Did you know?
[by Carlos Latuff]
Did you know that last August, a US Navy sailor, Ariel J. Weinmann, was suspected of spying for Israel and has been held in prison for four months. Last month, the Washington Post reported that the sailor was accused for spying and pleaded guilty, but guess what? They say he is accused of stealing a Navy laptop computer and peddling its classified contents to a “foreign government.” All of a sudden, Israel disappeared from the media report. It is now an “unidentified country” called “foreign government.”
Did you know that Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, has long had strong ties to Israel? In fact the Jerusalem Post says that his ties to Israel is nothing new and he never failed to buy Israel bonds to benefit the United Jewish Appeal. The Jerusalem Post wonders if he may face pressure from Arab organizations and other political groups to stop supporting Israel, but they rush to confirm that “Reid will use his skill as a consensus builder to secure Israel’s future and be a successful majority leader.” Note the scale of success!
Did you know that we are ALL SHOCKED?! Incoming U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a Senate committee that Israel has nuclear weapons, and that this partially explains Iran’s motivation to acquire nuclear weapons. Also Olmert opened the doors of hells when he admitted that they have nukes, during his interview with some German channel. Wow!! Do they really think that the world does not know and we are SHOCKED?
Did you know that “Israeli army expelling Palestinians from West Bank as PR all about peace?”. It’s a sure bet the main stream media is not about to give NEWS… PR is what it likes, and what it spreads. GOOD news is in, truth is out.
Did you know that Israeli experts say Middle East was safer with Saddam? Although few tears were shed in Israel over Saddam Hussein’s death, a small but growing chorus - including government officials, academics and Iraqi émigrés - is warning that Israel could find itself in more danger with him gone, and that it might even regret having welcomed his toppling.
Did you know that US - to get Palestinian civil war REALLY going - is providing Abbas troops with $86 million? This in addition to the $42 million it already sent to Abbas.
Did you know that US campaign began: “Fox says Obama attended Muslim school when he was 6!”
This morning, Fox News featured a segment highlighting a right-wing report that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) attended an Islamic “madrassa” school as a 6-year-old child. Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy pointed out that madrassas are “financed by Saudis” and “teach this Wahhabism which pretty much hates us,” then declared, “The big question is: was that on the curriculum back then?” Later, a caller to the show questioned whether Obama’s schooling means that “maybe he doesn’t consider terrorists the enemy.” Fox anchor Brian Kilmeade responded, “Well, we’ll see about that.” [via: thinkprogress.org]
Hey, one don’t have to go to school to “learn to hate” the US Imperialism!!! (BTW, Madrassa is an Arabic word that means “school”.
Did you know that Israel has plans for nuclear attack on Iran? Two Israeli air force squadrons had been training to blow up an enrichment plant in Natanz using low-yield nuclear “bunker busters.” Two other sites, a heavy water plant at Arak and a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan, would be targeted with conventional bombs.
Did you know that Israeli Occupation Forces says Ramallah arrest raid was a mistake? (Again! But worked in botching up Mumarek meeting.)
Did you know that morality of Israeli government is declining like never before? Uzi Benziman says: “History will judge Sharon with regard to his success as prime minister. Meanwhile, it can be asserted that during his time in office, government corruption reached new heights. He and his two sons were involved in doubtful affairs that were of interest to the police and the State Prosecutor’s Office. Among none of his predecessors was the office of prime minister transformed so crudely into a tool for promoting his family’s economic interests; and until that time, no prime minister’s family had been involved in affairs of state in such a deep, exploitative and cynical way. A longing for Sharon, which comes to the fore now, a year after he fell ill, overlooks his contribution to the declining morality of government.”
Did you know that the Israeli soldier who killed 13 year old Palestinian girl: “Just following orders”? They were always to shoot to kill - even though this violated the official rules of engagement!!! Iman al-Hams, a 13-year-old girl who was killed by soldiers at the outpost in October 2004.
Did you know that “you can draw George Bush as evil but not Ehud Olmert?”
Did you know that “This Road is for Jews Only.” No, there is Apartheid in Israel. It’s just traffic regulations!!!
Did you know that the Pentagon confirms that a US nuclear submarine collided with a Japanese commercial ship? But not to worry, nothing happened. And we can trust them when they tell us that….. nobody would EVER bullshit us.
Did you know that Israel is the only “democratic” country in the world that rules over another land (if we consider US and UK occupation in Iraq is actually “War for Freedom.” Don’t ask me which freedom!)
“In another seven months, the occupation will be 40 years old. Israel today is the only “democratic” country in the world that continues to rule over the land of another people. Standing over David Ben-Gurion’s grave, Ehud Olmert made a commitment from which there is no return. How right Ben-Gurion was when he declared, the moment the Six-Day War was over, that now was the time to give it all back. But we have been wandering in a desert of illusion for 40 years, and they have been marching nowhere in blood and fire for 40 years. Enough is enough. Let’s make Olmert keep his word. He needs that Nobel Prize badly, to pay for his new digs,” Yoel Marcus said, Ha’aretz.
Did you know that Israel refuses to discuss the essence of imprisonment of Palestinians as part of the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the struggle against it. The essence of the occupation is attacking civilians, negating their rights to the point of undermining their right to live. But the occupation apparatus also appropriates the right to decide that anyone who opposes it is a criminal. Worse, Israel now denies that Palestinian children are jailed illegally. Who can complain? After all, this is Israel!!
Did you know that Israel draws “green line” out of the map? When they call the “occupied territories” or “Shtachim” as they are called in Hebrew, Judea and Samaria, they are proponents of the theory that God gave them the land, and therefor it’s their to take from the Palestinians, because it is Jewish land, no matter what the deeds say, or who lived on it for the past few hundred years. The Green Line was the border before the Six Day War… and as all adherents of the Israeli right, this writer says that the US agrees that the borders should never go back… But this changing of the map is the beginning of making sure that these borders no longer exist if there ever should be discussions about a two State solution.
Did you know that ‘West Bank’ settler population grew by 6% in 2006? According to the Interior Ministry, there were 268,379 Israelis living in the West Bank at the end of 2006, compared with 253,748 in 2005, a 5.8 percent increase.
Did you know that support plummets for Kadima under Olmert? (Neocons must be delighted!) Their boy Netanyahu will save the day, the settlements, the Iran war… it’s only a matter of time.
Did you know that Israel issued a tender for another settlement - new Ma’aleh Adumim housing? The tender was published during U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Israel, while SHE and HIM were talking about their own obligations under the road map.
Did you know that Olmert, Peretz vying for PR on dealing with settler abuse of Palestinians caught on tape? The videotape showing settler Yifat Alkobi abusing her Palestinian neighbors in Hebron was aired at a perfect time from the perspective of Olmert and Amir Peretz. It gave them the chance to compete with each other in their “expressions of shock” over Alkobi’s behavior and to promise (like so many prime ministers and defense ministers before them, which never happened), to take care of settler violence in Hebron.
Amira Hass say: “The found of Apartheid would be proud.”
Travel Warning!
If you plan to visit Bethlehem, Jerusalem or any part of the Occupied Palestine, be aware that Israel (which are the only way to reach the oPt) is arbitrarily turning away foreign nationals at Israeli ports of entry. A Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territory(oPt) has all the latest on the undeclared Israeli policy. It denies entry and/or re-entry to foreign nationals, who want to visit, live, or work in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), causing unjustified hardships, families are being separated, investors are exiting the country, educators are unable to reach their schools and universities, students’ education is being disrupted, and elderly are being left without caretakers, to state but some of the ramificat.
Did you know that the head of the research division of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, said Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing for a war with Israel? So, get your self ready for new war soon guys.
Did you know “Why Germans believed Hitler?” YnetNews.com: “Where did the Shoah money go?”
Did you know that Israel, with Merkel in its pocket, anxious to have HER do the “peace deal”? Imagine a German Chancellor NOT taking Israel’s side… It is her moral duty, as the world would see it. It did not take HER long to show her flag: Merkel praises Israel’s ‘hopeful signals’. She praised the Israeli government for its “recent peace overtures,” saying “We want to use these hopeful signals which are being sent by the Israeli government to make progress.” “We need results in order to halt the violence in the Palestinian territories,” she added. AHA! Now we know why we need results…. not so that the Palestinian boycott can be stopped, the starving of the Palestinians, or the other things Israel and the world is doing to them… it is to stop the violence…. yes, yes, Mrs. Merkel is going to be a very fair peace arbitrator in the region.
Did you know that Al Qaeda Doesn’t Exist, America Created It [Hat Tip: kimmy]:
Did you hear Desmond Tutu statement? “Israel refused fact-finding mission to Gaza.” Facts? Who needs them? Diffidently not Israel nor the world!
Tutu was denied entry to start his UN mission to investigate Beit Hanun massacre.
Did you know that “Carter speaks the truth, and that’s good for the Jews,” Rabbi Michael Lerner said. “He is the only president to have actually delivered for the Jewish people an agreement - the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt - that has stood the test of time. To get that agreement, Carter had to twist the arms of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. Sometimes that is what real friends do - they push you into a path that is really in your best…”
Do you know “How Israeli Soldiers Kill and Civilians Grow Numb?” [Hat tip: Sokari]
One Israeli officer says the world doesn’t seem to notice killing in small numbers. And those closest to the violence become too scared to empathize for those who die.
Did you know that US depleted Uranium used in Kosovo still ‘killing Italian troops’ 10 years later? “Troops who served during the wars in the 1990s believe they have contracted cancer and other serious illnesses from extended exposure to the munitions.”
In Iraq:
Did you know that press freedom in Iraq has plummeted since the beginning of US occupation?
What was that Condi slipped in about the Iraqi OIL? Came and went so quickly one hardly had a chance to notice…. and God forbid any of the MEDIA should have asked a question about anything so insignificant…
Rice:
“….As to whether the Iraqi people want to live in peace, I think that twelve and a half million of them went out and voted against a lot of terrorist threats because they wanted a single Iraq…… You have to look at the way that their leaders are trying to work together…. One of the things that is interesting about this national oil law, to which they are close, is that that’s a very good sign of overcoming sectarian differences for a larger political purpose…. and it’s not as if they’re not sacrificing for a unified Iraq…
What IS this national oil law??? Is the oil what they’ll be sacrificing?
While violence engulfs much of Iraq and the Baghdad central government continues negotiations over a petroleum law, the Kurds have moved ahead and are poised to pass their own oil law. In addition, they have already signed a handful of contracts with foreign firms to explore oil fields in the north.
Iraqi Trade Union Statement on the Oil Law
Iraqi public opinion strongly opposes the handing of authority and control over the oil to foreign companies, that aim to make big profits at the expense of the people. They aim to rob Iraq’s national wealth by virtue of unfair, long term oil contracts that undermine the sovereignty of the State and the dignity of the Iraqi people.
And which oil company is Condi talking to about running after her brilliant tenure as Secretary of State?
Do you know how the West plans to get Iraq’s oil riches (You thought this was about FREEDOM??) Iraq’s massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days. The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.
Did you know that it was the ever incompetent, always bloodthirsty, Rice who OK’d Saddam handover?
Did you know that out of 1000 employees at the US embassy in Baghdad, 6 (six) ONLY are fluent in Arabic? “All of our efforts in Iraq, military and civilian, are handicapped by Americans’ lack of knowledge of language and cultural understanding,” the bipartisan panel said in its report.
Did you know that over 1000 people gathered in Nancy Pelosi’s district, on Ocean Beach in San Francisco, to spell out the message “IMPEACH!” [Hat tip: Robin]
“America is a great country,” said event organizer Brad Newsham, a local cab driver and author. “But President Bush has betrayed our faith. He mislead us into a disastrous war, and is trampling on our Constitution. He has to go. Now. I hope Nancy Pelosi is listening today.”
A majority of Americans share Newsham’s sentiments. A 2006 Zogby poll found that 52% of Americans agreed with the statement: “If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment?”
Did you know that Ex-Rice speechwriter: “She doesn’t have ‘vaguest notion’ of Middle East history.” Duh…. like THAT isn’t obvious…. but who cares? Some diplomats negotiate, others just buy what they want. $7,000 boots, Saddam Hussein’s hiding place, Abbas’s giving away Palestine, the oil in Iraq: They can all be bought. THAT is Rice’s area of expertise.
Did you know that starving Afghans sell girls of eight as brides? While the Islamic world are watching, villagers whose crops have failed after a second devastating drought are giving their young daughters in marriage to raise money for food.
Did you know that American passports were found on bodies of “Al Qaeda” fighters in Somalia? Also some British and Australian passports were found.
Did you know that top Somalia al-Qaida Not Dead after all…. gee, are we surprised! For those who believed the crap that CNN feeds us in the first place, especially prepping the public for a major Bush televized speech….. sorry, it was a mistake, he’s not dead after all….. but he was dead long enough to get into the major media, and that’s all that counts.
Did you know that many civilian died as US strike targets “Al Qaida” in Somalia? Same old, same old… those air strikes always seem to end up as an “ooops”… with lots of dead women and children… but who knows? The Pentagon didn’t know if the strike was successful….. you bomb, and you wait and see what you hit.
Hat tip to my excellent friend, Editerette for most of the links above!
Missed previous “Did you know?’s” You can find them here!
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