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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.
Welcome to the Jungle
Dr. Saeb Shaath
What does Israel want more than Palestinians Blood?
After all the killing and destruction of its genocidal war on Gaza, blood-drenched Israel still wants to control the air that Gazans breathe; to control what they eat and drink; to control what materials they may use to rebuild with their flattened suburbs.
Hasbaranalysis: ‘Operation Hamas Moderation’
DetainThis
Yesterday's media critique — "Who needs hasbara when you have AP 'analysis'?" — exposed a few major but subtle tendencies in Associated Press Israel-Palestine coverage that should leave no doubt who is buttering AP's bread. But just in case, the following is a point-by-point critique of today's "analysis" under the same byline: Steve Gutkin, bureau chief for the W. Jerusalem bureau. The report, "Analysis: US, Israel could coax Hamas to moderate," [1] opens:
Postwar Gaza could become a test of President Barack Obama's inauguration speech offer to Muslims to "extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
Only, His Majesty wasn't directing that part of his collectivist hypocrisy toward "Muslims," as AP's own transcription shows:
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. [2]
Apparently to Gutkin, Muslims in general don't deserve "mutual interest and mutual respect" because they all "cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent." This subtle if unintentional tinge of Gutkin's Zionist colors sets the tone for the balance of his hasbara-laden U.S.-Israeli policy paper disguised as news analysis.
Al Nakba Redux
Stephen Lendman
For Palestinians, the Nakba "Catastrophe" is their "Holocaust" six-month slaughter and displacement before and after the May 1948 establishment of Israel. In December 1947, Jews in Palestine numbered 600,000 compared to 1.3 million Palestinians. David Ben-Gurion ordered them removed and for "Every attack....to end with occupation, destruction and expulsion."
He meant depopulation, destruction, mass slaughter, displacement, and erasing a proud people's history. Palestine was to become Israel. Most of the job was completed, more in 1967, and thereafter incrementally until total dispossession is achieved. Gaza is the latest battleground. More ahead is planned. The struggle for liberation continues.
The Transfer of Lethal Power
Arun Shrivastava
This is the first time I watched the inauguration of any US President. My interest was fired more because of an increasing network of very concerned American friends who want a more humane society: for themselves and for the rest of the world.
Watching from half a world away, the entire drama was worth a stock shot. Many people waving flags, some in solemn contemplation, and others with a ray of hope that better days are here again and bad old days are gone.
Obama was consistent. He turned out to be the epitome of a political class that has perfected the art of saying much without meaning anything serious. Perhaps, instead of Aretha Franklin and Yo Yo Ma, Gilad Atzmon could have done a better job with his gut wrenching 'Pizza On The Park' and added some realism to the grand US$170-million political opera. Solemn occasions demand soul and a bit of classical to pacify the troubled souls of the glitterati and the chatteratti. The democracy was shivering, and clapping to keep warm, while the soulless sociopaths were jingling their diamonds and pearls, whispering inanities to each other, for jobs consistently well done. Here was another.
Why God does not belong at inaugurations
Mary Shaw
Inauguration Day 2009 was almost perfect. I'm still moved by it all.
I was impressed by the fact that an African American became President of the United States of America in my lifetime.
I was impressed by the crowd of almost two million people who braved the brutally cold weather to stand for hours and hours in Washington, DC, to witness history in the making.
WASHINGTON PARTIES as CARNAGE CONTINUES through 'ceasefire' Day 24
Carolyn Bennett
In the Twenty-Fourth Day Al Jazeera is reporting “Israeli troops and tanks were on the move on heading away from some key points in Gaza towards the border but it remained unclear whether they would withdraw completely from the Palestinian territory: …The Israeli military says it will not draw up a timetable to leave until rocket fire ceases and will not have a deadline dictated to them by Hamas: … ‘The operation is not over. This is only a holding of fire’.”
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