Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Since the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 which toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran has been facing with devastating and agonizing financial sanctions of the United States and its European allies who didn't favor the post-revolutionary Iran's doctrine of confrontation with the superpowers and its denial of Western liberal democratic values.

At the start of these direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, many questions were raised about the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, real position toward the negotiations and a political settlement between the Arabs and Israelis. By extension, similar questions were asked about the future of the negotiations in which the head of the Israeli government would play a most significant role.

Congratulations on your political memoir becoming an instant bestseller. I'm in Iran and have the only copy in the country. I can tell you, it's so fiercely fought over, it's worth its weight in WMD's. Note to Random House; have 'A Journey' translated into Farsi and Arabic asap, it'll fly off the shelves in this part of the world.

In the beautiful state of West Virginia, situated on the Potomac River just a few miles from the point at which the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers meet at Harpers Ferry, lies  Shepherdstown,  a lovely small town rich in history as so many towns in that area are. In Shepherdstown lies Elmwood Cemetery where 114 Confederate soldiers who died as a result of the battle of Antietam are buried in straight rows which set them apart from the rest of the burial ground.  Within that cemetery are the remains of Henry Kyd Douglas, a member of the staff of General Stonewall Jackson during the American Civil War, who was born in that little town in 1838, though he spent his days growing up just over the river on the Maryland side at Ferry Hill. He spent much time on both sides of the river, but when Virginia succeeded from the Union in April of 1861 (West Virginia was actually part of Virginia in those days), he had “no doubt” about what was the right thing to do. Though he reports that he once could not conceive of the Union ever being divided, when it was, Henry Kyd Douglas returned from St. Louis where he had just begun to practice law, crossed the river to Harpers Ferry, and was a private in the Second Virginia Infantry.

 

He did it with seven words. “Ultimately the U.S. cannot impose a solution.”

He was speaking at the White House the day before the start of the new round of direct talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, after he had met with them and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. (In my last post I anticipated Obama saying at the point of his complete surrender that “America can’t want peace more than the parties.” He also said that – ahead of schedule!)

This is the most recent interview with Khaled Mesh'al who, since 1996, has been the Chairman of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Political Bureau. After the assassination of Hamas leader Abdul ‘Aziz Rantisi in 2004, Mesh'al became the overall leader of the movement.

In this interview with the Jordanian Al-Sabeel newspaper in July 2010, Mesh'al lays out the policy direction of Hamas on a number of critical issues: negotiations with Israel, international relations, Jews, Christians, women, among other issues. The interview – which was conducted over many hours – has been received as significant in the Arab world and is regarded as a clear indication of positions that Hamas wants to pursue, especially with regard to future attitudes towards Israel.

 

The Washington summit met the goals set for it. It ended with an announcement of the renewal of negotiations to reach an Israeli-Palestinian settlement that will resolve all the core issues and lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. In his speeches in Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed readiness for an historical compromise. "Another people shares this land with us," Netanyahu said, and called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "my partner in peace." He promised that Israel will not enter direct talks to argue, but to end the conflict.

This weekend an important Israeli will celebrate his 87th birthday. Although he is the same age as Israel's president, and his influence on Israel's history has not been much smaller than the latter's, the Cameri Theater will not be holding a gala event in his honor nor will the high and mighty cloak him in hollow gestures of love. In fact, no one will probably even notice his birthday.

Those who try to make the word 'terrorism' a synonym of the word 'Islam' try to brainwash us these days by the phrase "I am a Muslim, I am against terrorism", which many Arabic-language TV stations have started to use during the month of Ramadan, when TV viewing becomes a dominant pastime in the Arab world.  This phrase is coined neither by Muslims nor by the real enemies of terrorism; and the objective of funding the intensive broadcasting of this phrase in Ramadan is not exonerating Islam of an accusation levelled against it by Zionists and their allies among the neo-cons in the wake of 9/11.  This is clear from the political connotations of this phrase which suggest that "although I am a Muslim; yet, I am against terrorism".  In this sense, our enemies accuse a billion Muslims of terrorism; while Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and others are exonerated of any link with terrorism.

As the first direct talks take place between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in two years, Inside Story asks if the US can help resolve the issue.