Announcements & Letters, April 26, 2009

UN Human Rights Chief Shocked by US withdrawal from Geneva  Conference on Racism

ccun.org, April 20, 2009

UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay: 

 "Some media have interpreted the US withdrawal as based on the continued retention of language on defamation of relgion and anti-semitism in the outcome document, when in fact no such language exists in the text adopted last week," Pillay noted. "In addition, the draft outcome document clearly states that ‘the Holocaust must never be forgotten’ and deplores all forms of racism including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism." She pointed out that in this respect it reflects the original 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action."

Is the Zionist philosophy against the Palestine population not the purest form of anti-Semitism, against their religious father, Shem's children, and their brothers?

By stealing at force of arms and denying Palestinians their land rights. Who are really the Anti-Semites?

When called Anti-Semitic, my favorite reply to this ignorant statement is: "I have Jewish & Palestinian friends, they are both the children of SHEM." Please don't fall for the Zionist Big Lie and deny the true heritage of the Palestinians as Semitic, they are also the children of Shem."

Ronald Douglas Kennedy,

California USA.

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Lieberman: America accepts all our decisions

Lieberman said the administration of US President Barack Obama would put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to. "Believe me, America accepts all our decisions,"

Does the U.S. Administration have self respect?! All Zionist leaders had been and still are running on the same track, the so-called left, center and right are all Zionist in the heart and skin… Where did years long of negotiations lead other then stealing more and more land, and more and more genocides and destruction!!! Thus the only solution resistance to racism…

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman assures the world of Tel Avivs influence on the White House and any new peace initiative. During his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office, Lieberman said the administration of US President Barack Obama would put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to. "Believe me, America accepts all our decisions," he told Russian daily Moskovskiy Komosolets.

On the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, Lieberman repeated his criticism of a two-state solution as "a nice slogan that lacks substance." During the years former prime minister Ehud Olmert controlled Israel, the two sides were generally deemed to have faint chances of moving toward the prospect of permanent peace due to Israeli efforts to stonewall the US-proposed process. The bid was also meaningfully marred by a three-week Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip and the killing of 1,500 Palestinians in September and January.

The ultra-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has put it straight that the idea of a Palestinian state stands no chance at all. Shortly after his installation as foreign minister, Lieberman rejected an agreement drawn up at the 2007 peace conference in Annapolis, calling it valueless. Many around the world -- and in Israel alike -- were left in a state of shock. Even though the Tuesday remarks by Lieberman confirm the extent of Israeli influence in US politics, they starkly contrast claims by Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin a day earlier.

 "The Obama administration is determined to take initiative and move forward central processes in the Middle East," Yadlin told ministers at a special cabinet meeting that focused on the dangers Obamas Middle East policy pose for Israel. Obamas intent, he said, is to "advance the peace process in the direction of realistic discussions with all parties including extremist elements."
 
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman assures the world of Tel Avivs influence on the White House and any new peace initiative. During his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office, Lieberman said ....
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C.A.R.A.M.A
www.caramaorg.net

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Physicians for Human Rights – Israel:  IDF Investigation was defective

Based on testimonies and data collected by PHR about non-evacuation of wounded people and firing on medical teams, there was a systemic failure and not “rare mishaps” during Gaza
 
A look at the findings and publications of the Israeli Military’s investigations thus far shows that these investigations are seriously defective.  A serious investigation must include testimonies from all involved sides.  As such, Israel must establish an independent investigative mechanism and must cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council’s investigation.  Throughout the war, PHR attempted to coordinate a number of evacuations of wounded people and the Military did not allow it. These incidents, based on the published findings, were not investigated by the IDF.
 
Based on testimonies and data collected by PHR-Israel, non-evacuation of wounded people and firing on medical teams reflect systemic failures and not “rare mishaps.”  The data show that 16 Palestinian medical staff were killed by IDF fire during “Operation Cast Lead” and 25 were wounded on-the-job.  As well, the IDF damaged 34 medical installations, including 8 hospitals and 26 first aid clinics.
 
Hadas Ziv, Director of PHR – Israel: “We must ask the Military many more questions. For example, in the investigations, were wounded people interviewed? Is it acceptable to kill an ambulance driver transferring innocent patients  just because he is a member of Hamas?”
 
For more information:
Libby Friedlander 054-245-7682

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Israeli Human Rights organizations:

Results of Israeli military investigations published today of alleged violations in Gaza are very problematic – the only way to truly investigate is through an external mechanism
 
Military investigation results published today refer to tens of innocent Palestinian Civilians killed by “rare mishaps” in Gaza during “Operation Cast Lead”.  However, data collected by Israeli human rights organization shows that many civilians were killed in Gaza not due to “mishaps” but as a direct result of the Military’s chosen policy implemented throughout the fighting.  The only way to investigate violations of human rights committed in Gaza is by establishing an external, extra-military investigation mechanism.
 
If the Military claims that there were no major deficiencies in its conduct in Gaza, it is not clear why Israel refuses to cooperate with the UN investigation team, led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone, which requests an investigation of alleged violations of international law by both Israel and Hamas.
 
Israeli human rights organizations: B’Tselem, Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, Adalah, Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Yesh Din, Hamoked, Public Committee Against Torture, Bimkom, Rabbis for Human Rights
 
For more information:
Sarit Michaeli 050-538-7230

or Libby Friedlander 054-245-7682

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Defend BBC’s Jeremy Bowen from Zionist lobby

BBC senior management is on the offensive over Gaza. Stung by the widespread criticism of its refusal to broadcast the DEC Gaza aid appeal in January, it has singled out its key Middle East editor and is trying to bully him into silence.

The BBC Trust’s preposterous attack on Jeremy Bowen last week is a crude attempt to push back the wave of protest inside the BBC over the DEC appeal decision. If Bowen is slapped down, they calculate that no other BBC journalist will dare to speak out.

The Trust’s report itself has been massively spun by the right-wing press - in no way is it a demolition of Bowen’s journalism, let alone proof that he is in any way biased against Israel.

We call on all our supporters to urgently:

Scan the report summary (pages 4-15)

Read Robert Fisk’s superb comment on the report

Note the research showing BBC bias IN FAVOUR of Israel

Email Jeremy Bowen with your support: jeremy.bowen@bbc.co.uk

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Copy your emails to the BBC Trust: trust.enquiries@bbc.co.uk

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'Last Chance: The Middle East in the Balance' By David Gardner

Arab Media Watch
The Anglo Arab Organisation
The Council for Arab-British Understanding
The Professional Arabs Network UK
I.B. Tauris Publishers
 
invite you to the book launch of

Last Chance: The Middle East in the Balance
 
Speaker: David Gardner, chief leader writer & associate editor at the Financial Times
 
Chair: Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, AMW chairman
 
Thursday 7 May 2009 at 6.45pm
 
The Arab British Chamber of Commerce
43 Upper Grosvenor Street
London W1K 2NJ
 
Free entry, all welcome
 
Guest listing required. Please RSVP to info@arabmediawatch.com or 07956 455 528.
 

The book will be on sale at a 33% discount (£12 from £17.99)
 
About the book:

As Barack Obama seeks to chart a new course in American foreign policy, one of the English-language media's most respected authorities on the Arab world, David Gardner, addresses the controversial but urgent question: why is the Middle East so dysfunctional? And what can be done about it?
 
Clear-sighted, never flinching from unpalatable truths, Gardner draws on his acute grasp of history and decades of experience covering the region to look at why conflict, despotism and sectarianism continue to flourish in the Arab world whilst they decline everywhere else. The 'Middle East exception' is, he argues, a product of the West's own making.
 
By supporting tyrants, fuelling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and demonizing democratically elected Islamist parties, the West in general but specifically America has incubated a region inherently resistant to economic and political reform, and suppurating with resentment.
 
As the Obama administration plans its Middle East policy, Gardner argues for nothing less than a total reappraisal of what realpolitik means. Both an introduction to the modern Middle East and an impassioned polemic, 'Last Chance' is essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of the region.
 
About the author:
David Gardner is chief leader writer and associate editor at the Financial Times. He joined the newspaper in 1978, and has worked mainly as a foreign correspondent in several countries worldwide, including Lebanon; a regional specialist (as Middle East editor); and writer on international affairs.
 
In 2003, Gardner won the David Watt international journalism prize for his writing on the Arab world. He regularly appears on international TV and radio, and has lectured or given papers at numerous think-tanks, foundations and universities in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the US.