Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Swine Flu Detected in Four People in Gaza


H1N1 virus in two men and two women following the tests, adding that there had been no casualties due to H1N1 so far. 

Spokesman Esref al-Kudre of Health Ministry of Palestinian government in Gaza told AA on Monday that they detected
H1N1 virus in two men and two women following the tests, adding that there had been no casualties due to H1N1 so far.

Kudre noted that hospitals in Gaza were ready to treat the patients carrying H1N1.

Meanwhile, spokesman Tarif Asur of Health Ministry of Palestinian government in West Bank had earlier said that 385 swine flu cases had been detected in West Bank since the winter started, and death toll rose to 14.

Sunday, 16 December 2012

U.N. Sounds Alarm on Unsecured Uranium Waste in Tajikistan

The United Nations warned Friday that nearly 55 million tonnes of radioactive waste from old Soviet-era uranian mines remain in unsecured sites in northern Tajikistan.


The former Soviet republic, where Stalin's empire once mined uranium to create its first nuclear bomb, is still stuck with about 54.8 million tonnes of unsecured waste from the now mainly abandoned mines, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said.

The waste is "not treated, not confined, not secured," agency spokesman Jean Rodriguez told reporters in Geneva.

In its second environmental performance report for the country, the U.N. agency lamented the lack of progress made to clean up the radioactive waste, which it said appeared to remain at the same level as in 1990.

"The state of radioactive waste storage is one of the main problems in Tajikistan," it said, noting that a number of the unsecured sites are near Khujand, Tajikistan's second largest city.

The largest single dump site contains 12 million tonnes of radioactive waste and is in the town of Taboshar, north of Khujand, the report showed.

The uranium used when the first Soviet nuclear bomb was successfully tested on August 29, 1949, was extracted in northern Tajikistan.

Uranium from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan was also processed for decades near Khujand, and 35,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste accumulated there, according to UNECE

The health risks associated with exposure to uranium are well-known. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, sustained exposure can result in kidney damage and an increased risk of cancer.

UNECE praised the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for trying to set up projects to help the country manage its radioactive waste, but stressed that "due to the magnitude of the problem, it is hard to envisage that this issue will be solved in the foreseeable future."

(Source) AFP

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Fanatic Lieberman Charged with Breach of Trust, fraud

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said he will resign after the Israeli attorney general decided to press charges of fraud and breach of trust.


Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein made his decision yesterday, saying the foreign minister received confidential information on a police investigation against him from the former ambassador to Belarus, who pleaded guilty to the charge in May, according to an e-mailed Justice Ministry statement.

Liberman, 54, heads the second-largest party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-led coalition government and struck an agreement with the prime minister to run on a joint ticket in next month’s election. Netanyahu issued a statement by text message yesterday congratulating Liberman on the reduced charges and expressing the hope that he’d be acquitted.

Liberman lives in the Palestinian Occupied Territory of a West Bank settlement and Netanyahu close political ally despite the fact that Lieberman joined the Olmert government.

According to EIR, Lieberman also has strong Russian mafia connections. One of his patrons is Michael Cherney, the other Russian "tycoon" based in Israel, who is also wanted by the Russian authorities. Cherney finances the "Jerusalem Summit," which organizes an annual security conference whose advisory board includes Daniel Pipes and Britain's Baroness Caroline Cox, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan), and Yuri Shtern, a Knesset member for Yisrael Beitenu.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Israeli FM Weeping for Holocaust, Threaten Europe, Vow to Eliminate the Palestinian People.

Israeli soldiers should respond with lethal force to attempts by Palestinian protesters to harm them, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Tuesday.


Liberman also compared international 'silence' on Hamas to Europe’s inaction before and during the Holocaust.


His comments were the harshest response thus far to a number of incidents in the West Bank last week that saw Israeli troops forced to retreat from Palestinian protesters. In Hebron on Thursday, troops were caught in a melee with Palestinian policeman and some 250 other protesters, with one soldier suffering injuries after being punched in the face by a Palestinian policeman.

“It is unacceptable that Palestinian policemen slap and punch soldiers and remain alive,” Liberman told Israel Radio. 

Liberman ignored calls to withdraw to pre-1967 borders from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for peace treaty with the Palestinians accusing Europe of ignorance. 

“Europe is ignoring calls to destroy Israel, just as they knew what was happening to the Jews in the 1940s and didn’t exactly do anything about it,” Liberman said.

The foreign minister, playing Samson with Europe, threatened Europe will be next in case anything wrong happens to Israel. “Whoever sacrifices the Jews and Israel today, must understand that they’re next,” he said.

Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-on called Liberman’s Holocaust comparison “despicable,” and said that Netanyahu and Liberman were leading Israel deeper and deeper into International isolation.

Hatnua MK Yoel Hasson also slammed Liberman’s comments, which he called “scandalous.”

“It’s a dangerous populist move intended to prop up the far right at the expense of Israel’s good and important ties with its friends,” he said in a statement.

Monday, 10 December 2012

Netanyahu Mocks Legitimate Governance

Netanyahu never met a non-Jew he considered equal, a peace plan he didn't spurn, a law he didn't violate, or truth he didn't turn on its head.

He reveals Israel's true face. He's contemptuous of Palestinians, other Arabs, and Iranians. He considers them subhuman enemies. More on his latest outburst below.


by Stephen Lendman

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is notoriously pro-Israeli. At the same time, he calls the "far-right group running Israel today so arrogant." He omitted lawless, racist, hawkish, and menacing.

Palestinians wanted liberation and peace for decades. They agreed to relinquish plenty for it. Israel enforces occupation violently. On Saturday, half a million Gazans massed in Gaza City's Kateba Square.

They commemorated Hamas' 25th anniversary. More than 3,000 foreign guests joined them. They came from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, Britain, and several other European countries.

A main stage was erected for speakers. Two empty chairs were positioned on it symbolically. They represented Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Qassam Brigades head Ahmad Jabari.

Israel murdered them in cold blood. They're two of many Palestinian martyrs. They're lionized as heroes. Rogue killers remain unaccountable. Justice has miles to go.

Political Bureau Chairman Khaled Meshal said occupation never will be recognized. Freedom depends on resistance. He urged regional country support.

He called resistance a means, not an end. He added that "should the world find a means (to) liberate Palestine, liberate Jerusalem, and achieve the right of return without resistance, let them try."

Sixty-four years of trying produced nothing. History teaches that liberation depends on resistance. He vowed to keep working for free Palestine.

Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abuninmah discussed one example of how media scoundrels misreport what Hamas leaders say.

The London Observer sister publication to the Guardian misquoted Meshal. It claimed he said:

"We don’t kill Jews because they are Jews. We kill the Zionists because they are conquerors and we will continue to kill anyone who takes our land and our holy places….We will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone."

He actually said:

"We do not fight the Jews because they are Jews. We fight the Zionist occupiers and aggressors. And we will fight anyone who tries to occupy our lands or attacks us. We fight those who fight us, who attack us, who besiege us, who attack our holy places and our land."

The difference is stark. Fight or struggle for liberation isn't kill. The Observer also called his speech "uncompromising."

Other mainstream reports also distorted his comments. Readers and viewers don't know they're being systematically lied to.

Abuninmah said none reported Meshal saying he welcomes peaceful conflict resolution if world leaders find ways to achieve it. Don't blame us for resisting without it, he added.

"If we found another way without war we would have seized it, but the history of nations shows that there is no victory or liberation without war, without battles, without sacrifice."

As long as Israel, Washington, and other Western nations oppose Hamas, they'll continue to be unjustly vilified.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya said liberation depends on Palestinian solidarity and unified resistance. "The power of Gaza is (Palestinian) power." It's ready and willing to continue struggling for freedom and dignity as one nation.

On Sunday, Arab League ministers agreed to provide Palestine hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. Qatari prime minister and Arab League secretary-general Hamad Al Thani criticized failed Quartet efforts. He called for reevaluating its performance and ways to help Palestine.

On December 9, Haaretz headlined "Netanyahu: Palestinians have no intention of compromising with Israel."

Like media scoundrels, he distorted Hamas leaders' comments. He lied, saying they'll never recognize Israel. Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Meshal, Haniyya, and other Hamas officials want peace with dignity, not conflict.

They want decades of lawless occupation and repression ended. They want Palestinian self-determination universally recognized. They want treatment equal to Jews. They'll tolerate nothing less nor should they.

Meshal and Haniyya expressed willingness numerous times to recognize Israel in return for self-determination in peace inside pre-1967 borders. It represents 22% of historic Palestine.

The 1947 UN partition plan gave Palestinians 44%. Jerusalem was declared an international city. Netanyahu said wanting what's rightfully theirs "exposed the true face" of Israel's enemies.

"They have absolutely no intention of compromising with us." Israel's idea of compromise is what it says goes. For over 64 years, virtually all Palestinian rights were spurned.

Compromise isn't in Israel's vocabulary. Netanyahu represents the worst of rogue governance. "They want to destroy the state," he claimed. "They will of course fail. The nation of Israel will overcome these hostile enemies."

Israel is its own worst enemy. It governs through the barrel of a gun. Netanyahu is a world class thug. He gives chutzpah new meaning. He makes lesser rogues almost look respectable. He hastens Israel's demise.

He criticized Abbas for not condemning Meshal's remarks. "The interesting thing is precisely that (Abbas) did not issue a condemnation, not against words calling for Israel's destruction, just as he did not condemn the firing of missiles at Israel."

Meshal and other Hamas officials don't call for Israel's destruction. Israel and media scoundrels claim otherwise. Missiles fired in self-defense are legal and essential.

Israel provokes conflict repeatedly. Past and present rogue Israeli officials call self-defense terrorism. Palestinians are condemned for doing the right thing.

Israel calls naked aggression its divine right. Disbelievers are attacked and killed. Netanyahu is Israel's worst ever leader. He belongs in prison, not high office.

He lied saying Israel "want(s) true peace with (its) neighbors." He attacks Palestinians viciously multiple times daily.

He lied claiming Meshal wants Palestine to have all Israeli territory. He and other Hamas leaders agreed to accept 22% of historic Palestine within pre-1967 borders.

Haaretz lied. It said "Hamas rejects dialogue with Israel." Its "charter calls for the destruction of Israel."

Hamas leaders endorse legitimate negotiations on equal terms. They reject one-way Israeli demands. They want peace, not confrontation and violence. They don't call for Israel's destruction.

Even Haaretz turns truth on its head. It knows better but willfully distorts. If Israel's best broadsheet betrays readers, imagine how low the rest of its major media stoop.

In the mainstream, truth is the rarest commodity. It's mostly targeted head on, misrepresented, and avoided. It's the first casualty of war. It's a weapon of war when used to support it.

Misreporting is virulent censorship by misinformation or omission. It's fundamentally unprincipled and duplicitous. AJ Liebling (1904 - 1963) once said press freedom is "guaranteed only to those who own one."

He added that "people confuse what they read in newpapers (or see on television) with news."

Big Lies launch wars. They also justify unconscionable violence and other lawless acts. Haaretz shares guilt with other scoundrel media. Maybe conscience pangs one day will produce change.

Journalistic ethics and professional conduct stress public trust, credibility, accuracy, truth, avoiding bias, fairness, integrity, independence and accountability.

Nothing short of those qualities measure up. Most Israeli and Western media lack them entirely. Instead of accurate full disclosure, readers, listeners, and viewers are systematically lied to.

Hamas, other resistance groups, and many independent ones fall victim. Fundamental wrongs triumph over right. Things don't change. Innocent people suffer. They deserve better. Hamas and other groups like them want Palestine liberated.

They won't surrender like Fatah did at Oslo and subsequent agreements. Israel got everything it wanted. Palestinians sacrificed all rights.

Conditions are much worse now than earlier. Hamas wants historic wrongs reversed. All oppressed people feel the same way.

On December 6, Al Haq headlined "Gaza Strip: Palestinians Under Continuous Israeli Fire in the Buffer Zone."

Memorandum understanding of ceasefire terms stipulated these attacks would end. Israel committed violations straightaway.

Children are still shot for target practice. Farmers are attacked in their fields. Fishermen are accosted at sea. Some are shot. Others have their vessels damaged or confiscated.

From late November though early December, Al Haq reported numerous lawless Israeli attacks. Gazans are no safer now than before ceasefire terms were agreed.

Israel is a serial violator. Agreed terms called for "facilitating the movements of people, refraining from restricting residents' free movements, and (not) targeting residents in border areas."

Israel "continued to enforce the movement restrictions in place before the ceasefire and did not hesitate to open fire directly on Palestinians in the buffer zone on land and at sea."

Palestinian lives and welfare are as much at risk now as before. They're still terrorized daily. Dozens of West Bank homes are accosted and ransacked pre-dawn. It happens weekly. Residents are arrested. Their crime is praying to the wrong God.

Excessive force is official Israeli policy. So is targeting women, children and infants. Murdering them while they sleep is standard practice. Pillar of Cloud killed dozens for eight days. Over 1,000 were wounded, many seriously.

Fighting slowed but hasn't stopped. Hamas and other resistance groups unilaterally observe truce terms. Expect a greater Israeli provocation to produce a response Netanyahu calls terrorism.

His notion of peace is none at all. His idea of truth is avoid it. His governing style is hardline. His type security is naked aggression. Palestine's liberation has miles to go. It's well worth struggling for.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"


Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

PA approves Hamas celebration in West Bank


The Palestinian Authority on Monday granted Hamas permission to mount a 25th anniversary celebration in the West Bank, Ma'an News Agency reported.


The festival, to take place on Thursday, will feature speeches from Hamas leaders. Hamas had earlier approved plans for Fatah, its rival that controls the PA, to celebrate its own anniversary in Gaza.

The most recent sign of reconciliation between the factions follows Fatah's participation in the Gaza version of Hamas's 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday.

(Source) JPost

Abbas urges settlement freeze during talks with Israel

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Arab League on Sunday, Dec 9, not to withdraw its 2002 peace initiative as he called instead for renewed negotiations with Israel for six months.


He told the League in Doha he would demand that Israel freeze West Bank settlement construction and Jewish building in east Jerusalem during that time.

Abbas’s comments came in response to statements by Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jasem al-Thani, who called on the Arabs to reconsider their 2002 peace initiative.

Abbas’s offer marks the first time that he has placed a time-frame on his consistent call for Israel to halt Jewish building over the pre-1967 line since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took office in March 2009. They come on the heels of an Israeli announcement that it plans to build thousands of new settler homes, including the development of E1 in the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.

Israel has insisted that direct talks with the Palestinians should be held without preconditions.

Abbas issued new conditions for renewed negotiations with Israel at the Doha meeting in Qatar, less than two weeks after the UN General Assembly upgraded the Palestinian status to that of non-member observer state.

Negotiations should start from the point where they ended during the era of former prime minister Ehud Olmert in 2008, Abbas said.

The negotiations would lead to agreement on the core issues and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, Abbas told the Arab League.

Abbas and Netanyahu are sharply divided on the issue of the pre-1967 lines, with Israel insisting that any agreement must modify that line to accommodate the settlement blocs. Olmert in contrast had said that a final-status agreement would be based on the pre-1967 line with land swaps.

On Sunday, Abbas told the Arab League that only a full six-month settlement freeze, including Jewish building in east Jerusalem, could jumpstart negotiations.

He told the delegates, “We want to discuss with you a mechanism that would lead to an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian and Arab territories, including Jerusalem, the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and halting settlement construction.”

“If this happens, there could be feasible negotiations. Also, we could return to the point where we stopped during the era of Ehud Olmert’s government, when we put all the final-status issues on the table. We reached many understandings on over these issues,” Abbas added.

Abbas said that the two sides reached understandings on the borders, Jerusalem and the refugees.

The PA will not agree to return to the negotiations from point zero, he stressed.

(Source) PanARMENIAN.Net