Mazin Qumsiyeh

'"The best jihad is when a person speaks the truth before a tyrant ruler."
The prophet Muhammad (PBUH, from authenticated Hadith)

"You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand
out are the moments when you have done things for others." Henry Drummond

January 1, 2007 we spent a few hours taking turns reading the
names of the 3000 US military personnel killed in Iraq interspersed with
reading a few hundred selected names from the hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis killed.

Despite the rain, there were over 50 of us attending in New
Haven, CT. Similar events were held in hundreds of cities around the US. I
was especially touched reading names of whole families killed in Iraq. It
helps one focus on what is important and what we need to do. It could not
have been a more fitting beginning to the new year as it helps us focus our
energy and remember why we work for peace and why this war and colonial
occupation (and all wars and occupations) must stop.
If you do not want to read the following highlights of 2006, you can skip to
end for a hopeful message.

Notable highlights for 2006:
- Over 1200 Lebanese, 660 Palestinians, and 67 Israelis were killed as a
result of Israeli colonization, occupation, and greed in Lebanon and
Palestine. Tens of thousands of Lebanese and Palestinian homes were
destroyed (see images of one section of Beirut before and after here (look
at areas outside of "offices of Hizballah)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14252208
The number of Palestinians killed (660) is more than three times those
killed in 2005 (197), see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/807007.html
- A study showed that the US occupation of Iraq resulted in over 655,000
Iraqi deaths (excess deaths over expected). This ongoing genocide is larger
than that in any other place in this year.
- We reached 3000 US military personnel killed and 15,000 injured in the
illegal war on and occupation of Iraq. Hundreds of "contractors"
(privatized military/security services, aka mercenaries) were also killed.
- Jimmy Carter publishes a book that mildly uses apartheid to describe
Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and thu8s stimulated
discussion. He was criticized by many of us for failing to recognize
apartheid inside the Green line (manifest in Israel's "basic laws").
Zionists viciously attacked him in the US media. See "The Ludicrous Attacks
on Jimmy Carter's Book: Carter's Real Sin is Cutting to the Heart of the
Problem," By NORMAN FINKELSTEIN

http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein12282006.html
- Israel and the US under Zionist lobby influence impose a suffocating siege
of the occupied territories (using the excuse of Palestinians voting for
those they do not approve of). The siege worsens an already dire colonial
occupied economy and results in massive poverty for millions.
- The US government (under Zionist influence) vetoes a number of UN Security
Council Resolutions that try to get Israel to comply with International law.
- The genocide in Congo goes unreported and undiscussed (as is the ongoing
Iraq genocide) because of the political need to focus at what the Sudanese
government did or did not do in Darfur to stop that ongoing atrocity.
- As if any further proof is needed that US policy in Iraq is to create
sectarian violence to justify its ongoing occupation, the timing and
scripted hooded execution of Saddam Hussein will leave no doubt. Executed
on the first day of the Sunni Eid Al-Adha (the day before the Shi'a Eid) and
the way the hooded US agents spoke of Al-Sadr illustrate this was very
scripted to achieve the maximum sectarian division (unedited graphic
clandestine video of the US led execution at
http://one.revver.com/watch/130549 ). It is also instructive that he was
executed without ever being tried for the most heinous (US supported) crimes
(like the chemical attacks in Kurdish areas). He was not allowed to reveal
the extent of US complicity in the earlier crimes of his US supported
regime.
- The US government ratifies the destruction of civil liberties, implements
domestic spying without warrants, ratifies use of torture, abolishes habeas
corpus and spreads fear and ignorance. (Number of people killed by
lightening or by other trivial causes exceeds by many fold those killed by
non-state terrorism in 2006).
- Stock market goes up 16% (Exxon Mobil stock up 35%).
- Hugo Chavez re-elected by 70% of the vote and the rejection of US imposed
policies also spreads through other Latin American countries. US policies
(influenced by Zionists) also fail with Lebanon, Iran, and North Korea among
others. Right-wing candidates allied with the US lose in Spain, Italy, and
other countries.
- Boycotts, divestments, and sanctions similar to those implemented against
apartheid South Africa are now being implemented against apartheid Israel.
Dozens of groups in the west (unions, churches etc) have adopted the
Palestinian civil society call to action. A call for boycott at The World
Economics Forum in Davos generated much discussion (see
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/theworldeconomicsforumcontroversy/ and
http://www.pacbi.org/ and http://stopthewall.org/news/boycot.shtml )
- UN Civil Society Conference in September slams Israeli apartheid http://stopthewall.org/worldwideactivism/1300.shtml
These and many other stories were little covered in 2006 by the Zionist
leaning US mainstream media (they were covered in Europe and other parts of
the world). When they were covered in the US, the coverage was heavily
biased and totally distorted.
But Health Effects Need
Scrutiny

The tradition of investigative journalism seems to be dying off in favor of
sensationalism, fear mongering, and frivolity. I noted today that CNN
(which also has an Israeli lobbyist as key anchorman, ex AIPAC employee Wolf
Blitzer) is acting like the Nazi disinformation office by spreading lies and
distortions about the execution of Saddam Hussein (see this ridiculous peace
of PR): http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/02/

saddam.execution/index.html
And in equally useful news on CNN "Rolls Royce to unveil convertible"
(costing $405,000)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/01/01/rolls_convertible/index.html
On the other hand, Fox News today continued to provide free promos for
racist Rudy Giulliani's bid to become a US president! If you thought Bush
was bad, this guy makes Bush look like mother Teresa (he visited Israel more
times than many of the districts in NY City, he was voted by Israelis as
best presidential candidate fore Israel, he doled more money on a NY Israel
parade than on many needed services in NYC, and on and on):

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240626,00.html
and the theater of the absurd continues.
So we ask again: What really happened to the five Israelis apprehended
briefly on 9/11/01 and why was this important story dropped? See http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/fiveisraelis.html
Memories of Bethlehem by Mazin Qumsiyeh http://imeu.net/news/article003992.shtml
Yet, the internet gives us hope as people are getting more news from other
sources. Emails and websites reach millions with news stories censored in
the US media. Polls showed persistent erosion of support for wars and
occupations everywhere. Polls showed that despite the billions spent on
propaganda, psyops and more, that people are aware of the greatest dangers
in the world today (US and Israeli governments top the list in European
polls). And if you want reasons for hope in 2007, read this: "Why Hope?"
http://www.markandval.blogspot.com/
http://www.counterpunch.org/schneider12272006.html
BTW, upcoming national events
January 4 as congress opens, in Washington DC "World Can't Wait: Drive out
the Bush regime" see http://www.worldcantwait.net/
January 27, there will be a march and rally in Washington against the war.
See http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
March 17 (4th anniversary of war on Iraq). March on the Pentagon. See
http://www.internationalanswer.org/
May the new year bring you all love and peace
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://qumsiyeh.org/
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on
the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of
compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in
this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it
destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places
- and there are so many - where people have behaved magnificently, this
gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this
spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in
however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future.
The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we
think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is
itself a marvelous victory." Howard Zinn (You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving
Train: A personal history of our times, p. 208)

Dave vs. Carl: The Insignificant Championship Series. Who will win?
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