Intuit's Vibe

Israel's Wall of Silence

By Genevieve Cora Fraser

In the shadow of the cold gray slab

Growing like a cancer inside Palestine

Death's cold eye gazes from turret

Towers snipers terrorize inhabitants below

Surveillance eyes the crowd guns

On the ready the Apartheid Wall

Like a tape worm in the gut

Eats Palestine from within

Up against the wall dawn's

Dimness creeps along the edge

While darkness remains

On the other side a dim view

Of the Other rallies Israel's position

To strike instantaneously always

On the ready to kill Palestinians

Who breathe air not yet stolen

Air and sunlight free as the spirits

Of their martyrs resisting

Death became their lesson learned

Dust to dust in the stifling heat

Imbues the concrete with a sacred

Hue crushed bodies broken ground

Down imbedded in a Wall of Ignorance

Racism penetrates Israel's soul

Hatred pushes past the foggy

Forgetfulness of civilizations'

Deception promises of security

Brains washed with waves of religiosity

Shriek self righteously of terrorists

That must be contained drones hover

Observe from afar in stealth

A matrix of controls adjusts

Flying checkpoints hedge in

Arabs and Muslims separate them

From Jews enclaved imbedded

In the heart of Palestine

Jewish-only roads and the Wall

Slice and dice what remains

Of a Holy Land desecrated

Dissected into a million pieces

No longer whole the body politic

Eviscerated severed head to toe

A disjointed people defines the goal

The Zionist toll is world-wide

We are all Israeli Occupied territory

Afraid to dream of peace as the drum

Beat of war demands no other way

Despite what Others say families flee

Bulldozers rampage and prepare

The way the Wall of agony wraps

Snakes round village and town women

Scream as the rubble remains of life

Drains blood and guts pain stains

Sacred soil as the cold, gray slab

Entombs Palestine in a Wall of Silence

Hood Notes

Settlements and Walls

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli settlements in the West Bank are having a severe humanitarian impact on rural Palestinians. OCHA's most recent report, "The Humanitarian Impact of Israeli Infrastructure in the West Bank," shows that Israeli settlements disconnect Palestinians from agricultural land and limit their movement, restricting access to markets and water resources.

Under the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, the latter received nearly six times more aquifer water than was allocated for the Palestinians. Furthermore, West Bank Palestinian water consumption per person is considerably lower than standards set by the World Health Organization. Palestinian villagers that fight over resources lose their homes to bulldozers and suffer ever shrinking land areas.

The Civil Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Palestinians published a report on the effects of the Israeli wall on the lives of Palestinians in and around the city. "When complete the Wall surrounding Jerusalem will be 181 km long and 27 Palestinian communities will be directly affected. Up to 15,000 Palestinians with Jerusalem ID living outside the Wall will be denied access to the city, preventing them from working there. In addition 1,835 families have been forced to move."

According to the report, 19.2% of land owned by Palestinians in Jerusalem and 5.3% of Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank has been confiscated to build the wall. Social life has been disrupted, as 21.4% of Palestinian families are separated from relatives; 72.1% of families have at least one member who cannot now reach their university or college in the West Bank and 69% have lost access to schools. And, the wall restricts Palestinian movement. 94.7% of families report that the time taken to get through checkpoints has severely affected their ability to move around the city. The wall limits access to health care, businesses and families. (Sources: www.imemc.org and http://electronicintifada.net)

Bit of History

Arab-Israeli Conflict

Since the Balfour Declaration (1917) pronounced British Palestine a Jewish homeland, there have been persistent conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors. When Britain's mandate ended, the Jews declared an independent state of Israel on May 14, 1948. The United Nations (UN) partition plan allotted the new state 5,600 sq. miles; the remaining territory comprising the British mandate would ostensibly become a Palestinian state.

The day after its declaration of statehood, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon invaded Israel, which repelled its attackers. Fighting officially ended in January 1949. At the time, Israel held an addition 2,500 square miles. Transjordan (Jordan) held the eastern sector of Jerusalem and the West Bank and Egypt held the Gaza Strip.

By July 1949, Israel had signed agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, states where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs now sought refuge. As a result of these agreements, Israel gained control of areas that would have been part of the Arab state envisioned by the UN in creating Israel. However, the Arab states refused to recognize Israel and continued an economic, political, social and cultural boycott of the Jewish state which was instituted by the Arab League in1945.

Of the Arab states, only Jordan offered Palestinian Arabs citizenship. Refugee camps for displaced Palestinians were created and maintained by the UN and other relief organizations. Palestinian Arab fedayeen launched cross-border infiltrations and attacks on Israel from Egypt, Jordan and Syria. These Arab infiltrations and Israeli retaliations became a regular pattern of Arab-Israeli relations.

In July 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. Seeing this as a threat to their oil and trade interests, France and Britain joined Israel and planned an attack on Egypt. On October 29, 1956, with the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aqaba closed to her ships, Israel invaded Egypt, capturing the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. British and French troops occupied the canal banks. An international furor ensued, so these troops were replaced by a UN force. By March 1957, all Israeli troops had left Egypt in exchange for access to the Gulf of Aqaba.

In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was created to liberate Palestine. In 1965, Fatah, its military faction, staged attacks against Israeli installations. PLO attacks were swiftly met with severe retaliations

On May 16, 1967, Egypt ordered the withdrawal of the UN forces stationed on the Egyptian-Israeli border. Days later, it announced a blockade of all goods bound to and from Israel through the Straits of Tiran. Syria increased border clashes with Israel along the Golan Heights. On June 5, Israel launched a preemptive strike, destroying Arab air forces on the ground. In the ensuing Six-Day War, Israel captured the west bank of the Jordan River, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Old City of Jerusalem. By June 10, a cease-fire was accepted.

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which called for the . . .Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict; Termination of all claims of states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force. When Israel failed to honor UN Resolution 242, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip began.

On October 6, 1973, Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel to force it to surrender captured lands. The US support enabled Israel to recover from initial setbacks. In response, the Arab world imposed an oil embargo on western nations. On October 22, 1973, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 338, calling on all parties to begin "implementation of Security Council Resolution 242 in all its parts." A cease-fire was signed November 11, 1973.

After the 1973 war, Israeli settlements in the 1967 war increased for security and strategic reasons. (Sources: www.adl.org and http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com)

The Palestinian Story: A Case of Slow Genocide

By John Burl Smith

The Middle East conflict began when the Zionist movement sought to establish a permanent homeland for Jews in Palestine following WWII. Zionism was a terror campaign directed against Palestinians that also killed English, European and United States (US) citizens during attacks. Zionists claimed that Palestinian lands were promised to Jews by God in the Bible.

Led by the US, the international community, through the UN, took Palestinian lands and gave them to Jews to create Israel in 1948. The UN decision dispossessed Palestinians and the Israelis forced thousands off their land. Palestinians became refugees in their own country, similar to Native People in the US. Following the 1967 war, thousands of Palestinians fled their land, becoming refugees similar to the Sudanese in Darfur.

The right of refugees to return home and the right to financial compensation for those who do not are reasons Israel will never agree to peace. Land and population are at the heart of the Middle East conflict, not Palestinian terrorism. Israel faces different dynamics today than it did when the world took Palestinian lands and gave Jews a nation.

First, immigration and fertility are crucial elements of Palestinian and Israeli dynamics. Immigration from Russia, Europe and the US gave Israel rapid population growth, while high fertility boosted the Palestinian population. The emphasis on numbers makes the 3.7 million Palestinian refugees-- the world's largest refugee population--critical in the Middle East peace process.

Secondly, the current population of Palestine is growing at a rate of 3.4 percent per year. With an ever-increasing number of young women approaching their reproductive years, the rapid population growth will continue. Conversely, immigration to Israel has slowed considerably due to war, economic stagnation and high unemployment. Moreover, because of an aging population and low birthrate, Israel is projected to reach zero population growth by 2020. This scenario means Israel will be swallowed by population attrition and Palestinian fertility.

War for Israel has always been about land grabs and population control, which is why it implemented its current policy of slow methodical genocide against Palestinians. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in mid-2005, nearly 18 percent of the Palestinian population was below age 5, and 46 percent was below age 15. As a result, the population of Palestine (not including refugees outside the West Bank and Gaza) was expected to grow from 3.8 million in 2005 to 7.4 million by 2025 and to 11.2 million by 2050. Women living in Gaza have a 6.6 birthrate.

Israelis fear that honoring UN Resolution 242, which calls for Israel to return all lands taken during the 1967 Six-Day War, will mean an even quicker demise. Consequently, Israel's campaign of confiscating Palestinian land, destroying towns and erecting its 'security' wall and settlements are last ditch efforts to stave off the inevitable. Similar to the Janjaweed in Darfur, Israelis have driven Palestinians off their ancestral lands, killed thousands, injured and disabled hundreds of thousands, and virtually destroyed the Palestinian socioeconomic and political structure.

Finally, no longer content with demonstrating and Throwing Rocks at the Israelis (The DISH Vol. 3 No 43) to oppose Israel's occupation, the current intifada began September 28, 2000. Responding to the youthful uprising, Israel's military erected hundreds of checkpoints that blocked entrances to Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps, isolating communities from each other, while dividing the West Bank into 64 clusters and Gaza Strip into 3. Additionally, the West Bank and Gaza were cut off from each other and from the rest of the world.

With an ever younger population, Palestinians desired leadership that reflected their future. Entered Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah and other youth-oriented Islamic groups (The DISH Vol. 9 No 26).

Numbering over 8.6 million -- a sixfold increase from their pre-1948 level of 1.4 million -- the new Palestinian dynamics paint a gloomy picture for Israel's survival trying to match a life for a life. Slow methodical genocide has been tried before and failed. Each time it failed, young women in the targeted population continued having babies. This was the case in South Africa, and it is the case in the US for slave descendants and Native People.

Support for the intifada remains very high; 85% of young Palestinians back Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah. Recent statements by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlight Israel and the US' developing policy, which targets Gaza as the next Ramallah or Jenin. Considering that Gaza is the base of Hamas, will the world stand by and watch as the Israelis kill thousands of children, women and elderly Palestinians, like the US in Iraq, under the guise of fighting terrorists and spreading democracy?

Kudos! Kudos!

Jena 6 Movement!

On Thursday, thousands of people converged on Jena, Louisiana as part of a national effort to support six young men victimized by a racist judicial system. Out of this magnificent show of support, a grassroots movement has begun. Led primarily by young people, thousands were mobilized via word of mouth, cyberspace and the public airwaves to collectively send the message to the United States that we will no longer accept a double standard of justice. With clinched fist and dressed in black, they chanted in unison 'no justice, no peace.'

Kudos to our youth for forcing the nation to examine racism in Jena. Many pointed to the "white tree," like a "black and white" sign, they see it as symbol, rather than the problem. Unfortunately, Jena school officials ordered it cut down, sending the wrong message. Blacks see racism as the problem; Jena is a microcosm of America! Whites prefer to deal with symptoms, rather than the racism that predates any single incident in the Jena 6 saga.

Slavery drudges up so much guilt in whites, yet they refuse to let go of their slave master mind-set. Instead, whites practice denial, claiming race has nothing to do with their decisions and actions. They support the denial by not challenging each other and looking the other way when racism is blatantly obvious. Their denial conceals the fact that whites benefit economically from racism, which is reinforced with symbols, such as the white tree, nooses and burning crosses.

No doubt, the 'white' tree was established as a symbol of white power when the school was integrated. Here is where denial and symbolism play crucial roles. Parents of white students knew that when they attended Jena High there was a 'white' tree and like their children, they proudly defended the tradition. Kudos to black children for exposing their racism and hypocrisy.

Blah! Blah!

US Mainstream Media

US mainstream media are owned by a few Jews. Controlling content, they shape what is broadcast. Neo-conservative Israel-firsters, they do not allow negative coverage of Israel or its supporters, such as AIPAC and the Bush administration. Rich Jews own most US politicians.

While media worldwide were reporting headlines like '1920-30s Racism Alive in America Today!,' US media were silent on the injustice in Jena. Only after the story grew too big to ignore did they wade in with only part of the story, downplaying US racism. Predictably, media talking heads zeroed in on Rev. Jessie Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton, questioning their involvement in the Jena 6 movement.

The fact that both men were addressing this issue long before major US media showed up casts more doubt on the media's intent than on Revs. Jackson and Sharpton's. US media are adhering to a long tradition established by the government under Co-Intel-Pro, which killed, compromised and otherwise neutralized black leaders. After his assassination, the FBI even spied on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s widow until it realized Coretta Scott King was doing nothing to advance Dr. King's dream of racial equality.

Even if the reverends were fronting for the camera, they were fronting to shed light on the plight of 6 black children that were being victimized by the US criminal justice system, which has consistently applied a double standard in meting out justice to blacks, especially young black men. If any black's motive is questionable, it is Condoleezza Rice's; she is fronting for a man who may one day be tried for crimes against humanity. Much as they ignore US racism, the US mainstream media will not closely examine the warmonger and his mistress. Blah! Blah!

Disgruntled feels: Double-standard! Israel is the only Middle East nation allowed to possess nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction without western objection. It has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT). Signatories of NNPT have provided technical assistance and sold Israel weapons and materiel that has allowed it to amass and maintain a lethal arsenal. Ignoring its treatment of non-Jewish citizens, US politicians exclaim Israel is the only democracy in the region. George W. Bush has stated democracies are peaceful nations, yet that assertion belies Israel and the US' histories, which are filled with acts of naked aggression. The US went to war against Iraq, supposedly because it attacked its neighbors, gassed its citizens and possessed weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN Resolutions. Israel is in violation of many resolutions; it has attacked it neighbors, annexed their land and displaced native populations. Just this month, unprovoked, it bombed Syria with tacit US support. Clearly, Israel enjoys a double-standard; it is protected by US veto power in the UN Security Council and enjoys all the advantages of an alliance with the world's sole superpower, which possesses an abundant supply of every WMD imaginable.

Disgruntled wants to know: While some US politicians pay lip service to a desire to aid homeowners facing foreclosure, the only ones assisted so far are the Wall Street businesses that facilitated the equity bubble in the first place. Banks and insurance companies are the chief beneficiaries of lower discount and fed fund rates. Giving these robber barons more liquidity merely rewards them for making bad investments. One wonders, will the media cease putting lipstick on this pig and expose the bloodsucking banks and insurance companies?

Disgruntled says: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is promoting his book, The Age of Turbulence, criticized the tax and spend policies of both political parties and cited oil as the primary reason the US went to war against Iraq. Predictably, his criticism of the current administration prompted Dick Cheney, a.k.a. Darth Vader, to refute his assessment in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Vader basically said the US economy is strong thanks to the emperor, even though there is plenty of economic malaise to the contrary. It fell on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to refute Greenspan on the oil war statement. Spreading more lies about WMD's and democracy, Gates lost all credibility. Pity, Greenspan is the only high profile individual willing to tell the truth; only oil explains Democrat and Republican reluctance to end the military occupation of Iraq.

Politics Y2K7

Neo-Cons' Thirst for War

Reminiscent of the inflammatory rhetoric spewed in the media during the lead up to the war against Iraq, a recent barrage of articles suggest Iran is frightfully close to being attacked by a Western 'coalition' of the willing. Recently, the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner joined the fray, threatening Iran with war, should it pursue its nuclear ambitions.

Gone is the English setter Tony Blair, Bush's lapdog, who came under severe criticism by British citizens for his support of US naked aggression. Now, the US has French poodles. Talking heads and Beltway politicians were so angry with the French for not supporting the attack against Iraq, all things French were boycotted, even the name of fried potatoes was changed to 'capital' fries in retaliation. One supposes US citizens can now eat French fries, drink French wine and indulge in other French pastimes.

In response to the current round of war rhetoric, United Nations atomic agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has rightfully called those beating war drums for an attack against Iran 'crazies.' How apropos!

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls

Email www.americanfreepress.net ...A Democratic congressman accused AIPAC of having "pushed" the Iraq war. "AIPAC is the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning," U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said in this month's Tikkun magazine. "Because they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful -- most of them are quite wealthy -- they have been able to exert power." Moran's comments came as American political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published a book positing the same argument.

Email http://news.bbc.co.uk... Nippon Oil to buy Iran oil in yen....Japanese firm Nippon Oil is to start paying for Iranian oil in yen, rather than in US dollars. The first payments in the new currency will take place in October. Iran has been increasingly selling oil in currencies other than the US dollar. Iran is the fourth-biggest oil exporter. Last year, Iran inserted a clause into oil contracts enabling it to require payment in currency other than the US dollar. Iran and other oil-exporting countries have been hard hit by the decline in the dollar's value.

Email www.guardian.co.uk...Israel accused of air raid on Syria...Syrian air defenses opened fire on Israeli aircraft that violated Syrian airspace. The Israeli planes "dropped ammunition" over northern Syria. The official Syrian Arab news agency quoted the official as saying, "We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an appropriate way."

Email http://news.yahoo.com...Greenspan sees turmoil similar to 1987...Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said the current market turmoil is "identical" in many ways to what occurred in 1987 and 1998..."The behavior in what we are observing in the last seven weeks is identical in many respects to what we saw in 1998, what we saw in the stock-market crash of 1987." Hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management controlled $100 billion of assets in 1998 but collapsed in the wake of a Russian debt crisis, wreaking havoc in many derivatives markets.

Email http://news.bbc.co.uk...Pope 'refused audience for Rice'...By David Willey...Pope Benedict XVI refused a recent request by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the Middle East and Iraq....one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration. There are at least two reasons why Pope Benedict may have decided peremptorily against a private meeting with Ms Rice. First, it was Ms Rice who just before the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 made it clear to a special papal envoy sent from Rome, Cardinal Pio Laghi, that the Bush administration was not interested in the views of the late Pope John Paul on the immorality of launching its planned military offensive. Secondly, the US has responded in a manner considered unacceptable at the Vatican to the protection of the rights of Iraqi Christians under the new Iraqi constitution.

Email clayjr@comcast.com...Trial of Former AIPAC Officials Delayed Yet Again...By Andrew I. Killgore...The trial of former American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) foreign policy chief Steven Rosen and former AIPAC Iran specialist Keith Weissman has again been postponed, this time until "the fall." Rosen and Weissman were indicted on Aug. 4, 2005 for having revealed "codeword protected intelligence" to a "foreign official": an Israeli...Israel is working to acquire US secrets...whatever it claims to the contrary, AIPAC is an agent of Israel. The trial of Rosen and Weissman holds the promise of revealing that, which is why AIPAC fights so bitterly against the trial.

Email vikingjohn@juno.com ...These people can be considered agents of a foreign country. Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Scooter Libby, John Bolton, Eliot Abrams, Robert Kagan, Michael Ledeen, William Kristol, Frank Gaffney Jr. The above "Dirty Dozen" are listed as the top 12 Neocons in America. They are enabled by the secondary tier of Neocons: Senator Joe Lieberman, Charles Krauthammer, John Podhoretz, Ted Koppel, Kenneth Pollack, Daniel Pipes, Max Boot, David Horowitz, Ron Silver and Jackie Mason. Neocons believe that the US should not be ashamed to use its unrivaled power-- forcefully if necessary-- to promote its values around the world. Some even speak of the need to cultivate a US empire.