The Raw Story

Saturday, 23 May 2015

Israel follows through with fascist declaration to jail Palestinians who make 'anti-Israel' comments on social media

[Israel]
~Iyab Shalabi, Son of jailed Palestinian activist

Iyab Shalabi has only been allowed to visit his father, Omar, in prison once since December, when he and eight other Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem were arrested by Israel for posts they wrote on Facebook and other social media outlets.

"Several months went by before they actually gave me a permit to visit my dad," Iyab, 22, told Al Jazeera. "My mother has been completely banned from visiting him till now."

Earlier this month, Omar, 44, was sentenced to nine months in an Israeli prison for charges related to incitement and "supporting terror" against Israelis. He is the former secretary-general of Jerusalem's branch of Fatah, the Palestinian political party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

"It was very clear from the beginning that my father was targeted because he is still an influential activist and has a lot of support and respect in the community," Iyab continued.

The court cited several of Shalabi's Facebook postings about Muhammad Abu Khudair, a 17-year-old Palestinian kidnapped and burned alive by Israeli settlers in Jerusalem last July, as well as "statuses" he wrote supporting Palestinian attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the city.

Iyab rejects the assertion that his father's Facebook postings posed any threat to Israel's security. "They don't have any real evidence that he presented any danger to anyone's safety," he argued. "Of course, this is oppression and discrimination. Everyone writes their opinion on Facebook."

Explaining that conditions are difficult for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Iyab and his family are worried about his father's well-being.

On May 19, just a week and a half after Shalabi was sentenced, an Israeli magistrate's court in Jerusalem ruled that Sami Deis will spend eight months in jail. The court deemed a number of his Facebook postings as "incitement".

A Facebook page Deis created and administered - titled "Death to Israel" - included a number of postings calling for violence against Israelis, including soldiers and Jewish settlers. The page had few followers and the violent postings rarely received "likes", according to Israeli media reports.

Deis, a 27-year-old resident of the Shuafat neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, pled guilty as part of a plea bargain. Yet, the ruling judge handed down a harsh nine-month sentence. "The defendant calls for murder and killing, and praises those who would carry out such acts," said Judge Shmuel Herbst in his ruling. "There is no doubt as to his intentions, and among his statements are none that can be interpreted in other ways."

Tensions have soared in recent months in Jerusalem, home to more than 815,000 Jewish Israelis and upwards of 300,000 Palestinians. From the 5,820 Palestinians in lockup, at least 460 are residents of East Jerusalem, according to the Ramallah-based prisoner rights group Addameer.

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld defended the crackdown on Palestinian social media users, claiming that online anti-Israeli incitement has been on the steady rise in recent months. "We've seen a lot of incitement, not just on the street level but on the government level by the Palestinian Authority," Rosenfeld told Al Jazeera.

"Unfortunately, as police, when we see that on social networks, and when we see all types of extremist comments and anti-Israeli calls for violence, we have to get involved."

Rosenfeld added that the Facebook postings have also coincided with an uptick in Palestinian attacks on Israelis in Jerusalem, pointing to an incident on Wednesday when a Palestinian motorist's car struck two Israeli Border Police officers the al-Tur neighbourhood of Jerusalem. "The man who was shot and killed this week had ties to Hamas, which we were only able to find out from his Facebook account," Rosenfeld remarked.

Mousa Rimawi, director of the Palestinian Centre for Media Freedoms and Development (MADA), says that the arrests come at a time "when Israeli authorities are watching social media closely and targeting Palestinians" for their online postings.

"We've noticed that in the last several months, more people are being arrested for expressing their views on social media," Rimawi told Al Jazeera, adding that in many cases Palestinians are detained for "legitimate political expression and not incitement".

Rimawi claimed that Israel's implementation of laws against incitement is discriminatory "because there are many racist and violent Israeli Facebook pages that didn't result in such sentencing or even arrests".

In June 2014, as the Israeli army searched for three Israeli teens who had been kidnapped in the southern West Bank, a Facebook page calling for the execution of a Palestinian "terrorist" every hour until the boys were located received more than 16,000 "likes". No arrests have been reported for that page or similar Facebook groups, Rimawi commented.

The "double standard", he added, also extends to "protests and other events". Last Sunday, Israelis marched through Jerusalem's Old City, home to many Palestinians, to mark "Jerusalem Day", a holiday celebrating Israel's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem.

The week before that march, the Israeli High Court ruled against two non-governmental organisations' appeal to prevent the Israelis from marching through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Although the court deemed it permissible for them to march through the area, it also demanded that police have a "zero tolerance" policy for anti-Arab chants and incitement, adding that anyone who chanted "Death to Arabs!" should be arrested.

During the march, hundreds of Israeli protesters nonetheless chanted such slogans. "Death to Arabs!" many were filmed chanting without police intervention. "Muhammad is a homo," others sang, referring to the Islamic prophet. Several Palestinians were arrested during the Jerusalem Day march during clashes with police.

Back in Jerusalem, Iyab Shalabi echoes Rimawi's comments. "There are so many Israeli groups on Facebook calling for Arabs to be killed, but nothing ever happens," he said. "[Israel] wants Palestinians to shut up and be quiet, to accept the occupation. Israel is trying to deliver a message that any Palestinians - whether from Hamas, Fatah or the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] - can be arrested."

Decrying the social media arrests as an "attempt to intimidate Palestinians", Iyab concluded: "When my father gets out of jail, I am certain he will continue his activism and to struggle."

Cop resigns after body cam shows him pepper-spray & taser a man for having a medical emergency

Fredericksburg, Virginia — One of Fredericksburg's finest will no longer be part of their police department after resigning this month. The resignation took place after the officer violated department policy by tasering and pepper-spraying a man during a medical emergency.

On May 4th, David Washington was driving his car down Route 1 near the University of Mary Washington when he experienced a medical emergency. The emergency caused him to black out, hit a jeep, and cross over the median striking a road sign.

The driver of the jeep called 9-1-1 to report the crash and officer Shaun Jergens arrived on the scene. Body cam footage shows that Jergens cared not about the man in obvious medical distress.

As Jergens approached the car, the distressed and barely responsive Washington was blasted pepper-sprayed and tasered.

"Get out the car or I'm going to fucking smoke you," says Jergens after assaulting Washington.

Jergens then dragged the sick man out of his car and continued his assault by laying him on the hot asphalt. As if being pepper-sprayed, tasered, thrown on the ground and handcuffed wasn't enough, police allowed the car to roll on top of Washington's foot.

Washington was then taken to the hospital to be treated for his assault and doctors discovered that he had in fact been experiencing a medical emergency.

After reviewing the incident in accordance with department policy, Command Staff determined that the force used by the officers involved in the incidence was "not appropriate," according to WJLA.

"The use of force demonstrated in the incident involving Mr. Washington was not in compliance with department policy or training," said Captain Rick Pennock in a news release. "We take matters such as these very seriously and require that officers at all times exercise appropriate restraint and good judgment in their dealings with citizens."

Jurgens resigned from the department on May 14.

No charges have been filed against Jergens for his abuse. None of the officers involved face charges for failing to stop this assault either. However, Washington was charged with hit-and-run, hit-and-run (property damage), reckless driving, and driving on a revoked or suspended license. Is this justice?

Below are the three different body cam videos from the officers on the scene.

[embedded content]

[Israel]
~Iyab Shalabi, Son of jailed Palestinian activist

"Several months went by before they actually gave me a permit to visit my dad," Iyab, 22, told Al Jazeera. "My mother has been completely banned from visiting him till now."

"It was very clear from the beginning that my father was targeted because he is still an influential activist and has a lot of support and respect in the community," Iyab continued.

Explaining that conditions are difficult for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Iyab and his family are worried about his father's well-being.

"Unfortunately, as police, when we see that on social networks, and when we see all types of extremist comments and anti-Israeli calls for violence, we have to get involved."

Decrying the social media arrests as an "attempt to intimidate Palestinians", Iyab concluded: "When my father gets out of jail, I am certain he will continue his activism and to struggle."

While an extension of the Patriot Act, that landmark bill which ushered in the America's , "turnkey totalitarian state" (previewed here long before Edward Snowden's shocking revelations), is just a matter of time, supporters of the Fourth Amendment scored a brief victory last night when following yet another marathon 10 hour filibuster...

Will be seeing everyone overnight it seems. My filibuster continues to end NSA illegal spying.— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 23, 2015

... and refusal to play by the script by Rand Paul, the Senate failed to extend the Patriot Act, leaving the future of America's "war against terrorists" but really against "enemies domestic", i.e., anyone who uses email, has a cell phone or in any other electronic way communicates with others, in limbo.

As the recalls Friday night's events, Senators first rejected a House bill overhauling the NSA, a two-month Patriot Act extension and then increasingly short extensions of the law.

Beginning shortly after midnight, the Senate narrowly blocked a House bill ending the NSA's collection of bulk phone information, requiring the government instead to obtain court approval to request phone records from companies on a case-by-case basis. The vote to move forward with the House bill was 57-42, short of the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate's procedural threshold. The bill had easily cleared the House with bipartisan support last week and was backed by the White House.

Which is ironic because less than a month ago a Federal Appeals court found that NSA spying on US citizens is not only authorized by the Patriot Act, but is outright illegal. So how and why Congress can even consider an extension to an illegal program is a bit of a mystery.

Following the defeat of the House bill, the Senate then blocked a two-month extension of the Patriot Act, the 2001 law that expanded the government's authority to search for terror suspects. The two-month patch was defeated in a 45-54 procedural vote.

Ironically, the showdown was between two Kentucky Republicans: the senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and presidential candidate Rand Paul:

Known for his meticulous, long-range political strategizing, Mr. McConnell had surprised many in the Capitol by taking on a fight with the House over the nitty-gritty policy details of the bill. In particular, Mr. McConnell worried that the House bill wouldn't require phone companies to retain the phone records information that could help authorities spot terrorist activity.

"This is beyond troubling," Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor Friday. "We should not establish an alternate system that contains a glaring hole in its ability to function, namely the complete absence of any requirement for data retention."

Which of course is a total lie: recall that just last November, the "Surveillance State Wins - Senate Votes To Allow NSA Bulk Data Collection To Continue." As a further reminder, the only reason for the existence of the NSA's massive Bluffdale, UT storage facility is simple: to store every electronic communication everywhere, and for ever.

In the end it was almost entirely due to the objections of Rand Paul that the Senate couldn't agree to pass even a 24-hour extension of the Patriot Act, the 2001 law that followed the September 11 events.

"This is a debate that should be had," Paul said on the Senate floor early Saturday. He said he would have agreed to a short-term Patriot Act extension had Senate leaders guaranteed two of his amendments would see future votes and would be able to pass with 50 votes.

With the chamber's two primary options exhausted, Mr. McConnell sought to get an agreement to extend the Patriot Act for a week, and then periods of four and two days and finally, one day. But Mr. Paul and some Democratic senators, including Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, objected. Mr. Paul has made the NSA program a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign, saying it violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Since in Congress every day is opposite day, some promptly spun the brief restoration of the 4th Amendment as "jeopardizing to Americans' civil liberties and national security."

"The Senate has failed to make the important reforms necessary, jeopardizing Americans' civil liberties and our national security," the House Judiciary Committee's chairman, Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) and top Democrat, John Conyers of Michigan, said in a statement with two other lawmakers after the House bill was defeated in the Senate.

Amusingly, as the Senate left for this week's Memorial Day recess, nobody had any idea how to proceed. Quote :

Leaving the Capitol, Republicans seemed confused on what their leader's next steps would be.

"That's a really good question," Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said, when asked what would change between Saturday and when senators return to Washington for a rare Sunday session on May 31.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) seemed equally unsure if Paul would accept a deal before returning to Washington.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. They march to a different drum," the Armed Services Committee chairman said, adding that he was sure Paul's tactics were "a great revenue raiser."

McCain knows all about raising revenue: let's compare revenue raising dear war hawk neocon Armed Services Committee John McCain, shall we:

John McCain (source):

and Rand Paul (source):

We show this just in case there is any confusion who is just a little bit more detached from the interests of America's "main street" and middle class, assuming one is still left.

The Islamic State jihadist group (ISIL) could obtain a nuclear weapon within 12 month, according to the latest issue of the ISIL's propaganda magazine .

"The Islamic State has billions of dollars in the bank, so they call on their wilayah in Pakistan to purchase a nuclear device through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials in the region," the article, attributed to British photojournalist John Cantlie held hostage by the ISIL for over two years, said.

Once the ISIL buys the bomb in Pakistan, according to the article, it would transport it through Lybia and Nigeria to the West.

"Drug shipments from Columbia bound for Europe pass through West Africa, so moving other types of contraband from East to West is just as possible," the article pointed out.

Cantlie stressed that the ISIL is looking to do "something big" on the US soil and it will be more real "a year from today."

"The more groups that pledge allegiance [to the ISIL] the more possible it becomes to pull off something truly epic," he added.

The Islamic State has been rallying militants from across the region under its banners since it rose to prominence in Iraq and Syria in summer 2014. It now runs cells in North Africa, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan

In November 2014, an affiliate of the Pakistani militant organization Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, claimed allegiance to the ISIL.

In April 2015, Nigeria's notorious Boko Haram terrorist group also pledged allegiance to the Sunni ISIL movement and changed its name to Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Last week, the jihadist fighters from the Mali-based militant group Mourabitoun pledged allegiance to the ISIL movement.

Last night, maintenance party 28 of Kiev's forces started advancement in settlement Mariinka around the city Donetsk. Also, pro-Kiev militant attacked in the sector of Donetsk airport. City Donetsk, settlement Shirokino and town Gorlovka were hard shelled by artillery of Ukraine's forces. Witnesses report about causalities among civilians there. Furthermore, Kiev's military hit passenger-train around town Yasinovataya yesterday. 22 train carriages were burned. Meanwhile, according to Novorossian warriors' reports Kiev are concentrating military equipment including battle tanks, armored vehicles and artillery around town Dzerjinsk and settlement Shirokino.

Ukraine's parliament on Thursday backed a decree allowing the country to rescind its commitments outlined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Social Charter. The decree was passed at second reading by 249 votes in the Verkhovna Rada, 23 more than the minimum required. Thus, now Kiev government forces and pro-Kiev militants won't violate Ukrainian law when they torture civilians and prisoners of war. Though, when is it stopped them?

[embedded content]

Kiev's decision to renege on its international commitments by refusing to guarantee protection of human rights in the zone of military operations in the east indicates "a criminal character" of the state, the top foreign policy parliamentarian in Russia's State Duma assembly said on Thursday, adding that Ukraine therefore undermined its positions in Europe's political bodies. "When a country weasels out of its obligations, this is simply an indication of a criminal character of this state," Alexey Pushkov, head of the International Affairs Committee at the Russian parliament's lower chamber, said in an interview with Vesti FM radio station.

The term "annexation of Crimea" will remain in the declaration of the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, but a special position of Armenia and Belarus will be mentioned in it, a source in the Western delegation told TASS on Thursday. "The situation looks as follows now: the wording will remain, but a reference will be introduced to the position of countries that disagree with it during voting in the UN," the source said. The summit's participants in clause 4 of the document urge all sides to observe the Minsk agreements, express full support to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the Contact Group, and pledge to keep backing all diplomatic efforts of the Normandy format (Russia, France, Germany, Ukraine).

© Reuters / Desmond Boylan
A deactivated Soviet-era SS-4 medium range nuclear capable ballistic missile is displayed at La Cabana fortress in Havana.

Washington has blocked the final document of a UN conference that reviewed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, accusing Egypt of manipulating the gathering to target Israel. Moscow has slammed the US for rendering the four-week meeting futile.

The 9th international conference was held in New York from April 27 until May 22. A total of 162 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) participant states were in attendance. These conferences are held every five years to assess the worldwide disarmament process.

The blocked document included a plan to establish a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. To do this, Egypt, who first proposed such a zone in 1980, suggested a regional UN conference on banning weapons of mass destruction. The gathering would have no pre-determined agenda and would go ahead with or without the presence of Israel.

This was stonewalled by the US, with Washington representative Rose Gottemoeller saying the final document reviewed on Friday was "incompatible with our longstanding policies."

She accused Egypt and other Arab supporters of the nuclear-free zone of being "not willing to let go of these unrealistic and unworkable conditions," AP reports.

Israel, which is an observer, but not a participant of the NPT, is widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, which it has neither confirmed nor denied. It is also a close ally of the US.

Egypt expressed its disappointment and said: "This will have consequences in front of the Arab world and public opinion."

Washington's position was backed by the UK and Canada, ultimately sinking the proposal which had to be approved by all countries.

Russia, for its part, said it was committed to nuclear non-proliferation and saw similar commitment from most other participants.

"The vast majority of the delegations have noted that the treaty remains a 'cornerstone' of international security and stability, and serves their interests," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. "Participant countries have confirmed their readiness to comply with their obligations under the NPT."

"We regretfully acknowledge that because of the positions of the US, Britain and Canada, we could not adopt the final document which included provisions on fulfilling the 1995 resolution on creating a Middle East zone free of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction." the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

It added, however, that Russia still has faith in the Treaty: "Despite such an outcome of the conference, the Russian Federation is ready to continue cooperating with other countries to help strengthen the NPT, provide its wholesomeness and viability."

The failure of this conference means the next one can only be held in 2020.

The Raw Story

Focused on providing independent journalism.

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Saturday, 23 May 2015

Israel follows through with fascist declaration to jail Palestinians who make 'anti-Israel' comments on social media

Cop resigns after body cam shows him pepper-spray & taser a man for having a medical emergency

Israel follows through with fascist declaration to jail 'anti-Israel' comments made on social media by Palestinians

Rand Paul blocks extension of Patriot Act, future of illegal NSA spying on Americans in limbo

Be very afraid: Islamic State says could obtain nuclear bomb in less than 12 months

South Front Ukraine Crisis News 22-5-2015: Kiev STILL shelling civilians in E. Ukraine

What a surprise: US blocks nuclear disarmament document over Israel

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