"I live in Haifa - but Haifa is a paradise compared to what is happening in Lebanon.
"This government has one policy - no negotiations - and if you have this policy then there is no room for diplomacy."

Discrimination

Arab-Israelis - or Palestinian citizens of Israel - make up 20 per cent of the population yet have long complained of state sanctioned discrimination against their community.

Some Arab-Israelis have said this week, that even while under rocket attack, they have not been given the same access to bomb shelters and information as Jewish Israelis.

Mainstream Jewish Israeli parties such as Ysrael Beytenu regularly call for their mass expulsion from Israel.

Last week, the Knesset passed a law - believed to be aimed at Arab parliamentarians - allowing the expulsion of any "disloyal" member who "supports terror organisations".

And on Wednesday, the Israeli interior minister, Roni Bar-on, described Jamal Zahalkha, an Arab-Israeli parliamentarian, as "a snake born to a snake" after he criticised the government's actions in Lebanon.
"I'd be happy if you would join some of your friends in Lebanon to enjoy what they are enjoying now," he said in comments reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

'Different feelings'

Despite long-running political differences, the Israeli media has largely portrayed the north of the country as being "united under fire".


"Our lives and our hearts are in Beirut and Gaza - not in Haifa"

Ameer Makhoul, director of Ittijah, a coalition of Arab organisations based in Haifa, disagrees.

"We have been taking extra care because of the bombs but we have a very different feelings to that of Jewish Israelis," he said.

"We are part of the Palestinian nation effort and are to trying to raise our voice to tell people what is happening in Lebanon.

"Our lives and our hearts are in Beirut and Gaza - not in Haifa."

Jewish protest

A small number of Jewish Israelis who are against military action in Lebanon are also struggling to make their voices heard.

On Sunday, about 500 people joined an anti-war protest through central Tel Aviv and more demonstrations are set to take place next week.

In the 1930s and 40s, Uri Avery was a member of the Irgun, a militant Jewish group that carried out attacks on British forces in its campaign to found the state of Israel.

Now Avery, also a former Israeli commando, is a peace activist who is a leading a member of Gush Shalom, a group that campaigns for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

"We want to explain to Israelis what is wrong about the operation in Lebanon," Avery said.

"This whole crisis is rooted in the Palestinian problem. Hezbollah would not have made these attacks if Israel was not bombing Gaza."

Avery believes that despite an uphill struggle against Israeli public opinion, groups such as Gush Shalom can have an influence.

"The longer this war goes on, the less it will be supported," he said.

Aljazeera's correspondent in Nablus said a group of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who responded with rubber bullets.

Wail Tannus, an Aljazeera broadcast technician, was shot in the legs. He was transferred to a hospital and is in a stable condition, the correspondent said.

Palestinian witnesses said troops backed by armoured vehicles had surrounded a compound in Nablus where fighters were hiding.

Medics said three were killed in the shootout. They were members of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of the Fatah movement headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

Two more Palestinians were killed later on Wednesday as the Nablus operation continued.

Witnesses and security officials said army bulldozers demolished a prison, and at least seven other buildings housing offices of different security branches, including military intelligence and national security forces.

Gaza attack

Israeli troops also raided the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday as part of a three-week-old offensive to get back a captured soldier there.

Heavy shooting broke out around the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza strip as Israeli troops and tanks crossed the border into the territory before dawn.

Fighting broke out and five fighters were killed, Palestinians said. Another was killed in an air strike on the camp, hospital officials said.

Late on Wednesday, violence continued in the camp as aircraft opened fire on a group of 20 gunmen, the army said. One person was killed 20 others were injured, hospital officials said.

A second air strike on another group wounded five people, two critically, hospital officials said.

An Israeli army spokesman said five Israeli soldiers were wounded, two seriously.

More than 70 Palestinians were reportedly wounded in the raid.

The camp, with 22,000 residents, is near the Gaza-Israel fence and across from the Palestinian town of Dir al-Balah.

Israel began a large-scale operation in Gaza on June 28 three days after Hamas-linked fighters tunnelled under the border and attacked an Israeli army base at a Gaza crossing, killing two soldiers and capturing a third.

About 100 Palestinians, almost half of them civilians, have been killed by Israel since.

Israel reacted swiftly against Hamas for the June 25 kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, arresting dozens of legislators and cabinet members and striking Hamas member Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office. Airstrikes last week also targeted a meeting of Hamas leaders.

"(Hamas') leaders are perfectly aware that if the Israeli operation persists for long enough, it is capable of grinding their movement down to the point that will take years to recover," stated DEBKAfile, reporting on a "shadow war" being fought by Israeli special operations troops against Hamas.

This would seem to hardly upset Abbas, as recent history between Abbas and Hamas has been particularly heated. Aside from the fact that Fatah and Hamas were engaging in vicious street shootouts before digging in for an Israeli offensive gave them something else to do with their days, there's the question of assassination.

Back in May, Abbas called off a Gaza Strip visit after being warned that Hamas' military wing would try to kill him, reported the UK's Sunday Times. Later in the month, Al-Jazeera reported that Palestinian security officials discovered a tunnel dug under Abbas' Gaza house; it was interpreted by Fatah as an assassination attempt orchestrated by Hamas.

If Abbas dies, under law the speaker of the Hamas-led parliament would assume the presidency. Speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik is reportedly moving around day and night in case of another round of arrests by Israelis. But as long as Hamas is in power and locked in a power struggle with Abbas, they will have a successor to move into place should something happen to the Palestinian president.

Days before the attack on the Kerem Shalom border outpost in which Shalit was taken, rival Palestinian factions were up in arms about Abbas' call for a referendum on a two-state solution, which he had previously offered to Hamas with a referendum ultimatum.

On June 30, with dozens of Hamas lawmakers behind bars, Haniyeh claimed - with fuzzy details - that a compromise had been reached on Abbas' plan and the referendum would be called off. This should be regarded with suspicion - especially regarding any recognition of Israel - and an eye for ulterior motives: Hamas, after all, stands for the Islamic Resistance Movement, not the Islamic Cooperation Movement.

Abbas is riding a wave of being perceived as statesman as opposed to terrorist. Bypassing the financially quarantined Hamas, the Arab League transferred $50 million to Abbas on July 3, with another $50 million following from Saudi Arabia. The cash reportedly came with the condition that Abbas will oversee its distribution.

Abbas was also lying low during the escalation of the Gaza conflict. When he did call for a halt to rocket attacks on Israel and for Shalit's release, Hamas fired back with a statement condemning Abbas for "ignoring daily Israeli massacres and trying to show the crisis results from the rockets that the resistance fires."

Before the Shalit hostage drama renewed their focus on fighting Israel, Palestinian factions were creeping toward civil war. Now the factions are presenting a unified front to battle Israel, but things can hardly go from bloody to rosy in the wink of an incursion. Every negotiation attempt, every provocation shows that the chasm between Abbas and Hamas is not only still there, but widening under international pressure and cross-border strife.

"Abbas is different from Arafat in that he is not pushing terror," former Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told WorldNetDaily in June 2005. "He would like to stop terror for utilitarian reasons, because terror is threatening him. But Abbas doesn't differ from Arafat on the ultimate goal, just the tactics to get him there."

Abbas could hardly unite the Palestinians behind his agenda - and risks losing that statesman image among his international sympathizers - if Fatah squads forcibly took Hamas out of power.

And surely the president realizes that Israel can aid him toward his goals by helping wipe out his pesky power struggle. He can shift blame on them later.

An air strike killed one militant as he was preparing to launch an anti-tank rocket at Israeli troops in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, an army spokesman said.

Israeli troops, who have been operating in the camp since Wednesday, earlier shot dead another Palestinian gunman.

Israeli naval boats kept up the pressure, shelling a key coastal road used by emergency vehicles and others. One ambulance was damaged in the barrage, medics said.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive last month after Palestinian militants abducted Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid.

Israel has killed at least 110 Palestinians, around half of them militants, since the start of the operation. On Wednesday alone, Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

One of the militant groups involved in the raid that seized Shalit said the Israeli campaign was a failure.

"The soldier is still missing... And the rockets are continuing to strike. They (Israel) will pay a dear price for killing our civilians and fighters," said Abu Mujahed, a Popular Resistance Committees spokesman.

Israel has also launched an offensive in Lebanon after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers and killed eight more in a cross-border raid on July 12.

The fighting in the north has killed around 300 people in Lebanon and 29 in Israel.

Israel has been sharply criticised by the United Nations and European leaders for the growing civilian death toll.

On Thursday, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets warning residents of Gaza to steer clear of buildings housing militants or their equipment.

"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will strike and destroy every position or building where there are militants, ammunition and military equipment," the leaflet said.

The Iranian parliamentary speaker addressed the crowds, warning Israel that no part of its territory is safe.

Protesters waved Hezbollah flags and carried posters of its leader and shouted "death to Israel".

Iran backs Hezbollah, which seized two Israeli soldiers last week sparking Israeli air strikes across Lebanon.

Hezbollah has responded to the Israeli offensive by firing rockets into Israeli towns from Lebanon's southern border.

'Filthy tumour'

Iranian speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said Israel should "flee occupied Palestine".

"The Americans should know that as long as this filthy tumour lies in the body of the Islamic world, Muslims will not stop hating America," he said.

Gholam Ali Haddad Ade told Israel to "flee Palestine"
Mr Haddad Adel said Israeli towns were within range of "the brave children of Lebanon".

He also called on Muslims whose governments had criticised Hezbollah to rise up against their leaders - a reference to many Gulf states, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The crowds pelted a star of David symbol with stones and tomatoes. President George Bush was portrayed in posters as Hitler, Osama Bin Laden and the devil.

Cautious approach

Israel has accused Iran of providing missiles to Hezbollah, although Iran denies this.

The BBC's Iranian analyst Sadeq Saba says the fighting in Lebanon is benefiting Tehran by distracting international attention from its controversial nuclear programme.

But our correspondent says the Iranian government has adopted a cautious approach and most analysts say the country does not want to enter the crisis directly, unless Israel attacks Syria or Iran itself.

More than 200 Lebanese citizens have been killed since Israel launched air strikes last Wednesday following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by militant group Hezbollah.

Twenty-four Israelis have died in the violence - 12 as a result of Hezbollah rocket attacks.

More than an idiot's profanity


The worldwide media, Bush's damage control apparatus, have spun the Bush-Blair exchange in the most deceptive Bush-friendly manner. The New York Times spun it as a "blunt call for diplomacy," while another New York Times piece refers to "wise-guy Bush's blunt and coarse chit-chat." Other headlines hailed the performance as "straight-talking Dubya," Bush "lets fly," "curses Hezbollah actions," "Bush urges Assad to end fighting," etc. All false.

First, Bush demonstrated what seasoned observers already know: Bush is a grotesque simpleton suffering from some mental afflication, who is also a ruthless intimidator wielding violence and power without intellect, and without regard. In short, a gangster. Gangsters do not need a great intellect to successfully conduct criminal activities, or head criminal empires. (In fact, intellect gets in the way.) Bush (and Cheney) routinely speaks using profanity.

More importantly, the Bush-Blair exchange was not a "call for peace." They were caught talking in practical and casual fashion about covert back doordeals, and geostrategic plans that are either in the works, or in process.

The precise nature of their plan is hard to ascertain, but what can be interpreted should be cause for alarm. The key passages, from the complete transcript from the Washington Post [my comments in italics-LC]:

Bush: What about Kofi? That seems odd. I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically ceasefire and [then] everything else happens. You know what I'm saying?

Bush finds it "odd," and "doesn't like" how UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has apparently put ceasefire ahead of "everything else." What is this "everything else" that will "happen"? Conditions for ceasefire? Or a new attack by some party or another? Has this "everything else" already been put into place? What are the US, UK, Israel and the UN really up to? Bush is not liking the choreographed order, of some future event. What is the event?

Blair: Yeah. No, I think -- the thing that's really difficult is we can't stop this unless you get this international presence agreed. Now, I know what you guys have talked about but it's the same thing.

What are they seeking to "stop" with "international presence"? Does "stop" refer to ending the current violence, or "stopping" as in a multinational conquest (of Syria, Iran or both)? What have they "talked about"? Does the international "presence" refer to diplomatic talks, or military forces? If it applies to military force, are they talking about a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, or a new multinational operation that has been "agreed" upon?

Blair: . . . see how reliable that is. But you need that done quickly.

What is "reliable"? What needs to be done quickly?

Bush: Yeah, she's going. I think Condi's going to go pretty soon.

Condi is going to do what? Given the known Bush administration position, she is not going to negotiate a ceasefire that offers anything whatsoever to Hamas and Hezbollah "terrorists," nor will she make overtures towards what she and the Bush administration have insisted are their masters, Syria and Iran. What back doordeal is Rice cooking up?

Blair: Right. Well, that's, that's, that's all that matters. If you -- see, it'll take some time to get out there. But at least it gives people a -

What "people"? Is he referring to political players, who need time to negotiate something, or is he talking about creating the propaganda illusion of diplomacy for the benefit of the masses ("people")? If it is the latter, it would be a political cover for what?

Bush: A process, I agree. I told her your offer too.

Should this be read at face value as "diplomatic process," or a process towards something else? Is he talking about a real or fake (propaganda) process? More importantly here, some sort of "offer" has been made between Blair and the US, and Rice is aware of it. What is it?

Blair: Well, it's only if it's -- I mean, you know, if she's gotta -- or if she needs the ground prepared, as it were. Obviously, if she goes out, she's got to succeed, as it were, whereas I can just go out and talk.

She (Rice) needs the ground prepared to "succeed" doing what? "Whereas I can just go out and talk" suggests that Blair intends for him and the UK to take a back seat, and let the US and Rice lead the way -- towards what? Peace, or more war? A ceasefire, or an opportunistic maneuver of some kind?

Bush: See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over.

This is a key passage. What is "ironic"? Is the irony that they must ask for Syrian cooperation -- or is it ironic that they are setting up Syria to take the blame (for "Hezbollah's shit")? What is "over" -- the current violence, or any remaining obstacle to a full-blown Middle East war?

Blair : Who, Syria?

Bush: Right.

Blair: I think this is all part of the same thing. What does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns out fine, if we get a solution in Israel and Palestine, Iraq goes in the right way, he's [inaudible ] . That's what this whole thing's about. It's the same with Iran.

The inaudible word is critical. Without the word, the passage is hard to interpret. Blair seems to be characterizing Syrian president Bashar Assad as somewhat naive (a "solution in Israel and Palestine," and happy endings in Iraq, as well as Iran are far fetched), as well as a dupe who is willing to play along with Anglo-American and Israeli plans.

Note: some media reports, including the San Francisco Chronicle, have the last line of this passage as "It's the same with Iraq." An error, or an intentional lie?

Bush: I felt like telling Kofi to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen. We're not blaming Israel. We're not blaming the Lebanese government."

What does Bush want the UN to "make happen"?

Is Bush talking about an Anglo-American diplomatic stance (don't blame Israel or Lebanon) towards a ceasefire, or he is talking about the creation of a political cover by which a larger "anti-terror" war targeting Hamas and Hezbollah, and their alleged masterminds in Syria and Iran, will be conducted?

Is Assad complicit, or is he being set up?

Apocalypse ahead

As noted by William Arkin, in his Washington Post analysis of the Bush-Blair exchange, "Early Warning":

"As I've been watching the latest Middle East saga unfold, I've been struck by the almost universal insights being offered by pundits and talking heads that Iran or Syria planned the Hamas and Hezbollah kidnappings of Israeli soldiers and also control what happens now.

"In this narrative, Iran is trying to divert attention from its nuclear weapons program; Syria is seeking revenge against American isolation and seeking to enlarge its power base.  The two countries provide missiles and supply lines and sanctuary for Hezbollah and Hamas.  Iranian 'soldiers' are even secretly in Lebanon, aiding Hezbollah in its Friday attack on the Israeli naval vessel, an attack that Hezbollah could not have otherwise mounted.

"In this telling, Hamas and Hezbollah are reduced to almost unimportant terrorist dupes of Iran and Syria, Lebanon is just a poor victimized country, and Israel is only defending itself.  The United States and the international community are also absolved of any responsibility for their failures of diplomacy because what is unfolding is part of a grand conspiracy that no amount of intervention could have an impact on.

"In this version of history, Iran and Syria can also just snap their fingers and 'stop' the fighting.  Even if this is a false characterization, their failure to do so confirms that the Bush administration's approach towards them is the only option.  The two are thus confirmed as rogue nations and new axis of evil."

"In this world, various leaders and factions plot their next moves, plan covert operations, undertake assassinations, decide on who to support and how based upon inside information.

"The danger of this type of intelligence, and of leaders obsessed with gossip and the lurid details of world events, is that pretty soon the geopolitical double dealing crowds out any true picture and any sense of State responsibility."

With all due respect, there is not simply "double dealing." There is also blackmail and extortion, with violent military ramifications. Outright thuggery is the basis of much imperial geostrategy.

It remains to be seen what Bush, Blair, and the brutal Israeli government have in store. The gates of hell have already been opened. Only the naïve would think they have any desire to close them.

"Each declaration which is not balanced has consequences for parties who want to use their influence," Harel told reporters at Madrid's Ritz Hotel where he listened to Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos at a conference.

Relations with Spain "are not in their best moment", he said.

Zapatero, who took power in a surprise election victory following Islamist train bombings in Madrid in 2004 and immediately pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq, had told the young Socialists: "No one should defend themselves with abusive force which does not protect innocent human beings."

Spain wants the United Nations Security Council to agree to deploy international troops to stop fighting which has claimed hundreds of lives since Israel launched bombardments nine days ago to stop Hizbollah attacking it with rockets.

Moratinos, who was once the EU's Middle East peace envoy, angrily denied an accusation at the conference by a former Spanish Jewish community leader that Zapatero's remarks were anti-Semitic.

During the question-and-answer session at the breakfast, Mauricio Hatchwell, a member of Spain's small Jewish community, accused Zapatero of being antisemitic.

Moratinos reacted sternly, saying one could be a loyal ally of Israel and still criticize it without being antisemitic. He addressed Hatchwell personally and told him not to repeat such criticism of the government.

"Let this be the last time you publicly denounce and condemn and express yourself saying a Spanish government is antisemitic," Moratinos said.

He said he was not worried by the diplomatic effect of photographs in Spanish newspapers on Thursday of a grinning Zapatero wearing a black-and-white Palestinian scarf passed to him by a student at Wednesday's meeting.

"I imagine that when Prime Minister Zapatero goes to the Wailing Wall, he'll put on a kippah," said Moratinos, referring to a traditional Jewish skull cap and Jerusalem's Western Wall.