Posted by George Bisharat on May 15, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007 - San Francisco Chronicle
Why do some people have the power to remember, while others are asked to forget? That question is especially poignant at this time of year, as we move from Holocaust Remembrance day in early spring to Monday's anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.
In the months surrounding that date, Jewish forces expelled, or intimidated into flight, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians. A living, breathing, society that had existed in Palestine for centuries was smashed and fragmented, and a new society built on its ruins.
Few Palestinian families lack a personal narrative of loss from that period -- an uncle killed, or a branch of the family that fled north while the others fled east, never to be reunited, or homes, offices, orchards and other property seized. Ever since, Palestinians worldwide have commemorated May 15 as Nakba (Catastrophe) Day.
No ethical person would admonish Jews to "forget the Holocaust." Indeed, recent decades have witnessed victims of that terrible era not only remembering, but also regaining paintings and financial assets seized by the Nazis -- and justifiably so.
Other victims of mass wrongs -- interned Japanese Americans, enslaved African Americans, and Armenians subjected to a genocide that may have later convinced Hitler of the feasibility of mass killings -- receive at least respectful consideration of their cases, even while responses to their claims have differed.
Yet in dialogues with Israelis, and some Americans, Palestinians are repeatedly admonished to "forget the past," that looking back is "not constructive" and "doesn't get us closer to a solution." Ironically, Palestinians live the consequences of the past every day -- whether as exiles from their homeland, or as members of an oppressed minority within Israel, or as subjects of a brutal and violent military occupation.
In the West we are amply reminded of the suffering of Jewish people in World War II. Our newspaper featured several stories on local survivors of the Nazi holocaust around Holocaust Remembrance Day (an Israeli national holiday that is widely observed in the United States). My daughter has read at least one book on the Nazi holocaust every year since middle school. Last year, in ninth grade English literature alone, she read three. But we seldom confront the impact of Israel's policies on Palestinians.
It is the "security of the Jewish people" that has rationalized Israel's takeover of Palestinian lands, both in the past in Israel, and more recently in the occupied West Bank. There, most Palestinian children negotiate one of the 500 Israeli checkpoints and other barriers to movement just to reach school each day. Meanwhile, Israel's program of colonization of the West Bank grinds ahead relentlessly, implanting ever more Israeli settlers who must be "protected" from those Palestinians not reconciled to the theft of their homes and fields. What Palestinians are really being commanded is not just to forget their past, but instead to forget their future, too. That they will never do.
The primacy of Jewish security over rights of Palestinians -- to property, education, health care, a chance to make a living, and, also to security -- is seldom challenged.
Unfortunately, remembering the Nazi Holocaust -- something morally incumbent on all of us -- has seemingly become entangled with, and even an instrument of, the amnesia some would force on Palestinians. Israel is enveloped in an aura of ethical propriety that makes it unseemly, even "anti-Semitic" to question its denial of Palestinian rights.
As Israeli journalist Amira Hass recently observed: "Turning the Holocaust into a political asset serves Israel primarily in its fight against the Palestinians. When the Holocaust is on one side of the scale, along with the guilty (and rightly so) conscience of the West, the dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland in 1948 is minimized and blurred."
What this demonstrates is that memory is not just an idle capacity. Rather, who can remember, and who can be made to forget, is, fundamentally, an expression of power.
Equally importantly, however, memory can provide a blueprint for the future -- a vision of a solution to seek, or an outcome to avoid. My Palestinian father grew up in Jerusalem before Israel was founded and the Palestinians expelled, when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in peace and mutual respect. Recalling that past provides a vision for an alternative future -- one involving equal rights and tolerance, rather than the domination of one ethno-religious group over others.
Thus, what Palestinians are really being commanded is not just to forget their past, but instead to forget their future, too. That they will never do.
*George Bisharat is professor of law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He writes frequently about the Middle East.
Source; www.palestineremembered
Thursday, May 19, 2011
A bitter memory of a child
by ibrahim Naoum Ebeid on January 20, 2002
Ibrahim Ebeid watanarabi@hotmail.com
We were living peacefully in our towns and villages until the Zionist entity was created in our land and we were brutally evicted from our homes to make room for the colonialist racist settlers. Thousands of our people were murdered and hundreds of our villages were demolished. Those foreigners now are living in our homes and on our farms and we are refugees scattered around the world. Millions of us are living in miserable camps waiting patiently for the conscience of the world to wake up. But will it?
When I was eleven years old, in Jaffa, I witnessed few Zionist terrorist acts that I have never been able to forget. They dwell in my mind and never depart; they have become part of my experience of the Palestine tragedy.
Once I was with a few kids from my school ؟playing hockey؟ or skipping classes, our favorite hide out was the busy and crowded vegetable market in Jaffa. A pushcart exploded. The explosion was very powerful, few people were killed and scores were wounded, some so seriously, that later on died from the severe wounds.
In intent to blow up ؟The Barracks؟, a large building, used to house some British Police Officers in Jaffa, located in Al Ajami section, few meters behind our house, the Zionists dressed like Arabs were driving a caravan of camels loaded with bombs. The bombs were exploded, the camels were killed and their parts were flown all over. Our house was cracked right from the corner. Luckily we were not hurt and I wonder if anybody was killed or seriously injured, I do not remember.
Fouad Kobti, a kid from my school living in my neighborhood, was shot in the chest but he survived.
Palm Sunday 1948. The worshippers were praying in a procession around St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church when Zionist mortar bombs stared to fall all around the churchyard and Terra Santa School, The Prayers were disrupted and the people were panicking.
A bullet pierced our wooden door and struck against the wall missing my father؟s head by one inch.
Omar ibin al Farran (Omar the son of the baker) was about fifteen years old and used to assist his father in the community bakery where we used to bake our bread. Like any other child of his age he had his hope and dreams. But alas his dreams were not fulfilled, the bakery was blown up by Zionist gangs artillery fire on the residential area where the bakery was located. His life was cut short and his body was torn apart into many pieces. Young Omar was gone and we were not able to see him any more neither were we able to carry the dough to the bakery to bake bread. Omar and the bakery were gone and Jaffa too.
On May 1948 my family was forced to leave Jaffa and left the beautiful orange grove of the Jallad family behind to settle in our village, Bir Zeit, in one room apartment that we used to spend few days every summer.
Summer 1948. Thousands of refugees, mostly women, children and elderly, hungry, thirsty and overwhelmed with panic and fear were filling the highway from Lyddah to Bir-Zeit. I joined scores of people from the village to help them. We offer them water and food. Thousands settled in caves and under olive trees. They made hasty shelters from rags and bushes to protect them from heat and to give them some sort of privacy.
Winter 1948. It was bitter cold. Most of those refugees who have never seen snow before, found themselves under a heavy blanket of that cold stuff that made them desperate and fearful for their lives away from the warmth of their homes.
Bir-Zeit with a population that did not exceed the two thousands swelled to fourteen thousand or more. Seeing this human tragedy befalling their brethren and the tragedy widens, the people of Bir-Zeit opened their homes, schools and churches to shelter the victims of Zionism and Western imperialist which helped create this catastrophe.
Schools were closed and the situation was unbearable and every one felt pain and despair. Fear was very dominant. The hope for immediate return to their homes was shattered and they were forced to go to live in permanent camps which lacked running water and other basic facilities.
Years later the refugees started building their dwellings with tin, mud, and stones collected from the surrounding areas. These refugees with their descendants are still living in these miserable conditions impatiently waiting for the conscience of the World to wake up, if it ever does.
________________________________________
Ibrahim Ebeid watanarabi@hotmail.com
We were living peacefully in our towns and villages until the Zionist entity was created in our land and we were brutally evicted from our homes to make room for the colonialist racist settlers. Thousands of our people were murdered and hundreds of our villages were demolished. Those foreigners now are living in our homes and on our farms and we are refugees scattered around the world. Millions of us are living in miserable camps waiting patiently for the conscience of the world to wake up. But will it?
When I was eleven years old, in Jaffa, I witnessed few Zionist terrorist acts that I have never been able to forget. They dwell in my mind and never depart; they have become part of my experience of the Palestine tragedy.
Once I was with a few kids from my school ؟playing hockey؟ or skipping classes, our favorite hide out was the busy and crowded vegetable market in Jaffa. A pushcart exploded. The explosion was very powerful, few people were killed and scores were wounded, some so seriously, that later on died from the severe wounds.
In intent to blow up ؟The Barracks؟, a large building, used to house some British Police Officers in Jaffa, located in Al Ajami section, few meters behind our house, the Zionists dressed like Arabs were driving a caravan of camels loaded with bombs. The bombs were exploded, the camels were killed and their parts were flown all over. Our house was cracked right from the corner. Luckily we were not hurt and I wonder if anybody was killed or seriously injured, I do not remember.
Fouad Kobti, a kid from my school living in my neighborhood, was shot in the chest but he survived.
Palm Sunday 1948. The worshippers were praying in a procession around St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church when Zionist mortar bombs stared to fall all around the churchyard and Terra Santa School, The Prayers were disrupted and the people were panicking.
A bullet pierced our wooden door and struck against the wall missing my father؟s head by one inch.
Omar ibin al Farran (Omar the son of the baker) was about fifteen years old and used to assist his father in the community bakery where we used to bake our bread. Like any other child of his age he had his hope and dreams. But alas his dreams were not fulfilled, the bakery was blown up by Zionist gangs artillery fire on the residential area where the bakery was located. His life was cut short and his body was torn apart into many pieces. Young Omar was gone and we were not able to see him any more neither were we able to carry the dough to the bakery to bake bread. Omar and the bakery were gone and Jaffa too.
On May 1948 my family was forced to leave Jaffa and left the beautiful orange grove of the Jallad family behind to settle in our village, Bir Zeit, in one room apartment that we used to spend few days every summer.
Summer 1948. Thousands of refugees, mostly women, children and elderly, hungry, thirsty and overwhelmed with panic and fear were filling the highway from Lyddah to Bir-Zeit. I joined scores of people from the village to help them. We offer them water and food. Thousands settled in caves and under olive trees. They made hasty shelters from rags and bushes to protect them from heat and to give them some sort of privacy.
Winter 1948. It was bitter cold. Most of those refugees who have never seen snow before, found themselves under a heavy blanket of that cold stuff that made them desperate and fearful for their lives away from the warmth of their homes.
Bir-Zeit with a population that did not exceed the two thousands swelled to fourteen thousand or more. Seeing this human tragedy befalling their brethren and the tragedy widens, the people of Bir-Zeit opened their homes, schools and churches to shelter the victims of Zionism and Western imperialist which helped create this catastrophe.
Schools were closed and the situation was unbearable and every one felt pain and despair. Fear was very dominant. The hope for immediate return to their homes was shattered and they were forced to go to live in permanent camps which lacked running water and other basic facilities.
Years later the refugees started building their dwellings with tin, mud, and stones collected from the surrounding areas. These refugees with their descendants are still living in these miserable conditions impatiently waiting for the conscience of the World to wake up, if it ever does.
________________________________________
The Illegal Herb that Fights Cancer
May 07 2011
Posted By Dr. Mercola
Medical marijuana is now a $1.7-billion market in the U.S. This means that sales of medical marijuana rival the annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9-billion business.
What's more, the medical marijuana market is expected to nearly double in the next five years, and that's just in the 15 U.S. states where the drug is legal. If another 20 states pass medical marijuana laws, which projections show is possible, the market could grow to $8.9 billion by 2016.
According to MSNBC:
"The cannabis industry as a whole -- including the underground black market and medical gray market -- generates anywhere from $18 billion to $35.8 billion a year."
In the video above, "Run From the Cure – the Rick Simpson Story," it's suggested that pharmaceutical companies and big business may be withholding a potential cancer cure -- hemp oil -- from the public in the interest of personal profit.
TreeHugger also recently reported on a number of hemp benefits in honor of Hemp History Week, including the fact that hemp seed is an excellent source of protein and has a:
" …perfectly balanced 1:3 ratio of naturally-occurring omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids...unlike other seeds and nutritional oils, such as flax and fish fish oil, hemp seeds also contain super omega-3 stearidonic acid and super omega-6-gamma-linolenic acid in nutritionally relevant amounts that help to reduce inflammation and improve mental functioning, as well as make up for potentially impaired fatty acid metabolism."
They also noted that the reason why industrial hemp cannot be grown in the United States is because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) refuses to acknowledge that hemp is not the same as marijuana. As TreeHugger reported:
"The United States is the only industrialized nation where growing industrial hemp is illegal. And because of that we're missing out on huge economic opportunity …
Apparently even though Canadian cops can tell the difference between high-THC cannabis plants (marijuana) and low-THC plants (industrial hemp), the US DEA can't be bothered."
Sources:
MSNBC March 24, 2011
TreeHugger May 4, 2011
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
the hands of Americans take on new meaning …Cannabis, or as it’s more commonly known marijuana, has been used for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. It’s been heralded as a “cure-all,” revered for its healing properties that not only help relieve pain but also have been highlighted as a potential cancer cure.
Hemp Vs. Marijuana: What’s the Difference?
Before I delve into the intriguing controversy surrounding medical marijuana, it’s important to note that the plants referred to as hemp and marijuana are not the same. Both are members of the Cannabis sativa plant species, but they are two distinct varieties.
Marijuana typically is high in THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) -- the compound responsible for the plant’s notorious psychoactive effect -- and low in CBD (cannabidiol) content. Both THC and CBD are known as cannabinoids, which interact with your body in a unique way I’ll describe later.
What’s interesting, however, is that CBD has been shown to block the effect of THC in the nervous system. So, marijuana plants are typically high in THC and low in CBD, which maximizes their psychoactive effects.
Hemp, on the other hand, is typically high in CBD and low in THC, as it is bred to maximize its fiber, seeds and oil, the items for which it is most commonly used. For more information on the difference between hemp and marijuana, here is a comprehensive article on the topic from the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC).
Why is it “Illegal” to Grow Hemp in the United States?
Ironically, despite their differences, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies all C. sativa varieties as "marijuana," according to NAIHC.
This is why the United States is the only industrialized nation where growing industrial hemp is illegal. Well, technically it is not illegal, but growing it requires a permit from the DEA – and it is reportedly almost impossible to get one.
This is a shame for a variety of reasons, including:
* Hemp is healthy: Hemp seeds pack a powerful nutritional punch. Two tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds contain about 11 grams of protein and 2 grams of unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. And, as TreeHugger reported , hemp seeds have a “ "perfectly balanced 1:3 ratio of naturally-occurring omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids...unlike other seeds and nutritional oils, such as flax …”
* [WILL HAVE BULLET POINT] Hemp is good for the economy: The total retail value of North American hemp products was valued at around $400 million in 2009, but U.S. farmers are unable to benefit from this since hemp products are imported.
Perhaps soon hemp will become a U.S. product, however, as Ron Paul has once again submitted an official Congressional Record statement calling for the legalization of industrial hemp, You can find out more about the issues surrounding the legalization of hemp at Vote Hemp , a nonprofit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for industrial hemp.
No matter what you call it, cannabis and its range of varieties, including marijuana, is said to be among the safest medicinal substances known, and there are nearly 25 million Americans who have health conditions that medical marijuana could reportedly treat (and this figure only includes those living in states where its use is currently legal), according to The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011 -- yet fewer than 800,000 are taking part.
If marijuana is, in fact, capable of helping heal millions with very few, to no, side effects, why is this not being shouted from the rooftops?
Political Agendas and Red Tape Make Medical Marijuana a Nightmare
Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time. Yet, in 1970, the herb was declared a Schedule 1 controlled substance, labeling it a drug with a “high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use.”
Three years later the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was formed to enforce the newly created drug schedules, and the fight against marijuana use began.
The battle that has raged since is a long one, and you can read a brief history of marijuana prohibition in the Huffington Post -- but suffice to say that movements to legalize marijuana have persisted ever since. The most successful to date, and the one that is set to produce the first legal marijuana market in decades, is the medical marijuana movement.
As the State of the Medical Marijuana Markets’ executive summary states:
“Since 1996, marijuana proponents have pushed for individual states to recognize marijuana as a treatment for a range of illnesses. New medical research and changing public opinion have propelled these efforts.
Over the past 15 years, led by California, 15 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted laws permitting some form of marijuana consumption or distribution for medical use. These laws have been adopted by public referendums as well as legislation.”
Despite its legal status, it was common for the DEA to raid medical marijuana suppliers and even arrest patients, up until 2009 when the U.S. Justice Department essentially told federal prosecutors to lay off Americans producing and using medical marijuana in accordance with state laws.
Now in 2011, the report notes that a national market for medical marijuana is worth $1.7 billion -- and could grow to nearly $9 billion in the next five years. Investors are sitting on the sidelines, just waiting for the regulatory smoke to clear.
Many patients, too, are eager to get their hands on what some are calling the “cancer answer.”
Are You Being Kept in the Dark About a Potential Cancer Cure?
If you ask Canadian Rick Simpson, absolutely.
Simpson is the man in the video above who was openly growing hemp in his backyard and using it to produce hemp oil, which he gave, for free, to his friends and family. The oil, Simpson and many others claim, has a remarkable healing effect on countless diseases and conditions, including cancer.
After numerous raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Simpson was forced to seek asylum in another country, but his Web site, Phoenix Tears, still stands. There you can find instructions on how to produce hemp oil, as well as testimonials from people who say the oil has helped them. Mail Online also featured a story of 2-year-old Cash Hyde who was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. His father secretly administered cannabis oil through his son’s feeding tube while he was in the hospital in failing health and the boy experienced a complete turnaround. He has now been declared cancer free.
As Simpson states:
“I have been providing people with instructions on how to make Hemp Oil medicines for about 8 years. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Throughout man’s history hemp has always been known as the most medicinal plant in the world. Even with this knowledge hemp has always been used as a political and religious football.
The current restrictions against hemp were put in place and maintained, not because hemp is evil or harmful, but for big money to make more big money, while we suffer and die needlessly.
Look at a proposal such as this; if we were allowed to grow hemp in our back yards and cure our own illnesses, what do you think the reaction of the pharmaceutical industry would be to such a plan?
Many large pharmaceutical companies that still exist today sold hemp based medicines in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. They knew then what I have recently found out. Hemp oil if produced properly is a cure-all that the pharmaceutical industry can’t patent.”
National Cancer Institute Changes Web Site about Cannabis’ “Anti-Tumor Effect”
In March 2011, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) updated its Web site to include some of the benefits of medical marijuana, reportedly noting:
“The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.”
Being the first federal agency to publicly claim that marijuana may in fact be beneficial -- and possess anti-tumor properties -- it generated significant buzz on the Web. But soon after, NCI quickly changed its tune, editing the anti-tumor reference entirely out of its statement, which now reads:
“The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.”
NCI then tried to account for its changes by posting this explanation on March 30:
“In light of the attention garnered by the PDQ summary statement on Cannabis and cannabinoids, reviewers for the summary on the PDQ Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Editorial Board reexamined the recently posted statement and decided to change the wording, in order to clarify the meaning that the Board originally intended to convey and to correct several possible misinterpretations.”
It’s a suspicious swap of wording, to say the least, but even more perplexing is why, if anti-tumor effects have been discovered from cannabis -- and they have -- why is this substance not the subject of major research studies?
Why are Medical Marijuana and Hemp Oil NOT Being Studied?
Even a quick review of the data suggests that cannabis deserves more than a passing glance as a potential treatment for various diseases. But in the United States, these studies are not being done.
According to a report by Americans for Safe Access:
“In the past three decades, there has been an explosion of international studies designed to investigate the therapeutic value of cannabis (marijuana).
However, drastic restrictions on research in the U.S. have meant that few clinical trials are being conducted domestically and none are being conducted as part of a sponsor-funded drug development plan aimed at obtaining Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the prescription use of the botanical plant itself.
Meanwhile, research teams in Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Israel, and elsewhere have confirmed - through case studies, basic research, pre-clinical, and preliminary clinical investigations - the medical value of cannabis … “
It is easy to see why drug companies would want no part in funding research studies on a plant that can’t be patented. If they were to discover that it could cure cancer, patients would be able to grow it themselves right in their own backyard … this is not something the pharmaceutical companies would want you to know about.
Simpson, who keep in mind has been giving away hemp oil for free, is so convinced of its usefulness that he states on his Web site:
“When the hemp plant is grown for medicinal use, you now have your own medical system that is much safer and effective than anything our current medical system provides. You still may require a doctor to set your broken leg, but you will no longer need the chemicals they have been pushing upon us. Hemp is medicine for the masses and no one has the right to control its use.”
Of course, in the United States its use is controlled and even those who have a legitimate medical need can have a hard time getting a steady supply. This may change if more research continues to bear out marijuana’s healing properties, but for now even the ability to research the substance is tightly controlled. As the Safe Access report states:
“ … the federal monopoly on the supply of cannabis has fundamentally limited FDA-approved clinical research to investigate its safety and efficacy in controlling symptoms of serious and chronic illnesses.
In the United States, research is stalled, and in some cases blocked, by a complicated federal approval process, restricted access to research-grade cannabis, and the refusal of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to license private production of cannabis for use exclusively in federally approved research.”
This certainly does make the fervent war to keep marijuana out of the hands of Americans take on new meaning …
Posted By Dr. Mercola
Medical marijuana is now a $1.7-billion market in the U.S. This means that sales of medical marijuana rival the annual revenue generated by Viagra, a $1.9-billion business.
What's more, the medical marijuana market is expected to nearly double in the next five years, and that's just in the 15 U.S. states where the drug is legal. If another 20 states pass medical marijuana laws, which projections show is possible, the market could grow to $8.9 billion by 2016.
According to MSNBC:
"The cannabis industry as a whole -- including the underground black market and medical gray market -- generates anywhere from $18 billion to $35.8 billion a year."
In the video above, "Run From the Cure – the Rick Simpson Story," it's suggested that pharmaceutical companies and big business may be withholding a potential cancer cure -- hemp oil -- from the public in the interest of personal profit.
TreeHugger also recently reported on a number of hemp benefits in honor of Hemp History Week, including the fact that hemp seed is an excellent source of protein and has a:
" …perfectly balanced 1:3 ratio of naturally-occurring omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids...unlike other seeds and nutritional oils, such as flax and fish fish oil, hemp seeds also contain super omega-3 stearidonic acid and super omega-6-gamma-linolenic acid in nutritionally relevant amounts that help to reduce inflammation and improve mental functioning, as well as make up for potentially impaired fatty acid metabolism."
They also noted that the reason why industrial hemp cannot be grown in the United States is because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) refuses to acknowledge that hemp is not the same as marijuana. As TreeHugger reported:
"The United States is the only industrialized nation where growing industrial hemp is illegal. And because of that we're missing out on huge economic opportunity …
Apparently even though Canadian cops can tell the difference between high-THC cannabis plants (marijuana) and low-THC plants (industrial hemp), the US DEA can't be bothered."
Sources:
MSNBC March 24, 2011
TreeHugger May 4, 2011
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
the hands of Americans take on new meaning …Cannabis, or as it’s more commonly known marijuana, has been used for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. It’s been heralded as a “cure-all,” revered for its healing properties that not only help relieve pain but also have been highlighted as a potential cancer cure.
Hemp Vs. Marijuana: What’s the Difference?
Before I delve into the intriguing controversy surrounding medical marijuana, it’s important to note that the plants referred to as hemp and marijuana are not the same. Both are members of the Cannabis sativa plant species, but they are two distinct varieties.
Marijuana typically is high in THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) -- the compound responsible for the plant’s notorious psychoactive effect -- and low in CBD (cannabidiol) content. Both THC and CBD are known as cannabinoids, which interact with your body in a unique way I’ll describe later.
What’s interesting, however, is that CBD has been shown to block the effect of THC in the nervous system. So, marijuana plants are typically high in THC and low in CBD, which maximizes their psychoactive effects.
Hemp, on the other hand, is typically high in CBD and low in THC, as it is bred to maximize its fiber, seeds and oil, the items for which it is most commonly used. For more information on the difference between hemp and marijuana, here is a comprehensive article on the topic from the North American Industrial Hemp Council (NAIHC).
Why is it “Illegal” to Grow Hemp in the United States?
Ironically, despite their differences, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies all C. sativa varieties as "marijuana," according to NAIHC.
This is why the United States is the only industrialized nation where growing industrial hemp is illegal. Well, technically it is not illegal, but growing it requires a permit from the DEA – and it is reportedly almost impossible to get one.
This is a shame for a variety of reasons, including:
* Hemp is healthy: Hemp seeds pack a powerful nutritional punch. Two tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds contain about 11 grams of protein and 2 grams of unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. And, as TreeHugger reported , hemp seeds have a “ "perfectly balanced 1:3 ratio of naturally-occurring omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids...unlike other seeds and nutritional oils, such as flax …”
* [WILL HAVE BULLET POINT] Hemp is good for the economy: The total retail value of North American hemp products was valued at around $400 million in 2009, but U.S. farmers are unable to benefit from this since hemp products are imported.
Perhaps soon hemp will become a U.S. product, however, as Ron Paul has once again submitted an official Congressional Record statement calling for the legalization of industrial hemp, You can find out more about the issues surrounding the legalization of hemp at Vote Hemp , a nonprofit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for industrial hemp.
No matter what you call it, cannabis and its range of varieties, including marijuana, is said to be among the safest medicinal substances known, and there are nearly 25 million Americans who have health conditions that medical marijuana could reportedly treat (and this figure only includes those living in states where its use is currently legal), according to The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011 -- yet fewer than 800,000 are taking part.
If marijuana is, in fact, capable of helping heal millions with very few, to no, side effects, why is this not being shouted from the rooftops?
Political Agendas and Red Tape Make Medical Marijuana a Nightmare
Marijuana was a popular botanical medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries, common in U.S. pharmacies of the time. Yet, in 1970, the herb was declared a Schedule 1 controlled substance, labeling it a drug with a “high potential for abuse” and “no accepted medical use.”
Three years later the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was formed to enforce the newly created drug schedules, and the fight against marijuana use began.
The battle that has raged since is a long one, and you can read a brief history of marijuana prohibition in the Huffington Post -- but suffice to say that movements to legalize marijuana have persisted ever since. The most successful to date, and the one that is set to produce the first legal marijuana market in decades, is the medical marijuana movement.
As the State of the Medical Marijuana Markets’ executive summary states:
“Since 1996, marijuana proponents have pushed for individual states to recognize marijuana as a treatment for a range of illnesses. New medical research and changing public opinion have propelled these efforts.
Over the past 15 years, led by California, 15 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted laws permitting some form of marijuana consumption or distribution for medical use. These laws have been adopted by public referendums as well as legislation.”
Despite its legal status, it was common for the DEA to raid medical marijuana suppliers and even arrest patients, up until 2009 when the U.S. Justice Department essentially told federal prosecutors to lay off Americans producing and using medical marijuana in accordance with state laws.
Now in 2011, the report notes that a national market for medical marijuana is worth $1.7 billion -- and could grow to nearly $9 billion in the next five years. Investors are sitting on the sidelines, just waiting for the regulatory smoke to clear.
Many patients, too, are eager to get their hands on what some are calling the “cancer answer.”
Are You Being Kept in the Dark About a Potential Cancer Cure?
If you ask Canadian Rick Simpson, absolutely.
Simpson is the man in the video above who was openly growing hemp in his backyard and using it to produce hemp oil, which he gave, for free, to his friends and family. The oil, Simpson and many others claim, has a remarkable healing effect on countless diseases and conditions, including cancer.
After numerous raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Simpson was forced to seek asylum in another country, but his Web site, Phoenix Tears, still stands. There you can find instructions on how to produce hemp oil, as well as testimonials from people who say the oil has helped them. Mail Online also featured a story of 2-year-old Cash Hyde who was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. His father secretly administered cannabis oil through his son’s feeding tube while he was in the hospital in failing health and the boy experienced a complete turnaround. He has now been declared cancer free.
As Simpson states:
“I have been providing people with instructions on how to make Hemp Oil medicines for about 8 years. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Throughout man’s history hemp has always been known as the most medicinal plant in the world. Even with this knowledge hemp has always been used as a political and religious football.
The current restrictions against hemp were put in place and maintained, not because hemp is evil or harmful, but for big money to make more big money, while we suffer and die needlessly.
Look at a proposal such as this; if we were allowed to grow hemp in our back yards and cure our own illnesses, what do you think the reaction of the pharmaceutical industry would be to such a plan?
Many large pharmaceutical companies that still exist today sold hemp based medicines in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. They knew then what I have recently found out. Hemp oil if produced properly is a cure-all that the pharmaceutical industry can’t patent.”
National Cancer Institute Changes Web Site about Cannabis’ “Anti-Tumor Effect”
In March 2011, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) updated its Web site to include some of the benefits of medical marijuana, reportedly noting:
“The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.”
Being the first federal agency to publicly claim that marijuana may in fact be beneficial -- and possess anti-tumor properties -- it generated significant buzz on the Web. But soon after, NCI quickly changed its tune, editing the anti-tumor reference entirely out of its statement, which now reads:
“The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep. Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.”
NCI then tried to account for its changes by posting this explanation on March 30:
“In light of the attention garnered by the PDQ summary statement on Cannabis and cannabinoids, reviewers for the summary on the PDQ Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Editorial Board reexamined the recently posted statement and decided to change the wording, in order to clarify the meaning that the Board originally intended to convey and to correct several possible misinterpretations.”
It’s a suspicious swap of wording, to say the least, but even more perplexing is why, if anti-tumor effects have been discovered from cannabis -- and they have -- why is this substance not the subject of major research studies?
Why are Medical Marijuana and Hemp Oil NOT Being Studied?
Even a quick review of the data suggests that cannabis deserves more than a passing glance as a potential treatment for various diseases. But in the United States, these studies are not being done.
According to a report by Americans for Safe Access:
“In the past three decades, there has been an explosion of international studies designed to investigate the therapeutic value of cannabis (marijuana).
However, drastic restrictions on research in the U.S. have meant that few clinical trials are being conducted domestically and none are being conducted as part of a sponsor-funded drug development plan aimed at obtaining Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the prescription use of the botanical plant itself.
Meanwhile, research teams in Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Israel, and elsewhere have confirmed - through case studies, basic research, pre-clinical, and preliminary clinical investigations - the medical value of cannabis … “
It is easy to see why drug companies would want no part in funding research studies on a plant that can’t be patented. If they were to discover that it could cure cancer, patients would be able to grow it themselves right in their own backyard … this is not something the pharmaceutical companies would want you to know about.
Simpson, who keep in mind has been giving away hemp oil for free, is so convinced of its usefulness that he states on his Web site:
“When the hemp plant is grown for medicinal use, you now have your own medical system that is much safer and effective than anything our current medical system provides. You still may require a doctor to set your broken leg, but you will no longer need the chemicals they have been pushing upon us. Hemp is medicine for the masses and no one has the right to control its use.”
Of course, in the United States its use is controlled and even those who have a legitimate medical need can have a hard time getting a steady supply. This may change if more research continues to bear out marijuana’s healing properties, but for now even the ability to research the substance is tightly controlled. As the Safe Access report states:
“ … the federal monopoly on the supply of cannabis has fundamentally limited FDA-approved clinical research to investigate its safety and efficacy in controlling symptoms of serious and chronic illnesses.
In the United States, research is stalled, and in some cases blocked, by a complicated federal approval process, restricted access to research-grade cannabis, and the refusal of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to license private production of cannabis for use exclusively in federally approved research.”
This certainly does make the fervent war to keep marijuana out of the hands of Americans take on new meaning …
Violence breaks out as protesters attempt to move into Israel
May 15, 2011
By Sheera Frenkel
JERUSALEM — Violence erupted along three of Israel's land borders Sunday, as Palestinian solidarity protesters attempted to infiltrate Israeli territory.
More than a dozen people were killed when Israeli military forces opened fire on demonstrators who crossed into Israel. Hundreds more were injured in clashes that were condemned by Arab governments across the region.
Palestinians marking the Naqba — or catastrophe — of the establishment of the State of Israel were given unprecedented support this year by tens of thousands of solidarity protesters across the Arab world.
Israeli troops said they defensively opened fire against protesters who marched on Israel's borders from Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when Israeli forces shot at rock-throwing protesters. A spokesman for the Israeli military said that Lebanon's army also opened fire in an attempt to keep protesters away from the border.
Along the Syrian border, thousands of protesters stormed the fence and hundreds burst through, pelting Israeli soldiers with stones. Syrian officials said that four people were killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire at the crowd.
In Gaza, medics reported that 82 protesters were wounded by Israeli gunfire as they attempted to approach the fence that separates the coastal strip from southern Israel.
Israeli officials blamed all of the incidents on "provocation" inspired by Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Arab States were attempting to distract from their own internal problems by drawing attention to the Palestinian nationalist cause.
"We hope the calm and quiet will quickly return. But let nobody be misled: we are determined to defend our borders and sovereignty," Netanyahu added.
Speaking at a televised address to mark Naqba day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that those killed were martyrs to the Palestinian cause.
"Their precious blood will not be wasted. It was spilt for the sake of our nation's freedom," Abbas said.
In the wake of the "Arab Spring" revolutions that have swept across the region, the plight of Palestinians has become a popular cause. As protesters in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan chanted for democratic reforms and elections, side-protests were held for Palestinian statehood.
In Tunis earlier this month, a group of protesters held a demonstration in front of the cities national theater to highlight the issue.
"We have our freedom, now they deserve theirs," said Malek Amou, a 27-year-old blogger who was starting a Facebook page for solidarity protests with the Palestinians.
"Since the Arab Spring there is more solidarity across the Arab world completely. We all want to help each other until we are all free — all our Arab brothers," he said.
In Egypt, thousands turned up at solidarity Naqba protests and attempted to march towards Gaza until they were turned around by the Egyptian military.
Hima Nawoub, a 24-year-old student in Cairo, said that the Palestinian cause had become "central" to young Egyptians since the revolution.
"Suddenly everyone is talking about the Palestinians. I think we are all inspired by our revolution. It has been too long for them under occupation. We want them to have revolution too," she said.
Despite the support from their Arab neighbors, Palestinians remain reluctant to take to the streets en masse.
Hamzi Musla, a 46-year-old shopkeeper in Ramallah said that there were still too many internal problems within Palestinian society.
"First we must be a united force, then we can fight the Israeli occupation. We are currently many different people — not one united person," he said.
He added that his two teenage children were among the protesters in Ramallah.
"They are young and hopeful. I have seen too many disappointments already," he said.
Earlier this month, Palestinian officials announced they had reached a reconciliation agreement between the Fatah government that controls the West Bank, and the Hamas authority that has ruled Gaza since June 2007. While the details of reconciliation have remained unclear, the two sides have pledged to hold elections together.
A spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Sami Abu Zuhri, called Sunday "a turning point in the Israeli-Arab conflict" that proved the Palestinian people had united and that Arabs were committed to ending Israeli occupation.
Source: McClatchy Newspapers
By Sheera Frenkel
JERUSALEM — Violence erupted along three of Israel's land borders Sunday, as Palestinian solidarity protesters attempted to infiltrate Israeli territory.
More than a dozen people were killed when Israeli military forces opened fire on demonstrators who crossed into Israel. Hundreds more were injured in clashes that were condemned by Arab governments across the region.
Palestinians marking the Naqba — or catastrophe — of the establishment of the State of Israel were given unprecedented support this year by tens of thousands of solidarity protesters across the Arab world.
Israeli troops said they defensively opened fire against protesters who marched on Israel's borders from Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when Israeli forces shot at rock-throwing protesters. A spokesman for the Israeli military said that Lebanon's army also opened fire in an attempt to keep protesters away from the border.
Along the Syrian border, thousands of protesters stormed the fence and hundreds burst through, pelting Israeli soldiers with stones. Syrian officials said that four people were killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire at the crowd.
In Gaza, medics reported that 82 protesters were wounded by Israeli gunfire as they attempted to approach the fence that separates the coastal strip from southern Israel.
Israeli officials blamed all of the incidents on "provocation" inspired by Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Arab States were attempting to distract from their own internal problems by drawing attention to the Palestinian nationalist cause.
"We hope the calm and quiet will quickly return. But let nobody be misled: we are determined to defend our borders and sovereignty," Netanyahu added.
Speaking at a televised address to mark Naqba day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that those killed were martyrs to the Palestinian cause.
"Their precious blood will not be wasted. It was spilt for the sake of our nation's freedom," Abbas said.
In the wake of the "Arab Spring" revolutions that have swept across the region, the plight of Palestinians has become a popular cause. As protesters in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan chanted for democratic reforms and elections, side-protests were held for Palestinian statehood.
In Tunis earlier this month, a group of protesters held a demonstration in front of the cities national theater to highlight the issue.
"We have our freedom, now they deserve theirs," said Malek Amou, a 27-year-old blogger who was starting a Facebook page for solidarity protests with the Palestinians.
"Since the Arab Spring there is more solidarity across the Arab world completely. We all want to help each other until we are all free — all our Arab brothers," he said.
In Egypt, thousands turned up at solidarity Naqba protests and attempted to march towards Gaza until they were turned around by the Egyptian military.
Hima Nawoub, a 24-year-old student in Cairo, said that the Palestinian cause had become "central" to young Egyptians since the revolution.
"Suddenly everyone is talking about the Palestinians. I think we are all inspired by our revolution. It has been too long for them under occupation. We want them to have revolution too," she said.
Despite the support from their Arab neighbors, Palestinians remain reluctant to take to the streets en masse.
Hamzi Musla, a 46-year-old shopkeeper in Ramallah said that there were still too many internal problems within Palestinian society.
"First we must be a united force, then we can fight the Israeli occupation. We are currently many different people — not one united person," he said.
He added that his two teenage children were among the protesters in Ramallah.
"They are young and hopeful. I have seen too many disappointments already," he said.
Earlier this month, Palestinian officials announced they had reached a reconciliation agreement between the Fatah government that controls the West Bank, and the Hamas authority that has ruled Gaza since June 2007. While the details of reconciliation have remained unclear, the two sides have pledged to hold elections together.
A spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, Sami Abu Zuhri, called Sunday "a turning point in the Israeli-Arab conflict" that proved the Palestinian people had united and that Arabs were committed to ending Israeli occupation.
Source: McClatchy Newspapers
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Encyclopedia Of The Palestinians: Breifly, Jaffa History
Posted on November 12, 2000
Jaffa
Known in Arabic as Yafa, in Hebrew as Yafo, and in ancient biblical writings as Joppa, Jaffa has been occupied for millennia and conquered by numerous invaders and empires, including Romans, crusaders, Ottomans, Napoleon, the Egyptian campaign of Ibrahim Pasha, the British, and finally, Israel. Along with ACRE, Jaffa was one of Palestine's main two seaports until the twentieth century. It was a trade city of major importance, as well as the traditional point of arrival for first pilgrims and later Jewish immigrants.
Given the city's fertile and irrigated farmland and central location, agriculture and trade were the mainstays of Jaffa's economy. Jaffa was also noted for its large fruit groves, particularly its famous orange groves, home of the renowned Jaffa orange, which was exported throughout the world.
Jaffa's position as Palestine's gateway to the world made it one of the country's most important centers of trade. Trade grew during the Egyptian period, and Jaffa's size and importance grew further as Palestine became increasingly linked with the industrial European economy in the nineteenth century .Importing and exporting were facilitated by the opening of a railroad line to Jerusalem in 1892. After World War I, the railroad line starting in Qantara was extended through Jaffa to Haifa. Jaffa was also a center for fishing and the manufacture of soap and olive oil, as well as benefiting from tourism and pilgrimage.
Jaffa's population began to grow in the nineteenth century, just as its demography began to change. Population increased from 23,000 in 1892 to 70,000 just prior to World War I. Not all of the new inhabitants were Arabs, however. Settlers from the German religious Temple Society movement arrived in 1869. The Roman Catholic Franciscan Order built a monastery on the site of the citadel, and French and Italian merchants began arriving as trade with Europe expanded. Beginning around 1841, Sephardic Jews from North Africa began settling in Jaffa as well. They were joined by European Jews from the 1880s. Despite the establishment of the all-Jewish city of Tel Aviv in 1909 just to the north of Jaffa, Jaffa's Jewish population continued to grow.
Jaffa was also one of the main cultural centers for Palestinians. Its writers made important contributions to the Palestinian literary movement, and most of the country's Arabic newspapers were published there.
The PALESTINE MANDATE and the Palestinian Zionist conflict affected Jaffa's fortunes considerably. The city's population grew from 47,000 in 1922 to some 94,000 in 1944 (of whom 28,000 were Jews). But because of the 1936 general strike in the Palestinian sector, Haifa and Tel Aviv quickly eclipsed Jaffa in its role as the main port in Palestine, despite the opening of Jaffa's harbor that year. 'the city was also affected by the rising nationalist tensions between Jews and Palestinians, especially given the fact that Jaffa was the main port of entry for Jewish immigrants. Intercommunal violence escalated into general violence in April 1921. In June 1936, large parts of the old city were demolished by the British in the midst of the general strike.
In April 1948, during the ARAB-ISRAELI WAR OF 1948, Jaffa was attacked by Irgun and Haganah forces; it surrendered on May 13. After a mass exodus, only some 3,600 of its Palestinian inhabitants remained in the city by the end of 1948. The decline of Jaffa thereafter was signified by its merger with Tel Aviv and the establishment of a joint municipality .
Michael R. Fischbach
The above was quoted from Encyclopedia Of The Palestinians edited by Philip Mattar
Source: www. palestineremembered
Link: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jaffa/Jaffa/Story160.html
Jaffa
Known in Arabic as Yafa, in Hebrew as Yafo, and in ancient biblical writings as Joppa, Jaffa has been occupied for millennia and conquered by numerous invaders and empires, including Romans, crusaders, Ottomans, Napoleon, the Egyptian campaign of Ibrahim Pasha, the British, and finally, Israel. Along with ACRE, Jaffa was one of Palestine's main two seaports until the twentieth century. It was a trade city of major importance, as well as the traditional point of arrival for first pilgrims and later Jewish immigrants.
Given the city's fertile and irrigated farmland and central location, agriculture and trade were the mainstays of Jaffa's economy. Jaffa was also noted for its large fruit groves, particularly its famous orange groves, home of the renowned Jaffa orange, which was exported throughout the world.
Jaffa's position as Palestine's gateway to the world made it one of the country's most important centers of trade. Trade grew during the Egyptian period, and Jaffa's size and importance grew further as Palestine became increasingly linked with the industrial European economy in the nineteenth century .Importing and exporting were facilitated by the opening of a railroad line to Jerusalem in 1892. After World War I, the railroad line starting in Qantara was extended through Jaffa to Haifa. Jaffa was also a center for fishing and the manufacture of soap and olive oil, as well as benefiting from tourism and pilgrimage.
Jaffa's population began to grow in the nineteenth century, just as its demography began to change. Population increased from 23,000 in 1892 to 70,000 just prior to World War I. Not all of the new inhabitants were Arabs, however. Settlers from the German religious Temple Society movement arrived in 1869. The Roman Catholic Franciscan Order built a monastery on the site of the citadel, and French and Italian merchants began arriving as trade with Europe expanded. Beginning around 1841, Sephardic Jews from North Africa began settling in Jaffa as well. They were joined by European Jews from the 1880s. Despite the establishment of the all-Jewish city of Tel Aviv in 1909 just to the north of Jaffa, Jaffa's Jewish population continued to grow.
Jaffa was also one of the main cultural centers for Palestinians. Its writers made important contributions to the Palestinian literary movement, and most of the country's Arabic newspapers were published there.
The PALESTINE MANDATE and the Palestinian Zionist conflict affected Jaffa's fortunes considerably. The city's population grew from 47,000 in 1922 to some 94,000 in 1944 (of whom 28,000 were Jews). But because of the 1936 general strike in the Palestinian sector, Haifa and Tel Aviv quickly eclipsed Jaffa in its role as the main port in Palestine, despite the opening of Jaffa's harbor that year. 'the city was also affected by the rising nationalist tensions between Jews and Palestinians, especially given the fact that Jaffa was the main port of entry for Jewish immigrants. Intercommunal violence escalated into general violence in April 1921. In June 1936, large parts of the old city were demolished by the British in the midst of the general strike.
In April 1948, during the ARAB-ISRAELI WAR OF 1948, Jaffa was attacked by Irgun and Haganah forces; it surrendered on May 13. After a mass exodus, only some 3,600 of its Palestinian inhabitants remained in the city by the end of 1948. The decline of Jaffa thereafter was signified by its merger with Tel Aviv and the establishment of a joint municipality .
Michael R. Fischbach
The above was quoted from Encyclopedia Of The Palestinians edited by Philip Mattar
Source: www. palestineremembered
Link: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jaffa/Jaffa/Story160.html
Palestinian History, A Chronology
....
638
Arabs under the Caliph 'Umar capture Palestine from Byzantines.
661-750
Umayyad caliphs rule Palestine from Damascus. Dynasty descended from Umayya of Meccan tribe of Quraysh. Construction of Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by Caliph 'Abd al-Malik (685-705). Construction of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by Caliph al-Walid I (705-715).
750-1258
'Abbasid caliphs rule Palestine from Iraq. Dynasty, founded by Abu al-' Abbas al-Saffah, who is descended from' Abbas, uncle of the Prophet.
969
Fatimid dynasty, claiming descent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima and her cousin 'Ali, rule Palestine from Egypt. They proclaim themselves caliphs in rivalry to the' Abbasids.
1071
Saljuqs, originally from Isfahan, capture Jerusalem and parts of Palestine, which remains officially within the 'Abbasid Empire.
1099-1187
Crusaders establish the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1187
Kurdish general Saladin (Salah al-Din who was born in Takrit northern Iraq, the birth place of Saddam Hussein too), son of Ayyub, the sultan of Mosul, defeats Crusaders at Hittin in northern Palestine and recaptures Jerusalem. The Ayyubid dynasty rules Palestine from Cairo.
1260
Mamluks succeed Ayyubids, ruling Palestine from Cairo; defeat Mongols at Battle of 'Ayn Jalut near Nazareth.
1291
Mamluks capture final Crusader strongholds of Acre and Caesarea.
1516-1917
Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with its capital in Istanbul.
1832-1840
Muhammad 'Ali Pasha of Egypt occupies Palestine. Ottomans subsequently reassert their rule.
1876-1877
Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem attend the first Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul, elected under a new Ottoman Constitution.
1878
The first modern Zionist agricultural settlement of Petach Tiqwa established (click here to learn more about Zionist and its impact on the Palestinian people).
1882-1903
First wave of 25,000 Zionist immigrants enters Palestine, coming mainly from eastern Europe.
1882
Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris starts financial backing for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
1887-1888
Palestine divided by Ottomans into the districts (sanjaks) of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. The first was attached directly to Istanbul, the others to the wilayet of Beirut.
1896
Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and writer, publishes Der Judenstaat, advocating establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
1896
Jewish Colonization Association, founded in 1891 in London by German Baron Maurice de Hirsch, starts aiding Zionist settlements in Palestine.
1897
First Zionist Congress in Switzerland issues the Basle Program calling for the establishment of a "home for the Jewish people in Palestine." It also establishes the World Zionist Organization (WZO) to work to that end.
Back To Top
1900 - 1918
1901
Jewish National Fund (JNF) set up by fifth Zionist Congress in Basle to acquire land for WZO; land acquired by JNF to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labor to be employed on it, click here to read to Zionist apartheid & racist quotes.
1904-1914
Second wave of about 40,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to about 6% of total. Since the inception of Zionism it has been claiming that Palestinian was an empty country, click here to read our rebuttal to this argument.
1909
Establishment of the first kibbutz, based exclusively on Jewish labor. Tel Aviv founded north of Jaffa.
1914
World War I starts.
1916
30 January
Husayn-McMahon correspondence between Sharif Husayn of Mecca (leader of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans) and Sir Henry McMahon (British High Commissioner of Egypt) ends in agreement for postwar independence and unity of Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire.
16 May
Sykes-Picot Agreement secretly signed, dividing Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. Agreement revealed by Bolsheviks in December 1917.
June
Sharif Husayn proclaims Arab independence from Ottomans. Arab Revolt against Istanbul begins.
1917
2 November
Balfour Declaration. British Secretary of State Balfour pledges British support for "a Jewish national home in Palestine."
1918
September
Palestine occupied by Allied forces under British General Allenby.
30 October
World War I ends.
Back To Top
1919 - 1922
1919-1923
Third wave of over 35,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to 12% of total. Registered Jewish landownership (1923) totals 3% of area of country.
1919
27 January-10 February
First Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem sends memoranda to Paris Peace Conference rejecting Balfour Declaration and demanding independence.
28 August
Paris Peace Conference sends Commission of Inquiry to Near East, led by U.S. commission members Henry C. King and Charles Crane. England and France decline to participate. Commission recommends "serious modification" of idea of "making Palestine distinctly a Jewish Commonwealth."
1920
April
Disturbances in Palestine; 5 Jews killed, 200 wounded. British appoint Palin Commission of Inquiry .Commission report attributes troubles to none fulfillment of promises of Arab independence and fear of political and economic consequences of Zionism.
25 April
Palestine Mandate assigned to Britain by Supreme Council of San Remo Peace Conference.
May
British prevent Second Palestinian National Congress from convening.
1 July
High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, an Anglo-Jewish politician, inaugurates British civilian administration.
December
Third Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Haifa, elects Executive Committee, which remains in control of Palestinian political movement from 1920 to 1935.
1921
March
Founding of the Haganah, the Zionists' illegal underground military organization.
1 May
Disturbances in Jaffa protesting large-scale Zionist immigration; 46 Jews killed, 146 wounded. British Haycraft Commission of Inquiry (October) attributes disturbances to fears of Zionist mass immigration.
8 May
Haj Amin al-Husayni appointed Multi of Jerusalem.
May-June
Fourth Palestinian National Congress, convening in Jerusalem, decides to send a Palestinian delegation to London to explain the Palestinian case against the Balfour Declaration.
1922
3 June
British colonial secretary Winston Churchill issues White Paper excluding Transjordan from scope of Balfour Declaration. Ignoring political criteria, White Paper authorizes Jewish immigration according to "economic absorptive capacity" of the country.
24 July
League of Nations Council approves Mandate for Palestine.
August
Fifth Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Nablus, agrees to economic boycott of Zionists (see 1901 entry on JNF).
October
First British census of Palestine shows population of 757,182 -78% Muslim Arab, 11% Jewish, 9.6% Christian Arab. It is often claimed that Palestine was empty until Zionist Jews made the Palestinian desert bloom, click here to read our response to this argument.
...
638
Arabs under the Caliph 'Umar capture Palestine from Byzantines.
661-750
Umayyad caliphs rule Palestine from Damascus. Dynasty descended from Umayya of Meccan tribe of Quraysh. Construction of Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by Caliph 'Abd al-Malik (685-705). Construction of al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by Caliph al-Walid I (705-715).
750-1258
'Abbasid caliphs rule Palestine from Iraq. Dynasty, founded by Abu al-' Abbas al-Saffah, who is descended from' Abbas, uncle of the Prophet.
969
Fatimid dynasty, claiming descent from the Prophet's daughter Fatima and her cousin 'Ali, rule Palestine from Egypt. They proclaim themselves caliphs in rivalry to the' Abbasids.
1071
Saljuqs, originally from Isfahan, capture Jerusalem and parts of Palestine, which remains officially within the 'Abbasid Empire.
1099-1187
Crusaders establish the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
1187
Kurdish general Saladin (Salah al-Din who was born in Takrit northern Iraq, the birth place of Saddam Hussein too), son of Ayyub, the sultan of Mosul, defeats Crusaders at Hittin in northern Palestine and recaptures Jerusalem. The Ayyubid dynasty rules Palestine from Cairo.
1260
Mamluks succeed Ayyubids, ruling Palestine from Cairo; defeat Mongols at Battle of 'Ayn Jalut near Nazareth.
1291
Mamluks capture final Crusader strongholds of Acre and Caesarea.
1516-1917
Palestine incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with its capital in Istanbul.
1832-1840
Muhammad 'Ali Pasha of Egypt occupies Palestine. Ottomans subsequently reassert their rule.
1876-1877
Palestinian deputies from Jerusalem attend the first Ottoman Parliament in Istanbul, elected under a new Ottoman Constitution.
1878
The first modern Zionist agricultural settlement of Petach Tiqwa established (click here to learn more about Zionist and its impact on the Palestinian people).
1882-1903
First wave of 25,000 Zionist immigrants enters Palestine, coming mainly from eastern Europe.
1882
Baron Edmond de Rothschild of Paris starts financial backing for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
1887-1888
Palestine divided by Ottomans into the districts (sanjaks) of Jerusalem, Nablus, and Acre. The first was attached directly to Istanbul, the others to the wilayet of Beirut.
1896
Theodor Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and writer, publishes Der Judenstaat, advocating establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine or elsewhere.
1896
Jewish Colonization Association, founded in 1891 in London by German Baron Maurice de Hirsch, starts aiding Zionist settlements in Palestine.
1897
First Zionist Congress in Switzerland issues the Basle Program calling for the establishment of a "home for the Jewish people in Palestine." It also establishes the World Zionist Organization (WZO) to work to that end.
Back To Top
1900 - 1918
1901
Jewish National Fund (JNF) set up by fifth Zionist Congress in Basle to acquire land for WZO; land acquired by JNF to be inalienably Jewish, and exclusively Jewish labor to be employed on it, click here to read to Zionist apartheid & racist quotes.
1904-1914
Second wave of about 40,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to about 6% of total. Since the inception of Zionism it has been claiming that Palestinian was an empty country, click here to read our rebuttal to this argument.
1909
Establishment of the first kibbutz, based exclusively on Jewish labor. Tel Aviv founded north of Jaffa.
1914
World War I starts.
1916
30 January
Husayn-McMahon correspondence between Sharif Husayn of Mecca (leader of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans) and Sir Henry McMahon (British High Commissioner of Egypt) ends in agreement for postwar independence and unity of Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire.
16 May
Sykes-Picot Agreement secretly signed, dividing Arab provinces of Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. Agreement revealed by Bolsheviks in December 1917.
June
Sharif Husayn proclaims Arab independence from Ottomans. Arab Revolt against Istanbul begins.
1917
2 November
Balfour Declaration. British Secretary of State Balfour pledges British support for "a Jewish national home in Palestine."
1918
September
Palestine occupied by Allied forces under British General Allenby.
30 October
World War I ends.
Back To Top
1919 - 1922
1919-1923
Third wave of over 35,000 Zionist immigrants increases Jewish population in Palestine to 12% of total. Registered Jewish landownership (1923) totals 3% of area of country.
1919
27 January-10 February
First Palestinian National Congress in Jerusalem sends memoranda to Paris Peace Conference rejecting Balfour Declaration and demanding independence.
28 August
Paris Peace Conference sends Commission of Inquiry to Near East, led by U.S. commission members Henry C. King and Charles Crane. England and France decline to participate. Commission recommends "serious modification" of idea of "making Palestine distinctly a Jewish Commonwealth."
1920
April
Disturbances in Palestine; 5 Jews killed, 200 wounded. British appoint Palin Commission of Inquiry .Commission report attributes troubles to none fulfillment of promises of Arab independence and fear of political and economic consequences of Zionism.
25 April
Palestine Mandate assigned to Britain by Supreme Council of San Remo Peace Conference.
May
British prevent Second Palestinian National Congress from convening.
1 July
High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, an Anglo-Jewish politician, inaugurates British civilian administration.
December
Third Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Haifa, elects Executive Committee, which remains in control of Palestinian political movement from 1920 to 1935.
1921
March
Founding of the Haganah, the Zionists' illegal underground military organization.
1 May
Disturbances in Jaffa protesting large-scale Zionist immigration; 46 Jews killed, 146 wounded. British Haycraft Commission of Inquiry (October) attributes disturbances to fears of Zionist mass immigration.
8 May
Haj Amin al-Husayni appointed Multi of Jerusalem.
May-June
Fourth Palestinian National Congress, convening in Jerusalem, decides to send a Palestinian delegation to London to explain the Palestinian case against the Balfour Declaration.
1922
3 June
British colonial secretary Winston Churchill issues White Paper excluding Transjordan from scope of Balfour Declaration. Ignoring political criteria, White Paper authorizes Jewish immigration according to "economic absorptive capacity" of the country.
24 July
League of Nations Council approves Mandate for Palestine.
August
Fifth Palestinian National Congress, meeting in Nablus, agrees to economic boycott of Zionists (see 1901 entry on JNF).
October
First British census of Palestine shows population of 757,182 -78% Muslim Arab, 11% Jewish, 9.6% Christian Arab. It is often claimed that Palestine was empty until Zionist Jews made the Palestinian desert bloom, click here to read our response to this argument.
...
Settlers use tourism to draw Israelis to West Bank
May 6, 2011
By TIA GOLDENBERG
The Associated Press
PSAGOT, West Bank — Perched atop a West Bank hill, the Binyamin region visitors center invites travelers to look past the military jeeps patrolling the surrounding area and enjoy nature, archaeological sites and bucolic vineyards.
Jewish settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state. Proponents hope that drawing visitors will help increase support for retaining the territory, while critics say the tourism campaign, like Jewish settlements, is a foothold that stands in the way of making peace.
The Binyamin region — named for the Hebrew tribe of Benjamin, thought to have lived here in biblical times — is a short drive from population centers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; its boosters call it "the heart of Israel." Ancient ruins and wine routes line the roads here leading to the Jewish settlements and Palestinian villages that exist, uneasily, side by side.
The visitors center was established last August in response to an increase in visitors to the region and with hopes of drawing more, manager Yaela Briner said. Since then, Briner said some 5,000 tourists have passed through, half of them Israelis.
Some of the 300,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank are looking to tourism as a way to help normalize Israel's hold on the territory it captured in 1967. They tout the region's proximity to urban centers, its biblical history and its idyllic scenery as a way to paint a positive picture for Israelis who might frown upon Israel's settlement enterprise, the country's most divisive political issue.
"We have a moral interest for Judea and Samaria to be toured by Israelis who for various reasons still don't see it as a place to tour," said Dani Dayan, head of a settler umbrella group, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
Attacks against Israelis still occur in the West Bank. Most recently, Palestinian militants stabbed five family members to death in their homes in an isolated settlement.
Still, the relative calm of recent years has made tourism a possibility. The area offers a plethora of sites, many of them of biblical significance. The settlement of Shilo, for instance, was a stopping point for the biblical Tabernacle before it went to Jerusalem.
Natural springs and reserves dot the region and boutique wineries are popping up, attracting both religious and secular Jews. While no records are kept as to how many Israelis visit the West Bank, settlers say the numbers are growing, spurred by an aggressive marketing campaign.
Settler representatives attend tourism fairs and extol the wonders of the region to travel agents. They have launched campaigns targeting Israelis, appealing to the West Bank's Jewish history. One project titled "Every Jew's Story" had billboards up in cities across Israel, depicting grinning children dressed as famous biblical characters, urging Israelis to return to their roots with a visit to the West Bank and offering tours to different sites.
For those Israelis uninspired by the biblical connection, settlers have appealed to adventure-seekers by installing a 400-yard (meter)-long zipline, or to nature-lovers with greater access to springs. The Binyamin visitors center tailors its tours to the interests of the traveler, focusing on history, wine or nature.
The settlers might be inspired by the example of the Golan Heights, an area Israel captured from Syria in 1967. The nature reserves and wineries of the Golan have made it a major tourist draw, and polls show a majority of Israelis oppose a withdrawal there.
The Golan has been largely quiet for the past four decades, but the volatile West Bank does not occupy a similar place in the Israeli consensus. Polls show a majority of Israelis would cede most or all the area in return for peace.
The Israeli government has also taken steps to promote tourism in the West Bank, offering to protect certain historical sites there and pledging to send schoolchildren on field trips to a disputed holy site in Hebron, one of the West Bank's most explosive flashpoints.
"They want people to think it's normal there, that it's legitimate to travel there," said Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now. "They want people to think that those areas are part of Israel," though it has never annexed the West Bank.
On a recent rainy morning, a handful of Israeli visitors meandered around the Inn of the Good Samaritan, a museum housing dozens of archaeological artifacts from around the West Bank.
Shoshi Leibovich, a secular Jew visiting from nearby Jerusalem, said she seldom travels to the West Bank but was drawn by its tourist attractions.
"Judea and Samaria is where our forefathers lived. It's interesting. It doesn't need to be political," she said, peering at a mosaic extracted from an ancient synagogue floor.
Tourist infrastructure has expanded in order to accommodate those visitors, said Dror Etkes, an anti-settlement activist, pointing to a soon to be opened holistic healing retreat nestled between desert hills near the biblical town of Jericho. Alongside the red-tiled roofs of scattered West Bank settlements are a growing number of inns and restaurants — all which eat into land desired by the Palestinians as part of a future state.
Palestinians say promoting tourism in the West Bank complicates any future peace making.
"It consolidates the occupation and consolidates settler presence in the West Bank," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khattib.
The Israeli Tourism Ministry said it doesn't actively promote the West Bank region as a tourist destination for Israelis, though Christian pilgrims around the world frequently head to the Jordan River for baptism ceremonies.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel supports maintaining historical sites in the West Bank because "irrespective of one's political perspective, the fact is these are sites that are of great importance historically and culturally."
___
By TIA GOLDENBERG
The Associated Press
PSAGOT, West Bank — Perched atop a West Bank hill, the Binyamin region visitors center invites travelers to look past the military jeeps patrolling the surrounding area and enjoy nature, archaeological sites and bucolic vineyards.
Jewish settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state. Proponents hope that drawing visitors will help increase support for retaining the territory, while critics say the tourism campaign, like Jewish settlements, is a foothold that stands in the way of making peace.
The Binyamin region — named for the Hebrew tribe of Benjamin, thought to have lived here in biblical times — is a short drive from population centers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; its boosters call it "the heart of Israel." Ancient ruins and wine routes line the roads here leading to the Jewish settlements and Palestinian villages that exist, uneasily, side by side.
The visitors center was established last August in response to an increase in visitors to the region and with hopes of drawing more, manager Yaela Briner said. Since then, Briner said some 5,000 tourists have passed through, half of them Israelis.
Some of the 300,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank are looking to tourism as a way to help normalize Israel's hold on the territory it captured in 1967. They tout the region's proximity to urban centers, its biblical history and its idyllic scenery as a way to paint a positive picture for Israelis who might frown upon Israel's settlement enterprise, the country's most divisive political issue.
"We have a moral interest for Judea and Samaria to be toured by Israelis who for various reasons still don't see it as a place to tour," said Dani Dayan, head of a settler umbrella group, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
Attacks against Israelis still occur in the West Bank. Most recently, Palestinian militants stabbed five family members to death in their homes in an isolated settlement.
Still, the relative calm of recent years has made tourism a possibility. The area offers a plethora of sites, many of them of biblical significance. The settlement of Shilo, for instance, was a stopping point for the biblical Tabernacle before it went to Jerusalem.
Natural springs and reserves dot the region and boutique wineries are popping up, attracting both religious and secular Jews. While no records are kept as to how many Israelis visit the West Bank, settlers say the numbers are growing, spurred by an aggressive marketing campaign.
Settler representatives attend tourism fairs and extol the wonders of the region to travel agents. They have launched campaigns targeting Israelis, appealing to the West Bank's Jewish history. One project titled "Every Jew's Story" had billboards up in cities across Israel, depicting grinning children dressed as famous biblical characters, urging Israelis to return to their roots with a visit to the West Bank and offering tours to different sites.
For those Israelis uninspired by the biblical connection, settlers have appealed to adventure-seekers by installing a 400-yard (meter)-long zipline, or to nature-lovers with greater access to springs. The Binyamin visitors center tailors its tours to the interests of the traveler, focusing on history, wine or nature.
The settlers might be inspired by the example of the Golan Heights, an area Israel captured from Syria in 1967. The nature reserves and wineries of the Golan have made it a major tourist draw, and polls show a majority of Israelis oppose a withdrawal there.
The Golan has been largely quiet for the past four decades, but the volatile West Bank does not occupy a similar place in the Israeli consensus. Polls show a majority of Israelis would cede most or all the area in return for peace.
The Israeli government has also taken steps to promote tourism in the West Bank, offering to protect certain historical sites there and pledging to send schoolchildren on field trips to a disputed holy site in Hebron, one of the West Bank's most explosive flashpoints.
"They want people to think it's normal there, that it's legitimate to travel there," said Hagit Ofran, of the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now. "They want people to think that those areas are part of Israel," though it has never annexed the West Bank.
On a recent rainy morning, a handful of Israeli visitors meandered around the Inn of the Good Samaritan, a museum housing dozens of archaeological artifacts from around the West Bank.
Shoshi Leibovich, a secular Jew visiting from nearby Jerusalem, said she seldom travels to the West Bank but was drawn by its tourist attractions.
"Judea and Samaria is where our forefathers lived. It's interesting. It doesn't need to be political," she said, peering at a mosaic extracted from an ancient synagogue floor.
Tourist infrastructure has expanded in order to accommodate those visitors, said Dror Etkes, an anti-settlement activist, pointing to a soon to be opened holistic healing retreat nestled between desert hills near the biblical town of Jericho. Alongside the red-tiled roofs of scattered West Bank settlements are a growing number of inns and restaurants — all which eat into land desired by the Palestinians as part of a future state.
Palestinians say promoting tourism in the West Bank complicates any future peace making.
"It consolidates the occupation and consolidates settler presence in the West Bank," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khattib.
The Israeli Tourism Ministry said it doesn't actively promote the West Bank region as a tourist destination for Israelis, though Christian pilgrims around the world frequently head to the Jordan River for baptism ceremonies.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel supports maintaining historical sites in the West Bank because "irrespective of one's political perspective, the fact is these are sites that are of great importance historically and culturally."
___
Syrian troops said to enter northern Lebanon; Muslim Brotherhood issues statement
May 2, 2011
NICOSIA — The Syrian Army has begun to enter neighboring Lebanon as part of efforts to quell the revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Opposition sources said Syrian troops have been seen in northern Lebanon in pursuit of alleged Islamic insurgents. They said the Syrian Army has been deployed on both sides of the border in an effort to stop people from fleeing to Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood issued a rare statement: "You were born free, so don't let a tyrant enslave you."
"Syrians escaping oppression in Latakia and Banias are heading to Wadi Khalid considered a no-man's land in Lebanon," the opposition Reform Party of Syria said.
The Washington-based RPS did not say how many Syrians fled to northern Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported. But the opposition group said Syrian troops already entered the territory of their eastern neighbor in search for anti-Assad activists.
"Unless the Lebanese media heads to the region to cover why the Syrian army is on Lebanese soil, RPS expects a large scale massacre in this remote region," the opposition group, regarded as authoritative, said.
This was believed to have marked the first Syrian Army incursion into Lebanon since Assad's troops withdrew from that country in 2005. Damascus retains a huge intelligence presence among the more than 1.2 million Syrian laborers in Lebanon.
The Assad regime has confirmed that the Army was searching border areas for what it called "armed terrorist gangs." Officials said Syrian troops were hunting for anti-Assad fighters along the borders of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. They said a Syrian Army outpost near the Jordanian border was captured by unidentified fighters.
"We stress that the number of the Army and police martyrs reached 78, and the number of civilians reached 70 since the eruption of the mercenary violence that targeted the safety of citizens and homeland," a Syrian military source told the official Sana news agency.
The revolt has spread to most major cities in Syria but appeared strongest in Dera, near the Jordanian border, where thousands of Syrian troops and scores of main battle tanks were deployed. Nearly 300 people have been killed by Syrian Army and police fire in Dera since March.
NICOSIA — The Syrian Army has begun to enter neighboring Lebanon as part of efforts to quell the revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Opposition sources said Syrian troops have been seen in northern Lebanon in pursuit of alleged Islamic insurgents. They said the Syrian Army has been deployed on both sides of the border in an effort to stop people from fleeing to Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood issued a rare statement: "You were born free, so don't let a tyrant enslave you."
"Syrians escaping oppression in Latakia and Banias are heading to Wadi Khalid considered a no-man's land in Lebanon," the opposition Reform Party of Syria said.
The Washington-based RPS did not say how many Syrians fled to northern Lebanon, Middle East Newsline reported. But the opposition group said Syrian troops already entered the territory of their eastern neighbor in search for anti-Assad activists.
"Unless the Lebanese media heads to the region to cover why the Syrian army is on Lebanese soil, RPS expects a large scale massacre in this remote region," the opposition group, regarded as authoritative, said.
This was believed to have marked the first Syrian Army incursion into Lebanon since Assad's troops withdrew from that country in 2005. Damascus retains a huge intelligence presence among the more than 1.2 million Syrian laborers in Lebanon.
The Assad regime has confirmed that the Army was searching border areas for what it called "armed terrorist gangs." Officials said Syrian troops were hunting for anti-Assad fighters along the borders of Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. They said a Syrian Army outpost near the Jordanian border was captured by unidentified fighters.
"We stress that the number of the Army and police martyrs reached 78, and the number of civilians reached 70 since the eruption of the mercenary violence that targeted the safety of citizens and homeland," a Syrian military source told the official Sana news agency.
The revolt has spread to most major cities in Syria but appeared strongest in Dera, near the Jordanian border, where thousands of Syrian troops and scores of main battle tanks were deployed. Nearly 300 people have been killed by Syrian Army and police fire in Dera since March.
Eight-month tour an eye-opening trip
May 06, 2011
By Lou Mumford | Mum's the Word
BRIDGMAN - Peace in the Middle East? Certainly, it would be a welcome breakthrough, but it's safe to say it's not on the immediate horizon.
Advised that it may not even be on the future horizon, Bill Cotter, a 23-year-old college student who lives in Bridgman and who just returned from an eight-month tour of the Middle East, said that doesn't mean it's a lost cause. It's his hope, he said, that Palestinians at least are one day able to enjoy the same rights as people in the United States.
"I personally think I won't see it in my lifetime probably," he said. "The most striking thing to me was meeting these people (Palestinians) who are screaming at the top of their lungs for us to hear them but we're really not listening.
"They're doing a lot of amazing work. They want to see a non-violent solution to this. Nobody wants to live under that."
Separation barrier
Cotter said he personally witnessed some of the hardships Palestinians live under, largely as the result of Israeli settlers who seem to have the upper hand even in Palestinian territories. There's even a wall, twice the size of the Berlin Wall in some places, that the Israeli government installed in 1997 separating the West Bank from Israel, he said.
One side of the barrier, referred to by some Palestinians as the "Apartheid Wall," is governed by the Palestinian Authority but the other side is under Israeli military control. Palestinians there, Cotter said, are forced to contend with extended curfews, harassment and the forced closure of their businesses.
"To go to Jerusalem, I had to go through a checkpoint to get there," Cotter said.
A senior when he returns in August to Georgia State University in Atlanta, Cotter, a 2006 graduate of Bridgman High School, said he's majoring in Middle Eastern studies and is able to speak Arabic through earlier college classes. His eight-month trip to the Middle East, he said, was financed through student loans.
He said he spent all but two of those eight months in Birzeit near Ramallah in the Palestinian territories, allowing him to attend Birzeit University so he could learn about the political situation there. His intent also, he said, was to learn the dialect of Arabic that's spoken there.
Non-violent protests
At the university, he lived with about 40 other international students, some of whom, like Cotter, took part in non-violent marches to protest the treatment of Palestinians.
"We don't hear about those movements here ... but the Egyptian revolution was almost entirely non-violent," he said.
The politics of the region are complicated, made even more so by Palestinian factions such as Hamas and Fatah. Cotter said it appears from a recent reconciliation agreement, however, that at least those two factions may be able to settle their differences.
"There are over 100 Palestinian political parties and they all want a voice," he said.
A social political problem
Although many seem to think religion is the root of the bad blood between Israel and Palestine, Cotter said it's more of a social political problem.
"People lived side by side as recently as the 1930s, then Israel declared statehood and 750,000 people were pushed out of their homes," he said.
Many homes formerly occupied by Palestinians remain empty, either from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War or the later Six-Day War. Cotter said many of those who were dislodged still live in poorly constructed, overcrowded refugee camps in the West Bank.
"The one in Jenin, I could walk down the street and stretch out my arms and touch houses on either side of me. There are 10,000 people in a quarter square mile of land," he said. "There's trash everywhere and ... there's no place for kids to play. There's education (in schools operated by the United Nations) but think of the state of Michigan's budget cuts and multiply that by 10,000. That's how bad it is."
Yet another refugee camp near Bethlehem has 12,000 refugees and just one United Nations doctor, he said.
During his tour, Cotter said a bus was bombed in Jerusalem and a family of five living in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank was murdered. No one claimed responsibility for either incident, he said, adding Palestinians he talked to argued their people could not have been responsible for the killings.
"They said they don't kill children, that their bone to pick is with the Israeli government," he said.
He was moved by the spirit of the Palestinians, he said.
"They want to be treated like human beings and they're not ... But they have a surprisingly positive attitude. They emphasize family and their communities," he said. "It made me appreciate my family and my friends more."
Cotter also visited Egypt and Jordan, keeping a daily journal that now comprises 540 pages and three volumes. Once he makes copies, he'll make it available for a small fee.
"I want to encourage discussion about the situation over there," he said.
Source:SouthBendTribune.com
Link: http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-05-06/news/29519118_1_ramallah-palestinian-factions-bill-cotter.
By Lou Mumford | Mum's the Word
BRIDGMAN - Peace in the Middle East? Certainly, it would be a welcome breakthrough, but it's safe to say it's not on the immediate horizon.
Advised that it may not even be on the future horizon, Bill Cotter, a 23-year-old college student who lives in Bridgman and who just returned from an eight-month tour of the Middle East, said that doesn't mean it's a lost cause. It's his hope, he said, that Palestinians at least are one day able to enjoy the same rights as people in the United States.
"I personally think I won't see it in my lifetime probably," he said. "The most striking thing to me was meeting these people (Palestinians) who are screaming at the top of their lungs for us to hear them but we're really not listening.
"They're doing a lot of amazing work. They want to see a non-violent solution to this. Nobody wants to live under that."
Separation barrier
Cotter said he personally witnessed some of the hardships Palestinians live under, largely as the result of Israeli settlers who seem to have the upper hand even in Palestinian territories. There's even a wall, twice the size of the Berlin Wall in some places, that the Israeli government installed in 1997 separating the West Bank from Israel, he said.
One side of the barrier, referred to by some Palestinians as the "Apartheid Wall," is governed by the Palestinian Authority but the other side is under Israeli military control. Palestinians there, Cotter said, are forced to contend with extended curfews, harassment and the forced closure of their businesses.
"To go to Jerusalem, I had to go through a checkpoint to get there," Cotter said.
A senior when he returns in August to Georgia State University in Atlanta, Cotter, a 2006 graduate of Bridgman High School, said he's majoring in Middle Eastern studies and is able to speak Arabic through earlier college classes. His eight-month trip to the Middle East, he said, was financed through student loans.
He said he spent all but two of those eight months in Birzeit near Ramallah in the Palestinian territories, allowing him to attend Birzeit University so he could learn about the political situation there. His intent also, he said, was to learn the dialect of Arabic that's spoken there.
Non-violent protests
At the university, he lived with about 40 other international students, some of whom, like Cotter, took part in non-violent marches to protest the treatment of Palestinians.
"We don't hear about those movements here ... but the Egyptian revolution was almost entirely non-violent," he said.
The politics of the region are complicated, made even more so by Palestinian factions such as Hamas and Fatah. Cotter said it appears from a recent reconciliation agreement, however, that at least those two factions may be able to settle their differences.
"There are over 100 Palestinian political parties and they all want a voice," he said.
A social political problem
Although many seem to think religion is the root of the bad blood between Israel and Palestine, Cotter said it's more of a social political problem.
"People lived side by side as recently as the 1930s, then Israel declared statehood and 750,000 people were pushed out of their homes," he said.
Many homes formerly occupied by Palestinians remain empty, either from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War or the later Six-Day War. Cotter said many of those who were dislodged still live in poorly constructed, overcrowded refugee camps in the West Bank.
"The one in Jenin, I could walk down the street and stretch out my arms and touch houses on either side of me. There are 10,000 people in a quarter square mile of land," he said. "There's trash everywhere and ... there's no place for kids to play. There's education (in schools operated by the United Nations) but think of the state of Michigan's budget cuts and multiply that by 10,000. That's how bad it is."
Yet another refugee camp near Bethlehem has 12,000 refugees and just one United Nations doctor, he said.
During his tour, Cotter said a bus was bombed in Jerusalem and a family of five living in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank was murdered. No one claimed responsibility for either incident, he said, adding Palestinians he talked to argued their people could not have been responsible for the killings.
"They said they don't kill children, that their bone to pick is with the Israeli government," he said.
He was moved by the spirit of the Palestinians, he said.
"They want to be treated like human beings and they're not ... But they have a surprisingly positive attitude. They emphasize family and their communities," he said. "It made me appreciate my family and my friends more."
Cotter also visited Egypt and Jordan, keeping a daily journal that now comprises 540 pages and three volumes. Once he makes copies, he'll make it available for a small fee.
"I want to encourage discussion about the situation over there," he said.
Source:SouthBendTribune.com
Link: http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-05-06/news/29519118_1_ramallah-palestinian-factions-bill-cotter.
Syria shockwaves sweep across Middle East
Saturday 30 April 2011
Peter Beaumont
foreign affairs editor
guardian.co.uk
The Observer's encounter with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, was an oddly informal one in a country deeply suspicious of the foreign media. An interview with his British-born wife, Asma, had been arranged, but as it ended, an aide to the president invited me to coffee with Assad himself.
Sitting somewhat awkwardly on the vast plush sofas of his reception room in the "official palace" – a place, he explained, where he did not actually live – he asked as many questions as he answered. In a conversational tone, Assad said he wanted peace with Israel, talked about reform, discussed relations with the US, and reflected on his father's harsh line on Islamists.
Syria's new president seemed then, almost a decade ago, a plausible figure, uncertain and almost modest, an impression encouraged by themarketing of him in the west by the British PR agency Bell Pottinger. He had been president for two years, having in 2000 succeeded his authoritarian father Hafez al-Assad, the man who had founded Syria's Ba'athist republic after seizing power during a coup d'etat in 1970. That early image is one that Assad and his wife have continued to promote assiduously, most recently in an interview given by Syria's first lady to a gushing Vogue magazine, which included pictures of Assad playing with his sons.
It is an image that served the London-trained ophthalmologist well, securing him a state visit to London at a time when the government of Tony Blair – as well as other European governments – thought he was a different proposition to his father, who gained notoriety for ordering the deaths in 1982 of up to 20,000 in the town of Hama during a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood.
But in the last few weeks that early image has seemed sharply at odds with the acts carried out in Assad's name in a murderous clampdown on those demonstrating against the regime, which has so far claimed more than 400 lives as Syrian towns have been put under siege – an entire country locked down.
What is less clear now is who Assad really is and what he represents. Indeed, how powerful he really is. On Friday, when a "day of rage" was called to follow Friday prayers – this time endorsed by the banned Muslim Brotherhood – Assad had taken a leaf out of the book of deposed President Mubarak of Egypt and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, flooding the streets with armed security forces even as his opponents demonstrated in more than 50 locations.
Although protests have been taking place weekly after Friday prayers, last week felt different because for the first time, the Assad regime had offered no concessions the day before. There were also the resignations of several hundred members of Assad's Ba'ath party, and reports of clashes between members of the Syrian army's 4th Brigade, commanded by the president's younger brother Maher, and the 5th Brigade outside Deraa, the besieged town that has become the symbol of the Syrian uprising. And last week felt different because of the horrors that have taken place as the regime of Bashar al-Assad has opted for repression rather than concession.
As it has cracked down, so the regime has blamed the violence on a farcically broad range of culprits: armed gangs, Lebanese legislators, Saudis, Palestinian extremists – all with ominous overtones of the 1980s and Assad's father's most infamous massacre.
To underline the message of what might happen should the regime fall, state media and newly printed posters on the streets have pushed fears of chaos, especially of a sectarian nature.
In the coastal city of Latakia, gunmen believed to belong to the shabiha, an Alawite smuggling gang drawn from the extended Assad clan, have shot at Christian neighbourhoods with warnings of a Sunni takeover, before going to Alawite neighbourhoods and warning of Sunni revenge. (The minority Alawite sect, to which the Assads belong, is generally regarded as a branch of Shia Islam.)
But if the tactics used by the regime appear largely identical to that used by Gaddafi, the response by the international community has been markedly different. On Friday, as the US moved to apply sanctions, Assad was noticeably absent from the list of targets, although it named his younger brother Maher as well as his cousin Atif Najib and the Iranian al-Quds forces which the US accuses of channelling riot equipment to the regime. Noticeably absent too has been any threat of military action against a country which – unlike Libya – is seen as having a very well-equipped and trained army and powerful friends, not least Iran.
Officially, the opinion offered by analysts and diplomats in the last few days to explain this difference is that Syria matters in a way that Libya does not in regional and international affairs.
It is for that reason, perhaps, that Qatar, which led the charge against Libya, on Friday quietly absented itself from the UN Human Rights Council's deliberations on Syria.
For Assad, the survival of the police state founded by his father is a very personal affair which he has dressed up as a national necessity to "prevent" his country from slipping into civil war. For the wider region, how events will unfold in Syria is becoming equally pressing.
Gaddafi's regime in Libya has over the decades antagonised most in the Arab region. Syria, however, despite its poverty and waning importance as a leader in regional affairs – not least since its humiliating retreat from Lebanon in 2005 – remains a presence that has to be acknowledged.
It occupies a crucial location, bordering Iraq, Israel and Lebanon. And a Syria plunged into chaos, diplomats fear, would have profound consequences for all of those countries as well as for the Middle East peace process.
Damascus hosts the political bureau of Hamas, including its political leader Khaled Meshaal, although reports emerged yesterday – denied by Hamas – that it is now planning to relocate. Indeed, some have argued that Hamas's peace deal with its Palestinian rival Fatah was prompted by the fear of losing Syria as a patron.
Assad has also allowed weapons to pass over Syria's borders for the rearming of Hezbollah after the 2006 war between that group and Israel.
Despite western efforts to prise it apart from its alliance with Iran, Syria remains close to Tehran. And while Syria played host to a large number of Iraqis fleeing violence, it also allowed passage for foreign fighters travelling to fight the US-led coalition in Iraq.
Joshua Landis of the Middle East Centre at the University of Oklahoma told the Christian Science Monitor last week that Syria epitomised the split nature of the region, describing it as "the cockpit of the Middle East".
"On the one hand," he said, "it has always made a claim to be the beating heart of Arabism, calling for unity and secularism, and on the other, it is a deeply fragmented nation with a regime dominated by a religious minority."
Of most immediate concern to neighbouring countries last week was fear of a flood of migrants fleeing the violence. Cyprus's foreign minister, Markos Kyprianou, announced on Friday that the authorities there are drawing up plans on how to cope with a possible wave of migrants from crisis-hit Syria – a contingency being prepared by other nearby territories.
For others, such as Turkey, with which Syria came close to war at the end of the 1990s over Damascus providing a safe haven for Kurdish separatists, the violence in Syria is deeply embarrassing. These days, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is personally close to Assad, their families have holidayed together, and visa restrictions were lifted for Syrians travelling to Turkey under Ankara's "Zero Problems" foreign policy.
Mubarak and Gaddafi also tried to play on fear of the chaos that might follow the fall of their regimes, but Assad's warnings appear to have found a more receptive audience.
"It's messy," says Jane Kinninmont, researcher at the foreign affairs thinktank Chatham House. "What makes it different, I think, is the particular nature of the uncertainty over what might follow Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
"In Tunisia and Egypt it was known who the opposition were, although it is true that in Libya a recognisable opposition pulled itself together pretty quickly. What is more worrying in Syria, given its geographic position, is the prospect of civil war."
It is a fear that is shared by Syrians themselves. "No one can predict with certainty what would happen if Assad fell," says one Syrian analyst in the capital Damascus who asked for anonymity. "Those suspicions have been stoked by the government alone. We don't trust our neighbours not to be members of the security forces. But the conclusion that there will be chaos is an under-analysed scare tactic. The majority of Syrians want to live together in peace."
The fear of internal violence has been raised by rumours of clashes between different army units outside the key town of Deraa, which has become the symbol of Syria's uprising.
There are some in the region who might actually prefer that to a quick transition to majority – and therefore Sunni – rule, not least Iran, which would see not only the loss of an important ally but also potentially a transit route for weapons to Hezbollah to maintain a kind of proxy strategic balance that threatens Israel's border.
And, unlike Gaddafi, Syria has split international opinion as to the nature of both the regime under Assad and the character of Assad himself, with a significant minority still believing that, despite everything, he can be manoeuvred on to the course of genuine reform that he has spoken about but never delivered.
It is this that explains the absence of Assad himself from the newly announced US sanctions against his state, explained officially as targeting those directly responsible for the violence.
It is a judgment predicated on one reading of Syria's dynamics – that Bashar al-Assad is less powerful than other figures around him, including his brother Maher.
Others, however, believe that, far from being the weak link, Bashar al-Assad is as powerful as his father in a regime which is no longer truly Ba'athist but – like Hosni Mubarak's was in Egypt – one bound together by close and corrupt financial interest.
And whatever the reality, by yesterday there was little evidence that the tactic of selective sanctions was working. A resident of the besieged southern Syrian city of Deraa said yesterday that more troops were being brought in a day after security forces reportedly shot dead dozens.
All of which confirms, for the likes of the Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem, the naivety that has driven western foreign policy towards Syria for more than a decade.
Writing in Foreign Policy last week, he said: "Over the last 10 years many western politicians and scholars took the road to Damascus, holding out hope that the young Syrian president Bashar al-Assad would lead Syria out of the political wilderness and place it on the path of political and economic reform.
"There was a naive assumption that Bashar had the makings of a modern leader because he was in part western-educated, spoke relatively good English, and married a professional woman who worked as an investment banker in London."
It is the outcome the west is still betting on as the odds get daily longer.
Source: Guardian.co.uk
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/30/syria-shockwaves-sweep-middle-east.
Peter Beaumont
foreign affairs editor
guardian.co.uk
The Observer's encounter with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, was an oddly informal one in a country deeply suspicious of the foreign media. An interview with his British-born wife, Asma, had been arranged, but as it ended, an aide to the president invited me to coffee with Assad himself.
Sitting somewhat awkwardly on the vast plush sofas of his reception room in the "official palace" – a place, he explained, where he did not actually live – he asked as many questions as he answered. In a conversational tone, Assad said he wanted peace with Israel, talked about reform, discussed relations with the US, and reflected on his father's harsh line on Islamists.
Syria's new president seemed then, almost a decade ago, a plausible figure, uncertain and almost modest, an impression encouraged by themarketing of him in the west by the British PR agency Bell Pottinger. He had been president for two years, having in 2000 succeeded his authoritarian father Hafez al-Assad, the man who had founded Syria's Ba'athist republic after seizing power during a coup d'etat in 1970. That early image is one that Assad and his wife have continued to promote assiduously, most recently in an interview given by Syria's first lady to a gushing Vogue magazine, which included pictures of Assad playing with his sons.
It is an image that served the London-trained ophthalmologist well, securing him a state visit to London at a time when the government of Tony Blair – as well as other European governments – thought he was a different proposition to his father, who gained notoriety for ordering the deaths in 1982 of up to 20,000 in the town of Hama during a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood.
But in the last few weeks that early image has seemed sharply at odds with the acts carried out in Assad's name in a murderous clampdown on those demonstrating against the regime, which has so far claimed more than 400 lives as Syrian towns have been put under siege – an entire country locked down.
What is less clear now is who Assad really is and what he represents. Indeed, how powerful he really is. On Friday, when a "day of rage" was called to follow Friday prayers – this time endorsed by the banned Muslim Brotherhood – Assad had taken a leaf out of the book of deposed President Mubarak of Egypt and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, flooding the streets with armed security forces even as his opponents demonstrated in more than 50 locations.
Although protests have been taking place weekly after Friday prayers, last week felt different because for the first time, the Assad regime had offered no concessions the day before. There were also the resignations of several hundred members of Assad's Ba'ath party, and reports of clashes between members of the Syrian army's 4th Brigade, commanded by the president's younger brother Maher, and the 5th Brigade outside Deraa, the besieged town that has become the symbol of the Syrian uprising. And last week felt different because of the horrors that have taken place as the regime of Bashar al-Assad has opted for repression rather than concession.
As it has cracked down, so the regime has blamed the violence on a farcically broad range of culprits: armed gangs, Lebanese legislators, Saudis, Palestinian extremists – all with ominous overtones of the 1980s and Assad's father's most infamous massacre.
To underline the message of what might happen should the regime fall, state media and newly printed posters on the streets have pushed fears of chaos, especially of a sectarian nature.
In the coastal city of Latakia, gunmen believed to belong to the shabiha, an Alawite smuggling gang drawn from the extended Assad clan, have shot at Christian neighbourhoods with warnings of a Sunni takeover, before going to Alawite neighbourhoods and warning of Sunni revenge. (The minority Alawite sect, to which the Assads belong, is generally regarded as a branch of Shia Islam.)
But if the tactics used by the regime appear largely identical to that used by Gaddafi, the response by the international community has been markedly different. On Friday, as the US moved to apply sanctions, Assad was noticeably absent from the list of targets, although it named his younger brother Maher as well as his cousin Atif Najib and the Iranian al-Quds forces which the US accuses of channelling riot equipment to the regime. Noticeably absent too has been any threat of military action against a country which – unlike Libya – is seen as having a very well-equipped and trained army and powerful friends, not least Iran.
Officially, the opinion offered by analysts and diplomats in the last few days to explain this difference is that Syria matters in a way that Libya does not in regional and international affairs.
It is for that reason, perhaps, that Qatar, which led the charge against Libya, on Friday quietly absented itself from the UN Human Rights Council's deliberations on Syria.
For Assad, the survival of the police state founded by his father is a very personal affair which he has dressed up as a national necessity to "prevent" his country from slipping into civil war. For the wider region, how events will unfold in Syria is becoming equally pressing.
Gaddafi's regime in Libya has over the decades antagonised most in the Arab region. Syria, however, despite its poverty and waning importance as a leader in regional affairs – not least since its humiliating retreat from Lebanon in 2005 – remains a presence that has to be acknowledged.
It occupies a crucial location, bordering Iraq, Israel and Lebanon. And a Syria plunged into chaos, diplomats fear, would have profound consequences for all of those countries as well as for the Middle East peace process.
Damascus hosts the political bureau of Hamas, including its political leader Khaled Meshaal, although reports emerged yesterday – denied by Hamas – that it is now planning to relocate. Indeed, some have argued that Hamas's peace deal with its Palestinian rival Fatah was prompted by the fear of losing Syria as a patron.
Assad has also allowed weapons to pass over Syria's borders for the rearming of Hezbollah after the 2006 war between that group and Israel.
Despite western efforts to prise it apart from its alliance with Iran, Syria remains close to Tehran. And while Syria played host to a large number of Iraqis fleeing violence, it also allowed passage for foreign fighters travelling to fight the US-led coalition in Iraq.
Joshua Landis of the Middle East Centre at the University of Oklahoma told the Christian Science Monitor last week that Syria epitomised the split nature of the region, describing it as "the cockpit of the Middle East".
"On the one hand," he said, "it has always made a claim to be the beating heart of Arabism, calling for unity and secularism, and on the other, it is a deeply fragmented nation with a regime dominated by a religious minority."
Of most immediate concern to neighbouring countries last week was fear of a flood of migrants fleeing the violence. Cyprus's foreign minister, Markos Kyprianou, announced on Friday that the authorities there are drawing up plans on how to cope with a possible wave of migrants from crisis-hit Syria – a contingency being prepared by other nearby territories.
For others, such as Turkey, with which Syria came close to war at the end of the 1990s over Damascus providing a safe haven for Kurdish separatists, the violence in Syria is deeply embarrassing. These days, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is personally close to Assad, their families have holidayed together, and visa restrictions were lifted for Syrians travelling to Turkey under Ankara's "Zero Problems" foreign policy.
Mubarak and Gaddafi also tried to play on fear of the chaos that might follow the fall of their regimes, but Assad's warnings appear to have found a more receptive audience.
"It's messy," says Jane Kinninmont, researcher at the foreign affairs thinktank Chatham House. "What makes it different, I think, is the particular nature of the uncertainty over what might follow Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
"In Tunisia and Egypt it was known who the opposition were, although it is true that in Libya a recognisable opposition pulled itself together pretty quickly. What is more worrying in Syria, given its geographic position, is the prospect of civil war."
It is a fear that is shared by Syrians themselves. "No one can predict with certainty what would happen if Assad fell," says one Syrian analyst in the capital Damascus who asked for anonymity. "Those suspicions have been stoked by the government alone. We don't trust our neighbours not to be members of the security forces. But the conclusion that there will be chaos is an under-analysed scare tactic. The majority of Syrians want to live together in peace."
The fear of internal violence has been raised by rumours of clashes between different army units outside the key town of Deraa, which has become the symbol of Syria's uprising.
There are some in the region who might actually prefer that to a quick transition to majority – and therefore Sunni – rule, not least Iran, which would see not only the loss of an important ally but also potentially a transit route for weapons to Hezbollah to maintain a kind of proxy strategic balance that threatens Israel's border.
And, unlike Gaddafi, Syria has split international opinion as to the nature of both the regime under Assad and the character of Assad himself, with a significant minority still believing that, despite everything, he can be manoeuvred on to the course of genuine reform that he has spoken about but never delivered.
It is this that explains the absence of Assad himself from the newly announced US sanctions against his state, explained officially as targeting those directly responsible for the violence.
It is a judgment predicated on one reading of Syria's dynamics – that Bashar al-Assad is less powerful than other figures around him, including his brother Maher.
Others, however, believe that, far from being the weak link, Bashar al-Assad is as powerful as his father in a regime which is no longer truly Ba'athist but – like Hosni Mubarak's was in Egypt – one bound together by close and corrupt financial interest.
And whatever the reality, by yesterday there was little evidence that the tactic of selective sanctions was working. A resident of the besieged southern Syrian city of Deraa said yesterday that more troops were being brought in a day after security forces reportedly shot dead dozens.
All of which confirms, for the likes of the Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem, the naivety that has driven western foreign policy towards Syria for more than a decade.
Writing in Foreign Policy last week, he said: "Over the last 10 years many western politicians and scholars took the road to Damascus, holding out hope that the young Syrian president Bashar al-Assad would lead Syria out of the political wilderness and place it on the path of political and economic reform.
"There was a naive assumption that Bashar had the makings of a modern leader because he was in part western-educated, spoke relatively good English, and married a professional woman who worked as an investment banker in London."
It is the outcome the west is still betting on as the odds get daily longer.
Source: Guardian.co.uk
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/30/syria-shockwaves-sweep-middle-east.
Monday, May 2, 2011
In An Alien World
written by Sheila Quinn
This post is one of a personal nature. Usually, on this blog I post news articles that I find to be either interesting or informative. A few times I have written, myself, articles on a few issues. So this post is a very unusual one where I expose myself,as a human being,to the public.
It is my nature as an individual human being to be very shy, but at the same time I am outspoken on issues that I feel I must speak out on. My conscience does not allow me to remain silent about things that I have deep feelings. If I feel that something is really wrong, I must speak out about it- irregardless of what others think or how they might react. I can not live with myself if I remain silent about things that are wrong.
I am interested in many things; I am very, very mentally active. I love the truth-and I have loved it all of my life. I started searching for the truth that is independent of human thought during my childhood. When I was a young adult of twenty-nine, I found what I was looking for in The Islamic Faith. The more I experience life, the more my religious convictions are confirmed. By nature I am deeply religious. I am so religious that it seems that the lack of religion from anyone seems so very, very alien to me. I don't understand why anyone would not be religious... anyway... to go on.
My mother taught her children the importance of being able to agree to disagree. Through this we can appreciate each others inner beauty.
There were times during my childhood when I saw this world and everyone in it as aliens. It was through my abilities to observe and analyze that I was able to understand this world. It was through such abilities that I was enabled to function in this world.
One of my interests is politics. Through understanding politics I am able to understand why things happen as they do. One of my hobbies is political analysis. I have been an amateur political analyst for forty years. It might be said that differences in politics can -and sometimes does- damage relationships. For me, politics, and political analysis is important. Through it I can understand the world. As I said before, being outspoken about things that are important to me is necessary. Without it I am not able to live with myself.
This post is one of a personal nature. Usually, on this blog I post news articles that I find to be either interesting or informative. A few times I have written, myself, articles on a few issues. So this post is a very unusual one where I expose myself,as a human being,to the public.
It is my nature as an individual human being to be very shy, but at the same time I am outspoken on issues that I feel I must speak out on. My conscience does not allow me to remain silent about things that I have deep feelings. If I feel that something is really wrong, I must speak out about it- irregardless of what others think or how they might react. I can not live with myself if I remain silent about things that are wrong.
I am interested in many things; I am very, very mentally active. I love the truth-and I have loved it all of my life. I started searching for the truth that is independent of human thought during my childhood. When I was a young adult of twenty-nine, I found what I was looking for in The Islamic Faith. The more I experience life, the more my religious convictions are confirmed. By nature I am deeply religious. I am so religious that it seems that the lack of religion from anyone seems so very, very alien to me. I don't understand why anyone would not be religious... anyway... to go on.
My mother taught her children the importance of being able to agree to disagree. Through this we can appreciate each others inner beauty.
There were times during my childhood when I saw this world and everyone in it as aliens. It was through my abilities to observe and analyze that I was able to understand this world. It was through such abilities that I was enabled to function in this world.
One of my interests is politics. Through understanding politics I am able to understand why things happen as they do. One of my hobbies is political analysis. I have been an amateur political analyst for forty years. It might be said that differences in politics can -and sometimes does- damage relationships. For me, politics, and political analysis is important. Through it I can understand the world. As I said before, being outspoken about things that are important to me is necessary. Without it I am not able to live with myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)