Friday, November 30, 2012
Finkelstein on a Gandhian strategy for Gaza
[Finkelstein comments: I originally wrote this article having in mind a Gandhian strategy for dismantling the illegal wall Israel has been constructing in the West Bank. The same Gandhian principles however apply to breaking the illegal Gaza blockade.]
Gandhil lecture
Gandhil lecture
Resolving the Israel-Palestine Conflict: What we can learn from Gandhi
Tans Lecture, Maastricht University (13 November 2008)
This lecture will divide into three parts. First, I will lay out the terms of the international consensus for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. Second, I will sketch Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolent civil resistance. Third, I will assess the relevance of Gandhi’s doctrine for the Israel-Palestine conflict. I will argue that a moral legal consensus is a prerequisite for Gandhi’s doctrine to succeed. In the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict such a consensus does exist, and consequently those seeking a just and lasting peace might benefit from giving Gandhi’s doctrine a serious hearing.I. What is the international consensus for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict?
II. What is Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolence?
III. What can supporters of a just peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict learn from Gandhi?
Thursday, November 29, 2012
the Trans-Pacific Partnership
By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:05am EST
(Reuters) - U.S.-led talks on a free-trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region are entering a potential make-or-break stage, putting pressure on President Barack Obama and other leaders to sacrifice sensitive domestic interests for a big deal to boost growth.
The 11 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, talks meet next week in Auckland, New Zealand, for the 15th round since negotiations were launched in March 2010.
With Obama now re-elected, U.S. negotiators have more freedom to deal with demands for the United States to open its sugar, dairy, clothing, footwear and other markets to more imports without worrying about hurting the president at the polls.
WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 29, 2012 1:05am EST
(Reuters) - U.S.-led talks on a free-trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region are entering a potential make-or-break stage, putting pressure on President Barack Obama and other leaders to sacrifice sensitive domestic interests for a big deal to boost growth.
The 11 countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, talks meet next week in Auckland, New Zealand, for the 15th round since negotiations were launched in March 2010.
With Obama now re-elected, U.S. negotiators have more freedom to deal with demands for the United States to open its sugar, dairy, clothing, footwear and other markets to more imports without worrying about hurting the president at the polls.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Russian Mafia State
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has agreed tough measures to respond to U.S. Congress if lawmakers pass legislation intended to punish Russian officials for human rights violations, a senior Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.
Congress will vote on a bill named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on Friday - the third anniversary of his death in detention - which is designed to deny visas for Russian officials involved in his imprisonment, abuse or death.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had already prepared its response but gave no more details than a Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday that warned of tough retaliation.
"Of course there are (measures in place). We have discussed (them) at all stages of the debate over the so-called Magnitsky bill," Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
"I can confirm that our response will be tough," he said, but did not specify what those measures would entail.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday 243-164 to include the legislation in a broader package to be put to a vote on Friday.
Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, charges which colleagues say were fabricated by police investigators he had accused of stealing $230 million from the state through fraudulent tax refunds. The Kremlin's own human rights council has said he was probably beaten to death.
His case has become a symbol of corruption and the abuse of citizens in Russia who challenge the authorities. But adoption of the bill could undermine efforts to improve relations at the start of U.S. President Barack Obama's new term and a few months into President Vladimir Putin's third term in Russia.
(Reporting By Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
WEYBRIDGE, England/LONDON (Reuters) - A Russian businessman helping Swiss prosecutors uncover a powerful fraud syndicate has died in unexplained circumstances near his mansion in Britain, in a chilling twist to a Russian mafia scandal that has strained Moscow's ties with the West.
Alexander Perepilichny, 44, sought refuge in Britain three years ago and had been helping a Swiss investigation into a Russian money-laundering scheme by providing evidence against corrupt officials, his colleagues and media reports said.
Congress will vote on a bill named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky on Friday - the third anniversary of his death in detention - which is designed to deny visas for Russian officials involved in his imprisonment, abuse or death.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had already prepared its response but gave no more details than a Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday that warned of tough retaliation.
"Of course there are (measures in place). We have discussed (them) at all stages of the debate over the so-called Magnitsky bill," Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.
"I can confirm that our response will be tough," he said, but did not specify what those measures would entail.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday 243-164 to include the legislation in a broader package to be put to a vote on Friday.
Magnitsky was jailed in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion and fraud, charges which colleagues say were fabricated by police investigators he had accused of stealing $230 million from the state through fraudulent tax refunds. The Kremlin's own human rights council has said he was probably beaten to death.
His case has become a symbol of corruption and the abuse of citizens in Russia who challenge the authorities. But adoption of the bill could undermine efforts to improve relations at the start of U.S. President Barack Obama's new term and a few months into President Vladimir Putin's third term in Russia.
(Reporting By Thomas Grove, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
WEYBRIDGE, England/LONDON (Reuters) - A Russian businessman helping Swiss prosecutors uncover a powerful fraud syndicate has died in unexplained circumstances near his mansion in Britain, in a chilling twist to a Russian mafia scandal that has strained Moscow's ties with the West.
Alexander Perepilichny, 44, sought refuge in Britain three years ago and had been helping a Swiss investigation into a Russian money-laundering scheme by providing evidence against corrupt officials, his colleagues and media reports said.
he is our son of a bitch
"Yes, he is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch".This line goes way back to WWII. It has been attributed to:
- Franklin Roosevelt on US General George S. Patton.
- Winston Churchill on the man Patton loved to dislike (and vice versa), British General Bernard "Monty" Montgomery.
- Either or both of them on Charles De Gaulle. Take your pick.
Speaking of brutal Nicaraguan dictator Somoza, Harry Truman is supposed to have said "He's a bastard, but he's our bastard." This quote is attributed to Truman, FDR, and Nixon. This is a broad chronological range. There were actuall three Somozas: Anastasio Somoza Garcia, who fathered Luis Somoza Debayle and Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and the Somoza dynasty that ruled Nicaragua from the mid 1930s through the late 1970s.
The Marines invaded Nicaragua in 1912 and stayed until 1933, fighting but never defeating the revolutionary Augusto Sandino. They created the Nicaraguan National Guard and installed Anastasio Somoza Garcia in power. Then Sandino, who had signed a truce and put down his arms, was assassinated by Somoza. In 1935, General Smedley Butler, who led the Marines into Nicaragua, said: "[I was] a high class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for the banks. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism - I helped purify Nicaragua for [an] international banking house." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it another way. "Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."
Corruption, torture, and wholesale murder of dissidents continued for 45 years under two generations of Somozas, for after Somoza Garcia was gunned down in the streets in 1956, his son Anastasio Somoza Debayle took control. The Somozas plundered Nicaragua and became millionaires. The younger Somoza, "the vampire dictator," made $12 million a year buying the blood of his people and selling it abroad at a 300% mark-up, but his biggest single rip-off occurred in 1972 after an earthquake killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans: Somoza had his National Guard seize $30 million in international relief supplies and sold them to the highest bidder. Near the end of his reign, he aerially bombed his own capital to stay in power, but he was overthrown in 1979 by a rebel group who called themselves the Sandinistas, after the revolutionary hero his father had slain.
Time Magazine printed the following in its 15 November 1948 issue:
In 1939 [Anastasio Somoza] got himself elected for eight more years. And he went to Washington. To prime President Roosevelt for the visit, Sumner Welles sent him a long solemn memorandum about Somoza and Nicaragua. According to a story told around Washington, Roosevelt read the memo right through, wisecracked: "As a Nicaraguan might say, he's a sonofabitch but he's ours."The basic "punchline" had been floating around Washington since well before 1939. For example, after the Chicago Convention, Gen. Hugh Johnson, who had worked hard with Barney Baruch to stop Roosevelt, was asked what he thought of his nomination. Johnson replied by recalling a story of a county convention of Democrats in which the wrong man had been chosen. Driving home from the meeting, two politicians were comparing notes. Both had opposed the successful candidate. One said to the other, "Damn it all! We should never have let them put Blank over. He's a So and So!" The other man sighed and said nothing for a long time. Then he cheered up. "After all," he observed. "Blank isn't so bad. He's our So and So."
A short piece written on the death of Senator James Watson [Indiana], the "last Republican majority leader in the Senate before the Roosevelt era," includes this telling:
Senator Watson used to tell a story of Uncle Joe which shall be our contribution to the stock of reminiscences about Jim Watson. One day in the House the Speaker spoke about a party man as a deserving appointee for some vacant post. "But you couldn't recommend him," said young Watson. "He's a so-and-so." "Yes, he may be," said Uncle Joe, "but, my boy, he's *our*"he's a so-and-so, but he's our so-and-so" bears some resemblance to a popular anecdote said to have involved U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (Pennsylvania; 1792-1868) and cited well into the 20th century:
so-and so, isn't he?"
Speaking of the probable contests for seats in the next Congress, the Boston Herald says: "The republicans are not over scrupulous, when in power, as to the management of contested cases. In fact, their morality was well illustrated by the characteristic remark of Thad. Stevens, when it was said that both claimants of a disputed seat were 'd-----d rascals,' 'I don't"He's a damned rascal," said Thad. Stevens bluntly on a similar occasion,
doubt it,' said the grim old 'whip,' 'but what I want to know is, which is our d-----d rascal?'
"but as he's *our* damned rascal we must put him in."
An anecdote involving "[he may be a _____,] but he's our _____" (and similar) was already pretty familiar to office-holders, political pundits, and Washington wags by the time FDR started his first term. That it had been brought out again in 1934 and applied to FDR's nomination in 1932 (consequently making FDR "our son of a bitch") must have gotten some additional notice in Washington and at the White House.
It's a little hard to know whether FDR ever really used the line in the late '30s or whether someone else just recycled the anecdote, attributing the line to the President in reference to some Latin American dictator. There is a common knowledge legend that the then director of the CIA had said of the dictator Marcos before the 1986 revolution "He may be a son of a bitch but at least he's our son of a bitch." There is a whole lot of other dictators about whom the same quote had been attributed! Batista, Pinochet, Fujimori,Mobutu, the Shah of Iran, Savimbi, Suharto, Trujillo and even Botha have been lumped into this expression.
anti-personnel mines on the Syria border
AKINCI, Turkey (AP) —
Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" — mines designed to maim, not kill — and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast.
However, the mines also killed and maimed civilians, took arable land from Turkish farmers and are now considered by many as a crude method of policing.
Turkey says it plans to clear anti-personnel mines on the Syria border by 2016, missing a March 2014 deadline required by the international Mine Ban Treaty. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a Geneva-based group that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, has criticized Turkey for its slow progress.
Starting in the 1950s, Turkish forces planted more than 600,000 U.S.-made "toe poppers" — mines designed to maim, not kill — and other land mines along much of its 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, which runs from the Mediterranean Sea to Iraq. The aim was to stop smugglers whose cheap black market goods undercut the Turkish economy and later to thwart Kurdish rebels from infiltrating Turkey's southeast.
However, the mines also killed and maimed civilians, took arable land from Turkish farmers and are now considered by many as a crude method of policing.
Turkey says it plans to clear anti-personnel mines on the Syria border by 2016, missing a March 2014 deadline required by the international Mine Ban Treaty. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a Geneva-based group that won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, has criticized Turkey for its slow progress.
Enough is enough
By Carey Gillam and Martinne Geller
KANSAS CITY, Mo./NEW YORK | Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:55am EST
(Reuters) - Enough is enough, say bakery workers at Hostess Brands Inc.
After several years of costly concessions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) authorized a walk-out earlier this month after Hostess received bankruptcy court approval to implement a wage cut that was not included in its contract.
With operations stalled, the company that makes Twinkies and other famous U.S. brands said last week that liquidating its business was the best way to preserve its dwindling cash. It won court approval on Wednesday to start winding down in a process expected to claim 15,000 jobs immediately and over 3,000 more after about four months.
Interviews with more than a dozen workers showed there was little sign of regret from employees who voted for the strike. They said they would rather lose their jobs than put up with lower wages and poorer benefits.
"They're just taking from us," said Kenneth Johnson, 46, of Missouri. He said he earned roughly $35,000 with overtime last year, down from about $45,000 five years ago.
"I really can't afford to not be working, but this is not worth it. I'd rather go work somewhere else or draw unemployment," said Johnson, a worker at Hostess for 23 years.
With 18,500 workers, Hostess has 12 different unions including the BCTGM, which has about 5,600 members on the bread and snack item production lines, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 7,500 route sales representatives, drivers and other employees.
Unlike some non-unionized rivals, the maker of Wonder Bread and Drake's cakes had to navigate more than 300 labor contracts, with terms that often strained efficiency and competitiveness, Hostess officials have said. In some extreme cases, contract provisions required different products to be delivered on different trucks even when headed to the same place.
Aside from those so-called onerous labor contracts, Hostess has grappled for some time with rising ingredient costs and a growing health consciousness that has made its sugary cakes less popular. It filed for bankruptcy in January, only three years after emerging from a prior bankruptcy.
Lance Ignon, speaking on behalf of Hostess, said the company recognized how difficult the past few years had been for workers and wished it did not have to ask them for more givebacks.
"But the reality was that the company could not survive without those concessions," Ignon said.
FRUSTRATIONS, COMPLAINTS
Workers had a laundry list of frustrations, from rising healthcare costs to decreased wages and delayed pension benefits. They even cited a $10-per-week per worker charge they said Hostess claimed was needed to boost company capital.
"They have taken and taken and taken from us," said Debi White, who has worked at Hostess for 26 years, most recently as a bun handler at its bread and roll plant in Lenexa, Kansas.
"They have been walking around stomping their foot saying either you give in ... or else we're going to close you now. Well, go ahead, we're tired of their threats," she said. "That's how we feel."
Hostess workers are now scrambling to figure out when their health insurance runs out -- or if it already has -- and where and how to apply for job retraining and unemployment benefits.
Following a summer and autumn spent in labor negotiations trying to find a common path to reorganization, Hostess' management gained concessions from some unions, including the Teamsters.
The fear of thousands of job losses, for its own members and other unions, led the Teamsters to plead with the BCTGM to hold a secret ballot to determine if bakery workers really wanted to continue with the strike, even with the threat of closure.
Teamsters officials complained that bakery union leaders did "not substantively look for a solution or engage in the process," and complained that the BCTGM called for its strike on November 9 without first notifying the Teamsters.
They said that, unlike the bakery union, the Teamsters voted to "protect all jobs at Hostess." Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said Wednesday's court approval for liquidation marked "a sad day for thousands of families affected by the closing of this company."
Bakery union President Frank Hurt has said that any labor agreements would only be temporary as Hostess was doomed anyway. The union said new owners were needed to get Hostess back on track and the only way they would return to work was if Hostess rescinded its wage and benefit cuts.
"Our membership ... just had no confidence in this management group being able to run a business," said Conrad Boos, a BCTGM local business representative in Missouri.
Hurt was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday but the union said in a court filing its sole objective was to leave Hostess with "a real, rather than an illusory or theoretical, likelihood of establishing a stable business with secure jobs."
On Wednesday, Hostess' lawyer Heather Lennox said the company had received a "flood of inquiries" from potential buyers for several brands that could be sold at auction, and expects initial bidders within a few weeks.
(Additional reporting by Peter Rudegeair in NEW YORK; Editing by Paul Tait)
KANSAS CITY, Mo./NEW YORK | Thu Nov 22, 2012 2:55am EST
(Reuters) - Enough is enough, say bakery workers at Hostess Brands Inc.
After several years of costly concessions, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) authorized a walk-out earlier this month after Hostess received bankruptcy court approval to implement a wage cut that was not included in its contract.
With operations stalled, the company that makes Twinkies and other famous U.S. brands said last week that liquidating its business was the best way to preserve its dwindling cash. It won court approval on Wednesday to start winding down in a process expected to claim 15,000 jobs immediately and over 3,000 more after about four months.
Interviews with more than a dozen workers showed there was little sign of regret from employees who voted for the strike. They said they would rather lose their jobs than put up with lower wages and poorer benefits.
"They're just taking from us," said Kenneth Johnson, 46, of Missouri. He said he earned roughly $35,000 with overtime last year, down from about $45,000 five years ago.
"I really can't afford to not be working, but this is not worth it. I'd rather go work somewhere else or draw unemployment," said Johnson, a worker at Hostess for 23 years.
With 18,500 workers, Hostess has 12 different unions including the BCTGM, which has about 5,600 members on the bread and snack item production lines, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 7,500 route sales representatives, drivers and other employees.
Unlike some non-unionized rivals, the maker of Wonder Bread and Drake's cakes had to navigate more than 300 labor contracts, with terms that often strained efficiency and competitiveness, Hostess officials have said. In some extreme cases, contract provisions required different products to be delivered on different trucks even when headed to the same place.
Aside from those so-called onerous labor contracts, Hostess has grappled for some time with rising ingredient costs and a growing health consciousness that has made its sugary cakes less popular. It filed for bankruptcy in January, only three years after emerging from a prior bankruptcy.
Lance Ignon, speaking on behalf of Hostess, said the company recognized how difficult the past few years had been for workers and wished it did not have to ask them for more givebacks.
"But the reality was that the company could not survive without those concessions," Ignon said.
FRUSTRATIONS, COMPLAINTS
Workers had a laundry list of frustrations, from rising healthcare costs to decreased wages and delayed pension benefits. They even cited a $10-per-week per worker charge they said Hostess claimed was needed to boost company capital.
"They have taken and taken and taken from us," said Debi White, who has worked at Hostess for 26 years, most recently as a bun handler at its bread and roll plant in Lenexa, Kansas.
"They have been walking around stomping their foot saying either you give in ... or else we're going to close you now. Well, go ahead, we're tired of their threats," she said. "That's how we feel."
Hostess workers are now scrambling to figure out when their health insurance runs out -- or if it already has -- and where and how to apply for job retraining and unemployment benefits.
Following a summer and autumn spent in labor negotiations trying to find a common path to reorganization, Hostess' management gained concessions from some unions, including the Teamsters.
The fear of thousands of job losses, for its own members and other unions, led the Teamsters to plead with the BCTGM to hold a secret ballot to determine if bakery workers really wanted to continue with the strike, even with the threat of closure.
Teamsters officials complained that bakery union leaders did "not substantively look for a solution or engage in the process," and complained that the BCTGM called for its strike on November 9 without first notifying the Teamsters.
They said that, unlike the bakery union, the Teamsters voted to "protect all jobs at Hostess." Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall said Wednesday's court approval for liquidation marked "a sad day for thousands of families affected by the closing of this company."
Bakery union President Frank Hurt has said that any labor agreements would only be temporary as Hostess was doomed anyway. The union said new owners were needed to get Hostess back on track and the only way they would return to work was if Hostess rescinded its wage and benefit cuts.
"Our membership ... just had no confidence in this management group being able to run a business," said Conrad Boos, a BCTGM local business representative in Missouri.
Hurt was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday but the union said in a court filing its sole objective was to leave Hostess with "a real, rather than an illusory or theoretical, likelihood of establishing a stable business with secure jobs."
On Wednesday, Hostess' lawyer Heather Lennox said the company had received a "flood of inquiries" from potential buyers for several brands that could be sold at auction, and expects initial bidders within a few weeks.
(Additional reporting by Peter Rudegeair in NEW YORK; Editing by Paul Tait)
Conflict over land requisitions in China
(Reuters) - China's cabinet vowed on Wednesday to tighten laws on the expropriation of farmland, warning that the problem risked fuelling rural unrest and undermining the country's food security.
"Rural land has been expropriated too much and too fast as industrialization and urbanization accelerate," state news agency Xinhua reported, summing up a meeting of the State Council.
"It not only affects stability in the countryside but also threatens grain security."
More reforms need to be put in place and a better legal system set up to resolve the problem, including stricter regulation on farmland expropriation, Xinhua said.
The meeting passed a draft law amendment altering rules on how to compensate farmers whose "collectively owned" land is expropriated, the news agency said, without providing details.
"The government must make efforts to beef up support for farmers and place rural development in a more important position," it added.
While the comments on land seizures do not break new policy ground, they do underscore government jitters about rural discontent as President Hu Jintao prepares to hand over the running of the country to his successor, Vice President Xi Jinping, named Communist Party head this month.
Farmers in China do not directly own most of their fields. Instead, most rural land is owned collectively by a village, and farmers get leases that last for decades.
In theory, the villagers can collectively decide whether to apply to sell off or develop land. In practice, however, state officials usually decide. And hoping to win investment, revenues and pay-offs, they often override the wishes of farmers.
The number of "mass incidents" of unrest recorded by the government grew from 8,700 in 1993 to about 90,000 in 2010, according to several government-backed studies. Some estimates are higher, and the government has not released official data for recent years.
Conflict over land requisitions accounted for more than 65 percent of rural "mass incidents", the China Economic Times reported this year, citing survey data.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
"Rural land has been expropriated too much and too fast as industrialization and urbanization accelerate," state news agency Xinhua reported, summing up a meeting of the State Council.
"It not only affects stability in the countryside but also threatens grain security."
More reforms need to be put in place and a better legal system set up to resolve the problem, including stricter regulation on farmland expropriation, Xinhua said.
The meeting passed a draft law amendment altering rules on how to compensate farmers whose "collectively owned" land is expropriated, the news agency said, without providing details.
"The government must make efforts to beef up support for farmers and place rural development in a more important position," it added.
While the comments on land seizures do not break new policy ground, they do underscore government jitters about rural discontent as President Hu Jintao prepares to hand over the running of the country to his successor, Vice President Xi Jinping, named Communist Party head this month.
Farmers in China do not directly own most of their fields. Instead, most rural land is owned collectively by a village, and farmers get leases that last for decades.
In theory, the villagers can collectively decide whether to apply to sell off or develop land. In practice, however, state officials usually decide. And hoping to win investment, revenues and pay-offs, they often override the wishes of farmers.
The number of "mass incidents" of unrest recorded by the government grew from 8,700 in 1993 to about 90,000 in 2010, according to several government-backed studies. Some estimates are higher, and the government has not released official data for recent years.
Conflict over land requisitions accounted for more than 65 percent of rural "mass incidents", the China Economic Times reported this year, citing survey data.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood
A day after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, he widely expanded his own powers. It’s been met with both approval and anger, with accusations that he cares only about his followers, not all Egyptians.
Clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents swept the nation on Friday, with police firing tear gas at demonstrators in Cairo.
Rallies sprung up in several different cities, after Morsi signed a controversial decree expanding his powers – a move that has divided the country on whether the leader has the right to do so.
And as the controversy around Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood continues to mount, many are quick to compare him to toppled leader Hosni Mubarak.
“Even people who did not vote for him tried to give him a chance, but found that he’s no different than Mubarak in foreign policy,” Said Sadek, a professor of political sociology at American University, told RT.
Sadek’s view is shared by Mark Almond, professor of international relations at Bilkent University in Turkey.
“He’s becoming a devout version of Mubarak, one might say at first sight. He organized the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and almost 24 hours later, he’s effectively declaring himself the absolute ruler of Egypt – for the coming period, anyway,” Almond told RT.
Morsi brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas two days ago. The move was welcomed by Washington, which reportedly talked Tel Aviv into giving it a shot.
Protesters demonstrating against Egypt′s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi run from tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police during clashes in Cairo′s landmark Tahrir square on November 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / Ahmed Mahmoud)
Protesters demonstrating against Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi run from tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police during clashes in Cairo's landmark Tahrir square on November 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / Ahmed Mahmoud)
And Sadek says approval from the US and Israel was at the top of Morsi’s agenda.
“He was able to reach a ceasefire between Gaza, between Hamas and Israel. And because the Americans and Israelis were happy with that, he had a green light now to take a very drastic action inside the country by these draconian regulations… which provoked many of the population,” he said.
No matter whose approval prompted Morsi to issue the declaration, tens of thousands of Egyptians hit the streets in both protest or support of the leader.
For Sadek, the motivation for anti-Morsi demonstrators is clear.
“They want to give a message to President Morsi, and those backing him from the outside, that Egypt is not the Muslim Brotherhood,” he said.
Morsi addressed the controversial decree during a speech in front of the presidential palace on Friday.
Speaking to a crowd of thousands, the leader said his main goal for the country was safety and stability.
Egypt′s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi addresses his supporters in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on November 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / Str)
Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi addresses his supporters in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on November 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / Str)
However, others say the speech only shows the leader’s lack of tolerance for those who oppose him.
“One problem is that his idea of democracy – displayed by the fact that he addressed the crowd in the streets today – is very much a populist one, and it’s very much winner takes all. He won the election; the people who voted for him were the majority, and their will should be done,” Almond said.
Meanwhile, the leader has been accused of appointing himself as a “new pharaoh.” But Almond says it’s still too soon to determine whether those cries are justified.
“We’ll see whether he lives up to his promises that he’s really trying to protect the revolution and the demand for liberal democracy. But I fear the problem is that his interpretation of what is democracy is that the majority should rule and the minority should shut their mouths and do what they’re told,” he said.
Sadek says the best way to please both the majority and the minority is to revert back to the country’s old constitution.
“[The old constitution] would avoid those controversial issues that would scare many of the urban population and women and the minorities that Egypt is becoming a Socratic state… but this requires diplomatic, behind-the-scenes intervention from the EU, from Americans, from the United Nations. This is very important to achieve stability. Otherwise President Morsi will have a very unstable regime and condition in the country,” Sadek said.
Israel Stops African Immigration
According to an article
in the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper, titled “Israel Virtually Stops
African Immigration,” the Israeli government has said that its “border
measures have cut off the flow.
“Israel has stopped the unapproved influx of African migrants across its border with Egypt,” the article quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed “months of intensive counter-measures on the once porous desert frontier. More than 60,000 African migrants have walked into the Jewish state in recent years, some seeking work and others refuge. They have stirred fear for public order and demographics and prompted the government to build a fortified and closely patrolled fence between Israel and the Egyptian Sinai.”
According to the article, Netanyahu told his cabinet that “54 migrants crossed the border in October and were all taken into custody – a steep decline from the some 2,000 migrants who came through monthly in mid-2012, many of them settling in Israeli cities.
“Israel has stopped the unapproved influx of African migrants across its border with Egypt,” the article quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed “months of intensive counter-measures on the once porous desert frontier. More than 60,000 African migrants have walked into the Jewish state in recent years, some seeking work and others refuge. They have stirred fear for public order and demographics and prompted the government to build a fortified and closely patrolled fence between Israel and the Egyptian Sinai.”
According to the article, Netanyahu told his cabinet that “54 migrants crossed the border in October and were all taken into custody – a steep decline from the some 2,000 migrants who came through monthly in mid-2012, many of them settling in Israeli cities.
“Given this figure, we can say explicitly that we have halted the infiltration. And now we have to focus on removing or returning those infiltrators who are already in the territory of Israel to their countries of origin,” he said.
Monday, November 26, 2012
the first United States Minister to Mexico
Poinsett was a Master Mason behind the creation of the Republic of Texas and the first republican government in Mexico, yet for Wikipedia he is mostly the man that popularized a Christmas flower.
Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician, botanist and statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico (the United States did not appoint ambassadors until 1896), a U.S.Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a cofounder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution), as well as the eponym of Poinsett County, Arkansas; Poinsett Highway, Poinsett Bridge, and Poinsett State Park inSouth Carolina; Lake Poinsett in South Dakota; and the poinsettia, a popular Christmas flower.
He simultaneously served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823 and was appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil until his recall in 1830. It was during this time that he visited the area of south of Mexico City aroundTaxco del Alarcon, where he found what was later to become known in the United States as the poinsettia; in Mexico it is called "Flor de Noche Buena" (Christmas Eve flower). (The Aztecs referred to the winter-blooming plant as cuetlaxochitl; its Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherrima or "the most beautiful Euphorbia.") Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist, sent samples of the plant home to the States and by 1836 the plant was most widely known as the "poinsettia."
It is unknown when Poinsett became a Master Mason, but it is known that he was a Past Master of Recovery Lodge #31, Greenville, and Solomons Lodge #1, Charleston (Reference: Thompson, Edward N., "Joel Robert Poinsett: The Man Behind the Flower", Short Talk Bulletin, Masonic Service Association of the United States, December 1984).
Joel Roberts Poinsett (March 2, 1779 – December 12, 1851) was an American physician, botanist and statesman. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, the first United States Minister to Mexico (the United States did not appoint ambassadors until 1896), a U.S.Secretary of War under Martin Van Buren, and a cofounder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts (a predecessor of the Smithsonian Institution), as well as the eponym of Poinsett County, Arkansas; Poinsett Highway, Poinsett Bridge, and Poinsett State Park inSouth Carolina; Lake Poinsett in South Dakota; and the poinsettia, a popular Christmas flower.
He simultaneously served as a special envoy to Mexico from 1822 to 1823 and was appointed the first American minister to Mexico in 1825, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil until his recall in 1830. It was during this time that he visited the area of south of Mexico City aroundTaxco del Alarcon, where he found what was later to become known in the United States as the poinsettia; in Mexico it is called "Flor de Noche Buena" (Christmas Eve flower). (The Aztecs referred to the winter-blooming plant as cuetlaxochitl; its Latin name is Euphorbia pulcherrima or "the most beautiful Euphorbia.") Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist, sent samples of the plant home to the States and by 1836 the plant was most widely known as the "poinsettia."
It is unknown when Poinsett became a Master Mason, but it is known that he was a Past Master of Recovery Lodge #31, Greenville, and Solomons Lodge #1, Charleston (Reference: Thompson, Edward N., "Joel Robert Poinsett: The Man Behind the Flower", Short Talk Bulletin, Masonic Service Association of the United States, December 1984).
The U.S. has no friends, only interests
John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world. He advocated support of the French in their war against the Viet Minh in Indochina and it is widely believed that he refused to shake the hand of Zhou Enlai at theGeneva Conference in 1954. He also played a major role in the Central Intelligence Agency operation to overthrow the democratic Mossadeghgovernment of Iran in 1953 (Operation Ajax) and the democratic Arbenz government of Guatemala in 1954 (Operation PBSUCCESS).
As Secretary of State, Dulles spent considerable time building up NATO and forming other alliances (the "Pactomania") as part of his strategy of controlling Soviet expansion by threatening massive retaliation in event of a war, as well as building up friendships, including that of Louis Jefferson, who would later write a good-humored biography on Dulles. In 1950, he worked alongside Richard Nixon to reduce the French influence in Vietnam as well as asking the United States to attempt to cooperate with the French in the aid of strengthening Diem's Army. Over time he came to the conclusion that it was time to "ease France out of Vietnam"[10] In 1950 He also helped instigate the ANZUS Treaty for mutual protection with Australia and New Zealand. Dulles was strongly against communism, believing it was "Godless terrorism".[11] One of his first major policy shifts towards a more aggressive posture against communism, Dulles directed the CIA at this point now under the directorship of his brother Allen Dulles, in March 1953, to draft plans to overthrow the Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran [3]. This led directly to the Coup d'état via Operation Ajax in support of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran.
After the war, the United Nations conducted a lengthy inquiry regarding the status of Eritrea, with the superpowers each vying for a stake in the state's future. Britain, the last administrator at the time, put forth the suggestion to partition Eritrea between Sudan and Ethiopia, separating Christians and Muslims. The idea was instantly rejected by Eritrean political parties as well as the UN.[12] The United States point of view was expressed by its then chief foreign policy advisor John Foster Dulles who said:
From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea Basin and considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country [Eritrea] be linked with our ally, Ethiopia.—John Foster Dulles, 1952
A UN plebiscite voted 46 to 10 to have Eritrea be federated with Ethiopia which was later stipulated on December 2, 1950 in resolution 390 (V). Eritrea would have its own parliament and administration and would be represented in what had been the Ethiopian parliament and would become the federal parliament. In 1961 the 30-year Eritrean Struggle for Independence began, following the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I's dissolution of the federation and shutting down of Eritrea's parliament. The Emperor declared Eritrea the fourteenth province of Ethiopia in 1962.[13]
Dulles was also the architect of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) that was created in 1954. The treaty, signed by representatives of Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States provided for collective action against aggression. In that same year, due to his relationship with his brother Allen Dulles, the Director ofCIA and a former member of the Board Of Directors of the United Fruit Company, based in Guatemala, Foster Dulles was pivotal in promoting and executing the CIA-led Operation PBSUCCESSthat overthrew the democratically elected Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.
Dulles was one of the pioneers of massive retaliation and brinkmanship. In an article written for Life Magazine Dulles defined his policy of brinkmanship: "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art." His critics blamed him for damaging relations with Communist states and contributing to the Cold War.
Dulles upset the leaders of several non-aligned countries when on June 9, 1956, he argued in one speech that "neutrality has increasingly become an obsolete and, except under very exceptional circumstances, it is an immoral and shortsighted conception."
In November 1956, Dulles strongly opposed the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt in response to the Suez Crisis. However, by 1958, he was an outspoken opponent of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and stopped him from receiving weapons from the United States. This policy seemingly backfired, enabling the Soviet Union to gain influence in the Middle East.
Dulles focused more attention on the Suez Crisis than on the Hungarian revolution, which was occurring simultaneously. He misunderstood the Hungarian reformist leader Imre Nagy. On October 25, 1956, he sent a telegram to the U.S. embassy in Belgrade expressing his fears that the Imre Nagy-János Kádár government might take "reprisals" against the Hungarian "freedom fighters". By the next day, October 26, State Department officials in Washington assumed the worse about Nagy, asserting in a top secret memorandum: "Nagy's appeal for Soviet troops indicates, at least superficially, that there are not any open differences between the Soviet and Hungarian governments".[14][15]
Dulles also served as the Chairman and Co-founder of the Commission on a Just and Durable Peace of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America (succeeded by the National Council of Churches), the Chairman of the Board for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1935 to 1952, and was a founding member of Foreign Policy Association and Council of Foreign Relations.
Dulles is said to have made the candid quote, "The United States of America does not have friends; it has interests." With time it has become infamous in some sectors due to the country's future (and previous) foreign policies. Yet, no such quote exists in the historical record—although these words were actually spoken by Charles De Gaulle. The myth appears to have grown out of an incident in 1958 when Dulles traveled to Mexico and anti-American protesters held up signs reading "The U.S. has no friends, only interests."
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