SHORT SELLING THE PALESTINIANS

The Goldstone Report under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council has received much attention for its suggestions that both sides in the recent Gaza conflict are allegedly guilty of war crimes. Following this report, an outcry has emerged from many states, within the Middle East and beyond, to refer the report to the Security Council. One of the countries spearing this endeavour is the “enlightened” republic of Libya.

Amongst the Palestinians, President Abbas is being blackmailed, in a politically clever move by the US, not to encourage the referral of the report to the council in the hope that this whole debacle will lose steam. Hamas on the other hand, are charging Abbas with national treason and threatening to withdraw from the conciliatory talks if Abbas refuses to further the hype at the UN, despite the fact that the report finds Hamas guilty of war crimes as well.

At the same time as this report, but ironically not connected to Goldstone’s enquiries, a tape of Gilad Shalit has been released for the first time since his kidnapping in the exchange of 20 female Palestinian prisoners.

In an article on Politics 2.0, following the release of Samir Kuntar last year, I argued that it the Arabs themselves set the currency of the value of the lives of Palestinians by making ridiculous demands for the exchange of live prisoners for the dead bodies of Israeli soldiers. In keeping with that fashion, Hamas has now asked for 20 prisoners for proof of life of Shalit – 20 lives for 1 tape.

These two recent events coming out of Israel in the past couple weeks only show that the Palestinians themselves are responsible for their low status on the world stage. While Israel is receiving international criticism and feeling self-embarrassment that a fellow Jew could make such convictions, Hamas seem to glowing in the notoriety of being accused of war crimes, without even a receiving a smack on the knuckles. Their bargaining power in negotiations with Fatah has become more brash and confident. All this is happening while the world seems to be acknowledging the goals of the terrorist organisation which is the suppression of human life and human rights.

It seems that, as always, Israel is being held to the highest ethical bar, beyond any nation while with global consensus places Hamas at the lowest standard as if to say “well what else would you expect from them?”. Trading 20 prisoners for a tape shows that Hamas not only disregards the values of human rights, but also has no care for the value of human lives as well. The Goldstone report, as debatable as it may be for the Israeli’s, only confirms the world’s low expectations of the Palestinians.

Perhaps 20 Palestinians is the equivalent of a snap shot of an Israeli but it is Hamas who has set this price. One has to ask who are real culprits responsible for the real plight of the Palestinians – using their lives and nationhood as a commodity?

MEDIA HYPE
Has the War in Afghanistan cost the UK so much?

15 August -British moralities in Afghanistan passed the 200 mark since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001.

This is day of mourning, as announced by Gordon Brown and indeed these 200 soldiers are to be honoured and respected. But does this mean that the whole war in Afghanistan is a disaster and its time to call the boys home?

It is closing on 10 years and that "mission accomplished" sign alludes the the troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Although that is a miscalculation in and of itself, one must put the 200 KIA mark in perspective. The graph below is an illustration to help one put the war in Afghanistan in context.

DELETED GRAPH

Perhaps the news coverage should focus on the actual cause of death figures in proportion to the impact on the population, but then again that would not make sensational news - would it?

AN UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH

A suspected Nazi death camp guard has been accused of helping to kill nearly 28,000 Jews in World War Two, according to Sky News on Monday 13 July 2009.

"State prosecutors in Munich have charged the 89-year-old John Demjanjuk as an accessory to murder in a total of 27,900 cases," prosecutors said.

The suspect, who has been held in a jail in southern Germany since May 12 after he was deported from the United States, will be tried at a court in Munich. The report on Sky's website triggered much debate in its comments section on whether the 89 year old should stand trial. It also revealed people's feelings of forgetting the past of an 89 year old man who was "following orders" when we compare that to American soldiers following orders today in Iraq and the like.

It is interesting to see how the topic of the Holocaust makes people feel awkward and uneasy. It leads to a natural reaction of distancing oneself or denial. Some try to under-state it to make it less applicable to their lives.

The fact that Jews were marched to gas chambers in a mass assembly like a killing factory is the darkest chapter of modern history. If people feel uncomfortable about it today, or try to downplay it, then the shame of the previous generations continues with them. 6 million Jews died, not as POW's or collaterals but as musicians and teachers.

ANIMAL FARM
The New Hawks Unit replaces the Scorpions

So with grand announcement, the Scorpions have returned in a new shape and form. On Tuesday 6 July, the Hawks, the police's newly launched crime-fighting unit and successor to the disbanded Scorpions, kicked off with a symbolic ceremony.

It is a move that can be summed up in one word - Bravo! Jacob Zuma, the former prey of the Scorpions managed to out-manoeuvre Mbeki's agents in all the venomous allegations against him. He emerged as the leader of the ANC, and now leader of the country without charges.

Now with his seat in power, Zuma has the strength and audacity to re-invent the beast that almost killed him by domesticating it and renaming it as a friend instead of foe. This was done all under the auspices of the threat or need for a national-crime fighting innitiative.

It is a brilliant play by Zuma - reminiscent of the time when Lenin's Checka was replaced by a more Stalin friendly KGB. Now Zuma has his own private security or perhaps even secret security. It seems the predators are now the lap-dogs of the prey.

BURN THE BURKA?

Choosing between Two Liberties

Nicolas Sarkozy’s comment two weeks ago has caused quite a stir amongst Europeans who live in a continent that is becoming less European every year. In an address to Parliament, the French President attacked the Muslim women's dress, the burka saying,

"We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity"

The French National Assembly announced on 23 June, one day after Sarkozy's address, the creation of an inquiry into whether women in France should be allowed to wear the burka.

This problem stems from the decades long policy of opening Europe’s borders to "the tired, the poor". Coupled with this, the veiling of women from a liberal society has isolated them further and limited their chances of getting out of an economic rut.

Yet in a country that has no problem with topless sun-bathers and tolerates Eurotrash couture, the knee-jerk impatience when seeing a Muslim woman in a veil seems to be on the complete opposite spectrum of liberty and contrary to the idea of letting people live in the pursuit of their own destiny.

A disdain for people’s beliefs and dress is a trademark of Arab countries and nations from where these very immigrants come. Surely Europe does not want to emulate the Saudi’s and Iranians? Some say that if one chooses to dress in a burka then one should return to their home countries where it is acceptable. Yet is this what the founders of the French Revolution envisioned their revolution to be? Is the mother of the modern world turning its back on people who do not fit into the classic European mould?

What will be next? Will circumcision be considered too barbaric and wearing symbols around one’s neck too aggressive as an expression the right of freedom of association? Already, in 2004, France banned the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools, triggering heated debate in the country and abroad.

There is a fine line and the burka is on the extreme end as a symbol of imposed male repression that should be frowned upon in society, and discouraged by true libertarians. But this is a catch 22 as these very libertarians have a duty to fight for the right of those who choose to wear a Burka, Armish hats or high heels.

The way to remove the burka from French society is to do what Napoleon did and drown it out with emancipation and fraternity rather than with the constriction of freedom which is the trademark of governments of the Arab world.

It is not whether a choice is right or wrong in the end but it is the process of choice itself that defines the liberty. While the burka is the symbol of repression, we cannot use repressive means to deny people of their choices.

R-EVOLUTION
The Future of Politics is Here

Iranian TV has censored footage, the Revolutionary Guard is willing to "crush" dissent and foreign journalists are sitting in their studios in London, Doha and Atlanta.

About a year ago, Politics 2.0 re-invented itself to predict that world events will be determined by the politics of the street. The guy with a Blackberry or the student with a laptop will use the mass media to set his own opinions that will shape the face of politics and ultimately the future of world news.

Today, the Iranian people are bypassing traditional forms of media and communication by using sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Fring to co-ordinate their attempts to challenge the unpopular Iranian regime. So much so, that the giants like CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera are turning to tweeters in cafes and bloggers with 5.0 mega pixel phones as their new correspondents.

This truely is world events at a street level. Opinionated, humorous and independent, Politics 2.0 is the status update of politics and the future of world news.

THE SECOND IRANIAN REVOLUTION
And the first Internet Revolution

No-one predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Cold War did not end with an armed conflict or with the inevitable spaghetti western showdown that the world expected. The Cold War ended through the bluff of the Star Wars programme which was a farce multi-billion defence system against the "Evil Empire". The technological developments of the USA (or bluffs) left the Soviets in catch mode which ultimately revealed their internal social, financial and political weaknesses.

In a heightened nuclear showdown between Iran, the IAEA, Israel and the USA, it seems the world's nuclear clock is clicking closer to the witching hour. In a world with a defiant Iran, apologetic USA and anxious Israel, the solutions on the table in the past year have ranged from negotiations to sanctions to all out war.

For Israel, neither Mousavi nor Ahmedinejad will calm their fears of nuclear proliferation. A strong government by either candidate will keep a stable nuclear programe in Iran. This crisis though, provides a major breakthrough in destabilising the entire system and buying time to delay their nuclear ambitions.

As the collapse of the Soviet Union was internal, so too can the collapse of Iran's nuclear ambitions come from the inside . And like the Star Wars programme, today's technology is being used to weaken Iran.

No-one could predict that an oppressive Islamic regime could be compromised by twitter, fring, and micro-chips developed in Israel. The spring of the pressure on the Iranian government has not come from the outside but it is ironically the people of Iran who are now the greatest threat to the Iranian regime.

Israel has the technological capabilities to out-play Iran. It suits Israel to keep no leader in a strong position in Iran and to keep Iran vulnerable to its own people and sanctions. Indeed it is better for the Iranians to fight amongst themselves than to fight with other nations. This revolution in Iran is the first literal "internet revolution" and Israel has an obligation to use its technology to help the Iranian people. Even more importantly, Iran is in a window period of weakness and if there is a chance to topple the regime then Mossad need to get on the ground to make sure that this "internet revolution" lasts for as long as possible.

ITS JUST A JUMP TO THE LEFT....

Roughly 4 years ago, the world was caught by catch phrases describing the different waves of democratic revolutions spreading across the world. There was the Rose Revolution in Georgia where the people selected a western leaning government, an island in a sea of former Soviet states. Along with this change was the orange revolution in Ukraine and the Cedar revolution in Lebanon. Although these victories and “winds of change” sound quite Obama-ist, it was actually under George W. Bush’s doctrine of universal freedom in which these seeds grew.

As we all know, 4 years down the road, Bush is gone, Lebanon was pulvarised in war and internal conflict and so too was Georgia. The Russians have never been more suspicious of NATO since the end of the Cold War. The world in the past few years has become harder, more radical with iron fist governments and strong willed leaders in their command.

Yet the events of the past few weeks have shown that there is an alternative to radicalism and repressive governments. The tide of inevitability towards fundamental polarisation has subsided briefly. In Lebanon, the pro western conciliatory Hariri government won in an election that could have spelled the end of a Maronite-Muslim Lebanon with a new Iranian-Syrian proxy. In Iran, even though the elections had the trademarks of not being free and fair and considering the system itself is selectively democratic, the populous of Iran are rising up to show that Ahmedinejad is not the monolithic voice of the country.

Yet, revolutions always lead to counter-revolutionists and we can always return to a pattern of popular demonstrations of freedom being set up for a conflict or bitter revenge from the reactionists leading to war and more uncertainty. The Cedar revolution was short lived and the Rose revolution was only met by eventual war.

The zeitgeist of the people determines how the hardliners will react to the people who select liberty instead of lunacy. The stronger the will for freedom, the stronger the reaction from the conservatives. It ultimately leads to a coin toss to determine which group has the stronger will to live according to their ideals.

2008 THE YEAR SO FAR? (Revisited)

Politics 2.0 has taken a break as it has been a busy time for its author. Admittedly, the previous post of a year in review was way too premature. Imagine if the year had ended in August? Hundreds of thousands would still have jobs and the Dow Jones may still be over the 9000 mark or higher instead of flirting with breaking the 8000 barrier. Obama or McCain may have been President, the price of oil would have been higher, Lehman’ and Merrill would still be around and climate change would mean talking about global weather and not acclimatising to our lower living standards.

But the year did not end in August and “it is what it is”. The question is what would the world be like in 2009? There is a fine line between prophecy and forecasting. But if one follows the middle path between the two, everyone can agree that the world economy is going to be as glum as London weather. The sooner this front passes the better!