Winner of a Special Award at Rotterdam’s Movies That Matter and of Best Documentary at the 2006 Jerusalem Film Festival, this all too short teaser is of a excellent film directed by Shai Carmeli-Pollak, Bil’in Habibti (Bil’in My Love).

Bil’in Habibti - Bil’in My Love (1:47)
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The Winners of the International Gaza Cartoon Contest - 2008

A Special and the First Prize Winner: All finalists’ cartoons over the fold.

Massoud Ziai / Iran

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In the upcoming July 7 edition of the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh claims that the Bush regime has increased secret funding for clandestine operations in Iran. Read the article in full here; an accompanying article interview with Hersh is also featured (below - 7 minutes). *** See also Rebreaking the News: Two Months Later, Seymour Hersh Strains to Catch Up With CounterPunch by Alexander Cockburn for a critique of Hersh’s essay. ***

Hersh writes that while the funding was approved last year, the

scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials. Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature. Read the rest of this entry »

An excellent cartoon just in from comrade David Baldinger. The cartoon captures the Orwellian rhetoric and term ‘compromise’ as used by the Israeli regime so well, as it continues to build illegal Jewish-only settlements in flagrant contravention of international law, peace agreements and all precepts and percepts of human rights:

The US-based international affairs Foreign Policy journal has recently ranked at least ten Muslims in its survey of the world’s top public intellectuals. They occupy the first ten places, in fact. Though I have some serious reservations about some in this extended top 20 ranking and about rankings in general, I am tickled as a thinking non-Muslim that Muslim thinkers have been accorded some due recognition. All promoters of interfaith harmony and admirers of the civilisational and ongoing contributions of what is, in the current political climate, an often maligned great faith can applaud this.

Let’s look at the process. The ranking was arrived at by both elite choice and democratic determination. As much as I value the work of Noam Chomsky for example, when he has in the past been called ad nauseum the “world’s most important intellectual alive”, you may well ask, by who? This PR line originally used by the New York Times is all too often cited uncritically but not really explained or made meaningful, it is simply presented as self-evidential.

In this case, the ranking was determined by both Foreign Policy (they chose the 100 intellectuals for whom readers could cast a vote) as well as open to the public who cast half a million votes. Though there is a measure of populism in how the ranking was arrived at, the 100 intellectuals were already chosen by “learned hands” and arguably already deserved their place in the top 100 (again, with some significant reservations when you see the top 20 list appended below). Read the rest of this entry »

Revised with additions

Two short news report video clips from Al Jazeera and the Real News Network cast some light on why the price of oil is so high at the moment, and how it is affecting ordinary Saudis even in the world’s largest oil exporting country, as it is affecting ordinary people everywhere.

In short—and notwithstanding the basic demand outstripping readily available supply—it is speculators, not Saudis, who are tipping the price up according to what these news clips suggest.

Aside from market manipulation, other important factors that weigh in on the high price of oil include geopolitical tensions (in the main, belligerent Bushmert noises against Iran) and government taxes. (Video h/t: Informed Comment)

Who’s to blame for price of oil? (3 minutes)

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Major networks in corporate US media spend on average only 2 minutes per week on Iraq war coverage.

Here’s 2 minutes actually worth watching, a survey of this corporate MSM near-blackout by the Real News Network (h/t Juan Cole)

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An excellent extended overview of the I-P conflict by Dr Barghouti and Israel’s apartheid policies of continued ethnic cleansing and annexation of up to 58% of the West Bank through illegal settlement expansion. It really helps to see it by way of maps and slides.

Moved to a dedicated page here.

Thanks to Representative Press for putting this video of Mike Wallace’s CBS (See BS) 60 Minutes interview in 2006, for which he was recently and shamelessly awarded an Emmy.  RP’s narration pretty much says it all in the video; also check out the transcript over the fold. See also RP’s You Tube video channel. H/T to Buntnussel.

R/T 4:41

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Not even time for shopping!

Franklin Lamb
Beirut

Secretary of State Rice’s aircraft kept its engines warm and its fuselage surrounded by the US Secret Service and Lebanon’s Internal Security agents as she dashed into Beirut for less than 275 minutes en Route to Ireland yesterday. Her secret arrival here in Beirut avoided protesters which greeted Bush on the same day during his similar 275 minute touchdown in Ireland, both en route to Washington.

It is likely Ms. Rice’s last visit to Lebanon as US Secretary of State, but not her finale to the region which has averaged roughly one appearance every 9 weeks since assuming her current post. Rice, as with the Bush administration generally, remains hugely unpopular here in Lebanon based partly on her callous remarks during the 33 day July 2006 War: “It [the wanton Israeli killing and bombing] are the birth pangs of the new Middle East”; “it’s too early for a sustainable ceasefire”; “Israel is just exercising its right to self-defense and the United States supports that right”; and her work to delay a ceasefire during the fighting which directly contributed to more than 1,400 Lebanese killed, 4,500 wounded and massive destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure as well as its economy and environment.

As she left for Ireland, Secretary Rice presumably had been briefed that to its great credit, Ireland’s judicial system last week acquitted the Raytheon 9 of all terrorism charges in a much anticipated and perhaps bellwether trial. Read the rest of this entry »

Picture courtesy of Filippo Minelli; H/T)

and, origin unknown, three well-known war-criminals: Read the rest of this entry »

When Barack Obama, the most promising Presidential candidate in a generation, out-Bushes Bush in bellicose and Likudnik rhetoric on I-P and Iran, there is cause for concern. His turn-about and sharply escalated rhetoric was so striking even the WaPo could not fail to notice this pandering to the Likudnik AIPAC Lobby.

I was especially surprised and dismayed by Obama’s grave error and lack of judgment in calling for an “undivided” (which is to say, Israeli) Jerusalem. Jerusalem is international territory and East Jerusalem, currently militarily occupied, is slated to be the capital of a Palestinian state.

Not only does a single country not recognise the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, it also constitutes a departure from longstanding US policy on the issue, which, if not backed up by action, was at least enshrined in principle and has embodied a rare instance of neutrality and justice in policy. It is also worth remembering that most countries’ embassies, including that of the US, are located in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem.

As Ian William writes (see selected article excerpts below), Obama “would be better off building up ties to J-street, the new Peace-Nowish lobby whose views seem to represent far more American Jews than AIPAC, which more and more looks like a Likudnik-Neocon lobby, prepared to fight to the last Israeli – and indeed the last GI - for their eschatological visions. Let us hope Obama’s speech was just a passing pander and that the peace drive he promised takes international law on occupied territories into account.”

Change and hope, Mr Obama?

***UPDATE: See Obama clarifies united J’lem comment ***

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Recently I came upon some beautiful paintings by a brilliant Lebanese-American artist, poet, writer and teacher, Mohamad Bazzi on his blog. His vivid use of colour is particularly striking and evocative. Some of my favourites include his collaborative works in which he led a team of artists on murals, reproduced here with their very kind permission. As well as his blog, you can also check out his website.

The first is a stunner: Journeys and Distances.

The artists: Youssef Namy, Mohamad Bazzi, Imad Hassan and Radfan alQirsh. Nice work, shabab. The mural is also for sale for an enterprising art buyer or community group. See artist’s description below. Since I am thoroughly in love with it, I would love to have it hanging somewhere in Australia, but I think the shipping costs might be prohibitive. See the website for contact details if you are fortunate enough to be in a position to be interested in buying it.

Journeys and Distances (2005)

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Good news from Belfast via FL:

The Raytheon 9 have just this morning been acquitted of terrorism charges stemming from their courageous actions taken against the Raytheon Corp. in Derry, following the Massacre at Qana on July 30 when Israel used the Raytheon JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition). It was the Raytheon JDAM which guided the US MK-84 bombed to its target, a bomb shelter in the village, killing 27 and wounding 30 women and children and three elderly men. This news should soon be posted on their trial updates here.

(UPDATE: Apparently the judge has imposed an embargo on reporting his findings in order to give the prosecution leave to appeal, which they have until tomorrow morning to do.)

His wonderful, vivid artworks frequently accompany our posts but this striking one is the post.  Another terrific creation. Thanks, Ben.

Franklin Lamb
Tent City, Beirut

“The agreement was not ideal for either party and I hope that it will serve as a launch pad for decent relations between the majority and the opposition. We will tackle the other issues in Beirut and there is no need to fear anything”.

— MP Michel Aoun, Hezbollah ally and leader of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) following this morning’s Doha agreement

Lebanon will have General Michel Suleiman [pictured] as its new President, possibly within hours. But no later than Sunday May 25, in order to allow time for the international community to send representatives.

Suleiman had appeared to be closer to the government coalition when he was first nominated but he was recently criticized as being too close to the opposition when his troops did not intervene when gun battles broke out between the warring sides this month.

Some say events make the man. Others the obverse. Suleiman could be a much needed, honest, strong, independent leader that will endear him to Lebanon and the Arab cause and Nation. Read the rest of this entry »