Video: Iranian Student asks for help for Iran from the International Community (especially the EU and US)

In this video (June 23, 2009) an Iranian student protester in Tehran makes a passionate plea for help from the world community-especially the EU and the US- in a phone call to CNN's American Morning. He also outlines clearly the demands of the protesters for a more open society and good relations between Iran and the international community.

Video:Dick Morris argues that Obama and Clinton are deserting Israel resulting in a possible new holocaust

In this video Dick Morris argues cogently that Barack Obama is severing a 60 year U.S. policy of support for Israel even as the mortal threat of Iranian nuclear weapons looms and concludes that Hillary Clinton is helping to implement his Arabist policies. He claims that we may be about to see the death of the state of Israel-destroyed by Iranian nuclear weapons. He lambasts the policy of the Obama administration which has made clear that it will not support Israel in the event of a pre emptive strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. He attacks the two state solution which he claims will give the Palestinians another base with which to attack Israel.

He argues that one Iranian nuclear strike would wipe out state of Israel and that we may be about to see another holocaust. He believes that Netanyahu may launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities-to forestall an Iranian nuclear strike- and that this may trigger another Middle East war. He forecasts that Obama will not support Israel in such a war.

Osama bin Laden condemns Arab leaders in new audio recording-14 Mar 09

Translation of audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, attributed to Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, in which he says Arab leaders "plotted with Israel" in war on Gaza.The authenticity of the tape cannot be verified

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has said in an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera that some Arab leaders were "complicit" with Israel during its offensive in Gaza.

Bin Laden said in the tape aired on Saturday that Arab leaders were "hypocrites", and that "liberating Jerusalem needed honest Arab leadership" to fight and liberate the Arab people.

"It has become clear that some Arab leaders were complicit with the crusade zionist alliance against our people. These are the leaders that America calls moderate," bin Laden said.

'Holocaust'

He said that "Gaza's holocaust" was a "historic event and a tragedy" adding that the Arab world needed a "devoted committee of scholars from the Islamic world to establish an advisory body" on the future of the region, "not leadership that is formed by hypocrites"...(Continue at Al Jazeera)

Israel:Jerusalem Online Video News-Produced by Channel Two News-Click for Sound

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Bin Laden urges Muslims to launch a holy war (jihad) to stop the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and Taunts the US

A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", was posted on websites on Wednesday.
Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a message- perfectly timed to coincide with the Obama inauguration and the Israeli offensive in Gaza- urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state. The use of the term Crusader-Zionist alliance will further ignite tensions between Christians and Muslims and is geared to inflame Muslim passions to even greater heights. The following are some of the key points of the message purporting to come from bin Laden.

"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot.... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also..We are with you and we will not let you down. Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the Crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom.
There is only one strong way to bring the return of Al-Aqsa and Palestine, and that is jihad in the path of God (a reference to the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem). The duty is to urge people to jihad and to enlist the youth into jihad brigades....Muslim nation, you are capable of defeating the Zionist entity with your popular capabilities and your great hidden strength — without the support of (Arab) leaders and despite the fact that most of (the leaders) stand in the barracks of the Crusader-Zionist alliance.

God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad for another seven years, and seven and seven years..The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise.."

President Bush, the message said, was leaving his successor with a "heavy inheritance." Referring to Barack Obama the speaker said: "If he withdraws from the war, it is a military defeat. If he continues, he drowns in economic crisis." Here bin Laden is taunting the US.

Gaza Suffering- Families struggle for food

Gaza residents talk about hardship; The UN will resume relief operations only after receiving guarantees on security of personnel from the Israeli army.
Locked inside the coastal slice of land, just 40 kilometres (24 miles) long and up to 12 kilometres wide, with next to no food getting in each day, 1.5 million people are battling to find enough to keep their families alive.

Amazing Video: Israeli IDF conversation with Palestinians (Israeli soldier and Palestinian civilians explain fears and hopes)

This video was recorded on Jan 9 -2009. It provides a fascinating insight into the thinking of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians. In reality both want peace. Now if only the leaders on both sides would listen.

The IDF come across as nervous and on edge and somewhat aggressive eventhough there is a camera filming the exchange of views. The video opens with the following question to the soldiers: "Its confusing to me that when one person hurts another group of people then the whole group of people have to suffer for it. So maybe you can help me understand".

A soldier explains why he is in Gaza. "I help you understand (sic)." "You think I want to be here? ..... I do this for one reason, because I love my country (sic). Because I want my mother to go to work and dont die (sic). I want my sister to go to school and not to be scared." The soldier admitted shooting a child for pointing at him. He said that the Palestinian was not scared to go to Israel because he knows he could go there and come back alive. The Israeli soldier stated that he was scared to go to Qalqilya and Jayyous-"I know they want to kill me".

The Palestinian replies..."If you want to come to my house we can stop together... We need peace we want peace. We want to stop the blood. We want to be like neighbours, like friends."

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and media sharply critical of Al Jazeera

YNet reports that

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni gave an interview Monday (29/12/08) to Arab television network al-Jazeera in which she harshly criticized Hamas, saying the organization was to blame for the civilian casualties in Gaza...

However she also lambasted Al Jazeera:

[She] sarcastically noted during the interview that "when you show one-sided images from Gaza you're not helping peace. I understand that pictures which create provocation lead to anger and hostility among the citizens, but we want a better future for this region"

Al Jazeera and PressTV have been showing wall to wall coverage of the Israeli invasion from an Arab perspective. These channels are available internationally. This has angered many Israelis. I am not aware of any Israeli TV channels which perform the same function.
YNet also carries an article by Dr. Mordechai Kedar who is a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University’s department of Arabic. In it he calls for the closure of Al Jazeeras offices:

........What matters is that this is not a media channel, but rather, a jihadist terrorist channel that aims to eliminate the State of Israel. It is for good reason that Osama Bin Laden hands over his audiotapes to this channel, which cooperates with him fully.
Israeli citizens are paying with their blood for the media freedom enjoyed by al-Jazeera.
There is only one conclusion here: We must immediately shut down al-Jazeera’s Israel offices and prevent its employees from working for it. Once Israel does it, many other countries will follow suit, particularly in the Middle East, for their own reasons. They are waiting for Israel to put an end to the recklessness of this non-media channel....

Israel fears Hamas rockets may destroy Dimona nuclear power plant

Israel has harboured fears for sometime that Iran might target the Dimona nuclear power plant. It is suspected that nuclear station at Dimona is used by the Israeli military to make atomic bombs. Such a missile attack by Iran would obliterate Israel. Now Israel is facing a second threat to the security of this facility.
PressTV carries the following:

Hamas retaliatory attacks have alarmed Israel with officials anticipating that the Dimona nuclear complex might become the next target......................Israeli officials were quoted by the Times Online as saying on Friday that Hamas may have acquired longer range rockets, which would enable the group to target the sole Israeli nuclear plant in Dimona.

It is time for a ceasefire and negotiations. Hamas must cease its rocket attacks on Israel. A strike on Dimona could cause a second Chernobyl. The Israelis must end the aerial bombardment of Gaza. The US, Britain, France and Russia must pressurise both sides to pull back from the brink of disaster.

Israeli military channel on YouTube hosts videos of air strikes and other attacks on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip

THE Israeli defence chiefs have launched their own channel on YouTube and are posting footage of air strikes and other attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This is part of their propaganda war against Hamas. The channel may be accessed here .Youtube has removed some of the videos. Minors should not view the footage.
Below is a video titled:

Israeli Air Force Strikes Hamas Government Complex in Gaza 30 Dec. 2008.

Gaza-Israel and Hamas should negotiate under certain clearly defined conditions

Both sides in the Middle East could learn from the Northern Ireland peace process. There the Provisional IRA through its political wing Sinn Fein has accepted the reality of British rule in Northern Ireland and now also recognises the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). It has decided to pursue its claims to a united Ireland by peaceful means only. There is no future in this insane violence, which is tearing the heart out of Gaza.

Palestinians resent their expulsion from legitimately held lands with the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.This is natural. Israelis now hold lands which are de jure Palestinian.

But the reality is that the state of Israel now exists. Israelis and Palestinians must now deal with the de facto situation. Both sides should now call a ceasefire.

Hamas should accept the right of the state of Israel to exist and agree to pursue its aims by peaceful means only. This does not mean that Palestinians would give up claims to land from which they were ejected by Israelis. It just means that they would accept the de facto situation but would continue to campaign by peaceful means only to recover their lands or else secure adequate monetary compensation. Violence has failed. Israelis will not be driven into the sea. The US -in a doomsday situation-would not allow this to happen.

Israel must show more respect towards Palestinians. The plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is horrific. Some of this may be self inflicted but much of it is due to Israeli activities.

Certainly Israel must defend itself from Hamas rockets but the over reaction this week-with so many civilian casualties resulting from Israeli air strikes- just produces more recruits for Hamas.

In short Israel will not be destroyed. Hamas will not be destroyed. There is stalemate. It is time to call a prolonged ceasefire. Time for sanity to prevail.There is a strong suspicion that politicians are using this as part of the upcoming Israeli election campaign.

Hamas should learn from the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland. The Israelis should learn British government blunders in Northern Ireland. As Winston Churchill put it, “Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.”

Israel is losing the battle for public opinion on the world stage.
Where is Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair?

Israeli air strikes against Hamas positions in Gaza-Contrasting Media Coverage from Fox News and Russia Today

The two videos provide a fascinating insight into media coverage of Middle East affairs. The Fox News video places a greater emphasis on Hamas attacks whilst the Russia Today video emphasizes more strongly the civilian casualties and places less emphasis on Hamas attacks.

Arab countries lack power to influence Iran on nuclear issue-Expert

On December 16 the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany, which make up the 5+1 group, met at the UN with representatives from nine Arab countries -including Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia- to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.
Unfortunately little was achieved. In essence this was gesture politics. No Arab country will attack Iran at the behest of the US. In addition each has its own internal difficulties-whether ethnic,religious or economic.
MEHRNEWS.com quotes International affairs expert Ali Khorram as follows:

Khorram insisted that Arab countries cannot influence regional or international developments. For example, he said, although Arabs are aware of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, they lack power to resolve this problem.

“The complexity of Iran’s nuclear issue is far greater than that of the Gaza Strip” and the Arab countries which have not been able to find a formula to resolve the Gaza crisis, are highly unlikely to influence Iran’s nuclear issue, he explained.

It is difficult to argue with the logic of this argument. It is highly unlikely that the incoming Obama administration will convince Iran to drop its nuclear development programme. This increases the probability of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations.

Presidential Debate- Nashville ,Tennessee: McCain V Obama: McCain enhances his Credentials on Economy

In the economic section of the debate John McCain was more specific. Obama tended to rely on populist generalisations. His solution appears to be more and more state involvement. Obama is a true Socialist. The state will solve all problems. The difficulty with his approach is that more state involvement requires higher taxes. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If voters opt for Obama on the health care issue they will pay a heavy financial price in increased taxes.

McCain caught out Obama on Freddie and Fannie. Obama being the second highest recipient of campaign contributions from Freddie and Fannie. McCain outlined how he attempted to introduce regulation on Freddie and Fannie. Obama was no place to be seen. McCain outlined a plan to buy up bad house loans and stabilise house values- cost 300 billion dollars. New mortgages at present values would be provided to those house owners. This just might work. I believe that this should come from the 700 billion rescue package.

McCain outlined how his tax policies would benefit the middle class and small business owners. McCain stressed energy independence: more off shore drilling and nuclear.
He outlined plans for public expenditure freeze (except military spending). This would help fund tax cuts.
McCain hammered Obama on spending and earmarks. Obama voted for 94 tax increases. Obama according to McCain has plans for 860 billion dollars in new spending. I suspect that it is much more. Clearly Obama’s tax promises cannot be fulfilled.
As McCain stated: “Nailing down Obama’s tax proposals is like nailing Jello to a wall".

Obama criticized McCain on Freddie and Fannie and on deregulation. Obama did not adequately answer McCain charges on Freddie and Fannie.

Obama outlined his ideas on middle class tax cuts. He attempted to inject class warfare into the debate. He criticized McCain proposals to lower tax burdens on industry. Obama fails to realise that various European countries have embarked on reducing tax burdens on industry. Failure to reduce taxes on industry will lead to job outflows. Obama pressed universal health care. Once more failing to realise that such a policy would ignite a taxation time bomb. It would cripple taxpayers. McCain challenged Obama's plans for fines. Obama failed to respond.
McCain performed very strongly on the economy. He certainly gained the upper hand on this key issue.

He exposed major contradictions in Obama’s plans. Obama stressed more and more state involvement and regulation. Even on energy Obama was economical with the truth.

Both candidates sparred on foreign policy: On Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Russia. McCain won this hands down. McCain made it clear that he would defend Israel in the event of an attack. Obama waffled. On Pakistan, Obama came across as naive.

Stunning performance by Palin in Vice Presidential debate at Saint Louis (Palin turns the tables on detractors)

Sarah Palin performed very strongly. She was articulate, vivacious,charismatic and knowledgeable.
This was a champagne performance. Liberal media eat your hearts out. She was an inspired Vice Presidential selection. Joe Biden was Joe Biden –strong on some details but factually incorrect on others. Biden kept going back instead of forward. This was a bad blunder.

Palin strongly targeted Obama’s poor record on high spending and tax increases. She was strong on energy independence stressing the need for more drilling to ensure less American dependence on hostile foreign regimes. She continuously stressed reform of Wall Street and was strong on Israel. She outlined John McCain’s proposals two years ago to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She hit Obama strongly on tax breaks for oil companies. She also dealt with her formidable record in Alaska where she introduced a balanced budget and reduced taxes.
Joe Biden was articulate and endeavoured to tie McCain to Bush. He used the class warfare card and attacked McCain’s foreign policy platform. He misrepresented John McCain's record on taxes. His various mis-statements on McCains voting record have handed a powerful weapon to the McCain campaign. He was quite often factually incorrect. He endeavoured to paint McCain as unreasonable. However Palin resonated strongly with ordinary voters.

This is a triumph of epic proportions for Sarah Palin who has been savaged by the bloodhounds of the liberal media. Not alone was she assailed but her family was torn to shreds by the same media. This woman could lead America in any crisis.

Obama's biggest blunders

John McCain exposes Barack Obama's lack of foreign policy experience