Commenter Profile

Total number of comments: 88 (since 2011-01-30 15:15:04)

crone

Democrat living in USA, South Carolina - 70 y/o lifetime advocate for peace and justice

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  • P.A. has lost all its meaning -- Abbas
    • crone April 16, 2012 at 10:00 pm

      What planet do you live on?... or, what are you smokin' to have such a point of view?

      Phil wrote a piece called "Denial" - you might want to take a look at it...

  • American Jews won't vote on Israel in 2012 election
    • crone April 13, 2012 at 11:20 am

      there is no logic in your conclusion... it's fallacious

      so much for your effort to paint all Jewish Americans as zionists...

  • Anti-Zionism will reemerge in American Jewish life -- Beinart
    • crone April 14, 2012 at 7:03 pm with 4 replies

      “Jews need a state for self protection. They do not need a state for cultural expression. Meaning: the need for self protection is enough to justify a state (despite the pain it causes to the Palestinians),” --- Wandering Jew

      "Israel" is a concept... just as France or England is... a concept.

      otoh - Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, Jews... are first and foremost... 'human beings.'

      When one fails to see the humanity of the "other" - one has lost a part of their own essence. There are no 'races' - there is only the 'human' race. Our individual rights and freedom end when they mean the loss of rights and freedom of another.

      I found this online:

      "Judaism teaches that every person (Jewish and non-Jewish) was created "b'tzelem Elohim," which is Hebrew for "in the image of God." For this reason every person is equally important and has an infinite potential to do good in the world. People have the freewill to make choices in their lives and each of us is responsible for the consequences of those choices."

  • Mr. President, Palestine has heard you
  • Israel will attack Iran-- and Obama gave tacit approval (Haaretz)
    • crone March 15, 2012 at 6:50 pm

      Yes Annie... I agree completely. He is certainly putting Obama in the position of having to deny what NetanYAHOO said - which he may think will put pressure on Obama in someway to join in the fray.

      I don't think Israel can pull this off on their own - they would definitely need more than a nod, and a "yes, you can go ahead" ----

      But if I'm reading this incorrectly and US military does give Israel support, then we can watch the planet go up in flames as Russia, India and China and goodness knows who else comes to Iran's defense.

  • 'We are you and you are us,' Netanyahu says-- but Obama thumbs him with talk of Palestinians and diplomacy
    • crone March 6, 2012 at 6:07 pm

      Pepe Escobar has some interesting comments here:

      "... Bibi the Bully badly wants a Republican to take out Obama in November. Obama knows he can't be defeated by King of Flip Flop Mitt Romney or Ayatollah Rick Santorum. But he can be defeated by the proverbial US gas pump. The problem is, submitting or not to Bibi the Bully's absolutist demands, oil prices go up; they have already have by 20%, and this growth may reach 50% or more if speculators deem an attack imminent.

      Tehran may hold the key to defuse the whole psychodrama - and the demented speculation on oil prices. By late March or early April, with his authority immensely strengthened, negotiators on behalf of Ayatollah Khamenei will be back on the table discussing the nuclear dossier with the P5+1 - US, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany.

      Obama himself may also hold the key. He could pull a Nixon - as in going to China to meet Mao in 1972 - and offer a face-to-face to Khamenei. The industrial-military-media complex, Big Oil, the Israeli firsters and especially Bibi the Bully will be seeing all shades of red. But it does take balls to really earn a Nobel Peace Prize. Obama, will you tear down this wall (of mistrust)?

      This is the section of Obama's speech at AIPAC centered on Iran:"

      (con't at link) link to atimes.com

  • Netanyahu seeks Iran conflict, extremist reaction to knock out Obama
  • New book explores the history of 'New Jewish Agenda'
  • 'NYT' gives Israelis its magazine to make an attack on Iran 'normal'
    • crone January 31, 2012 at 10:28 am with 2 replies

      "Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Sinking the Petrodollar in the Persian Gulf;” the increasingly divergent US and Israeli “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear program; proposed pipelines that would route oil around the Persian Gulf, marginalizing Iran’s ability to shut the Strait of Hormuz; how sanctions on Iran have lessened the US dollar’s dominance in global oil trading transactions; and the civil strife in Syria, where the opposition is no more credible than the reigning minority Assad regime."

      link to antiwar.com

  • Dennis Ross Redux: Haaretz reveals White House - WINEP hotline
  • Isikoff expose of Gingrich backer -- 'All we care about is being good citizens of Israel' -- puts 'Israel firster' issue in mainstream
    • crone January 30, 2012 at 1:46 pm

      Putting Israel First
      The War Party's Achilles' heel

      by Justin Raimondo, January 30, 2012

      The campaign to lure the US into attacking Iran has one big problem to overcome before the War Party can taste success: the rather obvious fact that such a war would benefit Israel, and not the United States. This is why Israel’s partisans in the US constitute the spearhead of the pro-war agitation, why AIPAC has made this a consistent theme for the past few years, and why the billionaire Sheldon Adelson, aside from funding the Newtster, has poured untold millions into the same project. Hardly a day goes by without some Israeli government official reiterating, once again, that Iran represents an “existential threat” to the Jewish state, and threatening to strike the first blow if Uncle Sam fails to wake up in time, while Israel’s amen corner dutifully echoes the same line.

      link to original.antiwar.com

  • Iran sanctions backlash-- oil buyers ditch dollar
    • crone January 27, 2012 at 3:07 pm

      I agree with Opaleye... don't know exactly what Krugman said on the PetroDollar, but once the USA "loses' the Petrodollar" - that is to say it is not the dominant currency traded for oil, then the USA Dollar is truly worthless (not worth very much at the moment anyway-

      Iraq was invaded for just this reason - and I'm not alone in that opinion.

      Sanctions against Iran were and are truly stupid... not to mention that China backs Iran and China holds our debt in its hands.

      Politicians may be getting rich taking the Lobby's money, but they're sinking our economy by doing so. Sounds treasonous to me.

  • 'NYT' and 'Haaretz' and world opinion are now greatest threat to Israel, Netanyahu reportedly said
    • crone January 19, 2012 at 7:44 pm

      Pepe Escobar outlines a real (economic) threat to US - and Israel, by extension... here's an excerpt:

      "... As Xinhua has put it in its unrivalled all-inclusive style, what matters for the Beijing leadership is for China and Southwest and Central Asia to take "full advantage of their respective strengths and jointly strive for common development". How come no one in Washington can ever come up with something as simple as this?

      It's true that whoever dominates the GCC - with weapons and political support - projects power globally. The GCC has been absolutely key for US hegemony within what Immanuel Wallerstein defines as the world system.

      Yet let's take a look at the numbers. Since last year Saudi Arabia is exporting more oil to China than to the US. This is part of an inexorable process of GCC energy and commodity exports moving to Asia.

      By next year foreign assets held by the GCC could reach $3.8 trillion with oil at $70 a barrel. With all that non-stop "tension" in the Persian Gulf, there's no reason to believe oil will be below $100 in the foreseeable future. In this case GCC foreign assets could reach a staggering $5.7 trillion - that's 160% more than in pre-crisis 2008, and over $1 trillion more than China's foreign assets.

      At the same time, China will be increasingly doing more business with the GCC. The GCC is increasingly importing more from Asia - although the top source of imports is still the European Union. Meanwhile, US-GCC trade is dropping. By 2025, China will be importing three times more oil from the GCC than the US. No wonder the House of Saud - to put it mildly - is terribly excited about Beijing.

      So for the moment we have the pre-eminence of NATOGCC military, and USGCC geopolitically. But sooner rather than later Beijing may approach the House of Saud and quietly whisper, "Why don't you sell me your oil in yuan?" Just like China buying Iranian oil and gas with yuan. Petroyuan, anyone? Now that's an entirely new Star Trek. "

      link to atimes.com

  • Today in Pittsburgh, Jesse Lieberfeld, 17, will deliver a hammer blow to American Jewish support for Israel
    • crone January 16, 2012 at 2:46 pm

      Jesse speaks for one Jew, himself.

      "... The Jews will not return to being passive players on which history acts. We will remain active players in history, and yes we may even abuse our power as every agent in history has. If you cannot live with this, as Jesse can’t, stop being Jewish. No one is forcing you."

      You, eee, claim to speak for all Jews. Who elected you? And explain to me please what "being Jewish" means... and how does one 'stop'? Just curious.

    • crone January 16, 2012 at 10:18 am with 1 replies

      Rage on angry young man...

      Rage on.

      Now that you're awake, continue to awaken others.

  • Ron Paul's antiwar position is simpleminded
    • crone January 7, 2012 at 10:58 am with 1 replies

      This may be off-topic, but it is about Ron Paul... from Counterpunch:

      from John Walsh’s letter to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now:

      “I have a bone to pick about your coverage of Ron Paul and the five comments that appeared in his newsletter a generation ago.

      “First, contrary to what you say, the rest of the MSM does publish the exact words of the statements – in fact they appear ad nauseam in semi-official publications like the NYT.

      “Second, as you surely know, Paul has said he did not write those statements, did not read them or know of them at the time and DISAVOWS them. You did not mention that.

      “Third Ron Paul is against the death penalty and mandatory minimum sentences in part because they are racist – and he has said so. You did not mention that.

      “Fourth, the head of the NAACP in Austin who has known Ron Paul for 20 years says that the man can in no way be considered a racist. You did not mention that.

      “Fifth, in an interview with Bill Moyers Ron Paul specifically says that Libertarianism is incompatible with racism. You do not mention that.

      “I think you have a duty to tell the whole truth on the matter because a half truth is a full lie – as the saying goes.

      “Finally I might ask which is more racist- bombing people of color all around the world as Obama has done, for example in the war on Libya for which your constant guest CIA ‘consultant’ Juan Cole was a cheerleader – or five statements written by someone else a generation ago which have now been repudiated by Paul?

      “Have you forgotten that your program is subtitled the War and Peace Report? My friends in NYC have taken to calling it HypocrisyNow! I hope that soon it can reclaim its older tradition of principled and consistent anti-interventionism and report the full truth on antiwar candidates like Ron Paul, the only anti-imperialist and peace candidate in the race.

      John V. Walsh, MD
      Professor of Microbiology and Physiological Systems
      University of Massachusetts Medical School.”

      link to counterpunch.org

  • Welcome Annie Robbins as Writer at Large
  • 'You lost' -- reporters at State say UNESCO vote isolates U.S. from world opinion (and possibly from intellectual property enforcement)
    • crone November 1, 2011 at 8:05 pm with 5 replies

      Victoria Nuland is an American Jew, married to Robert Kagan, also an American Jew...

      Question: Are there ANY non-Jews in the State Department?

      Question: Nuland was one of Cheney's right hands... do Democratic Presidents usually retain so many of the previous opposition party folks? (I guess only when they are Israel Firsters)

      Question: How in the world can an Israel-Firster keep a straight face answering questions about Palestinians? About statehood status for Palestine?

      I'm sick to death of this one-sided diplomacy...

  • Muammar Gaddafi captured and killed in Sirte
  • Zuckerman turned on Obama over Israel. 'WSJ' refuses to say so
  • Oren rationalizes Israel's isolation (then rants about Abbas denying 4000 years of Jewish homeland)
  • Fat lady sings -- Israel announces new E J'lem neighborhod called Givat Hamatos
  • In prisoner deal, Palestinian and Israeli right wings are working together-- politically
  • Neocon orgs seek to paint Wall St protests as anti-semitic
    • crone October 14, 2011 at 5:06 pm

      ",,, My beef against the protestors is they all look like upper-middle class white dudes and woman of the latte drinking varient… not that there’s anything wrong with them either."

      Perhaps that's because they can afford to take off from work and protest? Folks holding down two jobs to make ends meet can't afford to take time off for a protest.

  • No problem-- Obama's State Dep't spokesperson is married to Romney's neocon foreign policy adviser
  • Kol Nidre in Cairo. Not
    • crone October 7, 2011 at 8:34 pm

      3e...

      do you read your posts? You really should read them, in an objective manner... then you would see the portrait of yourself we see... just as Ellen describes.

      Question: why don't you comment on Phil's lovely, sad, post? It speaks to co-existence. Why must you turn every thread to your view of the past as a necessary view of the future... if you really wanted to peacefully co-exist with your Arab neighbors, you could. "Let peace begin with me" is a wonderful mantra.

  • The Boomerang Comes Home: Obama's 'death panel' and the war on terror
    • crone October 7, 2011 at 11:00 pm

      Absolutely, thetumta... absolutely. I weep for my grandchildren. They will have to try (very hard) to clean up the mess my generation and my daughter's generation have made.

  • A society coming apart at the seams: Settlers attack IDF in the West Bank
  • Even in times of austerity, some spending is inviolable
    • crone October 5, 2011 at 7:39 pm with 1 replies

      Perhaps you could explain to this dense old woman who doesn't understand why social security and medicare are threatened, why teachers have been laid off, along with firemen and highway patrolmen - all across America... while, Israel - which can well afford to pay its own way... gets $3bn. Do you know how many teachers we could rehire, how many seniors barely live on the little social security they now get (while Congressmen, with their pockets bulging from the largess of the Israel Lobby, are only too happy to continue paying. It's similar to a protection racket, imho.

      Please, explain to me why another country needs our tax dollars more than we in the USA do.

  • Behind aid-cut to Palestinian Authority, more than meets the eye
  • Why isn't Kusra killing on the front page of our newspapers?
  • Sullivan on Obama's 'capitulation' at the UN
    • crone September 29, 2011 at 5:33 pm

      Well, there's Obama's concern for re-election...

      and there's possibly concern for his own life... and that of his family...

      (just sayin')

  • Mourning the Jewish New Year
    • crone September 28, 2011 at 7:08 pm

      Speaking of words... Pepe Escobar recently had some strung together in a rather interesting manner. I highly recommend his piece on 9/15th wrt Turkey and its new-found role in the Arab world. Here's an excerpt:

      "Heavy metal birth pangs
      And all this while the Persian Gulf petro-monarchies - horrified by the Arab Spring - have proposed $2 billion in annual direct aid to Jordan so it will become part of the GCC, the Gulf Cooperation Council, also known as the Gulf Counter-revolutionary Club. As a monarchical club, the GCC wants Jordan and Morocco as new members. The icing on the cake, though, would be a monarchical Libya.

      On a parallel track, the counter-revolutionaries have been forced by Turkey to step up - at least verbally - their support for Palestine. Even Jordan's King Abdullah, staunch US ally and Israel's only "friend" left in the Middle East, has claimed that "the future Palestine are stronger than Israel is today".

      Well, Israel did look for it - after the invasion of Lebanon in 2006, the massacre in Gaza in 2008 and the attack on the Turkish flotilla in 2010. In terms of world public opinion, Israel is toast - and even the Arab counter-revolution had to notice.

      That includes the House of Saud. None other than former Saudi intelligence supremo Prince Turki al-Faisal wrote a New York Times op-ed piece stating outright, "Saudi leaders would be forced by domestic and regional pressures to adopt a far more independent and assertive foreign policy" if the US vetoes the Palestinian bid at the Security Council.

      Prince Turki also stressed that everything must evolve around a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders, which every grain of sand in the Sinai knows Israel will never accept.

      In the event of a US veto, Prince Turki threatened Saudi Arabia would be "opposing the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Iraq" and would "part ways with Washington in Afghanistan and Yemen as well".

      Now imagine the House of Saud lavishly funding a double guerrilla war all across the Pentagon's "arc of instability" - Sunnis against Shi'ites in Iraq plus the already turbocharged Taliban in Afghanistan - while lobbying for an Islamist government in both Egypt and Turkey; and this while Egypt and Turkey for their part fully collide with an isolated and angry Israel. Now that's what the "birth pangs of the new Middle East" are all about. "

      link to atimes.com

  • Visit to the Office of Congressional Ethics about AIPAC junkets to Israel
  • Knesset to vote on full Israeli annexation of the West Bank
    • crone September 27, 2011 at 5:00 pm

      Madam Joe Walsh can't get his "girls" to do enough for Israel, can he?

      The USA governmental system has gone to hell.

  • Ron Paul for Palestinian statehood: 'I believe in self-determination of peoples'
  • 'Young, Jewish and Proud' issues challenge to the Jewish community
  • Sidelined: U.S. fails for the second time in Quartet discussions on ‘Jewish state’
    • crone September 27, 2011 at 8:59 pm

      Found this comment at the Angry Arab website (from TIME):

      "Whenever America takes a big stand toward what happens in Israel, immediately you get this kind of reaction," Aly said Friday, speaking by phone from an expo for start-up companies in Alexandria sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Ten years after the intifadeh, Cairo is now full of brand-name American products, from Guess jeans to Starbucks cappuccinos. Several Egyptians told TIME they would now avoid buying those items, particularly if there was a local alternative readily at hand. Starbucks, for example, has faced stiff competition from Egypt's local Cilantro coffee shops since the U.S. chain opened in Cairo two years, in part, says one local business owner, because of anti-Israeli feeling."

      link to time.com

  • Turkish government releases identities of IDF soldiers who attacked the Mavi Marmara
    • crone September 26, 2011 at 9:43 pm

      Turkey it seems does not gloss over the killing of their citizens in international waters by Israelis.

      Methinks Turkey intends to see this through....

      About time a nation state held Israel accountable for its actions.

  • Abbas at the United Nations a game changer? Maybe.
  • Abbas brings Tahrir to New York, and some of our media seem to be on board
  • Mondoweiss liveblogs the UN General Assembly speeches
  • Mr. President, we don't want a shortcut, we want our freedom
  • Perry embraces violent Jewish extremists, Politico's Ben Smith calls him 'moderate'
    • crone September 22, 2011 at 12:15 am

      "I don’t believe in the devil. But surely, EVIL is real, "

      da evil = the devil...

      I agree... don't believe in the 'devil' -

      the word 'evil' spelled backwards is 'live'

  • Ashrawi and Tibi say Obama made it sound like Palestinians are occupying Israel
    • crone September 21, 2011 at 5:46 pm with 5 replies

      I was sick at heart last March when USA vetoed UN vote against Israeli settlements... Today, I am so ashamed of my country, of Obama. To think I worked for, supported this empty suit... this spineless excuse for a leader.

  • Israel's remaining friends rally around flag outside of UN
    • crone September 21, 2011 at 5:50 pm with 2 replies

      Nah, they're counting on war in the ME to bring on the Rapture... which they believe will vaporize all but themselves, including Jews (except for 1,444 Jews - where on earth did they come up with that number?) and bring them (the Evangelicals) to the heaven on earth they believe they deserve.

  • Is Tom Friedman Walter Cronkite, or just a guy who found an elephant in a pink bikini?
  • Vetoing Palestinian bid will damage US relationship w/ Muslim world for years to come --former ambassador
    • crone September 19, 2011 at 8:58 am with 1 replies

      Not to sure about that Oklahoma farmer... however, I would like to offer these remarks from a commenter over at Steve Walt's blog. (Here's a political pragmatist!)

      ========

      "CLOAK AND DAGGER 11:28 PM ET September 18, 2011 In times of chaos there is great opportunity...

      Believe it or not, but circumstances have presented Obama with a rare historical opportunity to elevate his presidency to unprecedented heights instead of sinking to the bottom as it is now doing:

      He should not only not use the veto, but actively come forth and support the nationhood application of Palestine.

      What would happen?

      Well, the AIPAC whores in congress would pounce on him with all the fury of caged animals along with the full spectrum of the Jewish lobby (I can imagine Fat Abe splitting a gut). He would be accused of “throwing our bestest ally under the bus” and many would call him a “muslim sympathizer” or worse. Many of his Jewish donors would stop contributing to his campaign.

      BUT…

      If he can take the heat for a while, his popularity would skyrocket here in the US and abroad. He has over a year to recover from the temporary setback, and the wind in his sails would easily win him a re-election – along with a mandate from the people to clean house. He could fire most of his dual-loyalty team and hire a patriotic one. The momentum from this action would also see many of the afore-mentioned whores in congress not getting re-elected as people are suddenly confronted with what has been going on till now.

      All of this would also elevate our stature in the world back to where it was. The benefits are endless.

      I am not a supporter of Obama – far from it. I will be voting for Ron Paul – but if Obama comes through on freeing us from the chains of Israel, I and many like me will reward him with our votes next year.

      If he doesn’t, and he most likely won’t, then he will be reduced to a footnote of history a one-term president who entered office with unprecedented hope for change and left office with the near-destruction of the country."

  • The privileged divide-- non-Jews want to talk the issue, Jews don't
    • crone September 17, 2011 at 8:53 pm

      MRW,

      Can't tell you how grateful I am to you for posting link to Pinter's lecture... I was mesmerized. He expressed so eloquently how I feel about the USA and what has happened since WWII. His words ought to be heard by all. Really, really powerful. What a human being! What a marvelous mind. Again, thank you, thank you!

  • On saying that Israel has a right to exist
    • crone September 14, 2011 at 11:24 am with 6 replies

      My grandson was watching ETV when he was about four years old... a series on Liberty and early history of USA... when he came running to me to say that they were 'lynching' people... he was hysterical. I explained to him that yes, things like that used to happen to people in this country. (He never noticed the color of the skin of the hanged person... we are white.) Later when he was about five, we were returning from a visit to my mother, when he reached up and asked about my earrings. (They were Navajo, from the SW) Are those hatches Grandma? We used to kill Indians, but we don't anymore. Please don't wear those. (I have never worn them again.) Later, when he was about nine, he invited me to his school's field day... there was a particular friend he wanted me to meet because he had the same surname as my maiden name. The boy's father was coming also and Chris said "I know you are related, Grandma." I met the young boy and his father, who was from Kenya. We had a lovely conversation about jazz and children, and a chuckle over the grandson's blindness to the difference in skin color. Grandson is now fifteen. A couple of weeks ago, he attended Pridefest with his friend who has come out as gay (grandson is straight). He told me he had a wonderful time and showed me pictures of the event, exclaiming how proud he was of his friend for being true to himself.

      My grandson identifies with 'nothing' - he simply is.

      The only time I have ever been speechless in my life was when someone asked who I was...

      No one is asking any one to not be jewish. The question is of course, are you human. Can one put aside the many facets of self to consider the humanity of the 'other'...?

  • Tens of thousands of Egyptians protest Israeli embassy; destroy flag and protective barrier
    • crone September 10, 2011 at 6:42 pm

      "The United States could find itself at war with Egypt and Turkey, not to mention Israel at war with them."

      why would the US find itself at war with Egypt or Turkey?

  • Arab spring: Fatah and Hamas reportedly reach deal for interim gov't, elections in a year
    • crone April 28, 2011 at 6:12 pm with 1 replies

      European poll reveals changing perceptions of conflict in Palestine

      link to middleeastmonitor.org.uk

      some of the key points in the article:

      50% believe that being critical of Israel does NOT make a person anti-Semitic;
      70% believe that the pro-Israel lobby influences the media;
      67% believe that the pro-Israel lobby influences the political agenda;
      58% believe that European Law should not be changed to make it easier for those accused of war crimes to visit Europe;
      65% believe that Israel does not treat all religious groups equally;
      45% believe that Hamas should be INCLUDED in Israel-Palestine peace talks;
      41% believe that Israel’s oppression of Palestinians is one of the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East;
      40% believe that Israeli settlements are the biggest obstacles to peace in the Middle East;
      51% thought of the Gaza Strip when they heard the words "Israel-Palestine conflict";
      34% believe that Israel is not a democracy but 65% believe that (democracy or not) there is oppression and domination by one religious group in Israel over another;
      13% consider Israel to be the bigger threat to world peace compared with only 7% who said the same of the Palestinians;
      53% were aware that Israel’s economic blockade of the Gaza Strip is illegal;
      64% stated that the Israeli armed response to the boats carrying supplies to the Gaza Strip in May 2010 was illegal;
      60% were aware that the Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008-2009 was illegal;
      48% think that Israel exploits the history of the suffering of the Jewish people in Europe to generate public support;
      39% believe that the Israel-Palestine conflict fuels "Islamophobia" in Europe; and
      54% believe that Jerusalem should be a neutral international city.

  • Wikileaks: U.S. threw its body down to block Goldstone Report's progress to the Hague
  • The meaning of Helen Thomas
    • crone April 18, 2011 at 2:28 pm with 1 replies

      "The honoring of Helen Thomas at the Move Over AIPAC conference in May seems to me an important moment politically. I think it's a mistake, politically--that it could hurt the movement in its efforts to reach out to centrists and the Jewish community, due to Thomas's often-crude characterizations of Jewish power-- but I also think there is an upside to the mistake." Phil Weiss

      I agree, for the simple reason that it provides a 'nail' for the many hammers out there.

      "... The interesting thing politically about the Thomas invitation is that I am not alone, I am not the only one who wants to have this conversation, and that there must be a large push within the Arab-American community to have that conversation. When you go around the Arab world, you hear about Jewish influence all the time." Weiss

      Conversation is good; however, Thomas' presence will make that conversation more difficult... just look at the conversation on this thread. Discussion of the 'conversation' becomes convoluted with Thomas' remarks.

      When I look at Thomas' remarks to the young man that began the controversy, I remind myself first of all that Thomas is of Lebanese descent. I can't help doing that. If one were to ask a Palestinian in Gaza the same question Thomas was asked, what do you think the response would have been?

      From my pov the anti-AIPAC movement has shot itself in the foot. That doesn't in anyway express my opinion re Helen Thomas... pragmatically speaking, it is a huge mistake, imho.

      "... The most important thing about the Helen Thomas moment is that it seems to me that our political discourse is trying to deal with that issue of Jewish cultural and political power. It is trying to reckon with it. It is a long-uncomfortable question. Ten years ago when Lieberman ran for vice president and I tried to write in the New York Observer about issues of Jewish political power in the U.S., a powerful friend chided me that this conversation had ended in the Holocaust in Europe. I felt weirded out and very bad and yet I continued to address the question, especially after I started this site. Because it is a real and important question. Not long ago I was at a dinner party where a connected friend said that he/she had heard from someone who was in a position to know that 80 percent of Democratic political fundraising comes from Jews. The person said it was off the record. I have no idea whether it is true, I suspect it is an exaggeration, but I was upset that such a central fact of our political order had to be off the record." Weiss

      As a non-Jew, I totally agree with this. When W&M's report on the Lobby came out I commented on it at another forum online. I was immediately called out for suggesting a "lobby" existed... etc. Since that time, it has become a well accepted fact at that forum that the Lobby does exist. However, there is yet to be any 'dialogue' about it. In my opinion all of us could benefit from talking about it.

      While I believe AIPAC wields a tremendous influence, I also believe the American government 'uses' Israel... in its efforts to gain control of the ME, it has built up Israel militarily to serve as a deterrent in the area for its own goals of hegemony. In the beginning this seemed a nice 'quid pro quo' arrangement for Israel and its security needs. But today, many believe Israel has a huge influence on the White House and the Congress of the USA... i.e., the recent veto by US on the UN Resolution to condemn the building of settlements. Resulting in a convoluted view of actual 'influence' ... It is my opinion that the US doesn't want to see the building of settlements cease, they want instability in the ME in order to further their goal of hegemony. I was disappointed to say the least when Obama's administration vetoed the resolution. In fact, I share Annie's feelings which she so eloquently expressed on another thread here... and I will not work for him again, and because I live in a very red state, I will not vote for him in 2012. My head tells me that he is following the path of previous administrations in supporting Israel at the UN, but I can't forgive that he did indeed promise during his campaign and after election to make changes in US Foreign Policy wrt I/P conflict. But then he surrounded himself with Israel 'Firsters' and pro-Israel officials, especially in the State Department... so that many believe he is 'influenced' by the Lobby. At this point, the Lobby has indeed come to believe that it can affect the election of a President of member of Congress... they brag about it. And given the recent movement in the House to demand the UN withdraw the mis-named Goldstone Report, one is left to wonder.

      OTOH, I do believe the Zionist movement has used and continues to use Jews and Israel to further their own agenda.

      Antisemitism has become convoluted with any discussion of Jewish or Zionist influence.

      I am anti-Zionism; I am NOT anti-Jewish. As a human being, I stand for social justice... and I don't see that in Gaza. Nor, do I see it in the ME where my country has established autocratic rulers to further its goals of hegemony... where the military appears prepared to thwart the so-called 'Arab Spring'... at the behest of the Pentagon and the State Department. Some invisible folks call me anti-American, and others believe me to be anti-Semitic... obviously, I do not think of myself as either.

      Yes, it is difficult to discuss influence.

  • Even the pretense of supporting 'peace' is now gone...
  • U.S. Congress gets the facts wrong on Goldstone (the sequel)
  • Matthew Phillips's memorial service in New York
  • Racist protest in Tel Aviv targets refugees and migrants
    • crone April 10, 2011 at 8:30 pm with 4 replies

      Twitterers Paid To Spread Israeli Propaganda

      Israel’s foreign ministry is reported to be establishing a special undercover team of paid workers whose job it will be to surf the internet 24 hours a day spreading positive news about Israel.

      Internet-savvy Israeli youngsters, mainly recent graduates and demobilised soldiers with language skills, are being recruited to pose as ordinary surfers while they provide the government’s line on the Middle East conflict.

      link to countercurrents.org

  • Roger Cohen's excellent piece on Goldstone reconsideration
  • Gaza under attack - 5 dead, 40 injured; reports that UN evacuated all staff from Gaza; could be beginnning of large Israeli operation
    • crone April 7, 2011 at 8:04 pm

      Another war on Gaza?
      Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 April 2011

      link to electronicintifada.net

    • crone April 7, 2011 at 7:35 pm

      Gaza’s Interior Ministry: assassination of two more Palestinians proves the Occupation needs no justifications to kill civilians | MEMO | Mar 28, 2011

      Two Palestinians killed in Israeli strike | PressTV | VIDEO | Mar 28, 2011

      Ceasefire offer spurned as airstrike kills two in Gaza | PSHadNews | Mar 27, 2011

      Ghaza: Two Palestinians killed by an Israeli air strike | Ennahar Online | Mar 27, 2011

      Two Fighters Assassinated In Gaza, One Resident Injured | PNN | Mar 27, 2011

      Two Palestinians Killed by Israeli Missiles | Qatar News | Mar 27, 2011

      Palestinian officials: Israeli airstrike kills 2 in Gaza | CNN | Mar 27, 2011

      Two Fighters Assassinated In Gaza, One Resident Injured | IMEMC | Mar 27, 2011

      2 Palestinians martyred by Israeli Attacks on Gaza | Islam Times | Mar 27, 2011

      Palestinians: Two Jihad militants killed in Israeli strike on Gaza (Haaretz)
      2 killed, 1 injured in Israeli shelling on Gaza Strip | Palestine Telegraph | Mar 27, 2011

      Israel strikes Gaza launching squad, despite truce efforts | M&C | Mar 27, 2011

      Two killed in Israeli air raid on Gaza | AlJazeera | Mar 27, 2011

      Israel Air Strike kills 2 in Gaza | Maan News Agencey | mar 27, 2011

      Gaza Strip: Two killed, three wounded in Israeli attack | Al Bawaba | Mar 27, 2011

      Israeli air strike kills two in Gaza: Medics | Gulf Today | Mar 27, 2011
      BREAKING: 2 Gazans killed in Israel air strike | Mar 27, 2011

      link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

      There are additional reports for March 28, March 29, thru April 6

      link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

  • I waiver, and still I approve of military support for the Libyan resistance
    • crone March 24, 2011 at 1:26 pm with 2 replies

      this from Moon of Alabama

      Was This The Plan All Along?

      On March 17:

      The latter's National Libyan Council claims it is supported by 8,000 regular troops, including 3,000 Special Forces which are ready to die defending Benghazi.

      But yesterday:

      [N]ow, as they try to defeat Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s armed forces and militias, they will have to rely on allied airstrikes and young men with guns because the army that rebel military leaders bragged about consists of only about 1,000 trained men.

      Down from 8,000 to 1,000 in just seven days. Judging from AlJazeerah and other video sources the real number of trained soldiers on the rebel site seems to be around zero. Indeed all I have seen so far are some rather lunatic unorganized folks with small and medium arms trying to run against superior forces. Even the special forces Great Britain, France and the U.S. have certainly put on the ground by now will have huge problems to create a disciplined fighting force out of these.

      The political leadership of the rebels is also a weird creation. The "new government" "finance minister" is one Ali Tarhouni.

      Mr. Tarhouni, who teaches economics at the University of Washington, returned to Libya one month ago after more than 35 years in exile to advise the opposition on economic matters.
      [...] This week, the rebel leadership announced its latest evolution, a government in waiting led by Mahmoud Jibril, a planning expert who defected from Colonel Qaddafi’s government.

      From the slick website (which PR company payed by whom created it?) of the Interim Transitional National Council we learn about Mr Mahmood Jibril:

      Holds a masters’ degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1980. He also obtained a Doctorate in Strategic planning and decision-making from the same university in 1984 where he worked as a professor in the same subject field for several years.

      So two U.S. professor with, no legitimacy or following in the country, now prepare to be the Libyen puppets of the "west".

      But they will only get the job after the "allies" put many more boots on the ground. There is no way these rebels can win without a big invasion by "western" forces. Even in the desert air power can not conquer and hold any ground.

      When that happens Gaddafi will do a Saddam and tell his troops to become "civilians" and to start an insurgency against the occupation forces. Even if he would not do so tribal resistance against invading troops is a certainty.

      This is all so predictible that one has to wonder if this was the plan all along.

      Posted by b at 10:51 AM

      link to moonofalabama.org

      another Chalabi in the wings?

  • Libya/Gaza
    • crone March 20, 2011 at 12:41 pm

      Odyssey Dawn of the Dead
      by James Wolcott March 19, 2011, 7:04 PM

      [clip] “..Unfortunately, Odyssey Dawn is the latest preposterous name for the latest ill-conceived, muscle-stretching military operation, this one intended to restrain Libya's Gaddafi from massacring rebel forces--whoever they are ("The intelligence failure in Libya, and indeed across the Maghreb, has proved absolute. Western leaders know almost nothing either about the Libyan insurgents or about what is happening on the ground. It would be madness to commit US and allied forces to destroy Col Gaddafi, with no notion of what would follow" [Max Hastings, Financial Times])--but has already mission-creeped in the time it took to sneeze into dictator-disposing regime-change intervention.

      Reading around the blogosphere and the print punditry, I gauge that a lot of smart people are ambivalent about this coalition use of air strikes to take out Gaddafi or at least box him in.

      I'm not ambivalent. I think it's another travesty in the use of American force whose consequences have been scarcely calculated and serves to distract us from the one key thing we're unwilling to face (Hastings again):

      " The most powerful single strand in opinion throughout the Muslim world is bitterness about America’s continuing support for Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. "

      It is irrelevant whether this is just, or reflects a misplaced sense of priorities. It is a core political reality, depriving the west of moral authority throughout the region. If American troops displaced Col Gaddafi, within weeks they would either abandon the country to anarchy or find themselves the objects of popular hostility as they grappled with the hideously familiar problem of which factions to put in charge.

      link to vanityfair.com

      The abbreviation for Odyssey Dawn ("O.D.") is bad enough, but the name itself shows even worse tone deafness. Odysseus's Odyssey was a ten year slog of serial disasters: the original quagmire. And this designation -- Odyssey *Dawn* -- tells us it's only the beginning. Who chose such a repugnant name for this mess?

      I learned today that the acronym D.A.W.N. stands for Democracy in the Arab World Now...

      yes, isn't it wonderful how Empire can hijack the acronym of a group of people looking for democracy and use it as part of the name of an operation that bombs civilians seeking democracy? Didn't George Bush claim he was bringing democracy to Iraq when he bombed Iraq? Iraq is now a ‘Client State’... and the Imperialists are 'stabilizing' Libya, to protect the interests of BP, Shell, etc. No way are they concerned about the people. Just look at Iraq, eight years later.

      and Bernard at Moon of Alabama reminds us (well, some of us don't need reminding):

      Exactly Eight Years Later - No Change At All

      Good afternoon, everybody. Today I authorized the Armed Forces of the United States to begin a limited military action in Libya in support of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians. That action has now begun.

      In this effort, the United States is acting with a broad coalition that is committed to enforcing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which calls for the protection of the Libyan people. That coalition met in Paris today to send a unified message, and it brings together many of our European and Arab partners.

      Remarks by the President on Libya, March 19, 2011

      link to whitehouse.gov

      My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

      On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

      ADDRESS ANNOUNCING OPERATIONS TO DISARM IRAQ, 19 March 2003

      link to johnstonsarchive.net

      Robert Fisk on Libya

      So we are going to take "all necessary measures" to protect the civilians of Libya, are we? Pity we didn't think of that 42 years ago. Or 41 years ago. Or... well, you know the rest. And let's not be fooled by what the UN resolution really means. Yet again, it's going to be regime-change. And just as in Iraq – to use one of Tom Friedman's only memorable phrases of the time – when the latest dictator goes, who knows what kind of bats will come flying out of the box?

      And after Tunisia, after Egypt, it's got to be Libya, hasn't it? The Arabs of North Africa are demanding freedom, democracy, liberation from oppression. Yes, that's what they have in common. But what these nations also have in common is that it was us, the West, that nurtured their dictatorships decade after decade after decade. The French cuddled up to Ben Ali, the Americans stroked Mubarak, while the Italians groomed Gaddafi until our own glorious leader went to resurrect him from the political dead.

      Could this be, I wonder, why we have not heard from Lord Blair of Isfahan recently? Surely he should be up there, clapping his hands with glee at another humanitarian intervention. Perhaps he is just resting between parts. Or maybe, like the dragons in Spenser's Faerie Queen, he is quietly vomiting forth Catholic tracts with all the enthusiasm of a Gaddafi in full flow.

      link to independent.co.uk

      worth clicking the link to see photo of Saddam juxtaposition Gaddafi

  • We planned the Purim party, then my partner actually read the Book of Esther...
    • crone March 19, 2011 at 7:12 pm

      In 2003 -

      The 48 hour ultimatum to Saddam and his sons precisely paralleled the Jewish holiday, Purim. At 8:15pm, Eastern Standard Time, on March 17, the president appeared on TV to announce a 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to leave the country with his sons, or suffer the invasion. Thus, the 48-hour ultimatum expired at 8:15pm., EST, March 19.

      In Israeli time, President Bush appeared on TV at 3:15am on March 18 and the deadline expired at 3:15am, March 20.

      Purim was celebrated this year from Sundown, March 17 through March 19. In fact, the Purim celebration this year is comprised of the following events:

      1. March 17 -- Ta'anit Esther -- a feast to Queen Esther, the heroine of Purim

      2. March 18 -- Purim

      3. March 19 -- Shushan Purim -- the day Purim is celebrated in Jerusalem and other cities

      Thus, the entire 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein occurred precisely during the time of the Purim celebration!

      and at the end of the 48 hrs., when the bombs started dropping, the planes were blaring out music from Queen's "We will Rock You" -

  • NYU group cancels event set to feature Israeli Navy Seal who attacked the Mavi Marmara
    • crone March 10, 2011 at 7:43 am with 18 replies

      Saw this in Asia Times:

      "... A highly significant part of the statement was its recognition right at the outset that the Palestinian problem lay at the very core of the great Middle Eastern alienation and the "recent developments in the Region may offer a chance for a comprehensive peace ... This process should include the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ... that will lead to a two-state solution, with the creation of a sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestinian State, coexisting peacefully alongside Israel, with secure, pre-1967 borders, and with East Jerusalem as its capital."

      'P-5' loses shine

      Israel will be hopping mad over the declaration. That apart, does it matter to Obama and NATO if three countries from three faraway continents stand up with a common stance on a "no-fly" zone? Who are these countries anyway? But, it does matter. Put simply, the three countries also happen to be currently serving as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and their stance happens to have high visibility in the world's pecking order on Libya. "

      full article here link to atimes.com

      Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.

  • Netanyahu breaks the seal on the discussion of a 'binational state'
    • crone March 5, 2011 at 10:54 pm with 1 replies

      Have any of you seen this article by Victor Kotsev in Asia Times?

      "A major reshuffle in the Levant"

      [clip] "... Israel also announced that it would dismantle all illegal settlement outposts built on private Palestinian land. Technically, it is a fairly minor concession, likely reflecting the speculative "price" Obama exacted for his veto. The ruling does not include the settlements themselves, nor does it include outposts built on public land. However, clashes already occurred when several outposts were dismantled, bringing domestic tensions up somewhat. Some analysts - including Benn - have suggested that this might be only the beginning of a shift "from the far-right to the center" for Netanyahu. This interpretation is bolstered by Barak's comments on Thursday that the "unstable" government structure of Israel "limits" the chance of peace.

      It still seems highly unlikely that Netanyahu could deliver full peace with the Palestinians - not least because of the many rifts inside the Palestinian leadership and the parallel governments in Gaza and the West Bank. However, comparisons between Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon, which have also started to surface among analysts, suggest something else: unilateral action. Indeed, with the popular revolutions in Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, an alternative to the two-state solution, which is not a one-state solution, has started to surface: the so-called "Jordanian" (supplemented by an "Egyptian") option.

      It is increasingly likely, for example, that Israel will attempt to ''dump'' Gaza on Egypt. Gaza is too small to sustain itself, and it only has two land neighbors it can use as links to the world - Israel and Egypt. Arguably one of the main reasons why former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak kept the Strip sealed up on his side was that he did not want Israel to disengage completely, cutting electricity, fuel and food flow entirely and leaving Gaza to Egypt to deal with. If it was not for the humanitarian catastrophe and international outrage this would cause, Israel might have done this a long time ago (this would also mean fewer responsibilities for the Jewish state in the event of a military campaign in the Strip).

      link to atimes.com

  • Yet another threat: Dennis Ross fears the Palestinians' 'biological clock'
    • crone March 1, 2011 at 10:12 am

      "And as the struggle between rejectionists and pragmatists continues across the region, there is a technological clock that will empower those committed to violence with increasingly deadly and indiscriminate weapons of terror that can spoil peace at any moment."

      Will the Lobby allow Dennis Ross to get away with speaking of Israel like that?

  • Israeli inquiry: One-ton bomb dropped on Shehadeh house, killing 13 civilians, was 'legitimate'
  • Colonialism and violence
    • crone February 26, 2011 at 11:34 pm with 2 replies

      RoHa... excellent article! Thanks for linking...

      "Silvia Cattori: What differentiates Gilad Atzmon from those who say, “I am a Jewish anti-Zionist”; “We are Jews for peace”, etc, yet always highlighting their tribal identity?

      Gilad Atzmon: It is very simple: for me, the fight for peace is a fight for a universal cause. For me, to support the Palestinians is an ethical necessity. And if it is a universal cause and an ethical necessity, I do not see any reason to fight it “as a Jew”, “as a man”, or “as a jazz artist”. When I come across those who call themselves “Jews for peace” and “Jews for justice”, I stand up and say “what do you really mean by calling yourself a ‘Jew’? Are you religious?” When a Torah Jew says he identifies as a Jew I know what he refers to. When Torah Jews say “we are religious Jews and we support Palestine in the name of our faith”, I say “go ahead, you have my support”.

      But when secular Jews tell me that they work for Palestine in the name of their Jewish values, I must ask them “What are your ‘Jewish secular values’”? I have studied and carefully considered the subject, and, as embarrassing as it may sound, there is no such thing as a “Jewish secular value system”.

      Those who refer to such ideas are either lying, misleading others, or even misleading themselves.

      Silvia Cattori: If I understood well, those who identify themselves as “anti-Zionist Jews” or “Jews for peace” believe that this makes their voice louder than others’ voice.

      Gilad Atzmon: For sure, and that is a valid point. But again, I still have some reservations, because if I say “I am a Jew for peace,” and I believe that this is enough to make my voice more important than yours, what it really means is that I am still consciously celebrating my chosen-ness. And isn’t that exactly the problem we have with Zionism?

      So, fundamentally, Jewish anti-Zionism is still just another manifestation of Jewish tribal supremacy. It seems peculiar that peace activists, who claim to be universalist leftists, end up operating in racially oriented cells.

      Silvia Cattori: Is this consciously a way to humiliate non Jewish people?

      Gilad Atzmon: That is possible; but I do not think that Jews who succumb to Jewish tribal politics are really conscious of the effect it has on others."

  • Obama gives big thumbs up to settlements at UN (and kills the two-state solution --Haber)
    • crone February 19, 2011 at 3:19 pm

      Richard... you do not have a tv? I never watch TV, but I do stream from my computer - programs, youTubes (videos), events (Egypt) . I have never been to the Middle East, but I have seen videos of the WALL, and I read news accounts and opinion pieces from both sides. In processing this 'information' for many years, I have formed opinions on I/P. I continue to take in new information and in processing, 'tweak' my opinions.

      You state above: "For those of us that come here, YOUR comments are the footage, what is seen. Yours, Phil’s, Adam’s. Each imagining that everyone else has seen the same things, the same TV."

      No, that is false. Comments here are exactly that... comments on how others see the issue...

      How can you look to this forum - or any forum - to provide a basis for one's opinion?

      Of course you can't 'condemn', by your own admission, you are, and have chosen to be, uninformed about the matter. How can you blog about I/P or even comment here, if you admittedly are uninformed?

      You claim you only want 'what is fair' - for Israel to have enough, for Palestine to have enough. What is 'enough'?

      You speak of reconciliation... how can you advocate 'absolution' when you don't even know what the 'wrongs' (I dislike use of the word sin) are? I am a strong advocate of reconciliation. When my grandchildren were very young and would fight over something, or one would strike out at the other, the three of us would sit together, and they would each have to calmly state his/her grievance. Then they would have to recognize the other's feelings and apologize. Saying "I'm sorry" was never enough for grandma... they had to say exactly what they were sorry for... in other words, they had to take responsibility. And I of course 'condemned' their bad behavior (not them) when it was appropriate... and there was ... in the end ... reconciliation.

      Your comment above begins: Your “honest about the conflict” is the honesty of the interrogator.

      In my opinioin, your statement is applicable to the one being questioned also.

      (From my pov, words are important in discourse...' interrogator' brings to my mind the image of a policeman - asker, investigator, prober, questioner, etc. - are better substitutes, again - imho)

  • Israeli army targets and arrests children in order to repress Palestinian dissent in the West Bank
    • crone February 18, 2011 at 12:57 am with 3 replies

      I have looked at the beginning of the film several times... I fail to see the child throw a rock. The text underneath says :

      "... Kareem’s arrest was part of a strategy to apply as much pressure as possible on his 14-year-old brother Islam, who was arrested the previous day in a night raid, in order that Islam will deliver any script that his investigators wanted. The strategy worked, and Kareem was released later the same evening.

      After this arrest happened, the army spokespersons unit alerted the media and twitter followers that another ‘wanted suspect’ was taken in for security questioning. They failed to mention that he was an 11-year-old child."

  • In this beautiful peaceful historic revolution, we also played our part
  • Crash on the Nile– Mubarak isn’t stepping down!
  • 'We just want the rights you have' (Why isn't the U.S. listening?)
  • American revolution
    • crone February 7, 2011 at 2:34 pm

      First of all, great job Phil!

      I totally agree Annie... Of course the State Department knew Wisner's background... a simple search of Wiki would have told them all they needed to know.

      Someone has already added Wisner's 'gaffe' to wiki...

  • Supporting democracy in the Middle East requires abandoning a vision of Pax-Americana
    • crone February 4, 2011 at 7:33 pm with 1 replies

      "... Providing Mubarak, or his regime, with an additional eight months to crush domestic opponents, hand- select a successor that will hew to existing policies – in line with Western preferences – and orchestrate another round of Egypt’s notorious elections is no formula for peace or stability. Such a U.S. strategy, in coordination with the Egyptian regime, would be a renewed license for Mubarak (or his vice president) to sow the very forms of violence and repression with which the regime has long been identified. Calling for “all sides” to act with moderation, maintaining supposed “neutrality” between unarmed peaceful protesters and a regime using U.S.-supplied materiel to threaten and attack its people is understood across the region as choosing the side of Mubarak. Nor is the belated request that the regime desist from violence sufficient, absent a clear and unequivocal expression of support for the core demands of the protesters: an immediate end to the Mubarak regime (not limited to the departure of Mubarak), constitutional reform, and the convening of free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections."

      from USA today:

      "... Update at 11:28 a.m. ET One member of a group of "wise men" who have met with Egypt's new vice president and prime minister says the officials do not support forcing President Hosni Mubarak from office, but "more likely" envision making Mubarak an honorary president. Under the arrangement, Mubarak would hand his presidential powers to Suleiman to reach political agreement with the opposition but would serve out his term until fall elections.

      Amr Hamzawy, who is also with the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, tells Al-Jazeera that his group of independent intellectuals, politicians, writers and diplomats met today with Suleiman and Ahmad Shafik. He says Mubarak has already given Suleiman "all needed presidential powers" to "manage a transition period."

      Hamzawy says the "wise men" are not trying to negotiate a political settlement but are merely trying to work out a negotiating process by which the government and opposition leaders can find an agreement."

      --------

      The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a private nonprofit organization founded in 1910. As Dr Inderjeet Parmar notes writing in 2000:

      "The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is one of the oldest foreign policy discussion and coordinating organizations in the United States. Formed in 1910, it has throughout its history been closely connected with the State Department, successive presidents, numerous private foreign affairs groups and the leaders of the main political parties. Although the Council on Foreign Relations is more generally acknowledged to have been at the heart of ‘the American [foreign policy] establishment’, Carnegie was also a highly significant organization in the critical period between 1939 and 1945.1 Indeed, it has enjoyed a thoroughly respectable status within the American élite for 90 years. Yet it remains an organization that has received little scholarly attention." (Parmar, 2000, p.35)

      link to sourcewatch.org

      Amr Hamzawy, writing with regard to April 6, 2008 protests:

      "... The current resurgence of protest activism constitutes the one promising development in Egyptian political life. But progress on the street needs to be complemented by real progress in the performance of organized opposition forces in the political process. Notwithstanding the fact that this progress is largely predicated on the regime's willingness to welcome the opposition's input, it is also dependent on the quality of the opposition. Only through active, disciplined, credible and committed participation in the political process can organized political forces in Egypt effectively advance the reform agenda and push for sensible and comprehensive policies that address the socioeconomic exigencies at hand."

      link to 6aprilmove.blogspot.com

      I fear US/Israel are going to wrench this from the demonstrators ...

  • Hear Tahrir Square echo with the chant, ‘Go Mubarak,’ and hear a future leader in Alexandria
    • crone February 4, 2011 at 11:09 am

      thanks Selem, for all that you bring to us... for all that you do for our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Egypt...

      re the second video... I am reminded of

      "and a little child shall lead them"

      am reading the reports, but just had to say the 'young leader' is so inspiring

  • The bogus conflict between American interests and values
    • crone February 4, 2011 at 1:25 pm

      Thanks for the heads-up James...

      I am new to this forum; however, I do recognize disinformation, distortion when I see it...

      Is it possible that the phrase "Egyptians are ignorant ragheads" is drilled into the heads of some at a very early age?

      Born into a family of bigots (most are anyway - they don't like Jews and they don't like n- well you can fill in the rest)... in South Carolina (with ancestors on both sides going back to the earliest days of the colonies)... living here more than 7 decades, surrounded by bigots (not everyone is, of course... and we have a lot of non-natives - folks who have retired from the lands of snow and ice) - I have somehow managed, with natural curiosity and a passion for information, to evolve into a radical lefty - determined to help bring peace and justice to this large spaceship (yes, it is a lofty goal, but then my goals have always been higher than my arms could reach).

      It is possible to change one's mind... to re-examine one's beliefs and convictions. In the words of Socrates "an unexamined life is not worth living."

      The last paragraph of Phil's piece above reads: "And so the battle in Egypt will necessarily become a battle inside the Jewish community here, inside the Jewish family, inside Jewish history. It is time to work this out; let us grab courage from the freedom fighters in Tahrir Square."

      I agree with this sentiment, and for all our sakes, let us hope that ship has not sailed. If one is truly interested in dialog about resolution to the problems in the Middle East in general and the I/P problem in particular, this forum affords an excellent opportunity... for the many facets and complexities of the issues.

      Of course, if one is merely interested in provocation or spreading disinformation, one is free to do so... just don't expect others to be influenced or impressed by it. BTW, there are several sites that offer an even larger audience, most of whom are quite gullible and would probably be favorably impressed.

      Namste

  • President Jimmy Carter vs. President Barack Obama
    • crone February 3, 2011 at 11:36 pm

      Don't jump yet Avi...

      This is the context in which Chomsky called Nixon our last liberal president:

      "... While Clinton’s Colombia Plan was being formulated, senior administration officials discussed a proposal by the Office of Budget and Management to take $100 million from the $1.3 billion then planned for Colombia, to be used for treatment of U.S. addicts. There was near-unanimous opposition, particularly from “drug czar” Barry McCaffrey, and the proposal was dropped. In contrast, when Richard Nixon—in many respects the last liberal president—declared a drug war in 1971, two-thirds of the funding went to treatment, which reached record numbers of addicts; there was a sharp drop in drug-related arrests and number of federal prison inmates, as well as crime rates. Since 1980, however, “the war on drugs has shifted to punishing offenders, border surveillance, and fighting production at the source countries,” John Donnelly reports in the Boston Globe. One consequence is the enormous increase in drug-related (often victimless) crimes and an explosion in the prison population, reaching levels far beyond any industrial country and possibly a world record, with no detectable effect on availability or price of drugs.

      Chomsky
      The Colombia Plan: April 2000
      Z Magazine, June, 2000

      link to chomsky.info

      Rachel Maddows spoke the night after Obama’s SOTU address; here is an excerpt:

      “The Republican Party platform of Eisenhower‘s 1956 called for expansion of Social Security, broadened unemployment insurance, better health protection for all of our people. It called for voting rights—full voting civil rights for D.C. It called for expanding the minimum wage to cover more workers. It called for improved job safety for workers, equal pay for workers regardless of sex.

      This is the Republican Party circa 1956. The Republican Party.

      The story of modern American politics writ large is the story of your father‘s and your grandfather‘s Republican Party now being way to the left of today‘s leftiest liberals. If Dwight Eisenhower were running for office today, he would have to run, I‘m guessing as an independent, and not as some Joe Lieberman, in between the parties, independent. He‘d be a Bernie Sanders independent.

      In 1982, who passed the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history? That would be Ronald Reagan.

      Who called for comprehensive health reform legislation during in a State of the Union address in 1974, a program that was well to the left of what either Bill Clinton or Barack Obama ultimately proposed? That would be Richard Nixon.

      Eisenhower and Reagan and Nixon—they were not the liberals of their day. They were the conservatives of their own time.

      But the whole of American politics has shifted so far to the right in the last 50 years that what used to be thought of as conservative, what used to be thought of as a conservative position, is now considered to be off-the-charts lefty.

      Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens pointed out this whole phenomenon of American politics shifting to the right when he told “The New York times” this—he said, quote, “Including myself, every judge who‘s been appointed to the court since Lewis Powell in 1971 has been more conservative than his or her predecessor, except maybe Justice Ginsburg.” That was the one exception he could come up with.

      link to msnbc.msn.com

      Read the entire piece for clarity regarding her point.

      imo, I think this was what Chomsky was alluding to in his remarks in 2000. YMMV

  • Egypt has become our ballad - a testimony before the world, crying out that we live
  • This wave will sweep Israel too-- Soros hints in the Washington Post
  • 'The chant is يسقط يسقط حسني مبارك - Tell the world he is killing us'
    • crone February 3, 2011 at 1:23 am

      KUDOS - first to the Demonstrators.... we're holding you in the light...

      KUDOS - to VR... we're all in this one little spaceship together...

  • Neocons have abandoned Mubarak. Why?
  • Obama's greenlight to Mubarak brings bloodshed to Egypt
    • crone February 2, 2011 at 3:49 pm with 2 replies

      Obama's emissary to Egypt yesterday to visit with Muburak ---

      Frank G. Wisner:

      Wisner was until recently Vice Chairman of American International Group (AIG).

      Check him out at wiki - a lifelong career diplomat...

      Wisner is married to Christine de Ganay (former wife of Pal Sarkozy and former stepmother of French president Nicolas Sarkozy), and they have four children.

      His father Frank Wisner was a founding figure and head of the Directorate of Plans of the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1950s. Committed suicide 10//19/1965.

      link to en.wikipedia.org

      His father's info is at link to en.wikipedia.org

  • The ugly American: ‘This is an American grenade. American! American!’
  • The Egyptian revolution is coming– to the U.S.A.
    • crone February 1, 2011 at 10:52 am with 3 replies

      Hello - I have been lurking for eons... just registered a few days ago. By way of introduction let me say that I am a Southern white ol' lady living in the woods in South Carolina, USA... spending my days rattling cages for peace and justice. So that y'all know my bias, I am a liberal...

      Phil, I have admired your writings and the comments of others for some time now... most especially, I admire the community rules for civility...

      This piece is by far the best I have ever read on the ME... and I read quite a bit... you bring a brilliant light to a very complex situation. These are exciting times, fraught with anxiousness for those in the Middle East and indeed across the planet. I hope I have your permission to spam your words across cyberspace...

      Peace and blessings to all here, and our brothers and sisters in Egypt... may they raise their votes today in the manner to which our democracy ascribes ... and may they be 'heard' in the manner they deserve... there courage is boundless, unprecedented in my 7 decades (imho)

      Namaste,

      Crone

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