Israeli Soldiers refusing to serve in the occupied territories wrote in a letter to Ariel Sharon: “The state of Israel commits war crimes and tramples over human rights, destroying Palestinian cities, towns and villages; expropriating land, detaining and executing without trial, conducting mass demolitions of houses, businesses, and public institutions; looting, closure, curfew, torture, prevention of medical care, construction and expansion of settlements -all these actions are opposed to human morality, and violate international treaties ratified by Israel.”

News Blog RC has put together some facts regarding the Israel Palestinian conflict, the facts are not about Muslim or Jew but rather, right and wrong:

1. In 1918, when the Balfour Declaration was made, 90% of the population of historic Palestine were Arabs, with only 56,000 Jewish people residing there.

2. Palestinians are now living in 18% of their historic homeland. Israel is stealing 50% of this through settlements and building of the apartheid style separation wall.

3. Israel appropriates 80% of the natural water from Palestinians every year.

4. Non-Jewish Israelis cannot buy or lease land in Israel.

5. The land now called Israel sits on the site of more than 531 (now destroyed) Palestinian villages. Palestinians in these villages were either massacred or fled for their lives during the 1947-1948 war between immigrant Jews (now Israeli’s) and the native Arab Palestinians.

6. Israel has renamed almost every village and town to cover up all traces of the Palestinian heritage.

7. Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem is illegal under international law and rejected by the international community. Despite this, Israel has surrounded Jerusalem with the apartheid wall and is now slowly demolishing Palestinian homes and ‘Judaizing’ Jerusalem.

8. Palestinians from Jerusalem who marry Palestinians from anywhere outside of Jerusalem lose their Jerusalem passports if they leave Jerusalem. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza cannot move to Jerusalem to live. Thus, parents in Jerusalem are forced to check the ID cards of potential brides and grooms for their children, to ensure they are Jerusalemites.

9. There are 120 Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank. These road blocks divide the West Bank into 300 separate clusters and make everyday travel a long ordeal.

10. Cars owned by Palestinians are colour coded to distinguish Jews from non-Jews.

11. Palestinian children who throw stones are imprisoned by Israel for approximately one year, in adult prisons, breaching provisions of UN Conventions. IDF soldiers have on numerous occasions shot and killed children for throwing stones.

12. Israel receives approximately $5 billion in aid from the U.S.A. each year, more than the whole African continent put together (minus Egypt).

13. Since Israel was created in 1948, combined US military and exonomic aid to Israel has reached £100 billion.

14. Israel claims to be building the separation wall between it and the Palestinian territories for its own security. Reports have shown that Israel is in fact using the wall to steal the most fertile West Bank land from Palestinians, by encircling villages with the wall and cutting the villagers off from their farmland.
If security was the real concern, the wall would run along the pre-1967 internationally recognised green line border.

15. Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, and it refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspectors from its sites.

16. High ranking military officers in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war (POW) were executed by the IDF. This is in breach of the Geneva Convention on POW.

17. During the January 09 conflict between Israel and Palestine, the IDF deliberately stopped ambulances from getting to wounded Palestinians during IDF incursions into Palestinian population centres. This occurred over 1,000 times.

18. During this time, over 200 ambulances were attacked by live gun fire, rubber bullets and stones from Israeli settlers.

19. During these attacks, 12 journalists were killed by Israeli forces and over 300 were injured due to physical assaults and/or gunshot wounds.

20. During the 22 day assault in Gaza, 960 civilians lost their lives, including 288 children and 121 women. 239 police officers were also killed; the majority (235) in air strikes carried out on the first day of the attacks. The Ministry of Health have also confirmed that a total of 5,303 Palestinians were injured in the assault, including 1,606 children and 828 women.

21. Israel is currently detaining as many as 7,500 Palestinian political prisoners in prisons with common criminals.

22. The unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip is 67% and in the West Bank it is 48%.

23. Between 28 September 2000 and May 2005, over 750 Palestinian children were killed by Israeli forces and settlers, including approximately 150 children who were on their way to or from school, or were sitting in school class rooms when shot by snipers.

24. It was not until 1988 that Israeli’s barred “Jews Only” job adverts.

25. Four of Israel’s Prime Ministers (Begin, Shamir, Rabin and Sharon) took part in either bomb attacks on civilians, massacres of civilians, or forced expulsions of civilians from their villages. Sharon was held responsible for the massacre of more than 2,750 Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila. The UN concluded it was an act of Genocide.

26. Palestinian Refugees make up the largest refugee population in the world.

27. In a report in 2005, the US Government concluded that there were now more Arab Palestinians in Israel and the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza than Israeli Jews. The Palestinian population numbers 5.3 million and the Israeli Jewish population numbers 5.2 million.

Notwithstanding these sad facts about the occupied territories, Palestinians continue to endure their hardships on a daily basis and a sovereign state of Palestine continues to be inhibited. Israel continues to build its illegal settlements whilst the US, Western governments and the mainstream Western media continue to largely ignore these crimes. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that the plight of Palestinians is not ignored.

Mr Simon has vowed to quit the government once he persuades Peru’s parliament to repeal two new laws which effectively open-up large swathes of indigenous lands to natural resource exploitation; namely oil drilling, logging and the introduction of hydroelectric dams. These proposed new laws are controversial, to say the least, and are facing strong opposition.

The indigenous groups, to the government’s surprise, have been extremely well organised and are posing a threat to President Alan Garcías’ plan to attract foreign investment to the region. The government’s official line is that its security forces have been the victims of a ‘frenzy’, with 11 police officers killed on Friday night. Indigenous leaders have, however, argued that the violence erupted after police fired shots from helicopters into crowds of protesters, with at least 22 civilians killed. The Chachapoyas Medical Association has since stated that 25 Indians have died in the violence. Other sources put the number at 34, while hundreds of indigenous civilians are said to be missing.

These developments have, by some commentators, been described as “the Amazon’s Tiananmen”. The protesters, armed with only spears and machetes, are proving to be a strong opposition to the government’s new laws and look determined to continue with their protests.

Associated Press

The BNP believe that all people of non white British bloodlines should be removed from this country and/or given less than equal rights. How would this be possible? What about inter-racial marriage, are their children British?

The Anti Semitic, Anti Islamic, Anti Homosexual BNP party are fundamentally fascist and ultimately racist. Nowadays, their views are portrayed as being a little liberal, but News Blog RC are fairly sure that the Nazi Party started this way too.

News Blog RC think it’s sad to see that the UK voters have lost so much faith in the other political parties. As a result, the BNP and such parties are able to pick up the vote of people who are sick and tired of the rest and ultimately win elections.

Read “The BNP and the European Elections – Some Thoughts”

Watch the funny comments below from Jon Stewart, on the speech given by President Obama during his trip to the Middle East. Obama’s address at Cairo University was put forward in tones that were previously unheard of by any US president. Fox News obviously weren’t too happy.

Watch Obama’s address at Cairo University here in full.

Unless we see actions, speeches like this will just be seen as empty rhetoric by many in the Muslim World. However, News Blog RC appreciates the change in tone from previous administrations of arguably distinct imperialism to a tone of equality and brotherhood. But as Obama has already proved in his short Presidency, he has tendencies to say one thing and do another. Awaiting concrete actions Mr. Obama.

Read the BBC reaction here.

Funny Video. Barack Obama visited 10 Downing Street recently, but it was UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown who took the limelight after ignoring a policeman’s offer of a handshake. Maybe he knew where Obama’s hand had just been.

US Car giant General Motors (GM) is expected to file for bankruptcy today and signal the biggest failure amongst industrial companies in the history of America. GM spent the weekend securing agreements with its creditors, unions and parties who are buying its European operations. It is also preparing to announce which US plants are going to be closed – 14 are expected to be closed in total with a loss of 14,000 jobs. The majority of GM’s creditors say they will write off $27 Billion dollars which they are owed.

In its history, General Motors has sold more cars than any car manufacturer in the World but recently, sales have collapsed. This is mainly due to the global recession and their inability to produce more fuel efficient vehicles.

Following bankruptcy, the plan is to start a new smaller and more streamline GM partly owned by the Unions and its Creditors. However, the biggest largest shareholder will be the US government, which will hold a 60% stake in the company. Large amounts of public money will be pumped into General Motors with $30 billion expected to provide new funding and hopefully get the company back on its feet within 3 months.

News Blog think the US government is threatening bankruptcy in an attempt to force the creditors to agree to their terms. It’s clear this deal hugely favours the Obama administration, with their stake earning them 60% of the company while the creditors are only left with 10%. The US government are using taxpayer’s money to restart General Motors and ultimately give them a stronger grip on the industry sector.

written by rez

Its getting close to the European elections and if the predictions are to be believed, the British National Party will probably win lots more seats in the European council.

I dont particularly care for getting into massive debate about Europe, Elections or the BNP but here are some paragraphs of thoughts i had anyway.

I choose to believe that a substantial reason for their increasing ‘popularity’ at the polling stations is a protest vote, and not a vindication of the BNPs policies. It symbolises the frustration, fear and hopelessness that many people in communities all over Britain are feeling – feelings that are historically-proven fertile recruiting grounds for the far-right mantra of segregation and hate. The ineptitude, incompetence and complete failure of the major political parties to address some of the issues that Britain is facing today, is categorically the single main reason for this resurgence of the extreme right.

If you haven’t heard all ready the BNP have a revolutionary plan this time round – they are going to blame brown people for everything. Particularly Muslims. What a ‘cunning swine’ of a policy!

I am fully aware that nowadays brown people with anything resembling a ‘muslim’ name are the western medias favourite post-coldwar enemy – we’re the bad guys in lots of Hollywood films, so it must be true. Some of us, if you’ve occasionally come across the likes of the Fox News channel, have hooks for hands, prefer our beards to be of the unkept and straggly variety, and all have incomprehnsible names beginning with Abdul. Our attire does not consist of trousers and shirts like the rest of Britain, instead we opt for baggy pyjamas that expose our ankles with matching ill-fitting top. We also like to drink tea and then place the tea-cozy on our head, before heading out to the mosque to plot high treason.

We have arranged marriages to our cousins who we immediately shroud in a Darth Vader outfit, replacing the helmet with yet more cloth and some spectacles. And then we make her walk 10 yards behind us everywhere we go, like a detached shadow. She then, with our help obviously, begins work on producing a pool of children on who we strive to indoctrinate the tenants of our ‘jihadist’ faith, as well as the art of mercilessly abusing the welfare system. We either drive taxis, work in restaurants or groom young white females for pimping for a living.

ANYway, I hope whatever happens, it becomes a catalyst for an honest, serious look at some of the underlying socio-economic issues, and some of the real concerns of ordinary people in Britain today. Followed by an attempt at solutions. And then let peace and love reign over these pleasant lands. And that one day very soon, I wake up and my mortgage has been mysteriously paid off.

Firstly, a testament to George Galloway MP and the many Members of Parliament who have never claimed a penny for expenses during their political lives. The rest who are currently embroiled in the UK expenses row must be wishing to claim a quick flight to the nearest deserted island and hide.

Benefit fraud for £65 a week results in jail term while the thousands claimed by politicians just have to be given back. How much money must these people have, that they are able to instantly write cheques for 30 grand and just say “Sorry, there you go”. Jail would be a good idea, if only to stop it happening in the future and let them experience real life for a change. Showering just won’t be the same.

British politics is evidently getting a bit stale and needs a scandal or two to keep it mildly interesting. Forget the recession lets worry about the few thousands that politicians took and leave the millions the banks ate. What’s all the fuss? We all knew they did it anyway. Many employees in major companies partake, one of the perks of the job, working hard means you deserve to skim a little right?

Politicians are looking to blame the rules set forth by the fees department. Lets be honest, they knew exactly what they were doing but they could get away with it so they did. I’m still waiting for the day when one of them answers a direct question put forward to them. Having said that I quite enjoyed seeing Margaret Beckett “fingered” on Question Time which was recently broadcast on the BBC. You can view the video here.