Rolled-up Trousers

HMD censors events

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign have announced that the trustees of Holocaust Memorial Day have pulled off mention of their events from the HMD website.

The SPSC are showing the play Perdition this week in events they have organised to mark the occasion. The work highlights the role that Zionists in Hungary had in collaborating with the Nazis. HMD claims this is "anti-Semitic".

The SPSC had advocated that everyone should engage positively with HMD. Here's their announcement:

Palestinians facing genocide

John Pilger:

A genocide is engulfing the people of Gaza while a silence engulfs its bystanders. "Some 1.4 million people, mostly children, are piled up in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, with no freedom of movement, no place to run and no space to hide," wrote the former senior UN relief official Jan Egeland and Jan Eliasson, then foreign minister of Sweden, in Le Figaro. They described a people "living in a cage", cut off by land, sea and air, with no reliable power and little water, and tortured by hunger and disease and incessant attacks by Israeli troops and planes. (...)

When I was last in Gaza, Dr Khalid Dahlan, a psychiatrist, showed me the results of a remarkable survey. "The statistic I personally find unbearable," he said, "is that 99.4 per cent of the children we studied suffer trauma. Once you look at the rates of exposure to trauma you see why: 99.2 per cent of their homes were bombarded; 97.5 per cent were exposed to tear gas; 96.6 per cent witnessed shootings; 95.8 per cent witnessed bombardment and funerals; almost a quarter saw family members injured or killed." Dahlan invited me to sit in on one of his clinics. There were 30 children, all of them traumatised. He gave each a pencil and paper and asked them to draw. They drew pictures of grotesque acts of terror and of women streaming tears.

Ilan Pappe:

On this stage, not so long ago, I claimed that Israel is conducting genocidal policies in the Gaza Strip. I hesitated a lot before using this very charged term and yet decided to adopt it. Indeed, the responses I received, including from some leading human rights activists, indicated a certain unease over the usage of such a term. I was inclined to rethink the term for a while, but came back to employing it today with even stronger conviction: it is the only appropriate way to describe what the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip.

Hat tip to the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign who are organising a series of Holocaust Memorial Day events.

Fresh elections are needed

Tony Blair has backed Abu Mazen's call for fresh elections in Palestine. However, serious questions need to be asked closer to home. It is pretty clear that peerages were sold for tens of millions of pounds worth of donations to the Labour Party. This money went towards them winning the General Election last year. This breaking of the law destroys the legitimacy of the result. We need fresh elections here.

Meanwhile, in Palestine, where they did have free and fair elections earlier this year, Israel, the US and UK are determined to destroy the victors Hamas. Abu Mazen has been supported by them in his long sulk at defeat. Laila El-Haddad rightly reminds us that just a few years ago, the same Mahmoud Abbas resigned as Prime Minister because of the interference from President Yasser Arafat. Abbas has become his former boss and then some. At least he didn't have to survive any assassination attempts.

O, Muslim town of Bethlehem

The Daily Mail discovers that life is not great in Bethlehem:

The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006.

There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.

Meanwhile, the breakdown in security is putting off tourists, leading to economic hardship for Christians, who own most of the town's hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.

The situation has become so desperate that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, are to lead a joint delegation to Bethlehem this week to express their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian populace.

The town, according to the Cardinal, is being "steadily strangled".

They identify the problem, but its cause?

The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.

Let me say this. The head of the CoE and the Catholic Church better not be going over there only to condemn "Islamic fundamentalism" and to ignore the wall running through the living room. There have been all sorts of strange pronouncements from both churches regarding Islam in recent months, but such an act would be simply beyond the pale.

Ian Wright promotes Israel

Wright was guest of honor at an Israeli tourism reception held at Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium in north London.

Wright... said he "could not wait" to visit Israel and pledged to promote the country as a tourist destination.

"When I was asked to get involved [promoting Israeli tourism] I thought it was a great opportunity for me and I'm really pleased to be involved with it," he said.

At the reception, Herzog assured Wright that his stay in Israel "will not be forgotten for years to come and will be special for both you and us."

"I'm really pleased about this as I was going to pay for it myself," Wright replied, to huge laughter. "When you listen to someone like Rio Ferdinand [the Manchester United star] telling you that it's humbling, uplifting and emotional to visit, especially the historical places like the Wailing Wall and the Via Dolorosa, it makes you really want to go."

Israel's cooperation with Arsenal has raised the profile of the country as a destination for British and European tourists, Herzog said.

Obviously they didn't do it on purpose

Peter Allen was not having a good day on Five Live Drive yesterday. The BBC presenter was having a discussion at around 5.30pm about council tax proposals in Scotland, and concluded that the debate was important because the plans could come to "this country" soon. Good to see the English Broadcasting Corporation alive and well. What do we Scots pay our licence fee for?

Ten minutes later he was presiding over a report on the situation in Palestine. "Obviously they didn't do it on purpose..." he said to the correspondent in the Middle East about the Israeli shelling of Beit Hanoun that killed 19 people.

Why are we always expected to believe that Israeli killing of Palestinians is an accident? 90 have been killed in bloopers this week. Palestinian MP Jameela al-Shanti wrote in yesterday's Guardian that her house was also, presumably accidentally, bombed. Her sister-in-law, responsible for eight children perished in the attack. This must have all been a big mistake too:

Got this reply from the BBC regarding my complaint that they used a backdrop of the Dome of the Rock for a purely Israeli political story:

I was sorry to learn you feel it was inappropriate to use a shot of the Dome of the Rock as a backdrop during reports from Jerusalem.

We are well aware of the controversy surrounding this area.  In the past we have regularly reported on it and pointed out that Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967.  It annexed the area in 1981 and sees it as its exclusive domain.  Under international law the area is considered to be occupied territory.  We were not attempting to make any kind of political point with the backdrop.  Quite simply Richard Miron was reporting from the area and this was simply used a backdrop to where he was reporting from.

Rangers fan thrown out of Ibrox for waving Palestinian flag

Press release:

A Rangers fan was thrown out of yesterday’s UEFA Cup clash with Maccabi Haifa for waving a Palestinian flag.

22-year-old Kashif Khaliq, an Ibrox regular for 6 years, was escorted out by a police officer at half-time. His complaints that Israeli flags were also being waved fell on deaf ears.

Khaliq said: “I first brought the flag out after Rangers scored in the fifth minute. One of the fans nearby complained so I put it away in my pocket.

 “Thirty minutes into the match another supporter came from further up the stand and shouted “Why the f*** were you waving that flag, it’s against our beliefs.”

 “At half time I was taken out of the stands by a police officer who told me I had to leave because I had the flag. I protested that other fans were waving Israeli flags, but he said that they couldn’t do anything about it.

“I feel angry that I wasn’t even given the opportunity to stay in the ground with just the flag being confiscated. I was separated from my friends who were then left behind wondering what had happened to me.”

Hamas article in the New York Times

Ahmed Yousef, senior adviser to the Palestinian PM, had an article in yesterday's New York Times talking up the idea of the 10-year hudna. You need to register to read the whole thing, but I found this bit quite compelling:

Such a concept — a period of nonwar but only partial resolution of a conflict — is foreign to the West and has been greeted with much suspicion. Many Westerners I speak to wonder how one can stop the violence without ending the conflict.

I would argue, however, that this concept is not as foreign as it might seem. After all, the Irish Republican Army agreed to halt its military struggle to free Northern Ireland from British rule without recognizing British sovereignty. Irish Republicans continue to aspire to a united Ireland free of British rule, but rely upon peaceful methods. Had the I.R.A. been forced to renounce its vision of reuniting Ireland before negotiations could occur, peace would never have prevailed. Why should more be demanded of the Palestinians, particularly when the spirit of our people will never permit it?

Glasgow protest against Maccabi Haifa

Around 100 folk turned up last night at literally a few hours notice to protest at Maccabi Haifa's Marriott Hotel base in Glasgow for their UEFA Cup game against Rangers.

Highlight of the evening must have been the chants of "You lost the war" to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

It must have hit a nerve as some of the team tried to goad us standing behind police lines with their smug grins. WAGs came out to take pictures as souvenirs to show their friends.

I don't know if other cities do this when Israeli teams come to visit. Despite setting up state in the Arabian peninsula, Israel play football tournaments in Europe (not sure if they also take part in basketball and baseball in the US).

It has meant that Haifa, Tel Aviv and others are regularly in London and north-west England. I hope similar boycott protests take place there too. If not, let this be the example.

Hamas in London

A two-man delegation are in London promoting the idea of hudna. They say:

"We're sending a message to the British government - we're offering a hudna [ceasefire] for 10 years in return for the end of occupation."

"We hope the Europeans will become aware of the concept of hudna, and that it can become a substitute for recognition of Israel," said [Ahmad] Yousef.

"Debate about a political nation's right to exist seems infantile. Israel is a state now, it is part of the UN, it is de facto there, and we deal with it every day."

Source: Guardian

Seems pretty reasonable. Still the FCO refuse to meet them, and continue on the policy of starving the Palestinians for voting for this policy. Easier to do that than tell the Israelis to get out of land that doesn't belong to them.

Meanwhile, Hizbullah have confirmed that indirect negotiations are taking place between them and Israel regarding the prisoners. Why couldn't this have happened in the first place, as had happened many times before?

Lastly, anyone in Glasgow should make their way down to the Marriot on Argyle St at 7.30pm tonight. Israel's Maccabi Haifa are in town to play Rangers in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, so friends of Palestine will be there to welcome them.

Israel's shifting grounds of complaint

Tony Blair says that before he is to leave office, he will dedicate himself to "advancing peace between Israel and Palestine". Let me offer him some advice then. On Israel's side, their main gripes are well known:

• A few years ago they said there was no partner for peace while Arafat was alive
• When he died, there was still the issue of suicide bombing. Hamas have not carried out one of these for over two years now.
• Now they say no peace till Hamas recognise Israel

Hamas for their part have observed a ceasefire in terms of martyrdom operations for two years now. They have said that if Israel withdraw from territories occupied in 1967, to the UN green line, then there will be a longstanding peace, with final issues decided by future generations.

Israel have refused. Thus far, no one in the international community have held them to task for this. The Hamas offer seems like a good proposal. However, the dominant narrative is about humiliating Hamas into making an explicit statement recognising Israel, despite the fact that their above proposal would de facto recognise them anyway. Hamas have gone a damn sight further in recognising Israel than Israel have gone in recognising Palestine.

Hamas will not go further than they have because in doing so, they know that Israel will simply add another bullet point to the ones above, and then the "international community" will talk only about how that can be met. Time for Israel to stop making excuses. Blair and friends need to have some long overdue harsh words with their Israeli friends.

Talking about Israel withdrawing from "parts" of the West Bank is not good enough, and indeed contrary to international law. Those who say "parts" of the WB should remain with Israel need to explain why. Israel has no business in the West Bank. Get them out, and you have peace.

Moderation trumps democratisation

Why doesn't Mahmoud Abbas get condemned for having a militia? His party's terror branch, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, has just threatened to assassinate Hamas leaders. 

There can be extreme reactions to losing an election, but Fatah's long sulk takes some beating. Since the result in February they've been in talks with Israel and the US about destabilising the Hamas government.

It's one thing for the Quartet to reject Hamas's election. It's another for Abbas to reject the judgement of the same voters who put him into office.

Nasrallah on Jews

The most famous opinions about Jews ascribed to Hizbullah's leader are:

‘If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide’

and

‘They [Jews] are a cancer which is liable to spread at any moment.’

Charles Glass, the journalist who specialises on Lebanon and was once held hostage by Hizbullah, says both are likely fabrications:

The first (‘If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide’) was circulated widely on neo-con websites, which give as its original source an article by Badih Chayban in Beirut’s English-language Daily Star on 23 October 2002. It seems that Chayban left the Star three years ago and moved to Washington. The Star’s managing editor writes of Chayban’s article on Nasrallah, that ‘I have faith in neither the accuracy of the translation [from Arabic to English] nor the agenda of the translator [Chayban].’ The editor-in-chief and publisher of the Star, Jamil Mrowe, adds that Chayban was ‘a reporter and briefly local desk sub and certainly did not interview Nasrallah or anyone else.’ The account of Nasrallah’s speech in the Lebanese daily As Safir for the same day makes no reference to any anti-semitic comments. Goodheart’s second quotation – ‘They [the Jews] are a cancer which is liable to spread at any moment’ – comes from the Israeli government’s website at http://tinyurl.com/99hyz. For the record, a Hizbullah spokeswoman, Wafa Hoteit, denies that Nasrallah made either statement.

Hat tip JSF

Million cluster bomblets fired on Lebanon

IslamOnline - The Israeli army has rained Lebanon with more than one million cluster bombs and used internationally banned weapons like phosphorous shells and imprecise weaponry during its 33-day war, a senior Israeli army officer has revealed.

"What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs," the head of the Israeli army's Rocket Unit said in a letter to Defense Minister Emir Peretz cited by the daily Haaretz on Tuesday, September 12.

He said the army fired around 1,800 cluster bombs, containing over 1.2 million cluster bomblets, quoting estimates from his battalion commander.

Blair not welcome in the Middle East

Tony Blair is in the Middle East trying to bring peace and stability to the region. Except he refuses to meet main players, and to be fair, they don't want to see him either.

As Tom at BlairWatch put it, he's talking about the Middle East but not to the Middle East. He's not going to Syria or Iran and won't be meeting the Palestinians (except Abbas). Instead he's trying to sort it all out with Olmert. Which would actually be fine, if he was willing to spell out some home truths. After all, he's got nothing to lose, he's going in a few months anyway.

Hundreds of Palestinians signed a letter in a newspaper saying that Blair was not welcome in Ramallah:

"[Blair is] completely unwelcome in our country because he was coming to wash the hands that are dripping Lebanese blood with Palestinian water."

Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh wrote in yesterday's Guardian that "last decade has witnessed the most unfair and one-sided British policy towards the region since the creation of the state of Israel in our homeland close to 60 years ago". Well worth reading the whole thing.

Israeli officials 'face war crimes risk'

Israel's public officials have been told to watch what they say in public about the Lebanese and Palestinian conflicts for fear of being prosecuted for war crimes, political sources say.

The sources say the foreign ministry has established a legal team to deal with efforts by foreign groups to arrange the prosecution abroad of Israelis involved in the war against Hezbollah guerrillas and crackdowns on Palestinians.

A ministry memorandum issued to Israel's military and other government agencies urges officials to avoid belligerent remarks that could potentially be used to back up allegations they were complicit in excessive use of force in Lebanon or Gaza.

"The type of language now considered off-limits includes 'crushing' the enemy, and 'cleansing', 'levelling', or 'wiping out' suspected enemy emplacements," a political source who saw the memo told Reuters.

The source quoted the memo as censuring one official who called for Israel to respond to Hezbollah rockets strikes against the strategic port city of Haifa during the 34-day war by "getting rid of a village in Lebanon".

Reuters

So they'll be changing what they say, not what they do.

Mixing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism

It's not been released yet, but a "hard-hitting" report by MPs is set to say that criticism of Israel is "being used as a pretext" for spreading anti-Semtism, according the Observer.

Denis MacShane, Iain Duncan Smith and Chris Huhne were involved, and they appear to have taken a perfectly legitimate investigation regarding the state-of-play with anti-Semtism, into an attempt to score political points against pro-Palestinian campaigners. The boycott campaign comes in for particular criticism:

The report voices particular concern over 'a minority of Islamic extremists who are inciting hatred towards Jews', and it criticises recent moves by left-wing academics to boycott links with Israel. Though emphasising the right of people to criticise or protest against Israeli government actions, it says 'rage' over Israeli policies has sometimes 'provided a pretext' for anti-semitism.

'Calls to boycott contacts with intellectuals and academics working in Israel are an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange,' the report says, adding that the response of university vice-chancellors to such campaigns has been patchy.

Rabbis: Israel too worried over civilian deaths

As international human rights organizations decry the high toll of civilian deaths suffered in the Lebanon war, America’s main organization of Modern Orthodox rabbis is calling on the Israeli military to be less concerned with avoiding civilian casualties on the opposing side when carrying out future operations.

Following a solidarity mission to Israel last week, leaders of the Rabbinical Council of America issued a statement prodding the Israeli military to review its policy of taking pains to spare the lives of innocent civilians, in light of Hezbollah’s tactic of hiding its fighters and weaponry among Lebanese civilians. Because Hezbollah “puts Israeli men and women at extraordinary risk of life and limb through unconscionably using their own civilians, hospitals, ambulances, mosques… as human shields, cannon fodder, and weapons of asymmetric warfare,” the rabbinical council said in a statement, “we believe that Judaism would neither require nor permit a Jewish soldier to sacrifice himself in order to save deliberately endangered enemy civilians.”

Is Israel under attack or not?

Israeli journalists don't think so. They "ambushed" Liverpool manager genius Rafael Benitez at a press conference regarding his apparent refusal to take his multi-million pound team to Israel for tonight's Champions League match against Maccabi Haifa.

"Why are you so afraid to come to Israel?" "There is no war there now, so why not come?"

The match is instead taking place in neutral Kiev. It seems that Israelis think that their country is safe. They've been paying attention to the fact Hamas have not carried out a suicide bombing for the best part of two years. You wouldn't think it given Israel's non-changing policies towards the Palestinians though.

Hollywood Friends of Israel

Hollywood luvvies have come together with Rupert Murdoch to sign a letter condemning Hizbullah and Hamas. It reads:

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

"If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die. We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

The 38 signatories include actors: Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt.

And directors: Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi.

Ware hits back?

John Ware has apparently replied to my criticisms of his Panorama film about Interpal. This was posted on the Pickled Politics thread on the topic:

Osama Saeed and I may well look through the telescope from different ends. But the gap between those like us is always going to be unbridgeable if even the most basic facts can’t be agreed. Categorically we on Panorama did not “mock up” the classroom scene at the orphange. The class that we filmed was most emphatically not arranged at our request. We don’t do “mocking up” on Panorama. Neither I nor the producer Tristan Quinn would ever be party to that kind of stunt television. The relationship between Osama’s other “we-now-know” assertions about the programme and the facts is equally non existent.

If this is indeed his reply, then I'm astonished. I really doubt he would accept this kind of answer from someone he'd put questions to.

The "telescope" has nothing to do with it, but it is interesting to see he's admitting a bias on the topic, rather than some kind of objective observer status. The fact is that I've put some rather serious points to him that his documentary, which claimed to show that Interpal had helped build Hamas, actually did nothing of the sort.

As well as saying he mocked up a scene, I've said that that the BBC has been used as a mouthpiece for Mossad propaganda - the film would have been nothing without them (they should complain that they weren't given "special thanks" in the end credits).

He additionally needs to demonstrate why Interpal were uniquely singled out for criticism, when the Palestinian institutions in question have been funded by a host of other (non-Muslim) European and US charities.

Ware also got it very wrong about the songs and about the Hamas flag. He may well say "we-now-know", but he should have known this before he broadcasted.

Response to Ware's response

John Ware has responded to some of the criticisms leveled against him after his documentary about Interpal. It took in points made by AIM magazine, Sunny at Pickled Politics, the MCB and myself.

The main thrust of his film is, as he puts it, that “we showed that some of Interpal's money had gone to charities like the al Khalil al Rahman Young Girls' Society and that over the years this had helped build Hamas into the popular movement it is today”. As such, they are preposterous grounds for a documentary. It is something intangible that nobody could know or prove. Ware has consequently had to clutch at various straws – songs, flags, attitudes - to try and construct a case. He has also employed some very questionable methods.

However, the main point I would put to him is that his documentary was Mossad-inspired propaganda. It depended on material provided to him by the Israeli secret services. He tried to dismiss the links by saying:

The point where we stop being told anything about Lebanon

I was going to write something about the latest terror plot, but found that Craig Murray had already written it.

I would go slightly further though in saying that it's not just today we won't be hearing about Lebanese children dying on the news. I think this is when TV cameras will depart the area, period. It's been four weeks of top billing, and I'm actually surprised it has lasted this long. I now suspect the killings in Lebanon will be treated the same way the killings in Iraq and Afghanistan, and indeed the West Bank and Gaza are. Israel, do your worst.

While being far from ideal, I wrote recently how the coverage of the Lebanon situation had contributed to keeping our leaders' minds on the issue. From saying they'd "never had it so good" about the media coverage at the beginning of the conflict, Israel was now talking about boycotting the BBC in frustration.

Tony Blair was being pilloried for his 'efforts' in getting the hopeless UN resolution to the table. Jim Sheridan resigned the day before the arrests.

British Jews go to fight jihad for Israel

I'd hate to witness the fallout if a British Muslim was caught fighting for Hizbullah just now.

However, the Times carries a report of a British Jew who has gone over to fight for Israel - and the paper actually glorifies it. No questions about killing civilians here, never mind split loyalties:

AT FIRST sight Ben and his mates could be at a wedding party on the lawns of an hotel in his native Yorkshire.

Except that this hotel is a short drive from the Israel-Lebanon border and, despite his Leeds accent, Ben is an Israeli soldier. He is also cradling an Israeli-army issue Colt AR15 semi-automatic rifle stamped “Property of US Govt”.

Ben, 26, who arrived in Israel last year, is one of thousands of those serving in the Israeli military either as newly arrived citizens or on army programmes for Zionists who want to defend Israel while deciding whether to emigrate.

Earlier in the day he was ducking Hezbollah mortars in the Lebanese village of Adessa, just across the border. Now he sits chatting in two languages about two lives — as a would-be medical student in Britain and as an Israeli soldier known among his colleagues for his stamina and ability to carry a heavy machinegun over long distances.

and the rest

As far as I'm aware, there has never been any kind of investigation into how many Brits go over to serve in the Israeli army each year. It's high time that there was.

Hat tip to Davide Simonetti

Greece boycott Israel?

Israel's final match which was due to take place today has been cancelled. Last night we were told that is was due to a "technical fault". Can't see what equipment could have been broken to cancel a game of cricket. Maybe a wicket snapped in half, and they didn't have a replacement stick?

Today, we've been told that Greece could not travel up to RAF Lossiemouth. OK it's in the north of Scotland, but they have come all the way from Greece. Surely they could get a coach or a few cars from somewhere?

I was on Newsnight Scotland about this last night with Alex Salmond and the Zvi Ravner from the Israeli embassy. It wasn't like the Galloway interview, but was ok. It should be online but BBC Scotland don't seem to have updated their Newnights since Thursday.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the above excuses were spin aka lies. Greece pulled out of the match, condemning themselves to relegation in the process. Statement from the ECC:

In spite of being made aware of the serious ramifications of their intended actions, Greece have decided not to fulfill their obligation to play Israel in the 7th /8th play-off match tomorrow (Wed 9th) at RAF Lossiemouth, and as a consequence have handed the match to their opponents and committed themselves to 8th place in the tournament and subsequently, relegation to Europe Div 3.

Note, the phrase "intended actions" and that Greece "decided" not to play this match. Background here, here and here.

Leaflet

Translation:

To the Lebanese citzens residing south of the Litani River

Read this document with full comprehension and do as it orders.

The IDF will escalate its activities and will hit with the most excessive force terrorist elements that uses you as human shields and fires rockets/missiles from inside your houses in the direction of the state of Israel.

Every car including any type that moves south of the Litani river will be bombed because it is suspected in transporting rockets/missiles and military and ruining equipment.

It is your duty to do so as every person in any car is placing their life in danger.

State of Israel

Via Angry Arab, hat tip

Israel play cricket at military base (updated)

I've been informed that Israel's 5-8th place semi-final has gone ahead today. This time it's not just behind closed doors, but at RAF Lossiemouth.

So yet again, our military bases are being used to help Israel.

The point cannot be lost though, that extreme lengths had to be gone to in order to accomodate Israel. By way of illustration, click on the map below for how far they had to travel in order to play because of the protests. It's in Scotland, but only just.

For background go here and here

At a Downing Street reception not long ago, a guest had the temerity to ask Tony Blair: "How do you sleep at night, knowing that you've been responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis?" The Prime Minister is said to have retorted: "I think you'll find it's closer to 50,000."

From John Kampfner in the New Statesman, who says the prime minister knew of Israel's plans for Lebanon a year ago. That's of course different from what he says publicly. That would make him a liar as well as a killer. Again.

Also see Juan Cole's analysis (hat tip)

Lebanon believes Blair can be done for war crimes

THE Lebanese government is working behind the scenes to bring Tony Blair before the Scottish courts, charged with war crimes for aiding and abetting the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon.

Ali Berro, the Lebanese government’s special adviser on legal affairs, is assisting Lebanese nationals living in Scotland, and their legal team, in their attempt to take the Scottish Executive and the UK government to court for allowing US aircraft to fly “bunker-buster bombs” from America to Israel via Scottish airports.

Berro is providing the legal team, led by the Glasgow-based human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, with detailed information about alleged Israel war crimes, and also forwarding information on the casualty rates of Lebanese civilians and the type of weapons being deployed by the Israeli army. In total, some 30 lawyers, including QCs, in Scotland and England are helping prepare the case against the government.

Along with his briefing, Berro sent Anwar and his clients this message: “We are laying before you all these facts and we count on you to use all possible means of pressure to put an end to the destruction targeting civilians. We are counting on you and thank you.”

The team is accusing Blair of assisting Israel in carrying out war crimes against civilians, citing various pieces of international legislation, including the Geneva Conventions, which say that it is a war crime to aid and abet a nation carrying out attacks targetted against civilians.

Berro has said he is “angry and astonished” that the UK is “assisting” Israel, claiming the UK can no longer be seen as an “honest broker” in the Middle East.

Source: Sunday Herald