Bastardised illegal Israeli the whole idea behind the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Posted by suarakeadilanmalaysia on August 4, 2012 · Leave a Comment 

The United States should be the last country in the world to support the denial of freedom. As the self-proclaimed land of the free, the U.S. is expected to promote the belief that everyone has the right to live in their own free country. So it is my hope readers of the New York Times, including U.S. political leaders, will have taken note of the unusually honest explanation of Israeli strategy that appeared in its pages on July 26.

Dani Dayan stated, with no diplomatic ambiguities, that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are an “irreversible fact” and claimed they are “not going anywhere.” Mr. Dayan is a leading figure in the settler movement that is comprised of a half a million Israelis who have built cities, towns and villages on Palestinian land stolen and in some cases illegally annexed by Israel. He is at least candid. This is in stark contrast to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whose occasional statements are apparently in favor of two states, but which on close inspection are so heavy with pre-conditions as to make the Palestinian state impossible.

And that is the whole idea behind the illegal settlements — to put so many concrete facts on the ground that if there ever were an agreement of two independent states, the settlers in their fortress tower blocks and militarily-defensible hilltops would make it impossible in practice. At that point, Israel would become — not by negotiations, nor by international agreement, but by force — a single state governing a population in which a large Palestinian population could be held in subjugation only by denying them any democratic freedom.

Mr. Dayan has stripped away any pretense about the expansion of settlements, which are deliberately making a Palestinian state nearly impossible. The consequence of this must be that Israel ceases to be a democracy, since the permanent settlement of Palestinian land can happen only by one people subjugating another by force.

Is this the outcome that the United States, of all countries, wishes to support? Or will it at last wake up to the reality that the Israeli government is a willing hostage of the settlers, among whom are violent extremists who vandalize mosques, destroy olive groves, andbeat up Palestinians with apparent impunity?

Surely successive U.S. presidents have been right all along to believe that the better way of ending this deadlock is to have two free countries living side by side in lasting peace. This outcome has many virtues, including that it is democratic, that it is moral, and that it guarantees everyone the political freedoms which much of the world has taken for granted.

The settlers’ alternative can be supported only by abandoning the belief in political freedom. It must be stressed that one cannot believe in freedom without accepting that it applies to all. Freedom that applies only to oneself fits with something else: oppression and occupation.

This is not a theoretical argument about political philosophy. Palestinians are confronted by reoccurring brutal acts that would cause moral outrage if carried out anywhere else.

Take, for example, the recent decision by the Israeli army to extend its military firing range in the South Hebron Hills. There are eight Palestinian communities in the area –villages going back to the 19th century — all of which are to be removed. There is no democratic right of appeal and no representation in parliament by which those communities can contest the decision. Home, community, family, and tradition count for nothing. This is the deeply undemocratic, anti-freedom nature of the Israeli occupation of which — it has to be said — Americans know too little.

It is rare to see anyone openly admitting to a belief that Israel must permanently hold Palestinians under occupation, showing contempt for other people’s freedom, history, and culture. Where Mr. Dayan is not honest is in failing to admit that brick by brick the settlements are burying our freedom. He never explains how the settler strategy can be reconciled with democracy because it cannot. Surely, the United States must see that this is not a strategy it can support while proclaiming its belief in freedom. Freedom must be for all, not just for the militarily strong.

New research is underway on the alarming increase in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. In November 2004, the US led an assault on Fallujah – a stronghold of opposition against the US occupation, west of Baghdad. Intense bombardment left many of its buildings destroyed and displaced much of the 300,000-strong population. “‘Shake and bake’ is an instance of using white phosphorus offensively, in the language we were using at the time, to smoke insurgents out of their fighting holes then using high explosives to kill them later.” - Ross Caputi, a former US marine Eventually, the US was forced to admit that amongst its arsenal was white phosphorus – a substance the Pentagon described as a ‘chemical weapon’ when it was used by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds. In addition, eyewitnesses claimed the US military used “unusual weapons”. Subsequent investigations have focused on the possible use of depleted uranium by the US for its armour-piercing qualities. The US, however, denies using such weaponry. Research has shown elevated levels of radioactivity in Fallujah and across Iraq. Iraqi physicians have also long reported a spike in cases involving severe birth defects in Fallujah since 2004. They have reported children born with multiple heads, serious brain damage, missing limbs and with extra fingers and toes. A report published in 2011 on the level of uranium and other contaminants in hair from the parents of children with congenital anomalies in Fallujah partly concluded that: “Whilst caution must be exercised about ruling out other possibilities, because none of the elements found in excess are reported to cause congenital diseases and cancer except uranium, these findings suggest the enriched uranium exposure is either a primary cause or related to the cause of the congenital anomaly and cancer increases. Questions are thus raised about the characteristics and composition of weapons now being deployed in modern battlefields.” “Some kind of dust or material, whether it’s uranium, whether it’s some chemical we don’t know, must’ve got into the air, must’ve got into people’s bodies and into their food and their water … there are traces, most of the material are inside the individual parents.” - Dai Williams, a weapons researcher Al Jazeera’s Sebastian Walker reporting for the programme Fault Linesexamined the legacy of the US occupation in Iraq and described what he saw on a road trip across Iraq after the withdrawal of US troops. “What we found by visiting the general hospital there is that there are extremely high rates of birth defects, some five times the international norm, and many of the doctors who work in those hospitals believe that this is a direct result of the kind of weapons the US forces were using in those campaigns.” Many researchers say uranium from the shelling may be to blame. However, no conclusive proof of a link has been established. In this episode Inside Story Americas asks: Is the US being honest about the use of unconventional weapons, and the possible link with the rising incidence of birth defects in Fallujah? Joining the discussion with presenter Shihab Rattansi are guests: Ross Caputi, a former US marine who fought in the battle for Fallujah in November 2004 and co-founder of the Justice for Fallujah Project; Dai Williams, a weapons researcher whose work focuses on community health in conflict zones associated with new types of weapons; and Raed Jarrar, an Iraq analyst and the executive director for a Washington-based global strategy firm. “The promises at that time were that the US will go in and get rid of all the bad guys and rebuild the city, [but] that did not happen. We saw a total destruction of Fallujah and the use of so many unconventional weapons ….” Raed Jarrar, a Middle East and North Africa expert WHITE PHOSPHORUS IN FALLUJAH: US forces used the chemical in the Iraqi city in November 2004, purportedly to light up the battlefield. Its use is legal as long as civilians are not targeted. The US has used white phosphorus in some form or another since World War I. US officials initially denied its use in Fallujah, but in 2005 General Peter Pace confirmed it. White phosphorus particles burn through clothes to the bone, stick to skin and cannot be relieved by water. The substance spontaneously ignites at about 30 Celcius, and continues to burn until it is deprived of oxygen. Depleted uranium bullets were used heavily in the second battle for Fallujah, in tank armour and to reinforce steel. They were also used in Iraq in 1991 and again in 2003. readmore  http://muslimjournalmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-research-is-underway-on-alarming.html

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