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[Africa & Europe in Partnership] The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the government of Burkina Faso will hold the 2012 Triennale on Education and Training in Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from February 13-17, 2012. This important, international event will take place at the Ouagadougou 2000 International Conference Centre.

By Eric Walberg – Cairo

The Third Annual BDS Conference opened 17 December at Hebron's Children's Happiness Centre, 'to expand Palestinian civil society's active implementation of BDS that is deeply rooted in the Palestinian struggle.' European BNC coordinator Michael Deas affirmed, 'BDS is now the main framework for solidarity. We are very close to closing the European market to Israel.'

A boycott bombshell in January was dropped by an 11th-grade American Jewish teenager, Jesse Lieberfeld, who won Dietrich College’s 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr Writing Award for his essay about his moral awakening when he realised his American Jewish culture was unavoidably identified with supporting Israel.

“I once belonged to a wonderful religion,” says young Jesse. “I routinely heard about unexplained mass killings, attacks on medical bases, and other alarmingly violent actions for which I could see no possible reason. ‘Genocide’ almost seemed the more appropriate term... Whenever I brought up the subject, I was always given the answer that there were faults on both sides... I felt horrified at the realisation that I was by nature on the side of the oppressors. I was grouped with the racial supremacists.” Finally, at the synagogue, he asked, “I want to support Israel. But how can I when it lets its army commit so many killings?” and was told by the rabbi, “It is a terrible thing, isn’t it? But there’s nothing we can do. It’s just a fact of life.” “I thanked him and walked out shortly afterward. I never went back.” When American youth like Jesse are forced to give up being Jewish because of Israeli crimes, it cannot be long before Israel crumbles under the weight of its accumulated crimes.

2011 witnessed the rise of Internet attacks on Israeli government sites by public-spirited BDSers determined to enforce a kind of “cyber boycott”. While the Saudi government remains aloof from BDS support, an enterprising Saudi hacker disrupted several Israeli websites in January, prompting Israeli hacker Yoni (most likely a spin-off from the Israeli military's IDF-TEAM, which brought down Saudi and Abu Dhabi financial exchange websites last year) to threaten war, including “mass credit card exposures, and denial-of-service attacks”.

“Yoni” piously told Ynet, “We do not operate against any specific nationality, and any person who operates against the group’s principles will be harmed, regardless of religion, creed or gender. In addition, I wish to note that the group regrets harm done to innocents and tries to avoid it as much as it possible.” Imagine if Israel adhered to such high standards in its relations with its neighbours — it would not need to hack and steal credit card information from anyone.

Another such anti-BDS feint is by the pro-Israeli Internet NGO Monitor, DPWatchDog and Israel’s Reut Institute, which called on Israeli government agencies to “sabotage” and “attack” the Palestine solidarity movement, and has claimed credit for “price tag” attacks on The Electronic Intifada by Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, the Palestine Return Centre, the persecution of the Olympia Food Co-op, the Berkeley Daily Planet and the “Irvine 11”. In “2011: The Year We Punched Back on the Assault on Israel’s legitimacy,” Reut lauds the emergence of “our network” and gives credit to the Israeli government and “the Jewish world’s mobilisation against the political assault on Israel".

This conflation of “Jewish” and “Israeli” is the Israel-firsters' trump card, perversely stoking anti-Jewish sentiment where none exists, the so-called “new anti-Semitism”, a directly result of Israeli crimes. “Price tagging” is usually associated with Israeli settler terrorism, vandalism, tree-felling, mosque burnings and murder. A particular zealous advocate, Andrew Adler, suggested in the Atlanta Jewish Times in January that US President Barack Obama could be on the hit list. That the Reut Institute associates itself with such criminal activity is yet another sign of Israel’s drift towards outright pariah status, and fuel for the anger of the Jesse Lieberfelds “regardless of religion, creed or gender”.

Boycott activities are not just confined to Israeli products abroad or visits by Westerners to Israel, but are now taking place regularly on land, at sea and in the air, as activists surround Israel and invent ever new ways to break its siege of the Occupied Territories.

The Global March to Jerusalem held a conference in Beirut in January confirming 30 March, the 36th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, as the date for their land action: “From all continents we will converge and gather along the Palestinian borders with Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon in a peaceful march towards Palestine.”

Plans for “Sailing for Freedom” by French and other European activists are moving ahead, aiming for a September yachting regatta in the Mediterranean, starting in Marseilles and proceeding to Tunisia, Egypt and Gaza. Other flotilla organisers have been discussing a new strategy of sending isolated vessels from various ports instead of high-profile flotillas, with the intent of actually breaking the siege, as opposed to merely attracting world attention to Israel (and Greek and US) sabotaging of flotillas.

In April 2012 a Flytilla is scheduled to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, to “again challenge the Israeli policy of isolating the West Bank”. “Welcome to Palestine” is a French-Belgian initiative, modeled on the Flytilla last July, when 500 people prepared to fly to Tel Aviv. Despite the nightmare that activists experienced both in European airports and in Ben Gurion Airport, 125 actually arrived, and this year, activists are determined to increase their numbers and continue to poke the Israeli watchdog.

“The Israelis have constructed enormous prisons for Palestinians. But prisoners have a right to visits,” says Adri Nieuwhof. The idea has spread to the UK, where towns are sponsoring people to risk Israeli wrath. European airlines are now more concerned with their image in the West than with Israeli authorities, and organisers predict that there will be less collusion to pre-screen flights arriving in Tel Aviv from Europe.

These particularly plucky activists continue the tradition begun in 2011 of a peaceful blitzkreig of Israel from all sides, risking life and limb, enforcing a kind of physical “citizens boycott” of Israel, complementing the spiritual one by the young Jesses. Their co-activists on the “homefront” are now combining the physical and spiritual by the now annual protest during the Israel lobby AIPAC’s annual conference in Washington DC. This year it is called OCCUPY AIPAC, scheduled for 2-6 March. Kalle Lasn, editor of Adbusters, declared: “The time has come for the Occupy Movement to demand an end to the Occupation of Palestine.” OCCUPY AIPAC will provide a sneak preview of “Roadmap to Apartheid” narrated by Alice Walker (roadmaptoapartheid.org).

Legal actions against BDSers continue to plague activists. But there are principled judges. Twelve French activists from Boycott 68 were acquitted 15 December on charges of “inciting discrimination and racial hatred” for calling on French shoppers at Carrefour supermarkets to boycott Israeli goods. The court judgment is expected to put the kibosh on further persecution of activists.

UK’s National Union of Students endorsed campaigns targeting divestment in Eden Springs and Veolia on 6 January. Veolia suffered considerably from a robust BDS campaign across Europe last year for its light-rail project in Jerusalem, but is defiant in expanding its activities in Israel without regard to their legality. Subsidiaries of Veolia own and operate Tovlan landfill which processes Israeli waste in the occupied Jordan Valley. To sweeten the tons of garbage it dumps illegally on Palestinian land, Veolia recently offered three containers for free waste collection to Palestinians in Jiftlik. Comments Omar Barghouti, “As Desmond Tutu said, we do not need anyone to polish our chains; we want to break them altogether. This is beyond humiliating; it is racist and criminal. Derail Veolia!”

Sanctions -- and their removal, in the case of the Palestinians -- require foreign governments to stare down the powerful world Zionist lobby. Few states dare to do this, but there are more and more cracks in the walls that Israel puts up. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniya launched a historic tour of Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Turkey, Qatar and Bahrain in January, welcomed throughout the region as a David to the Israeli Goliath.

Three Hamas politicians also left Gaza via Egypt to attend a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Switzerland in January, the first time since Hamas was democratically elected in 2006. Switzerland does not belong to the European Union, which put Hamas on its list of terrorist organisations to please Israel.

“We also met with the Red Cross in Geneva, the vice-mayor of Geneva and with Islamic organisations in different cantons,” Mushir Al-Masri said. A meeting at the University of Geneva to commemorate the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s attack on Gaza in December 2008, was attended by 500. “All persons who were complicit in the war crimes committed in Gaza should be taken to court,” Al-Masri told the packed hall. Socialist MP Carlo Sommaruga told the audience, “I was an activist against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Every person has a responsibility. Everyone can participate in the BDS movement.”

- Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/ His Postmodern Imperialism: Geopolitics and the Great Games is available at http://claritypress.com/Walberg.html. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

A severe cold spell in Eastern Europe has left at least 58 people dead over the past week, including dozens who were homeless. Hundreds have sought medical help for hypothermia and frostbite, while snow and ice disrupted traffic, cut off power and forced schools to close.

A severe cold spell in Eastern Europe has left at least 58 people dead over the past week, including dozens who were homeless. Hundreds have sought medical help for hypothermia and frostbite, while snow and ice disrupted traffic, cut off power and forced schools to close.

Ozone pollution travels between continents easily, traveling thousands of miles on the wind. The chemical - a powerful air pollutant - damages crops by inhibiting growth, say University of Leeds researchers.

Europe is becoming a preferred destination for international students for its quality education at competitive costs

Apple

EU leaders closed one chapter in the debt crisis late yesterday with a new treaty supposed to end deficits -- then launched a big final push to resolve Greece's bailout woes. European Union president Herman Van Rompuy called for a new deal with Athens "by the end of the week" on the conditions underpinning the long-delayed second bailout for Greece. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos went immediately into post-summit talks with top officials from the EU and the European Central Bank (ECB). In October last year, Greece was promised a second bailout of 130 billion euros ($171 billion) if it could convince private investors to write off 100 billion euros of debt. That deal is still to be finalised, as is a reassessment of Greece's debt sustainability. Eurozone partners' handling of the Greece issue in the intervening months reached a nadir when Germany at the weekend suggested placing the Athens government under wardenship. "It would not be reasonable, not democratic and not efficient," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said of the plan put to finance ministries. Greece's education minister had called the idea "the...

Poland, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have all been hit by temperatures as low as -26C - causing schools to close, roads to be blocked and power cut.

Poland, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have all been hit by temperatures as low as -20C - closing schools, blocking roads and cutting power.

Scientists have created a new algorithm to detect virtual communities, designed to match the needs of real-life social, biological or information networks detection better than with current attempts. The results of this study by Lovro Šubelj and his colleague Marko Bajec from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia have just been published in European Physical Journal B.

Europe is becoming a preferred destination for international students for its quality education at competitive costs.

Wheatley reports: Amartya Sen, an economics professor at Harvard University, said it was folly for governments to bend all their efforts to eliminate deficit spending.

Map Showing NORDUnet's 2011 completion of network expansion by taking a third connection to the US in production.
(Click to Enlarge)NORDUnet, the R&E network connecting the Nordic countries has recently undertaken a brilliant Internet peering strategy that will have global significant ramifications for supporting research and education around the world.

NORDUnet is now emerging as one of the world's first "GREN"s — Global Research and Education Network. NORDUnet is extending their network infrastructure to multiple points of presence throughout the USA and Europe to interconnect to major Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). This will allow them to negotiate as a Tier 1 Internet service provider and exchange traffic with other global commercial Tier 1 Internet transit providers. NORDUnet is also playing a global leadership role by extending this service offering, on a shared cost basis, to NRENs such as SURFnet (Netherlands), PIONIER (Poland) and perhaps others.

Many network operators ask why they should build an extensive peering network when transit prices are only marginally more expensive than peering (and still dropping)? The NORDUnet engineering team are one of the first to understand that Internet peering is not about cost comparison between peering and transit pricing.

Most universities (as well as consumers and business) have a fixed budget for Internet connectivity. So regardless of traffic volumes they can only spend so much money for Internet transit. As result many institutions cap traffic volumes to commercial transit providers. But peering traffic is done on a settlement free basis and therefore traffic volumes are not linearly related to cost. Many NRENs have discovered that content peering traffic has a huge benefit for their connected institutions in stabilizing costs without restricting use of the network. On some NRENs, content peering traffic is now 90% of their overall traffic volume. By connecting to the major IXPs in the USA, NORDUnet can eliminate purchase of virtually all transit traffic. Traffic volumes are expected to immediately jump because now institutions will not have to cap formerly transit traffic.

This arrangement will have a huge benefit for the research community as more and more computational research is done on commercial clouds in the US. NORDUnet realizes, that despite concerns about US Patriot Act, researchers are voting with their wallets and using commercial cloud providers and value added cloud providers in the US. Many research disciplines, especially genomics and bio-informatics are being increasingly dependent on commercial application providers, because they have the necessary tools critical to their research. Numerous bioinformatics companies, like SoftGenetics, DNAStar, DNAnexus and NextBio, have sprung up to as they have found life sciences a fertile market for products that handle large amounts of information. Access to these commercial organizations through the commercial Internet or Open Lightpath Exchanges is essential for the future of research.

This initiative by NORDUNet will have profound implications for the future of the Internet and data intensive science. The obvious next step after exchanging peering traffic is also to use this links for dynamic lightpaths and virtual networks for large data flows. It is no surprise that networks like NORDUNet and SURFnet are also leading the developments of dynamic optical networking through GLIF. The other important development is for other NRENs to build similar global links and exchange peering routes so collectively they can represent themselves as a global Tier 1 and finally eliminate the archaic telco business models that currently dominate the Internet. This will significant benefits for those NRENs who are deploying community IXPs and can extend the benefits of content peering to community anchors and support community broadband developments.

Peering traffic also goes hand in hand with dynamic optical networks and GOLEs. Some NRENs are under pressure by some large institutions threatening to leave. Some institutions think that by directly connecting to a GOLE and purchasing commercial Internet for the balance of their traffic is all they need for R&E connectivity But peering dramatically changes the balance as it is a service and business model that is not available from commercial providers. The cost savings are dramatic for the connected institution and it does not cripple researchers accessing commercial research services such as clouds because of traffic caps.

Once again, NRENs and GRENs are demonstrating their important role in redefining the critical role of the Internet and creating new opportunities for the global informational economy. Kudos to NORDUnet.

Written by Bill St. Arnaud , Green IT Networking Consultant

A research team led by University of Massachusetts Amherst resource economist Sylvia Brandt, with colleagues in California and Switzerland, have revised the cost burden sharply upward for childhood asthma and for the first time include the number of cases attributable to air pollution, in a study released this week in the early online version of the European Respiratory Journal.

Kenneth Rogoff, an economist at Harvard University, talks about the European debt crisis and the impact of a Greek default on the region

(PhysOrg.com) -- New published research from anthropologists at the University of Kent has scientifically supported for the first time the long held theory that early human ancestors across Africa, Western Asia and Europe engineered their stone tools. 

(This post is by Christine McCann)

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of Nuclear Politics in Japan

Records show that Japan concealed Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) data that predicted there would be no energy shortage for this coming summer, and instead reported that there would be a 10% shortage. In addition, the report stated that no renewable energy would be available, when in actuality, the METI data showed that 7.59 million kilowatts of renewable energy could be produced. The revised estimate predicts a 6% surplus, not a shortfall. An official from the Energy and Environment Council has denied that the information was withheld in order to promote nuclear power and restart reactors.

The government’s nuclear task force, which met in the days following the Fukushima disaster begun and included then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, members of his cabinet, and officials from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), has revealed that it kept no minutes or records for any of its 21 meetings. Failure to do so is a violation of Japan’s Public Records Management Act. The group was responsible for determining evacuation policies, restrictions on food shipments, and decontamination guidelines. A NISA official was supposed to keep records, but said he was “too busy.” Additional queries show that the joint taskforce between Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and the government also kept no records or minutes of their meetings. Osamu Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said the government will attempt to reconstruct what happened at the meetings, in spite of the fact that they happened almost a year ago.

Officials from Chubu Electric have admitted that reactors at the Hamaoka Power Plant will experience complete meltdown within three days if power is lost. In addition, fuel rods at the spent fuel pools at its Omaezaki Plant, located in Shizuoka Prefecture, will melt if power is lost for 25 days. Chubu was responding to a request from local officials who were planning emergency drills. The reactors at Omaezaki were shut down after the March earthquake, when then-Prime Minster Naoto Kan raised concerns about the fact that they sit on a major fault line. Critics have long blasted the plant as an accident waiting to happen.

Scientists at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute say that increased seismic activity in the Tohoku region of Japan since the March earthquake shows that the chance of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake striking Tokyo within the next four years is 70% - and the chance of it hitting within the next 30 years is 98%. Earthquakes in that region measuring magnitude 3.0 or greater have increased five-fold since March. The announcement is certain to increase concerns about nuclear safety among the Japanese public.

A ten-person team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun a nine-day review of stress tests conducted on reactor 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric’s Oi plant. The tests are designed to evaluate the reactors’ ability to withstand natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis. The IAEA team will examine how officials from NISA crosschecked results provided by the utility. However, the IAEA team has no authority to advise whether or not the reactors should be restarted. They are expected to present their report by the end of this month, at which point NISA will make a final decision. Local government officials, however, are opposed to the restart.

Documents obtained through the Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs show that between 2006 and 2010, 11 colleges and universities in Japan received 10.4 billion yen from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), other government agencies, and power companies, in order to conduct research that promotes nuclear energy. Researchers whose work raised concerns about the use of nuclear power received no funding. The revelations highlight the interdependence of universities and the nuclear industry, and cast doubt on the independence of the institutions involved.

Goshi Hosono, Japan’s Nuclear Minister, met with 100 municipal officials to discuss emergency plans in the case of nuclear disaster. Hosono said that the central government will increase inspections at plants and has increased the emergency preparedness area around plants from 10 to 30 km. Local officials have been asked to upgrade their emergency plans to reflect the increased area by October. That request has frustrated some, who say that the turnaround time is too short.

Makoto Yagi, the head of Federation of Electric Power Suppliers, a nuclear industry group, has asked the government to clarify the criteria it will use to determine which nuclear reactors are granted 20 year extensions to the 40-year limit on operations. He is also the President of Kansai Electric and is lobbying for the restart of Kansai’s 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture. Yagi said that the decision should be based on science. Meanwhile, the governor of Fukui Prefecture has said that he will oppose restarting the reactors until the cause of the Fukushima disaster is determined and the central government enacts new safety measures based on those findings.

Koichiro Gemba, Japan’s Foreign Minister, said that Fukushima Prefecture will jointly host an international conference on nuclear safety later this year with the IAEA. At least 50 foreign ministers will be invited. In addition, the prefecture will host a meeting on renewable energy in March.

TEPCO

Drafts of TEPCO’s special business plan reportedly show that the utility will probably remain under state control for 10 years, through 2022, although it hopes to become solvent again by 2013. The plan is being considered by the government entity established to pay compensation to victims of the Fukushima crisis.

State of the Reactors

TEPCO discovered another leak of highly radioactive water this week, in a pit near reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The water measured 500 tons and contained 16.2 million Bq/liter of radioactive cesium. In addition, the utility found 600 tons of water in a pit near reactor 3, containing 860,000 Bq/liter of cesium. TEPCO is trying to determine the cause of the leak, although it says that based on oceanic readings, it does not believe that the radioactive water has contaminated the sea.

TEPCO said that radioactive emissions from the Fukushima Daiichi Plant increased this month from 60 million Becquerels per hour to 70 million Becquerels per hour. The utility blamed the rise on increased work near reactors 2 and 3, which has displaced radioactive dust and debris.

Contamination (Includes Economic Impact and Human Exposure)

The Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry is only tracking radiation accumulated by TEPCO workers during the hours they are officially on duty—not while they are off-duty or engaged in other activities, even if they are in high-radiation areas. In addition, the Ministry said it will not track radiation absorbed by workers doing decontamination work. Critics say that all exposure should be tracked.

Compensation

Approximately 10,000 victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are joining together to file a class action suit against TEPCO, claiming that compensation levels offered by the utility are too low. The claimants are from the Odaka District in Minamisoma, Fukushima.

Yukio Edano, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), has ordered TEPCO to reimburse those living in structures built with radioactive gravel, including covering moving costs where applicable. Edano made the announcement after meeting with Nihonmatsu mayor Keiichi Miho, who also requested that the government establish radiation limits for gravel. Last week, officials realized that contaminated stone and gravel had been used to construct condominiums, a private home, four schools, and several roads. The total number of construction projects using the gravel currently stands at 108, although that number is expected to rise. Sixty of those projects are residences and dwellings. Nihonmatsu officials have vowed to examine 224 city construction projects begun since the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred. In addition, Fukushima Prefecture will test gravel from 27 other quarries that may be at risk.

Other Nuclear News

A United States federal judge has ruled that the state of Vermont cannot force the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant to close, in spite of the fact that the utility’s license to operate is expiring in March. Vermont Yankee, which is operated by Entergy, has been plagued with safety problems, including a cooling tower that collapsed because of rotting wood and leaks of radioactive tritium. Public opinion strongly opposes the plant, and Vermont’s State Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of not renewing the license. However, the judge ruled that nuclear safety is the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and not that of local or state authorities. The NRC has already voted to renew Vermont Yankee’s license for an additional 20 years.

A nuclear utility in the Netherlands has postponed a plan to build a second nuclear reactor for at least two to three years, citing “tough market conditions.” The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has had a chilling effect on nuclear power in many parts of Europe, because of increased concerns about safety.

Edinburgh University is to receive a £50m loan from the European Investment Bank which will help fund a new climate change centre.

Date: 22 - 28 July, 2012 Location: Krakow, Poland http://www.eko.uj.edu.pl/symbiosis/ Hosted by one of the oldest and prominent universities in Europe, Jagiellonian University, the meeting will welcome hundreds of researchers, educators, and students from around the world, all of whom are immersed in some aspect of symbiosis.

By Uri Avnery

'Israel has no foreign policy, only a domestic policy,' Henry Kissinger once remarked.

This has probably been more or less true of every country since the advent of democracy. Yet in Israel, this seems even truer. (Ironically, it could almost be said that the US has no foreign policy, only an Israeli domestic policy.)

In order to understand our foreign policy, we have to look in the mirror. Who are we? What is our society like?

In a classical sketch, well known to every veteran Israeli, two Arabs stand on the sea shore, looking at a boat full of Russian Jewish pioneers rowing towards them. “May your house be destroyed!” they curse.

Next, the same two figures, this time Russian Jewish pioneers, stand on the same spot, launching Russian curses at a boat full of Yemenite immigrants.

Next, the two are Yemenites cursing German Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazis. Then, two German Jews cursing Moroccan arrivals. When it first appeared, that was the last scene. But now, one can add two Moroccans cursing the immigrants from Soviet Russia, then two Russians cursing the latest arrivals: Ethiopian Jews.

That may also be true for every immigrant country, from the United States to Australia. Every new wave of immigrants is greeted by the scorn, contempt and even open hostility of those who came before them. When I was a child in the early 1930s, I frequently heard people shouting at my parents “Go back to Hitler!”

Still, the dominant myth was that of the “melting pot”. All immigrants would be thrown into the same pot and cleansed of their “foreign” traits, emerging as a uniform new nation without any traces of their origin.

This myth died some decades ago. Israel is now a kind of federation of several major demographic-cultural blocs which dominate our social and political life.

Who are they? There are (1) the old Ashkenazim (Jews of European origin); (2) the Oriental (or “Sephardi”) Jews; (3) the religious (partly Ashkenazi, partly Oriental); (4) the “Russians”, immigrants from all the countries of the former Soviet union; and (5) the Palestinian-Arab citizens, who did not come from anywhere.

This is, of course, a schematic presentation. None of the blocs is completely homogeneous. Each bloc has several sub blocs, some blocs overlap, there is some intermarriage, but on the whole, the picture is accurate. Gender plays no role in this division. 

The political scene almost exactly mirrors these divisions. The Labor party was, in its heyday, the main instrument of Ashkenazi power. Its remnants, together with Kadima and Meretz, are still Ashkenazi. Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beytenu consists mainly of Russians. There are three or four religious parties. Then there are two exclusively Arab parties, and the Communist party, which is mainly Arab, too. The Likud represents the bulk of the Orientals, though almost all its leaders are Ashkenazim.

The relationship between the blocs is often strained. Just now, the whole country is in an uproar because in Kiryat Malakhi, a southern town with mainly Oriental inhabitants, house owners have signed a commitment not to sell apartments to Ethiopians, while the Rabbi of Safed, a northern town of mainly Orthodox Jews, has forbidden his flock to rent apartments to Arabs.

But apart from the rift between the Jews and the Arabs, the main problem is the resentment of the Orientals, the Russians and the religious against what they call “the Ashkenazi elite”.

Since they were the first to arrive, long before the establishment of the state, Ashkenazim control most of the centers of power – social, political, economic, cultural et al. Generally, they belong to the more affluent part of society, while the Orientals, the Orthodox, the Russians and the Arabs generally belong to the lower socio-economic strata.

The Orientals have deep grudges against the Ashkenazim. They believe – not without justification - that they have been humiliated and discriminated against from their first day in the country, and still are, though quite a number of them have reached high economic and political positions. The other day, a top director of one of the foremost financial institutions caused a scandal when he accused the “Whites” (i.e. Ashkenazim) of dominating all the banks, the courts and the media. He was promptly fired, which caused another scandal.

The Likud came to power in 1977, dethroning Labor. With short interruptions, It has been in power ever since. Yet most Likud members still feel that the Ashkenazim rule Israel, leaving them far behind. Now, 34 years later, the dark wave of anti-democratic legislation pushed by Likud deputies is being justified by the slogan “We must start to rule!”  

The scene reminds me of a building site surrounded by a wooden fence. The canny contractor has left some holes in the fence, so that curious passers-by can look in. In our society, all the other blocs feel like outsiders looking through the holes, full of envy for the Ashkenazi “elite” inside, who have all the good things. They hate everything they connect with this “elite”: the Supreme Court, the media, the human rights organizations, and especially the peace camp. All these are called “leftist”, a word curiously enough identified with the “elite”.

How has “peace” become associated with the dominant and domineering Ashkenazim?

That is one of the great tragedies of our country.

Jews have lived for many centuries in the Muslim world. There they never experienced the terrible things committed in Europe by Christian anti-Semitism. Muslim-Jewish animosity started only a century ago, with the advent of Zionism, and for obvious reasons.

When the Jews from Muslim countries started to arrive en masse in Israel, they were steeped in Arab culture. But here they were received by a society that held everything Arab in total contempt. Their Arab culture was “primitive”, while real culture was European. Furthermore, they were identified with the murderous Muslims. So the immigrants were required to shed their own culture and traditions, their accent, their memories, their music. In order to show how thoroughly Israeli they had become, they also had to hate Arabs.

It is, of course, a world-wide phenomenon that in multi-national countries, the most downtrodden class of the dominant nation is also the most radical nationalist foe of the minority nations. Belonging to the superior nation is often the only source of pride left to them. The result is frequently virulent racism and xenophobia.

This is one of the reasons why the Orientals were attracted to the Likud, for whom the rejection of peace and the hatred of Arabs are supreme virtues. Also, having been in opposition for ages, the Likud was seen as representing those who were “outside”, fighting those who were “inside”. This is still the case.

The case of the “Russians” is different. They grew up in a society that despised democracy, admired strong leaders. The “whites”, Russians and Ukrainians, despised and hated the “dark” peoples of the south – Armenians, Georgians, Tatars, Uzbeks and such. (I once invented a formula: “Bolshevism minus Marxism equals Fascism”.)

When the Russian Jews came to join us, they brought with them a virulent nationalism, a complete disinterest in democracy and an automatic hatred of Arabs. They cannot understand why we allowed them to stay here at all. When, this week, a lady deputy (though “lady” may be euphemistic) from St. Petersburg poured a glass of water on the head of an Arab deputy from the Labor party, nobody was very surprised. (Somebody quipped: “a Good Arab is a wet Arab”). For Lieberman’s followers, Peace is a dirty word, and so is Democracy.

For religious people of all shades – from the ultra-Orthodox to the National-Religious settlers, there is no problem at all. From the crib on, they learn that Jews are the Chosen People; that the Almighty personally promised us this country; that the Goyim – including the Arabs – are just inferior human beings.

It may be said, quite rightly, that I generalize. I do, just to simplify matters. There are indeed a lot of Orientals, especially of the younger generation, who are repelled by the ultra-nationalism of the Likud, the more so as the neo-liberalism of Binyamin Netanyahu (which Shimon Peres once called “swinish capitalism”) is in direct contradiction to the basic interests of their community. There are also a lot of decent, liberal, peace-loving religious people. (Yeshayahu Leibovitz comes to mind.) Some Russians are gradually leaving their self-imposed ghetto. But these are small minorities in their communities.  The bulk of the three blocs – Oriental, Russian and religious – are united in their opposition to peace, and at best indifferent to democracy.    

All these together constitute the right-wing, anti-peace coalition that is governing Israel now. The problem is not just a question of politics. It is much more profound – and much more daunting.

Some people blame us, the democratic peace movement, for not recognizing the problem early enough, and not doing enough to attract the members of the various blocs to the ideals of peace and democracy. Also, it is said, we did not show that social justice is inseparably connected with democracy and peace.

I must accept my share of the blame for this failure, though I might point out that I tried to make the connection right from the beginning. I asked my friends to concentrate our efforts on the Oriental community, remind them of the glories of the Muslim-Jewish “golden Age” in Spain, of the huge mutual impact of Jewish and Muslim scientists, poets and religious thinkers throughout the ages.

A few days ago, I was invited to give a lecture to the faculty and students of Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva. I described the situation more or less  along the same lines. The first question from the large audience, which consisted of Jews – both Orientals and Ashkenazim, and Arabs – especially Bedouins was: “So what hope is there? Faced with this reality, how can the peace forces win?”

I told them that I put my trust in the new generation. Last summer’s huge social protest movement, which erupted quite suddenly and swept [“along”?] hundreds of thousands, showed that yes, it can happen here. The movement united Ashkenazim and Orientals. Tent cities sprang up in Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva, all over the place. 

Our first job is to break the barriers between the blocs, change reality, create a new Israeli society. We need blockbusters.

Yes, it is a daunting job. But I believe it can be done.

- Uri Avnery is an Israeli peace activist and a former Knesset member. He is the founder of Gush Shalom. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

America's presidential election is still 10 months off, but the race to choose Barack Obama's challenger is well underway. Douglas Herbert speaks to André Kaspi about the history of the US presidency, the legacy of former US presidents, and Europe’s fascination with them.

[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, European University Cyprus's Georgios Christou continues his discussion on video game usability evaluation by looking at formal evaluation methods.] In part one of this series, I talked about Norman's seven stages of action model (Norman, 2002), and how that can be used to start an informal usability evaluation on the part of the game designer/developer, after the User Interface (UI) of a game is pretty much completed. In this ...

The London School of Economics said it was investigating allegations that a Nazi-themed drinking game led to a brawl during a student union ski trip in France last month.

By Stuart Littlewood

The imprisonment and collective punishment inflicted on the civilian population in the overcrowded enclave of Gaza continues without let-up.

For example, those whose children were killed or maimed by Israel’s murderous blitzkrieg 3 years ago (Operation Cast Lead), and whose homes were destroyed, have received no response to the criminal complaints submitted on their behalf by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. Not only that. They are still subjected to daily air-strikes.

1,419 Palestinians were killed during Operation Cast Lead, 82 percent civilians. A further 5,300 were injured. Israeli forces directly targeted and attacked private homes and civilian institutions, including hospitals and schools. PCHR says it has submitted 490 criminal complaints to the Israeli authorities on behalf of 1,046 victims. “To-date, only two substantive replies have been received. The overwhelming majority of complaints have been simply ignored.”

How would that sit with you if the same thing were to happen in the leafy suburbs of London, Paris, Berlin or New York?

The strangulation also continues. In theory there are four crossings through which vital supplies can be brought in from Israel and beyond (including the occupied West Bank) — Sufa, Nahal Oz, Kerem Abu Salem and Karni. Only Kerem Abu Salem, a small crossing in the south of Gaza, has been allowed by Israel to operate on anything like a normal basis, say reports.

Since the closure of Karni last March, the Israelis have made sure that all goods brought into the Gaza Strip have to go through the Kerem Abu Salem crossing. The capacity of this crossing, as you might have guessed, is insufficient for needs and its location means longer distances, longer journey times, higher fees and higher costs for Gaza's merchants. And of course those extra charges have to be passed on. Now I read that the Karem Abu Salem crossing is to be demolished.

As for the movement of Gaza’s people, Oxfam’s latest Gaza Blockade Factsheet (December 2011) reports there are only 2 crossings, one between Gaza and Israel, and one between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli security clearance is still required to use either crossing.

The Erez crossing (to Israel) remains open but most traffic has been moved to Rafah crossing (to Egypt), reducing natural movement between Gaza and the West Bank. The overall ban on exit and entry is still in place.

For UN local humanitarian staff Israel is approving fewer permits than before the promised “easing”, while permit policy for aid workers and medical patients remains arbitrary, unpredictable and time consuming.

The report also says the near-total ban on exports continues, with 2011 exports running at less than 1% of pre-blockade levels. “In 2011 to date, only 196 trucks of exports have left Gaza. This is only 14 more trucks than in 2010 and far below the 25,480 truckloads of goods needed annually to meet pre blockade export levels. It is also significantly less than the 400 trucks of exports promised each day under the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access.  4 truckloads of strawberries recently left Gaza between the 27- 29 November 2011. Before that, there have been no exports since May 2011 when 1 truckload of flowers was allowed to be exported to the Netherlands.”

For a long time Israel's intention has been to impose a final separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, even though the two are internationally recognized as one integral territory. Under international law everyone has the right to freely choose their place of residence within a single territory.

Israel’s separation policy includes not only a block on travel for work, for trade, for family reunion, for medical attention and for worship in Jerusalem, it also targets higher education by making it virtually impossible for Gaza students to reach the eight Palestinian universities in the West Bank. I’m reminded of Berlanty, a Christian girl from Gaza who was living in the West Bank and studying for her degree at Bethlehem University. She was about to sit her finals when she was detained at the Israeli checkpoint between Bethlehem and Ramallah after attending a job interview.

The self-styled “most moral army in the world” blindfolded and handcuffed Berlanty, loaded her into a military jeep and drove her from Bethlehem to Gaza, where she was dumped in the darkness late at night and told: “You are in Gaza.”

The West Bank remains cruelly occupied with dead-of-night raids and arrests, even of children. The Israel government continues to instal armed squatter-thugs in hundreds of illegal ‘settlements’, from where they swoop down to terrorise local Palestinian communities and destroy their crops and other property.

Israel as usual acts in defiance of all law and standards of decency. And as usual the international community does nothing except wring their hands and turn their backs in a funk.

Play Dirty and You Get Sent Off

If western governments weren't so corrupt the answer would be obvious. Suspend Israel from the 1995 EU-Israel Association Agreement. The purpose of the Agreement is to promote (1) peace and security, (2) shared prosperity through, for example, economic co-operation, free trade and free movement of capital, and (3) cross-cultural rapprochement. It governs not only EU-Israel relations but Israel's relations with the EU’s other Mediterranean partners - including the Palestinian National Authority.

To enjoy these privileges Israel undertook to show "respect for human rights and democratic principles" set out as a general condition in Article 2, which says:

"Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement."

This clause allows steps to be taken to enforce the contractual requirement regarding human rights and to dissuade partners from policies and practices that disrespect those rights. The Agreement also requires respect for self-determination of peoples and fundamental freedoms for all.

Even the Israelis must know that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN in 1948, Article 13, states: (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state, and (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

But Israel, with its racist and territorial ambitions, shows the same contempt for the rules of association as it does for international law.

From the outset it had no intention of playing the game. It relies on the power of the lobby’, the obedience of its stooges and the cowardice of the political ‘élite' to deflect criticism, overcome objections and lean on the referee.

In 2002 the EU Parliament did actually vote to suspend the Agreement on the grounds of Israel’s violations of human rights. The resolution called for an arms embargo against Israel and Palestine, and condemned the “military escalation pursued by the Sharon government" and the "oppression of the Palestinian civilian population by the Israeli army." The fat slugs in the EU Commission ignored the will of Parliament, and consequently there has been no improvement in Israel’s behaviour.

It’s time to try again, and to stomp on the unelected Commission if need be. Israel relies heavily on exports to Europe where it enjoys ‘favoured nation’ trading terms. So the EU could, at a stroke, end the evil occupation, the murder and the land theft, and perhaps resolve the whole problem in the Holy Land, by pulling the plug - as provided for under Article 2 of the Agreement - instead of continuing to reward Israel for its crimes.

- Stuart Littlewood’s book Radio Free Palestine can now be read on the internet by visiting www.radiofreepalestine.org.uk. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

By Paul Craig Roberts

Only the blind do not see that the US government is preparing to attack Iran. According to Professor Michel Chossudovsky, “Active war preparations directed against Iran (with the involvement of Israel and NATO) were initiated in May 2003.”
 
Washington has deployed missiles directed at Iran in its oil emirate puppet states, Oman and the UAE, and little doubt in the other US puppet states in the Middle East. Washington has beefed up Saudi Arabia’s jet fighter force. Most recently, Washington has deployed 9,000 US troops to Israel to participate in “war games” designed to test the US/Israeli air defense system. As Iran represents no threat unless attacked, Washington’s war preparations signal Washington’s intention to attack Iran.
 
Another signal that Washington has a new war on its agenda is the raised level of Washington’s rhetoric and demonization of Iran. Judging by polls Washington’s propaganda that Iran is threatening the US by developing a nuclear weapon has met with success. Half of the American public support a military attack on Iran in order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capability. Those of us who are trying to awaken our fellow citizens start from a deficit that the minds of half of the US population are under Big Brother’s control.
 
As the International Atomic Energy Agency’s reports from its inspectors on the ground in Iran have made clear for years, there is no evidence that Iran has diverted any enriched uranium from its nuclear energy program. The shrill hype coming from Washington and from the neoconservative media is groundless. it is the same level of lie as Washington’s claim that Saddam Hussein in Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Every US soldier who died in that war died in behalf of a lie.
 
It could not be more obvious that Washington’s war preparations against Iran have nothing to do with deterring Iran from a nuclear weapon. So, what are the war preparations about?
 
In my judgment, the US government’s war preparations are driven by three factors.
 One is the neoconservative ideology, adopted by the US government, that calls for the US to use its superior military and economic position to achieve world hegemony. This goal appeals to American hubris and to the power and profit that it serves.
 
A second factor is Israel’s desire to eliminate all support for the Palestinians and for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israel’s goal is to seize all of Palestine and the water resources of southern Lebanon. Eliminating Iran removes all obstacles to Israel’s expansion.
 
A third factor is to deter or slow China’s rise as a military and economic power by controlling China’s access to energy. It was China’s oil investments in eastern Libya that led to the sudden move against Libya by the US and its NATO puppets, and it is China’s oil investments elsewhere in Africa that resulted in the Bush regime’s creation of the United States Africa Command, designed to counter China’s economic influence with US military influence. China has significant energy investments in Iran, and a substantial percentage of China’s oil imports are from Iran. Depriving China of independent access to oil is Washington’s way of restraining and boxing in China.
 
What we are witnessing is a replay of Washington’s policy toward Japan in the 1930s that provoked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan’s bank balances in the West were seized, and Japan’s access to oil and raw materials was restricted. The purpose was to prevent or to slow Japan’s rise. The result was war.
 
Despite the hubris in which it wallows, Washington understands the vulnerability of its Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf and would not risk losing a fleet and 20,000 US naval personnel unless it was to gain an excuse for a nuclear attack on Iran. A nuclear attack on Iran would alert both China and Russia that they could suffer the same fate. The consequence would be that the world would face a higher risk of nuclear armageddon than existed in the mutually assured destruction of the US-Soviet standoff.
 
Washington is getting all of us in over our heads. Washington has declared the “Asia-Pacific” and the South China Sea to be areas of “America’s national interest.” What sense does this make? It makes the same sense as if China declared the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea to be areas of China’s national interest.
 
Washington has deployed 2,500 Marines, promising more to come, to Australia in order to do what? Protect Australia from China or occupy Australia? Encircle China with 2,500 Marines? It would not mean anything to China if Washington deployed 25,000 Marines in Australia.
 
When you get right down to it, Washington’s tough talk is nothing but a silly pointless provocation of Washington’s largest creditor. What if Washington’s idiocy causes China to worry that Washington and its UK and European puppets will seize its bank balances and refuse to honor China’s holdings of $1 trillion in US Treasury bonds? Will China pull its balances from the weak US, UK, and European banks? Will China decide to strike first, not with nuclear weapons, but by selling its $1 trillion in Treasury bonds all at once?
 
It would be cheaper than war.
 
The Federal Reserve would have to quickly print another $1 trillion dollars with which to buy the bonds, or US interest rates would shoot up. What would China do with the $1 trillion in newly printed paper? In my opinion, China would dump it all at once in the currency market, because the Federal Reserve cannot print euros, UK pounds, Japanese yen, Swiss francs, Russian rubles, and Chinese yuan with which to buy up its newly printed currency.
 
The US dollar would take a beating. US import prices–which now include, thanks to offshoring, almost everything Americans consume–would rise. The hard-pressed 90% would take a further beating, endearing their Washington oppressors to them to an even greater extent. The rest of the world, anticipating nuclear war, would flee the dollar, as Washington would be a primary attack target.
 
If the missiles aren’t launched, Americans would wake up the next day a bankrupt third world country. If the missiles were launched, few Americans would wake up.
 
We, as Americans, need to ask ourselves what all this is about? Why is our government so provocative toward Islam, Russia, China, Iran? What purpose, whose purpose is being served? Certainly not ours.
 
Who benefits from our bankrupt government starting yet more wars, picking this time not on defenseless countries like Iraq and Libya, but on China and Russia? Do the idiots in Washington think the Russian government does not know why Russia is being surrounded with missile bases and radar systems? Do the Washington morons really believe that the Russian government will fall for its lie that the missiles are directed against Iran? Only American idiots who sit in front of Fox “news” could possible believe that the real issue is an Iranian nuclear weapon.
 
How much longer will the Russian government permit the US National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA front, to interfere in its elections by financing opposition parties led by the likes of Vladimir Kara-Murza, Boris Nemtsov, and Alexei Navalny, who organize protests of every election that Putin’s party wins, alleging without any evidence whatsoever, but providing propaganda for Washington, who no doubt pays well, that the election will be and was stolen? 
 
In the US, such activists would be declared to be “domestic extremists” and be subjected to rough treatment. In Amerika even anti-war activists are subjected to home invasions by the FBI and grand jury investigations.
 
What this means is that “the criminal state of Russia” is a more tolerant democracy than the US, or for that matter, Amerika’s puppet states in Europe and the UK.
 
Where do we go from here? If not to nuclear destruction, Americans must wake up. Football games, porn, and shopping malls are one thing. Survival of human life is another. Washington, that is, “representative government,” consists only of a few powerful vested interests. These private interests, not the American people, control the US government.
 
That is why nothing that the US government does benefits the American people.
 
The current crop of presidential contenders, except for Ron Paul, represent the controlling interests. War and financial fraud are the only remaining American Values.
 
Will Americans again give the sheen of “democracy” to rule by a few by participating in the coming rigged elections?
 
If you have to vote, vote for Ron Paul or for a more extreme third party candidate. Show that you do not support the lie that is the system.
 
Stop watching television. Stop reading newspapers. Stop spending money. When you do any of these things, you are supporting evil.

- Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His Internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Read more articles by Paul Craig Roberts: www.paulcraigroberts.org.

A team of astrophysicists from the University of Rochester and Europe has discovered a ring system in the constellation Centaurus that invites comparisons to Saturn.

A group of universities has made recommendations on how to draw researchers to the European Union .

Archaeology is also technology. This digital arm records the archaeological remains of a medieval cog, in order to make a 3D model, Cog of Doel, Antwerp, Belgium.

Romanian computer scientist Mihai Leonard Cirlanaru, who graduated the Jacobs University Bremen in 2011 and is currently a post-graduate student in an MA program at the University of Cambridge is the Romanian Student of the Year in Europe, according to Romania's External Affairs Ministry.

THE department of archaeology at the University of York is to host a European photographic exhibition depicting the day-to-day work of archaeologists from next week.

With tuition fees for non-EEA students in effect, the makeup of Sweden's non-European student population is shifting and the pressure is on for universities to deliver services worth selling, argues contributor Sven Hultberg Carlsson.

As part of its special feature dedicated to the fight against discrimination in sport, Sport and Citizenship publishes this quarter an interview of the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism, Youth and Sport, Androulla Vassiliou. ToutelEurope.eu invites you to discover it. Interview by Julian Lapper and Sylvain Landa

The European External Action Service came into being one year ago and its first year will probably not be subject of exalted celebration, says Hans Merket from the European Institute of Ghent University.

More »

There are less than 20 days till the referendum about EU. The citizens should get the objective and relevant information to know what they vote for or against when they get the form with the referendum question. The European Education Forum association...

An increasing number of graduates from European universities are applying for internships in Chinese companies

Education Minister Josef Dobes is again under fire for failing to monitor how European Union funds were spent by his ministry.

[In this reprinted #altdevblogaday in-depth piece, European University Cyprus assistant professor Georgios Christou begints to look at how to evaluate the usability of a video game.] A lot of the readers of #altdevblogaday are students, young developers and hobbyists, so I've decided to write down a few things about usability evaluation methods for games. I feel that very little is out there about how to evaluate the usability of a video game, and it seems ...

As Europe suffered economic crises in 2011, Turkey's economy boomed. And as neighboring Arab countries faced political turmoil, Turkey became a bigger regional player. Martin discusses the country's good year with John Peet, Europe editor at The Economist , and Rami Khouri, international affairs expert from American University of Beirut.

As Europe suffered economic crises in 2011, Turkey's economy boomed. And as neighboring Arab countries faced political turmoil, Turkey became a bigger regional player. Martin discusses the country's good year with John Peet, Europe editor at The Economist , and Rami Khouri, international affairs expert from American University of Beirut.

As Europe suffered economic crises in 2011, Turkey's economy boomed. And as neighboring Arab countries faced political turmoil, Turkey became a bigger regional player. Martin discusses the country's good year with John Peet, Europe editor at The Economist , and Rami Khouri, international affairs expert from American University of Beirut.

GHENT, Belgium, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Nurses and physicians in hospital intensive care units in Europe and Israel say the perception of inappropriate care was common, a survey indicated. Dr. Ruth D. Piers of Ghent University Hospital in Belgium and colleagues...

By Amjad Yamein – Amman

Last night, Israel conducted two air strikes within hours and opened fire at Palestinians, killing three and injuring ten, in the second aerial attack against Gaza in the last Month.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz categorically stated that preparations for another offensive on Gaza is underway, calling Cast Lead, Israel’s 2008 war on Gaza that killed 1,417 Palestinians, including 926 civilians, an ‘excellent’ operation.

Gantz said that another offensive must be initiated by Israel and must be “swift and painful,” and explained “[IDF] will attack when the conditions are right.”

The statement comes to top Last week’s events, which witnessed an escalation in EU criticism of Israel’s policies towards its Arab population, West Bank military occupation, settler’s violence, and protests against segregation/discrimination. On the other hand, Israel relations with the rest of the world is not getting any better, with increasing speculations about a war with Iran and a spike in tension with Turkey.

Yesterday, The Independent revealed that a confidential 27-page paper prepared by European diplomats charted a wide range of indicators showing that Israeli Arabs suffer "economic disparities ... unequal access to land and housing ... discriminatory draft legislation and a political climate in which discriminatory rhetoric and practice go unsanctioned."

The draft warned that Israel’s treatment of its Arab community "will reinforce those who seek to 'delegitimize' Israel and damage [its] international standing.”

Donald McIntyre of the Independent wrote, “A detailed list of recommendations for the EU itself – including active lobbying against discriminatory laws, allocating more European scholarships to Arab students, encouraging European high-tech companies to invest in Arab areas, and fostering the teaching of Arabic and co-existence projects in schools – are understood to have been dropped from the paper after objections mainly from the Netherlands. The draft affirms that Israel's treatment of its minorities within its borders should be seen by the international community as a "core issue, not second tier to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

On Monday, the Israeli parliamentary committee held a discussion on recognizing genocide in Armenia, in a move likely to further strain already tense relations with Turkey. Haaretz’s editorial called on the government not to politicize the Armenian genocide, and claimed that the reason they did not was because of “fear over the loss of the concept of "Holocaust" as an exclusive Jewish “property.” The editorial further stated that “Morality or identification with the Armenian holocaust were secondary issues that occasionally made their way into the public debate.”

Last week, European members of Security Council condemn Israeli settlements and settler violence. Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal, all UN Security Council current members from the European Union, released a statement deeming the settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.

The statement said that they were "dismayed" by Israel's persistent construction of settlements, and called on the Israeli government to reverse actions, which they said had jeopardized peace negotiations.

They said that, “The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements.”

The statement was put forward after closed-door discussion by the 15-country Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. It condemned Israeli settlers' violence against the Palestinians, including the burning of the Nebi Akasha mosque in Jerusalem and the Burqa mosque in the West Bank.

The statement came as a response to the unveiled tenders for the construction of 1,028 new illegal settler units in the East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Tel Aviv occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, and later annexed them in a move not recognized by the international community.

Back in February, US veto thwarted UN resolution condemning settlements. The draft was brought forth by Palestinian Authority leadership against Israeli settlements to the UNSC, despite pressure from the U.S. to withdraw it.

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni said that the government is “starting a war with its biggest friends in Europe.”

Israel has angered even Tanzania who slammed Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack, saying that he “chose to belittle Tanzania and even compare it to a country that does not exist.”

With what seems to be the verge of a war with Iran, Israel openly calling for actions against the Persian country, an increasing tension between Israel and Turkey, and fallout even with its biggest allies in Europe, the US seems to be the only major country Israel did not anger. (Who, also, allegedly opposes the settlements but rather the issue is tackled by negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians).

The question remains of whether Israel is excreting the height of its brinkmanship for political gain, or is a rogue state counting on the world’s good side not to do anything against its actions? 

- Amjad Yamein is an independent writer and journalist based in Amman, Jordan. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Contact him at: amie15197@gmail.com.

More than £5.7m is given to the University of the Highlands and Islands from a European Union fund.

From the Division of Internal Medicine and Hypertension , University of Torino, Torino, Italy; Medical Cell Biology , University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Institut National de la SantA© et de la Recherche MA©dicale , U970, Paris Cardiovascular Research Center, Paris, France; University Paris Descartes , Paris, France; Assistance ... (more)

Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine

We, Palestinians of Gaza, 3 years on from the 22-day long massacre in Israel's operation 'Cast Lead', are calling on international civil society to make 2012 the year when solidarity with us in Palestine captures the spark of the revolutions around the Arab world and never looks back. On this anniversary we demand an international liberation movement that eventually leads to just that, liberation for us Palestinians from 63 years of brutal military occupation and ethnic cleansing that pours shame on any organisation or government claiming to endorse universal human rights.

We will never forget the hurt of 3 years ago, the criminal onslaught that we lived through, the blood of over 1400 murdered men, women and hundreds of children running through the streets of Gaza, between the rubble, soaking our beds and etched on our minds. We will never forget. For they are still dead, and thousands more are still maimed.

We will never forget the last 63 years during which our land, homes, olive groves, lemon trees and cherished way of life was taken away from us, while Israeli soldiers held our fathers’ faces in the sands, imprisoned them, or shot them in front of us. We will not forget the sickening cowardice of the international community that has allowed and enabled this ethnic cleansing of our people, subjecting us to Israel’s racist Zionist vision that defines us, the indigenous people of Palestine, as the undesired ‘ethnic group’ for the region.

The US continues to ‘reward’ Israel with 6 billion dollars of tax-payers money while the EU increases its trade and diplomatic relations. For the Israeli apartheid regime this translates as the green light to unleash the 4th most powerful military on us to ‘do its worst’ against our civilian population, of which over half in Gaza are children and over 2 thirds are UN registered refugees.

In recent years, civil society and solidarity movements throughout the world have grown in their support for us, especially in 2011. As the world wakes up, the prospect of life without Israeli occupation and its system of race-based subjugation becomes more than a dream. We demand simply, human rights that anyone else would expect. This year, the first taste of liberation in the Western controlled Arab world arrived in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Many of those who took to the streets moved beyond their fear of being killed or tortured, facing up to the despotic, Western-backed regimes in the name of freedom for their families, communities and compatriots.

We will never forget them too, as we have lived much of our lives beyond this fear, our resilience against Israeli apartheid growing as the solidarity movements around the world grow. No longer under the boot of Western governments we urge the Arab street to do what the Israeli Apartheid Regime fears the most, to unite and build against them, the state that has violated more United Nations resolutions than any other. The siege breaking attempts into Gaza must continue, the second Free Gaza Flotilla exposed again the brutal and merciless edge of Israel’s hermetic siege.

In Europe and America the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement is reaching the mainstream. Huge victories have included campaigns against waste and transport infrastructure firm Veolia who build transport routes on Israeli occupied lands.Inspired and supported by Nobel Prize winner and anti apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the University of Johannesburg ended its collaboration with Ben Gurion University in Israel.Other University campuses are pursuing boycott campaigns and major European Trade Unions have broken ties with Israeli Trade Unions. And a growing number of conscientious artists and singers are refusing to perform in Israel.

All over Israeli internet sites and in government policy are attempts to deter the growing BDS movement, an international strategy that succeeded against a similarly well-armed, Western affiliated apartheid regime in South Africa. 

The effect worldwide of the Gaza massacres 3 years ago was a catalyst for a huge rise in worldwide solidarity and action in support of Palestine, just as the South African Sharpeville massacre was for South African blacks in 1960.

Our call this year will accept no compromise. We call upon all Palestine solidarity groups and all international civil society organizations to demand:

• An end to the siege that has been imposed on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of their exercise of democratic choice.

• The protection of civilian lives and property, as stipulated in International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law such as The Fourth Geneva Convention.

• The immediate release of all political prisoners.

• That Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip be immediately provided with financial and material support to cope with the immense hardship that they are experiencing

• An end to occupation, Apartheid and other war crimes with immediate reparations and compensation for all destruction carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza.

For us, the sacrifices for resisting have often meant imprisonment, torture, collective punishment and death. Outside, the risks are lower, but with great possibility. We call on you to Boycott Divest and Sanction, join the many International Trade Unions, Universities, Supermarkets and artists and writers who refuse to entertain Apartheid Israel. Speak out for Palestine, for Gaza, and crucially ACT. There has never been a time when mobilizations are gaining such support. 1994 was the year of South Africa when Apartheid was thrown into the dustbin of history; with your support we can make 2012 the year of free Palestine!

THE TIME IS NOW!

List of signatories:
 
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
University Teachers' Association
Palestinian Congregation for Lawyers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
The One Democratic State Group
Arab Cultural Forum
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info
Palestine Sailing Federation
Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students’ Union
Medical Relief Society
The General Society for Rehabilitation
General Union of Palestinian Women
Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al Awda Hospital, Jabaliya Camp
Ajyal Association, Gaza
General Union of Palestinian Syndicates
Al Karmel Centre, Nuseirat
Local Initiative, Beit Hanoun
Union of Health Work Committees
Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Robert Mundell, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor of economics at Columbia University, talks about the possibility that former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may stage a comeback. Mundell, speaking with Sara Eisen on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack," also discusses European Central Bank's loans to euro-area banks and the outlook for the region's debt turmoil. (Source: Bloomberg)

By James Petras

The economic, political and social outlook for 2012 is profoundly negative. The almost universal consensus, even among mainstream orthodox economists is pessimistic regarding the world economy. Though even here their predictions understate the scope and depth of the crises.

There are powerful reasons to believe that beginning in 2012, we are heading toward a steeper decline than what was experienced during the Great Recession of 2008 – 2009. With fewer resources, greater debt and increasing popular resistance to shouldering the burden of saving the capitalist system, the governments cannot bail out the system.

Many of the major institutions and economic relations which were cause and consequence of world and regional capitalist expansion over the past three decades are in the process of disintegration and disarray. The previous economic engines of global expansion, the US and the European Union, have exhausted their potentialities and are in open decline. The new centers of growth, China, India, Brazil, Russia, which for a ‘short decade’ provided a new impetus for world growth have run their course and are de-accelerating rapidly and will continue to do so throughout the new year.

The Collapse of the European Union

Specifically, the crises wracked European Union will break up and the de facto multi-tiered structure will turn into a series of bilateral/multi-lateral trade and investment agreements. Germany,France , the Low and Nordic countries will attempt to weather the downturn. England, namely the City of London, in splendid isolation, will sink into negative growth, its financiers scrambling to find new speculative opportunities among the Gulf petrol-states and other ‘niches’. Eastern and Central Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic, will deepen their ties to Germany but will suffer the consequences of the general decline of world markets. Southern Europe (Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy) will enter into a deep depression as the massive debt payments fueled by savage assaults on wages and social benefits will severely reduce consumer demand.

Depression level unemployment and under-employment running to one-third of the labor force will detonate year-long social conflicts, intensifying into popular uprisings. Eventually a break-up of the European Union is almost inevitable. The euro as a currency of choice will be replaced by or return to national issues accompanied by devaluations and protectionism. Nationalism will be the order of the day. Banks in Germany, France and Switzerland will suffer huge losses on their loans to the South. Major bailouts will become necessary, polarizing German and French societies,between taxpaying majorities and the bankers. Trade union militancy and rightwing pseudo ‘populism’ (neo-fascism) will intensify the class and national struggles

A depressed, fragmented and polarized Europe will be less likely to join in any Zionist inspired US-Israeli military adventure against Iran (or even Syria). Crises ridden Europe will oppose Washington’s confrontationalist approach to Russia and China.

The US: The Recession Returns with a Vengeance

The US economy will suffer the consequences of its ballooning fiscal deficit and will not be able to spend its way out of the world recession of 2012. Nor can it count on ‘exporting’ its way out of negative growth by turning to previously dynamic Asia, as China, India and the rest of Asia are losing economic steam. China will grow far below its 9% moving average. India will decline from 8% to 5% or lower. Moreover, the Obama regime’s military policy of ‘encirclement’, its economic policy of exclusion and protectionism will preclude any new stimulus from China.

Militarism Exacerbates the Economic Downturn

The US and England will be the biggest losers from the Iraqi post war economic reconstruction. Of $186 billion dollars in infrastructure projects, US and UK corporations will gain less than 5% (Financial Times, 12/16/11, p 1 and 3). A similar outcome is likely in Libya and elsewhere. US imperial militarism destroys an adversary, plunging into debt to do so, and non-belligerents reap the lucrative post-war economic reconstruction contracts.

The US economy will fall into recession in 2012 and the “jobless recovery of 2011” will be replaced by a steep increase of unemployment in 2012. In fact, the entire labor force will shrink as people losing their unemployment benefits will fail to register.

Labor exploitation (“productivity”) will intensify as capitalists force workers to produce more, for less pay, thus widening the income gap between wages and profits.

The economic downturn and growth of unemployment will be accompanied by savage cuts in social programs to subsidize financially troubled banks and industries. The debates among the parties will be over how large the cuts to workers and retirees will be to secure the ‘confidence’ of the bondholders. Faced with equally limited political choices, the electorate will react by voting out incumbents, abstaining and via spontaneous and organized mass movements, such as the “occupy Wall Street” protest. Disatisfaction, hostility and frustration will pervade the culture. Democratic demagogues will scapegoat China ,the Republican demagogues will blame the immigrants.Both will fulminate against “the islamo-fascists” and especially Iran..

New Wars in the Midst of Crises: Zionists Pull the Trigger

The 52 Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations and their “Israel First” followers in Congress, State, Treasury and the Pentagon will push for war with Iran. If they are successful it will result in a regional conflagration and world depression. Given the extremist Israeli regimes’ success in securing blind obedience to its war policies from the US Congress and White House, any doubts about the real possibility of a major catastrophic outcome can be excluded.

China: Compensatory Mechanisms in 2012

China will face the global recession of 2012 with several possibilities of ameliorating its impact. Beijing can shift toward producing goods and services for the 700 million domestic consumers currently out of the economic loop. By increasing wages, social services and environmental safety, China can compensate for the loss of overseas markets. China’s economic growth which is largely dependent on real estate speculation will be adversely affected when the bubble is burst .A sharp downturn will result.. This will lead to job losses, municipal bankruptcies and increased social and class conflicts. This can result in either greater repression or gradual democratization. The outcome will profoundly affect China’s market - state relations. The economic crises will likely strengthen state control over the market.

Russia Faces the Crises

Russia’s election of President Putin will lead to less collaboration in backing US promoted uprisings and sanctions against Russian allies and trading partners. Putin will turn toward greater ties with China and will benefit from the break-up of the EU and the weakening of NATO.

The western media backed opposition will use its financial clout to erode Putin’s image and encourage investment boycotts though they will lose the Presidential elections by a big margin. The world recession will weaken the Russian economy and will force it to choose between greater public ownership or greater dependency on state funds to bail out prominent oligarchs.

The Transition 2011 – 2012: From Regional Stagnation and Recession to World Crises

The year 2011 laid the groundwork for the breakdown of the European Union. The crises began with the demise of the euro, stagnation in the US and the outbreak of mass protests against the obscene inequalities on a world scale. The events of 2011 were a dress rehearsal for a new year of full scale trade wars between major powers, sharpening inter-imperialist struggles and the likelihood of popular rebellions turning into revolutions. Moreover, the escalation of Zionist orchestrated war fever against Iran in 2011 promises the biggest regional war since the US-Indo-Chinese conflict. The electoral campaigns and outcomes of Presidential elections in the US, Russia and France will deepen the global conflicts and economic crises.

During 2011 the Obama regime announced a policy of military confrontation with Russia and China and policies designed to undermine and degrade China’s rise as a world economic power. In the face of a deepening economic recession and with the decline of overseas markets, especially in Europe, a major trade war will unfold. Washington will aggressively pursue policies limiting Chinese exports and investments. The White House will escalate its efforts to disrupt China’s trade and investments in Asia, Africa and elsewhere. We can expect greater US efforts to exploit China’s internal ethnic and popular conflicts and to increase its military presence off China’s coastline. A major provocation or fabricated incident in this context is not to be excluded. The result in 2012 could lead to rabid chauvinist calls for a new costly ‘Cold War’. Obama has provided the framework and justification for a large scale long-term confrontation with China. This will be seen as a desperate effort to prop up US influence and strategic positions in Asia. The US military “quadrangle of power” – US-Japan-Australia-South Korea – with satellite support from the Philippines, will pit China’s market ties against Washington’s military build-up.

Europe: Deeper Austerity and Intensified Class Struggle

The austerity programs imposed in Europe, from England to Latvia to southern Europe will really take hold in 2012. Massive public sector firings and reduced private sector salaries and hiring’s will lead to a year of permanent class warfare and regime challenges. The ‘austerity policies’ in the South, will be accompanied by debt defaults which will result in bank failures in France and Germany.. England’s financial ruling class, isolated in Europe but dominant in England, will insist that the Conservatives ‘repress’ labor and popular unrest. A new tough neo-Thatcherite style of autocratic rule will emerge ; the Labor-trade union opposition will issue empty protests and tighten the leash on the rebellious populace. In a word, the regressive socio-economic policies put in place in 2011 set the stage for new police-state regimes and more acute and possibly bloody confrontations with workers and unemployed youth with no future.

The Coming Wars that Ends America “As We Know It”

Within the US, Obama has laid the groundwork for a new and bigger war in the Middle East by relocating troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and concentrating them facing Iran. To undermine Iran, Washington is expanding clandestine military and civilian operations against Iranian allies in Syria, Pakistan, Venezuela and China. The key to the US and Israeli bellicose strategy toward Iran is a series of wars in neighboring states, world- wide economic sanctions , cyber-attacks aimed at disabling vital industries and clandestine terrorist assassinations of scientists and military officials.

The entire push, planning and execution of the US policies leading up to war with Iran can be empirically attributed to the Zionist power configuration occupying strategic positions in government, mass media and ‘civil society’. A systematic analysis of policymakers designing and implementing economic sanctions policy in Congress finds prominent roles for mega-Zionists like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Howard Berman; in the White House, Dennis Ross and Jeffrey Feltman in State; Stuart Levy and his replacement David Cohen in Treasury. The White House is totally beholden to Zionist fund raisers and takes its cue from the ‘52’ Presidents of the Major American Jewish Organizations. The Israeli-Zionist strategy is to encircle Iran, weaken it economically and attack its military.

The Iraq invasion was the US’s first war for Israel; the Libyan war the second; the current proxy war against Syria is the third. These wars have destroyed Israel’s adversaries or are in the process of doing so. During 2011, economic sanctions, which were designed to create domestic discontent in Iran were the principle weapon of choice. The global sanctions campaign engaged the entire energies of the major Jewish-Zionist lobbies. They also faced no opposition in the mass media, Congress or the White Office. The Zionist power configuration (ZPC) faced virtually no criticism from any of the progressive, leftist and socialist journals, movements or grouplets – with a few notable exceptions.

The past year’s relocation of troops from Iraq to the borders of Iran, the sanctions and the rising Big Push from Israel’s fifth column in the US means War in the Middle East. This likely means a “surprise” aerial and maritime missile attack by US forces. This will be based on a concocted pretext of an “imminent nuclear attack” cooked up by Mossad and transmitted by the ZPC to the Congress and White House for consumption and transmission to the world. It will be a destructive, bloody, prolonged war for Israel. The US will bear the direct military cost by itself but the rest of the world will pay a dear economic price. The Zionist promoted US war will convert the recession of early 2012 into a major depression by the end of the year and probably provoke mass upheavals.

Conclusion

All indications point to 2012 being a turning point year of unrelenting economic crises spreading outward from Europe and the US to Asia and its dependencies in Africa and Latin America. The crises will be truly global. Inter-imperial confrontations and colonial wars will undermine any efforts to ameliorate this crisis. In response mass movements will emerge which will move over time from protests and rebellions , hopefully to social revolutions and political power.

- James Petras, a former Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York, owns a 50-year membership in the class struggle, is an adviser to the landless and jobless in Brazil and Argentina, and is co-author of Globalization Unmasked (Zed Books). Petras’ most recent book is The Arab Revolt and the Imperialist Counterattack. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Contact him at: jpetras@binghamton.edu.