Afghanistan

Charity: U.S. Troops Stormed Through Afghan Hospital

Associated Press
September 7, 2009

KABUL – A Swedish charity accused American troops Monday of storming through a hospital in central Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff in a search for militants. The U.S. military said it was investigating.

The allegation that soldiers violated the neutrality of a medical facility follows the reported deaths of Afghan civilians in a U.S. airstrike in the country's north last week. An Afghan human rights group said Monday the strike on two hijacked fuel tankers may have killed as many as 70 civilians in Kunduz province.

Civilian deaths and intrusive searches have bred resentment among the Afghan population nearly eight years after the U.S.-led coalition invaded to oust the Taliban's hard-line Islamist regime for sheltering al-Qaida terrorist leaders.

Foreign forces are working to persuade the population to support the Afghan government after last month's presidential election, which has yet to be decided amid allegations of vote-rigging.

On Monday, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan said the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division entered the charity's hospital without permission to look for insurgents in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.

"This is simply not acceptable," said Anders Fange, the charity's country director.

The U.S. troops came to the hospital looking for Taliban insurgents late at night last Wednesday. Fange said they kicked in doors, tied up four hospital employees and two family members of patients, and forced patients out of beds during their search.

When they left two hours later, the unit ordered hospital staff to inform coalition forces if any wounded militants were admitted, and the military would decide if they could be treated, Fange said.

The staff refused, he said.

"That would put our staff at risk and make the hospital a target."

The charity said on its Web site that the troops' actions were not only a violation of humanitarian principles but also went against an agreement between NATO forces and charities working in the area.

"We demand guarantees ... that such violations will not be repeated and that this is made clear to commanders in the field," a statement said.

U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker confirmed that the hospital was searched last week but had no other details. She said the military was looking into the incident.

"We are investigating and we take allegations like this seriously," she said. "Complaints like this are rare."

Violence has surged across much of Afghanistan since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 more U.S. troops to the country this year. Two foreign troops were killed Sunday when their patrol hit a roadside bomb in the country's south, NATO said without giving their nationalities.

NATO was also investigating last week's U.S. airstrike. The strike came despite new rules for foreign forces limiting use of airpower to avoid civilian casualties.

The provincial government said most of the dead were militants, but on Monday, the Afghan Rights Monitor said interviews with 15 villagers indicate that only a dozen gunmen died and 60-70 villagers were killed. The group called for further investigations.

"Even if all the victims were supporters of the Taliban, the fact that most of them were unarmed and were not engaged in any combat activity does not warrant their mass killing," said Ajmal Samadi, the rights group's director.

A spokesman for the provincial government, Ahmad Sami Yawar, said Monday that only five of the estimated 70 killed were civilians.

The increasingly violent insurgents have killed more civilians in bombings and other attacks. On Monday, the government said three militant rockets landed overnight in the capital, Kabul, hitting a house and killing three people. In central Uruzgan province, a remote-controlled bomb targeting a police vehicle exploded in a busy market, killing two children and wounding 16 other people, according to local police official Gulab Khan.

A United Nations report in July said the number of civilians killed in conflict in Afghanistan has jumped 24 percent this year, with bombings by insurgents and airstrikes by international forces the biggest killers. The report said 1,013 civilians were killed in the first half of 2009, 59 percent in insurgent attacks and 30.5 percent by foreign and Afghan government forces. The rest were undetermined.

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Syria

Venezuelan President Bashes Israel in Syria Trip

By Albert Aji, AP
September 3, 2009

DAMASCUS, Syria — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez attacked Israel Thursday during his visit to Syria, calling it an imperialist nation that annihilates other people.

Chavez comments came during a news conference with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad after a one-hour meeting at the hilltop presidential palace.

"Israel has become a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace," he said, according to the Arabic translation of his remarks to reporters.

In comments carried by Venezuelan state television, he also accused Israel of being part of imperialist efforts to divide the Middle East.

"The entire world knows it. Why was the state of Israel created? ... To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To assure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands," he said.

Chavez is on an 11-day trip to Libya, Algeria, Syria, Iran, Belarus and Russia in his bid to build a multi-polar world and decrease U.S. influence in the region.

"I believe it is a fateful battle. It's either now or never in order to liberate the world from imperialism and change the world from a unipolar into a multi-polar world," Chavez told reporters in Damascus.

On Tuesday he attended Libya's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power before heading to Algeria.

The firebrand Latin American leader has built close ties with Iran, Syria, Cuba and other countries while his relations have grown tense with Israel.

Chavez strongly criticized Israel's war against Gaza in December and January and said the Jewish state should return to Syria the strategic Golan Heights that it captured in 1967 Mideast war.

For his part, Assad said that he does not think Israel is ready to make peace, while Damascus is serious about the matter.

Last year, Turkey mediated several rounds of indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. But Syria suspended them in December over Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

Assad said in a newspaper interview in March that the Turkish-mediated talks failed because Israel would not make a clear commitment to return all of the Golan up to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

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Russia in the Middle East

Russia in the Middle East (Excerpt)

INSS
August 2009

In recent years Russian foreign policy has stressed the value of legally binding agreements, over the political declarations and personal rapport that characterized the Gorbachev-Yeltsin era. Acting abroad, Moscow pursues three principal objectives: multipolarity; regional security; and promotion of economic interests in its "natural sphere of influence" and worldwide (mainly cooperation in the energy, military, and technology sectors). A review of its foreign policy doctrine reveals that Russia aims to:

1. Become an influential world center

2. Create favorable external conditions for the modernization of its economy

3. Influence global processes through the UN (using its veto right in the Security Council)

4. Search for common interests with other actors to advance Russia's national priorities and ensure its international position

5. Promote good neighborly relations, and assist in eliminating the existing hotbeds of conflict (which is apparently a lip service goal, in light of its actions in Georgia in 2008, the handling of the crisis over gas transit through the Ukraine to Europe in the winter of 2009, and the "milk war" with Byelorussia in June 2009)

6. Provide comprehensive protection of rights and legitimate interests of Russian citizens and compatriots abroad

7. Propagate its culture and cultivate a positive image of the country

Zionism and the Judeo-Christian Impact on World Peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nation's General Assembly on September 24, 2009; he responded to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's earlier address to the UN (see video below).

Judeo-Christians’ Role—Mr. Sharon’s Final Solution

By Charles E. Carlson, We Hold These Truths
Originally Published on June 16, 2004

A powerful new lobby tells the world its purpose is to direct Congress to act on behalf of the State of Israel.

Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI)* is strictly an Israeli controlled organization that calls for a militant, no compromise solution to its Arab problem. What makes UCI unique among radical Israeli political groups is that it finds its support among prominent USA professing Christians.

Some stumping Americans raise the UCI agenda in colleges and churches. In fact, the UCI “Christians” go far beyond the Israelis in their call for Arab blood.

This paper examines who these Judeo-Christians are, their motives, and the impact on peace in the world.

Israeli political lobbies in the US Congress are hardly new. Upward to 100 pro-Israel PACs swarm over the American Washington, approaching every new candidate for Congress before his fur is dry. Most big campaigns, in the past, have been orchestrated by the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). As detailed in Andrew Hurley's book, Holocaust II Saving Israel from Suicide, former Congressmen, for three decades, have privately and occasionally publicly, called AIPAC the most powerful lobby in Washington. Few dare talk about it in public.

What makes UCI different from AIPAC is that its lobbyists are mostly celebrity “Christians.” Nevertheless, strictly Israelis and American non-Christians control the organization. This might be likened to a flock of turkeys laboring for the elimination of fox skin coats.

UCI does not stop with bending Congress; it openly and without reservation seeks to re-define Christianity to conform to Judaic requirements, seeking Christian support for Israel’s policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians, while openly declaring that its aims are to control the rest of the Middle East. The foxes, it seems, pay the Christian turkeys to perch on the low limbs.

UCI’s attitude toward the Palestinians and Arabs, in general, suggests its solution can only be obtained by genocide. To some it would seem strange that prominent professing Christians would support this militant agenda, but in fact violence is endemic to a certain cult of militant-Christians, and they are those who are part of UCI. They help spread the justifications throughout evangelical churches, and lately in a major effort on college campuses, for the liquidation of the Palestinian people.

Let us first take a close look at what UCI tells us about itself.

According to its own claims, it is an Israeli Lobby in the US Congress, but it is much more an activist lightning rod to attract and promote Christians willing to support a violent solution in Palestine, including liquidation of the Palestinians. It is important to observe that UCI is strictly a Zionist-Jewish controlled business. Rabbis and self-proclaimed Israeli militants are listed as it directors with only two or three exceptions. In its own words, it seeks goals to end resistance in Palestine that can only be achieved militarily or by assassination. Individually these goals seem careless and incomplete, but let’s put these three goals together: they only work by killing and imprisoning Palestinians.

Let us look at UCI’s stated purposes.

We quote from the UCI website: Who is Unity Coalition for Israel?

“Since July 1991, the National Unity Coalition for Israel (now Unity Coalition for Israel) has cultivated American support for a strong and secure Israel,” and “Israel is not just a Jewish issue. Millions of Christians resolutely endorse the principle of peace with security for the state of Israel.”

One stated goal is:

“Cessation of Palestinian terrorism and incitement.”

Note, UCI does not say it seeks an end to the cause of “terrorism,” nor does it work to end Israeli occupant and assassination raids, which it obviously does consider “terrorism.” UCI wants only to end only Palestinian terrorism, not Israelis terrorism. It makes no pretense of compromise or concession, such as withdrawing 7,000 militant squatters (“settlers”) from Gaza, nor does it cite any goal that might bring a peaceful two state system.

In fact, UCI openly defies Ariel Sharon’s compromise aim of withdrawal of settlements from Gaza, a move that might be a frail gesture for peace. Most Israelis this author met recognize the need to end the settlements as a necessity for peace, and 150,000 Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv for withdrawal on May 16th. Instead, UCI would eliminate Palestinian resistance to occupation, but it does not say how. Presumably it favors any acts by Israel that will bring this about and an end to resistance and what it calls “incitement.” Such acts as assassinating some 328 leaders, and many with their families, are not mentioned.

Another goal is:

“Not rewarding terrorism (jihad) with establishment of a Palestine.”

By “not rewarding terrorism” UCI obviously means they think Israel should take a stronger, not conciliatory position against Palestine. UCI also states it wants “no shared territory.” This can only means that UCI wants only one state, and that no Palestinian should be allowed in it. UCI intentions seem to be that there be no state of Palestine and no Palestinians in the Israeli’s state. One can only interpret its words to mean UCI wants them gone. Few Israeli dare whisper of a plan for total genocide of 3.5 million persons, but Judeo-Christians do not shudder at the thought.

UCI also wants: “An undivided Jerusalem.” This of course means UCI wants to take over all of Arab Jerusalem including the Dome of the Rock, which is in Arab Jerusalem! UCI’s soft words have a hard meaning: total conquest; total elimination.

But the UCI agenda does not stop with wiping Palestinians out of Israel, they also seek:

“Establishing democracies throughout the Middle East.”

This is what the USA says it is doing in Iraq, “Aren’t we ‘democratizing’ it?” UCI wants more wars like Iraq throughout the Middle East.

UCI states its goal to:

“Ensuring Israel's right to strategic water and land defense.”

But in this small country, all water and land can be said to be “strategic.” Israel’s farming practices have made good copy, but it has already pumped down the scanty aquifers to the point where there is a terrible water shortage. While “greening the land” it has all but dried up the Jordan River. Israeli management may even kill the Dead Sea, which is receding to a big puddle. Because both usable land and water are in very short supply, UCI lets you know it wants “strategic” to mean any and all the water, and all the land Israel has occupied since 1967, not only from the Golan Heights, West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Goal: “Establishing democracies throughout the Middle East.”

Note that Israel has no constitution of it own. UCI shows its quaint Zionist way of saying they want to claim and control all the land from the Euphrates to the Nile by imposing its own style of government on others.

AN AMERICAN LOBBY RUN BY ISRAELIS

UCI’s Board of Directors appears to be about 85% American Jews and Israeli militarists, including several Rabbis. One militant Christian, Gary Bauer, is listed on the board, as is Leslie Stahl, a commentator on CBS 60 Minutes. One or two other board members are probably not Jewish. One way or the other, Israeli patriots have total control over UCI. Israelis Patriots run UCI, and celebrity “Christians” carry its agenda. Who is paying for all this occupation, death and war? Taxpayers.

There is no better way to sum up the power of UCI than to quote a story found in the Jerusalem Post on April 8, 2004. Referring to the Unity Coalition for Israel, the Post states with some surprise:

“One of the largest grassroots pro-Israel groups in the United States has launched a nationwide effort to lobby the Bush Administration against offering support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate Gaza.”

Why do American “Christian” leaders care if 7,000 Israelis withdraw from settlements inside the Gaza strip? UCI is hard line and hell bent on influencing Sharon not to withdraw. The Jerusalem Post seems puzzled by the Zionist zeal of the "Christians" that exceeds the worst of the Israelis. It states:

“Evangelical Christians, who number in the tens of millions in the US, are considered to be one of Bush's core constituencies, whose support is essential in the upcoming November Presidential election; many of them oppose an Israeli withdrawal from the territories, citing the Biblical promise of the land is to the Jewish people.” - Jerusalem Post

In a recent Associated Press story, author Josef Federman stated:

“Prominent Israeli rabbis are for the first time speaking out against Israel's profitable alliance with evangelical Christians in the United States who have funneled tens of millions of dollars to the Jewish state. The rabbis fear the Christians' real intent is to convert Jews, their aides said Monday. Others are concerned about the evangelicals' support for Israel's extreme right wing, opposing any compromise with the Palestinians. To see how Judeo-Christian (“evangelicals” as the J. Post calls them) sets up the systematic assassination and deportation of Arabs, we will look at the words of several professing Christian enablers who are stumping the colleges for UCI.”

Kay Arthur - Founder & President - Precept Ministries
Joseph Farah - Founder, Editor & CEO – World Net Daily
Chuck Missler - Author & Radio Show Host
Janet Parshall - Author & Host of 3 Radio Shows including "Janet Parshall's America"
Clarence H. Wagner, Jr. - International Director - Bridges for Peace, Israel

Joseph Farah’s unique success in the Internet media may well result from being an Arab who has supported both Bush “wars” and every act of Israel, sometimes overtly and sometimes with sly cleverness. Farah recently spoke at the University of Colorado campus sponsored by several Jewish student associations. This author’s friend, who attended, witnessed his shocking remarks about Iraq and Palestine, with horror.

Farah discredited Palestinians any right to return to their farms and homes from which many were made refugees 50 years ago. We quote Farah’s militant words from his own article published just before the invasion of Fallujah in Iraq that has already claimed 900 Arab lives, including many women and children. Here is what Farah said about their rights:

“There are 250,000 people living in Fallujah. My guess is that the population is going to be reduced shortly... The U.S. should pound Fallujah like it has never been pounded before… We should not try to gain an international consensus for this action. We should not apologize for it. We should not restrain our Air Force and our artillery batteries from wreaking devastation.”

Over 900 Iraqis are known to have died since Farah said this, but it is not hard to see that the Zionist-friendly US media would support Farah’s internet business, and why financing for his costly World Net Daily does not seem to be a problem. Farah is the number one Zionist Arab in the world today.

Kay Arthur is Precepts Ministries Bible Study business guru. She is just as influential as Farah, but in a very different and equally dangerous way. She heads up what may be the biggest mail order bible study group in the world, Precepts Ministries teaches that the State of Israel is the fulfillment of Bible prophesy and its inhabitants are “God’s chosen people;” therefore, they alone are the only people with a right to the Palestinians’ land. This author suffered through one of these classes as an educational experience. Kay Arthur is also a militant-Christian, violent only against those who oppose Israel.

Here is what Mrs. Arthur says about her organization:

“‘Precept Upon Precept’ Bible Studies are published by Precept Ministries. Precept Bible classes are held in all 50 states and are used in more than 118 foreign countries, 63 languages including Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Czech, German, and Russian.”

Kay Arthur and Gary Bauer are among those on record as signing a pledge of allegiance to the state of Israel at the celebration of its 50th anniversary in 1998. Precepts Ministries teaches heresy to hundreds of thousands of devotees; Precepts is a life-costing ministry that is obsessed with accelerating the “end times.” It crosses lines into the Catholic, Mainline churches, and even Orthodox churchgoers. Precepts Ministries teach seekers the Scofield-concocted heresy of the land grant and the chosen people from day one. Spoon-fed Judeo-Christianity sounds something like this from the Precepts class coordinator:

“The land belongs to Israel, and the Palestinians have to go. (Sigh) It’s sad sometimes (another sigh), but it is God’s will; those people need to repent of Islam so God can save them!”

Kay Arthur sells “end times” masked violence in the name of “God’s will.” Precepts’ precept is that the “end times are here.” It has no problem claiming it is empowered to know “God’s will” and feeds a diet of “chosen people” racism under the reluctantly disclosed label of “dispensationalist.” This author prefers the widely accepted and tragic Judeo-Christianity as a name for the inevitably violent, Christian heresy. Ariel Sharon fondly calls the same people Christian-Zionists.

It may seem strange to the casual observer that these who profess Christianity also advocate the genocidal acts of Israel, including torture of the Palestinians and the Iraqis. Some 3,000 political prisoners, including several hundred children, have been imprisoned and tortured as a method of extracting confessions. Torture is legal and not even denied in Israel; its military helps train the Americans, now about to be tried, who have been caught red-handed torturing Iraqi prisoners.

But how can Christian Celebrity ignore UCI’s stated aim of changing traditional Christianity into a form of Judaism? It is easy to understand why the State of Israel would use Christian front men when we consider the now accepted fact that G. W. Bush rode into office on the “Christian right” vote. Israel’s war policy and aims toward the Palestinian people have raised the ire of the entire civilized world against it.

Israel’s old excuse can be paraphrased:

Cut us some slack; we are the survivors of the Holocaust. If we are mean to others and sometimes brutal, it is because the world has been so mean to us. The world needs to understand us when it comes to human rights: we are only getting even.

This argument comes with a Jewish curse placed on anyone who will not accept the Judeo-Christian concept of a "chosen race" supposedly based upon a bizarre theory of Israelite genetics. For those others who do not accept the Holocaust excuse or who oppose Israelis acts on humanitarian grounds, Judeo-christians have a curse to offer. That all purpose curse is: “anti-Semitism.” Anyone who does not recognize the nobility of the Serial Wars and of the occupation must be an anti-Semite.

The Palestinians and Iraqis point out they had nothing to do with the Holocaust, and are victims of one every day. Most holocaust survivors have now died of old age. The perpetrators are also gone and people are increasingly weary of hearing about anti-Semitism. And there is a growing mistrust of the extravagant Holocaust numbers. It is time for a new Israeli excuse, it seems.

The “Chosen” are Justified by:

“We do what we do because we are exempt from the rules; God gave us the right to defend ourselves and our land without reservation, and this land, from the River Euphrates to the River of Egypt is ours: a gift from Him; and everyone else must leave or we will help them to leave.” This is often paraphrased: “We are the chosen people.”

Who would blame Israel for taking advantage of Christian heresy? Who would not like to be called “God’s chosen ones” by its ruinous cooperation? But, why would dozens of prominent and influential “Christians” lend their reputations (such as they may be), and their time, to supporting Israel’s claims to someone else’s land?

More puzzling: Why would they distort what their own Bible teaches and what their own professed faith demands of them. Jesus demands peace and love of all men, even one’s enemies. There is not one phrase in the Christian New Testament that supports anything Israel does to the Palestinians, including the claims of being a “chosen people.”

Judeo-Christianity is not Christian at all. It is a hodgepodge of bits from unrelated stories patched together to create an illusion. The illusion is of an “end times” apocalypse and a “chosen people” who enjoy the right to kill and imprison other people who are not “chosen.”

We must at least mention, in passing, that Israel’s evangelical support relies upon the word of a quack felon named Cyrus I. Scofield, who got rich writing a bible for Judeo-Christianity to follow.

Project Strait Gate has no real problem with the Unity Coalition for Israel (UCI) any more than with other organizations that depend upon quarter truths, pressure and deception to get its way. UCI does what a certain faction thinks is in Israel’s interest. But we do have a problem with professing “Christians” who front for UCI and claim it is “Scriptural” to do so. Our difference is with those who attempt to dilute our own faith or to make us accomplices to murder. Our complaint is over the blood and pain these false prophets bring on generations of our own people and on the innocent non-Christian victims in the Middle East.

UCI has the arrogance to tell us Christianity has it all wrong. It accuses traditional Christ followers of what it calls “The Error of Replacement Theology.” This includes traditional Reformation theology, orthodoxy, and traditional Catholic theology for over 2,000 years, and others.

It uses professing Christians like Clarence Wagner to witness against Christianity.

UCI uses its “Christian resources” prop, Clarence Wagner, to spell out “The Error of Replacement Theology,” which we have discussed, and four other crucial areas where it seems to feel brainwashing is needed to anesthetize Christ seekers.

Wagner says:

“Perhaps you have heard of the term Replacement Theology. However, if you look it up in a dictionary of Church history, you will not find it listed as a systematic study. Rather, it is a doctrinal teaching that originated in the early Church. It became the fertile soil from which Christian anti-Semitism grew, and has infected the Church for nearly 1,900 years.”

According to Wagner, those who believe Jesus brought the New Covenant to his followers are into "replacement theology" and are “anti-Semitics” because they will not worship Israel. Wagner and this author once debated this subject formally with on KCRO radio program entitled, “Resolve: the State of Israel is (is not) the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy.” (A tape of the debate is on the WHTT bookstore.) It should surprise no one that The Tragedy of Anti-Semitism is listed as another UCI key topic for brainwashing colleges, churches and religious schools.

Having debated Wagner, this author has no problem understanding what he is talking about. Wagner interprets Genesis 12 to be a land grant of specific property in the Middle East to a specific country, Israel, forever. He also considers it “anti-Semitic” to believe that that is not what the passage says. It bothers him not in the least that Abraham and the State of Israel were born some 3,000 years apart.

Genesis 12:1-3 reads:

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (KJV)

Wagner denies the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. God’s promise to Abraham was not of real estate, but that he would start the lineage from which a Messiah that would come, who would be a light of peace to all men, even those who fail to follow him. Abraham was to produce the lineage of the Christ Child; this was the promise…this is Christianity!

Wagner makes God trivial. How demeaning it is to God, to put Him in the middle of a petty land scam. God does not parcel out little hunks of desert to former cronies!

Reverend Wagner corrupts the Christian concept of the covenant promise to Abraham into a schlock real estate scam favoring phony claimants 3,000 years after the fact. How disgusting. How insulting, to a Holy God. What UCI disparages as “Replacement Theology” is in fact traditional Christianity.

Wagner’s stand on the Jewish (land grant) interpretation of Genesis is destructive to mankind, of whom God made in the potential of His image. Rabbis, before whom Wagner grovels, do not believe Jesus is God, nor even a prophet blessed by God. To UCI, Genesis 12 is a good enough land title to drive the Palestinians into the sea or to Nuke-em, if need be. Israel has the “Nukes,” as Mordechai Vanunu told us 18 years ago, and went to prison for talking all about it.

Summarizing in UCI’s own words directly from its website, its desires are:

“Israel's Right to the Land”
“End of Radical Islam and the Quest for World Domination”
“The Urgent Need for Action: Achieving a Safe and Secure Israel”

Is UCI to carry out its agenda of building Islam and Palestine disenfranchisement, to control the entire Middle East in the name of Israel, and perpetual war in the name of Jesus Christ? UCI has an “Advocacy Manual”… “A Comprehensive Reference and Resource Guide for Colleges, Universities, Churches, Synagogues, Religious Schools, Prayer/Study Groups, Individuals.”

Christians must know from the New Testament that God is not into money or the property business. Wagner, who claims to be a Christian, also either ignores or denies that the Apostle Paul and Jesus Himself meant when they said: all who believe in Him inherit the promise of Abraham.

Grass Roots Support for War

Israel cannot continue to imprison the Palestinians without a broad base of public support in the USA. The rest of the world is turning against Israel, as is now commonly accepted -- everywhere but the USA. Only the influence of 40-70 million Judeo-Christians are keeping Israel’s war machine going. In the entire world, these millions of Americans are the ones duped into thinking God gave Israel the right to liquidate its enemies. Christian-Zionists do this dirty work for UCI by also selling Israel to churches as the “chosen people” heirs to the land.

Professing “Christians” like Wagner, Kay Arthur, Gary Bauer, Janet Parshall, Joseph Farah, legitimize Israel’s fanciful claim to the Arab lands, "from the Euphrates to the River of Egypt,” by spinning Bible yarns that refute what Scripture has taught for 1,970 years.

Clearly these Evangelicals call for a violent solution, not a peaceful one as Jesus did. Judeo-Christians seem embarrassed when confronted about being followers of the Prince of Peace. This is why we think the term violent Christians can be synonymous with Judeo-Christians. By failing to oppose it, they support the UCI scantily hidden agenda of the liquidation or deporting 3.5 million people. A sad testimony… How do they expect a Holy God to forget it?

* Note on Unity Coalition for Israel: For the first nine years of its existence, NUCI was titled “National Unity Coalition for Israel (NUCI). This is a fraud and distortion because there is nothing “National” (or American) about this organization. Nor is it international, as it claims; NUCI-UCI is “Israel first, last, and always.” Its board members probably laugh themselves into delirium over the name, just as they do over the duplicity of those who call themselves by Jesus’ name and shill for UCI’s death games. The name change was disclosed while this story was in preparation.

Here is what UCI tells us on their website, which is adorned with both US and Israeli flags flying in tandem:

“The National Unity Coalition for Israel is no longer just national. We are broadening our outreach, and we are now 'Unity Coalition for Israel.' Please check back for more exciting things to come!”

A true liar knows no shame.

© 2004, Strait Gate Ministries, All Rights Reserved

The Israeli Occupation of America: How Israel Gained Control of American Foreign Policy and Public Opinion
The Zionist, Messianic-Christian Network Inside Evangelical Churches: Walid Shoebat, His Clones and Enablers
Scottsdale Bible Church is enabling an un-Christ-like, anti-Islam agenda. The Church's facility will be used by Walid Shoebat, whose program masquerades as a Commemorative Memorial Service Day for 9/11. His books sell the idea that Muslims hate Christians. Shoebat pretends to be a reformed bank-bombing, Arab Terrorist, in spite of his admission that he left Palestine for the USA with his American mother at age 16; the leaders of Scottsdale Bible Church have been informed but refused to cancel the event. Shoebat has been discredited and exposed by many, including the New York Times and Jerusalem Post. The Post feature in May 2008, concludes: “If the Bank Leumi bombing claim is unfounded, it is unclear why Shoebat would have wanted to manufacture a terrorist past. True or not, however, it has plainly brought him some prominence and provided him with a means to speak in favor of Israel and be paid for doing so.” We call for this church to return to the teachings of Jesus Christ, "Blessed are the Peacemakers," and "Love your Brother, even your Enemy."


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nation's General Assembly on September 23, 2009. Delegates from the US, Israel and EU stormed out as he was speaking.

Read more: Israel and Iran Are on the Verge of War

Russia

Russian Subs Patrolling Off U.S. East Coast

AFP
August 5, 2009

Two Russian nuclear-powered submarines have been patrolling off the US East Coast in recent days, the first such move in several years and one that has US officials concerned, the New York Times said Wednesday.

Citing defense and intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity, a report on the paper's website said one submarine remained in international waters some 200 miles (320 kilometers) off the US coast, while the location of the other remained unclear.

The pair were Akula class vessels, the paper said.

The episode does not appear to pose any immediate threat to the United States, but it echoes the cat-and-mouse manouvers of the Soviet and US militaries during the Cold War, when Moscow and Washington routinely sent submarines towards one another's coasts to gather intelligence and track fleet movements.

"Any time the Russian Navy does something so out of the ordinary it is cause for worry," a senior US Defense Department official who has monitored reports about the submarines' activities was quoted as saying.

"We've known where they were, and we're not concerned about our ability to track the subs," said the official. "We're concerned just because they are there."

Naval historian and submarine warfare expert Norman Polmar told the Times: "I don't think they've put two first-line nuclear subs off the US coast in about 15 years."

While Pentagon officials declined to speculate about what weapons may be aboard the vessels, the submarines are considered not among the larger class of Russian submarines that can launch nuclear missiles, the Times reported.

The revelations of the Russian movements come as Moscow seeks to move on from the embarrassment of another failed test of its intercontinental Bulava missile.

The missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, veered off course and blew up mid-flight after it was launched from Russia's Dmitri Donskoi submarine in the White Sea on July 16.

Several such tests have already ended in failure, including one in December 2008 launched by the same submarine in the White Sea, off the northwest coast of Russia. On that occasion the missile also exploded in mid-air.

Once a mighty global naval power, Russian ship forays into open seas have become less common, although a flotilla of Russian warships conducted joint naval operations with Venezuela last December in the Caribbean Sea, close to US waters.

Defense Officials: Russian Subs Patrolling off East Coast of United States

AP
August 04, 2009

Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, defense officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Northern Command would not comment on the Russian submarines' movement. But in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said the U.S. has been monitoring the two submarines.

Two senior U.S. officials, however, said the submarines had been patrolling several hundred miles off the coast and so far had done nothing to provoke U.S. military concerns. The officials provided details on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence reports.

While the incident raises eyebrows, it did not trigger the more intense reaction by the U.S. military that Russia prompted when two of its bombers buzzed an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific in February 2008. U.S. fighter planes intercepted the two Russian fighters, including one that flew directly over the USS Nimitz twice at an altitude of about 2,000 feet.

The event did not escalate beyond that, but it signaled a more aggressive military agenda by Moscow.

The latest incident, which was first reported by The New York Times, comes amid increased Russian military activity in the region, and as the administration of President Obama works to thaw tense relations with Moscow over plans for a missile defense system in Central Europe.

Just last week a senior Pentagon official said the administration is looking at options for the plan, which would install 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow told Congress members that the Obama administration is looking at various configurations as part of its review of missile defense plans.

Russia, meanwhile, conducted naval exercises with Venezuela last year in the Caribbean and sent one of its warships through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II. The exercises with Venezuela were the first deployment of Russian ships to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War.

Officials said they became aware of the most recent submarine activity off the East Coast early on through intelligence sources and were not notified by Moscow in advance of the patrols. They said the submarines have not crossed into U.S. waters, which extend 12 miles out into the ocean.

The statement issued by Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command said, "We have been monitoring them during transit and recognize the right of all nations to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters according to international law."

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North Korea

Analysis: Obama Lets North Korea's Kim Save Face

Associated Press
August 5, 2009

The Obama administration let North Korean leader Kim Jong Il save face by releasing two jailed Americans to former President Bill Clinton. The payoff — maybe not right away — is likely to be renewed dialogue with Pyongyang about its nuclear weapons program.

After meeting with Clinton, who made an unannounced visit to the North Korean capital Tuesday, Kim pardoned and freed the young journalists who allegedly crossed into the country from China earlier this year. They were serving 12-year prison sentences.

"It could provide an opportunity to move forward on the nuclear issue, and that's not necessarily a bad thing," said Victor Cha, former Asia chief at the National Security Council. "The history with the North Koreans, as they have just done the past few months, is to put themselves out on a ledge. And they always need help getting off that ledge."

Not so fast, said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who had spoken with her husband after the pair was released.

She said the U.S. was not counting on a breakthrough but also said it could lubricate the way for the North to return to six-party talks about its nuclear program with the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

But there, perhaps, is the rub. The North Koreans have been demanding bilateral talks with Washington. The U.S., however, has shot down such overtures, insisting that it will work only through the six-party format.

North Korean behavior — ever an enigma — has included in recent months the withdrawal from those talks. The regime also launched a long-range rocket, conducted a second nuclear test, test-fired a barrage of ballistic missiles, and restarted its atomic program in defiance of international criticism and the U.N. Security Council.

Obama, while pushing heavy sanctions against the North for its recent nose-thumbing of the international community, also has been low key as he pursues a resumption of talks with the Stalinist regime.

That's been difficult because the North is widely believed to be embroiled in a succession struggle after Kim reportedly suffered a stroke and began setting up a 27-year-old son to take power. Its saber-rattling was widely believed to indicate that its military wanted to show strength as a successor is chosen.

The White House has taken pains since Clinton's arrival in Pyongyang to play the mission as a private one designed only to win the release of Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, both with former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture. They were captured while on assignment to collect material for a report about trafficking of North Korean women into China.

Bill Clinton undertook the mission, a senior administration official said, only after the North assured the White House that the reporters would be freed and allowed to return home with the former president.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail the back-channel negotiations, also said the north rejected Gore as a suitable emissary. The journalists' families, Gore and the White House then turned to Clinton. The official said President Barack Obama did not speak with Clinton about the mission.

Daniel Sneider, associate director of research at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, said the journalists' release followed weeks of quiet negotiations between the State Department and the North Korean mission to the United Nations.

Clinton "didn't go to negotiate this, he went to reap the fruits of the negotiation," Sneider said.

In photographs of Clinton with Kim, the former president stood somberly at the North Korean leader's side, showing no signs of warmth. The official photographs were obviously intended for domestic consumption. Clinton is highly regarded in the North and his appearance with Kim will bolster him at home.

Pardoning Ling and Lee satisfied North Korea's need to continue maintaining that the two women had committed a crime while dispatching the former president as emissary served the Obama administration's desire not to expend diplomatic capital winning their freedom, Sneider said.

"Nobody wanted this to be a distraction from the more substantially difficult issues we have with North Korea," he said. "There was a desire by the administration to resolve this quietly, and from the very beginning they didn't allow it to become a huge public issue."

As a former leader, Clinton was a good choice to represent the United States in the delicate deliberations, according to Sneider. He had the cachet to get an audience with Kim but could claim to be acting as a private citizen.

North Korean media said Clinton had carried a message of apology from Obama and that the former president and Kim held wide-ranging talks, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said those claims were "not true."

Still, the diplomatic minuet was a success, more so if Obama indeed cracked open the door to resume dialogue with North Korea, whose nuclear program stands to destabilize Asia and compromise Obama's promise to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

Just don't hold your breath.

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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Rocky Road to Middle-East Peace

AlertNet
July 22, 2009

Today's tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and their Arab neighbours date back to the early 20th century when Jews began migrating in significant numbers to Palestine, then under Turkish rule.

The ensuing struggle for land and self-determination by both peoples led to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, a series of Israeli-Arab wars, two lengthy Palestinian uprisings and waves of Palestinian refugees.

Although modern Zionism - the idea of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine - began in the late 19th century, the land of Israel has been central to Jewish consciousness since Jewish exile in biblical times. Small Jewish communities in Palestine have lived peacefully side by side with both Muslim and Christian Arabs for centuries.

But centuries of anti-Semitism in Europe, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews during World War Two, led to growing pressure for a Jewish homeland. In November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a plan to partition Palestine, then under British mandate, into Arab and Jewish states. In May 1948, Jews living in Palestine declared the establishment of the state of Israel.

Five countries invaded immediately, and in the ensuing conflict some 750,000 Palestinians fled the fighting or were forced to leave their homes. A similar number of Jews migrated to Israel from their homes in Arab states amid fears of a backlash against them.

Many Jews saw the creation of Israel as the embodiment of their long-held aspiration for a land of their own, but for Palestinians the events of 1948 became known as "Al Nakbar" - the catastrophe.

A second wave of Palestinians was displaced during the 1967 war that pitted Israel against Jordan, Egypt and Syria. In the six days of fighting, Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. An estimated 500,000 Palestinians fled, according to the United Nations - mostly to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) began operations in 1950, initially as a temporary response to the humanitarian crisis created by the new refugees. Today, the agency is the main body meeting the needs of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria with basic services such as education, healthcare and social services.

The tents that made up the first refugee camps gradually gave way to the concrete buildings that make up today's camps as it became clear that no solution to their plight was in sight.

Since then, Palestinian refugee camps have grown upwards rather than out, with residents building new storeys to accommodate the new generations being born. Conditions are often overcrowded, with poor sanitation. There are high levels of unemployment, and increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

The status of the refugees is a key issue in peace talks, with many Palestinians claiming the "right of return" - the right to go back to their homes in what is now Israel. Some still hold keys to the family homes they lost in 1948.

Israel fears that agreeing to this concession would spell disaster for the future Jewish state, largely because higher Palestinian birth rates mean Palestinian numbers would soon outstrip the Jewish population. Its own "law of return" allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to settle in Israel and take up citizenship. Under the citizenship rules, many Palestinians who marry Israelis are denied Israeli residency.

The two parts of the Palestinian territories are, in fact, two areas about 45 km (30 miles) apart. The West Bank is between Jerusalem - long claimed as a capital by both Palestinians and Israelis - and Jordan to the east, while Gaza is a tiny strip along Israel's western Mediterranean coast.

INTIFADA AND SECURITY

In the wake of the 1967 war, successive Israeli governments began building Jewish settlements on the newly occupied land. Generally built on high ground, many settlements overlook Palestinian towns and villages, and there are tensions between the two communities. U.N. Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice have both declared the settlements illegal under international law.

But this ruling has been rejected by Israel, and its policy of settlement expansion continues.

In 1987, a Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, broke out in protest against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians vented their anger by throwing rocks at soldiers and tanks near their camps and homes; there were also roadside shootings at Israeli vehicles and assaults on settlers.

The Israeli military retaliated harshly with measures against the Palestinian population as a whole. They used a system of checkpoints to control the movement of people and goods around the West Bank and curfews were imposed at times of high security. Many Palestinians were also detained by the Israeli authorities.

Although groups of prisoners are periodically released as part of peace negotiations, large numbers remain in custody.

In 1993, following the Oslo Peace Accords, Israel agreed to establish limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Authority, headed by Yasser Arafat, was set up to run the new autonomous areas.

However in the years that followed, with little progress towards a final peace settlement, disillusionment set in.

A second Intifada broke out in 2000, following a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims.

Amid growing concerns about the number of suicide bombings against Israelis by Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas, the Israeli army re-occupied cities in the West Bank. It tightened up security measures around the Palestinian Territories, preventing thousands of Palestinians from going to work and trade in Israel.

In 2003, Israel made a unilateral decision to dismantle all Jewish settlements in Gaza and some settlements in the West Bank. In 2005, around 8,000 settlers were forcibly evicted from Gaza by the Israeli army, along with another 500 from the West Bank, and moved into alternative accommodation provided by the Israeli government.

Many of the settlers, some of whom believe Israel has a biblical claim on Gaza and the West Bank, felt betrayed.

The Gaza Strip came under Palestinian control. The area, 40 km long and 10 km wide, is home to around 1.5 million Palestinians and is one of the most densely populated places on earth.

In June 2007, a power struggle between Fatah and more militant Hamas spilled over into out-and-out fighting between armed factions on the streets of Gaza in which around 100 people died. Hamas declared control over Gaza, leading President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the Hamas-led unity government and set up an emergency, Fatah-based government in the West Bank.

Israel tightened border restrictions at its Gaza borders after the Hamas takeover. The border crossing into Egypt at Rafah is theoretically run by the Palestinians under EU monitoring. However, the border has been largely closed since Hamas took control of Gaza.

Economic life has suffered and relief organisations have found it difficult to get aid to the Palestinian population.

GAZA OFFENSIVE 2008

At the end of 2008 Israel launched its biggest offensive in Gaza in four decades. It said its aim was to stop militants firing rockets into the Jewish state.

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, 1,417 people including 926 civilians were killed during Israel's Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians in the fighting. It has estimated 1,166 Palestinians were killed, 295 of them civilians.

The air raids damaged hospitals, water supply systems, mosques and government buildings as well as private homes. Israel accused Hamas of sheltering among the civilian population and using sites such as mosques and schools as military posts.

The fighting triggered protests around the world, and there were calls for a ceasefire from the United Nations, United States, European Union, Arab League, Russia and other countries.

Israeli government officials said Israel set several goals for the offensive, including weakening Hamas by killing its fighters and destroying its rocket arsenal. It also bombed a network of tunnels to Gaza from neighbouring Egypt, which had allowed Palestinians to smuggle in weapons.

Hamas is believed to command at least 25,000 trained fighters. It unilaterally called off a six-month truce in December 2008 and stepped up rocket attacks, citing Israeli raids and the continuing blockade of the enclave.

WEST BANK BARRIER

In the West Bank, Israel continues to build a controversial "security barrier" it began in 2002, a 709 km construction which is part-wall, part-fence separating Israeli settlements from Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

The Palestinians, pointing to the barrier's frequent divergence from the 1949 Green Line and its siting on parts of the West Bank, call the construction a land grab.

In Jayyous, a West Bank farming village near Qalqilya, residents say they have lost over three-quarters of their agricultural land to the Israeli side and are subject to a system of permits and checkpoints before they can access their olive groves and orchards. Palestinian communities and aid agencies also say the restrictions on movement created by the barrier prevent people going to work, attending school and accessing health services.

In 2004, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an "advisory opinion" - a judgement with no legal force - declaring the barrier illegal. But Israel rejects the ruling, saying the barrier is key to its self-defence.

A 2009 report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) gives a summary of the humanitarian impact of the barrier.

The violence of the Intifada prompted Israel to punish suspected militants for attacks by demolishing their family homes. The Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem says Israel demolished 664 homes as punishment for suspected militant activities until the practice was officially ended in February 2005. It was resumed in January 2009.

The Israeli authorities have long pursued a policy of demolition for homeowners who they say lack the necessary building permits. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) says thousands of Palestinian houses have been demolished since 1967, leaving many families homeless.

The majority of house demolitions are carried out during military operations, says ICAHD.

THE HUMANITARIAN PICTURE

Restrictions on the movement of people and goods around the Palestinian Territories, created by the system of checkpoints, closures and curfews, affect every aspect of daily life for Palestinians.

Socioeconomic conditions are worst in Gaza, which is subject to more severe closures than the West Bank.

An international economic boycott of the Hamas-led government following its election win in January 2006 has exacerbated the situation. Western donor nations, including the European Union, withheld direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, although money was still channelled to the region through individuals or other organisations.

From March 2006, an estimated 140,000 Palestinian civil servants - the breadwinners for around a million people - went without their full wages for almost a year and a half. The situation was resolved when the Israeli authorities transferred tax revenues - which they had previously blocked - to the Palestinian Authority.

In June 2007, the EU resumed direct aid to the Palestinian Authority following the establishment of an emergency government by Abbas' Fatah party in the West Bank.

An estimated 57 percent of Palestinians live in poverty, OCHA said in January 2008. The figure is higher in Gaza where 79 percent of people live in poverty compared with 49 percent in the West Bank. OCHA also said two-thirds of Palestinians were not connected to a sewage system.

More and more people aren't getting enough food, with many relying on food aid from the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) and flour, oil and rice from UNRWA. Chronic malnutrition and dietary-related diseases are on the rise, especially among children.

Basic healthcare is provided by the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA and other aid agencies, but health services are limited and fragmentary. Despite the use of mobile health clinics to reach cut-off villages in the West Bank, difficulties in getting through checkpoints mean many people don't get the treatment they need, especially in hospitals. Delays have led to some women giving birth at checkpoints, and relief agencies report growing concerns about pregnant women's access to services.

There is also growing evidence of the effects of the conflict on mental health. Behavioural problems, particularly among adolescents, are on the rise.

Restrictions on movement prevent teachers and pupils getting to school, affecting education across the Palestinian Territories. According to the U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, tens of thousands of children have their education regularly disrupted.

In Gaza, regular fuel shortages also bring public services to a grinding halt. In 2008, Medecins Sans Frontieres said it had cut its programmes in Gaza by half, because so few staff and patients could reach its medical clinics.

The fuel crisis is partly caused by the Israeli blockade, but also by Palestinian armed attacks on the only border crossing where Israel permits fuel delivery.

A coalition of British aid agencies published a report in March 2008 saying the blockade had created the worst humanitarian crisis in 40 years, and that sanitation and health systems were on the point of collapse.

Donors have pledged billions of dollars in aid since 2007, in a public show of support for Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. The pledges include $4.5 billion in March 2009, and $7.4 billion in December 2007

But so far only a fraction of the money has been paid. In September 2008 nearly $300 million of new aid money was pledged.

Foreign businesses are being encouraged to invest in the Palestinian Territories, although the blockade makes both Gaza and the West Bank difficult environments to operate in.

As Gaza has become a more risky place to work, several aid workers have been kidnapped by militant groups, although few have been held very long and there have been no abductions of late.

PEACE PROCESS

There have been many attempts to resolve the conflict since the 1967 war.

Negotiations brokered in secret by the Norwegians in the early 1990s looked promising initially. The Oslo Peace Accords, sealed with an iconic handshake between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn in 1993, were hailed by many as the start of a peace process that would lead to a permanent end to the conflict.

Both sides made key concessions. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation recognised Israel's "right to exist in peace and security", while Israel promised that its troops would withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza in stages. A self-governing Palestinian Authority would be set up for a transitional five-year period, with a view to arriving at a final settlement.

But optimism faded as Palestinians continued to live under restrictions imposed by the Israeli military occupation, while Israelis despaired at attacks by militant Palestinians.

The most recent peace plan, the roadmap, was drawn up in 2003 by what is known as the Quartet - the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations. It put aside contentious issues such as the refugees' right to return, the status of Jerusalem, or the position of the borders of an eventual Palestinian state and set out a two-year timetable by which agreement on a final settlement might be reached.

During the first phase of the process, the Palestinians would commit to a crackdown on militants, while Israel would cease settlement building and act with military restraint.

But soon after the roadmap was agreed, violence on both sides brought an end to the incipient peace process. Israel's decision in 2003 to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank was a unilateral decision and not the result of formal negotiations. In the meantime, suicide bombings against Israeli citizens have continued, while life for ordinary Palestinians has deteriorated.

The construction of settlements and the "security barrier" led some experts to question the viability of the two-state solution. They argued that Israeli infrastructure in the Palestinian Territories is so well-established as to rule out a genuinely independent Palestine. However, it is not clear how the alternative - a one-state solution - would work, as the area's demographics mean that co-existence would inevitably involve a Jewish minority - an unacceptable prospect for most Israelis.

Although the roadmap was not formally abandoned, the peace process was effectively put on hold.

But global awareness of the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to events in Iraq, Lebanon and the "war on terror", along with concern about the emergence of two rival administrations within the Palestinian Territories, revived Western leaders' interest in diplomatic efforts to end the crisis.

In November 2007, their efforts bore fruit when, at a conference hosted by the United States in Annapolis, Maryland, Israeli and Palestinian leaders relaunched the first formal peace talks in seven years. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Abbas promised to try to reach agreement about the terms of a future Palestinian state. They failed.

In 2009, Israel's new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to negotiate with the Palestinians and accepted the prospect of a Palestinian state for the first time. He insisted on the "natural growth" of West Bank settlements to meet the needs of expanding populations, despite pressure from the U.S. administration to curb their expansion.

Meanwhile, the Quartet held a meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in June 2009.

KEY FACTIONS

Hamas

Hamas - an acronym for Islamic Resistance Movement - emerged during the 1980s Palestinian uprising and led a suicide bombing campaign over the next decade as part of its stated aim of destroying Israel. The Gaza-based group built popular support through a social welfare programme providing healthcare, education and social services to the Palestinian population.

Hamas gained increasing popularity among Palestinians due to a perception that, in contrast to its rival party Fatah, it is free of corruption. It won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006, taking 76 out of 132 seats, and became the lead player in a Palestinian national unity government. Hamas is considered a "terrorist" organisation by the European Union and the United States, and its electoral win triggered an international aid boycott from western donor governments.

In June 2007, growing rivalry between Hamas and Fatah supporters in Gaza led to street fighting which killed around 100 people. Hamas won the power struggle, effectively taking over the government of Gaza. As a result, the Palestinian president and leading Fatah politician Mahmoud Abbas sacked the Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and set up a separate administration in the West Bank.

Fatah

Fatah, founded in 1965 by the late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Yasser Arafat, is the mainstream Palestinian nationalist movement. It has run the Palestinian Authority since 1994, when it took control of the Palestinian areas following the Oslo accords.

Fatah, whose strongest support base lies in the West Bank, recognises Israel's right to exist and is formally committed to peace talks with Israel. But growing disenchantment with the leadership among ordinary Palestinians led to the party losing Palestinian elections to Hamas in January 2006 and becoming part of a coalition government. Since June 2007, its authority has been confined to the West Bank.

Islamic Jihad

Emerging in Gaza in the 1970s, Islamic Jihad is a militant movement whose exact affiliations are unclear. Based in Syria, its funding is believed to come from Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. The group operates mainly in the West Bank and Gaza, and has claimed responsibility for many suicide bombings against Israelis, along with attacks in Lebanon. Like Hamas, its goal is the destruction of Israel.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades

Formed by disaffected young men after the second uprising erupted in 2000, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is often considered to be the armed, militant wing of Fatah. It has carried out many attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. However, it is not officially recognised by the party and it is a moot point how much control Fatah leaders have over its activities.

The Israeli authorities have often targeted the organisation's leadership, capturing and imprisoning Fatah's West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti - allegedly also the head of Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - in 2002. Over recent years, many of the group's members have received amnesty from Israel in return for laying down their weapons.

Popular Resistance Committees

The Gaza-based PRC is a break-away militant group that emerged out of the second Intifada in 2000. It has been involved in numerous attacks on Israelis, often in joint operations with other groups.

Abu Rish Brigades

The Abu Rish Brigades is a splinter faction linked to Fatah, named after a Fatah militant commander killed by Israel. Based in southern Gaza, it has claimed responsibility for bomb and rocket attacks against Israelis. In 2004, it kidnapped four French aid workers.

The Army of Islam

This little-known, Gaza-based faction made headlines when it kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston in March 2007. The group follows al Qaeda-style principles. Other Palestinian militants such as Hamas deny any links.

The Army of Islam released Johnston after negotiations with Hamas.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israeli Soldiers in Gaza Describe a 'Moral Twilight Zone'

McClatchy Newspapers
July 14, 2009

JERUSALEM — Israeli combat soldiers have acknowledged that they forced Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields, needlessly killed unarmed Gazans and improperly used white phosphorus shells to burn down buildings as part of Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.

In filmed testimony and written statements released Wednesday, more than two dozen soldiers told an Israeli army veterans' group that military commanders led the fighters into what one described as a "moral Twilight Zone" where almost every Palestinian was seen as a threat.

Soldiers described incidents in which Israeli forces killed an unarmed Palestinian carrying a white cloth, an elderly woman carrying a sack, a Gazan riding a motorcycle, and an elderly man with a flashlight, said Breaking the Silence, a group formed by army reservists in 2004.

Any Palestinian spotted near Israeli troops was considered suspect. A man talking on a cell phone on the roof of his building was viewed as a legitimate target because he could've been telling militants where to find Israeli forces, the group quoted soldiers as saying.

"In urban warfare, everyone is your enemy," said one soldier. "No innocents."

The 110-pages of testimony — along with 16 video clips — of interviews with 26 unnamed Israeli soldiers offers the most comprehensive look inside a military campaign that's become the subject of an unfolding United Nations war crimes investigation.

The Israel Defense Forces dismissed the report.

IDF spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said Tuesday that the IDF now is conducting dozens of investigations into troop conduct during the Gaza operation and that more than a dozen cases led to police investigations.

In April, the IDF announced it had concluded five high-level investigations, including one into the use of phosphorus to burn down buildings, and cleared itself.

Yehuda Shaul, a co-founder of Breaking the Silence, said the report didn't identify the soldiers by name because at least half the men quoted were young conscripts who could be jailed for speaking to the media. He agreed, however, to name the units and where they were operating in several instances.

Two soldiers from the Givati brigade who served in Zeitoun told the story of shooting an unarmed civilian without warning him.

The elderly man was walking with a flashlight toward a building where Israeli forces were taking cover.

The Israeli officer in the house repeatedly ignored requests from other soldiers to fire warning shots as the man approached, the soldiers said. Instead, when he got within 20 yards of the soldiers, the commander ordered snipers to kill the man.

The soldiers later confirmed that the man was unarmed.

When they complained to their commander about the incident, the soldiers were rebuffed and told that anyone walking at night was immediately suspect.

Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights attorney who reviewed the testimony, said the stories reflected a "dramatic change in the ethos" of the Israeli military that portrays itself as the most moral army in the world.

"What we are seeing now is a deterioration of our moral values and red lines," Sfard said. "This is a dramatic change in heart and values."

Israel launched the 22-day military offensive on Dec. 27 in a bid to destabilize the Hamas-led government and deter Palestinian militants who've fired thousands of crude rockets and mortars at southern Israel that have killed 12 people in the past four years.

Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza during the fighting, four of them by friendly fire.

By contrast, Palestinian human rights groups and Gaza medical officials said that 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, were killed by Israeli forces. The Israeli military has questioned that figure, but hasn't made its own analysis available for review.

Breaking the Silence identified other specific instances in which Israeli forces carried out highly questionable practices.

According to the soldiers, the Israeli military fired white phosphorus mortars and artillery shells to set suspicious buildings ablaze and destroyed scores of Palestinian homes for questionable reasons. The white phosphorus supplied by the U.S. is supposed to be used to illuminate targets or provide smoke cover for advancing troops.

"Phosphorus was used as an igniter, simply make it all go up in flames," one soldier said.

A second soldier — said by the reservists' group to have been in a tank brigade stationed in the Atatra neighborhood — told Breaking the Silence that at least one officer fired unauthorized white phosphorus mortars because it was "cool."

The use of white phosphorus to destroy buildings was part of a larger campaign to demolish parts of Gaza to make it more difficult for Palestinian militants to fire rockets at Israel, the soldiers said.

One soldier, who served in an infantry reserve unit of the Negev Brigade near Netzarim, said they were repeatedly told by officers to raze buildings as part of a campaign to prepare for "the day after."

"In practical terms, this meant taking a house that is not implicated in any way, that its single sin is the fact that it is situated on top of a hill in the Gaza Strip," said one soldier.

"In a personal talk with my battalion commander he mentioned this and said in a sort of sad half-smile, I think, that this is something that will eventually be added to 'my war crimes," he added.

In the Ezbt Abd Rabbo neighborhood, Israeli combatants said they forced Palestinians to search homes for militants and enter buildings ahead of soldiers in direct violation of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that bars fighters from using civilians as human shields.

"Sometimes a force would enter while placing rifle barrels on a civilian's shoulder, advancing into a house and using him as a human shield," said one Israeli soldier with the Golani Brigade. "Commanders said these were the instructions, and we had to do it."

Each Palestinian forced to work with the Israeli military was given the same nickname: Johnnie.

The story was confirmed by four other Israeli soldiers who seized control of the Gaza neighborhood, but declined to speak on the record, Shaul said.

The testimony matches with that of nine Palestinian men who told McClatchy last winter that Israeli soldiers forced them into battle zones during the offensive in their northern Gaza Strip neighborhood.

One Palestinian, Castro Abed Rabbo, said Israeli soldiers ordered him to enter buildings to search for militants and booby traps before they sent in a specially trained dog with high-tech detection gear.

Two other Palestinian men told McClatchy that Israeli soldiers used them as human shields by forcing them to kneel in a field during a firefight as they exchanged fire with Gaza fighters.

"I was down on my knees and they fanned out in a 'V' behind me," Sami Rashid Mohammed, a Fatah-leaning former Palestinian Authority police officer, said in an unpublished interview in February. "It wasn't more than 10 or 15 minutes of shooting, but it was so scary."

One of the Israeli soldiers interviewed described the offensive was necessary.

"We did what we had to do," he said. "The actual doing was a bit thoughtless. We were allowed to do anything we wanted. Who's to tell us not to?"

One Israeli reservist said a brigade commander gave them stark orders as they were preparing for combat.

"He said something along the line of 'Don't let morality become an issue; that will come later,'" the soldier said. "He had this strange language: 'Leave the nightmares and horrors that will come up for later — now just shoot."

"You felt like a child playing around with a magnifying glass, burning up ants," another Israeli soldier said. "A 20-year-old kid should not be doing such things to people. . . . the guys were running a 'Wild West' scene: draw, cock, kill."

Gazans say Israeli troops forced them into battle zones
Israeli troops killed children carrying white flag, witnesses say
Israeli military blames Gaza deaths on 'errors'
Israeli soldiers say rabbis framed Gaza as religious war
Israeli destruction of U.S.-style school shocks Gazans
Israeli soldiers say they have OK to use tough tactics in Gaza
Did the Israelis use white phosphorus in populated areas?

Related Bills Before Congress:

S.Res.10

Official: A resolution recognizing the right of Israel to defend itself against attacks from Gaza and reaffirming the United States' strong support for Israel in its battle with Hamas, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Passed Senate without amendment. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Expresses commitment to the welfare and survival of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders and recognizes Israel's right to act in self-defense. Reiterates that Hamas must end the rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence, and agree to accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. Encourages the President to work to support a sustainable cease-fire in Gaza that prevents Hamas from retaining or rebuilding the capability to launch rockets and mortars against Israel and allows for the long term improvement of daily living conditions for Gaza's people. States that all appropriate measures should be taken to diminish civilian casualties. Supports efforts to diminish the influence of extremists in the Palestinian territories. Reiterates support for U.S. government efforts to promote a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that leads to the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure Israel.

Introduced January 08, 2009
Voted on by Senate January 08, 2009

S.Res.6

A resolution expressing solidarity with Israel in Israel's defense against terrorism in the Gaza Strip.

Expresses the Senate's:

(1) solidarity with Israel as it takes necessary steps to provide security to its people and commitment to Israel's right to self-defense; and
(2) commitment to promote economic relations and partnerships in technology and alternative energy between the United States and Israel in order to stimulate both countries' economies in this time of crisis.

Condemns the firing of rockets into civilian areas by the terrorist groups of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

Urges:
(1) all Arab states to declare strong opposition to terrorism and terrorist attacks on civilians; and (2) all parties in the Middle East to pursue regional peace.

Introduced January 06, 2009

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Iran

Secret U.S.-Israeli Meeting to Focus on Iran

Press TV
July 19, 2009

Amid reports that Israel is preparing to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, political heavyweights in Washington and Tel Aviv make plans for a secret get-together.

Ria Novosti reported on Friday that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is planning to visit Tel Aviv within the next two weeks to discuss a whole range of international issues, including Tehran’s nuclear case, in secret meetings with the Netanyahu government. US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, will reportedly accompany Gates.

The secret meetings come at a time when two Israeli warships, the Hanit and the Eliat, sailed through the Suez Canal within cruise-missile range of Iran earlier in the week.

A senior Israeli defense official, in a Thursday interview with the Times, said the move should be seen as serious preparations for a long-expected Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites.

“This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran,” said the Israeli defense official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.

“These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats,” he added.

The move came ten days after a submarine — believed to be nuclear-armed — made a similar crossing and headed from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brought Israel closer to war with Iran, ever-since he made his political comeback in February.

Tel Aviv, the possessor of the sole nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, accuses Iran of secretly enriching weapons-grade uranium to attack Israel. Tehran has asserted that its uranium enrichment is a peaceful drive to produce electricity.

Washington has so far remained undecided in its response to speculations that Israel is gearing up for go-it-alone air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Vice President Joe Biden, in a recent interview, openly suggested that Washington would not stand in the way of an Israeli attack on Iran.

“Israel can determine for itself… what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,” Biden said. “We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination — if they make a determination — that they’re existentially threatened.”

The remarks were widely interpreted as a long-sought green light for Israel to go ahead and take out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

US President Barack Obama was quick to make an attempt to correct the impression, saying that he opposed military action against Iran and instead wanted a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff.

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India-Pakistan Conflict

India and Pakistan in 2002

By Carol Moore
Originally Published in 2004

India and Pakistan have repeatedly threatened nuclear war against each other, most seriously in the last few years. In late December 2002 Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, addressing Air Force veterans in Karachi, said:

The last year “personally” conveyed a clear “message” to Prime Minister Vajpayee, “through every international leader who came to Pakistan,” namely, that Indian troops “should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan” if they “moved a single step across the international border or the Line of Control.”

In response Indian Defense Minister George Fernandez said:

“We can take a bomb or two, or more. When we respond, there will be no Pakistan.”

About the same time former Army Chief of Staff Aslam Beg, then heading a right-wing Pakistani think tank said:

“Our policy of deterrence is India-specific. No matter who comes for us, Israel, the United States or India we will take on India. If someone is thinking of taking on Pakistan, they should know we will take on India.”

And despite subsequent detente between the two nations during the remainder of 2003, as late as fall 2003, Ariel Sharon visited India, worrying Pakistan that he was once again proposing India do a surgical strike against Pakistani nuclear assets. Once any such Indian-Pakistani nuclear exchange began, there are a number of scenarios by which it could escalate into accidental or intentional world nuclear war.

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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Cynthia McKinney Demands Immediate Release After Her Gaza-Bound Boat is Seized by Israeli Navy

Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party leader Cynthia McKinney, a longtime activist for the Palestinians, says her boat, the Spirit of Humanity, was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children's toys to Gaza when it was seized by an Israeli navy ship.

FOXNews.com
June 30, 2009

Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, whose relief boat was seized by an Israeli naval ship Tuesday for the second time in a year, is demanding the immediate release of her and 20 other activists.

McKinney, a longtime supporter of Palestinians, said her Greek-flagged boat, the Spirit of Humanity, was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children's toys to Gaza when it was boarded by the Israeli navy.

"This is an outrageous violation of international law against us," said McKinney. "Our boat was not in Israeli waters and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip. President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey."

The Israeli military issued a statement Tuesday saying that the boat had attempted to break a blockade of Gaza and was forced to sail to an Israeli port after ignoring a radio message to stay out of Gaza waters.

The statement said navy personnel boarded the freighter Arion without any shots being fired, and those on board were to be handed over to immigration authorities. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel was planning to free the crew and passengers.

"Nobody wants to keep them here," he said. "They will be released as soon as they are checked."

The humanitarian cargo was also to be trucked into the Gaza Strip after a security check.

In a statement released by the Green Party, McKinney said she had sent appeals to Obama and the State Department for assurances of protection for the relief mission. She said the boat was sailing in international waters when it was seized.

The White House nor the State Department was immediately available for comment.

This isn't the first time a boat carrying McKinney has clashed with an Israeli navy ship. In December, McKinney was among 16 people aboard a medical supply boat that collided with an Israeli naval ship as it tried to enter coastal waters around Gaza.

At the time, the group claimed the Israeli military fired machine guns into the water in an attempt to the stop the boat's progress. But a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry said "physical contact" was made only after the aid boat failed to respond to radio contact and he denied any gunfire had occurred.

Israel launched an offensive in December against Gaza in an attempt to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel. The two sides reached a cease-fire in January.

Israel Kidnaps Cynthia McKinney, Human Rights Workers

The Free Gaza Movement
June 30, 2009

Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We’re asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”

According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released yesterday, the Palestinians living in Gaza are “trapped in despair.” Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed earlier during Israel’s December/January massacre are still without shelter despite pledges of almost $4.5 billion in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other building material into the Gaza Strip. The report also notes that hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel’s disruption of medical supplies.

“The aid we were carrying is a symbol of hope for the people of Gaza, hope that the sea route would open for them, and they would be able to transport their own materials to begin to reconstruct the schools, hospitals and thousands of homes destroyed during the onslaught of “Cast Lead”. Our mission is a gesture to the people of Gaza that we stand by them and that they are not alone” said fellow passenger Mairead Maguire, winner of a Noble Peace Prize for her work in Northern Ireland.

Just before being kidnapped by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement chairperson and delegation co-coordinator on this voyage, stated that: “No one could possibly believe that our small boat constitutes any sort of threat to Israel. We carry medical and reconstruction supplies, and children’s toys. Our passengers include a Nobel peace prize laureate and a former U.S. congressperson. Our boat was searched and received a security clearance by Cypriot Port Authorities before we departed, and at no time did we ever approach Israeli waters.”

Arraf continued, “Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release.”

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