George Galloway, the noble man

By Khalid Amayreh Unlike many politicians who would rather stay on the safe side, even if that means betraying their conscience, George Galloway represents a rare breed of morally-guided politicians who are willing to call the spade a spade even in the face of danger and brutality. The British lawmaker has displayed immense courage in speaking up against crimes and injustices inflicted by Israel, the United States and their European allies in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. In 2003, Galloway was expelled from the Labor Party when a party body decided that the strong statements he had made in opposition to the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies had brought the party into disrepute. Unshaken and defiant, Galloway then co-founded the Respect party, a new leftist-leaning coalition with a number of small groups. Galloway had castigated the horrible genocide of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who died as a result of the draconian sanctions imposed on that Arab country and enforced by the United States . In 2006, when the West and several Arab regimes were utterly silent, or colluding with Israel , Galloway spoke up loudly and eloquently against the barbaric Israeli aggression against Lebanon which utterly destroyed civilian homes and infrastructure, especially in southern Beirut, and killed hundreds of innocent civilians all over Lebanon . In so doing, he exposed the nefarious war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Israel, including the dropping by the Israeli air force of millions of cluster bomblets all over southern Lebanon for the express purpose of killing and maiming Lebanese peasants, farmers, shepherds and children for many many years to come. Now, the brave gentleman has arrived in the huge besieged concentration camp known as the Gaza Strip, leading an aid convoy of food and medicine for the thoroughly tormented people of Gaza . Interestingly, his auspicious arrival coincided with the occurrence of the annual anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) who said “one of the greatest forms of Jihad, is to utter a word of truth in the presence of tyrant.” “I am here to meet the heroes of Palestine’s resistance, the government of Palestine, the people of Palestine,” Galloway told reporters as thousands of jubilant Palestinians turned up to greet the man and his companions. “I have entered Palestine many times but the most emotional of these is after the 22-day genocidal aggression against the Palestinian people,” said Galloway, who kneeled down to kiss Gaza ground. “We are all Palestinians” Unafraid of upsetting Israel, its criminal-minded allies, quislings and hangers-on, Galloway said what most politicians in the capitals of Europe and North America, not even in the Arab-Muslim Middle East, wouldn’t dare say, namely that Hamas is the legitimate Palestinian government and that the Palestinian people’s will ought to be respected. Galloway denounced former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch supporter of the Hamas-isolation policy. “He doesn’t represent the British people,” said Galloway. Blair, like most other western politicians and officials, remained utterly silent as Nazi Israel was raining white phosphorus bombs on Gaza recently, killing, maiming and incinerating thousands of innocent civilians, including hundreds of children, whose only “crime” was their enduring vigor and determination to live and be free. However, instead of getting disgracefully consigned to the dustbin of history, as, indeed, he should have been, Blair was appointed by the crime-boss of the White House, the unmissed George Bush, as Peace Envoy to the Middle East. Bush and Blair will always be remembered as despicable war criminals who shamelessly indulged in every type of dishonest behavior to justify or cover up their criminal conduct. In truth, they shouldn’t be free men, their natural place should be behind bars. We salute you Well, Mr. Galloway, on behalf of the Palestinian people and all free-minded men and women around the world, I salute you for being a voice for the voiceless and for speaking up loudly, eloquently and defiantly for truth and justice. George: It is for upholding these sublime values that great men are created. I salute you for challenging the forces of hypocrisy and moral duplicity back in Britain who instead of calling Israel, a criminal state ruled by an evil clique of war criminals, by its real name, hasten to blame the helpless victims for surviving the recent genocide in Gaza and for clinging to life, dignity and freedom. I also salute you for being “non-conformist,” because in a world overwhelmed by hypocrisy, immorality, human depravity, unethical expediency, and repulsive political correctness, it takes a true non-conformist to uphold true human values. And, above all, I salute you for exposing and putting to shame the treacherous Arab leaders who played their fiddle while Gaza was burning. Sir, May God bless you.

Olmert: Tidak ada dialog dengan Hamas.

Selasa, 10/03/2009 - Pergeseran antara Ehud Olmert dan Ehud Barak semakin ketara apabila mereka saling tidak bersependat dalam isu dialog dengan Hamas. Ehud Barak yang optimis dengan dialog dengan Hamas yang mana Mesir menjadi orang tengah. Olmert pula dilihat menentang dialog dan menolak gencatan senjata.

Barak menyatakan sekiranya Israel berunding dengan Hamas, sekurang-kurangnya Hamas tidak akan lagi melepaskan roket yang menghancurkan penempatan Zionis-Israel. Olmert mengkritik Barak kerana Barak dulu pernah menyatakan akan membalas setiap roket yang dilepaskan Hamas, tetapi sekarang dilihat lembut apabila berurusan dengan isu Hamas.

sumber : http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/
penterjemah : Abu Awatif

Galloway: Kami akan beri bantuan kepada kerajaan Gaza.

Selasa, 10/03/2009 - Sebaik tiba di Sahat al-Katibah di Gaza pada hari Isnin (9/3), George Galloway seorang ahli Parlimen British dan ketua konvoi ‘Pembuluh Kehidupan’ yang bertujuan memecahkan sekatan yang dikenakan terhadap Gaza, menyeru semua individu yang merdeka di seluruh dunia agar menghantar konvoi serupa, delegasi dan bantuan ke Gaza melalui pintu sempadan Rafah.

Beliau berkata dalam satu sidang akhbar yang diadakan di Sahat al-Katibah bersama dengan beberapa ahli parlimen daripada blok ‘perubahan dan pembaikan’ dalam Dewan Perundangan, “kami datang ke sini, ke semenanjung Gaza dengan 200 buah kereta sejauh ratusan batu hanya kerana anda.. Kami melalui gunung-gunung dan sungai.. Kami merentasi 8 buah negara sebelum tiba di Gaza.

Kami merentasi sempadan yang sebelum ini ditutup. Setiap saat kami terdengar seruan orang dewasa dan tangisan kanak-kanak yang sedang berada dalam kepungan. Suara-suara inilah yang menyebabkan kami datang walaupun terpaksa meredah perjalanan yang amat jauh. Setiap jalan yang dilalui, kami dapati semua orang menunjukkan kasih sayang dan solidariti terhadap rakyat Palestin. Namun masih ada kerajaan yang tidak memberikan bantuan sehingga kini.”

Beliau menambah, “kami membawa bersama ubat-ubatan, peralatan dan bantuan yang akan kami serahkan kepada Perdana Menteri kerajaan Palestin yang dipilih secara sah, Ismail Haneyya.”

Beliau juga menegaskan, “jutaan lagi yang tidak dapat datang sekarang sedang berdoa untuk anda di Gaza, termasuk ratusan rakyat di beberapa negara Arab yang sanggup menyerahkan barangan kemas mereka untuk disumbangkan kepada Gaza.”

sumber : http://www.palestine-info.info/ar/
penterjemah : muhajir

Zurub urges Egypt not to block way of life line convoy at Rafah

RAFAH, (PIC)-- Adel Zurub, the information officer of the governmental anti-siege committee has urged Saturday the Egyptian government to facilitate entry of the life line convoy of British MP George Galloway that started from London and expected to arrive at Rafah Sunday. According to Zurub, the PA government and the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip have prepared everything to receive the convoy in the way it deserves for the sacrifices the organizers have made along that lengthy journey with the aim to extend a helping hand to the besieged Palestinian people in that tiny coastal Strip.. "The committee has contacted the caravan, and we knew [from the organizers] that they were heading to Rafah crossing point, the only entry point into Gaza Strip before them", Zurub pointed out, adding that the committee called on the Egyptian government to let the convoy pass without hindrances. Egypt had so far refused to listen to the humanitarian appeals of the Gaza inhabitants to open the crossing point, and had opened it intermittently and occasionally leaving more than 1.5 million Palestinian civilians starving and dying of sickness. He underlined that program of the convoy was already on the table as government and concerned agencies were prepared to tour the Strip in company of the foreign volunteers in order to see for themselves the volume of the Israeli destruction inflicted on the Strip by the brutal Israeli aggression last January, in addition to take first hand information on the adverse repercussions of the US-Israeli-led economic siege imposed on the Palestinian people. The 3 km-long British convoy comprises 247 Britons, including 12 ladies, on board 108 vehicles, in addition to 100 Libyans riding 100 vehicles. The convoy brought with it medical, food, and humanitarian assistance, 12 ambulances, fire truck, electric generator, and a boat.

Nunu: Fayyad's resignation has nothing to do with national dialog

GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA government of Ismail Haneyya on Saturday underlined that the Ramallah government of Salam Fayyad was an illegitimate government and was illegally practicing its duties. Taher Al-Nunu, the government's spokesman, said in a statement that Fayyad's government was ruling contrary to the Palestinian people's will, which chose Hamas to rule them. He said that Fayyad's resignation from his "illegal post" had its reasons, none of which are related to the national reconciliation dialog in Cairo because his government was in itself an obstacle before this dialog. Nunu called for restoring rule of Hanneya's government over the West Bank along with the Gaza Strip in accordance with the law until end of the national dialog in Cairo that would form a new government. For its part, Hamas Movement said that Fayyad's resignation was due to financial and personal differences between him and the former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said that it had no regrets over the resignation of Fayyad, and described the move as "natural" because it was not formed on national, constitutional or legal basis. Fayyad declared his government's resignation on Saturday to pave the way for success of the Cairo dialog, according to a press release.

Halabiya: Jerusalem faces the most serious stage in its history

GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Ahmed Abu Halabiya, the rapporteur of the Quds parliamentary committee, warned that the city of occupied Jerusalem is going through the most serious stage in its history, adding that the Israeli occupation authority is waging a relentless war on the Palestinian people everywhere. Dr. Abu Halabiya's remarks came during a cultural meeting entitled "The risks that threaten Jerusalem and the holy places" held by the Hamas public relations office in the Daraj area in Gaza city. The lawmaker stressed that at least 60 thousand dunums of Palestinian lands had been seized and 30 settlements had been established since 1967. He noted that the IOA handed demolition orders for 134 Jerusalemite families living in 88 homes in the Bustan neighborhood in the Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque, and issued other orders for the demolition of 55 apartments in the Ras Khamis area in the Shafat refugee camp, in central Jerusalem. Abu Halabiya said that the goal of this Israeli policy is to tighten the screws on the Palestinians in Jerusalem in order to force them to emigrate from their city and change the demographic map dramatically in favor of the Jews. The lawmaker pointed to what had been revealed by the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage about the Israeli intents to dig two new long tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque as a prelude to demolishing it. Palestinian sources reported Saturday that the IOA handed during the past 24 hours demolition orders for 21 Palestinian families in Jerusalem. The sources said that the IOA handed two Palestinian families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of Jerusalem's old city, orders to evacuate their homes in order to give them for the society of oriental Jews which is active in seizing Jerusalemite real estate.

Israel rampas Baitulmaqdis Timur

KANAK-KANAK Palestin memegang kertas tertera nombor kediaman mereka di Al-Bustan daerah Silwan yang dimusnahkan tentera Israel.

Kesatuan Eropah dedah dasar Zionis sekat Palestin miliki ibu negara masa depan

BAITULMAQDIS: Laporan sulit Kesatuan Eropah (EU) menuduh kerajaan Israel menggunakan alasan perluasan penempatan, pemusnahan rumah, dasar perumahan berunsur diskriminasi dan tembok pemisah Tebing Barat untuk merampas Baitulmaqdis Timur secara aktif.

Dokumen berkenaan menyebut rejim Zionis itu mempercepatkan pelannya bagi Baitulmaqdis Timur sedangkan kawasan berkenaan dirancang untuk dijadikan ibu negara Palesti pada masa depan.

"Tindakan Israel sekitar Baitulmaqdis adalah cabaran terbesar kepada perjanjian damai Israel Palestin," menurut Laporan Misi Ketua EU mengenai Baitulmaqdis Timur.

Laporan berkenaan diperoleh akhbar The Guardian, bertarikh 15 Disember 2008. Ia menerima alasan masalah keselamatan Israel di Baitulmaqdis, tetapi menekankan: "Kebanyakan tindakan Israel menyalahi undang-undang baru-baru ini di sekitar bandar raya itu, menjejaskan alasannya itu."

"Tindakan Israel membina penempatan baru, tembok keselamatan, dasar perumahan berunsur diskriminasi, pemusnahan rumah, permit terhad dan berterusan menutup institusi Palestin meramaikan Yahudi di Baitulmaqdis Timur, melemahkan komuniti Palestin di situ, menghalang pembangunan bandar Palestin dan memisahkan Baitulmaqdis Timur dengan keseluruhan Tebing Barat," menurut laporan.

Ia didedahkan ketika kebimbangan semakin memuncak berhubung dasar Zionis di Baitulmaqdis Timur. Dua rumah dimusnahkan Isnin lalu sebelum ketibaan Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat, Hillary Clinton, dan 88 lagi dijadualkan untuk dimusnahkan di daerah Silwan semuanya kerana ketiadaan permit.

Hillary menyifatkan pemusnahan itu sebagai 'tidak membantu', dan berkata, ia melanggar syarat Israel menurut pelan damai anjuran Amerika, tetapi Tel Aviv menolaknya mentah-mentah. � Agensi

Resolusi ‘al-Quds sentiasa di hati’ seru tubuh JK pembela.

Sabtu, 07/03/2009 - Badan-badan amal Baitul Maqdis yang beroperasi di Jordan mengkritik ketiadaan pendirian Arab dan Islam yang berkesan bagi memberikan tekanan terhadap pihak berkuasa Zionis agar memberhentikan perancangan mereka yang bertujuan untuk menyahudikan Baitul Maqdis dan menghalau para penduduknya dari bandar tersebut.

Kenyataan ini dikeluarkan melalui resolusi sebagai menandakan berakhirnya program Seminar Pemikiran Tahunan bagi ‘Forum Pemikiran Arab’ yang diadakan di Amman bertemakan ‘al-Quds sentiasa di kalbu’ pada petang Khamis (5/3).

Putera al-Hasan bin Talal, bekas Putera Mahkota Jordan dalam ucapannya memberikan amaran terhadap perancangan yang dilakukan bagi mengosongkan bandar al-Quds daripada penduduknya yang berbangsa Arab dan mengasingkan bandar tersebut daripada kawasan sekitarnya yang beridentiti Arab. Beliau juga menegaskan keperluan menghulurkan bantuan dan sokongan kepada penduduk al-Quds agar rancangan memindahkan mereka dapat dihalang.

Sementara itu, pengarah dan penaung ‘Forum Pemikiran Arab’ semasa penutupan forum tersebut menggesa agar sebuah jawatankuasa pembela al-Quds ditubuhkan dengan dianggotai oleh pelbagai pihak daripada pelbagai pengkhususan, kerana ia adalah isu ketamadunan dan kemanusiaan, bukan hanya isu agama, politik dan ekonomi semata-mata.

sumber : http://www.palestine-info.info/ar/
penterjemah : muhajir

Masjid Aqsa bakal runtuh tidak lama lagi ?

Jumaat, 06/03/2009 - Penggubal undang-undang Palestin dan pengerusi jawatankuasa Baitulmuqaddis dalam PLC, MP Dr Ahmad Abu Halabia menyatakan pengumuman Israel untuk menggali dua terowong di bawah Masjid Aqsa merupakan “ujian untuk orang Arab dan umat Islam”.

Dalam satu temubual dengan PIC pada Rabu lalu, Abu Halabia menerangkan bahawa usaha-usaha Israel itu untuk meyahudikan segera bandar itu akan diperhebatkan lagi termasuk memusnahkan lebih banyak kediaman Palestin dan memaksa ramai keluarga keluar dari bandar tersebut.

Beliau menekan penggalian Israel di bawah makam ketiga paling suci untuk umat Islam sudah sampai ke peringkat mencemaskan dan mula untuk mengancam asas masjid itu

sumber : http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/
penterjemah : hijjaz79

Zahhar: Kerajaan perpaduan tidak akan iktiraf Israel.

Jumaat, 06/03/2009 - Pemimpin Hamas serta wakil rakyat Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar telah menegaskan dalam sebuah rencana akhbar Khamis bahawa kerajaan perpaduan tidak akan mengiktiraf kewujudan Israel.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada akhbar Al-Khalij UAE dan Israel bukan agenda dalam kerajaan Israel serta Hamas tidak ikitraf sebarang perjanjian lepas antara Israel dan PLO. “Zionis merupakan satu entiti asing yang tidak ada kena mengena dengan Palestin dan mesti keluar dari Palestin dengan segera”,tegas beliau.

Sebarang usaha membentuk kerajaan perpaduan perlulah dipersetujui oleh semua kumpulan pejuang Palestin dan matlamat utamanya haruslah ke arah memperbaiki taraf hidup rakyat, mengadakan pilihan raya dan untuk mencapai tujuan mulia untuk Palestin.

Zahhar berkata Mesir tidak akan menjamin kejayaan membentuk kerajaan perpaduan tetapi sebaliknya ianya terletak pada semua kumpulan pejuang.

Bekas ketua PA dan pemimpin Fatah Mahmoud Abbas berkata sebarang usaha dialog pembentukan kerajaan perpaduan harus mengikitiraf konsep 2 negara dimana dikritik oleh Hamas.

sumber : http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/
penterjemah : anonymous

Abu Halabia: IOA announcement on Aqsa tunnels test for Arab and Muslim reaction

GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian lawmaker and chairman of the Jerusalem committee in the PLC MP Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabia has described Wednesday the Israeli announcement of digging two tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque as "test for Arabs and Muslims". In an interview with the PIC on Wednesday, Abu Halabia explained that the Israeli efforts to judaize the city rapidly and noticeably intensified, including destroying more Palestinian Jerusalemite homes and forcing more families out of the city. He stressed that the Israeli excavations under the third holiest shrine for Muslims reached alarming levels, and started to threaten foundations of the Mosque. "The Israeli occupation government doesn't need to announce or consult any party about its schemes against the Aqsa; yet, the latest Israeli declaration of digging two tunnels under the Aqsa Mosque was meant to gauge the pulse in the Arab and Muslim street on those excavations", he pointed out. The lawmaker added that he sent letters to the OIC, and Arab League general secretaries, in addition to a number of Arab leaders and speakers of Arab and European parliaments to explain the dangers that engulf the Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem. The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage that exposed the Israeli tunnel schemes asserted that one of the tunnels would be 56-meter long, while the second would extend for 22 meters with the aim to link the Palestinian Al-Sharaf suburb in the occupied city, which is now called the Jewish suburb after Israeli occupied it and forced its Palestinian inhabitants out of it at gunpoint, to the Buraq Plaza, west of the "Buraq (Wailing) Wall". In a related matter, Palestinian minister for endowment and religious affairs in Gaza city Dr. Taleb Abu Sha'ar described the Israeli decision of demolishing more Palestinian homes in the Shafat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem city, as another Israeli step to empty the city of its indigenous Palestinian inhabitants and to induce drastic demographic changes in favor of the Jews in the city. He pointed out that the Israeli timing of the demolition order during the visit of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to occupied Palestine was a deliberate step to give American legitimacy for such actions, adding that destroying more Palestinian homes constitutes a big blow to those "gasping behind the mirage of peace with the occupying enemy". He said that the Israeli government uses the futile negotiations with the Abbas and his installed PA government in Ramallah to buy time, accusing the Israeli occupation of not being concerned with peace. In this regard, Abu Sha'ar urged Palestinian and Arab parties to rethink their stands regarding the "peace process" that brought the Palestinian issue to this miserable level and paved the way for the Israeli occupation government to gobble up more lands and to expand settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinian gov't slams int'l court for issuing arrest warrant against Bashir

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Palestinian government headed by premier Ismail Haneyya on Wednesday strongly denounced the international criminal court for issuing an arrest warrant against Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir, saying that this decision is politicized par excellence ignoring the real war criminals in the world. Spokesman for the government Taher Al-Nunu said in a press statement received by the PIC that the justice of the international community reflects the American will and ignores the real war criminals in Israel who committed atrocities against the Palestinian people. Nunu urged the leaders of the Islamic and Arab countries to stand by the Sudanese president, his government and people against the unjust attack that targets the Sudan, stressing his government's full solidarity with Bashir and its rejection of this court's arbitrary decision against him. In a press statement received by the PIC, the Hamas change and reform parliamentary bloc also deplored the international court for taking such a serious move against the Sudanese president, saying that this decision is a reflection of the injustice and the policy of double standards practiced by the US and its allies. The Hamas parliamentary bloc hailed the stands of the Sudanese president towards the Palestinian cause, adding that such decisions are despicable means to blackmail the free nations. It also dared the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders who committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip. For his part, Palestinian minister of justice Faraj Al-Ghoul condemned the international court's decision as politicized and irrelevant to international law. In an exclusive statement to the PIC, Ghoul underlined that the state of Sudan did not sign the Rome convention and therefore the international criminal court could not file a lawsuit against the Sudanese president. The minister added that this decision is an attempt in the context of controlling the African continent in general and Sudan in particular, and an attempt to destabilize the security in this state which refuses to be subjected to the American hegemony and dictates. The minister highlighted that the international criminal court is a tool controlled at will by the US, noting that its decision is heavily biased in favor of the rebels in the Darfur region. Sheikh Nafid Azzam, a senior Islamic Jihad leader, said that the court's decision lacks justice and reflects double standards. Azzam added that this court was supposed to issue arrest warrants against war criminals in Israel which just ended its brutal war on Gaza killing more than 1,500 civilians, most of them children and women, wounding 5,000 others and causing mass destruction all over Gaza.