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Passengers report abuse as Turkey intercepts Syria jet
Re-posted By Michael Collins, Creative Commons
Image: A Syrian passenger plane which was forced to land sits at Esenboga airport in Ankara October 10, 2012. Turkey scrambled fighter planes to force a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to land in Ankara on Wednesday and banned Turkish civilian aircraft from flying in Syrian airspace, state-run TRT television said. REUTERS/Cem Oksuz/Anadolu Agency
(Beirut, Alakhbar, October 11) Passengers inside a Syrian plane intercepted by Turkish jets Thursday told Russia Today security forces forced the crew and passengers to sign papers suggesting the plane made an emergency landing and that no Turkish military were part of the incident.
“Four people onboard have been beaten up, two crew and two passengers, as they tried to force them to sign documents,” Sherin Azis, a flight attendant told RT by phone.
“If we do not agree to these terms, they will take the captain kind of hostage,” Fatima al-Salman, a passenger and mother of three told RT.
Cooked or Accurate US Employment Numbers?
by Stephen Lendman
For over a decade, US job prospects have been dismal. Since crisis conditions erupted in 2008, they've been dire for millions wanting work.
Since Obama took office in January 2009, job creation has been pathetic. Numbers reported during the weakest US recovery on record largely failed to compensate for others lost.
Monthly Labor Department (BLS) data report inaccurately. America's broken jobs engine isn't explained. The latest 7.8% unemployment rate is blarney. Based on the 1980s calculation model, real unemployment approaches 23%.
NATO Edges Closer to War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
Waging war is easy. Instigate provocative incidents. Blame them on targeted countries. False flags work as planned. So do Big Lies repeated enough times to get most people to believe them.
Stoking fear is a common thread. So is claiming good v. evil. Mix well with misinformation and duplicity. Sun Tzu was right saying wars depend on deception. It's been that way since antiquity. Modern technology makes it easier.
Churchill said lies get halfway around the world before truths get their pants on. Global communication today is instant. Sending hawkish information everywhere is as simple as ready, aim, fire.
Venezuelan Electoral Postmortems
by Stephen Lendman
Chavistas celebrated Sunday's victory. Bolivarianism triumphed over exploitive neoliberal harshness. In open, free, and fair elections, Venezuelans got to choose. It's constitutionally mandated. Every vote counts equally.
Americans don't have that right. On November 6, choice won't be the ballot. Column A matches Column B. Money power chooses candidates and winners. Some election! No wonder half the electorate ops out.
On October 7, Venezuelans turned out in record numbers. Over 80% of registered voters showed up. Turnout was so great, many waited hours to exercise their franchise. It's important because what they say matters. They wanted Chavez for another six years and got him. They want Bolivarianism sustained and deepened.
Cynthia McKinney On Leadership
by Paul Craig Roberts
Those who have followed the Republican campaign for the presidential nomination and current contest between Romney and Obama know that the United States has no political leadership in Washington.
Billions of dollars have been spent on political propaganda, but not a single important issue has been addressed. The closest the campaign has come to a political issue is which candidate can grovel the lowest at the feet of Israeli prime minister Netanyahu. Romney won that contest. But for the rest, well, it is like two elementary school children sticking their tongues out at one another.
The question of US political leadership has been on my mind for some time. I can remember when political leadership still existed and when bipartisan cooperation could be mustered on enough issues to keep the country and the government functioning.
But no more. It might have been Newt Gingrich who, as Speaker of the House, destroyed bipartisan cooperation by making war on the Democratic Party, warfare that Karl Rove has taken to a new height.
Chavez Win Strengthens Bolivarianism
by Stephen Lendman
Several previous articles said Venezuelans won't tolerate going back to their ugly past. On Sunday, they proved it. They voted in record numbers.
Long lines queued hours before dawn. Polls stayed open well into the night so everyone coming out could vote.
Turnout was nearly 81% of Venezuela's 19,119,809 registered voters. US elections usually get around 50%. Off-year congressional races average under 40%.
From 1960 - 2010, the highest percentage participation was 63.1%. It was in 1960 when Kennedy defeated Nixon. The lowest turnout was 49.1% in 1996 when Clinton bested Bob Dole.
In the off-year 2010 congressional election, a meager 37.8% participated. America's electoral process lacks credibility. Duopoly power permits no choice. Big Money always wins.
Venezuelans get the real thing. Their electoral process is the best in the world. It's independently judged open, free and fair. Every vote counts. They're tabulated fully and honestly.
Worrisome Middle East Developments
by Stephen Lendman
Days of Syrian/Turkish border incidents threaten further escalation into something more serious. Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants fired mortar rounds on Turkish territory from Syrian locations they control.
Assad was wrongfully blamed for their provocation. Syria has been very circumspect. It wants tensions cooled. Turkey's Erdogan made hostile threats. Events bear watching.
On Sunday, Israel launched air strikes on Gaza. It wasn't the first time, and won't be the last. One death was reported. Around 10 Palestinians were wounded. Injuries affecting two victims are serious.
In response, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired rockets into southern Israel. No casualties were reported. Israel retaliated in force. Its provocation started things. It wrongfully blamed Palestinians. It bears full responsibility for its crimes.
The Jewish war on Islam
By Khalid Amayreh
There is an undeclared but ferocious Jewish war against Islam going on these days. One would have to be blind and deaf to deny this brazen fact.
In occupied East Jerusalem, government-backed Messianic Jews have been attacking and desecrating Islamic and, to a lesser extent, Christian holy places.
In the last few days, millenarian Jews, protected by para-military Israel police, have been attacking and beating peaceful Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque esplanade. The Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest Islamic site in the world.
According to observers of Israeli behavior in Occupied Jerusalem, the audacity and frequency of Israeli provocations at the Islamic sanctuary increased dramatically in recent weeks.
Syria on the Boil
By Stephen Lendman
What's been ongoing for over 18 months looks all too familiar. It could continue for some time. It took most of the 1990s to fully balkanize Yugoslavia. America was the lead belligerent.
Whether or not Washington plans the same for Syria remains to be seen. Only the fullness of time will tell. For sure regime change is prioritized. Ravaging the country ruthlessly continues.
If full-scale war erupts, perhaps hundreds of thousands may die. America doesn't keep count or care. Unchallenged dominance alone matters.
Mass slaughter and destruction are means to very ugly ends. Whether or not achieved, ruins and human misery testify to America's ruthlessness. That's how imperialism works. It terrorizes humanity everywhere it targets.
Fatima Hajj: Every Palestinian Woman
Louisa Lamb
The author with Fatima Hajj at Mieh-Mieh Palestinian refugee camp in
Saida, Lebanon. Photo: Zeinab Hajj
I woke up early that Sunday morning last May to attend the Nakba Day at Kass-Kass Park, just outside of Shatila Palestinian refugee Camp in Beirut. I made a promise to Doha Abou Jamous—a young Palestinian resident of the Shatila Camp who I interviewed earlier in the week—that I would attend the festival to see her perform her dance recital. This festival war organized by Palestinian camp committees to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the Nakba Catastrophe. The Palestinian Pride festival proved to be especially significant, because in addition to attending the inspiring Kaas-Kass event I accompanied my friend Zeinab to join her on a trip to Saida, where we would interview her grandmother, a 1948 Nakba survivor, in the Mieh Mieh Camp, one of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
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