"This Israeli government has not given the international community, the American government or the Palestinian authority any reason to believe they are serious about the peace process," Gerges told Al Jazeera.  

Yossi Shain, a profesor from Tel Aviv University, agreed that settlements were crucial, but told Al Jazeera that all parties must move on and recognise Israeli concessions on the issue.  

"Netanyahu is the democratically elected leader of Israel, he already froze settlements and has to move ahead with Mr Obama," he said.

Last November, the Israeli government announced a 10-month suspension of new settlement building in the West Bank...

-------------

Meanwhile, back in march 2010...

The international community considers East Jerusalem occupied territory. Building on occupied land is illegal under international law, but Israel regards East Jerusalem - which it annexed in 1967 - as its territory.

In a strongly worded statement, Mr Biden said: "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in east Jerusalem.

The Middle East situation, a diplomatic minefield at the best of times for an American president, has become even more complicated as Barack Obama prepares to host the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington tomorrow.

Turkey and Israel, both important US allies in the region, have been at each other's throats for the past month over the storming of the aid ship Mavi Marmara, part of the 'Freedom Flotilla', by Israeli commandos, which resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists.

Since then, Turkey has refused Israeli military planes the use of its airspace. Now Ankara has demanded an apology from Israel - and has threatened to cut diplomatic ties if one is not forthcoming.

Today, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the newspaper Hurriyet: "Israel has three paths ahead: It either apologises, or accepts the findings from an international commission investigating the raid, or Turkey will cut off ties."

He added: "It will be enough if their own commission rules that the raid was unfair and they apologise in line with the commission's verdict, but we have to see the verdict first."

But Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is in no mood for compromise: "We don't have any intention to apologise. We think that the opposite is true," he said on a visit to Latvia.

Turkey makes Netanyahu and Obama talks tougher

Obama has no choice if he's true to himself... He has to start enforcing a solution... This thing cannot drag on any longer...

A blue-and-white Israeli flag hung from Blair House. Across Pennsylvania Avenue, the Stars and Stripes was in its usual place atop the White House. But to capture the real significance of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit with President Obama, White House officials might have instead flown the white flag of surrender.

Four months ago, the Obama administration made a politically perilous decision to condemn Israel over a controversial new settlement. The Israel lobby reared up, Netanyahu denounced the administration's actions, Republican leaders sided with Netanyahu, and Democrats ran for cover.

So on Tuesday, Obama, routed and humiliated by his Israeli counterpart, invited Netanyahu back to the White House for what might be called the Oil of Olay Summit: It was all about saving face.

The president, beaming in the Oval Office with a dour Netanyahu at his side, gushed about the "extraordinary friendship between our two countries." He performed the Full Monty of pro-Israel pandering: "The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable" . . . "I commended Prime Minister Netanyahu" . . . "Our two countries are working cooperatively" . . . "unwavering in our commitment" . . . "our relationship has broadened" . . . "continuing to improve" . . . "We are committed to that special bond, and we are going to do what's required to back that up."

An Israeli reporter attempted to summon the effusive American back to reality: "Mr. President, in the past year, you distanced yourself from Israel and gave a cold shoulder to the prime minister. Do you think this policy was a mistake? . . . Do you trust Prime Minister Netanyahu?"

Obama assumed an amused grin. "Well, let me first of all say that the premise of your question was wrong, and I entirely disagree with it," he said. He said he had always engaged in "a constant reaffirmation of the special relationship" with Israel, and "I've trusted Prime Minister Netanyahu since I met him before I was elected president."

So that business about Hillary Clinton calling Israel's settlement action "insulting" and the State Department accusing Israel of a "deeply negative signal" that "undermined trust and confidence in the peace process and in America's interests"? You must have imagined it.

Obama came to office with an admirable hope of reviving Middle East peace efforts by appealing to the Arab world and positioning himself as more of an honest broker. But he has now learned the painful lesson that domestic politics won't allow such a stand.

For a seriously long time I have researched and tried to form a cogent opinion of the reason/s that the "most powerful nation on Earth" (so we keep on hearing) genuflects to an undeniable "terrorist" group that have been guilty of crimes against humanity for over 60 years.

I have come to some conclusions – for example that the Zionist Jews have traded too long on their Holocaust while other massacres far greater and inhumane have occurred throughout history and are rarely mentioned. 

If anyone remembers the release of the concentration camp untermenschen and the unbelievable appearance of the survivors, then they will remember that they were starved not slaughtered.  The latter would have been more kind I believe.

Additionally, while the Russian purges against Christians and the British against the Bengalis and the Turkish against the Armenians, just to name a few, were real prosecutions of racial hatred – the “Jewish” Holocaust due to the multi-nationalities of the concentration camp inmates - is more all encompassing than that.  They were to isolate the untermensh regardless of race.

The Nazi Concentration camps for the political opponents of the third Reich and for all people, of whatever race or religion, who did not fit the description required by the “Master Race”

“Wikipedia refers to “untermensch:  “A leading Nazi attributing the concept of the East-European "under man" to Stoddard is Alfred Rosenberg who, referring to Russian communists, wrote in his Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts (1930) that "this is the kind of human being that Lothrop Stoddard has called the 'under man.”

And: “This concept included Jews, Roma (Gypsies), non-Europeans (but the number of black Africans for example was too small in 1940s Europe) and some of the Slavic peoples (named as Ukrainians, Poles, Russians, Serbs and Czechoslovaks).[2] The Nazis acknowledged that some of sub-humans have had ancestors of Aryan-Nordic descent-such people were to be exterminated to eliminate the leadership class among "inferior races", and racially suitable children were to be kidnapped for Germanisation. Massacres in Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, and Poland, especially in Warsaw, made evident how Slavs were treated as inferior by the Germans”. [But was the Warsaw uprising made by only Jews – or was it really all Slav untermensch?]

“However, the "Untermensch" policy toward Slavic peoples was far from consistent. The Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia, operated by Croatian fascists called Ustase, for example, exterminated hundreds of thousands of Serbs alongside tens of thousands of Jews and Gypsies and a few thousand Croat political dissidents. However, as close relatives of Serbs, the Slavic Croats not only formed units within the SS and other German battalions, but were a part of the Axis alliance. In effect, Hitler's intent was to cull the numbers of Slavic peoples, who both then and now were the most numerous of the European peoples. The "Untermensch" policy made the execution of such policy more effective, by purporting "quasi-scientific" impetus, so such inconsistent application of the policy was logical, as the Nazis did not seek complete destruction of the Slavic peoples, whom they saw as a valuable source of slave labour for the post-war Reich.”

So, at least we can at least consider that the concentration camps were NOT only for the Jewish people but for the Nazi classification of Slavic “untermenschen” and all politicians of any nationality who challenged the Nazi power?

God Bless Australia and let’s hope that we shed this orchestrated racist attitude against those who really need assistance.  NE OUBLIE.

Yes Ernest, why?

I cannot escape the idea that Israel won't let go of anything and will carry on grabbing... with the help of bankrupt morality and pockets bulging full of dollars...

This was the third part of my introduction to the age of deceit-part 3 the Jewry... Our ancestors (not mine — they were in Europe but I am part of this sytem) grabbed the Australian continent away from its original inhabitants... The same applied from the US, and the whole of Latin America, Canada... Historically it does not look good. When Cortez grabbed lands for the Spanish, he used the divide and conquer method. With just a few men, he stole an empire and destroyed a civilisation. May be his real name was Hermán-Jacob Cortésberg de Monroydavid y Pizarromann...

The same divide and conquer tactics are used by the empire... Palestine is presently cut in half: the West Bank and Gaza... etc.

I agree with your post Gus but only when you describe how uncivilized our Planet used to be and the way that the “elite” of nations organized the situation where their armies were made up of ignorant and uneducated peoples who they used as murderers - even while being murdered themselves. WW I was a perfect example of WHY the Monarchies had to be curtailed, controlled or removed.

But I feel convinced that many classes of all peoples have at sometime over the centuries, rightfully thought that reformist governments had begun to improve civilization by educating their peoples who - nevertheless were still prone to criminal leaders like G.W. Bush, Rattus and their reprehensible regimes.  In both America and Australia the "elitists" are once again using their media to influence the citizens of our countries to reverse the relief from the warmongers with Obama and Gilliard.

IMHO “civilized” peoples no longer swing a person secured to a chair over and into deep water until they either drown or admit they are witches or Warlocks.  In which case they were burned at the stake.

The Roman Catholic Church was perhaps the most consistent and cruelest of all “Monarchies” from the very beginning of their existence.  However, while I agree that some of their beliefs deny common sense and basic science, they have certainly adopted a more “humanitarian” view to stay with the changes and are now forbidden to practice their cruelty even down to pedophilia.

There is no doubt in my mind that many nations still have archaic beliefs and laws but, they all seem to survive and prosper without invading; trashing history; murdering; genocide; forcefully stealing the lands of other countries as well as practicing the methods of the Angel of Death by stealing body parts from victims of their aggression.

The difference with the Zionists I believe is that they are allowed to set a precedent in an otherwise civilized world which dates their actions back to the middle ages - and all this while using the most cruel and inhumane weapons of the US military/corporate.

That is especially obscene since, while prosecuting these massive crimes to nations that cannot “equally” defend themselves – they also strive to perpetuate that subjugation to ensure that those targeted nations will never be able to do so.  Where does that illegal power come from? An illegal Israel.

At least the Christians advise the recorded belief of the Jew Jesus Christ to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  So unless the Zionists begin using suicide bombers, they should be expelled from Palestine.

God Bless Australia and let us have the wisdom to avoid an ultra-right wing “elitist” government under Abbott and his cronies.  NE OUBLIE.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a man who "wants peace" and is "willing to take risks for peace."

He did so following a White House meeting five weeks after the May 31 raid on the Mavi Marmara Gaza aid convoy, in which Israeli forces murdered eight Turkish activists and a dual Turkish-US national. The White House meeting was also on the eve of another round of Israeli settlement expansion on the West Bank.

On the day of the meeting, a report by the human rights group B'Tselem said that Jewish settlements with 300,000 people now control more than 42 percent of all land in the West Bank, including 21 percent of all privately owned Palestinian land.

In March, Obama had made a point of refusing to hold a press conference with Netanyahu after Israel announced the building of 1,600 more Jewish homes while Vice President Joseph Biden was visiting Jerusalem. A "partial freeze" on further building runs out in September, and Israel has made clear it intends further construction.

Netanyahu has also refused to extend an apology to Turkey for the Mavi Marmara raid, and has rejected any international inquiry. With Washington's support, Israel is holding its own inquiry, headed by a retired Israeli Supreme Court justice. The Israeli investigative committee does not even rise to the level of a state commission of inquiry.

Despite tensions that led to a temporary souring of US-Israel relations, Obama has again made clear the essential continuity of Middle East policy with the Republican Bush administration and underscored the bi-partisan character of US support for Israel. Obama described the relationship between the US and Israel as "unbreakable" and enduring. "It encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests," he said, and has "grown closer and closer as time goes on."

http://www.countercurrents.org/marsden080710.htm

It always seemed to me that - during the "Cold War" the two main antagonists, namely the Soviet Union and the United States of America - we Orstraylians (God bless us) readily swallowed the propaganda which our US allies, especially under Menzies, wanted us to believe.

I can only imagine that the Soviets did the same with their entire empire.

Years of an international chess match pursued and caused the world to be divided into two major camps. In our case we were inundated with the hatred and fear that we would lose our right to even exist (especially under the bed) and must therefore NOT consider any compromise with the “enemy” that we hardly knew.

Our isolation was both a blessing and a curse in that we were never able to consider that the defeat of Hitler also caused the sacrifice of twenty (20) million Russians and was finally acknowledged as the major cause for the defeat of Nazism in Berlin.

Why do I raise this after all those years? Because the subsequent wars in which our small nation was stupidly involved were ones that did not need our participation on any side. Like most supporting nations to the US invasion of Afghanistan, we were small fry and only symbolic and didn’t even have the supposed “protection” of the mighty US.

Like WW I and WW II we Australians and New Zealanders were also a symbolic gesture in the scheme of things.  And yet, the first defeat on land against the Japanese Marines was by an Australian battalion at Milne Bay.

There was a time during the Whitlam era when it was reported that the US threatened to bombard the Sydney coast.  Apparently, among other things, Gough had insisted that he be allowed to visit the US “eyes” in North Western Australia – does anyone remember that?  And the yanks attacked our Resources Minister Rex Connor with the foreign media about the existence of US oil wells in the Bass Strait until he had a stroke and died.  Does anyone remember?

There is only one period in my lifetime that I felt a distinct US type “national pride in my breast”, and that was when our people defied the media and voted Gough Whitlam’s Labor Party into Federal Office.

Sadly, democracy is a false marketing ploy and its replacement should be a government of the people, by the people and for the people because WE are the ones who will suffer by stupid foreign policies and conversely be disadvantaged no matter what the result.

God Bless Australia and may we have a government that is NOT subservient to any military dictatorship especially that of the Zionists.  Only pain can come from that.  NE OUBLIE.

Israeli forces could be set for another ugly confrontation on the high seas as another aid ship tries to break the blockade in Gaza.

The cargo ship Amalthea set sail from Greece with 2,000 tonnes of food and medical aid destined for Gaza.

Its voyage has been sponsored by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

But Israel is demanding the crew divert to its southern port of Ashdod, or even Egypt.

As well as a small group of activists on board there are 12 crew who had hoped to arrive in Gaza within days.

Israeli minister Daniel Hershkovitz has made it clear it will not be allowed in.

"Israel hasn't changed its policy and its policy is very clear. No ships will allow to arrive at Gaza," he said.

Instead, Israel has offered to transfer the aid itself after inspection at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza.

It has sought the help of Greek authorities, who say they believe the ship is now heading to Egypt.

But Youssef Sawani, the executive director of Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, says they are not changing course.

--------------------

Lets have a dose of reality by remembering that 24,145 Palestinian homes have been demolished by Israel. How many Israeli homes have Palestinians demolished? Answer=Zero!

Now let's look at this in the context of other Israeli aggression, shall we? Like the endless bombings in Gaza, more homes destroyed, along with Hospitals, schools and places of worship. Not to mention all those dead civilians and children. How about all the businesses that have had to close, thanks to the evil rogue state?

How about all the people who have died needlessly because they can't get out for medical treatment that could easily save their lives? What about the children being born sick due to the chemicals Israel showered down upon the entire population? What about the disfigured and burnt people, or those now confined to life in a wheelchair because their legs are missing, thanks to Israel.

I hope his makes you sick - homeless, thanks to Isarel

elsewhere .....

A study prepared by the Gaza Strip's Ministry of Planning confirmed an upsurge in settlement activity and Judaization carried out by the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in occupied Jerusalem.

It highlighted that the IOA confiscated more than 23,000 of the Eastern Jerusalem's 70,000 dunum total land area, and that about 35,000 thousand housing units were developed for Israeli settlers.

It stated that what is happening inside the holy city sums up the nature of the conflict in Palestine.

Study shows growing settlement activity & ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem

meanwhile .....

Omar Hajaj says he will soon be caged "like a zoo animal," with an electric fence encircling his house and his village hemmed in by the notorious West Bank barrier.

The rumble of bulldozers has become a common sound around this Palestinian village on Jerusalem's southern outskirts as earthmovers work on a huge trench which will be filled with towering slabs of concrete.

After years of interruptions, work finally got unde r way in April to lay the foundations for another stretch of Israel's "security fence" - a section which will completely encircle this southern West Bank village.

Palestinian villagers battle plans to wall them in

By ISABEL KERSHNER

JERUSALEM — In the upbeat atmosphere after their recent meeting in Washington, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Obama expressed hopes of an imminent resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and of achieving a peace deal — within a year, according to Mr. Netanyahu, or in Mr. Obama’s case, before the end of his term.

There has been vague talk in Washington about a narrowing of gaps in the weeks since the indirect, American-brokered negotiations started in May.

But back on home turf, with no evidence of political progress, the mood seems less sanguine, even contradictory, as Palestinian officials and analysts suggest that the so-called proximity talks have merely accentuated the deep and abiding differences between the sides.

“It is clear that Mr. Netanyahu is playing for time,” said Khalil Shikaki, a prominent Palestinian political analyst in the West Bank. “He knows that anything he has to say has already been long, long passed by.”

The majority of British Jews favour a "two-state solution" to the situation in Israel, and more than half would support negotiations with Hamas, according to research published today.

The study carried out by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) found Jews in Britain strongly identify with and support Israel, with nine out of 10 having visited the country.

Nearly three quarters (72%) agreed Israel's action in Gaza in 2008 and 2009 was "a legitimate act of self-defence".

But more than three-quarters (77%) favour a "two-state solution", which would see the creation of a Palestinian state, as the "only way" to make peace in the Middle East.

Just over half (52%) said they would support Israeli government negotiations with Hamas.

JPR's executive director, Jonathan Boyd, said: "Fundamentally, we found that most Jews feel a strong sense of connection to Israel, and for many it forms an important, and even central, part of their Jewish identity.

The Zionists of occupied Palestine have proven beyond any doubt, that their expansion plans do not include a "two state solution".

There is not one iota of value in believing anything that the Zionists say - only what they do. And that is their strength and hopefully, their downfall.

 IMHO History of informed opinion.  From being welcomed citizens of Palestine, the displaced Jews became organized terrorists against the British and flooded the country with primarily Russian and Polish “Commissars”.  Not true?  Trotsky was the Commissar of Commissars during the Stalinist purges.

They betrayed their German allies in WW 1 by making a deal with a very exhausted British government to ignore the “peace with honor” plan of England, France and Germany. This on the basis that their power in the US could still win the war with fresh and unlimited US troops.  And so it happened in 1917.  The war was continued by the US President on lies regarding the claimed sinking of a non-existent ship in the English channel – (this lie was sold by the media) and victory was delivered under the worst sort of “anything goes” politics and cost of more lives.

Huge numbers of Jewish people moved from Russia to Germany and the Communist Party was developed.  Massive upheaval ensued and the already cowed and betrayed German people suffered even more from the Versailles treaty – a genuine disgrace to the humanity of that era.

Every force develops an equal and opposite force and the German people badly needed pride and dignity due to their honorable and painful actions in that war based on “old values”.  Political parties began to gather support.

In 1933, the US Jewish Organizations “declared war on Germany” and tried to further exacerbate their poverty with world wide restrictions on trade to that suffering nation.  This even before Hitler had the nation’s full support.

The US Jewish organizations purportedly made a deal with Hitler that he would make things difficult for the Jewish German population in an effort to force them to take refuge in Palestine – in line with the infamous deal with the Brits in 1917.

Of course, such an agreement was not feasible due to the intentions of both Hitler and the US Jewish Organizations.

Then in 1939 the Polish would not give back the German sub state of Danzig which they had taken from the Germans after WW I.  Then some German soldiers in one of their communication sites were killed.  Never proven by the claims of either party.

And WW II was inevitable and the Warsaw Ghetto became a fact of inhumanity.

If only – if only – the Germans had used the Zionist method of victimization and persecution, they may have been excused for defending themselves against the subsequent declaration of war by Britain and France.

There is no honor at all in the Zionist involvement in occupied Palestine.  It merely shows that, after all of the wealthy exploitation of the greed of the Goyims they have never, as an identifiable independent army been put to the test of being free from any sort of sanction for the crimes they commit and have committed. Protected by their media.

And after being very much involved in the causes of both WW I and II they have, as an identifiable and mythical Israel, even worsened the practices that they have charged Hitler (or anyone else who doesn’t comply) under the guise of “self defense”. 

Unless the lawless group of Zionists are brought to justice, the stupid and unproductive wars of choice will continue to their profit in the US.

Contemporarily, due to US foreign policies being severely influenced by Jewish Lobbyists, America has been badly mauled financially and is in a weakened position as indeed was England when the first world war extension was exploited.

God Bless Australia and may we, at least, demand truth from our media.  NE OUBLIE.

A former Israeli soldier has been sharply criticised for posting images of herself on Facebook posing next to Palestinian prisoners.

Eden Aberjil had put the images in an album on the site entitled "The army: the best days of my life".

Army officials have condemned her behaviour as "shameful" and said they would investigate the matter further.

Palestinian groups said the images were humiliating and revealed the "mentality of the occupier".

-----------------------

Meanwhile, all's not well in a zionist household:

The wife of the Israeli prime minister has protested over a decision by her husband's cabinet to deport 400 children of migrant workers, adding her voice to an emotional debate about the nature of the Jewish state.

Sara Netanyahu wrote a letter to Eli Yishai, the hardline cabinet member in charge of the deportation programme, appealing for a review of the controversial decision, which is backed by her husband, Binyamin Netanyahu.

"I appeal to you as a mother of two young boys and a psychologist in the public service," wrote Mrs Netanyahu. "I am asking you, from the bottom of my heart, to ... allow the vast majority of the 400 remaining children to stay in Israel."

The Israeli cabinet voted two weeks ago to deport the children.

An Israeli court has upheld a ban on Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire from entering the country for 10 years.

The 66-year-old Irish activist arrived at Israel's Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday.

She was denied entry because she had already been deported in June after travelling on an aid ship, the Rachel Corrie, which was trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza.

At the time she was deported for 10 years.

Now lawyers have appealed against the ban, but an Israeli court has rejected the appeal.

She still has 48 hours to lodge another appeal to Israel's High Court.

The Nobel peace laureate was travelling to Israel this time to attend a women's peace event.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/02/3027834.htm?section=justin

-----------

In 1990 Corrigan was awarded the Pacem in Terris Award. It was named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations. Pacem in Terris is Latin for 'Peace on Earth'.

She is member of the Honorary board of the International Coalition for the Decade of the culture of Peace and Nonviolence.

In 2006, Corrigan was one of the founders of The Nobel Women's Initiative along with fellow Nobel Peace Laureates Betty Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Six women representing North America and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa decided to bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world.[2]

She is a member of the pro-life group Consistent Life Ethic, which is against abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia.

She is a supporter of Mordechai Vanunu.[3] In 2004, she went to Israel upon his release from prison, where he had served an 18-year sentence for disclosing Israel's nuclear secrets.[4] At a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Corrigan compared Israel's nuclear weapons to the Nazi gas chambers in Auschwitz. "When I think about nuclear weapons, I've been to Auschwitz concentration camp." She went on, "Nuclear weapons are only gas chambers perfected ... and for a people who already know what gas chambers are, how can you even think of building perfect gas chambers."[5]

In a speech delivered on 21 February 2006 before the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara, California, Corrigan again invoked a comparison of Israel to the Nazis. "Last April some of us protested at Dimona Nuclear Plant, in Israel, calling for it to be open to UN Inspection, and bombs to be destroyed. Israeli Jets flew overhead, and a train passed into the Dimona Nuclear site. This brought back to me vivid memories of my visit to Auschwitz concentration camp, with its rail tracks, trains, destruction and death."[6]

On 20 April 2007, while participating in a protest against the construction of Israel's security fence outside the Arab settlement of Bil'in, the Israeli forces dispersed the protesters and Corrigan was hit by a rubber-coated bullet. Corrigan was also tear-gassed, and received medical treatment at an Israeli hospital.[7][8][9]

In April 2009, Corrigan alleged that the Israeli government was "carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians" and that these policies "are against international law, against human rights, against the dignity of the Palestinian people."[10]

On 30 June 2009, Corrigan was taken into custody by the Israeli military along with twenty others, including former U.S. Congress member Cynthia McKinney. She was on board a small ferry carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip when Israel intercepted the vessel off the coast of Gaza. From an Israeli prison, she gave a lengthy interview with Democracy Now! using her cell phone,[11] and was deported on 7 July 2009 to Dublin.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairead_Corrigan

Jewish settlers have started building more than 600 homes in the West Bank since a building freeze expired last month, an Israeli pressure group says.

The pace of building is four times faster than before the ban was put in place, Peace Now says.

Recently relaunched Middle East peace talks could collapse over Jewish settlement building on occupied land.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11596718

see toon at top and others in this line of comments...

The Zionist Murdoch media continues to publish their fantasies and fictions which have even become boring as entertainment. All of the Murdoch Empire is blatantly used to further the political power of the Zionist organizations all over the globe and, while this is self evident to so many governments, there is no genuine opposition to this take-over of the planet's wealth and the denial of the lessons of civilization.

A brief check on history. 

The Zionists in the 19th century correctly targeted the US as the best avenue for their intended objective of being able to do exactly as they pleased – if they were backed and protected by the world's most powerful country.  The Zionist wealth had the effect noted in the Protocols.

IMHO, over the years, even prior to WW I, the Zionists had planned to take over Palestine and betrayed their German ally to help achieve a clear victory for the "Allies" which included the British/Americans/French and a soft alliance with Italy and Japan. 

Considering that WW I was the catalyst for "total war" as opposed to the previous “civilised” resolutions of disputes, based on a dying honour system among the Royals of the day - the arrogance of those Monarchies brought about their own demise.

The mutilation of the previously protected civilians and their villages and the unbelievable and astronomical numbers of the sacrifice of the youth of that century, made the historians innocently call it the "War to end all Wars".  The Great War – oxymoron of course.

However, like all pirate enterprises, the result must have some gain for the victors.  The Americans profited financially and France/Poland and others were rewarded by the Versailles Treaty.

This broke all the previous rules of “civilized warfare” and took us back to the worst days of the "survival of the fittest". The Zionist policy of refusing to abide by any rules at all was re-born and is still being conducted to this day.

The absence of any civilized rules, regarding the militarily stolen land and livelihood of a people, is inviting a type of precedent to the Zionist methods which can only be protected by the US to the extent of the Jewish influence of wealth.

The Zionists are no longer the “tail of the attack dog” – they are in total control and the years of conning the world of their intention to have a peaceful settlement to their invasion and genocide in Palestine is already a total contradiction of the so-called United Nations charter – why?

Perhaps the once admired American people can restore some pride by making their politicians genuinely approach elections on a level playing field.

Money is the root of all evil. NE OUBLIE.

When will this Zionist/Palestine fiasco end?

Does any reasonable person, after decades of lies and misinformation, really consider that the mythical Israel is interested in sharing its bounty with the animal it is eating?

Just accept the fact that the course the Zionists have taken is not quite finished but, they will never ever abide by any agreement or contract or promise that in anyway disturbs their intention of totally absorbing the Palestine State. They have broken every rule of the UN Charter and yet the UN (read the US) allows them to commit these blatant crimes without even a suggestion of punishment.

The 60 years plus of the Zionist invasion of Palestine had been originally ignored due to the very organized "you owe us a living due to the Holocaust" and - who were the Palestinians anyway?

Like an untreated infection, the Jewish immigrants were originally welcomed as citizens of Palestine whose citizens were completely innocent of involvement in the Holocaust.

The Jewish people who were displaced by the Holocaust reportedly numbered only 10,000.  However, there was a flood of Jewish people from Russia, subsequent to WW II when Trotsky was the Commissar of Commissars and was argued as the murderer of thousands of Christians.

When one considers the attitude and behaviour of the Jewish Zionist organizations over the last several decades – would it be reasonable to assume that the Zionists have given as much to fascism as did their tormentors?

With all of the failed and costly policies of the US one could reasonably conclude that their recent surge of weapons to Saudi Arabia, a devout Muslim nation, could be a warning to the Zionists? And Saudis were the argued perpetrators of 9/11.   May it be so? NE OUBLIE.

A UN human rights rapporteur has said continued settlement construction will probably make Israel's occupation of Palestinian land irreversible.

Richard Falk said the peace process aimed at creating an independent, sovereign Palestinian state therefore appeared to be based on an illusion.

He said the UN, the US and Israel had failed to uphold Palestinians' rights.

Israeli officials said Mr Falk's report on the Palestinian territories was biased and served a political agenda.

Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are held to be illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

'De-facto annexation'

In a report for the UN General Assembly, Mr Falk said Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem had become so extensive it amounted to de-facto annexation of Palestinian land.

He said this undercut assumptions behind UN Security Council resolutions which said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory in 1967 was temporary and reversible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11611658

The US has offered Israel a package of incentives in exchange for a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank, diplomatic sources say.

Under the reported plan, Israel would stop construction for 90 days in the West Bank but not in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli cabinet is now considering the package.

The settlement row threatens to derail direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which resumed in the US in September after a break of almost 20 months.

Israel and the US have not commented on the details of the plan.

It was discussed when US secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Thursday, BBC State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas says.

According to the diplomatic sources, the plan includes a US pledge not to seek any extension to the settlement building freeze beyond 90 days.

In return, Washington reportedly offered Israel various security guarantees and commits itself to fighting international resolutions critical of Israel.

'Desperate' attempts

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians stalled a few weeks after their resumption, as Israel's 10-month construction freeze in the West Bank expired on 26 September.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11751713

Gus: one would be nutso to think that this offer would make any change to Israeli attitude... It might make a very teenyweeny change in the timing of doing things... A "package of incentive" would be cashed in and at the end of the moratorium, construction would continue at double the pace — catching up on the mixing of mortar... We've all seen it before. What Israel needs is to be "punished". A good ol' spanking.

See toon at top...

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel presented to his cabinet on Sunday a package of American incentives aimed at getting Israel to freeze West Bank settlement construction for 90 days with the hope of luring the Palestinians back to direct peace talks. Both the Israeli right and the Palestinian leadership raised strong objections to the plan, which requires government approval.

Mr. Netanyahu said in public remarks that the offer, involving military hardware and diplomatic support, came during his meeting on Thursday in New York with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and its details were still being negotiated. When it is complete, he said, he would bring it for approval to his 15-member security cabinet.

The vote in such a forum is expected to be very close but likely to pass, analysts said.

The details that have been made public so far include 20 fighter jets as well as American promises to oppose any Palestinian attempt to obtain international recognition of statehood in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza without Israeli agreement. The United States would veto a United Nations Security Council resolution along those lines and actively work against similar resolutions in forums where it does not have a veto.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/world/middleeast/15mideast.html?_r=1&hp

-------------------

Seeeeeee? See toon at top, this one in that same column and the story above...

JERUSALEM — The pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to push for a new, one-time-only freeze of 90 days on settlement construction in the West Bank represents a bet by the Israelis and the Americans that enough can be accomplished so that the Palestinians will not abandon peace talks even after the freeze ends.

But the freeze proposal, which was reached in intensive negotiations with the United States and still needs Israeli government approval — Mr. Netanyahu presented it to his cabinet on Sunday — carries huge risks for all sides. Even before the cabinet began to consider it, both the Israeli right and the Palestinian leadership raised strong objections.

And for the Obama administration, which promised not to seek any further construction freezes as a precondition for securing this one, it is unclear what will happen to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process if this freeze, like the last one, comes and goes without a Palestinian commitment to remain in negotiations with Israel on creation of a Palestinian state.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/world/middleeast/15mideast.html?hpw

Gus: what we know — before anything looking like a "Peace Talk" is relaunched — is that the Palestinians will be shafted again by the end of the 90 days, while Israel will have gained more weaponry to hit them on the head with — as part of the deal to have this set of "Peace Talks" and have the bulldozers at the ready for one second pass midnight. "Peace Talks" have been going in Israel territorial favor since the 1970s and there is no reason why this trend would suddenly change unless Israel is given a harsh spanking by its best friend for being hypocritically "landgrabby" — which Israel is.

see toon at top and here as well...

The freeze being negotiated between the US and Israel is ultimately designed to legitimise illegal Jewish settlements.
At the beginning of his term, Barack Obama became the first US president to call for a halt in Jewish settlement construction in the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories as a prerequisite for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. But if a deal that stipulates a partial 90-day freeze of settlement building in return for US military and political incentives is reached, he will become the first US president to legitimise the Jewish colonies.

Palestinian negotiators have so far said that they will reject the deal - and so they should. A partial freeze would allow for the continuation of construction in occupied East Jerusalem, while the very concept of a temporary freeze is designed to give talks just enough time for an agreement allowing Israeli annexation of the biggest settlement blocs to be reached.

Taken at face value, a period for the Israelis and Palestinians to reach an agreement on territorial borders is logical - as the status of the settlements would automatically be resolved as part of this. Or at least this would be the case if there were any signs that Israel and the US would respect international law - under which all settlements are illegal as the appropriation of land by force or the transfer of a population into that land is categorically banned.

Setting the stage

But the US push for a freeze has nothing to do with international law and everything to do with paving the way for an agreement that would keep most of the settlements under Israeli control.

It is the facts on the ground - imposed by Israeli force - that will be allowed to determine the shape of any agreement. And any slowdown in construction would therefore only affect the rough contours and not the substance of the deal for which Israel and the US are setting the stage.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2010/11/20101122111027298820.html

see toon at top...

Argentina has recognised Palestine as a "free and independent state," just days after neighbouring Brazil announced that it would "legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state co-existing peacefully with Israel".

Hector Timerman, Argentina's foreign minister, said on Monday that the Latin American nation officially recognised Palestine according to its 1967 borders and hopes for peaceful solution to Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"Argentina has traditionally recognised the right of the Palestinian people to create an independent state just like the Israeli state, to live together in peace with their neighbours with secure and internationally recognised borders," Timerman said.

"With this objective, our country has always supported the international community's initiatives to reach a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

He said that Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the president, had written to Mahmoud Abbas, her Palestinian counterpart, to express her support.

'Regrettable decision'

Echoing its comments in response to Brazil's announcement on Friday, Israel immediately called the decision by Buenos Aires "regrettable".

"With this objective, our country has always supported the international community's initiatives to reach a fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Yigal Palmor, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/201012619131648126.html

Of course, the Israeli plan is to take over the whole of the "occupied lands" and make sure the Palestinians are herded in ghettos (which they are), and eventually vanish from starvation. If this takes too long, the Israelis will kindly organise transport in freight trains that may burn accidentally in a forest somewhere. The rehearsal of forest fire worked to script, apart from a few dead people. Beyond that the "fair, peaceful and definitive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict" does not include a separate Palestinian State in the mind of the zionists. Not even "enclaves"... — only boot camps.         

see toon at top...   

Bulldozers have demolished a hotel in east Jerusalem to make way for a new Israeli settlement, the latest in a wave of new buildings globally seen as an obstacle to the now stalled peace process.

The Shepherd Hotel was razed by three Israeli bulldozers, early on Sunday, as part of a plan to build a new settlement of 20 units in the heart of the occupied city.

The hotel is located on the demarcation line between two Arab neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Wadi al-Joz. The site will not only divide the two neighbourhoods but it will also change the aspects of occupied Jerusalem.

According to official documents, the hotel was owned by al-Quds Mufti, Haj Amin al-Hussaini, who was deported by the British rule in 1937. He later died in Lebanon in 1974.

The Israeli government has granted permission to begin work on the settlement, despite Washington's opposition to it.

Israel's latest move to proceed with the settlement project drew criticism from Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, on Sunday.

"This disturbing development undermines peace efforts to achieve the two-state solution," she said in a statement during an official visit to Abu Dhabi.

"In particular, this move contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem."

Reporting from west Jerusalem, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid said that, “This has been a very big problem here."

"Palestinians (are) pointing at this specific demolition as a perfect example of the unilateral steps taken by Israel to change the landscape and the ethnic balance of occupied east Jerusalem, which Palestinians consider the capital of their future state.”

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011198260555362.html

At least 17 people have been injured by a series of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.

There were reports of up to nine explosions in Gaza City, and in the north and south of the territory.

Witnesses say militant training camps operated by Hamas were targeted, as well as a workshop and cement factory.

On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired dozens of mortars into southern Israel in what was reportedly their heaviest such barrage in two years.

Among those wounded in Monday's air strikes were seven children, Palestinian medical officials said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12814466

Mr. Netanyahu woke up Wednesday to find not only that his Republican friend had lost, but also that many Israelis were questioning whether he had risked their collective relationship with Washington.

“This has not been a very good morning for Netanyahu,” a deputy prime minister, Eli Yishai of the religious Shas Party, told journalists in Eilat.

The prime minister, facing his own re-election fight on Jan. 22, did not directly acknowledge any missteps, but he rushed to repair the relationship. He called the American ambassador to his office for a ceremonial hug. He issued a damage-control statement declaring the bond between the two nations “rock solid.” He put out word to leaders of his Likud Party whose congratulatory messages had included criticism of Mr. Obama that they should stop.

Mr. Netanyahu still maintains strong ties to members of Congress, particularly Republicans, and to other influential Americans. But his strained relationship with Mr. Obama may prove more than a temporary political headache. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/world/middleeast/netanyahu-rushes-to-repair-damage-with-obama.html?hp

The BDS movement is a logical and non-violent response to human rights abuses in Palestine, so why is it being threatened in a country like America that prides itself on free speech, asks Antony Loewenstein.

It seems barely a week passes without a student union or corporation somewhere in the world taking a public stand against Israel's occupation of Palestine. Many now state that they're following the dictates of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as a way to protest ongoing colonisation of the West Bank and Gaza which remains in breach of international law. In America, where free speech is a long-held tradition, BDS faces multiple attacks against its legitimacy and legal right to be heard, as well as allegations of anti-Semitism.

Today it's clear that the US political system and, in my view, the sham "peace process" is little more than cover for ongoing and illegal settlement expansion; BDS is rising globally in popularity and coverage partly due to this fact. Even The Australian's Middle East reporter John Lyons in his paper, the most pro-Israel publication in the country, last weekend accused Australian Zionist leaders of ignoring the human cost of the occupation. For some citizens BDS is seen as a logical, humane and non-violent response to these abuses in Palestine (abuses which countries like the US, UK, and Australia only denounce through lip service). This right, to condemn Israeli actions, should be a fundamental tenet of any democracy.

The only official answer, offered by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporters, is falsely accusing BDS of anti-Semitism. At the recent Israel lobby AIPAC conference in Washington, Netanyahu mentioned BDS many times - so much for it being irrelevant and ineffectual as Zionists often claim - and said its adherents were just the latest believers in anti-Semitism. It's a slur that many people dismiss, hence the gradual rise in BDS support.

Concerned Israeli businesspeople are already feeling the strain and Israeli commentators are worrying that Israel is not winning the war over narrative.

Just this week the National University of Galway passed a motion in support of BDS and therefore became Ireland's first student union to get on-board. The reason for this move was made clear in the public statement: "Institutional collusion between NUI Galway and Israeli oppression, such as NUI Galway's use of G4S, the international security company notorious for its provision of security and incarceration 'services' to Israel's inhumane prison regime."

Last month the student union at the University of Kent decided to sever its ties with G4S and find another provider for assisting the union with a cash handling role. The complicity of G4S in breaching human rights is global, from Australian-run detention centres to poorly run British immigration houses, and cutting ties with the English multinational is gathering steam. The message is clear; hit a company and its shareholders where it hurts, the bottom line.

In the US, politicians and conservative commentators are arguing for the criminalisation of BDS. This would have a chilling effect on free speech in a nation that likes to pride itself on the sanctity of the First Amendment. Perhaps surprisingly, given the American press insulates Americans from the brutal, daily reality of Israeli actions, opposition has been encouragingly strong.

Back in December the American Studies Association (ASA) endorsed BDS and the Palestinian call to boycott Israeli universities due to their complicity in the Israeli infrastructure of occupation. Individual Israeli academics would not be targeted but any official association with the Israeli state would end until "Israel ceases to violate human rights and international law".

As a result of this strong and principled stance, echoing the campaign against apartheid South Africa, other state legislatures pledged to help Israel. New York politicians wanted to pass a bill that would have blocked the state from funding academic groups that supported the idea. I wonder if this political enthusiasm was more about securing funding for future political campaigns than an actual belief in Israel. Whatever the case, free speech was threatened and many politicians are still pledging to take action.

The New York Times editorialised (before the bill failed) and wrote that it "would trample on academic freedoms and chill free speech and dissent. Academics are rightly concerned that it will impose a political test on faculty members seeking university support for research meetings and travel".

The Maryland General Assembly also recently moved to insulate Israel from criticism with a similar bill and even the Washington Post, a strident backer of Israel, condemned it. Maryland may well still back this bill - it has not been quashed.

There are countless other moves to silence free speech over legitimate criticism of Israel, including members of Northeastern University's Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) being told in early March that their chapter had been suspended for at least a year. The reason that university administrators said the students needed to undergo training was principally due to the group distributing notices across campus that parodied similar eviction notices placed on Palestinian homes targeted for Israeli demolition. Astoundingly, the police were called in to investigate. And this all for just distributing brochures.

This example and many others are why a number of US academics, including Judith Butler and Rashid Khalidi, signed a recent statement that read in part:

It is important to recognise that boycotts are internationally affirmed and constitutionally protected forms of political expression ... We are now witnessing accelerating efforts to curtail speech, to exercise censorship, and to carry out retaliatory action against individuals on the basis of their political views or associations, notably support for BDS. We ask cultural and educational institutions to have the courage and the principle to stand for, and safeguard, the very principles of free expression and the free exchange of ideas that make those institutions possible.

This message must be the core of any reasonable public debate over BDS. Disagreeing with its aim is a legitimate position, of course, but a free society, in America or beyond, is defined by the ability to both tolerate and encourage speech and views that some may find repugnant. American Jewish leaders are waking up to the BDS "threat" and aiming to counter with a pro-Israel message. It's unlikely that slicker PR will be enough.

The strength of BDS, explained by Jewish Voice for Peace head Rebecca Vilkomerson this month, is that it's forcing self-described liberals to struggle with the once accepted idea that Israel can be both Jewish and democratic when all the evidence is proving its impossibility. "As a people who have experienced over and over the trauma of refugee-hood and longing for homeland," she argues, "how can we possibly deny the validity of the right of return for Palestinians? And which do we value more: our fears or our respect for the universality of rights for all people?"

The building debate over Israel/Palestine, with Jews and Arabs, is increasingly about enlarging the tent of public discussion and articulating why virtually all points of view (except for Holocaust denial) must be integral to mature contemporary debate.

A society that believes in free speech would welcome a multitude of views over the Middle East. Trying to intimidate or silence critics of Israel, and its ongoing occupation, is not the way to engender support for the Jewish state.

Antony Loewenstein is a freelance journalist, author, photographer and blogger. His latest book is Profits Of Doom. View his full profile here.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-13/loewenstein-silencing-bds-supporters-in-the-land-of-the-free/5318390

Jerusalem Report cartoonist Avi Katz drew Netanyahu and other members of the Likud party as pigs, with a quote added from Orwell’s novel, “All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.”

READ MORE: American Jews slam Israel’s ‘racist’ nation-state bill as thousands protest against it in Tel Aviv

The drawing parodied a photograph of politicians taking a selfie after passing the controversial Jewish Nation-State Law, which defines Israel as a state of Jewish people,  promotes illegal settlements and has been slammed by human rights organizations,  described as racist and likened to an apartheid law.

The cartoon appeared in the twice-monthly magazine and garnered mixed opinion, with some accusing the cartoonist of anti-semitism as pigs are considered unclean in Judaism.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/434374-cartoonist-fired-netanyahu-pig-israel/

Veteran writer Haim Watzman blasts Jerusalem Post decision to 'dump a staff member simply because his work has upset some readers'

Read more:

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-journalist-quits-after-jerusalem-post-fires-cartoonist-over-caricature-1.6316421

Read from top.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the West Bank village of Khan al-Ahmar located east of Jerusalem will be evacuated. “It’s a short ruling, that’s our policy and it will be done. Not intended for postponing this, but for a short, defined period of time,” he stated. Earlier, Israeli media distributed a statement from Netanyahu’s office, claiming that Tel Aviv decided to indefinitely freeze the forced evacuation of the village. It comes days after the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned that Israel’s planned “evacuation by force” of the village could amount to “war crimes.” The people of Khan al-Ahmar have been anticipating the destruction of their homes for years, as the Israeli state eyes a settlement expansion. The village is home to the Bedouin Jahalin tribe, which was moved from its original home in the Negev desert by the military in the 1950s.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/newsline/441851-israel-delays-demolition-village/