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For Palestinians, Obama’s Message is Crystal Clear
Ramzy Baroud
When former President George W. Bush departed for his final trip home, that very moment represented an end of a long and unbearable nightmare, one that Bush epitomized until his last day in office.
Americans may decry what we can finally dub as the ‘Bush legacy’, for it brought economic ruin, but also pushed the country into avoidable, if not completely preventable wars, disgracing the collective history of a nation that for far too long imposed its sense of moral authority on the world.
Bashing Venezuelan Democracy
Stephen Lendman
In November/December 2006, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Steve Rendall explained that "Hugo Chavez never had a chance with the US press." It's been a constant since his December 1998 election, and hasn't let up to this day, with language all too familiar:
-- a "would-be-dictator;
-- an autocratic demagogue;
-- a modern caudillo;
Main Core, PROMIS and the Shadow Government pt.1
Ed Encho
"Over the last two weeks I have encountered just such an apocalyptic situation, where I and the Department of Justice have been asked to be part of something that is fundamentally wrong."
(Excerpt from Deputy Attorney General James Comey's draft letter of resignation to President Bush, dated March 16, 2004, which Comey did not in the end send.)
"Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull" (George Orwell: 1984)
I: Main Core and PROMIS
Going back to work
Najwa Sheikh Ahmed, Nusierat Camp, Gaza Strip
The road was dreary, it was the second day after the cease fire was announced, and people started to leave their houses to see what has happened to the other places, I was on the taxi going to my work in Gaza, and all the way I was trying to prepare myself of what I am going to see, the destruction in the houses, the lands, the roads and every thing, but it seems that I was so humble on my expectations, every thing was different starting from Natzarim junction a long to Gaza city, to the destroyed houses, offices, streets, buildings, play grounds, even worship places, the mosques where we found peace and security.
With friends like these
Sherine Bahaa
KHALED AMAYREH, the Al-Ahram Weekly correspondent in the West Bank was arrested Sunday evening by the Preventive Security Forces (PSF) in Hebron. He was released after two days. Amayreh, 52, lives in Dura, 12 miles southwest of Hebron and has worked as the Weekly correspondent since 1997, as well as for a number of other media outlets.
He has a BA in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and an MA in journalism from the University of Southern Illinois. For a long time, he suffered, as do all Palestinians in the occupied territories, being confined by the occupation to his home village.
Not long ago, he was prohibited by Israeli forces from leaving Hebron at an Israeli checkpoint, detained and released only after being threatened for his courageous articles documenting Israeli crimes in the Weekly.
Israel Killed Everything but the Will to Resist
Stephen Lendman
" 'Freedom or death', is the popular Palestinian mantra," wrote Palestine Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Ramzy Baroud in his January 22 article titled "Breaking Gaza's Will: Israel's Enduring Fantasy."
Three weeks of Israeli terror caused about 1400 deaths, over 5500 injured (many seriously), vast destruction throughout Gaza, and Physicians for Human Rights warning that large numbers of wounded may die because hospitals are overloaded and lack basic supplies. Yet Palestinians endure. Their spirit is unbowed and unbroken. Hamas is more popular than ever, and world outrage sustains them.
Obama, Guantánamo, and US hypocrisy
Mickey Z.
Snapshots from the United States of Incarceration…
So, the Pope of Hope announced his (purported) objective of closing the military detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (“Gitmo”) within one year and we’re expected to herald this announcement as a drastic break from the past. But—as some of the regulars on my blog instantly declared—if President Obama were serious about hope and change, he’d close the prison tomorrow, apologize to the detainees, and offer them financial reparations. That could be promptly followed up with the immediate indictment of all government officials (including those in Obama’s administration) responsible for supporting torture, secret prisons, extraordinary rendition, extrajudicial punishment, etc. And why not toss in the immediate closing of the US military base at Guantánamo Bay and the return of that land to Cuba? That, I submit, would be a minuscule first step upon which we could build.
Breaking Gaza’s Will: Israel’s Enduring Fantasy
Ramzy Baroud
My three-year-old son Sammy walked into my room uninvited as I sorted through another batch of fresh photos from Gaza.
I was looking for a specific image, one that would humanise Palestinians as living, breathing human beings, neither masked nor mutilated. But to no avail.
All the photos I received spoke of the reality that is Gaza today - homes, schools and civilian infrastructure bombed beyond description. All the faces were either of dead or dying people.
Tons of Bricks Lighter
Vincent Guarisco
"When authoritarian forces seize control of a government, they typically move first against the public's access to information, under the theory that a confused populace can be more easily manipulated. They take aim at the radio stations, TV and newspapers. In the case of George W. Bush in 2001, he also took aim at historical records, giving himself and his family indefinite control over documents covering the 12 years of his father's terms as President and Vice President. It was, therefore, significant that one of Barack Obama's first acts as President was to revoke the Bush Family's power over that history and to replace it with an easier set of regulations for accessing the records." ~Robert Parry 1/22/09 (Consortium News)
Headline: 'Lebanon benefits from trade'; Intro: 'Poor Israel'
DetainThis
In a news report titled "Lebanon army gets boost from Russian jets," you'd probably expect the opening paragraph to begin and maintain a focus on, say, the Lebanese army and Russian jets.
But then, you probably didn't bargain for The Associated Press.
Slightly delivering on what the headline promised, the January 21 report opens as an Israeli foreign-policy strategist might begin a lecture:
With Israel in a fragile cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza to the south, the army of this tiny country bordering Israel's north is for the first time getting some serious military muscle, including its first fighter jets in decades.
The influx of hardware begins with Russia, which is trying to increase its influence again in the Mideast.
Moscow's decision last month to provide Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets comes at a sensitive time, with Israel just out of its second major armed confrontation in two years against neighboring militant groups. [1]
Entity count (in the order they appear): Paragraph 1 - Israel, Hamas, Gaza, this tiny country, Israel's north; Paragraph 2 - Russia, Mideast; Paragraph 3 - Moscow's decision, Lebanon, Israel, militant groups.
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