GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

THE WORDS HAVE A HOLLOW RING TODAY as the world views the horrific photograph of a little girl not yet 2, clutching her father, Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez, as both were swept to their deaths in the Rio Grande in an effort to seek asylum. Their mother Tania Vanessa Avalos, 21 watched as they drowned. The family  made their way to Mexico from El Salvadore, then spent the last two months in a migrant camp waiting for an appointment to apply for asylum to enter the US. A shelter director said that only 40 to 45 asylum interviews were being conducted there each week while there are 800 to 1,700 names on the waiting list. Ramirez became frustrated by the delay and decided to attempt to swim across the river. He deposited his daughter on the far bank and went back to assist his wife to cross but the child became confused and followed her father back into the water. Both drowned in the strong undercurrents as he tried to save her. Continue reading

A POCKET HISTORY OF VENEZUELA


OVERT AND COVERT US INTERVENTION HAS TOPPLED A SERIES OF LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENTS IN THE LATIN AMERICAN REGION SINCE THE 1950s. GUATEMALA, PANAMA, NICARAGUA, HONDURAS AND EL SALVADOR HAVE ALL BEEN INVADED BY THE UNITED STATES  WHICH IRONICALLY IS NOW ‘INVADED’ BY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE FLEEING THEIR RAVAGED COUNTRIES.

The political manoeuvring by the most powerful nations on the world stage as they align with and against Venezuela should remind us of the self interest and the all too familiar strategy of divide and conquer previously witnessed in the Middle East and currently being  played out in Latin America.  Russia, China and others jostle for position to ensure their stake in that country’s natural mineral wealth and oil, as America attempts to grab the world’s greatest source of oil in its “backyard”, 

Comparison of current oil reserves

  • Venezuela –     300,878 million barrels
  • Saudi Arabia –  266,455 million barrels. …
  • Canada –         169,709 million barrels. …
  • Iran –               158,400 million barrels. …
  • Iraq –               142,503 million barrels. …
  • Kuwait –          101,500 million barrels. …
  • UA Emirates –   97,800 million barrels. …
  • Russia –            80,000 million barrels. …
  • Libya –              48,363 million barrels. …
  • United States – 39,230 million barrels.

Continue reading

A POCKET HISTORY – ISRAEL, SYRIA and GOLAN HEIGHTS

March 25th 2019

IN FORMALLY RECOGNISING ISRAELI CONTROL OVER THE  GOLAN HEIGHTS  DONALD TRUMP HAS ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE – UNITING VIRTUALLY EVERY NATION IN THEIR OPPOSITION AND CONCERN FOR THE OUTCOME.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War.  Israel continues to flout the UN directive which forbids the building of settlements in what is internationally regarded as occupied territory.  Syria wants a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 border, this would give Damascus control of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee which provides Israel’s main source of fresh water through the now occupied territory.

The Golan Heights is now to be renamed ‘TRUMP HEIGHTS’ providing a timely reminder of the strategy behind the unseemly Trump –  Netanyahu alliance and their open contempt for a just settlement of Palestinian rights.  This  latest move follows the audacious decision in March by President Trump to relocate the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,  changing the disputed status of Jerusalem without consultation and in the face of complete opposition from world leaders. Such a move suggests either a degree of ineptness or a callous disregard for the deepest feelings of those concerned. King Abdullah of Jordan, currently Custodian of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, warned of the potential dangerous repercussions.

In the 1940s, Britain secretly advocated the creation of a Greater Syrian state that would secure Britain preferential status in military, economic and cultural matters. France and the United States opposed British hegemony in the region, which eventually led to the creation of Israel on 14 May 1948. 

  • 1948 The  First Arab–Israeli War, was fought between the newly declared State of Israel and a military coalition of 5 Arab nations which rejected the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine. Israelis call it “the war of independence”; Arabs call it the “nakba” or the catastrophe.
  • 1956 The second Arab-Israeli war broke out when Israel, Britain and France launched a joint attack against Egypt aimed at regime change and deposing Abdul Nasser the country’s leader.
  • 1967 Israel launched preemptive attacks on Egypt, Jordan and Syria, unleashing the June War, that resulted in the Israeli occupation of what remained of historic Palestine. Israel subsequently captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza, capturing East Jerusalem from the Jordanians and the Golan Heights from Syria. The displacement of civilian populations resulting from the war had long-term consequences, as 300,000 Palestinians fled the West Bank and about 100,000 Syrians left the Golan Heights. Israel began to settle the occupied Golan Heights almost immediately, directly flouting international law.
  • 1973 Syria tried to retake the Golan Heights during the ‘Yom Kippur ‘war.  Egyptian and Syrian armies, with advanced Soviet weapons, launched a two-front offensive on Israel, from the north and the south. Despite inflicting heavy losses on Israeli forces, the surprise assault failed. Both countries signed an armistice in 1974 and a UN observer force has been in place on the ceasefire line since.

Continue reading

ISRAELI APARTHEID

DEMOCRACY: A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WHERE THE CITIZENS EXCERCISE POWER BY VOTING

APARTHEID: A POLICY OR SYSTEM OF SEGREGATION OR DISCRIMINATION ON GROUNDS OF RACE. 

Benjamin Netanyahu stated this week:   This controversial law passed last summer declared Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people, stipulating that “Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it”. Continue reading

Parallel Realities and Fake News

Efforts to dismiss the recent incident at the Lincoln Memorial  as ‘Fake News’ by President Trump and others is a further example of the current extreme political polarisation in America. President Trump lost no time in tweeting in support of the students and inviting them to the White House, his views predictably retweeted.

In  comparison and in the tradition of ‘Walking the Talk’ Wayne William Snellgrove a survivor of the Canadian policy that stole indigenous babies and farmed them out to other parts of the world has extended an invitation to attend a sacred Healing Ceremony  “to the students, their school, their families, their dioceses. All clergy are welcome. ..Nathan will be invited also. Our Elders and Ancestors say that ceremony is the best place we can be .This is where we must go as Indigenous. Covington MAGA hat young incident was sad.  But we must raise above, we must practice our walk. Turning our prayers into action. We show the world, compassion, love and Light. Let us create a space for these youth and their families. This affects us all, and all must be invited. I personally invite these youths to sacred healing ceremony where we will sit and talk with our hearts. We are not asking for you to say sorry. I am are asking you to come sit with us in ceremony and talk from your heart. This is where we must go. This invitation has no expiration date. We will be waiting for you in ceremony.”
Wayne William Snellgrove,
Saulteaux Tribe, Fishing Lake First Nation. Continue reading

‘MY DREAM HAS TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE’ Martin Luther King Jnr

AS THE WORLD CELEBRATES MARTIN LUTHER KING JNR DAY WE REMEMBER HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE PRICE HE AND SO MANY OTHERS PAID TO REMIND US THAT WE ARE ALL CREATED EQUAL.

Nathan Phillips a Native American elder  is a well known activist for their  causes.  While singing a protest song and beating his drum at a Lincoln Memorial gathering he found himself on the fringe of an altercation  between white and black youths. As he tried to pass by he became surrounded by the white youths, many wearing the signature Donald Trump ‘Make America Great Again’ cap, who taunted and mocked him.  One young man blocked his way in a confrontational manner and tried to stare him down but he kept singing and drumming. Phillips has described focussing upon the reason for his protest and remembering his wife who died of cancer four years ago. A video recording of the event has gone viral, drawing outrage and forcing an apology from the Catholic Diocese of the school the youths attend. Ironically the students of Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High School were taking part in an anti abortion rally but showed little ‘respect for life’ towards Mr Phillips. Continue reading

FIRST AMERICANS -A POCKET HISTORY

A HISTORICAL REMINDER  OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE

The term ‘Pre Columbian’ civilizations refers to societies affected by the arrival of Columbus in 1492 and the subsequent colonisation by Europeans. Geographically Mesoamerica includes Central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Cost Rica. These ancient societies combined moral codes and spiritual beliefs with the sciences of astronomy, physics and medicine with advanced skills in ceramics and metallurgy.

Amerindians are the indigenous people of North, Central and South America, their history dates back 30,000 years. At the end of the Ice Age their ancestors journeyed from their original home in Siberia, across the Bering land bridge and into Alaska.  By 8,000 BC their descendants, the Native Americans had spread across the entire north American continent. From around 5,500 BC Amerindians became highly skilled farmers, tribes in Mexico cultivated vegetables, raised animals for food and hunted deer and bison, while fish became the staple food of coastal tribes.  After 2000 BC Amerindian tribes developed States, each governing thousands of people with extensive trade routes and established shipping lines across the continents. Their innovative planting and  irrigation schemes ensured their people were fed. The idea of private land ownership was alien to them, land was held communally and worked collectively.  Continue reading

“The words Presidents use can start wars or move markets”

It is social – It is the tool that conveys traditions and values related to group identity, a means of expressing our thoughts, feelings and intentions to those we are talking to. Used respectfully it enriches and enables, used negatively it can demean and even demonize both individuals and social groups.‘Transliteration’ is a particular form used to emphasise something important that a writer or speaker would like to express. It can be framed to be inclusive, i.e. encompassing divergent views or groups, or be divisive, promoting disagreement or open hostility. It requires a certain skill. President Trump is no orator and is limited to hyperbole, devoid of diplomacy and nuance, using the basic principles of repetition, simplistic ideas and short phrases known to appeal  to voters’ emotions, rather than their intellects. This approach encourages the listener’s imagination, transporting them to a scenario in tune with their beliefs, when this is fear based, deep seated emotions are ignited. Energy is magnified by the numbers present, political rallies providing the perfect environment to whip up passions, creating a perfect storm. Continue reading

POWER OF WORDS – To Heal or Harm

ELOQUENCE AND DIGNITY OF EXPRESSION PERSUADES AND CONVINCES, ELEVATING BOTH THE SPEAKER AND THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORDS.

Words have power, the voice expresses the Will and can be used as a tool to inspire or as a weapon to wound. Religions and spiritual movements draw upon ancient traditions incorporating a formula of collective repetitive prayer, chanting and singing to strengthen and unify followers.  Examples being the catholic Rosary, Buddhist chants and Islamic prayers recited collectively 5 times daily.

There is an exact formula used throughout time by those who wish to empower or manipulate their followers by reinforcing and heightening their beliefs. Vocal expression can empower and unify or inflame and divide, certain factors induce momentum and the effect is magnified by intention and numbers.  Powerful delivery charged with emotion can be expected to inspire action for that is its purpose.

Formula:

  • The voice must be activated
  • Repetition of short, simple words or phrases
  • Collective expression magnifies effect
  • Acceleration builds energetic momentum
  • Shared focus projects intention

Continue reading

YEMEN – ‘Collateral damage’

According to the UN Human Rights Council, civilians have repeatedly been the victims of “unrelenting violations of international humanitarian law”. Another Saudi bombing of a funeral using US weapons killed 140 people in October.  Despite the  UN warning that blockades and restrictions could trigger “the largest famine the world has seen for many decades” today, 8 million people are at risk of starvation, a humanitarian disaster.  Severe acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of almost 400,000 children under the age of five.  More than 9,245 people have been killed and 52,800 injured since March 2015.  At least 5,558 of those killed, and 9,065 of those injured up to the end of 2017 were civilians. 

  • Some 22.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 11.3 million people who urgently require immediate assistance to survive.
  • 16.4 million people are lacking basic healthcare and diphtheria, once considered eradicated, has returned.
  • Medics are struggling to cope with a cholera outbreak resulting in 2,248 associated deaths since April 2017 and more than 1 million suspected cases.  

The conflict follows the failure of a peaceful transition of power following the Arab Spring uprising, as the recognised government struggled to deal with a variety of problems including attacks by al-Qaeda, corruption, food insecurity and unemployment. Coalition ground troops landed in Aden in August 2015 and helped drive the Houthi rebels and their allies out of much of the south.  Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states began an air campaign opposing the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by Iran. The  aim being to halt the smuggling of weapons to the rebels by Iran – an accusation Tehran denied. The Saudi led coalition received logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK and France.

With both sides entrenched, three UN-organised efforts to negotiate a peace deal have failed. Yemen is yet another pawn in the increasing regional struggle for power between Saudi Arabia and Iran as America transfers its focus from the Middle East to Asia.  In the resource-rich Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is only a minor player in the global oil business, yet a major escalation of its conflict would have severe repercussions across global oil markets for geo-strategic reasons.  Yemen is located adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy transit and to the Bab-el-Mandab Strait which controls access to the Suez Canal. Disruptions of these key seaborne supply routes to Asia and Europe would result in increased volatility in global oil prices and diminished global supply.  Diplomatic solutions are essential to avoid regional instability and the potential to lead to full-blown armed conflict between the region’s major powers.

HISTORY NOTE:The  history of colonial power is predicated on access to resources and the strategic position of the country concerned. Yemen is low on commodities but strategically placed. In 1839 The British East India Company captured the port of Aden to provide a coaling station for ships en route to India, Aden was then ruled as part of British India until 1937 when the city of Aden became a Crown colony.  Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the Aden Settlement gained great strategic and political importance.  When Egypt’s President Nasser led the opposition to colonial rule in the Middle East, the British came under increasing pressure to leave.  In response Britain formed The Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in 1959, incorporating the various states under its protection.

On January 18th 1963 the Colony of Aden was incorporated against the wishes of many of the population and the Federation was renamed The Federation of South Arabia.  An insurgency erupted against the British Crown and South Arabia forces and a state of emergency was declared, North Yemen became a republic in 1962.  In 1964 the British government announced its intention to hand over power to the Federation of South Arabia but stated that the British military would remain.  The ensuing conflict hastened the end of British rule in the territory.  With the temporary closure of the Suez Canal  by Nasser in 1967 the British had no further need to keep hold of their colonies in Yemen and in the face of uncontrollable violence, began to withdraw.  In 1967 the independent Peoples Republic of South Yemen was declared. The two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen in 1990.

 

HEBREW V ARABIC – Language as a Tool of Oppression

Hebrew becomes Israel’s only official language, stripping Arabic of its former status as a designated official language along with Hebrew.    https://www.youtube.com/watch v=ys_RLjBjUw4

It has been said that ‘Nothing so surely and perfectly stamps upon an individual a national characteristic as language’.  It is therefore the first victim of occupation and suppression. Excluding language from legislature effectively diminishes status and erodes effective participation.  A glance at history confirms the consequence of eliminating cultural self expression by suppressing indigenous language,the policy begins with removal from the legislative process, part of the extermination of ‘alien’ cultural values.

NATIVE AMERICAN:  As part of the Assimilation Programme over a hundred thousand Native American children were forcibly separated from their families to be educated in boarding schools with every effort made to strip them of their cultural identity.  Children were punished for using their native tongue and taught English with words that had no equivalent in their own language.  Some scholars estimate that the Western Hemisphere at the time of the first European contact was inhabited by 40 million people who spoke 1,800 different tongues.  Another widely accepted estimate suggests that at the time of Columbus more than 15 million speakers throughout the Western Hemisphere used more than 2,000 languages.  As a result of European conquest perhaps two thirds of the many indigenous American languages had already died out or were dying out by the mid twentieth century.  Linguistic authorities suggest that about one half of the Native American languages N.of Mexico have become extinct.  Only a few tongues, like Navajo and Cherokee, can claim more than 50,000 speakers; Navajo is spoken by about 150,000 people.  The outlook for the future of the indigenous American languages is not good; most will probably die out.  At present, the aboriginal languages are gradually being replaced by the Indo-European tongues of the European conquerors, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch.

IRELAND: The Gaelic language is universally acknowledged as a unique reflection of Irish identity yet the native Gaelic was almost lost through cultural erosion. Medieval incursions ended with the Crown colonisation policy c1609 when English and Scots migrated in the Plantation period, dispossessing the Irish of their land rights. The Irish language was prohibited until 1871 with only English taught by order of the British government.  Irish became a minority language during the 19th century, mostly a spoken tongue with little written literature appearing in the language until the Gaelic Revival of the late 19th century and the nationalist uprisings which sought and regained  Irish sovereignty.  Gaelic began to be taught in Irish schools and today out of a population of 4.803 million, an estimated 72,000 people use Irish as a daily language, a larger minority of the population are fluent with a further 1.66 million people in the republic having some knowledge of the language. An impressive partial recovery of a language so nearly lost.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6JbUDBfY1E President of Ireland speaking in Gaelic (St. Patrick’s Day Message)

WALES: Cymric along with English is the official language of the National Assembly for Wales which advocated equal validity for Welsh in speech and in written documents.  Cymric is one of the worlds oldest languages originating from the Celtic tribes of Europe and the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles.  Wales has been described as “England’s first colony” annexed and incorporated into the English administrative and legal system in the 16th century when the Welsh legal system was abolished and the Welsh language banned from any official role and status.  In 1847 a  Royal Commission on Welsh education, noted that there were areas where the children spoke only Welsh.  It concluded that the Welsh as a race were “ignorant”, “lazy” and “immoral” and that one of the main causes of this was the continuing use of the “evil” Welsh language.” As a result, English-only schools were set up in much of Wales, children speaking Welsh were punished with the “Welsh Not“, a piece of wood, ruler or stick, often inscribed with the letters “WN”.  Pupils heard speaking Welsh were made to hold it or it was sometimes hung around the childs head. When another child was heard using Welsh, ‘The Not’ was taken from its current owner and given to the latest offender.  The child could pass the ‘Not’ to any of their Welsh speaking classmates if they informed the teacher that they had caught someone speaking Welsh. The pupil in possession at the end of the day was subjected to a flogging.  Today Welsh identity remains strong, with a growing  awareness and acknowledgement of Wales’ cultural and historical separateness from England, reflected politically. The Welsh language is linguistically Celtic, whereas English is linguistically of West Germanic origin. Comparatively few English people can understand or speak Welsh while virtually all Welsh speakers can speak English.

PALESTINE: Around 420,000 Palestinians live in east Jerusalem, which was annexed and occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War, a move not recognised by international law. The United Nations General Assembly voted 128-9 to declare America’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel ‘null and void’. The marginalisation of Palestinians using methods of displacement, land grabs, Jewish settlements and denial of access to the judicial system has failed to quell the Arab resistance to injustice. The removal of the Arabic language from the legislative process may in the end prove to be the most effective tool in the creeping ‘reforms’ which Palestinians are continually subjected to. The historical trauma will remain.

HUMANITARIAN MISSILES!

Peace is only ever achieved by refusing to compromise integrity. While we may be far from an ability to ‘turn the other cheek’ against any assault, real or imagined, violence will only ever perpetuate violence.  War is the preferred option for those with a vested interest in warfare, however tenuous. Sometimes it takes a little time to discern who benefits,  by their action,  by looking the other way or predictably financially.

The 8 Storm Shadow missiles fired by the UK on a presumed chemical facility in Syria were manufactured by BAE Systems; each cost £790,000 or $1,106,628. Sickeningly BAE saw an immediate and dramatic rise in share profits on the stock market following the bombing of Syria.

BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company. It is among the world’s largest defence companies and one of the six largest suppliers to the US, which is the largest share holder in BAE Systems. Capital Group is also the second largest shareholder in Lockheed Martin a US military arms firm supplying weapons systems, aircraft and logistical support. Unsurprisingly its shares have also rocketed following the strike. Continue reading

ASSANGE – Free Speech!

Back in the news again doing what he does best: Julian Assange might be expected to comment on what he perceives as human rights abuses including the current situation relating to the Catalonian Independence movement and Spain’s request to Germany to extradite their former leader Carles Puigdemont on charges of Rebellion. Assange has angered the new Ecuadorian President, Lenin Moreno, with his comments which embassy officials stated ”put at risk the good relations Ecuador maintains with European nations’.

Julian Assange has now had his internet access cut by embassy staff and is not allowed visitors or telephone calls, further increasing his isolation within the embassy. His  comments referenced a previous Spanish extradition warrant:  ‘In 1940 the elected president of Catalonia was captured by the Gestapo at the request of Spain, delivered to them and executed. Today German police have arrested the elected president of Catalonia,Carles Puigdemont at the request of Spain, to be extradited’ Ironically Germany has refused the extradition warrant stating that the charge of Rebellion would not be upheld in Germany. Extradition on a lesser charge of misappropriation of funds is possible, carrying an 8 years sentence as opposed to 30 years; if this is taken, it is believed Puigdemont could not then be tried in Spain for Rebellion.

President Moreno holds a differing ‘as long as we assume his life may be in danger’.Since the new government is seeking to realign with the US, Assange may find himself a political pawn in the international power game. If a deal were struck to guarantee that no death penalty would be sought in any future US trial, Ecuador might be released from the current untenable situation  in harbouring Assange and find favour with the US. Julian Assange would lose his asylum status and would be arrested on leaving the embassy, his extradition to Sweden and likely the US would follow.

Julian Assange is either a dissident political prisoner or is guilty of treason depending upon your point of view. He founded Wikileaks in 2006,  publishing a series of leaks in 2010 provided by former soldier Chelsea Manning. They include the Collateral Murder video, the Afghanistan war logs, the Iraq war logs, and Cablegate. Chelsea Manning who passed thousands of documents to Wikileaks, was charged with espionage and sentenced to 35 years imprisonment (commuted after 7 years by President Barack Obama).  The further leaks by Edward Snowden, raised awareness of the US governmental data breaches involving spying on citizens and world leaders resulted in him fleeing the US, before being granted asylum in Russia, where he has resided for almost 5 years.The  federal government of the United States launched a criminal investigation into Wikileaks and asked allied nations for assistance. US Senators have called for the death penalty for Julian Assange  for ‘aiding the enemy’  if he is returned to the US, the risk is therefore real.

In an effort to avoid extradition Assange was granted asylum in the Ecuadorian Embasasy where he has resided for the past 5 years in what the UN has described as ‘illegal detention’. The UK Metropolitan Police continue to assert that he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention  agreed that Assange has been arbitrarily held since his arrest in London in Dec. 7, 2010, over allegations of sex crimes. It called on the British and Swedish governments to end his “deprivation of liberty,” allow him to move freely and afford him the right to compensation for his suffering. He has always expressed a willingness to return to Sweden to address the charges which he denies, so long as assurances are given that any request for extradition by the US would be denied.

The UK threatened to revoke the Ecuadorian embassy’s status but they held firm. Under the previous Ecuadorian administration the following statement was released to explain why they had granted asylum to Julian Assange in 2012: “Publication of information about human rights abuses is a right in accordance with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders of 1998, the exercise of which implies a right of protection to those who reveal such violations by honest journalism and the courageous whistleblowers who denounce human rights violations. We felt that the fate of Chelsea Manning, evidence of secret grand jury procedures and Snowden’s exile in Russia corroborate the fears Assange had for his security, freedom and life when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London more than two years ago.”

Whatever the outcome, we can hope that any future  decision by the Ecuadorian government will reflect human rights and not self interest. Assange’s lawyer, Melinda Taylor, said he is the “victim of a significant miscarriage of justice.”

 

NOVICHOK- Red flag warning

Theresa May pointed the finger at Vladimir Putin and persuaded European nations to expel diplomats. Calls for the UK to provide evidence of Russia’s involvement have failed to produce a response. Gary Aitken chief executive of the Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory  has since stated that it has not been possible to prove that the toxin came from Russia. The earlier misleading tweet by the Foreign Office has been removed. 

Despite Russia’s repeated denials of any responsibility for the attack and insistance that they be allowed to investigate the accusation along with their requests for samples of the agent  to allow toxicology reports have been ignored. As a signatory to OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ) Russia is calling for an investigation stating that protocols of transparency  and information sharing have been violated by the UK.

Pronouncements and accusation concerning bio-chemical agents create uncomfortable echoes from the past, prompting some to question the current motives behind ‘Russophobia’ and misleading and inaccurate information by the UK government. Memories linger of the accusation that Sadam Hussein held biochemical stockpiles  (later found not to exist)  used as justification for the disastrous .Iraqi war. A former inspector who took part in those 700 inspections confirms that historically  Novichok has been produced in several countries, including the former Soviet Union. He states that though the individual production process leaves a distinct chemical signature, it is impossible to trace this to the source of origin.

15th March: Dr Vil Mirzayanov stated that people exposed to even tiny traces of Novichok nerve agent could develop long term health problems. This has been refuted by Prof Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology, University of Leeds who said: “There is no evidence whatsoever to support Mirzayanov’s claims. Toxicologically it is nonsense…“I think the comments by Mirzayanov are irresponsible and likely to cause unwarranted fear.”

It was confirmed that traces of the nerve gas used have been found in the house occupied by Sergeii Skripal a former double agent of Russia and the UK. This suggests that the attack did not take place in the street as had been supposed. If this nerve agent was ‘among the world’s deadliest chemical weapons’ why were police officers on the scene not wearing  bio protective clothing as others were and why was the area not evacuated until the cause had been identified?

Vladimir Putin announced on 27th September 2017 that Russia had disposed of the last of its stockpile of chemical weapons that day in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention  Treaty of 1997 long before the initial deadline. He criticised the US for delaying three times to meet its own obligations. The president said Russia’s had delivered  on its promise to destroy its arsenal. Russia began destroying its chemical weapons arsenal, a legacy of the Soviet Union in 1996, shortly before ratifying its accession to the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the watchdog of the convention. At the time Russia’s stockpile of chemical weapons was declared as 40,000 tons, with the US possessing a similar amount. When the US ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty in 1997, it agreed to destroy all of its chemical weapons by April 29, 2012. It declares that about 90 percent of its stockpile was destroyed by that deadline.There are two sites in the US still storing chemical weapons. The Pueblo Chemical Depot is expected to complete the destruction by 2019, while the Blue Grass Army Depot is scheduled to start its stockpile’s destruction in 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PALESTINE MARCH OF RETURN

Following the British withdrawal from Palestine in 1948  the newly declared  State of Israel was accepted into the United Nations on condition that it accept the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees. (Admission of Israel to membership in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 273 of May 11, 1949 ) This requires Israel to comply with General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948 to which Israel  agreed. Since then the world has watched warily, the inevitable outcome of a blatant and continuous ‘land grab’ of Palestinian ancestral homelands. Despite repeated international efforts, no provision has been made to repatriate the 80,000 Palestinians made homeless following Israeli occupation of disputed territories after the subsequent Arab/Israeli war of 1967. The continuous, illegal appropriation of land by a policy of Settlement building in the West Bank (proclaimed illegal by the United Nations) is accelerating. This is an effective method used by colonial powers world wide as a means of ousting indigenous populations to disavow them of land and property rights. Despite global condemnation and UN censure there has been no attempt to sanction Israel

The annual Palestine Land Day March 30th commemorates events in 1976 when Palestinians held marches and general strikes in response to the Israeli governments plan to expropriate lands in Galilee. Riots erupted and  were suppressed by the  Israeli  Defense Forces and police. Six Arab citizens were killed with around a hundred injured. More than forty years later the protests continue. In March 2018 Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition killing 18 Palestinians and injuring more than 1,500.. 

Freedom is always bought at a price and too often in blood, for power is never relinquished voluntarily by those who wield it. Requests are never enough, demands are ineffective, only a refusal to comply with systems and regimes designed to crush the human spirit  can change the dynamic. When the slow fuse of civil disobedience is ignored for decades a militant response becomes the last resort.

Mahatma Ghandi’s warning that the right to self defence is imperative should be heeded. He demonstrated his ethic of non violence not in passivity but as an active opposition force through civil disobedience.  Ghandi helped recruit Indian soldiers in WW1, when asked whether violence was ever  appropriate he stated that ‘we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them‘…. ‘But I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence’

Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for what today would be classified as terrorism, resorted  to violence in an effort to overthrow the oppressive South African regime and paid the price. In a week which marks the passing of Winnie Mandikizela – Mandela, his wife of 38 years, we have a stark reminder of how even the most courageous and determined freedom fighters  are irrevocably scarred by continuous humiliation, turning in desperation at times to violence. Winnie Mandela endured repeated imprisonment, torture and separation from her children and her people for refusing to submit to a vicious system of apartheid during her husbands 27 years of incarceration.  Her controversial actions did little to dim the light of Mandela but sadly diminished her role as Mother of the Nation.

In response to the militant stance of the Black Power movement following the Watts riots of 1965, Martin Luther King Jnr famously said: A riot is the language of the unheard’.   He wrote: Cowardice asks the question – is it safe? Expediency asks the question – is it politic?
Vanity asks the question – is it popular?
But conscience asks the question – is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right.    

Violence is an ultimate response to intransigence and the unwillingness to share power equitably. We do not have a Ghandi, a King or a Mandela in these troubled times. It would be expedient for Israel to acknowledge that for the Palestinian question ever to be resolved there must be a restoration of nationhood and land. As the occupying force, Israel holds the power position, it is therefore incumbent upon them to initiate change in what has become a war of attrition. Far from being diminished they would then be acting in accordance with the tenets of the religion which guides them.

See: Jerusalem – A pocket history for Trump

Jimmy Carter unveils truth about Israel (2009)

GUN LAW OR LAW OF THE GUN

So many people die annually from gunfire in the US that the death toll between 1968 and 2011 eclipses all wars ever fought by the country.

According to research by Politifact, there were about 1.4 million firearm deaths in that period, compared with 1.2 million US deaths in every conflict from the War of Independence to Iraq. The US spends more than a trillion dollars per year defending itself against terrorism, which kills a tiny fraction of the number of people killed by ordinary gun crime.

  • On average there is more than 1 mass shooting per day in America.
  •  America has 4.4% of the world population but owns almost half of the civilian owned guns around the world.
  • In 2012, 64% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides.
  • Before the deadly shooting at  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February there had already been 18 incidents at schools involving gun shots in 2018

Toddlers in America accidentally shot one person a week in 2015. There were 58 total toddler-involved shootings in 2015 . In 19 instances toddlers shot and killed themselves, and in two others toddlers shot and killed other individuals.  There were 5  fatalities In one month in 2016.

  • 20 April: A two-year-old boy in Indiana died after shooting himself in the chest,his mother had left the gun in her purse on the kitchen counter.
  • 21 April: In Missouri, a two-year-old girl died after shooting herself with her father’s gun.
  • 22 April: In Louisiana, a three-year-old fatally shot himself in the head when he somehow found a pistol.
  • 26 April: In Georgia, a three-year-old boy died after finding a gun at home and shooting himself in the chest.
  • 27 April: In Wisconsin, a two-year-old boy shot and killed his mother. She was driving down the highway when the gun slid from under the driver’s seat. In the back seat, the toddler, picked up the gun and fired it through the front seat. 

The  2nd Amendment of the Constitution of 1791 states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  It is hotly defended, perhaps reflects the degree of mistrust of government.   There is no consensus on what portion of mass killers show signs of mental illness. Estimates range from 20 percent with serious, disabling mental illnesses to as much as 60 percent, according to The American Journal of Public Health. Opinion polls illustrate the degree of division by party affiliation.

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY: UK,  Japan, Australia and Germany all have tight gun control and have drastically reduced gun homicides.

AUSTRALIA, a country where guns had long been accepted as part of ‘bush culture’ responded swiftly to the worst mass shooting in its history in 1996 by imposing a sweeping package of gun reforms requiring licensing and registration. A ‘buy back’ policy for those who did not comply led to the melting down of more than 65,000 firearms at a cost in todays terms of £185 million. (over $258 million dollars).  Later research concluded that the buy back cut the rate of suicides by  74% in the first 10 years. Prior to the gun reform there had been 13 mass shootings, there have been none since.

JAPAN has  laws against owning a gun, owning bullets, and discharging a firearm and has almost eradicated gun crime,  Any sort of interaction with guns is illegal in Japan, only a small portion of the population can own a gun, there are many restrictions unless you’re licensed, or with the police or military. Handguns and semi-automatic weapons are strictly forbidden. Applicants for firearms licences must attend an all-day class, take a written exam and pass a shooting-range test with a mark of at least 95%. There are also mental health and drugs tests with criminal record checks,  police also look for links to extremist groups, checking relatives and work colleagues. License holders  can only buy fresh cartridges  by returning the spent cartridges you bought on your last visit. Police also have sweeping powers to search and seize weapons. There were only 6 gun related deaths in 2014.

THE UK has one of the lowest rates of gun homicides. In 1987 a single gunman went on a rampage in Hungerford in the UK, killing 16 people and himself, he was carrying a handgun and 2 semi automatic rifles. In response legislation banned semi automatic and pump action weapons with mandatory registration for shotgun owners. 1997 brought a further ban on handguns in response to public demand, following the Dunblane massacre of sixteen 5 and 6 year olds along with their teacher who tried to protect them. Since that time there has been only one mass shooting in the UK when 12 people were killed by a single shooter on a rampage.

GERMANY has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in Europe. It is the only country in the world requiring anyone under 25 applying for their first firearms  license to undergo psychiatric evaluation with a trained counsellor, involving personality and anger management tests. Existing license holders over the age of 25 may be called in for psychiatric evaluation if they display concerning behaviour or are caught drink driving. Inherited guns must be fitted with a blocking device making them unusable. New legislation has made it harder to own multiple weapons. Incidents of gun crime in Germany have reducing by almost a quarter since 2010.

 

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY

The world reels from the gutter language used by the President of the United States as he manages to insult  a quarter of the countries of the world, concerning his views on immigration policy.  His response to accusations of racism,  a thinly veiled excuse – ‘it’s not racism it’s a financial problem‘  reveals the billionaire businessman beneath the presidential facade. By comparison the dignified response of the people of Haiti and Africa to his derogatory description of their countries provides an example that he would do well to emulate.

The United States has historically led the world in terms of resettlement, admitting 84,995 refugees in the fiscal year ending in September 2016. In 2017 President Trump cut the refugee quota by 50%, a policy currently being challenged in the Federal Court. In 2017 only 42,000 refugees were resettled in America; Canada in contrast  resettled 30,000 refugees in 2016.  Continue reading

Weapons for Peace?

The text message received by residents of The State of Hawaii  warning of a ballistic missile threat, confirmed as ‘This is not a test’,  sent thousands  rushing for cover and sending final messages to family and friends. Thirty eight interminable minutes later they were informed that ‘someone clicked the wrong button on a shift change’ Most experts agree that human error is the most likely trigger for a nuclear engagement, an event to which the opposing side should be expected to respond. The awesome military power which now rests in the hands of leaders who have repeatedly demonstrated their instability coupled with the spectre of fallible technology raises risk factors exponentially.

The farewell speech of President Eisenhower, a former general,  as he prepared to hand over power to President Kennedy on January 17th 1961 was “a solemn moment in a decidedly unsolemn time’, He warned a nation “giddy with prosperity, infatuated with youth and glamour, and aiming increasingly for the easy life.’ to be vigilant of the potential rise of the military industrial complex and potential abuse of power. Continue reading

GLOBAL WARMING ON PLANET TRUMP

‘Climate change and global warming  are two different phenomena, but are interlinked, and each affects the other. Climate change is change in the climate of a region. Global warming is the rise in average temperature of the Earth. Human interference is the common factor, which is accelerating both’

For the nomadic herders of Siberia, climate change is not an illusion a joke or a scam. Scientific data confirms that Russia is already warming at one and a half times the rate of other parts of the world, leaving  reindeer, Russia’s cattle of the Arctic regions, under threat from climate change. Nomadic reindeer herders living near the north-west coast of Siberia where the sea freezes nine months of the year state that  the snow is melting sooner, and faster than before.

 During the autumn period between 2006 and 2013 sea ice began to melt instead of thickening. Traditionally the Nenet nomads cross the frozen Ob River in November with their reindeer herds to set up camp in the southern forests. Higher temperatures are delaying the annual winter trek  until late December  when the ice is finally thick enough to cross the frozen river. Continue reading

AID and ‘undue influence’

The dictionary definition of undue influence: “influence by which a person is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences.”

Guatemala with a weaker and more corrupt state and a more impoverished society than that of Mexico has a growing public debt. President Perez Molina is looking to Washington for military aid to support the Guatemalan army to root out corruption. Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate  and high levels of sexual violence despite a population of a little over 9 million. An estimated 1 million Hondurans reside in the United States, 600,000 of whom are believed to be undocumented; consequently, immigration issues are an important item on the bilateral agenda.

Micronesia: (A Federation of small island states, formerly a United Nations Trust Territory under U.S. administration until gaining independence in 1986.) The US will provide $100 million annually over the next 20 years. Guam – 210 sq. mi.; population 186,000 Guam is the largest single island in Micronesia. A territory of the United States and one of its primary military bases in the Pacific. Nauru : 8 sq. mi.; population 9,000. An independent nation; single island. The United States is a major financial contributor to international and regional organizations that assist Nauru, Palau – 177 sq. mi.; population 21,000  an archipelago  of over 300 islands, only 8 of which are inhabited.Palau is the largest recipient of aid per capita from the US, receiving more than $852 million over the last 15 yerars.

Marshall Islands70 sq. mi.; population 68,000. The United States conquered the islands in 1944. The Marshall Islands served as a test theatre for American nuclear weapons from 1946 to 1958 with 67 weapon tests  conducted, These including the 15-megaton  hydrogen bomb test  on Bikini Atoll which was 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Bikini Atoll became uninhabitable. Prior to nuclear testing, the residents had initially accepted resettlement voluntarily to Rongerik Atoll, believing that they would be able to return home within a short time. Rongerik Atoll could not produce enough food and the islanders starved and were again relocated. In 1970  islanders returned to the Bikini Island, advised it was now safe, until further testing revealed dangerous levels of strontium-90.    Today the Marshall Islands, relies on nominal access to U.S. based health agencies and is, like so many of the islands states of Micronesia, dependent upon US Aid  which represents a large percentage of the islands’ gross domestic product.

TOGO West Africa: Amid a diplomatic drive by Israel to extend its influence in West Africa, Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe  met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice in 2017. This  included a conference hosted by the Togo President where Netanyahu stated “Israel is coming back to Africa, and Africa is coming back to Israel,” The President has visited Israel three times since 2012 and Lome the capital, consistently sides with Jerusalem in international organisations,”

While congratulating the moral victory of the 129 nations who chose to ignore the threat, at the UN Council we might also consider the 35 who chose to abstain and why, among them Canada for example, walking a political tightrope with one eye on current NAFTA negotiations.

AID: Which country gives the most?

If we measure per capita ie the amount of Aid divided by the income of the number of people in the donor country, the picture changes.  Europe and Scandinavia consistently giving most.The US, France, Japan and Canada fall off the list. Sweden moves from the mid range to first place and The United Arab Republic moves from the bottom to 2nd place, followed by Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. Additional countries, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Turkey and Finland appear. Continue reading

JERUSALEM: A Pocket History

‘A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY’

The original inhabitants of Jerusalem were Phoenician Canaanites, their culture is believed to have pioneered the Mediterranean system of agriculture, intensive horticulture, grain growing and commercial olive cultivation. Old Testament scripture states that the land is named after Canaan, a son of Ham, son of Noah, the ancestor of the Canaanite people. The Canaanites of the southern Levante worshipped a panoply of gods; the first known mention of the city of Jerusalem was in c. 2,000 BCE.

PHILISTIA  (present day Gaza on the Mediterranean coast of Israel) was the name of a region between Egypt and Canaan believed to be founded  c 2,100BC.  The Old Testament states that the inhabitants were Philistines. In Hebrew, Philistine literally means ‘of  Palestine’  (Phillistia). The name Jerusalem is of Canaanite origin, meaning “Founded by Shalem”:  Originally ‘Urushalim’ or ‘Urushalem’ the prefix uru means ‘founded by’, and the suffix salem or Shalem refers to the Canaanite ‘god of dusk, of the setting sun and of health and perfection’. The Sumero-Akkadian name for Jerusalem (1330 BCE) uru-salim, means “foundation of [or by] the god ‘Shalim‘ from Hebrew/Semitic meaning ‘to found, to lay a cornerstone’.

Though not a part of Canaan and never conquered by the Israelites, Phillistia was in the area said to have been promised to the Israelites by their God. The two nations were initially on peaceful terms but eventually warred for centuries. Goliath the giant was the Philistine from Gath,  killed by David  the shepherd boy (later King of Israel) with a slingshot stone. Under the later Roman occupation of Judea, Phillistia was renamed Palaestina,  the name Palestine and the Arab word Filistin originate from the Romanised Palaestina

According to the Old Testament  Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, was born  in 1,813 BCE, he was a native of Ur of the Chaldeans, in Mesopotamia, now south eastern Iraq. Led by God Abraham settled in Haran, The Jewish Torah traces his  lineage through his twelve sons who became the ancestors of the twelve  tribes of Israel and his grandson Jacob.

The name Israel comes from the renaming of Jacob by the Hebrew god of the bible, following a heroic struggle when he wrestled with an angel. The Hebrew bible states the name is derived from ‘yisra’ meaning ‘to prevail over’ and ‘el ‘referring to ‘God, the divine’. Joseph the son of Jacob was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers but rose to prominence when he interpreted the dream of the pharaoh which predicted a famine in Egypt. Following the famine Jacob’s descendants, the Hebrews migrated to Egypt and under the patronage of Joseph, established a thriving community. After Joseph’s death the Hebrews were viewed as a threat to the indigenous population and were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years.

Directed by God, Moses led the Hebrew slaves to freedom through the Sinai Peninsula to Canaan, the ‘land flowing with milk and honey’  as promised  to them by their God. Canaan had an indigenous population of both settled and nomadic groups; the Israelites were commanded  by their god to conquer Canaan. The  conquest occurred under Joshua in c.1,406BC. The  Book of Joshua states that Canaanites are included in a list of nations to exterminate and later described as a group which the Israelites had annihilated. (Today this has been equated with genocide.) The land was divided between the 12 tribes, the sons of Jacob but the tribes were divided and warred against each other for centuries.

According to the Bible, the Israelite history of the city of Jerusalem began c.1,000 BCE when the city  was sacked by King David  (a descendant of the tribe of Judah) who later united the 12 tribes of Israel. Solomon, his son, built the Temple of Jerusalem, after the death of Solomon the kingdom became fragmented and was split into two parts, 10 tribes of Israel and 2 of Judah. The city of Jerusalem was located in Judah.

In the Assyrian conquest (740 BCE) the tribes of Israel were taken captive and exiled. They never returned to their homeland and are referred to as ‘the Ten lost tribes of Israel’ who became  scattered over centuries in the global  diaspora. The tribes of Judah (Jews) were exiled in the Babylonian conquest  (587/6 BCE). After the Fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539BCE Cyrus the Great issued a decree allowing the right of return of the Jewish tribes to Israel to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Some 50,000 returned  in 4 waves, the temple was dedicated in 516 BCE. Many of the exiles did not return to their homeland, most remained in Babylon or travelled westward and northward settling in what is now northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

The land which would in time become Israel was for centuries part of the Turkish-ruled Ottoman Empire. After World War One and the collapse of the Ottoman empire, the territory known as Palestine was  assigned by the victorious allied powers to Britain to administer under Mandate. This included land west of the River Jordan known by the Jews as the land of Israel. The terms of the mandate entrusted Britain with establishing  “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine so long as doing so did not prejudice the civil and religious rights of non-Jewish communities there.  In 1947 the United Nations, proposed partitioning Palestine into two states – one Jewish, one Arab – with the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area to become an international city. A few days before the British mandate was due to expire in 1948  the World Zionist Organization declared the Establishment of the State of Israel.

BALFOUR DECLARATION – ‘Freedom is never gained by the oppression of others’

 

 

PALESTINE – HUMAN RIGHTS AND PAPER TIGERS

ON THE 72nd ANNIVERSARY OF NAKBA DAY (15th May)  PALESTINIAN PROTESTS WERE CANCELLED DUE TO THE COVID1- PANDEMIC. PALESTINIANS  RESORTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO  REMIND THE WORLD OF THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF 1948 AND THEIR CONTINUED FIGHT FOR A RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND.

NAKBA DAY  (The Day of Catastrophe) marks the anniversary of the day hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were ethnically cleansed, forcibly evicted from their homes by Zionist paramilitaries, ushering in the declaration of the State of Israel. (Zionism is a political and not a religious movement). The event triggered an attack on Israel by adjacent Arab States. Of the thousands of Palestinians  who  were scattered across refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Palestine’s neighbouring countries, most never returned home. Now, over five million Palestinian refugees are estimated to be still displaced.

ISRAELI COMMENT: “A Jewish state would not have come into being without the uprooting of 700,000 Palestinians. Therefore it was necessary to uproot them. There was no choice but to expel that population. It was necessary to cleanse the hinterland and cleanse the border areas and cleanse the main roads. It was necessary to cleanse the villages from which our convoys and our settlements were fired on” ….. Even the great American democracy could not have been created without the annihilation of the Indians.” Benny Morris: Israeli professor and historian.

IN THE SAME YEARS THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTED THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

It states: “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,….. it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,”  Article 1.
 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

The 1967 6 day Arab-Israeli War followed a supposed rise of Arab unification and a further failed attempt to restore Palestinian lands. This resulted in the occupation  by Israel of The Golan Heights, The Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. The  United Nations Security Council Resolution 242   called for “the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East” to be achieved by “the application of both the following principles: … Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict … Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.” Part of the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula were ceded in the Camp David Peace Accord between Egypt and Israel  in 1978, leaving the West  Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation.

 

Israel  prefers the term  ‘disputed territories’ denying its occupation.  The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and many other international bodies consider Israel to be the occupying power as it controls Gaza Strip’s airspace, territorial waters and  the movement of people or goods in or out of Gaza by air or sea.  Gaza remains one of the most densely populated places on Earth with a total area of 365 km, a population of over 1.7 million and eight over-crowded, under-resourced refugee camps. Its economy is at a standstill, half of its children are malnourished and people do not have  access to adequate medical care.

The Israeli occupation of Palestine is the longest military occupation in modern history.  Israeli illegal blockades, indiscriminate bombing, torture and imprisonment without trial are considered by many as war crimes. Palestinians continue to live in the shadow of the wall erected by Israel with restricted access to their holy shrines.

Today Israeli settlements  which have been declared  illegal by the impotent United Nations continue the policy of land dispossession.

See also: Hebrew v Arabic: Language as a Tool of Oppression

SYRIA AND THE GOLAN HEIGHTS – A Pocket History for Trump)

 

DAKOTA PIPELINE

‘You were here long before any of us were here…You are special people” …. the words used by President Donald Trump while honouring Native American veterans of WW2.  The irony of standing before a portrait of President Andrew Jackson was noted by many. Known for his harsh treatment of Native Americans, Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act which resulted in the deaths of thousands of native people forced to relocate. However, since native peoples remain disenfranchised today which Presidents portrait would have been appropriate?

The ‘code talkers’ used their  languages including Navajo, Choctaw, and Seminole to transmit sensitive military plans that US enemies could not translate.  By his words President Trump acknowledged the pre-eminence of indigenous native peoples: History has shown that this does not extend to their land rights including the current Dakota Access Pipeline. Construction sites are technically just north of the Sioux tribe’s reservation,  the Sioux say the government took this land from them illegally in an 1868 treaty.  They also accuse the government of approving the current pipeline construction without consulting them, a breach of US law and argue that the project would contaminate drinking water and damage sacred burial sites. Continue reading

DIVIDE AND CONQUER – A STRATEGY

THE POLITICAL SPLIT NOW REPEATEDLY DEMONSTRATED IN ELECTION RESULTS , REFERENDUMS AND OPINION POLLS  IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON, A FURTHER EXAMPLE OF THE DUALITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS  IN THE CURRENT TRANSITION TOWARDS UNITY OR CHAOS.

 A SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE:  When viewed in terms of consciousness, this manifests in  a lack of spiritual cohesiveness, marked by moral and ethical decline. Such markers in Time provide a wake up call,  a warning to humanity to return to observance of the governing cosmic law in order to avoid inevitable consequence. Cosmologists acknowledge  the geophysical division and fragmentation which takes place at the end of cosmic cycles, now manifesting as climate change.  Sociologists  and mental health care practitioners recognise the psychological trauma  and breakdown often associated with change and uncertainty which precedes any regenerative phase of renewal. Today political guru’s are confounded by the dynamic changes in which outcome cannot be predicted.

UNITY OR DIVISION:   The outcome of the current Israeli election is one more demonstration of division and fragmentation, a split in the national psyche.  With 95% of the vote counted, results show a tie, with the two major parties evenly split at 56 seats, the Likud Party led by Prime Minister Netanyahu is behind  by one seat.  Neither side has the 61 votes necessary to form a governing coalition in the 120-seat Knesset.

The UK Brexit vote on whether to leave the EU, split the nation and led to an unresolved constitutional crisis.

  •  In the UK 51.9% voted LEAVE and 48.1% REMAIN.
  • With the exception of Scotland and London the results of the remaining 11 regions eligible to vote illustrated an average split of 10%.
  • Northern Ireland voted  55.8%  NO  to 44.2% YES.
  • Wales voted 47.5% NO  to 52.5% YES.
  • In the Scottish referendum which debated Independence from Britain,  55.3% voted against independence with  44.7% voting in favour, the later Brexit crisis  influencing any potential second referendum.

Continue reading

Heart centred?

In a time of much confusion, delusion and self deception, the constant claim by so many of being ‘heart centred’, while well meaning, sadly does not stand up to scrutiny. The global experience of the majority in the world today confirms a lack of love rather than an abundance. To be truly heart centred requires more than a statement or even an intention, we must engage energetically from the neural pathways within the heart. (See Medicine and Mysticism Meet:  http://www.livingmemoryresearch.net/blog/?p=6)

Love is linked to unselfish desire, pure motive, the ability to give and to receive. Emotional connection is a sensory response, an energetic pull with anticipation of reciprocation, borne of personal need. Our relationship to each other and to the world can be measured by the degree of separation between the demands we place on others and our ability to give without receiving, referred to as unconditional love. For most of us the resting place is somewhere in between. Continue reading

LINES IN THE SAND – Who created the Middle East?

WARS ARE DRIVEN BY CONQUEST AND PLUNDER – RESOURCES ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF EMPIRES AND MILITARY MIGHT IS ESSENTIAL TO ACHIEVE ACCESS AND OCCUPATION

It was implied that this would include all of Mesopotamia, most of Syria and those parts of the peninsula of Arabia not already governed as British protectorates. This ignored an existing British alliance in central Arabia with Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud, the Emir of Riyad, a leader of the militant Wahhabi Islamic movement who with British support ultimately became King Saud of Saudi Arabia, and a controversial ally of the West. Continue reading

BALFOUR DECLARATION – ‘Freedom is never gained by the oppression of others’

The Balfour Declaration has been referred to as made by a European power … about a non-European territory … in a flat disregard of both the presence and wishes of the native majority resident in that territory”.

The Balfour Declaration grew out of British self interest during ever changing fortunes of WW1. Control over Palestine was of strategic Imperial significance in order to keep Egypt and the Suez Canal within Britain’s sphere of influence. In essence, the Balfour Declaration,  promised the powerful Zionist Jewish political movement in Britain a homeland for the Jewish people in return for global Jewish support of their goal. The British Foreign Secretary handed the letter  to Baron Rothschild, an international financier, banker and Zionist sympathiser who acted as intermediary for the Zionist movement.

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