The appointment of Tony Blair is an insult to ALL Palestinians. First he should admit Britian central role in the tragedy that is Palestine.

Tony Blair, the man who followed George Bush in his war against Iraq for the wrong reasons and the one who was part of the lies and fraud of the Bush administration as it waged its public relation campaign to sell its lies in justifications of the invasion. All to please the Zionist-NeoCons in the US and to please the Tel-Aviv mafia in the US Congress and administration. This is the same Tony Blair who stood by silently and in fact supported and promoted Israel’s continued destructions of Lebanon with the use of more than one million cluster bombs gifts from George Bush and Condy Rice to the people of Lebanon. This is the same Tony Blair who could not have the courage and never did have the courage to stand up and once condemn Israel’s daily campaign of murder and destructions against the Palestinian people. This is the same Tony Blair who refuses to admit Britain central role in the tragedy of the Palestinians people. Now this man is the envoy of the Quartet to the Middle East. This must be a bad joke.
From what I understand from the media and what is written about his mission to the Middle East, Tony Blair will not have what it takes to tackle the real issues in the conflict, such as the Israeli military occupation that has lasted over 40 years, and he will not have the power to address the issues of the more than 525 military checkpoints that strangle the people before it strangle the economy, and of course he will not have the power to address the Israeli cancer in the form of settlements that left hardly any room or water for the Palestinians.
Tony Blair mission is to do capacity building of an incompetent and totally corrupt Palestinian Authority that has no sense of shame of having someone like Tony Blair comes to Ramallah and tell them how to organize traffic in Manara Square or help the Palestinian Authority to organize and manage its non-existing legal and justice system.
One only has to wonder what Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organization were doing all these 40 years? One has to wonder what Mr. Abbas and Abu-Ala’a where doing all of these years in Beirut, and in Tunis if not preparing for the day they will come to Ramallah and manage a country? One has to wonder what the PLO leadership would have done if they really liberated Palestine and arrived from Tunis to run and manage a recently liberated country and not a country under occupation?
It is an insult for the Palestinian people to have such a leadership that is in need to have some outside expert like Tony Blair, help them organize their institutions and agencies, when the older generations of Palestinians was the first to help the Gulf countries do capacity buildings.
The Palestinian Authority been there for over 14 years and still does not know how to organize and run a traffic department, let alone organize and administer an independent efficient legal and justice system. Something wrong happened to the Palestinian people under the leadership of the PLO, it simply destroyed whatever good we have as people. The Palestinian Authority, under the control and undo and toxic influence of Fatah could have done better inviting thousand of Diaspora Palestinian professionals to help in capacity buildings. The Jews and Jews alone helped made Israel what it is now, and did not need someone like Tony Blair to help its capacity building. This reminds me of the time when the late Arafat on his first visit to Britain, full of excitement to the point of mental breakdown and retardation, when the only thing he could ask Britain to do for him was to train his “security forces” when he should have reminded Britain of its crimes against the Palestinians people and its Belfour Declaration and demanded hundreds of billions of dollars in compensation.
I wonder what kind of capacity building could someone like Tony Blair do, perhaps he can improve the efficiency and ability of the Palestinian Authority to fleece the people under occupation. No one can help Palestine in its capacity building but Palestinians. Fatah and the PLO have to admit they are simply unfit and unqualified to rule and manage a country. 40 years of Fatah leadership is more than enough.

Did Israel organize and planned the hijacking of Air France flight to Entebe?

Israel hijack role 'was queried'
By Dan Parkinson
BBC News



It has been seen as a daring raid by crack Israeli troops to rescue dozens of their countrymen held at the mercy of hijackers.
But newly released documents contain a claim that the 1976 rescue of hostages, kidnapped on an Air France flight and held in Entebbe in Uganda, was not all it seemed.

A UK government file on the crisis, released from the National Archives, contains a claim that Israel itself was behind the hijacking.

An unnamed contact told a British diplomat in Paris that the Israeli Secret Service, the Shin Bet, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) collaborated to seize the plane.

The flight was seized shortly after it took off from Athens and was flown to Entebbe, where 98 people were held hostage, many of them Israeli citizens.

Ugandans killed

Israeli commandos brought the crisis to an end, storming the airport and overpowering the seven hijackers and about 80 Ugandan soldiers in a 36-minute battle.

Two Israeli civilian hostages died in the shooting, and a third died later in a Nairobi hospital. One officer commanding the raiders was killed by shooting from the airport tower.

Ugandan President Idi Amin claimed the troops killed 20 Ugandan servicemen as well as all the hijackers.

The hijackers demands included a list of countries that should release Palestinians or others fighting for the Palestinian cause.

In the document, written on 30 June 1976 when the crisis was still unresolved, DH Colvin of the Paris Embassy writes of his source: "According to his information, the hijack was the work of the PFLP, with help from the Israeli Secret Service, the Shin Beit.

"The operation was designed to torpedo the PLO's standing in France and to prevent what they see as a growing rapprochement between the PLO and the Americans."


He adds: "My contact said the PFLP had attracted all sorts of wild elements, some of whom had been planted by the Israelis."

The documents also reveal that the British government debated whether or not to praise the Israeli raid after its completion.

It was decided in the days after the raid that it was not clear whether the Israeli offensive was justified under international law.

One document in the file reads: "The Israelis have been critical of the fact that the prime minister did not send a personal message of congratulations to Mr Rabin and that our public statement fell short of endorsement of the Israeli action at Entebbe."

The file also contains correspondence from UK citizens to the government expressing concern that the government had not expressed support for the Israelis.

'Collusion'

One letter reads: "I am writing to find out our policy towards terrorism. I find it deplorable that there was not a statement made congratulating Israel on the successful rescue."

But in a document dated 9 July an official cautions against such a statement because there is likely to be "no internationally agreed view about the legality of the Israeli action".

The document says the legality of it would depend on whether or not the Ugandans had helped the kidnappers.

In a draft document included in the file an official says it appears Idi Amin did collude with the hijackers.

It reads: "On balance it seems that there was a culpable degree of collusion between President Amin and the hijackers, and that the president's attitude made it much easier for the hijackers to persist in their demands."

The file does not make it clear how seriously the government took the claim that Israel also may have aided the hijackers.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6710289.stm

Published: 2007/06/01 00:05:15 GMT

The US government is a partner in the crimes committed by Israel against our sailors and members of the USS Liberty.

The US government is a partner in the crimes committed by Israel against our sailors and members of the USS Liberty.
Israel is the only country that gets away with murder. Not only the murder of Palestinians, British citizens but American sailors as well. Israel attacked and deliberate ly shot and killed scores of sailors and injuring scores more on the USS Liberty in the first days of the Six Days War.
President Lyndon Johnson under the undue influence of his national security advisor, a committed Zionist and under the undue influence of his mistress refused and dared not authorise a Naval Board of Inquiry into the attack and similar actions were followed by succeeding US presidents, all of whom dared not to open a formal investigation into the murder of our sailors. Yes, it is true, Israel does get away with murder and does it away with killing and murdering our sailors and our presidents and leaders dare not say any thing about. The US gives Israel a license to kill and even it gives it a license to kill our own people and our sailors. This is the first time the US government does open a formal investigation of the deliberate murder of members of its armed forces. We honor all those who died in the attack and tell them we are ashamed of the cowardliness of our government in the face of Israel and give our condolences to the families of those who were murdered by our ally Israel. A country where we are its partner in crimes, even those crimes committed against our own sailors. For more information visit the website of the USS Liberty at http://www.ussliberty.org/

Palestinians predicament in Lebanon, Part 2.

The Palestinians refugee camps where always the source of conflict and competition between the different Palestinians organizations and militias. At one time or another, the number of armed Palestinians organizations and militias almost equal that of the Lebanese sects and religious organizations. Of course all, and without exceptions, Palestinian organizations where on the pay roll of many of the Arab regimes doing the bidding of the regimes of Saddam, Assad, and Qaddafi and some of them where simply militias for hire assigned to kill and murder political opponent of the different Arab regimes and in some cases in cahoots with the Israeli Mossad.
With Arafat out and in exile in Tunis, the Palestinians camps remained a "security and political" problem for Lebanon. Thus the continued presence of armed militias within these camps and with an unwritten agreement with the Lebanese central government that the security and internal affairs of these camps are and remain internal issue for the Palestinians with direction for the Lebanese army and police not to enter the camps under any circumstantiate lest there will be a total breakdown of the "hush" truce between the Lebanese government and local Palestinian leadership.
This situation not only created competing sphere of influence between the different competing Palestinians organizations but also gave rise to lawlessness and rise to protection rackets and armed mafias beyond the reach of Lebanese justice system.
Of course while one does recognize that Lebanon opened its doors and hearts to Palestinian refugees, it also took actions that are not only shocking but unconscionable actions and acts by any and all standards.
The Lebanese government decreed that Palestinians in Lebanon are denied the rights to engage in some 50 different activities and are forbidden even to add a room or bring cement into the camps to fix a house or any additions thereto. No other country in the world, not even Israel denies its refugees such rights as those denied to the Palestinians in Lebanon.
Of course the biggest and most prominent issue in Lebanon, in addition to the sectarian politics which is killing the country and denying its citizens the right to be free from the control of war lords and sectarian bosses is the "tawteen".
Tawteen in local Lebanese politics means the denial of the Palestinian refugees the rights of permanent residency or citizenship in Lebanon. On this issue all Lebanese politicians agree irrespective of their political or sectarian persuasion and this is one issue that all Palestinians organizations and groups agree with us.
The Lebanese politicians use "tawteen" as competing and local issues and they use that for their own political end instead of facing the truth about nature of the country as a sectarian state. Do not let social and stylish sophistications fool you.
No where did the Palestinians receive such a hospitality like that they received in Lebanon and no where did the Palestinians received and treated with hostility and mass murder than they got in Lebanon.
With Arafat reaching his security contract and agreement with Israel where the PLO and Fatah represented in the Palestinian Authority becoming security contractors for Israel, there is no need any more for the presence of weapons and arms within the Palestinian camps and there is no need for the presence of armed Palestinians militias within the camps. The question remain is whether under the present make up of Lebanese sectarian politics are the Palestinians secure within their camps? Keeping in mind that only in Lebanon does a professional class of killers and mass murders like the late Elie Hobeika become a minister with the support and cover provided by the late Assad and where a convicted killer and murder like Samir Geagea become political leaders. The battle of Nahr Albared refugee camps is but an example of the tenuous presence of Palestinians in Lebanon. Perhaps it is time to take the presence of Palestinians in Lebanon out of the local Lebanese equation and perhaps it is time to take the arms and weapons out of the camps. One wishes that some day Lebanon will live up to it name and become free of all forms of sectarian politics. It is time to end "taefyee" once and for all. It is also time to retire all the war lords and mass murderers and criminals from political leadership in Lebanon.

Palestinians predicament in Lebanon, Part 1.

With the creation of the State of Israel and its determination to ethnically cleans Palestinians of its habitants, many of the Palestinians fled north seeking refuge in Lebanon, establishing one of the largest concentration of Palestinian refugees.
Unlike Jordan which took in the refugees and soon tried to integrate the refugees into Jordan, Lebanon was a different story.
Lebanon is a mosaic of some 17 religious and ethnic sects; each one by hook or crook tries to keep its "right" place within this mosaic. In the short history of Lebanon, many massacres were committed by warring sectarian communities. It is second to Iraq in sectarian conflicts and sectarian killings.
With such a delicate balance between Christian and Muslims the large influx of "Muslim" Palestinians into Lebanon raised fears among some members of the Christian communities especially the Marronites who were afraid that offering citizenship to these Palestinians will harm their privileged position balance within the political and social establishment. Thus the Palestinians were "put in their place" within Lebanon.
The Palestinians were distributed among many refugee camps with the largest concentration in the south. Some of these camps later became the sites of large scale massacres committed by the Lebanese Christian Forces and of course Israel and Syria.
In 1970 King Hussein fed up with the PLO and its armed militias and their behavior within Jordan and with the challenge they posed to the Hashemite Kingdom, decided to evict Palestinian militias in what became known as Black September. Arafat as the leader escaped Jordan into Lebanon where he tried again to rebuild his own "revolutionary republic" in Lebanon and was able to establish his "Fakhani Republic".
The PLO failed to learn its lessons from Jordan and again, tried to be a state within a state with its militias all over the place, and most of the times challenging the host countries security and police organizations far away from the front lines with Israel. The militia's presence in Beirut has nothing to do with liberation but to give Arafat the political and social leverage he needed. Something that no Lebanese or Jordanians was willing to accept and tolerate even if they supported the liberation of Palestine.
The challenge became too much to bear for the Lebanese and the government of Lebanon wanted to set the rules of the games for the PLO within Lebanon, and on 3 November 1969 the Cairo Agreement was signed between Arafat as head of the PLO and Lebanese Army General Emil Bustani on behalf of President Charles Helou. The Cairo Agreement endorsed the PLO freedom of action in Lebanon to recruit, arms, train and employ fighters against Israel. That agreement not only legitimize military actions against Israel but also opened so much abuse by Palestinian militias in Beirut and many Lebanese, Christians and Muslims went out to greet the invading Israeli army as they advanced to Beirut in 198 to evict Arafat and his militias..
The PLO presence and Arafat management style did not endear such goodwill and the way he dismissed Lebanese politicians did not create a hospitable environment.
Arafat not only failed to understand the delicate balance within the different communities but his dismissive behavior of their leadership precipitated the Lebanese civil war. The Lebanese Phalanges and the Lebanese Forces where simply waiting for and agitating to take on Arafat and his militias. The Lebanese civil war was ignited with the Lebanese Forces attacking a bus carrying Palestinians in Ein Al-Rummaneh massacring and killing its entire passengers. In 1976 Bashir Gemeal as head of the Lebanese Forces laid siege against the Palestinian refugee camp of Tel-Zaater and with the tacit support of Hafiz Assad committed a large scale massacre that resulted in the murder of more than 9,500 Palestinians and the total destruction of the camp and the expulsion of its entire inhabitant. The story of the Palestinian camps did not end their. The Christian Phalanges and Lebanese Forces under the command of Elie Hobeika and with active logistical support from Ariel Sharon and the Israeli Defense Forces committed the famous cold blooded massacre of thousand of Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla. The massacre was committed within days of Arafat departure from Lebanon and after the United States gave its guarantees that no harms will come to the Palestinians civilians left behind. So much for US promises.

40 years of failed leadership and 40 years of illegal occupation

In few days, 40 years will have passed on the anniversary of the Six Days War, a war that Israel was well organized, well planned and well organized offensive war during which Israel routed and in very bad and humiliating way the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
The late Jamal Abdul-Nasser as the leader of Egypt and his entire incompetent and corrupt government should take full responsibility for such an absolute failure. Nasser as leader should have known that his country and his government not only are ill prepared for such a war, but are totally incompetent to successfully manage such war. Arab leaders of Jordan, Syria and Egypt should be held accountable for such a total and miserable failure. It is difficult to even conceive that such leaders not only stayed on but continue to lead their nations after such a catastrophic failure.
Nasser leader of this war was nothing more than totally stupid, reckless and irresponsible and for this reason I could not ever forgive Nasser and his regime for such failure that put more than 4 million Arabs under total Israeli military occupation for 40 years.
Not only the Arab leaders knew and should have known their armies are ill prepared but are unfit to lead a solid defense and put the advancing Israeli army at check.
I am one of those who do recognize that Nasser was a charismatic leader who gave the Arabs a sense of honor and pride, but his regime was corrupt and incompetent to the core with Egypt nothing more than a dictatorship run by incompetent fat and slob's military leaders and officers. Both Nasser and Abdul-Hakim Amer should have committed suicide for leading the Arabs in such a failed war to start with and both should have committed suicide or should have faced the firing squad.
One could not understand how such a graduate of Sand hurts like the late King Hussein could have agreed to allow the Egyptian military leadership when he should have known better. King Hussein also shares the blame. Yes, he was sucked into this war and was bullied by Nasser to join this war, however he should have known better.
In my mind, Nasser and his regime can only be remembered as the Arab regime that put some 4 million Arabs in the ever lasting Israeli jail and is the one that is solely responsible for the loss of East Jerusalem. No one should forgive Nasser for that.
I was in the US Army during the 67 War, and I can only remember the voice of Ahmed Said, that professional propagandists and liar who was telling his listener on Sawat Alarab how successful the Egyptian Army was and how Israeli jets where falling off like skies. The entire Nasser regime was a total fraud.
Speaking of another fraud, the Independent news paper in its Sunday edition of May 26th June published an expose by Donald McCicntyre http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2584164.ece of how the judge Theodor Meron, then legal advisor of Israel's foreign ministry when he published a legal opinion at the time telling Israeli leaders at the time, that Israel's military occupation is illegal under international law and that all Israeli settlements are deemed illegal also.
However Israeli leaders who were so anxious to start the war wanted more land to realize their dream of a greater Israel and wanted to secure by war what they failed to get from the UN.We need to keep in mind that Judge Theodor Meron is one of the worlds leading international jurist and is well qualified to speak out on what is legal and what is not illegal. To his credit and his profession, judge Meron continue to be of the same opinion. Well, perhaps it is time for Palestinians to join the Palestine Agency at http://www.aplestineagency.com and do something about 40 years of fraud, corruption, incompetence and illegal occupation.