“Dear As’ad
Badr forewarded to me your message and the whole text of the document.
I am very embarrassed to sign this document, due to my mistake not to read the whole text. My understanding was that the document is a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians facing the brutal onslaught of their occupiers. At the time when the massacre was going on in Gaza in front of the eyes of the world, Mr. Barenbaum’s Secretary called me; my expectation was very clear wording against the brutality of the Israeli army.
what I had read is contrary to my belief and work in the last half a century. At the time I appreciate Mr. Barenbaum and other world figures who stand for the right of Palestinian people, but I will never ever accept this wording not because of the conflict goes much farther than forty years of heroic and historical resistance of the Palestinians and Arab fighters, and the millions of refuges, but also to the fact I am not neutral neither politically nor artistically between the occupation and the occupiers and also I have the same belief regarding the colonial occupation of my country Iraq.
Lot of people in our part of the world change their beliefs like they change their shoes, but I am not of this type. I hope this is clear to everybody.
Best regards
Dia Azzawi”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/02/dia-azzawi-removes-his-name-from.html

{Palestinian violence torments Israelis and does not serve the Palestinian cause; Israeli retaliation is inhuman, immoral, and does not guarantee security. The destinies of the two peoples are inextricably linked, obliging them to live side by side.}
By ‘Israelis’ he means the European colonists who came from far away places and have stolen Palestine By force and have pushed the indigenous population out through VIOLENCE.

Thursday, February 05, 2009
To Daniel Barenboim: take your piano and go away
“By Daniel Barenboim
To the Editors: Your readers may be interested in the following statement by Daniel Barenboim and the list of those who have supported it.
Dina Haidar
Ilona Suschitzky
Emre Ülker
Paris, France
For the last forty years, history has proven that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict cannot be settled by force. Every effort, every possible means and resource of imagination and reflection should now be brought into play to find a new way forward. A new initiative which allays fear and suffering, acknowledges the injustice done, and leads to the security of Israelis and Palestinians alike. An initiative which demands of all sides a common responsibility: to ensure equal rights and dignity to both peoples, and to ensure the right of each person to transcend the past and aspire to a future.”
I woke up to see a copy of this piece of trash in my inbox. I can’t say that I was surprised because I saw the name of Daniel Barenboim on top, and never expected much from him. I never liked or trusted this man, and his friendship with Edward Said meant nothing to me. I never felt that I need to befriend an Israeli to complete my humanity or to prove my civility. I don’t understand why Barenboim dares on the heels of the massacres of Gaza to lecture to the Palestinian people. This statement is a proof that Barenboim and every person who signed this lousy statement has declared himself/herself an enemy of the Palestinian people and their historical resistance movement which began a century ago. Just look at the political premises of the statement: they basically imply that both sides are at fault, or that both sides are just, and that we need to move on. Move on? At what price? And under which balance of forces. I would have no problem in signing this statement once we defeat Zionism and liberate Palestine and ensure the return of the Palestinian refugees. Only then I would sign it. You see this statement is a sneaky (but not smart) way to basically legitimize the facts on the ground which have been achieved by force–in favor of Israel of course. This is like asking a family that has been conquered and beaten and shot at and whose house has been occupied by a merciless killer to sign a statement to foreswear force once and for all. And notice the very first phrase: “For the last forty years.” Barenboim and his Zionist friends (every person who signed this statement and others in the Israeli terrorist army–those who signed this statement are basically identifying with the Israeli killers in Gaza, make no mistake about it) decide just like that to re-write the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Forty years? How did you achieve that magic number? …..
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/02/to-daniel-barenboim-take-your-piano-and.html

i.e., either AIPAC , inter alia, influences (does one mean change, emend, amend, or set?) US foreign policy or it does not?
but btw answers YES or NO, there may be numerous equally or more accurate/adequate answers.

let’s just deal with the “sets foreign policy”. then question arises which country one has in mind. let’s take turkey.
since 90s US has set a new policy for it. or?
by whom? and when?. was it changed that much after it was set by state department while turkey allowed missiles on its soil or prior to 90s?
and after AIPAC instructed or lobbied the state policy makers?

it is possible. but can one imagine a highly educated foreign affairs specialist or group of such specialists learning that their labors over months or years had been scuttled and state department refuses to explain to experts why was the policy rejected/changed and by whom?

how many of these people wld resign if dealt with in that fashion? and imagine one ‘ disgruntled’ employee writing a book about it?
s/he wld make bundle of money. more cld be said.
so my suggestion wld be to stop wasting our time on this subject and talk about it when some evidence pours in.
i hope this is my last word on this topic. thnx

It is the military growth which nails the coffin.

The ecological damage the US industrialization project has unleashed is based on taking from nations, stealing, their natural assets. The shrinking of the US empire on every front is essential to turn the tide. The US will not be replaced as a world “power” because the resources to do it are no longer available.

The political system cannot change this course. Voting, the election, has nothing to do with shrinking the empire. The Empire has two choices, reduce itself in a way that is both fair and peaceful or to propel the world into a major catastrophic world war.

The military complex has the upper hand at this point. We have multiple monsters – ecological destruction (global climate change never before witnessed by the human species), collapse of the existing parasitic economic system, and the swift unsustainable energy supply which has made what the world sees possible.

There is no way another nation-state will be able to even approximate the industrialization the West and primarily the US has undertaken. The planet CANNOT accommodate.

It will take ALL of us to push this around if it is to approach the ending we desire. Fighting Zionism (while I will make my voice heard when ever Israel attacks Palestinian civilians) is but a tic in the side of the empire. It will collapse with the empire that breaths life into its existence.

excellent point you made with the impact of the Carter Doctrine which supports the long term projection thinking that I mentioned to DB.

This whole war on terror is simply a ploy to distract the public from the real objective to control the world, primarily by controlling the flow of oil. They have wanted to be the guardians for at least 3 generations. Planning and patience are part of the game plan knowing that their objectives can’t be attained over night. Hence the plutocratic, duopoly that maintains the overall desired course for hegemony.

I don’t want to make assumptions on what you mentioned about planetary destruction, but here in Colombia, Clinton’s Plan has utterly contaminated thousands of hectares of fertile land, rivers, lakes, plant-animal-human communities with their incessant use of Super-glycophosphate which is illegal to apply in the States. The hypocrisy apparent in such behavior breathes without any sense of morality. Now, as you likely know, after 10 years of polluting the Colombian environment, coca leaf cultivation and cocaine production are at nearly the same levels as when the Plan commenced. If Obama feels desperate in response to China’s curbing trade with the US, I believe we can be sure that he’ll continue to waste US tax payers’ dollars for ongoing environmental destruction.

Stupid f**king humans!

Thanks for your reply, and as always, best to you.

i’ve said even before US attacked iraq that it did not do that to obtain oil but to obtain the planet.
as to who makes money out of iraqi oil, that i did not touch on.

after early 90s, turkey ceased to be as important to west as it had been during USSR reign.
thus the plan arose to go ahead and cripple iraq and use kurds to further advance into asia.

US knew that Turkey wld be fearful of aspiring kurds. but US needs kurds badly.
part of syria, iran are also kurdish. and one doesn’t have to be an atomic scientist to vaticinate also end of these two states.

what the US foreign policy makers (many of which may be ‘zionist’) have in mind for turkish kurds, we can only guess. but if turkey rebels too much, it also may get truncated.

we know that israelis are now refreshing turkey’s memories of the armenian genocide anytime turkey strays.
and one thought US wld never abandon this country; having served the west so well by allowing missiles on its borders pointing at USSR.

that importance of israel is waning can be deduced from two facts: 1)there is still no israel; 2) pals are still in nearly all of expalestine.
and mad rabbis are twisting and turning in their graves.

these two facts are indicative of the weakness of israeli firsters to obtain a schemitischen frei (save mizrahim and sephardic peoples) eretz yishrael.

interresting fact about all kurds is that they have not until very recent times demanded an independence; they merely wante greater share in economy, use of their language and other minor demands.
but even that had been assiduously rejected by iran, turkey, an diraq.
only after rejection of their skimpy demands they began to seek an autonomy.
it seems they now want independence.thnx

UNRWA informed the IDF on Friday that it is suspending its humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip after Hamas stole supplies the United Nations organization had transferred to the Palestinian territory.
The seizure of the 200 tons of supplies took place Thursday night and in response, UNRWA officials informed the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration that it was suspending its deliveries to the Gaza Strip until further notice. The supplies confiscated included flour and other basic commodities.

The transfer of 40 truckloads of humanitarian supplies – some 800 tons – planned for Sunday has already been canceled.

It was the second time this week that Hamas stole UN supplies transferred to the Gaza Strip for impoverished Palestinians.

The first incident took place Tuesday evening when armed Hamas police broke into a Gaza warehouse packed with UN humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages.

The seizure took place after UNRWA staff earlier refused to hand over the aid supplies to the Hamas-run Ministry of Social Affairs

Chomsky’s perspective is that there is a ruling elite and it is that elite who rules the US. I agree in general, but there is a sense that he is too quick to dismiss the powerful influence of that lobby.

There is a Cuban lobby which has been fairly powerful in the US. It’s goals have been relatively aligned to the elite power order in the US. But they do influence the politics and support/endorse the foreign policy toward Cuba over the last 50 years.

I think AIPAC does the same. It is not that AIPAC “controls” or “changes” US foreign policy in the Middle East, but it adds a dynamic which helps on a political level to keep the p0licy toward Israel consistent between administrations.

But again, I agree with Chomsky. If these lobbies were out of line with the power elite of the US, they would have little to no sway. If the US pulls away from its onesided policies between I/P then it will be interesting to see what kind of government comes into power in Israel. So, far the government of Israel reflects the tenor of whatever coloring of the US administration happens to be. Israel went wild under Bush.

I don’t see a fundamental difference in US administrations regarding Israel for the last 30 years or so. The geopolitics have had to adjust (and continue to do so) with the “fall” of the Soviet Union. Israel played a certain role in that power dynamics. Now we have a “war on terror”, a smoke and mirrors fabricated “enemy” attempting through propaganda to replace the Soviet “threat”. The relationship with Israel has shifted to that rallying cry.

But the bare facts are there is no US Empire without vital resources. And those resources are vital to others in the chess game played out. Controlling them has always been the endgame.

The dynamics – by definition – are not static. The Israel / US relationship will change.

NOWHERE did I state that Mex. is part of the ME, re-read and then get back to me. What are you smoking?

From your perspective it naturally seems that way, I saw that one coming. However, I merely supplied data that contradicts what you claimed about Canada and Venezuela being the bulk suppliers, when indeed more oil is obtained from Saudi Arabia and Mexico, nearly 3x what the US gets from Venezuela. You are correct that the US imports predominately from America — the continent.

You need to look on the MAP Ramesfall, since when is Mexico part of the Middle East?

The fact of the matter from the information YOU supply shows that the U.S. is LESS dependent upon Middle Eastern oil than oil from the Americas. Based on your information the U.S. should be preparing for an invasion of the Americas rather than expanding the majority of their military on the Middle East.

The US oil strategy stretches further down the road than you dare to contemplate

That is a assertion without any facts supplied. I guess you must have some inside information that you care not to share here. What I do know as a fact is that the American oil companies DO NOT agree with the U.S. Middle East strategy. Therefore the U.S. oil strategy in the Middle East is NOT in alignment with the so-called “beneficiaries”. The American oil firm do not agree with the “oil” strategy. However the Zionist are clearly on board with U.S. Middle East strategy and all you are doing Ramesfall is the old bait and switch that effectively stunts any real confrontation of Zionism. You doing your best Chomskyesque explanation feeds into the deception of activist that could be mobilizing against Zionism rather than wasting their energy making fallacious “War for oil” arguments that essentially has divided, stunted and divert the Left with the “plutocracy” laughing all the way.

It is ironic but I also thought that the enemy of justice was on the Right. It appears that the worst injustices is coming straight from the Left as they have abused the trust of activists and kept them in a state of confusion.

Folks like Ramefall and Max Shields are posers. Posing as leftist and posing as so-called “radicals” but are in fact REACTIONARIES who agenda is to maintain a state of confusion that effectively allows Zionism and most of all racist injustices to flourish.

- “What you’ve done Ramefall is supply data that contradicts Max’s assertion that the U.S. is in the Middle East for Oil.”

From your perspective it naturally seems that way, I saw that one coming. However, I merely supplied data that contradicts what you claimed about Canada and Venezuela being the bulk suppliers, when indeed more oil is obtained from Saudi Arabia and Mexico, nearly 3x what the US gets from Venezuela. You are correct that the US imports predominately from America — the continent.

Nonetheless, as for the assertion of Max and et al, qu’est-ce que c’est ta raison d’etre pour les Etats-Unis having anticipated their entry into the ME since prior to the CIA overthrow of Mossagadegh in Iran in 1953? It was purely oil interest, and any meddling in the region has been since.

Regardless of how much oil the US presently consumes domestically from the ME at roughly 10%, the long term plan is far greater in scope. You gotta start thinking long term and with a sense of historic relativity.

US support of Israel was the move that got US oil corps’ foot in the door to the region which post WWII speculators knew was, is and will be so vitally important — the Middle East. It boils down to controlling the flow of their precious life blood that keeps their military running in the ME, and their capitalist system of exploitation afloat. It’s natural that they can’t be importing extraordinary quantities of oil from Iraq, that would be too suspicious.

Peering even further, how much oil do you think Amerika’s military machine has consumed while in the ME during the past 6 years? That sizable quantity is coming straight from the fields in Iraq, to the refineries and into their planes, tanks, Humvees, etc. And while it’s not categorized as an import, technically it is since it’s being used by the US.

The US oil strategy stretches further down the road than you dare to contemplate.

WHY DO I WRITE THIS PILE OF CRAP’

____________________________________________________________________

YOU *SEE*?: I *TOLD* YOU THAT THOSE ZIONISTS POSE AN WHOMEVER THEY WANT!

I *THOUGHT* THAT THE “TREE/TWIG” ‘ENTRANCE’ WAS RATHER *LATE* — AND *SUDDEN*– AND *SUSPICIOUS*.

AND I WAS SUSPICIOUS OF SOME OF THOSE OTHER NAMES TOO.

WHO KNOWS IF “THE THREE/FOUR/FIVE STOOGES” AREN’T REALLY ALL THE *SAME* ZIONUT!

THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THEY DO WHEN THEY ARE CONSTANTLY PROVEN *WRONG* AND THUS FEEL BACKED INTO A CORNER.

THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT THEY DID AGAINST CYNTHIA MCKKINEY — ONLY USING THEIR ZIONIST OCCUPIED *MAJOR* MEDIA.

THIS IS ALSO HOW *THE ISRAEL LOBBY* — AND ESPECIALLY THE *ADL* (IRONICALLY, AND ORWELLIANLY-NAMED, THE SO-CALLED “ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE”) BEHAVES.

THIS IS WHAT ZIONISTS DO AT ANY OTHER PUBLIC PROGRESSIVE WEBSITE WHERE ISRAEL IS DEBATED, WHEN THEY ARE CONSTANTLY PROVEN WRONG AND FEEL PUSHED INTO A CORNER — ESPECIALLY AT THE AMERICAN INDYMEDIA SITES.

THANKS FOR DEMONSTRATING MY POINT, *ZIONUTS*!

-

The principles driving organizational structure like empire are large in scale, and span many decades and centuries.

Kirkpatrick Sale in a Counterpunch piece titled: Obama’s Lincoln Thing; gets it right. I would place the beginning of US empire to its inceptions, but it took final form as a result of Lincoln’s administration and the murderous Civil War. And why was that war fought? To preserve the “union”. And what is that union? That Union consisted of a great imperial expansion that swept ultimately across over 3000 miles of land mass. Land inhabited by indigenous peoples, and sovereign states.

But the preservation of the Union was not a constitutional mandate. But there is a clear intention regarding the governance of the United States. It has always been an empire ruled since the 19th Century by the new imperial elite – Corporations. No where is there a Zionist in this historical narrative. No where is there a particular need for “oil”, but there is a need for energy (slaves and animals) and later steam, coal, trees and then came oil. And with oil massive industry came pouring forth. And the empire grew and grew to be the largest empire of all written history.

And so it is today. Empires end primarily because the energy that brought them to great heights is lost. But the struggle for that energy continues. And so it is today.

Israel, as I’ve said, is a dispicable state. But in the grand scheme they are a very minor player. In fact, they are smaller than a gnat in the grand scheme. They are but a convenient plaything.

You see, DB, the real rulers are not the money lenders or the MSM mouthpieces. The real rulers are quiet little men who run massive empires with massive stakes and sums and power. Jews have never been rulers. Not like that anyway. Some have taken to run this little apartheid hateful state with an arsenal like India and a GDP like a relatively poor EU nation-state. It’s a bastard state. Dispicable, but it is nothing compared to the US Imperial Empire.