@dustcirclenews - HEADLINES: Battle Against GMOs, Fight Against Drones, US Decline, Rogue Superpower, Prison Not Working, NSA Surveillance, American Hunger, Politically-Active Atheists, Civil Disobedience, Rejecting Capitalism, more.

Don't forget to view our QUOTES page: http://www.dustcircle.com

5 Things We Can Learn from the Battle Against GMOs
http://www.alternet.org/food/5-things-we-can-learn-battle-against-gmos

10 Ways You Can Join the Fight Against Drone Warfare

http://admin.alternet.org/activism/10-ways-you-can-join-fight-against-drone-warfare

The Consequences of US Decline
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36730.htm

A Rogue Superpower Is All Ears
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/11/01

Why prison is not working
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/uncategorized/vicky-pryce-why-prison-is-not-working/#.UnT3WHCsg69

The 'Preventive Constitution' in the Age of NSA Surveillance
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/11/01-4

Additional NSA Employees Said to Be Following Snowden's Lead
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/01-4

American Hunger and the Christian Right
http://www.opednews.com/articles/American-Hunger-and-the-Ch-by-Mary-Shaw-Child-Poverty_Food-For-The-Poor_Food-Security_Food-Stamps-131103-73.html

CIA Has 'Acquired A Taste' For Killing People With Drones; Won't Give It Up
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131105/17222425140/cia-has-acquired-taste-killing-people-with-drones-wont-give-it-up.shtml

You Will Be Shocked at How Ignorant Americans Really Are
http://www.alternet.org/media/americas-information-inequality-least-shocking-its-economic-inequality

Israel’s Deplorable Human Rights Record
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/israels-deplorable-human-rights-record-by-stephenlendman/

How Atheists Can Be Politically Active
http://atheism.about.com/od/godlessatheistpolitics/tp/Atheists-Political-Activism.htm?nl=1

A Brilliant Activist Shows Us a Path to Real Change Through Civil Disobedience
http://www.alternet.org/fracking/brilliant-activist-shows-us-path-real-change-through-civil-disobedience

The Orwellian arithmetic of mass surveillance
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/dom-shaw/orwellian-arithmetic-of-mass-surveillance

FBI 'Mistake' Leads To Six Years Of Monitoring Anti-War Website
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131106/12415825153/fbi-mistake-leads-to-six-years-monitoring-anti-war-website.shtml

The people are rejecting free market capitalism
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ellie-mae-ohagan/people-are-rejecting-free-market-capitalism

Can, or should, America be saved?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Can-or-should-America-be-by-Doug-Thompson-America_American-Capitalism_Crisis_People-131103-797.html

The Price of America Having the Greatest Military in the World? It's Destroying the Country
http://www.alternet.org/world/tragic-history-us-military-supremacy

What militarists don’t want you to know about the labor movement
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/militarists-dont-want-know-labor-movement/

International Human Rights Bodies Starting to Address NSA Surveillance Practiceshttps://cdt.org/blogs/leslie-harris/0511international-human-rights-bodies-starting-address-nsa-surveillance-practice

Has civil disobedience become too predictable?
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/civil-disobedience-become-predictable/

US Christian Zionists plan to take over Palestinian university in Israel
http://electronicintifada.net/content/us-christian-zionists-plan-take-over-palestinian-university-israel/12906

The Debate – Israeli Occupation

Corporate Personhood: How Did We Get Here?

JPMorgan: Too Big To Fine

18.Sept.2012: Occupy Wall Street One-Year Anniversary Special; plus More Political Parties, Robin Hood Tax, Curses of Privatization, Arab Spring, Problems of Belief and Doctrine, Climate Change Diseases, Debt Collector Prosecutors, U.S. and Israeli Lies About Iran, Win Against NDAA, Striking Chicago Teachers, Tea Party Failure, NSA Whistleblower, Jailed Women, Food Companies Mislead and Cheat, Mindlessly Complying with Authority, Occudoc

#OWS has officially entered its 2nd year. 

Whether you are for or against what the 99% stand for, you must (as an American) support the freedom of assembly and speech. At Reddit's Occupy 2.0, THE DISSENTING HERETIC is documenting this new phase of #OccupyWallSt. Join us.

Let's Have More Political Parties

With well over 200 years of experience using our first-past-the-goal-post system of elections we surely can now judge whether it works as we would hope. There is a wide body of opinion that is dissatisfied with our system, though that opinion is is far from universal. In particular, the small but powerful class of Republican and Democratic office holders support the current system but then again they know what to expect with it and it works well for them, electing them to well-paid powerful positions again and again.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Let-s-Have-More-Political-by-Paul-Cohen-120916-383.html

Occupy/Black Bloc Tactics Debated

In the immediacy of mass protest and non-violent civil disobedience, how can one differentiate between the disruptive violence of Black Bloc anarchists and the disruptive violence of undercover police agent provocateurs? 

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Occupy-Black-Bloc-Tactics-by-William-Boardman-120916-928.html

How To Tell If Occupy's Anniversary Push Is Succeeding

Today marks the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and the movement's faithful have taken to the streets for a series of planned demonstrations in a bid to recapture some of last year's momentum. It's a little early to assess how effective they've been in that goal, but so far organizers have succeeded on at least two (very) interrelated metrics we might be able to use in the short term: arrests and press coverage.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/09/17/ows_arrests_how_do_we_assess_the_success_of_occupy_s_anniversary_push_.html

Occupy Your Victories: OWS' First Anniversary

Occupy is now a year old.  A year is an almost ridiculous measure of time for much of what matters: at one year old, Georgia O’Keeffe was not a great painter, and Bessie Smith wasn’t much of a singer. One year into the Civil Rights Movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was still in progress, catalyzed by the unknown secretary of the local NAACP chapter and a preacher from Atlanta -- by, that is, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Occupy, our bouncing baby, was born with such struggle and joy a year ago, and here we are, 12 long months later.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/17-3

#S17 Commemorates First Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street Movement

Taking advantage of the one year anniversary of the birth of the Occupy Wall Street movement in lower Manhattan, economic justice advocates take to the streets today under the banner of #S17.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/17-1

Occupy's Protest Is Not Over. It Has Barely Begun

A good many observers wonder, is Occupy over? After all, the encampments that announced the movement a year ago have largely disappeared, and no obviously similar protestdemonstrations of young people have taken their place, at least not in the United States.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/17-7

Progressives Must Move Beyond Occupy

Average citizens evaluate political organizations based on how those organizations actually function. They know a political organization is a microcosm of the society it wishes to create. So after ten months of heavy involvement in Occupy, I have this question for Occupiers: would you honestly want to live in a society that is organized like Occupy and functions like Occupy? Do you want a society that claims to be "leaderless" while its true leaders remain hidden and unelected? Do you want a society with no written rules? Do you really expect the general public to support an organization that would extend this model to the rest of society?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/17

Arrests Near Stock Exchange Top 150 on Occupy Wall St. Anniversary

More than 150 people were arrested on Monday as protesters tried to block access to the New York Stock Exchange on the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/protests-near-stock-exchange-on-occupy-wall-st-anniversary/?hp

Is America Broke? Not With a Robin Hood Tax

Celebrating the campaign of the National Nurses United union to win support for a “Robin Hood Tax” on every trade to fund social services and rebuild communities, the platform argued that: “Democrats should make this common-sense levy central to their agenda, part of a long-term vision for moving America from a Wall Street–driven casino capitalism to a Main Street–focused caring, clean and green economics.”

http://www.thenation.com/blog/169950/america-broke-not-robin-hood-tax#

Robin Hood Tax Bill Introduced In Congress

The U.S. Robin Hood Tax Campaign today applauded the introduction in Congress of a bill that would impose a tax on Wall Street speculation. Introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison, HR 6411, the Inclusive Prosperity Act, would raise up to $350 billion in annual revenues that would be used to breathe new life into Main Street communities across America, as well as international health, sustainable prosperity and environmental programs.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/09/17-5

Five Looming Curses of Privatization

The futility of diverting public funds into the hands of profitseekers has been well-documented. Here are a few of the gathering curses of privatization.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/17-0

How Arab Spring turned into protests and 'Death to America!'

An outbreak of violence in Afghanistan this weekend was testament to a clear trend: In Muslim countries now enjoying more political freedom, anti-American anger is coming to the surface.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2012/0917/How-Arab-Spring-turned-into-protests-and-Death-to-America!

The Many Problems Of Belief, Doctrine and Atheism

Religious belief systems are one of the most powerful emotional drivers in humanity today. Depending on specific belief system, which book is taken as holy, which god or gods are worshiped, and the seriousness with which the believer takes their faith, the beliefs of the religious are held as a very personal thing; on par with the perceived identity of the believer in terms of the way it is treated.

http://martinspribble.com/archives/3271

Occupy Wall Street One Year Later: Ten Key Charts About Inequality

Today marks the one year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests, and activists intend to mark the milestone by holding a new round of demonstrations. Dozens have already been arrested, even before the main protests began.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/17/856711/ten-inequality-charts-occupy/

New Study Finds Tax Cuts For The Rich Cause Income Inequality, Not Economic Growth

According to a new report by the Congressional Research Service, cutting taxes for the wealthiest does not cause economic growth, despite constant conservative claims that it will. 

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/17/857861/study-tax-cuts-rich-no-growth/

5 Diseases On the Move: Climate Change

hen we consider the future effects of climate change in the United States, we sometimes think super-hurricanes, intense wildfires and a cinematic dystopia featuring robotic Haley Joel Osment racing around flooded Manhattan. However, we may want to put the scuba-lessons aside and consider a lesser-known threat from rising temperatures and erratic weather. Experts note that climate change may also be impacting certain environmentally sensitive diseases, and not in a way that will have us breathing easier.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/13504-5-diseases-on-the-move-thanks-to-climate-change

In Prosecutors, Debt Collectors Find a Partner

he letters are sent by the thousands to people across the country who have written bad checks, threatening them with jail if they do not pay up.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/13503-in-prosecutors-debt-collectors-find-a-partner

The US Election and the Men who Rule the World

The gleaming poster girl smile to go with the gleaming poster girl products and the whitewashed perfect teeth to match the whitewashed perfect lies. In a world of broken-tooth smiles and deadbeat reality, the advertising industry knows that selling a half-baked dream of ‘happiness through hedonism’ to the masses is not too hard to achieve. And that dream-world comprises products designed for obsolescence in a use and throw culture in a use and throw world of expendable countries with expendable populations that sit on top of oil and the various other mineral resources required to swell corporate coffers and keep consumerism afloat.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32464.htm

3 Reasons the US and Israel are Lying About Iran

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls "for the US to establish a firm "red line" that Iran's nuclear program can't cross without risking a military response," and the West is marched ever closer to war with the Islamic Republic based on tired and repeated lies, three important points must be kept in mind. 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32465.htm

Occupy Infiltrates Financial District with Creative, Decentralized Actions for First Anniversary

What started as a couple hundred people in a park with no plan has turned into a decentralized, distributed network of activists.

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/occupy-infiltrates-financial-district-creative-decentralized-actions-first-0

Overzealous NYPD: Man Arrested at Zuccotti for Yelling; Code Pink Codirector Arrested for Throwing a Bra

Recently, it appears the NYPD is getting even more voracious in their policing, with increasing examples of arrests over absurd and unclear violations. Today at Zuccotti Park, where protesters are commemorating the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, there's already been at least one arrest under confused pretenses, when a man was hauled in, apparently, for yelling. 

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/overzealous-nypd-man-arrested-zuccotti-yelling-code-pink-codirector-arrested-throwing

We Won—for Now

In January I sued President Barack Obama over Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized the military to detain U.S. citizens indefinitely, strip them of due process and hold them in military facilities, including offshore penal colonies. Last week, round one in the battle to strike down the onerous provision, one that saw me joined by six other plaintiffs including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg, ended in an unqualified victory for the public. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, who accepted every one of our challenges to the law, made her temporary injunction of the section permanent. In short, she declared the law unconstitutional.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/we_won_--_for_now_20120917/

Judge Declines to Hear Rahm's "Vindictive" Restraining Order Against Striking Teachers

Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago School Board attempted to halt the teacher's strike via a restraining order, but the judge on the case refused to hear their argument today, saying a hearing date may be set for Wednesday. 

http://www.alternet.org/hot-news-views/judge-declines-hear-rahms-vindictive-restraining-order-against-striking-teachers

Financial District In Chaos On 'Occupy Wall Street' Anniversary

rotesters and cops swarmed the Financial District Monday morning during events marking the one-year anniversary of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.

http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/440-occupy/13513-financial-district-in-chaos-on-occupy-wall-street-anniversary

Occupy Your Victories: OWS' First Anniversary

ccupy is now a year old. A year is an almost ridiculous measure of time for much of what matters: at one year old, Georgia O'Keeffe was not a great painter, and Bessie Smith wasn't much of a singer. One year into the Civil Rights Movement, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was still in progress, catalyzed by the unknown secretary of the local NAACP chapter and a preacher from Atlanta -- by, that is, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. Occupy, our bouncing baby, was born with such struggle and joy a year ago, and here we are, 12 long months later.

http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/441-occupy/13511-occupy-your-victories-ows-first-anniversary

NSA Whistleblower

George Knapp was joined by former senior executive of the NSA, Thomas Drake (relatedarticle), who discussed his decision to blow the whistle on the agency's Trailblazer Project and illegal spying operations, which led to his being charged under the Espionage Act.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2012/09/16

The failure of the Tea Party Republicans

The most unpopular and least productive congress in recent history is the 112th. And what makes it different from others is the fact that it is the first Congress that won its Republican majority in 2010, with more than 80 members of the Tea Party.

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12989430-the-failure-of-the-tea-party-republicans

Congress set to leave a pile of problems behind

The House and Senate will work just a few days this week then leave town until after the November election, abandoning work on legislation that's needed to avert looming tax hikes and more than $1 trillion in mandatory federal spending cuts so they can spend their days campaigning for re-election.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/congress-set-to-leave-a-pile-of-problems-behind/article/2508127

The hidden victims of a lock 'em up culture

There are two groups who suffer most from this lack of interest. One is women. Over the past 15 years, the number of female prisoners has more than doubled, and more than 10,000 women are now sent to jail every year. The five-part investigation which begins in The Independent today explains why, and also offers some ideas of what might be done to improve the situation.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/the-hidden-victims-of-a-lock-em-up-culture-8143216.html

Children in peril as women are jailed in record numbers [U.K.]

The number of women in prisons has more than doubled in 15 years, with 17,240 children separated from mothers who are in jail, an investigation by The Independent shows today.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/children-in-peril-as-women-are-jailed-in-record-numbers-8143240.html

Media Not Concerned About the Very Poor

The mainstream media rarely covers poverty unless politicians mention it--and politicians don't mention it unless they're forced to.

http://www.alternet.org/media-not-concerned-about-very-poor

A Totally Different Way to Think About Economics — with Visionary Charles Eisenstein

What would the world look like if money embodied our values?

http://www.alternet.org/visions/totally-different-way-think-about-economics-visionary-charles-eisenstein

5 Surprising Ways Food Companies Cheat and Mislead Consumers

Even the most savvy shopper could be persuaded by some of these false claims.

http://www.alternet.org/food/whats-really-your-greek-yogurt-5-surprising-ways-food-companies-cheat-and-mislead-consumers

At least 1 out of 3 comply with authority mindlessly

Our Pro-Corporate Supreme Court

AlterNet Radio: Poverty, Not Teachers' Unions, Is What's Plaguing Our Schools; Right-Wingers Setting the Middle East on Fire

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Arrests Near Stock Exchange Top 150 on Occupy Wall St. Anniversary

LEAKED Romney Video: Doesn't Care About 47% of Americans

STUNNING: Thousands Have Retaken Zuccotti Park Ahead of Occupy Wall Street's One-year Anniversary

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Swarm NYC Financial District to Mark 1st Anniversary of 99% Struggle

Roundtable: After 1 Year, OWS Gives Voice to Resistance of Crippling Debt and Widening Inequality

Occupy Sunset Park: 99% Solidarity Takes Root in Brooklyn Community Where Tenants Stage Rent Strike

After Weekend Protests See 50 Arrests, Protesters Detained in Early-Morning Action on Wall Street

American Autumn: An Occudoc

Steve Dustcircle can be found at:

http://www.dustcircle.com

Incarcerated Inside Israel Palestinians Tortured And Isolated

Printer Friendly Version

By Graham Peebles

12 August, 2012
Countercurrents.org

Detention without trial, the presumption of guilt, denial of family visits, solitary confinement, torture, violent interrogation, and denial of access to appropriate health care, such is the Israeli judicial system and prison confinement experienced by Palestinian men, women and indeed children.

Currently there are, according to B'T selem “4,484 Palestinians – security detainees, confined in Israeli prisons.” Family contact is virtually impossible for prisoners, most of who are held inside Israel . This contravenes international law in the form of the universally trumpeted Fourth Geneva Convention (Article's 49 & 76), consistently violated and disregarded by Israel .

International laws – legally binding upon Israel , who are not above the rule of law, must be respected and enforced. Richard Falk UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, in the UN news 2/5/12 called “on the international community to ensure that Israel complies with international human rights laws and norms in its treatment of Palestinian prisoners.” The UN makes its feelings clear in the ‘Question of Palestine Administrative Detention' report (UNQAP) when it says, Israel “has historically ratified international agreements regarding human rights protection, whilst at the same time refusing to apply the agreements within the Occupied Palestinian Territory , attempting to create legal justifications for its illegal actions.” A comprehensive list of international legally binding agreements dutifully signed, ratified and consequently disregarded by various Israeli governments are cited by the UN, which sits hands tied, impotent it seems in the face of Israel's illegal and violent occupation (a fact that cannot be stated often or loudly enough), submissive to the imperialist Godfather. America .

Thank You for Your Service? No Thanks!

By Gary D. Barnett

April 25, 2012 "Information Clearing House" 


--- It would be very difficult for me to think of any term that disgusted me more than those words uttered continuously in the presence of virtually any soldier in the United States: "Thank you for your service."

 

What service is actually being praised by those conditioned to say these empty words? Why are they thanking and praising nearly every soldier they see? 

• Is it because hatred of the U.S. is increasing, and new enemies are being created in the Middle East and all around the rest of the world?
• Is it because thousands and thousands of innocent people are being killed now in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and many more are being threatened?
• Is it because 20,000,000 to 30,000,000 foreigners, mostly innocent civilians, have died just since World War II due to U.S. interference and war?
• Is it because indefinite detention without due process, torture, assassination, and rendition are now common and accepted practices?
• Is it because suicide rates among American soldiers have increased 80% since the Iraq War began?
• Is it because mental problems now send more military personnel to the hospital than any other cause?
• Is it because destruction and separation of military families is rampant?
• • Is it because civil liberties have all but disappeared due to so-called terrorism legislation? (terror legislation would be more accurate)
  • Is it because of the creation of the USA PATRIOT Act, Military Commissions Act, NDAA, TSA, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS)?
  • Is it because of the massive buildup of killer drones abroad and at home?
  • Is it because the huge deficit spending to support multiple aggressive wars is causing economic chaos?
  • Is it because of the surging number of double amputees of American soldiers?
  • Is it because of increasing energy costs due to the United States unwarranted presence in the Middle East region?
  • Is it because the domestic police have now become a brutal militarized force, bent on controlling the entire population?
   
  I could of course go on, but the picture is clear. Those who continue to believe the propaganda about all U.S. wars leading to the protection of freedom, and to our national security, are blinded by ignorance, and consumed by pathetic false patriotism. No U.S. wars have ever served the purpose of freedom; they have only served to destroy it.
   
  Due to these wars of aggression and occupation, our freedoms are virtually non-existent today. We are spied upon, tracked, searched without warrant, sexually assaulted, and radiated. There are now checkpoints in many parts of the country where it is demanded that we "show our papers," and killer spy drones are filling our skies. Government agents and the military are patrolling all U.S. borders, and Blackhawk war helicopters sporting heavily armed soldiers hanging on tethers are flying over our cities.
   
  Because of these wars, the government has gained enormous power, and continues its assault on liberty. A police state environment has taken hold, and if not curbed soon, will lead to Martial Law in the near future. The DHS has purchased enough killing ammunition to murder more than twice the population, and on the say so of one man, Americans can and are being assassinated. Why?
   
  In order for our national security to be defended, we first have to be attacked. That has not happened. In order to protect freedom here at home, all foreign wars must cease, and all the government agencies and "terrorism" legislation created since 9/11 should be abolished immediately! 
  
  
  Every U.S. base on foreign soil should be closed, and every troop stationed in another country should come home and enter the private sector. At least that would be a good start.
   
  There is a reason that the young are sent as cannon fodder to die in the wars of the politicians, bankers, and corporations. They are less likely to challenge the orders they are given; orders meant to be obeyed regardless of the immoral nature of those demands, and regardless of the horrible consequences they will most certainly face. Those who "serve" do not serve the people who falsely praise them; they only serve one master, and that master is the nation state and its benefactors. It is not "we the people."
   
  Thank you for your service? Absolutely not! We can’t afford any more of this kind of service!
   

  Gary D. Barnett is president of Barnett Financial Services, Inc., in Lewistown, Montana. Visit his website. 

  
  
  This article was first published at Lew Rockwell
  Copyright © 2012 by LewRockwell.com.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent : Information Clearing House News

 Guilty Until Proven Innocent
As Israeli airstikes continue to be carried out in Gaza, most people there feel trapped and abandoned by the world

By Yasmeen El Khoudary
[REPRINT]

August 22, 2011 "Al-Jazeera" - - The mini war that Israel waged on Gaza following the turmoil in South Israel is just another perfect example of how Gaza is the Middle East's "Biggest Loser." Caught in a thorny network composed of selfish interests and different agendas, the 1.5 million people of Gaza are indeed the biggest losers when it comes to just about anything in the Middle East.

Our destiny does not lie within our hands. We do not have any control over even the smallest aspects of our lives. We do not enjoy the luxury of planning for tomorrow, let alone next week. We, the people of Gaza, valiantly try to go on with our daily lives as if things are in perfect order. But there are times when things are so bleak and so dark that everything we have been trying to build collapses in the blink of an eye.

On Thursday, and after a rough night full of Israeli air attacks on different locations in the Gaza Strip, we woke up to another hot Ramadan day which was interrupted by news about a shooting operation in Eilat, whereby five Israeli soldiers were killed and 36 others were injured. Immediately and without even waiting for the details of the operation to be announced, people started fretting about a likely Israeli attack on Gaza.

It was much like the instantaneous reactions of Muslims in Norway to the terrorist attacks that took Oslo by storm recently, which ignited fear in their hearts because of inevitable racist attacks that they were going to suffer had the attacker been a Muslim. More inevitable than the racist attacks was of course the media threat, which also instantaneously and without any evidence linked the terrorist attacks to Al Qaeda and to Muslim extremists. However, the murderer turned out to be a Norwegian, allowing Norwegian Muslims to heave a sigh of relief.

'We are never safe'

The scenario in Gaza was not very different. The 'operation' killed five soldiers, but nobody knows who led the operation. At first, we read reports indicating that Egypt's involvement, only to find that Israel promptly denied Egypt's intervention before Egypt itself did. Immediately afterwards, we heard Ehud Barak's statements accusing 'Gaza' of the attacks and promising to "punish those who were responsible". How he came to that conclusion, what evidence he holds, or who in Gaza he thinks is responsible, we have no idea (and neither does he, I'm starting to believe). What we know for sure is that we are doomed, and that ahead of us lies what might be a live reminder of Cast Lead, regardless of the fact that not a piece of evidence connected the people of Gaza to the Eilat operation.

That is the only difference between the case with Norwegian Muslims and us. The former were safe after the truth was revealed, but we are never safe - with or without the truth. Between Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, the USA, and whoever happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, we, the innocent people of Gaza, can be found struggling to catch our breath from under the feet of these selfish giants whenever something happens. Today is no exception- and as usual, there's no one that can be blamed cost-free but the people of Gaza. Even if Egypt was involved in this operation, it seemed that Israel was emphasizing 'Gaza's' sole responsibility for the operation because it felt like avenging and retaliating. I would not be surprised if the communication blackout that was imposed on Gaza ten days ago was the first of many to come, and that we might be experiencing one in case a military operation is indeed launched.

Amidst the wild rumors, leaks and speculations, the constant Israeli threats, the rising toll of people killed and injured by Israel, Friday prayers around the Strip calmed people down. In times like these, mosques play a very important role, by reading soothing prayers, make urgent announcements, etc. Last Friday, however, and as Israel was bombing Gaza, the Imam leading the prayers in the mosque next to our house was concerned with something else. He dedicated his sermon and his prayers to Somalia and asked people to donate to it. That humanity, that beating human conscience and respect for human life are the qualities that are inseparable from Palestinians, even if the world might think otherwise.

Whether what awaits us is another cruel Israeli attack where we would be both the aggressor and the victim, or whether it's going to be a deceiving live political soap opera where we sit back and watch, we do not know. We will wait for it to happen, because the selfish world decides our fate. It is because we, the people of Gaza, are guilty until proven innocent - if ever.

---

Yasmeen El Khoudary is a freelance writer based in Gaza, occupied Palestine. She graduated from the American University in Cairo with a BA in Political Science, and works now as a self-employed writer and researcher. She blogs at yelkhoudary.blogspot.com

Follow Yasmeen El Khoudary on Twitter:- @yelkhoudary