Money and EconomicsIsrael and Palestine
Money makes the world go round and actions speak louder than words. Where is the money going? What is it used for?
Monday, June 07, 2004
UN Says U.S. Soldiers Could Face War Crimes Charges : acts 'might be designated as war crimes by a competent tribunal,'
UN Says U.S. Soldiers Could Face War Crimes Charges - Independent Media TV: "June 04, 2004 | By: Robert Evans | Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations (news - web sites)' top human rights official said on Friday abuses by U.S. soldiers of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison could amount to war crimes.
Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan said U.S.-led occupation forces had committed 'serious violations' of international humanitarian law in Iraq (news - web sites) and had ill-treated ordinary Iraqis.
In a report for the world body's Human Rights Commission, Ramcharan, a British-trained barrister from Guyana and long-time U.N. official, also said coalition troops were able to act with impunity and urged the appointment of an independent figure to monitor their behavior.
In a clear reference to the Abu Ghraib incidents, since when several U.S. male and female soldiers working there have been detained, Ramcharan said 'willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment' of detainees was a grave breach of international law.
Such acts 'might be designated as war crimes by a competent tribunal,' he added. "
UN Says U.S. Soldiers Could Face War Crimes Charges - Independent Media TV: "June 04, 2004 | By: Robert Evans | Reuters
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations (news - web sites)' top human rights official said on Friday abuses by U.S. soldiers of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison could amount to war crimes.
Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan said U.S.-led occupation forces had committed 'serious violations' of international humanitarian law in Iraq (news - web sites) and had ill-treated ordinary Iraqis.
In a report for the world body's Human Rights Commission, Ramcharan, a British-trained barrister from Guyana and long-time U.N. official, also said coalition troops were able to act with impunity and urged the appointment of an independent figure to monitor their behavior.
In a clear reference to the Abu Ghraib incidents, since when several U.S. male and female soldiers working there have been detained, Ramcharan said 'willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment' of detainees was a grave breach of international law.
Such acts 'might be designated as war crimes by a competent tribunal,' he added. "
Racist book "The Arab Mind" bible on Arab behaviour for the US military, bible of neocon headbangers; textbook for officers at Fort Bragg
Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | 'Its best use is as a doorstop': "'Brian Whitaker explains why a book packed with sweeping generalisations about Arabs carries so much weight with both neocons and military in the US | Monday May 24, 2004
Consider these statements:
'Why are most Africans, unless forced by dire necessity to earn their livelihood with 'the sweat of their brow', so loath to undertake any work that dirties the hands?'
'The all-encompassing preoccupation with sex in the African mind emerges clearly in two manifestations ...' "
...
These statements, I think you'll agree, are thoroughly offensive. You would probably imagine them to be the musings of some 19th century colonialist. ... The book is not actually about Africans. Instead, it takes some of the hoariest old prejudices about black people and applies them to Arabs.
...
The book in question is called The Arab Mind, and is by Raphael Patai, a cultural anthropologist who taught at several US universities, including Columbia and Princeton.
...
Last week, my own further enquiries about the book revealed something even more alarming. Not only is it the bible of neocon headbangers, but it is also the bible on Arab behaviour for the US military.
According to one professor at a US military college, The Arab Mind is "probably the single most popular and widely read book on the Arabs in the US military". It is even used as a textbook for officers at the JFK special warfare school in Fort Bragg.
...
... At one stage, the [State] department gave free copies to officials when they were posted to US embassies in the Middle East.
...
... book was revived by Hatherleigh Press in 2002 (nicely timed for the war in Iraq), and reprinted with an enthusiastic introduction by Norvell "Tex" De Atkine, a former US army colonel and the head of Middle East studies at Fort Bragg.
"It is essential reading," De Atkine wrote. "At the institution where I teach military officers, The Arab Mind forms the basis of my cultural instruction."
In a speech last week, the US president, George Bush, congratulated himself on having removed "hateful propaganda" from the schools in Iraq.
Perhaps it is now time he turned his attention to military schools in the US.
Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | 'Its best use is as a doorstop': "'Brian Whitaker explains why a book packed with sweeping generalisations about Arabs carries so much weight with both neocons and military in the US | Monday May 24, 2004
Consider these statements:
'Why are most Africans, unless forced by dire necessity to earn their livelihood with 'the sweat of their brow', so loath to undertake any work that dirties the hands?'
'The all-encompassing preoccupation with sex in the African mind emerges clearly in two manifestations ...' "
...
These statements, I think you'll agree, are thoroughly offensive. You would probably imagine them to be the musings of some 19th century colonialist. ... The book is not actually about Africans. Instead, it takes some of the hoariest old prejudices about black people and applies them to Arabs.
...
The book in question is called The Arab Mind, and is by Raphael Patai, a cultural anthropologist who taught at several US universities, including Columbia and Princeton.
...
Last week, my own further enquiries about the book revealed something even more alarming. Not only is it the bible of neocon headbangers, but it is also the bible on Arab behaviour for the US military.
According to one professor at a US military college, The Arab Mind is "probably the single most popular and widely read book on the Arabs in the US military". It is even used as a textbook for officers at the JFK special warfare school in Fort Bragg.
...
... At one stage, the [State] department gave free copies to officials when they were posted to US embassies in the Middle East.
...
... book was revived by Hatherleigh Press in 2002 (nicely timed for the war in Iraq), and reprinted with an enthusiastic introduction by Norvell "Tex" De Atkine, a former US army colonel and the head of Middle East studies at Fort Bragg.
"It is essential reading," De Atkine wrote. "At the institution where I teach military officers, The Arab Mind forms the basis of my cultural instruction."
In a speech last week, the US president, George Bush, congratulated himself on having removed "hateful propaganda" from the schools in Iraq.
Perhaps it is now time he turned his attention to military schools in the US.
Palestinians in grip of poverty: Israeli occupation of the territories is strangling the local economy
BBC NEWS | Business | Palestinians in grip of poverty: "Wednesday, 2 June, 2004 | Restrictions on labour mobility are hampering growth
Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is strangling the local economy, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned.
A recent ILO mission to the West Bank and Gaza found that disruptions to transport and labour were a bar to investment and production.
The ILO says one-third of Palestinian workers are unemployed, and almost two-thirds live below the poverty line.
This in turn could intensify violence, the agency warned.
...
"The delays, increased costs and loss of earnings that result from road closures, prolonged security checks and curfews hamper economic activity of all kinds, thus reducing family incomes," said Juan Somavia, head of the ILO.
"No sustained recovery of the economy is possible while this situation prevails." ...
BBC NEWS | Business | Palestinians in grip of poverty: "Wednesday, 2 June, 2004 | Restrictions on labour mobility are hampering growth
Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is strangling the local economy, the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned.
A recent ILO mission to the West Bank and Gaza found that disruptions to transport and labour were a bar to investment and production.
The ILO says one-third of Palestinian workers are unemployed, and almost two-thirds live below the poverty line.
This in turn could intensify violence, the agency warned.
...
"The delays, increased costs and loss of earnings that result from road closures, prolonged security checks and curfews hamper economic activity of all kinds, thus reducing family incomes," said Juan Somavia, head of the ILO.
"No sustained recovery of the economy is possible while this situation prevails." ...
