish people needed a nation of their own to escape persecution.

Judaism: Jews collectively who practice a religion based on the Torah and the Talmud.

RothIsm or Rothschildism: abbreviation for The Zionist movement corrupted and co-opted by The House of Rothschild and their agents to advance a New World Order agenda. In 1871 Albert Pike Grand Master of the Luciferian group known as the Order of the Palladium, received a vision, which he described in a letter dated August 15, 1871 that graphically outlined plans for three world wars that were seen as necessary to bring about the One World Order.

The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam (the Moslem Arabic World) and political Zionism (the State of Israel) mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm … Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view. [1]

RBZJ: The Rothschild Backed Zionist Jews, acronym used when referring to anyone connected to or related to the House of Rothschild.

RAGENT: Abbreviation for a Rothschild Agent

The House of Rothschild (the Rothschilds): Global financial empire founded in the late 18th century by a dynasty of Khazars, an ancient people from Georgia. [2]

The Rothschilds control a vast portion of the world’s wealth and are the hidden hand behind all the social-cataclysms: the French, Russian and American Revolutions; Communism, Capitalism, World Wars and the Modern State of Israel. The Rothschilds are not the Jews of the bible and do not practice Judaism.

Mel Gibson would have been correct if he had claimed, The Rothschilds are responsible for all the wars in the world. The “Labour Leader” newspaper of Britain on December 19, 1891 referred to the Rothschilds when they wrote:

This blood-sucking crew has been the cause of untold mischief and misery in Europe during the present century, and has piled up its prodigious wealth chiefly through fomenting wars between States which ought never to have quarreled. Wherever there is trouble in Europe, wherever rumors of war circulate and men’s minds are distraught with fear of change and calamity you may be sure that a hook-nosed Rothschild is at his games somewhere near the region of the disturbance (ibid, p. 12).

In “Imperialism,” writer J. A. Hobson wrote: “No Great War could be undertaken by any European State…if the house of Rothschild and its connections set their face against it” (ibid, p, 25).

The “Labour Leader” did not use the term Jew because the Rothschilds are the descendants of Khazars; they are not of Abraham’s Seed.

Rothschild founded and funded the Zionist movement to further a New World Order agenda. At the first Zionist conference Theodor Herzl, a Rothschild agent (Ragent) makes it clear Rothschildism (RothIsm) is not about saving Jews,

It is essential that the sufferings of Jews….become worse….this will assist in realization of our plans….I have an excellent idea….I shall induce anti-Semites to liquidate Jewish wealth….The anti-Semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-Semites shall be our best friends. [3]

UN Resolution (GA 181)

August 29, 1897 Theodor Herzl, the founder of RothIsm at the First Zionist Congress predicted that within fifty years there would be a Jewish state. UN Resolution (GA 181) partitioned Palestine in 1947.

RothIsm is a political movement to encourage, force if necessary, Jews to move to Palestine. All Jews were encouraged; it didn’t matter if you were of Abraham’s seed, you left for Palestine or else.

Herzl picking 1947 as the end of the Diaspora and the return of the Jews to the “Holy Land” is either one of those “bizarre coincidences”, like the same person winning the lottery three weeks in a row, or the partition of Palestine, finalized in 1947, was part of Rothschilds plan for a New World Order, “to effect complete and total control over every human being on the planet and to dramatically reduce the world’s population by two thirds.”

Rothschild’s secret societies, The Bavarian Illuminati, Order of Perfectibilists, the Skull and Bones are no longer classified as prehistoric science fiction and have their origins in the ancient religions and the occult: Jesuits, Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Freemasons and the Kabbalah.

In 2003, 60 Minutes aired a segment about Alexandra Robbins, staff member at the New Yorker. Robbins, a Yale graduate, penetrated the wall of silence around the Skull and Bones, the American branch of Rothschild’s secret society and authored the best seller Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power.

Members of the Skull and Bones include some of the most powerful men of the 20th century.

J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Abraham Kuhn and Solomon Loeb are all connected to the Rothschilds Global financial empire and secret societies. They are members of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, France, and Germany or, for that matter, any central bank anywhere in the world.

RothIsm was not-so-secretly funded when Baron Edmond (Binyamin) de Rothschild purchased 90,000 acres in Palestine launching Israel’s future initially as an agricultural society. After the early settlers arrived, they wanted Rothschild to “take his hands from it.” Baron Edmond responded, “I created the Yishuv, I alone. Therefore no men, neither colonists nor organisations have the right to interfere in my plans”

Lord Moyne, the British Secretary of State in Cairo, in 1942 tried to interfere in Baron Edmond’s plan when he declared “the Jews were not the descendants of the ancient Hebrews and that they had no “legitimate claim” on the Holy Land. In favor of limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine, he was accused of being “an implacable enemy of Hebrew independence,” and on November 6, 1944 Lord Moyne was murdered by two members of the Stern Gang (Yitzhak Shamir’s group). [4]

A Jewish State, a sacrilege, can be found in the Bible

A Jewish state can be found in the book of Revelation. John, an Apostle of Jesus on the Isle of Patmos in 90 A.D., was told to “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” John wrote:

And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months (1279 days).†And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in Sackcloth. Revelation 11:2&3

Herzl predicted the 1947 UN partition but John, in the spirit, was taken up into heaven and saw that the holy city would be underfoot for forty-two months given over to non-Jewish people until 1967 (688 A.D. + 1279 years), when in the first hours of the Six-day war Jews took control of East Jerusalem and the prophesy in Sackcloth ended when they had their own state on May 14th 1948 (688 A.D. + 1260 years). [5]

Grand Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, believed RothIsm is “the work of Satan, a sacrilege, a blasphemy” and The Holocaust, he wept, “was a direct result of RothIsm, a punishment from G-d.”

Rothschild was well aware of Jewish history and Jews, according to the Christian New Testament, persecuted and crucified Jesus Christ and most of his early followers. America’s traditional churches in the 19th Century would never stand for a Jewish occupation of Jesus’ homeland.

Rothschild Backed Zionist Jews (RBZJ) and a con artist Cyrus Scofield were used to change America and its religious orientation by the use of the Scofield Reference Bible from Oxford University Press.

Scofield, after being released from prison was introduced to Samuel Untermeyer, the President of the Koren Hayesod, and the RothIsm movement in America.

Untermeyer, an attorney, was instrumental in preparing the Federal Reserve Banking law in 1910, and the financing of Scofield’s Reference bible.

The Scofield bible has hundreds of easy-to-read footnotes in the margins and at the bottom of the pages that misleadingly weave parts of the Old and New Testaments together as though the same people wrote them at the same time. The most convincing evidence of RothIsm influence on Scofield are the notes themselves, below are examples taken from the revised 1967 Edition:

For a nation to commit the sin of anti-semitism brings inevitable judgment.

God made an unconditional promise of blessings through Abram’s seed to the nation of Israel to inherit a specific territory forever.

In fact there is no sin of anti-semitism in the bible and Abraham did not bequeath a “specific territory” to his descendants.

Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell weave Scofield’s “Jews” into Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” and falsely conclude:

God has blessed America because America has blessed the Jew. If this nation wants her fields to remain white with grain, her scientific achievements to remain notable, and her freedom to remain intact, America must continue to stand with Israel.

John McArthur, author, pastor at Grace Community Mega-Church came up with a “Just War” explanation for the Iraq War because of Scofields “specific territory” note. On CNN he told Larry King, “Iraq is ‘a just war’ because Iraq has not only rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but has done everything it can possibly do to stamp out the people of God, namely Israel.”

Robertson, Falwell and McArthur because of Scofield, ignore the central tenets of Christianity: Seeking peace and loving one’s enemies, “Peace be with you, that the meek and those who work for peace — rather than the powerful and violent — are blessed by God.”

Then he will say to those on his left (Robertson et all), ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ MT 25:41

Pre-millennialism, Dispensationalism, Judeo-Christianity and “Christian Zionism” all rely on the Scofield footnote “A Curse Laid Upon Those Who Persecute The Jews” to justify the Iraq war and Israel’s human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank. [6]

It is impossible to overstate the influence of Cyrus Scofield and the Oxford Press on twentieth-century Christian and Jewish sectarian beliefs. With limitless advertising and promotion, the Scofield Bible became the most important instrument for spreading the message of Christian Zionism: that the Modern State of Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

Uganda is not Jerusalem

In 1903, Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, brought the “Uganda Project”, a Jewish settlement in East Africa, to Theodore Herzl. Herzl initially rejected the idea but the April 1903 Kishinev pogrom, the Medieval Outbreak where 49 Russian Jews were killed, 92 severely wounded, 500 slightly wounded changed his mind and he recommended the controversial solution as a temporary measure.

Herzl did not live to see the rejection of the Uganda Plan in 1905. He, and further discussion of a homeland other than Palestine, died unexpectedly when Herzl was 44.

David Wolfson succeeded Herzl but he failed to convince the Young Turks to give up Palestine after the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Dr. Otto Warburg (related to Paul and Max, Rothschild’s agents) was put in charge and the movement was moved to Berlin.

WWII is over but not for the Palestinians

The war ended in 1945 and after the bitterest episode in Jewish history the refugees were moved from Concentration to Displaced Persons camps until the world was willing to give the Holocaust survivors the Palestinian’s Land.

As the United Nations debated a resolution to divide the Palestinian land, the UN- appointed mediator Count Folke Bernadotte thought the resolution offended

Basic principles to prevent these innocent victims of the conflict [Palestinians were not to blame for the Holocaust] from returning to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flood into Palestine and, what’s more, threatening to permanently replace the dispossessed Arab refugees who have been here for centuries.” He described, “Zionist pillage on a grand scale and the destruction of [Palestinian] villages without apparent military need.

His report (U.N. Document A. 648) was filed on September 16, 1948. The next day Count Bernadotte and his assistant were assassinated in the part of Jerusalem occupied by the Zionists. [7]

Finally the British navy attacked the 4,500 Holocaust survivors (”Exodus 1947″) on their way to Palestine and a Rothschild Homeland was a fait accomplis.

On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate over Palestine expired and Rothschild had established the Jewish State, located in the only place in the world that could have a clash of civilizations, Jerusalem.

The Jews return to the “Holy Land” portends Armageddon.

Armageddon, the final battle, will come when someone blows up the Dome of the Rock. That magnificent golden domed mosque built on the site of Solomon’s Temple (the abomination of desolation) is preventing the return of the messiah. Radical Christians and Jews believe Christ will not come back to earth until the Jews rebuild the Temple.

Should the Dome be demolished, then for the first time in history, thanks to Sadaam Hussein when he destroyed 90 percent of Iraq’s Wetlands, 200 million people could cross the Euphrates for a holy war in Jerusalem. [8]

A war that will rid the planet of millions of useless eaters.

The Rothschild New World Order only needs 500 million of us for slaves.

Note: This is Part 1 of a series, and the author acknowledges help from M.E. Young.

Footnotes
[1] 4. Cmdr. William Guy Carr: Quoted in Satan: Prince of This World, Albert Pike received a vision, which he described in a letter that he wrote to Mazzini, dated August 15, 1871. http://www.threeworldwars.com/albert-pike2.htm

[2] Shlomo Sand, When and How the Jewish People was Invented, Arthur Koestler, The Thirteenth Tribe, published in 1976.

[3] From the diaries that Theodor Herzl kept between 1895 and 1904 — Part I, pp. 16

[4] Original document in German Auswertiges Amt Archiv, Bestand 47-59, E224152 and E234155-58. Complete original text published in: David Yisraeli, The Palestinian Problem in German Politics 1889-1945 (Israel: 1947) pp. 315-317.

[5] The Mosque of Omar built in 688 A.D., The Dome of the Rock is the correct identification of the abomination of desolation. Biblical scholars acknowledge the words of Ezekiel who wrote, “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/9109

[6] Reverend Jerry Falwell erroneously denied that many evangelicals opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Appearing opposite Sojourners editor-in-chief Reverend Jim Wallis on the February 11 edition of FOX News’ Hannity & Colmes, Falwell called Wallis’s claim that “evangelicals around the world were against the war in Iraq” “baloney” and remarked: “You could fit your [antiwar evangelical] crowd in a phone booth.” After Wallis told Falwell that “there are evangelical Christians who don’t share your pro-war views,” Falwell replied, “I know — you and William Sloane Coffin.” Coffin is a longtime peace activist and former Yale University chaplain.

[7] For the assassination of Count Bernadotte see the report sent to the UN the same day as the attack (17 September 1948) by General A. Lundstrom (who was sitting in Bernadotte’s car). See also the book published by the same general for the 20th anniversary of the crime : L’assassinat du Compte Bernadottel, printed in Rome (pub. East. A. Fanelli) in 1970 under the title : ‘Un tributo a la memoria del Comte Folke Bernadotte’. Also Ralph Hewins’ book : ‘Count Bernadotte, his life and work’ (Hutchinson, 1948). And in the Milanese weekly Europa’, Baruch Nadel’s confessions (quoted in Le Monde, 4 and 5 July 1971).

[8] In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Saddam Hussein’s regime. They were drained to permit military access and greater political control of the native Marsh Arabs. Written by Robert Singer

Monday, March 16, 2009

Bin Laden slams Gaza 'holocaust'


Bin Laden slams Gaza 'holocaust'

Last Modified: 15 Mar 2009
Source: ITN

A tape said to be the voice of Osama bin Laden has described Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip as a "holocaust".

The al-Qaeda leader also lashed out at "moderate" Arab governments accused of colluding with "the Crusader-Zionist alliance".

In the audio recording broadcast on Saturday, a voice identified as bin Laden's calls Arab leaders hypocrites and accuses them of sacrificing the Palestinians in Gaza and collaborating with Israel.

The message was released in excerpts on the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera.

The devastating three-week offensive by the Israeli military, which ended on January 18, killed around 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medics and human rights groups.

The voice on the tape said: "It was clear that some of the Arab leaders have collaborated with the Crusader-Zionist alliance against our people, those whom America calls the moderate leaders."

The message was the second attributed to bin Laden on the Gaza offensive since January, when he urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel.

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