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MER FLASHBACK - Two articles published by MER Four Long Years Ago in July 2000
To Understand the Present You Must Appreciate The Past
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ARAFAT'S PICKLE

"It really doesn't matter whether he declares a Palestinian
state or not, because he'll have a state without real
borders -- they're controlled by the Israelis -- no real
sovereignty, no real country -- it will be cut up into
cantons and he won't have east Jerusalem. He won't be
able to get rid of the settlers and won't have control over
the water, air or sea. Aside from all that, he'll have a state
of sorts... [It's] a sign of both exasperation and weakness.''
Professor Edward Said
Columbia University

MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 7/6/2000:

Now the bill is to be paid. Having squandered decades of time, billions of dollars, and unprecedented worldwide support, Arafat and the carcass of his PLO are being told to pay up. That's what Camp David II is really all about. Arafat has been summoned. His time has run out. His CIA-lifeline has him naked. Now he has to make good on being twisted into the "Palestinian Authority" by his former life-long enemies. Now he has to do what his keepers actually want, to declare a rump Palestinian Statelet in what all combined is but a very small part of what once was Palestine. Arafat's assignment is to legitimize this unprecedented hodge-podge in front of the world, a crazy arrangement that is much closer to the long-rejected "autonomy" formulations than to real and true independence. Arafat comes to Camp David to help the Israelis find a way to declare the conflict finally at an end, even though further "negotiations" about various key matters will stretch on into the indefinite future.

The Palestinian people have waited and suffered so much that waiting and suffering a little more in order to achieve a real state and some semblance of historical justice would be the right thing to do at this point. But Arafat specializes in doing the wrong things at the wrong time in the wrong way...while constantly pretending otherwise. Arafat is the man for all seasons available to the highest bidder -- the very man Clinton and Barak want and need. Hence it is Arafat they summon to Camp David II.

At this point in history it's not the Palestinians who can't wait, it's rather Clinton and Barak who must urgently press forward. Clinton desperately wants history twisted in his favor. Barak has spent a lifetime fighting and vanquishing the Palestinians and now smells historic victory of a kind he not long ago never imagined.

And so it's now Yasser Arafat, while still alive, whom they want to do the dirty deed. Clinton will grasp for a Nobel Peace Price; and even share it with Yasser if he has to. And Barak wants to fulfill Zionism's wildest dreams by having a Palestinian leader legitimize not only Israel's existence but also its conquests. They, Clinton and Barak, are the real desperate men. And they will ruthlessly twist, and bribe, and alternately charm, Arafat to their will behind the gates of Camp David; no matter how much sweet-talking goes on in front of the cameras in public.

The following analysis was distributed by Reuters just hours before the White House announcement of Camp David II Wednesday morning. But little changes really. Arafat has led his people into a corner from which there may be no short-term escape; whatever the longer-term historical turns yet ahead.

And so, Yasser Arafat has been told to present himself at the gates of Camp David. There he will be told what to do; and more importantly at this juncture how. And just as he has done so many times in recent years he will in fact probably comply, one way or another, regardless of whatever rhetorical flourishes he embellishes everything with. For Arafat's fears of going down in history as a sell-out to his own people are now somewhat superceded by his fears of what can be done to him and his "Authority" by the heavy hand the U.S. and Israel wield together.

In all likelihood the Palestinian people will soon be told they are finally achieving Statehood and major efforts will be made to pretend this is actually the case; including promises of international aid totalling more than $100 billion over the next 20 years. In reality it is a cunning and cruel joke. In actuality the Palestinians are in the process of being permanently disenfranchised from most of their homeland. In reality Yasser and his corrupt cronies, Prime Minister designate Nabil Sha'ath at the top of the list, are selling Palestine for their own gain. Even those small parts which remain as "population centers" will be burdened with such restrictions and regulations that true Palestinian independence and real Palestinian Statehood will actually become considerably more difficult in the years ahead.

ANALYSIS - ARAFAT'S STATEHOOD GAMBLE

CAIRO, July 5 (Reuters - by Alistair Lyon) - If Yasser Arafat unilaterally
proclaims a Palestinian state this year, he can expect swift recognition from
his Arab allies, anger from Israel and the United States, and indecision from Europe.

The Palestinian leader, under mounting pressure at the approach of a
September 13 deadline for a final peace with Israel, has few cards left in a
dwindling stack.

The Palestinian Central Council, the PLO's mini-parliament, on Monday
endorsed his promise to declare statehood after the deadline, with or without
an agreement with the Jewish state.

Arafat, heeding U.S., Arab and European pressure, deferred such a declaration
in May last year after months of threatening one-sided action, narrowing his
room for manoeuvre this time.

Israel has derided the idea of a unilateral declaration and vowed to stymie it.

``I can tell them that a Palestinian state will not be created as long as
Israel does not recognise it,'' said Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, an
architect of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, on Tuesday. ``It will stay on paper
even if the entire world recognises a unilateral Palestinian state.''

He recalled Arafat's 1988 declaration of a state that never materialised --
for Palestinians a bitter, as well as triumphal, moment with its implied
recognition of Israel's right to exist.

One of Arafat's sternest Palestinian critics broadly agreed.

``It really doesn't matter whether he declares a Palestinian state or not,
because he'll have a state without real borders -- they're controlled by the
Israelis -- no real sovereignty, no real country -- it will be cut up into
cantons and he won't have east Jerusalem,'' Edward Said told Reuters in
Beirut.

``He won't be able to get rid of the settlers and won't have control over the
water, air or sea. Aside from all that, he'll have a state of sorts,'' the
Palestinian writer said, describing Arafat's move as ``a sign of both
exasperation and weakness.''

INSTANT RECOGNITION

What the former guerrilla chief can count on is immediate recognition from
the Moslem world, with China and many other countries he has long cultivated
likely to follow suit.

``If a Palestinian state is announced we will recognise it...Under any
circumstances we will recognise it,'' Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said
last month.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said China wanted the
Palestinians to recover their rights, including the the right to a state, but
advocated a negotiated solution.

In March, 1999, the European Union upheld the ``unqualified Palestinian right
to self-determination including the option of a state'' but said this would
be best achieved via negotiations.

It is unclear whether the EU would risk Washington's ire by recognising a
unilaterally declared state, even under its current president France, long
sympathetic to Arafat's cause.

Palestinian analyst Ghassan al-Khatib said the recognition of Arab and Third
World countries was not that important.

``There are three or four countries that have a negative stand like America,
and of course Israel, that would take a strong position to abort the
declaration of a state,'' he said.

Arafat's statehood pledge was a tactic designed to build world pressure for
concessions from Israel that the PLO leader could then use to justify
deferring the declaration, he said.

But other Arab commentators argued that Arafat could not keep playing the
same dog-eared card without paying a price.

``Maybe Arafat feels he can create a crisis that could give a positive
outcome to his negotiations,'' wrote Sahar al-Baasiri, foreign editor of
Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper.

``But what may appear as diplomatic pressure by Arafat on the Americans and
the international community has a negative side vis-a-vis the Palestinians
and the Arabs because postponement and throwing numerous dates will increase
the erosion of what is left of his credibility,'' she wrote.

TIME RUNNING OUT

As the clock ticks towards September 13, Israel and the Palestinians remain
far apart on intractable issues such as borders, Jerusalem, Jewish settlers
and Palestinian refugees.

The parties have yet to agree on a U.S. plan for a three-way summit between
President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat in a
last-gasp effort to bridge the gaps.

Failure would call Arafat's bluff and he might then have to face all the
uncertain consequences of claiming statehood on whatever bits of the West
Bank and Gaza are under his control.

In Jordan, ad-Dustour newspaper warned of a surge of violence if the Jewish
state rejected the Palestinian state.

``Any explosion in the near future could ignite fires that would spread to
areas outside occupied Palestinian land and would send the peace process back
to square one,'' it said.

An Arab diplomat in Rabat said there were many ways for the United States and
Israel to choke any nascent state.

``I am talking of Washington not recognising this state and stopping economic
support, of Israel imposing all sorts of restrictions. I don't rule out the
possibility of Israeli troops redeploying into areas vacated under previous
negotiations,'' he said.

The United States has yet to comment on Arafat's gambit, but has in the past
strongly opposed any such unilateral action.

Most Gulf Arab newspapers supported the Palestinian decision and criticised
the United States. ``The Israeli and American threats have no value if Arafat
insists on his decision and receives the support of all the Palestinian
factions and his Arab brothers,'' Qatar's al-Raya daily said on Wednesday.

But Lebanese commentator Rajeh al-Khoury scathingly described Arafat's threat
as a ``bubble which is produced every once in a while, at appropriate and
inappropriate times.

``Arafat, it's time you grabbed a rock and started pelting the Israelis,'' he
wrote in an-Nahar.

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/ /|_/ / /_/_ / /\\ Making Sense of the Middle East
/_/ /_/ /___/ /_/ \\ BARAK NEARLY CHOKED AT CAMP DAVID
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News, Information, & Analysis That Governments, Interest Groups,
and the Corporate Media Don't Want You To Know!
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BARAK NEARLY CHOKED AT CAMP DAVID

MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 7/28/2000:
Some theatrics are hard to stage. While super busy staging and orchestating most of the Camp David event and press coverage -- from inspiration to how to best manipulate the Palestinians into a deal Barak has been dreaming of accomplishing -- this here-to-fore unreported near-choking experience could itself have changed history and in this case not staged as were most other things.
Just imagine had Barak had to be brought home in a casket under the circumstances described below. Just imagine if it had happened to Arafat instead. And imagine as well if it had happened to Netanyahu at the previous summit.
History is not predetermined. Events, and accidents, and summit meetings oftentimes do have a lasting impact on the fate of nations, as well as of individuals. Just remember for instance how the Hashemites came to rule in Amman, a place Abdullah I, the current king's namesake, had never visited before the British brought him there after the Hashemites lost out to the al-Saud's in the Hejaz. Or imagine had Saddam Hussein had the good sense to pull out of Kuwait after realizing he had been tricked into invading in the first place.
Barak was nearly in tears as Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem, was played upon his arrival back in Israel. Maybe this near-choking to death experience was part of the behind-the-scenes emotional drama. Again...just imagine if...

BARAK NEARLY CHOKED ON BONE AT PEACE SUMMIT

JERUSALEM, July 28 (Reuters) - An Israeli newspaper said on Friday that Prime Minister Ehud Barak almost choked to death during the Camp David peace summit with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

The daily Maariv said a bone got caught in his throat one evening in his room at U.S. President Bill Clinton's Maryland retreat. Barak was sitting with Israeli delegates.

Gadi Greenstein, a former navy man who took part in the negotiations, performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on the Israeli leader who had been ``choking and croaking'' for several seconds, the paper said.

It said Greenstein dashed over to the former Israeli commando, grabbed him from behind, compressed his diaphragm and lifted him up to save him while most of Israel's tough-talking delegation to the summit looked on in shock.

Later, members of the delegation asked an American doctor to take a look at Barak, who declined to be examined. A senior member of the delegation told Maariv the incident had been frightening. Barak's office had no immediate comment.

July 2004

Magazine

Target IRAN
(July 31, 2004)
But regardless of outcome, just as soon as the U.S. election contest is decided, if not before, this huge historic issue looms large for the world. And it may well explain why the Israelis are moving toward a 'National Unity Government' again, something they traditionally do in times of war. Indeed, as these articles suggest, much is already happening to push public opinion, and no doubt behind-the-scenes where the political and military planners really operate there is much planning and anxiety underway.

Bush on Drugs for depression and paranoia?
(July 30, 2004)
"President George W. Bush is taking powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia."

Israel expands West Bank settlements and grab still more land
(July 29, 2004)
Months after Ariel Sharon announced his dramatic plan to pull Jewish settlers out of Gaza, portraying it as a sacrifice for peace, the government is grabbing more land for West Bank settlements.

The last 10 exclusive MER articles and FlashBacks.
(July 28, 2004)
These are the last 10 exclusive MER articles and FlashBacks as of 28 July 2004

Arafat's Pickle + Barak's Choking
(July 28, 2004)
Professor Edward Said: "It really doesn't matter whether he declares a Palestinian state or not, because he'll have a state without real borders -- they're controlled by the Israelis -- no real sovereignty, no real country -- it will be cut up into cantons and he won't have east Jerusalem. He won't be able to get rid of the settlers and won't have control over the water, air or sea. Aside from all that, he'll have a state of sorts... [It's] a sign of both exasperation and weakness.'' July 2000

Saudi Money and Influence in Washington
(July 27, 2004)
In the 1980s and 1990s the Saudi Royals and their associated business cronies and oil companies were extra busy throwing around, and in most cases grossly overpaying or wasting, their money in the United States, especially in Washington. The main goal of course was to purchase both influence and protection. The secondary goal was to purchase good 'public relations' by having a cabal of those on the take they could count on for everything from some pro-Saudi spin, to a good Op Ed, to some behind-the-scenes fixes.

Please support MER now
(July 23, 2004)

Roots of Israeli Apartheid
(July 23, 2004)
The roots of what has become Israeli Apartheid and now the widely-condemned nearly 500 kilometer long "Wall" are in this approach to the Palestinians long known as "Revisionism Zionism" and long the underlying philosophy of those who today rule Israel and attempt to speak for American Jewry.

U.S. Presbyterian Church Acts To Divest from Israel
(July 22, 2004)
Finally, one of the Christian denominations in the United States has acted in a principled and courageous way. Will this "most censorious decision ever embraced by any Christian denomination in the United States against Israel" just taken by the American Presbyterian Church now open the door for others to follow?

Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction
(July 20, 2004)
True to character in contemporary Washington, not one word about how it is Israel's possession of a vast arsenal of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, including submarines to deliver these weapons by missile throughout the greater Middle Eastern and south Asian regions, that has greatly fueled the race for such weapons in past decades.

Kerry Pledges More for CIA, Pentagon, Israel
(July 19, 2004)
The Democratic Candidate for President and his top surrogates has not only called for more troops for Iraq Kerry has now called for doubling again the number of CIA agents and spies worldwide. And he's sent his Jewish brother Cam to Israel and American Jews pledging more support for Israel as well.

Allawi shot inmates in cold blood, say witnesses
(July 17, 2004)
Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.

Iraqi's Uniting in 'War of Liberation' Against American Occupiers
(July 17, 2004)
...a combining of the Iraqi nationalist populations and religious groups in an escalating 'war of liberation' against the U.S. occupying forces of the Pentagon and CIA. This is now the greatest challenge not only to the American occupation but to the essentially puppet government installed with a fast secret hand-shake by Paul Bremer (who then ran even faster to the airport) and now run by disguised remote control by Ambassador Negroponte.

Senior Sunni Cleric Calls for Holy War Against U.S. Occupation Forces
(July 16, 2004)
Of course they'll never say so in the open, but the Americans and the Israelis prefer an Iraqi civil war, or at least the further breakdown of the country into distinct Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni areas, rather than a combining of the nationalist Shiite and Sunni groups in an escalating war against the U.S. occupying forces of the Pentagon and CIA.

NewsFlash! US-chosen-protected 'Interim Iraqi PM' personally executed six
(July 16, 2004)
The explosive claims in tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers allege that the prisoners were handcuffed and blindfolded, lined up against a courtyard wall and shot by the Iraqi Prime Minister. Dr Allawi is alleged to have told those around him that he wanted to send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents. Two people allege they witnessed the killings and there are also claims the Iraqi Interior Minister was present as well as four American security men in civilian dress.

Hitler Name Resurfaces In Washington
(July 16, 2004)
"In a way that occurred before but is rare in the United States...somebody came to power as a result of the illegitimate acts of a legitimate institution that had the right to put somebody in power. That is what the Supreme Court did in Bush versus Gore. It put somebody in power.... That is what happened when Hindenburg put Hitler in." Judge of Second Circuit Court of Appeals

Iraq Teeters
(July 15, 2004)
"The war was fought to weaken Iraq permanently, and if possible to break it up into separate 'statelets', so as to prevent it ever again challenging Israel or US oil and strategic interests in the Gulf."

'What's his accomplishment? That he's no longer an abnoxious drunk?' -Reagan on Bush
(July 14, 2004)
At an unprecedented early stage in the political campaign George Bush has in effect been forced to become his own attack dog. That's because his Vice-President and his Secretary of Defense are already damaged goods...

Emergency U.N. Session Maybe Friday
(July 13, 2004)
The issue is whether the Arabs and those who truly care about justice and international law are finally going to have the guts -- which they have never had in the past in view of threats from the U.S. and Israel what would be done if they dared -- to confront the U.S. in the Security Council and then to demand the General Assembly take the one major action that is within its power, suspension of the G.A. membership of Israel.

Osama Strikes Again
(July 12, 2004)
And now...the truly 'unthinkable' for Americans. From his hideing place whereever that may be Osama Bin Laden has U.S. officials, and now the American people, actually contemplating and chatting about 'postponing' The American election...if... We're now on an 'unthinkable' roll; and much more 'unthinkable' can now be expected in the months and years ahead.

New Version MiddleEast.Org now available
(July 11, 2004)

Covering Up The Truth - The "Intelligence", WMDs, and 9/11 Coverups All Proceed.
(July 11, 2004)
COVERING UP the TRUTH -- The "Intelligence", WMDs, and 9/11 Coverups All Proceed.... "And fourth the U.S. government knew then, and knows now, of the unprecedented level of Israeli-Jewish lobby penetration of key government positions in a way that seriously skews perceived U.S. national interests and security concerns to align with those of Israel."

Israel - Sanctions Now
(July 10, 2004)
But the General Assembly does have a kind of super moral power. It was exercised against South Africa in the days of apartheid. It now should be exercised against Israel. Until there is a real and sovereign Palestinian State, and until Israel's apartheid policies are ended once and for all, the U.N. General Assembly should now act to remove the credentials of the Israeli delegation and suspend Israel from the General Assembly.

CDA - Central Disinformation Agency
(July 9, 2004)
If there is regime change in the U.S., one can bet that much of the most incriminating actual evident, the crucial paper trails, are already being hidden and in the days right after the election will be taken, shredded, and 'disappeared' in one way or another. The top ranging neocons at the Pentagon and the White House, and the Vice-President and his top aides, have the most to fear and no doubt are working overtime to protect their asses.

Top US 'Peace Negotiator' Now Works Directly for Israelis
(July 8, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' Ross directed erupted in recent years -- as MER had predicted all along by the way -- into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever. It also has brought worse than apartheid conditions to the Palestinian people and a great escalation in hatred and what the Americans love to simply call 'terrorism' regardless of causes, distinctions, places, and realities.

Amb Dennis Ross, 'Peace Process Chief
(July 8, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' Ross directed erupted in recent years -- as MER had predicted all along by the way -- into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever. It also has brought worse than apartheid conditions to the Palestinian people and a great escalation in hatred and what the Americans love to simply call 'terrorism' regardless of causes, distinctions, places, and realities.

Top U.S. 'Peace Process Negotiator' Now Works for Israelis
(July 7, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process' 'negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' erupted in recent years (as MER had predicted all along by the way) into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever as well as today's worse than apartheid conditions for the Palestinian people.

Pentagon Neocon Corruption and Israeli-Connections
(July 7, 2004)
The American media, especially the Washington-based American media, isn't going to take on this one about the neocons and the Israeli-Jewish lobby. There will be no Washington Post exposee of this quite possibly worse than Watergate situation. The major foreign media with the resources and manpower now should.

Debacle Looms in both Afghanistan and Iraq
(July 6, 2004)
Everywhere the Bush Administration is proclaiming success and courting disaster. Both the economic and political policies pursued by the U.S. in recent years are heavily mortagaging the future and will make American leadership and supremacy in world affairs far more difficult and costly in the not so distant future. The real price to be paid for all the excesses, all the lies, all the deceptions, all the unprecedented overpaying and overpromising, is not now...but some years ahead for the American Empire.

Saddam's Huge Statue - More Lies and Deceptions
(July 5, 2004)
But now read how this made-for-TV drama was conceived, carried out, and orchestrated by U.S. Marines with, in all likelihood, the advance planning and assistance of the CIA which now has its largest operations station in the world not far from Firdos Square where the huge statue once stood.

"Independence Day" - In the US and Iraq
(July 4, 2004)
It's Independence Day in the USA. But that's little consolidation to the Iraqis, to the Palestinians, or to the Chechnyans or Afghanis and so many other miserably oppressed peoples -- politically, economically, militarily, and culturally -- throughout today's troubled bleeding world.

Amira Hass Speech in Stockholm
(July 3, 2004)
Amira Hass is an extraordinarily courageous Israeli journalist who has lived with and boldly reported about the Palestinian people and Israel's increasingly severe repression and dispossession of them. The above poem by Swedish poet Helga Henschen was chosen to highlight the award.

From Vietnam to Iraq and Abu Ghraib
(July 2, 2004)
Few in Washington these days have time or interest or reason to connect these historical dots. Bbut they are in reality crucial to a full understanding of how things have gotten to where they are...and the direction things are still heading.

Bremer and his 'Israeli Flag' Gone from Iraq
(July 1, 2004)
If these guys have been making policies and decisions about the future of Iraq and the Middle East in the same way they did about a new Iraqi flag....well then the chaos, incompetence, corruption, and miserable failures all need be underscored even more that we had previously realized. And that is saying a lot!

How Bremer Slinked Away on Monday
(July 1, 2004)
But judge for yourself after a little more insight. For real journalism these days is often not what you find on the front-page... Read this inside the paper analysis story about what actually happened in Baghdad on Monday -- not about the tag lines and rhetorical hyperbole the Americans love to sucker the media with. And after doing so it's even harder than ever to imagine this is all going to have a happy ending.