Listen to Bill Appledorf

He definitely needs to be listened too.

Gain some of his insights here.

With friends like these...

If Israel can't even keep their word for a 48 hour ceasefire to the Americans, than who can they keep their word to?

The Promise Made: Rice gets 48-hour suspension of Mideast aerial bombing

The Promise Broken: Israeli bombs despite 48-hour ceasefire

More time to bomb Lebanon

Watch

(Note: Some images may be disturbing)

Latest Edition of Al-Furqan: Organ Donation & Transplantation

Latest edition (June 22/06) of Respected Alim, Hujjatul Islam Wal Muslimeen Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi's Al-Furqan, entitled: Organ Donation & Transplantation, is now available.

This edition and all past editions of Al-Furqan can be found here.

Quote of the day

Quote from here:

Lebanese Defence Minister Elias Murr disputed allegations that Hezbollah was firing missiles from Qana.

“What do you expect Israel to say? Will it say that it killed 40 children and women?” he told Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV station.

Of course, its typical Israel reaction to any war crime. It was either unintentional, or a Hizbollah site. C'mon can the Israel Defence Forces really be this incompetent? Anyone keeping count of how many women and children have subcumbed to Israel's laser like surgical operation?

Partners in (war) Crime

Talk about complicity. Why even bother shipping the bombs to Israel, why don't they (U.S, U.K) save themselves the hassle and just fire the bombs themselves at Lebanon and Palestine. Doing that would save them the trouble of dishing out the doubletalk of defending Israel's disproportionate use of force and expressing regret at the loss of civilian lives.

Excerpts:

Opposition parties have reacted angrily to a report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper that two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes filled with laser-guided bombs landed at Prestwick en-route to Israel from the US.

Israel urged to shun cluster bomb

Mr Harper do you have any terms other than "measured" in your vocabulary?

Can you spell C-O-N-D-E-M-N-A-T-I-O-N?

Excerpts:

It says the explosives - which disperse after impact - are "unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable", and should not be used in populated areas.
...
The group believes that the use of cluster munitions in populated areas may violate the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks contained in international humanitarian law.
...
The Geneva Conventions ban the use of white phosphorous as an incendiary weapon against civilian populations and in air attacks against military forces in civilian areas.

Qana Massacre: Part 2

BBC Documentary, must watch this. Most of the 54 civilians were children. So much for a "surgical" operation.

Pictures of 2nd Qana Massacre can be found here.

Could anyone else other than the Israeli Government repeat its own atrocities almost as precisely as the first time around? Qana Massacre repeat.

Excerpts:

...
However, a UN investigation reported in May 1996 that the deaths at the Qana base were unlikely to have been the result of an accident as claimed by the Israelis.
The UN report cited the repeated use of airburst shells over the small UN compound, which sent down a deadly torrent of shrapnel that caused terrible injuries among the unprotected civilians.
...
In the current round of Israel's bombardment, Qana has again been in the news - the scene of several incidents, such as the bombing by Israel of two Lebanese Red Cross ambulances and the death of a young Lebanese photojournalist, Layal Nejib, also in an air strike on her car.

Pictures from July 29th Rally in Toronto, Canada against Israeli crimes against humanity

An angel amidst a sea of angels.

Harper's "Measured response" comment sickening to many

Harper's Mid-east Policy

Israel's action's clearly fit the definition of War Crimes

Freedom Fighter, Resister, Occupation-buster Syed Hassan Nasrallah.

Find the rest of the pictures over here

July 29th Rally and March in Toronto, Canada against Israeli crimes against humanity

Excellent turnout at today's Rally and March to protest the agression by Israel against Lebanon and Palestine in Toronto, Canada. March started outside Israeli Consulate and ended at U.S. Embassy.

Watch this




Anger growing against Steven Harper for the "measured response" comment and inability to condemn the Israeli killing of 8 innocent Canada civilians in Lebanon, 1 Canadian U.N. Peacekeeper, and crimes against humanity.

Once bitten, twice shy.

This was not the first U.N. outpost destroyed. Remember the Qana Massacre in 1996:

Israel has a history of killing UN peacekeepers on its border with Lebanon. In 1996 Israel killed more than 100 Lebanese civilians who had sought sanctuary inside a UN base in the town of Qana. A shell landed inside the UN perimeter in what Israel insisted was an accident. (Source: Tim Butcher, Telegraph.co.uk, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/27/wmid327.xml)

Other notable (deliberate) passages:

...
The phone calls were made after the unarmed monitors inside the UN bunker at Khiyyam reported their position being hit around 20 times by Israeli artillery and airstrikes.
...
A laser-guided munition is believed to have then dropped on the UN position, which is painted white and clearly illuminated.

The four monitors inside - from Canada, Austria, Finland and China - were killed.

"The bunkers are big white things - you can see them for miles and they are lit up at night," a UN source said.
...
But while the death of the peacekeeper in his home angered the UN, the attack on the well-known bunker marked clearly on military maps available to Israeli forces left peacekeepers seething.

He said: "Israel knows these positions and they have had two weeks to zero in on this area, and register targets and where you don't want to hit."

Mr Harper outpacing Mr Blair for Bush Lapdog Crown

Our hearts go out to Cynthia Hess-von Kruedener.

Excerpts:

"That wasn't the only day they were firing on that base. My information from (her husband) is weeks upon weeks they've been firing on them.

"In my opinion, those were precision-guided missiles, then that was intentional," she said."

So lets see:

1. hundreds of civillian deaths.
   
2. At least 8 Canadian civilian deaths
3. thousands of Canadians displaced from Lebanon requiring rescue
   
4. One Canadian U.N. Peacekeeper casualty in a blatantly deliberate attack on a U.N. outpost.
5. core infrastructure destroyed by Israel much of which built by aid by previous Canadian Governments

Do you think even a slight statement of condemnation is forthcoming by "Steve" Harper? Don't hold your breath.


Source (ItzaFineDay, http://www.flickr.com/photos/itzafineday/195793712/)

Rally in Toronto against Israeli agression July 29/06 @ 1 p.m.

STOP ISRAEL'S BOMBING NOW!
Israel out of Lebanon and Palestine!
No to NATO occupation!
End Bush - Harper war drive!

MASS RALLY & MARCH
Saturday, July 29
1:00pm
Israeli Consulate
180 Bloor Street West
(west of Avenue Road, north side of Bloor)

*** Saturday's demonstration will include a rally and a march which will end at the United States Consulate, 360 University Avenue. Parking for buses and cars picking up demonstrators at the end of the rally is available behind Toronto City Hall, east of University Avenue on Armoury Street, opposite the US Consulate.

Between ten and fifteen thousand people marched last Saturday through the streets of Toronto to oppose Israel's bombing campaign of Lebanon and Gaza and to condemn Stephen Harper's whole-hearted support for war. But that was only the first step. This Saturday, we need to march again.

Israel's onslaught against Lebanon and Palestine has only intensified, despite mounting pressure from world leaders for an immediate cease-fire.  Official numbers suggest hundreds have been killed. The real number killed is likely in the thousands. Nearly one million people in Lebanon have been made homeless. Four United Nations observers - inlcuding one Canadian - have been killed by indiscriminate Israeli bombs. CSIS harassment of the Arab and Muslim community has been stepped up.

Join us in the streets yet again to show that the anti-war movement is not
going away. In fact, we're getting bigger. And we'll keeping marching
until the bombing stops.

Organised by
Canadian Arab Federation

Endorsed by
Palestine House
Muslim Unity Group - Toronto
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid

For more information or to endorse, please e-mail info@caf.ca.

Canadian Arab Federation
Phone: 416-493-8635 or 416-879-6766
E-mail: info@caf.ca
Web: www.caf.ca

Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
TCSW is Toronto's city-wide anti-war coalition,
comprised of more than fifty labour, faith and community organisations,
and a member of the Canadian Peace Alliance.
www.nowar.ca  stopthewar@sympatico.ca  416-795-5863

Blood on BOTH of their hands

Everyone knows their is no honour among thieves.

Does it surprise anyone that Israel's doesn't want the blood on its hands alone for its own actions?

This was enough to get the U.S. hot under the collars against Israel.

Having one's cake and eating it too

So let me get this straight, the US Vetoes a UN Resolution that calls for a ceasefire and now they're calling on the UN to take action to end the violence?

Talk about having one's cake and eating it too.

Moreover, isn't it odd to ask the UN to take action to bring piece when your involved in arming one side of the conflict to the teeth?

Deliberate Bombing of U.N. Observer Post

Cdn UN peacekeeper described constant bombing in days before deadly strike

...
Bloom, now retired at 66, said he wasn't surprised by news that an Israeli bomb had hit the post - and he doesn't believe it was an accident.

"I agree with (UN Secretary General) Kofi Annan's comment that it seemed to be an intentional hit. It would have to be. The outposts are so well-identified with blue and white paint and flags. A pilot cannot mistake that outpost for anything else."

Bloom described repeated "altercations" with Israeli forces when he was stationed there.

"They would fire from behind us, knowing that returned fire would land in our outpost. So to me, it's not a surprise. Not at all."

He also explained why he thought Israel would attack unarmed UN observers.

"The UN is no great friend as far as the Israelis are concerned," Bloom said in an interview from his home in Orleans, Ont., east of Ottawa.

"When the Israelis do anything on that ceasefire line, the UN is there. The Israelis don't necessarily like someone watching them."
...

Disproportionate Force

Disproportionate Force.

Excerpts:

Almost all the war-torn country's bridges and 80% of its major roads have been crushed. Airports and ports, telecoms sites and TV towers, schools and hospitals have been bombed. (Jorn Madslien, BBC News)

A letter from Chomsky and others on the recent events in the Middle East (July 19, 2006):

A letter from Chomsky and others on the recent events in the Middle East (July 19, 2006):

The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.


That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.


Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?


Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.


This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted.



Tariq Ali
Russell Banks
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Richard Falk
Eduardo Galeano
Charles Glass
Naomi Klein
W.J.T. Mitchell
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
José Saramago
Giiuliana Sgrena
Gore Vidal
Howard Zinn

UN observers begged Israelis to stop shelling their position

I guess "precision based missles" just aren't as precise as they used to be. Read this.

Excerpts:

PEACEKEEPERS spent six hours begging Israeli commanders to halt multiple air bombings near a United Nations observation post before a missile killed four unarmed observers there, it emerged last night.
....
UN officials said that the monitors made ten phone calls to the Israeli army between 1.20pm on Tuesday — when an Israeli aircraft dropped a bomb 300 metres from the patrol base — and about 7.20pm, when the building was destroyed...(Steve Farrell and Nicholas Blanford, Times Online)

Hizbollah: Liberators and Freedom Fighters

“For us Lebanese, and I can tell you a majority of Lebanese, Hezbollah is a national resistance movement,” says Lahoud. “If it wasn't for them, we couldn't have liberated our land. And because of that, we have big esteem for the Hezbollah movement.” (Maronite Christian President of Lebanon Emile Lahoud).

Source (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/04/18/60minutes/main550000.shtml)

Hizbollah did not start this. They are doing what no other nation is doing in light of the genocide occuring in the current Gaza crisis and doing something about it. They refuse to be a bystander like the rest of the so called civilized world and trying to help a people being systematically annhilated. By the way even before all of this, I ask who were the occupiers and who were the occupied?

The Innocents of Palestine

Innocents of Palestine

AP - Mon Jul 24, 5:45 AM ET
Injured Palestinian girl Reem Shahrour, 18 months, is seen at the hospital after her family's house was among those attacked by Israeli warplane missiles that caused 6 injuries in the Palestinian Rashidia refugee camp on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, Monday, July 24, 2006.

Israeli lacing weapons with chemicals to burn victims

WARNING: This clip from CNN is extremely graphic. Not for the faint of heart.

If you're like me and could not watch this, then probably you listened to the commentary.

Worthy to note, that part of the justification that Bush used to go to war in Iraq is because of Saddam's use of chemical weapons. Didn't the Nazis also use chemical weapons?

So, should we *really* be surprised that the US Backed Israeli's are burning people with chemical laced weapons for maximum impact? Again, in contravention of the rules of engagement and definitely under the scope of a crime against humanity.

More background into the use of chemical weapons by Israel over here. Again warning, graphic pictures of burned Lebanese children.

UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has been in Beirut, and said the devastation was "a violation of humanitarian law".

BBC's video coverage, must watch.

UN appalled by Beirut devastation:

Excerpts:

...
The UN's Jan Egeland has condemned the devastation caused by Israeli air strikes in Beirut, saying it is a violation of humanitarian law.
...
He said the "disproportionate response" by Israel was a "violation of international humanitarian law".

So, the question remains, do we really think a U.S. Backed thug will back off after repeated condemnation by multilateral institutions, the International Community, independent observers as being violators of humanitarinan law and crimes against humanity. Well, in short if history is any judge, most definitely not. Once again it begs the question, which state is the real sponsor of terror?

In southern Beirut, hit hard by 10 days of Israeli air strikes, the scale of destruction in once-vibrant suburbs is becoming clear. (Source AP)

Full scale destruction ((Source AP)

Regular heavy bombardments have shattered and burnt out vast swathes of buildings, filling the streets with piles of rubble and splintered metal. (Source AP)

Most of those who lived in southern Beirut have left what remains of the area to its fate. These women were photographed earlier this week lamenting the destruction. (Source AP)

In the ruined streets, children's playthings and other relics of an everyday existence lie scattered in the rubble. (Source AP)

But south Beirut's children are not playing, their families searching instead for safety from the bombs and missiles. In hospital, those injured elsewhere in southern Lebanon have arrived for treatment. (Source AP)

For others it is too late. Eight-year-old Howeida Khaled was injured on a strike against her village to the south of Beirut. In a hospital in the city, her mother can only wait for her daughter to recover. (Source AP)

Media Coverage of July 22/06 Rally against Iraeli aggression/occupation of Palestine and Lebanon

Media Coverage of Saturday's Rally:

Calls for end to bombing: Thousands across the world are calling for the end to air strikes, fighting in Lebanon In Toronto, PM Harper is singled out

Protest over government's actions in Mideast crisis

Israeli planes bomb Islamic religious centre in first attack on Sidon

Are not even places of worship sacred for the Israeli occupiers? If this does not qualify as a blatant crime against humanity, what does? Shameful.

Destruction is widespread in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press)

U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis

Again I ask who are the true state sponsors of terror?

Excerpts:

....
But Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon to strike.
...

The new American arms shipment to Israel has not been announced publicly, and the officials who described the administration’s decision to rush the munitions to Israel would discuss it only after being promised anonymity. The officials included employees of two government agencies, and one described the shipment as just one example of a broad array of armaments that the United States has long provided Israel.
...
But one American official said normal procedures usually do not include rushing deliveries within days of a request. That was done because Israel is a close ally in the midst of hostilities, the official said. (By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER, New York Times, Jul 22/06)
....

July 22/06 Rally in Toronto against Iraeli aggression/occupation of Palestine and Lebanon

July 22/06 Rally in Toronto against Iraeli aggression/occupation of Palestine and Lebanon







More pictures for July 22/06 Rally in Toronto here.

Beautiful rally and march July 22 against Israel agression and occupation

Very high attendance at today's Rally and March to protest the agression by Israel against Lebanon and Palestine in Toronto. March started outside Israeli Consulate and ended at U.S. Embassy.

Lots of anger against Steven Harper for the "measured response" comment.

Who are the real provokers, instigators?

Was the kidnapped Israeli truly the first provocation in this crisis?

Independent research and news reports would argue otherwise.

A few excerpts:

Whereas the Israeli “arrest raid” had passed with barely a murmur, the Palestinian attack a day later received very different coverage. The BBC’s correspondent in Gaza, Alan Johnstone, started the ball rolling later the same day in broadcasts in which he referred to the Palestinian attack as “a major escalation in cross-border tensions”. (BBC World news, 10am GMT, 25 June 2006)

Johnstone did not explain why the Palestinian attack on an Israeli army post was an escalation, while the Israeli raid into Gaza the previous day was not. Both were similar actions: violations of a neighbour’s territory.

The Palestinians could justify attacking the military post because the Israeli army has been using it and other fortified positions to fire hundreds of shells into Gaza that have contributed to some 30 civilian deaths over the preceding weeks.
...

The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Ewen MacAskill certainly took the view that Israel should be able to expect quiet after its disengagement. “Having pulled out of Gaza last year, the Israelis would have been justified in thinking they might enjoy a bit of peace on their southern border.” ('An understandable over-reaction,' Comment is Free, 28 June 2006)

Never mind that Gaza’s borders, airspace, electromagnetic frequencies, electricity and water are all under continuing Israeli control, or that the Palestinians are not allowed an army, or that Israel is still preventing Gazans from having any contact with Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Meetings of the Palestinian parliament have to be conducted over video links because Israel will not allow MPs in Gaza to travel to Ramallah in the West Bank.

These factors might have helped to explain continuing Palestinian anger, but in British coverage of the conflict they appear to be unmentionables.

Oh right and what about this. Was this not the first provocation? Is the life of an Israeli not as valuable as those blown away on that Gaza beach that occured way in advance of the capture of the Israeli soldier for which Israeli has justified its huge agression in Gaza?

Israel Targetting civilians = statesponsored terrorism

A woman walks in the rubble of destroyed houses after they were targeted by Israeli warplanes missiles overnight, in the southern village of Zebdine, close to the market town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, Thursday July 20, 2006. (AP Photo)

PM's pro-Israeli tilt could cost him at polls

A must read.

A few excepts from this piece by Haroon Siddiqui in the July 20/2006 edition of the Toronto Star:

...
Whereas several G8 leaders thought of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon as outrageously disproportionate, Harper found it "measured."

A Canadian prime minister thus did not utter a word of protest against the killing of eight Canadians, let alone of nearly 300 other people and the displacement of about 500,000 civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

It's a line of thinking in which the only lives that matter, and the only territories worthy of immunity from violence, are American and Israeli.

This is the immoral calculus that's at the heart of so much havoc in the world today. And it is this that Harper has committed Canada to, with little or no debate in Parliament or anywhere else.

...


The crisis in the Gaza Strip has been in the making for a year. Israel evacuated the territory, only to keep a stranglehold by controlling the movement of people and goods. This helped Hamas win the parliamentary elections, which triggered even more collective punishments.

Harper led Bush in initiating Western revenge on the Palestinians for electing the wrong people. Canada helped foment a humanitarian crisis, with mass starvation and the near-breakdown of the social order.

...

Gideon Levy, columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, wrote: "It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament. A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization."

...

United Nations human rights chief, Canadian Louise Arbour, said yesterday the scale of killing in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories could involve war crimes.

Details for Rally in Toronto on 07/22 outside Israeli Consulate

STOP THE BOMBING NOW!
Israel out of GAZA! WEST BANK! LEBANON! SYRIA!
Don't attack IRAN!

MASS RALLY & MARCH
Saturday, July 22
1:00pm
Israeli Consulate
180 Bloor Street West
(west of Avenue Road, north side of Bloor)

Directions:
Take TTC to St. George subway; walk east along north side of Bloor to 180 Bloor Street West, just before Avenue Road.


*** Saturday's demonstration will include a rally and a march which will end at the United States Consulate, 360 University Avenue. Parking for buses and cars picking up demonstrators at the end of the rally is available behind Toronto City Hall, east of University Avenue on Armoury Street, opposite the US Consulate.

The situation in the Middle East has rapidly escalated into an international crisis that threatens to pull the entire region into full-scale war. In response to the capture of one of its soldiers, Israel has attacked Gaza - bombing water and electricity stations, bridges, roads and other vital infrastructure, creating a humanitarian disaster for hundreds of thousands of people. Israel has now spread its attack to Lebanon - bombing Beirut's international airport, major highways and other
civilian infrastructure, at the same time issuing threats to Syria and Iran.

Hundreds of innocent people in both Gaza and Lebanon, including eight Canadians, have already been killed by Israeli bombs. These are war crimes.

Join the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War and its allies for a mass rally and march on Saturday to demand an immediate stop to Israel's attack on Gaza and Lebanon and to oppose an attack on Syria and Iran.

Organised by
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War

Endorsed by
Canadian Arab Federation
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
Muslim Unity Group - Toronto

For more information or to endorse, please e-mail stopthewar@sympatico.ca.
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
TCSW is Toronto's city-wide anti-war coalition,
comprised of more than fifty labour, faith and community organisations,
and a member of the Canadian Peace Alliance.
www.nowar.ca  stopthewar@sympatico.ca  416-795-5863

Measured response?

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)A member of the Lebanese civil defense rides his motorcycle amongst rubble, in the suburbs on Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, July 18, 2006, after heavy Israeli airstrikes targeted the area.

Statement from His Eminence Sayyid Seestani (long may he live) on the events in Lebanon

Statement from His Eminence Sayyid Seestani (long may he live) on the events in Lebanon can be found here.

For convenience, can also find it pasted below:

Statement from His Eminence Sayyid Seestani (long may he live) on the events in Lebanon

In The Name of Allah The Compassionate, The Merciful

For several days Lebanon has been exposed to a continuous Israeli aggression, targeting its defiant people and its infrastructure on a wide scale. This has led to hundreds of people being martyred and wounded and tens of thousands of people being displaced as well as vast destruction to houses, roads and other civilian establishments.

All this blatant repression is occurring under the persistent disregard of the whole world - except for a few ineffective words of condemnation and disapproval here and there.

The world community needs to move on to stop the continuation of this flagrant aggression. The Muslim nation also needs to stand by in solidarity with the oppressed Lebanese people and aim to ensure the humanitarian requirements of the wounded and the displaced and others are met. The representatives of the religious Marja’iyyah in Lebanon and Momineen in general must implement the aforesaid with all the means they receive.

The oppressions suffered by the nations of the region, among them the Lebanese, will increase the nations’ anger and rage towards the international policies supporting and/or condoning such actions - which will naturally intensify the tension and hinder peace and security throughout the region.

May Allah protect Lebanon and its dear people and have mercy on its martyrs and grant the wounded a speedy recovery and good health.

The Office of H. E. Sayyid Seestani (long may he live) - Najaf
20 Jumada al-Akhar 1427
17 July 2006

Sickening

Israeli girls write messages in Hebrew on shells ready to be fired toward Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. Photo: AFP

Thank you Mr Layton

Layton Calls on Harper for Leadership in Middle East

NDP Leader urges support for international peacekeeping force in the Middle East

Harper must call on Bush to urge Israeli end to escalating Gaza offensive: NDP

Intensifying hardship of Gaza families will not resolve latest crisis: NDP

Canada's Lebanon stand sparks domestic criticism

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 18 (Reuters) -

...Prime Minister Stephen Harper is costing Canada credibility, and preventing it from playing its traditional role of neutral broker in any Middle East peace effort, acting Liberal Party leader Bill Graham said.

"I have have a concern that the prime minister of Canada is out-Bushing Mr. Bush," said Graham.."

..."If the prime minister does not improve his handling of the Middle East crisis, it could become for him ... what Hurricane Katrina became for President Bush: the start of a major weakening in public confidence towards the head of government," wrote commentator Andre Pratte in La Presse newspaper.

Open letter from Alexa McDonough to Foreign Affairs Minister regarding Canada's unbalanced Middle East position

July 14, 2006

Hon. Peter MacKay
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Lester B. Pearson Bldg., A-10
125 Sussex Dr.
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2

Dear Minister,

I write to express outrage at your government’s response to the destruction levelled by Israel on the innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon.

The world has rightly condemned the killings and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, however Israel’s response has been illegal, brutal and disproportionate.

It is more apparent than ever that your government’s desire to appease George Bush is so all-consuming, that you are prepared to turn a blind eye to the massive destruction in Gaza and in Lebanon, going so far as to deem these Israeli government assaults as ‘measured’.

Even George Bush has been compelled to bow to international pressure and caution Israel to “limit as much as possible so-called collateral damage not only to facilities but also to human lives.”

Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah must all assume responsibility for their actions. However, it is impossible to ignore Israel’s disproportionate response:

* Bombing of the Palestinian Interior Ministry and other government offices:
* Arrest of duly elected Palestinian parliamentarians;
* Bombings of Palestinian infrastructure including a power station that was the sole generator of electricity and running water for hundreds of thousands of Gazans;
* Destruction of the Lebanese airport;
* Air and sea blockade of Lebanon preventing Lebanese as well as Canadian citizens, including many of my constituents, from returning to or leaving Lebanon; and
* Killing of scores of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, including children.

Canadians expect their government to reflect our strongly held values of fairness, and justice and to uphold our obligations to international law. They also expect their government to defend and protect their citizens overseas. Your inability to reach out to the families in Canada whose relatives are trapped in Lebanon, or to put in place any evacuation plan to bring those citizens home, is irresponsible and unacceptable.

I urge you to set in motion an immediate plan to bring Canadian citizens home, to call on Israel to halt its assault on Lebanon and to negotiate in good faith a resolution to this latest crisis which has already cost too many innocent lives.

Sincerely,

Alexa McDonough, MP Halifax
NDP Foreign Affairs and International Development Critic

Israeli military actions criticized at first UN Human Rights Council special session

In Gaza, people were without water, food was scarce and medicines were running out, he said, adding that Operation “Summer Rains,” as Israel had “cynically labelled” its siege of Gaza, offended the prohibition on collective punishment. It likewise violated the prohibition on “measures of intimidation and terrorism” contained in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, while the arrest of Hamas Cabinet ministers and legislators seemed to constitute the “taking of hostages” prohibited in Article 34. (UN News Centre, July 5, 2006)

AP - Sat Jul 15, 6:06 AM ET A Palestinian reacts as he helps carry a wounded man into the emergency room of the Shifa hospital in Gaza City Saturday, July 15, 2006. The man was wounded when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a building Saturday. Palestinian rescue workers said at least one Palestinian was killed and many others wounded. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Harper does not speak for Canadians

Harper looks to be imbalanced on this and unfit to represent Canada in this debate.

Is this a measured response Mr Harper?

AFP - Sat Jul 15, 9:20 AM ET
Palestinian doctors treat an injured baby at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Israel has pounded Gaza with fresh air raids, killing two people and wounding 10 others including three babies, in its campaign to retrieve an abducted soldier and stop rocket attacks.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)

"Slicing and separating" occupied Palestinian Territory turning it into isolated reservations, impeding quest for statehood

VIENNA, 27 June -- The United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace today heard that Israeli settlements and the related network of “slicing and separating” the Occupied Palestinian Territory, political ambiguity, and the collapse of the Palestinian private sector under the “hammer of sanctions”, were blocking attainment of Palestinian statehood.

.....

Before turning to the first plenary discussion this afternoon, NORMA GOICOCHEA ESTENOZ (Cuba) said that Israel, instead of implementing the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council, was designing new policies that were far from contributing to a just and lasting peace in the region. Those policies perpetuated the status quo and nullified the efforts undertaken by the Palestinian people for decades. As long as the Government of Israel had the support of the United States Government, Israel would maintain its attitude of open defiance to the United Nations resolutions, as well as the norms of international law.

She said that, immediately after the 25 January Palestinian elections, Israel, the United States and Europe had exercised their “typical two-faced morality”, denying the validity of the elections and implementing a cruel financial blackmail against the Palestinian people. Today, they were deprived of nearly $1 billion per year, which was seriously eroding their development, the payment of the salaries to public officers and the provision of direct food aid for the population. Freezing the funds was creating a humanitarian crisis of unpredictable proportions in the illegally Occupied Territory. Essential services, such as health, education and the provision of food, were seriously affected.

The Israeli people had also been victim of their Government’s policies, she said. It should not be forgotten that important sectors of the Israeli population did not support the actions against the Palestinian people. Instead, they were developing efforts in favour of peace and the recognition of Palestinian rights. But, Israel’s State terrorism, supported and financed by the United States, and Israel’s illegal occupation, were the real causes of the conflict. It would not be possible to attain a lasting peace in the Middle East, until the illegal Israeli occupation came to an end and the Palestinian people could exercise their right to independence.

(http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gapal1013.doc.htm)

Who are the real terrorists?

AP - Sat Jul 15, 6:16 AM ET
A Palestinian man carries a wounded child into the emergency room of the Shifa hospital in Gaza City Saturday, July 15, 2006. The child was wounded when Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at a building Saturday. Palestinian rescue workers said at least one Palestinian was killed and many others wounded. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Latest Edition of Al-Furqan: Optional Conditions in an Islamic Marriage Contract

Latest edition (June 8/06) of Respected Alim, Hujjatul Islam Wal Muslimeen Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi's Al-Furqan, entitled: Optional Conditions in an Islamic Marriage Contract, is now available.

This edition and all past editions of Al-Furqan can be found here.

Save Palestine...Save your humanity

Reuters - Tue Jul 11, 7:03 AM ET
A Palestinian boy, the brother of Ahmed Shabat who is a victim of an Israeli air strike, mourns during his funeral in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, July 11, 2006. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES)

Apartheid against Palestinians

Please take the time to check out these links (http://del.icio.us/humbleslave/apartheid) and get informed on this apartheid against the Palestinians.

Destruction of Infrastructure

Shame

Rally in Toronto against Israeli agression in Gaza

UN blames Israel for humanitarian crisis, hard to children in Gaza (Maclean, 07/08/2006)

"With the bombing of the electric plant, the lives of 1.4 million people, almost half of them children, worsened overnight," said the world body's humanitarian affairs office in the statement.

Very well attended rally outside the Israeli Consulate in Toronto, Canada today (July 8/06).

Yet more International condemnation

"The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated," Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said in a statement. (BBC News, 07.07.2006)

So called Liberators

Aren't these so called liberators supposed to be keeping the peace, providing security, and allowing democray to flourish?

Instead of providing security and peace as was needed here, they seem to be caught up in nearly daily events such as these.

Hope?

Hope?

Beam of light in a valley of darkness

A beam of light in a valley of darkness.

Crimes against Humanity?

The below is the timid portion of this damming critique of Israel's recent offensive against the Palestinians by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs:

"A number of actions by the Israeli Defence Forces in their offensive against the Gaza Strip have violated the principle of proportionality and are to be seen as forms of collective punishment, which is forbidden. For the DFA, there is no doubt that Israel has not taken the precautions required of it in international law to protect the civilian population and infrastructure. The destruction of a power station, the attack on the offices of the Palestinian Prime Minister, the arbitrary arrests of a large number of democratically elected representatives of the people and ministers, as well as the withdrawal of the residence permits of three members of parliament and a minister in East Jerusalem cannot be justified. Attacks on civilian property are forbidden by international law. The DFA demands that Israel forgo any further attacks on civilian property, ensure the protection of the civilian population, and release the detained representatives insofar as no concrete grounds in individual cases exist that fully justify their lawful arrest." (Switzerland Federal Department of Foreign Affair, 03.07.2006)

Might does not make right

Destroying bridges and infrastructure required to sustain basic humanitarian requirements can not be seen as a reasonable response.

Israel time and time again seems quite content to face the stiff judgement of history as oppressors and committors of crimes against humanity. Sickening.

Fortunately, the light of justice will always be found in the hearts of some.

Could there be other motivations to the latest Gaza offensive?