http://harmonicminor.com political commentary, cultural critique & philosophical meandering Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:07:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Defense Ministry has recommended a partial lifting of the embargo on the Gaza Strip as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinians to spur talks to free a long-held captive soldier, Israeli media reported Friday. (more...) If only I could laugh. Israel mulls loosening its death grip on Gaza and they ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/goodwill/ "There is a war being waged against us in the legal sphere. Its aim is to delegitimize Israel and to create deterrence against a possible use of force in Gaza and Lebanon again," a senior defense official told The Jerusalem Post. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/zionists-are-scared/ Housing Minister Ariel Atias on Thursday warned against the spread of Arab population into various parts of Israel, saying that preventing this phenomenon was no less than a national responsibility. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/zionism-is-a-failed-ideology/ "Still, administration officials said that they did not expect that the military would go so far as to carry out a coup. “There was talk of how they might remove the president from office, how he could be arrested, on whose authority they could do that,” the administration official said. ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/obamas-position/ They removed him over fears that he was trying to undermine the Constitution and extend his tenure. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/the-western-press-justifies-the-overthrow-of-democracy-2/ The government will agree to preserve the secret overseas sites where a defendant in a terror case was once held and, his lawyers say, subjected to harsh interrogation techniques after his capture in 2004, a prosecutor indicated in court in New York on Thursday. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-change-28/ Nineteen foreign activists of the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement were being held in Israel awaiting deportation on Thursday, two days after the Israeli Navy seized control of their boat off Gaza. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/illegal-detention/ He made no mention of American troops in a nationally televised speech, even though nearly 130,000 remain in the country; most had already pulled back from Iraq’s cities before Tuesday’s deadline. The excitement, however, has rung hollow for many Iraqis, who fear that their country’s security forces are not ready ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/baseless-statements-from-the-nyt/ When Manuel Zelaya was elected president on November 27, 2005 in a close victory, he became president of one of the poorest nations in the region, with approximately 70% of its population of 7.5 million living under the poverty line. Though siding himself with the region’s left in recent years ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/why-obama-will-do-nothing/ After ransacking three homes Israeli forces blasted into a fourth through the back door. They threw rocks at the door and windows, report witnesses. A 16 year old high school student had begun a summer job with his father as an apprentice carpenter. Israeli soldiers took the teen from his ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-zionism-105/ Israel has pledged to pay compensation for material damage it caused by shelling UN property during its Gaza offensive more than six months ago, a UN official said on Friday. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/guess-how-much-slaughtered-palestinians-get-in-compensation/ And, yes, this was a military coup. It does not matter that there is no military junta, or that the arrest of the president was allegedly approved by other state institutions (Supreme Court and congress). I heard a news item today that the US government has not officially branded the ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-change-27/ The promotion of Middle East adviser Dennis Ross to a senior White House position may open the door to a more positive tone by the United States toward the Israeli government, experts believe. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-change-26/ Mr. Zelaya, who took office in 2006, has moved steadily to the left during his presidency, railing increasingly against the country’s elite, who he says have opposed his politics of inclusion. Critics accuse Mr. Zelaya, who comes from a well-off family of landowners, of blatant populism and of doling out ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/the-western-press-justifies-the-overthrow-of-democracy/ "They told us 'go west or we will shoot you,'" says Ashraf Sadallah. "Initially, we refused, so they began shooting very close all around our boat." (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-zionism-104/ Those steps would probably include permitting Israeli airplanes to fly in Arab airspace and establishing limited ties. (more...) Of course, as the New York Times well knows... controlling Palestinian air space is hardly a new idea. The Israeli terrorist military has controlled Palestinian skies since before 1967. What I'm sure the ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/israeli-demands/ "Such a pattern of continuing blockade under these conditions amounts to such a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions as to constitute a continuing crime against humanity," Falk said in a statement released in Geneva. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/blight-unto-the-nations-4/ Unwavering support for Israeli policy has eroded dramatically both on American college campuses and within the United States as a whole, according to a group of American university professors who on Sunday concluded an academic exchange program here, sponsored by the Yitzhak Rabin Center. (more...) http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/good/ Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/this-is-zionism-103/ The security company also dictates the quantity of items allowed: Five pitas, one container of hummus and canned tuna, one small bottle or can of beverage, one or two slices of cheese, a few spoonfuls of sugar, and 5 to 10 olives. Workers are also not allowed to carry cooking ... http://harmonicminor.com/2009/07/04/the-science-of-oppression/