CINA

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According to today's latest edition (9 PM, KST) of CNN World News Asia a int'l poll shows that a majority in UK, Canada and even Mexico is describing the US president as more dangerously than the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.

Harrharr!! No further comment..

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Following interview with the Palestine foreign minister was published before y'day in the German magazine Der Spiegel:

INTERVIEW WITH PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
"We Will Never Recognize Israel"

Mahmoud al-Zahar, foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority's Hamas-led government, says a big majority of Hamas supports the struggle against Israel despite recent conciliatory comments from Hamas officials about a possible indirect recognition of Israel and an end to violence.

Mahmoud al-Zahar says a big majority of militant group Hamas backs continued resistance against Israel, which he likens to the Nazis occupying France in World War II.

SPIEGEL: Do you really want to let the talks with President Abbas about a national unity government fail?

ZAHAR: We have accepted the paper on the establishment of a national unity government. It was Abbas' Fatah Party that first agreed to it and then changed its mind a few days later. We are ready to establish a provisional Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and to call for a ceasefire.

SPIEGEL: But you reject a two state solution?

ZAHAR: We will never recognize Israel. The Zionists have occupied our land like the Nazis did with France during the Second World War. Israel is a foreign element in the Middle East. Why don't the Jews establish their state in Europe?

SPIEGEL: Your Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser al-Shaer, views that differently. He thinks that an indirect recognition of Israel, as the Saudi-Arabian initiative of 2002 suggests, is possible.

ZAHAR: This is his personal opinion and not the position of the government.

SPIEGEL: Criticism even comes from the government spokesman. Ghazi Hamad questions the violent "resistance" against Israel.

ZAHAR: In this point, the spokesman of the government does not represent the government.

SPIEGEL: Is there an internal struggle within Hamas?

ZAHAR: There are different opinions. But the big majority supports the resistance. The kidnapping of the Israeli soldier was the only way to release our brothers and sisters who are detained in Israel.

SPIEGEL: Western mediators say Israel would have been ready for an exchange deal. But Iran is said to have paid Hamas $50 million in order to torpedo the deal.

ZAHAR: This is Zionist propaganda. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert is the one who is preventing a deal. I call on the family of the kidnapped soldier to pressure their government to do everything possible to release their son.

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Excerpts of an interview made by the Nepalese (bourgeois) eKantipur Daily with Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Pushpa Kamal Dahal (a.k.a. Prachanda), taken on the eve of the much-hyped October 8 Summit Talks between his party and the ruling seven-party alliance:
 

Q. Will the CPN-M be participating in the October 8 talks?

Prachanda: There is no certainty as to the question of participation in the talks. Interactions to this end are going on with the parties, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Q. So what is the reality then?

Prachanda: We haven't been able to agree on the way forward. What we feel is that the 12-point understanding against the feudal autocracy was aimed against the excesses of the then Royal Army and the present Nepal army. The 8-point understanding was the result of an attempt to move forward with the 12-point understanding. But since then the seven-party government has deviated from the spirit of these historical understandings.
 

Q. Could you cite some examples of the deviation?

Prachanda: The way in which the letter to the UN was written, with the intention of separating the Maoist army from its arms, contrary to the initial agreement of managing both armies and their arms in the same manner and calling the UN for monitoring, is the most potent example of this deviation. This is a very dangerous thing. This was an attack on the spirit of the April movement. The political outlet the eight- and 12-point understandings had promised was effectively blocked for us. Our greatest objection is to this very issue.

Q. And yet, after all the dispute, you are still in the talks. Sometimes your relationship with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala looks cold and sometimes warm. You look extremely optimistic as soon as you step into Baluwatar. And a couple of weeks later you again look hopeless. What kind of spell has the PM cast over you? Or is it the other way round?

Prachanda: This no spell. This time around too we have made it clear that we will neither head back to the jungle, nor will we leave the negotiating table. A power centre seems to be in a hurry to detach us from the dialogue process. But we are not willing to be detached. Issues like restructuring of the state, constituent assembly, democratic republic-- issues which were raised through the sacrifice of thousands of lives during the people’s war—have today become national slogans. Because, these issues have fallen within our rights, within our responsibilities.

Q. What kind of environment marks the informal talks between you and the PM? It seems there is lot of love and affection between you two?

Prachanda: Frankly, the two of us have always been at odds ever since our first meeting four and a half years ago. And yet, the country's overall situation compels such interactions between us.

Q. Hasn’t the goodwill between two of you increased in these four years?

Prachanda: There have been occasions where this did happen. During the forging of the 12-point understanding, this goodwill had gone up tremendously. Similarly, the rigors that went into the formation of the eight-point understanding had shown the courage Girija Babu had displayed. Because our agreement on dissolving the parliament and forming a new (interim) government definitely enhanced our mutual respect for each other. But later, the manner in which the letter to the UN was written arose our suspicion. The kind of political stability that was needed in him was missing. After that, the way he spoke in public let down the masses. We were also disappointed by his comments. Despite all those agreements, he couldn't stand by his words.
 

Q. But there is still some hope, isn’t there?

Prachanda: Let’s not say there is no hope. The talks are going on because there is still some hope left. But then, the kind of a sea of good feelings you are hinting at is not there. At some points, the situation demands it; at others, it is genuine goodwill.

Q. But there's no bitterness?

Prachanda: There isn’t. I think he (Koirala) has the role of a very important character. Despite the apparent barriers, he is very important for a political outlet in Nepal. And I believe that at this point, he stands at a crossroads—one that will determine whether he will be remembered as a great hero or a villain. The way I see it, at this point, he teeters on the brink. Looking at his recent activities and comments, the people are worried that he might be becoming a villain instead of a hero. He stands on the edge—he can slip and fall any time.

Q. Will you put forward this very thing during the October 8 talks?

Prachanda: Not only on October 8, let me frankly tell you that I am going to meet him (Koirala) in a very short while. I will tell him the same thing in this meeting also.

   People may think that we (Prachanda and Koirala) have reached some secret agreements during our meetings. Last time also, I had flatly told him "Girijababu, our role has come to a very critical point. You are in such an important place. If you still side with the repressive elements of the royal army, it will be a really bad thing in history. If you move forward as directed by the 12-point and eight-point understandings, you will become the main character in history. I will also have a role, but that will be only a supporting role." I have clearly told him that he will become the main character. I have told him to stick to the role of that historic character. I meet him again and again to remind him of this.
 

Q. These days the SPA leaders say that you (Maoists) are interested more in another mass movement than in the ongoing peace process. What do you say?

Prachanda: We want a peaceful exit to the crisis. We have come up to here with the same intent. After forming the government, the seven parties are getting closer to the structures of the old regime. This makes us worry that a peaceful solution to the crisis may not be possible. Therefore we have said that the preparation for another popular movement should not be abandoned because the SPA government may eventually decide to take the side of the feudal elements.

Q. What is the possibility for such a movement?

Prachanda: It's quite possible. We haven't said that we will break the ceasefire and walk out of the talks. It's our assertion that if the SPA government goes against the spirit of the April movement that created a new history then the same people who took part in the April movement will stand up for the new uprising.
 

Q. Now it seems both you and the SPA need each other. You need the SPA's support to balance the international situation. And they need your support and participation to keep the national politics in balance. But instead of consolidating your ties, both of you seem to be blaming each other?

Prachanda: We had said in the very beginning that whoever will try to go against the earlier agreements between us (SPA, Maoists) will be betraying the Nepali people. We have told even Girijababu (PM Koirala) that the seven parties are now quarrelling over the same agreements. But they raise the issue of donations and all.
 

Q. What if the issue of monarchy is decided through a constituent assembly?

Prachanda: We don't have any objection to this idea if there is a consensus on other issues. Because the 12-point and eight-point understanding were reached to make the constituent assembly possible. But we are talking about holding a referendum (to decide the fate of monarchy) because we think this is more democratic. The elected representatives of the constituent assembly will draft the new constitution. And it will be more democratic if all the people are given a direct chance to decide the issue of monarchy.
 

Q. But it is the UML's proposal, isn't it?

Prachanda: Certainly, this proposal was put forward by the UML. But during the course of discussion, we thought that it is more democratic and therefore we agreed on this proposal. But we haven't made the referendum issue a precondition.
   But the prime minister is saying many elements will get a chance to become active in a referendum. This risk will be there in the constituent assembly elections as well. Both processes (constituent assembly and referendum) face this risk.

Q. It seems both the SPA and the Maoist leaders have not been able to understand the people's desperation. Don't you feel you may de-link yourselves from the people's feeling?

Prachanda: Definitely. But the situation is not the same for the two sides. Because they (SPA leaders) are now in the government and have become MPs and ministers. But we have a compulsion of moving forward in a different way. During the Dashain holidays, I visited Sindhupalchowk, Tatopani, Naubise, Daman of Makwanpur and Pokhara. I also experienced the cable car journey and visited Mankamana as well this time. In my experience, the people are desperate and are agitated within.
 

Q. Don't the obstacles seen in the peace-talks increase the people's desperation?

Prachanda: Kishor ji, I don't think this (situation) will last long. We are also intensely preparing for the talks. In case the talks fail, we feel that we will have to take certain steps to address the people's desperation. You will know about these steps after a week. Let's keep it a secret for now!

Q. How optimistic are you about the October 8 Summit Talks?

Prachanda: I am not very optimistic.

Q. Is there any possibility that the talks will not go ahead?

Prachanda: I do see that possibility. But the possibility that the talks will be held is also there. Shortly, I am going to put my things to Girijababu in black and white.

Q. There is also this rumour that the talks will be deferred for a week?

Prachanda: That's not true. We want to hold the talks on October 8. But we don't want the gathering of the leaders on October 8 to look like a Gaijatra. The Nepali people desperately want a positive conclusion; they are hoping for the country to take a clear direction. If that is not fulfilled, there is no point in holding the talks. We don't think it's necessary to sit for talks just to conclude that no conclusion could be drawn.

Q. It's not that the talks will have to continue if the October 8 talks do not take place, or is it?

Prachanda: It's not like that. We don't say to postpone the talks to leave the talks process or to break it. What we have said is let's take some more time to prepare for the talks if the homework done so far is not enough. Otherwise, the leaders gather and the gathering gets much publicity but nothing comes out at the end-- this will only send out a negative message. In reality, our emphasis is on reaching a consensus. If that does not happen, we will take a big decision for the people within a few days. The people are in a huge uncertainty for the past four months; we won't let this situation to continue. We are ready to make another sacrifice from our side for the sake of the country. We won't let a situation come where the Nepali people could blame us.
 

Q. Could that sacrifice be remaining silent on the issue of monarchy?

Prachanda: No, not that. We may walk out by handing over everything to the seven parties. Let us just go to the people. We can move ahead with this much right. Then the seven parties can do whatever they want; we may say that constituent assembly is enough for us.

Q. Mr Chairman, it seems you are very disappointed. These expressions of yours indicate that you feel weary and tired?

Prachanda: The people are desperate for peace; I am concerned that if that desperation is not addressed in time, there will be another danger. What you see as disappointment in my expressions is definitely not disappointment. Yes, it may be the reflection of my concern. It could be a reflection of my agitated mind. The people should not be left un-addressed for a long time. Last year also, we had declared a three-month-long unilateral truce. Now, the seven parties are preoccupied with their own things even as the royalists are looking for a role again. The people feel suffocated. What we say is we should even be ready to make some sacrifices for a way-out. It's not disappointment.

Q. That way-out could be reached on October 8 itself?

Prachanda: May be, may be not.
 

Q. You mean the October 8 talks may not be held at all?

Prachanda: Yes, it may not be.

http://www.kantipuronline.com/interview.php?&nid=87989

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FREE PALESTINE!

LONG LIVE THE PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION!(**)

Yesterday, the entire day, you were able to read such news about Palestine like: "Violent demonstrations took the streets of Gaza", "Rioters attacked Palestinian government buildings", "Demonstrators, security forces killed during demonstrations", "Parliament building set on fire", "PA officers kidnapped", and so on, and so on..

It seems that the Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, know how to make really good parties(or better: know to destroy their own society completely)!

Today's Guardian(UK) reported following about yesterday's "events" in the PA territories:

Eight Palestinians die as Fatah and Hamas fight on streets of Gaza City

· Rivals trade gunfire after protest by unpaid officials
· West Bank cabinet offices aflame as violence spreads

Eight Palestinians were killed and dozens injured yesterday in an increasingly violent struggle for power between rival factions in the Gaza Strip.
Hours after the clashes, gunmen loyal to the Fatah movement set fire to rooms in the Palestinian cabinet building in the West Bank town of Ramallah. It was the most serious outbreak of fighting in the Palestinian territories for some months, and a sign of rising tensions between the Hamas-led government and the more secular Fatah, which lost power in elections at the start of the year.

Among the dead was a boy aged 15. More than 50 people were injured, including three children and a television cameraman. The fighting broke out during a protest in Gaza City led by government employees and security officials, none of whom had received salaries since the government was formed in March.

Most of the security employees were Fatah members, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the movement, had told them not to go out on the demonstration. Mr Abbas said last night that the "bloody confrontations" were unacceptable and he promised to prosecute those involved in the violence.

On Saturday, Hamas began deploying its own, rival militia - the well-armed Executive Force, who dress in camouflage trousers and black shirts - and yesterday they moved in to break up the protests. Gunmen from both sides then began trading fire with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Cars were set alight and plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city.

Later, in apparent retaliation for the shootings, a crowd of Fatah supporters marched through Ramallah and attacked the cabinet building, setting fire to several rooms. Smoke poured from the windows.

A Fatah spokesman, Tawfik Abu Khoussa, blamed the Hamas government. "Nothing can justify this violence," he said. Ghazi Hamad, the main Hamas spokesman, blamed the protesters, accusing them of being driven more by political than economic motives. "The protest today was beyond acceptable legal norms and turned truly into lawlessness," he said.

Even before yesterday's clashes, there had been attacks between the factions, symptomatic of a broader struggle for power and heightening fears of a slide into civil war. Ten days ago, gunmen in Gaza shot dead Jad Tayah, a senior Fatah intelligence official, and five of his colleagues. Several people pointed the finger of blame at Hamas. A few days earlier, gunmen hijacked a car belonging to Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian politician and close adviser to Mr Abbas. Security is now becoming a more immediate concern than the economic crisis.

As soon as Hamas came to power, the international community froze its aid payments to the Palestinian government and Israel suspended its customs transfers, which together amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Both insisted that the hardline Islamist movement publicly recognise the state of Israel, renounce violence and sign up to past agreements between the Palestinians and Israel.

Hamas has not agreed, and efforts to form a coalition government with Fatah that might go some way towards meeting those demands have fallen through in recent days. With the salaries of 160,000 government employees unpaid, the economic situation in the territories has worsened severely, particularly in Gaza, where Israeli closures of crossing points have severely hit farmers and businessmen.

Yesterday's violence suggests that a coalition government - which at one point was almost agreed - may now be beyond reach.

In addition to the internal Palestinian rivalry, there has been a series of Israeli military operations in Gaza since the capture in June of a soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, by Palestinian militants. Israel says it is acting to get its soldier back and halt the firing of crude Qassam rockets into nearby Israeli towns, such as Sderot. More than 200 Palestinians have died in the operations, most of them civilians.

Yesterday, Israel's chief of staff said a much larger military operation in Gaza was being considered. "We will have to find a military means to reduce the rocket fire on Sderot," Major-General Dan Halutz told Israel Radio. "For example, a more continued and deeper ground action ... We are holding consultations about this."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1885324,00.html

The Israeli "left-liberal" daily Haaretz wrote this:

Hamas-Fatah battles flare despite appeals for calm 
 
Hamas militiamen withdrew from the streets of the Gaza Strip on Monday and returned to their normal posts after the worst day of internal violence since Hamas took control of the Palestinian government in March.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party enforced a general strike, closing shops and private schools in a show of force against Hamas. For its part, the Hamas-led government ordered all ministries closed to protest Fatah attacks on government buildings.

Fatah militants also released Samir Birawi, a Hamas official in the Finance Ministry they had briefly kidnapped, telling him his abduction was intended to send Hamas a message to end the Gaza violence, Hamas officials said. The Fatah men also burned Birawi's car.
 
 
Gaza, the center of the violence that killed eight people on Sunday, remained tense Monday, and many shops were closed out of fears of renewed attacks.

Despite appeals for calm from Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, militants in Gaza torched the Agricultural Ministry early Monday, and a group of young students in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun stoned the house of Hamas minister until his bodyguards chased them away by firing in the air.

Appeals for calm

Abbas on Sunday appealed for calm after gun battles between a Hamas militia and members of the security forces loyal to his Fatah movement left eight dead.

Abbas also said Sunday he was ready renew stalled negotiations with Hamas over a unity government.

"These confrontations have crossed the red line, which we have avoided crossing for four decades," he said in a speech broadcast on Palestine TV.

Abbas condemned the violence "in the strongest terms," and ordered an official investigation into the fighting.

In an interview to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television station broadcast earlier Sunday, Abbas said was ready to negotiate a unity government with Hamas to avoid crossing the "red line" into Palestinian civil war.

"Personally I believe that a civil war is a red line and I will not allow it under any circumstances," Abbas told Al Jazeera.
 

"I as a president have the right to form or dissolve the government at any time, but I say that we should exert every effort to form a unity government."
 

Haniyeh also urged Palestinians on Sunday to end the internal violence.

Following calls from both Abbas and Haniyeh to stop the violence, The Palestinian Interior Ministry ordered its Hamas-led security force to pull back from some positions in Gaza where they had been deployed to stop the policemen from protesting.

"The force was deployed based on Palestinian security needs," Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal told reporters.

"But since the president [Abbas] has made a decision calling for the withdrawal of all forces," Abu Hilal added, "the Interior Ministry has to respond and comply with the decision of the president."

"I appeal to all citizens to be responsible and to abandon their differences, especially in the time we are facing an escalation by the occupation forces, who threaten to enlarge their scale of aggression," Haniyeh told reporters.

Haniyeh was referring to earlier comments made by Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, who said Israel could step up military action in the Gaza Strip to halt rocket fire against its southern towns.

Fatah and Hamas have been holding talks on forming a unity government in an effort to end Western sanctions imposed in the wake of Hamas' election victory in January. Hamas has refused calls to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by previously signed interim peace accords.
 

"Let us be frank here, the United Stated has imposed a political, economic and social siege on us after Hamas' win," said Abbas.

Haniyeh spoke with Abbas by telephone late Sunday evening and called for joint action to end the violence between their respective parties, as well as the need to return to national unity government talks, Haniyeh's office said in a statement.

"We [Abbas and I] have agreed all parties must abide by the law and that they should not get involved in any kind of behaviour that may lead to the spread of chaos," Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza.

First spark in Khan Yunis

The gun battles broke out in Gaza between militants from Hamas party and security personnel loyal to Abbas, hospital officials said.

The fighting started in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, where dozens of police gathered outside the Bank of Palestine on Sunday morning to demand payment of salaries they have not recieved since Hamas took power in January, protesters said.
 

Abbas, who was in Jordan on Sunday, has been trying to end the crisis by persuading Hamas to form a coalition government and to accept international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel. Hamas has resisted compromising its radical ideology.

In recent weeks, civil servants - including members of the security forces, many of them Fatah loyalists - held expanding protests against the Hamas-led government to demand their back wages. Hamas has been unable to pay the salaries due to the suspension of aid.
 

On Saturday, the Hamas-led government sent its 3,500-member militia into Gaza's streets to quash the protests.

Hamas set up its militia - which answers to the interior minister - after losing a power struggle with Abbas for control of Palestinian security forces. Since then, violence has sporadically broken out between Hamas' militia and the official police force, but it has never been as widespread as it was Sunday.

The Hamas militiamen attempted to stop demonstrations staged by the unpaid civil servants and security officials. They ordered the protesters to disperse and then opened fire at them, and they in turn responded by shooting in the air, protesters said.
 

Fighting then broke out in northern Gaza, where a late morning gun battle erupted between militia members and security officials.

The violence then spread to the parliament building in Gaza City, where security officers and civil servants were protesting. The protesters threw stones at nearby Hamas militiamen, who responded by hitting them with sticks and then by firing guns and anti-tank rockets and lobbing grenades at the protesters, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene.

Militiamen and security personnel - including members of Abbas' elite bodyguard unit - began trading fire on two major streets nearby, and gunmen from both sides took positions on rooftops.

The clashes later spilled over to an area near the president's residence. Hamas militiamen scrambled up to the rooftop of the nearby Agriculture Ministry and began firing rocket-propelled grenades and rifles at the presidential guard.

"We are going to beat with iron fists all those elements who are trying to sabotage the election process of our people, those who are trying to destroy our public properties and close the streets," said Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for the militia.

The street battles killed a total of four people, including a member of Abbas' presidential bodyguard and a 15-year-old boy, according to Dr. Baker Abu Safia, director of Gaza's Shifa Hospital.

Two other people were killed in related violence, and at least 100 people were injured, hospital officials said.

A seventh person, a member of the Preventive Security force, was killed Saturday night when the car in which was traveling came under fire from unknown gunmen, security officials said.

An eighth person, a Fatah supporter, was killed after thousands of Fatah protesters in the Bureij refugee camp marched to the house of a local Hamas leader and a grenade was thrown into the crowd, setting off a nighttime gunfight, Fatah officials said. Hamas officials said the crowd attacked the house.

A gun battle between rival forces also erupted in a Gaza hospital, where many Palestinians injured in previous clashes lay, wounding at least four people.

In response to the violence, Fatah protesters in the West Bank city of Ramallah arched to the Cabinet building - which had already shut down for the day - pelted it with stones, broke in and lit the second floor on fire. The militants threw files out the windows and witnesses could see pieces of furniture being thrown about.

Fatah loyalists also kidnapped a top official in the Palestinian Finance Ministry in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a Hamas official said.

Earlier, Hamas security men in the Gaza Strip seized five members of a force loyal to Abbas.

The conditions of the kidnapped men were unknown.

A second building in the compound was also set ablaze. Forced out by the flames and smoke, the militants moved to the nearby Education Ministry and torched the minister's car on the way. They then trashed the offices of a Hamas newspaper.

In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of Fatah-allied gunmen fired in the air, closed a major road with burning tires and threatened to retaliate for any Hamas violence in Gaza with attacks in the West Bank, a Fatah stronghold.

"This is forbidden in Islam, we are in the holy month of Ramadan," said Majed Badawi, 33, who managed to escape uninjured after his car was caught in the crossfire. "It's a shame on Hamas, who call themselves real Muslims, and a shame of Fatah as well. Why are they fighting and over what? We are victims because of both of them."

"Nothing can justify this violence," said Tawfik Abu Khoussa, a Fatah spokesman.

Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas government, said the violence was "regrettable," but the Hamas force was acting with restraint when it was attacked.

"The protest today was beyond acceptable legal norms and turned truly into lawlessness," he said.

In the West Bank city of Hebron, Fatah-allied militants blocked roads with burning tires and ransacked the offices of local Hamas lawmakers and set the furniture on fire in the street. In Nablus, Fatah gunmen attacked a Hamas women's center and traded fire with Hamas gunmen.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/769437.html
 

*****

PS:

Actually it seems that the Palestinians are not really able to learn from their "mistakes". Since long time - especially after the founding of Hamas in the middle of the 1980's - they just try to fullfil the wishes of the Israeli government/occupation forces: to create a situation of civil war in the Palestinian/PA territories. A reader of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth wrote yesterday evening: "At least there keep'n busy with shot at there own wonderful selves and not at us!!" 

*****

* Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim year, when Muslims do not eat between the rising and setting of the sun. During Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the fact that it was in this month that God first revealed the words of the Quran to Mohammed.

** (^^)

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(Federal) State Elections in Germany..

In East Berlin, the former capital of the GDR(German Democratic Republic/East Germany) the Left Party(the former Party of Democratic "Socialism", the former "Socialist" Unity Party of Germany - the ruling party in GDR) had it main strongholds in the entire Germany. During the last election in 2001 in some parts of e. Berlin they got more than 50 percent of the votes. And then they joined the government in Berlin.. as a junior partner of the "Social Democrats"(SPD). In this situation they supported a massive cutting of social services, the destruction of many public work places, and so on..in the city.

And the result now: especially in the eastern part of the city they lost f.. a lot of voters - on average 18 percent. In some areas 30 percent!!

On the other side the neo-Nazis, also active in Berlin, mainly in the eastern part, won seats in five destrict parliaments. In 62 polling stations in Berlin - only in the east - they became the third strongest force after the SPD and Left Party (LP).

The only "left alternative" to the LP, the WASG(Election Alternative Social Justice) got in the most areas only half of the votes of the neo-Nazis. WASG is a group, founded in West Germany(with frustrated former SPD members, old style "socialists" and some trotskyist activists), which want to unite next year with the LP. But WASG in Berlin during the election campaigned against LP. But except a massive confusion in the "left movement" in Berlin they won nearly nothing..

The other election to (federal) state parliament was in Mecklenburg Vorpommern(just check out the articles 9.17 독일/선거 #1/2). There the neo-Nazis won really f.. a lot,

like in:

Postlow:            38,6 percent (of the votes)

Belesewitz:       32,2 percent

Bargischow:     31,1 percent

Neu-Kusenow: 31,1 percent

and so on (where they became the strongest political party).

Of course this results will not change Gemany completely(aeh~ is there something to change here???), not really.. Because, especially in the eastern parts - the former GDR -the ideas of national"socialism" - intolerance, racism.. are common parts of the daily ordinary life in the "normal society".

Something about German neo-nazi movement(better said reality) you can check out here:

http://base21.jinbo.net/christian/020913.html (base21)

*****

Today's edition of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth wrote following about the election result/success of neo-Nazi party NPD and the background:

Germany's choice

Education cutbacks to blame for far-right party's success?

Mecklenburg-Pomerania, situated in the northeast, is the most anonymous and sparsely-populated federal German state. Its name rarely makes the headlines, not only because of its difficult pronunciation.
 

Far Right 
   
The Germans, incidentally, have found an original way to solve this semantic problem. They have nicknamed the remote province Mac-Pom, roughly translated as "Mac-Fries," which lends a "foreign" ambience to the historic homeland of the impoverished Prussian nobles and forgotten communist activists.

Some two million of Germany's population of 80 million reside in Mecklenburg-Pomerania. It is the land of a thousand lakes and a well-known tourist destination affording breathtaking views, picturesque castles and long beaches. However, the local economy is in ruin and unemployment is high.
 

Local mentality a hindrance

Contrary to other areas in former communist East Germany, Mac-Pom has been unable to recuperate since the reunification.

The fact that Mac-Pom is the electoral province of German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn't help matters much, while the local mentality hasn't been instrumental. When Merkel recently hosted President Bush in Mac-Pom, residents complained about the high expenses incurred by the presidential visit and the inconvenience posed by the strict security measures implemented.

Last Sunday Mecklenburg-Pomerania became the hottest topic in German politics when the neo-Nazi National Party (NPD) made history by passing the voting threshold and entering the local parliament with six representatives. In the last elections four years ago, the party received just 0.8 percent of the total vote. This week it gained 7.1 percent of the popular vote.

Mac-Pom has become the fourth largest German state among the 16 federal states with neo-Nazi representatives in its parliament. For clarification's sake: This figure comprises a quarter of the federal states in Germany.

Three of the federal states that granted representation to neo-Nazi parties are located in East Germany. Added to this is the fact that the NPD succeeded in securing representation in four Berlin states, formerly part of East Germany.

Expressing ceremonial apprehensions

German politicians from both Left and Right expressed the ceremonial apprehensions reserved especially for such occasions. But in fact it was a predictable outcome.

The composition of the current cabinet, a coalition that includes two major parties, and the unification of the conservatives and the social-democrats are a sure path to a people's protest against the political margins.

Although the economic situation has improved somewhat in recent months and even unemployment has declined, the simple man on the street does not feel he is benefiting from the stability. Worse than that, ordinary residents sense they are the ones paying the price.

The neo-Nazi's prime target electorate is the younger generation. The highest number of votes came from voters aged 18 to 24, and NPD became the third largest party after the two ruling parties.

Bloody scuffles

The party is putting a lot of effort into adopting an image of a "centrist" party, while at the same time it is communicating its violent messages that ignite bloody scuffles with its political foes.

The recent elections in Berlin were the most violent since the end of World War II. Such scuffles often ended with injured left-wing activists.

If according to so many youngsters the NPD is a legitimate choice, Germany's future will face a severe problem. Perhaps this is the right time for the German government to reassess its decision to significantly cut back the budget allocated to educational programs aimed at educating youth against right-wing extremism.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3306233,00.html 

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About before yesterday's state parliament elections in Germany int'l media reported yesterday following (tomorrow I'll write some more details about the final results):

Far right wins seats in Germany (al-Jazeera)

A far-right party compared to the early Nazis by the German government has won seats in a regional parliament, helped by a weak economy and anger at Angela Merkel's ruling coalition.

Results showed the National Party of Germany (NPD), which advocates closing German borders to immigrants, won 7.2 per cent of the vote in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a northeastern state on the Baltic Sea which borders Poland.

The result would allow the NPD to enter the regional assembly, making Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the third state in the former communist east with far-right representation.

The result alarmed mainstream politicians and Jewish groups, who called on the federal government to renew its bid to ban the party after a previous attempt failed.

Dieter Graumann, vice-president of the Central Council for Jews in Germany, said: "The government must look for ways to impose a ban."

Narrow victory

Final results gave the Social Democrats (SPD) 30.2 per cent in Mecklenburg, down from nearly 41 per cent in the state vote in 2002. It was uncertain if they would continue their local coalition with the former communist Left Party or ally with Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Election data showed 15 per cent of 18- to 24-year olds voted for the NPD in Mecklenburg.

In a federal election exactly one year ago, Merkel won a disappointingly narrow victory over Gerhard Schroeder, her predecessor, forcing her into a coalition with his SPD party.

Many Germans had hoped her "grand coalition", with its big majorities in both houses of parliament, would be able to push through crucial reforms.

But it has been plagued by infighting and struggled to deliver promised changes to the healthcare system. Experts say this has helped boost smaller parties such as the NPD.

Weak economy

         
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the state where Merkel has her local constituency and where she hosted George Bush for a barbecue in July, the economy is weak and nearly one in five is without work, and the jobless rate hovers above 30 per cent in some areas. Like other states in the former communist east, it has seen many leave in search of jobs.

Those conditions have provided fertile ground for the NPD, which was accused of using thugs to bully rival parties during the campaign. Its leaders have played down Nazi responsibility for the second world war and questioned the extent of the Holocaust.

Several hundred protesters gathered outside the parliament building in the Mecklenburg state capital Schwerin, waving "Nazis Out" posters on Sunday.

The federal government has compared the party to the Nazis of the 1920s and tried to ban them in the country's highest court in 2003. It failed after members of the party who testified turned out to be informants planted by the police.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/127DE884-A102-4907-8E4F-A22364A0E52C.htm

Far-right party wins seats in German election (NYT/IHT) 
  
A far-right party made further inroads in Germany's economically fragile east on Sunday, winning seats in a state election in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, a lonely land of farms and fishing villages that is the home constituency of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
 
The National Democratic Party, which openly espouses xenophobic and neo-Nazi views, was projected to win slightly more than 7 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. That was less than analysts here had feared, but enough to clear the threshold of 5 percent for seats in the state legislature.
 
Extreme-right parties will now be represented in three of Germany's six eastern states - a trend that worries officials and underlines the divide between the country's eastern and western halves. Far-right parties have negligible support in more-prosperous western Germany.
 
"This shows the extreme right is a stable and growing force in the east, but it is not an earthquake," said Hajo Funke, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin. "It's not a danger for our democracy."
 
The result, however, is a rebuke for Merkel and her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union, which lost votes in Mecklenburg and fared even worse in the second of the two state legislative elections on Sunday, in Berlin. There, the popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit, led his Social Democratic Party to a comfortable victory.
 
Voters appeared to be punishing Merkel's party, 10 months after it squeaked into power in an unwieldy "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats. The Social Democrats, who govern Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, lost ground there, too, and it was not clear whether they could salvage their coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism, the former East German Communist party.
 
Merkel, who began her political career in Mecklenburg 15 years ago, has tried to focus attention on the region, inviting President Bush in July for a visit. But the state has one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany, which makes it a breeding ground for extremism, analysts say.
 
The National Democratic Party, which the German government once tried to ban, won seats in Saxony, a similarly depressed eastern state, in 2004. Another far-right party is represented in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin.
 
"The grand coalition hasn't presented a forceful program to tackle Germany's problems," Funke said. "These parties take advantage of the frustration of those who have no chance of a social or economic future."
 
One of the few winners on Sunday was Wowereit, who was given a strong mandate as mayor of Berlin, with the choice of renewing his coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism or forming a new one with the Greens, the largest vote-gainer since the last election, in 2001.
 
The victory may foretell a greater national role for Wowereit, a 52-year-old lawyer who has become a star in Berlin. His party-going style seems to suit his late-night town, and his disclosure before the last election that he is gay only added to his appeal. On Sunday, Wowereit appeared on stage with his partner, Jörn Kubicki, a neurosurgeon.
 
With the departure of Social Democratic leaders like Gerhard Schröder, and a lack of other rising stars, Wowereit has made his ambitions plain. "I would like to have more say that I have had in the last five years, when we had to clean up the city," he said in a recent interview with the German magazine Stern.
 
Whether he has done so is a matter of debate. Berlin is strangled by debt, a jobless rate of nearly 20 percent and a shrinking commercial base. Wowereit, who is known as Wowi, prefers to focus on its role as a cultural center and tourist magnet. Berlin, he said last year, is "poor but sexy" - a line that has become a tongue-in-cheek slogan for the city.
 
His opponent, Friedbert Pflüger, a Christian Democratic member of Parliament, tried to portray the mayor as a lightweight. But in a city that rewards flamboyance, Pflüger, an establishment politician originally from the western city of Hanover, never stood a chance.
 
"Up until now, he hasn't been a strong voice in politics on the national level," Uwe Andersen, a political scientist at Ruhr University, said of Wowereit. "He may think this result strengthens his position."
 
 FRANKFURT A far-right party made further inroads in Germany's economically fragile east on Sunday, winning seats in a state election in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, a lonely land of farms and fishing villages that is the home constituency of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
 
The National Democratic Party, which openly espouses xenophobic and neo-Nazi views, was projected to win slightly more than 7 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. That was less than analysts here had feared, but enough to clear the threshold of 5 percent for seats in the state legislature.
 
Extreme-right parties will now be represented in three of Germany's six eastern states - a trend that worries officials and underlines the divide between the country's eastern and western halves. Far-right parties have negligible support in more-prosperous western Germany.
 
"This shows the extreme right is a stable and growing force in the east, but it is not an earthquake," said Hajo Funke, a political scientist at the Free University of Berlin. "It's not a danger for our democracy."
 
The result, however, is a rebuke for Merkel and her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union, which lost votes in Mecklenburg and fared even worse in the second of the two state legislative elections on Sunday, in Berlin. There, the popular mayor, Klaus Wowereit, led his Social Democratic Party to a comfortable victory.
 
Voters appeared to be punishing Merkel's party, 10 months after it squeaked into power in an unwieldy "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats. The Social Democrats, who govern Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, lost ground there, too, and it was not clear whether they could salvage their coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism, the former East German Communist party.
 
Merkel, who began her political career in Mecklenburg 15 years ago, has tried to focus attention on the region, inviting President Bush in July for a visit. But the state has one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany, which makes it a breeding ground for extremism, analysts say.
 
The National Democratic Party, which the German government once tried to ban, won seats in Saxony, a similarly depressed eastern state, in 2004. Another far-right party is represented in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin.
 
"The grand coalition hasn't presented a forceful program to tackle Germany's problems," Funke said. "These parties take advantage of the frustration of those who have no chance of a social or economic future."
 
One of the few winners on Sunday was Wowereit, who was given a strong mandate as mayor of Berlin, with the choice of renewing his coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism or forming a new one with the Greens, the largest vote-gainer since the last election, in 2001.
 
The victory may foretell a greater national role for Wowereit, a 52-year-old lawyer who has become a star in Berlin. His party-going style seems to suit his late-night town, and his disclosure before the last election that he is gay only added to his appeal. On Sunday, Wowereit appeared on stage with his partner, Jörn Kubicki, a neurosurgeon.
 
With the departure of Social Democratic leaders like Gerhard Schröder, and a lack of other rising stars, Wowereit has made his ambitions plain. "I would like to have more say that I have had in the last five years, when we had to clean up the city," he said in a recent interview with the German magazine Stern.
 
Whether he has done so is a matter of debate. Berlin is strangled by debt, a jobless rate of nearly 20 percent and a shrinking commercial base. Wowereit, who is known as Wowi, prefers to focus on its role as a cultural center and tourist magnet. Berlin, he said last year, is "poor but sexy" - a line that has become a tongue-in-cheek slogan for the city.
 
His opponent, Friedbert Pflüger, a Christian Democratic member of Parliament, tried to portray the mayor as a lightweight. But in a city that rewards flamboyance, Pflüger, an establishment politician originally from the western city of Hanover, never stood a chance.
 
"Up until now, he hasn't been a strong voice in politics on the national level," Uwe Andersen, a political scientist at Ruhr University, said of Wowereit. "He may think this result strengthens his position."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/18/europe/web.0918germany.php

Ghosts of Nazi past (Guardian)

A regional election in Germany saw a province dip back into the darkest parts of the 
In the end, the result was as bad as everyone had feared. Germany's neo-Nazis pulled off a widely anticipated electoral coup last night, with the far-right winning 7.3 % of the vote during elections in the north east state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The NPD comfortably exceeded the 5 % hurdle necessary to win seats. It will now sit in the state's regional assembly in Schwerin for the first time. This is the second time that the NPD has got into a regional parliament in three years, confirming fears that the party is now an established part of the political landscape, especially in Germany's depressed former communist east.

Ahead of yesterday's poll, hundreds of neo-Nazis flooded the rustic state, turning the party's stronghold town of Anklam into a neo-Nazi HQ. The tactic worked. In some Baltic villages in the east of the state, the NPD got as much as 15 % of the vote. The NPD did best where unemployment was highest. In many areas here it is more than 25 %.

This morning's German papers, reporting on the poll and yesterday's election in Berlin, gave a gloomy reaction. Der Tagesspeigel said there was no point in pretending that the NPD's voters - most of them under the age of 30 - had somehow been tricked into voting for a bunch of unashamed racists. "Whoever voted for this party, knew what they were doing," the paper said.

The Berliner Zeitung conceded that the "real winner" of yesterday's election was the NPD's leader in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Udo Pastörs. The fact that other parties treat him as a 'pariah' merely helps his cause, the paper said, adding: "Nobody had so many cameras and microphones thrust at him".

It was not clear this morning, meanwhile, what coalition would govern in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a lush Baltic region which includes Angela Merkel's seaside constituency. The Social Democrats (SPD) emerged as the biggest party with 30.2 % of the vote - but only after a night of heavy losses.

The state's SPD premier, Harald Ringstorff, now has to decide whether to continue his existing left-wing coalition with the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) - or enter into a new one with the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

The CDU won 28.8 %; the PDS 16.8 %; and the right-wing liberal FDP party made it back into the assembly with 9.6 %.

In Berlin, the picture is a bit clearer. Berlin's popular Social Democrat mayor Klaus Wowereit was the undisputed winner of yesterday's election - winning 30.8 % of the vote in Berlin and another term as mayor. This morning's papers show him putting an affectionate arm round his partner, Jörn Kubicki.

Wowi, as Berliners call him, now has to decide whether to govern in coalition with the Greens or the PDS. The Greens did better than expected with 13.1 %.

Die Linke - as the PDS is known - had a terrible night, and saw much of their support, especially in east Berlin, evaporate. The party polled 13.4 %, almost 10 % less than during the last election in 2001.

Two trends this morning appear clear. Firstly, the neo-Nazis in Germany appear to be here to stay. Secondly, the Christian Democrats do not appear to have benefited much from the fact that their leader Angela Merkel is Germany's chancellor, and the head of a 'grand coalition' government in Berlin with the Social Democrats. Her long term ability to win elections is still in doubt.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,1875278,00.html

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Today in two German (federal) states, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, parliamentarian elections are taking place.

Both states, including the former West-Berlin, are located in the east of the country. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern(M.V.) is located in the far east of Germany, on the border to Poland and the Baltic Sea(like the eastern part of Berlin it's a part of the former GDR/East Germany).

Already a few days ago German newspapers, such as Berliner Zeitung, wrote about the "phenomenon" that a large majority of the voters, especialy in the east of Germany, don't believe in democracy anymore. Instead more than 60 percent of the voters think that the "Socialism is a good model for the society".  

In this situation it will be perhaps no surprise that a large percentage of the voters will elect a neo-Nazi party. Because they represent a real German "Socialism" for them, just a National "Socialism". A "Socialism" where the state is strong, where "law and order" is ruling, where no foreigners are disturbing their life, where work places are reserved only for Germans(even there are only few foreigners living in this regions!!).. Slogans like "German 'Socialism' instead of the One-World-Order" or National 'Socialism' against globalization" are very attractive for large parts of the population, especially in the former East Germany. So it's no surprise that representatives of neo-Nazi organisations are arrived since long time in the middle of the society, they are nor just "honored" parts of many eastern communities.

Anyway.. in about 4 hours we know more about the results of the elections..

Skinhead family father and neo-Nazi

election propaganda in M.V.

About the role of neo-Nazi organisations in this election campaign The Guardian(UK) wrote yesterday following:

Neo-Nazis poised to win seats in German state parliament

· Polls put party above 5% threshold for success
· Poor economic conditions in east fuel discontent

Germany's racist neo-Nazi party is poised to make a stunning breakthrough at elections this weekend, entering a regional parliament for the second time in three years, polls suggest.

According to a poll for ZDF television, the far-right National Party of Germany (NPD) is likely to win 7% of the vote in elections on Sunday in the north-east state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. A poll by Infratest puts the party on 6%.

The projected result is above the 5% of the vote parties must achieve before they can sit in parliament, and means the far-right MPs could have seats for the first time. "We are very confident. It's extremely likely we are going to make it," Michael Andrejewski, the NPD's candidate in its stronghold town of Anklam, told the Guardian yesterday.

Mr Andrejewski said voters in Germany's depressed former communist east were turning to the neo-Nazi right because they were disillusioned with mainstream politics and fed up with the region's unemployment rate.

"People are furious. They are disappointed with this government. Unemployment here is 30%. If we can win here we will have established a trend. Our mid-term goal is to win seats in the Bundestag [Germany's federal parliament]."

A result above 5% would be an embarrassment for Germany's leader, Angela Merkel, whose seaside Baltic constituency is part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The region is abundant in lakes and forests, but is one of the most economically depressed parts of the country. Unemployment is officially put at 18%.

Hundreds of neo-Nazis have flooded into the state. The party has teamed up with local Kameradschaften, gangs of far-right skinheads - some of whom are standing as NPD candidates. Volunteers have hung up thousands of xenophobic placards and distributed copies of the party's far-right newspaper, the Island Messenger. They have also intimidated workers from other parties, it is alleged.

Rival candidates concede the NPD has waged a meticulous, professional campaign. "I have to admit that to a certain degree we have failed," said Uwe Schulz, Anklam's Social Democratic candidate.

Mr Schulz, whose party governs in the state's regional assembly in Schwerin with the post-communist Party of Democratic Socialism, added: "My father came back from the second world war with a leg missing. These people appear to have learned nothing from the Nazi era. To hear these ideas and slogans again makes me furious."

Nationally, the NPD has had little impact. But in 2004 it won 9.25% of the vote in the east German state of Saxony in a surprise result, entering a regional parliament for the first time since 1968. Victory tomorrow would confirm fears that the party is an established feature of Germany's political landscape, analysts say.

In several Baltic villages in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the far-right now provides social services. It runs businesses and organises discos. The NPD has abandoned its skinhead image, fielding candidates in immaculate suits.

"There are a large number of people in east Germany who have become estranged from democracy," said Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "Mainstream parties have failed to address local problems."

Günter Hoffmann, founder of Anklam anti-Nazi group Bunt statt Braun, said: "The big mistake happened after the fall of the Berlin wall. The need to establish and teach democracy in the east was overlooked. We are now picking up the bill."

The quiet, stealthy rise of extremism in the state is linked to its woeful economic condition, analysts say. After reunification in 1990 manufacturing industry collapsed. Anklam's population shrank from 22,000 to 14,000 as the young fled west.

Success for the NPD tomorrow is likely to provoke an anguished debate among the ruling Christian and Social Democrats about what went wrong. Both govern in Berlin in a coalition led by Mrs Merkel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,1873834,00.html

And about today's elections in general AP wrote today this:

Germans vote in state elections that could mean gains for far right

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Following article was published in Guardian, 8.26:

Hizbullah: the new heroes on the streets of Ramallah
 
On the back wall of Mohammad Sharak's taxi dispatch office, next to the pictures of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and below gilded Qur'anic verses, are two new posters: portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader.

Since war erupted between Israel and the Lebanese militia, Hizbullah has emerged as a new hero on Palestinian streets. Shops and cafes in Ramallah and other towns are sporting Hizbullah posters. Stalls are selling Hizbullah's yellow flag, alongside the Lebanese flag. In the eyes of many Palestinians, Hizbullah struck a rare blow against the Israeli military, despite the huge cost in civilian casualties and damage in Lebanon.

"The beauty of this war was that a force of just 6,000 or so with light weapons superseded an organised army that all the Arab countries are scared of," said Mr Sharak, 35. "I was surprised by Hizbullah's capabilities."

"The point about Nasrallah," interrupted another employee, Saeed Nimur, 58, "is that he says something and then does it. And that is very unusual among leaders in the Arab world. Hizbullah doesn't just threaten, it achieves."

Mr Sharak, who sipped sage tea as he spoke, has little but hostility for Israel - he served eight years in an Israeli jail after being convicted of attacking West Bank settlers. But he hopes the war might increase the chance of negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians. "Now Israel has a fear of these kind of military movements and they will find another path rather than war," he said.

While most people on both sides of the Israeli conflict acknowledge Hizbullah has strengthened its position in the Arab world, they argue about its implications for the Palestinians. Many fear negotiations are at a stalemate and that Hizbullah's display of military might will only encourage more violence from Palestinian militants.

In a small upstairs office, not far from the taxi dispatch firm, is the Minbar al-Islah, or the Platform of Reform, a Hamas newspaper. Sari Orabi, 26 and just six months out of an Israeli jail, is the deputy editor. "What happened in Lebanon increased the belief of people living in the area that resistance is the only language that the occupation understands," he said.

He sought to distinguish Hizbullah from the Palestinian militant movements, saying the group was a "national Lebanese faction" that fought not for Palestinians but for "pure Lebanese goals". "Maybe they provide emotional and political support for the Palestinian people but the military action carried out by Hizbullah was for the sake of Lebanon and only Lebanon," he said.

He noted the differences between the two sides, pointing to what he said were Hizbullah's tactical advantages.

"We don't enjoy support from outside the country like Hizbullah does," he said in an apparent reference to Syrian and Iranian backing for the Lebanese militia. "In fact our neighbours are tied to the Israelis through peace treaties. Remember also we are under direct occupation by the Israelis, not like Hizbullah."

But there were lessons too. "The first lesson is that we can see the belief of the Palestinian people in resistance has been strengthened," he said.

His newspaper carries a front-page advertisement showing 31 senior Hamas political leaders detained by Israel in recent weeks, among them cabinet ministers and Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament. "Release them immediately," it says. The detentions, say analysts, are likely to add further impetus to Hamas hardliners and weaken the hand of those like the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, who argue in favour of a more political path.

"The way the war in Lebanon ended, coupled with the Israeli arrests of relatively moderate members of the government, has played into the hands of the more radical wing of Hamas that is based either outside Palestine or functions outside the Palestinian Authority," Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian cabinet minister, wrote in a recent analysis in the Bitter Lemons internet journal. He said the war would "contribute further to the trend of radicalisation evident in Palestine in the last five to six years".

For its part, the Israeli government still insists in public that the war successfully proved the deterrent effect of its military and served as a warning to others that any attack would be met with a swift and severe response.

But at the same time it has been struggling with a growing domestic backlash against the handling of the conflict. Prime minister Ehud Olmert's partial withdrawal plan for the West Bank has had to be shelved. As yet there is no alternative strategy, even though a newspaper poll on Friday showed 41% of Israelis wanted a negotiated solution with the Palestinians.

At a cabinet meeting this week, Yuval Diskin, Israel's security services chief, is said to have warned that Palestinians might imitate Hizbullah's tactics. "The terror organisations are trying to draw conclusions," he was quoted as saying in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. "They have understood the power of the anti-tank weapons and guerrilla warfare, and the advantages of barricading in underground bunkers."

On the outskirts of Ramallah, close to al-Amari refugee camp, a young fighter from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade spoke enviously of Hizbullah's arsenal. "If the same equipment were given to us the whole image of this region would change dramatically," said the man, who gave his name only as Abu Rida, and who said he had been in and out of Israeli jails since the age of 13. He is now 37. But, he added: "Even to try and smuggle a bullet into Palestinian land is very difficult for us to do."

Although there are many posters of Hassan Nasrallah in Ramallah, there are even more of Ramzi Obaid, a West Bank commander of the al-Aqsa militants, which is allied to the Fatah organisation. He was arrested by the Israelis this month. Abu Rida said there was little inclination to seek a political solution now. "The Israelis only understand the language of force. I think we'll be fighting them from here until judgment day."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1858716,00.html

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Poll: Majority wants Olmert out (8.25)

Yedioth Ahronoth(*) poll shows majority of Israeli public believes government failed in handling Lebanon war, Olmert, Peretz, Halutz should go home; Likud gained from war deficiencies

Political earthquake: A poll published on Friday in the Yedioth Ahrnonoth daily shows that 63 percent of Israelis feel that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert failed in managing the war in Lebanon and should resign.

Only 29 percent believe the prime minister is fit to continue leading the country.
 

About 74 percent of those polled said Defense Minister Amir Peretz mishandled the war and should resign his post. A mere 20 percent said Peretz should keep his post.
 

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz faired slightly better than his superiors with 54 percent saying he should resign over the army's failure to knockout Hizbullah, while 38 percent said he should keep his post.

Some 25 percent of respondents said former defense minister Shaul Mofaz is most fit to lead the defense establishment.

Labor MK and former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon was the second most popular figure for the post with 20 percent of support, followed by former IDF chief Moshe Ayalon with 10 percent and Israel Our Home leader Avigdor Lieberman with 8 percent.

Only 3 percent of respondents said Peretz is suitable for the job. Only 5 percent of those polled said Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu should fill the defense post.

Twenty-seven percent of those polled said they support early elections as opposed to 20 percent who said Olmert should form a national unit government. Only 19 percent said the government should stay in its current formation.

Netanyahu favorite for PM

Sixteen percent of respondents said Labor should be ousted of the government to make way for a right-leaning party, while 14 percent said Labor should stay but the coalition should be broadened to include right-wing coalition partners.

The poll showed that should elections be held today Likud would gain 20 parliament seats, a significant improvement from the 12 seats it currently holds.

Kadima on the other hand would drop from 29 to 17 seats.

Labor didn't fare much better than Kadima with the poll showing a huge drop in support for the party. The poll showed the left-wing party dropping from 19 to 11 Knesset seats if elections were held today.

Support for right-wing rivals Israel Our Home increased with projected results showing the party would gain 17 seats in elections. The party currently holds 11 seats in parliament.

Asked if Olmert and Netanyahu were the only two contestants in the election race, 45 percent said they'd vote for the latter and 24 percent for the former.

The poll showed that if elections were held today Netanyahu would earn the support of 22 percent of voters, followed by Avigdor Lieberman with 18 percent and Shimon Peres with 12 percent.

Olmert earned a mere 12 percent in projected election results.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3295576,00.html

* Israeli bourgeois daily

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VICTORY!! ...but for whom??

While Hezbullah is claiming victory over IDF and predicting the "beginning of the end of the Zionist entity(a.k.a. Israel)" and the "entire Arab/Muslim world is praising Hezbullah's victory"(CNN Int'l), in Israel the discussion about the last Lebanon war and its results is still continuing.. and escalating.

Today the Israeli bourgeois daily Yedioth Ahronot published following contribution by R. Ben-Yishai:

Hizbullah was better

Hizbullah fighters fought more effectively than IDF soldiers

The balance sheet of the second Lebanon War certainly does not point to an IDF victory. Even in points, it's closer to a loss than to an achievement, when taking into account the home front's extended suffering.

Indeed, in light of the relative UN good Security Council resolution we received, and possible positive future developments in Lebanon itself, we were not defeated. However, what happened to us is very similar to the defeat suffered by the American military in Vietnam and Iraq, and to the one suffered by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the Russians in Chechnya.

I covered some of those wars. I saw from up close how guerilla fighters overcame the most powerful, modern armies in the world because they knew how to fully utilize their intimate familiarity with the war zone and the local population's support.

Yet this isn't the only reason. The guerillas won also because they received unlimited material, planning, and moral support from a patron country or countries.

Another reason: Guerilla fighters consistently avoided a head-on clash with overwhelming air and ground forces and were not embarrassed to run away and hide when needed.

Finally, the guerilla fighters were more highly motivated than their opponents and willing to sacrifice their lives.

Israeli arrogance

Regular armies stood helpless in the face of guerillas because they failed to formulate an effective combat tactic that would neutralize the "hit and run" advantages of the Vietcong and Mujahideen, and because military units on the ground lacked real-team tactical intelligence that would allow them to take advantage of their superior fire power.

The final straw that led to the militaries' defeat was the heavy losses they suffered without being able to reach a phase where the end of fighting could be seen on the horizon. This is almost precisely what happened to us in Lebanon.

There's plenty of arrogance in the common perception around here that the failure in meeting the ground offensive's objectives was entirely the result of the failures of the political echelon and senior commanders to properly utilize the army.

This argument underestimates the enemy's capabilities and advantages and assumes that had we taken determined decisions and the logistical operation had worked smoothly, we would have won.

This is not the case, however. In my estimate, the ceasefire prevented an even greater ground offensive fiasco. Even if it's unpleasant, we must admit the fact that the IDF did not achieve victory not so much because of the failed conduct of its leaders, but rather, because Hizbullah was more effective and determined.

Hizbullah's intelligence better

The Shiite organization developed and implemented a combat method that takes maximal advantage of its natural advantages as a popular militia that operates within its natural habitat. Hizbullah also designed its future battlefield through an intimate understanding of IDF vulnerabilities.

The group prepared in a manner that allowed small cells to take cover and than appear at the time of their choosing equipped with anti-tank missiles, which enabled them to hit tanks and homes used by IDF infantrymen as cover.

More significant even was the tactical intelligence information gathered by Hizbullah members before, and particularly through, the fighting.

Their information was of better quality than that possessed by the IDF simply because Hizbullah's information gathering was undertaken through the use of eyes and binoculars on the ground in proximity to our forces, and not through pilotless drones and other sophisticated means, which failed to identify, in real-time, rocket launchers and small Hizbullah cells moving from one bunker to the next.

Hizbullah made sure each cell of fighters was able to gather intelligence independently, both for the purpose of accurate rocket attacks (by watching Israeli television reports) as well as for the purpose of fighting IDF troops inside villages (by using observers.)

IDF troops, on the other hand, walked around the villages as if they were blind, because the tactical information gathered before the war was not shared. Moreover, while in the villages, intelligence forces did not gather information methodically.

Frustration can lead to reform

We should also acknowledge the following reality: Hizbullah commanders and fighters were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to complete missions, while IDF commanders and cabinet ministers were virtually panicking every time they received casualty reports and attempted to prevent human losses as if this was the military objective.

A large part of the contradictory, changing orders relayed to troops resulted from this syndrome. At the end, because of the desire to avoid casualties, we suffered even more losses.

We must be merciless in admitting that Hizbullah succeed because it fought more effectively than the IDF in a mountainous area and through a total willingness for sacrifice. When facing those factors, the IDF has no proper combat tactic, just like the Americans and Russians, which would allow it to successfully respond to a super-guerilla featuring the characteristics and equipment of a modern army.

However, failures are also an opportunity. Deep frustration gives rise to an authentic, powerful demand for fundamental reforms. There's no point in fixing minor flaws here and there.

What we need is the total enlistment of the State of Israel , both in terms of finances and thought process, so that the IDF quickly develops and implements operation combat methods, unique combat means, and effective tactical intelligence that ensures different results in the next round.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3294340,00.html

To be continued soon..

BTW: This discussions are taking place not in the basements of Israeli "dissidents"  or deep in the political underground... It takes place in the open public, even in the f.. bourgeois media. Please keep this in mind(more about it, I'll write later)!!