The Sunday Telegraph: Fundamentalist Groups Recruit More Britons to Fight in Syria

The Sunday Telegraph: Fundamentalist Groups Recruit More Britons to Fight in Syria  Aug 26, 2012

MANCHESTER, BRITAIN, (SANA)- Fundamentalist groups are recruiting increasing numbers of young Britons to head to Syria and fight along the armed terrorist groups, according to the British newspaper of the Sunday Telegraph. An investigation by the Sunday Telegraph published on Saturday, revealed that "fundamentalist groups in the Syrian civil war are recruiting growing numbers of young people from Britain with no previous links to the country," noting that many of those are from Pakistani and Sudanese origins. The investigation, prepared by Andrew Gilligan, has established that the young British people travelling to Syria are mainly of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sudanese parentage and are separate from the hundreds of British residents of Syrian descent who have been recruited by those groups and sent to Syria. The Sunday Telegraph said "MPs, community leaders and anti-extremism campaigners are deeply worried that a new generation is being radicalised in Syria, in the same way as British bombers and terror plotters of the past decade were schooled along the Afghan-Pakistan border. But the British security authorities appear to be taking little or no action." The investigation referred to one of those 'Jihadi Britons' called Alshafie Elsheikh, 23, from White City in west London, who, the newspapers said, travelled to Syria this spring, according to Dr Salah al Bander, a former Liberal Democrat councilor and director of the Sudanese Diaspora and Islamism Project at the Sudan Civic Foundation. The newspaper quoted al-Bander as saying that Elsheikh "is of Sudanese, not Syrian, ancestry - and told Dr al Bander that he knew of more than 20 others like him preparing to travel to the fight." "He told me before he left that he was going to join the jihad brigades in Syria, describing it as a holy cause," said al Bander, adding that "[Elskeikh] said he was joining two other UK-based mujahideen, one of Somali origin and the other from Morocco." Al-Bader continued that Elsheikh told him that they were not trained in using firearms "but had been preparing for the trip since last year by doing very advanced physical exercises." "When I asked him about the numbers of his associates that were planning to go to Syria, he said that as far he knew there were 21 individuals ready to leave the UK very soon," said al-Bader. Elsheikh's mother, Maha Elgizouli, told the Sunday Telegraph, who could not contact Elsheikh himself, that her son had left her a note saying he had "gone to fight for God", but refused to speak further. The investigation showed that at least 30 young Britons who are not of Syrian origin have travelled to take part in the fighting in it, quoting Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingam Perry Barr. "There are a lot of sheikhs [religious leaders and scholars] in the West Midlands who are involving young people in this activity," Barr told the British newspaper. Barr expressed extreme concern "because I see similar things to what happened at the original stages of the Afghanistan war where we were supporting the mujahideen against the Russians. We wanted to get the Russians out and we armed people, we encouraged people to go out there and fight in the jihad." H. Said

Two Jordanian terrorists Confess to Infiltrating into Syria to Perpetrate terrorist acts against Syrian people

Two Jordanian terrorists Confess to Infiltrating into Syria to Perpetrate terrorist acts against Syrian people Aug 06, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Jordanian terrorists Mohammad Ibrahim and Abdul-Rahman al-Titi admitted that they infiltrated into Syria after they were recruited by the Jihadist Salafi movement in Jordan in order to carry out terrorist acts against the Syrian people. "My presence here in Syria was the Jihad against the Syrian government.. a person called Adnan Naefeh from al-Zarkaa city in Jordan has persuaded me of this notion because he told me that the ruler in Syria doesn't rule through Quran and we should fight against him and against the Syrian government," terrorist Mohammad Hussein Mohammad Ibrahim said in confessions to the Syrian TV broadcast Monday. He added that in 2005 he was arrested in Jordan because he had used a counterfeited driving license, and while he was there, he was introduced to a group of 4 persons who were planning to carry out jihadist acts against the Jews in Palestine, but they were arrested by the Jordanian authorities. "Last year, the jihadist salafis told me to go for jihad in Syria.. my role was to bring Men from Amman and al-Zarkaa and take them to a person called Abu Bandar," Terrorist Ibrahim said. He added that when he met Abu Bandar, he told him that he will send him to Syria along with a person called Salah al-Zo'bi who will take him to Daraa and then to the so-called the free army where he should ask about Abu al-Baraa or Abu Anas al Sahabi, a leader in al-Qaeda's Jabahat al-Nasra. "They told me that when I arrive in Syria, I will meet Syrian men to teach me the Syrian dialect, and they will give me a fake Syrian identity in order to move freely in the streets.. later they will booby-trap a new car to blast it in Damascus," terrorist Ibrahim said. He added that when they headed for the Syrian lands, they met ten Egyptian men in order to enter the country, they gave each of them a Russian rifle. During night, they went into the border, but after they crossed the Jordanian checkpoint, they were surprised by Syrian security forces who arrested them. For his part, terrorist Abdul-Rahman al-Titi said that the person called Abu Naefe contacted him and asked him to travel to Syria. "We drove our car and went to Abu Bandar who introduced us to a Jordanian Smuggler. Later, Salah al-Zo'bi accompanied us and we drove into the Syrian borders," terrorist al-Titi said. He added that when they approached the Syrian borders, the Syrian authorities arrested them along with 10 Egyptian men. Mazen Eyon

Militants from Arab, Islamic and African Countries Stationed at Closed Border Crossing Point of Bab al-Hawa

Militants from Arab, Islamic and African Countries Stationed at Closed Border Crossing Point of Bab al-Hawa Jul 21, 2012

TURKEY, (SANA) – A group of around 150 militants from Arab, Islamic and African countries are being stationed as of Saturday at Bab al-Hawa border crossing point between Syria and Turkey which was closed off by Syria since June 2011, in full sight of the Turkish authorities. According to a photographer from Agence France Presse (AFP), around 150 militants from Algeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, France, Chechnya, Tunisia and some African countries are stationed on the crossing point. He reported that a number of the militants said that they belong to Taliban, while others said they're members of Al Qaeda's branches in Maghreb countries, adding that the militants are armed with AK-47 rifles, RPG launchers, and handmade mines. It should be noted that the Syrian Arab Army killed terrorists of various Arab nationalities during their clearing of al-Midan and al-Qaboun neighborhood. In June, New York Times reported that CIA agents stationed in Turkey are supersizing the delivery of weapons to the Syrian opposition, while many terrorists admitted in televised confessions to smuggling weapons from Turkey to the armed terrorist groups in Syria. H. Sabbagh

Terrorist Confesses to Being Part of Armed Group Responsible for Massacres, Participating in Smuggling Weapons

Terrorist Confesses to Being Part of Armed Group Responsible for Massacres, Participating in Smuggling Weapons Jul 07, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Terrorist Ali Jassem al-Mohammad confessed to being a member of an armed terrorist group that was responsible for many massacres against civilians and law-enforcement sources, including the attack on al-Khalidiye infirmary where they killed everyone inside it and photographed the bodies to use the images to frame the armed forces of their crime. In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV on Friday, al-Mohammad also confessed to smuggling weapons and communications devices from Lebanon and meeting opposition figures abroad who fund gunmen, in addition to meeting a correspondent of al-Jazeera and coordinating with him. Al-Mohammad, who was born in Deir Ezzor in 1980 and lives in Bab al-Dreib, Homs, said that he visited Saudi Arabia in early 2011 and came back to Syria in May 2011, which is when he started participating in protests and met a man named Mansour al-Atasi who assigned him to coordinate protests. Later, he bought a rifle and joined gunmen who were using a school in Bab al-Dreib as their headquarters. The 80 gunmen were led by Nazir Mando, who put him in charge of a blockade in the area. Al-Mohammad said that he and 300 gunmen from various neighborhoods attacked al-Khalidiye infirmary from all sides, using RPG launchers and AK47 and M-16 rifles, killing 40 of the people in the infirmary and kidnapping the remaining ten. He said that he and his accomplices gathered the bodies, stripped them naked, bound their arms and photographed them to pass the attack as a massacre committed by security forces and the army, then they took the bodies to a graveyard near Jaafar al-Tayyar mosque and buried them in a mass grave there. Al-Mohammad noted that two men from Yemen and one from Lebanon were among the gunmen in his area, and that they were in charge of manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IED) and installing them in cars that were later detonated in neighborhoods where the people support the government. He also confessed to being part of an attack by 150 gunmen at a security checkpoint in Homs that was making the gunmen's movement difficult. Al-Mohammad said he accompanied a man to Deir Ezzor to buy weapons, where they met a man working as a driver on the Homs-Deir Ezzor road and asked him to provide ten rifles and 10,000 rounds, and two days later the man brought them 12 automatic rifles and the rounds they asked for. Later, al-Mohammad fled Homs in fear of being arrested and went to Lebanon in November 2011, contacting Nazir Mando's brother in Tripoli, who rented him a house where he stayed with a man named Mohammad Eirout from Banyas. During his stay at that house, al-Mohammad met a man called Abu Mohammad al-Rifai who owns al-Bashaer charity for helping refugees, along with another man from Banyas who was on the run from the law and a "sheikh" called Salem al-Rifai who provided support to gunmen, adding that he also met MP Khaled al-Zaher who supports the gunmen in Tripoli. While in Tripoli, he and his cohorts were given weapons by a "sheikh"  called Mazen Jbara, and they took part in the attack on Jabal Mohsen. Afterwards, he was part in smuggling weapons to Syria, serving as a middle man and giving 12 rifles and a night-vision scope to a smuggler along with USD 1200 which were sent to Nazir Mando in Homs. Al-Mohammad also travelled to Jordan from Lebanon, meeting several opposition figures through Zaki al-Droubi and Abdelrahim Darawsheh, and that the latter organized protests in front of the Syrian Embassy in Amman where many opposition figures met in addition to Yasser Abu Hilaleh, the director of al-Jazeera office. Al-Mohammad asked Abu Hilaleh to provide him with communication devices to send him reports from Syria, but the latter declined and gave him his phone number instead to keep him informed. He said that opposition figures and gunmen would register at the refugees commission to receive money, and that he did likewise and received funds. Al-Mohammad then went back to Lebanon then returned to Homs, carrying three Thuraya satellite phones sent by Amin Mando to his brother. He remained in Homs for 7 days then returned to Lebanon, and was once against asked to return to Homs to deliver two Thuraya phones and USD 20,000 to Nazir. In April, al-Mohammad left Homs for Damascus to meet with opposition figures including Mansour al-Atasi, who introduced him to a man in al-Hajar al-Aswad area and another in al-Midan, and he offered to provide weapons for the two areas. H. Sabbagh

Tunisian Terrorists Confess to Entering Syria via Turkey with Coordination between So-Called Free Army and Al-Qaeda

Tunisian Terrorists Confess to Entering Syria via Turkey with Coordination between So-Called Free Army and Al-Qaeda May 21, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Tunisian terrorists confessed to entering Syria through Turkey with coordination between the militias of the so-called "free army" and Al-Qaeda, and to being trained in Libya and other places. Tunisian terrorist Wissam bin Kamal bin Halima, born in 1992 in the village of Manzel Kamel in Tunisia, said that met a Lebanese man calling himself Abu Hadi who was a member of Fateh al-Islam group and corresponded with him. Abu Hadi incited Wissam to become part of Jihad, sending him videos about al-Qaeda then broaching the subject of the situation of Syria and the idea to go there, eventually talking him into going to Syria to meet people who were fighting in Iraq and other areas. As per Abu Hadi's instructions, Wissam travelled to Turkey and was contacted by a man called Abu Ahmad in Istanbul, who instructed him to go to Antioch and meet a man there who took him to a border area where they were joined by five men from Bangladesh who also wanted to enter Syria, and they walked across the borders through the mountains and were received by another man who told them that they will join a camp belonging to the "free army" for training. In turn, Tunisian terrorist Bilal bin Abdullah Mohammad Marzuki, born in 1980 in Tunis, said that he had once visited Syria with the goal of entering Iraq but failed, causing him to return to Tunisia, and later he watched TV channels inciting Syrians and non-Syrians to join the "Jihad" in Syria, and he decided to do so. First, Marzuki went to Libya for training, joining a camp of Salafi Jihadists who trained him in using weapons including AK-47 rifles, handguns and RPGs, then returned to Tunisia and contacted with the aforementioned Abu Ahmad who instructed him to travel to Antioch, where he too was smuggled into Syria across the borders. Marzuki pointed out that Abu Ahmad was a member of Al-Qaeda in charge of coordinating between the "free army" and groups in Syria that are affiliated with Al-Qaeda. For his part, Tunisian terrorist Zuheir bin Suheil al-Sakelsi, born in 1986 in Tunis, said that after watching TV channels and the Fatwas of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Adnan al-Arour and Abdullah al-Sheikh, he wanted to join the "Jihad" in Libya, and so he was snuck across the borders into a Libya by a relief group and joined other fighters in a camp where he was trained for 20 days on using handguns and assault rifles, and then he joined the fighting then was smuggled back to Tunisia after the fall Muammar al-Gaddafi. After returning to Tunisia, he watched reports about Syria on al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya and France 24 and religious channels that called for Jihad against the Syrian Army, while mosque Imams in Tunis were inciting people to go to "Jihad in Syria and aiding the Syrians" and so he decided to travel to Syria. Al-Sakelsi contacted a man called Abu Issa who instructed him to go to Antioch, and there he met a man speaking with a Syrian accent who referred him over to another man who in turn handed him over to five smugglers who took him through the mountains and across the borders, with him arriving in Lattakia. While staying in a house in Lattakia, al-Sakelsi met Abu Ahmad who, according to what Abu Issa told him, was a leading figure in Al-Qaeda. Ahmad asked al-Sakelsi  if he had received any training, and he told him that he fought in Libya, so the latter told him that he was to be sent to a Jihadist group affiliated with the "free army" immediately. Tunisian Sources: Tunisian Terrorists Arrested in Syria Were Recruited by Tunisian, Libyan and Qatari Sides Tunisian sources in Washington stressed that the Tunisian terrorists who were arrested on the Syrian territories had previously been detained in the Tunisian prisons to be later released by the current Tunisian government after the intervention of leader of al-Nahda Party, Rachid al-Ghannouchi. The sources, who preferred not to be named, revealed in statements to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper the names of 19 Tunisian terrorists who were arrested inside Syria, saying they had all been recruited under the patronage of the Security Attache at the Qatari Embassy in Tunis, al-Nahda Party and a number of Libyan extremists led by the former head of the Military Council in Tripoli, Abdul Hakim Balhaj. The sources said that among the detainees are terrorists who had participated in armed operations on the Tunisian territories particularly during what was known as Suleiman events in 2007. They highlighted that those terrorists carried out armed acts against the Syrian Army in response to fatwas issued by Takfiri clergymen in Tunisia. H. Said / H. Sabbagh

Three Terrorists, a Libyan and Two Tunisians, Confess to Infiltrating into Syria to Carry out Terrorist Attacks in Coordination with al-Qaeda

Three Terrorists, a Libyan and Two Tunisians, Confess to Infiltrating into Syria to Carry out Terrorist Attacks in Coordination with al-Qaeda  May 16, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Three terrorists, one of them Libyan and the two others are Tunisians confessed that they infiltrated into Syria through the Turkish borders in order to carry out terrorist attacks in coordination with al-Qaeda and militias of so-called the free army. Libyan terrorist Fahd Abdul-Kareem Saleh al-Freitis said in confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV Tuesday that he took part in the latest events in Libya, then he went to Istanbul in Turkey where he contacted with a person called Abu Ahmad, from al-Qaeda, who asked him to come to Antakya near the Syrian borders. Al-Freitis added that he infiltrated into Syria on foot, later a car for Abu Ahmad took him to the Syrian port of Lattakia. "When we arrived in Lattakia, we stayed there for several days. Then we met Abu Ahmad who works with the free army to take us to al-Mujahedin," the Libyan terrorist said. Tunisian terrorist Osama Mukhtar Hazli confessed that he also went to Libya to participates in the events there. "When I was staying in Libya, one of my friends called Ridaa told me that he will go to Syria.. I told him that I wish to travel with him.. Later Ridaa came along with Sami and Walid," Hazli added. "We all went to Turkey where we phoned Abu Ahmad who pledged to guarantee our entrance to Syria.. He asked us to come to Antakya, he had relation with a person called Abu Talha who possesses a Jihadist group affiliated to al-Qaeda in Syria," the Tunisian terrorist said. "After entering Syria, we went to Lattakia and met Abu Ahmad who would take us to Abu Talha or the free army in order to travel to Idleb," he added. For his part, terrorist Majdi bin al-Ayashi al-Ayari, from Tunisia, confessed that he also went to Libya to take part in the fighting… later he joined a camp for al-Qaeda where he trained who to use weapons. "Later, I went to Turkey where I contacted Abu Ahmad who told me to travel to Antalya… After arriving there, one of the persons took me by car and help me infiltrate into Syria… I went to Lattakia where a taxi for Abu Ahmad was awaiting me to get there," Al-Ayari said. He added "when we arrived there, they took us to one of the houses where I found several persons, of Arab nationalities… Abu Ahmad welcomed us and told us that one of the smugglers will take us in the next day to join al-Mujahedin." Mazen

Syrian TV Shows Bodies of Terrorists of Arab Nationalities Killed by the Syrian Army in al-Qaboun Neighborhood

Syrian TV Shows Bodies of Terrorists of Arab Nationalities Killed by the Syrian Army in al-Qaboun Neighborhood Jul 24, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The Syrian TV showed footage of bodies of terrorists from Egypt and Jordan who were killed by the Syrian armed forces when it was clearing al-Qaboun neighborhood in Damascus from armed terrorist groups. The terrorists are Abdullah al-Desuqi Musa'ad Bassal and Yasser Abdelrazzaq Kamel Ibrahim from Egypt, Fares Faleh al-Ghazi, Usama Abdelqader Ahmad al-Zahabi, and Ahmmad Abullah al-Zahabi from Jordan. Earlier, the Syrian TV showed footage of other terrorists who came from Tunisia and Libya, with Turkey and other neighboring countries providing facilitations to allow these murderers to enter Syria and kill its people. The Times newspaper had reported that the so-called "rebels" in Syria are no more than mercenaries who are funded and given weapons from external sides. H. Sabbagh

Student at Aleppo University Relates Details of His Abduction by Terrorists

Student at Aleppo University Relates Details of His Abduction by Terrorists Aug 17, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Qussai al-Yousef, a student at the Engineering Faculty at Aleppo University, related the details of his abduction by a terrorist group whose members forced him to record videos announcing his joining the so-called "free army" as a prelude for using his name after reporting his death to manipulate the feelings of his family and friends for the benefit of malicious media and the opposition abroad. Al-Yousef, born in Hama in 1988, told the Syrian TV that in June 2011 and while he was on his way to a friend's house to study, he was intercepted by a car near al-Martini Hospital, and that two armed men came out of the car and forced him into the car at gunpoint before going to Salah Eddin area in Aleppo. He said that he was taken into a house where his hands and feet were bound and then he was beaten by his abductors who forced him to say in a video that he's a member of the "free army" and discuss operations they allegedly performed and threaten security forces. Al-Yosuef said that after five days they took him away in a car and threw him in al-Hamadaniye area, and upon returning to his home where he lived with some fellow students they were shocked to see him, telling him that there's a video featuring him on social websites that claims he was injured in al-Qusour area and died. He noted that while he was abducted, there were protests in Homs, Hama and Aleppo in which protestors carried photos of him, turning him into a hero for them, adding that his parents held funeral ceremonies for him based on his alleged death as reported by the internet. Al-Yosuef said he tried to go back to his normal life, but certain internet sites learned that he's alive so began lauding him as a member of the "free army" which prompted opposition figures to make him into a " symbol of the revolution." He added that when he was abducted, the gunmen stole his laptop and used it to access his Facebook account and emails, connecting with people abroad to have money transferred to them in his name, and he indeed received massive money transfers from countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. Al-Yosuef went on to say that al-Jazeera's correspondent contacted him when terrorists entered Aleppo as did the channel, and they offered him to work as a reporter for them in hotspots in exchange for AED 1,200 per week, but he refused and reported what happened to him to the security forces to keep them informed. H. Sabbagh

Russian Newspaper: Libyan Authorities Send Weapons, Including Anti-Air Missiles, to Syria's Opposition

Russian Newspaper: Libyan Authorities Send Weapons, Including Anti-Air Missiles, to Syria's Opposition Aug 20, 2012

MOSCOW, (SANA) – Russian newspaper of Kommersant said that the current Libyan authorities are sending weapons, including Igla anti-air missiles, to the so-called 'free army' militia in Syria through Tripoli port in Lebanon. Western media outlets also stressed that at least 7 ships loaded with weapons reached Lebanon from Libya. In a news report published on Monday, the newspaper added that Libyan ships loaded with rocket launchers, machineguns and portable anti-air missiles are reaching Tripoli port before being moved to a secret site established for the so-called 'free army' in north Lebanon. The newspaper highlighted that there is a UN marine patrol near the Lebanese waters but "Obviously, its effort is not sufficient." Military experts said that part of the Libyan weapons are currently in Syria and are being used by militias against the government, adding that the western countries are not trying to prevent regional countries from delivering these weapons to the enemies of the Syrian government. M. Nassr/

Money Wired from Europe to Tunisian Salafis to Recruit Youths to Fight in Syria

Money Wired from Europe to Tunisian Salafis to Recruit Youths to Fight in Syria Aug 22, 2012

TUNIS, (SANA) – A number of leaders and members of Tunisian salafi groups are receiving money on regular basis from Europe via money orders, Tunisian Tanit Press newspaper said on its website. The newspaper said that the amount of money ranges between 1500 and 2000 Tunisian dinars each time. The newspaper added that the money is allocated to recruit youths from Tunisia and Libya to be sent to Syria via Turkey, highlighting that the operation is being carried out in coordination with Turkey and Jabhet al-Nusra front, which is the branch Of al-Qaeda in Syria. The report said that the recruited persons are being sent to training camps in Libya, adding that these camps are funded by the Qatari ambassador. M. Nassr/ M. Ismael

Armed Forces Continue Pursuing Terrorists in Aleppo and Its Countryside

Armed Forces Continue Pursuing Terrorists in Aleppo and Its Countryside Aug 25, 2012

PROVINCES, (SANA)- The armed forces on Friday continued to pursue terrorist groups in some neighborhoods of Aleppo and in its countryside, carrying out several operations resulting in heavy losses in personnel and equipment among terrorists. A source at the province told SANA's correspondent that in cooperation with local, an armed forces unit cleared al-Aqaba area in Aleppo's Old City from terrorists, killing a large number of them. An armed forces unit clashed with terrorists who were trying to enter Aleppo coming from Hreitan in Aleppo countryside, killing five of them and confiscating their weapons. Another armed forces unit clashed with terrorists in the area of al-Sayyed Ali near al-Hatab Square in the city of Aleppo, killing 9 terrorists including one sniper, while yet another unit arrested a number of terrorists who tried to infiltrate into al-Hatab Square from a an adjacent neighborhood. In Bustan al-Qaser, an armed forces unit carried out an operation resulting in the elimination of a number of terrorists. Meanwhile, in al-Hazazeh neighborhood in al-Jdeida area in the city, security forces clashed with an armed terrorist group killing a number of terrorists, including two snipers, and repelled a terrorist group which was attempting to enter Maysaloun neighborhood, killing and injuring its members. In Aleppo countryside, armed forces units targeted groups of terrorists and weapon storehouses in Qabtan al-Jabal and the villages of Sarrinand al-Arimeh, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists. An armed forces unit carried out an operation on Raqqa-Aleppo highway near the thermal power station, targeting tens of terrorists who were attempting to enter the city, with the terrorists ending up dead or wounded. Another armed forces unit carried out an operation against groups if terrorists in the towns of Kafr Hamra and Maarat al-Artik in Aleppo northern countryside, resulting in the deaths of several terrorists. In Dahret Awwad near al-Shaar area in Aleppo, an armed forces unit destroyed a command center for terrorist groups and a factory for manufacturing explosive devices, killing and injuring several terrorists. The armed forces also clashed with a terrorist group that attempted to sneak into Saif al-Dawla Park in Aleppo, killing and injuring a number of terrorists and pursuing the ones who fled. In Baghdad street in Hreitan, Aleppo countryside, the armed forces carried out an operation in which four cars equipped with DShK machineguns were destroyed along with the terrorists inside them. 40 Cars Equipped with Machineguns Destroyed in Aleppo The source told SANA reporter that the armed forces on Thursday carried out a qualitative operation in which they destroyed 40 cars for the terrorists that were equipped with DShK machineguns, . The source noted that the cars were coming from Jarablus towards Aleppo city. The source mentioned that a unit from the armed forces killed a number of terrorists who set up a mortar on a building's roof near Ein Jalout School in the neighborhood of al-Ansari in the city of Aleppo. He added that another army unit clashed with an armed terrorist group that attacked citizens near al-Wafa elderly care home in Hanano area in the city. Armed Forces Repel Terrorists Who Attempted to Block Lattakia-Aleppo Highway An armed forces unit repelled a group of terrorists who were attempting to block the Lattakia-Aleppo Highway between the villages of al-Qasatel and MAzyan in Lattakia countryside, with the operation resulting in the killing and wounding of the terrorists. Armed Forces Pursue Terrorists in al-Razi Fields, Darayya and Douma Armed forces units pursued mercenary terrorists in al-Razi fields in Damascus and in the town of Darayya in Damascus countryside, killing many of them and confiscating weapons and ammo. In al-Razi fields, an armed forces unit raided a terrorist hideout and confiscated a store of weapons, some of them of Israeli make. The weapons included RPG launchers and rounds, automatic rifles and ammo, in addition to communication devices. In Darayya, an armed forces unit delivered a crippling blow to terrorists who were terrorizing locals and committing vandalism, eliminating many terrorists, destroying their cars which were equipped with DShK machineguns, and confiscating a large amount of weapons including three mortar launchers, in addition to arresting a large number of terrorists, some of them non-Syrians. In Douma in Damascus Countryside, the authorities chased down remnants of terrorist groups and eliminated a number of terrorists including Fouad Billa, Khaled Abdelmalek, Younes Khabiye and Mohannad Hamadeh, and arrested others. Infiltration Attempts by Terrorist Groups from Lebanon Foiled In Homs, a unit from the armed forces on Thursday night foiled a number of attempts at infiltration by armed terrorists groups as they tried to cross the border from Lebanon at the sites of Edlin, Halat and al-Shabrouniyeh in the countryside of Talkalakh city. SANA reporter quoted a source in Homs province as saying that the army unit clashed with the terrorist groups killing and injuring large number of terrorists, while others managed to flee back into the Lebanese territories. Terrorists Attacking Citizens and Security Personnel Repelled in Talkalakh, Homs The source also mentioned that the authorities in Talkalakh city repelled last night terrorist groups as they tried to attack citizens and law enforcement personnel. The authorities, said the source, inflicted heavy losses upon the group's members killing and injuring many terrorists including Walid Abdul-Karim al-Omar. In the town of al-Hosn in Talkalakh countryside, an armed forces unit on Friday carried out an operation against terrorists who were attacking citizens and properties, committing murder and robbery, and blocking roads, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists. Also in Homs province, the authorities carried out an operation in the northern neighborhood of al-Qseir town, eliminating a number of terrorist in the area. A source at the province told SANA that the authorities also repelled an attack by a terrorist group against law-enforcement forces in al-Joura area near the village of Jusiya in al-Qseir countryside, killing and injuring several terrorists. In addition, the authorities pursued a terrorist group that attempted to attack law-enforcement forces in Talbisa, Homs countryside, killing a number of terrorists and destroying the cars they were using. A source said that the authroties continue to pursue remnants of terrorist groups in al-Khalidiye, Bab Houd and al-Qarabis areas in Homs, inflicting losses upon them. Authorities Pursue Armed Terrorist Groups in Idleb The authorities continued for the third consecutive day cracking down on armed terrorist groups in Ariha, Idleb countryside, and inflicted heavy losses on them. SANA quoted a source in the governorate as saying that the competent authorities killed and injured a number of terrorists , destroyed their cars and confiscated weapons and ammunition. The source added that the competent authorities in Idleb pursued an armed terrorist group who stole a tank truck loaded with more than 40 thousand liters of gas oil on Ariha-Aleppo road and recovered the truck. In Sarmin, Idleb, an explosion occurred in a terrorist hideout, killing and injuring the terrorists inside it. Crackdown on Terrorists Continues in Daraa The authorities continued cracking down on terrorists in al-Hrak town in Daraa countryside and clashed with them on Friday, inflicting direct casualties. An official source told SANA that the terrorists Nash'at Mohammad al-Salamat, Qassem Mohammad Fayez al-Kaddah and Diaa Samir al-Salamat were among the dead. Authorities Clash with Terrorists in Hama Countryside In Hama, the authorities on Friday clashed with a group of terrorists in the areas of al-Masafneh and Tibet al-Imam in the countryside of the province. SANA reporter cited a source in the province as saying that the clashes resulted in killing and injuring a number of terrorists, noting that the body of terrorist Zaher Hassan al-Sarhini was identified among the dead. H. Said/M. Ismael / H. Sabbagh

Libyan Terrorist Relates Details of How Terrorists are Trained in Libya with Funding from Arab Gulf Countries and Sent to Syria

Libyan Terrorist Relates Details of How Terrorists are Trained in Libya with Funding from Arab Gulf Countries and Sent to Syria Aug 26, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – In confessions broadcast by the Syrian Arab TV on Sunday after the 8:30 PM news, Libyan terrorist Ibrahim Rajab al-Farajani said that societies and organizations funded by Arab Gulf countries and affiliated with Al Qaeda train terrorists in Libya then send them to Syria via Turkey. Al-Farajani, a Libyan from the city of Benghazi born in 1993, said that he joined a militant group after the events in Libya, and that during his time with this group he became aware that its members were in contact with people in al-Zantan area where Qatari and Emirati planes loaded with weapons, Toyota SUVs and Qatari officers who trained militants in the use of AK-47 rifles and machineguns of various calibers and gave them monthly payments of 2000 Libyan dinars. He revealed that sheikhs from Qatar and the Emirates funded Jihadists in order to establish an Islamic emirate in Libya, while some mosque Imams in Libya urged people to bear arms and go to places like Chechnya and Algeria to take part in their version of Jihad. Al-Farajani said that eventually he joined a battalion affiliated with Al Qaeda which trained Syrians in the use of rocket launchers and grenades then sent them to Syria gradually to fight the Syrian army. He pointed out that the battalion made a passport for him without even telling him that he was to be sent to Syria, then he was sent to Turkey by plane and arrived in Antioch, where a Syrian took them to a house containing people from Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Syria, all of them wearing masks and well-trained. One of these men, a Syrian from Damascus referred to as Abu al-Bara'a, showed them videos and gave them books to prepare them mentally for fighting in Syria, then al-Farajani was sent into Syria along with people from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, arriving in a house in the village of Atma in Idleb which contained RPG launchers and PKC machineguns, with a car equipped with a DShK machinegun parked outside. Afterwards, al-Farajani accompanied four terrorists into the town of Saraqeb in a pickup truck to where a group of Syrians were using a girls' highschool to train in the use of DShK and PKC machineguns and RPG launchers. He went on to say that he went with two terrorists into the a number of towns then headed towards Aleppo, ending up in Tel Rifa'at in Aleppo countryside where they met Syrian militants hiding in a school, and later met terrorists from Kuwait, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Syria in a house in the town of Mare'a. He concluded by saying that he left that house with the terrorists and was given weapons and USD 50,000 to be given to people in Damascus and its outskirts. H. Sabbagh

GEORGE GALLOWAY-The gods of economics have failed

SATURDAY, 4 AUGUST 2012

The gods of economics have failed

Headlines this week referring to the possible full-scale nationalisation of RBS bank sent my mind back to an exchange in the House of Commons a few years ago, not long after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Then Chancellor Alistair Darling made a dramatic statement to the house. For the sake of brevity and readability let me summarise.

The government was taking emergency bold measures to in effect nationalise the mountain of bank debt while leaving the banks in the same private hands that had been revealed, even then, to have spectacularly plunged us into the mess in the first place. I asked the Chancellor if it might not be a good idea, having stumped up so much public largesse, for the public to have a controlling stake on the board of the banks we'd just bailed out. Politely, it must be said, he refused the invitation as assorted Blairite creeps echoed one another's synthetic mirth.

And now we are four years down the line. The promises, hopes and clutching of straws of the last government and its even worse successor that the likes of Bob Diamond would turn their attention to bolstering the economy, lending to households and businesses if only we stuffed their mouths with silver have turned to ashes. As was entirely predictable, and predicted, the bankers have simply taken the money and refused to part with it back into productive investment in the economy.


The economic statistics attest to mounting misery - a weaker recovery from the initial crisis than from the Great Depression, now a double-dip recession worse than any in 50 years, manufacturing and construction slumping, shocking contraction across the economy as a whole. And the Prime Minister pledges that the savage austerity will carry on for the rest of the decade. There is certainly a fair share of culpability at the doors of Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street. But I think it unfair for sections of the media to brand Gideon George Osborne the part-time Chancellor.

Credit where it's due - it must have required great effort expended full time to bring about such a spectacular disaster. More seriously, the effort and intention are very real, outweighing charges of incompetence. This is a determined push to rehabilitate and turbo-charge the very economic model of neoliberalism that has come crashing down. It is the slaughter of the young, the old, the infirm and the vulnerable on the altar of the gods that have failed.

That's why the Labour front-bench attack on Osborne's open goal is all too often wide of the mark or merely ends up rattling the timber, creating a frisson on the opposition benches but not much else. For the problem is much more fundamental. It is the failure of the direction global capitalism has taken over the last 30 years. And that is an indictment not simply of Osborne, Cameron and Clegg, but of Blair and Brown who embraced the Thatcherite revolution with abandon. These were the good years, remember? But even then inequalities rose as the leviathans of the boardroom were cut loose of any moorings binding them to society.

So where we stand now is not in the winnowed space of what has come to pass for politics - great heat and clatter about differences that amount to so little. For politics, as in the mainstream farce, has also had the neoliberal treatment. It is policed by an army of spin doctors with focus groups and caution masquerading as radicalism, all aimed at winning the ear of powerful elite and the votes of a diminishing part of the electorate.

In one sense, it has become an anti-politics - the administration of things, not the transformation of lives. Instead, we stand at a new threshold where politics - the big political choices about the future of our society and planet - is back. As the giants of absolute impoverishment and the evils we witnessed in the 1930s gather themselves to their full, terrifying height, how dwarfish do the political class that struts their hour on the stage look. And deluded too.

In the comforting echo chamber they inhabit with the commentariat they mistake the apoplexy so many people feel at the political process for apathy with real politics. But "out there," where so few politicians dare to tread, the feelings of despair and rage are not only palpable, they are expressed in an idiom that is profoundly political. People have noticed that one by one central pillars of the Establishment have been shown to have feet of clay and boots filled with cash. The MPs' expenses scandal has left an indelible mark.

Then came the defenestration of not only Murdoch but so much of the rest of the right-wing media. Now the Libor scandal and other outrages have left millions of people unwittingly repeating Bertolt Brecht's dictum - what's robbing a bank compared to founding a bank? - a point eloquently made to me the other day in Parliament by a perfectly upstanding armed Metropolitan Police officer who guards the building.

There are important lessons here, I believe, for the left. So much of what we have to say can chime with vast numbers of people who feel abandoned. But to do so the message needs to speak with a radicalism - not to be confused with extremism - that genuinely matches both the scale of the crisis we face and the register of people's pain. Radicalism shapes not just the content, but also the form. A left that sounds formulaic and wearisome when it talks about the Dickensian levels of inequality will get little hearing.

If we want to advance the cause of working people and to reverse a whole epoch of right-wing ascendency, then we should sound like we mean it. We should also do things like we mean them to make a difference. That's why the decision by the trade union movement to build a people's demonstration against the government's austerity in October is so welcome. My experience in Bradford, on the street and in public meetings, from work in the media and from a growing interface through the social media is that there is a thirst for what I call an insurgent politics.

There is little sign of that registering on the front bench of the Labour Party, though to be fair Ed Miliband is reportedly of the view that the next general election will be like the epoch-making elections of 1945 and 1979. The problem is the Labour Party is behaving in anything but an epochal way. So this insurgency will have to advance where it can. Good people in the Labour Party should welcome that. If they hope to steer Labour back to where it once was, then the advance of real labour values in society and at the ballot box can only help them.

Many more people see this after the Bradford by-election in March. That's why the candidacy of Kate Hudson, standing for Respect in the Manchester Central byelection on November 15, is generating such widespread support. Hudson embodies those values and policies that the labour movement so sorely needs. She is an extremely prominent peace and anti-nuclear campaigner who has won respect through years of standing up for what is right, whatever the fashion. It is a mark of that respect that Alice Mahon, for many years as MP for Halifax and champion of the left in Parliament and in every movement that matters, has welcomed Hudson's candidacy, which will be putting the left case on the map in Manchester in a way that will shift the terms of what might otherwise pass for debate.

It is within the left's grasp to make what we have to say a central reference point again. It is already happening in Europe, as evidenced in the electoral campaigns of the left in Greece and France, and, in an attenuated way, even in the timid moves by French President Francois Hollande to tilt away from the neoliberal orthodoxy. Much more than that is needed. But for it to happen, those who not only recognise that this is a moment that will define our world for decades to come but who are prepared to act on that need to raise their sights, rally in unity and take the message of democratic insurgency across our country.

We know that nothing will simply fall into our laps. But if the extraordinary crisis we are living through has taught us anything thus far it is that the years of political humdrum are over, replaced with sudden shocks, explosions and new expressions of the centuries-old battle for peace, justice and equality.

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/122239

The holy war against Arab-Jewish relations and the Jerusalem lynch

The holy war against Arab-Jewish relations and the Jerusalem lynch

By Noam Sheizaf

August 21, 2012 Those who attacked Palestinians in central Jerusalem claimed they wanted to prevent them from speaking to Jewish girls. The fear of interracial relations once found only in the fringes of the right are now turning into a legitimate, mainstream political issue in national-religious circles. A protest against the attack by a Jewish mob on three Palestinians in Zion Sq., Jerusalem. August 18, 2012 (photo: Activestills) Jerusalem Police are still carrying out arrests of suspects – mostly teenagers – in Friday’s shocking attack that took place in the city’s center. A few dozen Israeli Jews beat up three Palestinians, leaving one gravely injured and still hospitalized.  According to several testimonies, the attackers also tried to interfere with medical treatment being provided to the wounded. At least one of the suspects was quoted in the Jewish media expressing regret that he and his friends weren’t able to kill their victim. The event happened only several hours after a firebomb was thrown at a Palestinian taxi, leaving six people wounded. The events were unrelated, but they brought back fears of Jewish terrorism against Palestinians. As Roi Maornotes, unlike Palestinian attacks on Jews, attacks by Jews are under-reported, under-investigated, and under-prosecuted by the authorities. The latest attack was rightly condemned by left-wing and (few) right-wing politicians. Less discussed was the motive given by some of the suspects for their attempted lynch. According to an eyewitness account published by Yedioth Ahronoth, the attackers claimed that the Palestinians tried to talk to a Jewish girl. Other reports claimed the attack had to do with the desire to prevent contact between Palestinian teenagers and Jewish girls. There are several organizations promoting ethnic segregation in Israel, with a special emphasis on preventing relations between Jewish girls and Palestinian men. The most vocal is Lehava, an NGO that calls upon citizens to inform them of any case of mixed marriage or relationship. Their low-tech internet site, filled with racism and hate-talk, has a section titled "shame page," which features the pictures of women, mostly public figures, who are in relationships with non-Jews. The head of Lehava, a Kahanist called Bentzi Gopstein, said today that the Jerusalem attackers "have raised Jewish honor from the floor and did what the police should have done." Lehava wouldn’t merit much attention if it wasn’t for their legitimacy in right-wing circles. In February 2011, MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) invited Gopstein to a formal session of the Knesset Committee for the Advancement of Women, along with other members of organizations who work to expose and prevent inter-racial relations. The title of the hearing was "the phenomena of assimilation in Israel – a special session in honor of Jewish Identity Day." Gopstein had the opportunity to explain the work of his organizations, and even to complain about "lack of cooperation" from the Ministry of Education; he mentioned the case of a school in Bat Yam "where 20 percent of the girls are dating Arabs." MK Hotovely turned to a representative from the Department of Education, Dr. Zvi Zameret, for an explanation, and the latter, instead of calling racism for what it is, replied: "This is the first time I am hearing those figures… I made a note to look into that." A Hebrew protocol of the session can be foundhere. A quote from Gopstein was the first one to appear in a press release that MK Hotovely sent following the session, and other Knesset members present at the debate congratulated her for tackling this issue. A flyer warning the public about an Arab who threatens to "defame" Jewish girls, distributed in a Jerusalem neighborhood in 2011. The holy war against interracial relationships has been central to the agenda of racist groups throughout modern history. In many places, the first to suffer from attacks (and later, laws) were Jews. An attempt to introduce laws against intermarriage was the main reason the Knesset rejected Jewish supremacist Meir Kahane in the 1980s. At the time, Justice Shamgar wrote that such ideas "remind us of the worst persecution in Jewish history." Times have changed. The demand for racial purity is becoming mainstream, re-entering the Knesset through the front door. Leading rabbis, most of them state employees, have signed letters calling on Jewish homeowners to refrain from renting their apartments to Arabs, or warning Jewish girls against dating Arabs. It’s a form of racism that treats women as the object of the (Jewish) man, his to keep within the tribe. It’s not surprising therefore that the calls to ban women from public life come from the same national-Orthodox circles who want to "save" those women from Palestinian men. But while the attempts to limit the presence of women in public are (rightly) meeting fierce opposition, the revolting attempts to delegitimize, ban or punish interracial relations are endorsed by not-so-marginal circles, and practically accepted as a legitimate political concern within the Jewish mainstream. Source

Mob ‘lynching’ of Palestinian minors marks rise of Jewish extremism

Mob ‘lynching’ of Palestinian minors marks rise of Jewish extremism

by Allison Deger

August 21, 2012 On Friday four Palestinian teenagers were mobbed by 50 Israelis of similar age who were prowling the streets of Jerusalem shouting "Death to Arabs" and "Arabs, Arabs," looking for Palestinians to beat. Disturbingly, during the Zion Square attack Israeli authorities said around 100 witnesses stood by and watched as one victim, Jamal Julani, was kicked as he laid on the ground unconscious. The violence only stopped after police intervened. Nir Hasson detailed the assault in Haaretz through quotes from a witness' Facebook page: 'When one of the Palestinian youths fell to the floor, the youths continued to hit him in the head, he lost consciousness, his eyes rolled, his angled head twitched, and then those who were kicking him fled and the rest gathered in a circle around, with some still shouting with hate in their eyes.' 'When two volunteers [from local charities] went into the circle, they tried to perform CPR and the mass of youths standing around started to say resentfully that we are resuscitating an Arab, and when they passed near us and saw that the rest of the volunteers were shocked, they asked why we were so in shock, he is an Arab. When we returned to the area after some time had passed, and the site was marked as a murder scene, and police were there with the cousin of the victim who tried to reenact what happened, two youths stood there who did not understand why we wanted to give a bottle of water to the cousin of the victim who was transferred to hospital in critical condition, he is an Arab, and they don’t need to walk around in the center of the city, and they deserve it, because this way they will finally be afraid,' she added. 'Children aged 15-18 are killing a child their own age with their own hands. Really with their own hands. Children who's hearts were unmoved when they beat to death a boy their age who lay writhing on the floor,' she wrote. Haaretz then reported on Sunday the Israel police escalated their initial assessment of a"brawl" to a "lynching." In addition, four additional suspects, between the ages of 13 and 15, were arrested. Taxi transporting Palestinian family was firebombed on August, 16, 2012, near Bat Aiyan. (Photo: Israeli Police/Haaretz) The mob attack came just a day after a firebomb was hurled at a taxi transporting a Palestinian family of six, including two children, and weeks after settlers planted a car bomb in a Palestinian village near Ramallah. The explosions come in the context of the highest rates of settler violence in the past five years, according to a report by theJerusalem Fund. In 2011 alone, there were 10 "price tag," arson attacks on Palestinians. Noting the increase in Jewish Israeli violence against non-Jews, the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) published a fact-sheet linking the attempted lynching to the recent wave of mob violence against African migrants: In May 2012, a wave of anti-African racism and violence, including physical assaults and a string of arson attacks, hit Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel, fueled by inflammatory statements made about asylum seekers by Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Eli Yishai. IMEU's report, titled "A Culture of Impunity: Violence Against Non-Jews in Israel & the Occupied Territories," points to an unspoken government acceptance of settler attacks on Palestinians as some of the incitement originated from members of the Israeli Knesset and state-funded rabbinical authorities. Settler rabbi, Dov Lior is described as a patron radical whose: salary is paid by the Israeli government told a conference that Arabs are 'wolves,' 'savages,' and 'evil camel riders.' Earlier in 2011, he warned Jewish women against marrying non-Jewish women, stating: 'Gentile sperm leads to barbaric offspring.' Friday's mob violence seem to indicate the Israeli hard-right's incendiary political discourse has paved the way for extremist Jewish violence, all will the tacit support of the state of Israel. Source

Israeli lies unchecked, Palestinian perspectives censored on BBC

Israeli lies unchecked, Palestinian perspectives censored on BBC

Amena Saleem

August 24, 2012 One of the most obvious examples of bias by the BBC is the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s habit of inviting Israeli politicians or the Israeli government spokesperson, Mark Regev, onto its programs to speak without challenge. Meanwhile, Palestinians and those who would convey a Palestinian perspective are not given the same opportunity. Film director Ken Loach recently learned that for the BBC, Palestine remains a taboo. On 23 July, Loach was at the Royal Albert Hall in London to listen to a performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, performed by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. The orchestra consists of Israeli, Palestinian and other Arab musicians, and is conducted by Daniel Barenboim, who formed the orchestra in 1999 with the late Palestinian academic and activist Edward Said. So when Loach was asked during the intermission for an interview by BBC Proms, which was recording the concert for later broadcast, he considered it reasonable to air his thoughts on the nature of the orchestra as well as the music. Loach said that he spoke to the BBC journalist for five minutes, during which time he said: "Seeing Israelis and Arabs, including Palestinians, sitting side by side on the stage makes us confront the issue of the continuing oppression of the Palestinian people, and I shall be thinking of them when I hear the music tonight." These were typically compassionate words from a director whose films, including Land and Freedom about the revolutionaries who fought in the Spanish Civil War, often reflect his keen sense of justice. However, for the BBC, which in the last six months has alternately denied the existence of Palestine and then the fact of Israel’s occupation, the mere mention of the fact of the Palestinian people’s oppression was too controversial to broadcast. BBC admits to censorship Loach received a phone call from the program producers informing him that his interview would be cut "due to the music over-running." He sent an email to the BBC, which has been seen by this writer, stating: "Thank you for letting me know about the broadcast and the need to shorten the interview. Of course I understand about length. But I would ask you to include my brief remarks about the orchestra and the Palestinians. As an opponent of oppression and tyranny I think Ludwig [van Beethoven] would have approved. It was one of the reasons I agreed to take part. I’m happy if you need to reduce my thoughts on the music itself." His email was ignored and the interview was broadcast three days later on BBC Proms with his observation about the oppression of the Palestinian people removed. The rest of the interview remained intact. Loach said: "I called the producer, Oliver MacFarlane, who admitted they had deliberately cut the line about Palestine. He said if they’d included it they would have had to have a balancing interview. I wasn’t pleased and I responded robustly." When asked to respond to this, a BBC spokesperson stated: "As part of the BBC’s comprehensive music television coverage of The Proms, esteemed filmmaker Ken Loach was invited to comment on his personal passion for Beethoven, given the time slot available and the fact that this was a music television programme, the most editorially relevant sections of Mr. Loach’s interview were used in the final edit." Israeli spokespersons unchallenged But if it was the case that the BBC did feel the need to "balance" Loach’s simple words about the ongoing oppression of the Palestinians, it has absolutely no qualms about airing, totally unopposed, the wild, often lurid, mostly fact-free statements made by Israeli ministers and spokespeople. Take, for example, James Naughtie’s interview with Danny Ayalon on Radio 4’s Today program on 16 January 2012. The interview was conducted the day after the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called on Israel to end its occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories and to end its violence against civilians. This strong UN criticism of Israel was completely ignored by Naughtie, who focused on Iran with the unquestioned premise of the interview being that Iran is, without a doubt, developing nuclear weapons and consequently poses a grave threat to Israel. Ayalon had been on air for less than a second when he said: "What we see here is a drive, a relentless push by Iran to illegally acquire and develop nuclear weapons and for them it’s not just a means, it’s a way to reach hegemony to continue with their very dangerous and radical approach." He went on to say: "Today Iran is the international hub of terror in the world." This was clearly Israeli propaganda; Ayalon used the BBC to loudly bang the drums of war against Iran. Yet Naughtie neither challenged his unfounded opinions, which were presented as facts, nor brought in someone to present an alternative viewpoint. Ayalon’s wild accusations, so much more controversial than Loach’s mild remarks, were certainly not cut for lack of a "balancing interview." Nor was Ayalon questioned about Israel’s widely suspected nuclear arsenal or about Israel’s staunch refusal to allow international weapons inspections. BBC’s double standards Arthur Neslen was a BBC journalist for four years, but this didn’t stop him falling foul of the BBC’s double standards on this issue. In March this year, he wrote an article for the Guardian newspaper describing how he returned to Gaza to meet the man who had tried to kill him more than two years earlier ("Why I met the man who tried to kill me," 2 March 2012). This led to a phone call requesting an interview from the producers ofOutlook, a BBC World Service program which is broadcast Monday through Thursday. Neslen agreed, but even before he visited BBC studios, the problems began. "The BBC kept delaying the interview," he said in an interview. "Then they called two months later and said they were ready, so I went to do the interview which lasted 45 minutes." In his interview, Neslen described how a stranger called "Khalid" (not his real name) had attacked him randomly in a Gaza street in May 2009, pulling a knife on him as he came out of the offices of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). In 2011, Neslen had returned to Gaza to meet the man who had tried to kill him and, in his BBC Outlook interview, he told Khalid’s story. During Israel’s massacre in Gaza in 2008-2009, Khalid, a schizophrenic, had gone to the front line to ask the Israelis to stop killing civilians. He was captured at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers, handcuffed and blindfolded, taken to the doorway of a house the Israeli army had commandeered, and repeatedly beaten by soldiers on their way in or out. He was then used as a human shield by Israeli snipers, who placed him in front of an open window and shot from behind him. Khalid was later taken to a detention center in Israel and put through the court system, regularly beaten, before being released back into Gaza two months later. Before telling his story in the Guardian, Neslen spent a month trying to get an explanation from several Israeli authorities, finally obtaining a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Justice which confirmed the dates of Khalid’s arrest, court appearances and release. BBC drops story However, all this evidence proved insufficient for the BBC. "The BBC called me after I’d left the interview, asking me to come back straight away. They wanted to know what the Israeli response was to Khalid’s story and I told them about the statement," Neslen explained. "I was told the interview would go out the following week." However, ten minutes before the interview was due to be aired, he received a series of "desperate" emails and calls from a BBC journalist asking to see all his correspondence with the Israeli authorities on the matter, which he emailed over immediately. "They told me I hadn’t provided them with proof that I had put the allegation to the Israeli army that they had used Khalid as a human shield," said Neslen. "Then they dropped the story." "Why didn’t they put the allegations to the IDF [Israeli army] themselves?" he asked. "I was a BBC journalist for four years and they didn’t believe my story. But if Mark Regev goes on BBC News to say a hunger striker is a member ofHamas or Islamic Jihad, the BBC never tries to go to the family to get confirmation. It only seems to go in one direction." The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign wrote to the BBC in May to ask why Regev had been allowed to make unchallenged and false comments on BBC1’s News at 10 and Radio 4’s six-o-clock news bulletin on 11 May. Regev claimed the Palestinian hunger strikers, who numbered more than 1,000, were motivated by an "Islamist cause" and wanted to "commit suicide." Last week, the group received this response from the BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit: "You have said that the report lacked the necessary due impartiality because it contained an interview with the Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, but did not include a similar interview with someone putting forward the view of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. The BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on Impartiality make it clear that due impartiality does not necessarily require all views and opinions to be covered in equal proportions on all occasions." As Neslen says, it only seems to go one way with the BBC. Take this line from the Editorial Guidelines on Impartiality, which the BBC appeared to disregard when interviewing Loach: "… it is not usually required for an appearance by a politician, or other contributor with partial views, to be balanced on each occasion by those taking a contrary view." The BBC seems to interpret this as meaning that someone who openly lies about the political motivations of Palestinian hunger strikers can be heard unchallenged on its airwaves, while someone who dares to mention the oppression of the Palestinians must be silenced. Bowing to Israeli pressure Neslen has his own ideas, based on his time at the BBC, for the double standards. "They’re running scared of the Israeli authorities," he said. He gives an example, detailed in his book, In Your Eyes a Sandstorm: Ways of Being Palestinian, of the Israeli embassy calling the BBC radio newsroom where he then worked. The Israel government asked a news editor not to run the Palestinian side of a particular news story, implying that doing so could involve an accusation of "terror collusion." The Palestinian statement, sent by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to the BBC, was dropped. On another occasion, at the beginning of "Operation Defensive Shield," Israel’s massive re-invasion of the West Bank during the second intifada, the Israeli government threatened to close down the BBC’s offices in West Jerusalem if it did not pull its correspondent Barbara Plett out of the West Bank. The next day she was withdrawn. "These sorts of things happen every day," Nelson said, "and some news editors will stand up for core journalistic values. But in general, Palestinian calls of complaints about news bulletins tended to be laughed off. I remember one acting editor on a BBC Radio 5 live bulletin slamming down the phone on a Palestinian caller and saying 'If I get one more call from a moaning Arab…’" He added: "If the Israeli embassy phones in, there’s a vast disparity of power [compared] to if a Palestinian activist calls in. They take Israeli calls very seriously, and critical stories about Israel get shot down through official pressure and the fear of official pressure. These are very powerful lobbyists — people know their careers can be broken." The result of all this is obvious bias shown against the Palestinians in the BBC’s broadcasts, whether it is by the complete omission of their story, the editing of comments which dare to mention their oppression, or the constant, relentless foisting of the Israeli narrative onto the audience. Is this really journalism? Those who pay their licence fee so that the BBC can broadcast all across the world — and those whose lives are affected by those broadcasts — deserve much better. Amena Saleem is active with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK and keeps a close eye on the media’s coverage of Palestine as part of her brief. She has twice driven on convoys to Gaza for PSC. Follow the PSC on Twitter:@PSCupdates. Source

Revisiting Iraq, The American occupation has emboldened al Qaeda—and Iran.

Revisiting Iraq
The American occupation has emboldened al Qaeda—and Iran.

By Kelley Vlahos

Sign in the Green Zone, Baghdad 2004. Peter Rimar / Wikimedia Commons August 24, 2012 This week Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his first visit to Iraq since the last combat troops left that country eight months ago. His time there — all of six hours — was well-documented by the press, and his wizened face was later splashed about the Internet and television spouting statements like: "We still retain significant investment and significant influence. But now it’s on the basis of a partnership and not on the basis of ownership." And later, after he had hopped back on his C-17 aircraft to get the heck out of there (presumably, not the same C-17 that had been hit earlier by insurgent rocket fire while parked at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan), he added: "Only eight months out, and it seems to me that they’ve gripped the opportunity for now that we hoped they would grip." That must have been easy to say, especially if he were already in the air, the country for which nearly 4,500 Americans and an untold number of Iraqis have died, becoming smaller and smaller beneath him. I am guessing the word "opportunity" here is fungible. What we do know is this: in the last month, some 409 Iraqis were killed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The deaths occurred during several waves of coordinated attacks, most recently on August 16, when an estimated 70 were killed and more than 200 wounded in more than a dozen towns and cities and Baghdad neighborhoods. This is horrific on its own, but to add insult to injury, the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI), a branch of al Qaeda that has been operating in Iraq since the occupation, has taken responsibility as part of a new offensive to take back once-held territory, forebodingly called "Taking Down Walls". It’s obvious that these Sunni militants are trying to undermine the Shia-led state — hence the disproportionate attacks on army and police checkpoints, government officials and other security apparatus. But the fighters, armed with guns, suicide attackers, and "sticky bombs" easily attached to the under-carriage of vehicles, are targeting these interests in mostly Sunni areas, which critics say have been left behind — and quite vulnerable — by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government. A quick check found that the majority of 20 locations targeted in the August 16 attacks, for example, were Sunni Arab or Sunni Kurdish strongholds. What’s more, al Qaeda appears keen on sending a message to those Sunnis who worked with Americans and have since been tapped to defend their communities through the national security forces and government. For example, in Masud, north of Baghdad, militants with silencers on their weapons surprised and killed at least six soldiers at a checkpoint; in al-Garma near Fallujah, four policeman were killed at a similar checkpoint; three roadside bombs exploded in Tuz Khurmatu near the home of the district chief, killing his wife and leaving him and his three sons wounded. On Sunday, a Sunni cleric in western Baghdad who has worked with al Maliki’s government and taken a stance against Sunni extremists, was critically wounded in a bomb attack on his convoy. In July, 15 Mukhtars, or elected neighborhood officials, resigned in protest in the Sunni City of Baquba because of what they said was the government’s inability to protect them from al Qaeda threats. They quit, Abdullah al Hiali, head of the City Council of Baquba, told the New York Times, "to save their family members’ lives because of living under threats from al Qaeda and militants." There are typically 100 Mukhtars in Baquba — some 50 have resigned under similar circumstances since January, according to reports. Baquba, long the backdrop of Sunni insurgent activity, was one of the targets in last Thursday’s deadly attacks. Funny how Dempsey mentioned none of this, at least to the press, on Tuesday. Instead, he gushed to reporters that Iraq could (still) become a democratic model for the Middle East. He met with al-Maliki, a Shia strong man with authoritarian tendencies who helped purge Sunnis during and after the war and now appears to be letting them suffer. He forcefully put down a developing front in the "Arab Spring" in Sunni areas in February 2011, when his security forces opened fire on "Day of Rage" protesters, who marched by the thousands demanding better government services. "We want a good life like human beings, not like animals," Baghdad protester Khalil Ibrahim told the Associated Press at the time. The protests soon ceased across the country. Basic services still elude most Iraqi citizens, Sunni or otherwise. Oil revenues are up, but they’ve yet to translate into anything substantial for the people, according to a sobering August report by The Washington Post. Indeed, it seems everything the U.S was supposed to accomplish in its carefully orchestrated 2003 invasion has been turned on its head. Al Qaeda is back, terrorizing the population. Meanwhile, al-Maliki’s government has done nothing to dispel the notion that besides the Shia majority inside Iraq, Iran has been the only beneficiary of our painful — and tremendously expensive — intervention there ("Obama can’t admit the truth–that Iran won the Iraq War," national security writer Marcy Wheeler recently noted). Reports last week indicate that a Baghdad bank crossed the U.S last month when it was found to be helping Iran skirt economic sanctions over its nuclear program. According to The New York Times: The little-known bank singled out by the United States, the Elaf Islamic Bank, is only part of a network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations that, according to current and former American and Iraqi government officials and experts on the Iraqi banking sector, has provided Iran with a crucial flow of dollars at a time when sanctions are squeezing its economy. … Some current and former American and Iraqi officials, along with banking and oil experts, say that Iraqi government officials are turning a blind eye to the large financial flows, smuggling and other trade with Iran. In some cases, they say, government officials, including some close to Mr. Maliki, are directly profiting from the activities. Maliki’s government has denied such involvement. Classic. We fight a war as part of an effort to improve our strategic influence in the region only to find we have … very little? The bank was "cut off" from American banking by the Obama administration, but there has been no real confrontation, for obvious reasons. Likewise there was little public comment on reports that Iraq has been helping its Syrian brethren in Assad’s regime over the border. At the same time, the Iraqi al Qaeda is allegedly sending fighters over there to aid the rebellion. What a thicket — and to think we had such a generous hand in planting the seed! Gen. Dempsey put a brave face on American-Iraqi relations on Tuesday — acknowledging that in addition to discussing Syria and Iran, he spoke to al-Maliki about extending U.S-led training with the Iraqi army, and Iraq’s purchase of American military hardware. But no doubt he probably wished he had never laid eyes on that place again. Source