Chomsky: Palestine and the region in the Obama era: the emerging framework. from ICU Political Philosophy Society on Vimeo.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Well..
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Wednesday said it needs no external help to improve ties with neighbor Pakistan, in a testy response to a statement issued by the United States and China.
yeah...Every one every where and millions of people world wide can be used, massacred, committed genocide on and played with as it suits the stock market portfolios and other interests.."Ordinary" people and psychopaths behaving like this and causing such suffering to others gets jail!
yeah...Every one every where and millions of people world wide can be used, massacred, committed genocide on and played with as it suits the stock market portfolios and other interests.."Ordinary" people and psychopaths behaving like this and causing such suffering to others gets jail!
We had to take a break, because some few are making this world SICK!
And we all know which the heck those are and their little private club. So.. We know what the heck NATO has been doing the last 30 years and their "wars", and dictators with their global genocides and crimes, but where the heck has the U.N. been meanwhile? Just sitting for 30 years and waiting while weapon companies and a few have their income on crimes against the whole Kurdish people, the Tamils, Afghans, Baluchis and people all over the world, and instead of putting some responsible for their crimes against their own people just sits and waits for some others to get justifications to keep on their "#¤ "wars", profits and crimes?
It´s #¤# disgusting and criminal to just sit and wait for 30 years while the most horrific crimes are being committed, while a few serves in the genocidal "war-fare" carousel for decades and just to sit out and wait out time to get "justifications" for more crimes and sending out young people to kill and get killed for #¤# profit sells!
It´s #¤# disgusting and criminal to just sit and wait for 30 years while the most horrific crimes are being committed, while a few serves in the genocidal "war-fare" carousel for decades and just to sit out and wait out time to get "justifications" for more crimes and sending out young people to kill and get killed for #¤# profit sells!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Zap was bombed with mortars and howitzers..
Well..yeah...people are DEFENDING THEMSELVES! People do not just stand with open arms for some idiots to come and kill! Then Ian Kelly and his "considerations" and the U.S. and their #¤# "terrorists lists" and crimes against humanity they have had for the weapon and military industry to make money on for decades and Turkey with their "justifications" to cause disasters and to kill people because people have been killed, Syria´s "legitimization's" backing up the U.S. and Britain's military industry, with people from half the world all over the streets in London protesting, can #¤# go to hell!
And every #¤# dictator everywhere..
Whether they are in the American administration, lobbying groups, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Britain, Italy, every other #¤# government, weapon companies and profiteers that takes half the world to hell and every one else everywhere else shall be VERY #¤# aware that that we are all very #¤# aware of that dictators do not only living and thriving in Iran!
And it´s very #¤# clear that it will not help to torture and hang 14 people every week, or sell out the whole Iranian nation for a #¤# madman and his criminal murderous gang! Some should have try to find other ways to meet the Iranian people, set up some sort of delegation or group to work, communicate and respond on the Iranian people etc.. but they are just to #¤# stupid and can not think of any other ways than to #¤# hang people! #¤# Idiots..it will not do!
Ian Kelly, the U.S. and some people in Turkey, weapon dealers, Israeli government that shall #¤# start speaking with the Palestinians or go to hell, just as some idiots in Turkey and their #¤# lies and psychopathic manipulations and people elsewhere should very "#¤ watch out! Some have #¤# toured in this region and half the world with massacres, torture, crimes and genocides #¤# ENOUGH!
Some who behaving like the whole world is open for a global East Timor, USAK and some idiots that believes they will "change the world again" while having people from half the world on their streets which they are a part of committing crimes against and send out their own "police brigades" against while they protesting against crimes and genocides shall be VERY #¤ AWARE that it´s not just Iran!
And it´s very #¤# clear that it will not help to torture and hang 14 people every week, or sell out the whole Iranian nation for a #¤# madman and his criminal murderous gang! Some should have try to find other ways to meet the Iranian people, set up some sort of delegation or group to work, communicate and respond on the Iranian people etc.. but they are just to #¤# stupid and can not think of any other ways than to #¤# hang people! #¤# Idiots..it will not do!
Ian Kelly, the U.S. and some people in Turkey, weapon dealers, Israeli government that shall #¤# start speaking with the Palestinians or go to hell, just as some idiots in Turkey and their #¤# lies and psychopathic manipulations and people elsewhere should very "#¤ watch out! Some have #¤# toured in this region and half the world with massacres, torture, crimes and genocides #¤# ENOUGH!
Some who behaving like the whole world is open for a global East Timor, USAK and some idiots that believes they will "change the world again" while having people from half the world on their streets which they are a part of committing crimes against and send out their own "police brigades" against while they protesting against crimes and genocides shall be VERY #¤ AWARE that it´s not just Iran!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
US makes cynical overture to Sri Lanka over war crimes
Wije Dias, in WSWS,- The US State Department last issued a 68-page report providing details of the Sri Lankan army’s atrocities during the final months of the war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Its purpose, however, is not to bring war criminals to justice, but to boost US influence in Colombo and strengthen relations with the Sri Lankan government.
Comment from tamilnation.org
"War crimes have always been useful weapons to advance political strategic interests."
Nothing much has changed. And if 'strengthening relations' with the Rajapaksa regime continues to be problematic, then perhaps 'regime change' - directed to secure a Sinhala regime more responsive to US strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region may be the alternative approach. Then again, the threat of a possible regime change may be sufficient to keep the Rajapaksa regime off balance and persuade it to veer away from establishing too many links with China. This is the 'calibrated' way of doing things. But the threat will have to be seen as credible by the Rajapaksa regime. Needless to say, human rights and war crimes have always been useful weapons to advance political strategic interests - weapons that are quietly abandoned once those strategic interests are secured. Here we are moved to revisit something we said some ten months ago in Sinhala Sri Lanka's Genocide of Eelam Tamils - a Crime Against Humanity...
"...the international community will wait till Tamil resistance is sufficiently weakened or annihilated before it attempts to intervene 'on humanitarian grounds' and in seeming response to 'world wide Tamil appeals'. Meanwhile the IC will even welcome such world wide appeals by Tamils as that will pave the way (and establish useful contact points amongst the Tamil diaspora) for IC's eventual intervention with 'development aid' with the mantra of not conflict resolution but 'conflict transformation'. Give them cake when they ask for freedom from alien Sinhala rule. A conquered people should be grateful for whatever they can get - though there may not be not enough cake to go round. The Tamil people are being taught the truth of something which Subhas Chandra Bose said many years ago - Freedom is not given, it is taken..."
While guarded in its conclusions and driven by Washington’s political agenda, the report is nevertheless a devastating indictment of the Sri Lankan government’s war crimes. It details more than 100 incidents in which the army shelled and bombed LTTE-held areas proclaimed by the military as a no-fire zone (NFZ). The State Department report, which does not claim to be comprehensive, is based on internal reports from the US Embassy in Sri Lanka, satellite imagery and accounts from international relief agencies and news organisations. The Sri Lankan military banned all media, independent observers and most aid organisations from the frontlines. Contradicting the Sri Lankan government’s lies, the report noted: Senior Sri Lankan officials made repeated public statements denying that the GSL [Government of Sri Lanka] was shelling the NFZ or targetting hospitals and was not responsible for any civilian casualties. However, sources alleged that the majority of shelling in the NFZ was from GSL forces.”
Nearly half of the report dealing with harm to civilians and civilian objects is a chilling list of government attacks, virtually on a daily basis between January 2 and May 18—the day on which the army massacred the senior LTTE leadership, including V. Prabhakaran. Many of the attacks were on hospitals, including repeated shelling of the same facilities, indicating deliberate targetting. The report also cites evidence of extra-judicial killings by the Sri Lankan army, “disappearances” by pro-government death squads and the deliberate blocking of food and medical supplies to LTTE territory. The military’s aim was to stampede civilians from LTTE-held territory in preparation for a final offensive. At the same time, the report lists cases of the LTTE recruiting child soldiers and preventing civilians from leaving the no-fire zone.
The State Department deliberately undercuts its own report, declaring that it reaches no legal conclusions about the criminal nature of any of the incidents or even if they actually occurred. These caveats underscore the fact that Washington has no intention of pressing a case against those responsible for these war crimes, including President Mahinda Rajapakse, his cabinet and the country’s military chiefs.
Any genuine inquiry would inevitably raise questions about the US role in tacitly supporting the Rajapakse government in flouting the 2002 ceasefire with the LTTE and plunging the island back to civil war in mid-2006. Moreover, echoing Washington, the Colombo government justified the renewed communal conflict as “a war on terrorism” and used the same techniques as the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan—indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets, arbitrary detentions, and torture.
The US backed a European push in May at the UN Human Rights Council for a limited international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka, which was blocked by the Rajapakse government with the assistance of China, Russia and India. Now Washington is calling on Colombo to carry out an investigation, knowing full well that any inquiry, even if agreed to, would be a whitewash.
The Sri Lankan government initially responded with outright rejection. A foreign ministry statement was rushed out declaring that the US report “appears to be unsubstantiated and devoid of corroborative evidence”. It went on to claim that “vested interests” were trying to fan “the flames of secessionism and to undo the concerted efforts of the government and the people of Sri Lanka, for rehabilitation and national reconciliation”.
The statement is a repetition of the international conspiracy theory that President Rajapakse has been exploiting to cover up his government’s crimes and to whip up nationalist sentiment in a series of provincial elections. Claims that the government is making concerted efforts at “rehabilitation and national reconciliation” are absurd. Since May, some 250,000 Tamil civilians have been incarcerated in squalid detention centres in open breach of the country’s constitution and legal system.
The US and European powers certainly have “vested interests” in Sri Lanka, but this has nothing to do with reviving the LTTE, or defending the democratic rights of the Tamil minority. As in other parts of the globe, the US and its allies are cynically exploiting the issue of “human rights” to boost their influence in Colombo at the expense of their rivals. Washington is particularly concerned that China exploited the Sri Lankan government’s need for arms and military aid to establish a significant economic and strategic foothold on the island.
On October 26, the Sri Lankan government changed tack somewhat on the State Department report, agreeing to appoint a “committee of experts” to “examine carefully” its allegations. The findings of such a committee are a foregone conclusion. Rajapakse is notorious for appointing committees and commissions to whitewash killings, “disappearances” and other flagrant abuses of democratic rights that have sparked anger in Sri Lanka and internationally.
In November 2006, for instance, Rajapakse appointed an international committee of experts to investigate 16 major human rights cases, including the execution-style murder of 17 Sri Lankan workers with the Paris-based Action Contre la Faim. The international experts resigned in 2008, declaring that the inquiry was “not transparent and did not satisfy the international norms and standards”. In June, Rajapakse abruptly shut down the investigation altogether.
All of this is well known to the Obama administration, which has crafted the call for an internal Sri Lankan inquiry as a means for burying the issue of war crimes and opening the door to mending ties with the Rajapakse government. After Rajapakse accepted the overture, Washington announced another $US6.6 million in US aid, on top of $84 million already handed over for “welfare work” to maintain the government’s internment camps for Tamil civilians.
The European powers are conducting a similar manoeuvre. On October 22, the same day that the US State Department report was issued, the EU parliament passed a resolution “deeply deploring the fact that more than 250,000 people are still detained in camps”. It called on the Sri Lankan government “to take all necessary steps to organise the quick return home of those detained as well as the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to them”.
The EU is threatening to withdraw preferential trade rights for Sri Lanka—known as the GSP+ facility—if Colombo does not agree to its demands. If the GSP+ facility were withdrawn, Sri Lankan imports, which currently enter the EU free of tariffs, would attract tariffs of 5 to 18 percent. The Sri Lankan garment industry, a major export earner, would be hard hit as nearly 60 percent of its output goes to Europe.
Having waved the stick at Colombo, the EU has given Sri Lanka until November 6 to submit a response and postponed any final decision to next January. That allows another two months of closed-door discussions for the EU and Sri Lanka to patch up relations. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians languish in appalling conditions in detention camps.Comment from tamilnation.org
"War crimes have always been useful weapons to advance political strategic interests."
Nothing much has changed. And if 'strengthening relations' with the Rajapaksa regime continues to be problematic, then perhaps 'regime change' - directed to secure a Sinhala regime more responsive to US strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region may be the alternative approach. Then again, the threat of a possible regime change may be sufficient to keep the Rajapaksa regime off balance and persuade it to veer away from establishing too many links with China. This is the 'calibrated' way of doing things. But the threat will have to be seen as credible by the Rajapaksa regime. Needless to say, human rights and war crimes have always been useful weapons to advance political strategic interests - weapons that are quietly abandoned once those strategic interests are secured. Here we are moved to revisit something we said some ten months ago in Sinhala Sri Lanka's Genocide of Eelam Tamils - a Crime Against Humanity...
"...the international community will wait till Tamil resistance is sufficiently weakened or annihilated before it attempts to intervene 'on humanitarian grounds' and in seeming response to 'world wide Tamil appeals'. Meanwhile the IC will even welcome such world wide appeals by Tamils as that will pave the way (and establish useful contact points amongst the Tamil diaspora) for IC's eventual intervention with 'development aid' with the mantra of not conflict resolution but 'conflict transformation'. Give them cake when they ask for freedom from alien Sinhala rule. A conquered people should be grateful for whatever they can get - though there may not be not enough cake to go round. The Tamil people are being taught the truth of something which Subhas Chandra Bose said many years ago - Freedom is not given, it is taken..."
UK backed Israeli deal to enhance Lanka`s firepower
13 December 2006 - The controversy over the alleged irregularities in a multi-million US dollar deal, to upgrade the firepower of Fast Attack Craft (FACs), has taken a shocking turn with the revelation that the British Government assured Sri Lanka that the transaction was above board. Britain also offered the Sri Lankan government an opportunity to inspect the 30 mm KCB cannons at a US government bonded store in St. Louis. The British High Commission made representations on behalf of the British supplier S.G.E. Limited to facilitate the deal worked out by Rafael Armament and Development Authority Limited of Israel. The UK based supplier specialises in the supply of naval equipment, tools and services.
Rafael won the contract worth US $ 10.8 million in December 2003 to upgrade 15 FACs. The Israeli and the British firms, according to documents submitted to the Tilakawardena Committee, had worked closely for two years on this particular deal.
In an unprecedented move both the supplier and the British High Commission made representations to the three-member Presidential Commission headed by Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane. They challenged the cancellation of the order on the basis that the S.G.E. Limited and Rafael planned to supply 20-year-old guns discarded by the Royal Navy. The British emphasised that the guns manufactured in 1985 and kept at St. Louis were new. The British assured that none of the guns had been used or refurbished while reiterating that the long-term storage of the KCB material had been done according to internationally accepted standards.
President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed the committee to investigate shady transactions in the armed forces. The committee recently handed over its interim report which exclusively dealt with the SLN to Rajapakse.
An authoritative British High Commission spokesperson confirmed the action taken by the mission to facilitate the deal. The former British High Commissioner Stephen Evans had apprised Defence Secretary Colonel (retd) Gotabhaya Rajapakse early this year of the transaction. The British offered to arrange an expert to inspect the guns at St. Louis or sent a complete 30mm KCB cannon set to Colombo at no cost to Sri Lanka.
The SLN initiated an ambitious project in 2001 to upgrade the firepower of its FACs. The cutting edge of the SLN is its FAC squadrons based in Trincomalee. The SLN planned to replace the existing 23 mm cannons with 30mm. The Island learns that the project did not materialise due to a variety of reasons, particularly the differences among the UNF bigwigs over the deal with some of them resolutely calling for the acquisition of US built Bush Master Cannon (MK 44).
The confrontations between the SLN and Sea Tigers indicated that they may had have acquired a weapon superior to the 23mm now in service with the SLN. SLN lost six FACs this year. Of them four had been hit during engagements.
If the government accepted the British offer and verified their claim then Rafael could have finalised the deal. The FACs are equipped with Israeli-built Typhoon Weapon Stations. The British Government also assured Sri Lanka that the 30mm cannon and its ammunition remain in production. The British reiterated their faith in the weapon by revealing that over five dozen units would remain in service and that the same weapon had been chosen for deployment with a new destroyer scheduled to join the British naval forces in about three years. Although two dozen units are to be replaced, the British navy would continue with the system deployed on the remaining vessels.
The British High Commission said that Sri Lanka cancelled the deal after the Government approved the sale. Former Navy Chief and Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Daya Sandagiri gave the go ahead for the Rafael deal on the recommendation of a three-member committee chaired by the then Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema. The recently retired Vice Admiral Sarath Weerasekara had been also on the committee. The Presidential Commission summoned both officers along with Sandagiri.
The British indicated that they would appreciate if the Tilakawardena committee recommended the inspection of the cannon in the US or bringing down a complete set to Colombo for the same purpose. The Island learns that S.G.E. Limited offered to supply the cannon directly to Sri Lanka after the cancellation of the original order with Rafael. And that the project did not materialise due to a variety of reasons, particularly the differences among the UNF bigwigs over the deal with some of them resolutely calling for the acquisition of US built Bush Master Cannon (MK 44).
Rafael won the contract worth US $ 10.8 million in December 2003 to upgrade 15 FACs. The Israeli and the British firms, according to documents submitted to the Tilakawardena Committee, had worked closely for two years on this particular deal.
In an unprecedented move both the supplier and the British High Commission made representations to the three-member Presidential Commission headed by Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane. They challenged the cancellation of the order on the basis that the S.G.E. Limited and Rafael planned to supply 20-year-old guns discarded by the Royal Navy. The British emphasised that the guns manufactured in 1985 and kept at St. Louis were new. The British assured that none of the guns had been used or refurbished while reiterating that the long-term storage of the KCB material had been done according to internationally accepted standards.
President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed the committee to investigate shady transactions in the armed forces. The committee recently handed over its interim report which exclusively dealt with the SLN to Rajapakse.
An authoritative British High Commission spokesperson confirmed the action taken by the mission to facilitate the deal. The former British High Commissioner Stephen Evans had apprised Defence Secretary Colonel (retd) Gotabhaya Rajapakse early this year of the transaction. The British offered to arrange an expert to inspect the guns at St. Louis or sent a complete 30mm KCB cannon set to Colombo at no cost to Sri Lanka.
The SLN initiated an ambitious project in 2001 to upgrade the firepower of its FACs. The cutting edge of the SLN is its FAC squadrons based in Trincomalee. The SLN planned to replace the existing 23 mm cannons with 30mm. The Island learns that the project did not materialise due to a variety of reasons, particularly the differences among the UNF bigwigs over the deal with some of them resolutely calling for the acquisition of US built Bush Master Cannon (MK 44).
The confrontations between the SLN and Sea Tigers indicated that they may had have acquired a weapon superior to the 23mm now in service with the SLN. SLN lost six FACs this year. Of them four had been hit during engagements.
If the government accepted the British offer and verified their claim then Rafael could have finalised the deal. The FACs are equipped with Israeli-built Typhoon Weapon Stations. The British Government also assured Sri Lanka that the 30mm cannon and its ammunition remain in production. The British reiterated their faith in the weapon by revealing that over five dozen units would remain in service and that the same weapon had been chosen for deployment with a new destroyer scheduled to join the British naval forces in about three years. Although two dozen units are to be replaced, the British navy would continue with the system deployed on the remaining vessels.
The British High Commission said that Sri Lanka cancelled the deal after the Government approved the sale. Former Navy Chief and Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Daya Sandagiri gave the go ahead for the Rafael deal on the recommendation of a three-member committee chaired by the then Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema. The recently retired Vice Admiral Sarath Weerasekara had been also on the committee. The Presidential Commission summoned both officers along with Sandagiri.
The British indicated that they would appreciate if the Tilakawardena committee recommended the inspection of the cannon in the US or bringing down a complete set to Colombo for the same purpose. The Island learns that S.G.E. Limited offered to supply the cannon directly to Sri Lanka after the cancellation of the original order with Rafael. And that the project did not materialise due to a variety of reasons, particularly the differences among the UNF bigwigs over the deal with some of them resolutely calling for the acquisition of US built Bush Master Cannon (MK 44).
Turkey, the Kurds and the F-16 connection
Kurdish activist Mizgin Yilmaz uncovers the links between arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin and US policy towards Turkey. A small article appeared in the Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram announcing the pending sale of 30 new F?16 fighters to Turkey. According to the article, the Pentagon had already notified Congress of the deal and, if there are no congressional objections in 15 days, the sale will be approved automatically.
Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms manufacturer, will produce the fighter jets. But other members of the US defence contractor establishment also stand to gain in the deal. General Electric, Boeing, L-3 Communications Holdings, Raytheon, and BAE Systems are all contributing to the production, according to Market Watch.
“This proposed sale will enhance the Turkish Air Force’s ability to defend Turkey while patrolling the nation’s extensive coastline and borders against future threats and to contribute to the global war on terrorism and Nato operations,” the US government’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency announced. It is widely known that the Turkish military has used Lockheed Martin F-16s to assist in the obliteration of Kurdish villages in North Kurdistan during the 1990s “dirty war”. The facts are well documented by human rights groups.
In 1995 Human Rights Watch examined arms sales to Turkey, along with related violations of the laws of war by that state. The use of F-16 fighter jets figured prominently among the many gross abuses that Turkey has perpetrated against the Kurdish people. Yet despite the fact that the US state department issued its first human rights report on Turkey in 1995, US officials remained eager to sell more of their deadly toys to the Turkish government.
Moreover, Turkey was not content to keep its use of F-16s or other aircraft within its own borders. During Operation Northern Watch, the Turkish military routinely bombed Kurdish civilians in South Kurdistan, trying to obliterate those villages that Saddam Hussein had not got round to destroying.
As John Pilger wrote in 2002, “In 1995 and 1997, as many as 50,000 Turkish troops, backed by tanks and fighter aircraft, occupied what the West called ‘Kurdish safe havens’. They terrorised Kurdish villages and murdered civilians. In December 2000 they were back, committing the atrocities that the Turkish military commits with impunity against its own Kurdish population.
“For joining the US ‘coalition’ against Iraq, the Turkish regime is to be rewarded with a bribe worth $6 billion. Turkey’s invasions are rarely reported in Britain. So great is the collusion of the Blair government that, virtually unknown to parliament and the British public, the RAF and the US have, from time to time, deliberately suspended their ‘humanitarian’ patrols to allow the Turks to get on with killing Kurds in Iraq.”
The PKK - the most prominent Kurdish freedom movement - declared a unilateral ceasefire that went into effect on Sunday 1 October. It still remains unilateral - the entire Turkish establishment, from top general Yasar Buyukanit to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has rejected it, clearly stating their determination to continue the war. This is despite the fact that the PKK prefers to negotiate a political settlement and indicated their willingness to do so in August. The rejection of a political settlement was echoed by Joseph Ralston, the US’s special coordinator for countering the PKK.
“Ceasefire sort of implies an act that is taken between two states, two actors, to do that. And I don’t want to confer that kind of status on the PKK by saying a ceasefire,” he said in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Wednesday 27 September.
What is most interesting about Ralston, a retired US Air Force general, is the fact that he is a member of the board of directors of Lockheed Martin - the same corporation whose deal for the sale of 30 F-16s sits in the venerable halls of Congress at this very moment.
What, then, is Ralston really coordinating in Ankara? What are the intentions of the US administration that appointed Ralston to his new post in August? It is difficult to believe that the US administration was unaware of the conflict of interest that the appointment of a board member of Lockheed Martin would create in a matter that has resulted in some 40,000 Kurdish dead.
This obscene conflict of interest is compounded by the fact that both Ralston and Lockheed Martin are closely tied to the Turkish lobby organisation, the American Turkish Council (ATC).
Ralston is a member of the ATC’s advisory board, while George Perlman. a former Lockheed Martin executive, is the ATC’s executive vice president. Lockheed Martin is a corporate member of the ATC, as are General Electric, Boeing, Raytheon, and BAE Systems - all of which stand to profit from the current sale.
This conflict of interest makes it clear that neither the US nor Turkey has the intention of finding a just and peaceful solution to the great opportunity the PKK ceasefire affords them. On the contrary, both countries seek a return to the “dirty war” - in order to reap the profits of repression.
Source: Socialist Worker
Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest arms manufacturer, will produce the fighter jets. But other members of the US defence contractor establishment also stand to gain in the deal. General Electric, Boeing, L-3 Communications Holdings, Raytheon, and BAE Systems are all contributing to the production, according to Market Watch.
“This proposed sale will enhance the Turkish Air Force’s ability to defend Turkey while patrolling the nation’s extensive coastline and borders against future threats and to contribute to the global war on terrorism and Nato operations,” the US government’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency announced. It is widely known that the Turkish military has used Lockheed Martin F-16s to assist in the obliteration of Kurdish villages in North Kurdistan during the 1990s “dirty war”. The facts are well documented by human rights groups.
In 1995 Human Rights Watch examined arms sales to Turkey, along with related violations of the laws of war by that state. The use of F-16 fighter jets figured prominently among the many gross abuses that Turkey has perpetrated against the Kurdish people. Yet despite the fact that the US state department issued its first human rights report on Turkey in 1995, US officials remained eager to sell more of their deadly toys to the Turkish government.
Moreover, Turkey was not content to keep its use of F-16s or other aircraft within its own borders. During Operation Northern Watch, the Turkish military routinely bombed Kurdish civilians in South Kurdistan, trying to obliterate those villages that Saddam Hussein had not got round to destroying.
As John Pilger wrote in 2002, “In 1995 and 1997, as many as 50,000 Turkish troops, backed by tanks and fighter aircraft, occupied what the West called ‘Kurdish safe havens’. They terrorised Kurdish villages and murdered civilians. In December 2000 they were back, committing the atrocities that the Turkish military commits with impunity against its own Kurdish population.
“For joining the US ‘coalition’ against Iraq, the Turkish regime is to be rewarded with a bribe worth $6 billion. Turkey’s invasions are rarely reported in Britain. So great is the collusion of the Blair government that, virtually unknown to parliament and the British public, the RAF and the US have, from time to time, deliberately suspended their ‘humanitarian’ patrols to allow the Turks to get on with killing Kurds in Iraq.”
The PKK - the most prominent Kurdish freedom movement - declared a unilateral ceasefire that went into effect on Sunday 1 October. It still remains unilateral - the entire Turkish establishment, from top general Yasar Buyukanit to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has rejected it, clearly stating their determination to continue the war. This is despite the fact that the PKK prefers to negotiate a political settlement and indicated their willingness to do so in August. The rejection of a political settlement was echoed by Joseph Ralston, the US’s special coordinator for countering the PKK.
“Ceasefire sort of implies an act that is taken between two states, two actors, to do that. And I don’t want to confer that kind of status on the PKK by saying a ceasefire,” he said in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Wednesday 27 September.
What is most interesting about Ralston, a retired US Air Force general, is the fact that he is a member of the board of directors of Lockheed Martin - the same corporation whose deal for the sale of 30 F-16s sits in the venerable halls of Congress at this very moment.
What, then, is Ralston really coordinating in Ankara? What are the intentions of the US administration that appointed Ralston to his new post in August? It is difficult to believe that the US administration was unaware of the conflict of interest that the appointment of a board member of Lockheed Martin would create in a matter that has resulted in some 40,000 Kurdish dead.
This obscene conflict of interest is compounded by the fact that both Ralston and Lockheed Martin are closely tied to the Turkish lobby organisation, the American Turkish Council (ATC).
Ralston is a member of the ATC’s advisory board, while George Perlman. a former Lockheed Martin executive, is the ATC’s executive vice president. Lockheed Martin is a corporate member of the ATC, as are General Electric, Boeing, Raytheon, and BAE Systems - all of which stand to profit from the current sale.
This conflict of interest makes it clear that neither the US nor Turkey has the intention of finding a just and peaceful solution to the great opportunity the PKK ceasefire affords them. On the contrary, both countries seek a return to the “dirty war” - in order to reap the profits of repression.
Source: Socialist Worker
Afghan leader's brother on CIA payroll
Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the embattled Afghan president and a suspected drug trafficker, has been on the CIA payroll for most of the past eight years, The New York Times reported. The US spy agency pays Karzai for a variety of services, the newspaper said, such as fielding recruits for an Afghan paramilitary force operating at the CIA's direction in and around his home city of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. He also helps the CIA contact and sometimes meet Taliban followers.
Karzai, who is said to have ties to Afghanistan's lucrative illegal opium trade, has a "wide-ranging" relationship with the CIA, the Times said, citing US officials. On top of helping the agency operate the paramilitary group that targets suspected violent militants -- the Kandahar Strike Force, Karzai is also paid for allowing the CIA and US Special Operations forces to rent a large compound outside Kandahar that once served as the home of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
"He's our landlord," a senior US official told the newspaper. The CIA declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Karzai denied receiving CIA payments or playing any role in the booming opium trade that helps fund the Taliban-led insurgency. "I don't know anyone under the name of the CIA," he told the newspaper. "I have never received any money from any organization. I help, definitely. I help other Americans wherever I can. This is my duty as an Afghan."
The report came amid increasingly tense ties between President Barack Obama's administration and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, long a darling of the West but whose legitimacy has been shaken by a fraud-marred first round of elections in August. Some US officials argued that relying on Ahmed Wali Karzai undermines Washington's efforts to help develop an effective and reliable Kabul government that can stand on its own.
"If we are going to conduct a population-centric strategy in Afghanistan, and we are perceived as backing thugs, then we are just undermining ourselves," Major General Michael Flynn, the top US military intelligence official in Afghanistan, told the daily. While some US officials said Karzai was likely linked to drug trafficking, others said the intelligence was inconclusive.
AFP
Karzai, who is said to have ties to Afghanistan's lucrative illegal opium trade, has a "wide-ranging" relationship with the CIA, the Times said, citing US officials. On top of helping the agency operate the paramilitary group that targets suspected violent militants -- the Kandahar Strike Force, Karzai is also paid for allowing the CIA and US Special Operations forces to rent a large compound outside Kandahar that once served as the home of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.
"He's our landlord," a senior US official told the newspaper. The CIA declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Karzai denied receiving CIA payments or playing any role in the booming opium trade that helps fund the Taliban-led insurgency. "I don't know anyone under the name of the CIA," he told the newspaper. "I have never received any money from any organization. I help, definitely. I help other Americans wherever I can. This is my duty as an Afghan."
The report came amid increasingly tense ties between President Barack Obama's administration and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, long a darling of the West but whose legitimacy has been shaken by a fraud-marred first round of elections in August. Some US officials argued that relying on Ahmed Wali Karzai undermines Washington's efforts to help develop an effective and reliable Kabul government that can stand on its own.
"If we are going to conduct a population-centric strategy in Afghanistan, and we are perceived as backing thugs, then we are just undermining ourselves," Major General Michael Flynn, the top US military intelligence official in Afghanistan, told the daily. While some US officials said Karzai was likely linked to drug trafficking, others said the intelligence was inconclusive.
AFP
Saturday, November 07, 2009
For years our organisation has called for unilateral ceasefires and a a peaceful solution
The people of Kurdistan have for generations been subsumed in the Turkish state with their national territory divided between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has struggled for an independent Kurdistan and there has been a long and bitter armed conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurds. PKK President Abdullah Ocalan is the sole prisoner in Imrali Island high security jail and has recently indicated new moves towards a peaceful solution. A special correspondent for An Phoblacht spoke to the representative of the PKK in Europe.
The PKK Central Committee has described the main elements that define a peace process. Can you say something on that? Has anything changed after the March local elections?
For years our organisation has called for unilateral ceasefires and periods of no confrontation as its contribution to a peaceful solution. It has proposed and publicised ideas for a solution, sharing them with public opinion. On every occasion we have underlined our view that a peaceful and political solution was possible.
Before the March 29 elections our movement had called for a unilateral ceasefire in order to help the democratic running of the elections. The Turkish state has answered in a positive way to this decision. There were no heavy military operations. The election results set in motion high expectations but also led to a reaction which resulted in repression of the Kurdish people and the DTP (Party of the Democratic Society). The Turkish state moved against the Kurdish party. In Kurdistan the elections turned out to be a referendum between the Turkish state and the Kurdish people’s liberation movement. Despite the difficulties, the DTP had a great success. The expectation was that a dialogue on the Kurdish question could actually begin. However, the reality has been different: the state did not tolerate the results, and ordered mass arrests of Kurdish politicians. In Amara and Dogubeyazit three sympathizers have been killed. The news showed the tortures imposed on the children. The state wanted to demolish the democratic will of the Kurdish people but the people have continued to resist and are still resisting.
The Turkish government insists on calling on the PKK to surrender their weapons. What is your opinion on this?
The insistence of the Turkish government on this issue is to be expected. There are also those who think that if the PKK were to be disarmed then the question will be solved. The real aim of the Turkish government though, is to leave the Kurdish people without the means to defend themselves. The policy therefore is that of trying to hold the Kurds hostages, psychologically, giving them rights when it is useful for the government, and denying them rights when it is not. The Kurdish people went to the mountain not because it loved war or because it thought it was fun.
The PKK did not take up arms in this way. It was forced into the armed struggle, which was a consequence. Fundamental human rights, national rights have been denied to the Kurdish people. A colonialism which turned into a cultural, economic and political massacre, was forced upon the Kurdish people.
Freedom and democracy?
It was a period when even speaking and organising resulted in punishment. The PKK took up arms in this context and has continued with the armed struggle. But the PKK has always wanted to fight for freedom and democracy out in the open, with legal means. But this was not possible. And the price paid has been very high. Let us not forget that in the family it was forbidden to speak Kurdish, listen to Kurdish tapes or use Kurdish names. To transgress was enough to be tortured, sent into exile or sentenced to death. But the Kurdish people would not accept being the sacrificial lamb. They took up arms to defend themselves because the reality is that the Kurdish question has not yet been resolved therefore you cannot ask the PKK to lay down its arms. If the Turkish army had the strength to disarm the PKK it would have done so. They said, ‘we will destroy them, defeat them and eradicate them’. Throughout this period Europe, the USA and the states of the region have supported the Turkish state whose aim was, to eliminate the PKK. It did not succeed.
Now they say the PKK has to lay down its arms. No, before there is a resolution to the Kurdish question the reasons which led to armed struggle will need to be removed. There will be a new reality and in this new context it will be necessary to lay down arms. This would need to be planned, discussed and decided around a negotiation table.
The Turkish government trying to hollow out the road map to a solution. What do you think of the role of the government?
It will certainly try to lose time and play tricks but this will only make things more difficult. If they are not honest in their approach to the Kurdish question they will try everything to hollow out the road map. We need them to be realistic and objective. The President of the Republic of Turkey, Gul, and Prime Minister Erdogan have made comments in the past. These declarations by themselves are considered positive steps in Turkey. However, you need to put words into practice. We had declarations in the past. Erdogan himself in 2005 in Diyarbakir said: “If necessary the state will say sorry” but military operations got underway again.
From the Ottoman Empire the idea is that the state is all-powerful and will suit itself when it needs to stay in control. Translated to today it means that if it decides it is necessary to solve the Kurdish question, the state will solve it. A solution is possible only with a negotiation among all parties to the any talks process. We don’t know what awaits us behind the door, but in period ahead we will be able to ascertain things better. As a movement we will undertake our responsibility fully and will underline every positive step, however small, towards a secure peace.
What role can Europe play at this stage?
Which Europe I should ask? If we are talking about the Europe of the states, well, it needs to play its part also to promote peace and democracy. But if Europe continues to keep the same opportunist attitude it has had to date, with silence contributing to the continuation of the conflict, then such a role will be negative. Europe’s relations with Turkey are based on economic interests alone. These interests should ideally be used to move towards a solution of the conflict. If Turkey does not solve the Kurdish question it will soon be a heavy burden for Europe and realistically I don’t believe Europe can afford to carry this burden forever. It is in the interest of everyone, whether Kurdish, Turkish or European to move towards a lasting resolution of the Kurdish question.
The PKK Central Committee has described the main elements that define a peace process. Can you say something on that? Has anything changed after the March local elections?
For years our organisation has called for unilateral ceasefires and periods of no confrontation as its contribution to a peaceful solution. It has proposed and publicised ideas for a solution, sharing them with public opinion. On every occasion we have underlined our view that a peaceful and political solution was possible.
Before the March 29 elections our movement had called for a unilateral ceasefire in order to help the democratic running of the elections. The Turkish state has answered in a positive way to this decision. There were no heavy military operations. The election results set in motion high expectations but also led to a reaction which resulted in repression of the Kurdish people and the DTP (Party of the Democratic Society). The Turkish state moved against the Kurdish party. In Kurdistan the elections turned out to be a referendum between the Turkish state and the Kurdish people’s liberation movement. Despite the difficulties, the DTP had a great success. The expectation was that a dialogue on the Kurdish question could actually begin. However, the reality has been different: the state did not tolerate the results, and ordered mass arrests of Kurdish politicians. In Amara and Dogubeyazit three sympathizers have been killed. The news showed the tortures imposed on the children. The state wanted to demolish the democratic will of the Kurdish people but the people have continued to resist and are still resisting.
The Turkish government insists on calling on the PKK to surrender their weapons. What is your opinion on this?
The insistence of the Turkish government on this issue is to be expected. There are also those who think that if the PKK were to be disarmed then the question will be solved. The real aim of the Turkish government though, is to leave the Kurdish people without the means to defend themselves. The policy therefore is that of trying to hold the Kurds hostages, psychologically, giving them rights when it is useful for the government, and denying them rights when it is not. The Kurdish people went to the mountain not because it loved war or because it thought it was fun.
The PKK did not take up arms in this way. It was forced into the armed struggle, which was a consequence. Fundamental human rights, national rights have been denied to the Kurdish people. A colonialism which turned into a cultural, economic and political massacre, was forced upon the Kurdish people.
Freedom and democracy?
It was a period when even speaking and organising resulted in punishment. The PKK took up arms in this context and has continued with the armed struggle. But the PKK has always wanted to fight for freedom and democracy out in the open, with legal means. But this was not possible. And the price paid has been very high. Let us not forget that in the family it was forbidden to speak Kurdish, listen to Kurdish tapes or use Kurdish names. To transgress was enough to be tortured, sent into exile or sentenced to death. But the Kurdish people would not accept being the sacrificial lamb. They took up arms to defend themselves because the reality is that the Kurdish question has not yet been resolved therefore you cannot ask the PKK to lay down its arms. If the Turkish army had the strength to disarm the PKK it would have done so. They said, ‘we will destroy them, defeat them and eradicate them’. Throughout this period Europe, the USA and the states of the region have supported the Turkish state whose aim was, to eliminate the PKK. It did not succeed.
Now they say the PKK has to lay down its arms. No, before there is a resolution to the Kurdish question the reasons which led to armed struggle will need to be removed. There will be a new reality and in this new context it will be necessary to lay down arms. This would need to be planned, discussed and decided around a negotiation table.
The Turkish government trying to hollow out the road map to a solution. What do you think of the role of the government?
It will certainly try to lose time and play tricks but this will only make things more difficult. If they are not honest in their approach to the Kurdish question they will try everything to hollow out the road map. We need them to be realistic and objective. The President of the Republic of Turkey, Gul, and Prime Minister Erdogan have made comments in the past. These declarations by themselves are considered positive steps in Turkey. However, you need to put words into practice. We had declarations in the past. Erdogan himself in 2005 in Diyarbakir said: “If necessary the state will say sorry” but military operations got underway again.
From the Ottoman Empire the idea is that the state is all-powerful and will suit itself when it needs to stay in control. Translated to today it means that if it decides it is necessary to solve the Kurdish question, the state will solve it. A solution is possible only with a negotiation among all parties to the any talks process. We don’t know what awaits us behind the door, but in period ahead we will be able to ascertain things better. As a movement we will undertake our responsibility fully and will underline every positive step, however small, towards a secure peace.
What role can Europe play at this stage?
Which Europe I should ask? If we are talking about the Europe of the states, well, it needs to play its part also to promote peace and democracy. But if Europe continues to keep the same opportunist attitude it has had to date, with silence contributing to the continuation of the conflict, then such a role will be negative. Europe’s relations with Turkey are based on economic interests alone. These interests should ideally be used to move towards a solution of the conflict. If Turkey does not solve the Kurdish question it will soon be a heavy burden for Europe and realistically I don’t believe Europe can afford to carry this burden forever. It is in the interest of everyone, whether Kurdish, Turkish or European to move towards a lasting resolution of the Kurdish question.
‘Proscription on Trial: The Tamil Experience’
28 October 2009, a public meeting held in parliament interrogated the purpose and continuing effects of the Terrorism Act 2000, in proscribing ‘terrorist organisations.’ These laws criminalise a broad range of political, emotional and financial support for non state actors in armed conflicts regardless of whether those conflicts are against violent occupations or incursions in self-defence, in accordance with international law. Over the last decade, the impacts of ‘terrorist’ bans on diaspora communities in the UK seeking self-determination abroad, such as the Tamil, Kurdish, Baloch and Palestinian people, have been devastating for the prospect of just resolution of political conflicts.
Entitled ‘Proscription on Trial: The Tamil Experience’, the meeting was organised by the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) and the British Tamil Law Foundation, and hosted by MPs Siobhain McDonagh and Joan Ryan. The forum highlighted the recent trial of a leading Tamil community representative in the UK, Shanthan (Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar). On the 12 June 2009 Shanthan was sentenced to two years imprisonment for providing humanitarian support to the Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Under the law which bans the LTTE in the UK, goods for aid and development, which the Judge accepted were not military, were nevertheless still caught by the ‘terrorism’ law as a ‘benefit for the LTTE’ - even though at the time, the LTTE were not banned in Sri Lanka and a ceasefire was in place.
Addressing the meeting, Shanthan’s Lawyer Matt Foot, highlighted the multiple ways in which this prosecution reveals the political operation of the laws. As Foot explained, the prosecution alleged that the electrical items Shanthan had sent to Sri Lanka where for the purpose of making bombs. However, after the prosecutions case collapsed - its own expert witness found the equipment could not be used to make a bomb – the prosecution changed its strategy. No longer able to claim that Shanthan’s action were related to causing harm, the very fact that humanitarian aid was supplied to the LTTE constituted it as ‘terrorism’, as it was for the ‘benefit’ of a terrorist organisation. In this way, aid and support to long standing civil armed conflicts, not only that in Sri Lanka, but to Palestine, Kurdistan and Baluchistan, for example, is legally and politically constructed as terrorist.
The Judge said he was bound under the laws to give Shanthan a prison sentence although he believed Shanthan was “a thoroughly decent man” and that he was central to negotiations for peace and resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The Judge said of Shanthan: “He did not wish the peace process to fail and civil war to reconvene, as tragically happened. Whatever he did for the Tamils and the LTTE, he did not do it in order to assist them in war. He did them to assist in maintaining the peace process.”
Foot highlighted the hypocrisy of the UK government position. Shanthan had been assistant to representative of the LTTE, the late Anton Balasingham, who had been allowed to enter and remain in the UK, as he was a peace negotiator in close contact with government officials and Special Branch. In fact in providing support to the LTTE during the ceasefire period Shanthan was doing nothing different to that of the British government, who were also providing aid to the LTTE. In the words of the Judge: “Shanthan was doing no more, although illegally, than the international community were doing.” However as Foot pointed out, the UK also provided Sri Lanka with the weapons that made the bloody war against the Tamil people possible. This criminal act of the state is unlikely to be determined illegal. The Judge praised Shanthan’s work for the Tamil people in this country and recognised the important need at this time for Shanthan’s role in continuing to support the Tamil community once released from jail: “In view of all that has been said about Mr Shanthan, and all that he has done, I make it the very shortest [sentence] that I can, so I can hope that you can resume the humanitarian work that you undoubtedly do do for Tamils in this country. They will need your help more now than ever before, perhaps.”
Meanwhile the humanitarian crisis alluded to in the judgement, has only intensified. Human rights lawyer, Cumarasamy Sithamparapillai, spoke of how Tamils are suffering from renewed persecution by the Sri Lankan state. Sri Lanka’s conduct of its brutal, inhumane military offensive against the civilian Tamil population, ‘to end the war’ – the so-called ‘war against terror’ - most certainly constitutes manifold war crimes. In the name of suppressing the LTTE, the military killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The subsequent arbitrary detention of approximately 300 000 civilians today in unacceptable conditions without freedom of movement in what have been aptly called concentration camps, remains a disaster. Thousands of young men have been ‘disappeared’ from the camps, with evidence of murders as well as abduction to secret camps which Amnesty estimates to be in excess of 10 or more throughout the country. Those who continue to survive the camps risk grave illness and death, a result of the continued denial of food, sanitary conditions and medical attention. Sri Lanka continues to exclude international human rights observers, free media access and both local and international Aid agencies, including unhindered access to the International Red Cross. The crisis will bring further tragedy unless decisive action is taken by the international community.
The Judge’s call for the continued need for Shanthan’s activism demands urgent recognition of the Kafkaesque results of the LTTE’s banning. In Foot’s view, this is perhaps the first time that a Judge has lauded the necessity of the defendants actions, encouraging them to continue the very ‘illegal’ activity they sentenced them for. In this significant, yet ultimately limited form of critique, the judiciary points to the illegitimacy of the executive’s ‘legal’ use of law for political gain.
In the current humanitarian crisis, Shanthan’s prosecution increases the burden of oppression on the Tamil people and limits the prospect of seeking an end to the camps. Sithamparapillai emphasised how the inaction and silence of the international community helped to legitimize Sri Lanka’s inhumane treatment of Tamils, and has contributed to putting the Tamils in the same position they were before the armed resistance started. The meeting heard of how the history of the oppression of the Tamil struggle tells of manifold injustice. Sithamparapillai described the present atrocities as ‘the worst time in Tamil history’. The banning of the LTTE by the UK and by most western states has been central in legitimating Sri Lankan state terror in the name of waging war with the LTTE, and against the Tamil people. Today, terror law in the UK undermines the legitimacy of self-determination as a right in international law, concentrating the power of state actors and their western allies geopolitical interests.
The continued banning of the LTTE in the UK fosters state terror both here, and in Sri Lanka, in multiple ways. The ban directly criminalises Tamils in their provision of desperately needed funds and materials for reconstruction and aid, from the diaspora. The laws also function to suppress the political expressions, associations and aspirations of the Tamil people in having a legitimate claim in expressing and acting on self-determination and resisting an oppressive state. By criminalising the identifications of Tamils grounded in the resistance of genocidal and racist policies in Sri Lanka, the UK is complicit in undermining self-determination through ‘anti-terror’ laws. Further, as Sithamparapillai pointed out, the LTTE ban in times of negotiations for peace and reconstruction makes the UK directly responsible for impeding resolution. The effects are evident in the fear and intimidation of Tamils. In Sithamparapillai’s words, ‘people are scared’.
CAMPACC spokesperson, Les Levidow addressed how the suppression of self-determination functions primarily through intimidation rather than through repeated prosecutions (there has been but one prosecution of a Tamil to date). A case in point has been the excessive policing of the remarkable Tamil protests held over 73 days and nights against the humanitarian crisis. Experiences included police and M15 harassment, calling protestors ‘Tamil Tigers’, and arresting and detaining, but not charging, some of those who have carried the Tamil flag. Shanthan’s case however triggers the collective intimidation of affected communities as explicit threat. Levidow pointed out that such prosecutions are necessary to reinforce ‘terrorist’ stigma. In resistance to state practices of intimidation, Levidow spoke of how active defiance of the laws happens when communities continue acts of political expression, protest and speaking out against the ban.
Baloch leader, Hyrbyair Marri, spoke about the violent repression of the Baloch people by Pakistan and Iran and their struggle for independence. Marri outlined the history of Pakistani and Iranian occupation of Balochistan, despite its independent sovereign status, declared in 1947. The escalation of violence since 2000 under General Musharaffs regime, despite the change of government in 2008, continues unabated - extra-judicial killings, disappearances, diaplacement and collective punishment of the Baloch people continues. Marri noted that in this so-called ‘democratization’ period, three Baloch leaders, Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Mohammed Baloch were abducted from their lawyers’ office by Pakistani Intelligence officers, tortured over several days and then murdered, their bodies found in a deserted area after a week later.
On 11 February 2009, Marri, together with Faiz Baluch, were acquitted of terrorism charges brought about as a result of the UK’s listing of the Balochistan Liberation Army as a proscribed organization. This prosecution revealed the extent to which the banning of the Balochistan movement functioned as a means to further the UK’s strategic alliance with Pakistan. Marri spoke of the central role which the international Community’s silence has played in legitimizing the repression of the Balochi people and the violent occupation of their lands:
“The Western democracies instead of siding with the oppressed are backing the oppressors. They are collaborating with Turkey against secular Kurdish movement; they have helped Sri Lanka against the Tamils and they are siding with Pakistan against the Baloch people. This biased approach has to stop and International Community must urge these occupying states to stop the slaughter of the oppressed Nations and abide by International laws.”
This complicity between western states in human rights violations was a repeated theme in the forum - Proscription laws operate as an instrument of foreign policy through domestic repression. Western state aid in abetting Turkey’s continued repression of the Kurds remains a case in point. Kazim Aqpak of the Kurdish Federation UK, spoke of how the Kurds in Europe where one of the first diaspora communities to be criminalised, with the PKK being banned in Germany in 1988. Aqpak raised the critical point: How can the Kurdish question be resolved when the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is banned in the UK, and in Europe? At a time in Turkey when the PKK have called yet another ceasefire in order to facilitate fragile moves towards a resolution of the conflict, the UK’s listing of the PKK empowers Turkey to not recognise the Kurdish liberation movement as a party to dialogue. Indeed, the PKK where listed in the UK at a time at which they called a ceasefire. Rather, the listing authorises Turkish reliance on military incursions. Proscription of organisations prolongs conflict and escalates the human misery which accompanies conflict by limiting efforts towards dialogue.
Aqpak spoke of recent atrocities in Turkey, including the killing of several Kurdish children by military shells or fire, and the imprisonment of Kurdish children for lengthy sentences, sometimes decades, for participating in pro-Kurdish demonstrations. It is clear the banning of the PKK reinforces the impunity of state crimes. In understanding this relation, Aqpak made the critical distinction between the provision of justice and the law. Drawing on the philosopher Jacque Derrida’s concept of justice as something ‘yet to come’, or ‘incalculable’, Aqpak highlighted the excessive violence at law’s foundation, as demonstrated in proscription.
The meeting ended with a broad ranging discussion on the urgent need for the repeal of laws designating and banning ‘terrorist organisations’ and extending forms of solidarity across affected communities. It remains to be seen however, how long international formations of state power can persist as hegemonic, through their own practices of terror.
CAMPACC
www.campacc.org.uk
estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Entitled ‘Proscription on Trial: The Tamil Experience’, the meeting was organised by the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) and the British Tamil Law Foundation, and hosted by MPs Siobhain McDonagh and Joan Ryan. The forum highlighted the recent trial of a leading Tamil community representative in the UK, Shanthan (Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar). On the 12 June 2009 Shanthan was sentenced to two years imprisonment for providing humanitarian support to the Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Under the law which bans the LTTE in the UK, goods for aid and development, which the Judge accepted were not military, were nevertheless still caught by the ‘terrorism’ law as a ‘benefit for the LTTE’ - even though at the time, the LTTE were not banned in Sri Lanka and a ceasefire was in place.
Addressing the meeting, Shanthan’s Lawyer Matt Foot, highlighted the multiple ways in which this prosecution reveals the political operation of the laws. As Foot explained, the prosecution alleged that the electrical items Shanthan had sent to Sri Lanka where for the purpose of making bombs. However, after the prosecutions case collapsed - its own expert witness found the equipment could not be used to make a bomb – the prosecution changed its strategy. No longer able to claim that Shanthan’s action were related to causing harm, the very fact that humanitarian aid was supplied to the LTTE constituted it as ‘terrorism’, as it was for the ‘benefit’ of a terrorist organisation. In this way, aid and support to long standing civil armed conflicts, not only that in Sri Lanka, but to Palestine, Kurdistan and Baluchistan, for example, is legally and politically constructed as terrorist.
The Judge said he was bound under the laws to give Shanthan a prison sentence although he believed Shanthan was “a thoroughly decent man” and that he was central to negotiations for peace and resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The Judge said of Shanthan: “He did not wish the peace process to fail and civil war to reconvene, as tragically happened. Whatever he did for the Tamils and the LTTE, he did not do it in order to assist them in war. He did them to assist in maintaining the peace process.”
Foot highlighted the hypocrisy of the UK government position. Shanthan had been assistant to representative of the LTTE, the late Anton Balasingham, who had been allowed to enter and remain in the UK, as he was a peace negotiator in close contact with government officials and Special Branch. In fact in providing support to the LTTE during the ceasefire period Shanthan was doing nothing different to that of the British government, who were also providing aid to the LTTE. In the words of the Judge: “Shanthan was doing no more, although illegally, than the international community were doing.” However as Foot pointed out, the UK also provided Sri Lanka with the weapons that made the bloody war against the Tamil people possible. This criminal act of the state is unlikely to be determined illegal. The Judge praised Shanthan’s work for the Tamil people in this country and recognised the important need at this time for Shanthan’s role in continuing to support the Tamil community once released from jail: “In view of all that has been said about Mr Shanthan, and all that he has done, I make it the very shortest [sentence] that I can, so I can hope that you can resume the humanitarian work that you undoubtedly do do for Tamils in this country. They will need your help more now than ever before, perhaps.”
Meanwhile the humanitarian crisis alluded to in the judgement, has only intensified. Human rights lawyer, Cumarasamy Sithamparapillai, spoke of how Tamils are suffering from renewed persecution by the Sri Lankan state. Sri Lanka’s conduct of its brutal, inhumane military offensive against the civilian Tamil population, ‘to end the war’ – the so-called ‘war against terror’ - most certainly constitutes manifold war crimes. In the name of suppressing the LTTE, the military killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The subsequent arbitrary detention of approximately 300 000 civilians today in unacceptable conditions without freedom of movement in what have been aptly called concentration camps, remains a disaster. Thousands of young men have been ‘disappeared’ from the camps, with evidence of murders as well as abduction to secret camps which Amnesty estimates to be in excess of 10 or more throughout the country. Those who continue to survive the camps risk grave illness and death, a result of the continued denial of food, sanitary conditions and medical attention. Sri Lanka continues to exclude international human rights observers, free media access and both local and international Aid agencies, including unhindered access to the International Red Cross. The crisis will bring further tragedy unless decisive action is taken by the international community.
The Judge’s call for the continued need for Shanthan’s activism demands urgent recognition of the Kafkaesque results of the LTTE’s banning. In Foot’s view, this is perhaps the first time that a Judge has lauded the necessity of the defendants actions, encouraging them to continue the very ‘illegal’ activity they sentenced them for. In this significant, yet ultimately limited form of critique, the judiciary points to the illegitimacy of the executive’s ‘legal’ use of law for political gain.
In the current humanitarian crisis, Shanthan’s prosecution increases the burden of oppression on the Tamil people and limits the prospect of seeking an end to the camps. Sithamparapillai emphasised how the inaction and silence of the international community helped to legitimize Sri Lanka’s inhumane treatment of Tamils, and has contributed to putting the Tamils in the same position they were before the armed resistance started. The meeting heard of how the history of the oppression of the Tamil struggle tells of manifold injustice. Sithamparapillai described the present atrocities as ‘the worst time in Tamil history’. The banning of the LTTE by the UK and by most western states has been central in legitimating Sri Lankan state terror in the name of waging war with the LTTE, and against the Tamil people. Today, terror law in the UK undermines the legitimacy of self-determination as a right in international law, concentrating the power of state actors and their western allies geopolitical interests.
The continued banning of the LTTE in the UK fosters state terror both here, and in Sri Lanka, in multiple ways. The ban directly criminalises Tamils in their provision of desperately needed funds and materials for reconstruction and aid, from the diaspora. The laws also function to suppress the political expressions, associations and aspirations of the Tamil people in having a legitimate claim in expressing and acting on self-determination and resisting an oppressive state. By criminalising the identifications of Tamils grounded in the resistance of genocidal and racist policies in Sri Lanka, the UK is complicit in undermining self-determination through ‘anti-terror’ laws. Further, as Sithamparapillai pointed out, the LTTE ban in times of negotiations for peace and reconstruction makes the UK directly responsible for impeding resolution. The effects are evident in the fear and intimidation of Tamils. In Sithamparapillai’s words, ‘people are scared’.
CAMPACC spokesperson, Les Levidow addressed how the suppression of self-determination functions primarily through intimidation rather than through repeated prosecutions (there has been but one prosecution of a Tamil to date). A case in point has been the excessive policing of the remarkable Tamil protests held over 73 days and nights against the humanitarian crisis. Experiences included police and M15 harassment, calling protestors ‘Tamil Tigers’, and arresting and detaining, but not charging, some of those who have carried the Tamil flag. Shanthan’s case however triggers the collective intimidation of affected communities as explicit threat. Levidow pointed out that such prosecutions are necessary to reinforce ‘terrorist’ stigma. In resistance to state practices of intimidation, Levidow spoke of how active defiance of the laws happens when communities continue acts of political expression, protest and speaking out against the ban.
Baloch leader, Hyrbyair Marri, spoke about the violent repression of the Baloch people by Pakistan and Iran and their struggle for independence. Marri outlined the history of Pakistani and Iranian occupation of Balochistan, despite its independent sovereign status, declared in 1947. The escalation of violence since 2000 under General Musharaffs regime, despite the change of government in 2008, continues unabated - extra-judicial killings, disappearances, diaplacement and collective punishment of the Baloch people continues. Marri noted that in this so-called ‘democratization’ period, three Baloch leaders, Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Mohammed Baloch were abducted from their lawyers’ office by Pakistani Intelligence officers, tortured over several days and then murdered, their bodies found in a deserted area after a week later.
On 11 February 2009, Marri, together with Faiz Baluch, were acquitted of terrorism charges brought about as a result of the UK’s listing of the Balochistan Liberation Army as a proscribed organization. This prosecution revealed the extent to which the banning of the Balochistan movement functioned as a means to further the UK’s strategic alliance with Pakistan. Marri spoke of the central role which the international Community’s silence has played in legitimizing the repression of the Balochi people and the violent occupation of their lands:
“The Western democracies instead of siding with the oppressed are backing the oppressors. They are collaborating with Turkey against secular Kurdish movement; they have helped Sri Lanka against the Tamils and they are siding with Pakistan against the Baloch people. This biased approach has to stop and International Community must urge these occupying states to stop the slaughter of the oppressed Nations and abide by International laws.”
This complicity between western states in human rights violations was a repeated theme in the forum - Proscription laws operate as an instrument of foreign policy through domestic repression. Western state aid in abetting Turkey’s continued repression of the Kurds remains a case in point. Kazim Aqpak of the Kurdish Federation UK, spoke of how the Kurds in Europe where one of the first diaspora communities to be criminalised, with the PKK being banned in Germany in 1988. Aqpak raised the critical point: How can the Kurdish question be resolved when the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is banned in the UK, and in Europe? At a time in Turkey when the PKK have called yet another ceasefire in order to facilitate fragile moves towards a resolution of the conflict, the UK’s listing of the PKK empowers Turkey to not recognise the Kurdish liberation movement as a party to dialogue. Indeed, the PKK where listed in the UK at a time at which they called a ceasefire. Rather, the listing authorises Turkish reliance on military incursions. Proscription of organisations prolongs conflict and escalates the human misery which accompanies conflict by limiting efforts towards dialogue.
Aqpak spoke of recent atrocities in Turkey, including the killing of several Kurdish children by military shells or fire, and the imprisonment of Kurdish children for lengthy sentences, sometimes decades, for participating in pro-Kurdish demonstrations. It is clear the banning of the PKK reinforces the impunity of state crimes. In understanding this relation, Aqpak made the critical distinction between the provision of justice and the law. Drawing on the philosopher Jacque Derrida’s concept of justice as something ‘yet to come’, or ‘incalculable’, Aqpak highlighted the excessive violence at law’s foundation, as demonstrated in proscription.
The meeting ended with a broad ranging discussion on the urgent need for the repeal of laws designating and banning ‘terrorist organisations’ and extending forms of solidarity across affected communities. It remains to be seen however, how long international formations of state power can persist as hegemonic, through their own practices of terror.
CAMPACC
www.campacc.org.uk
estella24@tiscali.co.uk
Friday, November 06, 2009
Porridge.................................!
Maybe it will lighten up if Turkey bomb and fight some more mountains and prevent water coming down the rivers as they have done for decades..Like the The Saddam-Turkish cooperation USAK speaks about..Or why don´t the U.S. plough through the Bengali forests..That will maybe do the trick..Or why don´t we all just give damn if the oil reach the Golf Stream like those that have pumped up oil for 40 years outside Australia..That will maybe lighten the skies up..
http://www.intellicast.com/Global/Satellite/Current.aspx
http://www.intellicast.com/Global/Satellite/Current.aspx
USAK: Turkey is one the most experienced country in the world in combating religionist terrorism
November 4 - The Turkish army attacked between 03:00 and 19:00 in the evening the Zap region with mortars and howitzers. There was confrontation between Turkish military and HPG in the district of Hatay Hassa. There have been numerous troops and ammunition shipped in the direction of Sirnak Cizre in the Silopi township.
Police Department Anti-Terrorism (TEM) raided the house of the pokesman Al Peace Mothers Initiative in the evening and arrested the Peace Mothers Initiative spokesman.
A Kurdish member of Turkey's parliament, Aysel Tugluk, was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week for spreading terrorist propaganda. The court found Tugluk had "spread propaganda of a terrorist organisation" in a 2006 speech, a year before being elected to parliament representing the main Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). Tugluk delivered the speech at a rally in Diyarbakır in which she urged the government to heed the demands of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in order to put an end to the conflict. She also supported a popular declaration which described jailed PKK head Abdulah Ocalan as a Kurdish leader. This is not the first time Tugluk has faced jail time. In 2007, she was sentenced on charges of distributing DTP leaflets in the Kurdish language.
November 2-5
Civlian killed, 2 wounded in Ramadi blasts
7 suspects arrested in Diala
14 wounded as blast ripped through central Hilla, wounded up to 16
Kidnapper killed, 3 nabbed in Kirkuk
2 gunmen arrested while planting IED in Falluja
Officer killed, 2 cops wounded by roadside bomb in Mosul
Powerful blast jolts Nassiriya
Blast hits policeman’s house in Kirkuk
2 children freed in Kirkuk years after kidnapping
Police officer escapes assassination attempt in Kirkuk
3 wanted men nabbed in Kirkuk
Many of last Sunday bombers nabbed
Unknown bodies found in Mosul
Gunmen blow up house in Abu Ghraib
Ammunition cache seized in Kut
Bomb wounds 4 civilians in Baghdad
4 wounded in 3rd explosion in Baghdad
2nd sticky bomb in Baghdad wounds 5 people
3 wanted men nabbed in Wassit
Sticky bomb injures 7 people in western Baghdad
5 wanted men detained, 3 bombs defused in Ninewa
Bomb defused east of Amara
Tight security measures around government’s building in Talafar
Gunmen wound lawman in Mosul
Roadside bomb wounds 2 civilians in Diala
3 family members killed, wounded in Diala
IED kills civilian, injures 3 north of Talafar
Mortar attack on Sunni endowment leaves 3 wounded
BOC receives 100 bomb detectors
Man, son killed in Diala
6 people arrested southwest of Kirkuk
Murat Karayilan says Ankara's promises of reform are a "comedy" and an attempt to "deceive" the Kurds and the international community. It is just a show. The mentality remains the same-refusing to recognize the Kurdish people's identity, refusing to recognize them as interlocutors," Karayilan told AFP. Ankara says it is working on fresh reforms to improve Kurdish rights in a bid to end 25 years of bloodshed. But it rejects dialogue with the PKK. Karayilan insisted Turkey should end military action, negotiate with Kurdish representatives on the terms of settlement, grant the Kurds constitutional recognition and free PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. "We trust Ocalan. If a dialogue begins with him, the process will advance," he said. Other commanders or the Democratic Society Party may be alternative interlocutors, he said. "The Kurdish people are with us and we can continue to resist from Kurdistan's mountains for decades," he said, adding the PKK will only act "in self-defense. "We control hundreds of mountains, we can continue the war for 30, for 50 years, if need be," Avesta said. Turkey's appeals on the rebels to lay down arms and "return home" under a law that reduces sentences and even ensures that many go free are met with skepticism. Ankara "prefers to handle the situation with small arrangements rather than confronting the real problem: a reform that will recognize the Kurdish reality in the constitution," Avesta said. For Roj Welat, the PKK's "foreign relations" officer, "returning home" is also a distant option. "Our home is the freedom of the Kurdish people," he shouted.
AFP
Well...For "being one the most experienced country in the world in combating religionist terrorism" and having al-Qaida and militants going shuffle traffic to Afghanistan, some in Turkey have not contributed much to stabilise Iraq..We mean..It´s very #¤# obvious some in Turkey have been very busy with refusing to end their genocidal "war-fare" and come to solutions, we mean...It´s #¤# about basic human rights, while there is a genocide going on Iraq and as we said so many times one can see on the statistics that the attacks raised sky high when the genocidal "war-fare" carousel was instigated ones again.
So tell us...WHO or which the hell would be the Kurdish leader if not Abdullah Ocalan, while the Kurds have been kept massacred, killed, have their children both jailed and killed, and jailed just for mention the word solutions, peace and to put an end the conflict, by Turkey? Some ones in Turkey? Some one beating their children with their guns, or shoot them, or jail them or breakes their arms and legs?
Some one in Turkey that just can´t stop killing them and even have problems with Mothers for Peace!
Some have problems with their Mothers! DON´T THEY! Well...That must be very helpful in combating terrorism and for the Iraqis!
Police Department Anti-Terrorism (TEM) raided the house of the pokesman Al Peace Mothers Initiative in the evening and arrested the Peace Mothers Initiative spokesman.
A Kurdish member of Turkey's parliament, Aysel Tugluk, was sentenced to 18 months in prison last week for spreading terrorist propaganda. The court found Tugluk had "spread propaganda of a terrorist organisation" in a 2006 speech, a year before being elected to parliament representing the main Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). Tugluk delivered the speech at a rally in Diyarbakır in which she urged the government to heed the demands of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in order to put an end to the conflict. She also supported a popular declaration which described jailed PKK head Abdulah Ocalan as a Kurdish leader. This is not the first time Tugluk has faced jail time. In 2007, she was sentenced on charges of distributing DTP leaflets in the Kurdish language.
November 2-5
Civlian killed, 2 wounded in Ramadi blasts
7 suspects arrested in Diala
14 wounded as blast ripped through central Hilla, wounded up to 16
Kidnapper killed, 3 nabbed in Kirkuk
2 gunmen arrested while planting IED in Falluja
Officer killed, 2 cops wounded by roadside bomb in Mosul
Powerful blast jolts Nassiriya
Blast hits policeman’s house in Kirkuk
2 children freed in Kirkuk years after kidnapping
Police officer escapes assassination attempt in Kirkuk
3 wanted men nabbed in Kirkuk
Many of last Sunday bombers nabbed
Unknown bodies found in Mosul
Gunmen blow up house in Abu Ghraib
Ammunition cache seized in Kut
Bomb wounds 4 civilians in Baghdad
4 wounded in 3rd explosion in Baghdad
2nd sticky bomb in Baghdad wounds 5 people
3 wanted men nabbed in Wassit
Sticky bomb injures 7 people in western Baghdad
5 wanted men detained, 3 bombs defused in Ninewa
Bomb defused east of Amara
Tight security measures around government’s building in Talafar
Gunmen wound lawman in Mosul
Roadside bomb wounds 2 civilians in Diala
3 family members killed, wounded in Diala
IED kills civilian, injures 3 north of Talafar
Mortar attack on Sunni endowment leaves 3 wounded
BOC receives 100 bomb detectors
Man, son killed in Diala
6 people arrested southwest of Kirkuk
Murat Karayilan says Ankara's promises of reform are a "comedy" and an attempt to "deceive" the Kurds and the international community. It is just a show. The mentality remains the same-refusing to recognize the Kurdish people's identity, refusing to recognize them as interlocutors," Karayilan told AFP. Ankara says it is working on fresh reforms to improve Kurdish rights in a bid to end 25 years of bloodshed. But it rejects dialogue with the PKK. Karayilan insisted Turkey should end military action, negotiate with Kurdish representatives on the terms of settlement, grant the Kurds constitutional recognition and free PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. "We trust Ocalan. If a dialogue begins with him, the process will advance," he said. Other commanders or the Democratic Society Party may be alternative interlocutors, he said. "The Kurdish people are with us and we can continue to resist from Kurdistan's mountains for decades," he said, adding the PKK will only act "in self-defense. "We control hundreds of mountains, we can continue the war for 30, for 50 years, if need be," Avesta said. Turkey's appeals on the rebels to lay down arms and "return home" under a law that reduces sentences and even ensures that many go free are met with skepticism. Ankara "prefers to handle the situation with small arrangements rather than confronting the real problem: a reform that will recognize the Kurdish reality in the constitution," Avesta said. For Roj Welat, the PKK's "foreign relations" officer, "returning home" is also a distant option. "Our home is the freedom of the Kurdish people," he shouted.
AFP
Well...For "being one the most experienced country in the world in combating religionist terrorism" and having al-Qaida and militants going shuffle traffic to Afghanistan, some in Turkey have not contributed much to stabilise Iraq..We mean..It´s very #¤# obvious some in Turkey have been very busy with refusing to end their genocidal "war-fare" and come to solutions, we mean...It´s #¤# about basic human rights, while there is a genocide going on Iraq and as we said so many times one can see on the statistics that the attacks raised sky high when the genocidal "war-fare" carousel was instigated ones again.
So tell us...WHO or which the hell would be the Kurdish leader if not Abdullah Ocalan, while the Kurds have been kept massacred, killed, have their children both jailed and killed, and jailed just for mention the word solutions, peace and to put an end the conflict, by Turkey? Some ones in Turkey? Some one beating their children with their guns, or shoot them, or jail them or breakes their arms and legs?
Some one in Turkey that just can´t stop killing them and even have problems with Mothers for Peace!
Some have problems with their Mothers! DON´T THEY! Well...That must be very helpful in combating terrorism and for the Iraqis!
BG Group at centre of $4bn deal to supply Gaza gas to Israel
May 23, 2007- The British energy firm is set to agree terms of a $4bn, 15-year deal over gas discovered off the Gaza coast.
BG Group is poised to agree the terms of an $4 billion (£2 billion) deal to supply Palestinian gas to Israel from a discovery off the Gaza coastline. Representatives from the British energy company are scheduled (May , 2007) to meet a team of negotiators chosen by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a 15-year contract. Despite the violence in Gaza, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has insisted that it wants to conclude a deal “as soon as possible”. It would enable BG Group, the former owner of British Gas, to begin to develop an offshore field that is the Palestine Authority’s only natural resource. The move would mark an unprecedented milestone in Middle East relations. There would be enough gas to provide 10 per cent of Israel’s annual energy requirement, and the Palestinians would receive total royalties of $1 billion. Nigel Shaw, the BG Group vice-president in the region, said: “We are making progress. There are commercial issues to be completed and we also require bilateral agreement between the two governments to get this project across the line. But this is a chance for greater economic prosperity in Palestine and that is only good for peace.”
The signing of heads of terms would mark an amazing turnaround, given the political and legal disputes that have dogged the project since BG Group discovered the Gaza Marine field in 2000. It holds one trillion cubic feet of gas, the equivalent of 150 million barrels of oil, equivalent to a large North Sea field. The project was held up by a legal challenge in the Israeli Supreme Court to establish whether the Palestinians had any right to the discovery. Last year BG Group was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt before Tony Blair intervened and asked the company to give Israel a second chance. The Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority. The Cabinet recognised the need for new energy sources to feed Israel’s rapidly growing economy.
Under BG Group’s plans, gas from the field would be transported by an undersea pipeline to the seaport of Ashkelon. Although Israeli insiders are confident of a deal,significant questions remain, not least how payments to the Palestinian Authority will be made. Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to Hamas.
In the late 1990s, the Palestinian government was able to secure an agreement with British Gas that allowed them to begin drilling for natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Sea. After years of drilling and exploration, Palestine was rewarded with an oil reserve 22 miles off of the coast of the Gaza Strip. The entire country was excited by this natural mineral that would hopefully provide them with the economic freedom and financial stability they desired. Unfortunately, the financial success did not come directly on the heels of their discovery.
International instability and internal political strife has made it extremely difficult for Palestinian officials to utilize their newfound resource. In 2005 Israel delivered a major blow to the Palestinians fledgling oil industry by choosing to import natural gas from Egypt. By doing this, Israel completely bypassed its neighbor in favor of making a political statement. The Israeli government feared that any money given to Palestine would be later used to fund acts of terrorism against Israel.
What Could Have Been a Flourishing Natural Gas Industry for Palestine
This deal completely destroyed Palestine’s early plans to establish a flourishing gas industry in Gaza that would create many much needed jobs and earn the Palestinian government millions in taxes. The millions the government planned to receive were based on the Gaza Marine field containing 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Many experts and Triple Diamond Energy Corp. believe that this reserve would be able to amply cover all of Palestine’s energy needs with much left over to be used for trade.
In an effort to recover from the setback caused by the Israeli’s deal with Egypt, the Palestinian government decided to work with British Gas to put their newfound resources to work. British Gas began working on a deal with Egypt that would allow 1.5 billion cubic yards of natural gas to be exported for 50 years through a Gaza-E Arish pipeline. This deal would have meant economic growth for Palestine, but this time it was the British government that caused the setback. The British Prime Minister serving at the time of the proposal determined that British Gas should allow Israel to have one more chance at reaching an agreement with its neighbor Palestine. The Prime Minister reasoned that the Palestinian gas recourses would be more than sufficient to supply Israel’s growing need.
Israel would still not agree to reach any sort of compromise with Palestine and the hope of a deal was finally abandoned. In an effort to once again try to get use out of the natural resources available Palestine and British Gas are once again trying to reach an agreement with Egypt that will be beneficial to all parties. Unfortunately for Israel, it is the Palestinian Authority that controls the licensing of these reserves. So, as Operation Summer Rains washes away the administrative and political structures in the occupied territories, has Israel decided to use Hamas as an excuse to dismantle the PA and seize its energy assets?
Estimated at 100 billion cubic meters of proven reserves, these discoveries potentially offer enough gas to meet Israel's goal of supplying 25% of its energy needs for more than 20 years - even without further imports. Unfortunately for Israel, 60% of these reserves are in waters controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which has signed a 25-year contract with British Gas for further exploration in the area. Since this discovery, Israel has proceeded with the development of its reserves with the US-Israeli company Yam Tethys, but has been faced with an obvious dilemma over the Palestinian deposits. Keen to secure the gas for its domestic market but unwilling to submit its sensitive energy supplies (and their profits) into the hands of the Palestinians, Israel has for the past 6 years pursued a policy of non-commitment, stalling and obstruction.
Egypt, British Gas and the Palestinian Authority had been secretly negotiating a deal to sidestep the problematic Israeli market. Within a month, the three parties announced their plan to extract Gazan gas, transport it to Egypt in an Egyptian controlled pipeline, and then ship it on in liquefied form to the international market. The possibility that Israel could be permanently excluded from such a tempting energy windfall on their doorstep, and that the main beneficiaries would be Egypt and the Palestinians, has since prompted Olmert to reverse Sharon's veto and reopen negotiations with BG over the supply of Gazan gas to Israel. Despite the ongoing international isolation of Hamas, the BG deal was high on the agenda during Olmert's recent meeting with British Chancellor Gordon Brown. Despite BG's commitments to Egypt and the PA, the company has announced that it is willing to enter into a deal with Israel. Within Israel, political legitimacy for the reversal has come from increasing criticisms of high prices caused by Egypt's effective monopoly of Israeli gas supply. Also, according to Haaretz, Israel is confident that it has enough influence to persuade Egypt to back out of the Gazan deal, with senior government sources asserting that: The gas off Gaza will come to Israel in the end.
The security situation that provoked Sharon's original veto of Gazan gas had not improved and it seems inconceivable that Israel would allow the PA, let alone Hamas, to reap the benefits of the Gazan gas fields. BG has made it clear that its Gazan gas will be developed soon, whether Israel likes it or not. If the attacks on Gaza succeed in destroying the Palestinian Authority as a viable political entity, all commercial contracts with the Authority, such as that with British Gas, will become worthless and will have to be renegotiated with the Israeli government.
BG Group is poised to agree the terms of an $4 billion (£2 billion) deal to supply Palestinian gas to Israel from a discovery off the Gaza coastline. Representatives from the British energy company are scheduled (May , 2007) to meet a team of negotiators chosen by the Israeli Cabinet to thrash out a 15-year contract. Despite the violence in Gaza, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has insisted that it wants to conclude a deal “as soon as possible”. It would enable BG Group, the former owner of British Gas, to begin to develop an offshore field that is the Palestine Authority’s only natural resource. The move would mark an unprecedented milestone in Middle East relations. There would be enough gas to provide 10 per cent of Israel’s annual energy requirement, and the Palestinians would receive total royalties of $1 billion. Nigel Shaw, the BG Group vice-president in the region, said: “We are making progress. There are commercial issues to be completed and we also require bilateral agreement between the two governments to get this project across the line. But this is a chance for greater economic prosperity in Palestine and that is only good for peace.”
The signing of heads of terms would mark an amazing turnaround, given the political and legal disputes that have dogged the project since BG Group discovered the Gaza Marine field in 2000. It holds one trillion cubic feet of gas, the equivalent of 150 million barrels of oil, equivalent to a large North Sea field. The project was held up by a legal challenge in the Israeli Supreme Court to establish whether the Palestinians had any right to the discovery. Last year BG Group was close to signing a deal to pump the gas to Egypt before Tony Blair intervened and asked the company to give Israel a second chance. The Israeli Cabinet approved a proposal by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority. The Cabinet recognised the need for new energy sources to feed Israel’s rapidly growing economy.
Under BG Group’s plans, gas from the field would be transported by an undersea pipeline to the seaport of Ashkelon. Although Israeli insiders are confident of a deal,significant questions remain, not least how payments to the Palestinian Authority will be made. Israeli defence authorities want the Palestinians to be paid in goods and services and insist that no money go to Hamas.
In the late 1990s, the Palestinian government was able to secure an agreement with British Gas that allowed them to begin drilling for natural gas and oil in the Mediterranean Sea. After years of drilling and exploration, Palestine was rewarded with an oil reserve 22 miles off of the coast of the Gaza Strip. The entire country was excited by this natural mineral that would hopefully provide them with the economic freedom and financial stability they desired. Unfortunately, the financial success did not come directly on the heels of their discovery.
International instability and internal political strife has made it extremely difficult for Palestinian officials to utilize their newfound resource. In 2005 Israel delivered a major blow to the Palestinians fledgling oil industry by choosing to import natural gas from Egypt. By doing this, Israel completely bypassed its neighbor in favor of making a political statement. The Israeli government feared that any money given to Palestine would be later used to fund acts of terrorism against Israel.
What Could Have Been a Flourishing Natural Gas Industry for Palestine
This deal completely destroyed Palestine’s early plans to establish a flourishing gas industry in Gaza that would create many much needed jobs and earn the Palestinian government millions in taxes. The millions the government planned to receive were based on the Gaza Marine field containing 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Many experts and Triple Diamond Energy Corp. believe that this reserve would be able to amply cover all of Palestine’s energy needs with much left over to be used for trade.
In an effort to recover from the setback caused by the Israeli’s deal with Egypt, the Palestinian government decided to work with British Gas to put their newfound resources to work. British Gas began working on a deal with Egypt that would allow 1.5 billion cubic yards of natural gas to be exported for 50 years through a Gaza-E Arish pipeline. This deal would have meant economic growth for Palestine, but this time it was the British government that caused the setback. The British Prime Minister serving at the time of the proposal determined that British Gas should allow Israel to have one more chance at reaching an agreement with its neighbor Palestine. The Prime Minister reasoned that the Palestinian gas recourses would be more than sufficient to supply Israel’s growing need.
Israel would still not agree to reach any sort of compromise with Palestine and the hope of a deal was finally abandoned. In an effort to once again try to get use out of the natural resources available Palestine and British Gas are once again trying to reach an agreement with Egypt that will be beneficial to all parties. Unfortunately for Israel, it is the Palestinian Authority that controls the licensing of these reserves. So, as Operation Summer Rains washes away the administrative and political structures in the occupied territories, has Israel decided to use Hamas as an excuse to dismantle the PA and seize its energy assets?
Estimated at 100 billion cubic meters of proven reserves, these discoveries potentially offer enough gas to meet Israel's goal of supplying 25% of its energy needs for more than 20 years - even without further imports. Unfortunately for Israel, 60% of these reserves are in waters controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which has signed a 25-year contract with British Gas for further exploration in the area. Since this discovery, Israel has proceeded with the development of its reserves with the US-Israeli company Yam Tethys, but has been faced with an obvious dilemma over the Palestinian deposits. Keen to secure the gas for its domestic market but unwilling to submit its sensitive energy supplies (and their profits) into the hands of the Palestinians, Israel has for the past 6 years pursued a policy of non-commitment, stalling and obstruction.
Egypt, British Gas and the Palestinian Authority had been secretly negotiating a deal to sidestep the problematic Israeli market. Within a month, the three parties announced their plan to extract Gazan gas, transport it to Egypt in an Egyptian controlled pipeline, and then ship it on in liquefied form to the international market. The possibility that Israel could be permanently excluded from such a tempting energy windfall on their doorstep, and that the main beneficiaries would be Egypt and the Palestinians, has since prompted Olmert to reverse Sharon's veto and reopen negotiations with BG over the supply of Gazan gas to Israel. Despite the ongoing international isolation of Hamas, the BG deal was high on the agenda during Olmert's recent meeting with British Chancellor Gordon Brown. Despite BG's commitments to Egypt and the PA, the company has announced that it is willing to enter into a deal with Israel. Within Israel, political legitimacy for the reversal has come from increasing criticisms of high prices caused by Egypt's effective monopoly of Israeli gas supply. Also, according to Haaretz, Israel is confident that it has enough influence to persuade Egypt to back out of the Gazan deal, with senior government sources asserting that: The gas off Gaza will come to Israel in the end.
The security situation that provoked Sharon's original veto of Gazan gas had not improved and it seems inconceivable that Israel would allow the PA, let alone Hamas, to reap the benefits of the Gazan gas fields. BG has made it clear that its Gazan gas will be developed soon, whether Israel likes it or not. If the attacks on Gaza succeed in destroying the Palestinian Authority as a viable political entity, all commercial contracts with the Authority, such as that with British Gas, will become worthless and will have to be renegotiated with the Israeli government.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Well..yeah...Thank you..People have #¤# died enough in those tunnels!
Egyptian forces shut down Gaza tunnels
Al-Arish – Ma’an – Egyptian authorities raided three tunnels and seized a large number of goods in the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, Egyptian security forces said. Egyptian forces said they raided the Gaza-Egypt border after receiving a tip off concerning the location of three illegal smuggling tunnels. The Egyptian forces additionally seized a car loaded with glass blocks near the tunnels in question, they said. The second tunnel was discovered inside a storehouse belonging to Ayoub Halaweh near the Salah Ad-Din border, sources added. After storming the warehouse, Egyptian forces stated that they located the tunnel and large quantities of iron and cement that were prepared for smuggling. The third tunnel was discovered near the border but no goods were found.
Now..We want to see some concrete steps to start rebuild Gaza and get in what´s needed for it and steps to end the siege! NOW! If we do not see any concrete steps in that direction it should be subjected into the U.N. probe while "Israel and London are occupied with business!"
Al-Arish – Ma’an – Egyptian authorities raided three tunnels and seized a large number of goods in the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, Egyptian security forces said. Egyptian forces said they raided the Gaza-Egypt border after receiving a tip off concerning the location of three illegal smuggling tunnels. The Egyptian forces additionally seized a car loaded with glass blocks near the tunnels in question, they said. The second tunnel was discovered inside a storehouse belonging to Ayoub Halaweh near the Salah Ad-Din border, sources added. After storming the warehouse, Egyptian forces stated that they located the tunnel and large quantities of iron and cement that were prepared for smuggling. The third tunnel was discovered near the border but no goods were found.
Now..We want to see some concrete steps to start rebuild Gaza and get in what´s needed for it and steps to end the siege! NOW! If we do not see any concrete steps in that direction it should be subjected into the U.N. probe while "Israel and London are occupied with business!"
In the middle of agreements with Armenia..and peace groups..
25 oktober - Ambassador Envoy in Turkey says UK ready to share IRA experience. British ambassador to Ankara, Nick Baird: ‘What we have said to the government here is that if they would find it useful to share our experience with the Irish negotiations, we of course would be very willing to do that.’
25 oktober -Ambassador Şensoy describes Armenian resolution as unfortunate. Turkey's Ambassador in Washington D.C. Nabi Şensoy on Sunday described a resolution introduced to the U.S. Senate regarding 1915 incidents as "unfortunate". On a Voice of America television news segment, Şensoy said introduction of the resolution calling on Armenian allegations to be recognized was "extremely wrong". "Before all, this was not an unexpected development. I don't think it was the right time to take this step since the resolution was introduced immediately after the signing of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. It is wrong and sad. I am hopeful that the resolution will not reach the Senate floor. Asked to comment on stance of U.S. President Barack Obama regarding Armenian allegations, Ambassador Şensoy said Obama did not include such an allegation in his speech on April 24. Referring to relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and U.S. stance on the matter, Şensoy said, "before all we think it will extremely beneficial to put relations between Turkey and Armenia into a new course thanks to this protocol, establish diplomatic relations, and to open borders. We think this will contribute not only to relations between Turkey and Armenia but also to peace, stability and security of a region full of 'frozen' problems".
On October 22 U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and John Ensign, the two important supporters of Armenian lobby, introduced the resolution calling on the Senate to recognize allegations regarding 1915 incidents.
So the "solution" is to let nationalists and racists expose the "democratization and peace process" with peace groups and hard work to spoil it? This "Armenian issue" is a #¤# "Tool" for some...Isn´t it..We mean..What the hell of a "Timing"!
To get Turkey and Armenia into a new course there is need to recognize wrong doings! With the Armenian people! Not with the U.S. or any ones else...And it will sure not be better or give any solutions to get out and kill some Kurds and let loose the racists while the ship is leaking!
25 oktober -Ambassador Şensoy describes Armenian resolution as unfortunate. Turkey's Ambassador in Washington D.C. Nabi Şensoy on Sunday described a resolution introduced to the U.S. Senate regarding 1915 incidents as "unfortunate". On a Voice of America television news segment, Şensoy said introduction of the resolution calling on Armenian allegations to be recognized was "extremely wrong". "Before all, this was not an unexpected development. I don't think it was the right time to take this step since the resolution was introduced immediately after the signing of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. It is wrong and sad. I am hopeful that the resolution will not reach the Senate floor. Asked to comment on stance of U.S. President Barack Obama regarding Armenian allegations, Ambassador Şensoy said Obama did not include such an allegation in his speech on April 24. Referring to relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and U.S. stance on the matter, Şensoy said, "before all we think it will extremely beneficial to put relations between Turkey and Armenia into a new course thanks to this protocol, establish diplomatic relations, and to open borders. We think this will contribute not only to relations between Turkey and Armenia but also to peace, stability and security of a region full of 'frozen' problems".
On October 22 U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and John Ensign, the two important supporters of Armenian lobby, introduced the resolution calling on the Senate to recognize allegations regarding 1915 incidents.
So the "solution" is to let nationalists and racists expose the "democratization and peace process" with peace groups and hard work to spoil it? This "Armenian issue" is a #¤# "Tool" for some...Isn´t it..We mean..What the hell of a "Timing"!
To get Turkey and Armenia into a new course there is need to recognize wrong doings! With the Armenian people! Not with the U.S. or any ones else...And it will sure not be better or give any solutions to get out and kill some Kurds and let loose the racists while the ship is leaking!
So...While Turkey is under water..
In accordance with the unilateral non-action decision taken by our movement, in the month of October, the Turkish state army have carried out 35 military destruction operations against our forces. As a result of greater awareness of the our guerrillas, only 4 unwanted clashes occurred of these military operations, and our forces have not taken any planned actions during this month.
During the month of October, against our Northern States as well as against the Medya Defence Areas, a total of 27 canon and 7 air-strikes made by the Turkish state, and as a result of these attacks the total of 13 of our comrades martyred. Also, 1 on the Iranian border and 1 in Van, total of 2 of our patriotics slaughtered by the Iranian and Turkish armies. In the month of October, Turkish state army have planted land mines in different parts of Kurdistan and as a result of explosion of one these land mines 1 civilian have been wounded. Again, many civilian settlements, gardens have been damaged, dozens of animals wasted and the geography of Kurdistan burnt as a result of the howitzer and mortar attacks carried out by the Turkish state army.
The total military operations carried out by TSK: 35
The total air strike made by TSK: 7 (3 in Hakkari,2 in Dersim,2 in Bingol)
The total obus and mortars attacks taken by TSK: 27
(5 in Hakkari, 1 in Sirnak, 14 in Zap, 4 in Haftanin, 3 in Zagros)
The total unwanted clashes occurred during military operations of TSK: 4
The total no. of actions taken by HPG: None
The total no. of Martryed guerrillas: 13
The total no. of slaugtered Kurdish patriots: 2
...
Aswat al-Iraq: Many of those involved in last Sunday’s bombings that targeted governmental institutions in Baghdad were arrested, Ali al-Allaq, the secretary general of the Iraqi Council of Ministers, said on Wednesday. “The arrests were carried out by Iraqi security forces,” al-Allaq told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said those who have been arrested so far are Iraqis, but “neighboring countries provided big support to bombers to carry out the blasts.”
The Iraqi cabinet’s secretary general on Wednesday revealed attempts by the Iraqi government to convince European countries to host the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), which is currently based in Iraq. “Iran has called on Iraq to hand over the PMOI’s members, but the Iraqi government does not want to force them to go to a country against their wishes. Ali al-Allaq said in an exclusive statement to Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“There is no justification for the organization’s members to remain in Iraq,” Allaq added. The official explained that it is not possible for the Iraqi government to look after the PMOI’s members, who are taking refuge in the country, at a time it declares security and reconstruction as its top priorities.
The Iraqi cabinet’s secretary general on Wednesday revealed attempts by the Iraqi government to convince European countries to host the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), which is currently based in Iraq. “Iran has called on Iraq to hand over the PMOI’s members, but the Iraqi government does not want to force them to go to a country against their wishes. Ali al-Allaq said in an exclusive statement to Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“There is no justification for the organization’s members to remain in Iraq,” Allaq added. The official explained that it is not possible for the Iraqi government to look after the PMOI’s members, who are taking refuge in the country, at a time it declares security and reconstruction as its top priorities.
One do not need to bee a genius to figure out that some one being so unpopular can not have had that many votes
NCRI - Students at the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran staged an protest on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, for the fifth day in a row. They chanted anti-regime slogans, including, “death to you” and “victory is inevitable, death to this deceptive government.”
November 4, 2009- Since this morning, thousands of Tehran residents had gathered in Heft-e Tir Square and Taleqani Street and were moving ahead to join the demonstration. In addition to massive presence of suppressive forces on the way of demonstration, anti-riot water cannon vehicles were also stationed on streets leading to Haft-e Tir Square to confront protestors. Despite these measures, people are not deterred and side walks and pedestrians were filled with crowd. On Wednesday, cities across the country were the scene of anti-regime demonstrations and clashes.
Women and girls participated in November 4 mass demonstrations. In Tehran University, female students formed human chains. During the anti-regime protest in Karim Khan Zand Street in Tehran, a young woman was attacked by Bassij forces that arrested her. In Northern Mofateh Street and the beginning of Modarress Street, Bassij paramilitary forces attacked demonstrators and insulted them and arrested many women and girls. In Azadi Square and streets of Azadi and Jamalzadeh, anti-riot units and forces arrested many girls and women and injured many more.
Thousands of Tehran University students chanted “Death to dictator,” on Wednesday. The sounds of their protest could be heard outside the campus and in Enqelab Square. Anti-riot and Herassat (universities security) forces were stationed in Quds and 16th of Azar streets to control the protests by students. The cell phone network in the area is turned off. In Karim Khan Zand Street the forces brutally attacked the crowd to disperse them. They beat and injure elderly people and children. Seven people were arrested in Karim Khan Zand Street. Thousands of Tehran residents gathered in streets to protest the mullahs rule. The protests were held despite harsh security measures by the regime to prevent them. Simultaneous with Tehran demonstrations, people protested against mullahs’ regime in various cities. The regime, since this morning, has sabotaged many public and freely available services such as e-mails and messaging services including ISPs and ADSL services in Tehran and other cities, to cripple public communications. Students in Tehran and Sharif universities brought down their universities’ gates and joined people’s demonstration in the capital. The universities were surrounded by security forces and gates were shut in order to prevent students to get out on streets to join today’s planned anti-regime demonstration. Students chanted “Death to dictator” and “We will fight, we will die but will take Iran back.”
Chahar Bagh Street, Si-o-se Pol Bridge and Darvazeh Shirz in Esfahan were the scenes of demonstrations by thousands of protesters chanting “Death dictator.” The suppressive forces hit demonstrators in their heads and faces with batons in such a way that they could be identified later and arrested. At around 10 am local time, suppressive units and plainclothes agents tried to prevent thousands of students to go out of the university premises to join demonstrators. Students were chanting anti-regime slogans while they were surrounded by forces. Intense clashes were reported near eastern gate of Esfahan University. Bassij and plainclothes agents tried to disperse the crowd by firing into protesters.
In Tabriz, protestors gathered at Ab-Resan junction. Thousands of students also staged a protest inside Tabriz University. At the entrance of the University, anti-riot and security forces clampdown on students. In Orumieh, students and people staged a protest in Khayam Square. Forces viciously clampdown on demonstrators wounding many. In Lahijan, students and people started their protest from Azad and Payame Noor universities and continued on to Martyrs and Azadegan squares chanting anti-government slogans. About 2,000 demonstrated in Qazvin in Park Shaqayegh. Alireza Afshar, Deputy Interior Minister in Cultural Affairs, who was planning to deliver a speech on the subject of November 4 at Qazvin University, had to flee the scene as students opposed his presence and chanted anti-regime slogans. In Ilam, forces arrested those who were filming the demonstration. Regime’s henchmen tried to disperse people by beating and shooting plastic bullets. They followed students house to house to arrest them.
People demonstrated against the regime and clashed with forces in Tehran and other cities. Anti-riot forces clashed with people in streets. During the brutal attacks a number of protesters were injured and many arrested. Clashes between clerical regime’s forces and demonstrators in various parts of Tehran continued through afternoon. In Shiraz people demonstrated against the regime and clashed with forces. Demonstrators were attacked in Namazi and Eram squares by more than 50 security forces and masked motorcyclists. They tried to encircle protestors. In Shiraz’s Pardis Square, students holding placards and chanting anti-government slogans were attacked. Angry protestors clashed with regime henchmen when plainclothes agents and mullahs’ intelligence ministry elements started filming and taking pictures of the crowd for identification. During these clashes, forces used firearms and beat and arrested the students. Over 20 arrests have been reported and many more injured and two have been reported in critical condition.
In Shiraz 25 arrested and 100 wounded. In Shirz, thousands demonstrated in Shahcheraq Street chanting “Death to dictator.” A large crowd gathered in Namazi and Alam square, and Setad Roundabout and chanted anti-regime slogans. Anti-riot forces used teargas to disperse demonstrators in Shiraz. At least 25 have been arrested so far. Courageous young people in Shiraz prevented forces from taking away a woman held captive. At least 100 have been wounded in clashes, some by gun shots.
In Mashhad, demonstrations started from Falakeh Ab Square and Khosravi Street this morning. The forces opened fire on demonstrators in Tehran’s Beheshti Street, injuring at least two, according to eye witnesses. In Haft-e Tir Square forces attacked people and fired tear gas. At least 35 demonstrators have been arrested and taken to Al-Javad Mosque. Clashes in Haft-e Tir Square and streets around it continued lunch time Tehran. In Mashhad, students in Ferdowsi University chanted “Death to dictator.” Local people demonstrated around Vakil Abad, Falakeh Ab Square and Khosravi Street.
Anti-riot forces clash with people in streets of Tehran leading to Haft-e Tir square and Karim Khan Zand street to prevent them from joining the anti-regime demonstrations. During the brutal attack people were chanting ”Death to dictator.” A number of protesters were injured in clashes. Sounds of gunshots were heard from Haft-e Tir square. Clashes are also reported in streets of Northern, Eastern and Western Motahari and around former American Embassy. Forces of Special Units and the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) which were based in Shiroudi Stadium had been dispatched Motahari and Karim Khan Zand streets and Haft-e Tir Square.
Demonstrations spread to other cities across the country. In Ahvaz, Students from Chamran University staged protest and chanted anti-regime slogans such as “Death to dictator,” “Don’t fear, Don’t fear, we are all together” and “No to East, no to West, just Iranian Republic.” Agents of the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) operating through ‘Herasat,’ the university security, shut all the gates and prevented students leaving the premises.
In Khorramabad, local people demonstrated in front of the city’s Mosalla. In defiance of the slogans used by agents of the regime, people were chanting anti-regime slogans. The regime’s agents who had amassed in the city prevented people from filming the demonstration in fear of spread of the news of people’s protest.
Students’ gathering in Boroujerd University and people of the city were brutally attacked by Bassij paramilitary forces. Agents of the regime tried to intimidate them by taking their films and photos to be identified at a later stage.
In Tabriz, the suppressive forces including anti-riot units, plainclothes agents, and motorcyclists showed an unprecedented presence in streets. On a narrow path were crowed was pressed together they suddenly attacked and fired teargas and pepper-gas among protesters and wounded many of them. At least eight protesters including one woman were arrested. A man who was trying to help his friend was also arrested. Detainees have been transferred to a hotel where regime henchmen stayed. It is said that three of the detainees remain in critical condition due to brutal beatings.
University students in Hamedan staged a protest in a university hall. Their anti-government slogans could be heard throughout the university. In Sistan, the suppressive forces swarmed a protest gathering at the Industrial University. Some students were arrested and taken to an unknown location.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 4, 2009
November 4, 2009- Since this morning, thousands of Tehran residents had gathered in Heft-e Tir Square and Taleqani Street and were moving ahead to join the demonstration. In addition to massive presence of suppressive forces on the way of demonstration, anti-riot water cannon vehicles were also stationed on streets leading to Haft-e Tir Square to confront protestors. Despite these measures, people are not deterred and side walks and pedestrians were filled with crowd. On Wednesday, cities across the country were the scene of anti-regime demonstrations and clashes.
Women and girls participated in November 4 mass demonstrations. In Tehran University, female students formed human chains. During the anti-regime protest in Karim Khan Zand Street in Tehran, a young woman was attacked by Bassij forces that arrested her. In Northern Mofateh Street and the beginning of Modarress Street, Bassij paramilitary forces attacked demonstrators and insulted them and arrested many women and girls. In Azadi Square and streets of Azadi and Jamalzadeh, anti-riot units and forces arrested many girls and women and injured many more.
Thousands of Tehran University students chanted “Death to dictator,” on Wednesday. The sounds of their protest could be heard outside the campus and in Enqelab Square. Anti-riot and Herassat (universities security) forces were stationed in Quds and 16th of Azar streets to control the protests by students. The cell phone network in the area is turned off. In Karim Khan Zand Street the forces brutally attacked the crowd to disperse them. They beat and injure elderly people and children. Seven people were arrested in Karim Khan Zand Street. Thousands of Tehran residents gathered in streets to protest the mullahs rule. The protests were held despite harsh security measures by the regime to prevent them. Simultaneous with Tehran demonstrations, people protested against mullahs’ regime in various cities. The regime, since this morning, has sabotaged many public and freely available services such as e-mails and messaging services including ISPs and ADSL services in Tehran and other cities, to cripple public communications. Students in Tehran and Sharif universities brought down their universities’ gates and joined people’s demonstration in the capital. The universities were surrounded by security forces and gates were shut in order to prevent students to get out on streets to join today’s planned anti-regime demonstration. Students chanted “Death to dictator” and “We will fight, we will die but will take Iran back.”
Chahar Bagh Street, Si-o-se Pol Bridge and Darvazeh Shirz in Esfahan were the scenes of demonstrations by thousands of protesters chanting “Death dictator.” The suppressive forces hit demonstrators in their heads and faces with batons in such a way that they could be identified later and arrested. At around 10 am local time, suppressive units and plainclothes agents tried to prevent thousands of students to go out of the university premises to join demonstrators. Students were chanting anti-regime slogans while they were surrounded by forces. Intense clashes were reported near eastern gate of Esfahan University. Bassij and plainclothes agents tried to disperse the crowd by firing into protesters.
In Tabriz, protestors gathered at Ab-Resan junction. Thousands of students also staged a protest inside Tabriz University. At the entrance of the University, anti-riot and security forces clampdown on students. In Orumieh, students and people staged a protest in Khayam Square. Forces viciously clampdown on demonstrators wounding many. In Lahijan, students and people started their protest from Azad and Payame Noor universities and continued on to Martyrs and Azadegan squares chanting anti-government slogans. About 2,000 demonstrated in Qazvin in Park Shaqayegh. Alireza Afshar, Deputy Interior Minister in Cultural Affairs, who was planning to deliver a speech on the subject of November 4 at Qazvin University, had to flee the scene as students opposed his presence and chanted anti-regime slogans. In Ilam, forces arrested those who were filming the demonstration. Regime’s henchmen tried to disperse people by beating and shooting plastic bullets. They followed students house to house to arrest them.
People demonstrated against the regime and clashed with forces in Tehran and other cities. Anti-riot forces clashed with people in streets. During the brutal attacks a number of protesters were injured and many arrested. Clashes between clerical regime’s forces and demonstrators in various parts of Tehran continued through afternoon. In Shiraz people demonstrated against the regime and clashed with forces. Demonstrators were attacked in Namazi and Eram squares by more than 50 security forces and masked motorcyclists. They tried to encircle protestors. In Shiraz’s Pardis Square, students holding placards and chanting anti-government slogans were attacked. Angry protestors clashed with regime henchmen when plainclothes agents and mullahs’ intelligence ministry elements started filming and taking pictures of the crowd for identification. During these clashes, forces used firearms and beat and arrested the students. Over 20 arrests have been reported and many more injured and two have been reported in critical condition.
In Shiraz 25 arrested and 100 wounded. In Shirz, thousands demonstrated in Shahcheraq Street chanting “Death to dictator.” A large crowd gathered in Namazi and Alam square, and Setad Roundabout and chanted anti-regime slogans. Anti-riot forces used teargas to disperse demonstrators in Shiraz. At least 25 have been arrested so far. Courageous young people in Shiraz prevented forces from taking away a woman held captive. At least 100 have been wounded in clashes, some by gun shots.
In Mashhad, demonstrations started from Falakeh Ab Square and Khosravi Street this morning. The forces opened fire on demonstrators in Tehran’s Beheshti Street, injuring at least two, according to eye witnesses. In Haft-e Tir Square forces attacked people and fired tear gas. At least 35 demonstrators have been arrested and taken to Al-Javad Mosque. Clashes in Haft-e Tir Square and streets around it continued lunch time Tehran. In Mashhad, students in Ferdowsi University chanted “Death to dictator.” Local people demonstrated around Vakil Abad, Falakeh Ab Square and Khosravi Street.
Anti-riot forces clash with people in streets of Tehran leading to Haft-e Tir square and Karim Khan Zand street to prevent them from joining the anti-regime demonstrations. During the brutal attack people were chanting ”Death to dictator.” A number of protesters were injured in clashes. Sounds of gunshots were heard from Haft-e Tir square. Clashes are also reported in streets of Northern, Eastern and Western Motahari and around former American Embassy. Forces of Special Units and the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) which were based in Shiroudi Stadium had been dispatched Motahari and Karim Khan Zand streets and Haft-e Tir Square.
Demonstrations spread to other cities across the country. In Ahvaz, Students from Chamran University staged protest and chanted anti-regime slogans such as “Death to dictator,” “Don’t fear, Don’t fear, we are all together” and “No to East, no to West, just Iranian Republic.” Agents of the mullahs’ Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) operating through ‘Herasat,’ the university security, shut all the gates and prevented students leaving the premises.
In Khorramabad, local people demonstrated in front of the city’s Mosalla. In defiance of the slogans used by agents of the regime, people were chanting anti-regime slogans. The regime’s agents who had amassed in the city prevented people from filming the demonstration in fear of spread of the news of people’s protest.
Students’ gathering in Boroujerd University and people of the city were brutally attacked by Bassij paramilitary forces. Agents of the regime tried to intimidate them by taking their films and photos to be identified at a later stage.
In Tabriz, the suppressive forces including anti-riot units, plainclothes agents, and motorcyclists showed an unprecedented presence in streets. On a narrow path were crowed was pressed together they suddenly attacked and fired teargas and pepper-gas among protesters and wounded many of them. At least eight protesters including one woman were arrested. A man who was trying to help his friend was also arrested. Detainees have been transferred to a hotel where regime henchmen stayed. It is said that three of the detainees remain in critical condition due to brutal beatings.
University students in Hamedan staged a protest in a university hall. Their anti-government slogans could be heard throughout the university. In Sistan, the suppressive forces swarmed a protest gathering at the Industrial University. Some students were arrested and taken to an unknown location.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
November 4, 2009
There will be no #¤# "next war"!
Al-Qassam Brigades: "Ready to resist next Israeli war."
There will be no more #¤ "next wars" #¤# Idiots! There will never, ever be a ¤%¤ "war"! So every one in Syria, Iran, Israel and every where else including "brigades" shall find something else to do immediately! #¤# Idiots!
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli naval forces shot a Palestinian fisherman on Wednesday whilst he was fishing near Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The Agriculture Ministry in Gaza stated that fisherman Bilal Muhammad An-Najjar, 20, was shot in the stomach by Israeli naval officers. The ministry stated that An-Najjar was fishing one km from the Rafah shore line and was taken to Abu Yousef Najjar Hospital, describing his injuries as moderate. Additionally, the ministry remarked that the Israeli occupation holds responsibility for the fishermen’s lives. Israeli military officials said they were investigating the claim.
There will be no more #¤ "next wars" so why the hell are you shooting a fisherman? #¤# Idiots! You are #¤# to much! Where the hell do you think you are? On some private planet ruling all of it by yourselves?
Ma’an – Landscapers in what will some day be Rawabi city, a planned community six kilometers north of Ramallah, were ordered by Israeli forces to stop planting more than 2,000 trees ordered for part of the project's "Grow for a Greener Palestine" program on Wednesday. The soldiers told workers tree planting was illegal because the area in question was "Area C" and under Israeli civil and military control. As such, they said, there was no work permitted in the area. Rawabi is a 200 million US dollar Qatari-backed initiative of Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri, who told the Middle East North Africa Financial Network (MENAFN) in 2007 that "The land on which Rawabi will be built is a 20 to 25 minute drive from the city of Ramallah and is located in an area under the control of the Palestinian Authority."The area, planned since 2005, bought the land for development in 2006 and by 2007 had announced plans via the Bayti Real Estate Development Company. At the time it was expected to break ground in 2008.
Though Rawabi spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment, locals say the tree planting was the first work done by developers on the site. In July, Middle East Envoy for the Quartet Tony Blair visited the Bayti offices to discuss development of the Rawabi project. According to a press release from the company following the visit, "Blair spoke with clear enthusiasm about the project’s progress and committed his support in advancing its vision and its significant economic implications."
Workers were planting trees as a first stage of the project, which promises to be Palestine's first "green city." "The vision is for Rawabi to serve as a prototype of the first Palestinian green city and ultimately, to guarantee a higher quality of life for present and future generations," public relations material for the site says. At the site, one tree-planter, a worker from the Ramallah area, said an Israeli solder gestured to the Ateret settlement, more than four kilometers away but visible from the hilltop where Rawabi will be built. According to the worker, the soldier told the group that they were not allowed to be in the area because of the settlement. Once the soldiers left, however, the workers continued planting the trees.
There will be no more #¤ "next wars" #¤# Idiots! There will never, ever be a ¤%¤ "war"! So every one in Syria, Iran, Israel and every where else including "brigades" shall find something else to do immediately! #¤# Idiots!
Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli naval forces shot a Palestinian fisherman on Wednesday whilst he was fishing near Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The Agriculture Ministry in Gaza stated that fisherman Bilal Muhammad An-Najjar, 20, was shot in the stomach by Israeli naval officers. The ministry stated that An-Najjar was fishing one km from the Rafah shore line and was taken to Abu Yousef Najjar Hospital, describing his injuries as moderate. Additionally, the ministry remarked that the Israeli occupation holds responsibility for the fishermen’s lives. Israeli military officials said they were investigating the claim.
There will be no more #¤ "next wars" so why the hell are you shooting a fisherman? #¤# Idiots! You are #¤# to much! Where the hell do you think you are? On some private planet ruling all of it by yourselves?
Ma’an – Landscapers in what will some day be Rawabi city, a planned community six kilometers north of Ramallah, were ordered by Israeli forces to stop planting more than 2,000 trees ordered for part of the project's "Grow for a Greener Palestine" program on Wednesday. The soldiers told workers tree planting was illegal because the area in question was "Area C" and under Israeli civil and military control. As such, they said, there was no work permitted in the area. Rawabi is a 200 million US dollar Qatari-backed initiative of Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri, who told the Middle East North Africa Financial Network (MENAFN) in 2007 that "The land on which Rawabi will be built is a 20 to 25 minute drive from the city of Ramallah and is located in an area under the control of the Palestinian Authority."The area, planned since 2005, bought the land for development in 2006 and by 2007 had announced plans via the Bayti Real Estate Development Company. At the time it was expected to break ground in 2008.
Though Rawabi spokespeople could not immediately be reached for comment, locals say the tree planting was the first work done by developers on the site. In July, Middle East Envoy for the Quartet Tony Blair visited the Bayti offices to discuss development of the Rawabi project. According to a press release from the company following the visit, "Blair spoke with clear enthusiasm about the project’s progress and committed his support in advancing its vision and its significant economic implications."
Workers were planting trees as a first stage of the project, which promises to be Palestine's first "green city." "The vision is for Rawabi to serve as a prototype of the first Palestinian green city and ultimately, to guarantee a higher quality of life for present and future generations," public relations material for the site says. At the site, one tree-planter, a worker from the Ramallah area, said an Israeli solder gestured to the Ateret settlement, more than four kilometers away but visible from the hilltop where Rawabi will be built. According to the worker, the soldier told the group that they were not allowed to be in the area because of the settlement. Once the soldiers left, however, the workers continued planting the trees.
The Kurds have declared their desire for peace.
‘The real aim is annihilation’ said Kurdish Peoples Leader Abdullah, and called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be ‘serious.’ Öcalan indicated that Erdogan was attempting to play several different roles, he emphasised that ‘the Kurds wouldn’t concede this goal.’ Öcalan continued by saying that the last stage of the expansion was one of trickery and deception and suggested that the rights given by France to Corsica should also be granted to the Kurds.
PEACE NEEDS SERIOUSNESS
Stating that peace was a serious business and respect needed to be shown to it, Öcalan said: ‘‘This is not a game, it needs a serious approach. It needs respect. The arrival of the peace groups and the Kurdish peoples’ reception and honourable stance has uncovered the government’s real face and intentions. The people who went to greet them were not just DTP or PKK sympathisers. AKP supporters also went.
This situation is not one that can be conducted with the fear of losing votes. Peace needs seriousness. I would like to thank all the friends who complied with my call and came. With the arrival of these groups and the response of the Kurdish people, we have shown that we are in favour of peace. The Kurds have declared their desire for peace. However, the government has not responded to this in a serious manner. This will not do. On one side the Interior Minister is saying one thing, on the other the families of martyred Turkish soldiers are going to Parliament and meeting with the President of the Assembly and talking disrespectfully and insultingly, saying it is terror and such like.
Underlining that the AKP were not serious about peace, Öcalan called on Prime Minister Erdogan to show some seriousness. Öcalan said, ‘‘The AKP is not serious. Being a statesman is a serious business. Peace is a serious business, the AKP is not sincere, they do not want peace. The point that this expansion process has reached is one of trickery and deception. Once again they are attempting to scapegoat the Kurds for what has happened. Their approach is like trying to trick a fifteen year old girl. This is the approach they are taking with me. However, they will not succeed. They are saying we will reassess the process; it cannot go on like this. I am calling on Erdogan for some seriousness.
‘‘What does ‘we will start over’ mean? They are not serious or sincere for peace. Their only aim is annihilation. The Prime Minister has no right to act emotionally. I have been kept here for 10 years as the most isolated person on the planet and still I do not act emotionally even in my hardest moment. The peace process cannot be conducted out of concern for votes. They are still worried about their seats. They think by supposedly using me they can solve this problem according to their own wishes. They cannot use me in this way. The expansion is a lie, the real aim is to annihilate the PKK.’’
THE TURKISH SUPRA-IDENTITY IS A HORROR
‘‘Baskin Oran in one of his works says ‘the Turkish supra-identity is frightening.’ It is a judgment that has come too late. He has probably read my writings; he has his own studies as well. He is saying this and so am I. Furthermore there is no real Turkishness in the Turkish identity. Yes, the Turkish supra-identity is frightening; I am calling it a horror. The Turkish supra-identity is being forced upon all the Peoples of Turkey. Using this Turkish supra-identity they have tried creating a dress that is too tight for all the Peoples left over from the Ottoman Empire. They are trying to fit in 10, 20 people in a dress that is too tight and too thick and bound by stiff and permanent laws. By doing this they tried to dissolve cultures and create a compound.’’
There have been approaches to force me to retreat, solitary confinement, physical intervention and such like. However I didn’t retreat, I will not. Regardless of whether I live or die the Kurds will not accept, should not accept anything apart from an honourable peace, they will protect their freedom. The Kurdish people have come to this point. Also they cannot annihilate the PKK by attempting to use me, it is impossible.’’
‘‘There was a girl who was teaching children Kurdish in Diyarbakir, her name was Medya. This 12 year old girl was teaching her mother tongue. A prosecutor of Turkey couldn’t even tolerate this. An investigation was begun. Your prosecutor cannot even tolerate the Kurds learning their mother tongue; is this an expansion? The Kurds learning their language is not even being tolerated. This is cultural genocide. Where in the world can you find such a thing? Even Hitler didn’t do such a thing.’’
It will suffice if they recognise the rights France, who they take as an example, has given to Corsica. Was France’s unitary structure destroyed when they granted the Corsican’s their freedom, rights and territorial autonomy? No. They are not even allowing Kurds to learn their mother tongue.’’
NOTHING APART FROM AN HONOURABLE PEACE CAN BE ACCEPTED
‘‘It is evident from the arrival of the peace groups that I am still capable of convincing the PKK to put down their weapons. They listen to me, they are loyal to me. I have carried out all that is my responsibility for a democratic resolution and peace. The Kurdish people are honourable; they will not accept anything apart from an honourable peace. The Kurds’ will for peace has been formed. We must not let those against peace be victorious. As I have said, I may die here, or be killed. With or without me the Kurds and the Kurdish Movement have come to the point where they can make their own decisions and not compromise their freedom and honour. I cannot make decisions here, I will not. This decision can only be made by the PKK.’’
PEACE NEEDS SERIOUSNESS
Stating that peace was a serious business and respect needed to be shown to it, Öcalan said: ‘‘This is not a game, it needs a serious approach. It needs respect. The arrival of the peace groups and the Kurdish peoples’ reception and honourable stance has uncovered the government’s real face and intentions. The people who went to greet them were not just DTP or PKK sympathisers. AKP supporters also went.
This situation is not one that can be conducted with the fear of losing votes. Peace needs seriousness. I would like to thank all the friends who complied with my call and came. With the arrival of these groups and the response of the Kurdish people, we have shown that we are in favour of peace. The Kurds have declared their desire for peace. However, the government has not responded to this in a serious manner. This will not do. On one side the Interior Minister is saying one thing, on the other the families of martyred Turkish soldiers are going to Parliament and meeting with the President of the Assembly and talking disrespectfully and insultingly, saying it is terror and such like.
Underlining that the AKP were not serious about peace, Öcalan called on Prime Minister Erdogan to show some seriousness. Öcalan said, ‘‘The AKP is not serious. Being a statesman is a serious business. Peace is a serious business, the AKP is not sincere, they do not want peace. The point that this expansion process has reached is one of trickery and deception. Once again they are attempting to scapegoat the Kurds for what has happened. Their approach is like trying to trick a fifteen year old girl. This is the approach they are taking with me. However, they will not succeed. They are saying we will reassess the process; it cannot go on like this. I am calling on Erdogan for some seriousness.
‘‘What does ‘we will start over’ mean? They are not serious or sincere for peace. Their only aim is annihilation. The Prime Minister has no right to act emotionally. I have been kept here for 10 years as the most isolated person on the planet and still I do not act emotionally even in my hardest moment. The peace process cannot be conducted out of concern for votes. They are still worried about their seats. They think by supposedly using me they can solve this problem according to their own wishes. They cannot use me in this way. The expansion is a lie, the real aim is to annihilate the PKK.’’
THE TURKISH SUPRA-IDENTITY IS A HORROR
‘‘Baskin Oran in one of his works says ‘the Turkish supra-identity is frightening.’ It is a judgment that has come too late. He has probably read my writings; he has his own studies as well. He is saying this and so am I. Furthermore there is no real Turkishness in the Turkish identity. Yes, the Turkish supra-identity is frightening; I am calling it a horror. The Turkish supra-identity is being forced upon all the Peoples of Turkey. Using this Turkish supra-identity they have tried creating a dress that is too tight for all the Peoples left over from the Ottoman Empire. They are trying to fit in 10, 20 people in a dress that is too tight and too thick and bound by stiff and permanent laws. By doing this they tried to dissolve cultures and create a compound.’’
There have been approaches to force me to retreat, solitary confinement, physical intervention and such like. However I didn’t retreat, I will not. Regardless of whether I live or die the Kurds will not accept, should not accept anything apart from an honourable peace, they will protect their freedom. The Kurdish people have come to this point. Also they cannot annihilate the PKK by attempting to use me, it is impossible.’’
‘‘There was a girl who was teaching children Kurdish in Diyarbakir, her name was Medya. This 12 year old girl was teaching her mother tongue. A prosecutor of Turkey couldn’t even tolerate this. An investigation was begun. Your prosecutor cannot even tolerate the Kurds learning their mother tongue; is this an expansion? The Kurds learning their language is not even being tolerated. This is cultural genocide. Where in the world can you find such a thing? Even Hitler didn’t do such a thing.’’
It will suffice if they recognise the rights France, who they take as an example, has given to Corsica. Was France’s unitary structure destroyed when they granted the Corsican’s their freedom, rights and territorial autonomy? No. They are not even allowing Kurds to learn their mother tongue.’’
NOTHING APART FROM AN HONOURABLE PEACE CAN BE ACCEPTED
‘‘It is evident from the arrival of the peace groups that I am still capable of convincing the PKK to put down their weapons. They listen to me, they are loyal to me. I have carried out all that is my responsibility for a democratic resolution and peace. The Kurdish people are honourable; they will not accept anything apart from an honourable peace. The Kurds’ will for peace has been formed. We must not let those against peace be victorious. As I have said, I may die here, or be killed. With or without me the Kurds and the Kurdish Movement have come to the point where they can make their own decisions and not compromise their freedom and honour. I cannot make decisions here, I will not. This decision can only be made by the PKK.’’
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