I should start by saying that I deeply regret, and have always regretted, the support for Hamas amongst Palestinians. I view Hamas as a nasty organization espousing an unpleasant and narrow version of Islam, and far too ready to turn to violence. I regret the passing of the secular minded and sophisticated wide culture of the urbane Palestinian elite of my youth.
I understand that Palestinian willingness to embrace the limiting certainties of Hamas is due to the appalling pressure caused by decades of unspeakable violence and repression by Israel, the squeezing of Palestinians into ever-shrinking over-crowded reservations, the killings, the continual unrelenting humiliation, the deliberate destruction of all economic base. I understand Hamas won support through social programmes. I understand the extreme corruption of the Fatah leadership, where some seemed to do very nicely out of the disaster that repressed everybody else. I understand the role of Israel and the US in promoting the initial growth of Hamas to weaken the Palestinian cause. My regret is that they succeeded.
Personally I doubt that this latest Hamas/Fatah rapprochement will last any longer than the previous ones. Even for a people in the direst situation, there will always be self-seeking sociopaths emerging as leaders.
But even with all that, the appalling smug reaction of Netanyahu is sickening. Israel at no stage had the slightest intention of entering any meaningful peace process, stopping settlement building, or reducing the dispossession and discrimination suffered by Arabs of all sorts within Israel itself. The World’s most vicious and unrelenting theological and racist state continues to be just that. The United States was not in any sense genuinely involved in abetting a peace process; it was managing the process of genocide of the Palestinians, drawn out over decades, just conducted with enough disguise to allow the mainstream media to pretend it is not happening.
I do not like Hamas, but they remain morally superior to Netanyahu on every conceivable measure.
“But I don’t see Freedom ‘n Democracy, Inc, giving $3Bn of its taxpayers’ money to Russia, China, Venezuela et al annually, do you?*”
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And if did, the freedom and human rights loving leaders of those countries would immediately start whining about “subversion” and put the legal clamps on it.
As Russia and Venezuela have in fact done in the case of similar NGOs.
Since the Oslo accords, settlements have increased from 110,000 to 500,000. Clearly Abbas is doing exactly what Netanyahoo wants him to do.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/21/the-similarities-between-mahmoud-abbas-and-mangosuthu-buthelezi/
So you finally commented on Craig Murray’s blog Kelly? Can see what you mean, worth read.
Would Israeli fascism fail without ‘Christian’ support?
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday stated that Zionism and the rebirth of the Jewish state would not have succeeded without the backing and support of Christian Zionism.”
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23369/Default.aspx?archive=article_title
On reading the interviews of prof. Netanyahu, freely given without informing his sons press office, one gets an idea what the zionist wanted to achieve with their cradle to grave indoctrination.
From a young age Bibi has been subjected to the ideas of Zev Jabotinsky because his father was an arch supporter, carved and polished by Zev’s views, one reason why he never got a teaching job at any of the universities.
reading this blog shows what it means to indoctrinate children with hatred and fear for Palestinians, how dangerous this can be for the future when one’s child is hollowed out by the fascism/nationalism of their fathers. It results in long term intransigence and misunderstanding.
This is why I believe that a two state solution is not a solution, but a receipe for a long term struggle, perpetuation of hatred. Unless all children learn to play, live and learn together, until they see adults behaving like equals, in one country and without being forced into defending their fathers ideals, this cursed land will tear itself apart.
now there are some dark mutterings for you anon
http://www.promisedlandblog.com/?p=803
Jemand @ 2.58
Religious instruction while it often has moral fibre sometimes belongs to a time gone by, or if not, ought to do. That does not mean that Muslims, Jews or Christians who are persecuted should not be protected against state or other abuse. There was a wise Jewish teacher 2000 years ago who when confronted with the old law of Moses regarding the stoning of a woman for adultery. He was asked for his advise and his answer, wise in my opinion, was to draw in the sand with a stick and as he did so to teach “If anyone is without sin let him cast the first stone.” Because all of them were sinners in one way or another the crowd that wanted to stone the woman dispersed. Had anybody cast a stone he would have been a sinner.
The Qu’ran, Bible, Torah apply, though many would disagree, to history. There is much to be learnt from religious books but the law of a land today is, or should be, based on common sense and applied to the 21st century, where adultery is commonplace and should not meet with primitive punishment. What we need is some religious teaching about the evil empire that uses drones to kill and maim women, children, men and sometimes alleged terrorists, all of which have had no fair trial. I am almost sure you will agree with me on this.
Remember, stoning for adultery was committed by Jews at one time, and only through education has a modern world moved forward on this issue. This is why I very much support enlightened Israeli groups, like anti-Zionist Israeli groups, and the recent advanced Israeli group calling for a halt to male circumcision posted by Doug Scorgie.
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/
I agree that countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and other places where outdated laws are used to condemn people to death, have not moved forward in this respect. It does not mean that all the things these countries do are wrong. But equally the UK, US and other NATO regimes are murdering people extra-judicially, and are therefore just as bad. As an educated man yourself I feel confident you will not take issue with this comparison of two evils: one based on religion, the other on secularism.
Habbakuk Are these your own opinions or are you given subject matter to push ?
Do you seriously believe the stuff you write ?
The consistency I see ,is your omnipresence. A man with a word to say on everything and a bad word to aim at Mary.It is obviously a full time job as you are probably present more often than even Craig is. What do they pay you to disrupt blogs? Every now and again I begin to believe you are becoming civil,but then suddenly you revert back to the good old Habba we attempt to ignore.Almost like there is two of you. Do you work shifts perhaps ?
Kurtan -Is Habbabcuk still there? And Mary?
*bliss*
Kurtan
“Habbakuk Are these your own opinions or are you given subject matter to push ?
Do you seriously believe the stuff you write ?
The consistency I see ,is your omnipresence. A man with a word to say on everything and a bad word to aim at Mary.It is obviously a full time job as you are probably present more often than even Craig is. What do they pay you to disrupt blogs? Every now and again I begin to believe you are becoming civil,but then suddenly you revert back to the good old Habba we attempt to ignore.Almost like there is two of you. Do you work shifts perhaps ?”
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1/. References to “full time job”, “pay”, work shifts” : I imagine that your post is meant to be a response to mine(at 15h16) regarding Ba’al Zevul. Perhaps you are Ba’al Zevul, or working for the same people?
2/. “A word to say on everything” : not at all. There are far better candidates on here for that accolade.
3/. Whether these are my opinions and do I believe what I write: certainly. And now ask yourself the same questionss about others.
4/. More often present than Craig : yes, just like the other regulars. And that’s what usually happens on blogs with comment sections.
5/. The Habba you try to ignore : feel free to do so. Try Habbabreak if it all gets too much, why don’t you.
6/. Are there two of me : yes, sure. Salt and pepper, ying and yang, the rough and the smooth…whatever you wish!
And now stop being so silly. 🙂
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La vita è bella, life is good!
Some more ZBC propaganda on BBC News Channel at 3am this morning.
BBC Jeremy Bowen vs Benjamin Netanyahu & BBC Mike Embley vs Khaled Elgindy from Brookings
Posted by Gutenberg on April 25, 2014, 3:05 pm
Khaled Elgindy http://www.brookings.edu/experts/elgindyk
Even in attempting to make the most basic of counter-arguments to Netanayhu, Bowen proves to be woefully inadequate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5LI1dNFAl0
Are these people really journalists? During their exchange, Bowen charges that “The Palestinians say that you continue to take their land, to build and extend settlements…”
Why didn’t Bowen mention that the issue goes far beyond the claims or accusations of the Palestinians and it’s actually the established opinion of the international community through countless resolutions and condemnations of the continued building and expansion of settlements as a violation of international law at the UN and within the EU for decades?
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1398434752.html
In regard to my last comment about the faults of religion and secularism it is twelve months gone since Obama last talked about closing Guantanamo Bay. Shaker Aamer, an educated Muslim who with Moazzam Begg was running a charity school for boys and girls in Afghanistan, before their school and home was hit by the Yankie military, has been tortured and abused. Despite being cleared for release 6 years ago he is still in that hellhole in Cuba. He has a twelve year old son he has never seen. I urge all right-minded people to sign this petition, started today, for his release.
http://www.change.org/petitions/u-s-attorney-general-eric-holder-release-shaker-aamer-and-let-him-return-home
Craig, please do another blog about Shaker.
Mr Goss pleads
“Craig, please do another blog about Shaker.”
____________________
I’ve told you several times : you are a squatter on this blog, so please stop trying to give instructions to its owner!
You have your own blog – Johngossip or something similar. Why don’t you post something about Shaker there if you can’t wait for Craig to get round to it when he pleases?
I think we’ve discovered havasack’s identity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist
And have a nice weekend Baal. See you Monday!
@ Eminences
Given that no example of govt turpitude, however small, escapes the eagle eye of the Eminences on this blog, I’m all the more surprised that the govt’s splendid decision to stop RBS paying its executives bonuses amounting to double their annual pay has not given rise to a single comment here.
I wonder what the reason for this strange silence could be?
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella)!
“Try Habbabreak if it all gets too much.”
Thanks for that Habbaman!
Habbabreak. For when it gets too much.
Pro Russian seperatists have captured a bus with 7 OSCE observers, these are seven out of 160 for the whole of the Ukraine.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/ukraine-separatisten-halten-deutsche-osze-beobachter-fest-a-966255.html
Putin must know that he should stop this, he can’t be seen to support stop such blatant actions, not to speak of the murder of locally elected politicians. It negates his arguments because he has no beef with the OSCE, their reputation is good and they are usually well respected.
I believe the OSCE is currently trying to recruit and dispatch some 500 observers to the Ukraine, now there is something usefull to do.
Like Mary, I believe in cross-fertilization, including that of blogs.
So here is the very latest (today!) offering from Mary on Squonk’s splendid blog:
“I think the trolls on Craig are finding it quite difficult trying to keep up with all the comments on Craig’s multiple posts. Habb is in the lead, followed by Anon and the others bringing up the rear”
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Support the Pound sterling, the US dollar and the shekel – dump rubles, reals and renminbis!
Mods There is a nasty mixture of dog dirt and ad hominems being left at the end of the previous threads going back to ‘UK Moves to Block US Senate Report to Protect Blair, Straw and Dearlove’. I think the sly t—-s believe nobody will notice.
nevermind 25 Apr, 2014 – 5:57 pm
The OSCE is a spin-off from NATO. Absolutely nothing impartial about it. Set up to counter Russian influence and convert former Soviet friendly countries to the good old western NATO way of killing everything that moves and stealing what’s left in the ground. Don’t believe its own historical blurb. Go to the academics.
Surely the faction in Ukraine that wants to rejoin Russia are unionists. Why are they called seperatists?
“The OSCE is a spin-off from NATO. Absolutely nothing impartial about it. Set up to counter Russian influence and convert former Soviet friendly countries to the good old western NATO way of killing everything that moves and stealing what’s left in the ground.”
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I believe that Russia belongs to this organization which rather makes nonsense of your claim, doesn’t it.
Habbabkuk,
I’m surprised you’re not praising this squonk contributor!
“Mods There is a nasty mixture of dog dirt and ad hominems being left at the end of the previous threads…”
______________________-
And how would you describe what you write about this blog and bloggers on other blogs (eg Squonk’s – cf my post at 18h42, above)?
Squonk (21h17)
“Habbabkuk,
I’m surprised you’re not praising this squonk contributor!”
_______________
I’ll leave that agreeable task to others, dear Squonk 🙂
Out of interest I googled Liam Fox News. The top 4 results –
Liam Fox accuses Snowden of ‘treason’ – but ignores his own past
Politics.co.uk (blog)-by Ian Dunt-17 Apr 2014
Liam Fox during the Adam Werritty scandal. … Former defence secretary Liam Fox has been more prominent as a backbencher than he was as …
Snowden leaks ‘criminally irresponsible’, MP Liam Fox says
BBC News-16 Apr 2014
Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden risked the lives of secret agents by leaking documents containing their names, ex-UK Defence …
Liam Fox urges foreign states to help fight Scottish independence bid
Express.co.uk-20 Apr 2014
FORMER Defence Secretary Liam Fox has urged foreign governments to … Speaking in Washington last week, Dr Fox said he believed Alex …
Liam Fox: Nato must speak up to save Union
The Sunday Times-19 Apr 201
FORMER defence secretary Liam Fox has urged foreign governments to break their silence and oppose Scottish independence in the interests
Couldn’t make it up could you. I made the same search for Werritty but drew a blank other than connections to Fox in the context of the links above.
In case there are any detractors to my view that the OCSE is a spin-off of NATO, and little different from the United Nations which started out as a reasonable International Organisation, but is now “New York, New York, New York”, one of its latest debates involved the Ukraine. I urge you to look at who the Chairman and co-chairman is and remember the debate is about Europe. WTF has Europe got to do with Yanks?
http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewDetail&ContentRecord_id=555&Region_id=101&Issue_id=0&ContentType=H,B&ContentRecordType=H&CFID=15489647&CFTOKEN=295d35a037013260-0A20B624-B92F-55D8-171ED53C1221E062
Check oot this Shit – Not Strictly O.T… i think
Hello World. I’m Tony Blair, the highest-paid speaker in the world and the Middle East ‘Peace Envoy’ and I’d like to share my thoughts with you on how to combat the threat of ‘radical Islam….
As most of you know will know, I have courageously and tenaciously set out to combat these dark forces for many years now, with considerable success. And I would like to share my thoughts with you on what ‘we’ can do to combat this menace:
Take military action everywhere and anywhere in the world regardless of the risks and consequences, as I did when I took the decision to participate in the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Both these actions have contributed enormously to reducing ‘extremist violence’ as anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of these countries can attest.
Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to understand or define what ‘radical Islam’ actually is. Any attempts at such analysis can only undermine the moral clarity required for the struggle between ‘ pluralistic societies and open economies, where the attitudes and patterns of globalisation are embraced; and those who want to impose an ideology born out of a belief that there is one proper religion and one proper view of it.’ Do not consider the political and historical context that has given …
The rest of thie piece…with this Video –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQGQ_U7Y5WE
@
http://stopwar.org.uk/videos/the-tony-blair-10-point-guide-to-fighting-islamic-extremism#.U1rIXlVdWqh
Matthew Gould, old friend of Fox and Werritty, has been busy establishing and cementing UK/ Israel links.
‘The UK Jewish Film Festival was established 18 years ago; and on April 16-19, the Tel Aviv Cinematheque is presenting a selection of some of the most popular films the festival has screened.
The festival is held in London, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, as well as in Geneva and Hong Kong. The UK festival is three weeks long, and approximately 15,000 people attend it. It features movies about Jewish life from around the world and not necessarily from the UK.
Matthew Gould, the British ambassador to Israel, will speak in Tel Aviv at the opening-night film, The Jewish Cardinal. Directed by Ilan Duran Cohen, the movie is a dramatization of the life of Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, the Jewish-born head of the French church and close confidant of Pope John Paul II.’
http://www.albawaba.com/al-bawaba-buzz/uk-jewish-film-festival-568402
‘Many Israeli academics and students continue to visit, and to be made welcome, at UK universities. Israel and Great Britain.
The British have been visiting Israel in large numbers.
Following on the visit by British Prime Minister David Cameron, a few weeks ago Science Minister David Willets arrived with a delegation of heads of British universities to promote new Israel- UK scientific programs and to attend the second BIRAX (Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership) sponsored conference on regenerative medicine held at the Technion in Haifa. A group of British parliamentarians left the country following a visit to Israel and the West Bank at the end of last week, and another delegation flew in for a three-day symposium on the peace process at Ma’aleh Hahamisha.
The proactive British ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, didn’t have much time to relax, as between these visits he hosted a large group of guests to the annual British spring fair, which was held in the garden of his home in Ramat Gan last Friday morning.’
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Borderline-views-Promoting-UK-Israel-scientific-cooperation-347073
followed by a lot of propaganda against British university students’ protests and the academic boycott.
Liam Fox declares a visit to Israel (with a staff member) last July paid for by Conservative Friends of Israel. Many private and corporate donations, some large, are also declared as were trips to Bahrain and Azerbaijan.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=10213
“In case there are any detractors to my view that the OCSE is a spin-off of NATO, and little different from the United Nations which started out as a reasonable International Organisation, but is now “New York, New York, New York”,”
Please stop trolling – some opinions are just so ridiculous as not to require any rebuttal, what can be stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.