END ISRAEL'S COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT OF PALESTINIANS

The militaristic government of Israel and many of its supporters here in their U.S. try to argue that Israel has every right to impose a blockade of food, petroleum, medicine and building materials on the Palestinians in Gaza. Their argument is that Israel's blockade is an effort to deny Hamas, a terrorist organization, materials that could in any way be used for attacks on Israeli towns and cities.

But if that were true, Israel could deny everything shipped to Gaza - medicines, construction materials, food, fuel, every thing. Because Israel could argue that anything allowed into Gaza helps Hamas.

Recall that the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza freely and democratically elected representatives of Hamas in January 2006. By blocking necessities of life to the ordinary Palestinian, Israel is trying to punish those who voted for Hamas as well as Hamas itself.

This is clearly a good example of odious "collective punishment."

No nation, including Israel, is allowed under international law to punish civilians as a way to punish the political government.

True, the U.S. and Britain did just this during WWII when Allied airplanes carpet-bombed Berlin, Dresden and Dusseldorf. Talk about "war crimes." Each German city suffered more than 50,000 souls incinerated in one night. We are talking women, children, men, all non-combatants.

Israel has no legal or moral right to continue the blockade. I congratulate the peace activists in recent days who tried to bring Palestinians some relief in their miserable existence caused by the Israeli government's foolish quest to punish citizens who voted for Hamas.

AHMADINEJAD CALLS FOR TOTAL NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, CONDEMNS NUCLEAR WEAPONS HELD BY U.S. & ISRAEL

At Iran's nuclear summit today in Tehran, Pres. Ahmadinejad called for an end to all nuclear weapons including those possessed by the U.S. and Israel. He also said no nation (i.e., the U.S.) should threaten another (Iran) with nuclear weapons. He said that talks on nuclear weapons should from now on be controlled by nations that don't have nuclear weapons. Can Pres. Obama or anyone disagree with him?

Thomas Erdbrink reports today in The Washington Post on the Iranian conference.

Writes Erdbrink:

"Ahmadinejad took particular aim at President Obama's announcement this month of a new U.S. policy that does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons against Iran and North Korea.

""Threatening with nuclear weapons only dishonored the American government officials and more fully exposed their inhumane and aggressive policies," he said."

Ayatollah Khamanei also sent a message to the attendees, reports Erdbrink:

"In a statement to the Tehran conference, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top political and religious authority in the predominantly Shiite state, reiterated a fatwa, or religious edict, he had issued earlier against the use of nuclear weapons. He called the United States' nuclear weapons "tools of terror and intimidation."

"Fatwas are binding only on followers of the religious authority that issues them and can be changed if the situation requires, religious experts here say."

Ahmadinejad also complained about the veto power wielded exclusively by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. He said that each U.N. member should also be able to block or veto proposals that are unfair.

Erdbrink writes:

"Taking direct issue with the consensus reached in Washington to take steps to reduce the world's stock of nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad called for more rigorous action.

"He demanded an end to what he called the United States' "blind support" for Israel, which he said has 200 atomic warheads yet has not signed a nonproliferation treaty. Ahmadinejad also called for veto power for all members of the United Nations, a right now accorded only to the five permanent members of the Security Council.

"Talks on nuclear disarmament should from now on be controlled by states that do not have atomic weapons, Ahmadinejad said, adding, "The involvement of the government of America will prevent any new treaty from being fair.""

"J STREET" BRINGS REALITY TO U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS ISRAEL

Finally we have an Israel lobby that does not endorse everything that Netanyahu and Lieberman say or do. It is J Street, a year-old lobbying group with progressive views on Israel, and James Traub writes about it and its mission in Sunday's (September 13, 2009) New York Times Magazine.

Writes Traub:

"Many liberal Jews have long chafed at the premise that Aipac or the Anti-Defamation League represented their point of view. Bush got only a quarter of the Jewish vote in 2004 and was deeply loathed by the most liberal-leaning voters. The community began searching for new ways to represent itself. Existing progressive groups like the Israel Policy Forum issued position papers or agitated for a change in policy; but scarce few did the yeoman labor of lobbying. Tom Dine, a former Aipac executive director, says he was approached in 2006 by a group of liberal Jewish philanthropists about heading a “counter-Aipac.” That idea went nowhere, but in late 2006 a different group of philanthropists and activists, including Ben-Ami, began to talk about combining the progressive organizations into a more powerful and influential collective body. Out of these conversations came J Street, named after the street missing from Washington’s grid and thus evoking a voice missing from Washington’s policy discussions. Early financing came from Alan Sagner, a retired New Jersey real estate developer and longtime supporter of Democratic candidates and Jewish causes, and from Davidi Gilo, an Israeli-American high-tech entrepreneur; another 50 early backers each gave $10,000. Unlike the liberal advocacy or policy organizations (or Aipac, for that matter), the new group would endorse and finance candidates, through a body called J Street PAC."

ISRAEL STOPS SHIP CARRYING AID TO PALESTINIANS, IMPRISONS CREW

Juan Cole in his Informed Comment observes the absence of reaction by Americans to Israel's seizure of a ship carrying basic necessities of life to Palestinians in Gaza. Cole calls it "piracy," and I agree. Israel now has the American crew, including a former Congresswoman, in prison. And all of this on the Fourth of July.

AHMADINEJAD CALLS ISRAEL CRUEL AND RACIST

I don't understand the walk-out and protest by several country delegations today during the talk by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations Conference on Racism. What caused the walk-out was when Ahmadinejad said that Israel was cruel and racist. Can anyone seriously disagree with this statement?

As to being cruel, look at Israel's actions in the three-week attack on Gaza this past January. The shooting of women, the killing of children, the closing of Israel/Gaza crossing points with the result that civilians in Gaza could not flee the bombing and the shelling. The dropping of white phosphorous bombs. The destruction of homes, schools, mosques and even police stations.

As to being racist, Israel seems to want to kill all Palestinians and rid itself of the problem of how to allow non-Jews to live and work within its borders. Consider that Israel will not allow any construction materials into Gaza. This means that the Palestinians whose homes were bombed and destroyed by Israeli war planes are living out in the open or in tents or in their ruined houses. One could reason that Israel wants to get rid of all Palestinians.

So Ahmadinejad calls Israel cruel and racist. Does this allow the hawks and neo-cons in Israel to call for war upon Iran? That's the next call we are going to hear - the call to bomb Teheran, kill all Iranians and establish Israeli hegemony in the Middle East.

ISRAEL'S ACTIONS IN GAZA RAISE CHARGE OF WAR CRIMES

George Bisharat writes in Saturday's The New York Times that Israel's three-week attack on the Palestinians in Gaza show signs of serious war crimes.

Bisharat describes six areas where Israel violated the laws of war and precepts of international law in invading, bombing, killing and destroying Gazan infrastructure.

Writes Bisharat:

"Chilling testimony by Israeli soldiers substantiates charges that Israel’s Gaza Strip assault entailed grave violations of international law. The emergence of a predominantly right-wing, nationalist government in Israel suggests that there may be more violations to come. Hamas’s indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians also constituted war crimes, but do not excuse Israel’s transgressions."

Bisharat enumerates six areas where evidence shows Israel and its Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) committed war crimes.

"Violating its duty to protect the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Despite Israel’s 2005 “disengagement” from Gaza, the territory remains occupied. Israel unleashed military firepower against a people it is legally bound to protect.

"Imposing collective punishment in the form of a blockade, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In June 2007, after Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip, Israel imposed suffocating restrictions on trade and movement. The blockade — an act of war in customary international law — has helped plunge families into poverty, children into malnutrition, and patients denied access to medical treatment into their graves. People in Gaza thus faced Israel’s winter onslaught in particularly weakened conditions.

"Deliberately attacking civilian targets. The laws of war permit attacking a civilian object only when it is making an effective contribution to military action and a definite military advantage is gained by its destruction. Yet an Israeli general, Dan Harel, said, “We are hitting not only terrorists and launchers, but also the whole Hamas government and all its wings.” An Israeli military spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich, avowed that “anything affiliated with Hamas is a legitimate target.”

"Israeli fire destroyed or damaged mosques, hospitals, factories, schools, a key sewage plant, institutions like the parliament, the main ministries, the central prison and police stations, and thousands of houses.

"Willfully killing civilians without military justification. When civilian institutions are struck, civilians — persons who are not members of the armed forces of a warring party, and are not taking direct part in hostilities — are killed. . . .

"Deliberately employing disproportionate force. Last year, Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, head of Israel’s northern command, speaking on possible future conflicts with neighbors, stated, “We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction.” Such a frank admission of illegal intent can constitute evidence in a criminal prosecution.

"Illegal use of weapons, including white phosphorus. Israel was finally forced to admit, after initial denials, that it employed white phosphorous in the Gaza Strip, though Israel defended its use as legal. White phosphorous may be legally used as an obscurant, not as a weapon, as it burns deeply and is extremely difficult to extinguish."

U.S. ADMITS NO EVIDENCE THAT IRAN WANTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Washingtonpost.com has an article today from the AP reporting on head U.S. intelligence personnel testifying to Congress that Iran has not weapons-grade plutonium and that they believe Iran has not decided whether to actually produce any.

The AP reports:

"A top U.S. intelligence official says Iran does not have any highly enriched uranium, the fuel used to power a nuclear warhead.

"Defense Intelligence Agency chief Lt. Gen. Michael Maples says that Iran has not yet made the decision to build a nuclear bomb. Maples is testifying Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee."

I have been writing in the past that the U.S. under Bush has produced no credible evidence that Iran has been developing nuclear weapons. Yes, there has been a lot of speculation and exaggeration, even outright claims that Iran wants nuclear weapons so that it can destroy Israel. But all of it has been propaganda from the war mongers in both Israel and the U.S.

The fact that American intelligence now admits there is no evidence for believing Iran is engaged in nefarious nuclear bombmaking is good information for those of us who suspect that Israel is trying to justify an attack against Iran either by itself or in conjunction with the United States by hyping non-existence "intelligence" around its own war-mongering policy.

This disclosure of U.S. intelligence will make it almost impossible for Israel to proceed to bomb Teheran. But Israel does the unexpected so everyone must remain wary of propaganda emanating either from Israel or AIPAC here in the U.S. that tries to demonize Iran and Iranians for wanting peaceful nuclear power.

OBAMA MUST STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION AGAINST PALESTINIANS IN GAZA

Barack Obama needs to send a signal that the United States government wants to come to the assistance of the Palestinians in Gaza who have been reduced to abject sub existence by the Israeli bombardment of homes, apartment buildings, mosques, schools and aid stations.

First, Obama should demand that Israel open all border crossings to allow food, medicine, fuel and building materials. Obama should demand the same thing from Egypt which has locked down the Rafah crossing.

Second. Obama should begin talks with Hamas and its leaders. Israel says it will not allow aid to Hamas, but this means that Israel will allow no aid to the Palestinian people in Gaza who three years ago (January 2006) voted in a democratic election to have Hamas represent them. Obama should revoke the U.S. designation of Hamas as a "terrorist organization," and should request that the EU do the same. Right now, Fatah is holding talks with Hamas in Egypt. If Hamas were truly a terrorist organization, Abu Mazen and Fatah would be consorting and negotiating with terrorists!

Third. Obama should limit the type and amount of arms that U.S. companies may sell to Israel. We see the dire effects of allowing Israel to have white phosphorous shells, F-14s and other lethal weapons designed to kill people. Israel has used American weapons to kill over 1400 Palestinians, some 400 of whom were but children under the age of 16.

These are only the first steps Obama should take. Israel with American weapons of war is a threat to the Middle East. Obama must stop the progression of solving Israel's political problems with bullets, missiles and tanks.

ISRAEL CONTINUES ILLEGAL BLOCKADE & COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT OF PALESTINIANS IN GAZA

Israel is still causing severe disruptions for the Palestinians in Gaza by maintaining a near total blockade of food and medicine and fuel. Israel says it will not stop the blockade of these essential elements of life until Hamas controls the people who are firing rockets from Palestine into Israeli towns and villages.

Someone please justify under human rights law what Israel is doing. Under international law and the charter of the United Nations, "collective punishment" such as what Israel is doing is explicitly prohibited as against human rights.

I realize ordinary Israelis want to stop the disturbing and horrific missile attacks, but Israel needs to come up with some way other than inflicting collective punishment on the million plus inhabitants of Gaza who just like we have a basic human right to food, clothing, fuel and shelter.