H.P. Albarelli Jr. on his book, A Terrible Mistake, the Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Cold War Experiments

Talk Nation Radio for April 28, 2010

Special series on accountability for the US and Israel: the intelligence world.



H.P. Albarelli Jr. joins us to talk about his 2009 book, A Terrible Mistake, the Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Cold War Experiments. You can read the first chapter here.

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:04
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

H.P. Albarelli shares his story of a ten year long investigation culminating in a book that proves that Olson was murdered, and at the same time takes us on a journey through the many crimes, cover ups, and attempts at accountability, that is America's secret intelligence legacy.

The CIA, Central Intelligence Agency, grew out of the intelligence office that fought against the Nazis during the Second World War. Secretly, toward the end of that war, the OSS and then CIA began to work with some of the world’s most unsavory people, including Nazis, helping thousands of Nazi leaders escape prosecution, and even incorporating the kind of military experimentation that the Nazis might have used into secret US operations.

There is a long history of complete impunity for the CIA for crimes including murder and secretly dosing US Military Personnel, patients in mental hospitals, even children under age ten, with LSD. We consider how a lack of prosecution for the early crimes of the CIA helped lead the Bush/Cheney administration down a similar path as they institutionalized policies like torture and rendition and authorized the CIA to work domestically in the United States.

"Between five and six hundred people basically, as a result of the experiment, went stark raving mad for a day and four committed suicide". H.P. Albarelli

H.P. Albarelli Jr. or "Hank" is an investigative reporter and writer for over 20 years. He had been doing articles on biological warfare and intelligence when he stumbled across documents about a case dating back to CIA and Army projects of the 1950s known as MKULTRA, Artichoke and Bluebird. He had found reason to believe the notorious case involving the suicide of former Army Special Operations Division official, Frank Olson, should have been investigated as a murder. That becomes important as we realize that the CIA had entered into a dark age of assassination during the years of Olson's death, one that has been covered up carefully, but has nevertheless been impacting US foreign and domestic policy over decades.

Documents published in, 'A Terrible Mistake' show that former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were also linked to the cover up of these early CIA crimes. See documents and photos here but you should be warned that some photos are graphic and upsetting.

Next time we'll hear more on the CIA’s secret operations, CIA contractors and the impact of Artichoke and Bluebird on America’s past, present and future.

Biography: H.P. Albarelli Jr. is a writer and investigative reporter who lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida . He has written numerous feature articles about the 9/11 anthrax attacks; the history of biological warfare; the mysterious death of Dr. Frank Olson; the Cuban revolution; and social and political affairs. Some of these articles can be found on the World Net Daily, Pravda, Cubanet, Counterpunch, and Crime Magazine websites.

Albarelli has also written feature articles for Tampa 's alternative newspaper, The Weekly Planet . His work has been acknowledged and cited in American History magazine, and in books by many distinguished authors, including: The Biology of Doom by Ed Regis (Henry Holt and Co., 2001); Alston Chase's classic, Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist (W.W. Norton, 2003); and The Eighty Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Jonathan Vankin and John Whalen (Citadel Press, 2004). An accomplished scriptwriter and playwright, Albarelli's LIFE GOES ON , written with his brother, Dean Albarelli, was published by Witness, a literary journal; in 1995 he produced and directed a regional production of Academy Award winner's Steve Tesich's play, On the Open Road . (Brilliantly scored by composer Sam Geppi.)

Albarelli's six-year investigation into the controversial death of Army biochemist Dr. Frank Olson was the focal point of an hour long television documentary, Mind Control Murder , produced by London's award-winning Principal Films (David Presswell, director) for A&E's Investigative Reports, and by independent film producer, Scott Calonico, for the short film LSD a Go-Go shown at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Albarelli is a graduate of Antioch Law School and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, South Africa , and Asia. He is a noted expert on the history of the CIA's behavior modification and assassination programs of the 1950s.

See articles: Truthout.org The Real Roots of the CIA's Rendition and Black Sites Program, Wednesday 17 February 2010

Counterpunch, March 13, 2002, Anthrax Investigation Provokes Charges of Cover-Up, By H.P. Albarelli Jr.

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, News Analysis, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Muhammad Khurshid in Tribal Region of Pakistan

Talk Nation Radio for April 21, 2010


Upgraded Version for Better Quality Sound, download it here



Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald, provide their expert news analysis on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The threat to these journalists from War Lord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's U.S. representative, and in Pakistan.

And journalist Muhammad Khurshid describes threats to civilians, journalists, political figures, and others, as a month of April terror continues to unfold in Pakistan. Journalists are being threatened by various forces including government ones, he says, and he blames the US, and US dollars to corrupt actors in the region and leaders is adding fuel to the fires of war.

Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:08
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here if a member, or free at Radio4all.net and Archive.org.

The well known writing team of Gould and Fitzgerald are the co-authors of the book, Invisible History, Afghanistan's Untold Story, are working on a new book. According to Paul Fitzgerald Fitzgerald the name has special meaning: “Crossing Zero, that’s the term used by the US defense establishment for the line between Pakistan and Afghanistan”.

UPDATE: The new book by Gould and Fitzgerald is to be named, Crossing Zero: The AfPak War at the Turning Point of American Empire. See cover and order information here.

Pre order this book from Amazon here.

See biographical material on the authors here.

Articles by Gould and Fitzgerald:
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Messiah of Darkness, Huffington Post, April 5, 2010: "It's not everyday that an American citizen living in the USA gets an email from the representative of a legendary terrorist warning that they may face legal action for writing well documented criticisms of his boss. But on January 25, 2010 Mr. Daoud M. Abedi of the Hesb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) emailed us on behalf of Afghanistan's longest running warlord, drug trafficker and terrorist, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar".

"Abedi was reacting to our blog, In Afghanistan: Embracing Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Is No Method at All, posted that day. We had addressed the insane possibility that terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar might be considered as a "sane" solution for the mess the U.S. has gotten itself into in Afghanistan. Since Hekmatyar was listed on February 18, 2003 by the United States State Department and the United States Treasury as a global terrorist under Executive Order 13224 (which freezes his assets and criminalizes any U.S. support for him) and has been the object of a Predator drone strike, and recently claimed credit for a deadly attack on French NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan, we thought that a terrorist maintaining a high public profile in the U.S. would be a disadvantage. So it came as a surprise that Hekmatyar and his political party Hesb-i-Islami are not only out in the open in the United States, but are issuing threats (just the way they do in Afghanistan) to anyone who tries to get the word out about their past".

October 8, 2009, The Gathering Storm: Dark Omens for the US in Afghanistan here

Book Review by Anthony Fenton, Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story by Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, From: The Reality of Life in Afghanistan, RAWA. (here) "As Gould stated in an interview with Asia Times Online, Charlie Wilson's War "is a complete flip flop of the reality".

"As such, one of the concerns that Gould and Fitzgerald are seeking to address is the problem that "there are still people in administration positions, in journalistic positions, in academic positions who still believe the fundamentals of Charlie Wilson's War". As Fitzgerald added, "every line cook and bottle washer in and around Washington is now an expert on Afghanistan", reflecting a popular discourse that is "far detached from reality".

10 Min Update, Dori Smith speaks with Muhammad Khurshid in Pakistan about week of April terror

A Talk Nation Radio news update with Dori Smith, April 20, 2010

TRT:10:27
Download at Radio4all.net Archive.org


A Week of April Terror in Peshawar, Pakistan, leaves civilians scrambling for safety. An influx of US dollars has been feeding corruption at the top levels of government in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Civilian populations are caught between rival factions. We interviewed Muhammad Khurshid, a resident of the Bajaur Agency area, at the Pak/Afghan border.

During a week of April terror in Peshawar Pakistan. The death toll has risen to over a hundred with hundreds seriously wounded. The terror attacks carried out in busy market places or bazaars including the Storyteller’s Bazaar, and the Board Bazaar region where a five year old was among the dead in a blast near a police school.

On Tuesday the 20th, a blast tore through a crowd protesting frequent power cuts in Pakistan killing dozens. The protest said to have been organized by an extreme right wing religious group called, Jamaat-e-Islamiya. Several police and political officials are among the dead.

We spoke with journalist Muhammad Khurshid just hours after one of the blasts. He described a situation of chaos in which people view both the Pakistan and Afghan governments as collapsing, and find themselves trapped between rival militant groups and war lords. He blames the crisis overall on an influx of US dollars.

We will be discussing these developments with Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald on this week’s Talk Nation Radio. (Listen live www.whus.org, Wed. 5 PM 4/20 EDT) You can read reports from Muhammad Khurshid at OPED news and other outlets and he has plans to write a book about the collapse of Pakistan’s government system and regional violence.

Elizabeth Gould and Paul Fitzgerald are authors of Invisible History, Afghanistan's Untold Story, see book at City Lights. In this week's Talk Nation Radio half hour we discuss their soon to be published book, Crossing Zero, "the line between Pakistan and Afghanistan is known by the defense establishment and the intelligence community as zero line," (Paul Fitzgerald, 4/19/10 interview).

Week of April Terror in 1979, Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was assassinated.

From Invisible History: "For twenty years, Brzezinski and the CIA maintained the cover story that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a naked act of aggression while arming the so-called mujahideen rebels was simply an act of self-defense. In the 1998 interview with a French news magazine Le Nouvelle Observateur, Brzezinski changed that story, admitting for the first time that the program had begun fully six months before as part of a plan to “draw the Russians into the Afghan trap.” 25 Whether Brzezinski’s single act of arming the rebels was the deciding factor in pushing the Soviets to invade six months later is irrelevant at this late date. In hindsight it is easy to see how his manipulations triggered the last phase of an elaborate scheme already set in motion by Nixon, Kissinger, and an axis of interests working to lure the Soviets into a confrontation wherever they were certain to lose. Setting the tone for the horror that was about to begin, on April 4 Pakistan’s leader General Zia-ul-Haq executed deposed president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. 26 That spring President Carter was provoked to cut all aid to Pakistan’s military by the revelation of Zia’s efforts to develop an atomic bomb." (From, PART II: AFGHANISTAN FROM THE 1970s TO 2001, Invisible History, Afghanistan's Untold Story.)

Accountability for US and Israeli Leaders: A complaint to ICC on Bush et al and it's US Politics as usual re Israel and Palestine

Talk Nation Radio for April 15, 2010
Francis A. Boyle, Nanjundiah Sadanand, Accountability for US and Israeli Leaders: A complaint to ICC on Bush et al and it's US Politics as usual re Israel and Palestine



TRT:29:16
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or go to Radio4all.net and Archive.org

We continue our special series on accountability for the US and Israel with International law expert Francis A. Boyle, author of Breaking all the rules, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and the Case for Impeachment, and many other books. We discuss Attorney Boyle's complaint to the ICC, International Criminal Court, filed against former President George W. Bush, and members of his Cabinet, ex-Vice President Cheney, ex-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonazles, and former CIA Director George Tenet. (ACLU, Rendition, the Movie here)

The complaint was submitted directly to The Honorable Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Chief Prosecutor for the ICC. You can read the cover letter and learn more here at Bushtothehague.org.

Professor Nanjundiah Sadanand, of the Physics and Earth Science Department at Central Connecticut State University talks about the way Connecticut Democrats Joe Courtney (2nd District) and Chris Murphy (5th District) have explained their yes vote on H. Res. 867, Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict.

Professor Sadanand coordinates a wide ranging human rights, government ethics and political lecture series at CCSU. Speakers on the Iraq War, Rendition, ACLU cases, Afghanistan, Israel and Palestine, have visited the campus. See. Professor Sadanand here, here.

Palestinians get little if any coverage in the corporate US press, and their leaders are increasingly divided over gaining support from the West in exchange for concessions on land, the right of return, and allowing Israel to illegally acquire Jerusalem. with billions of US dollars going to Israel annually, it's easy to see why Palestinians feel slighted by the world.

Israel is the new Silicon Valley, gaining acquiring defense contracts for high tech weapons, surveillance technology and drone guidance systems. Peace activists like Dr. Sadanand have also challenged Connecticut Democrat, Joe Courtney, on his yes vote on H. Res. 867, and he too said the official UN investigation and report by Judge Goldstone was not helpful. Joe Courtney has relied on the progressive Democratic vote, but is clearly under pressure over job loss in Connecticut. His previous campaigns have disintegrated into debates about building more nuclear submarines in Groton, CT. On April 7th his trade mission to Israel came under scrutiny by peace activists.

Democrat Joe Courtney in Connecticut's second district also voted yes on the resolution against the Goldstone report. He too explained to peace activists that the report was not helpful.

Courtney said defense industry giant UTC would be participating in the trip, this as UTC and Lockeed Martin are working to finalize plans to send 25 advanced F-35 warplanes to Israel at a cost of 80 million a piece. The US has already finalized plans to send three new Hercules C-130J aircraft to Israel at a cost of $70 million per plane. It's difficult to see how this deal with help the US economy though. The planes are to be paid for with U.S. Foreign Assistance Funds. London's Rolls Royce builds the C-130s, with some manufacturing done in Indiana.

January 2010, Germany sells Israel more Dolphin Subs
"In 2006, the deal was finalized at a total of $1.27 billion, with the German government picking up 1/3 of the cost."

U.S. Can't Afford Military Aid to Israel, Josh Ruebner "Data published recently by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation shows that U.S. military aid to Israel comes at a financial and moral price that this country cannot afford to pay. Its website reveals that this same $3 billion earmark for Israel could be used instead to provide more than 364,000 low-income households with affordable housing vouchers, or to retrain 498,000 workers for green jobs, or to provide early reading programs to 887,000 at-risk students, or to provide access to primary health care services for more than 24 million uninsured Americans.

If U.S. weapons were going to Israel for a good purpose, then perhaps a coherent guns versus butter debate would be appropriate. However, Israel repeatedly misuses U.S. weapons to commit grave human rights abuses against Palestinians who are forced to live under its illegal 42-year military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip."

Global Security, Military Industry, Israel, There are approximately 150 defense firms in Israel, with combined revenues of an estimated $3.5 billion. The three largest entities are the government-owned IAI, IMI and the Rafael Arms Development Authority, all of which produce a wide range of conventional arms and advanced defense electronics. The medium-sized privately owned companies include Elbit Systems and the Tadiran Group, which focus mainly on defense electronics. The smaller firms produce a narrower range of products. In all, the industry employs close to 50,000 people, all of whom share a commitment to high levels of research and development and the ability to make use of the IDF's combat experience.

Israeli page, Israeli Defense Industry, "born of necessity".

Connecticut lawmakers plead with UTC not to send CT jobs overseas.

Workers fight plant closures at UTC, CBS

Courant: Judge orders UTC not to send CT jobs overseas.

Connecticut offers UTC $100M of incentives to keep Pratt & Whitney jobs, y Maria Welych
September 03, 2009, 6:36PM

"HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell offered $100 million worth of incentives Thursday to jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney to prevent the possible loss of about 1,000 jobs.

The five-year plan includes lifting a cap on tax credits for parent corporation United Technologies Corp., providing training assistance, and establishing a job retention tax credit. It also includes investments in machinery and equipment and the building of an Engineering Center for Excellence for engineers at Pratt & Whitney and other aerospace companies."

Israeli Arms Industry Produces Giant UAV, Israel's arms industry produces giant UAV, by Staff Writers Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Feb 22, 2009

Frank Barat, Russell Tribunal on Palestine

Talk Nation Radio Special for April 7, 2010
Frank Barat, Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Accountability Special: Israel, the EU, the USA, War Crimes Violations in Palestine


TRT: 29:29
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here if you are a member or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net.

This is the first of our series on accountability, global efforts to prevent war crimes and repressive policies in a decade of war and occupation in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. Stephane Hessel welcomed Russell Tribunal on Palestine members to session. Stephane Hessell fought with the French Army and the Resistance during World War II. He was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, and after the war he served as a French and UN diplomat. In 2006 he was named a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine seeks to Reaffirm the Primacy of International Law as the basis for settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which has been ongoing for many years. The occupation of their land is the main obstacle to to the recognition of the legal rights of the Palestinian people and consequently to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East."

Ken Coates was an organizer and co chair of the first Russell Tribunal, on Vietnam. He is a British politician, anti nuclear activist and writer as well as the chair of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Here he described the impact of that first tribunal. According to Coates, Bertrand Russell had pointed out that while they lacked force majeure, legal standing to enforce their findings on war crimes in Vietnam, they nevertheless had an advantage. They were completely free to document violations of international law and convey them to the people of the world, educating, and stimulating work toward accountability. In the same way, The Russell Tribunal on Palestine has released its findings to the world, they are open source and available online in video and text here in French andhere in English.

This Week's Clips: Justice Richard Goldstone, Yale University, New Haven, CT, February 2, 2010, Ken Coates, Russell Tribunal,Stephane Hessell, Russell Tribunal, Prof. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Palestinian and international protesters stand on one side of razor wire, Israeli soldiers/police on the other. The protesters are peaceful, yet as the protest winds down and people begin moving off they shoot concussion grenades which make an enormous sound. Professor's car windshield smashed.

The March 2010 Russell Tribunal on Palestine is also intended to reinforce other efforts, both official and non official, toward holding Israel (and its partners) to the same standards of International law that other countries must adhere to. Israel has demanded that the laws be changed to accommodate them, according to the UN's investigation team leader on Gaza, Judge Richard Goldstone. At a speech at Yale University, February 2, 2010, he said Israel is trying to have laws on proportionality changed, these have to do with the rationale for attacks that kill civilians. Justice Richard Goldstone is former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and later inquiry into Kosovo.

The Israeli rights group B'Tselem documented 3 Israeli civilians killed by Qassem rockets during the Gaza war, six members of the security forces, and four soldiers who were killed by Israeli friendly fire. They found 1,387 Palestinian deaths, the majority of them, 773, non combatants, but 248 were police men who were also not engaging in hostilities. They said 36 were unknown. The Palestinian Human Rights organization said 1,434 Palestinians died, 1199 of them civilians, with 235 of them combatants. Between 5,000 and 5500 Palestinians were wounded. Their report in PDF format here

According to Frank Barat, coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, the tribunal's work moves on from Barcelona to London where they are taking up the question of corporate accountability, corporations in the USA and EU that supply weapons to Israel. We will provide an update on that portion of the tribunal's efforts in upcoming programs. We will provide their written findings on our web site shortly.

Background/Update Accountability
The Israel--Palestinian Conflict:

Various rights groups report over 1,400 Palestinians were killed in Operation Cast Lead, the majority of them civilians, 5300 were wounded. The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reported 3 Israeli civilians killed by Qassem rockets during the Gaza war. Six members of the security forces, and four soldiers who were killed by Israeli friendly fire.

For decades, MidEast peace talks have taken a back seat as rhetoric about 'security' has dominated world reporting on Israel and Palestine. As a result of the emphasis on security, Israel has not been held accountable for illegal settlement construction in the West Bank and lately East Jerusalem.

After the Gaza war, US peace activists increased efforts to get Washington and the new Obama administration to make US aid, especially military aid to Israel, contingent on ending the blockade of Gaza.

March 2010 presented an ideal opportunity. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had embarrassed the visiting Vice President, Joe Biden, a staunch supporter of Israel, by announcing 1,600 new settlements would be constructed in Arab, East Jerusalem. The old city, Jerusalem, was to be shared in a corpus separatum by Jews and Palestinians under the original partition orders 181 that created the State of Israel.

President Obama did say the US is officially opposed to the settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remarked on daylight between the US and Israel on them, but there was not much agreement in general behind the scenes according to journalist Laura Rozen, writing for Politico. She said a source told her there really was no crisis and media reports on that had been wrong. She also learned, Dan Sharpiro, the National Security Council's Middle East, Senior Director, said cutting US aid was not even on the table.

Haaretz Exclusive: 'Despite row, U.S. and Israel sign massive arms deal', By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, March 25, 2010. 'As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington this week absorbing the full wrath of the Obama administration, the Pentagon and Israel's defense establishment were in the process of sealing a large arms deal'.

'According to the deal, Israel will purchase three new Hercules C-130J airplanes. The deal for the three planes designed by Lockheed Martin, is worth roughly a quarter billion dollars. Each aircraft costs $70 million'.

(Smith cont) When a 'sale' to Israel is really a gift from American Taxpayers to Israel:

Even as media reports suggested tensions between the US and Israel, the Pentagon and Israel's defense establishment were finalizing major weapons deals. Contracts may have been signed when Netanyahu was in Washington in March, ostensibly to present his argument for continuing with 1,600 illegal settlements in occupied Jerusalem.

The conversation likely turned to the delivery to Israel of three new Hercules C-130J aircraft. The price tag for each plane is $70 million, but the money won't necessarily help the US economy. The planes are to be paid for with U.S. Foreign Assistance Funds. London's Rolls Royce builds the C-130s, with some manufacturing done in Indiana.

Also pending is a 2009 request from Israel for 25 F-35 warplanes, at $80 million a piece. They could be delivered by 2015 if not sooner, and are advanced F-25 fighter jets. Lockheed Martin makes them under joint contract with UTC, United Technologies, of Connecticut.

The contracts have energized Connecticut's defense industry, where UTC has been embroiled in labor union and worker disputes over lay offs and plant closings. UTC has been criticized for moving more and more of its production abroad.

In an April meeting with peace activists worried about the Israeli occupation of Palestine and new settlements, Congressman Joe Courtney, a 2nd District Democrat, said he realized that the trips former 2nd District Congressman (D-2nd dist) Sam Gejdenson made to Israel, had split the Democratic vote, contributing to a 2006 loss to Republican Rob Simmons. (See article in The Jewish Ledger for interesting background.)

Rep. Courtney defended his 2010 trip saying it would be funded by the US State Department, not taxpayers. He explained that UTC, has offices in Israel in addition to China. The trip will also involve efforts to help the Connecticut Casino industry set up tourism to Connecticut casinos, he said.

One by one peace activists urged him not to go and pointed out that the trip sends the wrong signal to Israel at a time when there has been no accountability for the Gaza War, or illegal settlement construction. Courtney disappointed activists in the state when he voted in support of H. Res. 867, 'Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict" in multilateral fora'. (See Justice Goldstone's response to the resolution here and Congressman Baird speaks out in defense of resolution here. Baird on HR 867: ‘This is about whether it is right to restrict the movements and hopes of more than 1 million people every single day’ By Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, November 3, 2000)

(Full Disclosure, I was at the meeting in Storrs, CT with Rep. Joe Courtney, and offered my opinion against his trip to Israel. My views are based on reporting about the MidEast that I've done in Connecticut since 1991. The Congressman graciously agreed to accept two texts I offered to give him, the first is by Palestinian legislator Dr. Hannan Ashrawi, This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (Paperback) and the second is by Prof. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Sharing the Land of Caanan, 2004, Pluto Press. Those books will hopefully be received by Congressman Courtney in the next week.

Finally, having watched the violence conducted against Israel over the years since my father worked on this issue, when I was in High School during the 1970s, I can't help but share a sense of despair about the fact that members of U.S. Congress would take a vote on a UN investigation into possible war crimes of Israeli and Hamas leaders in Gaza. The fact that members of Congress took it upon themselves to vote on a good faith United Nations investigation conducted under the leadership of the distinguished, Justice Richard Goldstone, reflects a lack of understanding about the importance of international legal constraints designed to protect civilians in war zones.

The Obama administration's failure overall to pressure Israel to come to the table for talks is of even more concern. The President, Vice President, and Secretary of State, said the US is against Israeli plans for 1,600 more settlements in East Jerusalem. America's failure to push Israel on the settlements, thereby encouraging peace talks, is a grim reminder of the reasons this crisis has gone on so long.

Hanan Ashrawi, page 118, This Side of Peace," after Israeli government officials say she and her fellow Palestinian representative, Faisal, are not to be part of official negotiations because, "the Israeli delegation must not be subjected to Palestinians carrying Jerusalem identity cards."

James Baker: "We will continue to meet with you. Everybody will know who is leading and directing the negotiations, but the Israelis cannot be forced to meet with people they find unacceptable."

Hanan Ashrwwi: "We're kosher enough for you but not for the Israelis? We have to take all the risks and undertake all the responsibility, and then self-negate?"

James Baker: "You will officially be invited to the White House to meet with President Bush".

Hanan Ashrawi: "We don't want consolation prizes, and we're not interested in ego gratification. The real issue is the status of Jerusalem. According to international law and your own policies Jerusalem is occupied territory. What you're asking us to do is illegal."

James Baker: "It's only temporary. Right now, you may have a Palestinian residing in Jordan from a prominent Jerusalem family on the Jordanian part of the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation in order to finesse the issue of Jerusalem. The Letter of assurance will state that clearly and we will reiterate our policy on Jerusalem."

Hanan Ashrawi: "The convolution is quite tortuous and unsatisfactory. The Baker suit is a worse fit than we thought. But in effect, you're willing to distort the law and your policy to appease Shamir. Even West Jerusalem by law is not Israeli; according to U.N. Resolution 181 of 1947, all of Jerusalem is a corpus separatum."
Baker hit the ceiling.

James Baker: "You're pulling out a forty-five-year-old resolution now and telling me it's valid?"

Hanan Ashrawi: "Of course. That resolution created the state of Israel. All countries, including the United States, abide by its provision on Jerusalem. Why else do you think no single state has moved its embassy even to West Jerusalem, but kept them in Tel Aviv?" --Baker turned to Dennis Ross for verification. "Is that true?" --Dennis hemmed and hawed but had to admit the truth.

Hanan Ashrawi: "We also think that what you're asking us to do is illegal. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, a people under occupation cannot be made to sign an agreement with their occupier that would prejudice their rights and land. The PLO is the only legal body empowered to negotiate, and to sign, and Israel--as belligerent occupant--is obliged to talk to them and not to us."
Baker desperately tried to control his temper, but we could almost see wisps of smoke begin to rise. "After seven months you've decided that the whole thing is illegal! The PLO is out for now. We have suspended our dialogue with them and Israel won't talk to them. You're all we have and you may not even mention the PLO in any way, shape, or form. Are you in or out?"

Hanan Ashrawi: "We can't tell you now. We have to get the decision from the PLO. What about the flag? If there are any flags, we should have ours as well." I could almost sympathize with Baker's frustration and exasperation.

James Baker: "No, no, no. No PLO, no flags whatsoever!"

Hanan Ashrawi: "Do we get to chose the Israeli delegation, since they're choosing ours by categories of acceptable and unacceptable Palestinians? To us a settler is an unacceptable Israeli who's living on land stolen from us. Any Israeli who has been involved in the torture or killing of any Palestinian is also unacceptable."

James Baker: "You cannot do that. There are no preconditions. Shamir has told us that his delegation will walk out if there are any PLO members or Jerusalemites on your side. You may walk out if there are Israelis you don't want to sit with, but you'll have to bear the consequences. We can't afford to have them walk out, and you can't afford to walk out."

And so the "peace talks" have gone interminably over years of frustration, death, and occupation. Israel is clearly in the top position, and throughout her book Ashrawi shows how they manipulated events surrounding the talks so that there could be no advantage for Palestinians or a fair agreement. Let me suggest that any member of Congress who voted against allowing the UN to investigate both sides in the Gaza War for war crimes, read books like that of Hanan Ashrawi and also Mazin B. Qumsiyeh. You can read his book in full here, and again I'd challenge members of Congress to read it in full. When Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before AIPAC, in March, he claimed a ring found by the Western Wall and loaned to him by an Israeli ministry was evidence that Jews had been building Jerusalem for 3,000 years. He said the ring had the name "Netanyahu" on it, and that it also had the name of other Israeli leaders. What was he driving at? He's mentioned this ring, and other antiquities before, as have other Israelis arguing in favor of expanding Israel, expelling Palestinians from Jerusalem, and taking firm control of holy sites the UN General Assembly designated to be shared by people of all faiths. Israelis are digging under the Al Aqsa Mosque right now, hoping to find some piece of "evidence" to be used in the argument that the mosque site should be controlled permanently and legally by Israel.

Their arguments and plans depend heavily on ignoring centuries of scholarly research about the Holy Land, and especially Jerusalem. Hopefully, the White House and members of Congress will take Netanyahu's statement about his "ring" as their cue to research the history of all of the various peoples that have inhabited this hauntingly beautiful yet troubled land. It is well worth learning about and could help prevent further war.

Mazin B. Qumsiyeh: (Chapter 2, Sharing the Land of Canaan)

Chapter 2. People and the Land
Sharing the Land of Canaan

"The land of Canaan was never "a land without a people for a people without a land" as was articulated by some early Zionists. To understand the conflict and thus begin to articulate a solution we must begin by understanding these people and their origins. The understanding of people also helps us understand their inter-connectedness, that is intentionally or unintentionally hidden which keeps us segregated and thinking tribally. The evolution of these civilizations and their relationships to each other and to outside forces reveal that many perceptions and views of this history currently expressed for political purposes simply have no basis in fact. Understanding the history of the people and the land of Canaan is key to shaping a future of peace for all its current and displaced inhabitants. For example, a simple examination of history shows that Canaanitic groups developed the first alphabet and evolved related language from the original Western Semitic language of Old Aramaic and Syriac to the new and thriving languages of Arabic and Hebrew. This organic connection is easily forgotten and many times dismissed by those who have a stake in maintaining that there is a clash of Arabic and Hebrew cultures and civilizations".

Palestinian History:

"Palestinians are the endogenous people of the Southern Land of Canaan and the Western Part of the Fertile Crescent, the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan. Key milestones in human civilization occurred in this Land of Canaan: animal and plant domestication, development of the alphabet, and development of laws and religions".

Key historical periods:

5000-1500 BC: "Canaanites develop agricultural communities and city-states from cave dwellers hunters and gatherers. Phoenician Canaanites develop commerce and shipping around the Mediterranean.

1500 BC-500 BC: Palestine is an amalgam of small kingdoms and tribal ruling groups representing multi-religious communities of Canaanites (Jebusites, Amurites, Nebateans, Hebrews, Phoenicians, Philistines). Predominant languages are Aramaic (most dominant, Arabic and Hebrew
scripts evolving from Aramaic in Palestine) and Phoenician.

500 BC-765 AD: Palestine remains an amalgam of small tribes and religions but now ruled by empires (Assyrian, Persian, Egyptian, Byzantine, Roman). Christianity develops under the Roman Empire in Palestine and becomes the predominant religion among the natives by 300 AD (some Jews and others
remain).

765 AD-1919 AD: Natives largely convert to Islam but large segments of the population (some 15-20%) remain Christians and native Jews represent 2-3%. All speak and adopt the dominant Arabic language (itself evolved from Aramaic).

1516: Palestine becomes a province of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

1845: British Empire and some sympathetic Jews embark on a program for Ashkenazi (European) Jewish colonization in Palestine, with the aim of establishing a Jewish state/homeland (political ideology called Zionism). First Zionist settlement established 1880. First Zionist Congress in Switzerland held 1897.

1916: British and French secretly agree to divide the Arab world while publicly claiming support for independence and self-determination.

1917: French and British Empires issue proclamations in support of Zionism (Jules/Balfour Declarations).

1919: After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WWI, Britain occupies Palestine and lobbies for a "Mandate" from the League of Nations to rule Palestine and implement Zionist program (contrary to the League's charter which supported self-determination). 1920s and early 1930s: Palestine under rule of Zionist British commissioner Herbert Samuel arms underground Zionist forces buttressed by British troops. Non-violent Palestinian resistance IS suppressed by lethal force. "Inter-religious" violence is also initiated, claiming the lives of innocents of all religions.

1936-1939: Palestinian uprising against British rule and Zionist Colonization is crushed violently. Most leaders of the liberation movement are killed or deposed.

1947: In 1919 population is 94% Muslim and Christian, 6% Jewish. By 1947 it is 68% Muslim and Christian and 32% Jewish. Native Jews are opposed to Zionism. UN Partition Resolution 181 pushed for by the US is adopted recommending partition. Natives of all religions reject UNGA 181 because it
violates UN Charter's fundamental premise of self-determination of peoples and because of the inherent unfairness of giving sovereignty and rule to Zionists over 55% of the land when Jews represent only 32% of the population and own less than 7% of the land (most were new immigrants).

1947-1949: UNGA 181 is a recommendation that was never implemented. Zionist forces, well equipped by the British begin a process of removing non-Jews in November 1947. Half the Palestinian refugees were ethnically cleansed before May 1948 when Britain withdrew its forces and Israel declared its independence. Between Winter 1947 and Summer 1949, over 530 Palestinian towns and villages are completely destroyed and their residents fled and/or expelled (70% of the native Palestinian Christian and Muslims become refugees). To Palestinians, this is Al-Nakba-" the catastrophe" of loss of their homes and lands. Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem is one of dozens of refugee camps in the Middle East where these villagers end up.

1948: December 11, UN passes Resolution 194 reaffirming international law -- including Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- that Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to their homes and lands and be compensated for losses.

1949: May 11, Israel admitted to UN?its second application--after agreeing to relevant UN resolutions (including 181 and 194).

1967: "Six Day War": Israeli forces (IDF) attack and occupy parts of Palestine they did not occupy before (West Bank including East Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Gaza, 22% of Palestine). They also occupy the Syrian Golan Heights and Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. The international community unanimously regards these occupations AS illegal and demands an Israeli withdrawal (e.g. UN Security Council resolution 242). Contrary to International Law (Geneva Conventions), Israel instead embarks on a new phase of colonial
settlement activity including near Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.

1987-1993: Large scale non-violent uprising--intifada--suppressed brutally by the Israeli occupation army.

1991-2000: Oslo Process initiated, facilitates further violation of Geneva Conventions and institutionalization of Israeli control over Palestinians ("bantustanization" of Palestinian population centers via closures, checkpoints, Jewish-only bypass roads, de-development of Palestinian economy)

2000-2005: "Al-Aqsa" intifada begins; Israeli army respond brutally. Thus far, nearly 4000 Palestinians (800 Children) and nearly 1000 Israelis (nearly 100 Children) have been killed. Every human rights organization reporting on this has condemned Israeli army and settlers for wide scale targeting of Palestinian civilians and other human rights abuses (also condemned suicide bombings by some Palestinian groups).

2004: The International Court of Justice rules that Israeli settlements/colonies in the occupied areas (including Jerusalem) are illegal and that the Wall Israel is building on Palestinian land is also illegal. This decision is supported by over 160 countries.

Today: 9 million Palestinians worldwide, nearly 2/3rd of whom are refugees and displaced persons. Meanwhile the US government sends $3-5 billion of our taxes every year to Israel. The US also vetoed 35 UN Security Council resolutions that attempted to bring peace based on International Law and Human Rights. The "Road Map" advocated by the US is 2218 words but lacks these four words: International Law, Human Rights". (Quotation from Chapter 2 of, "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle," by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (Pluto: 2004)

NOTES:

Federal Contracts/Spending to Connecticut under Sam Gejdenson, Rob Simmons, Joe Courtney, here.

The UN Mine Action Team recovered 340 unexploded Israeli bombs and shells, including 84 white phosphorous shells, in Gaza. Much of the weaponry including the white phosphorus was provided by the USA. The unexploded bombs have killed ten Gazans in the year since the war.

Israeli has been termed, the "new Silicon Valley" due to the scale of new technical companies now doing business in places like Tel Aviv. Israeli companies in Israel such as RADA Electronic Industries Ltd., build navigational parts for aerial drones and other weapons.

Easter in Israeli-Occupied Jerusalem

This week on Sprouts: Easter in Israeli-Occupied Jerusalem

Produced by Dori Smith, of Talk Nation Radio in Storrs, Connecticut
Left KU Channel
Thursday, April 1, 3PM EST
Total time 28:59
Download as broadcast quality .mp3: here
Or, go to Weekly programs at Audioport.org and click on: "Easter in Israeli-Occupied Jerusalem" Or search Sprouts or download at Archive.org and Radio4all.net

For years Palestinian Muslims have been locked out of Jerusalem's holy
Al Aqsa Mosque, unable to freely practice religion in a city that was
supposed to be shared freely, under the General Assembly vote that
partitioned Jerusalem into an Arab and Jewish section, East and West.
After years of claiming that their settlement construction advanced
security needs, Israelis have entered into a bolder discussion about
land rights to Jerusalem -- asserting that they can build wherever
they want, and expel Palestinians in the process. We hear about the
international legal questions, and the ongoing peaceful resistance in
Palestine where protests are held against the separation wall every
week.

We also hear from Christian Palestinians unable to travel between
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, as they join in peaceful protests. The
resistance effort against the separation wall goes on weekly, as
Christian, Muslim, and other Palestinians, join Jewish peace activists
from Israel and internationals.

Also in this episode of Sprouts:

--Attorney Francis A. Boyle, Harvard Scholar and author of the new
book, "Palestine, Palestinians and International Law."


Professor Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, formerly of the University of Tennessee, Yale, and Duke, he now does research at Bethlehem and
Birzeit Universities. Professor Qumsiyeh is a well known expert on
Middle East genetics and author of "Sharing the Land of Canaan, Human
Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle." (Sharing)

Frank Barat, coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine held
in early March. The tribunal found EU states in breach of
international and internal European Law with respect to protection of
Palestinian human rights. At issue too is the matter of who provided
the weapons to Israel that were used during attacks on Gaza in 2006.
British Lawmakers have called for a reevaluation of weapons deals with
Israel.

Music from YouTube recorded at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
Franciscan choir, Orthodox Christian choir, and Procession through
Jerusalem as well as the Bells of the Church of Holy Sepulcher,
Golgotha

Sprouts is a weekly program that features local radio production and
stories from many radio stations and local media groups around the
world. It is produced in collaboration with community radio stations
and independent producers across the country. The program is
coordinated and distributed by Pacifica Radio and offered free of
charge to all radio stations. For information, or if you would like to
feature your work on Sprouts, contact Ursula Ruedenberg at
ursula@pacifica.org.

Talk Nation Radio: Gareth Porter, Obama Policy on the MidEast, and Journalist Muhammad Khurshid in Pakistan

Talk Nation Radio for March 24, 2010
Is Obama policy in the MidEAst Floundering because a Propaganda War is Derailing Diplomatic Opportunities?



Journalist Gareth Porter joins us to discuss U.S. policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq. He is an expert on history, diplomacy, and U.S. National Security Policy, and has been studying missed opportunities for peace and diplomacy. And journalist Muhammad Khurshidis in Pakistan, he discusses civilian casualties and how the Pakistani government is playing a double game.

TRT:29:48
Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, Connecticut
Syndicated with Pacifica Network, download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net

See his story in OPED News March 17, 2010, Who Killed Me and Why?

Dr. Gareth Porter writes regularly on U.S. diplomatic policy toward Iraq and Iran for Inter Press Service. Porter served as Bureau Chief for Dispatch News Service International in Saigon, South Vietnam in 1970-71 and also filed regular stories as special correspondent for Dagens Hyheter. His stories were published in a number of major U.S. and European newspapers, including The Washington Post. After receiving his MA in International Politics from the University of Chicago, he received his Ph.D in Southeast Asian Studies at Cornell University. In 1974-75, Dr. Porter was Co-Director of Indochina Resource Center in Washington. Porter. After receiving his Ph.D, Dr. Porter taught international studies at City College of New York in 1982-83 and American University from 1985 to 1990. He was also the first Academic Director for Peace and Conflict Resolution in the Washington Semester program at American University. Dr. Porter is the author of four books, the latest of which is Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam (University of California Press, 2005). He is also the author of a detailed proposal for a negotiated peace in Iraq in the fall 2005 issue of Middle East Policy.

Stories by Gareth Porter

Also of interest, Pakistan accused of Derailing UN talks with the Taliban, Ben Farmer, in Kabul, March 19, 2010.

And March 24, 2010, Afghan Resistance Faction Presents Peace Plan, Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2010-03-25 00:11, "Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan — Representatives of a major insurgent faction have presented a formal 15-point peace plan to the Afghan government, the first concrete proposal to end hostilities since President Hamid Karzai said he would make reconciliation a priority after his re-election last year".

Mairead Maguire on Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Sanction Israel to wage peace, Francis A. Boyle, Obama, Rein in Netanyahu, and Nora Barrows Friedman

Talk Nation Radio for March 17, 2010
Mairead Maguire on Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Francis A. Boyle and Nora Barrows Friedman

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire urges Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel. Attorney Francis A. Boyle calls for President Obama to rein in Netanyahu Government.

TRT: 29:48
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Archive.org and Radio4all.net

This week's Talk Nation Radio features Mairead Maguire, Attorney Francis A. Boyle, and Nora Barrows Friedman. (Listen to our previous interview with Nora here)

Mairead Maguire served as a juror at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, which opened March 1st and issued it's recommendations, see here.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan
on ISM activist Rachel Corrie

Mairead Maguire called U..S. Peace activist and ISM member Rachel Corrie, "an American heroine", during an interview with Talk Nation Radio 3/15/10, she said: "Rachel Corrie, and there is a beautiful video about her life and when she was only a young girl at school, there is a lovely video of her talking when she was only ten about the poor in the world and about injustice and how she wanted to do something; She went to be with the Palestinians, she was in Gaza, she lived beside a doctor and his wife and three children and when the Israeli bulldozers came to destroy their home Rachel stood in front of that house and unfortunately she herself was killed by the bulldozer. She just is a wonderful American heroine and to me so inspirational because she was totally non violent. She cared for the poor and she cared for anybody who suffered injustice. And my heart is very much with her mother and father and her family who are currently fighting for the recognition that what happened to their daughter was wrong and an injustice. International people who go to these places and who put their lives on the line, non violently, because those of us who don't believe in violence of any kind, the only thing we have is non violent civil disobedience and the truth, and she is just a tremendous inspiration, I hope not only to myself but also to the American people as an American heroine who believed in speaking the truth to power." ...this show will air on WHUS, FM 91.7 http://www.whus.org at 5
PM EDT Wed. March 17th and you can listen online and then at http://www.talknationradio.org for download.

Talk Nation Radio is syndicated with Pacifica Network and
airs weekly on community, public, and LPFM stations.

OPED by Bessy Reyna, Amid Repression, Provocations Of Palestinians, It's Business As Usual
"The tantrum that the Obama administration threw during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel this month seems to have fizzled out. - The latest misunderstanding between the two countries occurred on the day of Biden's arrival to promote renewed peace talks, which coincided with the announcement of Israel's plan to build a new settlement of 1,600 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, wrote that with this announcement Israel "spat in the Vice President's face."

Biden's immediate reaction was a scathing speech condemning Israel's plan, and its obvious result of derailing the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks before they had begun. But before the end of his three-day visit, Biden wiped the spittle off and attempted to sooth the tensions between the U.S. and Israel". ...continue reading here

Nora Barrows Friedman, worst basic living conditions I have ever seen in Palestine: Slim chance for serious peace talks

Talk Nation Radio for March 11, 2010
Nora Barrows Friedman, worst basic living conditions I have ever seen in Palestine: Slim chance for serious peace talks

UPDATE: Palestinian leader Abbas pulls out of peace talks over announcement by Israelis of 1,600 more settlements.
Mazin Qumsiyeh returns to Palestine under threat of arrest: Peaceful protest in Israel can lead to arrest, Written by Mazin Qumsiyeh, THIS week, when I return to my village in the occupied West Bank, I face possible arrest by Israel for engaging in nonviolent protests against abusive Israeli policies opposed by our own government. continue reading...


Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:45

Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at free sites Radio4all.net and Archive.org in various formats for broadcast, podcast, netcast & download.



HiFi

We speak with award winning reporter Nora Barrows Friedman, Senior Producer at Flashpoints Radio. She arrived in Bethlehem in February and has been reporting regularly for Flashpoints, her daily news program produced at Pacifica Radio station KPFA-FM 94.1 in Berkeley, California. (See bio) First some background on how peace talks are once again stalled by continued Israeli settlement construction:

In May of 2009 Vice President Joe Biden called on Israel to halt settlement construction at an AIPAC meeting. Israel continued to build, and make announcements of still more building of new and massive housing complexes for Jews on occupied Palestinian land. The White House officially opposed the construction. Yet, in November of 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a confusing message. She agreed to work with Israel despite their continued settlement construction.

After the US media noted her statements were in conflict with the White House, Secretary Clinton reversed her position. But the Netanyahu government appears to have heard her the first time.

Since January of 2010 there have been regular announcements of new Israeli settlements planned for East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Israeli peace group, Peace Now, issued a report on 30 new settlements going in on the West Bank and Israel has begun evicting Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Protests have been held regularly with as many as 5,000 Jews and Palestinians turning out in a show of support for Palestinians camped outside the homes they were forced to leave.

There have been stories of new Israeli settlements going into either East Jerusalem or the West Bank throughout 2009 and 2010. Still, Vice President Biden announced the start of new, and hopeful peace talks between Israelis and a proxy for Palestinians, and as he arrived in Israel Tuesday, March 9th, Biden celebrated his long standing friendship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At approximately 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, the White House submitted Biden's remarks as he shared a podium with Netanyahu. Biden said:

"Over the last year, Mr. Prime Minister, you have taken significant steps including the moratorium that has limited new settlement construction activity. And you have significantly increased freedom of movement across the West Bank."

At 8:07 PM on the same day the White House issued another statement from Biden, and this time he criticized the Netanyahu government over a statement released that day on plans for even more Israeli settlements, 1,600 Jewish residences. It is reminiscent of attempts at peace talks in 2009. Then too Israeli leaders insisted that they would create settlements regardless of world opinion.

In terms of freedom of movement in the West Bank, a former Connecticut resident, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, has been threatened with arrest when he returns to his West Bank home in Beit Sahour. Qumsiyeh's Connecticut supporters are asking people to contact the State Department on his behalf. The well known educator has been on a speaking tour of Connecticut, discussing the increasingly harsh treatment peaceful protesters have gotten at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. In a film on YouTube, the Israeli Defense Force shoots tear gas canisters into a small gathering of protesters who are just standing around. As Professor Qumsiyeh tries to get the IDF to stop firing the canisters, protesters are seen trying to protect their children from tear gas.

When Nora Barrows Friedman arrived in Palestine she reported that Israel had actually tightened all borders, for the West Bank and Gaza.

Clips:
Flashpoints Radio, stories by Nora Barrows Friedman on Israeli police arrest, detention, beating, of two boys ages 10 and 12.
Israeli Settlements, Right Wing Settlers, combined, mean there are only slim hopes for peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
At the Al Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians have been protesting the presence of Jewish settlers, we look at meaning of this site to ultra nationalists working for Israel. (The 'end days' believer, Rabbi Y. Eckstein, discusses how these 34 acres are most important thing to the world.)
And V. P. Joe Biden calls on Israel to stop building settlements, again, after they didn't hear him the first time. Biden in Israel to promote peace talks, seems unaware that Israel has been continuing to announce settlements and then ironically they announce construction of 1,600 more illegal Jewish only homes in East Jerusalem even as he is praising their restraint.

See related links:

Reaction in Israel to Vice President Biden and announcement of new settlements here Matthew Kalman, 'Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, has pulled out of planned peace talks in the wake of Israel’s announcement it is to build 1,600 new homes in the occupied West Bank. -- The Palestinian move came only days after they succumbed to heavy American pressure to conduct indirect talks with Israel in an attempt to kick-start the logjammed Middle East peace process. --However, Israel today said the announcement of the settlement was a mistake and Mr Netanyahu has reprimanded Eli Yishai, the Interior Minister, over the timing. "

Fall out from Ariel Sharon's visit to Al Aqsa Mosque,
Non-Muslims Banned From Visiting Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Publication: Israel Faxx, Friday, August 1 2003, 'Israel has reimposed a ban on non-Muslims visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, one of the most sensitive religious shrines in the Middle East. The move followed fears that the site could become a flashpoint for renewed violence in the region.'

Who benefits from making land struggles appear to be about nationalism and religion?

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein: Talk2Action story by Bill Berkowitz, Christian Zionists Gain Israel's Inner Sanctum

Noted Jewish Leader Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein Defends Joe Lieberman against Attackers for Senator's...Publication: Business Wire, Tuesday, July 1 2008
Yechiel Eckstein’s Mission to the Evangelicals Richard Silverstein, Jul 28, 2005.
'Back in the old days of those old-fashioned, red-blooded Christian missionaries, there were missions to just about every land and faith imaginable: mission to the heathen, mission to the Jews and even a mission to the world. Now, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who largely deserves credit for the incredibly exploitative alliance forged by right-wing Israelis and American Jews with Christian evangelicals, has created his very own Mission to the Evangelicals. The difference being that Eckstein doesn’t want to make them Jews. He wants to make them Christian Zionists and he wants to use their money to support the Greater Land of Israel phenomenon represented by the settler movement. See this previous post I wrote about Eckstein.

Ze’ev Chafets wrote an illuminating profile of Rabbi Eckstein and his work with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. I came away from reading it thinking of him as the Jimmy Swaggart of the Jewish people.'

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti Continues with Roger Benham, part two of our discussion about the relief efforts in Haiti

Talk Nation Radio for March 4, 2010
Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti Continues with Roger Benham, part two of our discussion about the relief efforts in Haiti

Physicians working in Haiti are praising the group, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti and volunteers like our guest, Connecticut EMT Roger Benham. The wounds treated by the team have been in perfect condition after the fast response they made, and the ad hoc team that caught rides into Haiti with other groups has treated hundreds of people.


TRT: 29:45
Produced by Dori Smith
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here if you are a broadcast member or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org free each week.
Talk Nation Radio is syndicated with Pacifica Network and airs weekly on a variety of stations. See our list on our web site.

Roger Benham returned from Haiti February 2nd after using his unique skills as a street medic to help earthquake victims. He is trained to deal with a wide variety of emergencies and his ad hoc group, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Haiti, has become highly capable after working in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. At that time the group's members were working as part of Common Ground Relief. They helped set up a highly successful medical clinic in the 9th Ward that is still in operation.

His experience in New Orleans helped prepare Roger Benham for the crisis within the crisis, for the many misunderstandings that arose due to a long standing lack of sound press coverage on the Haitian people and their culture. We discuss the media in context with the three stages of rescue and relief. Benham also shares a story of helping one Haitian woman who was stoic as he cleaned her serious leg wound. Kembe Fem, (phoenically spelled) in Creole means "stay strong" and he explains how he was impacted by his experiences.

See last week's show, part one of this discussion here including our interview with Suncere Shakur: www.mutualaiddisasterrelief.org
Group will continue to support efforts in Haiti, especially those of BAM, Moving Heaven and Earth for Haiti, Suncere Shakur's group working with orphans and others in need.

Clips: (January, AP, Associated Press, Channel 4, London, Jonathan Rugman, Fox News, Haiti.) We're listening to the sounds of a crowd reacting to a French rescue team that pulled a 17-year-old student, Darlene Etienne, from the rubble 15 days after the quake. Miraculously, Etienne was in stable condition. Aid workers trying to shield her from the cameras as the crowd applauded. These are the kinds of dramatic stories that have inspired people all over the world, but it's been an emotional roller coaster ride.

News agencies that could have called attention to the desperate need of hundreds of thousands for food and water in different parts of Haiti, spent their precious air time playing up the drama of individuals being rescued. However, British TV took a different approach. One week after the Haitian earthquake, Channel 4 News interviewed Dr. Alphonse Edward of the Dominican Republic. He had been treating thousands just one mile from Haiti's airport, and could see the mountain of aid supplies piled on the tarmac, yet his clinic in the trees with IV bags hung from branches was getting nothing. People were dying from dehydration, exposure, and their wounds, with the supplies that could have saved them sitting just minutes away. (Democracy Now also had this story.)

As of late January, press coverage was just starting to shift to the drama of American forces landing in Haiti, and instances of looting that justified their presence as more of a security force.

A Fox news team introduced a segment by Geraldo Rivera, who said he stumbled upon a bank robbery in progress...It was hard to know how Rivera could have stumbled upon the robbery and yet would have known that millions had been stolen. We had trouble verifying that cash was looted from a CitiBank location in Haiti.

There were stories of US soldiers refusing to enter hard hit areas due to security concerns, and in some cases there were aid workers and soldiers throwing aid at Haitians in the streets without even stopping vehicles. The tactics so infuriated Haitian Senator Jean Joel Joseph that he told AP: "It is true we are in need," he said, "But don't treat us like dogs. We ask the prime minister to ask the foreigners to reorganize the way this aid is being distributed."

See: Jonathan Rudman, Channel 4 news interviewing a doctor from the Dominican Republic in Haiti. UN officials insist emergency relief is now starting to get through in quake hit Haiti, but Channel 4 News Producer Hannah Storm says many aid supplies remain piled up at the airport.
Channel 4 News, 20 January 2010

Channel 4 News, 20 January 2010 Jonathan Rugman, aid piles up at airport, people dying nearby as they cannot access it.

January 17, 2010, Fox News coverage, Geraldo Rivera, observed Citibank looting, millions stolen he says, but we cannot find evidence in follow up that this was the case. Calls in to Citibank result in strange responses, phone numbers that do not work.

Do you want to help in Haiti? Are you a Registered Nurse or do you have other skills? Check out the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief web site:

Madrih's web site notes: "Some French and a good deal of Haitian Creole is needed. (Editor's note: Audio courses in Haitian Creole are available for free from audible.com at http://bit.ly/d6NsPc and http://bit.ly/a4BTWG .) She recommends flying into the Dominican Republic, spending a night on the border, and entering Haiti in the morning".