Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 07.22.06

[David Shove (shove001]

            P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    07.22.06

1. Stop Israel       7.22 1pm

2. Unions v MKennedy 7.23 11:30am Stillwater
3. Green uprising    7.23 7pm

4. Nonprofit conf    7.24 8:30am
5. Child trafficking 7.24 12noon
6. Labor/health care 7.24 5:30pm
7. Pentel/governor   7.24 7pm

8. WSW board    - The real aims of the US-backed Israeli war vs Lebanon
9. Ralph Nader  - Letter to President Bush
10. David Walsh - American media unquestioningly defends Israeli violence
11. Truthout    - Bush admin rushing more bombs to Israel
12. ed-news     - Devil sends observers; Hell to be remodeled
13. ed          - Holocaust  (poem)

--------1 of 13--------

Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:53:01 -0500
From: Jess Sundin <jess [at] antiwarcommittee.org>
Subject: Stop Israel 7.22 1pm

Emergency Protest: Stop the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon

No Bombing! No Ground Invasion! Israel Out of Lebanon and Palestine! Stop
US Support for Israel!

Saturday 7/22 @ 1pm @ Uptown Library, Hennepin & Lagoon Aves, Mpls.

Join the Anti-War Committee and others for an emergency protest to respond
to the imminent invasion of Lebanon by Israeli ground troops. Israeli
troops are amassing at the border, and radio announcements have warned
some quarter of a million residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate before
the invasion begins.

Join us for this emergency response, which is part of an International Day
of Action Against Israeli Aggression. This follows days of bombings and
military actions in Lebanon as well as the Gaza Strip of Palestine.
Hundreds have been killed, hundreds of thousands have lost or been driven
from their homes. We cannot be silent. Help us inform passersby, and make
it clear that we do not support the actions of the US government, which
has supported the Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

Please join us tomorrow. Also, we encourage supporters to call our elected
officials and urge the US government to demand an Israeli cease fire.

Sen. Norm Coleman: (651) 645-0323 or (800) 642-6041
Sen. Mark Dayton: (888) 224-9043
Rep. Martin Sabo: (612) 664-8000
Rep. Betty McCollum: (651) 224-9191


--------2 of 13--------

Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 20:54:38 GMT
From: stpaulunions.org <llwright [at] stpaulunions.org>
Subject: Unions v MKennedy 7.23 11:30am Stillwater

Help give the axe to Rep Mark Kennedy in Stillwater July 23

The Rep, who would be Senator, will be in Stillwater's Lumberjack Days
Parade (it starts at 1 PM) Sunday. Working America and other unions will
be on hand to share information about Rep. Kennedy's minimum wage vctes.
He voted FOR a Congressional pay raise and against a minimum wage raise.
Join the fun - meet at the Marathon Station on Main Street at 11:30am - or
look for the guerilla flyer team during the parade. (You'll know them by
their red bandanas.)


--------3 of 13--------

Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 14:29:54 -0500
From: Dave Bicking <dave [at] colorstudy.com>
Subject: Mpls Green uprising 7.23 7pm

The next meeting of Mpls Green Uprising will be this coming Sunday, July
23, 7pm at my house, 3211 22nd Ave. S. (lower), Mpls.

These last few weeks, many of us have devoted all our spare time to the
Green Party campaigns, including the successful gathering of enough
signatures for all the endorsed candidates to get on the ballot!
Clearly, the elections will continue to be a major focus of work until
November.

But the other issues don't go away.  We should plan how to combine the
issues activism with the electoral work.  Our work on the stadium tax
clearly ties in with several of the campaigns, and we should continue
that.  The next month is critical for the stadium issue - we should try to
pack the public hearings that will be held on August 22, 23, and 24.

There is a lot of other activity coming up regarding the stadium tax.
Please read my next email on that subject.  Also, check out
http://ccarl.com/ for a lot more information on the stadium and upcoming
actions for a referendum.

There is important current work to be done on police accountability for
abuse and brutality.  If you are on this listserve, you have received
notices of the current city actions and the opportunities for public
input.  You have also received important information from Communities
United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB).

I particularly would like to remind you about the Cop Watch program by
CUAPB.  They will be going out again tonight (Friday night), and Saturday,
July 29.  I went with them last Friday.  I highly recommend the
experience.  Very educational, and I believe, quite useful.  Their
training lets you know all you need to know to be prepared.  We passed out
lots of "know your rights" flyers which were very well received.  You,
too, should be sure you know that information for yourself!  And given
current conditions and policies, yes, you can be pretty sure that you will
observe something worth recording and filming. (Unfortunately)  I think
our presence made a difference in how some people were treated.  If you
can possibly handle the late hours (from 11pm til about 2am), PLEASE join
them.  A reminder of the information is at the bottom of this email.

We may have other issues to talk about.  There are some current issues
regarding transportation policy, and some neighborhood politics.  As
always, let me know (or the list), if there is something you would like to
include on the agenda.

Hope to see you Sunday, Dave Bicking 612-276-1213


--------4 of 13--------

From: Stephanie Haddad <shaddad [at] mncn.org>
Subject: Nonprofit conf 7.24 8:30am

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Nonprofit Leadership Center at
the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs are pleased to invite you to
Leadership: Strengthening Organizations and Communities, a day-long
conference that will take place at the Humphrey Institute on Monday, July
24.

The role of nonprofit organizations in communities is different from
business and government. It naturally follows that the exercise of
leadership, decision-making and participation is different as well.
Effective nonprofit leadership engages the energy, creativity, talent and
passion of people at every level of an organization - though how this is
achieved varies across organizations. Join us on Monday, July 24 for this
groundbreaking exploration of the principles of nonprofit leadership, of
the role of leaders in organizations, and of how leadership strengthens
organizations and communities.

This conference is designed for nonprofit leaders (staff members, board
members, volunteers) and those interested in nonprofit leadership at any
stage - emerging, mid-career, and established - and in any role within an
organization. The conference includes a unique mix of plenary and breakout
sessions as well as an opportunity for participants to define and dialogue
about critical leadership issues during the course of the day.

Featured keynote speakers include Jeanne Bell, Associate Director,
CompassPoint Nonprofit Services who will be joining us from San Francisco;
Emmett Carson, President and CEO, Minneapolis Foundation; Jim Krile,
Director of Community Leadership, Blandin Foundation; Jon Pratt, Executive
Director and Bao Vang, Leadership Program Coordinator, Minnesota Council
of Nonprofits; and Jodi Sandfort, Associate Professor, Humphrey Institute
of Public Affairs.

Here a just a few sessions that might be of interest to you:

Learning to Lead: What Makes a Leader?
<http://www.mncn.org/event_leadershipconference.htm#learning> What
Nonprofits Should (and Should Not) Learn from the Business Sector
<http://www.mncn.org/event_leadershipconference.htm#what> Nonprofit
Career Paths: Understanding Others' and Building Your Own
<http://www.mncn.org/event_leadershipconference.htm#nonprofitcareer>
Addressing the Leadership Demands of the Future
<http://www.mncn.org/event_leadershipconference.htm#addressing>
Sharing Your Leadership: Techniques and Benefits
<http://www.mncn.org/event_leadershipconference.htm#sharingyour>

To view the full conference program, including 12 breakout sessions, 3
plenaries, and over 40 engaging and dynamic presenters, visit
http://www.mncn.org/event_leadership.htm#leadership.

Leadership: Strengthening Organizations and Communities

Monday, July 4
8:30am-4pm (registration opens at 7:45am)
UofM Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis

Directions and Parking: Parking is available at several area ramps and
lots. Visit http://www.hhh.umn.edu/about/contact/parking.html for maps,
directions and additional parking information.
Fee: $100 for MCN members; $150 for non-members
Scholarship Policy: Visit
http://www.mncn.org/event_leadership.htm#leadership.

To Register:

1. Register online
<http://nonprofityellowpages.org/cgi-bin/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CT
GY&Store_Code=MCONOS&Category_Code=WAT>

2. By fax - to register by fax, download and complete the registration
form from our Web site,
http://www.mncn.org/event_leadership.htm#leadership, and fax the form to
651-642-1517
3. By mail - to register by mail, download and complete the registration
form from our Web site,
http://www.mncn.org/event_leadership.htm#leadership, and fax the form to
651-642-1517, include payment (either a check payable to MCN or credit
card information) and mail to: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits; 2314
University Ave. West, Suite 20; St. Paul; MN; 55114-1802

Stephanie Haddad Program Director Minnesota Council of Nonprofits 2314
University Avenue West, Ste. 20 St. Paul, MN 55114 651-642-1904 ext. 227
Fax 651-642-1517 stephanie [at] mncn.org www.mncn.org


--------5 of 13--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Child trafficking 7.24 12noon

July 24 - Human Trafficking: Child Victims.  12noon-1pm.

Judge Denise Reilly will present on the issue of trafficking in children
including international treaties and conventions against child
trafficking, the demand for trafficked children and about her personal
experiences. Judge Reilly has traveled to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Costa
Rica with the Department of Justice to present on trafficking.

Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP. Application will be made for
one CLE credit. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Amy Beier
at (612) 341-3302 ext. 118 or abeier [at] mnadvocates.org. Presented by Faegre
& Benson LLP and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights

Location: Faegre & Benson LLP, The Century Room, 2200 Wells Fargo Center,
90 South Seventh Street Minneapolis, MN 55402


--------6 of 13--------

From: Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council <betsy [at] mplscluc.com>
Subject: Labor/health care 7.24 5:30pm

Hospital workers without affordable health insurance - insanity or
reality?

Sadly, at five Twin Cities hospital systems, it's both. We're facing
higher health care costs these days, but there's something wrong when the
people who work in our hospitals can't afford health care.

Everyday, employees at Children's Hospitals of Minnesota, Fairview Health
Services, Park Nicollet Health Services, North Memorial Medical Center,
and HealthEast Care system provide patients with care that many can't
afford to get themselves.

It's time for us to stand up with our Union sisters and brothers in their
fight for affordable health insurance!

Interfaith Prayer Vigil for Twin Cities Hospital Contract Negotiations:
Monday, July 24, 5:30-6:30pm
North Memorial Medical Center, 3300 Oakdale Avenue North, Robbinsdale

Questions? Call Julia Dreier at 651-203-0401 ext. 7
Sponsored by the Twin Cities Religion & Labor Network


--------7 of 13--------

From: Ken Pentel <kenpentel [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Pentel/governor 7.24 7pm

Dear Supporters of the the Ken Pentel Campaign for Governor, the Next
Pentel/Provencher Campaign meeting is:

Monday July 24
7pm
Sue Leskela's, 2880 Irving Ave So. #2( Just North of Lake Street near
Uptown)612-396-1420

Agenda:
--Celebrate getting on the Ballot.
--Fundraising
--Creative Arts
--Events
--Pizza(Bring an appetite)

I will be Live on Cable access next Monday in White Bear Lake so I may not
make this meeting.

But now is when we build the relationships in this campaign to fill the
needs to reach the public and give them a reason to Vote Pentel/Provencher
for Governor.

Peace on the path, Ken www.kenpentel.org (612) 387-0601


--------8 of 13--------

The real aims of the US-backed Israeli war against Lebanon
Statement of the Editorial Board
21 July 2006
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/leba-j21.shtml

As the onslaught against Lebanon enters its tenth day, Israeli troops are
poised for a full-scale invasion that has been prepared by murderous
aerial bombardment, and the far-reaching imperialist aims of the war have
become all too clear.

With the full political, financial and military backing of the United
States, the Zionist regime is attempting to transform Lebanon into an
Israeli protectorate. This military operation is a continuation and
escalation of the imperialist geo-political restructuring of the Middle
East and Central Asia that began with the invasions of Afghanistan and
Iraq, and whose goal is the establishment of US domination of the entire
region.

The immediate aim of this war - the elimination of Hezbollah as a military
and political force within Lebanon - is directed against all mass
resistance to Israeli and American domination of the country. The Bush
administration and its allies in Jerusalem see this as an essential step
toward: 1) the removal of the Syrian Baathist regime, and 2) the launching
of a full-scale war against Iran.

While the Israeli government and the Bush administration endlessly repeat
propaganda claims that the attack on Lebanon is an act of "self defense"
prompted by the seizure of two soldiers, this assertion enjoys no
credibility among knowledgeable observers.

As the Financial Times of London wrote in its lead editorial of July 17,
"Israel's massive bombardment of Lebanon by land, sea and air in response
to Hezbollah's cross-border raid last week is now about a great deal more
than recovering two Israeli soldiers seized by Islamist guerrillas - and
it probably always was."

Similar assessments have been published in the Washington Post and the
Wall Street Journal, as well as numerous newspapers internationally. They
simply state what is by now obvious: the Israeli attack on Lebanon is the
realization of a long-planned act of aggression.

Recent events have placed in clearer perspective the significance of the
February, 2005 assassination of the Lebanese multi-billionaire and former
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Hariri was killed by a massive explosion that destroyed his motorcade in
Beirut four months after he resigned his post as prime minister in protest
against the decision of Emile Lahoud, an ally of Syria, to extend his term
as president of Lebanon. The United States and France, the country's
former colonial ruler, immediately blamed Hariri's death on Damascus.
Their anti-Syrian allies within Lebanon, predominantly based on the more
affluent social layers, seized upon Hariri's killing to launch the
so-called Cedar Revolution, which resulted last year in the withdrawal of
Syrian troops, which had occupied Lebanon since the 1970s.

If, in fact, the Syrian regime was behind the killing, it carried it out
because it had become convinced that Hariri had lent his support to a
US-Israeli plan to drive Syria out of Lebanon, in preparation for an
assault on the Hezbollah movement, which enjoys mass support among the
impoverished Shiite population and dominates the south of Lebanon. It was
well aware that this would be followed by an offensive against the
Baathist regime in Damascus itself.

It is, on the other hand, eminently possible that the killing was a
provocation organized by Israeli or American intelligence agencies for the
purpose of creating a pretext for carrying through the same plan.

In either case, the current Israeli offensive is the implementation of
precisely such an operation. The Cedar Revolution itself produced
disappointing results in the eyes of the Israelis and Americans. Under the
terms of a United Nations Security Council resolution co-sponsored by
Washington and Paris, Syria was obliged to withdraw its troops from
Lebanon. The power of its Hezbollah ally, however, remained intact.

Indeed, at the height of the anti-Syrian agitation, marked by
well-publicized demonstrations in Beirut organized by Maronite Christian
forces and other Lebanese parties aligned with Washington, Hezbollah
organized far larger counter-demonstrations that brought hundreds of
thousands into the streets of the capital. With the specter of a new civil
war before it, the government that emerged from the Cedar Revolution felt
obliged to make a settlement which included the admission of Hezbollah
representatives into the cabinet.

In an article published July 20, the New York Times reflected the
frustration within the Bush administration and American ruling circles:
"Despite the hopes raised by the so-called Cedar Revolution, which ended
nearly three decades of Syrian control, the government remains trapped in
the sectarian straitjacket of a system that apportions political offices
by religion." (The Times has no similar objections to the "sectarian
straitjacket" of Lebanon's neighbor to the south, which not only
apportions all political power to representatives of one religion, but
defines itself as a "Jewish state").

This comment points to the real purpose of the current onslaught against
the Lebanese people. Its aim is a thoroughgoing political restructuring of
the country, in which the fiercely pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli
sentiments of the Shiite masses are to be crushed and the power of
right-wing, pro-US forces - above all, the Christian Phalange - vastly
expanded.

This is an attempt to reverse the outcome of the Lebanese civil war, which
raged from 1975 until 1990. The US, Israel and other imperialist powers,
notably France, played a central role in inciting that long and bloody
conflict and keeping it going, including the introduction of American and
French military forces and an Israeli invasion in 1982 that was followed
by an 18-year Israeli occupation of the south. Washington's chief ally was
the fascistic Phalange, which headed a coalition of right-wing forces
arrayed against an alliance of the Palestine Liberation Organization and
the Lebanese Left.

Imperialist intrigue and intervention succeeded in driving the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO) from Lebanon, but the eventual settlement
curtailed the power of the Phalange, on the one hand, and saw the rise of
the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah on the other. This is what
Washington is determined to change. Significantly, the current Israeli
offensive has enabled the US to move its military forces into Lebanon for
the first time since they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the bombing
of the US Marine barracks in Beirut in October of 1983.

                     The historical background

Israel has a long history of attempting to transform Lebanon, through a
combination of military pressure and political alliances with right-wing
forces in that country, into a virtual protectorate.

In March 1978, in the midst of the Lebanese civil war, Israel sent
military forces across the border into Lebanon, justifying its actions as
a response to PLO terrorist activity. Though compelled by international
pressure to withdraw after its military operations had resulted in more
than 2,000 Lebanese deaths, Israel maintained control of a 12-mile strip
north of the border by sponsoring a right-wing militia, dubbed the South
Lebanon Army, under the proxy leadership of one Major Saad Haddad.

Four years later, in 1982, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his
defense minister, Ariel Sharon, set into motion a far more ambitious plan
to take political control of all Lebanon and expel the PLO from the
country. Once again, a convenient pretext was found when an Israeli
ambassador was wounded in London by a Palestinian assassin in June 1982.
Though intelligence experts acknowledged that the PLO had nothing to do
with this incident, the Begin government used the event as a pretext to
invade Lebanon. In an operation entitled, with consummate cynicism, "Peace
for Galilee," Israeli troops swept north toward the outskirts of Beirut,
which was subjected to protracted bombing.

The war forced the PLO's expulsion from Lebanon and led to the
Israeli-sanctioned slaughter of thousands of Palestinian refugees by
Lebanese fascist militiamen.

The United States also became involved in the subjugation of Lebanon, with
the Reagan administration stationing Marines in Beirut. But direct US
participation in attacks on the poorer neighborhoods of Beirut (which were
shelled by American naval vessels) created deep hostility, leading to the
suicide bombing in which nearly 250 Marines were killed. The Reagan
administration decided to cut its losses and withdraw from Lebanon.

The Israeli regime, however, sought to maintain control over substantial
portions of south Lebanon. It was out of the popular resistance to the
occupation that Hezbollah emerged as a powerful military and political
force. The guerrilla war conducted by Hezbollah eventually forced Israel
to withdraw its forces in 2000.

                      Israeli military tactics

The current war is not only about wiping out Hezbollah, but destroying any
resistance within Lebanon to US and Israeli domination. This desired end
goes a long way in explaining the means that are being employed. Israel is
carrying out an indiscriminate bombardment of the south, the home of the
poor Shiite population and the main base of support for Hezbollah. The
Israeli military is deliberately targeting the entire civilian population,
destroying whole villages and making the entire region uninhabitable.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Israel has ordered all Lebanese
living in the southern sector below the Litani River to evacuate the
region within 24 hours.

The goal is to turn south Lebanon into a no man's land so as to prepare
the ground for the entry of either Israeli troops or a combination of
Israeli and American forces, with perhaps other national contingents
operating as an "international peace keeping force" with the imprimatur of
the United Nations.

The Israeli offensive is above all a war against the Lebanese poor. The
more affluent residential neighborhoods of Beirut and other parts of the
country have been largely spared. This is in keeping with US and Israeli
policy during the civil war, when they were allied with the Phalange
against the Shiite masses and the Palestinian refugee population.

The unleashing of death and destruction against southern Lebanon is
combined with a bombing campaign aimed at the Shiite southern suburbs of
Beirut and against airports, ports, roads, bridges and power stations in
the rest of the country. The objective is to wreck the country's
infrastructure. In order to remake Lebanon politically, it first must be
gutted physically. This gives some idea of what US imperialism and its
junior partner, Israel, have in store for the people of Syria, Iran and
beyond.

Nor is there any reason to believe Israel's disavowals of plans for a
full-scale ground invasion. The more Israeli leaders discount such a move,
the more likely it becomes. While the scale of the bombing in south
Lebanon is sufficient to kill many thousands of people, it will not
achieve Israel's aims of destroying Hezbollah as a military and political
force, and converting Lebanon into a Zionist protectorate.

Citing the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, NBC's evening news program reported
Thursday that several thousand Israeli troops have begun crossing the
border into southern Lebanon.

                  The role of the United States

The United States is playing a decisive role in the war. It sanctioned the
war in advance and is working in the closest collaboration with the
Israeli military's US-made and American-financed war machine to carry it
out.

On the diplomatic level, the Bush administration is openly aligning its
moves with the military objectives and political calculations of the
Israeli government. Washington is coordinating US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice's impending visit to the region with Israel to give the
Israeli military all the time it wants to inflict maximum possible
destruction in south Lebanon. As the New York Times reported on July 19,
"American officials signaled that Ms. Rice was waiting at least a few more
days before wading into the conflict, in part to give Israel more time to
weaken Hezbollah forces."

There is no precedent for the US government's open opposition to a
ceasefire. The Wall Street Journal, in a fairly frank assessment of US
policy published July 19, began by recalling Washington's diplomatic role
when the last major conflict erupted between Israel and Hezbollah:

"Ten years ago, when Hezbollah and Israeli forces engaged in a multiweek
bloodbath, President Clinton sent Secretary of State Warren Christopher to
the region for six days of intensive shuttle diplomacy between Damascus
and Jerusalem. In the end, he won a cease-fire deal that ended the
fighting, at least temporarily.

"Today, the Bush administration has a starkly different approach."

The US is fully and openly legitimizing war as an instrument of foreign
policy. This is a continuation of its military aggression in Iraq, and an
anticipation of future aggression against Syria, Iran, and other
countries. It is bound up with the Bush doctrine of "preemptive war,"
which has been embraced by the entire American political establishment and
both parties of American imperialism - the Democrats as well as the
Republicans.

Washington's determined effort to allow Israel to continue the slaughter
in Lebanon underscores that the current war is part of US imperialism's
drive, by any and all means, to establish American supremacy throughout
the Middle East.

Whether this reckless and criminal military adventure will, in the short
term, further this objective or lead Washington into an even deeper
debacle in the region remains to be seen.


--------9 of 13--------

Letter to President Bush
Ralph Nader
Monday, July 17. 2006
(http://www.nader.org/template.php?/archives/274-Letter-from-Ralph-Nader-to-President-George-W.-Bush.
html&PHPSESSID=ba7441420dd8b0aa22ce3c4b377a8f12)

July 17, 2006
Dear President Bush:

You have been a weak president, despite your strutting and barking, when
it comes to doing the right things for the American people within the
Constitution and its rule of law. This trait is now in bold relief over
the Israeli government's escalating war crimes pulverizing the defenseless
people and country of Lebanon.

With systematic efficiency, the Israeli government has already destroyed
innocent homes and basic public facilities - ports, airports, highways,
bridges, power stations - which are critical to delivery of food,
medicines, health care, ambulances, water and other essentials for a
civilian population. This bombardment, by U.S. made bombers, military
vehicles, ships and missiles with American taxpayer subsidies, places an
inescapable responsibility upon your shoulders which does not mix with
your usual vacuous messianic rigidity.

As the leading player in official Washington's puppet show, it is time for
you to assert the interests of the American people and those of the broad
Israeli and Palestinian peace movements, by standing up to the puppeteers.
For without this conflict, Hezbollah would not be in today's news.

The time has come for you to return to Texas for a private meeting with
your father, his former national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft and his
former Secretary of State, James Baker. You need to say to them "I can't
trust my advisors anymore; there have been so many tragic blunders. What
do you advise me to do about the destruction of a friendly nation by the
world's fifth most powerful military?"

Here is what I think they should say to you:

1. Take personal command of an immediate rescue effort for the tens of
thousands of Americans trapped in Lebanon by Israel's calculated blocking
of air, land and sea escape routes. You've said the safety of Americans is
your top priority. Prove it by using the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy
facilities to immediately evacuate all our people desperate to escape the
terrorization of Lebanon.

2. You have been so docile and permissive to Israeli demands that any
modest deviation from this posture will make your next move credible.
Announce that you are sending two prominent negotiators - perhaps James
Baker (Republican)  and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell
(Democrat) to Israel and Lebanon to arrange for a cease fire between the
combatants.

Announced at a televised White House news conference with your two envoys,
you can punctuate your seriousness by raising the questions of violations
of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act. Using U.S.
supplied weapon systems to commit civilian atrocities on homes and fleeing
vehicles with children and to inflict collective punishment on mass
civilian populations are not using these weapons for legitimate
self-defense and internal policing, as our federal law requires. Israeli
planes have even fire-bombed wheat silos and gasoline stations in Lebanon.
More mayhem is on the way.

3. Stop acting like an impulsive, out-of-control West Texas Sheriff and
start reading, thinking and listening for a change. When Israel, Britain
and France violated international treaties against aggression in 1956, and
invaded the Suez Canal, President Dwight Eisenhower used his influence to
make them withdraw from Egypt.

In 1982, following a year without any PLO skirmishes over the
Lebanese-Israeli border, Israeli armed forces invaded Lebanon anyway.
They created a path of destruction all the way to Beirut and militarily
occupied south Lebanon for 18 years before they withdrew, except for
retaining Shebaa Farms. In 1982, the New York Times reported
"indiscriminate bombing" of Beirut by Israeli planes. At least 20,000
Lebanese civilians lost their lives in that invasion and many more were
injured. From that conflict Hezbollah was born, composed of many people
whose relatives were casualties in that illegal invasion.

History, George, does not start two weeks or two months ago.  You must
read about past U.S. Presidents who, at least, sent high-level emissaries
to quell similar border fighting. It worked and prisoners were often
exchanged.

You are doing and saying nothing about what the rest of the world believes
is a hugely disproportionate attack against innocent adults and children
in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the UN Charter and other treaties
and federal statutes. You've sworn to uphold these laws. Do so. Because of
the Israeli government's overwhelming military power, the imbalance of
terror against civilians and their property has always been to its
advantage. As has its occupation of Palestine and confiscation of land and
water sources.

4. You can't take sides and be an honest broker. Just about all our
knowledgeable retired military, diplomatic and intelligence officials
believe resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the key to deflating
other agitations in the region. Freedom and justice for the Palestinian
state and security and stability for the Israeli state must both be
achieved.

You have turned your back on the courageous and prominent Israeli peace
movement which normally reflects the positions of half of the Israeli
population.  You've never met with any of its leaders - even those in the
Knesset or former officials in the military, intelligence and Justice
Ministries. Hundreds of reserve combat officers and soldiers of the IDF
have refused, in their words, "to fight beyond the 1967 borders to
dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire population." They pledged
only to fight for Israel's legitimate defense.
(www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp)

5. Once in a while, ask your aides for a sample of Israeli opinion that
rejects the notion that there can be a military solution to this conflict,
despite the military imbalance. For example, reports and editorials in
Haaretz, arguably the most respected newspaper in Israel, would educate
your judgment. In a recent editorial, Haaretz argued that the present
Israeli government has "lost its reason" through the brutal incarceration,
devastation and deprivation of innocent people in Gaza.

In another Haaretz commentary dated July 16th, Gideon Levy writes:

In Gaza, a soldier is abducted from the army of a state that frequently
abducts civilians from their homes and locks them up for years without a
trial - but only we're allowed to do that. And only we're allowed to bomb
civilian population centers.

6. One final bit of advice could come from Papa Bush's circle.  If the
Israeli army decides to invade Lebanon with troops, your support of the
aggression can possibly unleash a domino of warring actions and reactions
over there. As is it, Americans are increasingly fed up with the Iraq
quagmire.

Moreover, we know they don't like many of your domestic policies favoring
the wealthy, the post-Katrina debacle, exporting jobs, and among our
conservative base, your enormous deficits. So our Republican Party's
control of government is at stake in November. Don't you have your hands
full with Iraq whose invasion we all urged you to avoid in 2003?


--------10 of 13--------

American media unquestioningly defends Israeli violence
By David Walsh
21 July 2006
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/medi-j21.shtml

Over the past week, the American mass media has obediently fallen into
line in defense of Israeli violence and aggression. As hundreds of
civilians have died in Lebanon and an estimated half a million been made
homeless by Israeli bombs and shells, the US media has consistently
painted the conflict as a defensive action by the Zionist regime against
provocations by "terrorists."

The American public is deliberately being kept ignorant about the history
and reality of the situation in the Middle East, as part of the combined
effort by Washington and Tel Aviv to impose their brutal will on the
people of the region.

The major television networks and cable channels, through which much of
the population receives its information about world events, have played an
especially foul role in concealing the real political and social
questions. To watch the television news channels and network news programs
for a single afternoon and evening is largely to bathe in ignorance and
reaction.

This begins with the manner in which the Middle East conflict is
portrayed. The language and phrases used are carefully calibrated to
conform to the arguments of the Israeli government and its sponsors in the
US.

The television news programs inevitably present the current conflict as a
struggle between Israel and "terrorists." Right-winger and xenophobe Lou
Dobbs of CNN, for example, on Wednesday evening, in the course of a
one-hour program, repeats this thought no less than eight times: "Israel
tonight is stepping up its offensive against terrorists in Gaza," "Israeli
troops tonight are fighting Hezbollah terrorists in one of the biggest
ground battles of this conflict," "Hezbollah terrorists tonight are firing
a barrage of rockets at cities and towns in northern Israel," and so forth
(from CNN transcripts).

Without fail, as well, any reference to the fighting must place the blame
for its eruption on Hamas and Hezbollah, not long-term Israeli ambitions.
Bob Schieffer, on the CBS Evening News Wednesday, for example, almost in
passing, refers to Hezbollah as the group that "started the trouble in
Lebanon." Tucker Carlson of MSNBC explains that Hezbollah "sparked the
conflict." On CNN, Miles O'Brien comments, "At the same time, Israeli
troops have moved into central Gaza. Six Palestinians killed in that
offensive. That operation began last month after Palestinian militants
kidnapped an Israeli soldier."

No hint emerges from any of the television news programs that underlying
the massive Israeli operation might be geopolitical aims, that what we see
unfolding is an operation that has been long in the planning and only
waiting for a pretext. Such a possibility is not even suggested.

The news on American television is nothing but propaganda. It has, in
fact, a totalitarian character. No effort is made to educate the public.
The news is delivered for the most part by ignorant individuals, unaware
of history and social reality, simply repeating lines fed to them.

When there is any question about the nature and scope of the current
operation in Lebanon and Gaza, the television news programs simply turn to
the State Department or the Israeli government itself for clarification.

For example, when is an invasion not an invasion? When the Tel Aviv regime
says so. O'Brien of CNN, on the Israeli incursion into Lebanon, July 19:
"Israeli troops are on that side. They say it's not an invasion, they say
it 's part of an effort to root-out Hezbollah bunkers, strongholds and
those rockets which continue to besiege the northern part of Israel."

And when is the destruction of a country's infrastructure no such thing?
Also when the Israelis say so. Israel is not responsible for the
destruction of bridges, roads, tunnels, apartment complexes, port
facilities, factories. The "terrorists" are responsible. Israeli hands
could not be cleaner. A parade of Zionist government officials appears on
American television: on Wednesday alone, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon
Peres (to borrow a phrase from Philip Roth, speaking with "all the cold
authority of that voice dipped in sludge"), former prime ministers
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, Israeli ambassador to the US, Dan
Gillerman.

All the veteran Israeli leaders have blood on their hands. They bandy
about the word "terrorist," but the state of Israel was formed through
explicitly terrorist means and the various political figures have
personally participated in or presided over deadly military operations
against the Palestinian, Lebanese and Jordanian populations.

They are all well-trained practitioners of the Big Lie-that tiny Israel is
under siege from its barbarous Arab neighbors. They know the "hot buttons"
to push. They interact with their US interviewers like members of the same
club. Israel, they seem to suggest, is "America in the Middle East,"
practically the 51st state.

Peres appears at least twice on US television Wednesday, on "Hardball with
Chris Matthews" on MSNBC and "Larry King Live" on CNN. Both interviewers
are deferential to the veteran war criminal. Peres claims to King, "Israel
didn' t start the war. Israel didn't attack anybody. We gave back to
Lebanon all the land, all the water.... We were living for six years in
total peace. We didn't hurt anybody."

Peres, of course, is lying. Israeli history in relation to Lebanon is one
of provocation, violence and criminality. Before Israel's establishment,
Zionist leaders envisioned a greater Israel that would include the
southern portion of Lebanon as far as the Litani River (perhaps Israel's
military goal today in any invasion). In the 1950s, the Israeli government
considered the fracturing of Lebanon, the establishment of a Christian
state and the annexation of the southern part of the country.

Between 1968 and 1974, the Lebanese army recorded more than 3,000
violations of Lebanese territory by Israeli armed forces; 880 Palestinians
and Lebanese were killed in the attacks. Some 150 Palestinian camps and
villages in southern Lebanon were razed and olive groves and crops
destroyed.

In March 1978, Israel invaded Lebanon, killing more than 2,000 people and
making some 250,000 homeless. In one of the most gruesome crimes of modern
times, the Israelis allowed their allies in the fascist Southern Lebanon
Army to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla in
September 1982, where the latter carried out the slaughter of an estimated
2,000 men, women and children. An Israeli inquiry later found that Defense
Minister Ariel Sharon bore "personal responsibility" for the massacre. The
Israeli military proceeded to occupy southern Lebanon for another 18
years, during which time countless Lebanese and Palestinians suffered at
their hands.

For the American television networks, however, history began when Hamas
guerrillas seized a single Israeli soldier on June 25.

                      Defense of civilian deaths

On Wednesday, Netanyahu, the extreme right-winger beloved of the
neo-fascists in the Republican Party, defends the killing of civilians to
MSNBC's Tucker Carlson. In keeping with the Zionist regime's line (and the
line of every imperialist bully), civilian deaths are the fault of the
"terrorists," who insist on mingling with the general population. "If you
have to take out a rocket emplacement in a crowded neighborhood, you have
to do it," explains Netanyahu, to which Carlson audibly adds, "That's
right." Carlson is an empty-headed yuppie, formerly of CNN where he was
most famous for his bow tie, who suggested in 2001 that torture "may be
the lesser of two evils."

When Lebanese casualties are mentioned by the television news, they are
inevitably balanced by reports of Israeli deaths and wounded, as though
the figures were equivalent. On Wednesday afternoon, the Fox News
Channel's John Gibson, a fanatical right-winger, intones, "Hezbollah
attacked the holy city of Nazareth," where a rocket killed two Israeli
Arabs. The various news commentators are astounded to learn that local
residents blame Israel, first, for not providing bomb shelters for the
predominantly Arab population, and, second, for launching its attacks on
Gaza and Lebanon.

"Hundreds dead, more than a thousand wounded, half a million displaced"
proclaim the various anchormen and women, not bothering to explain that
the overwhelming majority of those suffering are Lebanese civilians. With
a vast military preponderance, the Israelis are targeting a virtually
defenseless population. Wednesday witnesses the highest daily toll of
civilian casualties yet, with some 70 killed, and this fact is barely
mentioned.

If the American television networks had the slightest honesty, they would
have begun their news programs Wednesday with the fact that Louise Arbour
of the UN High Commission on Human Rights suggested that Israel might be
guilty of war crimes. She declared that the obligation to protect
civilians during hostilities is entrenched in international law, "which
defines war crimes and crimes against humanity." Moreover, she argued that
individual political leaders could find themselves charged with war
crimes, adding, "I think one must issue a sobering signal to those who are
behind these initiatives to examine very closely their personal exposure,"
she told the BBC.

The International Red Cross, the enforcer of the Geneva Conventions on the
conduct of war, also declared Wednesday that Israel had violated the
principle of proportionality provided for in the Conventions and their
protocols.

US television reports none of this on Wednesday.

The fighting is invariably described as "fierce exchanges between
Hezbollah guerillas and the Israelis," again, as though there were some
sort of equivalence between the Islamic movement's Katyusha rockets and
mortars, and the Zionist military's F-16 bombers, Apache helicopter
gunships, artillery, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

Almost unavoidably, glimpses of the truth appear on American television
news programs. Certain reporters on the spot in Lebanon, obviously
affected by the mass suffering, provide some picture of what life is like
under the Israeli siege.

Nic Robertson of CNN reports on the bombing of a food distribution
warehouse in Beirut, which burns for hours. He warns of a "humanitarian
crisis in the making," with half a million people out of a population of 4
million displaced, "airports bombed, ports blockaded." Cooking gas is
difficult to find, he reports, and food will run out. CBS News carries a
report from southern Lebanon-a father has lost two children to an Israeli
bomb. Over the bomb crater, the father demands to know, "Do you see
Hezbollah fighters here?" David Wright of ABC News notes, "Civilians have
borne the weight of this war."

One of the most moving encounters appears on ABC, with an Ethiopian woman,
who works as a maid in Beirut. The young woman is crying, obviously
terrified, cowering in a doorway. The reporter notes, with sympathy, "No
ship is coming for her."

The hostility of the Lebanese population to the Israeli war and the
backing of the resistance cannot be entirely evaded. CBS News notes that
Hezbollah is "drawing support from the war meant to destroy it." Even a
Fox News report from a park in Beirut, where the homeless are camped out,
has to admit that there are "no hard feelings toward Hezbollah." An aid
worker tells the Fox reporter, "the refugees here adore Hezbollah."

A British ITN report on the devastation of Lebanon, shown on MSNBC,
however, is the most forthright piece of reporting to appear on the US
television networks Wednesday.

Genuine bloodthirstiness also raises its head. Carlson of MSNBC casually
asks the former prime minister Netanyahu if the latter doesn't think it
would be a good idea if Israel were to bomb Syria. Carlson likes the
question so much, he asks it twice on his program.

Billionaire reactionary Steve Forbes, who sought the Republican
presidential nomination in 2000, appears on Fox News to advocate "letting
'em fight" in the Middle East. Crushing Hezbollah will be good for stocks,
we learn.

Brit Hume of Fox News somewhat mournfully asks his usual panel of Fred
Barnes, Mort Kondracke and Mara Liasson "how long can the US hold out"
against the pictures of refugees and devastation in Lebanon before it is
forced to pressure Israel into considering a ceasefire. Not long, they
regretfully reply.

The Israeli embassy, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the
entire Zionist lobbying enterprise expend vast amount of time and money to
intervene in and manipulate the US media. The lobbying in and of itself
would not be successful if its aims did not coincide with American
imperialist policy. Apart from that, the pro-Israel operation would simply
be considered a criminal conspiracy.

How else to explain certain stories that suddenly appear on each
television network and cable channel simultaneously? On Wednesday, for
example, the various American news programs, as though on cue, run stories
on the supposed threat posed by Hezbollah terrorist attacks in the US.

Each of the networks or channels treats the story with its own particular
touch. Rupert Murdoch's Fox News pulls no punches. "Your World with Neil
Cavuto," an afternoon program, asks Wednesday, "Are Hezbollah cells a
bigger threat than Al-Qaeda?" Brian Levin, "terror analyst," and Wayne
Simmons, a former CIA operative, unsurprisingly, answer in the
affirmative. Simmons suggests, without providing a shred of evidence, that
Hezbollah is "much more of a threat than Al-Qaeda." Fox subsequently runs
a headline, "FBI hunts for Hezbollah sleeper cells inside US."

Not to be outdone, CNN asks its viewers, to most of whom the question has
no doubt never occurred before: "How concerned are you about Hezbollah
attacks in the US?" The cable channel's Wolf Blitzer, formerly the
Jerusalem Post correspondent in Washington, warns of "fears that Hezbollah
is going to hit the US."

The CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer also introduces the allegation
with a sensational headline, "Hezbollah in the US," only later to
half-debunk the story by pointing out that Hezbollah supporters in the US
have never been charged or suspected of any terrorist attacks.

Another carefully coordinated story appears on CNN and other channels
Wednesday: about a group of American Jews emigrating to Israel. CNN
reports, "For Jehuda Saar, a father of three, the fighting only
strengthened his resolve to pick up his family and leave New Jersey." Saar
comments, "Without shooting one bullet, without holding a gun, we're
Israel's best weapon against any detractor, anyone that wants to destroy
Israel." However, 22-year-old Steven Rubin is more than eager to "shoot
bullets" and "hold a gun"; he plans to join the Israeli army.

Rubin tells CNN that the current fighting "only makes me want to go there
more. And it validates everything I've been thinking for the existence of
the state of Israel to see how important everything is at this point."
More than a few of Israel's most fanatical settlers come from Brooklyn,
Queens, New Jersey and Long Island.

Conveniently, Arye Mekel, Israeli Consul General is on hand for the
departure of the group of émigrés at Kennedy Airport in New York. He tells
CNN: "For us, for Israel, it's a huge boost to our morale, feeling that
fellow Jews around the world are not deterred."

One afternoon, one evening of US television news...


--------11 of 13--------

Subject: FOCUS | Bush Admin Rushing More Bombs to Israel
Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 06:41:26 -0700
From: t r u t h o u t <messenger [at] truthout.org>
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/072206Z.shtml

The Bush administration is rushing precision-guided bombs to Israel. The
request for expedited delivery of the satellite and laser-guided bombs was
described as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in
Lebanon to strike. An arms-sale package approved last year allows Israel
to purchase from the United States as many as 100 "bunker buster" weapons,
GBU-28s developed for penetrating hardened command centers located deep
underground.


--------12 of 13--------

Devil Sends Observers; Hell to be Remodeled
ed-news
July 22

Inner Ring, Hell - The Devil today expressed admiration for the Bush and
Israeli governments. "And I thought _I_ was the Master of Evil! Well, I
had another think coming! Brilliant!

"As they say, the devil is in the details. Accordingly, I have today
dispatched demonic observers to record the cunning nuances that put a new
face on evil. I have been challenged. We here must now get worse, lots
worse. Let it never be said that Hell is the lesser evil.

"We're moving the Goalposts of Evil. With any luck, we won't have to move
them again for another three or four years.

"To provide the extra space, devils are massing on the dark bottom of
Heaven; bombing has begun; angels are fleeing. By now they should be used
to it. We've seized chunks of Heaven before. Soon Greater Hell will have
it all. Seig Hell!"


--------13 of 13--------

 Holocaust. If it's
 been done to you, why not do
 it to another?


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