Palestinians must get their act together in 2012

 Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (L), acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas ( Photo Press-TV)

December 30 2011 - 09:38 PM  

 

By Khalid Amayreh

2011 was not a particularly bad year for Palestine. In this year, hundreds of Palestinian political and resistance prisoners were able to see the light, having been released from Israeli dungeons and detention camps.

Needless to say, many of these heroes would have spent the rest of their lives in Zionist jails, had it not been for the so-called Shalit deal and Israel's effective capitulation to Hamas's conditions for the release of the captive Zionist soldier.

Thanks to the deal, hundreds of Palestinian families, which had lost the hope for ever seeing their beloved ones alive again, breathed a sigh of relief as they were reunited with their children, brothers, husbands and daughters.

Needless to say, Israel had tried every conceivable effort and intelligence act  to locate the captive soldier, but to no avail. After all, Shalit was held under Israel's nose somewhere in the Gaza Strip for more than 60 months.

This fact alone should make us look with admiration and gratitude to those unknown but heroic soldiers who were able to keep this valuable secret all these months and years.

2011 brought us the Arab Spring, which consigned several tyrannical  pro-American regimes to the dustbin  of history. Some of these regimes, such as that of ex-president Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, had been a serious liability for the Palestinian struggle and steadfastness.

For example,  in 2008-09, the Egyptian regime colluded, connived and collaborated with the Zionist entity to murder, torment and vanquish the Gaza Strip, enabling Israel to carry out its Nazi-like  onslaught on the virtually unprotected coastal territory, killing, incinerating and maiming thousands of Palestinians men, women and children.

More to the point, the regime sought effectively to consolidate the criminal Israeli siege on Gaza, by building another concrete wall to make it virtually impossible for Gazans to smuggle even a pack of milk from the Egyptian side of the borders to their starving children on the other side.

Hence, the removal of that regime is considered a great victory for both the Egyptian and Palestinian peoples, for the Egyptians because the corrupt Mubarak regime suppressed human rights and civil liberties in deference to Israeli and American interests, and for the Palestinians because the regime was viewed as a strategic asset for the Zionist regime since it allowed the Zionist entity to savage the Palestinians in exchange for American aid and political protection.

The elections that occurred in Tunisia and Egypt were also auspicious news for the Palestinian cause. The triumph of  Islamic or quasi-Islamic parties, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, is probably some of the best news the Palestinian cause and people have received in many decades.

True, we don't expect to see miracles very soon as a result of the Arab Spring. However, there is no doubt that the strategic changes taking  place in the Arab world have confused and unsettled Israel's strategic calculations in the region.

Israel, which is becoming a fully-fledged fascist state, had probably planned to embark on unthinkable measures against the Palestinians, possibly including genocidal massacres, induced emigration and ethnic cleansing.

However, thanks to the Arab Spring, especially the Egyptian revolution, Israel is very likely to think twice before pursuing its lebensraum policy against its neighbors.

The end of 2011 also brought the Palestinian people much closer to national reconciliation and unity.

Hamas agreed to join the PLO and all the sides agreed to form a government of national unity, release political prisoners and hold elections for the Palestinian Authority (PA) as well as for the Palestinian National Council.

What is especially important is that the psychology of the Palestinian people improved significantly during 2011 despite unrelenting Zionist aggressions and provocations.

None the less, there is much to be done in 2012. The National reconciliation must materialize on the ground and ordinary Palestinians must feel its tangible effects.

However,  It is probably  unlikely that true national unity between Fatah and Hamas will  be achievable unless the PA and the Ramallah regime end the  ignominious cooperation and coordination with the Zionist occupation army.

Indeed, the security coordination has been  a sad chapter in recent Palestinian history and it  must be ended sooner than later.

Moreover, with the unmitigated theft of Palestinian land continuing at the hands of the Zionist regime, the PA should have the courage to declare the end of the mendacious peace process.

Yes, dismantling the PA infrastructure may not seem easily done as said. However, if it becomes clear that the existence of the PA militates against and hinders the establishment of a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state, then Palestinian leaders must not flinch from  embarking on dissolving the PA. After all the establishment of an independent  Palestinian state is the  raison d'etre of the PA itself, as PA official Sa'eb Erikat said on several occasions.

In any case, the Palestinian leadership should stop playing games with the fate and destiny of the Palestinian people and cause.

We have indulged in futile political games too much and for too long, and must therefore come to the hour of truth.

And reaching the hour of truth should also mean a realization that the creation of a viable Palestinian state on the West Bank, one with Jerusalem as its capital, is no longer a realistic option given the phenomenal spread of Jewish colonies.

Hence, the Palestinian leadership, including Fatah and Hamas, must get its act together in 2012 and make sure it is not going to be another year of futile waiting.

 

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"Palestine is the heart of Arab countries" - The PalestineFreeVoice ______________________________________________________ 

Opinions expressed are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The PalestineFreeVoice, all publishing is for information services only.

Occupied Palestine: Forests Plantations in Service of Colonization

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                                                                          Acre,( Akka) the key to the Levant during the period 1898-1939 AD

 Rare photographs from the Library of Congress for the colonies of America / American colony in Jerusalem, the city of Acre during the period 1898-1939 AD, show the landscapes, archeological sites and holy places.

By Hiyam Noir and Fadwa Nassar

December 28 -29, 2011

Since 1948, the Zionist occupation of Palestine has been a dramatic expansion of forests and gardens, the so called Biblical Gardens,to make believe that the colonialists are ecologically and environmentally aware, and long have dreamed of living in a pure and healthy natural environment, or else participating in contests of global protection of the nature, in particular as they are prompted by several countries in the world to participate in this environmentally important task.

There are departments of colonial interest of the environment and deforestation, thus the organization which is serious regarding the remaining virgin landscapes of Palestine, is the JNF (Jewish National Fund, or (KKL) as the acronym of the Hebrew name).

According to the JNF website, its interest covers the whole territory of the occupied Palestine, it crashes down and then claims, allover, including in the Jewish communities around the world, to be the contributor of "beautifying"the country.

Forests is planted to hide Zionist crimes

In fact, much of the forests planted by the Zionists, including that of the Jewish National Fund, determined in an effort to hide Palestinian villages destroyed in the Nakba of 1948, and the illegal acquisition of land by force in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Golan Heights in the 1967 war. It is no longer a secret that the hard work of the "green -  thumb" Zionist, is the will of the colonial rulers to hide and bury under the trees, what remains of Palestinian towns and villages. Whether on Mount Carmel, where several Palestinian villages were destroyed and the population was killed or expelled, in the northern village of al-Jalil,or the town of al-Quds, or al-Naqab.

It was the method meted out and scrupulously performed against the indigenous Palestinian population beforehand, to accomplish the objectives of the Zionist entity, and still is; erasing the true history of the country, crushing with bulldozers the villages, removing their names on roads and from all the maps, thinking that it will prevent the return of the hundreds of thousands of refugees whose ancestors were born in these towns and villages.

JNF (KKL) forests plantations are  hiding the destruction of Palestinian villages at the Mount Carmel.Some villages, 86 in total among the 531 destroyed are: al-Tirah, Khraybe, Balad el-Sheikh, Ijzim, Ayn Ghazal, Khirbet al-Damoun, Umm Zinat and Jalame. By the World Zionist Organization, a buried cultural heritage under trees, funded and planted all over Palestine. In the region of Al-Quds, the “Ishaq Rabin garden” was planted on the top of the Palestinian villages of Saris, Souba and Ayn Karem, which were destroyed in 1948. 

After the occupation of the West Bank and the eastern part of Al-Quds, the JNF continues its dirty job in "green planting”, on behalf of the Zionist (JDL) the Canadian Nation wreckers.....the "Canada Park" is to be installed, which vegetation will hide the crimes conducted: the destruction of the villages Amwas, Yalo, Beit Nuba and Deir Ayyub, whose population was either killed or expelled.

Encircling Palestinian villages and towns

The "green thumbs" of the JNF and other organizations of the Zionist entity, did not stop in the destruction of the past. However it will not succeed in destroying the history of Palestine.Today more than ever, Palestinian villages and towns dare to resist so far, mean while the JNF with all means is trying to dismantle them.

Palestinian classical scholars and researchers and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning, are emphasizing the significant role of state planning, particularly in the Judaized landscapes of the occupied Palestine, which the JNF and its forestation plans are an integral part of. Indeed,the various national or regional plans to "nationalize" or "rationalize", initiated by official circles, aiming at cutting back the areas still in Palestinian possession, are villages and towns surrounded by new forests.These forests though, prevent the use of Palestinian land, for example building of housing projects, as they are depending on Palestinian ruled municipalities and its local boards to hinder expansion of particular villages and towns. 

"We do not touch the forest! " is the imperative mood of the Zionist entity. However,it is important to know; that 70% of the land in the region that still have remaining sound Palestinian villages and towns, for example the old Palestinian seaport of Akka, are reserved, according to the Zionist forests planting plan. 41% of the land owned by the villages and towns inhabited by mostly Palestinian Druze in Mount Carmel and al-Jalil, are reserved for planting of forests and so called "nature reserves".

The figures above are only meaningful if we take into account that the Palestinians do not have more left of their land of origin than the futile 3.4%, and that the Zionist entity and various colonial organisms have during decades clean swept Palestine, since the massive expulsion of Nakba, in 1948.

The situation for the Palestinians becomes even more terrible, since the Zionist association for “the protection of nature", got involved in the debate of the planning of “nature reserves“. They ( the Zionists) deny that new settlements are established in some areas,for example in parts of al-Jalil. At the same time as they build settlements,the colonial entity plant forests and "nature reserves" around Palestinian villages and towns.Thus, the goal is reached: Palestinian villages and towns are now surrounded by the forests, meanwhile simultaneously Jewish settlements multiply on stolen Palestinian land.

The myth of the "Biblical Gardens"

Carried away by the myth of the "land of Israel" -  i.e. the occupied Palestine, the Zionists still find other fraudulent means to both swallow Palestinian land and falsify the history and the geography of Palestine. Around the city of Al-Quds and elsewhere, you will soon find these fraudulent so called Biblical Gardens installed everywhere, on land stolen from Palestinian landowners to falsify the history of Palestine.This is where a variety of old herbs, plants and trees use to grow, tools and machinery along with the olive press, used by Palestinian farmers throughout their life and work in Palestine.

Now the Jews are all of a sudden becoming the awe.They are... ..to ignorant tourists and Zionist admirers the "men and the women who planted the barren and sandy desert, the forsaken place” ! 

- Voila !

Silwan situated south of the al-Aqsa mosque in al-Quds, is threatened by the installation of a fake Biblical Garden”. Under the pretext of re-creating " the Jewish History of Palestine" continues. In the construction of fake gardens and forests, the Zionists have destroyed the homes and the neighborhoods in the City of al-Quds. Maqdisis (the people of al-Quds )are expelled,their history is falsified and hatred of reasoning is sowed - in sin and death.

As if we are blind and unaware of what the Zionist settlers also do to our own croplands and to our Palestinian fields, as if we don’t have a clue of that the Jewish settlers in fact uproot our trees, including our olive trees, and that they slip – drop their filthy pigs into our cropland to destroy, and that they in an unsatisfied, unpredicted statement - in a mood-swing, burn down our fields.

So now our readers, when you learned about our predicament, do you still believe in the honesty of Zionists desire: the preserving of the Palestinian nature landscape... and that they are environmentally well organized and concerned about the relationships between the living things and their environments ( the human ecology)?

If we the writers, would not know of what is hidden in the planted forests of the Palestine territories, that is (often), the place where old Palestinian villages are/were situated, we would have believed in the ecological orientation of the Zionist entity.

Conclusion

Now our readers around the world also may be able to grasp the dark reality, and the appalling consequences of the Zionists rampage in the historical landscape of Palestine. That the fake Forests, the fake Nature Reserves and the fake Biblical Gardens have a very special foul smell, that of a colonial odor....  and understand that, the dirty and bloody hands and minds of the criminal usurpers, can never build a state of equality and well-fare, or creating and maintaining a country of pure beauty.

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"Palestine is the heart of Arab countries" - The PalestineFreeVoice ______________________________________________________ 

Opinions expressed are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The PalestineFreeVoice,all publishing is for information services only.

Hamas between the Foundation Anniversary and the Entitlements of the Current Stage

By Mohsen Moh’d Saleh

As Hamas celebrates the twenty-fourth foundation anniversary, the movement, which has become part of the Palestinian equation, faces many entitlements as it stands at the crossroads having to adapt to the developments of the current stage.

Over years, Hamas has become more experienced and better organized. Further, it has succeeded in enforcing its position in the Palestinian society while at the same time it established political relations on the Arab, Islamic and international levels. 

However, it is today burdened with more responsibilities, has more enemies and is also faced with more criticism. Besides, people might expect it to present what is beyond its capacity or pose questions which it cannot easily answer.

Eight Features of Hamas

Hamas is characterized by eight features which hardly meet in a Palestinian organization or movement. 

The first feature is its moderate Islamic discourse which is in harmony with people’s convictions and their cultural affiliations. 

The second is its high dynamism which has enabled it to work even under difficult circumstances and regain its strength and vitality after harsh strikes. 

The third characteristic is its Shura-based [democratic] institutional construction which has allowed it to maintain its cohesion and strength and to renew its leadership and elect its Shura institutions every four years regardless of the circumstances.

The fourth feature is its comprehensive nature which encompasses political, social, charitable, jihadi and educational aspects of life. In this respect, Hamas has succeeded in maintaining continuous communication with the Palestinians on different levels. 

Fifth, Hamas is characterized in the eyes of Palestinians and Arabs by its outstanding military struggle as it has spearheaded resistance work, especially since 1993. 

The sixth feature is its wide popularity at home and abroad, which it was able to uphold under different conditions. 

Seventh, Hamas is generally and comparatively characterized by cleanliness from corruption; thus, its leaders enjoy wide popularity and respect. 

The last characteristic is Hamas' presence in Arab and Islamic countries where it enjoys popularity among the masses, which provide Hamas with significant moral and financial support, especially as it is an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood which, in its turn, enjoys wide support in the Arab world.

Entitlements and Challenges Facing Hamas

On the 24th anniversary of its foundation, Hamas seems to face a number of entitlements which need more critical reading to promote Hamas’ vision and plans to meet the current challenges. This article will shed light on four of these entitlements.

Reform and Change 

The first entitlement is related to the problematic implementation of Hamas’ programme of change and reform especially under occupation in the West Bank. Hamas has so far succeeded in imposing its conditions in the conciliation agreement which was signed in Egypt on 3/5/2011. 

This would ultimately lead to the formation of a national unity government which paves the way for general elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But what is Hamas’ perception of change and reform?

The slogan in itself is quite attractive; however, the reform process has been proved to be almost impossible under the Israeli occupation, particularly through a resistance movement like Hamas. 

As long as the occupation exists, it will be able to close borders, prevent import and export, restrict the movement of persons and goods and confiscate funds in addition to destroying economic, agricultural and educational infrastructure. 

Consequently, if the side administering the West Bank would not make concessions, it would be easy for the occupation authorities to thwart its efforts, close down the institutions it runs and imprison its figures. This is what happened during 2006 and 2007.

Hamas will thus be competing with Fatah to pursue an authority, which is likely to collapse at any time, while assuming power might herald its political decline. Additionally, Hamas' participation in the next elections might have negative implications for the movement, regardless of the outcome. 

Thus, in case it won, the movement will be besieged and its efforts would be foiled; if it lost the elections it would not be able to maintain the popular support and “legitimacy” it achieved in 2006. Consequently, Hamas would be targeted by the new authority which enjoys popular and constitutional legitimacy. 

Apparently, Israel and the U.S are not likely, this time, to agree that Hamas participate in the elections unless they are almost sure it would lose. Besides, many Palestinians —even those who are sympathetic with Hamas— might be reluctant about voting in favor of its candidates as they know it would not be able to implement its programme.

The Resistance Programme

The second challenge has to do with the problematic combination between resistance and authority. Assuming power, running the daily life of people and implementing development projects need pacification in addition to an uninterrupted flow of money and free movement of transportation. Practically, this requires a kind of coexistence with the occupation and delaying any plans for confrontation.

Thus, having declared the end of Hudna (truce) at the end of 2005, Hamas extended the truce again after it won the legislative elections in 2006 although this did not spare it the Israeli siege and attacks. Moreover, when Hamas decided to avenge the Shati’ massacre and the killing of Huda Ghalia’s family, it carried out Operation “Dispelled Illusion” and abducted the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit. 

Consequently, Israel arrested a number of Hamas deputies thus disrupting the work of the Legislative Council. It also arrested a number of the ministers in Hamas government and launched Operations Summer Rains and Autumn Clouds against Gaza, leading to the killing of 505 Palestinians and the wounding of 2,205 others.

When Hamas government insisted on its position not to recognize Israel, to abandon the resistance track and commit to the Oslo Accord, it had to face Israeli, Arab and international siege. Further, Israel cut all forms of financial support and prevented any financial transfer into the Gaza Strip, including the tax proceeds it collects for the PA.

Notwithstanding Hamas’ steadfastness in the Gaza Strip under the siege and the Israeli attacks, the movement was gradually losing the ability to initiate attacks against Israelis in the vicinity surrounding Gaza and had instead to defend itself against the Israeli aggression. 

Before Operation Cast Lead (27/12/2008–18/1/2009), Hamas used to reject any truce and launch tens of missiles on daily basis requiring Israel to lift the Gaza siege. This is what happened upon the end of the truce on 19/12/2008 and the seven following days. 

However, despite its persistence and defiance of the Israeli aggression, Hamas had to undergo an undeclared shift in its policy and show readiness for a truce if the Israeli side stops the attacks. Thus, even when Gaza remained the stronghold of the resistance, self-preservation was an urgent need regardless of the justifications.

Accordingly, should Hamas insist on the commitment to the resistance track, it would have to seek changing the basis upon which the PA was founded and urge the Israelis to respect the choices of the Palestinian people. 

Nevertheless, this alternative does not seem realistic in the time being. The other alternative is for Hamas to change the role of the PA thus transform it from an authority which provides services to Israeli occupation to an authority which adopts the resistance choice. 

This, consequently, means the collapse of the current government and leaving it for the Israelis to manage people’s daily life. In the meantime, the Palestinian factions will be occupied with political work, resisting the occupation and supporting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people. 

This is an alternative worth of attention but it is difficult to implement without Palestinian national consensus and without the belief in the futility of proceeding with the current course of peace settlement.

The Palestinian Conciliation

The third entitlement is related to the Palestinian conciliation. Despite the signing of the agreement, the relation between Hamas and Fatah is still based on shaky grounds and there is much fear and mistrust between the two sides. 

In addition, there are genuine differences on the ideological level and a competition between an Islamic vision refusing to recognize Israel and another secular pragmatic vision which would accept to establish a Palestinian State on 23% of the Palestinian land and to recognize Israel. 

Besides, there is a side which considers resistance a priority and still rejects the conditions of the Quartet to lift the siege and another side which does not mind the Quartet conditions and seeks the solution in the peace settlement and negotiations track.

Accordingly, there is still disagreement regarding the national project and determining its priorities. Moreover, Abu Mazen still controls the pace of the conciliation process where he could freeze it for more than 7 months (from May 2011) through his insistence on nominating Salam Fayyad for premiership. 

Further, he could politically employ the conciliation to proceed with the state bid before the United Nations. Ultimately, ‘Abbas did not show seriousness concerning the conciliation, except after the failure of the Palestinian request to declare the Palestinian State.

Still, Abu Mazen stresses the commitment to the peace settlement process and he knows that the American-Israeli conditions would hinder the formation of a national unity government, oppose expanding the scope of freedoms in the West Bank, prevent the restructuring of the security apparatuses on national basis accepted by Hamas and the other resistance factions and finally reject any cooperation with a government which Hamas heads or participates in.

The Palestinian conciliation is in its essence a national priority. However, its tactical employment and the lack of momentum and a mechanism for its implementation, besides Abu Mazen’s monopoly of controlling the procedure of the conciliation, make Abu Mazen abler to maneuver and present initiatives. 

Presiding over the PA and the PLO and enjoying Arab and international support would give Abu Mazen the upper hand while putting Hamas under the pressure of the changing conditions. Unless Hamas figures out an effective mechanism for implementing the agreement, it will be facing an empty conciliation, while the other side selects what it finds suitable for implementation.

The Arab Uprisings

The fourth entitlement has to do with the Arab uprisings and their implications on the Palestinian issue and on Hamas. This entitlement has several repercussions and it requires Hamas to give more attention to popular will demanding overcoming the division and accommodating other trends while finding common ground for Palestinian national work.

On another level, this entitlement provides Hamas with new strategic spaces, which are closer to its ideology and more supportive of its resistance programme. Thus, the development of the Arab uprisings (especially in Egypt) may curb the peace settlement track, whereas normalization with Israel will almost decline. 

In addition, the Gaza siege will be lifted and Hamas will gain strategic Arab allies that would support the conciliation and the reorganization of the Palestinian internal house on new basis, where Hamas and the resistance factions will be effectively involved in the PLO and in determining national priorities. 

Nonetheless, the possibility that the Arab regimes get busy with internal concerns might have negative implications on the Palestinian issue. Hence, Hamas is required to stress the importance of the Arab and Islamic dimension of the change movements, especially those led by the Islamic trend which enjoys popularity in the Arab street and a strong relationship with Hamas.

Further, the Arab uprisings will cast their shadow on the relation between Hamas and Syria and the so-called axis of opposition. In fact, Hamas has lost some of its effectiveness abroad due to the events taking place in Syria. Hamas does not deny the importance of the relationship with Syria and the services the ruling regime has provided for Hamas and other resistance forces.

In fact, this relation has benefitted both sides on the strategic and political levels. However, Hamas is a popular movement and enjoys prominent position among the Syrian people which has embraced Hamas and supported it. 

Besides, its ideology is inherently based on achieving freedom and dignity and respecting the will of the people. Therefore, Hamas has stressed that it would not forget the regime’s support, emphasizing that it is against any conspiracy targeting Syria and its stances which support the resistance. 

Yet, Hamas is also in favor of the just demands of the Syrian people. Thus, it has wished from the outset that the regime would walk the walk of serious reformist and allow the Syrians to express their true will and the peaceful transfer of power, without bloodshed and without creating conditions that might lead to foreign intervention. 

Nonetheless, Hamas now is under the pressure to determine its position in a decisive manner. This entitlement could be the basis for other entitlements such as the relation with Iran and Hezbollah should they proceed with their current stance towards Syria.

In any case, Hamas is but expected to support the free will of the people and a transparent democratic regime far from foreign intervention, supportive of the resistance and eventually reflecting the authenticity of the Syrian people.

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The original Arabic article appeared on Al Jazeera.net on 23/12/2011

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"Palestine is the heart of Arab countries" - The PalestineFreeVoice ______________________________________________________

Opinions expressed are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of The PalestineFreeVoice,all publishing is for information services only.

The March to War: Iran and the Strategic Encirclement of Syria and Lebanon

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
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The Strategic Culture Foundation 
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The encirclement of Syria and Lebanon has long been in the works. Since 2001, Washington and NATO have started the process of cordoning off Lebanon and Syria. The permanent NATO presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Syrian Accountability Act are part of this initiative. It appears that this roadmap is based on a 1996 Israeli document aimed at controlling Syria. The document’s name is A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.

The 1996 Israeli document, which included prominent U.S. policy figures as authors, calls for “rolling back Syria” in 2000 or afterward. The roadmap outlines pushing the Syrians out of Lebanon, diverting the attention of Damascus by using an anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon, and then destabilizing Syria with the help of both Jordan and Turkey. This has all respectively occurred from 2005 to 2011. This is also why the anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) were created in Lebanon.

As a first step towards all this the 1996 document even calls for the removal of President Saddam Hussein from power in Baghdad and even alludes to the balkanization of Iraq and forging a strategic regional alliance against Damascus that includes a Sunni Muslim Arab “Central Iraq.” The sectarian nature of this project is very obvious as are its ties to opposing a so-called “Shiite Crescent.” The roadmap seeks to foment sectarian divisions as a means of conquering Syria and creating a Shiite-Sunni rift that will oppose Iran and keep the Arab monarchs in power.

The U.S. has now initiated a naval build-up off the Syrian and Lebanese coasts. This is part of Washington’s standard scare tactics that it has used as a form of intimidation and psychological warfare against Iran, Syria, and the Resistance Bloc. While Washington is engaged in its naval build-up, the mainstream media networks controlled by the Saudis and Arab clients of the U.S. are focusing on the deployment of Russian naval vessels to Syria, which can be seen as a counter-move to NATO.

Al-Ramtha in Jordan is being used to launch attacks into Daraa and Syrian territory. The Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, Rakan Al-Majali, has even publicly admitted this and dismissed it as weapons smuggling. For years, Jordanian forces have successfully prevented weapons from reaching the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Jordanian territory. In reality, Amman is sending weapons into Syria and working to destabilize Syria. Jordanian forces work as a frontline to protect Israel and the Jordanian intelligence services are an extension of the C.I.A. and Mossad.

According to the Turkish media, France has sent its military trainers into Turkey and Lebanon to prepare conscripts against Syria. The Lebanese media also suggests the same. The so-called Free Syrian Army and other NATO-GCC front organizations are also using Turkish and Jordanian territory to stage raids into Syria. Lebanon is also being used to smuggle weapon shipments into Syria. Many of these weapons were actually arms that the Pentagon had secretly re-directed into Lebanon from Anglo-American occupied Iraq during the George W. Bush Jr. presidency.

The French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppé, has promised the Syrian National Council, that a so-called “humanitarian corridor” will be imposed on Syria. Once again, the Syrian National Council is not an independent entity and therefore Juppé did not really make a promise; he really made a declaration.

While foreign companies like Suncor Energy were forced to leave Libya, they have not left Syria. The reason that these companies have stayed has been presented as being humanitarian, because they provide domestic local services in Syria. For example, Suncor Energy helped produce oil for export from Libya, but in Syria produces energy for local consumption. In reality, hostile governments are letting these companies stay, because they siphon money out of Syria. They want to prevent any money from going in, while they want to also drain the local economy as a catalyst to internal implosion in Syria.

Along with the U.S. and its NATO allies, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is imposing sanctions that include an end to all flights to Syria. The GCC states and Turkey have joined the foreign ministries of NATO states in asking their citizens to leave Syria. Since the U.N. Security Council is no longer a viable route against Syria, the GCC may also try to impose a no-fly zone over Syria through the Arab League.

Turkey: NATO’s Trojan Horse and Gateway into the Middle East

Turkey was present at the Arab League meeting in Morocco, which demanded regime change in Damascus. Ankara has been playing a dirty game. Initially, during the start of NATO’s war against Libya, Ankara pretended to be neutral while it was helping the Transitional Council in Benghazi. The Turkish government does not care about the Syrian population. On the contrary, the demands that Turkish officials have made to the Syrians spell out that realpolitik is at play. In tune with the GCC, Turkey has demanded that Damascus re-orient its foreign policy and submit to Washington’s demands as a new satellite. Through a NATO initiative, the Turks have also been responsible for recruiting fighters against the Libyan and Syrian governments.

For several years Ankara has been silently trying to de-link Syria from Iran and to displace Iranian influence in the Middle East. Turkey has been working to promote itself and its image amongst the Arabs, but all along it has been a key component of the plans of Washington and NATO. At the same time, it has been upgrading its military capabilities in the Black Sea and on its borders with Iran and Syria. Its military research and development body, TUBITAK-SAGE, has also announced that Ankara will also start mass-production of cruise-missiles in 2012 that will be fitted for its navy and forthcoming deliveries of U.S. military jets that could be used in future regional wars. Turkey and NATO have also agreed to upgrade Turkish bases for NATO troops.

In September 2011, Ankara joined Washington’s missile shield project, which upset both Moscow and Tehran. The Kremlin has reserved the right to attack NATO’s missile shield facilities in Eastern Europe, while Tehran has reserved the right to attack NATO’s missile shield facilities in Turkey or in the case of a regional war. There have also been discussions about the Kremlin deploying Iskander missiles to Syria.

Since June 2011, Ankara has been talking about invading Syria. It has presented the invasion plans as a humanitarian mission to establish a “buffer zone” and “humanitarian corridor” under R2P, while it has also claimed that the protests in Syria are a regional issue and not a domestic issue. In July 2011, despite the close Irano-Turkish economic ties, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard made it clear that Tehran would support the Syrians and choose Damascus over Ankara. In August 2011, Ankara started deploying retired soldiers and its military reserve units to the Turkish-Syrian border. It is in this context, that the Russian military presence has also been beefing up in the port of Tartus.

From Damascus to Tehran

It is also no mere coincidence that Senator Joseph Lieberman started demanding at the start of 2011 that the Pentagon and NATO attack Syria and Iran. Nor is it a coincidence that Tehran has been included in the recent Obama Administration sanctions imposed against Damascus. Damascus is being targeted as a means of targeting Iran and, in broader terms, weakening Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing in the struggle for control over the Eurasian landmass. The U.S. and its remaining allies are about to reduce their forces in Iraq, but they do not want to leave the region or allow Iran to create a bridge between itself and the Eastern Mediterranean using Iraq.

Once the U.S. leaves Iraq, there will be a direct corridor between Lebanon and Syria with Iran. This will be a nightmare for Washington and Tel Aviv. It will entrench Iranian regional dominance and cement the Resistance Bloc, which will pin Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinians together. Israel and the U.S. will both be struck with major strategic blows.

The pressure on Syria is directly tied to this American withdrawal from Iraq and Washington’s efforts to block Tehran from making any further geo-political gains. By removing Damascus from the equation, Washington and its allies are hoping to create a geo-strategic setback for Iran.

Everything that Washington is doing is in preparation for the new geo-political reality and an attempt to preserve its regional standing. U.S. military forces from Iraq will actually be redeployed to the GCC countries in the Persian Gulf. Kuwait will host new combat units that have been designated to re-enter Iraq should security collapse, such as in the case of a regional war, or to confront Iran and its allies in a future conflict. The U.S. is now activating the so-called “Coalition of the Moderate” that it created under George W. Bush Jr. and directing it against Iran, Syria, and their regional allies.

On November 23, 2011 the Turks signed a military agreement with Britain to establish a strategic partnership and closer Anglo-Turkish military ties. During an important state visit by Abdullah Gül to London, the agreement was signed by Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond and the Deputy Chief of the Turkish General Staff, Hulusi Akar. The Anglo-Turkish agreement comes into play within the framework of the meetings that the British Chief of Defence Staff, General David Richards, and Liam Fox, the former scandal-ridden British defence minister, had with Israeli officials in Tel Aviv. After the visit of General Richards to Israel, Ehud Barak would visit Britain and later Canada for talks concerning Syria and its strategic ally Iran. Within this timeframe the British and Canadian governments would declare that they were prepared for war with both Syria and Iran.

London has announced that military plans were also drawn for war with Syria and Iran. On the other side of the Atlantic, Canada’s Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, created shockwaves in Canada when he made belligerent announcements about war with Syria and Iran. He also announced that Canada was buying a new series of military jets through a major arms purchase. Days later, both Canada and Britain would also cut their banking and financial ties with Iran. In reality, these steps have largely been symbolic, because Tehran was deliberately curbing it ties with Britain and Canada. For months the Iranians have also openly been evaluating cutting their ties with Britain and several other E.U. members.

The events surrounding Syria have much more to do with the geo-politics of the Middle East than just Syria alone. In the Israeli Knesset, the events in Syria were naturally tied to reducing Iranian power in the Middle East. Tel Aviv has been preparing itself for a major conflict for several years. This includes its long distance military flights to Greece that simulated an attack on Iran and its deployment of nuclear-armed submarines to the Persian Gulf. It has also conducted the “Turning Point” exercises, which seek to insure the continuation of the Israeli government through the evacuation and relocation of the Israeli cabinet and officials, including the Israeli finance ministry, to secret bunkers in the case of a war.

For half a decade Washington has been directing a military arms build-up in the Middle East aimed at Iran and the Resistance Bloc. It has sent massive arms shipments to Saudi Arabia. It has sent deliveries of bunker busters to the U.A.E. and Israel, amongst others, while it has upgraded its own deadly arsenal. U.S. officials have also started to openly discuss murdering Iranian leaders and military officials through covert operations. What the world is facing is a pathway towards possible military escalation that could go far beyond the boundaries of the Middle East and suck in Russia, China, and their allies. The Revolutionary Guard have also made it clear that if conflict is ignited with Iran that Lebanon, Iraq, and the Palestinians would all be drawn in as Iranian allies.


Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya is a Sociologist and award-winning author based in Ottawa. He is a Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal. He was a witness to the "Arab Spring" in action in North Africa. While on the ground in Libya during the NATO bombing campaign, he reported out of Tripoli for several media outlets. He was Special Correspondent for Global Research and Pacifica's investigative program Flashpoints, broadcast out of Berkeley, California. His writings have been published in more than ten languages.

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