New this week on peacepalestine

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

· Russians held hundreds of Chechen civilians during Beslan hostage crisis While the world focused on the school in Beslan where Basayev terrorists had been holding hundreds hostage for two days, far from the cameras in Chechnya another drama was unfolding. One that so far hasn’t received any news coverage. The Russian armed forces that have occupied the breakaway republic for years were executing a classic counterstrike. They took hundreds of Chechen civilians hostage—men, women, children, and elderly—and held them in a military base at the gates of Grozny using the same methods as the Beslan captors. The big difference is that the latter were terrorists while the former serve in the army of a civilized nation, Russia, that claims to be democratic. The Russian government probably had a hostage exchange in mind, but events soon took their own course.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/russians-hold-hundreds-of-chechen.html

· Aggressors at Bi'lin were Israeli undercover cops In a Jerusalem press conference, Israeli leftist groups who took part in the Belein village demonstration on April 28, presented a video that shows undercover soldiers throwing stones from the protesters' side to provoke violence.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/aggressors-at-bilin-were-israeli.html

· Israeli college offers outpost housing in WB An Israeli university deep inside the West Bank is offering students accommodation at two Jewish outposts built on occupied Palestinian land.

The first institution of its kind in a Jewish colony, the College of Judea and Samaria will require some students to live at two "wildcat" outposts.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/israeli-college-offers-outpost-housing.html

· Route 181, a film to see --Their next stop is to Nir Am Reservoir. Settlers grow avocado farms alongside it. During an interview, the tour guide at the reservoir’s museum tells the Negev Story. It deals with the UN’s vote for the land to go to the Jews.

When they ask him a sensitive question, he yells nonsense. “We chased them out and razed their villages,” he adds.—

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/route-181-film-to-see.html

· Belgian doctors bill US for treating Iraqi girl injured by cluster bomb Belgian doctors sent an Iraqi girl home on Thursday after treating her for leg wounds caused by a cluster bomb during the U.S. invasion -- and sent the 51,570 euro ($66,650) bill to the U.S. embassy. We hold the US government accountable for the serious physical and psychological harm done to Hiba Kassim. First, US troops hit Hiba with a cluster bomb, while, according to International Humanitarian Law, targeting civilians in an international armed conflict is prohibited, as is the use of cluster bombs or ammunition in civilian areas.

 http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/belgian-doctors-bill-us-for-treating.html

· There is no "Peace Process", There never was G C Fraser: Under American law, I believe it is both morally and legally wrong that a state "for" Jews should be handed any US money except for humanitarian purposes. There is a constitutional prohibition - the separation of church and state. If Israel encourages Jews to Israel - fine - but it is a state FOR Jews where Jews have rights and others do not. Israel is NOT a democracy. That claim is PR developed to cover up what Israel actually does to its non-Jewish citizenry. I have seen about a dozen documentaries on this issue and gone to conference after conference and heard this discussed by many Israeli scholars and NGOs - the ones who would like to change things but never will - because they are essentially without power . The government of Israel does what it will and is devoid of humanistic considerations.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/05/there-is-no-peace-process-there-never.html

· Sgrena interview on Democracy Now AMY GOODMAN: President Bush. Do you have a demand of the US President, the American President?

GIULIANA SGRENA: No. I want only the truth. But they don’t seem to be interested to find the truth about what happened in Baghdad that night.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/sgrena-interview-on-democracy-now.html

· PSYOPS Defence propaganda and the Iraq War “During the conduct of the military campaign, the Coalition attempted favourably to shape the world-wide perception of the conflict by a variety of measures, including that of "embedding" reporters with military units scheduled to deploy. Although initially controversial, the decision to embed was, in retrospect, a brilliant move for several reasons. First, reporters who wanted to be embedded were forced to undergo a mandatory mini-boot camp, which gave many their first appreciation of the challenges faced by the average soldier. Second, embedding created an inevitable bond between reporters and the units they covered. And third, embedding made sense because it ensured the safety of the reporters and gave the world its first "real-time coverage" of a battlefield. Because of the fluid nature of Iraqi Freedom, many more reporters would likely have been killed and captured had they been allowed to roam the battlefield freely.”

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/psyops-defence-related-propaganda-and.html

· Italians refuse to sign conclusion on Calipari killing “At the present time, there is no recognition of responsibility”, sustain the US representatives that were cited by the network NBC which had obtained a copy of the first rapport. This means that the soldiers who on the evening of 4 March fired at the car of the SISMI, killing Nicola Calipari and injuring the reporter of il manifesto who had just been liberated, (as well as a second individual being injured), will not be incriminated and will not undergo any kind of trial. Four seconds after having fired warning shots in the air, the US soldiers decided to open fire. A sufficient interval, according to the commission, that respects the engagement rules.

The two representatives nominated by the Italian government the Ambassador Ragaglini and General Campregher, have refused to undersign these conclusions and ask that at least some error, misunderstanding, omission or negligence (even unintentional) that brought the soldiers to fire against the car of the SISMI to be recognised.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/italians-refuse-to-sign-conclusion-on.html

· Perception Management - selling the Iraq war to the Americans Public relations firms often do their work behind the scenes, and Rendon—with whom the Pentagon signed a new agreement in February 2002—is usually reticent about his work. But his description of himself as a “perception manager” echoes the language of Pentagon planners, who define “perception management” as “actions to convey and (or) deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning.

… In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover, and deception, and psyops [psychological operations].”

The paradox of the American war in Iraq, however, is that perception management has been much more successful at “influencing the emotions, motives, and objective reasoning” of the American people than it has been at reaching “foreign audiences.” When we see footage of Kuwaitis waving American flags, or of Iraqis cheering while U.S. Marines topple a statue of Saddam, it should be understood that those images target U.S. audiences as much, if not more, than the citizens of Kuwait or Iraq.

 http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/perception-management-selling-iraq-war.html

· Unilateral Disengagement Plan - some basics Under the disengagement plan as adopted on 6 June 2004, the IDF will remain on the Gaza-Egypt border and may engage in further house demolitions to widen a 'buffer zone' there (Art 6). Israel will continue to control Gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace, and reserves the right to undertake incursions at will (Art 3.1). Gaza will also remain dependent on Israeli water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks (Art 8); existing customs arrangements with Israel (whereby imports from Israel to Gaza are not taxed, exports from Gaza to Israel are taxed, and Israel collects customs duties on foreign products entering Gaza) will remain in force and the Israeli currency will continue to be used (Art 10). For these reasons, and because Israel will not accept a Palestinian sovereign authority in Gaza at this time, foreign observers have argued that legally speaking, the disengagement will not constitute an end to Israeli control.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/unilateral-disengagement-plan-and.html

· Ilan Pappe - In support of the Academic Boycott As I learned from my own case, outside pressure is effective in a country where people want to be regarded as part of the civilized world, but their government, with their explicit and implicit help, pursues policies which violate every known human and civil right. Neither the UN, nor the US and European governments, and societies, have sent a message to Israel that these policies are unacceptable and have to be stopped. It is up to the civil societies, through organisations like yours, to send messages to Israeli academics, businessmen, artists, hi-tech industrialists and every other section in that society, that there is a price tag attached to such policies.

http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/04/ilan-pappe-in-support-of-academic.html

 

In solidarity, mary