Le conflit Palestinien et la laïcité!!

Je ne sais pas comment j’ai eu le courage de m’immiscer dans ce sujet si controversé qu’est la laïcité. Je l’avoue vu les quelques postes que j’ai lu, je me suis senti intimidé rien qu’en pensant vouloir participer, tellement les post étaient décourageants. La plupart des posts invitent a discuter mais en même temps ils sous entendent qu’on doit être très intelligents et être d’accord avec ce qu’ils disent pour qu’on puisse le faire. Je suis peut être con, idiot ou superficiel mais j’ai un avis et je n’ai jamais eu peur de le dire car rien que ce sentiment que j’ai eu d’avoir peur d’en parler est outrageant et révoltant. En tant qu’être humain et membre d’une communié, j’ai une voix même si je suis l’idiot du village, j’ai le droit a participer a une discussion, a émettre un avis sans être intimidé ou avoir peur d’être ridiculisé. Je crois que si quelqu’un est convaincu d’une idée ou veut combattre une idée, il faut qu’il soit assez réaliste pour la discuter et la défendre sans se mettre dans la position de donneurs de leçons. Je ne vise personne et j’espère que personne ne le prend mal mais je constate que les différentes parties prenantes de cette discussion émettent des théorèmes non discutables et font tout pour décourager une discussion productive autour d’un sujet important. J’exagère peut être mais l e sentiment de peur de participer a ce débat (qui n’est pas vraiment un) sur la blogosphere est révoltant.

Voila après cette longue et subjective introduction, je veux émettre un avis qui peut paraitre superficiel, idiot ou ce que vous voulez mais je l’émets quand même.

Certains disent qu’il ne faut pas parler de la séparation entre l’état et la religion avant de résoudre le problème Palestinien. Eh ben, l’idiot et le superficiel que je suis pense que les deux problèmes sont liés car la raison d’être d’Israël est la religion et que les Israéliens n’auraient jamais eu le besoin de créer un état si ce n’était pour la religion et que la guerre qui dure depuis plus de 60 ans est une guerre de religion. Je suis peut être bête mais je crois que la séparation de l’état et la religion ne peut être que bénéfique et implique plus de libertés individuelles et un système qui répond aux aspirations de s citoyens. Je ne suis pas athée, je suis croyant mais je veux vivre dans un état laïc. Je suis nul en histoire mais je me rappelle que les guerres les plus meurtrières sont les guerres religieuses. Presque la majorité des confits des dernières 50 années que ce soit en Palestine, Irlande, Soudan, Ex Yougoslavie, Afghanistan..Etc. sont des guerres de religions. C’est tellement évident, même pour un idiot comme moi !!! Mais je suis prêt a changer d'avis si on peut me convaincre du contraire.

Gaza : Dommages Collatéraux???????

Quand est ce que le gouvernement Israelien va comprendre que la seule alternative qu'il a c'est la PAIX. Pourquoi croire que répondre a une attaque de roquette démesurément en utilisant des F16 et Apaches bomabradant tout une cité et tuant des dizaines d'enfants est la solution? Pourquoi tant d'acharnement a détruire au lieu de construire? Pourquoi des enfants innocents, qui apportent la seule raisons de vivre a des familles vivant dans la misère et malheur doivent ils mourir? Qu'il soit Israélien, Palestinien, Juif ou Musulman, un enfant ne doit jamais payer le prix de l'ego de ces gouvernements de MERDE des deux cotes de cette frontière artificielle.......

Voila les photos de ces dommages collatéraux!!!

Un footballeur c'est aussi ca!!!

Gaza Blackout HORROR : STOP!!!!

L'état d'Israël est le premier a nous rappeler l'horreur que le peuple juif a du subir par les Nazis. Mais quand il coupe l'électricité a un pays et envoie sa force aérienne le bombarder sachant que les hôpitaux ne pourront pas soigner les blessés, ceci est de la barbarie que seul les Nazis auraient pu y penser. J'exagère peut être, mais ai je raison?

December 14th 1981 (25 years ago)

25 years ago, on 12/14/1981, the Knesset passed a law annexing the Syrian Golan heights to the state of Israel. This is a known fact, right? But it is very interesting how history gets written sometimes, specially when you read the NY Times article relating the news on that day.



JERUSALEM, Dec. 14 -- The contested Golan Heights formally became part of Israel today as Prime Minister Menachem Begin pushed a measure through Parliament to annex the strategic zone along the Syrian border. Officials said the new measure provided that ''the law, jurisdiction and administration of the state shall apply to the Golan Heights.''

[...]

The Reagan Administration said the annexation of the Golan Heights was inconsistent with the Camp David accords. A White House spokesman said the United States had been given no prior warning of the move. (Page A11.) (In Damascus, the Syrian Government called the Israeli action a "declaration of war" and asked for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Page A12.)

[...]

It was Syria's hard-line stance that Mr. Begin cited as an immediate reason for his action. He quoted a report in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai Al Amm on Sunday that President Hafez al-Assad of Syria had expressed the determination to refuse to recognize Israel "even if the Palestinians deign to do so."

[...]
The assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt is also seen as a factor, and the annexation as an attempt to test the new Egyptian Government of President Hosni Mubarak on its commitment to peace. The Egyptian Ambassador to Israel, Saad Mortada, objected to the move, but said the peace process would continue.

[...]
Mr. Begin initiated the annexation move after his release today from Hadassah Hospital, where he had been recuperating from a broken thigh suffered in a fall Nov. 26. He convened a Cabinet meeting in his home, and the ministers reportedly followed his lead without substantial dissent.

Parliament, with Mr. Begin attending the session in a wheelchair, was then asked to compress the three readings, votes and committee hearings required of all legislation into one evening.

The whole procedure,which took just six hours, was a display of Mr. Begin's political power and the disarray of the opposition. Mr. Begin said Israel had avoided consulting with the United States because to do so, to receive a "no" from Washington and then go ahead, "would have been much more serious" for American-Israeli relations.

"I say again to our American friends, we shall continue to be allies," the Prime Minister said, "but no one will dictate our lives to us, even the United States of America."
[...]


I don't know for you, but when I read this today, I was shocked on how the future of thousands of people was addressed. It is a shame, and this is not hatred because I believe that even some of the Israelis would feel the same if they knew this and I know of some who do. Israel is a democracy, but does a parliament hold enough power as to make such decisions??? And even if they do, how can it happen this way?

We are all Palestinians!

Today is the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People". Yes the people not the government(s) of Palestine. Between the occupation, the corruption and the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah, there is no room for these poor people to breathe and it has been like this since 1948.
I feel sorry for all Palestinians who lost land and life and I feel I am a Palestinian too. We are all Palestinians.

La promesse d'Arthur James Balfour!!

Le 2/11/1917, L'Angleterre a promis La Palestine au leader sioniste Rotschild. Comme le dit mon ami Tarek, Il a promis ce qui ne lui appartient pas. C'etait pas une premiere pour l'empire britanique, dont on souffre les consequences dans les quatre coins du monde :'(

Il parait que le Brouilon de cette lettre va etre mis aux encheres au Musee Sotheyby a NewYork (via Tarek's blog). Voici le texte de la promesse!!


Foreign Office

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

“His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours,

Arthur James Balfour

[Update]Comme le mentionne le commentaire de Tarek, le brouillon a été mis aux enchères en 2005.

How did Suha Arafat amass all these millions?

Poor Palestinians, not only do they have to cope with an army of occupation and a state that is draining their resrouces, but also with the corruption and greed of their leaders :'(


There have been consistent reports that Suha Arafat, widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has withdrawn tens of millions of dollars’ worth of investments from Tunis, prompting the Tunisian authorities to strip her of the Tunisian citizenship.

Some news agencies reported mid-August that Suha’s investments in Tunisia were estimated to be in the vicinity of $40 million.

Well-connected sources in Ramallah have intimated that Suha Arafat “inherited” hundreds of millions of dollars registered under her deceased husband’s name in several European banks. The vast bulk of the money is believed to have belonged to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

This writer sought to raise this subject with several Palestinian officials in Ramallah.

The officials agreed to speak rather reluctantly and only on condition of “anonymity” citing the “sensitivity of the subject.”

I spoke to one veteran official in Ramallah, who I was told is responsible for dealing with “the issues of administrative and financial corruption.”

The man didn’t ask for anonymity, but I have opted to not mention his name lest he be physically harmed by the gurus of corruption or fired from his job.

M.A. (his initials) said he was well aware of the “subject” and would love to see “real journalists dig for the truth.”

“You know and I know that this is the Palestinian people’s money. These millions didn’t belong to Yasser Arafat, they belong to the Palestinian people. Besides, the fact that these millions were embezzled or arrogated four or five years ago doesn’t mean that it is hopeless or too late to set the record straight.

“On the other hand, we can’t just indict Suha Arafat or anybody else based on rumours and unsubstantiated reports.”

M.A. said the first culprit in this issue is the Palestinian Legislative Council, which he said should have placed the subject on the top of its agenda from the very inception.

“I don’t know why they didn’t discuss the subject. I think the failure to discuss this paramount matter amounted to a breach of trust and betrayal of the people.”

I confronted Hasan Khreishe, deputy-speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, with these serious accusations and asked him what he knew about Suha Arafat’s alleged millions.

Khreishe, speaking cautiously and circumspectly, said the Legislative Council didn’t start an investigation into Suha Arafat’s wealth because “we didn’t have credible evidence warranting launching an investigation.”

I asked the veteran MP, who in 2003 headed the investigation of the so-called cement scandal, if he knew the fate of PLO secret accounts and investment schemes in Palestine and abroad. Khreishe said he didn’t know much and the little he knew came from the media.

Asked if he thought the Palestinian government should seek to obtain information from foreign governments, including the Tunisian government, as to details of bank accounts belonging to Arafat’s widow, Khreishe said “this is the government’s business, not ours.”

When further asked if he would press the Palestinian government to ask foreign governments for information on Suha Arafat’s financial details, Khreishe sought to evade the question, saying that “this matter is more judicial than legislative, and that the ball was in the media’s court to produce concrete evidence incriminating Suha Arafat.

“Two hundred million dollars”

Very few people were aware of Yasser Arafat’s financial assets during his lifetime. One of these was Muhammad Rashid, the late Palestinian leader’s economic advisor, who is now living in Cairo.

Rashid has consistently refused to give details of Arafat’s secret bank accounts and other assets, saying he would report only to the Palestinian Authority.

According to an al-Jazeera report a few years ago, Arafat had written a will leaving some of his fortune to his wife and their daughter, Zahwa. However, other reports said Arafat left no will, leaving most of his fortune in the hands of Rashid and Suha. However, it is uncertain if Rashid behaved single-mindedly with Arafat’s financial empire, or if he “settled things” quietly with Suha following Arafat’s death.

At the time of his death, Arafat’s assets were estimated at $200 million by the Forbes magazine. Forbes listed him ninth in its ranking of the world’s wealthiest heads of state, even though he was a ruler without a country and many of his people were (are) suffering from abject poverty. Other sources, including the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), put Arafat’s fortune at $6 billion, a figure exaggerated according to several PLO figures I have talked to.

Suha Tawil, 30 years younger than Arafat, married the PLO leader in 1992 in Tunisia where she worked for the PLO headquarters in Tunis. Suha returned with Arafat to Gaza where the couple lived alternately in Gaza and Ramallah. However, in 2001, she took their child, Zahwa, to Paris, where they continued to live until late 2005, when they moved to Tunis.

Suha lived a lavish and luxurious life in the French capital where it was rumoured that the money she spent per month would cover the basic needs of 5,000 Palestinian refugees in a place like Jabalya in the Gaza Strip.

In 2004, the French authorities began investigating the transfer of $11.5 million from Swiss bank accounts to accounts in France controlled by Suha Arafat.

Then Suha reportedly lambasted the French authorities for ordering the investigation.

“What is so strange for the Palestinian president to send any amount of money to his family and his wife, who is protecting the Palestinian interests abroad, and the money came and will come legally?” Suha was quoted as saying during an interview with the London-based Saudi-financed al-Hayat Arabic newspaper.

Following Arafat’s death in November 2004, and wishing to settle “the problem” with Suha quietly, Palestinian Authority leaders, e.g. Fateh leaders, reportedly struck a deal with Suha whereby she agreed to receive a large amount of Arafat’s fortune as well as a monthly stipend of tens of thousands of dollars for the rest of her life, all in return for shutting her mouth.

While the exact details of Suha’s present fortune are still not known, it is very likely that the bulk of her assets has been arrogated from monies that belonged to the Palestinian people. Suha was not known as a businesswoman and she didn’t hail from a particularly rich family. Her mother, Rimonda Tawil, published a weekly magazine in East Jerusalem called al-Awda, which was financed by the PLO. And she inherited very few assets from her father.

So, how did she amass all this wealth, all these hundreds of millions of dollars?

In simple English, it seems we are talking about a huge theft by every conceivable standard of logic. I know that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. However, in this case, the guilt screams to the seventh heaven. People don’t just make hundreds of millions that easily and in such a short period of time.

Besides, Yasser Arafat’s bank accounts, secret or otherwise, didn’t belong to him personally but to the Palestinian people.

More to the point, the late Palestinian leader, with all due respect to his struggle for freedom and statehood, had no right to leave hundreds of millions or tens of millions of dollars to his wife and daughter. These millions were not his. They belonged to the people.

Hence, it is imperative that the Palestinian society raise the issue and exert meaningful pressure on government officials so that they immediately order a full and comprehensive investigation into Suha Arafat’s finances.

The people of Palestine have every right to know where every cent of Suha’s millions came from, and if a genuine investigation is carried out and incriminating evidence is obtained, then the PA will have to seek her extradition so that she will stand trial for corruption and embezzlement of the Palestinian people’s money.

This is a test case not only for the Palestinians resolved to fight corruption, but also for the seriousness of our quest for independence and statehood.

After all, corrupt politicians who cover up corruption and protect the grand thieves can’t be entrusted with the fate of the people and the country.
source: Palestinian times

Blaming Democracy!!

When someone tries to analyze a situation from one angle, you can get to very disturbing conclusions. When you ignore 60 years of conflicts, wars and political maneuvers, and focus on the last few years, you will be misleader. The Middle East conflict is a tool used for leverage by many countries, by the communist block, the imperialists, the pacifiers, the extremists from both side and the dictators of the region. All took benefit from it, but the population of the region. And today someone is trying to blame the current situation on Democracy. In my opinion that's short sighted, but I can't blame the person who wrote the following article. In fact, did the Arab leaders succeed in proofing that Democracy is not the solution?? I think they did :(

FROM GAZA TO LEBANON to Iraq, the Middle East is aflame, and the vaunted free elections that have been held in each country have hardly produced peace, stability or good governance. Some Arabs are now claiming that democracy itself is discredited. That's neither fair nor true.

Democracy is the only path to a government for and by the people. And without the competition of free elections, politicians have no real incentive to enact reform, and citizens have no meaningful way to hold them accountable. But it is simplistic to equate elections with democracy. Nor should Americans expect elections to produce outcomes we approve.

Early this decade, Washington was fiercely opposed to Palestinian elections that would surely have legitimized the late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's leadership against his weak rival, Hamas. After Arafat's death, Hamas won elections that were unquestionably free and fair, and this week, Gaza has descended into a fierce civil war. The U.S. applauded the Iraqi and Lebanese elections. Yet sectarian strife, malevolent neighbors and crippling historical legacies have conspired to nullify the resulting democratic gains.

It is often said that were free elections to be held tomorrow, Islamists would sweep into power across the Middle East. That's because Islamists are seen as an antidote to corruption and despotism, and they are organized. So governments such as Egypt's have virtually crushed secular democratic opposition, while the Islamists continue to spread their messages in mosques and underground. Cairo banned Muslim Brotherhood candidates from parliamentary elections last week, beating up poll watchers and turning away voters in heavily Islamist neighborhoods. Such repression is intolerable, of course. Still, the central challenge to the Bush administration's democracy promotion strategy is the inconvenient but pressing question: What does the U.S. do when elections produce leaders who despise the United States, or whom the United States despises?

First, we must practice patience, which has not been a traditional American virtue. It is worth remembering that in U.S. foreign policy, as in medicine, bad outcomes are sometimes inevitable. Elections should not have been expected to cure the poisoning of the Palestinian body politic after 40 years of war, occupation and strife. Elections could not prevent Syria from assassinating Lebanese politicians. And medievalist Al Qaeda has no respect for the ballot. That does not mean balloting should not take place.

Second, the U.S. should reiterate that merely getting elected does not make a government legitimate. Civilized nations also judge each other on the basis of their adherence to the rule of law, political pluralism, minority rights, an independent judiciary, freedom of speech and press and respect for international borders. U.S. support for democratic ideals does not obligate it to recognize a freely elected government of Nazis, genocidal thugs or terrorists.

The Bush administration would be wise to recalibrate its rhetoric and promote more realistic expectations. But it should not retreat from our democratic principles.

source

This reminds me of a joke.
A scientist was studying flies. One part of his experiments is trying to teach a fly to obey his orders. So he uses some lab flies and he noticed that every time he put one of them on a table and said “fly”, it flied :))). Then to make his point, he took one and cut its wings, put it on the table and said “fly”. Obviously it did not, so he went and wrote his conclusion “When you cut the wing of a fly, it becomes deaf” :)))

Palestine: Hidden agenda!!

What is going on in Palestine is another proof of the complex situation in the region and another eye opener that no peaceful solution can take place to relieve the 50 years of suffering of the people living there.

It is a real drama. People being manipulated like puppets by the existing political forces in the region. The Hamas government, elected by the people is not accepted by Israel or Fatah. The latter found itself in a weak position and is trying to get back to power, by force and is risking to be perceived as getting help from Israel.

Israel plays a dangerous game by helping or makes believe it is helping Fatah. Which will put both Palestinian factions in a hot spot in front of the world and who’s paying the price? As usual, the poor Palestinians are. It is a hopeless case, isn’t it?



GAZA (Reuters) - At least 25 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday as President Mahmoud Abbas's secular
Fatah faction and Hamas battled for control of Gaza and
Israel launched a deadly round of air strikes against the Islamists.


Palestinian officials said the widening hostilities could bring down a two-month-old unity government formed between Hamas and Fatah. Some Palestinians see this leading to all-out civil war and the end of the Palestinian Authority.

Terrified Gaza residents hid indoors as masked gunmen fought running battles street-to-street, killing 20 people -- five of them even after the two sides declared a ceasefire at dusk. In one panicked call to a radio station, a woman urged Palestinian leaders to act, pleading: "Do not leave us to die here."[...]

Israel faces a delicate balancing act. It is under domestic pressure to stop the rockets and also wants Fatah to deal a blow to Hamas, the party of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh; it agreed to let 450 Fatah troops into Gaza from Egypt on Tuesday.

But overt Israeli assistance for Fatah could backfire if Hamas is able to paint Abbas as an ally of the Jewish state, which many Palestinians see as their real enemy. Pro-Hamas media have already begun accusing Abbas of lining up with Israel.

"We will not intervene in the war itself but if Mr. Abbas will request specific help, we will supply (it)," Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres told reporters during a visit to Estonia
source

Pulitzer prize winning photography.

The results for the Pulitzer prize 2007 were announced.
Among the winners, Oded Balilty of the associated Press won one for breaking news photography for his image of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces as the y remove illegal settlers in the west Bank!!!!!!!!!!!

Palestine-Israel : Give Peace A Chance!!

Today, Arab leaders are meeting in Ryadh (KSA) for a two days Arab league summit. In the agenda, a revival of the land for peace proposal offered 5 years ago to the Israelis. Basically, it asks for withdrawal of the Israelis to the 1967 borders, agree on a Palestinian state and a just solution for the refugees. The latter is very important since it is not asking for their return but for a just solution which is a big concession. I really hope that Hamas and the Israeli government consider this offer, because it is the best compromise at this time and it is worth stopping this 60 years conflict. Enough is enough, 3 generations lost during this conflict from both sides. Give back land to leave in peace is what the Israelis should look for. Accepting the 1967 borders is a good compromise for the Palestinians because that’s the best they can get at this time. If you think about it, it is an opportunity for both to end this conflict and it is far better than the current situation. Unfortunately, the all or nothing solution is just unrealistic at this point. Same thing if the Israelis maintain their position on East Jerusalem and the refugee issue. It is just not going to happen. I invite you to pray that a miracle will happen and that this will be the end of this “endless” conflict.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Arab leaders will revive a five-year-old land-for-peace offer to
Israel when they meet at a summit in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, seeking an end to decades of conflict at the heart of the region's problems.

The two-day Arab League summit is set to offer the Jewish state normal ties with all Arab countries if it fully withdraws from land it occupied in 1967, accepts a Palestinian state and agrees to a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to take up the offer, calling it a last chance for peace with Muslims.

"This initiative simply says to Israel 'leave the occupied territories and you will live in a sea of peace that begins in Nouakchott and ends in Indonesia'," Abbas said on Tuesday, referring to the capital of Mauritania in West Africa and the country with the world's largest Muslim population.

"If this initiative is destroyed, I don't believe there will be another opportunity in the future like this."
[...]

Yet the plan faces many hurdles. Israel has objected to key elements, including the proposed return to 1967 borders, the inclusion of Arab East Jerusalem in a Palestinian state and the return of Palestinian refugees to homes in what is now Israel.

The Islamist movement Hamas, which heads the Palestinian government, also has some reservations about the text.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was quoted by Saudi media as urging Arab leaders ahead of the summit not to make concessions on the demand for the Palestinian refugees to return home.

Hamas demands a right to return for all Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war. It has refused to recognize Israel, but Palestinian officials say it has agreed not to go against the peace plan.

The final draft avoids mention of the phrase "right of return" for Palestinian refugees but calls for a just solution.

Source