SEPTEMBER 2006
Germany to deploy Lebanon taskforce
By Hugh Williamson in Berlin
Published: September 13 2006 18:02 | Last updated: September 13 2006 18:02
Angela Merkel, German chancellor, announced on Wednesday that her cabinet had taken the “historic” decision to dispatch a naval taskforce to Lebanon, in a move marking a new chapter in Berlin’s readiness to support international peacekeeping operations.Germany had last month signalled its readiness to police Lebanese waters, a move that had assisted in the lifting of Israel’s naval blockade, but the decision by Berlin had been delayed by detailed negotiations with Beirut over the exact terms of the maritime mandate.
The mission, involving 2,400 naval and air force
troops and nine ships, is expected to be endorsed by
parliament next Wednesday.
More than 7,500 German troops are already involved in
nine peacekeeping missions around the world, but Ms
Merkel said the Lebanese deployment “is unlike any
other” because of Germany’s “special
responsibility for the existence of Israel”
following the Nazi atrocities in the second world war.
Eberhard Sandschneider, director of Berlin’s DGAP
foreign policy think-tank, said the decision for German
troops to operate near Israel’s borders marked a
turning point in the country’s efforts to take on
greater international responsibilities. “Such a
German mission to the Middle East would have not been
imaginable 10 years ago,” he said.
Germany had previously ruled out sending ground troops to Lebanon, but said Wednesday that, as part of the new mission, 100 German military advisers would be based in Lebanon to train local army officials.The ships, including two frigates and four high-speed boats, will control Lebanese waters to a distance of 50 sea miles from the coast. Lebanese naval liaison officers would work alongside German sailors but would “not have a veto” over German operations to stop and search suspicious seacraft, Ms Merkel said.Wednesday’s announcement follows protracted negotiations with the Lebanese government over the mission’s exact mandate. Pro-Syrian Lebanese officials had earlier either opposed the mission or insisted that German ships should not enter a 10km zone off the Lebanese coast.
EU Gets Its Own
Pro-Israel Lobby
September 6, 2006 7:30 a.m. EST
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East
Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - European parliamentarians sympathetic to Israel have formally banded together in the European Union's first official pro-Israel lobby. They will inaugurate the new "European Friends of Israel" organization next week, according to Ynet.
The endeavor is reportedly being backed by Jewish businessmen across the continent.
Organizers hope the lobby will one day enjoy the influence that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has in Washington.
Lobby leader Michel Gur Ari said, "We have set ourselves a target to turn Europe into Israel's ally."
Yehoshua Ben-Yosef, the lobby's representative in Israel, told Ynet that to date more than 150 European parliamentarians have joined.
2nd Sept 2006
EU plans to hold talks with Hamas cause divisions
01.09.2006 - 20:07 CET/| By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / LAPPEENRANTA - EU foreign ministers meeting
in Finland agreed that the bloc should take the lead in
reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process – but
member states are divided over plans to hold talks with
the Palestinian Hamas movement. Finnish foreign minister
Erkki Tuomioja said after informal discussions in the
lakeside town of Lappeenranta on Friday (1 September)
that ministers had demonstrated "very big
unanimity" on the need for the EU to be
"engaged" in the Middle East. Ministers agreed that
after a summer of intense violence in Lebanon, the bloc
should take the lead in refocusing attention on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the EU's foreign
policy chief Javier Solana declaring before the talks
that "I insist that we have to go back to the
central theme." With the EU providing almost half of
the troops in the UN's Lebanon force, the time is now
ripe for the Europeans to push for a broader peace
settlement in the region, diplomats said. "The
Americans are focused on the November elections in Iraq.
They are not very engaged in the Israeli-Palestinian
issue," said one source. "There is a general
feeling that the EU is now the central player and that
there is a new window of opportunity," Dutch foreign
minister Bernard Bot said, adding that the EU as largest
cash provider to the Palestinians should be a
"player not only a payer."
But behind the façade of unity on a more assertive EU
role, important divisions exist on what strategy the bloc
should follow towards the Islamist Hamas group which is
leading the Palestinian government since it won elections
earlier this year - but which also figures on the EU's
list of terrorist groups. Just before the talks on
Thursday, Mr Tuomioja appeared to propose a major EU
policy change towards Hamas by suggesting that the bloc
should open contact with the movement, telling German
daily Financial Times Deutschland "Hamas is not the
same party it was before the elections." Mr Bot
indicated that the line towards Hamas is under
discussion, telling reporters that "I see a shift
towards the idea that we should include them [Hamas] in
the game."EU diplomats said that the possible
formation of a Palestinian government of national unity,
composed of both Hamas and the moderate Fatah movement of
president Mahmud Abbas, could open the door for contacts
with Hamas. Hopes are being put on more moderate forces
within Hamas, who in June endorsed a document which
supports the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel
drawn up together with the rival Fatah faction.
European
watchdog calls for clampdown on CIA
·
UK is urged to take lead in monitoring agents
· Scathing attack on Bush, 'the King John of USA'
Nicholas
Watt in Brussels and Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Friday September 8, 2006
The Guardian
The head of Europe's human rights watchdog
yesterday called for monitoring of CIA agents operating
in Britain and other European countries, after President
George Bush's admission that the US had detained
terrorist suspects in secret prisons.
Terry Davis, secretary general of the Council of Europe, said CIA agents operating in Europe should be subject to the same rules as British agents working for MI5 and MI6.
"There is a need to deal with the conduct of allied foreign security services agents active on the territory of a council member state," Terry Davis said. "In the UK there is parliamentary scrutiny of the intelligence services but there is no parliamentary scrutiny of friendly foreign services. The UK should be in the lead on this issue."
Sinn Fein leader to meet Hamas officials
Gerry Adams says ahead of first trip to Israel, PA ‘It is imperative that genuine negotiation and dialogue between the representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli people commences as quickly as possible’
Associated Press 09.03.06
DUBLIN, Ireland - Sinn
Fein leader Gerry Adams announced plans Sunday for
his first trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories,
including a visit with leaders of Israel's arch-enemies
in Hamas. Adams, whose Irish Republican Army-linked party
has grown in recent years to become the major
representative of Northern Ireland's Catholic minority,
said he hoped his visit Tuesday through Thursday would
encourage compromise between Israel and Hamas."It is
imperative that genuine negotiation and dialogue between
the representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli people
commences as quickly as possible," Adams said.
"While no two conflicts are identical, there are key
conflict resolution principles which can be applied in
any situation. These include inclusive dialogue, respect
for electoral mandates, and respect for human rights and
international law."
Adams said he had been invited to the region by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah movement that Hamas defeated in elections earlier this year. The two rival forces are currently negotiating about potentially forming a coalition government.The Sinn Fein chief said he also planned to meet Hamas leaders of the Palestine Legislative Council and deliver a speech at a peace center named in honor of Shimon Peres, Israel's current vice premier, who was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Adams' planned visit is being viewed negatively in Washington, where Republican congressmen normally supportive of Sinn Fein don't want Adams to be seen supporting Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. The administration of President George W. Bush has been mulling whether to lift its ban on Sinn Fein fund-raising among Irish-Americans, a restriction in force since 2005, when international authorities blamed the IRA for robbing a Belfast bank and knifing to death a Belfast Catholic.
But Adams stressed that Sinn Fein wanted to be seen helping factions in other long-deadlocked conflicts to draw inspiration from the largely successful peace process in Northern Ireland. The past 38 years of conflict over the British territory has claimed more than 3,600 lives, but has largely abated since the IRA began a cease-fire in 1997.The IRA, which was responsible for about 1,775 of the killings, last year renounced violence for political purposes and disarmed. But a central goal of Northern Ireland's 1998 peace accord — a joint Catholic-Protestant administration for Northern Ireland that includes Sinn Fein — has been on hold since 2002.
Adams, 58, was interned as an IRA suspect in the early 1970s and was a negotiator in an IRA delegation with Britain in 1972 — a time when he held no significant position in Sinn Fein, which at the time was a powerless adjunct to the IRA. Despite this, Adams has always denied IRA membership. Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell says police intelligence indicates Adams remained on the IRA's seven-man command until last year.As leader of Sinn Fein since 1983, Adams has steered the long-isolated party slowly into the political mainstream. His party in 2003 became No. 1 among Catholics north of the Irish border, and is hoping to gain enough parliamentary seats in the Republic of Ireland next year to help form the next coalition government here.
..............................................................................
EU and Russia to cement relations in new northern treaty
- 01.09.2006 - 17:44
The new trend of closer EU-Russia relations is set to see
a northern thrust
with a permanent treaty setting out EU, Russia, Norway
and Iceland's joint
strategic goals for the Barents and Baltic seas.
http://euobserver.com/9/22317/?rk=1
.............................................................................
1st Sept.2006:
Police in the UK are keeping tabs on
"thousands of people" who may be involved in
terrorism, Scotland Yard's head of counter-terrorism
says. Peter Clarke told a BBC Two documentary
Al-Qaeda: Time to Talk? that his officers had to be
focused on a "whole range of people".
"Not just terrorists not just attackers but the people who might be tempted to support or encourage," he said. He recently described the intelligence picturein the UK as "very disturbing". BBC World News
To Israel with hate—and guilt
Aug 17th 2006
From The Economist print edition
Why Europe, unlike America, finds it so hard to love Israel
EPA
THE ugly little mid-summer war that has just ended in Lebanon spilled over into the parliaments, streets, television studios and dinner parties of Europe. By and large, Israel got the worst of it.
The Council of Europe said that Israel's response to Hizbullah's cross-border attacks was “disproportionate” and accused Israel of “indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets”. Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister, called Israel's reaction “excessive”. In Norway, Jostein Gaarder, the author of “Sophie's World”, accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and murdering children, and said that the Jewish state had forfeited its right to exist. In many capitals, anti-war protesters marched under Hizbullah flags. When Britain's Tony Blair tried to explain things from Israel's point of view—and failed to call for an immediate ceasefire—his political stock took another tumble.
Mr Gaarder was prodded into a half-hearted apology. But the truth is that, far from being extreme, these criticisms of Israel convey the mood of millions of Europeans, rooted in what polls suggest is a hardening attitude. A YouGov poll in Britain, taken in the first two weeks of the conflict, found 63% of respondents saying that the Israeli response to Hizbullah's attack was “disproportionate”; a similar German poll had 75% saying so. Such reactions reflect a wider European view of Israel that contrasts sharply with America's. In a Pew Global Attitudes survey earlier this year, far more Europeans sympathised with the Palestinians than with Israel (see chart). These findings come on top of a European Union poll in 2003 that had 59% of Europeans considering Israel as a greater menace to world peace than Iran, North Korea and Pakistan.
Why has Europe become so reflexively anti-Israel, just when America has become so reflexively pro-Israel? Europe has no equivalent of America's powerful AIPAC Israeli lobby, and it also has a disgruntled (and growing) Muslim population. But neither is enough to explain all the difference in attitude. Indeed, many Muslims in Europe now feel beleaguered and can only dream of wielding AIPAC's clout. Some Americans blame rising anti-Semitism in Europe, which they also attribute in part to its growing Muslim population. But there is a difference between being anti-Semitic and being anti-Israel. And in any case, it is not obvious that anti-Semitism is a big factor. In central Europe, for example, there seems to be both greater anti-Semitism and more support for Israel. And some polls suggest that more Americans think Jews have “too much influence” in their country than do Europeans.
It is also often the right in Europe, linked with anti-Semitism in the past, that is most supportive of Israel today. Britain's Conservative Party, for instance, not always known for its admiration of Jews or Israel, is now the most pro-Israel party. In Italy, which invented fascism, Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Gianfranco Fini's formerly neo-fascist National Alliance, are more pro-Israel than the government. In Spain, the centre-right opposition was highly critical of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Socialist prime minister, when he donned an Arab headscarf to show solidarity during the Lebanon war.
Countries that were most culpable in the Holocaust tend to be stauncher supporters of Israel—especially Germany. What was then West Germany became the main financial backer of the new Jewish state six decades ago, with a first payment of $865m in 1952. Aid continued throughout the 1960s, long before America became Israel's main source of outside support. This week's decision to commit German troops to the peacekeeping force in Lebanon also reflects past guilt.
If the right
(and the Germans) are doing penance, the left, which now
controls many of Europe's chanceries, and certainly much
of its media, feels a sense of betrayal—which is why
many now attack Israel with all the zeal of the convert.
Until the 1960s European socialists championed the cause
of the Jews and Israel. Mid-century socialists saw
anti-Semitism and fascism as products of the right, so
they became instinctively pro-Israel. In the 1950s it was
left-wing French governments that provided Israel with
nuclear power and a modern air force. This changed with
the six-day war in 1967, when Israel launched a
pre-emptive strike to defeat the Jordanian, Egyptian and
Syrian forces that seemed about to invade. It was a
stunning victory, but it led to the occupation of the
West Bank, Gaza and Sinai. To European socialists, who
had rallied to the underdog Israel in 1967, the
Palestinians were now the oppressed and displaced. Israel
came to be seen as a neo-colonial regional superpower,
not the plucky survivor of the Holocaust keeping powerful
neighbours at bay.
In the decades after 1967 Israeli politics also changed. The Labour Party, which had largely ruled Israel since 1948, began to lose ground to right-wing parties, notably Likud. European left-wingers, who had idealised Golda Meir's Israel as a pioneering socialist collective of happy kibbutzniks, were shocked by what they saw as the militarisation and racism of Menachem Begin's Israel—and they began a romance with the Palestinians instead. This change can be chronicled over nearly a century in such liberal papers as Britain's Guardian. Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel, played a vital role in fostering the Guardian's early advocacy of Zionism and Israel, but the paper is now one of Israel's harshest critics. The BBC, a bastion of the soft left establishment, has also been criticised for its bias against Israel, not least during the latest war. Attitudes to America have also clouded European views, especially on the left. As Israel has drawn closer to America in the past few decades, the left's antipathy towards the behemoth of capitalism has spilled into dislike of Israel. Public opinion in Turkey, the one Muslim country that was once pro-Israel, has turned against it in parallel with its turn against America, especially over the war in Iraq.
Emanuele
Ottolenghi, an expert on Israel and Europe at Oxford
University, argues that “Europeans see Israel as the
embodiment of the demons of their own past.” The
European Union is supposed to have traded in war,
nationalism and conflict for love, peace and federalism.
But Israel now reminds Europeans of darker forces and
darker days. Could attitudes change? It seems unlikely,
not least because Israel is now so stridently critical of
the Europeans, especially of their media. In this area,
at least, the transatlantic gap is widening.
STOPPRESS...25th
August AFPQuote
France, as the former colonial power in Lebanon, was expected to take the lead in putting together a robust international force capable of stopping Hezbollah from using its bases in southern Lebanon to attack Israel.
But with a commitment so far of only 200 troops -- around one tenth the number it had been expected to pledge -- Paris has been accused of dragging its feet .
The first 50 French troops -- navy special forces -- landed in Lebanon on Saturday aboard inflatable boats flying the French flag.
(French
"False Flag" offer of 200 troops - now only a
new offer of 2,000 will ensure that Europeans follow in
as well and French Re-entry into Lebanon is
disguised?Editor J.Braddell)
UPDATE:Aug27 
French
President Jacques Chirac has said sending 15,000
peacekeeping troops to southern Lebanon is
"excessive". He was speaking ahead of
Brussels talks on the Lebanon peace force, which France
will lead, between EU ministers and UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan. At that meeting French Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy said EU nations have offered to
send a minimum of 6,500 to 7,000 ground troops to
Lebanon. The force was authorised as part of the
ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. BBC
UPDATE 30TH AUG.FROM Corriere della Sera
[Cremonesi] Is the expansion of the UNIFIL force not
designed also to prevent your strikes against Israel?
[Hamadah] For us, they will facilitate the
liberation of our lands in the Shab'a [Farms] area, and
our prisoners' release.
[Cremonesi] What do you think of the formula involving
alternate command of the UNIFIL contingent between Italy
and France?
[Hamadah] I have to confess that we have a slight
preference for Italy. We do not like France's traditional
policy of interfering in Lebanon's domestic affairs. In
addition, Italy does not have a colonial past in this
region. But the situation is fine like this: Italy and
France are two friendly countries today. There will be no
difficulties.
Finland slams EU foreign policy leaks
By Lisbeth Kirk
The very first weeks of the Finnish EU presidency have been extraordinarily busy for Mr Tuomioja with the crisis in Libanon exploding just days after he took over responsibility for the bloc's foreign policy.
Finnish foreign minister Erkki
Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency
since 
1 July, has accused member
states of leaking important foreign policy documents to
countries outside the EU, including Israel."It has
long been known that all EU documents that deal with the
Middle East also are known in Tel Aviv within an hour
after having been distributed to the member states, and
probably also in Washington and Moscow," Mr Tuomioja
wrote in a comment in Hufvudstadsbladet, the biggest
Swedish language daily in Finland
In the article, Mr Tuomioja lambasted EU ministers for
acting in their national interests and for preparing for
EU summits as if they were facing "difficult
negotiations with countries with a potentially hostile
attitude".
He also criticised EU officials for giving comments to
media prematurely and the media for publishing
"coloured and national contradictory reports on how
decisions were made which many ministers often find very
difficult to recognize as a description of the meeting
they have themselves participated in".
"It would have great significance for the EU's
morale, trustworthiness and efficiency if ministers came
to EU meetings with a certain feeling of common goals and
not primarily to bring home gains – often proclaimed
by their own press - for domestic use," he wrote.
Postcard from Finland.
Aug. 26-27, 2006 --
This Nordic country is still officially neutral.
Unlike air travel run by the Homeland Security Department, which has managed to irritate airlines and airports around the world with its apoplectic approach to security, Finnair (and Scandinavian Airline System) planes are not re-routed because some half-witted sky marshal believes a dark skinned passenger poses a threat. Actual threats are taken seriously in Scandinavia. However, shampoo and lip gloss are not considered worthy of worry. In Nordic countries, with their high standard of education, shampoo and bomb making materials are not considered synonymous.
This editor attended today's annual Finland-Sweden track and field competition. None of the bags of the 28,600 people in attendance at Olympic Stadium in Helsinki were searched. Ferry passengers arriving at the meet from Sweden traveled unmolested. The police presence in this country is not overbearing nor is it a constant specter. There is no such thing as Finnish vigilantes standing guard on the Russian border waiting to pounce on any Russians trying to sneak across into Finland. That job is left to the Border Guard. In Scandinavia, unlike the United States, governments are considered benevolent and helpful, not institutions that should be drowned in bathtubs, as one particularly revolting neo-con (Grover Norquist) has suggested.
Helsinki, Finland -- there are still countries where people are free of constant fear. Their secret is that they do not start or interfere in civil wars, take sides in religious conflicts, support the building of walls in the Middle East or genocide against defenseless peoples, and do not rely on ancient and arcane religious texts written by delusional tribal chieftains, gurus, demigods, fakirs, miracle workers, charlatans, drunkards, fortune tellers, madmen, and seers as a basis for their foreign and domestic policies.
Non-interference in world affairs (other than supporting UN peacekeeping operations) has bought the Nordic countries freedom from fear and has ensured continued privacy and civil rights, as well as unfettered democracy. The United States could learn a lesson here. Corruption is not tolerated. Politicians who so much as steal a few euros from the public coffers are bounced out of office on their ears.
In Scandinavia, governments concern themselves with providing services for their own people, not in building "democracies" in far-flung desert dictatorships and potentates. This is the certainly the case in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Tomorrow, WMR is off to Denmark, which, unfortunately, currently has a government that has tied its wagon to Bush's fantasy neocon new world order.
Metamorphoses
2006/08/17
BERLIN/TEL AVIV/BEIRUT/DAMASCUS
(Own report) - Under the pretext of a peace policy
("Israel's right of existence"), Berlin is
urging the deployment of German naval and police units in
the Middle East. The expedition corps currently being
prepared is supposed to maintain the Israeli imposed
embargo measures along the Lebanese coast and occupy the
bombarded roads leading to Syria.
The deployment of German armed forces (Bundeswehr) was
explicitly endorsed by the Israeli war cabinet. Because
of its long-standing relationship with West Germany, in
the arms trade and military cooperation, Tel Aviv sees no
problem in this deployment, considering it to be
absolutely reliable. This bellicose alliance complements
the superb business relations of the German arms industry
with Arab states and yields additional profits: by
granting Israel special terms and using political
exaggerations ("protecting Jews"), Berlin
protects itself against restitution demands reaching
hundreds of billons.
After several days of public relations, aimed at winning
popular support for a new foreign deployment of the
Bundeswehr, the assignment of German military units to
Lebanon has, to a large extent, been accepted. The German
Defense Minister submitted troop offers in New York on
August 17.
Reserves
As in similar cases, the government sent the appropriate
signals into the area targeted for intervention and
received the pre-arranged accord. Last weekend, the
German Interior Minister opened the cliché-ridden
exchange, by stating, that Germany will not renege on its
"responsibility" [1]; thereupon, the Israeli
Foreign Ministry immediately answered that German
soldiers are welcomed.[2] To impose the extended military
cooperation, Berlin invoked, for the umpteenth time, the
victims of the Shoa. Alternately, because of Auschwitz,
or despite Auschwitz, the Bundeswehr deployment is
considered inevitable. As the Bundeswehr's General
Inspector declared, soon thereafter, the German Navy
still has "reserves".[3]
Combat Effective
For decades, the German-Israeli military cooperation has
brought the German arms industry continuous contracts.
According to official data, the German arms exports
amounted to more than two billion DM between 1992 and
1999. Between 2000 and 2004, according to Berlin, arms,
valued at 500 million Euros, were exported to Israel. But
the true volume of German military aid must be much
higher, since the data excludes combat effective services
in the intelligence sector as well as indirect support.
At the same time, the German arms industry is exporting
weapons to Israel's Arab adversaries. But up to now, the
value of theses exports, lies far below the value of
exports to Tel Aviv. Between 2000 and 2004, exports to
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were reaching
200 million Euros each, and to Egypt 100 million.
Support
German-Israeli military cooperation dates back to secret
contacts in 1957. From that point on, at the latest, a
new field of export was opened to the arms industry of
West Germany, serving - according to the official version
- the protection of the newly formed state. But the
secret accords concluded between the West German Defense
Minister at the time, Franz Josef Strauß, and his
Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, had a completely
different background: They were reached under US
pressure. In the aftermath of the Suez crises, the USA
forged a Middle East front against the Arab independence
movement and sought technological and financial support
through West German arms exports to Tel Aviv. A secret
accord concerning German arms supplies and military
training for the Israeli armed forces was concluded in
June 1962.
Neutralizing
Social-democratic circles in West Germany were
particularly willing to undertake contacts in support of
American policy toward Israel. Israeli public opinion
viewed German Social democrats (SPD) as being less
implicated (in Nazi-crimes), and their affiliated
organizations could be less self-conscious in their
cooperation with the prominent trade union movements in
Tel Aviv or Haifa. In April 1967, under the chairman of
the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft (Bank for the Non-Profit
Sector, BfG), based in Frankfurt, an enterprise of the
German Trade Union Federation, DGB, a "German
Association for the Promotion of Trade Relations with
Israel" was introduced to the public. This
association provided the civilian component for the
expanding military business. In 1975, the DGB and the
Israeli trade union federation, Histadrut, concluded a
"partnership contract", aimed at neutralizing
left criticism of West Germany's Middle East policy.
Addition
Since the 1970s, the tandem structure of West German
Middle East policy, has permitted the protection of
conflicting interests. Serving the original US strategy's
need for support, the SPD and its affiliated
organizations are considered emphatic advocates of
Israel. German business circles, heavily implicated in
Nazi crimes, and having strong interests in exports to
the Arab world, are primarily represented by the
"Liberals" (FDP) and large sectors of the
conservative CDU/CSU. This tandem is reflected in
statistics. By the end of the 1990s, the German Israeli
trade volume, valued at US Dollar 4.3 billion, was just
below that of German trade with Saudi Arabia, the Arab
Emirates and Iran (together US Dollar 6.8 billion).
Concern
Substantial fluctuations are now appearing, caused by the
increased liquidity of Arab energy suppliers, due to the
high costs of raw materials. The German-Israeli trade
volume (3.7 billion Euros) accounted for only 15 per cent
of last year's trade with states in the Middle East (24.7
billion Euros). This imbalance is causing concern in
German foreign policy circles. The German Minister of the
Economy participated, June 7, at the founding meeting of
a German-Israeli Economic Council, aimed at developing
momentum in the waning trade relations.
Mediator
German foreign policy is becoming increasingly alarmed,
in the light of its military temptation to assume a role
as an armed factor in Middle East stability. As was to be
expected, the FDP and large sections of the CDU/CSU are
warning against the consequences of the Bundeswehr's
deployment on the side of Israel: the Arab market might
suffer. On the other hand, to avoid a rupture with German
business interests, the SPD and its affiliated
organizations are trying to also engage Arab states in
its US-based Israel policy. The German Foreign Minister,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier's trip to the Middle East was the
most recent attempt. Steinmeier was presented to the
German public as a peace mediator. For his tandem
activities, Steinmeier (SPD) was rebuffed by Syria.[4]
Philo-Semites
Contradiction and concurrence in Middle Eastern foreign
policy interests are exaggeratedly linked to the Nazi
crimes, when being presented to the German public: West
Germany (despite or even because of Auschwitz) must
"protect Israel" and is indebted to "the
Jews".[5] The German Middle East policy is dominated
by such representations, since its last setback in 1945
and the subsequently compelled reversal of the
anti-Semitic stereotype. "The German postwar period
gave birth to philo-Semitic habits", writes Frank
Stern, in a study of the Institute for German History at
the University of Tel Aviv.[6]
Smoke-Screen
With the alleged, deeply felt sympathy for Israel, the
postwar West German elite succeeded in redeeming itself
both morally and financially. Those responsible for the
anti-Jewish and anti-Slavic war of extermination,
subsequently emerged as sponsors of the "Jewish
state". The Nazi banker, Hermann J. Abs, signed the
"London Agreement on German External Debts" in
1953, defrauding the nations formerly occupied by the
Nazis and their Jewish populations of justified demands
for billions of DMs. The Israeli government also accepted
breadcrumbs from the executioner: 3.45 billion DM as
"reparations". From that point on,
philo-Semitism functioned as a political smoke-screen for
West Germany's Middle East policy. Having made material
concessions to Israel, the West German government no
longer had to fear fundamental disturbances from Tel
Aviv. In a "philo-Semitic metamorphosis" (Frank
Stern) the cold-blooded planners of the Judeophobic mass
murder were transformed into patrons of the allegedly
beloved Israel.
Adventure
With the instrumentalized philo-Semitism, through which
an inverted mirrored structure of the racist Judeophobia
is reflected, Germany's Middle East policy proceeds to
its next adventure - because Berlin would like to see,
"Germany become one of the global players"[7],
but not "for the protection of Israel".
[1], [2] Schäuble und Jung offen für Nahost-Einsatz;
N24.de 14.08.2006
[3] Bundeswehr hat Reserven für Nahost-Truppe; Financial
Times Deutschland 15.08.2006
[4] see also Civil War
[5] Beispielhaft: Israel muss geschützt werden; Berliner
Zeitung 16.08.2006
[6] Frank Stern: Im Anfang war Auschwitz. Antisemitismus
und Philosemitismus im deutschen Nachkrieg, Gerlingen
1991
[7] Israel muss geschützt werden; Berliner Zeitung
16.08.2006
The Real Threat We Face
in Britain is Blair
by
John Pilger
www.dissidentvoice.org
August 18, 2006
If the alleged plot to attack airliners flying from London is true -- remember the lies that led to the invasion of Iraq, and to the raid on a "terrorist cell" in east London -- then one person ultimately is to blame, as he was on 7 July last year. They were Blair's bombs then; who doesn't believe that 52 Londoners would be alive today had the Prime Minister refused to join Bush in his piratical attack on Iraq? A parliamentary committee has said as much, as have MI5, the Foreign Office, Chatham House and the polls.
A senior Metropolitan Police officer, Paul Stephenson, claims the Heathrow plot "was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale." The most reliable independent surveys put civilian deaths in Iraq, as a result of the invasion by Bush and Blair, above 100,000. The difference between the Heathrow scare and Iraq is that mass murder on an unimaginable scale has actually happened in Iraq.
By any measure of international law, from Nuremberg to the Geneva accords, Blair is a major prima facie war criminal. The charges against him grow. The latest is his collusion with the Israeli state in its deliberate, criminal attacks on civilians. While Lebanese children were being buried beneath Israeli bombs, he refused to condemn their killers or even to call on them to desist. That a ceasefire was negotiated owed nothing to him, except its disgraceful delay. Not only is it clear that Blair knew about Israel's plans but he alluded approvingly to the ultimate goal: an attack on Iran. Read his neurotic speech in Los Angeles, in which he described an "arc of extremism", stretching from Hezbollah to Iran. He gave not a hint of the arc of injustice and lawlessness of Israel's occupation of Palestine and its devastation of Lebanon. Neither did he attempt to counter the bigotry now directed at all Arabs by the west and by the racist regime in Tel Aviv. His references to "values" are code for a crusade against Islam.
Blair's extremism, like Bush's, is rooted in the righteous violence of rampant Messianic power. It is completely at odds with modern, multicultural, secular Britain. He shames this society. Not so much distrusted these days as reviled, he endangers and betrays us in his vassal's affair with the religious fanatic in Washington and the Biblo-ethnic cleansers in Israel. Unlike him, the Israelis at least are honest. "We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population," said Israel's founding prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Half a century later, Ariel Sharon said, "It is the duty of Israeli leaders to explain to public opinion... that there can be no Zionism, colonization or Jewish state without the eviction of the Arabs and the expropriation of their lands." The current prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the US Congress: "I believe in our people's eternal and historic right to this entire land [his emphasis]."
Blair has backed this barbarism enthusiastically. In 2001, the Israeli press disclosed that he had secretly given the "green light" to Sharon's bloody invasion of the West Bank, whose advance plans he was shown. Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon -- is it any wonder the attacks of 7 July and this month's Heathrow scare happened? The CIA calls this "blowback". On 12 August, The Guardian published an editorial ("The challenge for us all"), which waffled about how "a significant number of young people have been alienated from the [Muslim] culture," but spent not a word on how Blair's Middle East disaster was the source of their alienation. A polite pretence is always preferred in describing British policy, elevating "misguided" and "inappropriate" and suppressing criminal behaviour.
Go into Muslim areas and you will be struck by a
fear reminiscent of the anti-Semitic nightmare of the
Jews in the 1930s, and by an anger generated almost
entirely by "a perceived double standard in the
foreign policy of western governments," as the Home
Office admits. This is felt deeply by many young Asians
who, far from being "alienated from their
culture," believe they are defending it. How much
longer are we all prepared to put up with the threat to
our security coming from Downing Street? Or do we wait
for the "unimaginable"?
Algerians to be Deported despite
Lack of Memorandums - Blair
Guardian newspaper
More than a year of intensive diplomatic activity have only produced three "memorandums of understanding" - formal legal documents - with Jordan, Libya and Lebanon. An agreement with Algeria has proved impossible to secure.
The Algerians were reluctant to formally admit that torture had been practised in the past and the British government has had to fall back on assurances given in December 2005 based on an unpublished exchange of letters between prime ministers.
The solicitor, Gareth Peirce, said that she was profoundly disturbed by yesterday's ruling. "A year ago Tony Blair said the rules of the game had changed and they would deport refugees to countries that they knew used torture, but they would not do it unless we have a memorandum of understanding and an independent monitoring group," she said.
"Now one year later, there is no memorandum of understanding and no monitoring group in place. The government are saying they are not necessary and today the court has endorsed that."
Law strips Hicks of UK citizenship in
hours
Again, as with the proof that 2 Israeli
Soldiers were taken in Lebanon - so another Australian
newspaper gives us an unusual piece of news today:
Annabel Crabb London
DAVID Hicks was secretly made a British citizen inside his Guantanamo Bay cell last month, but spent only hours as an Englishman before his status was stripped from him.
In an extraordinary chain of events, Hicks was told in his cell on July 6 that the British Government had finally complied with a High Court order to register him as an Englishman.
But the following day - the first anniversary of the 2005 terrorist attacks on the London Underground - he was told that British Home Secretary John Reid had personally revoked the privilege.
Hicks, whose mother is UK-born, was given no opportunity to seek legal advice between the two pieces of news.
The manoeuvre was made possible by amendments contained in a new British law that appeared to have been drafted in response to the Hicks case. The amendments give the Home Secretary full discretion to strip an individual of his or her British citizenship.
Hicks's British lawyer, Stephen Grosz, was only advised of the developments after they had occurred.
The High Court ordered the speedy registration of Hicks as a British citizen in December last year, but the Home Office did not comply until July - more than six months later.
"He was a British citizen for a matter of hours, I believe - we were told immediately after it all happened," Mr Grosz said.
Asked his opinion of the tactic, Mr Grosz said: "I think it was completely wrong of them to have sat on his application until they were ready to grant citizenship and deprive him of it immediately.
"I think it was an abuse of power."
Mr Grosz said the Hicks legal team was planning appeals to the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission in the UK, and an application to the High Court for judicial review.
genetically engineered rice
EU authorities are on alert after it emerged last week
that small amounts of an unapproved type of genetically
engineered rice had found its way into the feed and food
chain in the US.
The European Commission was informed of the contamination
last week by US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and
has requested "urgently more and specific
information" from the US authorities. A commission spokesperson
on Monday (22 August) said they were treating the issue
as a matter of "utmost urgency".
Japan has already acted, however. It immediately
suspended all imports of US long-grain rice.
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Inconsistency in Report Here:
Bayer CropScience, one of the world's leading biotech
companies, based in Germany, has genetically engineered
the rice. The rice contains a gene that makes plants
resistant to a specific weed killer known as glufosinate.
The New York Times reports that US Agriculture Department
officials said that "trace amounts" of the
unauthorized rice were detected by Bayer in
long-grain rice from the 2005 harvest in Arkansas and
Missouri. The rice was grown in field tests from 1998 to
2001, but it is not clear how it got into the 2005
rice harvest.
It is also not clear how much of the rice has been found
and how widely it has spread.
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Green group Greenpeace International reacted by calling
for a global ban on imports of US rice in order to
protect the public from eating "illegal, untested
and unapproved varieties of genetically engineered (GE)
rice". "Rice is the world's most important
staple food and contamination of rice supplies by Bayer,
a company pushing its GE rice around the world, must be
stopped," said Jeremy Tager, a campaigner at the
organisation. "This latest contamination scandal
once again shows the GE industry is utterly incapable of
controlling GE organisms," said Mr Tager.
Mr Johanns acknowledged that the discovery could have a
significant impact on American rice exports. Around 50
percent of the US rice crop is exported, with the US
currently providing about 12 percent of world rice trade.
Last year, the EU imported 198,000 tonnes of long-grain
rice from the US.
Consumer attitudes to GMOs differ strongly between the EU
and US with Europeans tending to be far more mistrustful
of GM products. This mistrust is reflected at the policy
level in several member state governments and has
resulted in strong clashes on the issue between Brussels
and Washington. Last year a similar situation occurred
when the EU restricted US maize imports after an
unauthorised genetically modified variety was mistakenly
imported.
Genetically engineered potatoes are also being grown
in Germany and Sweden under "experimental" or
"research"conditions