new this week on peacepalestine

["mary" <humdrum2 at libero.it>]

· Secret US plans for Iraq's Oil - BBC Newsnight by Greg Palast: The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a secret plan, drafted just before the invasion in 2003, which called for the sell-off of all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted by neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to destroy the Opec cartel through massive increases in production above Opec quotas.
The sell-off was given the green light in a secret meeting in London headed by Ahmed Chalabi shortly after the US entered Baghdad, according to Robert Ebel. Mr Ebel, a former Energy and CIA oil analyst, now a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Newsnight he flew to the London meeting at the request of the State Department. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/secret-us-plans-for-iraqs-oil-bbc.html

· Photo of Sgrena's car? We've all seen some photos. Have we seen the real one yet, or has that photo even ever been shot? Is this car still in existence?
While perusing the site dedicated to the Italian journalist who was killed in Somalia while disclosing the ugly side of International Cooperation, which sent barrels of toxic waste to be buried in that godforsaken land, Ilaria Alpi,, I found a photo, which seems to coincide with the information that Sgrena and "Corsaro", the Italian intelligence agent who survived the shooting, have given. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/photo-of-sgrenas-car.html

· mysteries surrounding the killing of the Italian agent at the US checkpoint by Sandro Provvisionato, Carlo Bifani, Stefania Limiti: The only concrete element supporting the incident, that of “friendly fire”, could be the “not elevated” volume of bullets that had hit the car, a dozen shots in all, perhaps even less (eight). But, as we will see, even this concrete element of support is very weak. From the cursory analysis of the Toyota from the photos that arrived in Italy (gift of the Israelis to the TG1 News) one can deduce that the shots were not aimed at the wheels of the car or at the motor, objectives that are requested by any rules of engagement of patrol military or who are stationed at a check point. The bullets were aimed towards the posterior part of the car (where Sgrena and Calipari were seated), some had perforated the glass of the passenger window to the person seated in the front (the fourth man), none were aimed at the driver, third objective, after the wheels and motor, if the purpose is to stop a moving car.
The car will not be consigned to the Italian judiciary authorities, but will be “held” by the Americans in their base which is adjacent to the airport.
Even the satellite telephone will not be consigned, at least not for now, by the Americans to the Italian magistrates. It will be analysed, perhaps with the purpose of acquiring indications on the communication which had gone on between the agents of the SISMI and the kidnappers of Sgrena.
With every probability, another satellite telephone is still missing. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/mysteries-surrounding-killing-of_17.html

· Abu Mazen - ROR should be viewed "realistically" "Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will tell Palestinian factions at a meeting in Cairo today that the refugees' right of return should be viewed "realistically," and that not all Palestinian exiles will return to former homes in Israel and the territories, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/abu-mazen-right-of-return-should-be.html

· Shamai Leibowitz - Call for Divestment As many Israelis realize today, when Israeli governments talked about the peace process during the Oslo period, they were pulling the wool over the world's eyes. Israel continued colonizing the West Bank and Gaza with its Jewish-only settlements and, at the same time, entrenching a cruel military regime over Palestinians. The same is true today with Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan, which is being marketed by Israeli propaganda as a "painful concession" toward peace. Many of us who live in Israel and visit or serve in the occupied territories recognize the truth: Israel is continuously intensifying its military rule in the West Bank while stealing more Palestinian land and building more illegal Jewish-only settlements. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/shamai-leibowitz-call-for-divestment.html

· False arrest and brutal interrogation of peace activist According to the statement, Aziz is being questioned regarding alleged anti-Israeli activities with the Islamic Jihad. For anyone who knows Aziz, these accusations are unfathomable. The interrogators are applying severe physical and mental pressure on Aziz to confess that he is responsible for a cell of the Islamic Jihad, and that he has carried out military activities. The statement reads: “My legs are dripping with blood from the tight cuffs…up to 1:30 in the morning, on a chair with my hands in cuffs, with my feet chained to the chair…” The physical pressures being exerted on Aziz are being backed by open threats of administrative arrest and falsified criminal charges: The investigators threatened that the interrogations will continue until he confesses to activities with the Islamic Jihad, and that if he does not confess they will charge him falsely with participation in the murder of a soldier. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/false-arrest-and-brutal-interrogation.html

· Right of Return Statement Asali's position is consistent with the Bush administration's political construct and is based on the erroneous notion that Palestinian refugees will merely accept dictates from others after decades of struggle. In reality, the Palestinian people, particularly the refugee and exiled communities worldwide, are the sole makers of their destiny through their own grassroots participatory institutions and cumulative political consensus produced by decades in struggle. These institutions have collectively made it clear that the individual and collective right to return is a fundamental prerequisite for any peace, as guaranteed by international law, and will not be compromised nor offered away. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/right-of-return-statement.html

· Today's Christian Zionist ranting There is a lot of this on Internet. Crazy, scary stuff…. Here is a sample instalment: “America’s pressure on Syria to leave Lebanon and clear the way for democratic elections is playing well into the hands of prophecy. Isaiah 17:1 prophesies “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap.” General Gantz told the conference if Hezbollah attacked Israel, Israel “can drive Lebanon and Syria 50 years back.” The United States, in its efforts to stabilize Islam with the spread of democracy, appears to be accelerating the march of prophecy by solidify the end time alignments between Iran, Syria, Russia, Libya and others. So long as America does not waiver in her support of Israel, she will remain in God’s favor. Pray for our leaders and strengthen your heart toward Christ.” http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/todays-christian-zionist-ranting.html

· Joe Sacco - "Palestine" Sacco’s 285-page visual account of life in the occupied territories is told in the first person, meaning that Joe, a 30 or 40-something cartoonist from Portland, Oregon is included in the story. Palestine is sometimes funny, most of the time devastating, always real.
…..His work abolishes stereotypes and hinders simplification. His characters are real, rendered in all their humanity and disgrace. He captures their joy and humility. But ultimately, what makes Palestine so remarkable are the stories and scenarios that Sacco transcribed visually onto paper.
Most people have a really unclear picture of what it is like to be in the occupied territories and have a skewed idea of who is the aggressor and who is the victim. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/joe-sacco-palestine.html

· Arab heart problems In the Arab world, when a leader is afflicted by heart disease, he takes a plane and seeks medical cure in Switzerland, France or the United States. This enables him to live and govern for a long time. The common man, the poor man, however, are forced into entrusting themselves to local medicine and this kills them, often at a young age. And, at the most opportune moment. Several months ago, the day following the presumed terrorist strike to the Italian embassy at Beirut, its equally presumed author had a heart attack in his prison cell, despite the fact that he was only 31 years old and practiced jogging on a regular basis. Several weeks ago, the coronaries failed the young Kuwaiti Islamist leader who had just been captured. But the craziest heart with the wildest timing belonged to Tayssir Abu Adas. He is a Palestinian, father of that Ahmed who was shown in video, assuming responsibility for the attack, after the assassination of the former Lebanese president Hariri. The government of Beirut still pretends to believe him. His father, no. He had revealed that his son, the presumed kamikaze at the wheel, didn't even know how to drive. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/arab-heart-problems.html

· War reporters by Mimmo Càndito: It is true: today journalists have become even more of a target than ever, because information is the most powerful weapon that a "power" can have in its arsenal, useful as it is to the conquest of consensus, or, at any rate, to control, in times of war as well as in times of peace. In these days a debate has opened to individuate the forms of intervention that can take into account the new qualities of this threat. Yet, never on the part of any of us was it possible to imagine a journalism that is removed from work in the field, from a direct relationship with reality (be it Baghdad or Palermo).
All of the support apparatus that can be imagined (technological or logistic) must however be sustained by the direct intervention of the journalist/reporter in the reading and interpretation of reality. This is to avoid the conditioning by those in power who show themselves to be very well equipped to subtract themselves from an effective check by society. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/war-reporters.html