03/26/12

Permalink Toulouse gunman visited Israel in 2010: Israeli security

The Toulouse gunman who killed seven people, including three young Jewish children, visited Israel for three days in 2010, Israeli security officials told AFP on Monday. - They said that Mohamed Merah entered the Jewish state on a French passport in September 2010 through the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan where he was checked and given a tourist visa. He spent three days in Israel before leaving, again via the Allenby Bridge, they said. It was possible that he had come to Israel with other French nationals, they said. News that Merah had visited Israel was first reported on Saturday by French daily Le Monde, but Israeli officials did not confirm the report until now. [...] Local commentators speculated that he might have come to Israel to gather intelligence or undergo training with Palestinian militants Mossad.

Gilad Atzmon: Is it an Israeli False Flag Again?


Permalink One Family in Gaza by Jen Marlowe

Just months after the Israeli assault that killed 1,390 Palestinians, I visited Gaza. Among dozens of painful stories I heard, one family stood out. I spent several days with Kamal and Wafaa Awajah, playing with their children, sleeping in the tent they were living in, and filming their story. Wafaa described the execution of their son, Ibrahim. As she spoke, her children played on the rubble of their destroyed home. Kamal talked about struggling to help his kids heal from trauma. What compelled me to tell the Awajah family's story? I was moved not only by their tragedy but by the love for their children in Wafaa and Kamal's every word. Palestinians in Gaza are depicted either as violent terrorists or as helpless victims. The Awajah family challenges both portrayals. Through one family’s story, the larger tragedy of Gaza is exposed, and the courage and resilience of its people shines through. For more information or to purchase a DVD or organize a screening, please contact donkeysaddle@gmail.com

Gilad Atzmon's Blog: Seven Days From a Gaza Diary (Must Watch)


Permalink New Syrian TV Footage Exposes CNN Falsification and Coordination with Terrorists in Homs

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- The Syrian TV screened a footage showing more aspects of falsification and fabrication of facts practiced by Arab and Western satellite channels as part of the media war launched against Syria. - The footage broadcast on Thursday, which filmed the process of sabotaging an oil transfer pipeline in al-Sulaymanieh region in Homs countryside by armed terrorist groups, revealed that the camera operators were CNN correspondents who entered Syria illegally through the Lebanese borders and seemed to have coordinated with the saboteurs to film a video of the attack and send it to their channel. Heard on the footage were the voices of CNN security affairs photographer Tim Crockett and correspondent Arwa Damon asking photojournalist Neil Hallsworth if he was ok as he felt suffocated by the smoke from the attack on the oil pipeline and if he needed to see a doctor. While Damon was reporting live on the CNN that claimed that the Syrian army was behind the attack to deflect suspicion of any coordination, if not to say involvement, with the terrorist saboteurs, the same footage- proved by comparisons highlighted by the Syrian TV, was then screened live from the same camera which seemed to have been set up a day before the attack in a place where the attack can be filmed.

Niall Green: US to give “non-lethal” aid to Syrian opposition
Stephen Lendman: No Letup in Western-Backed Syrian Violence


Permalink Israelis rally to condemn Tel Aviv’s war plans against Iran

Hundreds of anti-war activists have rallied in Tel Aviv to warn the authorities of the Israeli regime against a potential military attack on Iran over its nuclear energy program. - The campaigners fear that mounting pressure on Iran can escalate into an all-out regional war, the effects of which will reverberate globally. The protest followed a recent spontaneous Facebook campaign in which a large number of anti-war activists working on the internet united in their opposition to potential war against Iran. On Saturday, the participants in the march held signs with captions such as "No to War with Iran," and "Talks, not Bombs," as well as “No to pre-emptive suicide.”

Haaretz: Hundreds of Israelis march in Tel Aviv to protest war with Ira


Permalink Global oil price may hit $240 if Iran closes Hormuz: IHS

A leading US-based energy consulting firm says oil price may hit $240 a barrel and economic growth may fall by over 25 percent if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to the Western sanctions.

Analysts at IHS Global Insight also told reporters that Iran can easily close the strategic strait and disrupt global oil supplies for up to three months by laying mines that the US and its allies would have to find and remove, USA Today reported.

“If Iran actually moves to close the Strait of Hormuz, crude oil prices may soar to $240 a barrel for some time,” said Sara Johnson, senior research director for Global Economics at IHS. She added that oil prices may stay as high as $160 in the second quarter of the year before reverting to somewhere around $120.

Such an oil shock, Johnson stated, can bring back gas lines in much of the world, and shave next year’s global economic growth to 2.6 percent from a current forecast of 3.6 percent. “If it [oil price] did hit $240 [a barrel], you're looking at about a doubling of where gas prices are now; and the US [gas price] is at $4 [a gallon]," said Jim Burkhard, managing director of the global oil group at IHS CERA, the firm's energy-research arm.


Permalink Blix: US, Israel source most of IAEA allegations

A former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency has challenged a report delivered by the IAEA in November on Iran’s nuclear activities, pinpointing that the agency receives unverified intelligence, mostly from the US and Israel. - In an exclusive interview with Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, on Saturday, Hans Blix stated that the IAEA received information from a variety of sources, mostly from the United States and Israel. “My view is that they must assess it very carefully and critically because otherwise they can be pulled by their noose,” he asserted. “I remember from inspections in 2002 and 2003 that there was a famous document that allegedly to be a contract between Iraq and Niger for the import of yellow cake of uranium oxide quoted by [former US] President [George W.] Bush in his State of the Union message. The IAEA had it for one day and concluded that it was a forgery. [Former IAEA head, Mohamed] ElBaradei then announced it was not authentic. That shows how careful you have to be,” Blix stated.


Permalink Kenya oil discovery after Tullow Oil drilling

Oil has been discovered in Kenya after exploratory drilling by Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil, President Mwai Kibaki has said. - The discovery was made in the country's north-western Turkana region. Mr Kibaki said it was "the first time Kenya has made such a discovery" and called it a "major breakthrough". Kenya is a regional business and tourist hub with the largest economy in East Africa, although its relative wealth is not based on mineral riches. The Kenyan president said Tullow would drill more wells to establish the commercial viability of the oil. "It is... the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which typically takes in excess of three years. We shall be giving the nation more information as the oil exploration process continues," he said. Tullow Oil, which also struck oil in neighbouring Uganda, said the Kenyan find had exceeded their expectations.


Permalink U.S.: Bales Killed Some, Came Back Again In Kandahar Massacre

The official version of the Kandahar massacre becomes more improbable by the day:

It [...] raises new questions about how Bales, who was formally charged Friday with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes, could have carried out the nighttime attacks without drawing attention from any Americans on the Kandahar province base.

Meanwhile, via the Agonist, Globalpost reports that local reporters were not allowed to interview the wounded witnesses held at a U.S. hospital. They did interview two witnesses:

[...] “I didn’t hear a lot of shooting and I didn’t hear helicopters,” Habibullah recalled. But he did see “two or three Americans” enter his compound, “using lights and firing at my father, who was wounded.”

[...] Massouma, who lives in the neighboring village of Najiban, where 12 people were killed, said she heard helicopters fly overhead as a uniformed soldier entered her home. She said he flashed a “big, white light,” and yelled, “Taliban! Taliban! Taliban!”

Xymphora: Lone nut, or at least 20 Americans, and helicopters? + Successful military exercises
Stephen Lendman: Afghanistan Crimes: Absolving Higher-Ups

CLG: Merah may not have been attached to al-Qaeda - Police said there was no sign he had been in contact with organized groups or 'jihadists.' 24 Mar 2012 Investigators in France have said a suggestion by gunman Mohamed Merah that he was linked to al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] may have been false. They have found no sign that the gunman was under the umbrella of al-Qaeda or any other militant terror group. In disputing Mohamed Merah's claim of terrorist ties police have had to fend off questions as to why they were not tracking Merah, who they had been aware of for many years due to his perceived dedication to radical Islam. [LOL, *awkward!* It becomes even *more* embarrassing for USociopaths when reports emerge that these supposed 'jihadists' are on the CIA payroll.]


Permalink Israel cuts contact with U.N. rights body over probe

Israel said on Monday it has severed contacts with the U.N. Human Rights Council after its launch last week of an international investigation into Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. - The decision, announced by a Foreign Ministry spokesman, meant that the fact-finding team the council planned to send to the West Bank will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel, said the spokesman, Yigal Palmor. "We are not working with them any more," Palmor said about the Geneva-based forum. "We had been participating in meetings, discussions, arranging visits to Israel. All that is over."


Permalink Infant dies in Gaza Strip due to fuel shortage

An infant dies in Gaza City in the north of the Gaza Strip after the generator powering his respirator ceased operation due to the fuel shortage besetting the Tel Aviv-blockaded coastal sliver.

Gaza medical spokesman, Adham Abu Salmiya, said the seven-month-old died on Friday evening, Al-Aghsa TV, the official television channel run by the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas, reported on Saturday. The respirator was used to remove the fluids formed by a congenital lymphatic disorder from the baby’s respiratory system. According to a statement issued by Gaza Power Authority, the besieged enclave’s sole power plant had shut down again on Sunday morning after a few days of sporadic operation. Hamas Health Minister Bassem Naim also announced on Sunday that the fuel shortage was placing lives in jeopardy. "Fifty percent of our ambulances and vehicles are immobilized…We are under constant strain from power cuts," he said in a statement.


Permalink Turkish forces kill 15 Kurdish women: Interior Ministry

The Turkish Interior Ministry says security forces have killed 15 Kurdish women during clashes in the southeastern province of Bitlis. - The fighting broke out in a rural area of Bitlis on Saturday. According to local security sources, the women were members of one of the women-only units of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Saturday clashes come a day after Turkish security forces carried out an operation against "the PKK terrorists" near the Iraqi border. Seven Turkish forces and six PKK members were killed during the operation. On December 29, 35 people were killed in a Turkish air strike near a Kurdish village in the Uludere district of Sirnak Province close to the border with Iraq. The Turkish military said it had targeted suspected PKK members. However, Turkish officials later acknowledged that “civilians” were killed during the attack. The PKK launched an armed campaign against Turkey in 1984 in a quest to gain autonomy for Kurds living in the southeast of the country.


Permalink Twitter sticks together with OWS protesters

Twitter Inc. refuses to give out information on Jeffrey Rae, a prominent OWS protester whose on-the-ground Twitter reporting is followed by thousands. Activists under police scrutiny say a political witch hunt has begun on behalf of “the 1 per cent”. - The microblogging service Twitter says it will not comply with the request two weeks ago by the New York District Attorney to hand over data about an Occupy Wall Street protester. Jeffrey Rae was among more than 700 activists arrested during a Brooklyn Bridge march in New York on October 1 last year. Bloggers now say it is the beginning of authorities’ digging into the social media black hole, as Rae is now part of a chain of similar privacy requests.

And the protesters who believed Twitter was a secure way to communicate during demonstrations may have another thing coming. Two weeks ago the New York District Attorney’s sent a subpoena to Twitter, seeking information about the account belonging to Jeffrey Rae. Rae himself received an email, which included a copy of a subpoena from the DA requesting data from his account. “You are commanded to appear before the criminal court of the County of New York as a witness in a criminal action prosecuted by the People of the State of New York against Jeffery Rae,” the subpoena reads. It also says the activist must “produce” in court all tweets that came from his account, @jeffrae, from September 15 to October 31 of last year, "as a witness in a criminal action.”


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