Bibi Spins Obama Again; Pushes Iran as a Nuclear Threat to Israel

In my recent book, Iranophobia (2009), I have demonstrated how the Jewish state has time and again (ab)used the specter of the “Iranian threat” in order to cover up, and divert attention away from, both domestic oversights and the continuing apartheid regime in the Palestinian territories. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s incumbent Foreign Minister, is a case in point. When asked in the wake of the devastation that the Israeli military had sown in Gaza last year, “What you think is the first most strategic threat to Israel,” Lieberman responded: “Iran, Iran, Iran… As long as there’s no solution to the Iranian problem we will deal with neither the settlements nor the settlers… Only after we will have taken care of … Iran it will become possible to talk about… the problem in Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights.”

Haggai Ram teaches the history of the Middle East at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. His most recent book is Iranophobia: The Logic of an Israeli Obsession (Stanford University Press, 2009)

Stand up to Bibi, Mr. President; The World is Watching

B’Tselem’s two Gaza-based researchers went from home to home to record 320 non-combatant deaths in under-18s, of which 252 were under 16. Nineteen fighters under the age of 18 were also killed, it said, and 111 women over the age of 16.
The military say only 89 children died.
Altogether, B’Tselem said 1,387 Gazans were killed in the shelling and fighting, including 773 civilians, 330 combatants, and 248 police, the latter mostly killed in the bombardment on the first day of military action prior to ground forces moving in at the beginning of January. Source: London Telegraph, September 9, 2009. http://tinyurl.com/m9otfk

Jimmy Carter Explains Racism to the White House; It is Not Pretty

by James M. Wall    
President Obama’s health care hopes are floundering. So are his dreams for a Middle East agreement. Remember that triumphant election night victory, celebrated by a cheering, weeping, crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park?
That one shining moment gave us hope that racism had been defeated. The entire world rejoiced with [...]

Obama Regrets, Bibi Fights, Fayyad Has a Program

Bibi Netanyahu seems to totally ignore these discussions. They don’t fit his vision of reality. Instead, he tells the American president Israel will enlarge its settlements as long as it wants to. And, oh yes, he will agree only to a brief hiatus in construction.

Bibi wants to change the language of the discussion. The Jerusalem Post reported Monday morning that “freeze” is to be dropped by Israeli ministers and media:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed his aides and Likud ministers over the weekend to stop referring to Israel’s commitments in a deal with US President Barack Obama as a “settlement freeze.”

Instead of a freeze (hakpa’ah in Hebrew), it will be referred to as a suspension (hash’ayah), a waiting period (hamtana), or even a cutback (tzimtzum) of Jewish construction in the West Bank.

In English, the word freeze that Netanyahu used just two weeks ago in Europe will be replaced by the sanitized word “moratorium.”

While Bibi fiddles with language, his country’s is under an economic threat.

At the Montreal World Film Festival: A 24-Hour “Ceasefire” in Fallajuh

Korkoro (Freedom), directed by French director Tony Gatlif, received the Montreal Festival’s major award, selected by an international jury chaired by Iranian director Jafar Panahi. The film set in World War II Occupied France. It focuses on on a large Gypsy family which travels through France to find work. They remain for a time in a village only to discover that a new law has been put into effect that forbids them from continuing their nomadic existence. They are befriended by a wealthy land owner who gives him part of his farm on which to live. This allows them to stay within the law prohibiting their traditional nomadic existence.

Director Gatlif, 61, has developed a reputation as a cinema specialist in Roma (Gypsy) life and culture. He currently lives and works in France.