Archive for the 'terrorism' Category

Iranian Bank Melli’s “Women Only” Branch

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Perhaps it’s a perverse way of marking the upcoming first anniversary of the stolen election - Iran’s Bank Melli has opened a “women-only” branch in Mashhad.

While promoting “virtue” at home, Bank Melli has attracted more critical scrutiny abroad. In 2007, the bank was designated by the US government for its involvement in Tehran’s nuclear program and for providing banking services to the Revolutionary Guard and the Qods Force. Here’s more detail:

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Meanwhile, in Ramallah…

Even if the Ramat Shlomo announcement and its aftermath is a salutary reminder of the old Yiddish proverb about not spitting in the well you drink from, that should not be the only lesson we draw from this week’s events.
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Protesting Galloway’s Terror Roadshow

The repellent George Galloway turned up in Boston this week, raising money for Hamas. Via Solomonia, a video of the crowd greeting him.

Iran, Brazil and the International Stage

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This is a guest post by Kenneth Bandler of AJC.

Wrapping up his whirlwind Latin America tour, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must have been very pleased that he had cancelled his previously planned visit to Brazil in May. No doubt his host, Brazilian President President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is similarly delighted. Each is enjoying international attention as leaders in their respective regions of the world.

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“My children were crying on top of my wife’s body:” Remembering Mumbai

This is a guest post by David Adler.

“My children were crying on top of my wife’s body.” That’s one of many quotes from survivors featured in “Terror in Mumbai,” a new HBO documentary narrated by Fareed Zakaria. It’s solidly in the running for the most profoundly disturbing hour of television I’ve ever seen.

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Chavez’s Heroes

Hugo Chavez has been namechecking those great figures past and present who inspired him.

In a speech to international socialist politicians, Mr Chavez said “Carlos”, a Venezuelan, was not a terrorist but a key “revolutionary fighter”.

Mr Chavez also hailed Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Mind you, given that Venezuela in ten years could well look like Zimbabwe does now, I guess there’s a logic to it.

It all rather makes you want to sing the chorus of this song.

The T Word

This is a guest post by Karl Pfeifer, a veteran anti-fascist and journalist based in Vienna.

A joker once suggested holding a conference with the purpose of abolishing all conferences. That witticism notwithstanding, I took up my invitation to attend the conference hosted organized by the International Press Institute and the Center for International Legal Studies entitled, “The War on Words: Terrorism, Media and the Law.” At this gathering of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy, one could learn a lot.

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Why is Galloway in the US?

To my knowledge, no independent sightings have been confirmed, but according to his website, the pro-Hamas British MP George Galloway is currently on a speaking tour here in the US.

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Broadcasting Terror

“The case of ‘Hezbollah’s man in New York’ offers a compelling glimpse into the expansive world of 21st-century terrorism, where democratic free speech rights are exploited by terror groups as part of their war against the West,” writes my colleague Kenneth Bandler in the New York Post. Read it all.

Glavin on the Galloway Affair

Canada is not British, nor European, nor Yankee, and in all the foreign and domestic sniggerings, objections, protests and complaints about the way Canada and its officials have handled the Galloway file, you will have to look very hard before you find one - just one - that does not wholly depend upon an embarassing error of fact, a delusion, a conspiracy theory, or an outright lie.

Terry Glavin gets it absolutely right, here.

Galloway: Canada was Right

“There really hasn’t been a totalitarian regime in the last quarter century to which Galloway has failed to lend his support,” observes Michael Weiss in a robust defense of Canada’s decision to refuse entry to George Galloway, Saddam poodle and British MP.

Remember Pi Glilot?

This is a guest post by AJC’s Ed Rettig in Israel.

In late January, a Spanish magistrate decided to launch an investigation against senior Israeli leaders for crimes against humanity. Charges center on the July 2002 killing of Hamas military commander Salah Shehadeh (pictured,) perpetrator in chief of the Pi Glilot terror attack.

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Apparently, Galloway was in New York…

I wasn’t there. Only 100 people were. More from Gene here, who says that the banning of Saddam Hussein’s former poodle from Canada  “has turned what certainly would have been a quickly-forgotten tour into a cause celebre – much to Galloway’s delight, I’m sure.” True on one level, but I still think the Canadians were right to invoke their law, and send a message to this craven apologist for tyrants that supporting terrorism doesn’t go unpunished.

Banning the “Infandous” Galloway: Well Done, Canada!

Canada has banned the rabble-rousing anti-Zionist, pro-Saddam British MP George Galloway entry on the grounds that he is a threat to national security. Apparently, Galloway is livid. Good. Let him steam, because this was the right action to take, even if The Guardian can’t believe this is the Canadian government’s own decision - it was, as the footnote to this piece makes crystal clear - since Galloway’s vile statements were “drawn to the attention of the government by a Jewish group.”

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Helpful Advice from Richard Falk

This is a guest post by Doug Lieb of AJC, editor of the new blog Durban Countdown.

Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories - previously known for his doubts about what really happened on 9/11 - has just come out with another novel theory.

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