our reign of terror, by the israeli army:
The birds are singing as he describes in detail some of what he did and saw others do as an enlisted soldier in Hebron. And they are certainly criminal: the incidents in which Palestinian vehicles are stopped for no good reason, the windows smashed and the occupants beaten up for talking back – for saying, for example, they are on the way to hospital; the theft of tobacco from a Palestinian shopkeeper who is then beaten "to a pulp" when he complains; the throwing of stun grenades through the windows of mosques as people prayed. And worse.
(...) Did you hit them? "Sure, not just them. Anyone who came close ... Particularly legs and arms. Some people also sustained abdominal hits ... I think at some point they realised it was soldiers, but they were not sure. Because they could not believe soldiers would do this, you know."
(...) "Anyway, the kid was stood up, and couldn't stay standing on his own two feet. He was already crying ... And the commander continues, 'Don't pretend' and kicks him some more. And then [name withheld], who always had a hard time with such things, went in, caught the squad commander and said, 'Don't touch him any more, that's it.' The commander goes, 'You've become a leftie, what?' And he answers, 'No, I just don't want to see such things.'
(...) In its introduction to the testimonies, Breaking the Silence says: "The soldiers' determination to fulfil their mission yields tragic results: the proper-normative becomes despicable, the inconceivable becomes routine ... [The] testimonies are to illustrate the manner in which they are swept into the brutal reality reigning on the ground, a reality whereby the lives of many thousands of Palestinian families are at the questionable mercy of youths. Hebron turns a focused, flagrant lens at the reality to which Israel's young representatives are constantly sent."
Saturday, April 19, 2008
no peace without hamas:
Resistance remains our only option. Sixty-five years ago, the courageous Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rose in defense of their people. We Gazans, living in the world's largest open-air prison, can do no less.
(...) Hussam was only 21, but like most young men in Gaza he had grown up fast out of necessity. When I was his age, I wanted to be a surgeon; in the 1960s, we were already refugees, but there was no humiliating blockade then. But now, after decades of imprisonment, killing, statelessness and impoverishment, we ask: What peace can there be if there is no dignity first? And where does dignity come from if not from justice?
(...) I am eternally proud of my sons and miss them every day. I think of them as fathers everywhere, even in Israel, think of their sons -- as innocent boys, as curious students, as young men with limitless potential -- not as "gunmen" or "militants." But better that they were defenders of their people than parties to their ultimate dispossession; better that they were active in the Palestinian struggle for survival than passive witnesses to our subjugation.
Resistance remains our only option. Sixty-five years ago, the courageous Jews of the Warsaw ghetto rose in defense of their people. We Gazans, living in the world's largest open-air prison, can do no less.
(...) Hussam was only 21, but like most young men in Gaza he had grown up fast out of necessity. When I was his age, I wanted to be a surgeon; in the 1960s, we were already refugees, but there was no humiliating blockade then. But now, after decades of imprisonment, killing, statelessness and impoverishment, we ask: What peace can there be if there is no dignity first? And where does dignity come from if not from justice?
(...) I am eternally proud of my sons and miss them every day. I think of them as fathers everywhere, even in Israel, think of their sons -- as innocent boys, as curious students, as young men with limitless potential -- not as "gunmen" or "militants." But better that they were defenders of their people than parties to their ultimate dispossession; better that they were active in the Palestinian struggle for survival than passive witnesses to our subjugation.
interview with baburam bhattarai
"So, it's not true that we abandoned the bullet to come to the ballot. We used both the bullet and the ballot in this revolution. You couldn't win with only bullets, and you couldn't win with only the ballot. Nepal's revolution has been completed in this unique manner."
(...) "We would like to assure everyone that once the Maoists come (into government) the investment climate will be even more favourable. There shouldn't be any unnecessary misunderstanding about that. The rumours in the press about our intention are wrong, there are reports of capital flight, but this shouldn't happen. And the other aspect is that once there is political stability, the investment climate will be even better. Our other agenda is economic development and for this we want to mobilise domestic resources and capital, and also welcome private foreign direct investment. The only thing we ask is to be allowed to define our national priorities."
(...) "Just watch, the labour-mangement climate will improve in our time in office."
"So, it's not true that we abandoned the bullet to come to the ballot. We used both the bullet and the ballot in this revolution. You couldn't win with only bullets, and you couldn't win with only the ballot. Nepal's revolution has been completed in this unique manner."
(...) "We would like to assure everyone that once the Maoists come (into government) the investment climate will be even more favourable. There shouldn't be any unnecessary misunderstanding about that. The rumours in the press about our intention are wrong, there are reports of capital flight, but this shouldn't happen. And the other aspect is that once there is political stability, the investment climate will be even better. Our other agenda is economic development and for this we want to mobilise domestic resources and capital, and also welcome private foreign direct investment. The only thing we ask is to be allowed to define our national priorities."
(...) "Just watch, the labour-mangement climate will improve in our time in office."
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
zardari speech
(wonderful)
"The PPP has a vision to build a Pakistani nation that is one of the
great capital markets of the world; a revitalized nation that will
generate international investment. We look forward to the complete
electrification of all of our villages, the purification of our
nation's drinking water, the privatization of the public sector, the
expansion of the energy sector, the development of our export
industries, the modernization of our ports and the rebuilding of our
national infrastructure. All of these elements are essential to a new
Pakistan where a democratically elected government, with the mandate
of the people, confronts and marginalizes the forces of dictatorship,
extremism and terrorism wherever they may exist in our nation. In
other words, I see the progressive Pakistan for which my wife lived
and died."
(wonderful)
"The PPP has a vision to build a Pakistani nation that is one of the
great capital markets of the world; a revitalized nation that will
generate international investment. We look forward to the complete
electrification of all of our villages, the purification of our
nation's drinking water, the privatization of the public sector, the
expansion of the energy sector, the development of our export
industries, the modernization of our ports and the rebuilding of our
national infrastructure. All of these elements are essential to a new
Pakistan where a democratically elected government, with the mandate
of the people, confronts and marginalizes the forces of dictatorship,
extremism and terrorism wherever they may exist in our nation. In
other words, I see the progressive Pakistan for which my wife lived
and died."
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/26/7898/
cost of war, zia mian
"Five years into the war, 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed and over 30,000 wounded. Now 160,000 U.S. soldiers are fighting in Iraq on extended tours of duty. The U.S. army has started to crack under the strain. Faced with home-made bombs and suicide bombers, the United States has turned to increased aerial bombing. The Washington Post reported there were five times more U.S. air strikes in Iraq in 2007 than in 2006, involving an increase from an average of four a week in 2006 to about four bombs a day in 2007, with bombs ranging between 500 to 2000 pounds of explosive each. In what it called “one of the largest strikes since the 2003 invasion,” the Post reported that in January 2008 U.S. planes dropped 40,000 pounds of explosives in 10 minutes on one area. Such attacks are a sure recipe for higher civilian casualties."
cost of war, zia mian
"Five years into the war, 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed and over 30,000 wounded. Now 160,000 U.S. soldiers are fighting in Iraq on extended tours of duty. The U.S. army has started to crack under the strain. Faced with home-made bombs and suicide bombers, the United States has turned to increased aerial bombing. The Washington Post reported there were five times more U.S. air strikes in Iraq in 2007 than in 2006, involving an increase from an average of four a week in 2006 to about four bombs a day in 2007, with bombs ranging between 500 to 2000 pounds of explosive each. In what it called “one of the largest strikes since the 2003 invasion,” the Post reported that in January 2008 U.S. planes dropped 40,000 pounds of explosives in 10 minutes on one area. Such attacks are a sure recipe for higher civilian casualties."
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=522363
classic war on terror shit: invoking fundamentalism displaces responsibility (obscures 'blowback')
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=94866
how do you win?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/03/19/iraq_five/
juan cole at his best...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/19/mccain/index.html
mccain, and imperial blinders at their worst
classic war on terror shit: invoking fundamentalism displaces responsibility (obscures 'blowback')
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=94866
how do you win?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/03/19/iraq_five/
juan cole at his best...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/19/mccain/index.html
mccain, and imperial blinders at their worst
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