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By Ramzy Baroud

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

It seems that media consensus has been conclusively reached: Turkey has been forced into a Middle Eastern mess not of its own making; the ‘Zero Problems with Neighbors’ notion, once the foreign policy centerpiece of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), is all but a romantic notion of no use in realpolitik.

Turkey’s “policy’s goal – to build strong economic, political, and social ties with the country’s immediate neighbors while decreasing its dependency on the United States – seemed to be within sight,” wrote Sinan Ulgen nearly a year ago. “But the Arab Spring exposed the policy’s vulnerabilities, and Turkey must now seek a new guiding principle for regional engagement.”

This reading was not entirely unique and was repeated numerous times henceforth. It suggests an air of naiveness in Turkish foreign policy and overlooks the country’s barely selfless regional ambitions. It also imagines that Turkey was caught in a series of unfortunate events, forcing its hand to act in ways inconsistent with its genuine policies of yesteryears. This, however, is not entirely true.

The recent skirmishes of Oct 4 at the Syrian-Turkish border were reportedly invited by mortar shells fired from the Syrian side. Five people including 3 children were killed and the incident was Turkey’s ‘last straw.’ Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported of an official Syrian apology through the United Nations soon after the shelling and the Syrian government promised an investigation. However, their seriousness remains doubtful. But the Turkish military was quick to retaliate, as the parliament voted to extend a one-year mandate to the military in order carry out cross-border military action. Irrespective of the violence at the Syrian border, the mandate was originally aimed at Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and it had already been set for a pre-scheduled vote in mid-October.

The peculiarly evolving episode seems unreal. Not long ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had, to the displeasure of Israel and the US, reached out to both Syria and Iran. He referred to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as his ‘brother’, knowing of the full political implications of that term. When Turkey voted against Iran sanctions at the United Nations in June 2010, ‘it provoked a crisis,” a Wall Street Journal article read. Later, Turkey quarreled with NATO over the missile-defense initiative, a system that is clearly aimed at Iran and Syria. “Turkey is becoming the Alliance’s ‘opt-out’ member in operations in Muslim countries,” said the WSJ. These developments took place at the heels of the deadly Israeli military raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which carried mostly Turkish peace activists as part of a larger effort – The Gaza Freedom Flotilla – aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza. Israel killed 9 Turkish civilians and wounded many more on the Mavi Marmara.

Erdogan and other Turkish officials rose to the status of superstars among Arabs at the time when ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was himself complicit in the Gaza siege. Understandably, the AKP became a political model and the subject of endless academic and television debates. Turkey was the brand to beat even culturally and economically.

Internally, Erdogan and his party were credited for overseeing massive economic growth, and successfully reining in and eventually integrating the once insubordinate, coup-prone military leadership into a democratic system managed by elected civilians. Externally, Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu helped rebrand and partly break the isolation of several Arab leaders, including Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi. (Turkish leaders must have been fully aware of the grievances of Arab peoples as they signed economic deals worth billions of dollars with the very dictators they helped oust.) Although Ankara’s spat with Tel Aviv didn’t translate into tangible change in Israeli or US policies towards Palestinians, a level of gratification permeated: At last, a country strong enough as Turkey had the courage to stand up to Israel’s intransigent and calculated insults.

Then Tunisia overthrew its president and Turkey’s foreign policy cards were mix-up like never before. If the US, France and other Western powers were inconsistent and self-contradicting in their stances on uprisings, revolutions and civil wars that struck the Middle East and North Africa in the last 18 months, Turkey’s foreign policy was particularly muddled.

Initially, Turkey responded to what seemed like distant affairs with good sound bites concerning people’s rights, justice and democracy. In Libya, the stakes were higher as NATO was hell-bent on determining the outcomes of Arab revolts whenever space allowed. Turkey was the last NATO member to sign onto the Libya war. The delay proved costly as Arab media that cheered for war seemed to target Turkey’s prized reputation and credibility.

When Syrians rebelled, Turkey was prepared. Its policy was aimed at taking early initiative by imposing its own sanctions on Damascus. It went even further as it turned a blind eye while its once well-guarded border area became awash with smugglers, foreign fighters, weapons and more. Aside from hosting the Syrian National Council (SNC), it also provided a safe haven for the Free Syrian Army that operated from the Turkish borders at will. While much of that was justified as righteous Turkish action to deter injustice, it was one of the primary reasons which made a political solution unattainable. It turned what eventually became a bloody and brutal conflict into a regional struggle. It allowed for Syrian territories to be used in a proxy conflict involving various countries, ideologies and political camps. Since Turkey is a NATO member, it meant that NATO was involved in the Syrian conflict, although in a more understated way than its war on Libya.

The Kurdish dimension to Turkey’s role in Syria is of course enormous. Less reported is that Turkey is industriously working to control any Kurdish backlash in Syria’s northeast region, thus doubling Turkey’s border conflict, which has been mostly confined to northern Iraq. Writing in Turkish Today’s Zaman, Abdullah Bozkurt spoke of “a high-stakes game plan for Turkey to control the fast-paced developments in northern Syria using the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in neighboring Iraq as a proxy force without getting directly involved in Syria.” Moreover, Ankara has more discreetly worked to compel favorable policies by the SNC regarding the Kurdish question. Bozkurt further reports that “Ankara has silently pushed SNC to elect an independent Kurd, Abdulbaset Sieda, in June as a compromise leader .. as a safeguard measure for Turkey to exert influence over some 1.5 million Kurds in Syria.”

Indeed, the so-called Arab Spring has partly confused and eventually helped realign Turkish foreign policy towards Arab countries, and even Iran. Turkey however was barely a passive player before or after the upheaval. The impression that Turkey has stood at the fence as competing agendas south of their border finally pushed Ankara to the brink, is both erroneous and misleading. Regardless of how Turkish politicians wish to formulate their involvement, there is no escaping that they have taken part in the war against Libya, and are now entangled, to some extent by choice, in the brutal mess in Syria.

The sad irony is that hours after Turkey’s retaliation to the Syrian fire, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told reporters in Paris that an attack on Turkey is an attack on NATO, an underhanded gesture of careful solidarity. He added, “If the Assad regime were to fall, it would be a vital strike on Iran.” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman could barely hide his excitement, for what the US neoconservatives failed to achieve, is now being done by proxy. Lieberman, hardly a visionary, predicted a ‘Persian Spring’ on the way that, he urged, must be supported. For Israel and the US, now that Turkey is on board, the possibilities are endless.

Ankara must reconsider its role in the deepening calamity, and devise more sensible policies. War should not be on the agenda. Too many people have died that way.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London.)

By Kourosh Ziabari

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Nobel Prize is the most prestigious honor which one may be awarded in his lifetime. The legacy of Alfred Nobel is so matchless and incomparable that more than one century after the first Nobel Prize was awarded, it is still the most exalted and esteemed prize that can be conferred to people who work for the promotion and advancement of sciences and global peace.

Many people live their entire life with the dream of winning a Nobel Prize, without revealing this sealed aspiration to anyone. Chemists, physicists, medics, economists, authors, poets and activists who invest their whole life on a groundbreaking achievement which rightfully and truly deserves a Nobel Prize may witness the swift and unstoppable passage of years, without being ever recognized for their striking breakthroughs and accomplishments, either by the Nobel Foundation or the universities, organizations and groups which award important prizes.

Nobody can doubt that Nobel Prize is an insignificant reality or may diminish in importance and value with time. Every year, weeks before the announcement of the Nobel Prize laureates in physiology or medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, peace and economics, mass media, authors, university professors and ordinary people begin to make speculations about who may be given the prize and have their name recorded in the brilliant history of the Nobel Prize.

Upon writing his will in 1895, Alfred Nobel thought that it must be suitable to entrust the responsibility of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to a Norwegian committee, because Norway did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden, and “at the end of the nineteenth century the Norwegian Storting (legislative assembly) had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and its efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration,” as written by the Norwegian Nobel Committee website.

Alfred Nobel had realized the need for supporting and sponsoring global efforts aimed at fostering peace and tranquility around the world, and for this reason, he demanded that a group of five Norwegian lawmakers should decide about the destiny of the Nobel Peace Prize each year.

It’s not far from reality to claim that the criteria for the endowment of Nobel Peace Prize as stipulated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee have been usually politically motivated, and this is something which is not in line with the essence of Alfred Nobel’s will. Of course there are people in the history of Nobel Peace Prize who were awarded the prize righteously for their sincere efforts to promote peace, encourage dialogue among the nations and reduce or abolish the standing armies. But, let’s just be fair. Was the European Union really worthy of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?

I really don’t know if this union has really contributed to fraternity and integrity between its 27 members throughout the past decades, but what I have personally witnessed in the past year is that this union has aggressively declared an all-out, bloodless war on Iran, affecting millions of innocent civilians in my country who can’t understand for what crime they are being targeted and punished in such a belligerent and unfair manner.

The European Union began to impose an inclusive oil embargo against Iran since July 1 as a result of direct pressure and lobbying by the United States and in an effort aimed at paralyzing Iran’s nuclear program which they claim is not aimed at civilian purposes, and finally breaking the back of Iran’s economy and pressuring it into making political concessions.

As a result of these sanctions, the value of Iran’s currency, rial, has dropped to its lowest level against dollar in three decades, the country has been hit by a staggering and overwhelming hyperinflation which according to Prof. Steve H. Hanke has been increasing the price of goods and commodities by 70% every month since the sanctions began to take effect and the country’s export of oil has decreased 600,000 to 800,000 barrels each day which means a 50% reduction in sales. Moreover, several international insurance companies, airliners and shipping lines have ceased their cooperation with Iran as a result of the economic crisis which has encompassed the country.

As a result of the oil embargo and other financial restrictions imposed on my country by the EU, the Iranian families are unable to fund their students abroad and consequently, a large group of Iranian students studying in foreign universities are returning en masse. Sensitive medicine and pharmaceutical products which were previously imported from the foreign countries cannot find their way to Iran’s markets anymore and thousands of patients badly in need of medicines for such diseases as thalassemia, hepatitis, diabetes, different types of cancer, heart diseases and psychiatric disorders are facing serious problems with finding their medicines.

Are the leaders of the European Union recognizing that their sanctions are taking a heavy toll on the innocent, ordinary Iranian citizens and shattering the ambitions and aspirations of thousands of youths who cannot realize their dreams due to the financial problems which have tumbled on their lives?

Are the leaders of the European Union who now carry the grandiose accolade of the world’s most important prize for promoting peace recognizing that the purchasing power of the middle-class and working families has experienced an unimaginable free-fall in the recent months and that their lives is on the verge of blowing apart?

Waging wars does not take place simply by means of bombarding cities or dropping nuclear bombs on other nations. What the European Union has been doing with Iran is the unmistakable representation of an all-out war in which the ordinary citizens are the silent victims.

Alfred Nobel writes in his will, my capital should be “invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.”

Was destroying the economy of Iran and ruining the lives of thousands of innocent civilians the magnum opus for which the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian journalist

By Mairead Corrigan Maguire

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Alfred Nobel was a visionary who believed in a demilitarized peaceful world. In his Will he left his Nobel peace prize to those who would work for ‘fraternity among nations’,’abolition or reduction of standing armies’, and ‘holding and promotion of peace congresses’.

In Nobel’s will the award for Peace was to go to Champions of peace, those working to replace militarism with international order based on law and the abolition of national military forces. Nobel’s vision and dream was to replace the power of militarism and war, with the power of law. I believe the Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union, does not meet the criteria of Alfred Nobel vision and spirit, and his vision of a demilitarized peaceful world.

In many ways the European Union has done much in the past sixty years for Peace and reconciliation amongst nations, but it has sadly done little for the demilitarization of Europe. Whilst the EU imposes severe Austerity measures upon many EU countries it simultaneously supports the growing militarisation of Europe by its support for US/NATO (guilty of war crimes against Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., ) It continues to support the policies of USA Nuclear weapons, held in six EU States. It supports arms sales from European States (UK, Germany, etc.,) to countries all around the world. The EU instead of upholding human rights for countries such as Palestine, has rewarded Israel by giving them special trading status and huge grants (EU tax payers money) for its Military Research and weapons thus enabling it to continue it illegal policies of occupation and Apartheid of Palestine.

I cannot support this decision to give the peace prize to EU and appeal to the Swedish Foundation Authority to hold the Nobel Committee accountable for giving, yet again, a political award instead of supporting People taking courageous, and often dangerous stands to help move the human family away from military international Relations to one based on peaceful resolution of conflict.

I believe that the reform of the nobel peace Committee is now necessary. As is the case of all other nobel prize committees which are made-up of experts in their particular field, perhaps it is time too for the NPP Committee to be comprised of people experienced in the field of Peacemaking and International Law.

Mairead Maguire is a Northern Irish peace activist, and winner of 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. (www.peacepeople.com)

By Heidi-Jane Esakov

13 October 2012

@ Palestine Update

The apartheid analogy has often been used when describing the conditions of Palestinian’s living under Israeli occupation. Heidi-Jane Esakov draws these stark parralels by comparing the Israeli demolition of the Bedouin village in Israel’s Negev region to the forced removals in Sophiatown, South Africa, during apartheid.

During the forced removals of the South African suburb of Sophiatown in 1955, around 65,000 residents were moved and “dumped in matchbox houses” in black townships. Only a few years before that, in 1948, Bedouins of Israel’s Naqab/Negev region, who Israel had not expelled, were also forcibly moved “from their ancestral lands into a restricted zone called the Siyag (literally, ‘fenced in’)”. And, just as Sophiatown was completely bulldozed, the Negev village of Al-Arakib was recently razed to make way for a Jewish National Fund forest.

As a South African it is particularly difficult not to see the stark parallels between the experiences of black South Africans under apartheid and of Palestinians today.

Haunting echoes of apartheid’s forced removals

Sophiatown, a once vibrant, predominantly “black” residential area, was targeted by the apartheid government in its programme of forced removals. In accordance with apartheid-inspired segregation and settlement of whites on land previously inhabited by black South Africans, Sophiatown became the “whites-only” suburb of “Triomf” (Triumph).

In a haunting mirror, on September 12, 2012, the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in Israel’s Negev region was demolished for the thirty-ninth time – despite tenure dating back to the Ottoman period. More recently the government won the right to build a Jewish settlement on the site of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran. The planned Jewish settlement will become Hiran.

The villagers of Umm al-Hiran and Al-Arakib are citizens of Israel: Its Arab citizens that Israel prides – and parades – as proof of its democracy. They are, however, not Jewish, a critical determiner of who is entitled to what land and how rights are allocated. If the state has its way, Al-Arakib will be forested over by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), and, with Umm al-Hiran, join the fate of around 500 Palestinian villages that have been wiped from the face of the “Jewish State” since 1947 (a process that started before the state came into being in 1948). Many of these villages now lie buried beneath Jewish settlements and JNF recreation parks and forests.

JNF’s Zionist socialisation

Like so many Jewish children, I had a JNF Blue Box (money box); “the small Blue Box and the Big Jewish Dream” that has become a symbol of Jewish-Zionist identity. I had certificates representing trees planted in my name. These were integral to my socialisation into Zionism: I was helping to make “the desert bloom” and enabling “my people” to return to “our” homeland.

What I did not know was that my “right” to the land was contingent on the dispossession of Palestinians from their land and rights. Discovering the truth was jarring.

The ruins in the JNF South Africa Forest in the Galilee enthralled me as a child visiting Israel; I believed I had stumbled upon an ancient archaeological site. I have since learnt that these ruins are the remains of the destroyed Palestinian village of Lubya. Like many other South African Jews, I have sponsored trees in this forest.

JNF’s inherent racism

The JNF, established in 1901 to acquire land for Jewish settlement, plays a critical role in socialising and educating Jews into Zionism, and institutionalising the belief that Jews have a right to land and rights at the expense of Palestinian rights. The JNF is also central to the state’s ownership, and ongoing appropriation, of land. With the state’s identity premised on “the land” (Eretz Yisrael), the JNF, a quasi-governmental organisation, arguably embodies the state.

The JNF owns 13 per cent of land and along with the Israel Lands Administration manages 93 per cent of all land. Its constitutive tenets are inherently racist, stipulating that only Jews may use or lease JNF land. Some of this land was purchased prior to 1948, but the larger part was transferred by the state post independence. This allowed the state to surrender its responsibility of equality to all its citizens by passing its authority to the JNF which could then openly practice exclusion.

The JNF unashamedly confirms: “It is not a public body that works for the benefit of all its citizens of the state. The loyalty of the JNF is given to the Jewish people and only to them is the JNF obligated. The JNF, as the owner of JNF land, does not have a duty to practice equality to all citizens of the state.”

In other words the JNF owes loyalty to me, but not to 20 per cent of Israel’s population, its Palestinian citizens, not to mention Palestinians dispossessed by the Nakba. And according to its Jewish-only policy, I have more right to land – a South African of Lithuanian origin – than Palestinians who have lived on the land for centuries. And despite its racist policies, the JNF is still given authority to manage most state land.

‘Judaisation’ of the Negev

The JNF further positions itself as an innocuous environmental organisation:

“Over the past 109 years, JNF has evolved into a global environmental leader by planting 250 million trees… bringing life to the Negev Desert and educating students around the world about Israel and the environment.”

The truth is quite different.

To ensure that the villagers of Al-Arakib can never return, the JNF has begun planting a forest of environmentally damaging, non-indigenous eucalyptus trees to conceal evidence of its existence. Further exposing the JNF’s hypocrisy, in the process of forced removals, the state uprooted hundreds of indigenous olive trees.

Al-Arakib and Umm al-Hiran are but two of the many so-called unrecognised Bedouin villages targeted by the state; villages unrecognised despite the thousands who live in them – unrecognised to render the inhabitants powerless. As part of the Prawer Plan, the state plans to expel 30,000 Bedouins from their villages in the Negev, and forcibly move them to designated townships. This will devastate livelihoods, sever them from their land, destroy ancestral lifestyles, and corrode at their communal identity and sense of belonging. In close collaboration with the JNF, the state plans to settle 250,000 Jews in the Negev.

Simply put, the idea is to make the Negev Jewish and ensure that the non-Jewish inhabitants live in manageable enclaves.

With our own history of apartheid, particularly disquieting was discovering the role of the South African JNF in enabling this displacement of Bedouins. Certificates are even available to support the project:

“[O]ur goal is to bring 250,000 new residents to the Negev… JNF South Africa is making a difference by assisting young pioneers to establish farmsteads… located in the Negev highlands between the Telallim Junction to the town of Mizpe Ramon… built on available sites in the Negev that are neither protected nature reserves nor army training areas. Most of the sites have been chosen for their scenic location and in many cases have been built on previously disturbed sites.” [my emphasis]

Would Sophiatown too be a previously disturbed site?

Apartheid?

The UN/ICC definition of apartheid is “systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime”.

For many Jewish South Africans the apartheid analogy that is gaining traction is painful and is being determinedly challenged. As South Africans we know apartheid, and it was brutal. White South Africans, however, cannot know the pain and humiliation of dispossession and oppression. Rather, we can know what it means to be privileged at the expense of someone else’s oppression.

It is not for the oppressor to decide how the oppressed should understand their oppression.

But, how is whites-only different to Jewish-only? And, if the forced removal of 30,000 Bedouins to make way for 250,000 Jews is not “systematic oppression… with the intention of maintaining the regime”, what, then, is it?

*Heidi-Jane Esakov is a researcher at the Afro-Middle East centre

By William Blum

13 October, 2012

@ Killinghope.org

“Nuclear, ecological, chemical, economic — our arsenal of Death by Stupidity is impressive for a species as smart as Homo sapiens”

The hurricanes, the typhoons, the heat waves … the droughts, the heavy rains, the floods … ever more powerful, ever new records being set. Something must be done of course. Except if you don’t believe at all that it’s man-made. But if there’s even a small chance that the greenhouse effect is driving the changes, is it not plain that, at a minimum, we have to err on the side of caution? There’s too much at stake. Like civilization as we know it. Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere must be greatly curtailed.

The three greatest problems facing the beleaguered, fragile inhabitants of this lonely planet are climate change, economic crisis, and the violence of war. It is my sad duty to report that the United States of America is the main culprit in each case. Is that not remarkable?

Why does Barack Obama not pursue the battle against climate change with the same intensity he pursues war? Why does he not seek to punish the American bankers and stockbrokers responsible for the financial calamity as much as he seeks to punish Julian Assange and Bradley Manning?

In both cases he’s putting the interests of the corporate world before anything else. No amount of fines or penalties will induce corporate leaders to modify their behavior. Only spending some hard time in a prison cellblock might cause the growth in them of their missing part, the part that’s shaped like a social conscience.

Only prosecuting George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and their partners in bombing and torture will discourage future American war lovers from following in their bloody footsteps.

The recent election result can only embolden Obama. He likely took it as an affirmation of his policies, although only 29.3% of those eligible to vote actually voted for him. And an unknown, but certainly significant, number of those who did so held their nose while voting for the supposed lesser of two evils. Hardly indicative of impassioned support for his policies.

Last week the United Nations Climate Summit was held in Doha, Qatar. The comments which came from many of the activists (as opposed to various government officials) were doomsdayish … “Time is running out … time has already run out … the climate has already changed … Hurricane Sandy, rising sea levels, the worst is yet to come.” The Kyoto protocol is still the only international treaty stipulating cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a touchstone for many environmentalists. But the United States has never ratified it. At the previous conferences in Copenhagen and Durban, the US blocked important global action and failed to honor vital pledges.

At the Doha conference the US was acutely criticized for failing to take the lead on planet protection, especially in light of its standing as the largest historic contributor to the current levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. (“The most obdurate bully in the room”, declared the Indian environmentalist, Sunita Narain. 2)

What motivates the American representatives, now as before, as ever, is concern about corporate profits. Cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions can hurt the bottom line. A suitable epitaph for the earth’s tombstone. Shamus Cooke, writing on ZSpace, sums it up well: “Thus, if renewable energy is not as profitable as oil — and it isn’t — then the majority of capitalist investing will continue to go towards destroying the planet. It really is that simple. Even the best-intentioned capitalists do not throw their money away on non-growth investments.”

A brief history of Superpowers

From the Congress of Vienna of 1815 to the Congress of Berlin in 1878 to the “Allies” invasion of Russia in 1918 to the formation of what became the European Union in the 1950s, the great powers of Europe and the world have gotten together in grand meeting halls and on the field of battle to set the ground rules for imperialist exploitation of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, to Christianize and ‘civilize’, to remake the maps, and to suppress revolutions and other threats to great-power hegemony. They have been deadly serious. In 1918, for example, some 13 nations, including France, Great Britain, Rumania, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Japan, and the United States, combined in a military invasion of Russia to “strangle at its birth” the nascent Bolshevik state, as Winston Churchill so charmingly put it.

And following World War 2, without any concern about who had fought and died to win that war, the Western powers, sans the Soviet Union, moved to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO, along with the European Union, then joined the United States in carrying out the Cold War and preventing the Communists and their allies from coming to power legally through elections in France and Italy. That partnership continued after the formal end of the Cold War. The United States, the European Union, and NATO are each superpowers, with extensive military, as well as foreign policy integration — almost all EU members are also members of NATO; almost all NATO members in Europe are in the EU; almost all NATO members have had a military contingent serving under NATO and/or the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and elsewhere.

Together, this Holy Triumvirate has torn apart Yugoslavia, invaded and devastated Afghanistan and Iraq, crippled Iran, Cuba and others with sanctions, overthrown the Libyan government, and are on the verge now of the same in Syria. Much of what the Triumvirate has told the world to justify this wanton havoc has concerned Islamic terrorism, but it should be noted that prior to the interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria all three countries were secular and modern. Will the people of those sad lands ever see that life again?

In suppressing the left in France and Italy, and later in destabilizing the governments of Libya and Syria, the Holy Triumvirate has closely aligned itself with terrorists and terrorist methods to a remarkable extent. 3 In Syria alone, it would be difficult to name any Middle East terrorist group associated with al Qaeda — employing their standard car bombings and suicide bombers — that is not taking part in the war against President Assad with the support of the Triumvirate. Is there anything — legally or morally — the Triumvirate regards as outside its purview? Any place not within its geographical mandate? Britain and France have now joined Turkey and Arabian Peninsula states in recognizing a newly formed opposition bloc as the sole representative of the Syrian people. “From the point of view of international law, this is absolutely unacceptable,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev declared. “A desire to change the political regime of another state by recognizing a political force as the sole carrier of sovereignty seems to me to be not completely civilised.” France was the first Western state to recognize the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition and was swiftly joined by Britain, Italy and the European Union. 4 The neck irons tighten.

The European Union in recent years has been facing a financial crisis, where its overriding concern has been to save the banks, not its citizens, inspiring calls from the citizenry of some member states to leave the Union. I think the dissolution of the European Union would benefit world peace by depriving the US/NATO mob of a guaranteed partner in crime by returning to the Union’s members their individual discretion in foreign policy.

And then we can turn to getting rid of NATO, an organization that not only has a questionable raison d’être in the present, but never had any good reason-to-be in the past other than serving as Washington’s hit man. 5

The United Nations vote on the Cuba embargo — 21 years in a row

For years American political leaders and media were fond of labeling Cuba an “international pariah”. We don’t hear that any more. Perhaps one reason is the annual vote in the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution which reads: “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. This is how the vote has gone (not including abstentions):

Each fall the UN vote is a welcome reminder that the world has not completely lost its senses and that the American empire does not completely control the opinion of other governments.

How it began: On April 6, 1960, Lester D. Mallory, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, wrote in an internal memorandum: “The majority of Cubans support Castro … The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. … every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba.” Mallory proposed “a line of action which … makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” 6 Later that year, the Eisenhower administration instituted the suffocating embargo against its eternally-declared enemy.

Placing American presidents in their proper context

“Once upon a time there was a radical president who tried to remake American society through government action. In his first term he created a vast network of federal grants to state and local governments for social programs that cost billions. He set up an imposing agency to regulate air and water emissions, and another to regulate workers’ health and safety. Had Congress not stood in his way he would have gone much further. He tried to establish a guaranteed minimum income for all working families and, to top it off, proposed a national health plan that would have provided government insurance for low-income families, required employers to cover all their workers and set standards for private insurance. Thankfully for the country, his second term was cut short and his collectivist dreams were never realize.

His name was Richard Nixon.” 7

Films on US foreign policy

The Power Principle is a series of three films by Scott Noble. Part one, “Empire”, is the only one I’ve seen completely so far and I can say that it’s great stuff. The three parts, with their times, are:

Part 1: Empire (1h 35m)

Part 2: Propaganda (1h 38m)

Part 3: Apocalypse (1h 10m)

Featured in the films are Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, John Stockwell, Christopher Simpson, Ralph McGehee, Philip Agee, Nafeez Ahmed, John Perkins, James Petras, John Stauber, Russ Baker, Howard Zinn, William Blum, Nancy Snow, William I. Robinson, Morris Berman, Peter Phillips, Michael Albert, and others of the usual suspects.

To comment about these films or others by Scott Noble, write to him at dmacab9@hotmail.com

Much more publicized is the new film and book by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. Entitled The Untold History of the United States, it is a 10-part series appearing on Showtime. Only Stone’s name could get this dark side of US history and foreign policy on mainstream television. It will be interesting to observe what the mass media has to say about this challenge to some of America’s most cherished beliefs about itself.

Notes

1. Jeanette Winterson, The New York Times, September 17, 2009 ↩

2. Democracy Now!, December 7, 2012 ↩

3. For France and Italy, see Operation Gladio Wikipedia; and Daniele Ganser, Operation Gladio: NATO’s Top Secret Stay-Behind Armies and Terrorism in Western Europe (2005) ↩

4. Agence France Presse, November 26, 2012↩

5. For the best coverage of the NATO monolith, sign up with StopNATO. To get on the mailing list write to Rick Rozoff at r_rozoff@yahoo.com. To see back issues at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato ↩

6. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, Volume VI, Cuba (1991), p.885 ↩

7. From the review of the book: I am the change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism by Charles Kesler. Review by Mark Lilla, The New York Times Book Review, September 30, 2012, p.1 ↩

William Blum is the author of:

Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2

Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower

West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir

Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire

Portions of the books can be read, and signed copies purchased, at www.killinghope.org

Email: bblum6 [at] aol.com

By David Swanson

12 October, 2012

@ Warisacrime.org

Yes, indeed, it is a little-acknowledged feat of miraculous life-saving power that Europe has not gone to war with itself — other than that whole Yugoslavia thing — since World War II.  It’s as clear a demonstration as anything that people can choose to stop fighting.  It’s a testament to the pre-war peace efforts that criminalized war , the post-war prosecutions of the brand new crime of making war, the reconstruction of the Marshall Plan, and … and something else a little less noble, and much less Nobel-worthy.

Alfred Nobel’s will, written in 1895, left funding for a prize to be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Fredrik Heffermehl has been leading a valuable effort to compel the Nobel committee to abide by the will . Now they’ve outdone themselves in their movement in the other direction.

Europe is not a person.  It has not during the past year — which is the requirement — or even during the past several decades done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations.  Ask Libya.  Ask Syria.  Check with Afghanistan.  See what Iraq thinks.  Far from doing the best work to abolish or reduce standing armies, Europe has joined with the United States in developing an armed global force aggressively imposing its will on the world.

There were good nominees and potential nominees available, even great ones .

Now the Nobelites have almost guaranteed themselves a second-ever pro-war peace-prize acceptance speech.  If you don’t recall who gave the first one, I’ll tell you after the U.S. election when you might be better able to hear me.

What a disgrace that the Nobel peace prize needs alternative awards that don’t go to warmongers.  What a further shame that even those don’t always go to people who measure up to Nobel’s will.

Was Nobel asking so much really when he asked that a prize go to whoever did the best work toward abolishing war?

The West is so in love with itself that many will imagine this award a success.  Surely Europe not going to war with itself is more important that Europe going to war with the rest of the world!  Imagine how many white people might have died if Europe had kept its warmaking to itself.  By directing the threat of war outward and engaging in humanitarian wars and philanthropic wars, Europe has taken us beyond naive war abolition and into an era of powerful possibilities. Oh, and some dark people died.  But we’re looking at the Big Picture.

Does this not frighten anyone?

David Swanson’s books include ” War Is A Lie .” He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works as Campaign Coordinator for the online activist organization http://rootsaction.org . He hosts Talk Nation Radio . Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook .

By Anshul Kumar Pandey

12 October, 2012

@Countercurrents.org

The attack on Malala Yousufzai shows the cowardice of the self appointed guardians of Islam and the power of the pen in an increasingly connected world

On Tuesday, the 9th of October, as Malala Yousufzai sat in her school bus in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan, chatting with her friends and looking forward to returning her home, she had no idea that soon she would be lying in a hospital bed battling for her life. The Taliban, which have been vociferously opposed to the education of girls in the Islamic Republic, soon stopped her bus, identified her and shot her in the head. What was the need to identify her? It so happened that it was Malala who had been at the forefront of the campaign opposing the Taliban diktat of prohibiting girls from attending schools. In a country whose politicians and media think twice before writing or speaking anything against the Taliban, Malala Yousufzai, at the tender age of 11, had made her views crystal clear by writing an online diary for the BBC’s Urdu Service, describing the horrors of living under the Taliban. This had made her the principal eyesore for the Taliban.

Many people wonder and applaud the courage of young Malala on taking on the Taliban by their horns. It would not be an exaggeration to say that some of this courage is ingrained in the very existence of everyone living under the diktats of religious fascists, the core difference being the urge to action, a complete refusal to kow tow to the nonsensical and completely misogynist orders of power weilders and an unflinching commitment to fight against the greatest of the odds. It is no wonder then, that Malala owes her name to Malala Maiwand, a Pashtun poet and a national folk hero in Afghanistan, who rallied the Pashtun army against the British troops in 1880 in the Battle of Maiwand. Times were bleak then, times are bleaker now.

The question that is swirling in the minds of every Pakistani, nay, every person who loves free speech, equality in education and a right to normal childhood is what will it take to stop these spate of shootings, blasts and suicide bombings that have wrecked normal livelihood in Pakistan? Clearly, the strategy of appeasing the Taliban by bowing down to their every ridiculous order, bending over backwards to fulfill their every demand and maintaining a silence closely resembling stupidity and utter cowardice, hasn’t worked at all. It has only made the mad men to sling their Kalashnikovs or AK-47s with more vigor and has given them the authority, an authority gained by fear and terror, to point their guns in any direction and shoot.

Malala is no idealogue. Neither is she a demagogue capable of pulling crowds numbering in thousands. She is just an ordinary schoolgirl who has dared to scribble question marks on the sheets of the history of a nation which are soaked with blood. It did not take her a reserve of herculean strength to oppose the Taliban. It just took her a simple pen, or a keyboard, to start writing how she felt, what she saw, what she believed in. It was the strength of her belief, the strength of her courage, the strength of her resistance, that shook the high pedestals that the Taliban occupied. For if there is any sworn enemy to the crushing wheels of tyranny, it is the spanner of inquisitiveness.

In pointing fingers to the religious dictatorship of Taleban and the utter mayhem that has engulfed her once beautiful valley, Malala put all the apologists of such events to shame. Even as she lies in her hospital bed battling the now familiar forces of death, the entire world celebrates her courage, her determination and her sheer will to wage a battle. Her name means the one who is grief stricken, and yet, it is the people world over who are grief stricken at this assassination attempt.

It was with acute aptness that the New York Times interpreted this attack:

Malala was advocating the ideology of love. She was a young ambassador of peace. By attacking her, the Taliban attempted to warn all the youngsters not to follow her ideology. But after the attack, Malala’s followers have multiplied across the country. She has won. (1)

In Malala’s victory, lies the self inflicted disgraceful humiliation of the Taliban.

Notes:

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/opinion/malala-has-won.html?_r=0

Anshul Kumar Pandey is the Editor at Large of Youth Ki Awaaz: Mouthpiece for the Youth. He can be contacted at anhulkumarpandey [at] gmail [dot] com.

By Dr. Thorsten Pattberg

12 October, 2012

Few people realize that the Bible discourages people from studying foreign languages. The story of the tower of Babel informs us that there is one humanity (God’s one), only that “our languages are confused”. From a European historical perspective, that has always meant that, say, any German philosopher could know exactly what the Chinese people were thinking, only that he couldn’t understand them. So instead of learning the foreign language, he demanded a translation.

Coincidentally, or maybe not quite so, History with a capital ‘H’ followed the Bible. At the time of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, when German scholars still spoke Latin, the German logician Christian Wolff got his hands on a Latin translation of the Confucian Classics. His reaction, I think, is as funny as it is disturbing: He reads Kongzi in Latin and says something like “Great, that looks very familiar, I have the feeling that I totally understand this Confucius!”.

Wolff was so overjoyous with his new mental powers, that he went on to lecture about the Chinese as if he was the king of China. It’s brilliant; if it wasn’t so comical. Among his unforgettable findings were ‘The Motives of the Chinese’, or ‘The Final Purpose of the Chinese’, and so on.

And, of course, when somebody occasionally asked master Wolff why he didn’t visit China, the greatest sinologist of all time played out his greatest intellectual triumph. He replied that “the wisdom of the Chinese was generally not so highly valued that it was necessary to travel there for its sake”.

It’s thus pretty much established, I think, that History stopped with this Wolff, or at least got too tired and too cynical. He sufficiently demonstrated that just about any European could become a ‘China expert’ without knowing a single Chinese terminology.

Since this was true for just about any foreign language; so now we know why the German philosopher Immanuel Kant could reasonably announce the ‘End of All Things’, and Georg Hegel could proclaim the ‘End of History’. Both learned men knew very well that they hadn’t mastered any non-European language in their life-time; and they simply assumed that History was a bit like that too.

This attitude in the Western hemisphere has never changed, with the effect that we live in a crazy world today. Most Europeans believe that the Chinese “speak their languages”, only that they “talk” in Chinese. Take the case of ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’. You may have considered this, but those are European words and do not exist in China at all. Imagine China would return a favor and demand from Europe more wenming and tian ren he yi.

The European attitude is reflected in its translations. Most Westerners simply translate every Chinese key concept into convenient biblical or philosophical terminology. As a result, the Western image of China is literal Chinese-free.

Translation, of course, is an old human habit. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question it. It was our habit to slay our opponents in battle, but we don’t do that any more (except in Afghanistan and Iraq). Why do we still destroy foreign key vocabulary? Well, we first do so, I think, for sociological reasons. If Germany censors all important foreign terminologies, the German public is lead to think it alone knows everything there is to be known in the world, and – metaphorically speaking – behaves like it. That’s why Germany has produced so many “world historians” and “philosophers” like Georg Hegel, Max Weber or Karl Marx.

Academics call it deutungshoheit – meaning having the sovereignty over the definition of thought.

It might sound very depressing, but truth must be told: the West knows little about China, and Cultural China has never become a truly global > phenomenon. Not a single one percent of the educated European citizenry, in my estimation, knows what ruxue is, or a junzi or shengren. And those are some of the most important Chinese concepts there ever were.

Some commentators have argued with me that we need a ‘Global language’, and today’s English is the best candidate. To this I reply, are you crazy, that’s exactly what the Germans once did; now it’s the Anglo-Saxons who close their ‘History’ book and say “we already know you”. No, the true ‘Global language’ would be radically different from today’s English, it would need to adopt the originality and the tens of thousands of words provided by humankind’s other language traditions on top of it.

Every language learner has this from time to time: a subconscious certainty that something is lost in translation, every time, without exception.

Maybe there is a hidden flaw in the story of the tower of Babel. What if our languages are not confused at all, but any single group of human beings were just never enough in numbers to explore all the world’s possibilities? What if the Chinese had invented things – and named them daxue, datong, wenming, tian ren he yi and so on – that no American has ever thought of this way, just as it always has been – I think we agree on this- the other way round.

It is often said that language is the key to understanding China’s culture and tradition.

The question is, which one should it be.

Dr. Thorsten Pattberg is a German scholar at The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University. Versions of this article have been published by Shanghai Daily and Asia Times in October 2012.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: The Syrian Civilian Aircraft Forced to Land in Ankara Airport Carry No Weapons Onboard

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_Foreign and Expatriates Ministry stressed that “In relation to the Turkish authorities which forced a Syrian civilian plane to land in Ankara Airport and searched it before allowing it to take off, there were no prohibited goods onboard.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry said that the Syrian plane took off from Moscow Airport yesterday at 14:26 pm with a number of Syrian and Russian passengers onboard. After entering the Turkish air space, and at 17:20 pm, the Turkish authorities addressed the pilot to modify the GPS data and gave him illogical GPS that is different from the pre-set flight course. Then, suddenly and without warning, the pilot noticed that Turkish warplanes accompanied him and forced him to land in Ankara Airport. After landing, nobody approached the plane till two hours later.

Passengers were asked to go to the waiting hall after which the Turkish security authorities subjected the plane to search and assaulted the plane crew, not to mention locking the contents of the plane for long hours, in addition to having reservations on some contents for inspection. The Syrian plane arrived in Damascus Airport today at dawn.

It is a must here to clarify the fact that the plane contents were already listed on the bill of lading and the payload, the ministry said, adding that the plane was carrying no weapons or prohibited goods in accordance with the unblemished international reputation of the Syrian Arab Airlines.

The ministry added that the Syrian government calls upon the Turkish authorities to return the rest of the plane’s contents intact.

The ministry said there might be articles in the international laws and agreements that allow a state to search planes passing through its airspace, but the problem is the Turkish government’s flagrant violation of these laws and agreements through forcing the plane to land despite the fact that the pilot did not refuse to modify the flight course which exposed the safety of the plane and the passengers to threats because of the sudden appearance of the Turkish warplanes without warning, not to mention the inhuman locking the civilian passengers for many hours and assaulting the crew.

The ministry considered the hostile Turkish behavior an additional evidence on the aggressive policy adopted by Erdogan’s government taking into account the training, harboring and facilitating infiltration through its borders and bombing the Syrian territories.

The Ministry concluded that despite the condemned hostile behavior of the Turkish government, this will not affect our commitment to the friendship relations between the Syrian and Turkish peoples which are greater and much more important than any government.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry: Media Reports on the Syrian Air Force Intercepting a Turkish Commercial Plane Baseless

The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said that some media reports claiming that the Syrian air force intercepted on Thursday a Turkish commercial plane that took off from Beirut and crossed the Syrian airspace are completely baseless.

The ministry said in a statement that the Syrian authorities did not intercept any Turkish civilian or commercial plane.

Syrian Passenger Plane, Forced to Land by Turkish Authorities in Ankara Airport, Arrives in Damascus

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- The Syrian Airbus 320 passenger plane coming from Moscow, which was forced by the Turkish authorities to land in Ankara Airport on Wednesday, arrived in Damascus at 05:10 am Thursday dawn.

Director of the Syrian Arab Airlines, Ghaida Abdullatif, stressed in a statement to SANA that the Turkish authorities assaulted the crew before allowing the plane to take off from Ankara Airport because the crew members refused to sign a document saying that the plane made an emergency landing.

“Turkish F-16 warplanes forced the Syrian plane to land to be searched, doing so in violation of the international procedures in terms of not formerly notifying neither its pilot nor the Turkish civil airline, which almost caused an air accident due to warplanes coming close at an uncalculated distance,” said Abdullatif.

She stressed that the Syrian plane was not carrying any illegal materials and that the cargo was in compliance with the international laws and systems having a legal bill of landing.

Abdullatif assured that all the passengers are in a good health condition, however suffering a very bad psychological state.

The Director of the Syrian Arab Airlines considered what happened as “an inhumane act” that indicates a flaw in dealing with the rules and laws stated in the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.

“Added to that,” Abdullatif said, “the long hours during which the passengers were locked without being provided any services or even informed of what was going on, which left them in a state of panic and a very bad psychological condition.”

She noted that the Syrian Arab Airlines will file a protest to the International Union of Aviation and the Arab Aviation Union as well as all the international and humanitarian organizations against the inhumane treatment the plane’s crew and passengers were subjected to.

She called for separating the political side from the civil aviation in all countries of the world as the civil aviation is a way of communication among peoples.

Russia Asks Turkey for Explanation

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern over the risks which the passengers of the Syrian plane, including 17 Russians, were subjected to being locked for 8 hours on board.

A statement by the Ministry on Thursday stressed that the Turkish side did not inform the Russian Embassy in Ankara of the presence of Russian citizens on board the plane, adding that “we only knew about that through electronic media.”

The statement said Russian consulate staff and a doctor were denied permission to see the Russian passengers without giving explanations despite the Russian Embassy’s asking for permission from the Turkish authorities.

“This came in violation of the bilateral consular agreements,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement, stressing that the Russian passengers were not allowed over 8 hours to come down to the Airport building and were not provided any food, as they were only given permission to go down to the Airport land for a short while.

The statement stressed that the Russian side insists on getting an explanation of such acts by the Turkish authorities towards the Russian citizens and on taking measures that prevent the repetition of such incidents in the future.

A source at the Ministry also said the Russian Embassy in Ankara immediately called the Turkish Foreign Ministry and asked for an explanation about what the Syrian plane was subjected to in the course of its flight from Moscow to Damascus, calling upon the Turkish authorities to assume their responsibilities for the safety of the Russian passengers who were on board.

In the same context, a high-ranking source at a Russian weapons export institution dismissed the existence of any type of weapons or military technology devices and systems on board the Syrian plane.

The source highlighted that “Russia has not halted its cooperation in the field of military technologies with Syria and will provide Syria with any type of military technologies in case of need according to the rules followed and not secretly, particularly via a passenger plane.”

Diplomatic Source in Moscow: Russia’s Ambassador in Ankara Visited Turkish Foreign Ministry Concerning the Syrian Civilian Aircraft Incident

A diplomatic source in Moscow announced on Thursday that the Russian ambassador in Ankara visited the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The source indicated that the visit was related to the incident of forcing the Syrian civilian aircraft to land in Ankara airport, which in fact was on a regular flight from Moscow to Damascus with 17 Russian passengers on board, among them 7 children.

The Russian authorities expressed concern over the incident, considering that it threatened its nationals and was a violation of international conventions in treating civilian passengers.

There have been no further information on the visit of the Russian ambassador.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry stressed in a statement earlier in the day that the Syrian civilian aircraft was carrying no weapons or prohibited goods, considering the hostile Turkish behavior an additional evidence on the aggressive policy adopted by Erdogan’s government, taking into account the training, harboring and facilitating infiltration through its borders and bombing the Syrian territories.

Information Ministry: Syrian Plane  Carried no Ammunitions or Military Equipment

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The Information Ministry on Thursday stressed that the Syrian plane which was forced by the Turkish warplanes to land in Ankara did not carry any ammunitions or military equipment.

In a statement, the Ministry said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement in which he claimed that the Syrian plane carried ammunition and an ‘illegal’ cargo lack credibility, adding that he should show the equipment and ammunition to prove what he said before his people.

Earlier, the Expatriates and Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Syrian civil plane did not carry any sort of weapons or government goods. the plane contents were already listed on the bill of lading and the payload. the plane was carrying no weapons or prohibited goods in accordance with the unblemished international reputation of the Syrian Arab Airlines.

The Ministry added that Erdogan’s statements uncover the fact of the Turkish authorities’ involvement in the piracy on the plane which was flying from Moscow to Damascus.

Foreign Ministry: Statements of Erdogan and Davutoglu on Syrian plane that it was carrying ammunitions or “illegal cargo” are untrue

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)- Foreign and Expatriates Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi underlined that the statements of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahemt Davutoglu claiming that the Syrian plane, forced to land in Ankara by Turkish warplanes, was carrying ammunitions of “illegal cargo” are categorically untrue.

In a statement on Thursday, Makdisi added that those statements uncover the fact of the Turkish authorities’ involvement in the piracy on the plane which was flying from Moscow to Damascus.

Earlier, the Foreign Ministry stressed in a previous statement that what has been reported by some media about the Syrian air force intercepting a Turkish plane which took off from Beirut and entered the Syrian airspace were untrue and baseless.

Terrorists Killed, DShK-equipped Cars Destroyed, Weapons Seized in Several Provinces

Oct 11, 2012

PROVINCES, (SANA)- A unit of the Armed Forces on Thursday carried out qualitative operations against terrorists in Qadi Askar roundabout and the areas around the Eye Hospital and the slaughterhouse in Aleppo city.

The operations resulted in destroying a mortar, 6 DShK-equipped cars, weapons and ammunition warehouse and a stolen ambulance loaded with weapons and ammunition.

The army members also killed 3 RPG shooters and a large number of Terrorists.

The Army units in Aleppo carried qualitative operations that destroyed the gatherings of terrorists to the north of Kfar Aleppo station, two DSHK-equipped cars, killing a number of terrorists, among them Fayssal al-Zubaidi of Qatari nationality, Abdullah al-Rathiyan, Known as Abu Bilal of Saudi Arabia nationality, Moa’ab Sarmani, Hassan Mire’e al-tona and Hassan Mohammad Al-Shabib.

The Army also targeted another den for terrorists at al-Tawama village in al-Atareb in Aleppo, destroying two cars loaded with ammunitions and three DSHK-equipped cars, killing a big number of the terrorist.

An Armed Forces unit attacked a headquarters for terrorists in al-Atareb town in Aleppo countryside and destroyed two DShK-equipped vehicles and a motorcycle transferring terrorists.

In the city of Aleppo, the Armed Forces carried out qualitative operations which resulted in destroying a weapon cache and two DShK-equipped vehicles in Qadi Askar area.

The operations also led to killing a large number of terrorists in al-Tananir Square, Bustan al-Qaser, al-Kallaseh, Souq al-Hal, Souq al-Fustuq, and Antakia Gate areas.

The Armed Forces destroyed three DShK-equipped vehicles and eliminated a number of terrorists in qualitative operations in Mafraq al-Zaroura, Prophet Youssef Mosque and Mafraq al-Sarwat in Khan al-Asal area in Aleppo.

In Aleppo countryside, terrorist Basem Shaaban, a leader of an armed terrorist group, was killed and terrorist Majed Jouma al-Khaled, another leader of an armed terrorist group, was wounded during clashes between the two groups that resulted in killing nine terrorists and wounding 15 others, in addition to destroying severn motorcycles and two cars used by terrorists in Kafar Halab town.

Terrorist Group Assassinates Citizen Diab Mohammad Kheir al-Mashi in Aleppo Countryside

An armed terrorist group assassinated on Thursday the citizen Diab al-Mashi in the house of his father, the member of the People’s Assembly Mohammad Kheir al-Mashi in al-Mashi village in Manbej in Aleppo countryside.

SANA reporter in Aleppo said that 50 terrorists stormed on Thursday al-Mashi’s house and shot him dead.

12 Explosive Devices Dismantled, 9 Mortar Rounds Found in Damascus Countryside

Units of the armed forces dismantled 12 explosive devices, each of which weighed 12 kg, planted by terrorists on the agricultural routes in Zbdeen farms in Damascus Countryside.

A unit of the armed forces found 9 mortar rounds in a farm on the outskirts of al-Mlieha town in the eastern Ghotta in Damascus Countryside.

In the same context, an army unit eliminated an armed terrorist group that was attacking citizens in the town.

Meanwhile, the armed forces released citizen Ahmad al-Hafian from al-Mleiha town who has been kidnapped by an armed terrorist group a week ago.

Armed Forces Clash with Terrorists in Homs

A unit of the Armed Forces clashed with an armed terrorist group which attacked the citizens and the law-enforcement forces in al-Za’afaraneh and Deirfoul towns in al-Rastan countryside in Homs.

The clash resulted in the killing and wounding of the members of the armed group.

The armed forces killed a number of terrorists who were cutting off roads in Talbeiseh town in Homs.

Terrorist Abdel-Rahman Jamal Sweis was identified among the dead.

Rifles and Bombs Seized in Lattakia

Authorities seized a number of rifles, bombs and amounts of C4 material in an apartment in Ali Jammal Street in Lattakia city which the terrorists were using in manufacturing explosive devices.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that the seized materials included a number of machineguns, grenades and 8 kg of C4 explosives which the terrorists were using in making explosive devices.

8 Civilians Martyred, 8 Others Injured in Terrorist Attack against Bus after Crossing Borders from Lebanon

An armed terrorist group Wednesday night attacked a bus carrying Syrian workers coming from Lebanon a few minutes after entering al-Arida border crossing to the Syrian territories.

The attack resulted in killing 8 civilians and injuring 8 others who were taken to al-Basel Hospital in Tartous.

Director of al-Basel Hospital, Yasin Ibrahim said that 8 bodies arrived to the hospital and were put into the refrigerator, adding that they were not identified.

He said that the injuries varied between fractions, shotgun wounds in the chest and limbs and they were treated.

One of the injured, Mohammad Mousa al-Alo told SANA reporter that “at 2:00 am, two cars blocked the way of their bus after entering al-Arida border crossing and took us to a farm. The terrorists handcuffed us, blindfolded us, beat and cursed us for not supporting what they called the rebels of Aleppo.”

In turn, the injured Mohammad Hassan al-Ahmad from Efreen city in Aleppo said that the terrorist group assaulted them and took their personal documents before taking them back to the bus and opening fire on them.

Armed Group Burglarizes Truck Loaded with Bread in Idleb Countryside

An armed terrorist group burglarized a truck loaded with bread on Salqeen-Harem road in the countryside of Idleb.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that an armed terrorist group blocked the truck’s way to Harem city and forced the driver to head to unknown place with the aim of putting pressure on the inhabitants of the city to engage into the terrorist operation carried out by the gunmen in the region.

The source added that the terrorists are preventing the delivery of food materials, particularly bread, to citizens in several areas.

Armed Terrorist Group Kills Citizen Abdel-Mona’em Mousa al-Abboud in Daraa

An armed terrorist group stormed the house of Abdel-Mona’em Mousa al-Abboud, brother of the Syrian People’s Assembly Meember Khaled al-Abboud and shot him dead.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that 7 terrorists raided al-Abboud’s house and opened fire on him and that he was admitted to Daraa National Hospital but he died of wounds.

In Daraa countryside, the Armed Forces clashed with an armed terrorist group in Kafar Shams village and seized the terrorists’ weapons.

An official source in the province told SANA reporter that the seized weapons included a number of machineguns, RPG launchers, PKC machineguns and ammunition magazines.

The source added that the clashes resulted in killing a number of terrorists.

Terrorist Used to Issue Fatwas on Killing and Committing Terrorism agianst Citizens in Raqqa Killed

The armed forces killed terrorist, nicknamed Abu Qutada, who issued fatwas on killing and committing terrorist acts against citizens in Tal Abiad in the countryside of Raqqa.

Premier al-Halqi: National Economy Good… Engineers are Government’s Partners in Development Process

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Prime Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi stressed that the national economy is good and the government’s strategic storage secures self-sufficiency of food materials, strategic goods and oil derivatives.

Meeting Chairman of the Engineers’ Syndicate, Walid Ghazal, and members of the Syndicate’s office, Premier al-Halqi hailed the engineers’ efforts in supporting the comprehensive development process, expressing the government’s readiness to provide necessary support to meet their needs.

Al-Halqi reiterated confidence in the close end of the current crisis and Syria’s battle against terrorism, armed terrorist groups and those who support them thanks to the unity of its people and the sacrifices of the armed forces.

He said that the government is working hard to provide the Syrian people’s basic needs, in parallel with is efforts in the foreign political field and the axis of national reconciliation.

For their part, the engineers stressed that they will make use of all the capabilities available in the interest of Syria’s security and stability and to support the development process, expressing readiness to cooperate with local authorities to carry out real estate development projects on the basis of joint responsibility, not material benefits.

The meeting focused on the role of engineers as partners with the government in the process of construction and development side by side with other national powers and civil components to overcome the current situation through dialogue, political solution, national reconciliation and rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s affairs.

Discussions also dealt with the situation of engineers, the need for providing job opportunities for them, in addition to tackling some administrative problems faced by the engineers.

140 Citizens from Aleppo Released after Turning Themselves In

Oct 11, 2012

ALEPPO, (SANA) – 104 citizens from Aleppo who got involved in recent events but did not commit murder were released on Thursday after turning themselves in and handing over their weapons to the authorities.

Ministry of Justice said in a statement on Thursday that the persons were released after pledging not to take up arms again nor commit any act that might harm Syria’s security and stability.

Earlier in the day, 36 persons who got involved in recent events but did not commit murder in Aleppo were released.

People’s Assembly Condemns Continuous Israeli Violations against Islamic and Christian Sanctities in Occupied Jerusalem

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The Syrian People’s Assembly strongly condemned the escalating Israeli transgressions against the Islamic and Christian sanctities in the occupied Palestine, the last of which when a number of Zionist settlers , protected by the occupation forces, stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque square and attacked the worshippers and prevented them from performing Friday prayers, not to mention desecrating Christian sanctities in the occupied Jerusalem with racial writings.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the People’s Assembly said that the continuous Israeli violations against the Islamic and Christian sanctities cannot be separated from the campaigns targeting Islamic and religious symbols, particularly those which offended the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in some western countries, adding that the sides behind these violations and assaults have one goal.

The statement added that the silence of Arab governments that claim to defend Muslims over the escalating and organized terrorism practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities against Islamic and Christian sanctities in the occupied Jerusalem is a shame.

The People’s Assembly considered these countries’ failure in shouldering their responsibility in putting an end to these violations make them partners in the crime as they encourage the Israeli occupation to persist in its violations and step up their juadization policies to change the historic and cultural aspects of Jerusalem and obliterate the Arab and Islamic identity of the city.

The statement called upon the Arab and Islamic peoples and their parliaments to take serious measures to pressure their governments to stop the Zionist practices and prevent the Israeli occupation from implementing its scheme in juadizing Jerusalem and changing its demography through destroying Palestinian neighborhoods, forcing Palestinians to leave the city and juadizing the Islamic and Christian sanctities to eliminate the Palestinian existence.

It also called upon the international community and the international organizations and bodies to shoulder their responsibility in ending the repeated and serious violations of the international laws and conventions , to protect the humanitarian and cultural heritage of Jerusalem and to make the occupation government understand that it will not escape punishment for its crimes.

The People’s Assembly urged Arab, Islamic and international media institutions to expose the Israeli occupation’s crimes and racial policies against Muslims and Christians and its attempts to change the historic aspects of Jerusalem.

The statement called upon Palestinians to overcome their disputes and unite their ranks to face the Israeli occupation.

Philippines Expresses Readiness to Join Efforts for Solving Crisis in Syria

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Interior Minister General Mohammad al-Shaar on Thursday stressed the ministry’s readiness to provide all facilitations to the Philippine nationals in Syria.

During a meeting with Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister, Rafael Seguis, al-Shaar stressed that the situation of Philippine baby sitters will be settled, particularly those in Aleppo city.

The talks dealt with current situation in Syria and the aggression against other countries in the region and the world.

Minister al-Shaar pointed out to the terrorist onslaught against Syria launched by countries which support terrorism and provide the armed terrorist groups with money and arms.

He added that the whole world now recognizes that some countries are sending terrorist takfiri fighters of Arab and foreign nationalities to commit terrorist acts against the Syrians and the state institutions.

Al-Shaar said that Syria is pursuing the vanquished terrorist to prevent them from committing more sabotage acts and protect the citizens from their aggression.

The minister stressed that Syria is serious in its efforts to reach political dialogue and it supports any initiative which rejects foreign intervention in the Syrian internal affairs.

In turn, the Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister stressed his country’s support to the Syrian government in the face of the current crisis, adding that the Philippines abstained from voting in favor of the Saudi draft resolution submitted at the UN General Assembly which allows foreign intervention in Syria’s affairs.

Seguis said that the Philippines is convinced that Syria is facing a ferocious instigative media campaign, reiterating his country’s readiness to provide help to Syria that might contribute to getting out of the crisis.

He added that his country insists on keeping its embassy in Syria open.

Nasrallah Calls for Political Solution in Syria Through National Dialogue

Oct 11, 2012

BEIRUT, (SANA) – Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, stressed on Thursday that his party’s stance on the ongoing events in Syria is clear, and it has not been changed in spite of all pressure.

In a speech broadcast on al-Manar satellite channel, Nasrallah said that he is still calling for a political solution through national dialogue and ending bloodshed in Syria, pointing out that the situation in Syria is dangerous on Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan and the whole region.

He added that Syria does not need Hezbollah or any other side to fight beside it, pointing out that his party has not taken such a decision yet.

Al-Maliki Urges Peaceful Solution to Syria Crisis

Oct 11, 2012

PRAGUE, (SANA)_Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, reiterated that the sole solution to the crisis in Syria is the peaceful solution and non-interference in its internal affairs, and that all parties come to the negotiating table to reach a solution that serves the interests of the Syrian people, regardless of their political affiliations.

In a press conference on Thursday following his talks with his Czech counterpart Petr Nečas in Prague, al-Maliki called upon all countries who are sending weapons to Syria and interfering in the Syrian internal affairs to act positively and help find a solution.

Al-Maliki denied that Iraq allows transporting weapons to Syria through its territories, describing the information in this regard a ”baseless propaganda.”

Al-Maliki said Iraq does not believe in the use of force and weapons as a means for solving the crisis in Syria, pointing out that stability in the region will not prevail by using force.

He stressed that Iraq is playing a positive role and its policy is clear in this regard, which rejects the flow of weapons to Syria.

He warned that the weapons sent to Syria are used against the Syrian people.

Al-Maliki discussed with his Czech counterpart bilateral relations and means of developing them in all fields, including the possibility of purchasing Czech L-159 aircrafts.

Shipment of Russian Aid to Be Distributed in Hasaka

Oct 11, 2012

HASAKA, (SANA) – A shipment of the Russian aid arrived in Hasaka province to be distributed to the families who fled their houses due to the armed terrorist groups’ crimes and took refuge in the province.

Hasaka Governor, Khdr al-Hussein, told SANA reporter that the aid indicates to the deep cooperation and friendship relations between the Syrian and Russian people, adding that the aid will be distributed in coordination with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in the province.

Al-Hussein hailed the support of Russia and other friendly countries to Syria’s legitimate right to defend its territorial unity and their standing by the Syrian people to face the unjust economic sanctions imposed by some Arab and western countries.

According to SARC head in the province, Abdel-Wahab al-Issa, the SARC will distribute the aid to the families in the makeshift centers taking into account the number of members in each family.

A number of Russian aircrafts loaded with food and medical supplies arrived in Damascus International Airport in the past few weeks.

Directorate of Antiquities and Museums: Goals of the ISESCO Emergency Meeting for Protecting Cultural Heritage were Politicized

Oct 11, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_Directorate of Antiquities and Museums said that the goals of the emergency meeting organized by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in Cairo for studying the methods of protecting the cultural heritage in Aleppo city were politicized, as the participants made political statements that reflected the stances of their countries on Syria’s battle with terrorism.

The Directorate said in a statement issued on Thursday that ”ISESCO should have stuck to its declared goals stated in its founding charter through coordinating its efforts with the bodies concerned in Syria to protect and save the Syrian cultural heritage as to ensure effectiveness of its work and closely inspect the damage caused to the Syrian cultural heritage in Syria, especially in Aleppo.

”About 18 months on the outset of the sorrowful events in Syria, ISESCO did not bother about asking for any information or technical scientific reports on the scope of damage caused to the Syrian cultural heritage, which proves that it is not interested in the matter as scores of messages came from US and European organizations, bodies and archeologists expressing readiness to put their expertise at the disposal of Syria for alleviating the impact of damage that hit the Syrian heritage,” the statement added.

The statement said that ISESCO has not taken any necessary measures to stop the movement of cross-border trafficking gangs and to confiscate the stolen ancient pieces that were smuggled from Syria after illegal excavations that some immoral persons conducted, taking advantage of the current situation, in stark contrast to Syria’s efforts to protect the Iraqi cultural heritage during the US war on Iraq through curbing the activities of illegal smugglers then and returning thousands of ancient pieces that were stolen from Iraqi museums.

The statement added that contrary to reports on news agencies and websites, Syria has not taken part and was not represented by any of its specialists in this field in the emergency meeting, pledging to spare no efforts in coordination with all the personalities and bodies who care for the Syrian heritage, regardless of their intellectual or political orientations.

The statement indicated that the Directorate has taken all necessary precautionary measures since the onset of the crisis to protect the ancient pieces in museums which has considerably saved them from harm.

The Directorate expressed appreciation for the fruitful cooperation with the UNESCO for organizing a training course in Damascus for training national cadres on the means of protecting cultural heritage in times of danger, hailing the efforts of the Syrian citizens who exerted utmost efforts to defend the cultural heritage.

Czech Young Communists Union: Syria Foiled US Scheme in the Region

Oct 11, 2012

PRAGUE, (SANA)- The Union of the Young Communists of Czechoslovakia stressed that Syria has achieved lots of successes as it foiled the US scheme which aims at undermining its progressive government and substituting it with another regime loyal to the US before the American Presidential elections.

The Union added in a comment posted on its website on Thursday, that the Syrian leadership hindered the US project in the region, therefore the US President Barak Obama is unable to show any positive outcomes in the foreign policy field in his election campaign.

The Union slammed the Turkish government saboteur role in the crisis in Syria through training and financing the armed terrorist groups and sending them to Syria, describing the latest Turkish moves against Syria as “provocative”.

It considered the Turkish Parliament’s decision to send military forces outside Turkey as a flagrant violation of the UN charter, particularly the principle of non-interference in the countries’ internal affairs and non-use of military force.

The Czechoslovakia Union hailed the high fighting capability of the Syrian Arab Army, asserting that the NATO and the Turkish government seek to weaken this Army through dragging it to fight on several fronts as it is confronting the terrorists inside Syria, while at the same time there are those who want to drag it to a war with the NATO.

The Union called on Russia and China to put an end to the Turkish government’s excessiveness against Syria through threatening punitive measures against it.

By Countercurrents.org

12 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Shell, one of the oil giants, has been sued by Nigerian fishermen and farmers. It’s a historic move by ordinary citizens against polluters.

Reuters reported [1]:

Four Nigerian villagers took Royal Dutch Shell to court on October 11, 2012 in a landmark pollution case that campaigners said could open the door to more compensation claims against international companies.

The fishermen and farmers, together with the Friends of the Earth campaign group, accuse the oil major of polluting land and waterways around their homes in the Niger Delta region of Africa’s top energy producer.

Shell has denied responsibility, saying the leaks were caused by sabotage.

The villagers launched their claim in a civil court in The Hague, where Shell has its joint global headquarters.

It was the first time a Dutch-registered company had been sued in a Dutch court for offences allegedly carried out by a foreign subsidiary.

Friends of the Earth said the claim, if successful, could open up a new way for plaintiffs to take on multinationals – by suing their parent companies in their home countries.

The villagers, who appeared in court, want unspecified damages saying Shell and other corporations were responsible for pollution from three oil spills between 2004 and 2007.

“My community is a ghost land as a result of the devastation. We had good vegetation. Today people have respiratory problems and are getting sick,” said one of the plaintiffs Eric Dooh, from the Goi community, which lives between two pipelines.

“Shell is aware of the whole devastation. I want them to pay compensation, to clean up the pollution so we can grow our crops and fish again,” the 44-year-old told Reuters before the hearing.

Shell says the pollution was caused by thieves breaking into pipelines to steal the oil, and believes it has played its part in cleaning it up.

“The matter has been resolved as far as we are concerned and we do not properly understand why Friends of the Earth has submitted the case,” Allard Castelein, Shell’s vice president for environment, told Reuters before the hearing.

The biggest pollution problem in the Niger Delta was caused by thieves who steal oil from Shell’s installations, he said. Around 150,000 barrels of oil are stolen every day in the Delta. That is worth about $6 billion a year.

Friends of the Earth said other companies could face similar claims in European Union cities if it won the case.

“It opens up a range of possibilities for people from poor countries to use the legal system to seek compensation from companies,” said Geert Ritsema, international affairs coordinator at the environmental group during a break in the proceedings.

The Nigerians’ lawyer Channa Samkalden told the court Shell had failed to maintain pipelines, clean up leaks and prevent pollution.

“It was insufficient maintenance, not sabotage, that was responsible for the leaks … Shell did not operate as a conscientious oil company,” she said.

With around 31 million inhabitants, the Niger Delta is one of the world’s most important wetland and coastal marine ecosystems. It is an important source of food for the poor, rural population.

Last year, the United Nations said in a report the government and multinational oil companies, particularly Shell, were responsible for 50 years of oil pollution that had devastated the Ogoniland region, part of the Niger Delta.

The government and oil firms have pledged to clean up the region and other parts of the Delta, but residents say they have seen little action.

Shell Petroleum Development Co (SPDC) is the largest oil and gas company in Nigeria, with production capacity of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

It operates a joint venture in which state owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp has a majority share. Total SA subsidiary Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd. also has a stake.

An AFP report [2] said:

Nigerian farmers took their battle to make Shell clean up oil damage that destroyed their land to a Dutch court in a case that could set a precedent for global environmental responsibility.

The civil suit could open the door for hundreds of similar cases.

“Shell knew for a long time that the pipeline was damaged but didn’t do anything: they could have stopped the leaks,” lawyer Channa Samkalden told the court, accusing Shell of having “violated its legal obligations”.

The case, the first time that a Dutch company is being sued in the Netherlands for alleged damage in another country, relates to oil pollution from 2005 and was initially filed in 2008.

The farmers want Royal Dutch Shell to clean up the mess, repair and maintain defective pipelines to prevent further damage and pay out compensation.

In a landmark ruling, the Dutch judiciary in 2009 declared itself competent to try the case despite protests from Shell that its Nigerian subsidiary was solely legally responsible for any damage.

“I’m here because of the oil leakage that happened in my community in the Shell facilities and destroyed my 47 fish ponds”,” Friday Alfred Akpan, from the village of Ikot Ada Udo, told AFP before heading into court.

“The destruction of the fish ponds caused serious damage to me in person and my family because I make use of that fish to take care of myself and my children.”

Oil pollution has ravaged swathes of the Niger Delta in the world’s eighth largest oil producer, which exports more than two million barrels a day.

Shell is the biggest producer in the west African country, where it has been drilling for over 50 years.

“We believe that the claims are unsubstantiated,” Allard Castelein, Shell’s Vice President Environment, told AFP at the court.

Environmental groups accuse Shell of double standards and treating spills in Nigeria differently from pollution in Europe or North America.

But Castelein fended off the accusations, saying: “We do have the same standards in Europe and Nigeria.”

Shell’s lawyer Jan de Bie Leuveling Tjeenk said: “Friends of the Earth believe that this trial will provide a solution to this problem but this is not the case.”

Friends of the Earth however said the scale of Nigeria’s oil pollution was twice that of the five million barrels dumped in the Gulf of Mexico after the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010, in the biggest ever marine spill. Shell disputes the Nigerian figure and puts it much lower.

The UN’s environmental agency last year released a landmark report, saying decades of oil pollution in the Niger Delta’s Ogoniland region may require the world’s biggest ever clean-up and could take up to 30 years.

Jonathan Verschuuren, an environmental law expert at the Netherlands’ Tilburg University, said that a win for the farmers would set a precedent.

“If they win the case then it will be an important step that multinationals can more easily be made answerable for the damage they do in developing countries,” Verschuuren told AFP.

“Until now it’s been very tricky because it’s difficult to bring cases against these companies in developing countries themselves, because the legislation is often not advanced or properly applied,” he said.

Environmentalists want the Netherlands, and other Western nations, to pass laws forcing companies to enforce the same environmental responsibility standards abroad as at home.

Judges said they hoped to hand down a ruling next January 30.

Source:

[1] “Nigerian villagers sue Shell in landmark pollution case”, dateline: The Hague, Oct 11, 2012, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/11/uk-shell-nigeria-lawsuit-idUKBRE89A11320121011

[2] Maude Brulard, “Nigerian farmers sue Shell over oil pipe leaks”, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iaBKrfiVMzB-ag2s_m2vy56W-PJQ?docId=CNG.365b03e7b26fdafeebcd8f1bc06d5b24.181