THINGS WHICH MUST BE DISSEMINATED

Pulse Media

9.11.09

Bringing down walls

Ma'an

Question: looking at the flimsy nature of the wall, why haven't Palestinians already pulled down slabs, and why don't they continue?

Possible answer: they value their lives.


We are constantly fed the lie that the east-european 'revolutions' of twenty years ago were spontaneous uprisings. The time was right, permission was in effect granted. Most importantly, on the other side of the wall were powerful armies ready to protect the 'revolutionaries'.

Another case springs to mind: what happened when Iraqis stood up to Sadaam Hussein following the first 'Gulf War'? Naively, they had thought Bush Sr. was going to support them in their uprising. Silly little people. They were massacred.

Israel's separation barrier is simply an other obstacle in the lives of the Palestinians who with or without the wall, have been trampled on, humiliated, murdered for decades. And no-one with any power will protect them against their agressor. Quite the contrary: the powerful armies continue to arm the agressor so it can carry on pounding.

Another decade, another wall

5.11.09

How the IAEA views Iran's 'threat'


IAEA

I am pleased; this is a positive development. I have always been of the view that the Iranian nuclear issue is an issue that can only be resolved through dialogue, through diplomacy. I have been saying for a number of years that we need transparency on the part of Iran, we need cooperation on the part of the international community. I feel that we are at a critical moment. I see that we are shifting gears, from confrontation into transparency and cooperation. I continue, of course, to call on Iran to be as transparent as possible. I indicated that because Iran has a comprehensive programme, has a fuel cycle, sensitive fuel cycle activities, it would help the Agency to have Iran subscribing, again, to our regulations that allow us to be informed of the construction of nuclear facilities as early as possible. It also would be of great help to us to have Iran reapply the Additional Protocol, which would give us the authority for more information, access to more locations. That would enable the Agency to start to provide assurances, not only about declared nuclear activities in Iran, but also about possible nuclear, undeclared activities in Iran. I believe we are on the right track. I believe that we have to continue to work together -- the Agency, Iran and the rest of the international community -- to move in the right direction, to assure the international community about Iran's nuclear programme, to open the dialogue about the broad range of issues that we need to address between Iran and the international community. As you have seen, there was a Six-Parties talk that has taken place in Geneva last week.
The reaction from both sides has been quite positive. President Obama said "This is a constructive beginning." President Ahmadinejad said that he expresses satisfaction with the initial results. So it is a critical moment; it is a moment when all of the parties should put their heads together, should start to build confidence and trust. This is the way we need to go both on the nuclear issue and on the broad range of issues that Iran and the international community need to work out, so that hopefully we reach a point when Iran is fully integrated with the international community.