17 july 2013
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Moscow's relations with Washington outweighed the "squabbles" caused by the spying scandal revealed by US fugitive Edward Snowden, who has applied for asylum in Russia.
"Relations between states are much more important than squabbles surrounding the work of security services," Putin was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
"Relations between states are much more important than squabbles surrounding the work of security services," Putin was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
16 july 2013
Dani Dayan
The General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States Monday expressed “great concern” with the House Republicans Conference’s reception of Dani Dayan, the former head of the Yesha Council of Settlements in the occupied West Bank. It said in a statement that Dayan’s visit was part of his efforts of a campaign to launch a “diplomatic arm” for the illegal settlements and therefore he “should not be entertained.”
During his visit to Washington, Dayan met with Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen the chairwoman of the committee's Middle East subcommittee; and Rep. Pete Roskam.
The House Republican Conference reportedly described its leaders’ attitude toward Dayan’s ideology as “sympathetic.”
“Such description is very troubling for anyone concerned with a constructive role for the US in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said the PLO.
“Dayan’s visit is especially concerning given its brazen attempt to undermine (US) Secretary (of State John) Kerry’s efforts to revive the political process. Entertaining a zealous opponent of the two-state solution like Dayan in the halls of Congress and in the media sends the wrong message about US commitment to peace in the region,” said the statement.
The PLO’s General Delegation urged American leaders “to take a firm stand, at this crucial time, against those who are obstructing the political process.”
The General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United States Monday expressed “great concern” with the House Republicans Conference’s reception of Dani Dayan, the former head of the Yesha Council of Settlements in the occupied West Bank. It said in a statement that Dayan’s visit was part of his efforts of a campaign to launch a “diplomatic arm” for the illegal settlements and therefore he “should not be entertained.”
During his visit to Washington, Dayan met with Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen the chairwoman of the committee's Middle East subcommittee; and Rep. Pete Roskam.
The House Republican Conference reportedly described its leaders’ attitude toward Dayan’s ideology as “sympathetic.”
“Such description is very troubling for anyone concerned with a constructive role for the US in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said the PLO.
“Dayan’s visit is especially concerning given its brazen attempt to undermine (US) Secretary (of State John) Kerry’s efforts to revive the political process. Entertaining a zealous opponent of the two-state solution like Dayan in the halls of Congress and in the media sends the wrong message about US commitment to peace in the region,” said the statement.
The PLO’s General Delegation urged American leaders “to take a firm stand, at this crucial time, against those who are obstructing the political process.”
15 july 2013
PM, wife Sara on Great Wall
Congress, White House angry at Israel for decision to back out of trial against Bank of China for involvement in laundering of money for Hamas, Islamic Jihad. The reason: China conditioned Netanyahu's state visit on Israeli promise not to testify in trial. Now, US threatening to subpoena Ambassador Oren
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren was called back to Israel to take part in an emergency meeting convened this weekend by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so that Oren could pass on messages sent by the US administration and Congress in the wake of tensions between the two countries. The tensions and lightening visit stem from the US's outrage at Israel's decision to back out of their commitment to a terror prosecution involving a Chinese bank allegedly laundering monies for Hamas so that Netanyahu and his family could embark on their State visit to the country last May.
This weekend Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer from Yedioth Ahronoth broke the story and revealed that the Chinese government threatened to cancel Netanyahu's visit if Israel refused to promise that senior Israeli defense officials would refrain from testifying against the Bank of China in a federal court trial currently underway in New York.
According to the report, China conditioned Netanyahu's visit on the demand the officials retract their promise to testify in the trial being led by the family of terror victim.
The case itself is a civil suit filed by Sheryl and Yekutiel Wultz from Florida, whose son Daniel was killed in terror attack in Tel Aviv in 2006 when he was only 16 years old.
According to the suit, the money used by Hamas to undertake the terror attack reached the terrorist group through a money laundering scheme run the Chinese bank in which some $6 million were laundered through trade. The story has invoked the rage of the White House, a number of US congressmen and Jewish organizations active in the US who were flabbergasted by the decision to back out of a legal battle against the funding of international terror only in an attempt to prevent harm from coming to Netanyahu's visit.
Mr. Terror
On Sunday, during the meeting called by Netanyahu, Oren was meant to stress to the additional participants – among them ambassador designate Ron Dermer – that the Americans view with severity Israel's decision to cave into China's pressure and prevent testimonies which would legally link Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to the Bank of China.
Oren was also to convey the American shock that Netanyahu, who the Americans call "Mr. Terror" for his zero tolerance approach to terror, would take such decision. Congress, Oren was indented to say, sees the move as nothing short of betrayal by Israel of the US, both in regards to the international war on terror and in regards to the struggle for hegemonic control raging between the West and the rising eastern powerhouse. The crux of Oren's mission was to inform the Israel administration of the US's intent on advancing legal procedures against the Bank of China; to inform them that if the security officials fail to show up in court they would be subpoenaed; and additional subpoenas would also be filed against Oren, Dermer and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror.
In addition to the suit filed by the Wultz family, the Bank of China also faces a lawsuit by Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center, representing 22 Israel families – the relatives of the victims of the suicide bombing in an Eilat bakery as well the Mercaz Harav shooting - that is being discussed instate courts throughout the US. According to Darshan-Leitner, these cases are also structured around the testimonies of security officials and could fail should the officials fail to testify. The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to the story Sunday evening.
Congress, White House angry at Israel for decision to back out of trial against Bank of China for involvement in laundering of money for Hamas, Islamic Jihad. The reason: China conditioned Netanyahu's state visit on Israeli promise not to testify in trial. Now, US threatening to subpoena Ambassador Oren
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren was called back to Israel to take part in an emergency meeting convened this weekend by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so that Oren could pass on messages sent by the US administration and Congress in the wake of tensions between the two countries. The tensions and lightening visit stem from the US's outrage at Israel's decision to back out of their commitment to a terror prosecution involving a Chinese bank allegedly laundering monies for Hamas so that Netanyahu and his family could embark on their State visit to the country last May.
This weekend Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer from Yedioth Ahronoth broke the story and revealed that the Chinese government threatened to cancel Netanyahu's visit if Israel refused to promise that senior Israeli defense officials would refrain from testifying against the Bank of China in a federal court trial currently underway in New York.
According to the report, China conditioned Netanyahu's visit on the demand the officials retract their promise to testify in the trial being led by the family of terror victim.
The case itself is a civil suit filed by Sheryl and Yekutiel Wultz from Florida, whose son Daniel was killed in terror attack in Tel Aviv in 2006 when he was only 16 years old.
According to the suit, the money used by Hamas to undertake the terror attack reached the terrorist group through a money laundering scheme run the Chinese bank in which some $6 million were laundered through trade. The story has invoked the rage of the White House, a number of US congressmen and Jewish organizations active in the US who were flabbergasted by the decision to back out of a legal battle against the funding of international terror only in an attempt to prevent harm from coming to Netanyahu's visit.
Mr. Terror
On Sunday, during the meeting called by Netanyahu, Oren was meant to stress to the additional participants – among them ambassador designate Ron Dermer – that the Americans view with severity Israel's decision to cave into China's pressure and prevent testimonies which would legally link Hamas and the Islamic Jihad to the Bank of China.
Oren was also to convey the American shock that Netanyahu, who the Americans call "Mr. Terror" for his zero tolerance approach to terror, would take such decision. Congress, Oren was indented to say, sees the move as nothing short of betrayal by Israel of the US, both in regards to the international war on terror and in regards to the struggle for hegemonic control raging between the West and the rising eastern powerhouse. The crux of Oren's mission was to inform the Israel administration of the US's intent on advancing legal procedures against the Bank of China; to inform them that if the security officials fail to show up in court they would be subpoenaed; and additional subpoenas would also be filed against Oren, Dermer and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror.
In addition to the suit filed by the Wultz family, the Bank of China also faces a lawsuit by Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner of the Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center, representing 22 Israel families – the relatives of the victims of the suicide bombing in an Eilat bakery as well the Mercaz Harav shooting - that is being discussed instate courts throughout the US. According to Darshan-Leitner, these cases are also structured around the testimonies of security officials and could fail should the officials fail to testify. The Prime Minister's Office did not respond to the story Sunday evening.
14 july 2013
By Khalid Amayreh
The American government's reluctance- or effective refusal to condemn the anti-Islamist coup in Egypt, which deposed that country's only democratically-elected President ever, Dr. Muhammed Mursi, speaks volumes. It simply lays naked the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of Washington's policies toward the Muslim world.
It also shows that the U.S. is still the same U.S. of John Foster Dulles, Alexander Hague, Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon-just to mention a few prominent immoralists who identified and represented America 's nefarious approach to the rest of the world, especially the Third world.
Indeed, under the guise of spreading and encouraging democracy, the U.S. helped overthrow democratically elected leaders in many countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America .
Who amongst us doesn't remember Dr. Muhammed Musadeq, Salvador Allende, or Kwame Nkrumah? Or the incessant American attempts to assassinate or poison Cuban leader Fidel Castro?
George W . Bush was quoted as referring to Anastasio Somoza, the CIA-backed Nicaraguan dictator as the following: "He's a son-of-a-bitch, but he's our son-of-a-bitch."
The same scandalous phrase was uttered repeatedly by other American officials trying to justify the inherently unethical policy of embracing tyrants in many parts of the world against their peoples' will..
Now, history is repeating itself , with the US abandoning all its pretensions about democracy and opting to prop up and consolidate the new military-backed fascism in Egypt . (it is fascism par excellence because the new rulers are effectively decapitating human rights and civil liberties including freedom of speech and press freedom in full view of the world).
The fact that General Abdul Fattah Sisi ordered troops to massacre unarmed innocent civilian demonstrators while performing prayers at dawn, round up political opponents without charge or trial, close down non-conformist media outlets, let alone overthrow the country's legitimate leadership and suspend the Egyptian constitution, approved by more than 63% of the Egyptian people-seems utterly insignificant and avails to nothing as far as Washington is concerned.
This is because Washington is the very same old Washington , the capital of the evil empire that doesn’t hesitate to prostitute and sacrifice its own purported values for its parochial interests.
It is the same Washington that colluded with France to annul the Algerian election of 1991-92 which the Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win. It is the same Washington that imposed a draconian and hermetic embargo on the Palestinian people following Hamas's electoral victory in 2006. Needless to say, the harsh and morally-repugnant blockade is yet to be lifted.
All this shows beyond doubt that Washington doesn't have fixed principles, especially moral principles, but rather has fixed interests-interests that are maintained and protected through immoral and often criminal means.
It is true that Sisi and cohorts are the executive coup makers. However, given the Egyptian armed forces' "special" subservient relationship with the Pentagon, it would be naïve to think that Sisi, an ignorant and poorly educated officer who can barely read a grammatically correct Arabic sentence, would or could have carried out the sinister coup without coordination with Washington or at least a certain green light from it.
America's days of infamy are too many and the immorality of its policies toward Muslims are no news to most of us.
Never the less, the dark embrace between Washington and Sisi & cohorts should be a final eye-opener for those who may still be prompted to think there is a grain of morality or good in America's approach to Muslims in general.
I have no doubt that the Egyptian people will discover America's maliciousness, though belatedly and at a great loss.
But, none the less, the inherent corruptness and political impotence of people like Sisi and cohorts, expected to be played out in weeks and months to come. will sooner or later expose American evil intentions and destructive interference in the internal affairs of countries such as Egypt .
In order to succeed and be resilient, great revolutions need painful blows and ordeals. It is hoped that after this agonizing episode, the Egyptian people will be in a better position to know their real friends and real enemies.
The American government's reluctance- or effective refusal to condemn the anti-Islamist coup in Egypt, which deposed that country's only democratically-elected President ever, Dr. Muhammed Mursi, speaks volumes. It simply lays naked the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of Washington's policies toward the Muslim world.
It also shows that the U.S. is still the same U.S. of John Foster Dulles, Alexander Hague, Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon-just to mention a few prominent immoralists who identified and represented America 's nefarious approach to the rest of the world, especially the Third world.
Indeed, under the guise of spreading and encouraging democracy, the U.S. helped overthrow democratically elected leaders in many countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America .
Who amongst us doesn't remember Dr. Muhammed Musadeq, Salvador Allende, or Kwame Nkrumah? Or the incessant American attempts to assassinate or poison Cuban leader Fidel Castro?
George W . Bush was quoted as referring to Anastasio Somoza, the CIA-backed Nicaraguan dictator as the following: "He's a son-of-a-bitch, but he's our son-of-a-bitch."
The same scandalous phrase was uttered repeatedly by other American officials trying to justify the inherently unethical policy of embracing tyrants in many parts of the world against their peoples' will..
Now, history is repeating itself , with the US abandoning all its pretensions about democracy and opting to prop up and consolidate the new military-backed fascism in Egypt . (it is fascism par excellence because the new rulers are effectively decapitating human rights and civil liberties including freedom of speech and press freedom in full view of the world).
The fact that General Abdul Fattah Sisi ordered troops to massacre unarmed innocent civilian demonstrators while performing prayers at dawn, round up political opponents without charge or trial, close down non-conformist media outlets, let alone overthrow the country's legitimate leadership and suspend the Egyptian constitution, approved by more than 63% of the Egyptian people-seems utterly insignificant and avails to nothing as far as Washington is concerned.
This is because Washington is the very same old Washington , the capital of the evil empire that doesn’t hesitate to prostitute and sacrifice its own purported values for its parochial interests.
It is the same Washington that colluded with France to annul the Algerian election of 1991-92 which the Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win. It is the same Washington that imposed a draconian and hermetic embargo on the Palestinian people following Hamas's electoral victory in 2006. Needless to say, the harsh and morally-repugnant blockade is yet to be lifted.
All this shows beyond doubt that Washington doesn't have fixed principles, especially moral principles, but rather has fixed interests-interests that are maintained and protected through immoral and often criminal means.
It is true that Sisi and cohorts are the executive coup makers. However, given the Egyptian armed forces' "special" subservient relationship with the Pentagon, it would be naïve to think that Sisi, an ignorant and poorly educated officer who can barely read a grammatically correct Arabic sentence, would or could have carried out the sinister coup without coordination with Washington or at least a certain green light from it.
America's days of infamy are too many and the immorality of its policies toward Muslims are no news to most of us.
Never the less, the dark embrace between Washington and Sisi & cohorts should be a final eye-opener for those who may still be prompted to think there is a grain of morality or good in America's approach to Muslims in general.
I have no doubt that the Egyptian people will discover America's maliciousness, though belatedly and at a great loss.
But, none the less, the inherent corruptness and political impotence of people like Sisi and cohorts, expected to be played out in weeks and months to come. will sooner or later expose American evil intentions and destructive interference in the internal affairs of countries such as Egypt .
In order to succeed and be resilient, great revolutions need painful blows and ordeals. It is hoped that after this agonizing episode, the Egyptian people will be in a better position to know their real friends and real enemies.
13 july 2013
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Friday criticized Yahoo Sports for printing what it said were “slanderous attacks” on Oday Aboushi, an Arab American member of the American National Football League’s (NFL) team, the New York Jets. ADC said in a letter to Yahoo Sports that an article entitled “Could Oday Aboushi Jeopardize His NFL Career with Anti-Israel Activism” and written by Adam Waksman was “biased and derives its information from an extremely anti-Arab anti-Muslim source: FrontPage Magazine.”
It said that the articles “goes beyond attacking only Oday Aboushi; it is an attack on the entire Arab and Muslim American community.”
Additionally, the ADC wrote the Major League Baseball (MLB) also criticizing anti-Arab bias by its newly appointed media coordinator Jonathan Mael.
It said that the articles “goes beyond attacking only Oday Aboushi; it is an attack on the entire Arab and Muslim American community.”
Additionally, the ADC wrote the Major League Baseball (MLB) also criticizing anti-Arab bias by its newly appointed media coordinator Jonathan Mael.
It said Mael tweeted from his official account that “The @nyjets are a disgrace of an organization. The Patriots have Aaron Hernandez, the Jets have Oday Aboushi.”
ADC pointed out in the letter that it is inappropriate to compare Oday Aboushi to an accused murderer.
Although the tweet and the article have since been removed, the damage that they caused has not been undone, said ADC.
It called on both Yahoo! Sports and MLB to immediately terminate Jonathan Mael and Adam Waksman and issue an official apology to the Arab American community.
ADC pointed out in the letter that it is inappropriate to compare Oday Aboushi to an accused murderer.
Although the tweet and the article have since been removed, the damage that they caused has not been undone, said ADC.
It called on both Yahoo! Sports and MLB to immediately terminate Jonathan Mael and Adam Waksman and issue an official apology to the Arab American community.
12 july 2013
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (L) & American whistleblower Edward Snowden
By Jim W. Dea
Intelligence analysis ALWAYS follows a dual track of analyzing what you can see...and what you can't. The massive coverage on the recent Snowden revelations has basically all been theater as most had already been revealed and/or was known about by every Intel agency on the planet.
Two old platitudes come to mind...'Crying Crocodile Tears', and Shakespeare's “Me thinks she doth protest too much”. When you cut through all the smoke and mirrors, the essence is very simple.
Snowden, like Assange...despite the huge amount of classified material with all the embarrassing things that involved so many countries, neither of them seemed to know anything about the massive Israeli espionage that is carried out all over the world.
For example, the field reports from Afghanistan and Iraq involved Israelis being picked up as contractors doing very nasty things, and yes, doing them even to American troops. None of that stuff made its way into the leakers shocking release pile. We have people who wrote some of those reports, and they were major headlines.
My verdict? No leaker who has had access to the mother-load of dirty Intel laundry on numerous selected countries, and who never releases any on Israel, is for real. They are an operator. Why? Because busting open the Israeli espionage cover-up is the story of a lifetime.
On one side you have a loyal faction of modern Intel professionals trying to monitor and block Israeli penetrations. And then there is the rogue bunch assisting the bad guys for all the rewards offered, not so much by the Israelis themselves but their substantial political helpers.
This battle has been going on for a long time and there is a huge amount of material available even in the declassified files. If you want to find out more, all you have to do is scratch the dirt. It is the espionage scandal of our time and these phony leakers have contributed nothing.
Veterans Today burned Assange in the fall of 2011, with Ziggy Brzezinski helping through his big PBS interview where he spilled the beans about the Assange information being released having been 'seeded.' He gave our initial claims a lot more exposure.
So that really leaves only one plausible explanation for 'missing' the Israeli espionage angle. Remember I said it would be impossible for a really connected leaker not to know about it. And if Assange and Snowden were really these altruistic goody goodies who cry about the public's right to know how they are being abused by government spying on them, then why would they give the Zionists a free pass for doing it to all of us?
Press TV readers would know why...because these guys are on an Israeli string. This is simply Intel 101. When everybody is getting embarrassed by leaks except for that one special group, there is no suspect number two.
The Europeans are crying wolf as part of the charade, also. They all have been doing similar communications intercept spying on their own people...and more than a few of them in conjunction with the US under sharing arrangements.
The beginning of this came from the alleged 911 hijackers. They had spent time in various European states and moved around different legal jurisdictions as the most normal tactic of that era for avoiding close monitoring by counter-intelligence services.
Communications Intel people did not want to get caught being responsible for missing another major attack, so it was open city on collecting everything they could by whatever means available. The NSA name for it was Total Awareness. This sometimes would include having other jurisdictions do things that were illegal for you to do in your own country.
For example, years ago Canada intercept sites could collect material on Americans, and we on them, and both could testify that they were not collecting communications domestically and be telling the truth technically. But they were never asked about whether there was a sharing arrangement with anyone. This is part of the theater of Congressional hearings...what does not get asked.
The Israelis have a huge appetite for intercept information and they used their Jewish Lobby political muscle to get their contractors inside many of their friendly country counterintelligence operations, especially communications. In the US, Michael Chertoff literally hardwired them with full promotion and protection from Bush and Cheney.
Remember this is the crowd, along with Rudy Giuliani, who were going to make Bernie Kerik Homeland Security Director after being a high school dropout and detective third class. He was nothing more than a sock puppet for his handlers who would have been running the show.
What kind of leaders would use a tragedy like 911 to put a totally incompetent person in charge of the biggest conglomeration of Intel and law enforcement in history? Many were suspicious that they wanted to make sure that 911 would never be unraveled as to who was really behind it here in the US. Bernie would have been perfect for that. He has been out of jail a month now.
So what we have had going on is a cruel betrayal, not only here in America but in many countries. The War on Terror has been used by elites as an excuse to get a vice grip control over their populations, profiling them on a scale formerly only dreamed about.
Why would this be necessary? The only real answer is a looming fear of publics finding out what their governments had really done to them, the extent of the corruption and how thoroughly they had been pillaged.
People learning that their countries had been stolen, that would make them dangerous. They would all turn against those responsible. The only defense for the elites then would be to quickly round up all those of a certain profile, those who had the leadership skills, the knowledge, and the network strength to fight back.
The data mining ability available to governments now is absolutely incredible. They can find out just about anything about anybody...but not on the Israelis, of course. Think about it. With these new tools we should have been able to decimate Israel's espionage networks here...political, military, financial, media, academia and the think tanks.
How many Israeli Intel networks have the Western countries broken up since 911? The answer is zero. The Zionists have compromised these Western nations in a variety of ways, with the primary tool being political espionage as that is the pathway you use to get your people deeply embedded in all the important spots.
They spend ten, twenty years, even longer grooming their people to have them ready when the time is right to slip them into sensitive positions. Even our Justice Department has been compromised, as loyal people have gone everywhere to initiate prosecutions only to be told that it was just impossible for “protected entities”.
Assange, and now Snowden, are just side shows...burning up the public attention time clock that could have been much better spent going after the really dangerous threats. You cannot involve the Israelis in anything and have any security. The two are mutually exclusive.
The professional Intel people all know this, but get overruled by the civilian leadership where that fix is in. To call these countries democracies is an embarrassment to the word. These are conquered countries where people were sold the story about the tooth fairy and who are now struggling to outgrow their childish beliefs as their make believe world comes down around their ears.
All of these countries, their elite class, deem their own people to be their number one threat. And the Israeli Lobby operators are stuck to the elites like glue, promising to protect them when the dark times come...that they will be OK if they are with the right group.
Dear readers, we are not on their 'right group' list. We are on the expendable, potential threat one. Even War on Terror veterans found themselves on it, yet many are still refusing to let go of their Teddy Bears and face up to what has to be done.
You can shoot me as the bad news messenger if you want, but that won't save you. Saving ourselves is going to require some very clear thinking, determination, and building street armies like the Egyptians just did.
When we can put 50 million people into the streets and bring the military over with us, it will be a new Independence day. And the first order of business would be to clean up 911, and not let those responsible walk among us.
By Jim W. Dea
Intelligence analysis ALWAYS follows a dual track of analyzing what you can see...and what you can't. The massive coverage on the recent Snowden revelations has basically all been theater as most had already been revealed and/or was known about by every Intel agency on the planet.
Two old platitudes come to mind...'Crying Crocodile Tears', and Shakespeare's “Me thinks she doth protest too much”. When you cut through all the smoke and mirrors, the essence is very simple.
Snowden, like Assange...despite the huge amount of classified material with all the embarrassing things that involved so many countries, neither of them seemed to know anything about the massive Israeli espionage that is carried out all over the world.
For example, the field reports from Afghanistan and Iraq involved Israelis being picked up as contractors doing very nasty things, and yes, doing them even to American troops. None of that stuff made its way into the leakers shocking release pile. We have people who wrote some of those reports, and they were major headlines.
My verdict? No leaker who has had access to the mother-load of dirty Intel laundry on numerous selected countries, and who never releases any on Israel, is for real. They are an operator. Why? Because busting open the Israeli espionage cover-up is the story of a lifetime.
On one side you have a loyal faction of modern Intel professionals trying to monitor and block Israeli penetrations. And then there is the rogue bunch assisting the bad guys for all the rewards offered, not so much by the Israelis themselves but their substantial political helpers.
This battle has been going on for a long time and there is a huge amount of material available even in the declassified files. If you want to find out more, all you have to do is scratch the dirt. It is the espionage scandal of our time and these phony leakers have contributed nothing.
Veterans Today burned Assange in the fall of 2011, with Ziggy Brzezinski helping through his big PBS interview where he spilled the beans about the Assange information being released having been 'seeded.' He gave our initial claims a lot more exposure.
So that really leaves only one plausible explanation for 'missing' the Israeli espionage angle. Remember I said it would be impossible for a really connected leaker not to know about it. And if Assange and Snowden were really these altruistic goody goodies who cry about the public's right to know how they are being abused by government spying on them, then why would they give the Zionists a free pass for doing it to all of us?
Press TV readers would know why...because these guys are on an Israeli string. This is simply Intel 101. When everybody is getting embarrassed by leaks except for that one special group, there is no suspect number two.
The Europeans are crying wolf as part of the charade, also. They all have been doing similar communications intercept spying on their own people...and more than a few of them in conjunction with the US under sharing arrangements.
The beginning of this came from the alleged 911 hijackers. They had spent time in various European states and moved around different legal jurisdictions as the most normal tactic of that era for avoiding close monitoring by counter-intelligence services.
Communications Intel people did not want to get caught being responsible for missing another major attack, so it was open city on collecting everything they could by whatever means available. The NSA name for it was Total Awareness. This sometimes would include having other jurisdictions do things that were illegal for you to do in your own country.
For example, years ago Canada intercept sites could collect material on Americans, and we on them, and both could testify that they were not collecting communications domestically and be telling the truth technically. But they were never asked about whether there was a sharing arrangement with anyone. This is part of the theater of Congressional hearings...what does not get asked.
The Israelis have a huge appetite for intercept information and they used their Jewish Lobby political muscle to get their contractors inside many of their friendly country counterintelligence operations, especially communications. In the US, Michael Chertoff literally hardwired them with full promotion and protection from Bush and Cheney.
Remember this is the crowd, along with Rudy Giuliani, who were going to make Bernie Kerik Homeland Security Director after being a high school dropout and detective third class. He was nothing more than a sock puppet for his handlers who would have been running the show.
What kind of leaders would use a tragedy like 911 to put a totally incompetent person in charge of the biggest conglomeration of Intel and law enforcement in history? Many were suspicious that they wanted to make sure that 911 would never be unraveled as to who was really behind it here in the US. Bernie would have been perfect for that. He has been out of jail a month now.
So what we have had going on is a cruel betrayal, not only here in America but in many countries. The War on Terror has been used by elites as an excuse to get a vice grip control over their populations, profiling them on a scale formerly only dreamed about.
Why would this be necessary? The only real answer is a looming fear of publics finding out what their governments had really done to them, the extent of the corruption and how thoroughly they had been pillaged.
People learning that their countries had been stolen, that would make them dangerous. They would all turn against those responsible. The only defense for the elites then would be to quickly round up all those of a certain profile, those who had the leadership skills, the knowledge, and the network strength to fight back.
The data mining ability available to governments now is absolutely incredible. They can find out just about anything about anybody...but not on the Israelis, of course. Think about it. With these new tools we should have been able to decimate Israel's espionage networks here...political, military, financial, media, academia and the think tanks.
How many Israeli Intel networks have the Western countries broken up since 911? The answer is zero. The Zionists have compromised these Western nations in a variety of ways, with the primary tool being political espionage as that is the pathway you use to get your people deeply embedded in all the important spots.
They spend ten, twenty years, even longer grooming their people to have them ready when the time is right to slip them into sensitive positions. Even our Justice Department has been compromised, as loyal people have gone everywhere to initiate prosecutions only to be told that it was just impossible for “protected entities”.
Assange, and now Snowden, are just side shows...burning up the public attention time clock that could have been much better spent going after the really dangerous threats. You cannot involve the Israelis in anything and have any security. The two are mutually exclusive.
The professional Intel people all know this, but get overruled by the civilian leadership where that fix is in. To call these countries democracies is an embarrassment to the word. These are conquered countries where people were sold the story about the tooth fairy and who are now struggling to outgrow their childish beliefs as their make believe world comes down around their ears.
All of these countries, their elite class, deem their own people to be their number one threat. And the Israeli Lobby operators are stuck to the elites like glue, promising to protect them when the dark times come...that they will be OK if they are with the right group.
Dear readers, we are not on their 'right group' list. We are on the expendable, potential threat one. Even War on Terror veterans found themselves on it, yet many are still refusing to let go of their Teddy Bears and face up to what has to be done.
You can shoot me as the bad news messenger if you want, but that won't save you. Saving ourselves is going to require some very clear thinking, determination, and building street armies like the Egyptians just did.
When we can put 50 million people into the streets and bring the military over with us, it will be a new Independence day. And the first order of business would be to clean up 911, and not let those responsible walk among us.
11 july 2013
Oday Aboushi, who played for the University of Virginia Cavaliers, was drafted by the NFL’s New York Jets in May. (Lee Coleman / Icon/Newscom)
Football player Oday Aboushi, recently drafted to the New York Jets NFL team, is the target of an escalating media smear campaign to associate him with terrorism and extremism, apparently for no other reason than his Palestinian ancestry.
Aboushi compared to accused murderer
Football player Oday Aboushi, recently drafted to the New York Jets NFL team, is the target of an escalating media smear campaign to associate him with terrorism and extremism, apparently for no other reason than his Palestinian ancestry.
Aboushi compared to accused murderer
In the most recent smear, Jonathan Mael, the new media coordinator for MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, tweeted that the New York Jets “are a disgrace. The Patriots have Aaron Hernandez, the Jets have Oday Aboushi.”
Hernandez, who formerly played for the NFL’s New England Patriots, is currently facing trial on murder charges.
When challenged by other Twitter users for this outrageous comparison, Mael promptly deactivated his entire Twitter account.
Reached by telephone at MLB.com’s corporate offices by The Electronic Intifada, Mael said, “I’m sorry I can’t help you right now,” and immediately hung up phone.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mael was a “Community Relations Intern” at the Israel lobby group AIPAC in 2010. (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, Mael publicly apologized)
A rare Palestinian American in the NFL and a role model
Aboushi, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a well-respected and recognized player during his college career at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated this year.
The Jets signed the 6 foot 6 inches, 308-pound Aboushi in May on a four-year contract.
Aboushi also drew attention for being a rare Arab American player in the NFL, and a community role model.
“You don’t see many of us in the sport,” Aboushi told the Associated Press at the time. “So for me to kind of break that mold and sort of open the door for other people, and show them that it is possible, it’s a great feeling. It’s a pleasure for me, an honor, and I’m happy to be able to be that sort of person for people.”
He also spoke to HuffPost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: Video
Smears started by racist, Islamophobic website
The smears against Aboushi appear to originate in a 9 July article on FrontPageMag, a website published by notorious anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian agitator David Horowitz, who is also a key figure in the Islamphobia industry.
The article, by Joe Kaufman, claims that Aboushi “gave a speech at a radical Muslim conference sponsored by a group denying Israel’s right to exist and associated with blatantly anti-Semitic and terrorist propaganda.”
What was this supposedly radical conference? It was the El-Bireh Convention, an annual community gathering of Palestinian Americans, especially people with connections to the town of the same name, near Ramallah.
In typical smear tactic fashion, Kaufman makes a laundry list of other speakers at the conference, alleges various nefarious ties to them, and then hopes that these outlandish accusations will rub off on Aboushi – guilt by association.
Accused of using the word “Nakba”
Even FrontPageMag’s Kaufman could not find any inflammatory words to attribute to Aboushi, but expressed outrage that Aboushi tweeted on 15 May, “65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance.”
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance
Kaufman claims, “The Nakba or Catastrophe is a derogatory reference to Israel’s May 1948 founding as an independent Jewish state. It is used to spread enmity against Israel and to fuel terrorist attacks from groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
In fact, “Nakba” is the term Palestinians, mainstream media and even Israeli organizations like Zochrot use to describe the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1947.
As Zionist militias invaded their lands to create Israel, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from 500 cities, towns and villages in historic Palestine.
For Kaufman, however, Aboushi’s acknowledgment of Palestinian and Israeli history and praise of Palestinians’ perseverance amounted to a call for “terrorism.”
Smear spreads to Yahoo! News
The scurrilous smears against Aboushi have now spread to Yahoo! News, where Adam Waksman wrote a column, linking back to Kaufman, headlined: “Could Oday Aboushi Jeopardize His NFL Career with Anti-Israel Activism?”
With nothing to go on other than the outlandish smears from FrontPageMag, Waksman alleges that Aboushi “has been accused of playing an increasing role in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism.” (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, the Waksman article appeared to have been removed from the Yahoo! News website).
Silencing and smearing Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians
It is clear that Aboushi has done absolutely nothing to deserve these smears and that they are aimed at him because he is publicly identified as Palestinian American and participates in his community’s activities.
Aboushi’s high profile and recognition as a positive role model may also be threatening to hate groups invested in ensuring that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are always perceived in a negative light.
Aboushi himself has not commented on the attacks directly, but retweeted this message of support from another person:
Dalia@TheBlahDalia @Oday_Aboushi75 as a Palestinian and a Muslim, you make me and my family very proud!
He also made this tweet that may be an indirect reference to the smear campaign:
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 The greatest revenge is success. #truth
Contacted by The Electronic Intifada, the New York Jets media office said it had not issued any statement about the matter.
Update: MLB’s Mael apologizes
Major League Baseball’s new media coordinator Jonathan Mael has apologized for comparing New York Jets player Oday Aboushi, a Palestinian American, to an accused murderer.
“I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to [Oday] Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet,” Mael tweeted this afternoon. “The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs.”
on Twitter I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to Obay Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet. 1/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 on Twitter The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs. 2/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 Yahoo! News also appears to have removed the Adam Waksman article from its site which repeated Islamophobic smears against Aboushi. However it did not post an apology or explanation.
Aboushi has also tweeted a message of thanks to supporters:
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 Can't thank everyone enough for all the supportive and strong words! Continuing to hold my head high. Thank You!
(Jeff Haynes / Agence France Presse) New York Jets’ Oday Aboushi faces anti-Palestinian smears Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 19:49 iconphotosthree389420.jpg Oday Aboushi, who played for the University of Virginia Cavaliers, was drafted by the NFL’s New York Jets in May.
(Lee Coleman / Icon/Newscom) Football player Oday Aboushi, recently drafted to the New York Jets NFL team, is the target of an escalating media smear campaign to associate him with terrorism and extremism, apparently for no other reason than his Palestinian ancestry.
Aboushi compared to accused murderer twitter_-_jdmael-_the_nyjets_are_a_disgrace_.png In the most recent smear, Jonathan Mael, the new media coordinator for MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, tweeted that the New York Jets “are a disgrace. The Patriots have Aaron Hernandez, the Jets have Oday Aboushi.”
Hernandez, who formerly played for the NFL’s New England Patriots, is currently facing trial on murder charges.
When challenged by other Twitter users for this outrageous comparison, Mael promptly deactivated his entire Twitter account.
Reached by telephone at MLB.com’s corporate offices by The Electronic Intifada, Mael said, “I’m sorry I can’t help you right now,” and immediately hung up phone.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mael was a “Community Relations Intern” at the Israel lobby group AIPAC in 2010. (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, Mael publicly apologized)
A rare Palestinian American in the NFL and a role model Aboushi, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a well-respected and recognized player during his college career at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated this year.
The Jets signed the 6 foot 6 inches, 308-pound Aboushi in May on a four-year contract.
Aboushi also drew attention for being a rare Arab American player in the NFL, and a community role model.
“You don’t see many of us in the sport,” Aboushi told the Associated Press at the time. “So for me to kind of break that mold and sort of open the door for other people, and show them that it is possible, it’s a great feeling. It’s a pleasure for me, an honor, and I’m happy to be able to be that sort of person for people.”
He also spoke to HuffPost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin:
Smears started by racist, Islamophobic website The smears against Aboushi appear to originate in a 9 July article on FrontPageMag, a website published by notorious anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian agitator David Horowitz, who is also a key figure in the Islamphobia industry.
The article, by Joe Kaufman, claims that Aboushi “gave a speech at a radical Muslim conference sponsored by a group denying Israel’s right to exist and associated with blatantly anti-Semitic and terrorist propaganda.”
What was this supposedly radical conference? It was the El-Bireh Convention, an annual community gathering of Palestinian Americans, especially people with connections to the town of the same name, near Ramallah.
In typical smear tactic fashion, Kaufman makes a laundry list of other speakers at the conference, alleges various nefarious ties to them, and then hopes that these outlandish accusations will rub off on Aboushi – guilt by association.
Accused of using the word “Nakba” Even FrontPageMag’s Kaufman could not find any inflammatory words to attribute to Aboushi, but expressed outrage that Aboushi tweeted on 15 May, “65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance.”
on Twitter Kaufman claims, “The Nakba or Catastrophe is a derogatory reference to Israel’s May 1948 founding as an independent Jewish state. It is used to spread enmity against Israel and to fuel terrorist attacks from groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
In fact, “Nakba” is the term Palestinians, mainstream media and even Israeli organizations like Zochrot use to describe the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1947.
As Zionist militias invaded their lands to create Israel, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from 500 cities, towns and villages in historic Palestine.
For Kaufman, however, Aboushi’s acknowledgment of Palestinian and Israeli history and praise of Palestinians’ perseverance amounted to a call for “terrorism.”
Smear spreads to Yahoo! News The scurrilous smears against Aboushi have now spread to Yahoo! News, where Adam Waksman wrote a column, linking back to Kaufman, headlined: “Could Oday Aboushi Jeopardize His NFL Career with Anti-Israel Activism?”
With nothing to go on other than the outlandish smears from FrontPageMag, Waksman alleges that Aboushi “has been accused of playing an increasing role in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism.” (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, the Waksman article appeared to have been removed from the Yahoo! News website).
Silencing and smearing Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians It is clear that Aboushi has done absolutely nothing to deserve these smears and that they are aimed at him because he is publicly identified as Palestinian American and participates in his community’s activities.
Aboushi’s high profile and recognition as a positive role model may also be threatening to hate groups invested in ensuring that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are always perceived in a negative light.
Aboushi himself has not commented on the attacks directly, but retweeted this message of support from another person:
on Twitter He also made this tweet that may be an indirect reference to the smear campaign:
on Twitter Contacted by The Electronic Intifada, the New York Jets media office said it had not issued any statement about the matter.
Update: MLB’s Mael apologizes
Major League Baseball’s new media coordinator Jonathan Mael has apologized for comparing New York Jets player Oday Aboushi, a Palestinian American, to an accused murderer.
“I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to [Oday] Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet,” Mael tweeted this afternoon. “The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs.”
on Twitter I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to Obay Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet. 1/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 on Twitter The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs. 2/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 Yahoo! News also appears to have removed the Adam Waksman article from its site which repeated Islamophobic smears against Aboushi. However it did not post an apology or explanation.
Aboushi has also tweeted a message of thanks to supporters:
on Twitter Update, 12 July:
Aboushi speaks out From an interview Aboushi gave to The New York Post today:
“My family’s been just as shocked by the lies and smears as I’ve been,” Aboushi said in a telephone interview this afternoon. “I don’t think I’m radical at all. I have never done any radical behavior. For the writer to come out and claim that just builds lies on top of the lies.”
Read the whole article.
Hernandez, who formerly played for the NFL’s New England Patriots, is currently facing trial on murder charges.
When challenged by other Twitter users for this outrageous comparison, Mael promptly deactivated his entire Twitter account.
Reached by telephone at MLB.com’s corporate offices by The Electronic Intifada, Mael said, “I’m sorry I can’t help you right now,” and immediately hung up phone.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mael was a “Community Relations Intern” at the Israel lobby group AIPAC in 2010. (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, Mael publicly apologized)
A rare Palestinian American in the NFL and a role model
Aboushi, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a well-respected and recognized player during his college career at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated this year.
The Jets signed the 6 foot 6 inches, 308-pound Aboushi in May on a four-year contract.
Aboushi also drew attention for being a rare Arab American player in the NFL, and a community role model.
“You don’t see many of us in the sport,” Aboushi told the Associated Press at the time. “So for me to kind of break that mold and sort of open the door for other people, and show them that it is possible, it’s a great feeling. It’s a pleasure for me, an honor, and I’m happy to be able to be that sort of person for people.”
He also spoke to HuffPost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin: Video
Smears started by racist, Islamophobic website
The smears against Aboushi appear to originate in a 9 July article on FrontPageMag, a website published by notorious anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian agitator David Horowitz, who is also a key figure in the Islamphobia industry.
The article, by Joe Kaufman, claims that Aboushi “gave a speech at a radical Muslim conference sponsored by a group denying Israel’s right to exist and associated with blatantly anti-Semitic and terrorist propaganda.”
What was this supposedly radical conference? It was the El-Bireh Convention, an annual community gathering of Palestinian Americans, especially people with connections to the town of the same name, near Ramallah.
In typical smear tactic fashion, Kaufman makes a laundry list of other speakers at the conference, alleges various nefarious ties to them, and then hopes that these outlandish accusations will rub off on Aboushi – guilt by association.
Accused of using the word “Nakba”
Even FrontPageMag’s Kaufman could not find any inflammatory words to attribute to Aboushi, but expressed outrage that Aboushi tweeted on 15 May, “65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance.”
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance
Kaufman claims, “The Nakba or Catastrophe is a derogatory reference to Israel’s May 1948 founding as an independent Jewish state. It is used to spread enmity against Israel and to fuel terrorist attacks from groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
In fact, “Nakba” is the term Palestinians, mainstream media and even Israeli organizations like Zochrot use to describe the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1947.
As Zionist militias invaded their lands to create Israel, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from 500 cities, towns and villages in historic Palestine.
For Kaufman, however, Aboushi’s acknowledgment of Palestinian and Israeli history and praise of Palestinians’ perseverance amounted to a call for “terrorism.”
Smear spreads to Yahoo! News
The scurrilous smears against Aboushi have now spread to Yahoo! News, where Adam Waksman wrote a column, linking back to Kaufman, headlined: “Could Oday Aboushi Jeopardize His NFL Career with Anti-Israel Activism?”
With nothing to go on other than the outlandish smears from FrontPageMag, Waksman alleges that Aboushi “has been accused of playing an increasing role in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism.” (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, the Waksman article appeared to have been removed from the Yahoo! News website).
Silencing and smearing Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians
It is clear that Aboushi has done absolutely nothing to deserve these smears and that they are aimed at him because he is publicly identified as Palestinian American and participates in his community’s activities.
Aboushi’s high profile and recognition as a positive role model may also be threatening to hate groups invested in ensuring that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are always perceived in a negative light.
Aboushi himself has not commented on the attacks directly, but retweeted this message of support from another person:
Dalia@TheBlahDalia @Oday_Aboushi75 as a Palestinian and a Muslim, you make me and my family very proud!
He also made this tweet that may be an indirect reference to the smear campaign:
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 The greatest revenge is success. #truth
Contacted by The Electronic Intifada, the New York Jets media office said it had not issued any statement about the matter.
Update: MLB’s Mael apologizes
Major League Baseball’s new media coordinator Jonathan Mael has apologized for comparing New York Jets player Oday Aboushi, a Palestinian American, to an accused murderer.
“I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to [Oday] Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet,” Mael tweeted this afternoon. “The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs.”
on Twitter I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to Obay Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet. 1/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 on Twitter The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs. 2/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 Yahoo! News also appears to have removed the Adam Waksman article from its site which repeated Islamophobic smears against Aboushi. However it did not post an apology or explanation.
Aboushi has also tweeted a message of thanks to supporters:
Oday Aboushi@Oday_Aboushi75 Can't thank everyone enough for all the supportive and strong words! Continuing to hold my head high. Thank You!
(Jeff Haynes / Agence France Presse) New York Jets’ Oday Aboushi faces anti-Palestinian smears Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 19:49 iconphotosthree389420.jpg Oday Aboushi, who played for the University of Virginia Cavaliers, was drafted by the NFL’s New York Jets in May.
(Lee Coleman / Icon/Newscom) Football player Oday Aboushi, recently drafted to the New York Jets NFL team, is the target of an escalating media smear campaign to associate him with terrorism and extremism, apparently for no other reason than his Palestinian ancestry.
Aboushi compared to accused murderer twitter_-_jdmael-_the_nyjets_are_a_disgrace_.png In the most recent smear, Jonathan Mael, the new media coordinator for MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, tweeted that the New York Jets “are a disgrace. The Patriots have Aaron Hernandez, the Jets have Oday Aboushi.”
Hernandez, who formerly played for the NFL’s New England Patriots, is currently facing trial on murder charges.
When challenged by other Twitter users for this outrageous comparison, Mael promptly deactivated his entire Twitter account.
Reached by telephone at MLB.com’s corporate offices by The Electronic Intifada, Mael said, “I’m sorry I can’t help you right now,” and immediately hung up phone.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mael was a “Community Relations Intern” at the Israel lobby group AIPAC in 2010. (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, Mael publicly apologized)
A rare Palestinian American in the NFL and a role model Aboushi, a native of Brooklyn, New York, was a well-respected and recognized player during his college career at the University of Virginia, from which he graduated this year.
The Jets signed the 6 foot 6 inches, 308-pound Aboushi in May on a four-year contract.
Aboushi also drew attention for being a rare Arab American player in the NFL, and a community role model.
“You don’t see many of us in the sport,” Aboushi told the Associated Press at the time. “So for me to kind of break that mold and sort of open the door for other people, and show them that it is possible, it’s a great feeling. It’s a pleasure for me, an honor, and I’m happy to be able to be that sort of person for people.”
He also spoke to HuffPost Live’s Ahmed Shihab-Eldin:
Smears started by racist, Islamophobic website The smears against Aboushi appear to originate in a 9 July article on FrontPageMag, a website published by notorious anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian agitator David Horowitz, who is also a key figure in the Islamphobia industry.
The article, by Joe Kaufman, claims that Aboushi “gave a speech at a radical Muslim conference sponsored by a group denying Israel’s right to exist and associated with blatantly anti-Semitic and terrorist propaganda.”
What was this supposedly radical conference? It was the El-Bireh Convention, an annual community gathering of Palestinian Americans, especially people with connections to the town of the same name, near Ramallah.
In typical smear tactic fashion, Kaufman makes a laundry list of other speakers at the conference, alleges various nefarious ties to them, and then hopes that these outlandish accusations will rub off on Aboushi – guilt by association.
Accused of using the word “Nakba” Even FrontPageMag’s Kaufman could not find any inflammatory words to attribute to Aboushi, but expressed outrage that Aboushi tweeted on 15 May, “65th anniversary of the Nakba and palestinians all across the world are still thriving. #perseverance.”
on Twitter Kaufman claims, “The Nakba or Catastrophe is a derogatory reference to Israel’s May 1948 founding as an independent Jewish state. It is used to spread enmity against Israel and to fuel terrorist attacks from groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
In fact, “Nakba” is the term Palestinians, mainstream media and even Israeli organizations like Zochrot use to describe the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1947.
As Zionist militias invaded their lands to create Israel, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from 500 cities, towns and villages in historic Palestine.
For Kaufman, however, Aboushi’s acknowledgment of Palestinian and Israeli history and praise of Palestinians’ perseverance amounted to a call for “terrorism.”
Smear spreads to Yahoo! News The scurrilous smears against Aboushi have now spread to Yahoo! News, where Adam Waksman wrote a column, linking back to Kaufman, headlined: “Could Oday Aboushi Jeopardize His NFL Career with Anti-Israel Activism?”
With nothing to go on other than the outlandish smears from FrontPageMag, Waksman alleges that Aboushi “has been accused of playing an increasing role in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activism.” (Note: Several hours after initial publication of this post, the Waksman article appeared to have been removed from the Yahoo! News website).
Silencing and smearing Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians It is clear that Aboushi has done absolutely nothing to deserve these smears and that they are aimed at him because he is publicly identified as Palestinian American and participates in his community’s activities.
Aboushi’s high profile and recognition as a positive role model may also be threatening to hate groups invested in ensuring that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are always perceived in a negative light.
Aboushi himself has not commented on the attacks directly, but retweeted this message of support from another person:
on Twitter He also made this tweet that may be an indirect reference to the smear campaign:
on Twitter Contacted by The Electronic Intifada, the New York Jets media office said it had not issued any statement about the matter.
Update: MLB’s Mael apologizes
Major League Baseball’s new media coordinator Jonathan Mael has apologized for comparing New York Jets player Oday Aboushi, a Palestinian American, to an accused murderer.
“I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to [Oday] Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet,” Mael tweeted this afternoon. “The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs.”
on Twitter I apologize to the @nyjets organization and to Obay Aboushi for my insensitive and offensive tweet. 1/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 on Twitter The comparison was beyond inappropriate and did not reflect my true beliefs. 2/2
— Jonathan Mael (@jdmael) July 11, 2013 Yahoo! News also appears to have removed the Adam Waksman article from its site which repeated Islamophobic smears against Aboushi. However it did not post an apology or explanation.
Aboushi has also tweeted a message of thanks to supporters:
on Twitter Update, 12 July:
Aboushi speaks out From an interview Aboushi gave to The New York Post today:
“My family’s been just as shocked by the lies and smears as I’ve been,” Aboushi said in a telephone interview this afternoon. “I don’t think I’m radical at all. I have never done any radical behavior. For the writer to come out and claim that just builds lies on top of the lies.”
Read the whole article.
10 july 2013
Snowden said that the NSA has a “massive body” called the Foreign Affairs Directorate, through which it cooperates with other entities like Israel on security matters.
Earlier in March 2013, a research by a group of independent legal experts at the request of NATO described the cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities as an “act of force.”
“Acts that kill or injure persons or destroy or damage objects are unambiguously uses of force” and likely violate international law, the research read.
Iranian experts detected and neutralized the malware in time, averting any extensive damage to the country's industrial sites and resources.
In June 2012, The New York Times revealed that US President Barack Obama had secretly ordered the cyber attack with the Stuxnet computer virus.
In addition, a report published by the Washington Post in the same month said that the US and Israel had jointly created the computer virus Flame -- a Stuxnet-like espionage malware -- to spy on Iran.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Earlier in March 2013, a research by a group of independent legal experts at the request of NATO described the cyber attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities as an “act of force.”
“Acts that kill or injure persons or destroy or damage objects are unambiguously uses of force” and likely violate international law, the research read.
Iranian experts detected and neutralized the malware in time, averting any extensive damage to the country's industrial sites and resources.
In June 2012, The New York Times revealed that US President Barack Obama had secretly ordered the cyber attack with the Stuxnet computer virus.
In addition, a report published by the Washington Post in the same month said that the US and Israel had jointly created the computer virus Flame -- a Stuxnet-like espionage malware -- to spy on Iran.
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used the unfounded accusation as a pretext to impose illegal sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
8 july 2013
John Kerry and wife Teresa on day of swearing in as secretary of state
Teresa Heinz Kerry was in critical, now in stable condition with undisclosed medical issue at Massachusetts General Hospital; family asks for privacy
US Secretary of State John Kerry's wife, philanthropist and heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry, was flown on Sunday to a top Boston hospital from the Massachusetts island of Nantucket with an unspecified medical condition. Glen Johnson, a State Department official who serves as Kerry's personal spokesman, announced her illness but did not give details. Heinz Kerry, 74, was in critical but stable condition, a Boston newspaper reported.
"Late Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry was taken by ambulance to Nantucket Cottage Hospital, accompanied by her husband," Johnson
said in a brief written statement released by the State Department. "Once doctors had stabilized her condition, she was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, again accompanied by the secretary," he added. "The family is grateful for the outpouring of support it has received and aware of the interest in her condition, but they ask for privacy at this time."
Massachusetts General Hospital is among the top US medical centers and is one of the Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals. Earlier, a source close to the family said Heinz Kerry's trip to the hospital from the family's summer residence in Nantucket, an island where many wealthy Americans have vacation homes, was necessitated by a "medical condition" rather than an accident.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Heinz Kerry was flown to Boston on her own plane. On its website, the Boston Herald newspaper quoted Cottage Hospital spokesman Noah Brown as saying Heinz Kerry was admitted to the emergency room in critical condition. Her condition has since stabilized, the paper quoted him as saying. Brown said he had been asked to refer questions to the State Department. Kerry and his wife have long vacationed on Nantucket, about 30 miles (48 km) off the south coast of Cape Cod.
Heinz Kerry was born in the southern African nation of Mozambique and is the widow of Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz III, an heir to the Heinz food fortune.
Heinz, a Republican, died in a helicopter crash in 1991. In 1995, she married Kerry, who at the time was a Democratic US senator from Massachusetts, on Nantucket. Kerry was one of the richest US senators, mostly due to Heinz Kerry's fortune. Heinz Kerry is known for being outspoken and famously told a reporter to "shove it" during her husband's unsuccessful presidential bid in 2004.
Kerry's second wife, she is the chairman of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies. She is active in environmental issues, has served on numerous boards and has been awarded 10 honorary degrees, according to the Heinz Endowment's website.
Teresa Heinz Kerry was in critical, now in stable condition with undisclosed medical issue at Massachusetts General Hospital; family asks for privacy
US Secretary of State John Kerry's wife, philanthropist and heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry, was flown on Sunday to a top Boston hospital from the Massachusetts island of Nantucket with an unspecified medical condition. Glen Johnson, a State Department official who serves as Kerry's personal spokesman, announced her illness but did not give details. Heinz Kerry, 74, was in critical but stable condition, a Boston newspaper reported.
"Late Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry was taken by ambulance to Nantucket Cottage Hospital, accompanied by her husband," Johnson
said in a brief written statement released by the State Department. "Once doctors had stabilized her condition, she was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, again accompanied by the secretary," he added. "The family is grateful for the outpouring of support it has received and aware of the interest in her condition, but they ask for privacy at this time."
Massachusetts General Hospital is among the top US medical centers and is one of the Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals. Earlier, a source close to the family said Heinz Kerry's trip to the hospital from the family's summer residence in Nantucket, an island where many wealthy Americans have vacation homes, was necessitated by a "medical condition" rather than an accident.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Heinz Kerry was flown to Boston on her own plane. On its website, the Boston Herald newspaper quoted Cottage Hospital spokesman Noah Brown as saying Heinz Kerry was admitted to the emergency room in critical condition. Her condition has since stabilized, the paper quoted him as saying. Brown said he had been asked to refer questions to the State Department. Kerry and his wife have long vacationed on Nantucket, about 30 miles (48 km) off the south coast of Cape Cod.
Heinz Kerry was born in the southern African nation of Mozambique and is the widow of Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz III, an heir to the Heinz food fortune.
Heinz, a Republican, died in a helicopter crash in 1991. In 1995, she married Kerry, who at the time was a Democratic US senator from Massachusetts, on Nantucket. Kerry was one of the richest US senators, mostly due to Heinz Kerry's fortune. Heinz Kerry is known for being outspoken and famously told a reporter to "shove it" during her husband's unsuccessful presidential bid in 2004.
Kerry's second wife, she is the chairman of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies. She is active in environmental issues, has served on numerous boards and has been awarded 10 honorary degrees, according to the Heinz Endowment's website.
2 july 2013
American author Stephen Lendman says Washington’s illegal spying across the world may end up in a “global war” and “mushroom-shaped cloud”.
“There is a real threat that will explode into something much, much greater. The potential of a global war, the potential of using real weapons of mass destruction is a mushroom-shaped cloud of future”, he said in a phone interview with Press TV’s U.S. Desk. Lendman also said President Barack Obama downplayed “America’s unconstitutional spying at home, its lawless blind on a global scale”. “European leaders in Germany, in Italy, in France, in other countries they expressed outrage quote on quote about what America is doing. |
They know perfectly well what American is doing. They may know more now because of details that Edward Snowden revealed. He connected a lot of dots that maybe even insiders didn’t fully know about this”, he explained.
Snowden’s revelation is “the tip of the iceberg. It reflects America’s imperial agenda. Obama is waging wars in the Middle East, in central Asia. He’s got other wars in mind”, the analyst said.
“Humanity may not survive on Obama’s watch. America has a permanent war policy”, Lendman said. “In the entire history of America, it’s an almost unbelievable fact, but it’s true. America never in a single year experienced peace”.
American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is staying in a transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, has sought asylum from at least 15 countries.
Snowden, who is charged with espionage, has revealed to the news media details of secret surveillance programs under which the U.S. spy agencies collect massive amounts of data on people’s communications via telephone and the Internet. He also said Washington is spying on its European allies.
Snowden’s revelation is “the tip of the iceberg. It reflects America’s imperial agenda. Obama is waging wars in the Middle East, in central Asia. He’s got other wars in mind”, the analyst said.
“Humanity may not survive on Obama’s watch. America has a permanent war policy”, Lendman said. “In the entire history of America, it’s an almost unbelievable fact, but it’s true. America never in a single year experienced peace”.
American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is staying in a transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, has sought asylum from at least 15 countries.
Snowden, who is charged with espionage, has revealed to the news media details of secret surveillance programs under which the U.S. spy agencies collect massive amounts of data on people’s communications via telephone and the Internet. He also said Washington is spying on its European allies.
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'Snowden woke up US people to dangers'
Press TV has conducted an interview with Mark Glenn, with the Crescent and Cross Solidarity Movement, about the American whistleblower Edward Snowden publishing information about the US government's spying activities. |
African Americans, including Angela Davis and actress Lisa Gay Hamilton, released a statement reaffirming parallels between Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and discrimination against African Americans living under Jim Crow in the United States, a press release by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation said on Monday. The African American statement, signed by academics, artists, clergy, activists and a retired city councilman, was prompted by attacks on the analogy between Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the Jim Crow segregation laws that followed Alice Walker's use of it in an interview, and later, her allusion to it in an open letter calling on US singer Alicia Keys to cancel her July 4 concert in Israel.
The attacks came in the form of an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, an editorial in the New York Daily News, and an Israeli government op-ed in the New York Post.
Titled “African Americans Affirming the Jim Crow analogy in Palestine/Israel,” the statement “affirm[ed] the accuracy of parallels drawn between the experience of African Americans in the U.S. under Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
Signatories cited a 2012 report from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that “framed Israel’s treatment of both its Palestinian citizens, and those living under military rule in the occupied territories, in terms of segregation and racial discrimination.”
Their criticism of how Palestinians are treated extends to the situation of citizens of Israel, linking to a report by Adalah, the Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel, which lists several dozen laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens.
Alicia Keys is set to play a concert in Israel on the 4th of July, ignoring a growing campaign of direct pleas not to perform in Israel from artists including Alice Walker and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Felicia Eaves, co-chair of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and a signatory to the letter commented: “It’s completely accurate to draw parallels between the segregation and discrimination of Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Angela [Davis], myself and others have made this analogy previously, because our travel to the Occupied Palestinian Territories reminded us of the oppression we’ve faced in the past right here in the United States.”
The attacks came in the form of an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, an editorial in the New York Daily News, and an Israeli government op-ed in the New York Post.
Titled “African Americans Affirming the Jim Crow analogy in Palestine/Israel,” the statement “affirm[ed] the accuracy of parallels drawn between the experience of African Americans in the U.S. under Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
Signatories cited a 2012 report from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that “framed Israel’s treatment of both its Palestinian citizens, and those living under military rule in the occupied territories, in terms of segregation and racial discrimination.”
Their criticism of how Palestinians are treated extends to the situation of citizens of Israel, linking to a report by Adalah, the Legal Center for Minority Rights in Israel, which lists several dozen laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens.
Alicia Keys is set to play a concert in Israel on the 4th of July, ignoring a growing campaign of direct pleas not to perform in Israel from artists including Alice Walker and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Felicia Eaves, co-chair of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and a signatory to the letter commented: “It’s completely accurate to draw parallels between the segregation and discrimination of Jim Crow and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Angela [Davis], myself and others have made this analogy previously, because our travel to the Occupied Palestinian Territories reminded us of the oppression we’ve faced in the past right here in the United States.”
Edward Snowden, in his first public message since arriving at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport eight days ago, has issued a statement accusing President Obama of deploying “the old, bad tools of political aggression” and “using citizenship as a weapon” in order to silence him. It describes the Obama administration as “afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.”
The message also accuses Vice President Biden of pressuring foreign leaders to deny his extradition requests.
Here is Snowden’s statement in full, as it appears on the Wikileaks Web site:
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat from my government for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.
This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person.
Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
The official Twitter feed of Wikileaks announced the statement in advance, another sign of the group’s efforts to assist Snowden in finding a country that might shelter him. Sarah Harrison, a researcher with WikiLeaks, reportedly traveled with Snowden on his flight from Hong Kong to Moscow. News agencies in Russia reported Monday that she had filed an asylum request with Russian officials on behalf of Snowden.
Snowden has been in limbo since arriving at the transit area of Moscow’s airport. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a news conference earlier on Monday, suggested that Snowden could stay in Russia as long as he stopped releasing information damaging to the United States. “There is one condition,” Putin said. “He has to stop his work undermining our U.S. partners, as odd as it may sound coming from me.”
Snowden reportedly sent a letter to President Rafael Correa of Ecuador thanking him for examining his request for asylum there, according to Reuters.
The message also accuses Vice President Biden of pressuring foreign leaders to deny his extradition requests.
Here is Snowden’s statement in full, as it appears on the Wikileaks Web site:
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat from my government for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.
This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.
For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person.
Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
The official Twitter feed of Wikileaks announced the statement in advance, another sign of the group’s efforts to assist Snowden in finding a country that might shelter him. Sarah Harrison, a researcher with WikiLeaks, reportedly traveled with Snowden on his flight from Hong Kong to Moscow. News agencies in Russia reported Monday that she had filed an asylum request with Russian officials on behalf of Snowden.
Snowden has been in limbo since arriving at the transit area of Moscow’s airport. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a news conference earlier on Monday, suggested that Snowden could stay in Russia as long as he stopped releasing information damaging to the United States. “There is one condition,” Putin said. “He has to stop his work undermining our U.S. partners, as odd as it may sound coming from me.”
Snowden reportedly sent a letter to President Rafael Correa of Ecuador thanking him for examining his request for asylum there, according to Reuters.
1 july 2013
US President Barack Obama on Monday said he would fully inform European allies angry over allegations Washington had bugged their offices, once he had all the facts.
"When we have an answer, we will make sure to provide all the information that our allies want," Obama said at a press conference in Tanzania.
"When we have an answer, we will make sure to provide all the information that our allies want," Obama said at a press conference in Tanzania.
Edward Snowden
A Russian consular official says American whistle-blower Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum in the country.
Kim Shevchenko, the duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular office, told reporters on Monday that Snowden’s representative, Sarah Harrison, gave his request at the consular office at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Sunday.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Snowden may stay in Russia under “one condition: he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from my lips.”
Snowden has been holed up at the airport since June 23 when he travelled from Hong Kong to avoid US extradition.
Washington has called on Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia not to provide political asylum to Snowden.
The US has reportedly revoked Snowden’s passport, with State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, saying the fugitive “should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the US.”
Snowden leaked two top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Several US government officials including President Obama and FBI director Robert Mueller have defended the secret spying programs claiming that they are essential to the fight against terrorism.
Russia will never hand over NSA leaker to US: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country will never hand over National Security Agency (NSA) whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, to the United States.
“Russia has never extradited anybody anywhere and has no intention to do so,” Putin said on Monday.
Putin added that Russian secret services are not working in collusion with Snowden who "considers himself to be a human rights campaigner, a new dissident, something like [Soviet-era rights campaigner Andrei] Sakharov."
The Russian president went on to say that Snowden may stay in Russia under “one condition: he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from my lips.”
The statement came after US President Barack Obama said Washington had finished holding high-level discussions with Moscow over their respective security agencies to find a way out of the impasse following Snowden’s arrival in Moscow on June 23.
Washington has called on Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia not to provide political asylum to Snowden.
The US has reportedly revoked Snowden’s passport, with State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, saying the fugitive “should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the US.”
A Russian consular official says American whistle-blower Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum in the country.
Kim Shevchenko, the duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular office, told reporters on Monday that Snowden’s representative, Sarah Harrison, gave his request at the consular office at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Sunday.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Snowden may stay in Russia under “one condition: he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from my lips.”
Snowden has been holed up at the airport since June 23 when he travelled from Hong Kong to avoid US extradition.
Washington has called on Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia not to provide political asylum to Snowden.
The US has reportedly revoked Snowden’s passport, with State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, saying the fugitive “should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the US.”
Snowden leaked two top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Several US government officials including President Obama and FBI director Robert Mueller have defended the secret spying programs claiming that they are essential to the fight against terrorism.
Russia will never hand over NSA leaker to US: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country will never hand over National Security Agency (NSA) whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, to the United States.
“Russia has never extradited anybody anywhere and has no intention to do so,” Putin said on Monday.
Putin added that Russian secret services are not working in collusion with Snowden who "considers himself to be a human rights campaigner, a new dissident, something like [Soviet-era rights campaigner Andrei] Sakharov."
The Russian president went on to say that Snowden may stay in Russia under “one condition: he should stop his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners no matter how strange this may sound coming from my lips.”
The statement came after US President Barack Obama said Washington had finished holding high-level discussions with Moscow over their respective security agencies to find a way out of the impasse following Snowden’s arrival in Moscow on June 23.
Washington has called on Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia not to provide political asylum to Snowden.
The US has reportedly revoked Snowden’s passport, with State Department spokesperson, Jen Psaki, saying the fugitive “should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the US.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) attends a meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron
Germany Federal Prosecutor's Office says it is preparing to bring charges against US and British intelligence agencies over large-scale spying operations on EU offices, a new report says.
The British daily The Independent reported on Sunday that Germany’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor is preparing charges following “fresh allegations that the [US and UK secret] services spied far more extensively than thought on German phone and internet traffic.”
On Monday, Germany announced that it was summoning the US ambassador over the breach in trust.
If the allegations are true, the massive surveillance program would demonstrate “unacceptable Cold War style behavior toward Berlin,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In another development, the German news weekly Der Spiegel accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of bugging EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.
The magazine said US spy agencies monitor about half a billion telephone calls, emails and mobile phone text messages in Germany every month, making it the most targeted state in the European Union.
Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand were not included in NSA surveillance operations but Germany was open for “spy attacks,” Der Spiegel added.
Reports last week revealed that the British spy agencies along with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had tapped German phone and internet traffic, sharing its data with the NSA.
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that his country will no longer negotiate with the United States in any area without guarantees that spying has ended.
"There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees, for France but also for all of the European Union, for all partners of the United States," Hollande noted.
The accusations against US and UK intelligence services came after secret US documents were released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The American whistleblower has assured that the information he obtained about US surveillance programs will continue to be published.
In the beginning of June, Snowden leaked documents that revealed the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been secretly gathering information of American citizens and other people all around the world.
Germany Federal Prosecutor's Office says it is preparing to bring charges against US and British intelligence agencies over large-scale spying operations on EU offices, a new report says.
The British daily The Independent reported on Sunday that Germany’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor is preparing charges following “fresh allegations that the [US and UK secret] services spied far more extensively than thought on German phone and internet traffic.”
On Monday, Germany announced that it was summoning the US ambassador over the breach in trust.
If the allegations are true, the massive surveillance program would demonstrate “unacceptable Cold War style behavior toward Berlin,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In another development, the German news weekly Der Spiegel accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of bugging EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.
The magazine said US spy agencies monitor about half a billion telephone calls, emails and mobile phone text messages in Germany every month, making it the most targeted state in the European Union.
Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand were not included in NSA surveillance operations but Germany was open for “spy attacks,” Der Spiegel added.
Reports last week revealed that the British spy agencies along with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had tapped German phone and internet traffic, sharing its data with the NSA.
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that his country will no longer negotiate with the United States in any area without guarantees that spying has ended.
"There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees, for France but also for all of the European Union, for all partners of the United States," Hollande noted.
The accusations against US and UK intelligence services came after secret US documents were released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The American whistleblower has assured that the information he obtained about US surveillance programs will continue to be published.
In the beginning of June, Snowden leaked documents that revealed the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been secretly gathering information of American citizens and other people all around the world.