"Samsara"

Well, there was a wee bit of the "samsara" about this one; a veritible "hin und her" as they say in Germany, and there is me teaching a class of eleven students, with nine of them from the PRC, in a building across from my old school in a city that I left over thirty years ago. "Deja vu" teaching kids from those places here, there and everywhere in "Zhonghua", places I have been, have seen and places I am keen to see again. Oh and Glasgow? Well, as I said a couple of days ago, memories of the past, pasted over, with newer, fresher ones! The city actually feels a little bit insular, but then it is on that smuggest of islands, a little bit claustrophobic, but then it is full of surreptitious things latently familiar that, given a chance, will creep up on me and smother me.

Elliot Abrams and David Axelrod

Well that is it then; the former Deputy Director of National Security, a certain Elliot Abrams, thinks that intense focus on the settlements doesn't benefit Palestinians or Israelis.(1) One might also suppose that any focus on the Palestinians right of return, the status of Jerusalem, the status and shape of any future Palestinian "state", other than that envisaged by the Zionists, also won't benefit anyone. No what Elliot, the pseudo American, wants is everyone getting the Palestinians to get into their "bantustans" as soon as possible and as quitely as possible. Of course, in the next few days we will have someone from Israel going over to tell Obama how he is to save face, while the construction and expansion of settlements, like Givat Ze'ev on the outskirts of Jerusalem, goes on unbounded. Although with another Israel's pals, Dave Axelrod, as one of Obama's senior advisor, there is no need to send anyone over to Washington to tell our "hype" man what he has to do as there are already enough "good Americans" who are more than capable of facilitating Israel's crime.
1 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924953349&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Dead Civilians in Afghanistan

There is more than enough evidence to suggest that American foreign policy is based on a "the end justifies the means" philosophy and it would also appear that, while, post Bush, there is a slightly more subtle hype accompanying it, the means to achieve those ends have not changed. The troop "withdrawal" in Iraq, was accompanied by a "surge" in Afghanistan and although those of us who are capable of displaying a modicum of cognitive depth might ask what the Americans are doing in Afghanistan in the first place, we accept, nevertheless, or at least do nothing about, the hypocritical "hype" man spouting his "national interests", "terrorism", "democracy" hyperbole and in the meantime innocent men, women and children are being slaughtered.
With the curtailing of the Taliban and the removal of the warlords who bullied the country, there could be a real effort on the part of the West to build up the infrastructure and democratic institutions of Afghanistan, there could be a real effort to make friends. However, that was never the intention. The intention is, and always was, to use Afghanistan to achieve geopolitical goals that are so machiavellien in their nature that, although they required the removal of the warlords and the 'Taliban', had neither that nor the tackling of terrorism as their aim. Have you heard of Pashtu terrorists being apprehended in the West? Nevertheless, we should not be surprised and with every day that passes the real goals of "Uncle Sam'" become ever clearer along with the realisation that dead civilians will be willingly sarcrificed to achieve these aims. No, we shouldn't be surprised when men, women and children die in Afghanistan. However, it would be nice if we were saved the hypocritical "hype" man spouting his "national interests", "terrorism", "democracy" hyperbole.

My Old School

The bits and pieces are being put together and Glasgow is beginning to become attractive. This morning took me down to Ashley Lane for a cup of coffee and the whole lane is wired up, or is it "wirelessed up" or should i say, "wified"? The coffee was good, the ambience pleasant enough and while, as always, it threatened to rain, it didn't and, coffee drunk, I then set forth down memory lane. Well, not quite for although the city is leaving a pleasant impression, the memories have been pasted over by newer, more recent ones. Still, as I suggested the city is pleasant enough and the walk past the art galleries, past the university, up through Park Gardens was invigorating and with a comfortable 20 degrees celcius and that refreshing breeze which is common to this city blowing into my face, I then found myself walking past my old school and, while there was still no particular nostalgia, no melancholia for any bygone days of yore, I did find myself thinking, "there was me yesterday outside that church at the top of Byres Road only to find that that church is no longer a church but a sort of cafe cum restaurant cum pub place and now, look what has happened to my old school, they have also turned it into a cafe cum restaurant cum pub place." Now, while I am pleased to see the demand for religion in the city of my birth decreasing, I am not quite sure if it is a good idea to replace schools with pubs.
The picture shows my old school, which is now a pub cum restaurant cum cafe.

There are not always two sides to an argument

A long time ago, while discussing with a friend, I said that a person can, at best, be described as an agnostic, because we cannot know whether there is a supreme being or not. He, quite rightly, replied that that question is, apriori, a nonsense and only later did I understand fully what he meant; accepting the feuerbachian thesis, which contends that man invented god and not the other way around and thus logically accepting Marx's contention that our being in society determines our consciousness, my conclusion would also have to be that the question as to whether there is a god or not is, in fact, absurd. We cannot know if there is a big apple pie up high in the sky and that is where we all go when we die, however, we don't walk around asking ourselves if that big apple pie exists or not. Therefore, it would be silly to listen to those who argue that that apple pie does in fact exist.
The point is, there are not always two sides to an argument; or at least not two sides worth listening to. Therefore, when I hear "the extremists on both sides", "the land for peace", "the constant barrage of bombs from Gaza" people, I can only cringe. In 1948 Palestine was ethnically cleansed, in 1967 the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were illegally occupied. International law maintains that those who were forced from their homes in 1948 have the right of return, international law requires that Israel withdraw from the occupied territories and international law most definitely demands that Israel cease expanding their illegal settlements on someone else's land.
Now, I am sure there are a few "apple pie up high in the sky" space cadets among you out there, drugged on the Jesus Christ superstar gobblydegook, and there are a lot of you out there who still believe the drivel, regarding Palestine, that is spouted out by the mainstream media time and time again. Nevertheless, there are not always two sides to an argument or at least not two sides worth listening to.

British Jewish Soldier dies and House of Commons gets a British Jewish Speaker

Now there are little islands of discrimination, of privilege, of little incestous elites, here, there and everywhere in the United Kingdom. However, on the whole 'Blighty' is a little bit more inclusive than most places and you will find a fair representation of the Toms, the Dicks and the Harrys, the Abdullahs and the Avis in all branches of the establishment and, while I invariably find myself in disagreement with that establishment, this open society reflects well on the UK. Alright prejudice is there but on the whole most British today accept that any person, no matter what their colour, religion or race, has the right represent the UK at every level outside the royal family. It is, therefore, with disgust that I registered a couple of articles in today's 'Haaretz'. The first one reported, "A British Jewish soldier was killed earlier this month in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb exploded near him while leading his platoon on foot patrol."(1) Now, while I don't think British soldiers should be in Afghanistan, when one of them dies, I think it matters very little whether it was a British Catholic, British Jew, British Protestant, British Atheist, British Muslim or British Whatever ..... get the point. Well, obviously they don't because in the very same edition of the paper we have another article on the new speaker in the House of Commons, reporting that "Britain's parliament got its first ever Jewish speaker of the house this week, with the election of Conservative MP John Bercow."(2) The really sad thing is that if anyone from the said newspaper were to read this article, they probably wouldn't get my point and that in itself is indicative of what a little conundrum, what a little oxymoron, what a little farce, the so-called "Jewish Democracy" is.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094538.html
2 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095301.html

Zionists in the US Administration

The former US Deputy National Security Advisor, Elliot Abrams is now saying that contrary to what Hillary Clinton is maintaining, the Bush administration did agree on settlement expansion. (1) Now I certainly don't know one way or the other but really who cares about what the Bush Administration agreed to? Quite simply, the settlements are illegal! Of course, the fact that both the United States and Israel constantly ignore international law is one thing, quite another, however, and one that I find really absurd, is how people like Elliot Abrams, Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and Rahm Emanuel and countless of other Zionists be given posts in various American administrations when they are in fact working for another country.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095675.html

'Voltaire and Rousseau'

It was always a little gem of a bookshop, or that is how I remembered it! Mind you, a way back then I was young and dynamic and I wouldn't mind ploughing through mountains of books to find what I was looking for and, although I never found what I was looking for to the best of my knowledge, I would always find something worth reading while sieving, scouring and searching. However, as I suggested in yesterday's post, it might be that I am becoming a little bit more discerning, a little bit more selective and there was me going into 'Voltaire and Rousseau' at 12 Otago Lane, Glasgow G12, not too far from Kelvinbridge and not too far from the university, looking for "specific" books. Of course, the guy at the desk couldn't help me and how could he when there appears to be no cataloguing system, only chaos and if this is a reflection of the Scottish mind, then maybe I was wrong to place that mindset not quite as methodical, logical, as the Germans, but not quite as chaotic, illogical, as the Spaniards or Italians. No, while it is our own particular blend of the rational and irrational that keeps us on the path of Queen Reason, the chaos at 'Voltaire and Rosseau' is reminiscent of downtown Calcutta at rush hour. Back home, or something like that, and Glasgow is going to be at least intriguing.
The picture was taken at the politics section in a great bookshop where you cannot find the book you are looking for, although I am almost certain it was there.

Intellectual Ambience

It started in Birmingham at 'Waterstones' in New Street, moving then to 'Borders' in the Bull Ring Centre and then to the other 'Waterstones' and the following day there I was in 'Waterstones' in Liverpool and today a couple more 'Waterstones' in Glasgow and sandwiched somewhere in between Glasgow University bookshop. Military history seems to be very popular in the United Kingdom and there are all sorts of "works" on the brave lads who are fighting and have fought their sometimes illegal and sometimes dirty wars here, there and everywhere. Conspicous is the absence of Norman Finkelstein, although I did see a copy of 'Beyond Chutzpah' in'Borders, Jonathan Cook is nowhere to be seen, yet I did manage to buy his books in English, in Munich and I was really more or less giving up on Ilan Pappe until I did see one copy of 'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine' in that second Waterstones in Glasgow. Lots and lots of regurgitated drivel on the Third Reich, Anthony Beevor, Richard Overy, that sort of thing and, of course, the Zionist version of their little land grab; Benny Morris, Tom Segev, the usual suspects but some new ones to be added and there was me confronted with a certain Leslie Stein who informs me that plucky little Israel has fought three wars against the Arabs, without telling me that plucky little Israel started all three, and that our plucky, plucky, little "Jewish Democracy" has also had to deal with a "problematic Arab minority" . Of course, Leslie's "problematic minority" is made up of those third class citizens who are waiting to join their Palestinian brothers and sisters either in the diaspora or in the iron cage that is the "bantustan" awaiting them on the West Bank.
Maybe the bookshops in "Blighty" were always like this or maybe, just maybe, I have become a little bit more selective in my reading and a little bit more enlightened in my thinking. One thing, however, is for sure, even at the educated, literate, end of the scale, in the land of hope and glory most of the people really do have their heads full of mince. Still, a ray of hope was sighted and somewhere in the bookshelves I did catch sight of Chomsky on a hopeless mission with his "Manufacturing Consent" and dare I say it consent has already been manufactured, tastes determined and the battle lost as the "discerning" reader who only wants to know a little bit more drifts past the sole copy of Ilan Pappe to pick up one of many books by Benny Morris on display to get his or her more in-depth knowledge of what is happening in the Middle East. Genuine intellectual ambience is not easy to find anywhere, it would appear that during the next ten weeks in the United Kingdom that is a constant that will remain at least stable.

Lease on Manas Airbase extended

The 'Guardian' reports that our "hype" fellow has managed to convince Kyrgystan to let the Americans continue to use the Manas airbase,(1) which is used to supply troops in Afghanistan. One wonders what brought about this u-turn by the government in Bishkent and there is evidence to suggest that Kyrgystan's supposed move towards Moscow was in fact only a ploy, a ploy that ended in seeing the US agreeing to more than triple the rent it pays for the base from $17.4m (£10.6m) to $60m. Difficult to believe, however, that a government is willing to compromise on its sovereignty and effectively participate in an illegal war that sees innocents civilians killed on a daily basis for an amount of money that is substantially less than the amount that Real Madrid paid for the services of Christiano Ronaldo. It is, indeed a mad, mad, world!
1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/23/kyrgyzstan-us-manas-airbase-open-afghanistan

The World Bank is concerned

The World Bank, which was set up at Bretton Woods in 1944, is one of the two main pillars, the other being the International Monetary Found, of a financial system that maintains western, especially American and British, domination of the world's financial system while ensuring that the world's poorest countries remain the world's poorest countries and that a few others, if they are not careful, get the chance to join them. In it goes setting conditions that those countries cannot meet and, after "Uncle Sam's" sychophants have lined their pockets, they sometimes have no intention of meeting and, when that happens, it's payback time and in "we" go and rob them of just about anything that they might have. Today, the 'Guardian' is reporting that "the World Bank calls on the West to help relieve trillion dollar drain on the world's poor."(1) Of course, what the concerned bankers at the World Bank mean is that they have not got the money to keep their absurd, unjust, system in place and when they argue that "the lack of international capital means many poor countries will stay in recession for longer as companies and governments are starved of investment,"(2) we might begin to get angry and ask the World Bank as to the exact nature of its original investments in those poor countries.
Therefore, what do we now have? Well, after "bailouts", which mean that we give taxpayers money to the banks that caused the "financial crisis" so that the very banks can loan it back to us, "the taxpayers", at interest, we now have the World Bank asking all and sundry to give it money, so that it can then give it to the ruling elite in the third World to squander as they please and, of course, once the World Bank sees no ROI, in it will go and rape those countries of everything they have. With the money that the ruling elites have creamed off safely tucked away in Swiss banks, this will be facilitated by the array of tinpot dictators that the West courts and who ensure that there is not going to be any resistence from that "world's poor" that the World Bank is so concerned about this morning.
1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/22/world-bank-international-capital-recession
2 ibid

Friends and Enemies

An occurance that has been unusual of late; with Lufthansa providing their usual array of free newspapers, I got my hands on a hard copy of the 'Financial Times' for the first time in a long time on the flight from Munich to Birmingham and there, on pages two and three, were two interesting stories to compare and contrast. On page two we had Ayatollah Khamenei upseting the British government by apparently singling out the UK as the most "treacherous of Iran's enemies" and "the most evil" of foreign powers,(1) and on page three we had an article, which focused on the ongoing row over the Elgin marbles.(2) The marbles constitute that half of the 5th century BC frieze that was removed from the Parthenon temple by Lord Elgin in the 19th century. Greece believes that the two halves shoujld be reunited in the new Acropolis museum, whose opening is being celebrated tonight. Indeed, the Greek government is even offering world-class sculptures, which the British Museum officials can choose, from Greek museums to fill the space that would be left in the Duveen gallery in London, should the marbles be returned. The British, however, are having none of it and the marbles are staying put.
Now, the British are a bit indignant with Khamenei but they shouldn't be surprised; after all the Ayatollah is not their friend. However, Greece is Britain's friend and the British to put it bluntly stole the marbles from the Parthenon. Now, I am sure that the Brits are actually deluded enough to think that the world loves them. However, MI5 should be telling the Mandarins in Whitehall the truth and really the evidence would seem to suggest that Britain, "the most evil of foreign powers" should be making at least an effort to keep her friends.
1 'Financial Times' June 20, 2009, p2
2 ibid p3

Courageous Demonstrators

Israel's own "Bloody Sunday"* never quite got the coverage that the original got and "our" Zionists really did manage their usual whitewash right down to them having their farcical "little" judicial inquiry known as the 'Or Commission' . That was back in 2001 when the Israeli police shot and killed 13 Israeli citizens with high-velocity rifles. The demonstrators were all Arabs, of course, and since then Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are, at least, aware of the true nature of their citizenship and of the consequences that can await them if they decide to take to the streets on Zionistan. However, there comes hope from an unexpected quarter and yesterday 'Haaretz' reported that Obama "believes that those who wish to have their voices heard should be able to do that without fear of violence."(1) Good for you Barack and we can only assume that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Of course, it is not and that is the problem. You see I too condemn any violence perpetrated by the government in Teheran and I also don't like the idea of elections being stolen. The difference is that when we think about what is happening in Iran, we would do well to think not only about the American presidential elections in 2000 and again in 2004, which George W Bush stole from Al Gore and John Kerry respectively, but we should also ponder on the events of 2001 when thirteen Arab citizens of Israel were murdered by the Israeli police. Well, it at least gave the Palestinians living inside the borders of the oxymoronic "Jewish Democracy" a real feel of what it is to be Palestinian.
Anyway, one of the headlines in yesterday's 'Haaretz' would appear to suggest that the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is right to call the called the demonstrators `courageous',(2) with the newspaper informing us that "Tehran residents are climbing to their roofs and crying God is Great! in open defiance of Iran's supreme leader."(3) Not quite sure why this would indicate resistance to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but if it is resistence it would at suggest that at least Robert Gibbs is correct in his contention that the demonstrators are 'courageous' and it might even be that they don't feel quite as threatened by their state as Arab citizens of Israel do by "theirs" and it might even be that they believe they can still change something.
* On the 30th January 1972 27 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment during a Civil Rights march in the Bogside area of Derry. A total of fourteen people died.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094274.html
2 ibid
3 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094245.html

Robert Frisk on the great election fraud

It was as recently 2006, when I was in the Lebanon, that I first became really aware of Robert Frisk. This was a man telling it as it was and with the IDF bully boys killing children, bombing civilians, murdering innocents there could be no doubt that Robert was telling the story as it was and he was telling it with a sense of purpose that enhanced the clarity of his reporting with the milk of human kindness. This was a concerned man and his global picture, his interpretation of events and, yes, even the details of his reporting invariably hit the nail on the head.
In yesterday's 'Independent' Robert appears to get a bit lost when he writes about a secret letter that proves that Mousavi won the election in Iran.(1) Alright he does suggest that it might be a fake and the headline might even have been added to his report by someone back at the 'Independent' in London. Nevertheless, he is using the letter to argue at least that Mousavi won the election when in fact we just don't know. Moreover, the content of the letter itself, which states that "Mr Mousavi has 19,075,623, Mr Karroubi 13,387,104, and Mr Ahmadinejad a mere 5,698,417,"(2) borders on the absurd considering the support that Ahmadinejad has among the poor in Iran. Indeed, as absurd as the official election results that were declared only hours after the polls had closed. In my opinion Robert should have gone a bit further than only suggest that this letter is a forgery; he would have done well to investigate where the forgery had come from. That would certainly be worth an investigation and a story.
1 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-secret-letter-proves-mousavi-won-poll-1707896.html
2 ibid

What is happening in Iran?

Now not knowing who really won the Iranian elections we might, or at least I might, do well to pick up the cognitive gauntlet, put on my thinking cap and ... and do a bit of thinking! The pictures coming out of Teheran and the other major cities are of young people that we in the West can readily identify with; they represent a privileged class in Iranian society. However, we don't really know very much, do we and is it sensible to even begin to assume that they represent the majority in the Islamic Republic? No, my guess is that they represent a class which has seen its privileges at least curtailed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rather inefficient economic policies. Therefore, why this interest in the election and its aftermath, an interest that the western media only just about accorded the elections in Zionistan, didn't really devote to India, the "largest democracy" in the world, and I am sure elections have come and gone across the planet in the last year that haven't even been noticed?
The "hype" man is sitting tight, stuttering drivel about not interfering in Iranian affairs, and there is evidence to suggest that Mir Hossein Mousavi, while offering some alternative for the Iranian bourgeoisie at home, is hardly likely to be "Uncle Sam's" man in Teheran. So, why the interest? Well, of course, while Obama spouts out his platitudes about not interfering in Iran's internal affairs and carefully adds that everything should be resolved peacefully, we have the western media destabilising Iran and encouraging that one third of the population that has access to the internet to mount the barricades. However, there is a fatal miscalculation here; the revolutionary Guard is still prepared to support the ruling clerics and the chances of a bourgeoise revolution in Iran being successful are minimal. Still that is not what Washington particularly needs at the moment and the more the young people on the streets in the major cities are encouraged to demonstrate the more likely it is that Iran will be demonized, ostrasised and destabilised. If that doesn't lead to a collapse of the regime in Teheran in favour of a pro-western government, it would at least appear that when "Uncle Sam" decides to move over to bully boy tactics, he will be dealing with an opponent who has been substantially weakened.

"Pied Noirs" and Zionists

On the 18th of March 1962 a deal was signed at Evian in France that was to lead to Algerian independence. However, that was not to come before a final hurrah by the "Organisation Armée Secrète" and an orgy of killings and bombings that left thousands of innocent Muslims dead; any small chance that there might have been for the "pied noirs",* to reach some sort of accommodation with the indigenous population had been effectively snuffed out. On the 5th of July 1962 Algeria was to declare its independence under a revolutionary government, the FLN ("Front de Libération Nationale") was to exact its revenge on thousands of Muslim "harkis" who had remained loyal to France and more than one million "pied noirs" were to leave their livelihoods behind and flee to 'Metropolitan France'.(1)

If there are lessons to be learned from history, it would appear that our modern day "pied noirs" in their settlements on the West Bank and the IDF bully boys have not learned them. Their racist philosophy is aways going to make a compromise with the indigenous population difficult. However, it is when I read of that final hurrah that saw the OAS "bombing and murdering at random, detroying schools, libraries and hospital facilities. attacking florists' stalls and grocery shops, determined to leave behind nothing more than 'scorched earth'"(2), my mind drifts to the the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that began in 1948, the relentless theft and the orgy of murder that continues to this day, and when I read how the slim hopes at reconciliation between the 'pied noirs' were snuffed out in 1962, I wonder if there remains any hope of reconciliation between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. The evidence would appear to suggest that there isn't. Nevertheless, it is worth at least appealing to the citizens of the oxymoronic "Jewish Democracy", the racist philosophy of Zionism has to be abandoned, international law has to be respected and, perhaps, you have a future in the region. Otherwise, while there is no historical inevitablility, the evidence would appear to suggest that history will indeed repeat itself and that "our" colonists in the Middle East will suffer the same fate as their spiritual predecessors , the "pied noirs".
* French nationals, including those of European descent, Sephardic Jews and settlers from other European countries, mainly Malta, Spain and Italy, who were born in Algeria
1 Martin Meredith, 'The State of Africa' London 2006, p74
2 ibid

US to be flexible towards Israel

In monday's 'Jerusalem Post', it is reported that at the end of a meeting with Silvio Berlusconi, "Barack Obama welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's endorsement of Palestinian independence, saying the development shows the "possibility we can restart serious talks."(1) What "development" and what "independence" the American President is referring to only he knows, or doesn't know. And when 'Haarerz' maintains that, according to a government source in Jerusalem, "The U.S. administration is prepared to show flexibility on construction in West Bank settlements, a government source in Jerusalem says and that the Americans will apparently not demand a full freeze on construction, but will agree that projects now underway can be completed,"(2) the mind boggles. The settlements are illegal, the occupation is illegal, indeed, denying the Palestinians their right of return is illegal, and what do we have? We have an Israel that is no longer content at just being recognised by its neighbours, but now also wants to be recognised as a Jewish state. Of course, the implications that such a recognition would have not only for the 1.2 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship but also for the "Palestinian right of return", which is embedded in international law and given expression by UN Resolution 194,is all too obvious. Unfortunately, instead of an international outcry, instead, of hearing Arab leaders screaming injustice at the top of their voices, there is our hype man spouting drivel and suggesting that there is now the possibility that serious talks can be restarted. Wake up, this nonsense is not to be taken seriously, it is tasteless, it is offensive, it is criminal.
1 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371108096&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
2 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093219.html

The Demonstrations in Iran

The live "twitter" feed, to the left of the picture, has just been added because it is difficult to gauge the exact nature and extent of the drama being played out in Iran at the moment. This morning on 'ZDF' one German journalist did say that, while there might have been some irregularities with the election result, there is no way that any fraud committed in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's favour was so extensive that Mir-Hossein Mousavi is the real winner. We just cannot know at the moment!
Nevertheless, what we do have in Iran is a society that is seriously divided and what we do have is a young educated urban middle class taking to the streets in an effort to force that change. Unfortunately, while we have successful models to look at where positive change has come about in this manner, the West would do well not to encourage the demonstrations that are taking place. There is no evidence to suggest that any real show of strength will end in anything other than young Iranians experiencing a "Tiananmen Square" of their own, rather than achieving the hope for changed. My advice to those Iranians on the street today would be, don't let the West give you council, go home, regroup, organise and work for real change. Now is not the time to mount the barricades.
The picture shows the Iranian police tackling demonstrators

Bibi allows the Palestinians a state

According to the 'New York Times', the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, says that Obama views Netanyahu's speech in Jerusalem, on a "two-state solution" as an "important step forward”.(1) This really has got to be some sick joke. What has Bibi actually said; well if the Palestinians accept Israel as a Jewish state and if they are prepared to forgoe their legal rights, most importantly, the right of return, and if they, and Obama, accept that the building of settlements on the occupied West Bank will continue, and, and, and, and, and then they can live in their demilitarised "Bantustans" and they can even call it a state. This is an "important step forward" for the "hype" man and you flick on the tele text on the television here in Germany and you are confronted with codswallop such as, "Netanjahu erlaubt Palästinenserstaat" (Netanyahu allows Palastinian state). Of course, what will happen now is the western media will portray Bibi as someone who is ready to compromise. This, of course, is absolutely absurd and as Saeb Erekat, the chief PA negotiator has rightly said, “he announced a series of conditions and qualifications that render a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian state impossible.”(2) If anyone is deluded enough to think other wise then I would like to remind them of David Ben Gurion when he said, "Why should the arabs make peace? If I was an arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: We have taken their country. They may perhaps forget in one or two generations time." However, I would also add that two generations down the road they have not forgotten and that for all Palestinians remaining faithful to their collective memory, to the injustice that has been imposed upon them, is far more worthwhile than the irrevocable life in slavery that the Zionists are proposing for them.
1 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/world/middleeast/15mideast.html?_r=1&hp
2 ibid

Brussels or Benghazi

There is me, running around like a chicken with its head chopped off and out to Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Bahrain, sojourns in "Blighty" Oman, and the Lebanon and then off to China, here there and everywhere and now I am chewing the cud and thinking about two years in the Libyan dessert and before that up to Glasgow and for what? Well, it's my job, I suppose, although common sense tells me I should be moving on, or going back, to translations and other things; things where there are pecuniary pickings of the sort that a mediocre man deserves and that gets me to my story. Yes, back to translating has its attractions, sitting at home, supping wee cups of tea, sleeping when I am tired but why not forward, not back, and, what about a job as a Member of the European Parliament? Don't need much of a brain for that, anyone can do it, certainly worth a thought.
Anyway, there was me today doing my daily flick through of the British papers and a wee story about how the Kinnocks, the very mediocre Niel and the non-entity Glenys, have picked up up to £8m of taxpayers’ money in pay and allowances, with Niel playing at being a European commissioner and Glenys as an MEP.(1) It was a little story that put me in touch with the bigger picture and discovering that the salary of British MEPs rises next month from £63,000 to £80,500 and that MEPs are entitled to expenses and allowances of £363,000 a year including a £261 daily subsistence allowance for simply going to work and that some of them employ members of there families and pay them thousands and thousands of pounds of taxpayers money.(2) Anyway, off I go, up to Glasgow and then on to ..... Brussels or Benghazi or is it Strasburg or Saudi? Maybe, it is time to start acquiring translation work again!
1 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6493969.ece
2 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6382831.ece

Ahmadinejad wins landslide victory

Now, it might very well be that the West's obsession with Ahmadinejad, coupled with a fixation on Teheran and exile Iranians, led everyone to make a massive miscalculation of Mir-Hossein Mousavi's chances of winning the the presidential election in Iran and the news coming out of Iran this morning is that Ahmadinejad has taken something like two thirds of the popular vote. Nevertheless, "miscalculation" or not, only a few hours ago Mousavi was still proclaiming that he had won the election and here was me writing a ridiculous post where I praised Iran as some sort of "real democracy". Of course, I was being silly, in "real democracies" they wouldn't even attempt to turn a close result into a landslide. No what they do in "real democracies" is what they did in 2000 when Bush's brother, Jeb, handed George Florida(1) or what they did in 2004 when Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted; votes that would have been enough to put John Kerry in the White House.(2) Yes, when it comes to stealing elections, the evidence would appear to suggest that Iran is not a "real democracy". Nevertheless, the rulers of the Islamic republic of Iran might be very well aware of what they are doing. After all, what we have seen in Iran is the will of the people to participate and that there is a democratic movement for change there. A close result would have led to disappointment but not disillussionment. Of course, it would also have led to people questioning any result that didn't allow for a second ballot. With this result there is not going to be much opposition to Ahmadinejad during his term in office.
1 http://www.consortiumnews.com/2001/112101a.html
2 http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen

You are being watched

There appears to be some resistance to 'Google Street View' here in Germany and, while the parties merge and real democracy goes down the drain, as it does elsewhere in the West, there still seems to be some protection for the individual in the Federal Republic. Of course, I am saying that tongue in cheek but it is a feeling that is backed up with some evidence; 'Google Street View' is facing opposition of the sort that it would normally expect to face in North Korea and there is a conspicous lack of surveillance cameras all the more conspicous when you come back from a couple of days in London.
Yes, 'Blighty' really doesn't give a fuck about privacy, does it? This evening I downloaded http://www.livestation.com/ and went about searching for television channels and, going up to Scotland in a couple of weeks, I typed in "Scotland". Not much in the way of television channels but what we do have, along with 'Radio Forth' and 'Radio Clyde' are four or five surveillance cameras and there was me on my Friday evening in front of the iMac in the Belushi Bar in Glasgow not only watching all and sundry supping their bevy but actually finding myself trying to listen in on the conversations. The evidence would seem to suggest that not only "Big Brother" is watching us.

Figures

Interesting little poll in today's 'Haaretz', which maintains that, "Nearly six of every 10 Israelis think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resist U.S. demands to completely freeze construction in Jewish West Bank settlements."(1) It is interesting for a couple of reasons; firstly, we are talking about stopping construction here and not about dismanteling the settlements and, secondly, with 20% of the Israeli population being Palestinian Arabs, I am wondering if they are included in this figure. If they are not, we are talking about 60% of the Jewish population, which is less than half of the total population, and if the Palestinian Arabs are included in the survey then we are talking about some 80% of the Jewish population that wants construction on the settlements to continue. Of course, I suspect that those Palestinians once again just don't count and we can at least console ourselves with the fact that for at least some 40% of the Zionist population at least part of the message is beginning to sink in and if the message is begin to penetrate then there might, indeed, come a day when the Zionists withdraw from all of the land that they have illegally occupied ........ illegally occupied since 1967 that is!
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1092436.html

Iranian Elections

With an over 80% turnout and apparently a real alternative to the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the person of the former prime minister and moderate "green" candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, it would appear that the current election in Iran proves that Teheran most certainly does not have to look to Washington when it comes to lessons in democracy. Nevertheless, "Uncle Sam's" expectations would be slightly out of place if he were to expect that this real democracy is going to work completely in his favour. Mousavi has promised direct talks with the US if he is elected president but he appeared to rule out a halt to Iran's nuclear programme.(1) Moreover, while the issue of detente with the West will not be completely lost on the millions who are coming out in favour of a change, it is Ahmainejad"s management of the economy that might lose him the election. What we can all hope for is that, should there be a change, the economic reforms promised by Mousavi will lead to a pragmatic economic detente that will have positive political spin offs. Neither, however, will happen if "Uncle Sam" thinks that he has found his "Uncle Tom".
1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jun/12/iran-middleeast

Iran denies IAEA request

It has been touched upon in other posts; nevertheless, what never ceases to amaze me is the manner in which the Israelis start their scaremongering when it comes to discussing Iran's nuclear programme. Today a headline in the 'Jerusalem Post' reads, "Iran denies IAEA request to install more cameras at Natanz".(1) Now what is happening at Natanz we can only suspect. On the other hand, what Israel has stockpiled at Dimona is an open secret. Surely it is only logical that the International Atomic Energy Agency start to install cameras at Dimona? Surely, it is only logical that the Israelis allow inspectors into their nuclear facilities? Of course, logic has never been at home the "Jewish Democracy" of "Zionistan". Moreover, as the Director General of the IAEA said in an interview, "We must understand, however, that the nuclear non-proliferation regime is a voluntary regime. Israel, India and Pakistan have not acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As Director General and as an international civil servant, my authority with regard to these States is basically moral and political, rather than legal."(2) Well, that is it then, while "our" Zionists might occassionally be forced into a corner on legal matters, they are very unlikely to take moral issues seriously. Moreover, the evidence would seem to suggest that the best way to stop the IAEA interfering with your nuclear programme, is to get a hold of nuclear weapons.
1 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371076192&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
2 http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Transcripts/2004/alahram27072004.html

Kafkaesque

Sometimes, certain things are better highlighted through little analogies that personalise them, bring them closer to you, put them into a perspective that you can understand and, therefore, cannot be quite so easily shrugged off and accepted as normal. Now, just suppose in Northern Ireland we had a situation where some protestants were building a settlement in a catholic area and one of those protestants was filmed shooting two catholics from close range and just suppose that the charges against that protestant were dropped because of some technicality or lack of evidence the day after four catholics had been indicted for another incident where they had lynched another mad protestant after he had shot four catholics dead on a Belfast bus.
Well, last week in that wonderful contradiction in terms, the "Jewish Democracy" of Zionistan, a certain Ze'ev Braude, 51, turned himself into the police after cameras filmed him shooting two Palestinians and two days ago there he was a free man after the prosecution dropped charges.; with the evidence suggesting that there was no particular reason for them to drop charges. Apparently, the "good" Ze'ev claimed self defence, a claim that anywhere but Israel would look a bit flimsy when the person claiming it was going into someone else's house waving a gun and just happened to shoot a couple of the people living there.(1) If it weren't so tragic, we would have to be tempted to see it an absurd joke. However, with Israel`s prosecutors the previous day saying that the "rule of law" required them to indict twelve Arabs who killed a Jewish "terrorist" (my own words; Israel does not recognise that there is such a thing as a Jewish terrorist) after he had unloaded his IDF-supplied, U.S. donated M-16 on a busload of Arabs, killing four,(2) we would do well not to laugh, for this is no laughing matter and it is not an isolated incident of "justice" in the so-called "Jewish Democracy". Moreover, while this type of thing might be par for the course in some third world dictatorship, none of those dictatorships masquerade as a western democracy as our "friends" in Zionistan do. That is important, because if we actually fall for that crap, we might ourselves wake up one day and find ourselves in a little kafkaesque world not too disimilar to the one in which the disposessed and disenfranchised people of Palestine find themselves in.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1091253.html
2 http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/21669

Contradictions

In the aftermath of the 'Right's' success in the European elections, we read today in 'Haaretz' that the European Jewish Congress, has said that "winning seats in the European Parliament based on "racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic platforms" pointed to an erosion of tolerance."(1) Certainly, we should all be worried about the rise of the 'Right'. However, I would argue that partly responsible for the increase in votes for parties such as Britain's 'BNP', is the increasing monoculture that we have in politics in a global village where big business interests are in the ascendency. However, there is another point I would like to make.
The European Jewish Congress is an affiliate of the World Jewish Congress, it is a Zionist organisation and, therefore, an instrument of a state whose very existence is based on a racist ideology. Therefore, I would suggest that this organisation coming out and speaking against parties that are openly "racist, anti-semitic and xenophobic" is at best farcical. Moreover, the contention that the European Jewish Congress, represents Jewish communities across Europe,(2) only furnishes us with part of the picture. Yes, it represents "Jewish communities", or, rather, a part of those communities; it represents those Jews who identify with Zionism. However, it does not represent those countless anti-Zionist Jews who are spread all over Europe. Indeed, these are the very people who our Zionists would term, "self-hating" Jews. Indeed, I am tempted to quote Walt Whitman here when he writes, "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."(3) The contradictions in organisations like the European Jewish Congress are far more poignant than those faced by Walt Whitman; here is an organisation that is de facto racist but condemns racism, an organisation that condemns xenophobia but denies a whole people the right to self determination, an organisation, which condemns anti-semitism but, when need be, can deliver the ultimate insult to any Jew who doesn't agree with it. Unlike Walt Whitman, however, Zionism does not contain multitudes. It is a very simple political movement that decided in 1897 that it was going to build a country on someone else's land. Furthermore, it is a movement, which feels very much at home in a political monoculture where real discussion is taboo and where the left is represented by Stalinist dinosaurs and sectarian mediocrities.
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1091588.html
2 ibid
3 http://www.daypoems.net/plainpoems/1900.html

Arthur Scargill

Watched some clips on Scargill this evening and there is a lot of sense in what the man says. Nevertheless, his is not going to be a "broad church" and the evidence would appear to suggest that come the day Arthur's mob would be as willing to put the rest of the left up against a wall and shoot them as his "spiritual" brethern in the PCE were, when they followed Stalin's orders after the 16th of December 1936.(1)
Moreover, his harping on about how the European Union has undemined some of the democratic achievements in the United Kingdom, should be put into a perspective where it has to be said that, the United Kingdom has moved closer to that undemocratic political monoculture that defines America than most of the other members of the European Union have. Furthermore, it might be added that the omnipresence of "Big Brother" is more all prevading in Britain than it is anywhere else in the European Union I have been to.
One thing we cannot accuse Arthur of is wooly thinking. Nevertheless, while his understanding of history is sound he is restricted by that theoretical straightjacket that sees a solution to the world's ills not in Rosa Luxemburg's, ”Die Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden” (freedom is always means the freedom to allow people to think differently),(2) but rather in a system that has already been tried, tested in failed in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. One is almost glad that Thatcher won the battle because at least we are left with other battles to fight. On the other hand, the evidence would seem to suggest that had Scargill won back in 1984 we would indeed have arrived at an Orwellian terminal and that Dictatorship of the Proleteriat that was epitomised by 'Stalinism'. No Arthur, the battle goes on, not for some elusive "ism" but rather towards a fair and just world, which allows all of us to live meaningful lives, and if in the process the "broad church" wishes to enlist your help Arthur, we will let you know and we promise not to put you up against a wall and shoot you when your usefulness has expired.
1 http://www.permanentrevolution.net/entry/508
2 http://deutsche-geschichte.suite101.de/article.cfm/die_freiheit_des_andersdenkenden

The End of Democracy

It is interesting following the the British electorate's penny-pinching, thieving, sordid little representatives at the moment and one wonders where and when they all forgot their accountability and responsibility to their constituents?
No doubt, it was Thatcher who began a process that was continued by Major, picked up by Blair and has been carried on by Brown. A process whereby the cradle of democracy has been undermined to the point where today there is no real difference between the major parities. Both Labour and Conservative represent the same big business interests and 'Blighty' is now a political monoculture not unlike that one across the big pond. In such a culture the representatives are no longer responsible or accountable to the electorate and the corruption only mirrors the undemocratic system that has been created.
These twats do not feel obliged to anyone, apart from those who put money into their pockets, or compensate their mediocrity with celebrity status; the media hacks who invite them onto their chat shows and the captain's of industry who wine and dine them on fact finding tours, and when industry and the media are not giving them money, then there is always public money to dip into. After all, what the plebs think, no longer matters and with British soldiers dying and killing on foreign fields in what are illegal wars, wouldn't it be silly of us if to think otherwise.

Is Israel getting ready to go to war?

In the early 1960s there was an attempt by the American government to stop Israel acquiring nuclear weapons; it was a very superficial attempt and is best summed up by the Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Levi Eshkol, who reacted to President Kennedy's démarche and demands, that the Israelis let inspectors into the Dimona site, by saying to his colleagues, "What am I frightened of? His (Kennedy's) man will come and he will actually be told that he can visit (the Dimona site) and go anywhere he wishes, but when he wants a door open at some door or another then (Emanuael ) Prat (head of construction at Dimona) will tell him, "Not that".(1) This represented the end of any "serious" effort to stop the Zionist state acquiring weapons of mass destruction and it is generally accepted that today they haves up to 600 nuclear warheads. The "chutzpah", the hypocrisy, the audacity, and today we have the 'Jerusalem Post' reporting that there are "new suspicious findings (by the International Atomic Energy Agency), as well as Syria's attempts to avoid answering the demands of the IAEA's request to inspect (nuclear sites)."(2) Is there evidence to suggest that the Israelis are plotting a "preemptive" strike on Syria as well as Iran?
Still, maybe Netanyahu will listen to the "hype" man, I mean after all Mr Ershkol did set a nice precedent for Israeli Prime Ministers listening to American presidents a long time ago.
1 John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy' p35
2 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244035008964&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Zionism is an ideology and a political movement

In the preface to his book, 'If I am not for myself', Mike Marquesee writes that Zionism is an ideology and a politcal movement. As such it is open to rational dispute."(1) However, how are we to discuss rationally with an ideology that claims a very irrational god given right to a sizeable chunk of the Middle East. It is, perhaps, in sensing the absurdity of this weird biblical claim themselves that the Zionists that look to another "formidable" argument to justify their theft; they look to the holocaust and we might conveniently forget that Zionism precedes the holocaust. Today we had the smooth talking Mr Obama saying on Friday at the Buchenwald concentration camp that the facility "is the ultimate rebuke" to those who deny the Holocaust.(2)
The link is then quickly established and the holocaust deniers are those who deny Israel's right to exist as an exclusively Jewish state and those who deny that right are no different from the scum who executed millions in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Sachsenhausen and Maidenek and in the meantime "our" Zionist scum can perpetrate crimes of their own.
"Self-hating" Jews, like Mike Marquesee, Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe, Naom Chomsky and Naomi Klein are beyond the pale and the rest of us are Nazis of the worst ilk. Yet, the wrath shown towards "self-hating" Jews and left-wing gentiles is almost benign in comparison to the treatment melted out to Palestinians who dare to fight for their rights; when this happens the victim becomes the perpetrator and the criminal the victim. Still, Marquesee hits the nail on the head when he writes that Zionism is an ideology and a politcal movement and as such it is open to rational dispute. Those rational arguments are on our side and yes, Mr Obama, we should not forget Buchenwald but in not forgetting it we should not be trying to conjour up pictures of an uncle who, until a few weeks ago, we still thought "liberated" Auschwitz and not Buchenwald, we should be thinking about illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have left hundreds of thousands, if not millions dead, we should be thinking about Central Africa where American policies have led to the death of millions, we should be thinking of Gaza where over a thousand innocents were recently slaughtered. The lesson of the holocaust is, indeed, never again but it is a never again for all of humanity. That is the lesson that the "self hating" Jews and the left wing learned from the holocaust.
1 Mike Marquessee, 'If I am not for myself', London 2008, vii
2 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090699.html

Obama's Speech in Cairo

We might suspect that the man means well! We might that is until we think about what he has actually done since attaining office; Guantanamo closed, but not closed, torture condemned but the torturers given immunity from prosecution, American troops withdrawn from Iraq, but not really withdrawn and for those who have been withdrawn the flight home just might be in a wooden box via the Hindukush. Still, he might mean well, so, while I cannot share the western media's enthusiasm for the speech he gave in Cairo yesterday, I will adopt a "let's wait and see" attitude. Oh, what exactly did he say?
He said his "salaam aleikums" and that and his quotes from the 'quran', his praise for Islamic culture and a few other bits of rather vague praise earned applause from the audience at Cario University, oh the audience; photo in the 'Süddeutsche Zeitung', six female students, two headscarves, lots of well groomed young men in nice suits. Yes, the type who will be waiting for the climate between the US and the Arab world to thaw so they can get themselves off to an Ivy League school as soon as possible. However, he was generous and he told us that Iran can be a partner for peace if it gives up on its nuclear programme and he told us that 'Hammas' has a role to play in the peace process if it recognises Israel's right to exist and, of course, he told us that Israel has to stop building settlements.
A reasonable, rational, caring chap this "hype" fellow and I am almost tempted to "re-baptise" him back to the "hope" man. However, this guy really is just as hopeless as his predessor and not only is there no mention of Israel actually dismanteling the settlements they are already in but Israel will also continue to expand the settlements under a new guise such as extending the boundries of East Jerusalem where the some 200,000 settlers there are not actually viewed by the Israelis, or the Americans for that matter, as part of the equation.
Yes, Guantanamo closed but not closed, American soldiers leaving Iraq but not leaving, Iran a fair and equal partner if it helps do "Uncle Sam's" dirty work, while at the same time abandoning its nuclear programme and recognising Israel, and finally, a role for 'Hamas' if it gives up its resistence to the Zionist occupation . In the meantime, there was a tentative word directed at those "moderate" friends, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi etc, suggesting that they might want to pursue democratic reforms. Still, we wouldn't really want that, would we? After all, weren't the 'Hamas' elected in free elections and is there not a chance that the 'Hizbollah' is going to be elected in the Lebanon and is it not very possible that Ahmadenejad is going to be re-elected in Iran? No, by the end of Obama's term in office, the settlements will still be there and they will have, at least, got a bit bigger, the corrupt little sychophants will still be in place in the Middle East and our "hype" fellow will still be spouting drivel. "Newspeak"; George Orwell never even began to fathom the extent of it and do I really have to give Obama the benefit of the doubt?

Israel a very dangerous country to live in

A study, which ranked Israel 140 out of 144 countries in terms of being a safe place to live, was reported in today's 'Haaretz'.(1) Interesting was the reaction from the newspaper's readers who all, more or less, maintained that they found Israel a very safe place to live. Maybe those who conducted the survey were as confused as to what exactly constitutes Israel's borders as most Israelis are themselves. Perhaps, they even conducted their quantitive survey on Nazareth High Street and, unkown to them, confined their interviews to Israeli Arabs. Nevertheless, the reaction from 'Haaretz's' readers does show us that the evidence would seem to suggest that most Israeli citizens do not feel very threatened at all; something that would appear to dispel the myth of the little, beleaguered, Israel, threatened by all and sundry.
Still, on reading one particular letter, I got a little clue as to why these people actually think someone else's country is their own with Gill from Hafai writing, "And Norway happens to be number 3 on that list (she is refering to the list of the world's most dangerous countries), One question should be asked: "What would happen, if you happen to go to Norway and enter the city of Malmo And say, "Hello I am from Israel``, What do you think would happen? Well one way to know is try it for yourselves,Try it! Nothing to fear, After all they are the 3ed peaceful country on the Globe!"(2) Now, I am not sure of what exactly Gill is babbling on about, however, maybe someone should tell her that Malmo is in Sweden and not Norway. Of course, she might not quite understand what you are talking about. After all, Gill often gets confused like this in a country, which has yet to define its own borders and while Malmo is in Sweden not Norway, I am not quite sure where Hafia is; Palestine, I think!
1 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1090160.html
2 ibid

Israeli "Right" criticise Obama

Well, there is our "hype" man setting up a scenario whereby Mr Abbas is going to appear in the western media as a very unreasonable fellow if he does not give up all of Palestine but a few 'Bantusatans' and there his people can vegetate their lives away having given up their legal rights and what thanks does Obama get from Israel? Well, first and foremost, Bibi just won't be paying attention to what he has said about stopping the expansion of the settlements and the so-called "right" in Israel are already running about, criticising the American president, plastering posters all over Zionistan portraying him as some sort of Hitler reincarnate. It is a weird, weird world!

In London

Isn't England marvelous? The hop, skip and the jump, well not quite, on the Stanstead Express to Liverpool Street, the twenty minutes sitting at the station in the tube, on the Hammersmith Line, waiting to go to Paddington, only to be told that the District Line and Hammersmith Line are both closed because of faulty signals and then off I went, Central Line to Oxford Circus, change to the Bakerloo Line for Paddington and, over the tannoy, blaring, 'Big Brother' warning all and sundry to take extra precautions because of the excessive heat; it has hit 23 degrees celcius in Great Britain's "Big Smoke". Still, the hotel room is clean, it has an internet connection, a flat screened television and a nice little tea maker and all of that for fifty pounds sterling. Welcome to 'Blighty', 'Old Bean'.

Naom Shalit making efforts to secure his son's release

Naom Shalit's son, Corporal Gilad Shalit, was taken prisoner back in 2006 and it is only to be expected that a father would do everything to get his son back. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Mr Shalit has asked U.S. Jewish leaders to put pressure on Obama to secure Gilad's release. Nevertheless, there is an absurdness, a perversity about this whole thing that cannot go unnoticed. Remember, Gilad Shalit was wearing an IDF uniform at the time of his capture, the uniform of the same army that has just murdered countless of women and children in Gaza. Moreover, as I pointed out in an earlier post, Gilad Shalit had no reason to be where he was; he does, after all, also hold a French passport. Indeed, the government in Paris has already tried to intervene on his behalf with the French lawmaker Philippe Marini having said some months ago that Sarkozy had phoned the Syrian President Bashar Assad to try to persuade him to get 'Hamas' to release the captured Israeli soldier Galad Shalit, before adding that "that France's interest is motivated by the fact that Schalit holds French citizenship."(1)
Yes, it is only right that Mr Shalit does everything to get his son back and he is a very fortunate man to have the backing of the United States and French governments on this matter. Indeed, I wish him success and I would genuinely welcome a Naom returning to the family fold a wiser man, a man who perhaps, understands that he is out of place occupying someone else's land and who then takes himself off to Washington or Paris to study something useful. Nevertheless, it does remain unfortunate that the hundreds of children who died recently in Gaza have no spokesmen in Paris or Washington, indeed, their tragedy was that they couldn't even access that one passport that might have saved their lives.
1 http://thediplomatabroad.blogspot.com/2009/01/gildad-schalit.html