Stephen Lendman

Numerous previous articles explained Israel's extremism, notably under Netanyahu exceeding the worst of Ariel Sharon. Both men, of course, are war criminals by any standard. So are complicit Knesset members - roguish, racist and hard-line, comprising a voting majority that co-opt a weak-kneed opposition going along most often to get along.

Access several relevant previous articles through these links here, here and here.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan agrees. On January 13, Haaretz Service headlined, "Turkey PM: Netanyahu has worst government in history of Israel," saying:

Erdogan told Al Jazeera that close Israeli/Turkish ties faltered following Cast Lead and "spiraled to an unprecedented low" after Israeli commandos attacked a Turkish-flagged Freedom Flotilla ship in international waters bound for Gaza last May. Nine Turkish citizens aboard were murdered. Erdogan demanded an apology. Israel refused, the Prime Minister telling Al Jazeera:

"As long as Netanyahu does not change his policies, he cannot expect us to change ours." He added that Turkey won't renew any previously signed accords, and won't consider renewed relations until Israel accedes to its demands. He also called Foreign Minister/Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman Israel's "greatest problem," a "despicable" man Israel should "get rid" of. "It is up to them, not us. If they don't, Israel's problems will only get worse."

Erdogan also supports Hamas, saying:

"Hamas is not a terrorist organization. They are people defending their land. It is a movement that entered the elections and won," adding that conflict resolution is impossible without them.

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Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem

I was really planning to write an article entitled "the lying woman from Washington " in which I wanted to expose the utter hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton's recent call for political reforms in the Arab world. After all, the United States has always been the main impeder of democracy in the Arab region as it has constantly and consistently embraced criminal and tyrannical regimes from Casablanca to Bahrain.

However, the dramatic events in Tunisia seem to be taking a certain unexpected turn which no serious observer can treat with indifference.

In Tunisia things seem to be sufficiently clear. The people of this north African country are simply rising up against a thuggish, rotten and despicable dictator who has come to consider Tunisia , its people and resources a kind of farm for himself and his family.

To maintain this state of affair, he built a vast net of secret police apparatus, including death squads whose main job is to witch-hunt, abduct, brutalize and even liquidate all those who dared show a gesture of dissatisfaction with the hateful regime. The regime also deployed tens of thousands of informers and secret agents in every corner and cranny of the country, sowing mistrust, suspicion and fear.

As to the West, which keeps babbling about democracy and human rights, it watched Tunisia descend into the abyss in terms of human dignity, human rights and civil liberties.

A classical dictator of Nicaragua's Anastasio Sammoza's or Iran's Shah's type, Zein el Abidine ben Ali has effectively transformed Tunisia into a huge prison maintained by terror and secret police. In doing so, he encouraged all sorts of corruption, including embezzlement of public resources, nepotism, bribery, graft, cronyism and abuse of power. The entire country reached the verge of collapse.

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