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WATCH: Jeff Halper On Israel Arming Its Settlers In Anticipation Of Palestine Vote
Ha’aretz reports that Israel is now arming its Jewish settlers in the West Bank with riot gear in preparation for Palestinian ‘mass disorder’, which they say will result from a vote in favor of Palestinian Statehood at the UN General Assembly this September.
Palestinian leaders have maintained that any and all September protests will be peaceful, but Israeli leaders — such as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman — are conversely advancing the notion that “Palestinians [are] preparing for ‘bloodshed the likes of which we’ve never seen before'”.
The IDF are being green-lighted to shoot Palestinian protesters in the legs should they cross over an Israeli-imposed ‘red line’ which circles each of the illegal settlements. Settlers are being armed with tear gas and stun grenades, and the Israeli Army Spokesperson refused to state whether they were also being provided with additional arms.
This military buildup and arming of Israel’s most extreme right-winged elements in the occupied territories has peace activists worried:
Hagit Ofran, of Peace Now, an Israeli organisation which monitors settlement activity, said: “We hope the army is making clear that non-violent protest is legitimate and no settlers should use any violence against unarmed demonstrators.”
Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights said there were already “serious questions and problems” with settlement security officials acting outside their designated boundaries. “We’re very concerned that [the IDF move] will not reduce conflict but increase it,” he said.
In an interview with RT News, Jeff Halper, the Co-founder of Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, explains why Israel is reacting like a cornered animal in anticipation of the UN General Assembly vote to recognize Palestine:
RT: Are the preparations justified? Is the unrest as inevitable as the Defense Forces are making it out to be?
Halper: I wouldn’t call it ‘unrest’. I would call it a demonstration of Palestinian independence. Because if in fact in September the General Assembly recognizes the state of Palestine within the 1967 borders, it means that the settlements, the checkpoints, the Israeli wall — everything that Israel has is now illegally in the sovereign territory of Palestine. And there is actually no legal justification for stopping Palestinians from walking into settlements and crossing checkpoints.
And that, I think, is a real concern to Israel. That simply, they will ignore the fact the army is there. The army cannot shoot at Palestinians, because it has no legal standing there.
[…]
Halper: It is clear that Israel is not going to allow — or gonna try not to allow — September to happen. Israel has no intention of giving up its control of the occupied territory.
Until today, Israel has managed to keep its whole settlement enterprise, because it succeeded in getting the United States to characterize the occupation as ‘disputed territories’ and not real occupation. Once the UN recognizes Palestine within these borders — now there’s no argument: This is occupation. International law applies.
Probably 140 countries will recognize Palestine, and Israel is gonna be under a lot of pressure to try to maintain the occupation.
I don’t think the military resistance to the Palestinians is going to help. I think it is actually going to make the entire international community impose sanctions on Israel. The big campaign will be after September — getting the Israeli presence out of the sovereign state of Palestine.
[…]
WATCH:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa-PLgtbp_M[/youtube]
2 Lost Gems From Manchester’s Factory Records: Cath Carroll’s ‘Moves Like You’ and Northside’s ‘Moody Places’
When I was living in London in 1991, Select Magazine released a Factory Records sampler cassette ( FAC 305C ) that would eventually go on to melt in my car. I cherished this sampler, because it introduced me to some fabulous tracks by two largely unknown Manchester artists that I otherwise might never have discovered: Cath Carroll’s ‘Moves Like You’ and Northside’s ‘Moody Places’.
I did ultimately find Cath Carroll’s CD as a pricey import (back in the States), but that Northside track was not included on the group’s only LP release at the time, Chicken Rhythms. Over the years, I managed to forget about the song, its title, etc. (Note to our younger readers: the internet was barely in existence in the early 90s, and it would take more than a decade before decent search engines evolved.)
Well, twenty years now after its release — not sure what exactly made me think of that long lost sampler — I vaguely recalled the track, and thought to investigate on Google.
What I found: In 2005, Northside re-released its Chicken Rhthyms LP — currently unavailable in the US, even as a download — but this time with bonus tracks, including the long lost song, ‘Moody Places’.
Here is that song, streamed from the group’s MySpace page:
Find more Northside albums at Myspace Music
And for those who have never heard of the former-Factory Recording artist, Cath Carroll, here’s the video of her fabulous 1991 single ‘Moves Like You’:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS3NtSabfno[/youtube]
WATCH: Jon Stewart Blasts MSM For Trying To Marginalize Presidential Candidate Ron Paul
Last Saturday (August 13), Presidential candidate Ron Paul came within 152 votes (behind Michele Bachmann) of winning the Iowa straw poll, only to find himself completely ignored and marginalized by ALL the mainstream media outlets who covered the contest. Here are the straw poll results: 1. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (4823, 28.55%) 2. Congressman Ron Paul (4671, […]
Obama’s Top Strategists Appear To Have Forgotten That The Economy Decides Elections
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post reminds us that Obama’s new all-time-low approval rating (dipping below 40% for the first time) is less an indicator of a President’s reelection prospects than the state of the economy: Ronald Reagan started the third year of his presidency with his approval rating at 35 percent, while George H.W. […]
WATCH: Big Country Performs ‘Inwards’ Live @ The Pier in New York City – 1986
Hailing from Dunfermline, Scotland, Big Country literally roared onto the world stage in 1983 with their debut album, The Crossing. The album sold over one million copies in the UK alone, and due to the success of its single ‘In a Big Country‘ the album quickly climbed into the US Billboard Top 20 and achieved Gold […]
WATCH: Tracey K and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra Perform ‘The Cure & The Cause’ Live
Ireland’s Tracey K — a singer/songwriter who frequently collaborates with DJ/producer duo, Fish Go Deep (from Cork, Ireland) — is best known for her UK chart-topping dance track “The Cure & the Cause.” She has been writing and recording House music for much of the last decade — ever since her college days at Galway University. You can learn […]
Democratic Party ‘Mainstream’ Prefers ‘Balance’, As Only Max Baucus Can Deliver
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took little time in announcing he would be naming Senator Max Baucus as one of three Democrats (including Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. John Kerry) to serve on the “Debt Super Committee”. Matthew Yglesias assures Liberals there’s little to worry about with regards to Baucus. His rationale is that there’s little disagreement between moderate and […]
A Case For Scrapping Drug Patent Monopolies As Incentive For R&D
It is widely accepted across the gamut of economic ideologies that when a monopoly exists a free marketplace becomes inefficient and fails. It fails, because without competition, a monopolist is all but guaranteed to price-gauge consumers. So it’s no wonder that US anti-trust laws were written to safeguard the marketplace from monopolistic (anti-competitive) behavior. Yet, for […]
Why Americans Remain Cynical Of Their Gov’t: Take Obama’s New Fuel-Efficiency Deal
Today, President Obama (joined by 11 auto executives) declared a huge victory on the environmental front, as he and the auto industry sealed a deal that would double fuel-efficiency standards over an eight-year period, not to begin until 2017. He said this agreement should serve as a model to leaders in Washington, because it shows that when […]
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