Why so many informers and traitors among Palestinians

The news coming out of Gaza is that Israel and the Palestinian resistance movements, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have reached a tentative cease-fire, which should be welcoming news to the people of Gaza, more than any thing else. While understanding the right to fight the occupation, the so called rockets coming out of Gaza are not only useless weapons of war but gives the world the impressions that the Palestinians have an arsenal as powerful as Israel with its F-16s, F-15s. Apache helicopter, 155 mm howitzers, Merkava tanks and Hellfire missiles not to mention smart bombs. These so called rockets are more of an ego thing than a true defensive weapons. The costs of such stupid rockets are so high for all of Palestinians and as I wrote before, is nothing but stupid weapons of war. In any case, I do hope the cease-fire will hold so that Israel stops all of the crimes it is committing on daily basis.
However the subject matter of this article is why and how does Israel manage to target so many people and so accurately, if there was no support on the ground for Israel. By that I mean, so many informers and traitors as if the number of traitors and informers for Israel among Gazans is more than the number of fighters.
Without the support of Palestinian informers on the ground working for Israel day and night, supporting in the killing and murder of hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians, Israel could not fire its missiles so accurately and target specific cars, specific apartments, specific people.
One does understand, that in all wars there are always traitors and informers for the enemy, but the Palestinians exceeded all expectations. Of course one need not only blame the poor people who are forced for one reason or another to become informers, but one has to ask the questions of how Israel is able to penetrate the Palestinian leadership all the way to the late Yaser Arafat and how Israel was able to recruit some of the top echelons of the Palestinian leaderships. It seems that any thing and every thing that happens in Al-Muqata and in almost every home within Palestine Israel knows of it and of course act on it by either killing these suspects or arresting them. Though I do not buy the idea that Arafat was poisoned by Israel, one has to accept the possibility given the number of informers and traitors among the Palestinians and given the strong possibilities those Israeli agents and informers are among top Palestinian leadership.
Without the active support of informers and traitors, Israel could not have the ability of targeting Sheik Ahmed Yasin or Rantisi or know the whereabouts of Bargouthi and could not target specific cars in the middle of the night. Someone must have cooperated with Israel.
In my view that while Palestinians have shown great resilience in their fights against Israel, one has to admit they also cooperated so much with the occupation, to the point that Gaza and the West Bank is becoming like the old East Germany, where every family have an informer among its members.I do not have the answers for all of this, perhaps someone can help

Time to bring the Lebanese civil war to an end!

The assassination and cold-blooded murder of Pierre Jumael is a reminder that the Lebanese Civil War is not over yet and it will not be over until such time the Lebanese decide for themselves if they want a continuation of the war or they want a new, democratic and non-sectarian Lebanon.
I am one of those who may not forgive the Phalange Party and its leader Samir Geagea or the late Bashir Jumeal for the crimes committed in Sabra and Shatilla and the tens of thousands of innocent Lebanese killed during the war and the tens of thousands remain missing and specially their alliance with the criminal Israeli Defense Forces against Lebanon and against the Lebanese.
However the murder of the young and innocent Pierre Jumael is a cowardly act and it is intended to ignite the civil war again, and it is intended to make Lebanon again a blood path. I agree with Jihad Alkhazen when he said in his column today in Alhayat, that “ he does not accuse any one and does not exonerate any one” in this murder. However we know that both Syria and Israel have always played a major hand and roll in all political and sectarian assassination and always will have blood on their hands. The Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad is not different from his late father’s regime, with many murderers and killers high in government.
The murder of Rafiq Harriri, Basem Flehan, Samir Qasir, Gibran Tueni, George Hawi and the attempted murder of Marman Hamadi and May Shydiaq is a reminder of the long and murderous arms of the Syrian Ba’athist regime. No one believes that the late Ghazi Kan’an simply killed himself; he was murdered by the regime. Who else but Syria that killed Salim Al-Louzi and the late Kamal Jumblat?
What is surprising is the fact than non of the above murders have been solved and non of those accused of these murders and the murders of thousands of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatilla and Tel –Za’ater have ever been brought to trial. This is the sad thing about Lebanon. No one within Lebanon either have the determination, the skills not the courage to come forward and open a board of inquiry into all these murder and bring these murders to close, even it the accused are in absentia. No one can convince me that in all Lebanon, there are no competent and qualified criminal investigators that can open public hearing into these murders and attempted murder.
The murder of the young and innocent Pierre Jumael must be urgent calls for all Lebanese from all walks of life and from all political persuasions and religious sects to rise up to the occasion and have the courage once and for all and bring about a closer for the Lebanese Civil War. The first step will be for the Lebanese to hold a “referendum” on ending the sectarian system that is the cancer of Lebanon. It is time to go beyond Taif and to come up with something more original. Taif was to end the civil war, but not to rebuild Lebanon into a new modern and democratic state with religious and sectarian affiliation have no place and no role in Lebanese politics. It is time for all Lebanese to be equal citizens with equal opportunities. Let us never forget that Israel is the enemy number one for Lebanon, and always makes sure that the civil war never ends. It is time for the Lebanese to tell Syria and Israel that they are mature enough and that they will rebuild a new Lebanon that will be a challenge to Israel, Syria and the US and to all Arabs. May Allah/God have mercy on the soul of Pierre Jumael. Yes, he died a martyr for Lebanon.

Time for an Islamic Renaissance and to dump Al-Azhar

The case of the “top” Islamic cleric in Australia. Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly and his assumption that unveiled women invite rape and a similar retarded “fatwa” from Sheik Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, the former imam of the Spanish southern town of Fuengirola who published a book called” Women in Islam” in which he finds justifications if not promotion of “wife beating” as a way to solve marital problems and we need to add to that the likes of Syed Ikram Jilani of Oslo among others, raises serious problems and issues about how low can these “Islamic” clerics takes Islam.
Perhaps unlike other religions with a well defined hierarchy of “priest hood” and rabbinic hierarchy, there are no such hierarchies in Islam, and any Islamic hierarchy of “imams” is an invention of modern states but not of the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran has more faith and trust in the judgment of individuals that did trust in these new “inventions”.
These days, every Mohamed, Ali and Mahmoud or Taj eldin who failed at other professions becomes expert on Islam and takes over a mosques, such as the case in England, USA, Australia, among others, where mentally retarded and semi-illiterates becomes imams and start giving fatwas left and right and start to be the ugly, illiterate and retarded face of Islam.
As a testimony of how low these mentally retarded and illiterate imams came to be we are not surprise that some of these think that the mentally retarded and murderers Taliblans are the “perfect” caliphates putting forward the Taliban state as a model of an Islamic state. There must be something very wrong with these people. Simply mentally sick.
If Islam and early Muslims who opened the world to Islam where of such mentality and attitude, for sure Islam would not have left Mecca and would have been a religion that died before it started. These people and so many like them forget that Islam is a religion and faith of knowledge, of science, of education, of travel and most of all of social justice, with very strict and high standards of criminal accusation and convictions.
With so many of these illiterate and retarded imams, who not only hijacked our mosques, but also hijacked our faith, perhaps it is time for Islam to have another renaissance, similar to that of Europe in the Middle Ages. Perhaps what we need now more than ever is a “reformation movement” that will redefine again Islam as the way it was intended for “all ages”. Enough with today’s imams going back to thousands of years to find true and intelligent answers to days issue and concerns of Muslims. We all know that the “door” of “Ijtihad” or prudence was closed some centuries ago, as if modern day scholars are unable to reach for the truth except to going back in time. If Islam is the faith for all times, then we need scholars for the future and not only for the past and yes, why not for a new ‘reformation” movement that can take Islam to the future instead of keeping it in the past. Perhaps it is time for Muslims and those attending mosques to get more educated and more enlightened “imam:” than the retards we are getting these days to lead us in prayers. When I go to mosques I want to hear an intelligent and enlightened sermon, not to hear some imbecile who happens to recite few suras and never read another book in any language to give and share his ignorance with the believers. I am sure there are enough Islamic scholars in the US to take charge and lead us forward and liberate Muslims from retarded imams such as Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly or Sheik Mohamed Kamal Mustafa or someone like Abu-Hamza Al-Masry. It is time to throw out these retards out of the mosques and reclaims our mosques again. Who said that Al-Azhar have to be the only “religious” reference for Muslims. There are enough intelligent and smart scholars in the US and Europe to lead the way to an Islamic Renaissance.

Lebanon, more democracy to match it's freedoms

In today’s Asharqalwsat, the columnist Samir Atallah used a quote from the former Lebanese prime minister, and I might add a Sunni, a quote that made me stop to think about writing this posting. Dr. Salim Al-Hos, alumni of Indiana University, was quoted as saying that Lebanon is about lots of freedoms and little democracy. How can any one disagree with that?
Lebanese, like Israelis always brag about their “democracy” and how their respective countries are a light unto other nations. Well, let us not take such statements too seriously otherwise George Bush might get a new ideas about democracy at home, in the US.
The sad facts and in both cases, in Israel and Lebanon, are built around and are “designer” democracy where ethnicity and religious affiliation, sectarian loyalty are at the core of such democracies. We know about the Jewish State and its special and selective democracy, where generals, murderers and criminals rule the country just like a mafia. In Lebanon, it “families” that rule Lebanon and it is the sectarian affiliation that is the basis for such a state. How can both countries, in the 21st century meets the requirements of modern day democracy, where citizenship, its rights and privileges are not based on religious affiliations and ethnicity, but where citizens are equal in the eyes of the law irrespective of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin.
In Israel non-Jews are thirds, perhaps tenth class citizens with rights and privileges are exclusive of Jews and where indigenous people, the “natives” Palestinians are at the mercy of the Jewish state every day of the week, with the possibilities of losing their property and land if not their lives to trigger happy and new Jewish immigrants.
Lebanon was and will always remain, a sectarian state, where citizenship and its rights and privileges are always defined by ‘religious affiliation” or “taifa”, not simply with the birthright. Where loyalties even among the most educated belong to the leadership of the “taifa” and not to the state. Lebanon is also most famous for its “families” like the Jumblat, Shamoun, Jemael, Arsalan, Asa’ad, Frenjeih and recently Harriri. So far Sayed Hassan Nasrallah and Nabih Berri did not try to build a ‘dynasty” where the mantle of power and authority is passed on from father to son irrespective of competence.
For a long time there was a collusion between the Maronite Christians and their Beiruti Sunnis where political and economic powers where shared between these two groups. The late Rafiq Al-Hariri changed all that being the son of Said and not Beirut. Lebanon is also the country, with the support of the late Hafiz Assad that appointed a criminal and mass murderer of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatilla as a minister. Also in Lebanon, leaders of militias responsible for the murder and killings of hundreds of thousands are the rulers and decision makers in the country, and where those responsible for the disappearance of tens of thousands roam free and are considered ‘socialites” invited to the best of restaurants and to national debates that determine the future of the nation.
Perhaps what Lebanon needs more of, is democracy to match its freedoms. Yes, there are lots of personal and social freedoms, but the most basic freedoms of all, the rights and privileges of citizens are dictated by old and rotten ideas of sectarian affiliations. Of course, unless and until such time, Lebanon gets over its “sectarian burden” Lebanon and its people will never be free and democratic. Of course Israel is a mental “Jewish” case and the only solution for Israel and its sectarian democracy is a one state solution, only then can the Jews reclaim the long stated phrase “a light unto other nations”. The only light now is the one coming from a tank and an F-16 killing and murdering people.

Why new Jewish immigrants are full of hate and racists, do they have a problem with being "Jewish" in the first place!

“.... Settlement can thus develop under the protection of a force that is not dependent on the local population, behind an IRON WALL which they will be powerless to break down. ....a voluntary agreement is just not possible. As long as the Arabs preserve a gleam of hope that they will succeed in getting rid of us, nothing in the world can cause them to relinquish this hope, precisely because they are not a rubble but a living people. And a living people will be ready to yield on such fateful issues only when they give up all hope of getting rid of the Alien Settlers. Only then will extremist groups with their slogan 'No, never' lose their influence, and only then their influence be transferred to more moderate groups. And only then will the moderates offer suggestions for compromise. Then only will they begin bargaining with us on practical matters, such as guarantees against PUSHING THEM OUT, and equality of civil, and national rights.” With these word printed in Haaretz Daily 1923, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the father of Revisionist Zionist, later the Likud declared his “Road Map” to get rid of the Palestinians, making sure they have no other choice but to give up all hope and accept the conditions laid out by the Zionist settlers. Transfer or Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians from Palestinians is the hard-core philosophy and ideology of Zionists, whether on the liberal left or the extreme right. Zionist leaders from Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Haim Weizman, Yosef Weitz, Avigdor Lieberman, Shimon Perez, and Bibi Netanyahu among others, all subscribe to the racist and fascist ideas of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, not only to achieve a “Jewish Majority” in Palestine, but also to enable Israel and the Zionist movement to steal their land and property. It is a double edge sword with two missions achieved in one stroke. Of course to do that, the Zionist have to implement harsh measures, including the killing and murder of the largest number of innocent people. This was the case back in the 40’s and this is the case now in Gaza and the West Bank. Except this time around the Palestinians are not going anywhere. It is so ironic that the most committed advocates of such measures against the Palestinians happened to be European and American Jews, who somehow have some real issues and problems with being “Jewish” in their home countries. How could any one explain the ideology of these “immigrant/settlers” coming from Moldavia, Odessa or Poland or Brooklyn? These Jewish immigrants are so hostile, full of hate with racist attitude toward the Palestinian, not only they wish Palestinians simply disappear, but they also advocate their liquidations, assassinations and targeted killing. Of leading Palestinians as the case with the new deputy prime minister, Lieberman. They must have some serious psychological problems, perhaps too angry with themselves being born Jews. How can any one explain such attitude, ideology and philosophy? More to follow.

It takes Howard Stern 42 seconds to make $1,000 while it takes a policeman 43 hours to make the same amount. Something must be wrong!

In its November 6 issue, Time Magazine, not only had an interesting cover and story on George Bush dubbing him the Lone Ranger, but it also ran an even more interesting story “Home Truth” about America; its politics, religion, income, population and population distribution and of course immigration, the subject of local election in the town of Herndon, Virginia, out to get those “illegal and dangerous immigrants”.
What struck me most about Time’s article was a little chart, a column of people, profession and income. It listed names and professions and the amount of money it takes to make $1,000. This is how it goes; Howard Stern, the radio host makes $1,000 in 42 seconds while a policemen and a teacher make the same amount of money in 43 hours. A janitor, no doubt an immigrant and possibly cleaning Howard Stern’ office makes that the same amount in 103 hours or 2.57 weeks and is at risk of being thrown out of country.
Of course all of us have heard of Howard Stern or even at one time or another watched his show late at night. But for someone to make that kind of money, $1,000, in 42 seconds is simply a telling a bout America and its core priorities. It takes Dr. Phil McGraw 2 minutes and 42 seconds to make a $1,000 and it takes an average doctor attending patients in a hospital or clinics 13 hours and 5 minutes to make the same amount of money that Dr. Phil makes telling people what they want to hear.
Howard Stern is the host of the Howard Stern Show on the subscription fee based Sirius Satellite Radio. He moved there on January 9, 2006 and his show is broadcast 4 times/week one week and 5 times/week another week.
Mr. Stern knew how to “outrage” America and how to insult its core sensibilities and laugh all the way to the bank. His show is all about things “outrageous” outrageous racial and sexual slurs and insults, and of course “outrageous” in the kind of people who appear o the show. That is where Americans seems not bothered with such payments.
With that kind of income disparity, it seems clear that America and its people put premium on outrageous things and do not give much value or don’t give a damn about critical services such as teaching, police and fire protection and of course medical services. It is hard to believe that our own teachers, policemen and firemen, the key elements in providing protection and education to our own families, children and homes are not thought of much and in most cases live on borrowed money and credit cards to make ends meet. I do not understand why we, in a county like Fairfax, perhaps the richest county in the US do not pay teachers, policemen and firemen, the average medium income for the county. What is wrong with policemen or firemen who put their lives on the line every day to make $80,000 or $100,000? I see nothing wrong with that. However I do see a lot wrong with someone like Howard Stern making $1,000 every 42 seconds only because he insults our sensibilities. It seems we always reward such TV and radio personalities for being outrageous and we do not reward our policemen, firemen and teachers because they are courageous and provide us with critical services. That is one reason why I do not subscribe to Sirius Radio, as I do not wish to contribute any money toward an ever-increasing income of someone like Howard Stern, but will be very happy to add few hundred dollars to my taxes to reward our own policemen, firemen and teachers in Fairfax County and across America. It is time to vote our dollars and recognition to those who deserve it and not to those who insult us.

Aljazeera International, it is about time!

Aljazeera International was launched last week with generous funding by the Emir of Qatar. I have to admit I am one of those living in the west for such a long time, who simply stopped watching US television and CNN with the exception of PBS when I am home.
From what I read in the press and reviews, Aljazeera International will be broadcasting 24/7 and promoted as the international satellite channel with a mission to bring the views of those long neglected by the US and western media.
Shortly after September 11, the New York Times, CBS and ABC, the German and Japanese televisions visited our house in Fairfax, Virginia to see where someone like me, and Arab-American, professional and a US Army veteran gets the news and of course it is from Aljazeera, certainly not Fox News or CNN.
My biggest complaint about the US and western media is the fact that it does not give fair coverage of the Palestinians under occupation, Israel’s continued occupation, its destructions of entire town and villages and uprooting of trees and its failure to cover the crimes of Israel and its crimes of occupation and give coverage only to the “innocent” Israeli victims and its captive soldiers and never mention the more than 10,000 innocent Palestinians hostages in Israeli jails. Even an organization like the BBC gives 5% coverage to the Palestinians while giving Israel 95% of its coverage.
One of the main reasons that I watch PBS is the in-depth coverage of major news, its independence of certain pressure political and religious lobbies and groups and most of its famous program “Front Line” There is no other similar program with such in-depth coverage of issues and topic. If I want to get my information right, I turn to PBS and watch Front Line and of course I do watch Aljazeera. These are my two souce of news, with Alarabia to follow.
Yes, it is time for Aljazeera International and yes, it is also time for people of the world to have a different perspective on the news from that of CNN, Fox and BBC, and yes, it is time for the news from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to be a focus of an international news organization and not simple sound bites.
The Arabs should have invested in such an international news organization some 20 years ago. However all is not lost and it is never too late. Israel and its Zionist agenda always have an open forum in US media especially Fox News and major newspapers and the Arab point of view hardly ever get a hearing. There is never fair coverage.
I am watching Aljazeera International now as I write this note, and all I can say, it is very professional and yes, it does give major coverage to Arab and Muslim issues and yes, there is nothing wrong with that and yes it is time to challenge the primacy of the CNN.
I thank Qatar for the challenge it has taken to bring issues of concern by the people in the Middle East, Africa and Asia to the forefront and give the people of the world a different perspective on the news and issues coming out of the region. It is time for the people of Africa, Asia and the Middle East to tell their stories without going through censorship and without going through filters and too much editing by news editors sitting in New York, Washington or London and who can be fired at any time for taking Israel and its crimes on. News editors are always at the mercy of the Israeli lobby and serve its wishes.

The French Socialist Party can teach the Democratic Party few things!

Couple of days ago, the French Socialist Party, the last of Europe true socialist parties selected Segolene Royal as its candidate for next year French presidential election.
The selection of Segolene Royal by the 6,000 delegates over the former French prime minister Laurent Fabius and the former French economic minister Dominique Strauss-Khan means the French Socialist Party is serious about challenging and winning the next presidential over the presumed front runner and the candidate of the right, Nicolas Sarkozsy.
The French Socialist Party could not have done better and could not have selected a better candidate than Segolene Royal, who in her speech recognized the fact that France has changed and that France today is one of color, of diversity, and one where all French nationals regardless of their origin are French and are entitled the full right of citizenship, and that means the chance for a decent life and a chance for a good education.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother was in Washington couple of weeks ago, giving support to the Republican Party and to George Bush and his NeoCons in their war in Iraq, in their war on terrorism and in their war in Islam. Nicholas Sarkozy who is presumed the front-runner over Dominique de Villepin, the French Prime Minister is the present minister of interior with responsibilities for domestic policies including police, immigration and of course opportunities for sons and daughters of immigrants like him. While other immigrants are left to rot by the French domestic policies, someone like Sarkozy was able to become minister of interior and lead the war against immigrants and immigration, and his strength within the right.
The French Socialist Party with Ms. Royal as its candidate will have a good a chance of winning the election if it is able to convince the majority of French that France did change and that France can regain its economic health and reform without sacrificing its ideals and freedoms. Ms. Royal is offering the French a clear choice between the agenda of the French left and that of the French right.
The US Democratic Party must offer US voters clear and distinct programs from that of the Republican Party. It is too bad that the Democratic Party since Bill Clinton was unable to come up with a clear agenda for America, not only failed to challenge Republican of their presumed monopoly over national and security issues, but gave up its rights to challenge George Bush and his Tel-Aviv mafia over their fraud and lies and reasons for going to war in Iraq. Worst yet, it was unable, for the last two election to chose other than “too stiff” Al Gore and “too pompous and stuffy” John Kerry and could not offer smart candidates and programs to challenge George Bush and his agenda of recreating a new American in his image and in the image of his NeoCons.
Perhaps the Democratic Party can learn something from the French and offer us voters a candidate with clear lines of black and white. We are too tired of too many gray lines in our domestic and international policies. The Democratic Party failed American when it voted with George Bush knowing that he, Dick Chaney and the Tel-Aviv mafia lied all the way to the war in Iraq. The Democratic Party needs a candidate like Ms. Royal who is offering the French a clear choice between left and right, making sure there is nothing to be ashamed of in being on the left and being a liberal.

In Iraq, is it time for democracy or some bloodthirsty ruler!

Any one, whether Arab, Muslim, or American must wonder what in the hell is going on in Iraq not today but for the last 30 years. Iraq was a blood bath for over centuries ever since the days of the Umayyad Empire and nothing has changed.
Arabs who are familiar with Iraq will tell you that “only a dictator could ever rule Iraq” may be right. The Umayyad rulers tried to subdue Iraq some centuries ago and succeeded only when they send Alhajaj Yousef Althaqafi to rule Iraq. On his first sermon in Al-Kufa he stood there silent for few minutes and as expected, some of the believer sitting waiting to hear the new ruler started to throw small pebbles at Alhajaj who was diminutive in stature. The scene continued for few minutes until Ahajaj began his most famous sermon, which we as young students had to remember and recite. He called the Iraqis “hypocrites” who deserver severe punishment and he ended his sermon with the beheadings of few people and that was the only way for the Umayyad to subdue Iraq. Saddam sad to say followed the same advice of Alhajaj to the letter. The daily carnage and the savagery of the crimes and the daily statements coming out of Iraq, make so many others and me a believer that Alhajaj may have been right!
It is even harder to imagine that such sectarian crimes take place on a daily basis killing hundreds of innocent people every day. When one sees the daily statements made by many of the politicians, Shiite and Sunnis one has to wonder where were these people when Saddam ruled and was killing and murdering hundreds of thousands. The Sunnis and some of the Baathist Shiites were not only silent during this time, but also actively participated in Saddam’s killing machine. No one can convince me or any one that Saddam can carry on killing hundreds of thousands if not millions of Iraqis without the support of a large segment of society. The same is true of Hitler. He could not have carried his crime of murdering millions of Jews and others with the active support of substantial number of the German people. Too bad that the same Sunnis who now are speaking out about the murder of Sunnis where so silent for many years. I am not aware of one single Sunni leader who ever came out and publicly spoke out against Saddam and his crimes against the Shiite and the Kurds. (I invite corrections here).
It is also sad to see the Shiites who suffered so much under Saddam commit similar crimes against innocent Iraqi civilians. What is wrong with these people? It is so hard to even imagine that such killing is taking place on a daily basis in Iraq in 2006.
Why so much killing and why so much murder? Perhaps the Iraqis, both Sunnis and Shiites want to prove Alhajaj right? That Iraq as a nation could never be ruled by democratic means but instead must be ruled by bloodthirsty dictators. If this is the case then there is no reason to even have a country called Iraq, as the people and their leaders proved to be unfit and unqualified to rule and manage such a country. It is time for those with ‘blood on their hands” to step aside. George Bush and his Zionist mafia could not have chosen a worse model for implementing democracy in the Middle East.
The only way out of this blood bath and the only way out of the American military occupation and the only way to end the sectarian violence is to make Iraq a ward of the UN or some other organization and place it under a trusteeship, thus putting an end to the senseless and sectarian killings and murder, saving American lives and tax payers money and of course putting an end to the big fraud committed by Bush and his Tel-Aviv mafia.
It is sad and simply too bad that the Iraqi leadership, both Sunni and Shiite could not and is unable to rise up to the occasion and prove to the world that both Saddam and Alhajaj are wrong, that Iraq can be a peaceful democratic country and a model for others.

When Bush and Rice justify cold blooded murder, in Israel they speak out

Last update - 09:39 12/11/2006
No one is guilty in Israel
By Gideon Levy
Nineteen inhabitants of Beit Hanun were killed with malice aforethought. There is no other way of describing the circumstances of their killing. Someone who throws burning matches into a forest can't claim he didn't mean to set it on fire, and anyone who bombards residential neighborhoods with artillery can't claim he didn't mean to kill innocent inhabitants. Therefore it takes considerable gall and cynicism to dare to claim that the Israel Defense Forces did not intend to kill inhabitants of Beit Hanun. Even if there was a glitch in the balancing of the aiming mechanism or in a component of the radar, a mistake in the input of the data or a human error, the overwhelming, crucial, shocking fact is that the IDF bombards helpless civilians. Even shells that are supposedly aimed 200 meters from houses, into "open areas," are intended to kill, and they do kill. In this respect, nothing new happened on Wednesday morning in Gaza: The IDF has been behaving like this for months now. But this isn't just a matter of "the IDF," "the government" or "Israel" bearing the responsibility. It must be said explicitly: The blame rests directly on people who hold official positions, flesh-and-blood human beings, and they must pay the price of their criminal responsibility for needless killing. Attorney Avigdor Klagsbald caused the death of a woman and her child without anyone imagining that he intended to hit them, but nevertheless he is sitting in prison. And what about the killers of women and children in Beit Hanun? Will they all be absolved? Will no one be tried? Will no one even be reprimanded and shunned? GOC Southern Command Yoav Galant will say with exasperating coolness that apparently there was "a problem with the battery's targeting apparatus," without moving a facial muscle, and will that be enough? Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh will say, "The IDF is militarily responsible, but not morally responsible," and will he thus exculpate himself? And who will bear the responsibility for the renewal of the terror attacks? Only Hamas? Who will be accused of the tumble in Israel's status and its depiction as a violent, leper state, and who will be judged for the danger that hovers over world Jewry in the wake of the IDF's acts? The electronic component that went on the blink in the radar? No one is guilty in Israel. There is never anyone guilty in Israel. The prime minister who is responsible for the brutal policy toward the Palestinians, the defense minister who knew about and approved the bombardments, the chief of staff, the chief of command and the commander of the division who gave the orders to bombard - not one of them is guilty. They will continue with the work of killing as though nothing has happened: The sun shone, the system flourished and the ritual slaughterer slaughtered. They will continue to pursue the routine of their daily lives, accepted in society like anyone else, and remain in their posts despite the blood on their hands. A few hours after the disaster, while the Gaza Strip was still enveloped in sorrow and deep in shock, the air force was already hastening to carry out another targeted killing, an arrogant demonstration of just how much this disaster does not concern us. Israel after the disaster was split: There were those who did their duty and "expressed sorrow," like the prime minister and the defense minister, and there were those who hastened with appalling insensitivity to cast the responsibility onto the Palestinians, like the "moderate" foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, and the deputy defense minister from the Labor Party, Sneh. The silent majority did not bother to emerge from its yawning indifference. The entertainment shows on television continued to make people laugh, and one of the radio stations even broadcast, in a demonstrable lack of taste, Sarit Hadad's song "You're a Big Gun." Mourning, of course, did not descend on Israel, and there was not even a single manifestation of genuine participation in the sorrow. It did not occur to Israel to promise compensation to the families and it did not provide help, apart from transferring some of the wounded to hospitals in Israel. We provided more aid to the victims of the earthquake in Mexico, even though there we didn't have a hand in the disaster. For the most part, the media were not very disturbed by the killing and devoted less attention to it than to the Gay Pride parade. A day or two after the disaster it was totally forgotten and other affairs are filling our lives. But it is impossible just to go on to the next item on the agenda. This disaster is not an act of God. There are people who are clearly responsible for it, and they must be brought to justice. The fact that the International Court of Justice in The Hague still looks very far from Israel, and the various "Halutzes" and "Galants" can still move around freely in the world, because in Israel they forgive nearly everything, does not mean that war crimes are not being committed here. The IDF may well be a big gun, but an army that is responsible for needless killing in such large dimensions, as in recent months in Lebanon and in Gaza, is a failed and dangerous army that must urgently be repaired. The Defense Forces are not only killing Arabs for no reason, they are also directly endangering Israel's security, disgracing it in the world and embroiling it again and again. The heedless and arrogant reaction to such deeds contains a dangerous moral message. If it is possible to dismiss mass killing with a wealth of technical excuses, and not take any drastic measure against those who are truly guilty of it, then Israel is saying that, as far as it is concerned, nothing happened apart from the faulty component in the radar system or the glitch in balancing the sights. But what happened at Beit Hanun, what happened in Israel on the day after and what is continuing to happen in Gaza day after day is a far more frightening distortion than the calibrating of a gun sight.
Editor note: this article appeared in Haaretz, the Israeli paper. No US paper and no US editor dare to write what this paper publish.

Darfur, an Arab and Muslim Shame!

Sometime I wonder when the Arabs and Muslims will get a sense of honor and feel the shame and take responsibility for the actions of Arab states when it comes to international crimes committed toward citizens of Arab states.
The long time silence over the crimes committed by the central government in Khartoum and its twenty years war against the people of South Sudan resulting in the death of over 2 million people and now the silence toward a similar crimes committed by the central government in Sudan and its allies in Darfur. How can any Arab and Muslims ever be so silent about what is going on in Sudan?
The central government of Sudan over the years justified its war against the animist and Christian south that its war is against imperialist and colonial interventions in the south that undermines the unity of Sudan and at times justified its war as a way to implement Sharia law in a region of the country without any Muslim majority.
While it true that colonial powers did support the south in the war with the central government and its it true that missionaries played a an important role in keeping the war going hoping to recruit more and more animist to its Christian ranks. However all of this could never justify the war the Sudanese government waged against its own people in the south and imposing Sharia could never be justified under any and all circumstance with the killing of millions of people and the wasting of the very few precious resource the country have. The central government in Khartoum is responsible for the war in the south and is responsible for the crimes its forces and its allies wage against the people of Darfur. Frankly, I could never find any justification for such wars and could never find any excuses for the central government in Sudan.
Now that the conflict in the south seems to be on its way of getting solves, the problem in Darfur and the daily killings going on and the uprooting of indigenous people and the racial uprooting and ethnic cleansing going on in Sudan, require the immediate intervention of the Arab states and the Arab League with the central government of Khartoum to its is crimes against its own people in Darfur.
One also has to question the wisdom of the government in Khartoum and its justifications of its actions in Darfur when the people of Sudan need urgently investment in development. One has to wonder how much infrastructure could have been built in Sudan if the government put all of its sources in development and not in stupid wars that only kills people, destroy infrastructure and keep army generals well fed and fat. How many rails line could have been rebuilt? How many schools and clinics could have been built with the billions wasted on such useless and criminal actions against its own people?
But then the Arab league and Arab states are not know for being ahead of time, always behind time. There was a chance to avoid the invasion of Iraq and Mr. Amr Musa made sure the Arab League does not take any action that calls for Saddam to step aside, thus saving the more than 600,000 victims and saving Iraq from destruction and disintegration. The same is true when recently the Arab League decided to break the total boycott of the Palestinian people and allow Arab Banks to provide funding to the Palestinian Authority and the people. This action was done of course in anticipation of the US agreeing to a lifting of siege over the Palestinian government when Hamas step aside. One has to wonder what this Arab League is for and what service it provide. With all due respect to Mr. Amr Musa, the time ran out for the Arab League and its time for it to fold and close shop. It is an organization without any bones and without any courage and leadership and without any sense of shame.

Bush and Rice justify and support Israel's cold blooded murder in Beit Hanoun

For over 50 years, the Arabs are convinced that only the US can solve the Arab-Israeli conflicts. The same is true of so many Palestinian- Americans who share the views that the US is very much interested in peace in the Middle East and convinced that the US is interested in settling once and for all the Arab-Israeli conflict. I am one of those who disagree with all of this non-sense and who sees the US not only a party to the conflict on the side of Israel but share in the daily crimes committed by Israel toward the Palestinian people and recently the Lebanese.
The recent veto by the US of a draft resolution holding Israel responsible for the massacre of so many innocent civilians in Beit Hanoun and the more than 38 vetoes in support of Israel, its crimes and its continued occupation should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the US is, was never interested in peace in the Middle East, and in fact the US is one of the promoters and sponsors of all of the conflicts between the Arabs and Israel and could not, even if it wants to, due to domestic political reasons, sponsor any efforts that could lead to real peace between Israel and the Palestinians and between Israel and the Arabs.
US foreign policies from the days of Lyndon Johnson to Bush Jr., was always against the Arab interests even as they pursue genuine peace with Israel. And it is not all because of the influence of the Israeli/Jewish lobby, which has something to do with it, but long established policy directives that want to keep the Middle East a source of conflict and instability drive US policies in the Middle East. Other wise the US is perhaps in the best position to push for and demand an immediate halt to the violence and conflict and can in no time organize a world conference between Israel and the Arab countries and push for a total and comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflict.
The recent veto can only demonstrate that this Bush administration lacks any sense of moral values, and even devoid of any of its often-pronounced Judea-Christian values. How can a cold-blooded murder of innocent people of an entire family be justified? Even criminal Israel admitted the killings and murder in Beit Hanoun to be a technical mistake, yet Ms. Rice and Mr. Bush could never see any thing wrong with killing and murder of innocent Palestinian and could not see any thing wrong with killing of innocent Arabs. To Bush and Rice, the only good Arab is a dead Arab. This is the same Ms. Rice who not too long ago stood up and spoke at the annual conference of the American Task Force for Palestine and gave its commitments to do something about the daily crimes committed by Israel and who promised to work toward peace. It seem that peace is one defined by death.
The US is always covering up for Israel and always covering up for the daily crimes committed by Israel and its criminal army, and always find a way not only to provide international cover for such crimes, but fund it as well. We as taxpayers pay for all of the bombs and weapons that kill Palestinians and killed Lebanese. Someone like the ex-senator from Virginia, George Allen gave Tel-Aviv more than $30 BIILION, tens time the money he voted to give to his state of Virginia.
One day all of this will catch up with Israeli leaders, and US who will sooner than later will have to face international tribunals for the daily international crimes committed by Israel and its defense forces. For those who think the US is an honest broker should take notice and recognize once and for all that the US is not only a party to the conflict in the Middle East but is a partner in the daily crimes committed by Israel and its army, crimes committed on a daily basis in Gaza and in the West Bank.

The recent election was a victory for America more than a victory for the Democrats

I have to admit, my entire family and I were so very happy with the Republican loss of both the House of Representative and the Senate and above all were very excited in particular with the loss of George Allen and the election of Jim Webb to the US Senate.
Yes, this past election was a referendum on George Bush and his policies of war on America, his war terrorism and his war on Iraq that his “Tel-Aviv” mafia got us in.
The election of George Bush was a declared war by the NeoCons and the evangelicals against American and all that it stood for. The election of George Bush in the first place was a war on a healthy and substantial budget surplus, which he and his friends squander on their own foolish adventure and it is nothing but a declaration of war on middle class American and the millions of taxpayers. George Bush chose greedy corporate American over his own people and we all know where did the hundreds of Billions of dollars left over from Bill Clinton went. It went to companies that took American for a ride and took the taxpayers for a ride.
The NeoCons declared war on America and its democratic values and tried to justify the erosion and suspensions of civil liberties and justified torture and abuse and murder of prisoners in the name of fighting terrorism and in the name of national securities. American, which was the most loved country during the Clinton years, became the most hated country during George Bush and Dick Chaney’s years. The NeoCons for their own personal and ideological gains which has nothing to do with the national interest of the US and it has every thing to do with “Tel-Aviv” made sure that George Bush followed their own path to self destruction and the war on Iraq, which was originally planned by Bibi and his Likkudist boys in Washington back in 1992-3 was a way to secure Israel and put American in grave danger. The war on Iraq did not provide the American people with more security, in fact it added a lot to our insecurity, and added a great deal to the resentment of America by so many people around the world.
The election loss of George Bush, his Republican Party, all of NeoCons and evangelical Zionists-Christians was a declaration of independence by the American people and a declaration and commitment to the moral and democratic values that made the US such a great country, admired for its democratic principals and more admired for its protections of civil and constitutional rights. The Republican Revolution was no less of a revolution than that of Hitler National Socialism and its war on the German people.
The Republican lost not because the Democrats put forward clear alternatives and put forward a clear plans to undo the damage done by George Bush in his 6 years in office, but because the American people no longer bought the lies of the White House and its political strategists. This election was a vindication that American will always be that great country with great values and principals and will always be the leader of the free and democratic world. Bush, Chaney, Rumsfled, Rice, Bolton, Faith, Edelman, Perle, Wolfowitz, Frumm, Robertson, Faldwell and all of the NeoCons are nothing but an exception to the rule and that American will always manage to make a self correction and bring back the country to the middle. Let us hope the Democrat will have the backbones to offer clear alternatives to George Bush and his NeoCons and offer a program of investing in American and its people and that exporting democracies is a good thing, when it is done by examples and not by B-52’s or F-16’s. Yes, there is so much good well out there for America and we hope the Democrats will make a good use of it. It is the good well of the people of the world that is the best guarantees for our security. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan proves the limited use and benefits of weapons and wars.

Arafat, more of a fraud than a hero

Couple of days ago, thousand of Palestinians gather in “Almoqata” the official seat of the Palestinian government in El-Bireh/Ramallah (actually, the "Almoqata" is officially in El-Bireh) to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of the late Yaser Arafat.
As a Palestinian American with strong views and opinion of the late Arafat have to respect the love and feeling many Palestinians continue to hold for Arafat. I guess for so many of them, he is the one that made the Palestinian cause an international cause and here no one can deny that. However the disagreement and argument over Arafat is about the way he managed and ran the Palestine Liberation Organization and the way he ran “ the revolution” and the big mess he got the Palestinians in with his Oslo.
I do not want to discount the love for Palestine the late Arafat had and do not doubt his original commitments to the cause, however no one can deny that over time, Arafat became “egomaniac” convinced he is the “cause” and he is “Palestine” and as such he blurred the clear lines between himself as a person or as leader and that of the “cause” and this is was the down fall of Arafat. In his quest for power and authority he made sure that his personal interest in power and authority over money and political decisions supercede that of what is good for the “cause” and for the people. Arafat was simply a little man with small mind and small dreams like all other dictators who put there own personal and selfish interest ahead of the interest of his “cause” and his people. How could any one justify the fact that Arafat opened the check book of the PLO and Palestinian Authority and transferred tens of millions of dollars to the private accounts of his wife and wrote millions to his personal and loyal friends when their contribution to the people and the cause was at best totally absent. If Arafat was a leader of democracy or the head of a corporation he will be in jail for life. Instead thousands of people gather to honor his memory. That is why after 100 years we remain under Israeli Occupation.
Not only Arafat was morally, ethically and financially corrupt, he made a big mess of such a great cause and in the end gave up the rights of our people to a free state within Palestine in exchange for a job as a subcontractor to the Israeli Occupation. Oslo no matter how rosy certain people within the Palestinian Authority makes it to be and no matter the justification that Fatah and the PLO give to Oslo remains the biggest fraud ever committed by Arafat. One may forgive financial fraud, misuse and embezzlement of the people’s money; Oslo justifies bringing to trial Arafat and all those who negotiated Oslo. Arafat desperate after his big mistake of supporting criminal Saddam and desperate to stay as a key player in the Palestinian cause agreed to the terms and conditions of Oslo. The Israelis up to their ears with the mess of the First Intifada knew Arafat too well, and knew he will sell his own mother, let alone his people to stay in power and convinced him to conclude the deal in Oslo, a deal that made Arafat and his gangs billions of dollars while helping Israel manage the occupation of his people and destructions of their homes and properties. I am sure in due time, the Palestinian people will wake up one day to discover that Arafat was not only a hero, but a very big fraud. That Oslo has nothing to do with liberation from Israeli Occupation, but a way to ‘manage for a fee’, the Israeli Occupation by giving Fatah, the PLO and the Palestinian Authority a “business”. The Palestinian people will soon discover this fraud and will soon discover that Arafat was out for himself and was never the leader they think he was. Arafat embezzled the people’s money for his own personal use, but also hijacked, destroyed and mismanaged a great cause and it will take the people decades to undo the damage done by Arafat.

Marwan Mazhar, "Ba'edin" after!

Last week we had the pleasure of traveling to Cleveland to attend the engagement of one of my wife cousins, actually Iyad is the son of my mother in laws uncle, Marwan Mazhar. While Cleveland will remain Cleveland like so may ill planned and ill designed American cities, the engagement was just terrific. It was held in the main hall of the old court house, a very majestic place and of course the beautiful setting was made more beautiful by the mother of Iyad fiancé' who added her touch to every thing in the place, turning the place to a very beautiful court of justice.
Well, Marwan who attend and graduated from LSU back in 1953 and perhaps was the first Arab and Muslim to hit the shores of Louisiana was there and as we sat in the hotel he was as his usual self, full of life and full of stories about his wonderful experience with the people in Louisiana and how he kept in touch with so many of them all these years. I even suggested he should publish a letter in one of the major Louisiana journal. I was in Louisiana in the army, basic training and the only thing I remember is Fort Polk and its swampy environed. But Marwan had great stories to tell including his stories as a deck hand on the Great Mississippi.
I loved one of his stories of a Lebanese woman, living in London who placed an order for some household item from that great store in London, Harrods. The woman fed up with the delay and went to the manager and said “after” meaning “Ba’edin” in Arabic.
Well, one has to appreciate the real meaning of “Ba’edin” which means so many things, and it's mentioned most often when people are fed up or "lose it" with something. It is almost similar in meaning with TOZ, that Arabic word which is full of so many meaning. I thought it was so beautiful and so original from this woman to walk in to Harrods and say “ After” “ Ba’edin” enough is enough. I guess the same goes to the Palestinian Authority and one has to say to both Fatah and Hamas, “Ba’edin” every one is fed up with the situation in the Occupied Territories, fed up with a useless government and fed up with useless and "rudless" leadership who are more interested in their own self interests than taking care of the people. Perhaps it time to let go of the greed and incompetence that kept the Palestinian Authority alive for so many years without ever having any positive impact on the Palestinians. We all should know by now that Oslo was nothing but a private deal between Rabin and Arafat, where Arafat became a subcontractor to Rabin to quash the First Intifada with financing for Arafat and his 4,000 thieves coming from Europe and the US.
Yes, Marwan, we very much enjoyed your visit to our home in Virginia and we hope you enjoyed our company, and as promised I am publishing this note on “After- Ba’edin” for your laugh. Keep in mind that the most telling expression I ever heard any one use the word “TOZ” was Shafiq Alhout, who was the PLO representative in Lebanon, when asked about the Israeli plans to bring more Russian Jews to Palestine, he said “ TOZ”. The Palestinians will always catch up with the Israelis even if Israel brings Jews from Indian and Japan.
Marwan, you have to keep your promise and write all your friends in Louisiana a ‘thank you note” I am sure they will all appreciate hearing from you. Yes, American is not what it used to be, but there are whole lots of so many great, honest, loving and caring people that will compensate for what George Bush and his gangs are doing to America.

Saddam got what he deserves, what about the others!

Saddam Hussein the darling of Washington, Paris, Bonn and London few years ago was found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court couple of days ago. The verdict was not so surprising given the fact that he ran a killing and murder machine through his Baathist Party and was and is responsible for the murder of millions of people within Iraq and also in Iran.
The surprising thing is that Saddam did not call for his defense the former heads of stated of the United States, both the late President Reagan and George Bush Sr., and did not call to his defense, Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister and did not call the former Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Kohl and not to mention Mr. France. All of these people made it all possible for a know criminal like Saddam Hussein to commit and continue to commit his crimes against his own people and against the Iranians. These people are as guilty as Saddam. They may not have pulled the trigger or order the killings, but they all made it possible for him to commit his crimes against his people and against his neighbor Iran. By the way, I was never a fan of the late Khomeini; I thought he was an evil man with nothing but vengeance and anger in his heart.
Of course we should not forget the honorable Donald Rumsfeld the present Secretary of Defense who was the Reagan connections to Saddam and who met with Saddam few days after the chemical attacks against the Kurds in Halabja and of course while there Mr. Donald made sure that Saddam knew how much he is appreciated by the United States and its allies in the Middle East, who also supported Saddam will tens of billions of dollars.
Saddam, like the late Shah was the darling of Washington, with his ambassador having an open check book to buy and trade congressmen and senators and buy any thing that darling Saddam wants from the US including giving him billions in line of credits, so that he can save his cash to buy weapons to kill his people and kill others.
Saddam got what he deserves. His own people should have hanged him long time ago, without the help from George Bush and his Tel-Aviv mafia. It is too bad that the Iraqi people did not stand up to Saddam and allowed him to get away with murder. Shame on all of the Sunni Muslims, who were part of Saddam killing machine and who stood in silent while Saddam waged his war and terror against their fellow countrymen, the Shiite and the Kurds.
Personally, I would be more happier if some of the western leaders who supported Saddam will also stand trial for their support of killer Saddam. May he hang for a long time and left to rot on his hanging robe. And may leading politicians and heads of states and military leaders everywhere in the world remember that NO one ever gets away with murder. It is never too late to bring to trial all of the men of the Reagan and Bush administrations and also bring to trial Thatcher and her boys and of course the Chancellor and his men and so many others. Perhaps we also need to dig up the grave of the late Khomieni and bring him to trial for his crimes against his own people. I wonder why these little dictators never learn lessons from the likes of the late Shah and Norriega.