I do what I want - You do what you're told

Gilad Atzmon – Ahmadinejad: “Read My Lips”

By Gilad Atzmon • Apr 21st, 2009 at 12:14

What we saw yesterday at the UN Anti Racism Forum was crude collective institutional Islamophobic racism in its making, a coordinated show of rabid western chauvinism. A bunch of European diplomats behaving as a herd of sheep, exhibiting complete denial of the notion of freedom of speech and the culture of debate.   

Considering Israel being an apartheid state due to this institutionalised discrimination, one would expect that the Geneva anti-Racism Forum would primarily serve to deal with states such as Israel. But the truth of the matter is tragic, in current world affairs, Israel is the one and only racially orientated state. And as we could see yesterday, the ‘West’ failed once again to address the most obvious humanist call for action.  

It was indeed Jewish suffering that bought about the formation of the Jewish state. It is true also that the Jewish state was founded at the expense of the Palestinian people who are in fact the last suffering victims of the Nazi era.  

The crux of matter is very simple.  European diplomats proved yesterday that they cannot take the truth when it is conveyed by a Muslim. Hence, it would be correct to argue that this flock of Western diplomats shouldn’t have been participating in an ‘anti-racism forum’ in the first place.  The fact that they have behaved intolerantly proves that they and the governments behind them are the root cause of current racism, namely Islamophobia.  

Those Europeans who cannot take the truth from the mouth of a Muslim, not to say a Muslim state leader, would be better advised to meet instead in a conference that celebrates Western supremacy. I'm sure that Tel Aviv and Jerusalem host a few of those every year.  

On a final note, if the British government insists upon sending delegates to such a conference, it better make sure that those assigned to the task are capable of presenting an eloquent argument that can withstand intellectual scrutiny. Peter Gooderham, the UK ambassador to the UN in Geneva, is clearly not suited to the job. The Ambassador went on record saying "Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a UN anti-racism forum."

President Ahmadinejad did not refer to a Jewish race, he did not refer to Judaism either. He did not refer to the Jewish people, if anything, he was referring to their suffering. 

Ambassador Gooderham, in case you have managed to miss it all, while acting like a sheep in a herd, President Ahmadinejad was telling the truth referring to some universally accepted facts.  

It would save some embarrassment in the future if British diplomats would be properly trained to understand the complexity of current world affairs and the ideologies that are involved in shaping those affairs. It would save us from watching the odd buffoon diplomats throwing around meaningless sound bites, which they themselves fail to fully comprehend. 

Ahmadinejad's speech:
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/04/21/full-text-of-president-ahmadinejads-remarks-at-un-conference-on-racism/

By Stuart Littlewood – London

So the Pope won't be visiting Gaza on his trip to the Holy Land next month. The Holy Father's spokesman has told the Israeli press that he’ll refrain from visiting Gaza regardless of attempts to persuade him otherwise. ‘Refrain’ is a telling choice of words: "the Pope will refrain from visiting Gaza...." It smacks of abstinence, as in abstaining from having sex. Setting foot in Gaza would be so sinful that it is forbidden.

Gaza's isolated and besieged Catholic community are none too happy judging by the reaction of their redoubtable priest Fr Manuel Mussallam, who feels the Holy Father’s trip is miss-timed. "We will ask him why he came, what he intends saying to the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims and why he isn't coming to Gaza," he said. "We'll tell him that this is not the right moment to come and visit the holy places, while Jerusalem is occupied."

Bad timing or not, if the Pope arrives in Palestine he must visit Gaza or it’ll look as if he doesn’t give a damn about the human condition in the very land where Christianity was born. He might as well hammer one more nail into Christendom’s coffin.

We've seen quite enough wishy-washy conduct by Christian leaders in the face of Israel’s defilement of the Holy Land. Last November, while the Israeli regime was planning its knockout blitzkrieg against Gaza's Muslims and Christians after blockading and starving them for 2 years, we in the West were treated to the spectacle of the Archbishop of Canterbury joining the Chief Rabbi on a visit to Auschwitz to show joint solidarity against extreme hostility and genocide. The Archbishop called it "a place of utter profanity" and spoke of the collective corruption and moral sickness that made the Holocaust possible.

Will these two visit Gaza in the same spirit? The scale of horror may be different but the moral sickness and corruption are the same. And this being the Holy Land the profanity is many times worse.

The Pope too has been to Auschwitz to pray for the people murdered there. "I had to come here as a duty to truth and to those that suffered," he said and talked of the Nazis' mania for destruction and domination, well aware that the same thing was being perpetuated in the Holy Land.

So why isn’t he just as keen to come and pray for those in Gaza - Muslim and Christian - who have been subjugated and cruelly slaughtered or maimed or made homeless? Has his 'duty to truth' evaporated? According to the Pope’s itinerary he'll be turning up at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the Western (Wailing) Wall, and hob-nobbing with Israel’s two chief rabbis. But not with his heroic priest in Gaza. 

My last visit to Gaza was in 2007. I wrote then:

“Fuel is running out, so are basics like washing powder. Shattered infrastructure and food shortages mean serious public health problems. Power cuts disrupt hospitals and vital drugs cannot be kept refrigerated. Thousands look death in the face as medicare collapses.”

A friend emailed: “Today in Gaza we have no cement to build graves for those who die.” 

The subjugation and dispossession of Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land continues.

It remains a mystery to me why our largely Christian (but increasingly Muslimised) democracy in Britain slavishly supports the Middle East ethnocracy that’s doing this.

Today things are much, much worse and Gazans need to be shown that the Christian Church cares about them even if nobody else does. So where are these magnificently robed and mitred Men of God when needed?

I hear the temperature in Gaza today is 36ºC, an unimaginable torment amid the dust and rubble, the stench of untreated sewage, the lack of running water and the continual power cuts. A little too rugged for the Holy Father perhaps, and for the Archbishop and the Chief Rabbi.

- Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Rescuer describes earthquake effort

Rescue workers in central Italy are searching for survivors after a powerful earthquake killed dozens of people and caused widespread damage.

Duncan Kennedy talks to a rescue worker in the city of L'Aquila city where there is a race against time to reach people trapped under the rubble of buildings.

Quake rubble cleared with bare hands

Rescuers are frantically searching for survivors after dozens were killed in a powerful earthquake that struck central Italy, Italian officials say.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck at 0330 (0130 GMT) close to L'Aquila city, 95km (60 miles) north-east of Rome.

Duncan Kennedy reports from L'Aquila.

'Incredible noise' of Italy quake

A Briton has described the ''incredible noise'' of an earthquake that struck the medieval city of L'Aquila in Italy.

John Collis, who lives about 25 miles from the medieval city, said the 6.3-magnitude quake made his bed feel like ''a bouncy castle.''

Dozens of people have been killed and thousands of buildings damaged.

Italy's 'complicated' rescue operation

Rescue workers in central Italy are searching for survivors after a powerful earthquake killed dozens of people and caused widespread damage.

The epicentre was near the medieval city of L'Aquila north-east of Rome.

Agostino Miozzo is a spokesman for Italy's Civil Protection agency which is co-ordinating the rescue operation.

A desperate search for survivors is on in and around the Italian city of L'Aquila after a quake killed, Italian media say, at least 150 people.

Some 5,000 rescuers are picking through rubble in the walled medieval city and nearby towns and villages, some of them said to have been virtually destroyed.

Tents are being put up in tennis courts and on football pitches to house some of the 30,000-40,000 homeless.

The number of people injured has been put at 1,500.

Italy's PM Silvio Berlusconi declared a state of emergency in the region.

Gianfranco Fini, speaker of the lower house of parliament, told MPs: "Some towns in the area have been virtually destroyed in their entirety."

Such is the damage in L'Aquila, where between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings were reportedly affected, that the city will be uninhabitable for some time, the BBC's David Willey reports.

Surrounding villages were also hit hard:

• In the village of Onna, 24 people were killed, according to the Italian news agency Ansa; the village of 250 was virtually deserted as survivors sought shelter
• In Castelnuovo, a village of about 300 people, five deaths were confirmed

It has been reported that a major earthquake in the L'Aquila area was predicted by an Italian scientist several weeks ago.

But a spokesman for the Italian Civil Protection Agency, Dr Agostino Miozzo, was adamant that this was not possible.

"We can only say that an area is prone to earthquakes," he told the BBC.

"From here down to Sicily is historically an area interspersed by earthquakes, but even that we cannot predict."

Bare hands

Fire-fighters aided by dogs worked feverishly to reach people trapped in fallen buildings in L'Aquila, including a student dormitory where several students were believed to be still inside.

Residents and rescuers used their bare hands to clear the debris from collapsed buildings.

"We are not using machines for this because experience has shown us that it is important to dig by hand [to avoid further casualties]," said Mr Berlusconi after arriving in L'Aquila.

He said a field hospital, 2,000 tents and 4,000 hotel rooms were being made available.

"I can assure you that there is no building that has fallen down without rescuers, without fire brigade being there," he told reporters.

Italy, he said, had the resources it needed to deal with the disaster: "Financially, there are no problems. The government has all the necessary funds at its disposal. We also have the EU catastrophe fund."

Officials say 26 cities and towns have been damaged in the region, not including villages and hamlets.

There have been stories of rescues all day, the BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from L'Aquila.

Men, women and children have been brought out of the rubble, some carried on ladders used as makeshift stretchers, some screaming with delight at having survived.

'Struck the heart'

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck at 0330 (0130 GMT) close to L'Aquila, 95km (60 miles) north-east of Rome.

It lasted about 30 seconds, bringing down many Renaissance-era and Baroque buildings, including the dome on one of L'Aquila's churches.

Boulders fell off mountain slopes, blocking roads. Houses were reduced to piles of rubble and cars crushed by raining debris.

One resident, Antonio di Marco, recounted his experience for the BBC: "We escaped outside like madmen, we didn't understand what was happening, the whole building was moving under our feet, it is something that's impossible to describe…"

"It's a catastrophe and an immense shock," resident Renato Di Stefano told the Associated Press as he and his family headed for shelter in a tent camp outside L'Aquila.

"It's struck in the heart of the city, we will never forget the pain."

'State of shock'

Dr Miozzo said many survivors faced a rough night ahead.

"Tonight we'll have a great number of people that will sleep in their car, people that will go to their relatives in the neighbouring area, in the neighbouring towns that are in safe conditions," he told the BBC.

"But they are very shocked, you see, especially the aged people and obviously children."

Phone and power lines have been down and some bridges and roads have been closed as a precaution against aftershocks.

Italy lies on two fault lines and has been hit by powerful earthquakes in the past, mainly in the south of the country.

World leaders have sent messages of condolence and Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers for the "victims, especially the children".

The EU, Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Israel and Russia immediately stepped forward with offers of aid, if required.