William Blum

Things internationally are so dispiriting there's nothing left to do but fantasize. I picture Turkey, as a member of NATO, demanding that the alliance come to its defense after being attacked by Israel. Under Article 5 of the NATO charter an armed attack on one member is deemed to constitute an armed attack on all members. That is the ostensible reason NATO is fighting in Afghanistan — the attack against the United States on September 11, 2001 is regarded as an attack on all NATO members (disregarding the awkward fact that Afghanistan as a country had nothing to do with the attack). The Israeli attack on a Turkish-flagged ship, operated by a Turkish humanitarian organization, killing nine Turkish nationals and wounding many more can certainly constitute an attack upon a NATO member.

So, after the United States, the UK, Germany, France and other leading NATO members offer their ridiculous non sequitur excuses why they can't ... umm ... er ... invoke Article 5, and the international media swallows it all without any indigestion, Turkey demands that Israel should at least lose its formal association with NATO as a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue. This too is dismissed with scorn by the eminent NATO world powers on the grounds that it would constitute a victory for terrorism. And anti-Semitism of course.

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Stephen Lendman

Volume of BP oil gusher at another Exxon/Valdez every 8
to 10 days. (NYT)

As more information surfaces, a potentially biblical disaster is unfolding, threatening to make vast parts of the Gulf dead zones, animals and plant species so contaminated and unsafe that Gulf communities may face "the total end of fishing, according to Carl Safina, Blue Water Institute ocean biologist.

"I don't see how the fish populations will be able to withstand what has happened. The basis of their livelihoods is being destroyed. This is not a temporary issue. Those things don't come back the day the oil stops," and no end of it so far is in sight.

On May 30, the UK Independent's Emily Dugan headlined "Oil spill creates huge undersea dead zones," according to oceanologists and toxicologists, saying:

If experts are right, "the sea's entire food chain could suffer years of devastation, with almost no marine life in the region escaping its effects."

Many scientists believe what's unseen below the surface will have the deadliest impact because of the combination noxious oil and toxic dispersants, combined to make a growing disaster far worse.

Over 8,300 animal and plant species are at risk. Some may face extinction, but the true toll won't be known for years.

"In previous spills, oil rose to the surface and was dealt with there," but hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersants used has kept much of the it submerged, "resulting in unprecedented underwater damage to organisms in the Gulf."

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Nahida Izzat
Exiled Palestinian

The case for “Palestinian voice” -A critique through the eyes of an exiled Palestinian

After almost one century of Zionist terrorism in Palestine, the world is gradually waking up to this racist and destructive ideology.

Contributing to the heroic Palestinian Resistance, this growing awareness will incidentally precipitate the abolition of the Zionist ideology and its hideous manifestation, just like slavery or Nazism were abolished.

The Palestinian Resistance and its allies represent an exemplary model of diversity and cooperation across borders, race, age, economic circumstances, religion or nationality.

In essence, the Palestinian Resistance is a model of inclusion, the radical contrary of the exclusivist Zionist ideology.

Contrary to the gory Zionist project, our true and sincere aspirations are long lasting Peace, Justice and Freedom. For us, this will restore of the true foundations of Palestinian society.

After almost a century of unrepentant Zionist terrorism in Palestine, all doubts have vanished: The only real road to Peace is a full and unconditional Liberation of Palestine, liberation from this supremacist ideology and liberation from the perpetrators. That will inevitably mean a return to the original, peaceful society Palestine was before the Zionist invasion.

To be called again “The Holy Land”, Palestine must be reunified with its people, the Palestinians. Only Palestinians can heal the disfigured landscape and Holy City of Jerusalem, for the benefit of humanity. Only Palestinians will open its doors to all those who come in Peace, as they had in the past, contrary to the present day Zionist occupiers and their apocalyptic weaponry and dishonesty, their bulldozers uprooting millennial olive groves, destroying biblical World Heritages, evicting entire families from their ancestral houses and neighbourhoods, bringing harm and destabilization all across the Middle-East and to the world.

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Joseph Hantman

How Did Jews and Freemasons Take Over the Power in Turkey?

[It's time to learn the truth about Jewish Mustafa Kemal, and the current oppressive Kemalian regime in Turkey which took over the power after the fall of Ottoman rule, and which brainwash the people of Turkey from then on. The article below is taken from Kulanu quarterly newsletter, Summer 1999, Volume 6 Number 2. (Kulanu is an organization which reflects the community of interests of individuals of varied backgrounds and religious practices dedicated to finding and assisting lost and dispersed remnants of the Jewish people) Atajew.com]

One of the most significant developments in recent Middle East affairs is the close relationship which now exists between Turkey and Israel in military, political, economic and intelligence matters. This change in the power structure is usually attributable to the old Arab maxim “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Since both Turkey and Israel count Syria and Iraq as their strongest threats, the close ties between Turkey and Israel are quite logical.

However, there is good evidence of a less widely known but absolutely fascinating story behind this relationship. Turkey, which has a population almost exclusively Muslim, has a government which by law is committed to being totally secular. This goes back to modern Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal (Kemal Ataturk), 1881-1938, leader of the Young Turk Movement which took over after World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Ataturk and his followers moved rapidly to end religious domination and many religious practices in the daily life of the country. They decreed a change from the Arabic alphabet to the Roman, and they outlawed the fez and the veil. They opened schools to both boys and girls, and their main goal was to Westernize Turkey and secularize its practices. The Turkish army has been the main enforcement agent of this secular policy in times of rising fundamentalism among some groups.

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Kourosh Ziabari

Although the United Nations Security Council, which some politicians believe is one of the most undemocratic organizations in the world, voted in favor of a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program, the global public opinions are well aware of the fact that 15 countries, 5 of which are entitled to remain in an unquestionable monopoly and dominance, cannot in reality represent the interests of the international community.

The Security Council, which since its establishment has made discriminatory decisions against the world countries, especially the non-aligned nations who typically try to escape from the hegemony of superpowers, is notorious for its habitual exercise of double standards and it's clear to everyone that its resolutions are more often than not futile, ineffective, biased and unbinding.

Since 1948, the Security Council has adopted 223 resolutions in condemnation of Israel's violations of international law, including the occupation of Palestinian lands, unilateral incursions into the Lebanese and Syrian soils, developing nuclear weapons, deporting the Palestinian citizens from their homes and building illegal settlements in the West Bank. Interestingly, the Israeli regime did not pay attention to any of these resolutions and the UNSC never pursued its demands to hold Tel Aviv accountable for its continued, flagrant defiance of international regulations.

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