CNN’s God’s Warriors part I, Gods Jewish Warriors

I had great hopes for this 6 hour documentary because Christianne Amanpour was doing it. I also had great reservations since this was still CNN. This was still US media, especially US television.

One easy prediction to make was that any exposure of the truth about Israel and it’s US supporters would result in campaigns and a total assault on the program, CNN and Christiane Amanpour. And so it has begun, led by CAMERA, the Zionist lobby’s media arm.

Both proved accurate. Amanpour did an amazing job on many levels. The US audience was allowed to see things generally underreported in the US.
We saw connections between US politicians and illegal Israeli settlements.
We saw US politicians using campaign contributions to send to Israel to support illegal settlements.
We saw Christian zionists in all their glory.
We saw Jewish terrorists.
We saw the power of the Israel lobby, especially AIPAC but including the Christian Zionists, in Washington.
We saw what happens to politicians who place justice or US interests before AIPAC or Israeli interests.
We saw lots more.

But

We saw it all within the context of “response”. We saw it all in the context of “revenge”. The narrative that Israelis, Jews, settlers, terrorists, are all responding to the threat posed by Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general was pervasive.

Although we saw one Palestinian home spared from demolition, we did not see or hear about the thousands of others which are not.

Finally we saw nothing of the daily terror inflicted on Palestinians by the Israeli army every day.

All in all it was fantastic. See for yourself if you missed it. The other two parts will follow.

by Asa Winstanley

This Israeli government propaganda broadcast (the Israeli Broadcasting Authority interviewing Miri Eisen, a government spokesperson), from July 17 is quite revealing for a couple of reasons.

Firstly regarding “moderate Arab countries”. This phrase is often used in the Western media, and by Western politicians, but what does it actually mean? This broadcast is a good example of how “moderate” is in fact a codeword for “subservient to our interests”. What is Eisen’s example of a “moderate Arab country”? Saudi Arabia! A country with an absolute monarchy, of fundamentalist religious character which tortures prisoners, forces couples to divorce, silences internal dissent and executes children and women is characterised as “moderate”. Why? One can only assume it has something to do with the fact that the regime is a loyal ally of to Western policy, propped-up by the British and US governments.

Secondly, and more subtly, the mention of “removing illegal outposts” as part of a political agreement with “the Palestinians”, presumably Abbas and his unelected PA cabinet. “Illegal outposts” refers to settlements established in the West Bank which have not been officially approved by the Israeli government (and hence illegal even under Israeli law). What Eisen fails to mention is that the vast majority of settlements are large, built-up, government-funded affairs. The population of the “outposts” consists of a small — but vocal — minority of Jewish religious fundamentalists. It is noteworthy that despite their illegal status under Israeli law, even these outposts are protected by the Israeli military (the settlers themselves are of course armed too). International law, on the other hand, makes no distinction between “outposts” and other settlements. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the occupying power to transfer citizens from its own territory to the occupied territory (Article 49).

CNN’s Ben Wedeman presents the conflict between Palestinian cave dwellers and Israeli settlers as a typical case of old traditions giving way to modern development. The reality is that the Israeli settlements are illegal and are built and expanded in order to steal Palestinian land and displace Palestinians.

Also missing from Ben Wedeman’s report is the abject violence used by the Jewish settlers against Palestinians in this area.

CNN

I spent time in Tuwane, a cave dwelling village south of Hebron, in 2003. I was there in conjunction with the Israeli organization Taayush. Our purpose was to protect the Palestinians from the settlers who were building an “outpost”. Jewish Settlers would show up over shabat to terrorize the people of Tuwani for the purpose of driving them out. Israeli border police often provided protection for settlers who were stoning Palestinian children on their way to school or beating Palestinian adults. Our prescence reduced the risk for Palestinians but by no means eliminated it.

The risk is catalogued by David Bloom writing for World War 4 Report:

On Sept. 29, masked men, clothed all in black, came down from the direction of the Jewish settlement colony Maon Farm, and attacked Kim Lamberty, 44, and Chris Brown, 36, both US citizens working with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). At the time of the attack, they were escorting Palestinian children to school on a path where the students often face stone-throwing and other attacks from the militant settlers of Maon. The five assailants were armed with chains and baseball bats. Brown sustained a facial laceration and a collapsed lung. The men bashed him with chains and kicked him with their boots. They threw Lamberty to the ground, breaking her knee and arm. The victims were on the ground 30 minutes before they were evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, Israel. The children ran away during the assault.

Read the complete article

Condi denies linkage between Iraq and current initiative

The suggestion of the Iraq study group may actually have led to Condi’s current diplomatic initiative in the Middle East including an attempt to jumpstart the peace process in Palestine/Israel. In a press conference in Israel however, Ms. Rice said that Palestinians deserve a state on its own merit and not because of the US need for help in Iraq from other Arab states.

CNN International:

Ok, Condi, you haven’t done a thing for the Palestinians or for the peace process for the past six years except starve and punish the Palestinian people for exercising their choice at the ballot box. Now you’re desperate, you need Arab support in Iraq and suddenly you’re making an attempt to jumpstart the peace process. OK, we understand you’re desperate and any relief would be welcome in Palestine and Iraq, whatever your reasons. However denying the linkage just makes you look ridiculous.

Add to that the announcement by Israel (while you’re visiting) that it will expand more settlements in the occupied West Bank and it’s clear once again that you are there only to do Israel’s bidding.

Unfortunately, this was only reported in the San Diego Tribune and Democracy Now.