Military Poised to Help FEMA Battle Swine Flu Outbreak


The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to set vaccination priorities for certain groups Wednesday during a meeting in Atlanta as the Pentagon prepares to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency tackle a potential outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall.


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It's Official - WHO Says Flu Vax Should Be MANDATORY


By Barbara Minton
Natural Health Editor
7-29-9
(NaturalNews) -- Executives from Baxter, Novartis, Glaxo-Smith Kline, and Sanofi Pasteur have seats at the advisory group that on July 13th recommended mandatory H1N1 vaccination of everyone in all 194 countries that belong to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a report just issued by journalist Jane Burgermeister. WHO spokesperson Alphaluck Bhatiasevi confirmed that Dr. Margaret Chan did not give the press briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva as anticipated. At short notice, Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny stepped in to announce that "vaccines will be needed in all countries."
According to WHO documents, vaccines "such as those that are formulated with oil-in-water adjuvants and live attenuated influenza vaccines are important." Health workers, pregnant women, healthy young adults of 15 to 49 years, and healthy children will be the targeted groups of the world wide vaccine effort.
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SWINE FLU SHOCK – IS IT A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON?

SWINE FLU SHOCK – IS IT A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON?

SWINE FLU SHOCK – IS IT A BIOLOGICAL WEAPON?

Pattaya-29 July 2009 (PDN): As type A (H1N1) flu continues its relentless toll in Thailand, seemingly largely defeating preventative measures, there are disturbing reports that the flu is not one type but, in fact, already a cocktail of human, avian and swine viruses. Which means most antidotes will be ineffective, especially if it turns out to be an ‘escaped biological weapon’; one of the latest claims!

Ever since the type A (H1N1) flu virus came to Thailand, there have been confused and often misleading statements in the media and from the government regarding the true statistics about the number of people infected in Thailand. Initially, great store was put in the thermal sensors installed at the airports being able to effectively prevent the virus entering via this portal, that is until the Minister of Health expressed his concern about travelers dodging the checks! The sensors have obviously been ineffective.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak) is normally an informative source, as they are supposedly furnished with the latest updates by the Health Ministry, but although the statistics on deaths is more accurate than MCOT, one of the government media outlets, the number of infections on both sources is woefully out of date, if reports by Pongphon Sarnsamak in ‘The Nation’, published on July 23, are anything to go by …. “ Dr Kamnuan Ungchusak, spokesperson for the Disease Control Department, said the ministry estimated the "real" number of people who had caught the typeA (H1N1) flu strain in the three months since the outbreak hit the country in early May was about 440,000. This was based on a ratio of about 10 deaths per 100,000 people infected with the new virus. “

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Detroit - Jimmie Lee Fortune - who says stress led him to rob banks sentenced


A Detroit man who began robbing banks to fix his mother’s plumbing has been sentenced to just two years in prison, a significant break.

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Organic food is no healthier, study finds


LONDON (Reuters) - Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.

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Military planning for possible H1N1 outbreak



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military wants to establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.

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Desperate state may sell Capitol buildings, others


Under GOP plan, government would pay to lease back most of the sites

Call it a sign of desperate times: Legislators are considering selling the House and Senate buildings where they've conducted state business for more than 50 years.

Dozens of other state properties also may be sold as the state government faces its worst financial crisis in a generation, if not ever. The plan isn't to liquidate state assets, though.

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The Dangers of Trans Fats, (partially) hydrogenated oils, trans fatty acids


Trans fats are artificially produced fats that are very unhealthy. The consumption of trans fats is one of the main causes for the current obesity epidemic. Trans fats are used in thousands of food products.

The health risks of trans fats include obesity, cancer, clogged arteries, high cholesterol, hart disease, diabetes, birth defects, allergies in children, etc.

Food manufactures use (partially) hydrogenated oils because it increases the shelf life of food products. This means less spoilage, less loss and therefore more profit! In addition, products with trans fat tend to taste quite good. Trans fats are used in fast food, chips, baked goods, french fries, etc.

Trans fats are produced through the hydrogenation of vegetable oils such as sunflower and soybean oil. During this chemical process hydrogen molecules are added to the oil molecules and the oil becomes solid as in margarine.

When consuming natural fats, it takes the body 18 days to metabolize half of them. When consuming trans fats, it takes the body 51 days to metabolize half of them. This means that of all the trans fats you eat half of it will still be in your body 51 days later!
No wonder obesity is such an epidemic.

Food products will contain trans fat if they include any of the following ingredients: hydrogenated oil, partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated fat, partially hydrogenated fat, shortening, margarine.

Butter also contains a small amount of natural trans fat. This is not as harmful as chemically produced trans fat. However, since butter is an animal-based food it will still cause clogging of the arteries!

Interesterified oils are unhealthy as well as these are a mix of fully hydrogenated oils with liquid unsaturated oils. They are NOT labeled as trans fat!

Some foods now contain modified, fractionated or solidified oils. These are produced by mixing fluid unsaturated vegetable oils with solid saturated fats such as palm oil. These oils are not as unhealthy as they are made from natural oils.

Consumers have repeatedly been warned about the health effects of saturated fats, especially saturated animal fats. However, trans fats are much worse.

The healthiest oil for frying and cooking is coconut oil as it remains stable at high temperatures and it does not break down into carcogenic compounds, unlike unsaturated oils like olive oil. Coconut oil remains stable because it has a high content of saturated fat. Not all saturated fats are bad for you!

Tips for lowering your trans fat intake:

1. Choose liquid vegetable oils, or choose a soft tub margarine that contains little or no trans fats.

2. Avoid eating commercially prepared baked foods such as cookies, pies, donuts, snack foods and processed foods, including fast foods. To be on the safe side, assume that all such products contain trans fats unless they are labeled otherwise.

3. When foods with (partially) hydrogenated oils can not be avoided, choose products that list the partially hydrogenated oils near the end of the ingredient list.

4. To avoid trans fats in restaurants, stay away from desserts and deep-fried foods, as many restaurants still use partially hydrogenated oils in their fryers.

Do your health a big favor and remove this toxic chemical out of your diet!

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Hosea 4:6 (KJV)

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and
let your soul delight itself in abundance."
Isaiah 55:2 (NKJV)

"With all thy getting, get understanding."
Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)

More information about trans fats:
http://www.bantransfats.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/hydrogenat...
http://www.mercola.com
http://www.udoerasmus.com/fatsmain.htm

How the public is being manipulated:
http://www.healingdaily.com/beliefs.htm

Dangerous food additives (E-numbers): http://www.foodreactions.org/allergy/...
http://www.feingold.org/pg-overview.html

Do you find it difficult to lose weight and live healthy?
The solution is actually quite simple.

Avoid all artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers and (partially) hydrogenated oils/fats (trans fats) as they are the main causes of obesity and disease.
Read the book 'Fit for Life' by Harvey Diamond. This book will transform your life, in fact you'll never have to get on a diet again for the rest of your life!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fit_for_...
http://www.fitforlifetime.com

Would you like to make a difference?
http://fonteine2.com/make_difference....

Reversing disease through nutrition:
http://www.ravediet.com

For all health videos search for: health4me
http://www.youtube.com/results?search...

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The Dangers of Aspartame - Artificial Sweeteners


Aspartame (E951) is an artificial sweetener, used in over 6000 products. The food industry claims that aspartame helps in losing weight, but why is obesity then becoming such an ever increasing problem?
http://www.naturalnews.com/001253.html

Aspartame is a very sweet chemical, responsible for a host of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, brain diseases, migraines, ADHD, etc.

Aspartame breaks down into three components:

1. Methanol.
This is poisonous alcohol. In the body, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde, which is a poison.

2. Phenylalanine.
This decreases the amount serotonin in your brain, which leads to mood swings (depressions) and an increased appetite! This is why aspartame is one of the main causes for the current obesity epidemic.

3. Aspartic acid.
This is a neurological toxin comparable to MSG.

The US Department of Health has recorded 92 (!) symptoms following complaints about aspartame. In fact, over 80% of all complaints filed with FDA are related to aspartame consumption!
http://www.321recipes.com/symptoms.html

Some of the brand names for aspartame:
NutraSweet, Equal, NatraTaste, Canderel, Spoonful, Equal-Measure, etc.

Aspartame is used in any of the following products:
Sugarfree, Light, Diet, Zero (Coke, Sprite & Fanta), Coke 007, Pepsi Max, Crystal Clear, Low-Calorie, Crystal Light, No Sugar Added, Sportlife, Stimorol Ice, Stimorol Fusion, Freedent, Mentos, Smint, etc.

If you use any of these products, please watch this investigative report by FOX 5 News.

Do no longer believe the lies of the food industry and the 'main stream' media. Contrary to what so-called 'health experts' claim, aspartame is NOT safe!

In fact, aspartame is a very sweet poison developed to make people sick so the pharmaceutical industry can sell expensive medication to 'treat' the chronic diseases that are caused by it's use.

Avoid this toxic chemical for 60 days and discover how your health will improve dramatically!

Shocking aspartame documentary 'Sweet Misery':
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc...

Other artificial sweeteners that you should avoid:
Acesulfame K (E950), Cyclamate (E952), Isomalt (E953), Saccharin (E954), Sucralose or Splenda (E955), Alitame (E956), Neohesperidine (E959), Neotame (E961), Salt of Aspartame-Acesulfame (E962), Maltitol (E965), Lactitol (E966), Sorbitol (E420), Mannitol (E421), Glycerol (E422).

The dangers of Splenda (sucralose):
http://www.splendaexposed.com

Natural based sweeteners and thus relatively safe:
Xylitol (E967), Thaumatin (E957).

Healthy sugar replacements:
Organic raw sugar, organic maple syrup, honey and Stevia, the low calorie, all natural sweetener, used in Paraguay for centuries:
http://www.steviainfo.com

Healthy sugar-free chewing gum:
http://www.xlear.com/spry.aspx

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Hosea 4:6 (KJV)

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
and your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and
let your soul delight itself in abundance."
Isaiah 55:2 (NKJV)

"With all thy getting, get understanding."
Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)

More information about aspartame:
http://www.aspartamesafety.com
http://www.sweetpoison.com
http://www.321recipes.com/aspartame.html
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
http://www.naturalnews.com

How the public is being manipulated:
http://www.healingdaily.com/beliefs.htm

Dangerous food additives (E-numbers): http://www.foodreactions.org/allergy/...
http://www.feingold.org/pg-overview.html

Do you find it difficult to lose weight and live healthy?
The solution is actually quite simple.

Avoid all artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers and (partially) hydrogenated oils/fats (trans fats) as they are the main causes of obesity and disease.
Read the book 'Fit for Life' by Harvey Diamond. This book will transform your life, in fact you'll never have to get on a diet again for the rest of your life!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fit_for_...
http://www.fitforlifetime.com

Would you like to make a difference?
http://fonteine2.com/make_difference....

Reversing disease through nutrition:
http://www.ravediet.com

For all health videos search for: health4me
http://www.youtube.com/results?search...

sitfu.com
Taking a Closer Look at the Stories Ignored by the Mainstream Media
Posted on 11:24 PM by x and filed under | 0 Comments »

Soft toys could spread swine flu in children, schools warned


Flu pandemic guidance for schools, nurseries and childminders warns against children sharing toys and crayons

Nurseries should take soft toys away from children and discourage them from sharing crayons to stop the spread of swine flu, the government warned today.

The guidance for childminders, schools and nurseries on planning for a human flu pandemic, published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), advises against children sharing pencils and musical instruments.

The guide for childminders tells them: "Try to avoid children sharing soft toys as these are hard to clean adequately; you may find it easier to avoid using soft toys altogether.

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Give pregnant women priority for swine flu vaccine, study urges


Article in Lancet says risk of complications is higher, with worrying death rate from virus among expectant mothers in US

Pregnant women should be prioritised for the flu vaccine as soon as it is available, according to the authors of a study showing they are more at risk of complications and more likely to end up in hospital than other people.

Women expecting a baby should also be given antiviral drugs as soon as they get the flu, says the paper published online today by the Lancet medical journal. Little is known about the possible ill-effects of the drugs on the foetus but scientists say their benefits are likely to be greater than the risks.

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GM Crop Pest Control Bacteria Jump To Humans


From insects to man: identification of virulence factors involved in the adaptation of the emerging pathogen Photorhabdus asymbiotica to human hosts

Abstract number: 1733_565

Forquin M., Esque J., Pimenta A.

Photorhabdus are entomopathogenic bacteria currently used for the biological control of crop pests. Recently, an increasing number of Photorhabdus strains have been isolated from human clinical specimens, associated with locally invasive soft tissue infections and disseminated bacteraemia.

Objectives: In view of their growing use in biological control, which increases the human potential rate of exposure to these pathogens, we undertook a comparative study between insect and human pathogenic strains of Photorhabdus, in an attempt to understand the genetic mechanisms involved in their recently acquired capacity to infect humans.

Methods: Three Photorhabdus strains, two human (P. asymbiotica SN and ATCC43949) and one insect pathogen (Photorhabdus sp Q617), were tested for their ability to bind to two major components of the human extracellular matrix (ECM), fibronectin (Fn) and vitronectin (Vn), to infect or invade human epithelial cells in culture, and to interact with the cellular cytoskeleton. Adherence, infection and invasion experiments were performed in 96-well microtiter plates coated either with Fn, Vn or with monolayers of human epithelial HaCaT cells. Bacterial invasion was quantified by the gentamicin survival assay. In inhibition assays, anti-Fn, anti-Vn antibodies, or genistein were added to epithelial cell monolayers. For immunofluorescence, HaCaT monolayers on glass coverslips were infected and labelled with phalloidine-TRITC and DAPI.

Results: Only P. asymbiotica human pathogenic isolates ATCC43949 and SN were able to adhere to human fibronectin and/or vitronectin, and to infect/invade HaCaT cells. This was inhibited in the presence of antibodies against human Fn or Vn. Only strain ATCC43949 induced cytotoxic effects after 6h co-culture with human cells. Cytoskeleton involvement in the P. asymbiotica infective process was indicated by blockage of infection and invasion by genistein, and by immunofluorescence analysis of infected cells.

Conclusion: The acquisition of virulence factors enabling P. asymbiotica to interact with human ECM and to human cells is a key factor in its evolution towards the colonisation of human hosts. ECM proteins are involved in the primary events during P. asymbiotica colonisation of human epithelial tissues, and the host cytoskeleton is solicited during the P. asymbiotica-epithelial cells interaction. Possible mechanisms used by P. asymbiotica to colonise human tissues are discussed.


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The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans - F. William Engdahl


GMO Scandal: The Long Term Effects of Genetically Modified Food on Humans
Scientific Tests Must Be Approved by Industry First



One of the great mysteries surrounding the spread of GMO plants around the world since the first commercial crops were released in the early 1990’s in the USA and Argentina has been the absence of independent scientific studies of possible long-term effects of a diet of GMO plants on humans or even rats. Now it has come to light the real reason. The GMO agribusiness companies like Monsanto, BASF, Pioneer, Syngenta and others prohibit independent research.



An editorial in the respected American scientific monthly magazine, Scientific American, August 2009 reveals the shocking and alarming reality behind the proliferation of GMO products throughout the food chain of the planet since 1994. There are no independent scientific studies published in any reputed scientific journal in the world for one simple reason. It is impossible to independently verify that GMO crops such as Monsanto Roundup Ready Soybeans or MON8110 GMO maize perform as the company claims, or that, as the company also claims, that they have no harmful side effects because the GMO companies forbid such tests!



That’s right. As a precondition to buy seeds, either to plant for crops or to use in research study, Monsanto and the gene giant companies must first sign an End User Agreement with the company. For the past decade, the period when the greatest proliferation of GMO seeds in agriculture has taken place, Monsanto, Pioneer (DuPont) and Syngenta require anyone buying their GMO seeds to sign an agreement that explicitly forbids that the seeds be used for any independent research. Scientists are prohibited from testing a seed to explore under what conditions it flourishes or even fails. They cannot compare any characteristics of the GMO seed with any other GMO or non-GMO seeds from another company. Most alarming, they are prohibited from examining whether the genetically modified crops lead to unintended side-effects either in the environment or in animals or humans.



The only research which is permitted to be published in reputable scientific peer-reviewed journals are studies which have been pre-approved by Monsanto and the other industry GMO firms.



The entire process by which GMO seeds have been approved in the United States, beginning with the proclamation by then President George H.W. Bush in 1992, on request of Monsanto, that no special Government tests of safety for GMO seeds would be conducted because they were deemed by the President to be “substantially equivalent” to non-GMO seeds, has been riddled with special interest corruption. Former attorneys for Monsanto were appointed responsible in EPA and FDA for rules governing GMO seeds as but one example and no Government tests of GMO seed safety to date have been carried out. All tests are provided to the US Government on GMO safety or performance by the companies themselves such as Monsanto. Little wonder that GMO sounds to positive and that Monsanto and others can falsely claim GMO is the “solution to world hunger.”



In the United States a group of twenty four leading university corn insect scientists have written to the US Government Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding the EPA force a change to the company censorship practice. It is as if Chevrolet or Tata Motors or Fiat tried to censor comparative crash tests of their cars in Consumer Reports or a comparable consumer publication because they did not like the test results. Only this deals with the human and animal food chain. The scientists rightly argue to EPA that food safety and environment protection “depend on making plant products available to regular scientific scrutiny.” We should think twice before we eat that next box of American breakfast cereal if the corn used is GMO .


F. William Engdahl is author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order. He may be contacted via his website at www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.
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German Amazon sued over anti-Semitic books


BERLIN (JTA) -- A Jewish organization in Germany is suing the German version of Amazon for hate crimes over the sale of books that it says have banned content.

At issue are some 50 titles that push anti-Semitism, downplay National Socialist crimes and deny the Holocaust, according to the German office of the American Jewish Committee, which filed its suit Friday with the state prosecutor in Munich.

Deidre Berger, AJC's Germany director, said in a public statement that the failure to act against the sale of such material undermined German law. The titles were uncovered during research in July, but an AJC spokesperson said the company has received complaints from private individuals and political leaders for years.

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THE DEATH OF LIBERTY: THE FINAL SCENE UNFOLDS - Greg Evensen


By Greg Evensen

July 29, 2009

NewsWithViews.com

When police investigators begin amassing evidence at a crime scene, the bits and pieces of the puzzle begin to take shape. Usually, with several trained men and women working together to come up with an answer, the intent and actions of the perpetrator are almost always revealed.

Since my core training and experience over many years was as a state level enforcement officer, I have worked crime scenes that were large, complex and conflicting. With enough time, effort and resolve, we too, were able to bring the bad guys to account.

You certainly do not have to be a trained state trooper—or any other level police agent—to use common sense, logic and knowledge, to assess the crime scene that has become the socialist states of amerika.

I continue to be at a loss to explain how it is that so many tens of millions of amerikans simply do not see the utter destruction of their former republic by socialists, one worlders, deviates, liars and thieves. The men in black have been roving the country flashing their memory erasers around the clock. Let’s take a check on how things are really going.

Our nation’s police forces prior to the criminal thug Richard Nixon were centered on community policing. MOST of their time was spent on looking for, identifying, and monitoring criminals, and responding to unusual or dangerous events that were beyond the control of ordinary folks. We appreciated those officers and were proud to say, “he is OUR Cop!” We knew that we could talk to him, kid him, see him play adult softball, and sit across from him in church. We watched him shed tears when one of our kids didn’t make it home after a night of drinking and driving. We remembered him at Christmas, because he didn’t make much you know.

I said “him” because back then, there were no women in the ranks.

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'We Shall Remain' From American Experience - Jim Kirwan

Jim Kirwan



The title comes from an American Experience video production, broadcast on PBS Television, which is currently available to rent or purchase. This five part series gives Americans a comprehensive view of the native history that has formed a huge part of what this nation was, as well as what it has become. It is not simply a political diatribe; nor are these observations as clear cut as many have believed they were.

"With depth, breadth and richness, Native American history is told through indigenous eyes in this revolutionary five-part docudrama. Exploring five pivotal periods, the series spans 300 years of Indian adversity, resilience and self-determination. Benjamin Bratt narrates the sweeping series as it reexamines a cornerstone of America's story and offers insight into how history's heartbreak and hope resonate with American Indians today."

What this series uncovers are a number of critical junctures between the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent, and the various conquering influences that came from the East to colonize this land; under the terms of what was then the basic law for Europeans of conquest, blood and power.

This is not an easy or a simple story-it is however the story of the birth-pangs of what later became the United States of America; and this story is told against the various truths that obtained at the time in which they happened. It is above all a mixture of values, of traditions and violations of contracts, treaties, and intentions; coupled with the realities of the times in which they occurred. Had these events been taught to Americans as a basic part of our actual history-which they are-then the current takeover of this nation could not have proceeded as it has with so little resistance to the barbarity that has come to us, cloaked as it is, in the threadbare rags of a 'democracy and freedom' that is no longer even a shadow of its founding concept.

Part One, 'After the Mayflower' begins with the landing of the first settlers and their initial struggles, which ended when white settlers began to arrive by the thousands: This totally changed the integral early relationship between strangers on a strange land, and the people that had welcomed them. It also describes the slaughter of the 700 Indians that we still perversely refuse to refer to when we celebrate 'Thanksgiving,' as "our" national holiday. In addition part one introduces us to the virulent diseases of the Puritans that brought with them their hatreds and their racism as they sought to build a New Puritanism in which they were the only beings that mattered-and where all the people here had to be destroyed in order for their puritanical passions to survive and prosper.

Part Two, 'Tecumseh's Vision' outlines one of the stories of resistance that is seldom discussed, but is pivotal to understanding exactly how colonialism has always created slavery, and plants the seeds of ignoble empires, wherever it has planted its bloodstained boots. This part describes their debt-management of the native population, and how through duplicity and treason, amid so many lies, the leaders of the colonial powers were able even then, to crush all else in their own imperial drive to own-it-all: Well before this place was even considered to be a real nation in its own right.

Part Three, 'The Trail of Tears' describes the terrible battle of the Cherokee people in their very different approach to the coming of the settlers into their lands. Here we discover the origin of the term 'civilization' which was used to change the habits of native people, to get them to conform to the artificial ways of the white's over their more traditional natural-rhythms for living with nature, instead of on it, as the white man then preferred to do. The term "CIVILIZATION" was and still is the name of a Christian project designed to steal the language, the rituals and traditions of a people and to erase 'other' people from the earth.

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The Palestinian Centre For Human Rights (PCHR) 2008 Annual Report


Established in 1995, PCHR functions independently in Gaza and enjoys "Consultative Status" with the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It's also an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists-Geneva, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in Paris, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network in Copenhagen, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Cairo, and the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) in Stockholm.

Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists established it to:

-- "protect human rights and promote the rule of law;"

-- create, develop and promote a democratic culture in Palestinian society; and

-- work for Palestinian self-determination and independence "in accordance with international law and UN resolutions."

PCHR is an "independent legal body dedicated to the protection of human rights, the promotion of the rule of law, and the upholding of democratic principles in the Occupied Territories." It issues documents, fact sheets, and reports like its latest 2008 Annual Report - divided in two parts.

Part One assesses the overall human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinians Territories (OPT) throughout 2008. Because they affect regional peace overall, this article focuses solely on Israeli crimes, not those committed by Palestinian elements in Gaza and the West Bank that pale by comparison. Part Two covers PCHR's local and international efforts over the same period.

Israeli Violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law - Excessive Use of Force, Killings, and Other Violations of the Right to Life

Throughout 2008, the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) repeatedly violated international law with regard to excessive force, willful killings, wanton destruction, and other right to life abuses against Palestinian civilians.

During the first five days of Operation Cast Lead alone, dozens of air strikes killed 411 Palestinians and wounded 996 others, many seriously. "Contrary to Israeli claims, the majority of victims were unarmed civilians," including 13 women and 38 children.

Over the entire 22-day period, the IOF killed 1417 Palestinians, including 1181 non-combatants. Of these, 926 were unarmed civilians (including 313 children and 116 women) and 255 police officers, 240 on the first day, including dozens in formation and vulnerable at their graduation ceremony. The number of wounded totaled 4336, the great majority being civilian men, women, and children.

Throughout 2008, the IOF committed willful killings and right to life violations, especially in the first six months. Numerous air strikes and incursions targeted civilians in Gaza. Extra-judicial assassinations also against persons accused of involvement in "hostilities against Israel," including anyone acting legitimately in self-defense as international law allows. From January through June, the IOF killed 409 Palestinians, including 225 civilians, 58 of whom were children and 16 women. Another 741 Palestinians were wounded.

On June 19, a six-month Tahdey'a (lull) was declared on the following terms:

-- Israel would stop attacking Palestinians, including shelling and extra-judicial assassinations; also, Gaza's border crossings would be gradually reopened to allow free movement in and out of people and goods; and

-- Palestinians would cease resistance attacks.

They complied but Israel reneged. The IOF greatly reduced its attacks but kept Gaza under siege. By October, Israeli incursions and targeted killings increased. Palestinians responded modestly in self-defense. By late December, Operation Cast Lead was launched, a clear case of premeditated, unprovoked aggression in violation of international law.

Throughout 2008 in the West Bank, repeated incursions and targeted executions continued, including during the Tahdey'a, mostly by IOF undercover units. In total, 42 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children, were killed.

PCHR 2008 tallies show 868 Palestinians died at the hands of the IOF and Israeli settlers - in Gaza and the West Bank combined. Another 2260 Palestinians were wounded. From the beginning of the September 2000 Intifada through 2008, Israel killed 5287 Palestinians, mostly civilian men, women and children. In addition, over the same period, "tens of thousands of Palestinians" were wounded, hundreds sustaining permanent disabilities.

According to eye-witness accounts, the IOF used excessive and disproportionate force against Palestinian civilians, a practice ongoing for over six decades through bombings, shellings, targeted killings, incursions, and attacks by Israeli settlers. In the first five days of Operation Cast Lead (and continuing for another 17 in 2009), Israel used massive air, ground, and sea power against a defenseless civilian population trapped inside Gaza under siege.

On the day after the Operation ended, attacks continued daily. One instance among many involved the IOF bombing of a five-story Gaza building near the Palestinian Governmental Complex in the densely populated Tal al-Hawa neighborhood - completely destroying it. Flying debris and shrapnel killed a woman on her way to a wedding and injured 46 others, including 19 children and three women. A large number of other houses and vehicles in the area were damaged.

Below are a few examples of 2008 attacks:

-- on February 5, a surface-to-surface missile targeting the Palestinian riot control police workplace in 'Abassan village, east of Khan Yunis, killed seven police officers and injured another; and

-- on February 7, 23, and March 1, the IOF killed eight members of one family, wounded another eight, and killed and wounded seven others.

Repeated attacks throughout the year were similar, mostly against civilian men, women and children.

Incursions into Palestinian Communities

Continuing its decades-long practice, Israel repeatedly conducted incursions into the OPT in 2008. In Gaza, they were particularly intensive from January through June, killing nearly 200 Palestinians before Operation Cast Lead began in December. Israel's pretext - to arrest wanted Palestinians and destroy home-made rocket launching sites and weapons. These are grievous war crimes for which Israel must be held responsible.

Significant examples:

From February 29 - March 2, the IOF conducted Operation Warm Winter, a wide scale offensive in Jabalya and surrounding areas using "their full-fledged arsenal and....excessive force without any consideration" for civilian Palestinian lives. Air strikes preceded a ground invasion. As a result, dozens of non-combatant lives were lost or wounded, including women and children. Also, ambulances and medical crews were attacked, and many houses and large areas of agricultural land destroyed - wantonly and maliciously.

The total death toll was 69, including 21 children and two women. Another 175 were wounded, including 44 children and six women.

On January 2, the IOF attacked the al-Shojaeya neighborhood in Gaza City. Clashes followed killing six Palestinian resistance fighters and wounding a seventh.

On January 3, the IOF killed seven Palestinians in al-Zanna and al-Qarara east of Khan Yunis, including a woman, her two sons, her daughter, and her nephew.

On January 15, the IOF killed 17 Palestinians and wounded another 30 during an incursion into the al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun neighborhoods in Gaza City.

In the West Bank on January 3, the IOF conducted a three day operation in Nablus and neighboring refugee camps, wounding 38 Palestinians and arresting 31 others. Indiscriminate firing occurred against "anything that moved," including medical crews, ambulances, and hospitals.

Repeated other incursions were made against numerous towns, villages and neighborhoods. Deaths and injuries resulted, including to innocent bystanders too close to the action, many of them women and children.

Extra-Judicial Assassinations

In 2008, the IOF committed them by bombing civilian establishments, houses and cars in Gaza and with West Bank undercover units. Israel's High Court and top government officials approved the practice in violation of international law.

Throughout the year, PCHR documented 53 assassinations, including 44 targeted persons - 31 in Gaza and 13 in the West Bank. In addition, dozens of civilians were wounded. From September 2000 through 2008, the IOF extra-judicially executed 743 Palestinians, including 513 targeted and 230 bystanders.

One example illustrates many. On March 12, four Palestinians in a car in the center of Bethlehem were intercepted by members of an IOF undercover unit. They opened fire at close range killing the four instantly and continued firing indiscriminately to secure their withdrawal.

In other cases, Israeli aircraft fire missiles at homes, vehicles, or other targets where wanted individuals are believed to be located. Often, innocent bystanders, including women and children, are killed or wounded and property destroyed.

Killing Palestinian Children

In 2008, the IOF killed 108 children, 99 in Gaza and nine in the West Bank. >From September 2000 through 2008, the total was 919 children or nearly one-fourth of Palestinian deaths. The IOF has a history of willfully killing children and women - easy pickings for intrepid Israeli soldiers and airmen.

One instance is typical. On April 16, an Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a number of Palestinian civilians gathered near al-Ihsan Mosque, about 300 meters away from where IOF troops were deployed. Nine deaths resulted, including six children, and 12 others were wounded.

Attacking Medical Crews

The IOF repeatedly attacks clearly marked ambulances and medical workers, grievously in violation of international law. PCHR documented three killings in 2008 and 27 since September 2000. Numerous others were wounded, some seriously - while they were carrying out their humanitarian mission to help the injured and dying.

Attacking Journalists

They're willfully targeted to prevent coverage of human rights violations, including killings, denial of access to certain areas, entry into Israel or territory under its control, detention, confiscation and destruction of property, beatings, harassment, and intimidation. An October 2008 Reporters without Borders report placed Israel among "countries that extensively violate press freedoms, especially in areas beyond its borders."

In 2008, one journalist was killed and another 28 wounded. Since September 2000, the toll was nine deaths and at least 170 injured.

Closure and Prevention of Free Movement

Throughout 2008, the West Bank remained militarily occupied and Gaza continued under a medieval siege with access to vital food, medicines, fuels, electricity, and other essentials denied beyond woefully spotty and limited amounts. The result has been a humanitarian disaster with no signs of abating well into the new year. Besides the effects of Operation Cast Lead, the toll includes:

-- 80% of Gazans impoverished;

-- unemployment exceeding 55%;

-- movement in or out of the Territory denied even for emergency humanitarian needs;

-- permission denied to travel, work or study abroad;

-- Palestinians trapped on the Egyptian side of the Rafah International Crossing Point (into Gaza) refused reentry or restricted by long delays under severe humanitarian conditions;

-- intolerable shortages of everything; too little food to sustain nutrition; inadequate medicines and equipment for health and life; and fuel and power restrictions for heat, electricity, vehicles, hospitals, and workplaces;

-- severe movement restrictions in the West Bank by imposing hundreds of checkpoints, barriers, the Separation Wall built on stolen Palestinian land, and hundreds of kilometers of for-Jews only roads; overall, about one-third of the West Bank, including Occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without IOF-issued permits that are extremely hard to get; the result is increasingly isolated Palestinian communities, cut off from each other, including farmers from their land; the sick from access to care; and everyone from family, friends, and a normal life people in the West take for granted;

-- the West Bank and Jerusalem totally cut off from Gaza;

-- Gazans denied essential industrial, agricultural, construction, transportation, fuel and power, and basic raw material needs; and

-- overall, the collective punishment of the civilian population causing "a chronic deterioration in all aspects of....life" that's decimating the lives of 1.5 million Gazans trapped in the world's largest open-air prison and being slowly suffocated.

Throughout 2008 and earlier, Gazan cities, villages, and refugee camps were paralyzed under a state of siege that continues unabated. Living conditions deteriorated steadily. UNRWA was forced to curtail its humanitarian and food distribution programs for days. Around 15 drinking water wells stopped, causing water shortages for more than 100,000 people. Another 125 water reservoirs were also affected. Transportation as well with 85% halted for lack of fuel. Wastewater treatment plants were forced to dump their untreated water in the sea. Additional environmental contamination occurred. Flour mills shut down. Warehouses ran out of flour and wheat. Most production stopped, and Gaza's economy collapsed.

Gaza's border crossings have been closed for over two years under Israel's collective punishment policy. The humanitarian effect is disastrous - against a civilian population oppressed for being Palestinians and for having elected the wrong government.

Throughout the year, hundreds of Gazans were denied access to Israeli and West Bank hospitals, including in Jerusalem. Nor to Arab ones in Egypt or elsewhere. As a result, 29 died and 50 since the tightened siege began in June 2007, including 17 women and 10 children.

International humanitarian law prohibits collective punishment, including closure. Artcle 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention "relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War" states:

"No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."

Article 12(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that "everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence."

For over 60 years, Israel repeatedly, systematically, and willfully flouted international laws and norms with impunity. The result has been incalculable numbers of human deaths, suffering, and destruction to many tens of thousands of innocent Arab people who when they resist in self-defense are called "terrorists."

Arrests, Torture and Other Forms of Cruel and Inhuman Treatment

At year end 2008, from 9000 - 12,000 or more Palestinians were in Israeli detention facilities (mostly inside Israel), including at least 248 children and 69 women - in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention that obligates an occupier to intern arrested persons inside the territory in question and only for just cause.

Israel continues to arrest anyone thought to represent a threat, including political leaders and ordinary civilian men, women and children. At year end 2008, at least 40 elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) were imprisoned, mostly from Hamas' Change and Reform parliamentary bloc. Included are Dr. 'Aziz al-Dweik, PLC Speaker, and Dr. Mahmoud al-Ramahi, PLC Secretary. Many were tried and unjustly sentenced to months or years in prison for belonging to the wrong political party.

Torture and Ill-Treatment

International laws leave no ambiguity on torture. It's prohibited at all times, under all circumstances, against anyone for any reason, with no allowed exceptions ever. Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention (on the Treatment of Prisoners of War) states:

Prisoners "must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited...."

Third Geneva's Article 17 states:

"No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war" for any reasons whatsoever.

Fourth Geneva's Article 27 states:

Protected persons under occupation "shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of (physical and mental) violence or threats thereof...."

Fourth Geneva's Articles 31 and 32 prohibit torture and other "measures of brutality...."

All four Geneva Conventions have a Common Article Three requiring all non-combatants to be treated humanely at all times.

Even Section 277 of Israel's 1977 Penal Law prohibits torture by providing criminal sanctions against its use. Its language is very similar to the UN Convention against Torture that bans force, violence, or threats against anyone for purposes of extracting a confession or to obtain information relating to an offense.

Nonetheless, torture and degrading treatment are official Israeli policy, freely practiced against most Palestinian detainees. PCHR cited numerous ways:

-- violent beatings and insults in detention and during interrogations;

-- blindfolding and hitting detainees, especially in the face and abdomen;

-- strangling to cause extreme breathing difficulties;

-- humiliations and insults;

-- forcibly removing hair and beards;

-- hanging detainees by their feet, then beating them on sensitive body parts such as the genital area;

-- bridging under which three interrogators carry a detainee using chains, with his or her face down;

-- sexually abusing detainees - in some cases raping them with iron bars;

-- Shabeh - the practice of tying prisoners so they can't sit, stand, or kneel, or tied to a chair with their arms pulled back for hours or days at a time; the pain and pressure on joints becomes excruciating;

-- handcuffing or other shackling tight enough to restrict circulation and inflict pain; also tying hands and legs with plastic chains to cause pain;

-- employing various stress positions, including:

(1) the forced "banana" one involving bending the back in a painful arch while the body is extended horizontally to the floor on a backless chair with arms and feet bound beneath it;

(2) forced "frog" crouching on tiptoes with cuffed hands behind the back accompanied by shoving or beating until detainees lose balance and fall forward or backward; and

(3) detainees made to stand on tiptoes for prolonged periods.

-- sleep deprivation for long hours; and

-- other abusive practices, clearly prohibited under international law and that no civilized society should practice, let alone routinely against most detainees - up to 80% or more by some estimates.

The Public Committee against Torture in Israel says that detainees are first examined by a doctor who certifies they're healthy enough to withstand harsh interrogation methods amounting to torture. The Israeli judiciary sanctions it, including the High Court and top government officials.

Abusive ill-treatment continues throughout detention during which necessary medical care is denied, access to legal counsel obstructed and limited, and family visitations severely restricted or not allowed.

Administrative Detention

Hundreds of innocent Palestinians are arrested and held without charge or trial in administrative detention - for up to 36 months, then indefinitely renewed. At year end 2008, it affected at least 900 Palestinians by IOF issued orders.

This practice violates Article 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention that states:

"If the Occupying Power considers it necessary, for imperative reasons of security, to take safety measures concerning protected persons, it may, at the most, subject them to assigned residence or to internment (that) include(s) the right of appeal (to) be decided with the least possible delay."

Detention According to the "Illegitimate Combatants Law"

Following the IOF's summer 2005 Gaza redeployment, Israel enacted an "Illegitimate Combatant" law applying to protected Palestinian civilian prisoners to justify detaining them. It lets the IOF Chief of Staff issue an arrest warrant against anyone so designated.

It's the same idea as America's 2006 Military Commissions Act definition of an "unlawful enemy combatant," applied to anyone the president claims is "engaged in hostilities against the United States who is not a lawful enemy combatant." Neither the Israeli or US position has any legitimacy in international law.

Palestinian Detainee Deaths in Israeli Jails

In 2008, at least two occurred, likely from abuse and medical negligence. Detained Palestinians with chronic illnesses, like diabetes or heart conditions, deteriorate badly during prolonged incarcerations, especially when subjected to torture and other abusive treatment. The situation may be life threatening if proper medical care is denied or inadequate.

Settlement Activities and Attacks by Settlers against Palestinian Civilians and Property

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Expanding them compounds the problem. They continue nonetheless, and during 2008, the IOF and civil authorities, such as the Municipality of Jerusalem, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Interior, and Higher Council of Organization, took bids for constructing 2400 West Bank housing units. Approval was also given for 6570 units in East Jerusalem and suburbs. In all, 8970 new units were approved and/or started in 2008, mostly in East Jerusalem on seized Palestinian land.

Confiscation of Palestinian Civilian Property

This longstanding practice continued throughout 2008 - for settlement expansions in violation of international law. Israel's High Court supports the practice, and in "PCHR's view....has turned (it) into a tool to legalize illegal Israeli measures and settlement activities in the OPT."

Judiazation of East Jerusalem

The practice remains ongoing - to replace an Arab population with a Jewish one. The Israeli government cut off the city from its Palestinian extension in the West Bank, expanded settlements inside and around the city, and used the Separation Wall to seize more land.

Throughout 2008, the Municipality of Jerusalem continued to demolish Palestinian homes under false claims of unlicensed construction - by people on their own land to make way for Jewish expansion.

Judaizing Arab East Jerusalem began by annexing it to Israel, confiscating Palestinian property, establishing Jewish settlements, building the Separation Wall, preventing new Palestinian home construction, and demolishing existing ones. The idea is to transform all of Jerusalem into a Jewish city with at most a small, marginalized and segregated Arab population denied all rights afforded Jews in hopes they'll leave voluntarily and make Israel's job easier.

Attacks by Israel Settlers against Palestinian Civilians and Property

Israeli settlers do it with near-impunity, including by shootings, running down civilians with vehicles, and destroying or damaging Palestinian property. In 2008, settlers killed five Palestinian civilians. Since September 2000, the total was 45.

"Attacks by Israeli settlers often take place before the eyes of IOF, which even protect them." Palestinian complaints get short shrift enough to encourage settlers to keep doing it, knowing they can get away with murder. In 2008, PCHR documented 170 settler attacks in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Qalqilya, Jerusalem, Salfit, Bethlehem, and Jenin:

-- 48 harassments;

-- 36 against houses;

-- 34 against farmers and shepherds and their property;

-- 13 shootings;

-- seven against religious sites;

-- five involved vehicles running down Palestinians; and

-- 27 others involved road closings, stone-throwing, and other abuses.

Israeli settlers openly carry (and use) automatic weapons like people in the West use cell phones.

Destruction of Houses and Other Civilian Property

For decades and throughout 2008, the IOF continued destroying Palestinian houses and property, especially in East Jerusalem. This constitutes a grave breach of Fourth Geneva's Article 53 that states:

"Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations."

In addition, Article 147 prohibits the "extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."

Such attacks constitute illegal collective punishment as defined under Fourth Geneva's Article 33 that states: "No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed."

Nonetheless throughout 2008 and earlier, Israel wantonly and maliciously attacked civilian property, including homes, schools, industrial and commercial facilities, public buildings, and farmland using illegal pretexts as justification.

Last year, PCHR documented 216 houses destroyed prior to Operation Cast Lead - 107 in the West Bank and 109 in Gaza. Also, 680 houses were badly damaged and 3424 donums of agricultural land razed. Numerous other structures were also destroyed to make way for Jewish ones or in retaliation for claimed provocative Palestinian acts, either exaggerated or false.

The West Bank's Separation Wall

In June 2002, the Sharon government began constructing it as another form of land theft, harassment, and policy of containing Palestinians in isolated cantons under the false claim of security.

In the past seven years, construction proceeded inside the West Bank, rather than along the Green Line separating the Territory from Israel. On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled the construction violated international law. It ordered it halted, existing sections demolished, and for Palestinians to be compensated for harm done them. Israel ignored the ruling and continues new construction on annexed Palestinian land.

The Wall around Jerusalem

Construction in 2008 focused mainly around Jerusalem, according to Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem plans - building it along the city's municipal border. Work in the south, north, and east is part of a settlement project called the "Jerusalem envelope," running about 50 kilometers. In late December, prime minister Olmert ordered this portion completed by 2009 because it's "necessary for Israel's security." When finished, it will be 164.5 kilometers long, two-thirds of which was completed by year end. When completed, the entire Wall will exceed 700 kilometers.

Free Movement Restrictions Imposed on Palestinian Farmers

The IOF imposed severe restrictions on both sides of the Separation Wall, including limited gate opening hours that restrict farmers from free access to their land. They must also obtain permits to reach it on the other side of the barrier, and to get them, must be a registered owner - nearly impossible for many as most farmland is registered to deceased people, and their heirs don't all live in the West Bank or near the land in question.

As a result, thousands of Palestinians can't easily work their fields or market their crops when harvested. Farming is a major source of income in Palestinian communities along the Wall's route. Harming it has had an enormous detrimental affect to already beleaguered Palestinians, driving many more of them into poverty.

The Absence of Justice in Israeli Courts and Efforts to Prosecute Israeli War Criminals in International Ones

Justice for Palestinians in Israeli courts, especially military ones, is nearly impossible because of laws protecting Jews alone. "Through its long experience, PCHR has concluded that the Israeli judiciary is used to provide legal cover for the IOF to commit war crimes against Palestinian civilians, and that it is a means used to avoid resorting to the international justice directly under the pretext of the existence of a just Israeli national judiciary."

As a result, PCHR and other international legal and human rights organizations resort to "international legal means to prosecute Israeli war criminals." On June 24, 2008, PCHR filed a lawsuit at the National Court of Spain, the country's highest judicial council, against seven former senior Israeli military officials, all accused of committing war crimes in Gaza in July 2002. The Spanish Court accepted the case as a first step toward launching a formal prosecution.

In May 2008, PCHR worked with Dutch law firm Bohler Franken Koppe Wijngaarden (BFKW) to submit a complaint to the prosecutor's office asking that Ami Ayalon (currently Minister without Portfolio in Israel) be arrested and prosecuted in the Netherlands regarding the torture of Khaled al-Sharmi in 1999 - 2000 when he was Shin Bet Director, the Israeli General Security Service.

In October, PCHR petitioned the Court of Appeal in the Hague for an Order requiring the Prosecutor to start a criminal investigation and issue an extradition order or international arrest warrant. Getting any nation to challenge Israel is daunting at best. In all previous cases when arrest warrants were issued, executive bodies were so hesitant that no follow-through occurred in time, allowing suspects to flee to safe havens. PCHR and other committed groups continue pursuing justice anyway. It's just a matter of time before they and others succeed.

On June 30, 2009, a PCHR press release explained that the "the Spanish Appeals Court voted 14 - 4 in favor of closing the (National Court's) investigation into the" July 2002 attack. The resolution was voted on but not issued. It marks a "major setback in the pursuit of international justice and victims' rights....To date, neither the State of Israel nor individuals accused of committing war crimes have been brought" to justice. PCHR will appeal to the Spanish Supreme Court.

PCHR's Commitment to Human Rights and Social Justice

Throughout 2008 and currently, PCHR focused on the following issues:

-- stepped-up efforts to bring Israeli war criminals to justice before an international tribunal; as explained above, on June 24, 2008, PCHR filed a lawsuit at the National Court of Spain against seven senior Israeli military officials; also, an arrest application was submitted to Dutch authorities for Israel's former Shin Bet director;

-- cooperative efforts with civil society organizations over the deteriorating human rights situation in Occupied Palestine; in November, PCHR and other organizations co-hosted a human rights conference in Cairo - focused on extra-judicial assassinations and prosecuting Israeli war criminals; other efforts aim to restore Palestinian unity against a common adversary, getting political prisoners released, lifting Gaza's siege, ending the death penalty, and working for peace and Palestinian self-determination;

-- overall coordination and cooperation with other human rights organizations to make their combined efforts more effective;

-- overall cooperation with international civil society organizations; and

-- promoting activities related to gender issues that often get far too little attention.

PCHR also provides legal aid for Palestinian prisoners in spite of the enormous obstacles in doing it effectively given that Israel affords Palestinians no chance for justice. Still, PCHR represents them in court, visits them as able, submits complaints and appeals, and tries to stop torture and ensure medical aid and better detention conditions are provided. PCHR also seeks compensation for victims of injustice and represents them on numerous other issues such as denying them free movement, including for vital medical care.

Overall, PCHR and similar human rights organizations address the "essential (unresolved) elements of the Palestinian issue - the right to self-determination, the right to an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the right to remove illegal Israeli settlements from the Occupied Territories."

International laws affirm these rights, but for Palestinians they're unfulfilled. Peace, justice, and democratic freedom as well. As a result, PCHR and others keep working "to protect (and restore) Palestinian human rights from ongoing violations by the Israeli government and courts," and to demand that an uncaring world community address these issues.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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Kucinich: the Federal Reserve is paying banks NOT to make loans to struggling Americans!



U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio, 10th District) questions Neil M. Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, about interest payments made to banks that keep their TARP funds and other government (taxpayer) bailout money with the Federal Reserve, instead of making loans to struggling Americans (the original intent of the TARP, remember?) The Fed makes generous interest payments to the banks for "parking" their "excess reserves" at the Fed.

And guess who will end up paying for this "interest" given to the banks, and everything else? That's right, you and me, John and Jane Q. Suckers!! The dumb, fat sheep!

By the way, Neil M. Barofsky is a good guy here -- don't beat up on him. He's in immediate danger of losing his job (if not his life) becauses he's revealing too many of the Temple's dark secrets. Barofsky deserves our full support.

You can download Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) reports,testimonies and audits at sigtarp.gov. The July 20th, 2009 report, "SIGTARP Survey Demonstrates That Banks Can Provide Meaningful Information On Their Use Of TARP Funds," is esecially interesting and can be downloaded at
http://sigtarp.gov/reports/audit/2009...
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The People Demand to See Barack Obamas Birth Certificate – Is That Racist?


In my personal opinion, most if not all politicians are crooked in some form or fashion. Period dot. I will never change my mind about that. So, why are some people making it a racial issue because some American Citizens demand for the President of the United States to produce a Birth Certificate to show that he is qualified to hold that position? It’s not a racial issue at all. The Obama Administration could have settled this matter when it first reared it’s ugly head. I said this awhile back that this *birth certificate* issue was not a done deal. It was just the beginning. Even I think the Obama Admin. should produce the document to once and for all settle the matter. Am I a racist because I think he should produce the document too? If so, how? Is Alan Keyes a racist too? No way Jose!! For my son to play Little League we have to show his birth certificate. This man, Barack Obama has within his power to send our young men and women into harms way and he doesn’t want to settle an issue that has dogged his presidency from day one. Come on, get real. Everybody knows George Bush lied and many of our children have died in far off lands because of it. Bill Clinton lied to our face about a blowjob. Every president lies. You Obama Fools better wake up. To question something, especially something this important, does not make you a racist. GET THE FUCK OUTTA TOWN!

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism" ~ Howard Zinn


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