Robert Fisk on Stones and Semantics in the Occupied Territories (Video)

Today, at Strike the Root, I posted an article by Jonathan Cook at The Electronic Intifada of an Israeli judge’s “historic ruling… when he decided that an Arab teenager needed ‘protection’ from the justice system and ordered that he not be convicted despite being found guilty of throwing stones at a police car during a protest against Israel’s attack last winter on Gaza”. Judge Yuval Shadmi wrote in the verdict: “I will say that the state is not authorized to caress with one hand the Jewish ‘ideological’ felons, and flog with its other hand the Arab ‘ideological’ felons.” Robert Fisk, in a recent lecture, discussed the propaganda efforts in the West that refute the e-mails I’ve received from those outraged by the judge’s ruling (2:13):

Israel Threatens New Aggression Against Gaza After U.S. Stamps Approval of War Crimes

Soon after the U.S. House adopted a resolution to denounce the Goldstone Report, the Israeli Army chief of staff threatened a new offensive against Gazan civilians. We can officially say that there are at least 344 Neo-Con’s in the lower house of Congress.

Chomsky’s Lectern: Palestine and the Region in the Obama Era—The Emerging Framework (Video)

Historian and writer Tariq Ali and Professor Noam Chomsky speak in London 29 October 2009 on U.S. hypocrisy toward Iran,  U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the U.S. role as Israel’s enabler and ‘mafia godfather’, Palestinian leadership’s ‘collaboration’ with the U.S. and Israel against a ’solution’, international law, the hopes for peace in the near future and the double game the Obama Administration plays with its rhetoric and contrary actions. Mr. Ali begins speaking around the 7:00 mark, Prof Chomsky around the 21:00 mark and a Q&A follows where he suggests a “no-state solution” as “the best solution for the whole world”. (1:57:40):

Inside the U.S.-Israel-Forced ‘Palestine Water Shortage’ (Video)

“Inside Story” at  al Jazeera’s program, “Palestine Water Shortage”: ”We discuss the effect of Israel cutting water to Palestine and the political impact in the possible peace process in the region.” (24:12):

Apartheid Report: ‘Israel Rations Palestinans to Trickle of Water’

“Troubled Waters—Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water”, an  Amnesty International report released Tuesday, finds the Israeli government’s water restrictions to Palestinians were discriminatory. Since its occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the government has expanded settlements to monopolize the water supply and has continues to maintain a blockade on the Gaza Strip for a third year. “Adding to an already dire situation, Israel’s war on Gaza early this year left water reservoirs, wells, sewage networks and pumping stations severely damaged,” al Jazeera reports (2:57):

VIDEO: Citizens Arrest Attempt of Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in San Francisco

The Electronic Intifada (ei): “Bay Area residents attempted a citizen’s arrest of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while he gave a speech to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on 22 October 2009. Twenty-two people were arrested for challenging Olmert directly and demanding he be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.” (8:59):

Gaza: A Prison by the Sea (Video)

The U.S.-Israel-Egypt blockade forced on Gazans has turned it into—what AntiWar Radio host Scott Horton calls—”a prison by the sea”. This documentary for al Jazeera (AJE), Locked In: Life in Gaza by George Azar and Mariam Shahin, looks into the everyday life of Munzer al-Dayyeh, a 40-year-old mechanic supporting a family of eight children in the Gaza Strip. “It’s like we are orphaned,” he says.

Part One (12:06):

Oil Tycoon: U.S. Firms ‘Entitled’ to Iraq Oil

T. Boone Pickens lashes out at British Petroleum and the China National Petroleum  Corporation granted contracts for auctioned off Iraqi oil fields. (h/t: Democracy Now!)

U.S. to ‘Continue Standing By Israel’ War Crimes ‘as Loyal Friend’

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. vowed to continue fighting the Goldstone Report which condemned Israel’s war crimes in the Gaza Massacre.

Nobel Committee: War is Peace

Mr. Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting just about everything but peace.

Chomsky’s Lectern: Coups, UNASUR and the U.S.

A lecture given by Professor Noam Chomsky in Caracas, Venezuela 29 August 2009 (updated September 9) on the U.S. plundering of Latin America and the corporate State.

U.S. Claim Iran’s Qom Plant ‘Breaks Rules’ Lacks Validity

On top of the Obama Administration’s escalated nuclear weapons production and pledge to continue providing cover for Israel’s nuclear arsenal, the Administration’s assertion that “Iran is breaking rules all nations must follow” does not stand up to scrutiny.

U.N. Focus on Iran Ignores Israel’s ‘Fanaticism’

The U.N. Security Council “unanimously approved a U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their deadly arsenals”, Ha’aretz reports today, along with Israeli diplomats were “relieved” that the Goldstone Report out of the U.N. Human Rights Council—which condemned Israel’s war crimes committed in the Gaza Massacre—was “scantly mentioned”. The focus of Western leaders were on false assertions of the ‘threat posed by Iran’.

Israel’s U.S.-Aided Missile ‘Defense’ System Manufactures Threats and Targets Civilians

The Obama Administration’s intentions to relocate plans for “missile defense systems” from along the Russian border in Eastern Europe in order to aid Israel’s systems in intimidating Iran comes as an influential “bipartisan report” from Likudniks recommends an aggressive U.S.-Israel strike on Iran and secret U.S. intelligence reports to the White House say there are ‘no nukes in Iran’.

Norman Finkelstein on the U.N. Report Finding Israel ‘Terrorized’ Palestinians and Committed War Crimes in Gaza Massacre (Video)

Palestine-Israel scholar (and my former pedagogue) Professor Norman Finkelstein discusses the U.N. report finding that Israel committed war crimes during Operation Cast Lead—the 22-day massacre of 1,400+ Palestinians, including hundreds of children, in Gaza that began 27 December 2008, backed by then-President-elect Barack Obama and then-President George W. Bush—on Democracy Now! (DN!) with its host, Amy Goodman. Prof. Finkelstein discusses the details of the report in comparison to those from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the misleading rhetoric of calling the Gaza Massacre a ‘war’ and of media equivalence of the crimes from within Gaza to those committed by the Israel Defence Force (IDF).

Daily Briefing — 25th-26th August 2009

• C.I.A. Baghdad chief was ’sacked’ after two detainees died in custody
  
• 2009 already deadliest year of the Afghan War
• Israel ‘unwilling to negotiate’ an East Jerusalem withdrawal
• I.A.E.A. diplomats say Iran has not expanded uranium enrichment
• Bernanke reappointed to second term as FED head
• U.K. wants to disallow internet service for those who participate in ‘illegal’ file sharing

Strong Suspicions Israel Kidnaps Young Palestinians for Their Organs

Donald Boström reported last week that Israel Defensive Forces (I.D.F) kidnaps and kills Palestinians to steal their organs at Sweden’s largest daily newspaper, Aftonbladet.

Daily Briefing — 1st-2nd August 2009

David Brooks continues to type a lot of words in the ‘paper of record’ without saying anything; bin Laden had ‘intimate relations’ with the U.S. until 9/11; Justin Raimondo comments on ‘progressives’ turning a blind eye to Obama trampling on civil liberties; Obama wants a military-’civilian’ court hybrid prison in the U.S.; More MI5 connections to participation in the C.I.A. torture of Binyam Mohamed; Chalmers Johnson lays out three reasons to shut down the U.S. Empire and ten steps to do it; Over 1,000 Afghan civilians killed in the first half of ‘09 during Obama’s ‘Af-Pak surge’; Jury rules man should pay $675k to Copyright Nazis for downloading 30 songs; and more…

Daily Briefing — 29th-30th July 2009

Iraq launces attack on U.S.-backed terror group;  Majority of  U.K. see Afghan War ‘unwinnable’; Colombia joins U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan; Chicago Police issue new “deadly force” policy;  Deaf, disabled man tasered for not listening; HuffPo hires David Axelrod’s son as an editor; Walter Block is an anarchist; and more…

Daily Briefing — 27th-28th July 2009

WaPo wants high-level Bush officials not investigated for torture; Third party emerges strong in Kurdish election; U.S. is continuing and will continue to supply Israel with advanced weapons, unconditionally; Afghanistan wants a “new contract” with the U.S. occupation; Leonard Peltier parole hearing Tuesday; Denver cop demands faster McDonald’s service at gunpoint; and more…

Daily Briefing — 24th-25th July 2009

American people oppose both wars; Taliban strengthens as Pakistan and U.S. increase operations; Two-thirds of life sentences in the U.S. go to non-whites; Chinese gov’t manual teaches police to efficiently beat people; India debunking “global warming” claims; and more…

Daily Briefing — 20th-21st July 2009

U.S. Bailouts could near $24 trillion!; Israel to establish an “internet warfare team” to globally propagandize and combat Truth; A new “Obama interrogation unit” being considered; Obama’s Hitler Youth; Gitmo shutdown delayed by Obama; Is Afghanistan just a geopolitical strategy to continue intimidating Iran?; Israel rejects U.S. call to stop construction in the Palestinian territory of East Jerusalem; Georgia’s NATO ambitions ‘dead’; and more…

Daily Briefing — 10th-11th July 2009

Lew Rockwell, Jr.: America ‘headed to national socialism’; Documents detailing Bush’s illegal wiretapping program released; Bush White House blocked three investigations of a 2001 massacre by a C.I.A.-backed Afghan warlord; Obama ‘colonizing Iraq’; More than 800 Uighurs reportedly killed in ethnic clashes with the Chinese gov’t; ‘Terror suspect’ contributing to Afghan society; Georgia and U.S. preparing to invade near Russian borders?; G-8 threatens Iran; Russian president unveils world currency coin; and more…

Daily Briefing — 8th-9th July 2009

Acquitted detainees could fall under Obama’s ‘indefinite, prolonged detention’ executive order; U.K. outsourced torture to Pakistan; Report: Obama OK’s more Israel settlements; Obama Administration says Iran should be attacked and not attacked… at the same time; Uighurs could face death penalty for demonstrations in China; Cop tasers a epileptic girl 14-year-old girl, sending 50k volts to her head; Documents show Robert McNamara deceived LBJ on the Gulf of Tonkin attack; and more…

Daily Briefing — 7th-8th July 2009

Pope Benedict calls for a “world political authority”; Global opinion poll says ‘U.S. abuses its power’; Chinese gov’t clamp down on Muslims and media; Israel blocks doctors from performing surgeries on Gazan children; The Christian Science Monitor is becoming a gang of warmongerers; Democrats block audit of the Federal [sic] Reserve; and more…