http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8DADA8B9-AD36-41F4-BEFD-0718E43F7547.htm
Ford disagreed with Bush on Iraq

Ford said: "I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people"

George Bush, the US president, and his advisers made a "big mistake" in their justification for invading Iraq, Gerald Ford told a Washinton Post journalist in an interview embargoed until after the former president's death.

Ford, who died on Tuesday in California, said he would not have gone to war based on what was known publicly at the time.




Ford said: "I don't think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly, I don't think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximised our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer."






Big mistake

In a four-hour tape-recorded interview in July 2004, Ford told Bob Woodward - who made his name breaking the Watergate story - that he "very strongly" disagreed with the justification for the 2003 invasion.

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The former president criticised key Bush advisers and veterans of his own administration, including Dick Cheney, the vice-president, and Donald Rumsfeld, the former defence secretary.

Ford said: "Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction.

"And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

The Bush administration's initial justification for the war was that Iraq posed a threat because it had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. None was found.

Cheney terror 'fever'

The interview and a subsequent conversation last year were carried out for a future book project.

However, Ford, who became president in 1974 after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal, said his comments could be published at any time after his death.

Ford was quoted as saying that he understood the theory of "wanting to free people".

But the former president said he was sceptical: "Whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interest. And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

Woodward said Ford fondly recalled his close working relationship with Cheney and Rumsfeld, while expressing concern about the policies they pursued in more recent years.

Ford said "he [Cheney] was an excellent chief of staff. First class. But I think Cheney has become much more pugnacious" as vice-president.

According to the article, Ford said he agreed with an assertion by Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, that Cheney developed a "fever" about the threat of terrorism and Iraq.

"I think that's probably true," he said.

Ford disagreed with Bush about invading Iraq - Washington Post, December 28, 2006

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/71C36EB5-3930-4076-A213-8BB9796038E3.htm
Immigration to Israel falls

Israel has always relied on Jewish immigration to secure its long-term survival [AP]


Immigration to Israel fell to its lowest in 18 years in 2006, new figures show.

Israeli officials attributed this to a drop in the number of Jews arriving from former Soviet states, although immigration from North America also edged higher, Israeli officials said on Wednesday.




Some 21,000 Jews made "aliya", the Hebrew word for immigrating to Israel, according to the Jewish Agency, which promotes immigration to Israel.

The 2006 figure was the lowest since 13,000 in 1988.

A total of 22,657 people moved to Israel in 2005.






Falling ex-Soviet immigration

The agency blamed the falling number on the falling number of Jewish
immigrants from countries that made up the former Soviet Union.

More than one million people moved to Israel from the former USSR in the 1990s.

The number for 2006 was 7,300 - about 23 percent down on 2005.

"These people are no longer running away from something," said Michael Jankelowitz, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency.

The agency played down suggestions that the war with Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia movement, during the summer had a negative impact on immigration - which had grown recently after a sharp drop following the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.

The government places great significance on immigration amid concerns in Israel that without an influx of foreign Jews the country's Arab minority, which has a higher birth rate, could eventually outnumber the Jewish population.

Jews constitute 76 per cent of Israel's population of just over 7 million people, while Arabs make up nearly a fifth.

Forecasts down

Forecasts earlier this year were for immigration to grow to 24,000, but Jankelowitz said expectations were not met because the government had not brought as many Jews from Ethiopia as originally planned.

With the decline in numbers of immigrants from elsewhere, the Jewish Agency has made particular efforts to bring immigrants from Europe and North America.

That means trying to persuade people to move on ideological grounds rather than as a way to flee economic hardship or repression.

Aliya from North America rose to 3,200 in 2006 from 2,900 in 2005 and just 1,700 four years ago.

Immigration from Britain rose to 720 this year from 481 last year. About 2,900 came from France, slightly down on 2005.

"We would love bigger numbers but we have to live in reality," Jankelowitz said.

On Wednesday, about 220 North Americans landed in Israel.

Another group landed from London. No figures were immediately available for the number of people emigrating from Israel in 2006.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18368
Another Beit Sahour family suffers from the building of the wall
Date: 28 / 12 / 2006 Time: 15:15

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Fifty members of the Zawahra family from the Um Al-Asafeer neighbourhood in the southern West Bank city of Beit Sahour have been split up by the building of the separation wall. Part of the family have remained, attached to the Beit Sahour area, while the others have been separated beyond the wall into now-Israeli-controlled land.

The children in the separated area have to study at the Beit Sahour school, but in order to do so, they must travel all the way around the wall, passing dozens of Israeli checkpoints. This daily trip takes over an hour and a half, and costs each student 10NIS. To save time and money, which is almost unavailable, due to severe unemployment within the family and local community, the family sent their children to live in Beit Sahour, and now they can only see them once a week.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18265
The War of Words & the Death that Follows: A Time for Reflection - by Khaleel Isa
Date: 21 / 12 / 2006 Time: 17:20

The War of Words & the Death that Follows: A Time for Reflection
by Khaleel Isa, 17 December 2006

"What you are seeing," he shot, "is a rise in tensions that really emanates and is the direct result of the inability of Hamas to effectively govern in the Palestinian areas. We hold Hamas fully responsible for what happened Thursday at Rafah, both the chaos and destruction", the spokesman for Fatah declared.

"Mahmoud Abbas, what a war you are launching, first against God, and then against Hamas! We joined this movement to become martyrs, not ministers," Haniyeh fired back in response, referring to Hamas loyalists' willingness to die for their cause.

"The Palestinian government rejects this call for early elections and considers it a coup against Palestinian legitimacy and the will of the Palestinian people," accused Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri in a statement Saturday. He accused Abbas of illegally calling for early elections, and announced that his plans are one "of defeat and submission to the Zionist enemy."

As I sit and listen to the non-stop gunfire coming from the streets of Gaza City, the above quotes keep running through my mind. While sitting with my colleagues and listening to their words, I see the uncertainty that can create such anxiety and insecurity, a truly horrible space for anyone to be in. Then I start examining how the build up of the events of history could have led us to the harsh reality we are witnessing now. At times, if I am not too involved with a direct event, I am able to explore the arguments or righteousness of the one who had something to say. I used to be very good at listening to and analyzing the intended meanings of the leaders of Palestine, before. But today if I could only ask our leaders: Does the aggression against your brother, make your viewpoint heard more powerfully? Does the emotional, psychological and physical instability and fear seen in the eyes of your own community justify these divisive and bloody means? How do our Palestinian leaders make rational sense of this dangerously, chaotic and deeply, sad time for Palestine and Her people?

What is on my mind now is more uncertainty and deep fear. Fear that more Palestinians will be killed by the hands of other Palestinians. I reflect on how the thoughts and emotions from the leaders of Palestine can bring overwhelming numbness and anxiety, while provoking uncertainty. And then what I wonder is if anyone has a plan in mind? Or are all the players simply doomed to continuously react to one tragic event after another, creating a domino effect of yet more harsh realities. Is the discussion or thought of strategies and future visions even brought up in political discourse?

Living in Palestine, we are surrounded by, and often witness, surreal and unimaginable images, and a never-ending dichotomy of circumstances. You see and experience some of the most callous acts of human cruelty imaginable. Just a few days ago, I witnessed an Israeli soldier ask a mother to put her 5 month baby in the x-ray machine to see if it was a bomb! Let us not forget, there are the Israeli military incursions, we have long ones and short ones in the Palestinian lands. Some of these military Israeli incursions have become so normalized, because they happen SO often, without any war criminal tribunal system, that it often becomes but a second thought to Palestinians who are not in that particular incursions, unless such blatant war crimes like [the massacre in] Beit Hanoun occur - I have grown accustomed to unconsciously desensitizing my emotional self with my daily routine.

But over the past week, since the blatant killing of those children, by Palestinians, I wonder if the invisible coping mechanisms which one develops as a way to defend this unfair life, is destined to take over even when it is at the cost of their own community in struggle? Should I not reflect and then change this part of my mental psyche, or just allow the overwhelming pain to justify my behavior? Is this not the rat race that so many before us, expressed to beware of? Today when I look at myself in the mirror, what I see inside is rage. Rage from the facts that have occurred and are replayed in my memory. Rage from the exhaustion of feeling sad and uncared for. Rage at the lies that I constantly hear about our Palestinian society. Rage from the pain and injustice, that I constantly see in the children and families who never deserved the wrath inherited by their sordid history; with no positive sign of hope in sight. My rage is compounded by the hopelessness of bankrupt policies and visionless leadership, which guide our world today.

The dysfunctional effects of the cruel years, built upon layers of misguided efforts, have left on our doorstep a testimony of what we are witnessing today. This period can be seen as an inevitable convergence in our history. I only hope that we can begin a kind of healing process in order to make right each of the wrongs.

So today I ask of my Palestinian family members from Jenin, to Jerusalem, to Rafah to Nablus, to Beit Hanoun, to Ramallah, to stop and take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you see, and feel. For me, I see the image of blatant US-Israel led imperial media trickery in front of my face. I see this 60 year senseless illegal occupation, which has displaced, killed, tormented and maimed so many, taking a toll on my own emotional sensibility and rational framework.

The idea that it is someone's fault, or that one group is solely to blame, is the same rhetoric that I have heard from Israel when killing or displacing Palestinians, as well as from the U.S. government when creating the so called "Democratic violent havoc values" and senseless death within Iraq. We have reached a situation today, that if all of us individually do not take responsibility for, we will respectively lose and disregard the same human life that we, for so long, have been fighting so hard to defend and honor. I ask for all of us to look in the mirror and see how we all can stop the same blame game that has colonized our people and left us feeling unheard and uncared for since the Nakba began, and before.

Brothers and Sisters of Palestine, are we so emotionally damaged from these years of being treated so unfairly, that we should allow this type of senseless violence to be justified? In the name of our children's future let us listen to the great grandmothers and grandfathers of Palestine. Hear their voices, listen to their emotional memories and pain. Let us be empowered by respecting the souls of the martyrs of Palestine. Why should we create more blood, when the choice is in our hands?

When I look in the mirror what do I see? - I am neither Fatah, nor Hamas. I am a Palestinian, who loves my brothers and sisters. I know if you look in the mirror, I know your answer will be no different than mine. I hear my ancestors singing loudly- without me there is no we, and without the WE, there will never be a ME. Today, yesterday and tomorrow, we are constantly reflecting moments that we can no longer afford to ignore.

For the souls of our ancestors, and the children of Palestine - we call on our leaders and affiliated parties to stop the violence in the streets of Palestine!

"I call on our brothers in Hamas to practice restraint ... to protect Palestinian blood," said Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, in a live radio interview from his base in the Syrian capital of Damascus. "Our battle is against the occupation, and we will not be dragged into a civil war."

In solidarity for Palestinian Rights and Justice, from Occupied Palestinian Territories - Gaza.

Dr. Khaleel Isa is a Psychologist working with UNRWA in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . He can be reached at isakhaleel@yahoo.com

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=18376
B'Tselem: 2006 Casualty report released
Date: 28 / 12 / 2006 Time: 18:30

Jerusalem – Ma'an – Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, have launched their casualty report for 2006. The report highlights are reproduced below, numbers in parentheses ( ) indicate totalfigures since the start of the second Intifada in 2000.

According to B'Tselem's research, from January to December 27, 2006, Israeli security forces killed 660 (4005) Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israel. This includes 141 (811) minors. At least 322 (1920) of those killed did not take part in the hostilities at the time they were killed. Another 22 (210) were targets of assassinations. In the Gaza Strip alone, since the capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit [June 26], Israeli forces killed 405 Palestinians, including 88 minors. Of these, 205 did not participate in the fighting when killed.

Palestinians killed 17 (701) Israeli civilians in 2006, both in the West Bank and inside Israel. This includes 1 (119) minor. In addition, Palestinians killed 6 (316) members of the Israeli security forces.

House Demolitions

Israel demolished 292 houses in military operations in the Occupied Territories, 279 of which in the Gaza Strip. These were home to 1,769 people. Some 80 of these demolitions were conducted after the home-owners received advance warning of the demolition. In addition, Israel demolished 42 homes in East Jerusalem that were built without a permit. These were home to some 80 people.

Checkpoints and restrictions on movement

Deep within the West Bank, Israel currently maintains 54 permanent checkpoints, staffed most of the time. 12 other checkpoints are within the city of Hebron. In addition, according to UN OCHA, there are, on average, some 160 flying checkpoints throughout the West Bank every week. In addition to the checkpoints, the Israeli military has erected hundreds of physical obstacles such as concrete blocks, dirt piles and trenches to restrict access to Palestinian communities. Palestinians have restricted access to some 41 roadways in the West Bank. Israelis have unlimited access to these roadways.

Prisoners and Detainees

As of November, Israel held 9,075 Palestinians in custody, including 345 minors. Of these, 738 (22 minors) were held in administrative detention, without trial and without knowing the charges against them.

Read the full report at B'Tselem's website: http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20061228.asp