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ISRAELI LOBBY ULTIMATUM:
DROP YOUR PRINCIPLES OR DROP DEAD!


MER- MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 1 February 2006: Israel's notoriously powerfuly Lobby on Capitol Hill is wasting no time trying to lay down the law of money and power to Hamas. But this time it's probably too little, too late, with insufficient understand of or leverage on the now Hamas-led "Palestinian Authority" that Israel and the U.S. themselves put in place when it suited their ends in years past. And when the Israelis and Americans try to crush the new PA., as now seems all but inevitable sooner or later -- probably after more attempts to foment a Palestinian Civil War which are likely to continue to fail -- the political and geostrategic price may prove greater than the Americans will be willing to suffer upon themselves. This short article is the way the Israeli Lobby's efforts were reported today in Israel's leading newspaper, Ha'aretz, along with the full text of the proposed U.S. legislation.

The House to PA: Drop your agenda or drop dead

Tuesday, January 31 - WASHINGTON: Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida) submitted on Tuesday the first legislative response to Hamas' landslide victory in last week's Palestinian elections. The bill, co-sponsored by Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos, from California, includes a number of extremely harsh measures against the radical Islamic movement.

Republican Congressman Vito Fossella, from New York, also introduced legislation on Tuesday banning support for the Palestinian Authority.

"Not one dollar of taxpayer money should go to this terrorist organization," Fossella said. "The Palestinian people have every right to elect a terrorist organization to control their government - and the United States has every right to eliminate any financial assistance for it."

In addition to a freeze on all financial aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, the bill calls for a travel ban on its representatives, a halt to financing of UN programs linked to the PA and the closure of PLO offices in Washington.

The chances of this legislation passing in its original language are not great. However, Ros-Lehtinen, known to be a tough negotiator, could present a serious headache for an administration that has yet to finalize its policy in reaction to the Hamas victory. Suffice to say, the White House has no desire to confront the international community over the House's proposed legislation.


Palestinian Democracy Support Act of 2006

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the "Palestinian Democracy Support Act of 2006."

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.

(a) DECLARATION OF POLICY - It shall be the policy of the United States to promote the emergence of a democratic Palestinian government that:

(1) denounces and combats terrorism;
(2) has agreed to and is taking action to disarm and dismantle any terrorist agency, network, or facility;
(3) has agreed to work to eliminate anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement and the commemoration of terrorists in Palestinian society;
(4) has agreed to respect the boundaries and sovereignty of its neighbors;
(5) acknowledges, respects, and upholds the human rights of all people;
(6) conducts free, fair, and transparent elections in compliance with international standards;
(7) ensures institutional and financial transparency and accountability; and
(8) has agreed to recognize the State of Israel as an independent, sovereign, Jewish, democratic state.

(b) AMENDMENTS - Chapter 1 of part III of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is amended:
(1) by redesignating the second section 620G (as added by section 149 of Public Law 104-164 (110 Stat. 1436)) as section 620J; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new section:

SEC. 620K. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.

(a) LIMITATION - Assistance may be provided under this Act or any other provision of law to the Palestinian Authority only during a period for which a certification described in subsection (b) is in effect.
(b) CERTIFICATION.A certification described in this subsection is a certification transmitted by the President to Congress that contains a determination of the President that:
(1) the Palestinian Authority is not controlled by a foreign terrorist organization and does not include members of a foreign terrorist organization; and
(2) the Palestinian Authority -

(A) has completed the process of purging from its security services individuals with ties to terrorism;
(B) has dismantled the terrorist infrastructure and is confiscating unauthorized weapons, arresting and bringing terrorists to justice, destroying unauthorized arms factories, thwarting and preempting terrorist attacks, and is fully cooperating with Israel's security services;
(C) has publicly acknowledged Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state;
(D) has halted all anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques, and other institutions it controls, and is replacing these materials, including textbooks, with materials that promote tolerance, peace, and coexistence with Israel;
(E) has taken effective steps to ensure democracy, the rule of law, and an independent judiciary, and has adopted other reforms such as ensuring transparent and accountable governance; and
(F) has undertaken efforts to ensure the financial transparency and accountability of all government ministries and operations.

(c) RECERTIFICATIONS - Not later than 90 days after the date on which the President transmits to Congress an initial certification under subsection (b), and every six months thereafter -
(1) the President shall transmit to Congress a recertification that the requirements contained in subsection (b) are continuing to be met; or
(2) if the President is unable to make such a recertification, the President shall transmit to Congress a report that contains the reasons therefor.

(d) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION - Assistance made available under this Act or any other provision of law to the Palestinian Authority may not be provided until 15 days after the date on which the President has provided notice thereof to the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate in accordance with the procedures applicable to reprogramming notifications under section 634A(a) of this Act.

(e) DEFINITIONS.In this section:
(1) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. - The term "foreign terrorist organization" means an organization designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)).

(2) PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY - The term "Palestinian Authority":

(A) means the interim administrative organization that governs parts of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip (or any successor Palestinian governing entity); and
(B) includes the Palestinian Legislative Council, municipalities of the Palestinian Authority, and any other agency or instrumentality of the Palestinian Authority.

(c) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report thatcontains a review of the extent to which United States assistance to the Palestinian Authority under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law is properly audited by the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, and all other relevant departments and agencies of the Government of the United States.

SEC. 3. UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS.

(a) DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW AND REPORT.

(1) IN GENERAL - Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall -
(A) conduct an audit of the functions of the entities specified in paragraph (2); and
(B) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report containing recommendations for the elimination of such dupli1cative entities and efforts.

(2) ENTITIES SPECIFIED. The entities referred to in paragraph (1) are the following:
(A) The United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights.
(B) The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
(C) The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.
(D) The NGO Network on the Question of Palestine.
(E) The Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.
(F) Any other entity the Secretary determines results in duplicative efforts or funding or fails to ensure balance in the approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues.

(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE -
(1) IN GENERAL. The President shall direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence
of the United States at the United Nations to seek the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report required under subsection (a)(1)(B).
(2) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS - Until such recommendations have been implemented, the United States shall withhold from United States contributions to the regular assessed budget of the United Nations for a biennial period amounts that are proportional to the percentage of such budget that are expended for such entities.

(c) GAO AUDIT - The Comptroller General shall conduct an audit of the status of the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report required under subsection (a)(1)(B).

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF TERRITORY CONTROLLED BY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY AS TERRORIST SANCTUARY.

It is the sense of Congress that, during any period for which a certification described in section 620K(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect with respect to the Palestinian Authority, the territory controlled by the Pal1estinian Authority should be deemed to be in use as a sanctuary for terrorists or terrorist organizations for purposes of section 6(j)(5) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(5)) and section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 2656f).

SEC. 5. DENIAL OF VISAS FOR OFFICIALS OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.

(a) IN GENERAL - A visa shall not be issued to any alien who is an official of, affiliated with, or serving as a representative of the Palestinian Authority during any period for which a certification described in section 620K(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect with respect to the Palestinian Authority.
(b) WAIVER. Subsection (a) shall not apply if the President determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, on a case-by-case basis, that the issuance of a visa to an alien described in such subsection
is vital to the national security interests of the United States.

SEC. 6. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ON OFFICIALS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY STATIONED AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK CITY.

(a) TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall restrict the travel of officials and representatives of the Palestinian Authority who are stationed at the United Nations in New York City to a 25-mile radius of the United Nations headquarters building during any period for which a certification described in section 620K(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect with respect to the Palestinian Authority.

(b) COUNTRY DESCRIBED - A country referred to in subsection (a) is a country the government of which the Secretary of State has determined, for purposes of section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)(A)), is a government that has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.

SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY REPRESENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

(a) PROHIBITION - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, it shall be unlawful to establish or maintain an office, headquarters, premises, or other facilities or establishments within the jurisdiction of the United States at the behest or direction of, or with funds provided by, the Palestinian Authority during any period for which a certification described in section 620K(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this Act) is not in effect with respect to the Palestinian Authority.
(b) ENFORCEMENT -

(1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.The Attorney General shall take the necessary steps and institute the necessary legal action to effectuate the policies and
provisions of subsection (a).
(2) RELIEF.Any district court of the United States for a district in which a violation of subsection (a) occurs shall have authority, upon petition of relief by the Attorney General, to grant injunctive and such other equitable relief as it shall deem necessary to enforce the provisions of subsection (a).

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES. The term "appropriate congressional committees" means:
(A) the Committee on International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
(2) PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY. The term "Palestinian Authority" has the meaning given the term in section 620K(e)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act
17 of 1961 (as added by section 2(b)(2) of this Act).





February 2006


Magazine






World War III?
(February 28, 2006)
“The threat from the White House is to go in anyway... I see the possibility if we do that of really setting forth World War III.” - Walter Cronkite, 27 Oct 2002.

Huge Death Toll in Iraq In Week - Equivalent to Five 9/11s
(February 27, 2006)
As usual the information coming from the Pentagon and State Department, and from the many who work for them either overtly and covertly, is again unreliable and deceptive, off by an order of magnitude in fact. After independent investigations it appears the Americans, and their associated regime in Baghdad, tremendously downplayed the actual death and destruction toll in the last week in Iraq since the bombing of the Golden Dome. Indeed, adjusting for population size, it is as if in just the past week alone Iraq has suffered deaths amounting to five 9/11s!

Palestine Articles - 26 Feb
(February 26, 2006)
Palestine Articles - 26 Feb

ISRAEL ARTICLES on 26 Feb
(February 26, 2006)
ISRAEL ARTICLES on 26 Feb

Who really bombed the Golden Dome is in much doubt
(February 26, 2006)
Just who really bombed the Golden Dome in Samarra a few days ago? Just who really benefits the most from this historic act that may have reshuffled the political geostrategic deck in Iraq and in the region? There's a long history now in the Middle East of covert operations blamed on others in order to justify actions the powers that be are determined to pursue.

From the "PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES"....to the Jewish Territories of Oscars Hollywood
(February 25, 2006)
PARADISE NOW: "The nomination probably won't be rescinded, but with 70 being the median academy voter age, and Judaism the predominant religion, it is something of a surprise, even to insiders, that the film has been nominated at all, let alone that it is a strong prospect to win."

Washington Scene: JUNKETS TO ISRAEL TO CONTINUE AS BEFORE
(February 25, 2006)
"U.S. lawmakers took 163 privately funded trips to Israel; more than one in five current members of Congress have traveled there. That compares with 139 to Mexico, the next most popular foreign destination, 97 to Italy and 87 to Germany... Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid since World War II."

Jewish Lobby Enters Arab World - Ariel Sharon's 'Dear Personal Friend' Seduces Qatar
(February 23, 2006)
This appears to be the first time such an Israeli-connected 'think tank' operation is formally setting up shop in an Arab country, however thinly masked as 'The Brookings Institution'. Much more background follows in the MER FlashBack article titled "ISRAELI Influence-Peddling - ON TOP OF ALL THE SPYING AND LOBBYING."

Today at 12pm noon sharp (Washington DC time) join in at MER CHAT - MiddleEast.org/chat
(February 22, 2006)


World Council of Churches Vents Angry
(February 20, 2006)
A coalition of American churches sharply denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Saturday, accusing Washington of "raining down terror" and apologizing to other nations for "the violence, degradation and poverty our nation has sown." The statement, issued at the largest gathering of Christian churches in nearly a decade, also warned the United States was pushing the world toward environmental catastrophe with a "culture of consumption" and its refusal to back international accords seeking to battle global warming.

DIVESTMENT AHEAD as 'JEWS ONLY' APARTHEID EXPANDS
(February 19, 2006)
Though the church-based 'divestment campaign' still remains very hesitant, embryonic and unlikely to 'catch on' and be 'sustained' as would be required for it to have a serious chance of seriously impacting, the debate is at least underway in limited forums... Meanwhile Israel's barriers, walls, fences, prisons, confuscations, checkpoints, and settlements are all still expanding in a worse than Apartheid every was way.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY SEVERELY RESTRICTS MEDIA
(February 18, 2006)
The event was the 5th annual Palestine Solidarity Movement Conference -- no well-known speakers and certainly no one who is use to having any serious security. "I saved these two days to be at the conference" the reporter insisted before declaring in obvious frustration that she was going to have a weekend vaction instead and left in a huff.

CRISIS IRAN, CRISIS WORLD
(February 17, 2006)
The crisis with Iran is far more than a confrontation over production of a few nuclear weapons in the years ahead. The crisis with Iran, and indirectly with the growing forces of Arab nationalism and Muslim assertiveness, as well as with the growing counter-U.S. superpower reach of China and to a lesser extent Russia, is about nothing less than world domination.

Iran Articles - 16 Feb
(February 16, 2006)


Sharon The War Criminal - FlashBack to 2001 and BBC 'Accused'
(February 15, 2006)
"I think there is no doubt in my mind that he (Sharon) is indictable (as a war criminal) for the kind of knowledge that he either had, or should have had." - Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University

ISRAEL Articles on 14 Feb
(February 14, 2006)


Articles with keyword PALESTINE
(February 14, 2006)
Articles with keyword PALESTINE

Valentine's Day Plot To Discredit, Destroy Hamas
(February 14, 2006)
Remember it for its day of publication as the Valentine's Day Plot to discredit and destroy Hamas. And if this is what makes it to the pages of the New York Times just imagine what the Americans, the Israelis, and their European allies are really doing (and have already done) behind-the-scenes with all the agents and money not to mention all the bugging, killing, and scheming they are so capable of bringing to bear. But it all comes at a historic cost, and so much the Americans and Israelis do comes back as unexpected forms of blowback even worse for them than what they tried to destroy before.

TARGET IRAN - Preparations By All
(February 13, 2006)
WAR these days is far more than military attack. With the Americans there is first of all a tremendous technological side involving high-tech spying, covert ops, assassinations, internal upheavals, economic punishments, and regime change attempts. In addition war preparations for the Americans in this modern-day interconnected world involve massive propaganda campaigns designed to manipulate public opinion; and this in turn includes everything from planting information and stories to twisting journalists and publications to 'report' in ways that suit the needs of the war planners.

TARGET IRAN!
(February 12, 2006)
As MER repeatedly predicted in past years, the international situation is proceeding to one of the most dangerous times ever. The mistakes, the lies, the hypocrisy, and all the killing and 'Shock and Awe' of the past is catching up with all of us now. It's not that Iran can seriously withstand a U.S./Israeli attack. Clearly the American Empire has the firepower to destroy and prevail in the short run. But the political, economic, and psychological forces that may be unleashed by what the combined forces of the Neocons, the Evangelicals, and the Zionists are more and more loudly threatening and planning has serious people in Washington and beyond quivering and fearing about the future big time now. This today from the Sunday Telegraph in London:

Princeton University Speech by Mark Bruzonsky
(February 11, 2006)
This speech was given by the publisher of MiddleEast.Org at a forum at Princeton University on 7 February 2006. The other persons on the forum were Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Professor Cornell West.

The Mother of all Hoaxes - And the Disastrous Aftermath
(February 6, 2006)
Yesterday was the third Colin Powell 'Anniversary' of what we have termed 'The Mother of all Hoaxes'. Three years ago he gave what is now one of modern history's most infamous speeches quite literally to the world. What happened that day was a great historic 'haox' perpetrated ' on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council', i.e., the entire world. Yesterday MER republished a FlashBack article calling for the resignation of both Colin Powell and George Tenet -- we did so two long years ago now when it was relevant, timely, necessary, and difficult to do. Remember though, the actual perpertrators responsible for this horrendous hoax and the disastrous consequences which have followed are the President and the Vice-President of the United States.

Colin Powell and The Mother of All Hoaxes
(February 5, 2006)
Last Friday evening Colin Powell's Chief of Staff in the State Department at the time Powell gave his historic speech at the U.N. Security Council came clean. It was that much-heralded speech of course that prepared the way for the launching of the disastrous Iraqi invasion/occupation. Now, Friday evening on the NOW! program on Public Broadcasting, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was right there helping prepare Powell's every move, damns it all as a 'historic hoax'.

HAMAS Taking Center Stage
(February 4, 2006)
Now it's not from Moscow with love...but it is at times at least from Moscow with more realism and insight... Meanwhile it is the same old game in Washington -- politically correct persons associated with the Israeli/Jewish lobby and kosherized persons of Arab background are the only persons given the floor at the numerous forums popping up to speak about the Hamas few of them actually know much about and all of them proclaim their disdain for.

Hamas Speaks
(February 3, 2006)
Tuesday this week, the day the American President gave his State of the Union speech in the evening, the resistance and liberation movement known as Hamas presented its view in the morning... Back in 1996, when MER had a weekly TV program, by special arrangement MER extensively interviewed Moussa Abu Marzook -- today the #2 official in Hamas -- in the federal detention center near Chinatown in New York about Hamas and the 'peace process'. We encourage news media organizations to get in touch with MER if interested in that lengthy multi-hour interview full of insights into how the Hamas victory was carefully orchestrated over the past decade. MER@MiddleEast.Org. 202 362-5266.

MER at Princeton University Next Tuesday 7 February
(February 2, 2006)
MER Publisher Mark Bruzonsky will be speaking on a Panel at Princeton Universty next Tuesday with the Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School and Professor Cornell West on "Intellectuals and the Institution: What's in the Service of the Nation?"

The 9/11 Imbroglio
(February 1, 2006)
According to the academic organizer of these scholars, Professor Jim Fetzer of the University of Minnesota in Duluth, it was because of a meeting in Washington with MER Publisher Mark Bruzonsky last week that a major revision was made in their public statement a few days ago. The new aim, as MER had advocated in a June 2005 editorial, is to call on major media organizations around the world to form a unique international coalition to fully investigate 9/11 and to report what really happened and what is in legitimate controversy and doubt.

Drop Principles Now or Drop Dead Soon!
(February 1, 2006)
Israel's notoriously powerfuly Lobby on Capitol Hill is wasting no time trying to lay down the law of money and power to Hamas. But this time it's probably too little, too late, with insufficient understand of or leverage on the now Hamas-led "Palestinian Authority"... And when the Israelis and Americans try to crush the new PA., as now seems all but inevitable sooner or later, probably after more attempts to foment a Palestinian Civil War which are likely to continue to fail, the political and geostrategic price may prove greater than the Americans will be willing to suffer upon themselves.




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