tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83091697499312712942024-02-07T03:10:48.568+00:00Lost and FoundMy personal blog to share thoughts, information and activities which might be of interest to others, who could find lost strings and connections and create a network of friendship and respect.Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-36160475705107834752010-04-09T23:05:00.001+01:002010-04-09T23:07:02.223+01:00Rights group fears sweeping deportations from West Bank<!-- /user-picture --> <span class="print-link"></span><div style="font-weight: bold;" class="field field-type-text field-field-hl-standfirst"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <p>New military orders due to come into effect on 13 April could open the door to imprisonment and deportation of any person living in the Occupied West Bank.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="co-byline-date-location"> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-hl-byline"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> By Miri Weingarten </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-datetime field-field-hl-published-date"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <span class="date-display-single">Friday, 9 April, 2010 - 22:04</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-hl-location"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> London, UK </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- /co-byline-date-location --> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-hl-source"> <div class="field-items"> <div class="field-item odd"> <div class="field-label-inline-first"> Source: </div> HaMoked - Centre for the Defense of the Individual </div> </div> </div><br /><br />New amendments to the current Israel Defence Force (<span class="caps">IDF</span>) Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration and the Order regarding Security Provisions, seek to expand the definition of the term ‘infiltrator.’ <p>The term would then include any person currently present in the occupied West Bank, who does not hold a permit issued by the Israeli authorities. </p> <p>Under the new orders any person in the West Bank – whether born in the West Bank or not; whether Palestinian or not – will be required to hold a permit in order to be there.</p> <p>People without a permit will be rendered criminals by the orders and will face penalties of three to seven years’ imprisonment, or swift deportation/expulsion from the West Bank 72 hours after serving a deportation order.</p> <p>The sweeping order applies to Palestinians who were born in the West Bank or who moved there lawfully, to foreigners and even to Israeli settlers and soldiers. </p> <p>According to Israeli rights group <a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.hamoked.org.il/">HaMoked, </a><span class="ext"></span> if the orders are fully enforced, the West Bank could potentially be emptied of all its inhabitants in a fast track three-day procedure, with little possibility of judicial review. </p> <p>The group, a legal centre based in Jerusalem, is leading urgent action for suspension of the orders. </p> <p>According to the group, the orders will first of all legalise the expulsion of all Gaza-registered Palestinians living in the West Bank, who could be deported to the Gaza Strip.</p> <p>Residents of Gaza have been increasingly restricted from living in the West Bank in recent years, and are now effectively prohibited from moving there. </p> <p>However, according to HaMoked, the greatest danger lies in the potentially limitless enforcement of the law against anyone in the West Bank at any future time.</p> <p>This article may be reproduced on condition that JNews is cited as its source</p> <p>Further reading:<br /><a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.hamoked.org.il/items/112303_eng.pdf"> Hamoked’s letter to <span class="caps">IDF</span> Central Command</a><span class="ext"></span><br /><a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.hamoked.org.il/items/112301_eng.pdf"> Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration (Amendment 2)</a><span class="ext"></span><br /><a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.hamoked.org.il/items/112302_eng.pdf"> Order regarding Security Provisions (Amendment 112)</a><span class="ext"></span><br /><a target="_blank" class="ext" href="http://www.hamoked.org.il/items/112300_eng.pdf"> Order regarding Prevention of Infiltration (1969)</a><span class="ext"></span></p>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-61417416894679454272010-03-17T20:11:00.000+00:002010-03-17T20:12:53.961+00:00New jewish media agency launched in London<p><strong>JNews is an independent source of analysis, opinion, information and news on Israel and Palestine</strong></p><p><strong>http://www.jnews.org.uk/</strong></p><strong>JNews</strong> provides the British media and the public at large with up-to-date, accurate news, as well as features, commentary and analysis by leading experts, some of which is specially commissioned by JNews. <p><strong>JNews</strong> draws its material from a wide variety of sources and lays special emphasis on Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental outlets/agencies.</p> <p><strong>JNews</strong> offers a unique database of prominent experts from the UK, Israel and Palestine who can participate in media and public discussion.</p> <h3>Our aims and values</h3> <p><strong>JNews</strong> promotes understanding and stimulates critical debate about Israel and Palestine among British Jews and the broader public as a contribution to promoting peace with justice for all in the region.</p> <p><strong>JNews</strong> believes that disseminating a range of viewpoints broader than that offered by most Jewish and Israeli organizations will benefit Palestinians and Israelis.</p> <p><strong>JNews</strong> supports the human rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and believes the two are intertwined.</p> <p><strong>JNews</strong> believes in the application of the universal principles of social justice and human rights as the path to a just and comprehensive solution to the conflict.</p> <h3>List of Patrons</h3> <ul><li>Prof Zygmunt Bauman</li><li>Sir Geoffrey Bindman</li><li>Prof Emeritus Leslie Baruch Brent</li><li>Prof Stan Cohen</li><li>Moris Farhi MBE</li><li>June Jacobs CBE</li><li>Prof Mary Kaldor</li><li>Helena Kennedy QC</li><li>Prof Francesca Klug OBE</li><li>Ursula Owen OBE</li><li>Rabbi Danny Rich</li><li>Prof Avi Shlaim</li><li>Marina Warner</li><li>Rabbi Alexandra Wright</li><li>Prof Emeritus John S Yudkin FRCP</li></ul> <h3>List of Trustees</h3> <ul><li>Lady Ellen Dahrendorf</li><li>Richard Kuper</li><li>Antony Lerman</li><li>Maurice Naftalin</li><li>Prof Lynne Segal</li></ul>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-88067428019747181302010-03-14T14:38:00.001+00:002010-03-14T14:40:42.835+00:00UK 'ignoring' systemic evidence of torture among asylum seekers<span style="font-weight: bold;">Charities say reports of abuse being routinely ignored is a 'systemic and increasing problem'</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/marktownsend">Mark Townsend</a>, home affairs editor<br /><a href="http://observer.guardian.co.uk/">The Observer</a>, Sunday 14 March 2010 <br /><br /><div id="article-wrapper"> <p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/torture" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Torture">Torture</a> survivors seeking sanctuary in Britain are being wrongly held in government detention centres, despite independent medical evidence supporting claims of brutal violence against them in their home countries.</p><p>According to Home Office guidelines, in cases where there is evidence that a person seeking asylum has been tortured they should be detained only in "exceptional circumstances". But medical charities that carry out hundreds of independent assessments of torture survivors every year have accused the government of routinely ignoring their reports, with victims held in detention centres until their asylum claims are heard – and, in almost every case, rejected.</p><p>Sonya Sceats, a spokeswoman for one charity that carries out medical assessments for the government, told the <em>Observer</em>: "It's very clear there is a systemic and increasing problem here. The corollary of their dismissal of independent medical evidence is that the protection [asylum] claim is invariably rejected and this means a survivor of torture is at risk of being returned to further torture or at risk of detention."</p><p>The allegations come in the wake of strong criticism last week of the UK Border Agency, which was condemned for failing to investigate claims of mistreatment by failed asylum seekers in abuse allegations up to July 2008. Ministers now plan to review the use of force against asylum seekers by British security guards after a Border Agency report on abuse conceded that serious injuries were suffered by detainees who had been handcuffed or physically restrained.</p><p>The new allegations further highlight systematic mistreatment in Britain's asylum system. One 43-year-old torture victim from Zimbabwe, who is on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood detention centre, Bedfordshire, alleged she was detained despite independent verification of the abuse in her home country.</p><p>Her arms are scarred from repeated stabbings during an incident in Zimbabwe in which she was also beaten and raped. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been in Yarl's Wood for five months and alleges medical mistreatment and racist abuse by staff, claims that have been denied. She told the <em>Observer</em>: "The officers are racist and are not sympathetic. We have suffered and don't want to be tortured here, but inside here it is a form of torture but nobody can see us locked up."</p><p>Bibiche Lutete, 36, was beaten and repeatedly raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the UN has confirmed rape is used as a weapon of war. After seeking asylum in the UK, she said she had been further traumatised while being illegally held in a British detention centre. She also claimed to have suffered "medical abuse" and had anxiety attacks after witnessing a naked woman dragged from her room in Yarl's Wood by private security guards, claims robustly denied by the Home Office.</p><p>"Everybody was shocked," she said. "She had no clothes on and she was photographed. I still get flashbacks."</p><p>The Medical Foundation For the Care of Victims of Torture, the UK charity dedicated to the treatment of torture survivors, said it had lodged complaints with the Home Office over concerns that its assessments documenting evidence of abuse among asylum seekers were being increasingly dismissed by officials. The foundation cited figures from the last 18 months showing only seven people had been released from detention out of 250 cases where clinical evidence of abuse had been presented.</p><p>The Border Agency denied it dismissed the evidence of independent medical experts. Hugh Ind, the agency's director for protection, said: "We consider all evidence submitted in support of asylum claims very carefully, including claims of torture. Where an individual sets out a credible case that they are in need of protection, we normally grant asylum."</p><p>An <em>Observer </em>investigation has also found that the number of "assaults" against refugees in detention centres remains high. The charity Medical Justice Network has documented at least 15 recent cases where a detainee claims they were assaulted, while allegations by asylum seekers of inadequate healthcare are running at eight a month.</p><p>A number involve torture survivors, including one from the DRC who ended up in hospital last March after sustaining severe handcuff injuries during an attempted deportation from the UK by private security guards. His complaint to the Border Agency tells how six guards restrained him on a plane and that "one turned round trying to strangle me by my throat while the other was banging my head on the seat in front".</p><p>The government is trying to clear a backlog of 200,000 asylum cases, though the border agency admits it can process fewer than half its target applications a month. Three Russians refugees leapt to their death from the 15th floor of a block of flats in Glasgow last Sunday, prompting further concern over the treatment of asylum seekers. Yesterday hundreds of people joined a rally in the city and called for an end to the "enforced removal of refugee families".</p><p>http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/14/asylum-torture-evidence-ignored<br /></p> </div>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-5575994518106195112010-03-11T22:27:00.001+00:002010-03-11T22:27:46.836+00:00There is a new Left in town!<div>I guess some of you read it already, or just heard it in the demonstration, but I thought that if you didn't, you would find it interesting, it's the speech the young Israeli activist, Sarah Benninga gave, in the big weekend demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah (Translated from Hebrew by Didi Remez) -</div> <div> </div> <div>There is a new Left in town!</div> <div>There is a new Left and it is a Left that is not satisfied with peace talks. It is a Left that fights!</div> <div>There is a new Left that knows there are things you must fight against even when they are identified with the State and even when they enjoy the protection of the law!</div> <div>There is a new Left that knows that this fight will not be won on paper but on the ground, in the hills, in the vineyards and in the olive groves.</div> <div>There is a new Left that is not afraid of the settlers, even when they descend on it from the hilltops, blindfolded and armed.</div> <div>This Left does not surrender to the police’s political repression, and does not care what they write about it in Maariv newspaper. There is a new Left in town!</div> <div>This Left does not want to be loved, does not fantasize about town squares and does not bask in the memory of the 400,000. This Left is a partnership between Palestinians, who understand the occupation will not be defeated by missiles and bombs, and Israelis, who understand that the Palestinian struggle is their struggle.</div> <div>The new Left joins hands with Palestinians in a cloud of tear gas at Bil’in and gets beaten up together with them by settlers at the South Hebron Mountain.</div> <div>This Left stands by refugees and labor migrants in Tel Aviv and fights against the Wisconsin Plan.</div> <div>The new Left is us — all of us!</div> <div>Everyone who came here tonight. Everyone who dared cross the imaginary line between West and East Jerusalem, despite the threats and intimidation.</div> <div>We are all the new Left that is emerging in Israel and Palestine.</div> <div>We are not fighting for a peace agreement. We are fighting for justice. But we believe that injustice is the main obstacle to peace.</div> <div>There will be no peace until the Ghawi and Hanoun and al-Kurd families return to their homes. Because peace does not grow on a soil of discrimination, oppression and theft.</div> <div>There is a new Left in town and that Left stands with the people of Sheikh Jarrah tonight and will continue standing with them until justice defeats fanaticism.</div> <div>But there is also a new Right in town.</div> <div>A Right awash with fanaticism and racism that seduces the masses with nationalist rhetoric.</div> <div>The new Right does not care about the welfare and well-being of human beings. The new Right only cares about ethnic, tribal, Liebermanistic loyalty.</div> <div>For the new Right charity begins at home only for Jews. And what makes a person a Jew is the fact that they are not an Arab.</div> <div>The new Right has nothing to offer except for endless war.</div> <div>The new Right is the empty wagon that went off the rails: religious and secular Jews who have nothing but hatred of the other: the Arabs the refugee, the leftist.</div> <div>That new Right manufactures the deluded settlers, because of whom we are demonstrating tonight.</div> <div>Those settlers hate Jerusalem. They do not love the Jewish people and they do not love mankind. They love only themselves.</div> <div>Among the settlers there are many with whom we should speak. But the settlers of Sheikh Jarrah, who sing canticles to Baruch Goldstein — they must be defeated.</div> <div>The new Right created Nir Barkat. A technocrat who does not understand Jerusalem and does not care about Jerusalem. A mayor who uses administrative terror against the residents of East Jerusalem and neglects the residents of West Jerusalem, while reciting endless clichés.</div> <div>If Jerusalem is a powder keg, the match that might light it, is called Nir Barkat.</div> <div>But we are not afraid of Barkat, nor are we afraid of the settlers, nor are we afraid of Lieberman.</div> <div>We will keep coming to Sheikh Jarrah and to every place where justice is trampled by the forces of occupation and oppression.</div> Look around you. We are not as few as we thought! And we will win!Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-64730522886404772562010-02-21T17:08:00.003+00:002010-02-21T17:12:58.500+00:00The way we live now A hard-hitting study of the social effects of inequality has profound implications, says Lynsey HanleyWe are rich enough. Economic growth has done as much as it can to improve material conditions in the developed countries, and in some cases appears to be damaging health. If Britain were instead to concentrate on making its citizens' incomes as equal as those of people in Japan and Scandinavia, we could each have seven extra weeks' holiday a year, we would be thinner, we would each live a year or so longer, and we'd trust each other more.<br />Epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett don't soft-soap their message. It is brave to write a book arguing that economies should stop growing when millions of jobs are being lost, though they may be pushing at an open door in public consciousness. We know there is something wrong, and this book goes a long way towards explaining what and why.<br /><br />The authors point out that the life-diminishing results of valuing growth above equality in rich societies can be seen all around us. Inequality causes shorter, unhealthier and unhappier lives; it increases the rate of teenage pregnancy, violence, obesity, imprisonment and addiction; it destroys relationships between individuals born in the same society but into different classes; and its function as a driver of consumption depletes the planet's resources.<br /><br />Wilkinson, a public health researcher of 30 years' standing, has written numerous books and articles on the physical and mental effects of social differentiation. He and Pickett have compiled information from around 200 different sets of data, using reputable sources such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and the US Census, to form a bank of evidence against inequality that is impossible to deny.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoyVPcQuUC3IGWum-2mGAcY1GrHjP9plJuSM1NATK58J68j7Zuh0GGhlI5TQ1GE1do67KBCQYtPXwYeMQH3Qud2Nqs8hqR9M0rl9j9XTxeze-IQcGlSvZpcvmRlhyCFI-RqMGFi0jj_TF/s1600-h/all-different-all-equal_en.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 91px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwoyVPcQuUC3IGWum-2mGAcY1GrHjP9plJuSM1NATK58J68j7Zuh0GGhlI5TQ1GE1do67KBCQYtPXwYeMQH3Qud2Nqs8hqR9M0rl9j9XTxeze-IQcGlSvZpcvmRlhyCFI-RqMGFi0jj_TF/s320/all-different-all-equal_en.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440745642266713090" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They use the information to create a series of scatter-graphs whose patterns look nearly identical, yet which document the prevalence of a vast range of social ills. On almost every index of quality of life, or wellness, or deprivation, there is a gradient showing a strong correlation between a country's level of economic inequality and its social outcomes. Almost always, Japan and the Scandinavian countries are at the favourable "low" end, and almost always, the UK, the US and Portugal are at the unfavourable "high" end, with Canada, Australasia and continental European countries in between.<br /><br />This has nothing to do with total wealth or even the average per-capita income. America is one of the world's richest nations, with among the highest figures for income per person, but has the lowest longevity of the developed nations, and a level of violence - murder, in particular - that is off the scale. Of all crimes, those involving violence are most closely related to high levels of inequality - within a country, within states and even within cities. For some, mainly young, men with no economic or educational route to achieving the high status and earnings required for full citizenship, the experience of daily life at the bottom of a steep social hierarchy is enraging.<br /><br />The graphs also reveal that it is not just the poor, but whole societies, from top to bottom, that are adversely affected by inequality. Although the UK fares badly when compared with most other OECD countries (and is the worst developed nation in which to be a child according to both Unicef and the Good Childhood Inquiry), its social problems are not as pronounced as in the US.<br /><br />Rates of illness are lower for English people of all classes than for Americans, but working-age Swedish men fare better still. Diabetes affects twice as many American as English people, whether they have a high or a low level of education. Wherever you look, evidence favouring greater equality piles up. As the authors write, "the relationships between inequality and poor health and social problems are too strong to be attributable to chance".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoGZeZh7NpXtxgMInxubSYG-Ni1XuhLQ3zlfyW0DY5Tcwyo4sZAimWMI9rPe7kLaYx0FXJq4dlQSaNpPMzUpZgBvRnQuMhHx_K9GwP1oWEcd_Vw3LfPF2xdIksF-QgJlBO9Wu5ZqYYPF8/s1600-h/spirit+level.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoGZeZh7NpXtxgMInxubSYG-Ni1XuhLQ3zlfyW0DY5Tcwyo4sZAimWMI9rPe7kLaYx0FXJq4dlQSaNpPMzUpZgBvRnQuMhHx_K9GwP1oWEcd_Vw3LfPF2xdIksF-QgJlBO9Wu5ZqYYPF8/s320/spirit+level.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440745826938406322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But perhaps the most troubling aspect of reading this book is the revelation that the way we live in Britain is a serious danger to our mental health. Around a quarter of British people, and more than a quarter of Americans, experience mental problems in any given year, compared with fewer than 10 per cent in Japan, Germany, Sweden and Italy.<br /><br />Wilkinson and Pickett's description of unequal societies as "dysfunctional" suggests implicit criticism of the approach taken by Britain's "happiness tsar" Richard Layard, who recommended that the poor mental health of many Britons be "fixed" or improved by making cognitive behavioural therapy more easily available. Consumerism, isolation, alienation, social estrangement and anxiety all follow from inequality, they argue, and so cannot rightly be made a matter of individual management.<br /><br />There's an almost pleading quality to some of Wilkinson and Pickett's assertions, as though they feel they've spent their careers banging their heads against a brick wall. It's impossible to overstate the implications of their thesis: that the societies of Britain and the US have institutionalised economic and social inequality to the extent that, at any one time, a quarter of their respective populations are mentally ill. What kind of "growth" is that, other than a malignant one?<br /><br />One question that comes to mind is whether the world's most equal developed nations, Japan and Sweden, make sufficient allowance for individuals to express themselves without being regarded as a threat to the health of the collective. Critics of the two societies would argue that both make it intensely difficult for individual citizens to protest against the conformity both produced by, and required to sustain, equality. The inclination to dismiss or neuter individuals' complaints may, Wilkinson and Pickett suggest, go some way towards explaining the higher suicide rates in both countries compared with their more unequal counterparts. Those who feel wrong, or whose lives go wrong, may feel as though they really do have no one to blame but themselves.<br /><br />What Japan and Sweden do show is that equality is a matter of political will. There are belated signs - shown in the recent establishment of a National Equalities Panel and in Trevor Phil lips's public pronouncements on the central place of class in the landscape of British inequality - that Labour recognises that its relaxed attitude to people "getting filthy rich" has come back to bite it on the rear.<br /><br />Twelve years in power is long enough to reverse all the trends towards greater social and economic stratification that have occurred since 1970; instead they have continued on their merry way towards segregation. Teenage pregnancy rates have begun to rise after a period of decline; there is a 30-year gap in male life expectancy between central Glasgow and parts of southern England; and child poverty won't be halved by next year after all (though it wouldn't make as much difference as making their parents more equal).<br /><br />There are times when the book feels rather too overwhelmingly grim. Even if you allow for the fact that it was written before Barack Obama won the US presidency on a premise of trust and optimism, its opening pages are depressing enough to make you want to shut it fast: "We find ourselves anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, driven to consume and with little or no community life." Taking the statistics broadly, they may be correct, but many readers simply won't feel like that.<br /><br />However, the book does end on an optimistic note, with a transformative, rather than revolutionary, programme for making sick societies more healthy. A society in which all citizens feel free to look each other in the eye can only come into being once those in the lower echelons feel more valued than at present. The authors argue that removal of economic impediments to feeling valued - such as low wages, low benefits and low public spending on education, for instance - will allow a flourishing of human potential.<br /><br />There is a growing inventory of serious, compellingly argued books detailing the social destruction wrought by inequality. Wilkinson and Pickett have produced a companion to recent bestsellers such as Oliver James's Affluenza and Alain de Botton's Status Anxiety . But The Spirit Level also contributes to a longer view, sitting alongside Richard Sennett's 2003 book Respect: The Formation of Character in an Age of Inequality , and the epidemiologist Michael Marmot's Status Syndrome , from 2005.<br /><br />Anyone who believes that society is the result of what we do, rather than who we are, should read these books; they should start with The Spirit Level because of its inarguable battery of evidence, and because its conclusion is simple: we do better when we're equal.<br /><br />• Lynsey Hanley's Estates: An Intimate History is published by GrantaIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-4103995855642632772010-02-17T20:57:00.001+00:002010-02-17T20:58:46.539+00:00WHY BOMB IRAN WHEN YOU CAN BECOME IRAN?"That seems to be the thinking behind the Israeli government's endorsement of legislation that will require human rights NGOs in Israel (e.g., B'Tselem, Machsomwatch, Breaking the Silence, Adalah, etc.) to publicize contributions from foreign governments, not only in an annual report (they all do that anyway), but every single time they host an event, have a meeting, publish a report, issue a news release, whether they have received outside funding for that particular occasion or not." <br /><br />Read further...<br /><br />http://themagneszionist.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-bomb-iran-when-you-can-become-iran.htmlIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-75796044719632814862010-01-08T18:58:00.004+00:002010-01-08T19:04:57.339+00:00Hoffen auf den Mythos England<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSxQukRouotncYWh4vTOZGpaVqCppIny-NAUx5-Z-7yFFiF0MdKhmlIQ4LmgjLCS0wI89JbLZ_0mgh8vcOu0LLjQvVfbEv7CXgF8TT9CpGzduef18MmpxQglEma_CTshVWyUF2Wuo3Q2l/s1600-h/article-1200730-05c53c29000005dc-729_468x315.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrSxQukRouotncYWh4vTOZGpaVqCppIny-NAUx5-Z-7yFFiF0MdKhmlIQ4LmgjLCS0wI89JbLZ_0mgh8vcOu0LLjQvVfbEv7CXgF8TT9CpGzduef18MmpxQglEma_CTshVWyUF2Wuo3Q2l/s320/article-1200730-05c53c29000005dc-729_468x315.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424446666190388354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Nach der Räumung des größten Flüchtlingscamps "Jungle" hält in Calais der Zustrom von Migranten an - wie auch die Repression der Behörden. <span class="autor">VON TOBIAS MÜLLER, taz<br />http://www.taz.de/1/politik/europa/artikel/1/hoffen-auf-den-mythos-england/<br /><br /></span><p class="artikeltext">Zurückgeblieben ist ein Standbild. Eine bizarre Brache von der Ausdehnung mehrerer Fußballfelder. Was nach dem Fällen der Bäume noch übrig war, wurde planiert. Die Spuren der Bulldozer haben sich tief in den Boden gegraben, über Schlafsäcke und Decken, die im feuchten Sand vor sich hin schimmeln. Zerknüllte Hosen, Pullover und einzelne Schuhe liegen auf dem matschigen Grund. Auch Matratzenspiralen finden sich zwischen Brettern und Plastikplanen, und jede Menge Abfall. Ein Busdepot, ein Elektrizitätswerk und ein paar Lagerhallen säumen das Gelände in der Zone Industrielle des Dunes unweit des Hafens. Seit Monaten bewegt sich hier nichts mehr. </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Auf einmal kommt Leben in die eingefrorene Szene. Unvermittelt taucht eine Gestalt aus dem Gebüschstreifen am Rand auf. Sie trägt Jogginghose, einen Parka und eine dunkelblaue Mütze. Der Afghane wohnte früher hier, im Jungle, dem größten der elenden Flüchtlingscamps unter freiem Himmel, für die Calais berühmt wurde. Sein Gesicht ist zerfurcht, über 40 Jahre ist er alt, doppelt so alt wie die meisten hier, und anders als sie spricht er nur brüchiges Englisch. "Finished", sagt er, und weist auf die Ödnis um sich. Mit einer scharfen Handbewegung deutet er den Bulldozereinsatz an und zuckt die Schultern. Dann schlurft er weiter, überquert die Straße und verschwindet dahinter in einem Waldstück. Dort wohnt er jetzt.<br /></p><p class="artikeltext"> Es ist eine Szene mit Symbolkraft. Die groß angelegte Räumungsaktion des Jungle, in dem im Sommer noch um die tausend meist afghanische Migranten unter erbärmlichen Bedingungen lebten, holte im September die Weltpresse in die Hafenstadt am Ärmelkanal. Sie wurde Zeuge einer öffentlichen Inszenierung: Die französische Regierung wollte klarstellen, dass es ihr von nun an ernst sei mit der Bekämpfung der Transitmigration nach Großbritannien. Knapp 300 Menschen wurden nach offiziellen Angaben festgenommen, Einwanderungsminister Éric Besson klopfte sich für den erfolgreichen Schlag gegen Schlepperbanden vor laufenden Kameras selber auf die Schulter und kündigte an, Calais werde bis zum Jahresende "wasserdicht gegen illegale Einwanderung". </p> <div class="shortybox"><!-- start smarty/plugin.tmpl --> <div class="align_plugin_left"><!-- start smarty/plugin_shorty.tmpl --> <div class="shorty_info_typ1"> <div class="shorty_info_typ1_header_links"> <h4>Transitmigration</h4> </div> <div class="shorty_info_typ1_links_text"> <p class="artikeltext"> <span style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Lucida;"><b>Sangatte:</b> 1999 eröffnete das Rote Kreuz in Sangatte bei Calais ein Lager, um Flüchtlinge aus dem Kosovo auffangen zu können. Neue Migrantenströme aus Irak und Afghanistan sorgten schon bald für Überfüllung. Zehntausende versuchte illegale Einreisen belasteten das Verhältnis zwischen Paris und London. 2002 wurde das Lager geschlossen.</span> </p> <p class="artikeltext"> <span style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Lucida;"><b>Verteilung:</b> Danach verteilte sich die Transitmigration entlang der Kanalküste, Calais aber blieb das Zentrum. Flüchtlinge errichteten Jungle genannte Elendscamps und besetzten leerstehende Gebäude. Seit 2004 verstärken Paris und London die gemeinsamen Kontrollen.</span> </p> <p class="artikeltext"> <span style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,Lucida;"><b>Jungle: </b>Im Juli 2009 beschlossen beide Länder eine Intensivierung. Im September wurde der größte Jungle zerstört. Hunderte Migranten sind in Paris untergetaucht. Der stetige Zustrom hält die Zahl in Calais bei rund 300.</span> </p> </div> </div> <!-- end smarty/plugin_shorty.tmpl --></div> <!-- end smarty/plugin.tmpl --> </div> <p class="artikeltext"> Die Wirklichkeit sieht anders aus. Zwar sind mehrere hundert Transitmigranten in Paris untergetaucht, andere haben sich über die Küste verteilt, nach Dunkerque, Boulogne und bis herunter nach Cherbourg, um von dort versteckt auf einem Lkw mit der Fähre oder dem Eurostarzug die andere Seite des Kanals zu erreichen. Doch bereits am Abend nach der Zerstörung des Jungle trafen neue Flüchtlinge in Calais ein. Zu Beginn des Winters sind es rund 300. Ihre Hoffnung auf Asyl oder wenigstens Schwarzarbeit und wenig Ausweiskontrollen mag der dortigen Realität immer weniger entsprechen. Doch der Mythos England überdauert Planierraupen und Kettensägen, so wie er seit Jahren immun ist gegen die Aufrüstung der Straße von Dover zu einer der am schwersten zu überwindenden Grenzen der Welt. Nach der Räumung ist vor der Räumung, das ist das Gesetz von Calais, und so geht der Afghane mit dem faltigen Gesicht einfach hinüber, in den neuen Jungle. </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Es ist nicht die einzige provisorische Siedlung. Auch hinter dem verlassenen Hovercraft- Terminal bieten die Dünen weiterhin Unterschlupf für Gestrandete. Hazara-Jungle heißt der Streifen im lokalen Idiom, begrenzt von einem seltsam idyllischen Strand und der Straße, die den von grellweißen Zäunen umgebenen Hafen mit der Stadt verbindet. Sechs junge Hasaren, Angehörige einer farsisprechenden Minderheit in Zentralafghanistan, haben sich seit zwei Wochen dort niedergelassen. Seither findet in den Dünen ein makabres Katz- und Mausspiel statt: Beinahe jede Nacht, sagt der 28-jährige Ahmadi, bekommen sie Besuch von fünf oder sechs Polizeiwagen. Die Beamten decken das Areal in den Dünen mit Tränengas ein, zerstören die Zelte, nehmen die Schlafsäcke mit und stecken die unsanft Geweckten für den Rest der Nacht in eine Zelle. Am nächsten Tag werden sie freigelassen, kehren zurück in ihren Jungle und beginnen erneut, aus Planen, Paletten und Absperrgittern einen Unterschlupf zu zimmern. Nur hundert Meter vom neu errichteten Lager entfernt finden sich die Überbleibsel des vorigen. Reste eines Stuhls, verkohltes Holz, zertretenes Plastik. Seit Jahren können die Migranten von Calais davon ein Lied singen. Die, die erst im Herbst gekommen sind, kennen kein anderes. Die Frequenz der Einsätze hat massiv zugenommen. </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Der Ort, an dem all diese Geschichten erzählt werden, liegt im heruntergekommenen Hafenviertel in Sichtweite der Fährterminals. Auf einem geräumigen Hof, den die Stadt ihnen zur Verfügung stellt, verteilen Hilfsorganisationen dreimal am Tag Mahlzeiten. Wie überall in Calais kreuzen Polizeistreifen hinter dem Zaun. Während der Essensausgabe belassen sie es bei Blicken, so ist es mit der Bürgermeisterin abgesprochen. </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Zeit zum Durchatmen für Hamid und Ajmal. Die beiden 16-Jährigen wohnten im zerstörten Jungle. Seither schlafen sie unter Brücken, wenn sie nicht, wie gestern, von der Polizei mit Tritten geweckt und ihre Decken mit Wasser begossen werden. An eine Nacht auf der Wache eine Stunde von Calais entfernt haben sie sich inzwischen gewöhnt. Brauchen sie für den Rückweg zu lange, verpassen sie eine Mahlzeit. Kein Wunder, dass sie auf kältere Temperaturen warten: Ab zwei Grad unter null nämlich stellt eine städtische Schule ihre Turnhalle zur Verfügung.<br /></p><p class="artikeltext"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmQaVkoydn6a2rYrQiwdsdlTOlTqwJMB4XBv1hSSneHL7L10p5MGqwsjD1jK8opqWVqfZPbFxuwkcDSuqf0wkXPmIUel7Adxp_yDQO7uCqdW4YVcq6R7ggmgQHSRYTsqfeNLsRWzJbd_9/s1600-h/6a0111685b4b71970c0120a5e05d0c970c-800wi.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmQaVkoydn6a2rYrQiwdsdlTOlTqwJMB4XBv1hSSneHL7L10p5MGqwsjD1jK8opqWVqfZPbFxuwkcDSuqf0wkXPmIUel7Adxp_yDQO7uCqdW4YVcq6R7ggmgQHSRYTsqfeNLsRWzJbd_9/s320/6a0111685b4b71970c0120a5e05d0c970c-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424446757847582786" border="0" /></a></p> <p align="center"> <b>Viele Minderjährige</b> </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Es sind unter anderem die vielen Minderjährigen, die Maureen McBrien nach Calais brachte. Bereits seit dem Sommer unterhält das UNHCR, das Flüchtlingskommissariat der Vereinten Nationen, eine Niederlassung in der Stadt. Seit dem Herbst wird sie von der Amerikanerin geleitet. 14 Jahre lang zog McBrien durch Flüchtlingscamps in Kriegsgebieten wie Kongo, Ruanda und Kosovo. Die Zustände in Calais hält sie für "schlimmer, als ich sie irgendwo anders gesehen habe". </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Weil die Transitmigranten nach England wollen, stellt niemand in Frankreich einen Antrag auf Asyl. "Daher haben sie kein Recht auf staatliche Hilfe. Die einzige Unterstützung kommt hier aus der Zivilgesellschaft." Maureen Mc Brien und ihr Assistent besuchen daher die Camps der Umgebung, um Informationen zum Asylverfahren in Frankreich zu geben. Trotzdem geht ein Lachen über ihr Gesicht, als sie bei der Mittagsausgabe die Nachricht der letzten Nacht vernimmt: Drei Jugendliche haben es hinüber nach England geschafft. Der älteste ist 14, der jüngste 11. </p> <p class="artikeltext"> Denen, die in dieser Nacht in einer verlassenen Schreinereihalle am Rand des Zentrums um das Feuer sitzen, steht dieser Schritt noch bevor. African Squat wird das riesige Gebäude genannt, denn die rund 30 Bewohner kommen aus dem Sudan, Eritrea und Somalia. Das Tor lässt sich nicht mehr schließen, es gibt keine Elektrizität, und brauchbares Feuerholz wird ein knappes Gut im feuchten Ärmelkanal-Winter. Zwei Tage zuvor saß Steven noch hier, ein eloquenter 23-Jähriger, der wie die meisten Sudanesen aus Darfur kommt. In knapp drei Wochen hatte er eine Handvoll Versuche unternommen, auf eine Fähre zu gelangen. Vergeblich. Während er seine Socken am Feuer trocknete, erzählte er von den Fluchtplänen, die jeder für sich alleine schmiede. "Jederzeit kann jemand einfach verschwinden. Vielleicht wollte er nur kurz raus in die Stadt, und wir sehen ihn nie wieder." Kurz darauf wurde Steven selbst zum letzten Mal gesehen.<span class="autor"><br /></span></p>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-72526770068052931402010-01-03T23:00:00.001+00:002010-01-03T23:00:54.513+00:00Falsche Flagge?<h2>Die offiziellen Darstellungen zum mißglückten Attentat in US-Flugzeug sind voller Widersprüche und Ungereimtheiten</h2> <address>Von Rainer Rupp</address><br /><br />Bei dem angeblichen Terroranschlag des nigerianischen Unterhosenbombers Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab auf dem Northwest-Flug 253 von Amsterdam nach Detroit am 25. Dezember 2009 hatten nicht wenige Beobachter ein Déjà vu: Alles schon mal erlebt. Tatsächlich spricht vieles für eine Operation unter falscher Flagge. Die Geschichte der US-Militärinterventionen rund um die Welt ist nachweislich von Verschwörungen geprägt. <h3>Kriegsvorwände</h3> Immer wieder sind US-Regierungen dabei ertappt worden, daß sie mit »false-flag«-Anschlägen und -Angriffen die Stimmung in der US-Öffentlichkeit erfolgreich manipulierten, um strategische Ziele durchzusetzen. Einige bekannte Beispiele: Die Explosion des US-Schlachtschiffs Maine 1898 im Hafen von Havanna, die den Anlaß für den Krieg der USA gegen Spanien lieferte; der sogenannte Zwischenfall in der Bucht von Tongking 1964, der den US-Angriff auf Nordvietnam legitimierte; der Plan der Bush-Administration, ein Flugzeug mit UN-Markierungen über dem Irak abzuschießen, um die Tat Saddam Hussein in die Schuhe zu schieben. Das sind Tatsachen, keine Theorien. Viel spricht dafür, daß auch der in Detroit festgenommene Nigerianer und seine zur »jemenitischen Al-Qaida« hochgejubelte Gruppe verrannter islamistischer Extremisten von einem der inzwischen 16 US-Geheimdienste unter falscher Flagge »geführt« wurde.<br /><br />Von Interesse ist vor allem die Region, aus der Abdulmutallab stammt. Die USA beziehen inzwischen ein Fünftel ihrer Ölimporte aus Nigeria und anderen westafrikanischen Ländern. Sogenannte Terrorismus-Experten behaupten derzeit in den westlichen Medien, es sei wichtig, daß US-Militär diesen Staaten im »Kampf gegen Al-Qaida« zu Hilfe komme. Bequemerweise reklamiert nun eine angebliche Al-Qaida Filiale im Jemen die Verantwortung für das mißglückte Attentat und serviert damit den US-Strategen den seit langem gesuchten Vorwand, in dem Land auf der Arabischen Halbinsel, das den Zugang zum Roten Meer kontrolliert, zu intervenieren.<br /><br />Ein Déjà vu bereiten auch die zahlreichen Unstimmigkeiten und Widersprüche in den offiziellen Darstellungen der Vorgänge beim Flug 253. Dazu gehört z.B. das außerordentliche offizielle Desinteresse an dringenden und ernstzunehmenden Warnungen im Vorfeld des Anschlags. Gleiches gilt für ungewöhnliche Beobachtungen unabhängiger Tatzeugen. Das erneute angebliche Versagen der US-Geheimdienste paßt auffällig ins Muster. Ihnen waren alle persönlichen Daten des afrikanischen Studenten lange vorher bekannt. Und schließlich: Die Tatsache, daß der Anschlag mißglückte, ist ebenfalls eine Wiederholung von schon einmal Erlebtem. Ungewöhnlich ist diesmal lediglich, daß Al-Qaida prompt die Verantwortung für einen eklatanten Fehlschlag übernommen haben soll. Vor allem aber wird das vorgeführte Debakel der US-Geheimdienste dazu genutzt, um für sie noch mehr Machtbefugnisse und Geld zu fordern. <h3>Ähnlichkeiten</h3> Nach anfänglichem Leugnen hat die CIA inzwischen eingestanden, daß sie bereits seit August erste Warnungen erhalten hatte. Einen Monat vor dem Flug verfügte sie auch über den Namen und sogar die Paßnummer des Nigerianers, nachdem Abdulmutallabs Vater, ein ehemaliger Minister und einflußreicher Banker, im November in der US-Botschaft in Nigeria den dortigen CIA-Vertreter vor den terroristischen Absichten seines Sohnes bei dessen bevorstehender USA-Reise gewarnt hatte. Der Geheimdienst war somit informiert, daß der Sohn zu einem religiösen Fanatiker geworden war, der sich seit dem Sommer mehrere Monate in einem Ausbildungslager im Jemen aufgehalten hatte. Daraufhin, so CIA-Sprecher Paul Gimigliano in der New York Times vom 30. Dezember, habe die Agency alle betroffenen US-Behörden informiert, um sicherzustellen, daß Abdulmutallab »auf die Terroristenliste der US-Regierung gesetzt würde«. Was nicht geschah.<br /><br />Nach geltender US-Antiterrorprozedur wird laut New York Times jeder Passagier, der sein Flugticket wie Abdulmutallab bar bezahlt und nur mit Handgepäck den Flug antritt, vor dem Start mit besonderer Sorgfalt untersucht. Obwohl alles in diesem Fall zutraf, passierte nichts. Die Tatsache, daß der Name des Studenten nicht auf der US-Flugverbotsliste stand, kann bei dem von Hysterie gespeisten immensen Aufwand, den die USA bei Terrorverdacht treiben, kaum ein Versehen gewesen sein. Vielmehr sind die Ähnlichkeiten zu den Anschlägen vom 11.September 2001 frappierend. In deren Vorfeld hatten drei regionale FBI-Teams der Antiterrorabteilung unabhängig voneinander Wind von der Sache bekommen, ihre weiteren Nachforschungen waren aber auf Anweisung von oben gestoppt worden. Auch die Tatsache, daß Abdulmutallabs Sprengsatz nicht explodierte, sondern nur eine Art Verpuffung produzierte, erinnert an den ersten Anschlag 1993 auf das New Yorker World Trade Center. Wie sich später bei der Gerichtsverhandlung herausstellte, war die »islamistische Terrorgruppe« komplett vom FBI unterwandert. Die Behörde besorgte sogar die Sprengsätze. Anstatt zu explodieren, qualmten sie nur, was aber auch zum Tod etlicher Unbeteiligter führte.<br /><br /><i>Siehe hierzu die detaillierte Beweisführung des Autors in dem Band: Das Schweigekartell. Fragen und Widersprüche zum 11. September. Kai Homilius Verlag, Berlin 2002</i>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-9899336176261081352010-01-02T20:52:00.000+00:002010-01-02T20:53:15.306+00:00Klingt das vertraut?<h5 title="intro">English follows German<br /></h5><h5 title="intro">Vor dreissig Jahren marschierte die Sowjetarmee in Afghanistan ein. Die Besetzung dauerte zehn Jahre – der Versuch, eine säkulare Regierung zu etablieren, scheiterte. Nun wiederholt sich die Geschichte.</h5> <p class="text">«Sie haben Russen erschossen», erzählte mir der junge Fallschirmspringer. Es war kalt. Ich traf in der Nähe von Charikar, nördlich von Kabul, auf seinen Verband, die 105. sowjetische Luftlandeeinheit. Er hatte eine verletzte Hand. Das Blut sickerte durch den Verband und befleckte den Ärmel seines Kampfanzugs. Er war noch fast ein Teenager, mit hellem Haar und blauen Augen. Neben uns im Graben lag ein sowjetischer Transportlaster auf dem Dach, die Rückseite völlig zerstört, zerfetzt von einer Mine.</p> <p class="text">Unter Schmerzen zeigte der junge Mann mit der Hand in Richtung der Berggipfel, über denen ein sowjetischer Helikopter kreiste. Wer hätte damals gedacht, dass wir beinahe dreissig Jahre später wegen des ehemaligen US-Präsidenten George Bush und des früheren britischen Premiers Tony Blair im selben Soldatengrab landen würden? Oder dass ein junger schwarzer US-Präsident genau dieselben Fehler machen würde wie damals die Russen?</p> <p class="text">In den Wochen nach ihrem Einmarsch in Afghanistan an Weihnachten 1979 beobachtete ich die Sowjetarmee bei ihrem «staged surge», ihrem inszenierten Befreiungszug. Ich sah, wie sie Kabul und die grössten afghanischen Städte einnahm, aber die riesigen Berg- und weiten Wüstengebiete den «Terroristen» überliess. Die Sowjetarmee kündigte an, die afghanische Armee ausbilden zu wollen, und beharrte darauf, eine säkulare, nichtkorrupte Regierung stützen zu können und so der Bevölkerung Sicherheit zu bieten. Klingt das vertraut?</p> <p class="articletitle">Langer, langer Krieg</p> <p class="text">Victor Sebestyen, Autor eines Buchs über den Fall des Sowjetimperiums, hat viel über die Zeit kurz nach dem Einmarsch der sowjetischen Armee geschrieben. Dabei zitierte er auch aus der Rede, die General Sergei Achromejew, damals Kommandant der sowjetischen Streitkräfte, 1986 vor dem sowjetischen Politbüro hielt: «Jeder Fussbreit Land in Afghanistan war irgendwann von unseren Soldaten besetzt. Trotzdem bleibt ein grosser Teil des Gebiets in den Händen der Terroristen. Wir kontrollieren die Provinzzentren, aber wir können die Kontrolle über die eroberten Gebiete nicht behaupten.» </p> <p class="text">Sebestyen schreibt auch, dass Achromejew damals zusätzliche Truppen verlangte – ohne die der Krieg in Afghanistan noch «sehr, sehr lange» dauern würde. Klingt das vertraut? «Unsere Soldaten trifft keine Verantwortung. Sie haben unter schwersten Umständen unglaublich tapfer gekämpft. Aber in einem so weitläufigen Land, in dem die Widerstandskämpfer jederzeit in den Bergen untertauchen können, bringt es wenig, Städte und Dörfer nur kurzfristig zu besetzen.» Diese Aussage von Achromejew könnte genauso gut von einem US-amerikanischen oder britischen Kommandanten der heutigen Besatzungstruppen in Helmand stammen.</p> <p class="text">Ich habe zugesehen, wie die Tragödie in diesen trostlosen Monaten des Frühjahrs 1980 ihren Lauf nahm. In Kandahar skandierten die Menschen «Allahu akbar» von den Dächern ihrer Häuser und auf den Strassen ausserhalb der Stadt. Ich sprach mit Widerstandskämpfern der Mudschaheddin, den Taliban jener Zeit, die die sowjetischen Konvois bombardierten. Nördlich von Dschalalabad hielten sie gar einmal meinen Bus an. In den Mündungen ihrer Kalaschnikows steckten rote Rosen. Sie holten kommunistische StudentInnen aus dem Fahrzeug, und ich wagte es nicht, mir über deren weiteres Schicksal Gedanken zu machen. Es wird sich kaum von jenem unterschieden haben, das regierungsfreundlichen afghanischen StudentInnen droht, wenn sie heute den Taliban in die Hände fallen. Kurz zuvor hatten die Mudschaheddin – die «Lieblingsfreiheitskämpfer» des damaligen US-Präsidenten Ronald Reagan – eine Schule zerstört, weil dort auch Mädchen ausgebildet worden waren. Die verbrannten Leichen des Schulvorstehers und seiner Frau baumelten an einem Baum.</p> <p class="text">Und schon damals erzählten auch die AfghanInnen die wildesten Geschichten: So wurden politische Gefangene heimlich aus dem Land geschafft und in der Sowjetunion gefoltert. Klingt das vertraut?</p> <p class="articletitle">Leere Versprechen</p> <p class="text">In Kandahar hatte mich ein Ladenbesitzer auf der Strasse angesprochen, ein gebildeter Mann um die fünfzig, der einen Pullover nach europäischer Mode und einen afghanischen Turban trug. Ich besitze noch immer meine Gesprächsnotizen. «Jeden Tag verspricht uns die Regierung, dass die Lebensmittelpreise sinken werden», erzählte der Mann. «Jeden Tag versuchen sie uns weiszumachen, dass nun dank der Sowjetunion alles besser werde. Aber das ist nicht wahr.» Die Regierung sei nicht einmal in der Lage, die Strassen zu kontrollieren. «Sie kann sich nur in den Städten halten.» Die Mudschaheddin, sagte der Mann, würden Helmand heimsuchen und sich völlig frei über die pakistanische Grenze bewegen – genau wie die Taliban heute. </p> <p class="text">Und vielleicht sollte jemand einmal den jungen US-SoldatInnen, die die Drohnen kontrollieren, die heute regelmässig in Pakistan Angriffe fliegen, ein paar vertraute Geschichten erzählen: etwa die von Anang 1980, als ein sowjetischer Kampfjet über pakistanisches Gebiet flog, um dort die Guerilla anzugreifen, und wie die pakistanische – und natürlich auch die US-amerikanische – Regierung das als eklatante Verletzung der pakistanischen Souveränität verurteilten. Oder über das Schicksal früherer sowjetischer Soldaten, die ich vor einigen Jahren in Moskau traf und von denen viele inzwischen den Drogen verfallen sind oder die bis heute unter einer posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung durch ihre Kriegserlebnisse leiden.</p>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-33924649872990883582010-01-02T20:49:00.000+00:002010-01-02T20:51:54.728+00:00Kabul 30 years ago, and Kabul today. Have we learned nothing?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKy2D7HS3LGrjxaWhh5_1gUw4J4KNvV36R2A4i0QgZh49T0PTvgLvlNwqhYKTOKifphye54dpOnjltoH9YfR8cp3WpwPgo7hkREggC5NszrlXKj-8yjMeUgWQil8YpLVAe9J3MUjbDTDH/s1600-h/Obama_Nobel_Peace_Laureate_by_Latuff2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKy2D7HS3LGrjxaWhh5_1gUw4J4KNvV36R2A4i0QgZh49T0PTvgLvlNwqhYKTOKifphye54dpOnjltoH9YfR8cp3WpwPgo7hkREggC5NszrlXKj-8yjMeUgWQil8YpLVAe9J3MUjbDTDH/s320/Obama_Nobel_Peace_Laureate_by_Latuff2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422248049657362082" border="0" /></a><br /> <p class="tagline"><b><br /></b></p><p class="tagline"><b>Robert Fisk:</b> 'Terrorists' were in Soviet sights; now they are in the Americans'.</p><p class="font-null"> I sit on the rooftop of the old Central Hotel – pharaonic-decorated elevator, unspeakable apple juice, sublime green tea, and armed Tajik guards at the front door – and look out across the smoky red of the Kabul evening. The Bala Hissar fort glows in the dusk, massive portals, the great keep to which the British army should have moved its men in 1841. Instead, they felt the king should live there and humbly built a cantonment on the undefended plain, thus leading to a "signal catastrophe". </p> <p class="font-null">Like automated birds, the kites swoop over the rooftops. Yes, the kite-runners of Kabul, minus Hollywood. At night, the thump of American Sikorsky helicopters and the whisper of high-altitude F-18s invade my room. The United States of America is settling George Bush's scores with the "terrorists" trying to overthrow Hamid Karzai's corrupt government.</p><p class="font-null">Now rewind almost 29 years, and I am on the balcony of the Intercontinental Hotel on the other side of this great, cold, fuggy city. Impeccable staff, frozen Polish beer in the bar, secret policemen in the front lobby, Russian troops parked in the forecourt. The Bala Hissar fort glimmers through the smoke. The kites – green seems a favourite colour – move beyond the trees. At night, the thump of Hind choppers and the whisper of high-altitude MiGs invade my room. The Soviet Union is settling Leonid Brezhnev's scores with the "terrorists" trying to overthrow Barbrak Karmal's corrupt government.</p> <p class="font-null">Thirty miles north, all those years ago, a Soviet general told us of the imminent victory over the "terrorists" in the mountains, imperialist "remnants" – the phrase Kabul communist radio always used – who were being supported by America and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.</p><p class="font-null">Fast forward to 2001 – just seven years ago – and an American general told us of the imminent victory over the "terrorists" in the mountains, the all but conquered Taliban who were being supported by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The Russian was pontificating at the big Soviet airbase at Bagram. The American general was pontificating at the big US airbase at Bagram.</p><p class="font-null">This is not déjà-vu. This is déjà double-vu. And it gets worse.</p><p class="font-null">Almost 29 years ago, the Afghan "mujahedin" began a campaign to end the mixed schooling of boys and girls in the remote mountain passes, legislation pushed through by successive communist governments. Schools were burned down. Outside Jalalabad, I found a headmaster and his headmistress wife burned to death. Today, the Afghan Taliban are campaigning to end the mixed schooling of boys and girls – indeed the very education of young women – across the great deserts of Kandahar and Helmand. Schools have been burned down. Teachers have been executed.</p><p class="font-null">As the Soviets began to suffer more and more casualties, their officers boasted of the increasing prowess of the Afghan National Army, the ANA. Infiltrated though they were by the "mujahedin", Moscow gave them newer tanks and helped to train new battalions to take on the guerrillas outside the capital.</p><p class="font-null">Fast forward to now. As the Americans and British suffer ever greater casualties, their officers boast of the increasing prowess of the ANA. Infiltrated though they are by the Taliban, America and other Nato states are providing them with newer equipment and training new battalions to take on the guerrillas outside the capital. Back in January of 1980, I could take a bus from Kabul to Kandahar. Seven years later, the broken highway was haunted by "mujahedin" fighters and bandits and the only safe way to travel to Kandahar was by air. </p><p class="font-null">In the immediate aftermath of America's arrival here in 2001, I could take a bus from Kabul to Kandahar. Now, seven years later, the highway – rebuilt on the express instructions of George W but already cracked and swamped with sand – is haunted by Taliban fighters and bandits and the only safe way to travel to Kandahar is by air.</p><p class="font-null">Throughout the 1980s, the Soviets and the ANA held the towns but lost most of the country. Today, America and its allies and the ANA hold most of the towns but have lost the southern half of the country. The Soviets secretly sent another 9,000 troops to join their 115,000-strong occupation force to fight the "mujahedin". Today, the Americans are publicly sending another 7,000 troops to join their 55,000-strong occupation force to fight the Taliban. </p><p class="font-null">In 1980, I would sneak down to Chicken Street to buy old books in the dust-filled shops, cheap and illegal Pakistani reprints of the memoirs of British Empire officers while my driver watched anxiously lest I be mistaken for a Russian. Last week, I sneaked down to the Shar Book shop, which is filled with the very same illicit volumes, while my driver watched anxiously lest I be mistaken for an American (or, indeed, a Brit). I find Stephen Tanner's Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban and drive back to my hotel through the streets of wood-smoked Kabul to read it in my ill-lit room. </p><p class="font-null">In 1840, Tanner writes, Britain's supply line from the Pakistani city of Karachi up through the Khyber Pass and Jalalabad to Kabul was being threatened by Afghan fighters, "British officers on the crucial supply line through Peshawar... insulted and attacked". I fumble through my bag for a clipping from a recent copy of Le Monde. It marks Nato's main supply route from the Pakistani city of Karachi up through the Khyber Pass and Jalalabad to Kabul, and illustrates the location of each Taliban attack on the convoys bringing fuel and food to America's allies in Afghanistan.</p><p class="font-null">Then I prowl through one of the Pakistani retread books I have found and discover General Roberts of Kandahar telling the British in 1880 that "we have nothing to fear from Afghanistan, and the best thing to do is to leave it as much as possible to itself... I feel sure I am right when I say that the less the Afghans see of us, the less they will dislike us".</p><p class="font-null">Memo to the Americans, the Brits, the Canadians and the rest of Humpty Dumpty's men. Read Roberts. Read history.</p>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-24779868450921672122009-12-30T20:04:00.003+00:002009-12-30T20:13:04.131+00:00Israel seems to become more and more horrible each day<div><strong>Yaron London</strong> is one of the most beloved and popular media personalities in Israel; a journalist for mainstream radio, TV and printed press; and an actor and songwriter. He has co-hosted numerous children's shows on TV as well as producing films and events. His daily current affairs program "London & Kirschenbaum" on Israeli TV Channel Ten is well known and popular. </div> <div> </div> <div>Considered a political moderate, in recent years his positions have shifted to the right, reflecting trends in the Israeli mainstream public at large. </div> <div> </div> <div>He has an opinion column on Israel's most popular news website, YNet, of which the most recent is below. The highlighting of the key passage was not in the original.<br /><br /><div><strong>The victory of cruelty </strong></div> <p style="margin-top: 10px;"><strong></strong></p> <p><span dir="right"><span dir="ltr"><strong>A year after Gaza offensive, Yaron London says Israel must not aim to satisfy global public opinion </strong></span> <p style="margin-top: 8px;"><span dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 2px; color: rgb(100, 100, 100);">Yaron London, Ynetnews Opinion, 29.12.09</span> </p></span> </p><div><a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3826286,00.html" target="_blank">http://www.ynetnews.com/<wbr>articles/0,7340,L-3826286,00.<wbr>html</a> </div> <div>A year has passed since <a>Operation Cast Lead</a>. The Gaza vicinity region is calm and prosperous. Residents who left for fear of Qassams are returning home. Apartment prices are increasing. Even nature is blossoming. The blessed rain of the beginning of winter has woken the sleepy seeds of wild flowers. The soft hills of the "vicinity" have been speckled with yellow and red patches. It's possible that this is what these landscapes looked like last year as well, but no one was gazing at them, but rather westward, to locate a rising missile and precede its diving fall by taking shelter. </div> <div> </div> <div>Hamas is deterred. Not because its leaders and the teachers of Islamic law have changed their opinion as to the way the conflict in the Middle East should be solved. Our monitors, who listen to the preaching in their mosques and to the radio broadcasts on their stations, have not discovered signs of moderation. As they did before the operation, the preachers talk about the Jews, the descendants of apes and pigs, who spread wars and epidemics and heresy and communism in the world, and that they must be expelled from the this world. <a>Hamas</a> fighters have not lost their courage. They are as fanatic and daring as they were. The virgins waiting for them in heaven have not lost their patience as well. <p> Hamas refrains from firing because it needs a timeout in order to establish its rule, rebuild the destructed houses, intensify its military power and fulfill the <a>Shalit deal</a>. When its leaders feel that they have completed their missions, when they believe the time is right, they'll resume their attacks. And maybe not. Perhaps they have learned their lesson. In any event, we cannot doubt the assertion that had we not sent a blow of fire to Gaza, Hamas would have continued firing. </p> <p><strong>It doesn't pay to wait </strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p>We're enjoying a state of calm which is seldom violated. What was its price? The price was 10 fallen soldiers and more than 300 injured Israelis. There is no way to weigh this loss. The world has worsened its criticism against Israel. It's unpleasant, completely unpleasant, to face boycotts and curses, but the stains added to our image have not damaged us in measurable areas. The economy is good. The commerce relations have not been hurt. The countries leading the world – the United States, Russia, the European community, China, India, Canada, Brazil – have not changed their attitude towards us. They have not even compensated the Hamas regime for the suffering of the Strip's residents. <a>Egypt</a> has tightened its relations with us. Saudi Arabia has rebuked Hamas and has not adopted the Gazans with money. The Palestinians in the West Bank have not launched a third intifada. For now. Turkey, with which we have always had unstable relations, was angry and cursed us, but a year later it is clear that its interests have cooled the growling of its feelings. Venezuela, Bolivia, Mauritania and Qatar have severed their diplomatic ties with <a>Israel</a>. It's a shame, but not a disaster. </p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The operation's results are the victory of cruelty. It's unfortunate. It's brings us back to reality. It calls for conclusions. As time passes, the world, which as a short memory, will forget the harsh sights in Gaza, because more difficult sights, in other places in the world, will take up all the free space in the collective mind's hard drive. The Gazans will be the only ones to remember. If we are proven false, we must arouse their memory with fire. </span></p> </div> <div>We must not return to the absorption strategy, which is aimed at collecting credit points in the international public opinion. It has been proven that our stock of points runs out several days after we deal our enemies a critical blow. It doesn't pay to wait. We will have to impose the disproportionate response quickly, even if the rocket interception measures are not fully developed by then. "Deterrence", as security experts say, "must be maintained." To this statement we should add that the determination of the deterrence maintainers must also be maintained.<br />---------------<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71UGirUEV5aYdQ6LGKaC9LMIQnQ8_SQHNvx02NaLBC_J0KsQggyh9OYHWZo4S5YHSjGueU61292xZ2yGa8TQhiQHVgHsnR03fp9xTJxKj4kocLTB6_prrt3ses1OZtvbzxYoJTdrcVoJM/s1600-h/6a00d8345167db69e200e54f39b3b18833-800wi.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71UGirUEV5aYdQ6LGKaC9LMIQnQ8_SQHNvx02NaLBC_J0KsQggyh9OYHWZo4S5YHSjGueU61292xZ2yGa8TQhiQHVgHsnR03fp9xTJxKj4kocLTB6_prrt3ses1OZtvbzxYoJTdrcVoJM/s320/6a00d8345167db69e200e54f39b3b18833-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421124332388172194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Are the people just going insane or is this a "sane" choice of fascism? With those minds there is no hope only bloodshed and killing...<br /></div><br /></div>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-58032906012811014342009-12-03T15:48:00.000+00:002009-12-03T15:49:34.364+00:00TAC Press Statement<p>3 December 2009</p> <h2 style="text-align: center;">TAC commends President Zuma for his leadership on HIV and welcomes the death of AIDS denialism</h2> <p style="text-align: center;"> <style type="text/css">--> </style></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Following on other important speeches in recent months, President Zuma’s World AIDS Day address reaffirmed government’s new-found commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in an open, serious, and evidence-based manner. TAC welcomes the president’s call for people to get tested and his public admission of having taken HIV tests himself.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />Some key changes announced by the president include:</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">1) Providing ART to all people co-infected with TB/HIV at a CD4-count of 350.</span></i></span><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While we welcome the decision to initiate treatment for all people co-infected with HIV and TB with a CD4 count of 350 cells/mm3 or lower, TAC will continue to campaign for the provision of treatment to all HIV-positive people with a CD4 count of 350 cells/mm3 or lower irrespective of their TB status. This is in accordance with World Health Organisation recommendations.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">2) Providing all infants under 12 months with antiretroviral treatment (ART)</span></i></span><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">TAC welcomes the changes made to the paediatric treatment guidelines. Following the compelling findings of the Children with HIV Early Treatment study, TAC has been campaigning for the provision of antiretroviral treatment for all infants under one year of age.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /><i style="">3) Providing pregnant women with CD4 counts above 350 with prevention<br />of mother-to-child treatment from 14 weeks.</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The changes to the PMTCT regimen indicate government's commitment to eradicating new paediatric infections. However, in addition to improving the prenatal regimen, policy improvements are also needed for postpartum vertical transmission. Various options are possible here which TAC will address in more detail in a PMTCT briefing that we will release early in 2010.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While we welcome the new guidelines, they do not address the urgent need to update the current first-line treatment regimen. TAC will continue to campaign to have tenofovir-based three-in-one once-daily pills introduced as part of the standard first-line regimen by July 2010. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As the new guidelines are implemented in facilities across the country it is critical to improve the monitoring and evaluation of both the HAART and PMTCT programmes. At a minimum we must aim for complete quarterly district-level information on the numbers of people initiated on these programmes, median baseline CD4 count, median change in CD4 count, number of people lost-to-follow-up, number of deaths and number of children born to HIV-positive women who have been tested.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA">President Zuma will face challenges ahead to ensure that these are not just changes to policy but are implemented in all facilities across the country. We call on government to strengthen health systems to implement the improved treatment guidelines. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"><p> </p></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA">TAC is committed to working with government to address capacity constraints to improve the response to HIV. TAC further supports government’s call for all South Africans to take responsibility for their own health and get tested and access treatment for HIV. Knowing your status will allow you to make informed decisions to protect your own health, the health of your sexual partner and the health of your baby.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"><p> </p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA"><p> </p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-ZA">ALUTA CONTINUA!</span></b></p>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-58279773052519165042009-11-22T13:04:00.000+00:002009-11-22T13:05:03.533+00:00Help warn about AdSense<span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">his week Google began recording the web surfing behavior of everyone who visits any page that uses AdSense or DoubleClick. It happens as soon as the page loads — no clicking is required. Their new <b>doubleclick.net</b> cookie has a unique ID and is similar to the same sophisticated system that was developed over the last ten years for the <b>google.com</b> cookie. <br /><br />Many major sites use AdSense. It took me a minute to find AdSense on newyorktimes.com, reuters.com, bloomberg.com, and cnn.com, and then I stopped looking because my suspicions were already confirmed. Even apart from AdSense, DoubleClick ads are all over the web. Unless you disable JavaScript, which makes surfing inconvenient on many sites and impossible on some, you are getting thoroughly tracked. <br /><br />This tracking is a major move on Google's part. The referral from the phone-home to <b>doubleclick.net</b> contains the complete URL of the page you are viewing. It happens in the same instant that your browser offers up the unique ID from your cookie. Google can add a time stamp and your IP address — and knowing Google, they will. <br /><br />While Google says that it is dicing this information so that it can merely stick you into a number of broad interest categories, we have to assume that Google is saving all of the information they collect. It would not make sense to identify the relevant categories on the fly and then throw away the details. That would preclude future development into a more finely-grained system. Yes, we have to assume that Google saves everything, until such time that Google allows auditors into the Googleplex and the auditors say otherwise. <br /><br />The biggest issue that ought to evolve out of this latest development is the issue of opt-in vs. opt-out. This new tracking should be opt-in, but Google is falling all over itself to make sure it stays opt-out. My guess is that opt-in might allow tracking of less than two percent of the activity that the current opt-out system will allow. How many people even know what a cookie is? What percentage know how to configure the cookie options on their browsers? If they delete their cookies just one time after opting out, will they remember that they also deleted their opt-out cookie, and that Google's tracking now resumes? <br /><br />If this new Google initiative remains opt-out the way it is now, the FTC should require all sites that use AdSense, to intercept their page with a notice that allows a simple opt-out click for that page. But that is extremely clumsy and would crush AdSense altogether. Opt-in is the only reasonable alternative.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color:#a00000;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><b>How to combine two cookies </b></span><b><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />( Google already knows this, but you might not )</span></b><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><b>1.</b> On the Google home page, force the browser to fetch an invisible image or iframe from DoubleClick.<br /><br /><b>2.</b> Overwrite the doubleclick.net cookie ID to match the google.com ID that was just recorded.<br /><br /><b>3.</b> Keep it up until nearly all browsers show a Google ID in their DoubleClick cookie.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.scroogle.org/gifs/cookanim.gif" alt="" width="51" height="43" /> </span></span></span></span></span></span>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-55917580016650045862009-11-01T19:54:00.002+00:002009-11-01T19:59:02.336+00:00Conservatives Anti-Semitic Friend Declares his Undying Sympathy for Israel!<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://azvsas.blogspot.com/2009/10/conservatives-anti-semitic-fascist.html"><br /></a> </h3> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkRsgNmq9DW9eOYnAuaJlhTFHPjsOq1zLjGBjkrmV9EQ7a3y5YXaOY1xwkauZUZ0M-itoXewPTEBThBDyZ_kEtqY8zgCh3csYhMJG4JsGcdL89LTituIX4n0Wud59Z23SPbfOka2tDHS3/s1600-h/Kaminski+and+Ron+Prosor,+Israeli+Ambassador.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkRsgNmq9DW9eOYnAuaJlhTFHPjsOq1zLjGBjkrmV9EQ7a3y5YXaOY1xwkauZUZ0M-itoXewPTEBThBDyZ_kEtqY8zgCh3csYhMJG4JsGcdL89LTituIX4n0Wud59Z23SPbfOka2tDHS3/s320/Kaminski+and+Ron+Prosor,+Israeli+Ambassador.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391516022735640946" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzki5LPq8ub6o49ULiB-GyFAP9rgwPFDCBWHyBq0GQxS-Ok_8b0AvmaEs4HvY4i_2YOizJJZBTpR6ZV7isUZ_Y-qS6qwDSxTGaXJXrpbV2hUe_5fr3Bo1LA6Jbe-hboYTQtVqNm_a6GWx/s1600-h/chrobrysword.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 179px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzki5LPq8ub6o49ULiB-GyFAP9rgwPFDCBWHyBq0GQxS-Ok_8b0AvmaEs4HvY4i_2YOizJJZBTpR6ZV7isUZ_Y-qS6qwDSxTGaXJXrpbV2hUe_5fr3Bo1LA6Jbe-hboYTQtVqNm_a6GWx/s320/chrobrysword.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391516018059553746" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4GyLmT-to3Ofnne1Ds2ClRpzFdEggbLEbUP-S_oiJIQN25YRfjMoWsmBjDHdVkRihnjU27ISO8VK8-913HiEJllsOlRprV93Fy0vHPfvllhP2Q2n2FOXJ37ds_61ZeZbBD-YlMJIEV7x/s1600-h/275px-POL_2007_07_23_zmiany_w_kancelarii_03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4GyLmT-to3Ofnne1Ds2ClRpzFdEggbLEbUP-S_oiJIQN25YRfjMoWsmBjDHdVkRihnjU27ISO8VK8-913HiEJllsOlRprV93Fy0vHPfvllhP2Q2n2FOXJ37ds_61ZeZbBD-YlMJIEV7x/s320/275px-POL_2007_07_23_zmiany_w_kancelarii_03.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391516006635654546" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_Xw6bTF43fPc0qoKdEGN3d8Gx5R3wYNjRFdh7e26oDQN5ETIhkuhDSjbuxAdIZ3ODocKGH-37pJScIyWNDTVAaUjwYBzgfpMhedZwB6WOQyzA5mG_OU11nyDESmyxn3mazVrePNH0n69/s1600-h/kaminski_0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_Xw6bTF43fPc0qoKdEGN3d8Gx5R3wYNjRFdh7e26oDQN5ETIhkuhDSjbuxAdIZ3ODocKGH-37pJScIyWNDTVAaUjwYBzgfpMhedZwB6WOQyzA5mG_OU11nyDESmyxn3mazVrePNH0n69/s320/kaminski_0.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391516003137411858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">I May Not like Jews but I Just Love Israel</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Michal Kaminski - friend of British Conservatism</span><br /></span></div><br />The row over the Tory Party’s choice of allies in the European Parliament rumbles on. In particular over Michal Kaminiski, member of the far-right Law and Justice Party in Poland’s Sejm and leader of the Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament. Leaving aside Robert Zile’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Freedom and Fatherland Party </span>in Latvia, which has a soft spot for all those Latvian SS men who helped round up the Jews.<br /><br />What is interesting in this debate is how, BNP style, Kaminiski’s retort to the allegation of anti-Semitism is: ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">What me? But I support Israel.</span>’ And that is precisely the problem. It reminds me of a quotation in Francis Nicosia’s new book, ‘<span style="font-weight: bold;">anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.</span>’ [2008].<br /><br />Nicosia is an American Professor of Political Science and an ardent Zionist who continually finds himself at odds with the evidence he uncovers. But despite his Zionism he notes that although today criticism of Zionism<br /><blockquote style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 102, 51);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:85%;" >‘is often dismissed as motivated by a deeper anti-Semitism, in Herzl’s day an opposite non-Jewish reaction, one of support for the Zionist idea, might have resulted in a similar reaction.’ [p.7]</span><br /></blockquote>His conclusion is that <span style="font-style: italic;">‘Before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, active anti-Zionism… was largely a Jewish phenomenon…’</span> [13]<br /><br />And that is precisely the point. If someone says that they believe Jews don’t belong in this country and should depart, then they are either an anti-semite or a Zionist or both. So it’s no surprise that Israel’s Ambassador to Britain, the intellectually challenged Ron Prossor, should be up there giving Kaminiski his full support. Likewise the Conservative Friends of Israel stand shoulder to shoulder with a man who has opposed any form of Polish apology for the massacre at Jedwabne (because Jews should apologise for the behaviour of the Soviet Union – understandable if you hold that Jews collectively were responsible for Stalin's atrocities or for Communism more generally, which is something Hitler certainly believed in.<br /><br />Kaminski also paid homage to see General Pinochet when he was under house arrest in Britain, presenting him with some Catholic curiosity. Leaving aside of course his anti-gay credentials.<br /><br />Now it may be, as some have argued, that Kaminski is more an opportunist than a fascist supporter. But regardless he makes a good bedfellow for both Israeli apologists and David Cameron. Interestingly, senior members of the Jewish Leadership Council have been spitting blood at the <a href="http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/20815/leaders-split-over-david-camerons-euro-allies"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">letter</span> </a>Vivian Wineman, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews sent David Cameron asking, ever so politely, about his new far-right friends.<br /><br />We are told that ‘One JLC member described colleagues as “<span style="font-style: italic;">livid</span>” at the timing of the letter. Another said he was “<span style="font-style: italic;">incandescent</span>”. A senior Jewish Conservative said: “<span style="font-style: italic;">The Board has done itself a lot of damage. It is acting naively, it has been manipulated by left-wing interests into a completely inappropriate position. The irony is that the new Tory European group will be the most pro-Israel lobby group.</span>”<br /><br />Of course this is no irony at all. I can once remember watching a programme featuring one Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He littered his conversation with anti-Semitic epithets, but this man was as pro-Zionist as you could get.<br /><br />What of course the unnamed senior Jewish conservative meant is that ‘anti-Semitism’ is only a stick to beat the left and those horrible Muslims around the head with. It’s not actually mean to be taken seriously, as in anti-Semitism, hatred of Jews. ‘Anti-Semitism’ is merely a form of defamation and libel to be used against anti-racists in the name of Israel’s war against the Palestinians. It is effectively the conscious and deliberate misuse of the memory of those who died in the Final Solution to bolster Israel and US imperialism.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 0);font-size:180%;" ><a href="http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/20815/leaders-split-over-david-camerons-euro-allies">Kaminski admits wearing 'fascist' symbol</a></span><br />By Martin Bright and Jessica Elgot, October 10, 2009<br /><br />Michal KaminskI, the Polish MEP at the centre of the controversy over David Cameron’s European alliances has admitted he wore the symbol of a totalitarion group, claims he had previously denied.<br /><br />In an interview with the JC, Mr Kaminski was asked if he had ever said he was proud to wear the Chrobry Sword, the symbol of the National Radical Camp (ONR).<br /><br />Formed in 1934, the extreme rightwing, nationalist ONR- Falanga was largely a student movement, but practised violent anti-Semitism including attacks on Jewish students, buildings and businesses, organised boycotts of Jewish businesses and attacks on left wing groups.<br />The group used the medieval symbol of the Mieczyk Chrobrego – the Chrobry sword,<br /><br />Mr KaminskI categorically denied knowledge of wearing the Chrobry sword symbol.<br />He told the JC: <span style="font-style: italic;">“No, I never wear it. I don’t even know which symbol you are referring to.”</span><br />But Mr Kaminski later issued a clarification, where he admitted he had worn the badge.<br />He said:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 153, 153);"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);">"</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);">I did wear the sword, which was used around a millennia ago to crown Polish Kings, on my lapel on occasions. After 1989 it was used as one of the symbols of the Christian National Union and many Conservative politicians would wear it, including politicians now in the Civic Platform.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);">“In recent years it has been taken as a symbol by the Far Right. Although it is not the same, there are similarities with how the BNP in Britain has taken the Union Jack as their symbol.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);">“When I felt the symbol started having this meaning I stopped wearing it and I asked the rest of my party to stop too.”</span><br /></span> </blockquote>He added: <span style="font-style: italic;">“I acknowledge that it is possible that my pronunciation was unclear, so I am happy to clarify his position on this controversial symbol."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:180%;" ><a href="http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/20816/exclusive-michal-kaminski-im-no-antisemite">EXCLUSIVE Michal Kaminski: 'I'm no antisemite'</a></span><br /><br />When I finally interview Michal Kaminski he is looking extremely flustered, not to say hounded, by the attention he has received during his flying visit to Conservative Party conference. The controversial leader of David Cameron’s new allies in the European Parliament has been chased into a fringe meeting by a woman from Channel 4 and to the doors of a lunch hosted by Conservative Friends of Israel. Allegations about his far-right past have quite literally pursued him to a suite at Manchester’s Midland Hotel.<br /><br />Here it is that the 37-year-old head of the new European Conservatives and Reformists grouping has chosen to explain his controversial past statements, which range from the Holocaust and the role of Jewish partisans in the Soviet occupation, to General Pinochet and homosexuality.<br /><br />In his only interview with a British newspaper, he says he welcomes the opportunity to reassure readers of the JC that he is no antisemite.“<span style="font-style: italic;">If you grew up in Poland, if you saw the traces of the Holocaust in my country, the accusation of being an antisemite is, I think, really hard,” he says. “Being an antisemite is something which is contradictory to all my beliefs, starting with my religious beliefs as a Christian and ending with my political conservative views.” </span><br /><br />He adds that he considers that western civilisation is essentially Judeo-Christian and therefore <span style="font-style: italic;">“created to a big extent by Jews”.</span><br /><br />Mr Kaminski says that he understands the concerns raised by some of the allegations against him. His colourful CV has already caused acute embarrassment to the Conservative Party and provided ammunition to those who say Cameron has rejected the mainstream centre-right in Europe in favour of a rag-tag bunch of apologists for fascism. At the same time, his robust support for Israel provides Anglo-Jews with a dilemma. His status as guest of honour at the CFI lunch demonstrates the level of trust he commands among leading Jewish Tories. His visit to Israel last month saw him welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.<br /><br />But how does this square with Mr Kaminski’s political beginnings with the far-right National Revival of Poland party (NOP)? The party he joined as a teenager is said to have pledged that “<span style="font-style: italic;">Jews will be removed from Poland and their possessions confiscated”. </span>His response is that he was just 15 when he joined the NOP in 1987 when it was still an underground movement. Two years later it merged into the mainstream Conservative Christian National Union. <span style="font-style: italic;">“It was for me the first available option to join the anti-Communist movement and when I was 17 I left this group,” </span>he says, adding that there was no evidence of a neo-fascist tendency at the time. “<span style="font-style: italic;">When I was a member of them, I don’t remember. Maybe you will find that someone will… but as far as I know it was a party which was Catholic and nationalist-orientated.”</span><br /><br />Mr Kaminski himself raises the issue of Jedwabne, a town in the north-east of Poland which was the site of a massacre of hundreds of its Jewish inhabitants in July 1941 by a mob of Poles. Sixty years later, the then Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski issued an apology for the atrocity, but the issue was hugely divisive. As the deputy in the Polish parliament responsible for the area, Mr Kaminski expressed his opposition to a generalised apology, a decision he stands by.<br /><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:85%;" >From the very beginning I was saying as a human being, as a Pole, that Jedwabne was a terrible crime, unfortunately committed by the Polish people. My point was from the very start: we are ashamed of these people, we have to condemn them, we have to judge them if they are still alive. But I don’t want to take the whole responsibility for this crime for the whole Polish nation.</span><br /></blockquote>He adds that he doesn’t believe the Jedwabne massacre should be classified on the same level as the Holocaust. “<span style="font-style: italic;">I think that it’s unfair comparing it with Nazi crimes and putting it with the same level as the Nazi policy.”</span><br /><br />More difficult for Mr Kaminski (and potentially Mr Cameron) is the suggestion that the Polish politician claimed no apology should be made until Jews apologised for alleged Jewish crimes of collaboration with the Soviet Union. His answer is ingenious. He says that asking the Poles as a whole to apologise for Jedwabne would make as much sense as asking the Jews to apologise for alleged Jewish involvement in Communist crimes.It is a theme to which he returns later in the interview:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 0);font-size:85%;" >My position is that there were acts of collaboration of the Jewish people with the Soviet army when the Soviet army came to Poland. It’s a fact. It’s a historical fact… If you are asking the Polish nation to apologise for the crime made in Jedwabne, you would require from the whole Jewish nation to apologise for what some Jewish Communists did in Eastern Poland.</span><br /></blockquote>I ask him about an interview he gave to the ultra-nationalist Polish newspaper Nacza Polska at the time of the apology, when he is alleged to have said he would only apologise for Jedwabne when “<span style="font-style: italic;">someone from the Jewish side will apologise for what the Jews did during the Soviet occupation between 1939 and 1941, for the mass collaboration of the Jewish people with the Soviet occupier.</span>” He claims he does not remember giving the interview. Does he recognise the words as his? “<span style="font-style: italic;">I absolutely do not recognise them. It was nine years ago.</span>” He adds that official statements at the time made his position on the matter clear. I ask him about his use of the slogan “<span style="font-style: italic;">Poland is for the Poles</span>”, which is said to have associations with pre-war Polish ultra-nationalism. He says he had been referring to Poland’s corruption scandals of 2000 when the new democracy was seriously under threat. “<span style="font-style: italic;">We have to give Poland to Poles but….not in a racial or nationalistic sense but in terms of democracy. We want to give back Polish democracy to the Poles, to the citizens.” </span><br /><br />I ask him to clarify claims that he expressed pride in wearing the Chrobry sword, the symbol of the National Radical Camp Falanga, a Catholic totalitarian group formed in 1935. He issues a categorical denial: “<span style="font-style: italic;">No, I never wear it. I don’t even know which symbol you are referring to.</span>" [Mr Kaminski later clarified his position, claiming he had in fact worn the symbol]<br /><br />There is no doubt there has been a concerted attempt by David Cameron’s political enemies to discredit Mr Kaminski. But there are areas of his own political biography where he admits he made serious errors of judgment. In 1999, he visited the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London, an event he described as “<span style="font-style: italic;">the most important moment of my whole life</span>”. He later made a statement to the Polish parliament saying he regretted his actions. He says: <span style="font-style: italic;">“I think I made a mistake visiting Pinochet. A decent politician should have the courage to admit the mistake”.</span><br /><br />I wonder if he thinks it was also a mistake to have described homosexuals as “<span style="font-style: italic;">pedaly</span>”, a derogatory term akin to “shirt-lifters”. Again he admits an error of judgement. “<span style="font-style: italic;">I said I would never use these words again. But please remember it was a word used commonly by Polish politicians about homosexuals. “Since I discovered that this word was offensive in the eyes of homosexuals, I never used it again.” </span>As we end the interview he talks of his pride at heading up the new conservative grouping in the European parliament and his great respect for British Conservatism. But Mr Kaminski cannot have imagined that he would end up as such a controversial figure for the party that has inspired his politics for so long.<br /><br />The creation of the ECR has been a huge risk for David Cameron, brought about because he needed to provide some “red meat” to the Eurosceptics in his party. In the final irony, though, it turns out that Mr Kaminski is himself an enthusiastic Europhile who has embraced the Lisbon Treaty so hated by the right-wing of the British Conservative Party. “<span style="font-style: italic;">I was on the side of those who were in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. It is well known in Poland. It is not a secret</span>,” he says. I apologise that so much of the interview has been taken up by allegations from Mr Kaminski’s political enemies. To his credit he says that it has been important to answer his critics.<br /><br />UPDATE: Mr Kaminski made the following statement to the JC on Friday:<br /><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">I did wear the sword, which was used around a millennia ago to crown Polish Kings, on my lapel on occasions. After 1989 it was used as one of the symbols of the Christian National Union and many Conservative politicians would wear it, including politicians now in the Civic Platform. In recent years it has been taken as a symbol by the Far Right. Although it is not the same, there are similarities with how the BNP in Britainhas taken the Union Jack as their symbol. When I felt the symbol started having this meaning I stopped wearing it and I asked the rest of my party to stop too. </blockquote>Analysis by Political Editor Martin Bright Editor Stephen PollardIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-22301768188136539692009-10-07T20:31:00.000+01:002009-10-07T20:32:26.711+01:00Once no self-respecting politician would have gone near people such as Kaminski<p><i><b>Conference season 09: There is plenty of ground to attack Cameron on, a man aligned with those who excuse or celebrate history's darkest events</b></i></p> <p> </p> <div> <a href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fprofile%2Fjonathanfreedland" name="1242cc9f836d5039_&lid={contentTypeByline}{Jonathan Freedland}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{1}" target="_blank"><strong>Jonathan Freedland</strong></a> <a href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2F" name="1242cc9f836d5039_&lid={contentTypeByline}{guardian.co.uk}&lpos={contentTypeByline}{2}" target="_blank">guardian.co.uk</a>, Tuesday 6 October 2009 20.30 BST <p> </p> <div> <span style="font-family:Georgia;">Tony Blair's parting gift during his last conference speech as leader was to tell Labour they could win again because the Conservatives were eminently beatable. "If we can't take this lot apart," he said, "we shouldn't be in the business of politics at all."</span> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Of course, it was a double-edged remark, one that pre-emptively branded his successor a failure. But, in its implication that David Cameron's Tories were a bunch of weaklings, it was also unfair. For the </span><a title="Conservatives on display in Manchester" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2Ftoryconference" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Conservatives on display in Manchester</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> are anything but. They are, in fact, marching towards power, acting in every way like a government in waiting. The ruling circle is confident, whip-smart and, above all, hungry.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The contrast with their counterparts in Labour could not be sharper. </span><a title="When they gathered in Brighton last week" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2Flabour-conference-08" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">When they gathered in Brighton last week</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, too many of the party's most senior figures came across as flabby, too used to power and its comforts, delusional, kidding themselves that their leader might undergo a personality change between now and the election, or utterly resigned, all fight drained from them.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The clearest sign is that the once-feared New Labour attack machine now stands unmanned and rusted with decay. Tory missteps and gaffes go ignored and unpunished, where, in the Alastair Campbell era of rapid rebuttal, they would have been seized on ruthlessly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Which is a pity, because the Tories, while not exactly the useless shower suggested by Blair, are certainly vulnerable. If Labour were in fighting mood, there is no shortage of weak spots on the Conservative flank at which they could aim their darts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">They might start with the polls. Not with the headline figure, which shows a daunting Tory lead, but with the rest of the data. </span><a title="According to Populus, 68% don't believe the Conservatives have really changed" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesonline.co.uk%2Ftol%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Farticle6862325.ece" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">According to Populus, 68% don't believe the Conservatives have really changed</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, while only 28% believe they have. They may like David Cameron personally, but they harbour suspicions about the Tories themselves.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Perhaps that doesn't matter much in our quasi-presidential system. But it's clearly preying on the minds of senior Tories. They say that one of their aims this week is to persuade voters that, yes, they'll be cutting spending, but it "won't be 1980s-style cuts". Hence George Osborne's insistence that, when he wields the scythe through the national budget, he'll always have the poorest in mind. "We're all in this together" was his happy tune.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">That suggests a man anxious to deflect unhappy memories – a tactic Labour should be doing its damnedest to thwart. They have the perfect weapon, in the form of the Tory pledge to scrap inheritance tax for the wealthiest, a move that will benefit the likes of Osborne and Cameron but not many others.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Just imagine what a US presidential campaign would do with this ammunition. You could run an ad showing the Tory duo in their Bullingdon tails, reminding voters of their personal wealth, and asking how these two could ever be in touch with real people. You might show a man on a bike, later revealed to be followed by a car. The screen would fill with three words: "David Cameron: fake."</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">But the ad any American politico worth his salt would be itching to make would open thus. "They say you can judge a man by the company he keeps. So what does it say about David Cameron that these are his friends?" At which point we'd see images of the men feted in Manchester yesterday, </span><a title="Michal Kaminski" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2F1%2Fhi%2Fworld%2Feurope%2F8154670.stm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Michal Kaminski</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, of Poland's Law and Order party (PiS), and </span><a title="Roberts Zile" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fcommentisfree%2F2009%2Foct%2F02%2Flatvia-nazi-second-world-war" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Roberts Zile</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, of Latvia's Freedom and Fatherland party, who now sit as allies with the British Conservatives in the European parliament – an issue raised first, to his enormous credit, by David Miliband last week.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">This is about more than party point-scoring. It is, in fact, a matter of the deepest principle. For there was a time when no self-respecting British politician would have gone anywhere near such people. Kaminski began his career in the National Rebirth of Poland movement, inspired by a 1930s fascist ideology that dreamed of a racially pure nation. Even today, the PiS slogan is "Poland for Poles", understood to be a door slammed in the face of non-Catholics. In 2001 he upbraided the president for daring to apologise for a 1941 pogrom in the town of Jedwabne which left hundreds of Jews dead. Kaminski said there was nothing to apologise for – at least not until Jews apologised for what he alleged was the role Jewish partisans and Jewish communists had played alongside the Red Army in Poland.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Incredibly, Kaminski's Polish party is not the most unsavoury of the Tories' new partners. That honour goes to the Latvian grouping whose members have played a leading part in the annual parade honouring veterans of the </span><a title="Latvian legion of the Waffen-SS" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2009%2Foct%2F03%2Flatvia-far-right-nazi-links" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">. Lest we forget, the SS were the crack troops of Nazi genocide; the Latvian Legion included conscripts, but at least a third were volunteers, among them men with the blood of tens of thousands of Jews on their hands. It is in honour of those killers that Cameron's new buddies march through the streets of Riga.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The Tory defence has been weak. They have cited the embrace extended to Kaminski by first, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, and second, the Conservative Friends of Israel, which astonishingly welcomed Kaminski yesterday. What Tories do not point out is that the former is now a fierce anti-Brown partisan while the latter is, as the name suggests, wholly aligned with the Conservatives. Of course they are defending Cameron's decision. And both have spoken chiefly about Kaminski, suggesting a reluctance to defend the Latvian party. Besides, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews has now written to Cameron, raising questions about the Tory leader's new friends in Europe.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The party chairman, </span><a title="Eric Pickles" href="https://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Ftoday%2Fhi%2Ftoday%2Fnewsid_8268000%2F8268087.stm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Eric Pickles</span></a><span style="font-family:Georgia;">, offered an appalling defence, telling the BBC last month that the Latvian Waffen-SS were only conscripts fighting for their country, and to say otherwise was a Soviet smear. Again, this misses the fact that a substantial minority of the Latvian Waffen-SS were eager volunteers, including veterans of pro-Nazi death squads who had already taken part in the first phase of the Holocaust – and that should be enough to decide that those who march in celebration of men who fought with Hitler, and against Britain and its allies, are beyond the pale.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">The talk coming from senior Tories – at least some of whom have the grace to squirm when questioned on this topic – suggesting that it's all terribly complicated, that it was a long time ago and that even SS members were, in some ways, themselves victims, is uncomfortably close to the kind of prattle we used to hear from those we called Holocaust revisionists.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">They too tried to relativise away the crimes of the Nazi era, constantly telling us that the Soviets also did terrible things, that Hitler's eastern European collaborators were freedom-loving patriots and all the rest of it. What is shocking is that this garbage is now coming from those defending the party poised to form the government of Britain.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Georgia;">So yes, there is plenty of ground on which to attack Cameron, a man whose judgment allowed him to placate his Eurosceptics by aligning with people who excuse or celebrate some of the darkest events of the last century. Labour might not have much vim left, but if it can't sustain an attack on this terrain, then maybe Blair was right, and they should not be in politics at all.</span></p> </div> </div>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-71178736904086076642009-09-15T23:13:00.007+01:002009-09-15T23:42:24.061+01:00From Kiev to LondonSome dots from recent time and travel<br /><br />Constructing modern Kiev<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijANK5JqHZjZUa24yMzIzdV096mF2crOSBYThYwUrqYeKILLBx4Lq4mXyMFNCwfQei9Kw90WnLJi2aQUnukVkd0Oag_G04nQkQuFX9Hrn7F8JsM-bUPKdzgQu-quGTa1lAlokKFqpfqaiu/s1600-h/Kiev+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijANK5JqHZjZUa24yMzIzdV096mF2crOSBYThYwUrqYeKILLBx4Lq4mXyMFNCwfQei9Kw90WnLJi2aQUnukVkd0Oag_G04nQkQuFX9Hrn7F8JsM-bUPKdzgQu-quGTa1lAlokKFqpfqaiu/s320/Kiev+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381822073950260402" border="0" /></a><br /><br />next to structures from different pasts<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5CGaZSnf22Uyc5H1SrgRfjjMhM59t5jfhWIXf6WAL_a8TzSQutZIENO2ysNvR5yrr4BvqYgj5wbuOnyqb1NoqpaSHgQDuQyuWJWlnQgK7pFsiPCNkcugLiT18x1rK3cWh3qHCkQNC4U6/s1600-h/Kiev+5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5CGaZSnf22Uyc5H1SrgRfjjMhM59t5jfhWIXf6WAL_a8TzSQutZIENO2ysNvR5yrr4BvqYgj5wbuOnyqb1NoqpaSHgQDuQyuWJWlnQgK7pFsiPCNkcugLiT18x1rK3cWh3qHCkQNC4U6/s320/Kiev+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381821090658440386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Golders Green<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0opEzHMe1iBtFV3EM8sB55c0wwVZtcbRU81B0X3wDZIyGT_2x5Rlk6uolZYnMmYIXLeBfvh74ltpAMQ6FXLxsLq93Va9XJmsGDU7JlmESpQupyOrDxsP5p2rHR1sBQ-LnQ8ttHfdRtUAN/s1600-h/London+golders+green.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0opEzHMe1iBtFV3EM8sB55c0wwVZtcbRU81B0X3wDZIyGT_2x5Rlk6uolZYnMmYIXLeBfvh74ltpAMQ6FXLxsLq93Va9XJmsGDU7JlmESpQupyOrDxsP5p2rHR1sBQ-LnQ8ttHfdRtUAN/s320/London+golders+green.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381822466051108114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />different kinds of grass and green<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8DrdmEiR-8LFPbpDSH3wm_osr1b07vHRYZ7P-rKZ0Rv70YeOFy9tNtMmmMBNFnSHliiSkJBf3UXhCsgzr-DoWFRnSdKnL4WBXx8gvlEG_XRf8E4ospimw7X9AP45CisTfjWpoSSR4ovJ/s1600-h/the+heath+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8DrdmEiR-8LFPbpDSH3wm_osr1b07vHRYZ7P-rKZ0Rv70YeOFy9tNtMmmMBNFnSHliiSkJBf3UXhCsgzr-DoWFRnSdKnL4WBXx8gvlEG_XRf8E4ospimw7X9AP45CisTfjWpoSSR4ovJ/s320/the+heath+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381827668182991922" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />view on the city of London from the Heath<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg48w51Ze_3KcYLRLRppr6Tzzj9aQ3Arocc09lLCgv-wp_DJAbbdJOA-XMA9ryospx1UA8Nn4G7dBVDYHe734YlFL4JqMmDdRJRyvbLbhyphenhyphenNXbyZDsmIKOIWmNl6zD0qpYIYKfj4RySUXI/s1600-h/London+panorama+9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg48w51Ze_3KcYLRLRppr6Tzzj9aQ3Arocc09lLCgv-wp_DJAbbdJOA-XMA9ryospx1UA8Nn4G7dBVDYHe734YlFL4JqMmDdRJRyvbLbhyphenhyphenNXbyZDsmIKOIWmNl6zD0qpYIYKfj4RySUXI/s320/London+panorama+9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381827052095604818" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The Heath<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGw0e49edzElVD3BMx9P5RVEMvf8J6-Q4X0pSuYd5ilgVosH9cbC0nRChqsE_8zfrchc7tCKLYjWtAQVtbZNL6Qjr4LuG_e4mxyGKgKDlxAciC5z2mayqW1QsvbnR3Eb9tZ4eBGllHmr2/s1600-h/London+panorama+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGw0e49edzElVD3BMx9P5RVEMvf8J6-Q4X0pSuYd5ilgVosH9cbC0nRChqsE_8zfrchc7tCKLYjWtAQVtbZNL6Qjr4LuG_e4mxyGKgKDlxAciC5z2mayqW1QsvbnR3Eb9tZ4eBGllHmr2/s320/London+panorama+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381822828072214402" border="0" /></a>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-29850809118326669722009-08-23T00:43:00.009+01:002009-08-23T00:54:51.867+01:00London views (mothers view)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOsZTkkCfUbL14eybZRK-H4UBibvnmF0IcLu9zGUSxgcLy156pMpN-wo4gWhLlgSgCyGnwRQd9vhf7vLYArdPRILY7qQ4D3Q0dBKwQZCaDXeah-htUgFlonxNgStD7nq2NFxVpqOV_8f1/s1600-h/000053.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOsZTkkCfUbL14eybZRK-H4UBibvnmF0IcLu9zGUSxgcLy156pMpN-wo4gWhLlgSgCyGnwRQd9vhf7vLYArdPRILY7qQ4D3Q0dBKwQZCaDXeah-htUgFlonxNgStD7nq2NFxVpqOV_8f1/s320/000053.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372940256178205746" border="0" /></a><br /><br />second hand shop<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1SU3bI9yv4lB3jCCmUpuESYT700JqS6v0eJ8TOCMIKkDL-xuMyvWnyrvdNWl4Q8RvySXpMuJh0lzmjFT2rynHrmjDwc9b_4NIoHrh_MUfT5lID5101XPU0beIvsUJ6tFbAQeurn7gDPu/s1600-h/000015.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 331px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1SU3bI9yv4lB3jCCmUpuESYT700JqS6v0eJ8TOCMIKkDL-xuMyvWnyrvdNWl4Q8RvySXpMuJh0lzmjFT2rynHrmjDwc9b_4NIoHrh_MUfT5lID5101XPU0beIvsUJ6tFbAQeurn7gDPu/s320/000015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372940065959188002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />our local pub :)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruRS4E_B8AzdsDtPL94_32SsalrwxrpeT6y08INkmRjF9vu4WIcDqzoaPI6A6m1Wlp_pEx7naOiadGpJmEJIX-NiFoaaJurs4TTnerW2ETvwoseoRSxOv-Emwyc_Lqg-7WR9_LURlIK4o/s1600-h/000017.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruRS4E_B8AzdsDtPL94_32SsalrwxrpeT6y08INkmRjF9vu4WIcDqzoaPI6A6m1Wlp_pEx7naOiadGpJmEJIX-NiFoaaJurs4TTnerW2ETvwoseoRSxOv-Emwyc_Lqg-7WR9_LURlIK4o/s320/000017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372940526700192050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />wall face<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFXdS4lMD96jUw2IuyL3318xEuvRfyDN9jvFFNx5NrP5xct093jajA4fDgyXMCUmwQ1kQH6FUpS6rYZ3gqwuKAHGmd7FqS_oGhtSMO0tb9sJd7slEwcHaQbMXzcTlVDbU9CchMGo5UHfS/s1600-h/000040.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFXdS4lMD96jUw2IuyL3318xEuvRfyDN9jvFFNx5NrP5xct093jajA4fDgyXMCUmwQ1kQH6FUpS6rYZ3gqwuKAHGmd7FqS_oGhtSMO0tb9sJd7slEwcHaQbMXzcTlVDbU9CchMGo5UHfS/s320/000040.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372939050440894482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />school play ground<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUAzk_iDjk7JiDEoM98HZVxdxE-jGCwk1nFV7UJox85cdO9zJdM383evmxoC5ftmd-sx_zqhANQR3WYQFW6Z6nQBEYFtoqjy1sx8Tmgwk4h5FHIzpLkmGkMkTsSggG_8cFq3fSvDXtJCT/s1600-h/000039.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUAzk_iDjk7JiDEoM98HZVxdxE-jGCwk1nFV7UJox85cdO9zJdM383evmxoC5ftmd-sx_zqhANQR3WYQFW6Z6nQBEYFtoqjy1sx8Tmgwk4h5FHIzpLkmGkMkTsSggG_8cFq3fSvDXtJCT/s320/000039.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372938866704406802" border="0" /></a><br /><br />riding a dog<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCt1tIddKxNaD9Nt7rJsnWKKAkhSu0fg-9XixrkabWhKaP-_VjA9V0JICGE0tWgp3R9Ozta02-Db3EQ9kdvTnFp46B1vVaJZUWSxLoGklLLFSpmgApJFcRVGfo0fnoKVfacAH2uUf3Aglg/s1600-h/000036.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 358px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCt1tIddKxNaD9Nt7rJsnWKKAkhSu0fg-9XixrkabWhKaP-_VjA9V0JICGE0tWgp3R9Ozta02-Db3EQ9kdvTnFp46B1vVaJZUWSxLoGklLLFSpmgApJFcRVGfo0fnoKVfacAH2uUf3Aglg/s320/000036.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372938676658367586" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Phoenix on church street<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dLCENxXwFhVeDwPeY-6rwXYAE71kmzRfRRzHyjqdt1jK_bW8PxnvlrfLWuSvvBv-V5AXY_EXjzVZlcqt1_B9HMtyZJSpZx2spC_NaPuPid8vVUWhctkrPUB5qE-xuBojflsrXinYI0Sp/s1600-h/000045.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dLCENxXwFhVeDwPeY-6rwXYAE71kmzRfRRzHyjqdt1jK_bW8PxnvlrfLWuSvvBv-V5AXY_EXjzVZlcqt1_B9HMtyZJSpZx2spC_NaPuPid8vVUWhctkrPUB5qE-xuBojflsrXinYI0Sp/s320/000045.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372938274488860050" border="0" /></a><br />London Thames view<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4-5d2slotA7fRdWVoUmd3Zolr3U7lLFAV0q5UXR1n8Z_MjhLoQRthkfb94T1nzq_CHdV05FcWiIBPiPXZHlwY8RKon4CJlokS5s3rsGsR136Zd95aW3qHJ5d7rzE-ClWeEIEKsPOLqe1/s1600-h/000034.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4-5d2slotA7fRdWVoUmd3Zolr3U7lLFAV0q5UXR1n8Z_MjhLoQRthkfb94T1nzq_CHdV05FcWiIBPiPXZHlwY8RKon4CJlokS5s3rsGsR136Zd95aW3qHJ5d7rzE-ClWeEIEKsPOLqe1/s320/000034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372938127385207618" border="0" /></a><br />London tube viewIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-2537589088246505922009-08-20T16:46:00.000+01:002009-08-20T16:47:59.158+01:00Fatah's Gauntlet<span style="font-size:85%;">by Amira Hass Ha'aretz 19/08/2009</span><br />The decision by Fatah's Sixth Congress that the movement is sticking to negotiations as a means of achieving independence, statehood and peace is an admission that the use of arms during the second intifada was disastrous. That is a difficult admission for a movement founded on the sanctification of the armed struggle. And despite being tacit, it is a brave admission for Fatah at a time when most Palestinians are convinced that Israel does not want peace. Nevertheless, the decision has sparked a few questions from the side of the occupied. The first question is whether Fatah's courage will hold firm if another uprising against the occupation erupts. Or, in other words, whether Fatah is capable of leading an uprising without falling into the trap of the fantasy known as "armed struggle." The second question relates to the negotiations. The conditions that the congress said must be met before talks can resume reflect criticism of the complacent way in which Palestinian representatives have conducted negotiations. Indeed, the authors of the congress' platform beat their breasts over the negligence that caused the first negotiators to omit from the Oslo accords the demand that settlement construction be stopped, the goal of statehood and any mention of the state's borders. But even if Fatah's veteran negotiators wise up and change their negotiating tactics, is it not too late? No new negotiations will be enough on their own to remove the facts on the ground that Israel has created. It is only natural that people subject to foreign domination seek other means of achieving independence in the spectrum between armed struggle and peace talks. Therefore, it is logical that Fatah declared at its congress that it is not giving up other legitimate forms of struggle (boycotts, acts of popular resistance against the settlements) alongside the negotiations. The question this begs is whether this can become more than mere words. After all, this is the same Fatah that entrenched itself so deeply in its status as the ruling party, and the attendant minor perks, that even during the most frustrating of the Oslo years, it refrained from developing the option of mass civil disobedience. This is the same Fatah that still sees the establishment of the Palestinian Authority - i.e. the establishment of governmental institutions that are, by nature, crippled - as a huge achievement. Neither the Palestinian Authority, which is an institution concerned with maintaining its existence, nor Fatah, which is concerned with maintaining its huge achievement, have dared to expand the popular protests against the separation fence, of which they boast, into a real popular revolt. The PA is more concerned with recruiting masses of young men into its police forces, whose goal is to suppress "disturbances" (and impose order on Palestinian cities, where the chief disturbers of the peace were Fatah's own frustrated and quarrelsome armed men). Their foreign trainers are not preparing them to confront armed Israeli soldiers with bare chests. Masses of Palestinians tried this during the first intifada, and the early days of the second as well. And the Israel Defense Forces showed them that in its view, like that of many Israelis, a popular uprising by Palestinians is a no less legitimate target for suppression than the use of live fire - as is proven by its lethal dispersal of demonstrations against the fence and its nighttime raids and arrests of demonstrators and organizers. The popular revolt at the beginning of the second intifada was killed off by the decision to use weapons, which senior Fatah officials either encouraged or were dragged into when the number of Palestinian casualties mounted. But those who opted for weapons misinterpreted both Israel's intentions and its might. Granted, even without suicide bombings, Israel did and is still doing everything in its power to annex West Bank lands. But the indiscriminate use of weapons, against soldiers and civilians alike, gave Israel a pretext for erecting the fence, making disproportionate use of lethal weaponry and dictating to the PA. If the results have been so disastrous, why are they not discussed openly? It is hard to hold a debate on the weapons fantasy when thousands of families have lost loved ones because of it. It is hard to hold such a debate when thousands of Palestinians have paid with their freedom, including many who never held a gun. It is hard to hold such a debate when people who participated in this fantasy have been elected to Fatah's central committee. Moreover, such a debate might have addressed the way senior Fatah members used the "armed struggle" to divert public criticism of the PA and its failures, and salvage Fatah's prestige as a liberation movement. The schizophrenia of being both a government and a liberation movement (as it defines itself) is one of Fatah's most salient characteristics. Can Fatah, which sees the PA as a huge achievement, manage to pick up the gauntlet of popular resistance that it itself threw down? <a style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?TYPE=3&DEST=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.haaretz.com%2Fhasen%2Fspages%2F1108571.html" target="_blank">http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1108571.html</a>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-90321203991084109852009-08-04T20:37:00.001+01:002009-08-04T20:39:07.278+01:00Medical Justice Annual Report 2008If you are interested in the work of Medical Justice, please have a look. You will find the annual report under the link below.<br /><br />http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/images/stories/reports/mjannualreport2008r.pdf<br /><br />All the best and take careIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-12808468960043007922009-07-30T22:39:00.001+01:002009-07-30T22:44:16.861+01:00Prävention und Profit in Zeiten der GrippeMedico-International Schreiben, Juli 2009<br /><br />Vielleicht seit dem Beginn der AIDS Epidemie in den 80er Jahren ist nicht mehr so intensiv über das rechte Maß und die richtigen Maßnahmen zur Bewältigung einer Gesundheitsgefahr gestritten worden.<br />Spielen die Behörden in den betroffenen Ländern die reale Gefährdungslage herunter, um ihre Touristik Industrie nicht zu gefährden, und von der realen Vernachlässigung der öffentlichen Gesundheitsdienste im Bundesstaat Chiapas abzulenken, wie uns unsere Partner aus Mexiko berichten?<br />Oder inszeniert die WHO und die Weltgemeinschaft eine überdramatisierte Katastrophe, um ihre eigene Wichtigkeit zu bestärken und gemeinsame Handlungsfähigkeit zu demonstrieren, während zugleich die Kluft zwischen der gesundheitlichen Realität in der Welt angesichts der Krisenökonomie weiter zunehmen wird? <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBq6der3GG5wFAJTIj6LfWBSxzqnG1-4ttsO9BFWuHSLjCxTx0RvVo6lfXVcqMSOoHXNDv1ChgCllhooPeMqr3asFjCCF2Wd0CJFKgiWp798tDc4iMJsmNODvpejmEG-z_EsWCImHQz2_S/s1600-h/290409_grippefarbe_small.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBq6der3GG5wFAJTIj6LfWBSxzqnG1-4ttsO9BFWuHSLjCxTx0RvVo6lfXVcqMSOoHXNDv1ChgCllhooPeMqr3asFjCCF2Wd0CJFKgiWp798tDc4iMJsmNODvpejmEG-z_EsWCImHQz2_S/s320/290409_grippefarbe_small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364372098736560338" border="0" /></a><br />Ohne Zweifel bestärkt aktuell die „Chronik einer angekündigten Seuche“ angesichts der offensichtlichen geringen Gefährlichkeit des neuen Influenza-Virus bei vielen den Trend zum Misstrauen gegenüber den großen Katastrophenszenarien, medienwirksam von der WHO Chefin Margareth Chan mit dem Pandemie-Stufenplan im Frühjahr vorgeführt.<br />Und wenn auch manche Gesundheitsplaner die Influenza H1N1 als gelungenen „Probelauf“ für die bereitliegenden Katastrophenpläne einschätzen, und die Unberechenbarkeit von Virusmutationen kein Argument gegen eine solche Vorbereitung sein kann, so bleibt es doch besonders wichtig, ein gesundes Misstrauen zu behalten gegenüber den Profiteuren solcher Szenarien, und immer wieder die Frage zu stellen : qui bono? Wem nützt es?<br /><br />Zeigt sich doch bei allen Debatten um die globale Bewältigung der Gesundheitsbedrohungen, dass das Hemd immer noch näher als der Rock ist – und globale Solidarität ein schönes Wort bleibt, solange es nicht die etablierte Ordnung gefährdet.<br />Nirgendwo wird dies sichtbarer als an den „harten Fakten“ der Produktion und Verteilung von Medikamenten und Impfstoffen. Müsste sich nicht hier die „globale Verantwortung“ für die vermeintlich globale Herausforderung in einer eben solchen kollektiven Bereitstellung der Instrumente zu ihrer Bewältigung beweisen?<br />Während die Entwicklung eines Impfstoffes gegen den neuen Virus fieberhaft vorangeht, hinken die politischen Voraussetzungen dafür nach wie vor hinterher. Die in Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländern verfügbare Impfstoffproduktion ist zumeist begrenzt auf die bekannten Standard Impfungen und von ihrem Produktionsumfang nur langsam auszuweiten – die moderneren Verfahren, die in den letzten Jahren in den Industrieländern entwickelt wurden, setzen statt Eiern rascher vermehrbare Zelllinien ein, diese Technologie ist aber vielfach durch Patente abgesichert und nicht einfach kopierbar. Zusammen mit einem zu erwartenden „profitablen“ Preis für die neuen Impfungen werden die Menschen in den wirtschaftlich abgehängten Regionen der Welt daher kaum die Chance auf einen gerechten Anteil an dieser Produktion haben – außer durch caritative Gesten, wie die gerade mal 150 Mio. Impfdosen, die die Produzenten der WHO versprochen haben, bei geschätzten 900 Mio. Dosen Jahresproduktion wären das gerade mal 16% für mindestens zwei Drittel der Weltbevölkerung.<br /><br />Dabei wäre dies möglicherweise die Gelegenheit, einmal Ernst zu machen mit der beschworenen „globalen Solidarität“.<br />Interessanterweise haben gerade erst die Staaten des ConoSur, Argentinien, Brasilien, Chile, Paraguay und Uruguay, den Vorstoß gemacht, die neue Vaccine gegen die pandemische Influenza zu einem „Global Public Good“ zu machen und konsequent auf Patentierungen zu verzichten – das wäre in der Tat eine revolutionäre Neuheit, und könnte im Zusammenspiel mit einem umfangreichen Technologie Transfer in die Länder des Südens die Verfügbarkeit der potentiell lebensrettenden Impfungen systematisch ausbauen.<br /><br />Wenn es zu einer solchen Initialzündung käme – dann wäre ein wichtiger Baustein in der Strategie für eine „Gesundheit für Alle“, wie sie die WHO erst in ihrem letzten Jahresbericht 2008 wieder betont hat, gelegt. Und an solchen Zielen muß sie sich wie auch die anderen Akteure der Globalen Gesundheitspolitik weiterhin messen lassen.<br /><br />Dr. Andreas Wulf<br />Medizinischer ProjektkoordinatorIndruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-76637655506518205422009-07-16T11:27:00.003+01:002009-07-16T21:15:24.580+01:00A selective invitation from the state of Israel:To Work – People of all Nations and Religions<br />To Live – Jews Only<br /><br /><br />Physicians for Human-Rights Israel (PHR-I) strongly condemns the policy of collective expulsion of migrants and asylum seekers, which fails to examine the specific claims and circumstances of each migrant. Since Israel’s immigration policy is firmly rooted in the right of return (for Jewish people), the policy is fated to cause grave injustice, trouble and distress to all who arrive in Israel and are not Jewish.<br /><br /><br />We therefore demand the Interior Ministry invite all who are being pursued and face arbitrary arrest to a fair hearing in which their claims and circumstances will be examined individually. Moreover, we demand that everyone be afforded adequate time to prepare and make arrangements prior to deportation. All this must be done before an individual is arrested and place behind bars.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1Tot0oNlfAYvFDbLSF42Vh66O4uswMfWurjM9LrNtOP_d8Hf8tS4keeZ_FK59zo4NlfeClPS1y3ONVf3k6kI4b9n11is8upgXN3T6OMgo2pNsuwRmsu2I4lk6eX8T6dKHtIxbsv0KkKT/s1600-h/IMDIsrael2002.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1Tot0oNlfAYvFDbLSF42Vh66O4uswMfWurjM9LrNtOP_d8Hf8tS4keeZ_FK59zo4NlfeClPS1y3ONVf3k6kI4b9n11is8upgXN3T6OMgo2pNsuwRmsu2I4lk6eX8T6dKHtIxbsv0KkKT/s320/IMDIsrael2002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359153875884540178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A distorted Policy of Immigration: As long as Israel’s immigrant policy is grounded in the law of return for Jews, injustices against non- Jewish migrants will continue. In contrast to the path customary in advanced democratic societies- where a variety of different options for naturalization exist, which take into account various indicators such as number of years of residence, level of integration, language proficiency, education, etc.- The State of Israel continues to recognize religion as the sole criteria for obtaining status, ignoring beyond a shadow of a doubt the reality which has for years existed here on the ground.<br /><br /><br />Exploitation and Imperviousness: As long as the State seeks and relies on cheap labor, Israel will continue to issue invitations to migrant workers to work in the country. This will come at the migrants’ expense, as the State will provide nothing short of abuse, imperviousness and degradation. With rises in unemployment Israel has making demagogic use of the presence of migrants, accusing them of being responsible for all economic ills facing the State, as if they themselves were liable for the failed progress of all treasury ministers who have come before. Israel’s hypocrisy continues, for just as migrants are being deported from Israel as sacrificial lambs, the State is allowing thousands of new migrants in. It appears that people still need to cut corners with cheap labor.<br /><br /><br />In Hot Pursuit of Refugees: By law, refugees and asylum seekers are entitled to live legally in Israel, according to permits provided by the Interior Ministry itself. On one hand, the State affirms that it will refrain from deporting refugees and asylum seekers to countries where their lives may be in danger (such as Sudan, Eritrea and Congo), yet on the other, the authorities are doing all they can to make the life of asylum seekers as difficult as possible. The vast majority are left with no social rights what so ever (no work permits or health insurance, no financial support to help send their children to school, no welfare services of any kind). The geographical restriction of "Hadera-Gedera" is but one example of the abusive policy towards refugees, as it distances them from the only aid and welfare institutions which have been made available to them, all of which are located in the center of Israel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDhjZTz2FqBXNTXXY2w2E7wSbXHffGkwSTkXsDK4wd9tLfWZrCfQhLeR7GL4rkpDxkgxq13J6QFqOa49f5By7D-iNpWFjDy-fxrOSI8k19A1NfXw2YkaxSZaRq2sUuE78ZT7T5ibWsICP/s1600-h/waiting_350_b.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDhjZTz2FqBXNTXXY2w2E7wSbXHffGkwSTkXsDK4wd9tLfWZrCfQhLeR7GL4rkpDxkgxq13J6QFqOa49f5By7D-iNpWFjDy-fxrOSI8k19A1NfXw2YkaxSZaRq2sUuE78ZT7T5ibWsICP/s320/waiting_350_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359154072642587042" border="0" /></a><br />Expulsion of Israelis: Israel’s malicious policy of collective expulsion is exceptionally harsh as it stands to target families with children, many of whom are just as Israeli as you and I: They speak Hebrew fluently; They are proficient in Israeli culture; They study in Israeli schools and are friends with our children. The imminent rupture of youth from their country and environment, and their subsequent detention and deportation is a blatant violation of the Principles of the Best Interests of the Child, part of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.<br /><br /><br />There is another possibility: In the past, when our penchant for ethnocentrism was at a low, the State of Israel extended residency status to children who had been living in Israel for a minimum of 4 years and 9 months. With this so, why then are children in a similar situation, some of whom are already 6 and 7 years old, not entitled to the same considerations? Are they any less Israeli? Could we ever conceive of our own children sitting in jail as a result of our own actions? Would we continue to be silent if, in some faraway place, an Israeli family sat in prison on account of their child- all because their existence was deemed illegal.<br /><br /><br />Under the imperviousness that characterizes the relationship between the Interior Ministry and any person who is not a Jew, the State should stop for a moment from its hasty deportation activities and formulate, in all frankness, an immigration policy which references human rights. This- and no less- is what is to be expected from a country in which refuge and immigration play such an integral and prominent historical role.Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-42711013093752909592009-07-05T09:50:00.003+01:002009-07-05T11:02:38.226+01:00Wanted and unwanted people - two articles in Haaretz<div><br /><br /><div>A new episode of deportations of migrant workers is starting in Israel once again, protests against the mass deportations were taking place in Tel Aviv yesterday. The Haaretz newspaper published two articles about immigration and refugees/migrant workers. 3000 new jewish immigrants are more than welcome in the difficult times while several thousands of "illegal" migrant workers face deportation. The israeli government is planning to launch a new law series against refugees who enter Israel through the desert (mostly from Sudan). They will be recognised as enemy infiltraters and those who help or support them will be criminilased as well with long prison sentences. That would put organisations like PHR-Israel on the list of criminals, because they run an open clinic for refugees and migrant workers in Yaffo.<br />The new right wing government increased several prices and invented new taxes on basic food itmes, health and other areas widening the gap between rich and poor. For this it will be very convenient to know about so many enemies surrounding and entering the country and just add some more by redefining refugees as enemies as well. Probably the EU will gladly assist in border security and "managment of refugees" and how to use "save third countries". Its one of the most experienced parts of EU policy how to get rid of unwanted people and buy off save countries like Lybia, Tunesia, Algeria and Marokko to treat refugees in a way that they won't dare to dream about entering the EU. Refugee policy of the EU is one of the highlights of human rights in the world.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Israel braces for influx of new immigrants this summer</span><br />By <a class="tUbl2" href="mailto:jlis@haaretz.co.il">Jonathan Lis</a><br />After years of decline in immigration, Israel is expected this year to absorb 15 percent more new arrivals than last year, thanks in part to 20 flights arriving this summer carrying 5,000 immigrants from North America, France, Great Britain, South Africa and beyond. Of these, some 3,000 immigrants will arrive on organized flights run jointly by the Jewish Agency and Nefesh B'Nefesh. Around 2,000 are expected from the United States and Canada. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq8YoDT0DMHi8WfneKn4kwYeAapnzEHFeCozmyAEAtay8QuP7fA3kmytc4mkXgvVr-2naf1FIS2LpHfnc42VRTExVFhMgIaLQ7pBx4_7rnes1qJ0g7PVjNudlTt1rFhQ4CGLaGtWiPzDs/s1600-h/nbnfesharrivalvictory.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354912697512556738" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbq8YoDT0DMHi8WfneKn4kwYeAapnzEHFeCozmyAEAtay8QuP7fA3kmytc4mkXgvVr-2naf1FIS2LpHfnc42VRTExVFhMgIaLQ7pBx4_7rnes1qJ0g7PVjNudlTt1rFhQ4CGLaGtWiPzDs/s320/nbnfesharrivalvictory.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">New immigrants in 2007, very welcome.</span></div><div> </div><div>Around 200 immigrants are expected to arrive from both France and Great Britain respectively, 130 from South Africa, and 100 from countries in Latin America. Some 250 Ethiopians recently recognized as Jews by rabbinical authorities will also immigrate. All of the immigrants participating in the program will come in on special flights, including, for the first time, a flight designated for immigrants from Brazil. The first such flight will land in Israel on Tuesday. For years, Nefesh B'Nefesh and the Jewish Agency had competed for control of promoting immigration from North America, until signing an agreement last year stipulating that Nefesh B'Nefesh would be responsible for locating prospective immigrants and escorting them to Israel, while the Jewish Agency would fund their arrival and absorption. Absorption figures have been in steady decline since 2000. Last year, only 16,500 immigrants arrived in the country, the lowest number since the start of the massive immigration wave from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Eli Cohen, head of the Jewish Agency's department for immigration and absorption, cited the worldwide economic crisis as the primary motivator for the spike in immigration. "Israel is perceived as an island of stability compared with other places," he said.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Of illegals and refugees<br /></span>By Nurit Wurgaft<br />"Legal" foreign worker: Someone with a valid work permit. Currently number about 100,000 in Israel. Eligible for minimum wage and such social benefits as private health insurance and severance pay, and entitled to have employer provide minimal living conditions. "Illegal" foreign worker: Lacks a work permit and risks deportation from Israel. His employer is liable to be fined. These workers, estimated to number 120,000, are entitled to minimum wage and social benefits, but these do not include health insurance or room and board. Asylum seeker: A person claiming to be persecuted in his homeland, and seeking to obtain refugee status. He may not be deported from Israel but, unlike in the past, he will not receive a work permit. Anyone who employs him may be subject to a fine, with the exception of certain areas of the country. Their number in Israel is estimated at 17,000. Refugee: Someone recognized as such by government decision or in accordance with the Geneva Convention on Refugees. Considered a temporary resident and therefore eligible for an Israeli ID card and the same rights as a citizen, with the exception of the right to vote and to be elected to the Knesset. Since the founding of the state, only several hundred people have been recognized as refugees in Israel. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3bzSG2NdZtiKlZll-ml1qyit-oRXr7DHm5u5pvdDDwpeITN2_IYz4dpfS9zhc4q7AMdADzdAbknwBqKPBGbh659Q2A5SKls8jYm6c7tBlUVImkxBWLQ8_zYhW74t4FovV3GpFZ3a51Uh/s1600-h/sudanese+refugees+israel.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354911817875867938" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3bzSG2NdZtiKlZll-ml1qyit-oRXr7DHm5u5pvdDDwpeITN2_IYz4dpfS9zhc4q7AMdADzdAbknwBqKPBGbh659Q2A5SKls8jYm6c7tBlUVImkxBWLQ8_zYhW74t4FovV3GpFZ3a51Uh/s320/sudanese+refugees+israel.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Protest of Sudanese refugees and supporters in Tel Aviv</span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Refugee with Temporary Protection: One seeking asylum from countries the UN has defined as dangerous (usually because of wars going on there), and thereby eligible for temporary work and residency permits. In Israel there are 275 people with this status, all from Congo. The Immigration Authority will begin operations on July 1. It has 1,800 employees. Of these, 150 are charged with enforcing labor laws with employers; 200 inspectors will replace immigration police officers and conduct arrests; 70 will be part of the unit that interviews refugees and is responsible for examining their requests and granting residency permits; 550 are employees of the Population Administration, responsible for identifying illegal residents and issuing deportation orders.</div></div>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-85084604016347743832009-06-22T00:09:00.000+01:002009-06-22T00:11:04.809+01:00Asylum seekers: Britain's shadow peopleAs new figures suggest half a million failed asylum seekers are living destitute in Britain, the Guardian speaks to those living in the margins of society.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">March 2009, Guardian</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/mar/16/asylum-seekers-refused-britain</span>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-4159396186940233492009-06-21T16:50:00.004+01:002009-06-21T16:58:49.101+01:00"Immigration centre detainees stage hunger strike over inadequate medical care"<table class="contentpaneopen"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top" width="70%" align="left"> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="small"> Written by Emma Ginn </span> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top"><span style="font-size:85%;"> By Daily Mail Reporter, 16th June 2009 </span><p align="justify">"Around 20 people were on hunger strike at an immigration detention centre today in protest against inadequate medical care, a group of detainees said.<br /><br />Melchior Singo, 39 and originally from Malawi, said inmates in the family unit at Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire stopped eating yesterday morning.<br /><br />They are protesting against what they claim is sub-standard health care and the detention of children at the site.<br />Yarl's Wood<br /><br />The UK Borders Agency confirmed that some inmates at Yarl's Wood were refusing meals, but said the situation was under control<br /><br />A spokeswoman for the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) said detainees had access to snack bars and that the situation was 'under control', and insisted that medical facilities were as good as the NHS.<br /><br />Susanna Kushaba, from Uganda, raised concerns about her five-month old son Sean when his temperature shot up earlier this month.<br /><br />She claims medical staff at the centre ignored her, and she was forced to dial 999 to get her son examined.<br /><br />The 26-year-old said: 'He was really sick and he'd never been in that condition before. I tried telling the staff, and the staff were calling the health care but no one was coming.'<br /><br />Epileptic Siddika Suloojee, 37, has not received proper care for her condition, it is claimed, and Mr Singo said when she fell from her bed staff told her she was 'faking it'.<br /><br />Sophia Cherbal, 29, who suffers from depression, was left without any medication at all after staff said they would alter her drugs because she is two months' pregnant.<br /><br />Her husband Ismail, 34, from Algeria, said: 'She's not been eating properly and now she won't go to see the healthcare staff. When she was arrested they took her off her medication. Then they found she was pregnant and they said they would give her something that would not harm the baby, but we have heard nothing from them.'<br /><br />Mr Singo's nine-year-old daughter Olger was referred to an orthodontist before they were imprisoned but has now been denied further treatment.<br /><br />Children's Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley-Green has called for an end to the detention of children<br /><br />He said: 'Medical attention is not given as a priority. We've got medical healthcare but we don't get the right care that we need. If you fall ill after lunch you can't see the nurse, even if it's urgent, until the following day.'<br /><br />The detainees are also protesting against children being held at the centre.<br />Solomon Ojehonmon, 38, from Nigeria, said: 'It's not good for us as families to be detained in here. This is the most famous free society in the world and there should not be a place like this where they detain children.'<br /><br />In April, following a visit to Yarl's Wood, Children's Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley-Green called for an end to the detention of children before deportation.<br /><br />He found that every year nearly 2,000 children were locked up solely for administrative reasons and that the length of time they were being held was on the increase.<br /></p><p align="justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwzmzFlEmL-GzoRwobTt-dezrioKZZmqawophD_cKXqUEifA6rIhfy3SCezuYLAMROWHY9L3GHq_zmrgEsd9oDBcDNbPnvdYn_IjPSgMOGpe-NIXEVUaAWkr9ZKh4U5MerkPhYCum-FZ1/s1600-h/2203974035_314d2280c7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwzmzFlEmL-GzoRwobTt-dezrioKZZmqawophD_cKXqUEifA6rIhfy3SCezuYLAMROWHY9L3GHq_zmrgEsd9oDBcDNbPnvdYn_IjPSgMOGpe-NIXEVUaAWkr9ZKh4U5MerkPhYCum-FZ1/s320/2203974035_314d2280c7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349809370665437650" border="0" /></a></p><p align="justify"><br />According to the UKBA Yarl's Wood has 121 family beds, along with 284 single female beds, and there is a healthcare centre on-site with a small in-patient ward.<br /><br />A spokeswoman for the UKBA said: 'A small number of detainees at Yarl's Wood have refused meals since lunch-time yesterday. Some are accessing snacks through the night cafe and children are obtaining additional snacks in classrooms in the day. The situation is under control and we are discussing with detainees their concerns.<br /><br />'Our centres have been praised by independent monitors and our medical care is as good as on the NHS. There is 24-hour nursing care, doctors on call night and day, and access to social workers and dentists.'"</p><p style="font-weight: bold;" align="justify"><br /></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Guardian : "Hunger strike at Yarl's Wood detention centre" - 18/06/09</span></p><div align="justify">"Detainees protest at sub-standard healthcare and the detention of children.</div> <p align="justify">At least 30 detainees at the Yarl's Wood detention centre have been on hunger strike since Monday in protest at poor conditions at the Bedfordshire site.<br /><br />Melchior Singo, 39, from Malawi, said people in the family unit had stopped eating in protest at the sub-standard healthcare and the detention of children. The action began on Monday.<br /><br />One detainee, Solomom Ojeheonmon, said: "Children, some of them as young as five months old, in this detention centre, are sick."<br /><br />In April, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner, said the government's policy of holding 2,000 children a year in removal centres could be harmful to their health. "The UK should not be detaining any child who has had an unsuccessful asylum claim," he said.<br /><br />Susanna Kushaba, from Uganda, raised concerns when her five-month-old baby developed a temperature. She claims staff ignored her and she was forced to dial 999 to gain medical attention. "I tried telling the staff and the staff were calling the healthcare but no one was coming."<br /><br />Dr Frank Arnold, clinical director of Medical Justice, said: "We are not at all surprised by these complaints." He said he agreed with MP Alistair Burt, who described Yarl's Wood as "beyond comprehension and decency"."</p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jun/18/yarls-wood-hunger-strike" target="_blank">Article on Guardian website</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhjvuS1EdfMHd67eFNUSdB36I5957wLWaoVd2PuzHJXywpTl8RqL9y3KTa28x1jMx1tMc9-K3vdZHdNtd3fCCoSHle-nwmWAcvCh14clretHtdVrYk5k6HKSljSJl2D96mrqVP-AYxgr4/s1600-h/381812.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUhjvuS1EdfMHd67eFNUSdB36I5957wLWaoVd2PuzHJXywpTl8RqL9y3KTa28x1jMx1tMc9-K3vdZHdNtd3fCCoSHle-nwmWAcvCh14clretHtdVrYk5k6HKSljSJl2D96mrqVP-AYxgr4/s320/381812.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349810809513788114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />BBC : "Fire at immigration removal unit" (Brook House) - 13/06/09</span><br /><br /><p align="justify">"Brook House was opened in March and can house 426 people<br /><br />A fire was started and "disorder" broke out at a wing of an immigration removal centre near Gatwick Airport, Sussex police said.<br /><br />Officers said there were reports of minor damage and a blaze in the exercise yard at Brook House, which houses 312 people awaiting deportation.<br /><br />No-one is believed to be hurt and the fire is said to have burnt itself out.<br /><br />The force said "disorder" involving 30 detainees started at about 2250 BST and was confined to one wing.<br /><br />Officers were called in to support security firm G4S.<br /><br />'No risk'<br /><br />G4S, with the help of HM Prison Service, currently manages the welfare of detainees inside the centre, the police said.<br /><br />Ch Insp Ed Henriet, of Gatwick Police, said: "Sussex Police is supporting the security arrangements. All detainees are accounted for and there is no risk to the wider community."<br /><br />West Sussex Fire Rescue Service has also been monitoring the fire at Brook House.<br /><br />Home Secretary Jacqui Smith opened Brook House, which can house up to 426 people, in March.<br /><br />It is situated next to Tinsley House, a 136-bed detention centre."</p><p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8098715.stm" target="_blank">Article on BBC website </a> </p><br /><br /><p align="justify"> </p></td></tr></tbody></table>Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8309169749931271294.post-3511099053089783872009-06-14T19:21:00.005+01:002009-06-14T20:56:43.647+01:00No peace - the Netanyhau speechNetanyahu spoke about peace, a peace that is clearly dictated by Israel. A Palestinian state with no sovereignty over its airspace, no army and that gives full recognition of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">jewish</span> state of Israel; no freezing of settlements ('the settlements are not an obstacle to peace'), no solution for the refugees except outside the borders of Israel. The well chosen words which frame the core and real content feel like a badly stitched coat. He doesn't really want to talk about peace or negotiations, he was voted in for conflict.<br />This speech is a clear <span style="font-weight: bold;">no</span> to Obamas plan and vision of the Middle East. And as if Israel already knows that it will be very difficult with a weakening political back up from the US, Lieberman today visited Russia and talked with Putin. The welcome was friendly, Russia would like to take a leading role as a broker of a peace process. So a peace summit in Moscow is planned.<br />Tomorrow Lieberman will meet with the EU leadership to discuss the relationships in the future. It will be interesting to see if economic and military trade relations will be more important for the EU than regional stability in the Middle East. Will there be a freeze of the upgrade? With a state that openly disregards human rights, criminalises comemmoration of the Nakba, would like all its citizens to swear loyalty to a jewish, zionist state, who is on the way to introduce more and more fascist laws...<br />Will there be anybody at all, who is still interested in holding Israel to account about what was done in Gaza, not so long time ago? Every fact finding mission has revealed horrendous acts and crimes performed by the Israeli army against the population in Gaza, the facts lie clear on the table for everyone to see, who wants to see them. There should be a way to bring those who were responsible for those crimes to court as well as those who profit from them, which in some way includes some states in the EU. Military research and development always needs places and people to try how it works. The increasing number of drones used in Gaza show a link to research and trade agreements with the EU and the US.Indruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08431923121417880840noreply@blogger.com0