De Israelische Terreur 11

Terwijl Hamas door het Westen wordt geboycot krijgt Israel steeds meer steun voor zijn repressieve regime in de Westbank. De Guardian bericht: 'Huge jump in arms sales to Israel · Military export licences to country almost double · Government accused of arming repressive regimes. The number of arms export licences granted for countries the government accuses of human rights abuses increased significantly over the past year, the latest official figures show. They also show that licences for weapons sales to Saudi Arabia increased by 25% last year, to £25m. They included sales of assault rifles, riot control equipment and body armour. Licences for British arms sales to Israel last year amounted to nearly £25m, almost double the previous year. The licences covered the export of armoured vehicles and missile components. Quarterly annual figures appear separately on the Foreign Office website and were collated by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Caat), which alerted the Guardian to them. They show that licences were also approved for sales of arms valued at more than £12.5m to Indonesia. Amnesty International last year reported extrajudicial killings carried out by Indonesian security forces in Aceh and West Papua. British-made armoured vehicles were reported to have been deployed against protesters in West Papua in November last year. Israel, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are among 11 out of 20 countries described by the FO in its 2005 annual human rights report as "major countries of concern" to which the government licensed military equipment. The sales cleared for Israel are the highest since 1999. This was before Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, sought assurances from Israel that equipment supplied by the UK was not being used against civilians and in the occupied territories. In 2002 the government said it was tightening controls on arms exports to the country after it found that assurances had been breached.' Lees verder: http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,,1747893,00.html

De Pro Israel Lobby 5

Inter Press Service bericht: 'Evangelicals Rally Their Flocks Behind Israel. OAKLAND - To prevent the George W. Bush administration from pressuring the Israelis into turning over even more land, Hagee, the pastor of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church and the head of a multi-million-dollar evangelical enterprise, recently brought together 400 Christian evangelical leaders -- representing as many as 30 million Christians -- for an invitation-only "Summit on Israel". The result was the launch of a new pro-Israel lobbying group called Christians United for Israel (CUFI). By 2002, a number of veteran Christian conservative evangelical leaders and Republican Party power brokers had joined forces with conservative Jewish leaders to launch several pro-Israel organisations. But the history of Jewish-evangelical involvement goes back several decades. According to Rabbi James Rudin, writing in his recently published book, "The Baptising of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of U.S.," "the first [modern] evangelical-Jewish meeting" took place in New York in 1975. A bevy of issues including "the meaning of Messiah in both traditions, Jesus the Jew, biblical theology and the meaning of modern Israel and Jerusalem for Christian conservatives and Jews" were discussed. Rudin points out that "the evangelical commitment to Israel creates some... ambivalence" in the Jewish community, since that "commitment" is built on the biblical belief that "without an Israel, an ingathering of Jewish exiles, [the] major event in Christian eschatology [the Second coming of Jesus to Jerusalem] cannot take place." "That is why some evangelicals are dismayed at any Israeli withdrawal or disengagement from any area of the biblical 'Holy Land.' That is also why the strong Christian conservative support of Israel is not linked to Middle East realpolitik or America's growing thirst for Arab oil," Rudin says.' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0405-09.htm

Goedkope Arbeiders

Inter Press Service bericht: 'Embracing Cheap Workers, Ignoring Their Welfare. UNITED NATIONS - The top 10 countries hosting the largest number of international migrants have neither signed nor ratified a 1990 U.N. convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers worldwide. "It is obvious," says a senior U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, "that these countries don't want to be held accountable for the welfare of their migrants." The 10 countries -- the United States, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France, Saudi Arabia, Canada, India, United Kingdom and Spain -- accounted for over 102 million migrants in 2005, according to a new U.N. report released Tuesday. The United States was host to 38.4 million migrants last year, followed by Russia (12.1 million), Germany (10.1 million), Ukraine (6.8 million) and France (6.5 million). The number of international migrants worldwide rose from about 175 million in 2000 to 191 million in 2005. And six out of 10 -- about 115 million -- live in rich countries where they are deprived of basic rights, while seven out of every 100 migrants are refugees.' Lees verder:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32772 Of: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0405-01.htm

11 september 2001 (5)

Kijkt u eens naar deze documentaire: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5137581991288263801&q=loose+c

Het Exporteren van Banen 2

NRC bericht: 'Philips sluit fabriek in WeertPhilips sluit zijn lampenfabriek in Weert, omdat deze ondanks pogingen om haar goedkoper te maken niet rendabel genoeg is. Voor de 250 medewerkers betekent dat verlies van hun baan. Dat heeft het elektronicaconcern vandaag bekendgemaakt. Philips verhuist een deel van de productie van gloeilampen en speciale verlichting naar lagelonenlanden als China en Polen. Ook gaat een deel naar Maarheeze, elf kilometer verderop in Noord-Brabant. Philips produceert verder gloeilampen in Nederland in Oss, Middelburg en Deurne. FNV Bondgenoten verwacht ook bij die fabrieken harde klappen binnen niet al te lange tijd. Er werken 3.500 tot 4.000 werknemers die volgens de bond moeten vrezen voor verplaatsing van de productie naar lagelonenlanden.' Zie: http://www.nrc.nl/economie/article272584.ece Wanneer NRC schrijft dat de lampenfabriek in Weert 'niet rendabel genoeg is' draait de krant keurig om de hete brij heen. Want natuurlijk kunnen Nederlandse werknemers nooit rendabel zijn als een derde wereldbewoner maar een fractie krijgt van het inkomen dat zij krijgen. Iemand uit een welvarend land kan nooit concurrerend zijn op de arbeidsmarkt zolang er miljarden armen leven die zonder vakbonden en zonder strenge milieuwetten soms onder de meest erbarmelijke omstandigheden willen produceren.

Oorlogsmisdaden

De Amerikaanse auteur Norman Solomon schrijft: 'When War Crimes Are Impossible. Is President Bush guilty of war crimes? To even ask the question is to go far beyond the boundaries of mainstream US media. A few weeks ago, when a class of seniors at Parsippany High School in New Jersey prepared for a mock trial to assess whether Bush has committed war crimes, a media tempest ensued. Typical was the response from MSNBC host Tucker Carlson, who found the very idea of such accusations against Bush to be unfathomable. The classroom exercise "implies people are accusing him of a crime against humanity," Carlson said. "It's ludicrous." In Tennessee, the Chattanooga Times Free Press thundered in an editorial: "That some American 'educators' would have students 'try' our American president for 'war crimes' during time of war tells us that our problems are not only with terrorists abroad." The standard way for media to refer to Bush and war crimes in the same breath is along the lines of this lead-in to a news report on CNN's "American Morning" in late March: "The Supreme Court's about to consider a landmark case and one that could have far-reaching implications. At issue is President Bush's powers to create war crimes tribunals for Guantanamo prisoners." In medialand, when the subject is war crimes, the president of the United States points the finger at others. Any suggestion that Bush should face such a charge is assumed to be oxymoronic. But a few journalists, outside the corporate media structures, are seriously probing Bush's culpability for war crimes. One of them is Robert Parry.' Lees verder:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040406B.shtml

Nederland en Afghanistan 50

De Volkskrant bericht: 'Nederlandse militairen doodden mogelijk Afghaan. Van onze verslaggever DEN HAAG - Nederlandse militairen in Afghanistan hebben mogelijk een dodelijk slachtoffer gemaakt tijdens de belegering van hun basis, begin dit jaar. Defensie heeft de begrafeniskosten betaald en de familie van het slachtoffer ‘afgekocht’, vooruitlopend op de uitkomst van een onderzoek door de Koninklijke Marechaussee. Staatssecretaris Van der Knaap van Defensie heeft de Tweede Kamer dinsdagavond ingelicht over een schietincident dat plaatsvond in februari, toen honderden Afghanen bij de Nederlandse basis in het stadje Pol-e Khomri protesteerden tegen de Deense spotprenten die de islam in een kwaad daglicht stelden. De belaagde militairen vuurden rook-, licht- en geluidgranaten af. Daarbij zou een betoger om het leven zijn gekomen.' Zie: http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article272239.ece Dit bericht roept meer vragen op dan het antwoorden geeft. Onze verslaggever in Den Haag moet ogenblikkelijk uitzoeken wat hier aan de hand is. Hoe kan een Afghaan om het leven komen door een rookgranaat, danwel een lichtgranaat, dan wel een geluidsgranaat, of alle drie tegelijk. Ik heb al die granaten van nabij in werking gezien en kan u verzekeren dat ze van alles doen, maar niet doden. Ondertussen is toch belastinggeld gebruikt om een familie af te kopen. Aan de slag verslaggever. Overigens moet dit gebeurd zijn door diezelfde grappige militairen waarover ik al eerder heb geschreven en die zo'n geinig videofilmpje hebben gemaakt waarin ze in boerka's rondhuppelen. Kennelijk zijn deze bewapende lolbroeken erg geschrokken van een Afghaanse demonstratie. Zie: http://stanvanhoucke.blogspot.com/2005/11/nederland-en-afghanistan-3.html