April 14, 2010
Remembering Bassem Abu Rahma of Bil’in
Remembering Bassem of Bil’in 
Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 13 April 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Also published at Palestine Think Tank, Earth Heal, Window Into Palestine, Uprooted Palestinians.
In memory of Bassem Abu Rahma of Bil’in Village, killed by an IDF soldier on 17 April 2009, during a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid wall.
Almost a year earlier in July 2008, Bassem’s brother, Ashraf, survived a close-range shooting by the IDF while detained and blindfolded, which was also filmed (more info below).
Watch this beautiful video that his friends made about Bassem’s life.
Soldiers Kill Palestinian Demonstrator in Bil’in
Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh (a.k.a. Phil), a 30 year-old Bil’in resident, was killed this Friday during a demonstration against the wall, after Israeli soldiers shot a high-velocity teargas projectile directly at him. As can be seen in the video above, Bassem was standing on a hill alongside several journalists, removed from the main body of the demonstration, when he was hit in his chest by the special, “extended range” teargas projectile, which was fired without provocation from a distance of about 40 meters by troops positioned behind concrete blocks and on the other side of the separation barrier.
Seconds before the shooting, Bassem had been pleading with the soldiers to hold their fire, shouting “we are in a nonviolent protest, there are kids and internationals…”. He was shot before he could finish the sentence.
Video clip of Bassem’s murder during the peaceful protest
According to eyewitnesses, the impact from the projectile knocked him over and left a gaping hole in his chest. As there was no ambulance at the scene, he was driven to a Ramallah hospital in a private car, but died less than halfway there from the injury, blood flooding his lungs. News of his death reached the village just as the last of the demonstrators were leaving the site of the protest, next to the separation barrier.
The teargas projectile in question is the same kind that critically injured American national Tristan Anderson at a demonstration in Ni’lin on the 13th of March, after he was hit in the head from approx. 60 meters. Tristan remains hospitalized in Tel HaShomer hospital in Tel Aviv.
Basem Ibrahim Abu Rahmeh’s Funeral, Bil’inBassem Abu Rahmeh’s Funeral, Bil’in
Bassem Abu Rahmeh, a well-known and frequent participant in the village’s four year long battle against the Wall, is the first Bil’in resident and the 18th Palestinian in total to be shot dead during a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall. His funeral took place on Saturday afternoon, after his body was carried on a cloth stretcher all the way from a Ramallah hospital to his village of Bil’in, accompanied by hundreds of mourners. The funeral itself was attended by over a thousand people, including Palestinians from neighboring villages as well as international and Israeli friends and activists.
Read in full here.
CASE CLOSED IN MURDER OF PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST ~~ NO CHARGES FILED
Israel’s military said Thursday 01-04-10 it will not file any charges in the death of a Palestinian protester last year.
Teargas canister shot kills Palestinian demonstrator
A Palestinian demonstrator was killed today when he was hit by a teargas canister fired by Israeli forces during a weekly demonstration against the West Bank barrier.
Bassem Abu Rahmeh, 29, was hit in the chest by a high-velocity gas canister during the protest in Bil’in. For the past four years Bil’in has been the scene of a weekly demonstration against the barrier, which cuts the village off from a large slice of its farmland.
Abu Rahmeh was taken to hospital in Ramallah but died of his injuries. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.
Umm Ahmed Abu Rahmeh, left, and her two sons, react as the body of her son Bassem, 31, arrives at a hospital. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP
The barrier near Bil’in runs into the occupied West Bank, surrounding the large and fast-growing Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit. In September 2007, the Israeli supreme court ordered that the path of the barrier near Bil’in be rerouted to return some of the farmland to the village, although it has not yet been moved.
Read in full here.
A Tale of Two Palestinian Brothers… and Israel’s Dismissal of Murder
by Tim King
This is the story of Bassem “Phil” Abu Rahmah and his brother Ashraf. Bassem was killed by Israel’s military during a peace protest. He was unarmed and had no violent intent of any kind, in fact he was begging the Israeli soldiers in Hebrew not to fire directly at them, they did anyway, and struck Bassem squarely in the chest.
This act was excused yesterday by an Israeli judge, and the trigger happy soldier, Brian Ross, is in the clear…
Brian Ross, the soldier who murdered Phil, walks away scot free. But nobody is surprised or shocked, this what murderous governments do, and there is not a more rotten or illegal one in existence beyond Israel.
Again, there is no worse or more dangerous government on earth, mostly because of the backing of the U.S…
Ashraf was detained by Israeli soldiers during a nonviolent protest in July of 2008, in the nearby village of Ni’lin, and after he was cuffed and blindfolded a soldier, standing next to him, pointed his gun at his leg and shot him with a rubber-coated bullet.
The shooting of Ashraf was also caught on tape by a young Palestinian girl… . Israeli soldiers kidnapped the girl’s father later on as a punishment just for exposing the crime. ..
Abu Rahma’s brother Ashraf, slammed Israel’s decision, saying it amounts to giving their soldiers more chances to continue the killing of innocent, nonviolent protesters….
The photograph below shows Palestinian demonstrator, Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, brother of Bassem, who was stopped by soldiers in July 2008, and cuffed and blindfolded for about thirty minutes before soldiers and border policemen led him to an army jeep, where a soldier aimed his weapon at the demonstrator’s legs, firing from about 1.5 meters away.
Read in full here.
Video clip of Ashraf’s shooting at this link.
His name was Basem, which means smile, and that is how he greeted everyone. But we all called him ‘Pheel’, which means elephant because he had the body the size of an elephant. But Basem had the heart of a child.
He loved everyone, and because of his sweetness and ability to make us laugh, everyone loved him. Basem was everyone’s friend: the children talk about how he would play with them, scare them and then make them laugh. He would tend the garden in the playground and bring toys and books to the kindergarten. The old ladies in the village talk about how he used to visit, to ask after them and see if they needed anything. In the village, he seemed to be everywhere at once. He would pop in to say hello, take one puff of the nargila, and be off to his next spot. The morning he was killed he went to the house of Hamis, whose skull had been broken at a previous demonstration three months ago by a tear gas canister projectile – the same weapon that would kill Basem.
Basem woke Hamis and gave him his medicine, then off he went to visit another friend in the village who is ill with cancer. Then a little girl from the village wanted a pineapple but couldn’t find any in the local stores. So Basem went to Ramallah to get a pineapple and was back before noon for the Friday prayers and the weekly demonstration against the theft of our land by the apartheid wall. Pheel never missed a demonstration; he participated in all the activities and creative actions in Bilin.
He would always talk to the soldiers as human beings. Before he was hit he was calling for the soldiers to stop shooting because there were goats near the fence and he was worried for them. Then a woman in front of him was hit. He yelled to the commander to stop shooting because someone was wounded. He expected the soldiers to understand and stop shooting. Instead, they shot him too.
People came to his funeral from all the surrounding villages to show Basem that they loved him as much as he had loved them. But those of us from Bil’in kept looking around for him, expecting him to be walking with us.
Pheel, you were everyone’s friend. We always knew we loved you, but didn’t realize how much we would miss you until we lost you. As Bil’in has become the symbol of Palestine’s popular resistance, you are the symbol of Bil’in. Sweet Pheel, Rest in Peace, we will continue in your footsteps.
— Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements
More info here.
March 18, 2010
Splitting the Sky Versus the War Criminals
STS Versus the War Criminals Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 17 March 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Also published at The Splitting The Sky Blog, Window Into Palestine, The Radical Press, Snippits and Snappits, Asu-USA Articles, Uprooted Palestinians, Zimbio.
On 17 March 2009 in Calgary, Canada, Splitting the Sky (aka John Boncore) was arrested and charged with obstruction (as he fully expected) when he tried to serve George W. Bush with a citizen’s warrant, and to arrest him to stand trial for war crimes and torture. In doing so, he sacrificed himself for ALL of us who are concerned with Truth, Peace and Justice. His trial took place on 8 and 9 March, and judgment will be passed on 7 June 2010. He could face between 6 months and 2 years in prison unless we the people put pressure on the Harper government and let them know that we will not tolerate that.
His trial was closed down by the state after 2 days, though he was originally given 5 days to present evidence of war crimes and torture, as well as the involvement of the Bush regime in the events of 9/11, to justify his actions under the legal principle of “civil resistance”.
STS needs your support.
Updates on the trial at his home page and blog.
Listen to STS – Anthem for Dissent
Citizen’s Arrest of George W. Bush for War Crimes – The Trial of “Splitting the Sky”
Who and What is on Trial?
When Splitting the Sky broke through police lines in his attempt to conduct a citizen’s arrest of former US president George W. Bush, the Mohawk freedom fighter pierced a thick wall of tyranny. He broke through a tight phalanx of state protection for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace.
With his courageous act, Splitting the Sky announced the unwillingness of millions of global citizens to tolerate any longer the culture of impunity that places a small, interlinked global plutocracy above the law. By breaking police lines, the Attica brother and American Indian Movement activist scouted a route of liberation for those of us seeking to get out from under the weight of complicity in international crime committed in our name. We are all deeply implicated in the state terror permeating the 9/11 wars because it is our tax dollars that fund these imperial assaults.
Splitting the Sky’s action in Calgary highlights the abject failure of law enforcement agencies to do their job. It highlights the unwillingness of police and those who direct them to apply the law equitably and independently.
When he broke through police lines last March, Splitting the Sky built on the message of Muntadar al-Zaidi, the Baghdad journalist who fired his shoes at the departing US president. Al-Zaidi’s symbolic shot was seen and applauded around the world. By dramatizing the role of so-called law enforcers as protectors of international crime, Splitting the Sky highlighted that many millions of global citizens have seen more than enough evidence to understand that George W. Bush and his war cabinet are credibly accused war criminals.
If we lived in a world where the integrity of law prevailed over the power of money, political corruption and military might, the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Bush syndicate of war profiteers would have been apprehended long ago to face charges in a properly constituted court of international law.
When Splitting the Sky presents himself this coming March to a provincial court in Calgary, Alberta to face a criminal charge for obstruction of justice, who and what is really on trial? Whose sense of justice was really obstructed?…
Read in full here.
A RadicalPress Exclusive Interview with Splitting the Sky, Gustafsen lake Defender
By Arthur Topham, October, 2000
“…Readers are bound to find it an exciting, informative, provocative, highly enlightening and spell-binding expose of a life of one of today’s foremost radical activists…
…As readers are about to realize Mr. Hill has led a most remarkable life; one fraught almost from the onset with challenges, dangers and responsibilities that the average person would cringe at the thought of having to endure.
For all of John’s trials though, he has emerged- tempered by the fires of life- as a leading spokesperson for native sovereignty issues and a living example of the persevering spirit of resistance that has kept the aboriginal people of this continent strong.
…In short it’s an abbreviated odyssey, an epitomizing epic of one man’s struggle to maintain his dignity and spirit in a world where native traditional values are no longer given the respect and honour that they once knew. John Splitting the Sky Hill’s story of how he survived a brutal prison system in New York state only to end up playing a major role in the Gustafsen Lake Stand off during 1995 will surely come as a major surprise to readers who only heard the one-sided reports that came from the corporate press during that time.
It’s a riveting tale with a message as relevant today as it was almost thirty years ago. Ed.)
Read in full here.
9/11 Truth is “Splitting the Sky”
by Peter Zaza
…John Boncore was born in Buffalo, New York on January 7, 1952. His Mohawk name, Dacajeweiah, translated into English means “Splitting the Sky”. From the age of seven he endured many years in New York foster homes and youth detention centres where he was ill-treated. Eventually he would become the only man convicted as a ringleader of the infamous 1971 Attica State Prison rebellion in upstate New York, in the course of which 43 inmates were killed. This event has inspired several movies — “Against the Wall” (1994) starring Samuel L. Jackson, and “Attica” (1980) starring Morgan Freeman — and documentaries including “Attica” (1974), and “The Ghosts of Attica” (2001). He was listed by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young of the Carter administration as the number one political prisoner in the USA in 1975.
Splitting the Sky founded an organization to unite all Indigenous Peoples into a great confederation called the League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere (LISN). In 1995 he was the Sun Dance Chief at Gustafsen Lake, British Columbia, during the Gustafsen Lake Standoff, which was precipitated by a rancher who attempted to evict the Sun Dancers from what he claimed was his property. The incident turned into a major protest against the occupation of unceded native land. Splitting the Sky was an outspoken critic of the government’s handling of the incident and was among those who raised the question of so-called “Aboriginal Title” under international law. Specifically, aboriginal title is enshrined under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which is validated as an aboriginal right in section (35) of the Canadian Constitution.
On September 10th, 2001, Splitting the Sky and his family were checking out of the Marriott Hotel one block from the World Trade Center in New York. Had he stayed an extra day or two, as was originally planned, he and his family might have suffered the fate of 400 others at that location who lost their lives during the 9/11 tragedy. As if by some intuition, he and his wife decided to cut short their stay and get out of New York City. While many researchers for 9/11 Truth deal with the never ending incongruities and falsehoods of the government’s story regarding 9/11, or the various examples of forensic evidence proving controlled demolition, Splitting the Sky has studied the complex web of people and organizations he believes to be the authors of this crime. Through careful deconstruction of the financial entities involved, as well shining the light on those specific figures who occupy the principle seats of power within those structures, he follows the age old maxims of criminology which compel us to “follow the money”, as well as determine “who benefits”….
Read in full here.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Highly recommended – Video footage from the night the trial ended, of a talk given by STS and Cynthia McKinney.
Cynthia McKinney Meets Splitting the Sky – Calgary, March 9th, 2010
14 part video playlist (90 minutes) at the above link will stream all 14 segments consecutively. Teaser:
March 4, 2010
Hail to the Prince
Hail to the Prince Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 4 March 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Also published at Palestine Think Tank, Sabbah Report, Tlaxcala, DesertPeace, Uruknet, Les dessous de l’information mondiale-Downside World News, News from the Middle East, Window Into Palestine, Palestine News, Atlantic Free Press, Vox, Blog from Middle East, Black Voices, Al-Buraq, Pacific Free Press, OpEd News, The Greanville Post, Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Newsodrome.
Hail to the Prince: Obama, the Paradigmatic Machiavellian Leader
by Mary Rizzo
A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.
Nicolò MachiavelliObama, before he actually “did” anything, had a reputation. And, indeed, reputation – what others think you are, and not what you actually are – is a crucial factor in a public figure…
The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present.
Nicolò MachiavelliAnd the beauty of his thesis is in its simplicity and the ease of its being verified. His idea was that in public life only the praise and blame of fellow human beings is what really counts. Thus, Machiavelli supposed, the ruler needs to acquire a good reputation while actually doing whatever seems necessary in the circumstances, no matter how “right or wrong” it could appear or actually be. Thus, rulers must seem to be generous while spending their money to consolidate their own wealth and power, appear to be compassionate while ruling their armies cruelly, and act with great cunning while cultivating a reputation for integrity. In essence, the ace ruler, cream of the crop, has to be considered as a worthy recipient of peace prizes while at the same time he is sending more troops to wage war in faraway lands. People will see the parts of it they want to see, and all of it is real.
In his writing, a true “Prince/President” has to appear “compassionate, faithful, humane, religious” without actually being any of these things….
Read in full here.
February 22, 2010
Barack Has a Dream
Barack has a Dream Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 22 February 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Also published at DesertPeace, Window Into Palestine, Buj Al Arab, Uprooted Palestinians, A More Perfect Union.
…The U.S. has already encircled Iran with military bases. The U.S. government intends to neutralize China by seizing control over the Middle East and cutting China off from oil.
This plan assumes that Russia and China, nuclear armed states, will be intimidated by U.S. anti-missile defenses and acquiesce to U.S. hegemony and that China will lack oil for its industries and military.
The U.S. government is delusional. Russian military and political leaders have responded to the obvious threat by declaring NATO a direct threat to the security of Russia and by announcing a change in Russian war doctrine to the pre-emptive launch of nuclear weapons. The Chinese are too confident to be bullied by a washed up American superpower.
The morons in Washington are pushing the envelop of nuclear war. The insane drive for American hegemony threatens life on earth. The American people, by accepting the lies and deceptions of their government, are facilitating this outcome…
Read in full here.
24 February 2010
After failing to win support in Russia for tough sanctions against Iran, Israel turns to its closest ally, the United States, for a backup plan to curb Tehran’s enrichment program. On Tuesday, the Israeli military radio reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak will be travelling to Washington to share his concerns over Iran’s refusal to stop its nuclear activities.
Barak will meet several US officials during his five-day tour, including US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Middle East ‘peace’ envoy George Mitchell. He is also scheduled to meet the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York….
Read more: Israel Turns to US For Backup Plan Against Iran
Michel Chossudovsky, editor of Global Research: US plans to start WW3 by attacking Iran
24 February 2010
Iran’s security officers grounded the plane carrying the ringleader of Jundullah terrorist group Abdolmalek Rigi in one of Iran’s southern ports, informed sources say. As initial reports indicated that Iran’s most wanted man was captured on a flight en-route to Kyrgyzstan from Dubai, a source talking to Press TV on condition of anonymity confirmed that Rigi and one of his deputies were captured after their plane was brought down by security forces in an airport in the Iranian Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s intelligence minister says the leader of Jundallah terrorist group was at a US base in Afghanistan 24 hours before his capture, in possession of a US-issued, forged Afghan passport. Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said Tuesday that the leader of Jundallah terrorist group was at a US base in Afghanistan 24 hours before his capture, in possession of a US-issued, forged Afghan passport….
Read more: Iran Grounds Plane with Rigi Holding US-Issued Passport
“…One of the CIA officers said that it was too difficult for us to attack Iran militarily, but we plan to give aid and support to all anti-Iran groups that have the capability to wage war and create difficulty for the Iranian (Islamic) system. They reached the conclusion that your organization has the power to create difficulties for the Islamic Republic and they are prepared to give you training and/or any assistance that you would require, in terms of telecommunications security and procedures as well as other support, the Americans said they would be willing to provide it at an extensive level.”
Iran’s security forces arrested Rigi on Tuesday by bringing down his plane over the Iranian airspace, as he was onboard a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan.
Read in full here.
February 17, 2010
Sgt. Uri And His Howling Commandos
Sgt. Uri and his Howling Commandos Edna Spennato 2009.
Photomontage made on 18 January 2009.
Click on image to enlarge
January 31, 2010
Ole Chávez, protector del Caribe
Ole Chávez, protector del Caribe Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 31 January 2010.
Click on image to enlarge
Latin America has suffered constant aggressions executed by Washington during the past two hundred years. Strategies and tactics of covert and overt warfare have been applied against different nations in the region, ranging from coup d’etats, assassinations, disappearances, torture, brutal dictatorships, atrocities, political persecution, economic sabotage, psychological operations, media warfare, biological warfare, subversion, counterinsurgency, paramiliary infiltration, diplomatic terrorism, blockades, electoral intervention to military invasions. Regardless of who’s in the White House – democrat or republican – when it comes to Latin America, the Empire’s policies remain the same…
Clinton’s regional trip was part of a strategy announced by the Obama administration last year, to create a divide between the so-called “progressive left” and the “radical left” in Latin America. It’s no coincidence that her first tour of the region coincided with the announcement of a new Latin American and Caribbean Community of States, which excludes the presence of the US and Canada.
The Coming Conflict
A military conflict is not initiated from one day to the next. It’s a process that involves first influencing public perception and opinion – demonizing the target leader or government in order to justify aggression. Subsequently, armed forces are strategically deployed in the region in order to guarantee an effective military action. Tactics, such as subversion and counterinsurgency, are utilized in order to debilitate and destabilize the target nation from within, increasing its vulnerability and weakening its defenses.
This plan has been active against Venezuela for several years. The consolidation of regional unity and Latin American integration threatens US possibilities of regaining domination and control in the hemisphere. And the advances of the Bolivarian Revolution have impeded its “self-destruction”, provoked by internal subversion funded and directed by US agencies. However, the Empire will not cease its attempts to achieve its final objective, and a potential military conflict in the region remains on the horizon.
Read in full here.
by John Pilger
…The theft of Haiti has been swift and crude…. The airport in the capital, Port-au-Prince, is now an American military base and relief flights have been re-routed to the Dominican Republic. All flights stopped for three hours for the arrival of Hillary Clinton. Critically injured Haitians waited unaided as 800 American residents in Haiti were fed, watered and evacuated. Six days passed before the US Air Force dropped bottled water to people suffering thirst and dehydration…
Not for tourists is the US building its fifth biggest embassy in Port-au-Prince. Oil was found in Haiti’s waters decades ago and the US has kept it in reserve until the Middle East begins to run dry. More urgently, an occupied Haiti has a strategic importance in Washington’s “rollback” plans for Latin America. The goal is the overthrow of the popular democracies in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, control of Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves and sabotage of the growing regional cooperation that has given millions their first taste of an economic and social justice long denied by US-sponsored regimes.
The first rollback success came last year with the coup against President Jose Manuel Zelaya in Honduras who also dared advocate a minimum wage and that the rich pay tax. Obama’s secret support for the illegal regime carries a clear warning to vulnerable governments in central America. Last October, the regime in Colombia, long bankrolled by Washington and supported by death squads, handed the US seven military bases to, according to US air force documents, “combat anti-US governments in the region”.
Media propaganda has laid the ground for what may well be Obama’s next war… Of 304 BBC reports, only three mentioned any of the historic reforms of the Chavez government, while the majority denigrated Chavez’s extraordinary democratic record, at one point comparing him to Hitler…
Read in full here.
American Genocides: Is Haiti Next?
Stephen Lendman
…The post-2004 East Asian tsunami is instructive. Around $1.2 billion in aid relief was raised, mostly used for development, not victims. They got nothing, were forced into permanent shantytowns, and are still there. High-end tourism took precedence over rebuilding their homes and restoring their way of life.
That’s what Haitians now face – permanent displacement on their own to facilitate plunder, exploitation and perhaps mass deaths because of no aid, too little, and no disease prevention or treatment.
If genocide is planned, that’s the model. Henry Kissinger’s secret 1974 National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200) was an earlier one. Shaped by Rockefeller interests, it was an action plan for global population reduction – culling unwanted, unneeded “useless eaters.”
The scheme involved:
— mandatory birth control;
— involuntary sterilizations;
— legalized abortion;
— indoctrination of children; and
— other coercive methods, including withholding disaster relief and food aid when most needed.
The plan specifically said America would conceal its role to avoid charges of imperialism, so would induce the UN and NGOs to do its dirty work….
Read in full here…
Updated 24 February 2010
Leaders agree to create Latam Bloc
Latin American and Caribbean leaders have agreed to create a new regional bloc that excludes the US and Canada.
The announcement came at the close of a two-day summit of 32 leaders in Cancun, Mexico on Tuesday…
Read in full here.
January 22, 2010
Under the Boot of the One
Under the Boot of the One Edna Spennato 2010.
Photomontage made on 18 January 2010.
Click on image to enlarge
Che Guevara on Imperialism – 1965
January 18, 2010
Erdogan and Peres at Davos
Erdogan and Peres at Davos Edna Spennato 2009.
Photomontage made on 29 January 2009.
Click on image to enlarge
Originally published at Auntie Ziona as Erdogan, Peres and the Black Sheep of the Family
Also at these links: Wake Up From Your Slumber, Uprooted Palestinians.
January 16, 2010
The Amazing Ehudini
The Amazing Ehudini Edna Spennato 2009.
Photomontage made on 1 February 2009.
Click on image to enlarge
Originally published at Auntie Ziona as The Amazing Ehudini
Also at these links: Kenny’s Sideshow, Window Into Palestine, BuJ Al Arab, Uprooted Palestinians.
Updated 17 April 2010:
Olmert faces new corruption charge
Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, who left office last year due to corruption charges, has been identified as a key suspect in separate bribery charges.
Police said on Thursday that Olmert, 63, was suspected in a case in which millions of dollars were exchanged for the promotion of real estate projects, including a controversal housing scheme in Jerusalem in which zoning laws had to be changed.
Olmert is suspected of taking almost $1m in bribes during the time of the Holyland residential project in the 1990s, when he was the mayor of Jerusalem…
…The case has been billed as Israel’s “real estate scandal of the century” in the local media. Olmert’s picture had previously been placed next to the story in newspapers, although the gag order prevented the “public figure” allegedly involved from being named.
Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, in Jerusalem, said: “An investigating judge called it one of the worst corruption cases in the history of Israel.
“Police suspect that he benefitted from backhanders to change planning laws. Olmert is expected to speak later.”
Olmert was already facing three different charges of corruption.
He was forced to step down as prime minister last year after police accused him of double and triple-billing Jewish organisations for trips abroad and taking the extra money.
However, police have said that the new charges are much bigger then those previously filed against him.
Read in full here.
Updated 25 February 2010:
Trial Against Israeli ex-PM begins
JERUSALEM, Feb. 25 (UPI) — Prosecutors expressed confidence Thursday evidence would prove former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was guilty of fraud, tax evasion and breach of trust.
Defense attorneys countered that the prosecution knows its evidence was inadequate to prove its case against Olmert, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Olmert’s trial opened Thursday in the Jerusalem District Court. He was indicted for fraudulent receipt of goods, false registration of corporate documents, fraud, breach of trust, tax and tax evasion on three different issues…
Read in full here.
September 2009:
Trial against former premier Olmert opens in Israel
Jerusalem – The first trial in Israeli history against a former premier opened Friday in Jerusalem’s District Court. Almost exactly a year after he resigned amid corruption allegations, former premier Ehud Olmert made his first court appearance, in what was largely a preliminary procedural hearing…
As Olmer arrived at the court he told reporters: “I arrived here as a man innocent of any crimes, and I believe I will leave here as a man innocent of any crimes.”…
The indictments themselves were filed in August.
They include charges of fraud under aggravated circumstances, breach of trust, forging of corporate documents, and failure to report income. Olmert is not, however, facing charges of bribery, as the police had recommended to prosecutors.
Amongst other charges, he is suspected of having submitted multiple times over the same travel expenses for trips abroad to different government bodies and Jewish organizations.
The ex-premier allegedly pocketed the excesses, which accumulated in a special account managed by his travel agent and used for private trips with his family. That alleged corruption scandal became known in the Israeli media as Rishon Tours, after the travel agency, or as “Olmertours.”
The former premier is also suspected of having accepted envelopes with large amounts of cash from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert insists they constituted legitimate donations.
His office manager Zaken allegedly in many cases accepted the money on his behalf.
Lastly, Olmert stands accused of cronyism, allegedly giving preferential treatment to a factory represented by a friend of his, Uri Messer, when he served as trade and industry minister…
Although Olmert is the first former or current Israeli premier ever to stand trial on criminal charges, but the proceedings come as Israel’s political elite is tarnished by a host of corruption and other scandals….
January 14, 2010
Barak Faces Arrest for War Crimes
Barak Faces Arrest for War Crimes Edna Spennato 2009.
Photomontage made on 10 January 2009.
Click on image to enlarge
Originally published at Auntie Ziona as Will Barak Follow in Eichmann’s Footsteps?
Also at these links: Kenny’s Sideshow, Window Into Palestine, Europalestine, BuJ Al Arab, Wake Up From Your Slumber, Uprooted Palestinians.
This photomontage was based on the famous photograph of Eichmann taken at his trial.
Turkish Organization: Arrest Barak for War crimes When He Arrives Here
AL – MANAR TV 14/01/201014/01/2010 Despite the intensifying crisis between Israel and Turkey, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is insisting to follow through with his scheduled plans to visit Turkey next week. However, on Thursday it became clear that an arrest warrant may await him there.
One of the major human rights organizations in Turkey, Mazlumder, requested from the Turkish state prosecution to order that Barak be arrested upon landing in the country for what they call “his responsibility for war crimes during Operation Cast Lead….”
More at this link.
Israeli officers fear UK arrest
Al Jazeera 5 January 2010. A group of Israeli military officers have delayed an official visit to Britain over fears they could be arrested on war crimes charges.
Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, said on Tuesday that four officers invited to the UK by the British army would not be travelling “as we do not have a 100 per cent guarantee that they will not become objects of criminal lawsuits”.
The officers, who hold ranks from major to colonel, are the latest in a string of Israeli politicians and military officials to call off travel to Britain due to fears over possible legal action…
Read in full here.
Mundo dos Sonhos 
