U.S. Jewish leaders call for boycott of Beijing Olympics

Citing China's Human Rights records, U.S. Jewish leaders call for boycott of Beijing Olympics.

These leaders have no credibility at al. They are doing a disservice to Human Rights worldwide since they don't recognise Israel's criminal Human Rights records, its theft of Palestinian land, and its mistreatment of Arab Israeli citizens and occupied Palestinians, starving, imprisoning, and killing them and their children, while refusing them basci human needs and urgent health care...

It is this level of hypocrisy that is killing Human rights...

Let's talk about the hunger in Gaza in the Life and Style section.

The Guardian has an article about the daily struggle of Palestinians against hunger, due to the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Guess where they featured the article ? In the Life and Style section, Food and Drink subsection.

Bombs, bullets & our daily bread.

Speculating with people's essentials

Incredible, this is happening in the US: Shops ration sales of rice as US buyers panic.

They speculated with poor people's houses and gave us the subprime crisis. Now they are speculating with what we eat.

And here is a link to a story from NPR sent by a reader:
Sam's club, Costco curbing rice sales (Thanks K. Peterson)
The NPR story explains why Sam's club and Costco are rationing. It is not because of a shortage of rice in the US. Actually the US produces twice more than its population needs. Ouf! I worried for a while because I really like California's rice. But with rice prices rising, Sam's club and Costco have two choices, follow the rising prices or resort to rationing. As these two stores are not supermarkets but make their money mainly from memberships, they could not incur the anger of their members by adopting high prices, so the only option left is rationing.

But still, this means that they are actually refusing to make quick profit and keep the prices low for their customers. Is it any different from what we have in Cuba where government subsidised food is rationed ? Here the rice is subsidised by Sam's club abd Costco.

This begs a question about capitalism which is the only unchallenged economic framework in the world now:

Is Capitalism reversing itself and adapting locally and temporarily in a context of rarity and crisis in developped countries in order not to eat itself inside out ? Because if Capitalism does not adapt to the current crisis, it may as well implode. But how can it implode now while there are still so many promises and money and speculation to be done in countries who are just starting to taste it ? So better adapt.

Again thanks K. for the NPR story, it made me correct my comment. It is no yet the moment for Capitalism to die, thanks to India and China...

Israel may pay for James Miller's death

At least, that's an admission of guilt, but at the same time a cover-up. This is not justice.

Israel to compensate family of British filmmaker.

The HBO documentary 'death In Gaza' about Miller's death.

The crime as recorded by fellow cameraman and posted on Youtube.

Israeli spying on the US

From Juan Cole. Israeli spying on the US is not only for Israel's 'right to exist' and 'security'. Advanced technological and weaponry secrets obtained through spying by Israel end up on the black market.

NYTimes: Ex-Engineer for Army Is Accused of Spying for Israel in 1980s.

This is from Angry Arab: I woke up today wondering how the New York Times will cover the story of the Israeli spy. First, it was relegated to the New York region section. Imagine if he were a spy for, say, Micronesia. It would be on the front page, and would be accompanied by an angry editorial. Instead there was this: "Mr. Kadish, a balding, gray-haired man wearing a hearing aid, shuffled into a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon..." You read this and want to cry. For the New York Times, spies for Israel should not be prosecuted or sentenced. If here were a spy for Syria, the New York Times would call for his execution in series of editorials. Notice how the political class in Washington, DC is ignoring the story. This is why Mershheimer and Walt are wrong: it is not only the lobby. It is well beyond the lobby.

Prosecutor in Pollard's case: Israelis lied to us.
Oh, and Clinton wants to nuke Iran if it threatens Israel.

The 2006 Israeli Agression On Lebanon: A Forgotten War

Israeli soldier Yariv Mozer

videotaped as his fellow troops scurried for cover from incoming fire, as ambulances bearing the wounded raced to the hospital, and as disenchantment grew over a misguided battle plan that left the soldiers feeling, as one tells Mozer's camera, like "somebody fooled us."

The result, a documentary that previewed this month, is offering Israel an unusual chance to remember a war that it would rather forget.

Less than two years after it was fought, the Second Lebanon War is regarded by many Israelis as an embarrassment for a country that has long taken immense pride in its military prowess. Unlike Israel's resounding victories of previous eras, this war's outcome was more muddled: Israel was not defeated, but it did not win, either.

Thanks UrShalim

The Torture Files: Prosecuting the Torture Theorists.

It is still pretty much a whisper but the whisper may one day become louder and wider. First Obama promised to review potential war crimes committed by Bush adminstration officials. And now, a new book on torture techniques written and approved by Bush adminstration officials is prompting some name people who participated in the elaboration of the torture procedures at Guantanamo.

"Haynes, Feith, Yoo, Bybee, Gonzalez and - at the apex - Addington, should never travel outside the US, except perhaps to Saudi Arabia and Israel. They broke the law; they violated their professional ethical code. In future, some government may build the case necessary to prosecute them in a foreign court, or in an international court."

Did you notice which countries are heaven for war criminals and torturers ?

Jimmy Carter's visit to the ME in the US press

No Peace Without Hamas by Mahmoud Zahar, in the Wapost.

Our movement fights on because we cannot allow the foundational crime at the core of the Jewish state - the violent expulsion from our lands and villages that made us refugees - to slip out of world consciousness, forgotten or negotiated away. Judaism - which gave so much to human culture in the contributions of its ancient lawgivers and modern proponents of tikkun olam - has corrupted itself in the detour into Zionism, nationalism and apartheid.

...History teaches us that everything is in flux. Our fight to redress the material crimes of 1948 is scarcely begun, and adversity has taught us patience. As for the Israeli state and its Spartan culture of permanent war, it is all too vulnerable to time, fatigue and demographics: In the end, it is always a question of our children and those who come after us.

Carter Calls Israel Treatment of Palestinians a Crime. By Jeffrey Fleishman, The Los Angeles Times.

"I think it's an atrocity what is being perpetuated as punishment" against the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, Carter said. He added that the situation was "a crime" and that people were being "starved" to death living behind walls in prison conditions.

Palestinian Official Says Talks With Israelis Yield Little. By Isabel Kershner, The New York Times.

Jerusalem - The Palestinian Authority's foreign minister on Thursday offered an unusually bleak assessment of the negotiations with Israel and said President Mahmoud Abbas would seek more active American intervention when he meets with President Bush in Washington this month. Riad Malki, the foreign minister and minister of information in the West Bank-based government, told the Foreign Press Association here that the talks on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had so far yielded "no results."
The Israelis and the Palestinians agreed to the talks at the American-sponsored peace conference at Annapolis, Md., last November. The stated goal was to reach an accord by the end of 2008 based on Mr. Bush's vision of two states living side by side. "Yes, they are talking," Mr. Malki said. "All the issues are on the table. But we did not conclude any issue. How long will it take? Nobody knows."

All three articles in Truthout.org

Israel's War On Palestinian Orphans

Israel has of late been waging a dirty war against established Islamic institutions in this southern West Bank town of nearly 200,000, the largest in the West Bank, Hebron.

Under the rubric of fighting Hamas, Israeli troops and agents of the Shin Bet, Israel's notorious domestic security agency, have been raiding and vandalising charities, orphanages, boarding schools and affiliated businesses.

The unprecedented campaign began mid-February when Israeli troops stormed two orphanages run by the Islamic Charitable Society (ISC), one of the oldest charities in Palestine, and the local Muslim Youth Association building. Having thoroughly terrorised hundreds of sleeping children, the soldiers moved to one building after the other, confiscating furniture, smashing glass, looting valuable items and leaving a trail of destruction.

Before they left, the Zionist vandals handed charity officials a tersely worded order signed by the local army commander stating that all the schools, orphanages, eateries, apartment buildings and support businesses owned by the charity were confiscated and that the Israeli army was the sole legal proprietor of all the expropriated premises.

Thanks Erdla.

Jimmy Carter in the Middle East

Click on the link below to watch the video.

Jimmy Carter au Proche-Orient
LEMONDE.FR | 15.04.08

©

The 7/7 bombing trial

Stef's posts are great, most of the time. What I like is that he combines his analysis of the farcical aspects of the judicial elements of the WOT in the US and the UK with a fierce critique of the consumer society in which we live, as he does in this post. The common point is that in our 'free world' we buy pretty much everything from unhealthy food to propaganda without questioning the storyline of those who are selling these items to us.

Stef is a proud member of the Conspiraloon alliance.

"It was a dirty war and we have to deal with it"

Cypriots finally coming to a closure. I wish Lebanese can do the same one day.

Iraq: From One Dictator To The Next

Via Gorilla's Guides, a team effort and bilingual (English and Arabic) source on Iraq.

Hunger

Right now I cannot think of anything else.

Hunger is another name for what we call shamelessly 'The global food crisis'.

Key findings of the UN food crisis report.

An exhaustive report from Spiegel.

The Why

UN Food expert: The food crisis is a 'silent Tsunami'

In Pictures

Knut Hamsun's Hunger gives psychological depht and moral insight into this undignified state of Humanity.

Kosovan and Albanian guerilla accused of war crimes

These people were actually rewarded with a country, by NATO, the US, and the EU...in total disregard for international law.

Del Ponte claims, based on what she describes as credible reports and witnesses, that Kosovan Albanian guerrillas transported hundreds of Serbian prisoners into northern Albania where they were killed, and their organs "harvested" and trafficked out of Tirana airport.
The Kosovan government, now headed by the former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, dismisses the claims as untrue, while Serbia and Russia are demanding a war crimes investigation into the allegations. Del Ponte, now a Swiss ambassador, has been ordered to keep silent by the Swiss government.

The audacity of chutzpah

Back to my usual suspects.

Hat tip: Two Wolves

And what about this ?

As far as they're concerned, whoever doesn't support the Israeli government's policy 100 percent is unfit for leadership.

I am back. I was away for one week visiting New York for what has become a traditional spring break for me and my husband. I apologize for having kept all your comments waiting. I will write a post soon. Thanks to all for visiting this blog.
Yours,
Sophia