Van Jones-A Failure of Vetting?

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



Van Jones-Headed for the university lecture circuit?


Now that Van Jones has stepped down (in his own classless way), it is time to ask, as many pundits have been doing for the past week, if the appointment of Jones to a White House position was a breakdown in the vetting process. Hardly.

It's not as if Obama and those in the White House were not perfectly aware of who Jones was and what he stood for. Obama, much like Bill Clinton, has been trying to pose as some kind of moderate in the public eye while quietly bringing in the worker bees who would operate in the background and implement his radical program. Everybody in the White House knew that Jones was a self-proclaimed communist with a radical agenda. Perhaps what they forgot was the wonder of YouTube; they overlooked the possibility that many of his radical statements had been documented on video. That, if you will, was the breakdown in the vetting process. Just like Jeremiah Wright, Obama forgot about the video tapes. In Wright's case, when the documentation became overwhelming, Obama threw his pastor and friend of 20 years under the bus in the name of political expediency and saving his candidacy. After all, we were assured, Obama never shared Wright's views. Never even knew of them, in spite of spending 20 years in the pews of Wright's church. And America bought it. What will Obama say now about Jones? Will he say that he was unaware of Jones' past and those inflammatory statements until they came out on YouTube? Will the news media even deign to ask him?

Here is part of what Jones said in his resignation statement:

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Vicious? More vicious than calling Republicans, "a**holes"? More vicious than comparing George W Bush to a "crackhead"? More vicious than claiming that Bush was complicit in 9-11?

Speaking of vicious, Howard Dean, who knows a thing or two about "vicious", issued a public statement that Jones was "brought down" and that his resignation was "a loss for the country". That speaks volumes about Howard Dean.

Maybe now, with Obama's poll numbers sinking over health care and other forms of government take-over, the public will take a more critical eye to the "worker bees" that this administration has put in place. How many more Mark Lloyd videos will surface before the public clamor for him to go becomes overwhelming?

Finally, it is not enough to welcome the departure from government of the Van Jones'of this administration; it is high time to take a critical look at those who have brought these fringe characters into positions of power in the first place.

Mesbah Yazdi, Ahmadinejad's Spiritual Advisor on the Subject of Rape

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



Springtime in Iran
Rape with a happy face




Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi (L)


Here's an uplifting little article on a recent Q&A given to an audience in Jamkaran, Iran on August 11 by Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi-Mesbah Yazdi, one of Iran's most influential and hard-line clerics and the spiritual advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This charming man reportedly issued a fatwa to Shi'ites in Iran (the dominant religious group) to bend the results of the recent election so that Ahmadinejad would win. This article that follows appeared in Arutz Sheva/Israel National News, a pro-Zionist news network in Israel. According to the article, Ahmadinejad was present.

Warning: This article is not for the squeamish.


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133214

So let me be sure I get this right. Raping of prisoners is a no-no if the (male)victim starts to enjoy it and get aroused-then it must not be repeated. Also be sure you go through the ritual cleansing before the rape and say your prayers during the rape.

And these yahoos are going to have nuclear weapons?

Cuba for Dummies-Some Basic Facts

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



Diane Watson (D-CA)

This book is for you



Last week, Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) gave a town hall in Los Angeles to her constituents. It was tightly controlled to weed out the opposition, and there was no video of the event. Thanks to KABC, however, there was an audio, which many of you have heard. I have already posted a blog on her talk, so I won't go into detail on that. Suffice to say that Diane Watson is a pea brain, which she proved when she started singing the praises of Fidel Castro. Of course, Watson is hardly the only one on the left who is enamored of Castro and his Cuba. There is a host of Hollywood types and university leftists who worship Castro as well as his junior dictator in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. So, without going into great details, let's review Cuba under Castro. I'll try to keep it basic for Ms Watson and you UC-Santa Cruz Community Studies majors.

Prior to Castro, Cuba was ruled by a cruel and corrupt dictator named Fulgencio Batista, who was a friend of the US and US business. In 1959, (New Years Eve 1958-1959)* revolutionaries led by Castro and Che Guevara succeeded in toppling Batista, who fled to the Dominican Republic and eventually died in Spain.* In addition, several thousand Cubans, mostly the educated, businessmen and Batista supporters also fled to the US, where they established the huge Cuban community in Miami. To this day, they are a conservative force that opposes any reconciliation with Cuba as long as Castro is in power.

Though not known at the time of the revolution, Castro eventually revealed himself to be a communist and established a close relationship with the USSR. He later sent his army off to participate in so-called "wars of liberation" in places like Angola.

Immediately after taking power, he rounded up his enemies. It was Che Guevara-the darling of the radical left to this day- who was put in charge of the court trials and the executions. The "trials' were summary events that lasted about 5 minutes and which resulted in quick executions of hundreds of prisoners.

Of course, then followed the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis under President Kennedy.

Since then, Castro has remained in power and outlived all the US presidents who came after him. He has established and maintained a communist system that allows no dissent. Over the years, thousands of Cubans have risked their lives to escape that island on make-shift boats or rafts. Many have died in the process. If you ask how many people have risked their lives to sail to Cuba, I can't answer that except to say none that I know of.

In spite of the US embargo, European nations have chosen to do business with Cuba and maintain diplomatic and economic ties. Cuba also enjoys a wave of European tourism. What many won't talk about is that many of the male tourists who go to Cuba do so to enjoy the pleasures of under-age prostitutes, part of Castro's tourist industry.

Yet, in spite of all that, Castro is still revered by nit-wits like Diane Watson. Why? Because he is an enemy of the US, that's why. That he is a dictator does not matter. That he and Che Guevara executed hundreds of political opponents without real due process does not matter. The teenage sex trade in Cuba does not matter. The fact that Cuba has free health care represents their excuse for making Cuba their role model. The fact that most Cubans are struggling to have three meals a day does not matter.

If he is an enemy of the US, that's good enough for dummies Diane Watson.

* Hat tip to Carlos Etchevaria for correcting me on these two points regarding Batista. I should have pointed out that Batista fled Cuba on New Year's eve, to be more exact. I originally wrote that Batista died in the exile in the US. That was an error. For that, I am the dummy.

Glen Beck on the Delta Smelt and DDT

by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

Glen Beck today was talking about many things, DDT, the Delta Smelt and America's water supply, among them. I'm bringing Carrie Underwood into it.

Glen is talking about the California farmer's desperate need for water, and I have a terrific video under the terrific video from Beck today - 2 videos. Water is being denied to farmers to protect the Delta Smelt which is a minnow. There's more to that story however.

There is an ultimate motive, as there is always an ultimate motive with our current Socialist government. The motive in this case is Senate Bill 787, authored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). The idea behind the bill, The Clean Water Restoration Act, is that the government grabs America's water. I wrote about this in May, and here is the introductory paragraph, which will give an example of how water - the most important resource everywhere in the world - can be used to control a people:

I was doing a post on the plight of Israel in 1967 when surrounding Arab countries were attempting to divert Israel's irrigation water. That water was a key player in the start of the 1967 War. No country can survive healthily without crop water.

Okay, that's Israel and that was 1967, but it is not a stretch that the government, our government, wants your pond.

OpenCongress.org says s.787 seeks to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over the waters of the United States - which is a change from jurisdiction over only the "navigable waters" of the United States.

The key words in the above paragraph are "water of the United States." Here is how the Clean Water Act defines these waters:

The official term "waters of the United States" means, among other things (thanks to American Daughter ):

WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES- The term ‘waters of the United States’ means all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.:

See what I mean about your pond?

So Glen Beck today is talking about the lack of water in California and that the current focus on the "F" word, "fire," is not as important as another "F" word, "Farmer." Water is denied farmers because the Delta Smelt is protected. Here again is some of my commentary from May:

By now, you know that California farmers in the Central Valley are losing their farmland and their livelihood due to a two-inch minnow, the Delta Smelt. The government has taken the water from the farmers and given it to the minnow. What do you do when the gov'mt owns your pond - the pond your cattle drinks from and cools-off in, or the water in the fish-hatchery you own, or....

Senate Bill s.787 is not about the Delta Smelt, but the Delta Smelt is just one current and critical bit of evidence that proves what the government can do to us, if we allow it. Yes, you can put this off on the environmental "greenies" but, the governing body is "the government."

We might want to dismiss any evil intent in s. 787, but changing the designation of the original waters as set out in the original Clean Water Act of numerous years ago, from "navigable waters," to "water of the United States," which includes ALL waters, is a bit of a jump, and I just wonder why the government feels it necessary to control ALL of America's waters. There are a lot of crazy things going on, all of which have years of planning behind them by those dedicated to Socialism, redistribution of wealth, and worse. Control the water, control the health care. The Delta Smelt deprives Americans of food and livelihood - you'll see more about this in the second video below.

DDT? Well I began thinking about DDT again during the last days of this year's American Idol. Former idol, Carrie Underwood - you know that gorgeous Okie who is a role-model-exceptionale (just recently partnered in a huge donation of musical instruments to her former high school in Checotah, Oklahoma) - well, anyway, Carrie was in Africa handing out mosquito nets to African mothers to help protect them and their children from mosquito bites, which are often deadly there.

That brought to mind the fact that Rachel Carson convinced everyone that DDT was dangerous and toxic. It was banned in the U.S. in 1972. It is still legal in Africa but the use is discouraged - even thought some 3,000 people die, every day, - an African child dies every 30 seconds - in Africa from malaria alone. DDT is also considered effective in preventing typhus and typhoid fever. Nevertheless, the UN is trying to ban it worldwide.

I think it is a good bet that Rachel Carson can be attributed with killing more people in the world than any other single person. There is worldwide suffering, even though, as you'll hear Beck report, there are no reports of DDT harming humans. People are still dying today. The mission is to supply mosquito nets. Are we ignorant or what?

The first video is Glen talking about all of the above, (except Carrie Underwood), DDT, the Delta Smelt, America's water . He includes Van Jones - the Green Czar. Two important videos follow:



Glen Beck DDT, Delta Smelt, American Water (Video)



Americas Water - Delta Smelt (video)

Note: Senate Bill 787 had some action on June 17th. An amendment was added. More on this later. The co-authors are many and include all the usual suspects, including Boxer,Cantwell, Dodd, Durbin, Kerry,Leahy, Levin, Sanders, Schumer and sadly, Joe Lieberman.

How Will the Dems Repackage Health Care?

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



"Meet your new government health care plan."


No matter what they say publicly, the Democrats and the White House know full well that the majority of the public want no part of government health care. Obama is floundering and trying to use his oratorical skills to convince us that its a good deal. One press conference and three stacked town halls, and he still can't articulate why we should accept this monster. Now he is thinking about addressing a joint session of Congress to pitch health care. Maybe he should go back to Berlin and shout, "people of the world....". It won't work. He can't explain it. So now, they are trying to repackage their government takeover of health care. That won't work either if we remain vigilant.

In the coming days and weeks, we are going to see a lot of horse-trading and arm-twisting in Congress. There will be the usual sell-out Republicans who will join the "gang of 6" or the "gang of 8" to reach a compromise. The Democrats, meanwhile, will use tax-payer funds to bribe "blue-dog Democrats" with pork for their districts. People in the states represented by these Democrats should take note on what their representative finally does.

In addition, we are seeing the effort to come up with new names, new phrases and new catch words designed to fool the gullible public (us) into believing that we have won and forced them to do away with the objectionable portions. We will hear words like "competition", "no government option", "choices" and other focus group-tested words they think will work.

The bottom line is that it will be the same old government takeover of health care with a different label. Who knows, maybe they will call it the "Safe Streets Act". At the very least, the Democrats want to get the camel's nose under the tent and start taking over health care incrementally. At the most, they may do what Harry Reid wants to do. Jam this thing through Congress with or without Republican votes on a simple majority vote. After all, "we'll like it once it's in place" or something like that. How arrogant.

The Republicans should not engage in any deals to ameliorate this turkey. They should stand firm, filibuster if they can, and hope that the American public will continue to let its voice be heard. With the Free Our Health Care Now petition now at 1.2 million, more tea parties and a scheduled march on Washington, the heat will continue. The Dems must know by now that they face a disaster in the 2010 elections if they continue along this course. If the Democrats want to ignore the will of the people, let them own this bill 100%.

Finally, don't be fooled by the repackaging of this bill with new language. It will still be a bill consisting of some 1,000 pages that nobody in Congress has read and will contain buried clauses designed to screw us all in the end. It will still be the same old turkey.

"Meet your new, repackaged government health care plan.'

The Tome Of Health

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle


Book of Obama: Chapter 8

In the time of heat when tempers run thin, He came down from on high with His plan to solve the crises of health.

Like Moses of old, He stood upon the mountain top with the Tome of Health and said:
"I bring unto you the cure for all. Do not read it, just pass it. I command thee to do!"

The multitude of the land looked upon Him and His Tome of Health and whispered:

No we won't.

The Anointed One was not dismayed. He turned to Pelosi the Loud and Reid the Tired told them to gather the troops and force the multitude to love His plan.

So they went forth, the Democrats armed with the Sword of Union and the Shield of Acorn. They went forth to do battle with the multitudes who sat down and read the Tome of Health.

And the multitude cried:

No we won't!

This started to dismay the Democrats and they cried out to The One: "Oh Great Leader, Anointed One, help us along! For no longer is our shield and sword working. At meetings of towns and villages they are not effective. The more we call the multitude names, the louder their cries become.

They have read the Tome of Health and do not like what they have read. A single payer, public option is not what they want or desire. Yet it is Your wish, Anointed One, and Thy will be done. Though it will cost us the election in 2010.

And the multitude screamed:

No We Won't!

The Anointed One let out a sigh. "I will see to it. I will attend the towns in Hampshire the New and in the Mountains of Montana. There I will convince the multitude to accept the Tome of Health."

And there was great rejoicing amongst the Democrats.

He took up the Sword of Union and Shield of Acorn and journeyed to Hampshire the New. With His loyal follower comprising of the congregation He presented The Tome. All was working according to plan, even the young child's question brought the press to His side.

Off to the Mountains of Montana, His stride was upbeat, then came the cries of fowl for the multitude had discovered the child who spoke her question was a weed. The child's mother worked for Him, wrote out her question too. All His hard work was not going to help at all. The Sword of Union was dull and rusty. The Shield of Acorn was corrupt and coming apart at the seams.

Outside the hall the multitude was screaming:

No We Won't!

He went on to the Vineyard of Martha with His wife and two children. A happy vacation was not on the menu. All through the heat of the Summer in villages and towns, the multitude fought hard and the Democrats were on the run.

Just when things looked bleak, His Presidency a failure, a miracle occurred. Teddy the Lecher, of Camelot fame, the author of the Tome, died and became the rallying cry of them all.

For Teddy we will do it! Pelosi the Loud proclaimed. We will ram it through the Congress, and call it by his name. Teddy's bill it is now called. Soon to become law. For the Lecher they will do it, and disregard the multitude once and for all.

This will save My Presidency! The Anointed One exclaimed. Let Us exalt our dear Teddy who has saved the day.

Through out the land a rumbling was heard. From the cities, towns and villages it was felt by all.

Who cares what the multitude thinks cried the Democrats. We have the votes, the will and Teddy's Bill will pass. What can you do? You are nothing but a voice. You have no power. This is our choice.

But the rumbling did not die. For the multitude had become a great voice. They stood on the mountain tops and in a loud voice:

There is much we can do. We are not alone. We have a great voice. You have won this battle, but the war is not lost. We will organize, become stronger. Then you will have to listen to our voice.

The Democrats just laughed. You are racists, and bores. We have The Anointed One leading us, He has given us Hope and Change. You have nothing at all.

But the multitude had seen the signs. His approval ratings were dropping, they knew He couldn't last. With a loud voice they screamed so the whole world would hear:

YES WE CAN!
JUST WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 2010!!!

New Article by Steve Emerson re: Viva Palestina

Cross-posted by Gary Fouse
fousesquawk



George Galloway (in red). I don't know who the other mope is.


Terrorism expert Steve Emerson has been following and reporting on the activities of British MP George Galloway and his Viva Palestina movement, which takes collections of monies and supplies and transports them to Gaza and its Hamas rulers. Many observers, including the Anti-Defamation League, regard this drive as against US law in supporting a US-terrorist-designated entity (Hamas) and have protested to Attorney General Eric Holder asking for an investigation. I myself was present at UC-Irvine in May when Galloway appeared and took a collection for Viva Palestina.

Here is Emerson's latest article on the doings of Galloway and his fellow scallywags in the US. It appeared in the Jewish World Review and is dated 8-31-09.

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American Aid Convoy to Gaza Serves Hamas' Objectives
By Steven Emerson
Jewish World Review
August 31, 2009

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0809/emerson083109.php3?printer_friendly



U.S. law prohibits providing material support to Hamas, even when that takes the form of humanitarian aid. Why is nobody taking action against Viva Palestina USA?

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
Viva Palestina USA, an offshoot of British MP George Galloway's anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas, Viva Palestina convoy initiative, crossed into the Gaza Strip last month, with 200 Americans as well as more than $1 million worth of aid for Palestinians in Gaza. Viva Palestina USA claims to be a humanitarian initiative desiring to help needy Palestinians. But behind the headline-grabbing trip, events prior to, during and after the trip reveal the anti-American, anti-Israel, revolutionary and pro-Hamas sentiments of its organizers.

When Galloway led a Viva Palestina UK convoy to Gaza in March, he started out with 110 trucks filled with supplies. That doubled during a stop in Libya when the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation donated a matching volume of supplies. The Foundation's chairman is Safi Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Once in Gaza, the convoy was greeted by Hamas representatives. Viva Palestina UK gave thousands of pounds of aid and tens of vehicles to the Hamas government. The convoy also included 12 ambulances, a fire engine and 1 million pounds (approximately $1.4 million U.S.), which was given to Ziad al-Zaza, the Economy Minister of the Hamas government.

In July, Viva Palestina USA led a similar convoy to Gaza, with more than $1 million in what organizers said were medical supplies. There, Galloway and a crew of approximately 200 Americans met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who praised the U.S. convoy as "proof that the American people is not entirely a people of occupation and is not entirely on the side of the criminal Zionist regime."

U.S. law prohibits providing material support to Hamas, even when that takes the form of humanitarian aid. Five officials at the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a now-defunct Texas charity, are serving prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years for violating that law. In that case, jurors found that HLF more than $12 million to Hamas through a network of charities controlled by the terrorist group.

It is unknown whether Viva Palestina's delivery of goods to Hamas officials is under any kind of investigation. However, attorneys with National Lawyers Guild attended Viva Palestina events and provided training on how to respond to government questions.

Galloway seemed to joke about it during a July 2 fundraiser outside Kansas City:

"I just want this to be clear to the FBI man [in the audience], I am not, myself, a supporter of Hamas, I have never been a supporter of Hamas."

He invoked the memory of the late PLO leader Yassir Arafat, whom Galloway said was a close, longtime friend. But Galloway has now twice led convoys which delivered tons of supplies and millions of dollars to Hamas instead of to non-governmental organizations. And this picture seems to challenge his claim about Hamas.

Galloway (L) with Hamas leader Isma'el Hanniya

The Kansas City fundraiser, one of many throughout the country, raised $103,000 in a single evening.

The next night, at an event in New York, City Council member Charles Barron started his remarks by leading the crowd in a chant of "Long live Palestine." Then he introduced himself by saying "I am not a politician. I am an elected revolutionary." Barron, a former Black Panther Party member, was part of the convoy heading to Gaza along with his chief of staff, Nayo Joy Simmons, and a second staffer.

Barron spoke of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was supposed to appear at this convoy send-off, but she was in Israeli custody, after a boat she was traveling on toward Gaza was seized by the Israeli navy.

A message from McKinney was played for the Brooklyn gathering, in which she claimed to be bringing nothing more than crayons to children in Gaza. Barron called Israeli interdiction of the boat "piracy," and offered a bizarre comparison of her plight to the three Somali pirates killed by U.S. Navy sharpshooters in April after kidnapping an American ship captain:

"And how dare you, Barack Obama, how dare you go to Africa, kill three Somalians for trying to protect their water when an American boat went into Somalian waters. They tried to protect their waters from dark, toxic waste being dumped and for you ruining their maritime, their fish, stealing over $300 million worth of shrimp, and other kinds of fish, starving the people of Somalia, you go and kill three Africans to save an American ship and you're silent on the Israeli government taking a ship" carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

A short time later, Father Luis Barrios told the convoy travelers to, "Break the law. Just break it. OK?"

John Parker of the International Action Center in California was one of only two speakers to mention Hamas by name. In doing so, he indicated Hamas is not part of the problem:

"Is it Hamas that's denying children IVs and medical supplies while they lie in hospitals dying? Is it Hamas that put these children in the hospitals in the first place? No. Is it Hamas that destroyed half of the hospitals in Gaza? And is it Hamas that put Cynthia McKinney in jail?"

At a Viva Palestina fundraiser held June 28 at American University in Washington, D.C., a "spoken word artist" by the name of Ibrahim vehemently rapped about "the problem" of "Zionism." During his rap, the young man stated:

"I promise there will be another intifada. You think our children are scared to be martyred?"

His violent rhetoric continued throughout his presentation:

"Let the message of Shahid Ahmed Yassin revive," and "I'm your everyday martyr, your everyday fedayeen smashing away the Zionist dream. Their claims are all fraud. They were the chosen until they started worshiping Satan instead of G-d."

Yassin was a Hamas founder and its spiritual leader until he was killed by Israel in 2004.

Mahdi Bray, the leader of the Muslim American Society (MAS)'s Freedom Foundation, was a featured speaker for the majority of Galloway's and Viva Palestina's fundraising events. Following the radical rap at the American University fundraiser, Bray applauded Ibrahim, encouraged audience members to purchase his CD, and stated, "I like the courage." Bray further noted that the audience comprised a small group (approximately 60 people) because Muslims are afraid of what the "White House" will think if they supported "the struggle of our brothers and sisters in Palestine."

To this, Bray said, "The hell with going to the White House. I don't want to go the White House if my Palestinian brothers and sisters can't live in their house."

In addition to co-sponsoring fundraising events, MAS Freedom has openly supported the efforts of Galloway and Viva Palestina on its website, provided a container of medical supplies and equipment for the convoy and launched the Let Gaza Live and End the Gaza Embargo campaigns to complement the efforts of Viva Palestina.

CAIR, as previously noted, sent representatives on the U.S. convoy, and has additionally promoted the efforts of Viva Palestina USA on the web.

On July 14, 2009, CAIR-LA forwarded an action alert from American Muslims for Palestine to its list serve demanding that Egyptian authorities allow the Viva Palestina U.S. convoy passage into Gaza. On July 1st, 2009, CAIR National distributed a press release calling on the Obama Administration to release Cynthia McKinney and 20 other members of the convoy after they were stopped by the Israeli navy.

Among those joining McKinney in the Viva Palestina US convoy were New York City Council Member Charles Barron, representatives of the extremist anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta, the Middle East Children's Alliance, Cuba Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), International Action Center, International Socialist Organization, Workers World Party and the Answer Coalition.

After returning to the U.S., Viva Palestina supporters met in Brooklyn on July 27 to discuss their trip. They met at the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church, where Archbishop Hanna said he supports a one-state solution, that the idea of a two-state solution is unjust and is an illusion. An interpreter summarized his statements. "We have to be patient. We are in no rush in any way to get to any solutions. We're here to wait. We can wait another 50 years. We can wait another 100 years, as long as we find a just solution, which is a one-state solution, the right state for all its citizen, every person living there — Jews, Christians, Muslims, and see the end of the Zionist regime that racially discriminates and occupies Palestine now."

At a Viva Palestina event in Brooklyn July 3, before the convoy left, Lamis Deek, of a group called Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, said that, while the group's work is charitable, its "essence" is political:

"The first and foremost among them with this convoy, without question supports is the rights of Palestinians to self-determination, the right the government to choose, not only the government under which they want to live, but in choosing Hamas, what they chose was one united Palestinian state on all of the 1948 territories from the north to the very south. That is what Palestinians chose. And in supporting Palestinian choice we are saying we support their right to liberation from violent colonialism." [Emphasis added]

Three weeks later, Deek asserted that, "Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine," adding, "We reject Zionism as a racist and criminal ideology."

Many of the convoy participants gathered at the Salam Arabic Lutheran Church in Brooklyn on July 27 to discuss their experiences. Archbishop Atallah Hanna of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem echoed the sentiment from previous events that the Viva Palestina supporters oppose a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and demand one Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

That is preferable to a negotiated settlement, even if it means subjecting Palestinians in Gaza to the status quo for another 50 or 100 years, said Hanna, who made his remarks in Arabic:

"Historic Palestine from the river to the sea; that is Palestine. Therefore, friends, we must not talk about the people of '67 or the people of '48. The Palestinian people are one people, no matter where they are or where they are found. The Palestinian people are one people indivisible."

Calls for a Palestinian state on 1948 borders (before there was a state of Israel). Direct contributions to Hamas officials. On Friday, Viva Palestina issued a statement announcing plans for a "mega convoy" in December with "more high profile individuals" and much more money and supplies. Viva Palestina's actions in support of Hamas seem to echo those of HLF, if not more boldly at that.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kudos to Mr Emerson for reporting on Galloway's activities. There is every reason to suspect that he and his cohorts may be violating US law law in supllying aid to a terrorist organization (Hamas). Perhaps, US neutrality law might also be involved here as well. Since Galloway used a forum at a California public university (among others) to solicit and collect funds, is this something that should be looked into as well?

Maybe Mr Holder's Justice Department should take a break from trying to prosecute CIA interrogators and turn their attention to something that is taking place right under their noses.