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“Two Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers close to the northern border of the besieged Gaza Strip.”
Al Jazeera grimly reports that another two lives have been snuffed out. In Canada our war dead are commemorated with media attention and ceremony. In Gaza, another two dead does not make headlines in the international press. the contrast and compare analysis infers much about the value of human life of us versus official enemies.
“Palestinian witnesses said that the men were collecting scrap metal when they were killed late on Saturday, but Israeli officials said they were fighters trying to launch rockets into Israel.
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The deaths came just days after Israel distributed leaflets warning the 1.5 million Gazans not to come within 300 metres of an internationally condemned border wall.”
How nice. It is your land, but don’t you dare tread on it.
Plus Gaza was still reeling from the recent 22 day Israeli military offensive. 1300 Palestinians dead, 13 Israelis dead.
The injustice continues.
Majority of Karzai cabinet nominees rejected
The Associated Press
Afghanistan’s parliament has dealt a stinging rebuke to President Hamid Karzai by rejecting 70 per cent of his nominees for a new cabinet.
The Saturday voting in which 17 of 24 nominees were turned down confronts Karzai with a severe challenge as he tries to get his second term in office into full swing.
Not really surprising, but the first comment I saw on the post was near perfect. Here it is, thank you ‘appraiser from Ontario’:
“Karzai is widely viewed within Afghanistan as an American puppet. It should be no surprise that most of his choices for cabinet have been rejected.
There should be riots in the streets over the blatant corruption and ballot-box stuffing that has ocurred. But having hundreds of thousands of NATO troops and various other U.S. friendly foreign mercenaries on Afghan soil tends to dampen dissent. The entire situation is a complete fraud, propped up by the imperial war machine that is America.”
I don’t think I could have said it better myself.
What happens when an empire is in decline? The natives start getting restless…
In the lawless shamble that is occupied Iraq the private mercenaries have, and continue to run amok.
“Saad al-Muttalibi, an adviser to the Iraqi council of ministers, said on Friday that if the [5] guards did not receive a just sentence for the killing of 14 Iraqis in 2007, the issue would complicate relations between Iraq and the United States.”
Not particularly surprising. Gunning down innocent people is usually frowned on, unless of course they the enemy. Then it is O.K..
” Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said in a statement: “The Iraqi government will follow up on this issue in strength and resolution to bring those murderers of Blackwater to accountability in order to return the rights of iraqi people who are the victims of this crime.”
He said “the investigations carried out by the specialised Iraqi authorities confirmed with no doubt that the guards of Blackwater company have committed a criminal murder act and they have violated the combat environment rule to use force while there was no threat against them”
The Iraqi authorities are justifiably pissed off as Blackwater has had a history of shooting and looting in their country and want to see justice done. Yeah right:
“Ricardo Urbina, a district judge, dismissed the charges against the five men on Thursday, saying US justice department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity.
Urbina said the government’s explanations were “contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility”.”
Technicality observed. Get out of Jail Free card handed out, problem solved.
Via the CBC.
“Denmark’s intelligence service says police have foiled an attempt to kill cartoonist Kurt Westergaard — the artist who drew cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, causing outrage in the Muslim world.”
Let us celebrate the forces of anti-modernity, anti-rationality and anti-intelligence. The man’s crime against Islam? He drew cartoons. Yes, and now he deserves to die:
“akob Scharf, who heads the PET intelligence service, said a 28-year-old Somalian man was armed with an axe and a knife when he entered Westergaard’s home in Aarhus.”
Armed with an axe and a knife, the Somalian man was not there for tea and crumpets. Pumped up past rationality and reality, this religious fanatic was going to murder someone to clean his imaginary goddouche’s reputation.
It is actions such of these that further confirm the inanity, cruelty and delusional nature of religion.
Given the bias of our media, this story should be filed in the official ‘memory hole’ of our imperial consciousnesses.
“Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are marking one year since the start of Israel’s 22-day offensive on the territory, which left hundreds dead and damaged millions of dollars worth of infrastructure.”
Had this happened to an ally, or at least a non official enemy, the network feeds would be all over this. As is, the somber notes are duly recorded by Al Jazeera.
“Ismail Haniya, the deposed Palestinian prime minister, was expected to unveil a plaque commemorating the 1,600 people that Hamas officials say were killed during the war.
Other estimates put the Palestinian death toll closer to 1,400, the majority of whom were civilians, including around 400 children.”
400 hundred children slain. Ho Hum. Why all the carnage in the first place?
“The stated aim behind Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead” was to cripple the ability of Hamas and other Palestinian groups from launching rockets into southern Israel.
Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokesperson, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the operation had been successful.”
Ah, those darn children making rockets. Oh I’m sure it can be all dismissed by calling them collateral damage and the fault of Hamas by intentionally putting innocents in harms way. Was it worth it? Not according to Hamas sources:
“Dr Ahmad Yousuf, a senior Hamas official and former advisor to Haniya, said that the political movement also remained strong despite the devastation caused by the Israeli offensive. “The Israelis failed their objectives on all accounts,” he told Al Jazeera from Gaza City. “Hamas is still there and we try to help our people, but we are still under occupation and suffering from sanctions.”
Hmm. Complete success and complete failure depending on who you ask. For 1400-1600 hundred people it does not really matter anymore. Oh hey, western media look here a story that is reporting from both points of view. You should try it sometime.
Oh and another little tidbit that ‘escapes notice’ in the western media:
“Last week, 16 rights groups including Amnesty International and Oxfam issued a joint statement saying the world has “betrayed” civilians in the Gaza Strip by failing to end the Israeli blockade of the enclave.”
Huh. But of course, they are of the wrong nationality, colour and political leanings. We can safely ignore them and their concerns.
We are heading to into the next decade of the 21st century. My question is when will women be invited to join our so called advanced civilization? Follow the link back to the Feministe eZine for the whole article. One picture below the fold shows a woman being prepared for gang rape, be forewarned.
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