Arizona veteran shot and killed in his own home by SWAT team

SHATTERED FAMILY — A portrait of the family of Jose and Vanessa Guerena.  Vanessa and the couple’s youngest son were present when Mr. Guerena was shot to death in the family home.

On May 5, 2011, the Associated Press reported that a 26-year-old man from South Tucson, Arizona, was fatally shot by a Pima County SWAT team while serving a search warrant at the man’s home.  The press reported:

Sheriff’s officials say 26-year-old Jose Guerena was pronounced dead at the scene of Thursday morning’s brief shootout.  They said Guerena’s wife and 4-year-old son were in the home at the time of the shooting and escaped injury.  Deputy Jason Ogan says Guerena shot at SWAT team members with an AR-15 assault rifle before authorities returned fire.

On May 19, 2011, the Associated Press reported:

The man who was fatally shot by Pima County SWAT officers earlier this monthly was allegedly linked to a home-invasion crew.  That words comes from the attorney representing the officers.  Michael Storie says authorities found rifles, hand guns, body armor and a portion of a law enforcement uniform from inside Jose Guerena’s house.

The article further reported: “A lawyer for the Guerena family says nothing seized from the victim’s home was illegal.”

On May 27, 2011, Sean Holstege of The Arizona Republic reported that documents released in the case disclosed “that Pima County sheriff’s deputies thought they were storming the Tucson home of a dangerous drug trafficker.”  However, to date there is evidence that Mr. Guerena was involved in any criminal activity.

On the morning that Mr. Guerena was killed, the SWAT team arrived in an armored personnel carrier with numerous squad cars.  Members of the SWAT team broke down the door and saw Mr. Guerena holding a rifle.  Mr. Guerena was killed when he was struck by a flurry of bullets.  Mr. Guerena was hit 22 times, according to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office.  (A police investigation showed that officers fired more than 70 shots.)

The sheriff’s office initially reported that Mr. Guerena shot at the invading SWAT team members.  Officer Hector Iglecias told detectives that he fired nine or ten rounds at Mr. Guerena after he saw muzzle flashes from Mr. Guerena’s rifle.  Deputy Christopher Garcia told investigators that he heard Mr. Guerena yell something as he came toward him with a rifle.  “I continued firing at the suspect where I saw him, directly in front of me holding the rifle,” Deputy Garcia said.  Officer Jake Shumate said Mr. Guerena ”raise the rifle and pointed it towards us and then fired multiple shots.”  However, the sheriff’s office later issued a statement disclosing that the rifle Mr. Guerena was holding had its safety on and Mr. Guerena did not fire his rifle. 

A video was released showing the armored car arriving at Mr. Guerena’s residence and breaking into the house.  Repeated gunfire can be heard on the audio track of the video, which is included in an article about Mr. Guerena’s death at a website titled Pro Libertate:

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-06-02T02%3A46%3A00-06%3A00

Mr. Guerena was a former Marine (2002-06) who served two tours of duty in Iraq.  Mr. Guerena worked the graveyard shift at an Asarco copper mine.  He had no record of violent crime.  He was arrested in 2009 for drug possession but prosecutors declined to charge him.  His older brother, Alejandro Guerena, was being investigating by police for alleged drug trafficking.

An article by Sean Holstege and Robert Angien of The Arizona Republic described what took place in the house just before Mr. Guerena was killed.

It was a Thursday morning in a comfortable Tucson neighborhood.  Vanessa Guerena was making breakfast.  One of her young boys was at school.  The other, age 4, was waking up.  He wanted to watch “The Transformers” on television.

Outside, an armored car was rolling up Redwater Drive.  SWAT team members in black helmets and armor poured out.  A siren wailed.  Thirty seconds later, officers bashed down he front door.  Within seconds, the popping of gunfire rang out.

. . .

After the shooting subsided, Vanessa said she crept out of hiding from inside a closet with her son, who was still wearing Spider-Man pajamas.  She tried to talk to her husband and frantically called 911.

It would be an hour later that deputies told her he was dead.  They had waited to send in a remote-controlled robot to secure the scene.

The moments leading up to the killing of Mr. Guerena were reported by William N. Grigg on his website Pro Libertate:

Jose, who had finished a graveyard shift at the Asarco copper mine, was sleeping when a SWAT team from the Pima County Sheriff’s Office laid siege to his home on the morning of May 5.  Vanessa was doing laundry, and the couple’s four-year-old son Joel was watching “Transformers,” when the SWAT raiders pulled up in a Bear Cat armored vehicle.

The siren sounded for less than tene seconds; just a few seconds later, the order to “breach” the door was given because, as on-scene commander Deputy Krygier later explained, nobody inside the house had “submitted to our authority.”

Vanessa initially thought that there was an emergency “somewhere in the neighborhood,” and called the police.  When she saw armed intruders on her property, Vanessa screamed for her husband to take up.  Jose told Vanessa to take their younger son (whose older brother, Jose, Jr., was in school) and hide in the closet, while he went to confront the invaders.

Seconds later, Jose was sprawled face-first in a pool of his own blood, shredded by more than sixty rounds fired by the SWAT team.  That’s how his four-year-old son would later find him.  Joel was left alone after Vanessa, who had gone out to plead for someone to get medical help for her husband, was assaulted and brutalized by the SWAT operators and then detained for questioning.  The child remained alone in the house with the body of his dead father while Krygier developed a “tactical team” to extract the child at minimal risk.  That is, minimal risk to the berserkers who had just killed Joel’s dad.

“The government of Pima County has killed one of its own citizens,” wrote Radley Balko, a critic of police SWAT teams, in The Huffington Post.  “This is the most serious, solemn, and severe action a local government can undertake.”

Mr. Balko suggested that there may be cover-ups after over-aggressive use of SWAT teams:

You begin to see patterns in how police agencies respond to high-profile incidents like this one.  One near-universal tactic is to lock down information once the media begins to grow skeptical.  Another, often undertaken simultaneously, is to officially leak information that’s beneficial to the police department.  They’re doing both in Tucson.

President Felipe Calderon had no right to criticize the state of Arizona over its attempt to enforce the immigration laws of the United States

PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON CRITICIZED THE ARIZONA LAW DESIGNED TO ENFORCE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION DURING A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS ON MAY 20, 2010 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI APPLAUDED MR. CALDERON'S CRITICISM OF ARIZONA'S LAW.

 

During a recent two-day state visit to Washington, D.C., Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s president, lectured Americans on immigration policy. 

Mr. Calderon specifically criticized the law passed by the state of Arizona, which was designed to enforce federal law against illegal aliens in the United States because of lack of enforcement of immigration laws by the federal government. 

“Despite their enormous contribution to the economy and society of the United States,” there are persons who “still live in the shadows, and at times, like in Arizona, even face patterns of discrimination,” Mr. Calderon said at a ceremony at the White House to begin his visit. 

At a joint appearance with President Obama, Mr. Calderon told reporters that Mexico is against laws that “criminalize migration.”   

“We will retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration so that people that work and provide things to [the United States] will be treated as criminals,” Mr. Calderon said. 

In an appearance Thursday before a joint session of Congress on in the House of Representatives, Mr. Calderon told lawmakers that Arizona’s law “introduces the terrible idea that racial profiling is a basis for law enforcement.”  Mr. Calderon received a standing ovation from some – including Vice President Joseph Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  A video of the applause: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLt3GgDQgVY  

The three members of the Obama Administration who attended Mr. Calderon’s speech to Congress — Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary Ken  Salazar — all joined in the ovation for Mr. Calderon. 

In an interview before he departed the United States, Mr. Calderon said that “migration is a natural phenomenon and obeys the economic dynamic between the U.S. and Mexico.  It’s a textbook case of a big economy that is capital intensive and a  small economy that is labor intensive.” 

Mr. Calderon said of the Arizona law: “We worry because it has a clear element of presumption, including racial, that can open up a gap in understanding, and create hatred that will benefit no one, not Mexico and certainly not Arizona.” 

Many question the right of Mr. Calderon to criticize the United States when his own country is intolerant of civil rights. 

“Mexico is a total police state where its inhabitants and anyone who dares visit are subjected to some of the most draconian and brutal law enforcement measures on the planet,” wrote Paul Joseph Watson and Alex Jones in an article at prisonplanet.com.  

“Under the Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison,” wrote Jerry Seper in washingtontimes.com.  “Immigrants who are deported and attempt to re-enter can be imprisoned for 10 years.  Visa violators can be sentenced to six-year terms.  Mexicans who help illegal immigrants are considered criminals.” 

In response to Mr. Calderon’s remarks made to Congress, U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones of North Carolina issued a statement, which stated: 

I must say that I resent President Calderon coming into our country and criticizing our immigration laws.  Medico has some of the strictest immigration policies in the world, yet Mr. Calderon has the audacity to come into our Congress and criticize our laws.  That is outrageous, and I am extremely disappointed that other members of Congress and the Obama Administration choose to applaud those remarks. 

America is fed up with the drug cartels, human trafficking and the array of other criminal activity that continues to overload our southern border.  It is not the place of President Calderon to come into our country and criticize Arizona for passing a measure designed to give law enforcement reasonable tools to protect the people.  It would be more productive for the President to assist us in our efforts by discouraging his citizens from entering our country illegally. 

“I don’t think we should have some foreign leader come in here and criticize the statute of a state, where they are implementing a federal law on a state basis,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah about Mr. Calderon’s statements. 

“It was inappropriate for President Calderon to lecture Americans on our own  state and federal laws,” said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. 

Throughout the United States, letters have appeared from ordinary Americans who were upset by Mr. Calderon’s lecture to Congress.  A letter from a woman in Texas that appeared on congress.org is an example: 

I am so very ashamed of our United States Government for giving the Mexican President praise and applause for coming here and degrading my country!!  I am simply livid!!  This man has No right to come and discuss our people and our laws — he can’t even run his own country and take care of his people.  I’m tired of my President apologizing all over the place for our beliefs.  I’m sick & tired of supporting all these ILLEGAL immigrants!!  . . . And why hammer Arizona for doing what’s supposed to be YOUR job!!!  . . . I’m fed up with illegals looking to me like I owe them something!  Either be an American for Americans or get to hell out of my house!!! 

A more well known American, Rush Limbaugh, remarked on his radio show: 

I saw it.  I saw the spectacle.  I watched a little bit of it.  Felipe Calderon’s speech to a joint session of Congress beating up on the Arizona law, criticizing the Arizona law and blaming us for al the guns in Mexico.  And the Democrats standing up and applauding, giving him a standing ovation for this.  This is unprecedented.  We have never before had an ally come  to the United States, make a speech before a joint session of Congress, rip our country, rip our states and have the Democratic Party stand up and applaud.  . . . It’s very, very troublesome. 

 (Photo Credit: Kevin Dietsch of UPI)

Will Israel go unpunished if it is proven that Netanyahu authorized a team of Mossad assassins to murder Mahmoud al-Mabhouh?

  

MAHMOUD ABDEL RAUF AL-MABHOUH  

(FEBRUARY 14, 1960 – JANUARY 19, 2010) 

“It is 99 percent, if not 100 percent, that Mossad is standing behind the murder,” said Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Duabi’s police chief. 

Tamim was discussing the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 19, 2010 at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai.  

It was reported by Uzi Mahnaimi of The Sunday Times that in early January the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the assassination at a meeting with Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, at a briefing room in Tel Aviv.  

Netanyahu . . . was greeted by Meir Dagan, the 64-year-old head of [Mossad]. . . . According to sources with knowledge of Mossad, inside the briefing room were some members of a hit squad.  As the man who gives final authorisation for such operations, Netanyahu was briefed on plans to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a member of Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls Gaza. . . The mission was not regarded as unduly complicated or risky, and Netanyahu gave his authorisation, in effect, signing Mabhouh’s death warrant.  

“Like Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert, and Shaul Mofaz, Netanyahu should expect to face an arrest warrant for condoning identity theft and ordering murder once he lands in Europe,” wrote Gilad Atzman, a former member of the Israeli military now living in London. 

The assassination is accomplished 

Al-Mabhouh took a flight about 9 a.m. January 19 from Damascus to Dubai.  He arrived about 2:30 p.m. and checked into his hotel room about 3 p.m. on January 19.  He left his room about one hour after he checked in.  He returned to his room about 8:25 p.m.  The next morning, he was found dead in his room. 

“After Mabhouh’s body was discovered the next morning, January 20, it was taken for examination,” reported Avi Issacharoff in Haaretz.  “Burns from a stun gun were found under his ear, in his groin and on his chest.  Pathologists discovered his nose bled before death; blood was found on a pillow they believe was placed over his nose and mouth to suffocate him.” 

“Dubai police now say up to 18 suspects used altered British, Irish, French and German passports before the killing,” it was reported by Ian Black, Middle East editor of Guardian. 

The execution and escape was summarized by Sumayyah Meehan, Middle East correspondent for Muslim Media Network: 

[A]uthorities believe that the team [of assassins] entered the country around the same time that Al-Mabhuh did and followed him straight to his hotel room.  Once there, hotel video cameras corroborate the intricate plot of the assassins, which included several hotel rooms, disguises and the tools necessary to deprive Al-Mabhuh of his life.  According to Tamim, at least 4 of the assassins broke into Al-Mabhuh’s hotel room while he was out.  They waited for him to come back and then took less than 10 minutes to kill him.  Once the deed was done, the assassins executed an almost perfect escape plan, exiting Dubai on separate commercial airplanes in under 20 hours. 

Drugged before being suffocated 

On February 28, Dubai police issued a statement that Al-Mabhouh was sedated with the drug succinycholine before he was suffocated. 

“The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural,” according to the statement by Major Gen. Khamis Mattar al-Mazeina, the deputy commander of Dubai police.  “There were no signs of resistance shown by the victim.” 

Dubai police released security video which showed Mr. al-Mabhouh arriving at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel and members of the assassination team before and after the murder. See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzzTtpo8AY&NR=1

Dubai police chief calls for Mossad to confess  

“Dagan, the boss [of Mossad], should admit the crime . . or present a categorical denial,” said Lt. Gen. Tamim, according to a report in Emarat Al-Youm.  “But [Dagan's] current attitude shows he is afraid.  Let him be a man, and tell the truth.” 

“Israel never responds, never  confirms and never denies,” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.  “I don’t know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports.” 

“Israel’s spy service has been  suspected of carrying out assassinations for decades,” reported Steven Gutkin of Associated Press.  “Recent ones include Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in 2008 by a bomb . . . in Damascus, Syria.” 

Evidence linking Mossad said to be “overwhelming” 

James Petras, Ph.D., a retired professor from Binghamton University, summarized Israel’s probable involvement in the murder: 

The evidence is overwhelming: The Dubai police presentation of detailed security videos of the assassins was corroborated by the testimony of Israeli security experts and applauded by Israel’s leading newspapers and columnists.  The Mossad openly stated that Mabhouh was a high priority target who had survived three previous assassination attempts.  Israel did not even bother to deny the murder.  Furthermore, the sophisticated communication system used by the killers, the logistics and planning surrounding their entry and exit form Dubai and the scope and scale of the operation have all the characteristics of a high-level state operation.  Furthermore, only Mossad would have access to the European passports of its dual citizens!  Only Mossad would have the capacity, motivation, stated intent and willingness to provoke a diplomatic row with its European allies, knowing full well that Western European governments’ anger would blow over because of their deep links to Israel.  After meticulous investigation and the interrogation of 2 captured Palestinian Mossad collaborators, the Dubai police chief has stated he is sure the Mossad was behind the killing. 

Professor Petras commented on the lawlessness of the assassination: 

Israel’s practice of extra-judicial, extra-territorial assassinations, exemplified by the recent murder of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room, violates all the fundamental precepts of the rule of law.  Extra-judicial killings ordered by a state, mean its own secret police are judge, jury, prosecutor and executioner, unrestrained by sovereignty, law and the duty of nations to protect their citizens and visitors.  . . . Liquidation of opponents abroad is the logical next step after Israel’s domestic show trials, based on the application of its racial laws and administrative detention decrees, which have dispossessed the Palestinian people and violated international law. 

Israel called “a monster beyond control”  

It is probable that Israel will not be punished even if it is proven that it was responsible for the murder of al-Mabhouh. 

“But even if there’s to be no punishment, what happened has been deeply damaging to Israel’s already badly tarnished imagine in the world . . . ,” wrote Alan Hart, a Middle East commentator.  “It adds to the correct impression that the Zionist state’s leaders have complete contempt for international law and what the world thinks, and that the state is becoming, if it is not already, a monster beyond control.” 

In an essay that appeared in The Jordan Times, Hasan Abu Nimah, former representative of Jordan to the United Nations, wrote that Israel should be held accountable for al Mabhouh’s murder: 

The truth is that as it becomes desperate, Israel is turning ever more wild and dangerous, not only for its neighbors but for world peace, security and prosperity.  Without constant pressure from the Israel lobby, there may have been no invasion of Iraq.  today, it is Israel and its apologists who are constantly inciting confrontation and war against Iran when most of this region wants peace and good relations. 

Even if the countries harmed by Israel’s latest brazen act do not hold it properly and adequately accountable — as they must and should — it appears that it is on a path of self-destruction.  The great fear is how much more harm it will do to others on the way.  

At the time of his death, al-Mabhouh was one month short of his 50th birthday.   His family came from the village of Bayt Tima, which was occupied by Israeli military and paramilitary forces in 1948.  He was born at the Jabalia Camp, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps.  His family fled to Gaza after having been forced to flee Bayt Tima.  More than 2,000 Palestinians attended his funeral on January 29 at al-Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.  Al-Mabhouh is survived by his wife and four children.

AL BUSTAN ROTANA HOTEL IN DUBAI: THE SITE OF MR. AL-MABHOUH'S MURDER

PALESTINIAN MOURNERS CARRY THE FLAG-DRAPPED COFFIN OF MAHMOUD AL-MABHOUH

Avigdor Lieberman and Yisrael Beiteinu: obstacles to peace

AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN, WHOSE PARTY CAPTURED 15 SEATS IN THE KNESSET, FOUR MORE THAN IN THE PREVIOUS KNESSET

The recent elections in Israel, which resulted in a strong showing by the political party of Avigdor Lieberman, suggest that Israel will continue its inhumane treatment of Palestinians.

The results of the  elections of February 10, 2009, for 120 seats in Israel’s Knesset, were as follows:

Kadima  — 28 seats; Likud — 27 seats; Yisrael Beiteinu — 15 seat; Labor — 13 seats; Shas — 11 seats; United Torah Judaism — five seats; The National Union, Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), the United Arab List-Ta’al  — each four seats, and Habayit Hayehudi,  New Movement Meretz and  National Democratic Assembly (Tajamu or Balad) – each three  seats.

“The results of the  elections . . . clearly bolstered the far Right, which won 65 of the parliament’s 120 seats,” wrote Roni Ben Efrat, an editor of Challenge.  “Israelis turned their backs on the notion that the conflict with the Palestinians must be solved by diplomacy.”

“This indicates that the Zionist community has chosen those who are the most radical and the most terrorist,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas).  “We are now facing three heads of radicalism and terror.”

Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home), led by Avigdor Lieberman, increased its presence by four  seats and became the third strongest political party in Israel.  Mr. Lieberman’s party caused the Labor Party to drop to fourth place.

Mr. Lieberman’s campaign was based upon a hatred for Arabs.  His campaign slogan was: “No loyalty, no citizenship.”  He proposes a requirement that Israel’s Arab citizens pledge their loyalty to Israel or be refused citizenship.

In Mr. Lieberman’s book, My Truth, the argument is made that the Arab minority is the biggest threat to Israel’s future.  He contended that because Arabs are disloyal to Israel, they should be expelled.

“In a proper state, Lieberman’s program would be declared illegal,” said Haneen  Zoubi, who became the first Arab woman to enter the Knesset.  “But the real concern is not his platform but that it has been legitimized by the main Zionist parties.”  She was referring to Tzipi Livni’s Kadima and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud parties.

“The Knesset is always hostile to Arab Knesset members and we are well  used to their racist language,” Ms. Zoubi said in an article for The National by Jonathan Cook.  ”Even the building shows us we are not  welcome.  Everywhere there are Jewish symbols — from the Star of David on the flag to the menorahs — that we as Palestinians cannot identify with.”

Lieberman, who immigrated to Israel 30 years ago from the former Soviet Union, formed Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999.  The party is made up largely of other Russian immigrants who support ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

On Israeli radio in November 2006, Mr. Lieberman called for the assassination of “militant” Palestinian leaders, meaning leaders of Hamas and other resistance groups.  “They have to disappear, go to Paradise, all of them and there can’t be any compromise.”

Haaretz called Mr. Lieberman an “unrestrained and irresponsible man” and “a threat [to Israel for] for his lack of restraint and unbridled tongue [that may] bring disaster [to] the whole region.”

“Lieberman’s party believes what all Israelis believes what all Israelis believe: that Israel is a Jewish state,” wrote Saree Makdisi, a professor of English at UCLA, in Counterpunch.  “Unlike the more respectable Israeli parties, however, Lieberman’s party is willing to add that since Israel is a Jewish state, non-Jews are not welcome.  Even if they were born there.”

Mr. Makdisi added: “Israel’s Palestinian minority faces forms of discrimination not faced by Jewish citizens of the state.  This hardly surprising.  As the state of the Jewish people, Israel is, after all, the only country in the world that expressly claims not to be the state of its actual citizens (one fifth of whom are non-Jews), let alone that of the people whom it governs (half of whom are Palestinians).”

“Despite some of his ultranationalist views, Lieberman does not oppose a two-state solution with the Palestinians,” wrote Ilene R. Prusher of The Christian Science Monitor.  “Most controversially, however, he says that any permanent peace settlement should include a ‘swap’ in which the Palestinian Authority would gain control of populated towns in Israel near the Green Line,  Israel’s pre-1967 borders.”

“The Lieberman surge is largely a result of the Gaza War,” wrote Mr. Efrat in Challenge.  “His rival parties, Kadima and Labor, timed the offensive prior to elections largely in order to gain popularity, but Lieberman reaped the fruits.  The intoxication of force, the abandonment of all restraint — sheer murder — well suited the party of Strong Man Lieberman, who means to teach the Arabs a lesson they won’t forget.”

Perhaps criminal activity by Mr. Lieberman will lead to his downfall.  The Jerusalem Post reported on February 15, 2009 that police had evidence that Mr. Lieberman was involved in money laundering by using  Cypriot bank accounts under his daughter’s name.

However, on February 19, 2009, the Associated Press reported that Lieberman endorsed Netanyahu, “all but guaranteeing that [Netanyahu] will be the country’s next leader.”   

In Gaza, Mr. Barhoum of Hamas said that the election results are immaterial to making a difference in the lives of Palestinians because Israel “is still working to eliminate the Palestinian existence.  Anyone who thinks that new faces might bring change is mistaken.”

Photo Credit:

xxx

A BILLBOARD FOR AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN AND HIS PARTY, YISRAEL BEITEINU (ISRAEL OUR HOME) BEFORE THE RECENT ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL

Photographs of presidents of the United States of America

GERALD FORD, RICHARD NIXON, GEORGE H. W. BUSH, RONALD REAGAN AND JIMMY CARTER (DEDICATION OF THE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY -- 1991)

Here are some photographs of presidents of the United States of America from Richard M. Nixon to Barack H. Obama.  All photographs were found at flickr.com. 

BARACK H. OBAMA (JAN 13 2009)

JIMMY CARTER (2007)

 

 

 

 

GERALD R. FORD

 

 

 

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

 

 

 

RICHARD M. NIXON

 

GEORGE H. W. BUSH

 

 

GEORGE W. BUSH

 

RONALD W. REAGAN

Photo and Art Credits:

Jimmy Carter (Brett Weinstein, aka Nrbelex)

William J. Clinton (Saint Anselm College — Jun  11 2007 — by Gil Talbot)\

Richard M. Nixon (oil on canvas — 1968 — Norman Rockwell)

George H. W. Bush (rally at Birmingham, Mich. — October 1980 — by John Levanen)

GEORGE H. W. BUSH, BARACK OBAMA, GEORGE W. BUSH, WILLIAM J. CLINTON AND JIMMY CARTER (OVAL OFFICE -- JAN 25 2009)

The United States refused to support a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while entire Palestinian families are being massacred by Israeli war criminals

 

A RELATIVE CARRIES THE BODY OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD DINA BALOUSHA DURING HER FUNERAL

 

 

The Israeli war machine, using jets, bombs, missiles and tanks supplied by the United States, has now killed more than 850 Palestinians and injured more than 3,650 others.  The Israeli war on Gaza, which began two days after Christmas, has entered its third week.  About one quarter of the Palestinians killed have been women and children.  Nearly half of the Palestinians wounded have been women and children.

Five children of the Balousha family were killed during the early days of the violence.  An article by Hazem Balousha and Rory McCarthy in the December 30, 2008 edition of The Guardian reported:

An Israeli bomb struck the [Jabalia] refugee camp’s Imad Aqil mosque around midnight, destroying the building and collapsing several shops and a pharmacy nearby.  The force of the blast was so massive it also brought down the Balousha family’s house, which yesterday lay in ruins.  The seven eldest girls were asleep together on mattresses in one bedroom and they bore the brunt of the exposion.  Five were killed where they lay: Tahir, 17, Ikram, 15, Samer, 13, Dina, eight and Jawahar, four.

United States refuses to support ceasefire resolution

On January 8, 2009, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.  Fourteen of the council’s 15 members voted in favor of the resolution.  The United States abstained.

Despite what most of the world considers to be criminal acts on the part of Israel, the United States continued in its nearly unconditional support of Israel.  The United States House of Representatives voted 390-5, with 22 representatives not voting, for a resolution blaming Hamas for Israel’s military action in Gaza.  (The resolution stated that it was resolved that the House of Representatives “[e]xpresses vigorous support and unwavering commitment to the welfare, security, and survival of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders, and recognizes its right to act in self-defense to protect its citizens against Hamas’s unceasing aggression . . . .”)  The United States Senate unanimously passed a similar resolution by a voice vote. The Senate resolution also pledged “unwavering commitment” to Israel.

Voting against the resolution were representatives Ron Paul (R-Texas), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Nick Rahall (D-WV).

Violations of the Geneva Convention

Israeli missiles and bombs have been fired deliberately at civilian targets including homes, schools, civilian shelters and ambulances.  The civilian killings violate the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War.

The Israeli war machine has massacred entire families.  Some of the Palestinians most recently massacred:

During the early morning hours of January 8, 2009, Israeli naval vessels fired missiles at the village of al-Zawayda.  Four members of a family were killed: Mohammed Hussein al-Quran, 21; Dawoud Mohammed al-Quran, 25; Ryiad Mohammed al-Quran, 26; and Mohammed Ibrahim al-Quran, 60.  Two members of another family were also killed: Basil Ibrahim Nassar, 22; and Iyad Saber Nassar, 27. 

On the afternoon of January 8, 2009, a medical team recovered the bodies of four civilians killed in the al-Atatra neighborhood southwest of Beit Lahia.  Three of dead were the children of one family: Shahd Abu Halemeh, 1-1/2; Mohammed Hekmat Abu Halemah, 17; and Matar Sadallah Abu Halemeh, 17.

During the evening of January 8, 2009, Israeli aircraft destroyed the home of the al-Astal family in Khan Younis.  Family members killed were Ahmad Mohammed al-Astal, 27; and Salman Fahmi al-Astal, 28.

On the afternoon of January 9, 2009, a missile demolished the house of Fayiz Salha in north Gaza.  Killed were five members of the family including four children: Rola Fayiz Salha, 1; Baha Fayiz Salha, 4; Rana Fayiz Salha, 12; Dyia Fayiz Salha, 14; and Randa Fayiz Salha, 33.  (A sixth person, 22-year-old Fatima al-Haw, a relative, who had gone to the house for safety, was also killed.)

Just before noon on January 10, 2009, artillery shells demolished the house of Judeh Abed-Rabu in Jabaliya.  Seven members of the family were killed: Yusri Mahmoud Abed-Rabu, 16; Hamid Mahfouz Abed-Rabu, 17; Mohammed Ribhi Abed-Rabu, 18; Sami Mohammed Abed-Rabu, 25; Ramiz Jamal Abed-Rabu, 38; Randa Jamal Abed-Rabu, 45; and Sufyan Abdul-Hay Abed-Rabu, 47.

Norwegian doctor pleads for the bombing to stop

“We urge the world to stop the bombing of Gaza.  Please stop it,” pleaded Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian physician working at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

“The civilian population has no way to hide,” Dr. Gilbert said.  ”The population density is so high you can not do attacks like this without knowing that you are attacking civilians.”

Dr. Gilbert discussed his first hand knowledge of the killing and wounding of civilians in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWXyb2YxiVI.   

The names and ages of persons killed were obtained from a press release from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which is found at:  http://www.mezan.org/site_en/press_room/press_detail.php?id=947.

Photo Credits:

Relative carrying the body of Dina Balousha (Mohammed Salem of Reuters)

Bodies of five members of the Balousha family are carried (Ashraf Amra for AP)

MOURNERS CARRY THE BODIES OF THE FIVE MEMBERS OF THE BALOUSHA FAMILY KILLED IN AN ISRAELI AIR STRIKE AT THE JABALIA REFUGEE CAMP IN NORTHERN GAZA

Roland Burris was appointed by Gov. Blagojevich to fill Barack Obama’s senate seat but Mr. Obama is against the governor’s appointment

ROLAND BURRIS AT A PRESS CONFERENCE WITH GOVERNOR BLAGOJEVICH

In a surprise announcement, Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois appointed Roland W. Burris to Barack Obama’s vacant position in the United States Senate.

At a press conference on December 30, 2008, Gov. Blagojevich called Mr. Burris “a senior statesman of the state of Illinois.” 

Governor Blagojevich added: “Please don’t let the allegations against me taint this good and honest man.”

A 16 minute video of the press conference from the web site of C-Span is found at this link: http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-R-13848

Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) spoke on Mr. Burris’ behalf at the press conference.

“I will ask you to not hang and lynch the appointee as you try to castigate the appointer,” Rep. Rush said.

Burris, 71, currently runs a political consulting firm that bears his name (Burris and Lebed Consulting) and is senior counsel at the Chicago law firm of Gonzalez Saggio Harlan.  His appointment  must be certified by the Illinois Secretary of State  Jesse White and accepted by the United States Senate. 

Secreary of State White said that he will not certify Mr. Burris “because of the cloud of controversy surrounding the governor.”   Even if Mr. Burris is certified by the  secretary of state, Mr. Burris is likely to have a difficult time being accepted into the Senate because President Elect Barack Obama is against the governor’s appointment.  Mr. Obama issued a statment that read:

Roland Burns is a good man and a fine public service, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they can not accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat.  I agree with  their decision, and it is extremely disappointing that Governor Blagojevich has chosen to ignore it.  I believe that the best resolution would be for the Governor to resign his office and allow a lawful and appropriate process of succession to take place.  While Governor Blagojevich is entitled to his day in court, the people of Illinois are entitled to a functioning government and major decisions free of taint and controversy.

Mr. Obama was the only African American member of the Senate.  Burris is also an African American.

Mr. Burris’ last government job was that of attorney general of the state of Illinois from 1991-95.   (While attorney general, he was chair of the Civil Rights Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General.)  He ran against Richard M. Daley for mayor of Chicago in 1995 but was defeated. 

Lost elections are nothing new to Mr. Burris.  His other disappointments in elections: an unsuccesful run for a state house position in 1968, defeated in a campaign for comptroller of the state of Illinois in 1974, turned away by voters in his bid for the United States Senate in 1984 (he lost to Paul Simon in the primary; Rep. Rahm Emanuel worked on Mr. Simon’s campaign) and three primary election losses in runs for Governor in 1994, 1998 and 2002.   (In 2002, he lost to Gov. Blagojevich. )

Mr. Burris was the vice chairperson of the Democratic National Committee from 1985-89.  He was comptroller of  the state of Illinois from 1979-91.  When he was successful in his 1978 campaign for comptroller, he became the first African-American to win a statewide office in Illinois.

Mr. Burris was born in Centralia, Ilinois on Aug. 3, 1931.  He obtained a B.A. in political science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a J.D. in 1963 from Howard University.  He is married to Berlean M. Burris, Ph.D.

Photo Credit

xxx

Israel should be condemned by the rest of the world for its unjustified killings in Gaza

THIS HAMAS POLICE STATION IN GAZA WAS DESTROYED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY

“Iran strongly condemns the Zionist [Israel's] wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza,” said Iranian foreign minister spokesman Hasan Qashqavi.  “The raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable.”

The United States and the rest of the world should join Iran and also condemn Israel’s unjustified killings in Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from President-Elect Barack Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii with his family.

“This is how our incoming president is reacting to the worst attack on the Palestinian people in 20 years — by not reacting at all,” wrote Justin Raimondo in Anti-War.com.

“The Bush White House, of course, has responded as we all know they would: Israel-has-the-right-to-defend itself, let the killing begin, ad nauseum,” Mr. Raimondo added.

Kurt Nimmo wrote in Alex Jones’ Infowars:

Obama no longer has to placate pro-Israel voters, including no shortage of Christian Zionists, so his lack of comment on the premeditated slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza should send us a message — an Obama administration will continue the long-standing U.S. policy of allowing Israel to wantonly kill Palestinians and pay the Israeli government handsomely to do so. In 2008, the U.S. gave $20.27 billion to Israel, more than a 12 percent increase in foreign aid from 2007.

(Emphasis in original.)

The response by the Bush administration

“Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop,” said Gordon Johndroe, deputy assistant to Mr. Bush.

“These people [Hamas] are nothing but thugs, and so Israel is going to defend its people against terrorists like Hamas,” Johndroe said.

“Israel’s hammer blow against Hamas in the Gaza Strip bears all the hallmarks of its doctrine of overwhelming force,” wrote Ian Black in London’s Guardian.

The attacks by Israel on Gaza

During the morning of Saturday, December 27, F-16s supplied by the United States fired missles on the Gaza Strip.  More than 225 persons were killed and more  than 750 persons were seriously injured.  On Sunday, December 28, the Israelis resumed the attacks.   More than 20 air strikes were counted during the first hours. 

One Israeli was killed by Palestinian rocket fire.

BODIES FROM THE SITES OF ISRAELI AIR STRIKES ARE LINED UP AT A HOSPITAL IN GAZA

“The air strikes began about 11:30 a.m. and continued for about two hours,” reported Arab News.  “The first wave of air strikes was launched by about 60 warplanes, which hit a total of 50 targets.  In a second wave of attacks, 20 warplanes struck another 50 targets.”

“Gaza witnesses reported heavy damage after more than 30 missiles were fired from helicopter gunships and fighter jets on about 40 different locations in the strip,” reported Al Jazeera.  “Many of the dead in the series of attacks were police officers, including Tawfig Jabber, the Gaza chief of police.”

“The deadliest Israeli strike was at the Hamas police headquarters, where a graduation ceremony for cadets was taking place at the time,” reported Hisham Abu Taha in Arab News.  “After the strike, the courtyard of the headquarters was littered with disfigured bodies of policemen, while survivors were rushed to the  city’s overwhelmed Al-Shifa Hospital.”

The attacks could fuel a humanitarian crisis

“Aid groups said they feared the Israeli operation could fuel a humanitarian  crisis in the coastal enclave, home to 1.5  million Palestinians, half of them dependent on food aid,” reported Nidal al-Mughrabi of Reuters.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia contacted President George W. Bush.  King Abdullah told Mr. Bush that the United States and other major powers have a responsibility to stop the Israeli attack.

SPA, the Saudi state news agency, said that King Abdullah and Mr. Bush discussed “the Israeli aggression against Gaza” and the “implications of continuing Israel’s policies of blockage, occupation and torture against the Palestinian people all over the Occupied Territories.”  SPA also said that King Abdullah called for “the major countries to shoulder their responsibilities to stop this Israeli attack and save the lives of the innocent and remaining infrastructure in the Palestinian territories.”

The Bush administration called on Hamas to stop cross-border rocket attacks and urged Israel to avoid civilian casualties.  It did not demand that Israel stop the Israeli attacks.

Israel’s intention is to “obliterate Hamas”

Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak said the attacks to ”obliterate Hamas will take place as  long as it takes.”

Barak said in a televised statement: “There is a time for calm and a time for fighting, and now the time has come to fight.”

ISRAELI F-16 WAR JETS, WHICH WERE SUPPLIED BY THE UNITED STATES AND BUILT BY LOCKHEED MARTIN. THE WAR JETS WERE ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY GENERAL DYNAMICS FOR THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE.

“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] also begun mobilizing tanks and reinforcement  infantry troops to the Gaza region in the event a ground incursion is ordered,” wrote Hanan Greenberg in Y News Net, a website of Israel News.  “Barak said that ground forces indeed would enter the Strip if the move was deemed necessary by Jerusalem.”

Operational deception by Israel

An editorial by Barak Ravid in the  Israeli newspaper Haaretz  reported that Israel defense minister Barak “instructed the Israeli Defense Forces to prepare the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.”  The editorial stated:

Long-term preparation, careful gathering of information, secret discussions, operational deception and the misleading of the public — all these stood behind the Israel Defense Forces “Cast Lead” operation against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

 

“I believe what happened . . . is a continuity of  the Israeli collective crime against Palestinians,” said Osama  Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebannon. “Israel is not learning  the lesson.  They don’t know that this kind of aggressive attack against the Palestinians creates a new cycle of violence inside Palestine.  It will not defeat the Palestinian resistance.”

“This is nothing short of a massacre, an outrage,” said independent Palestinian MP Hanan Ashrawi of Ramallah to BBC News.   She added:

 This will enhance the standing of Hamas.  People are sympathizing with Hamas as the people who are being ruthlessly targeted by Israel.  They are seen as victims of ongong Israeli aggression.

“We are facing a continuing spectacle that has been carefully planned,” said Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa.  “So we have to expect that there will be many casualties.  We face a major human catastrophe.”

The world’s largest Muslin organization speaks out

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the largest Muslim organization in the world, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) denounced Israel’s attacks upon Palestinians and urged the international community to stop the unjustified killings

“The latest Israeli massacre is a war crime and shows what little regard Israel has for international law and the 4th Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war,” said OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ishanoglu said in a statement.

GCC secretary general Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah called upon the international community to stop “the heinous  massacre and barbaric acts being committed by Israeli military forces” against Palestinians.

“Despite the peace initiatives, conferences and agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel over the past years, scenes of killing, destruction and dispelling and starving of Palestinians continues,” the GCC chief said.

Attacks called “criminal” by Palestinian president

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called the Israeli attacks “criminal” and called for the international community to intervene.

European Union foreign chief Javier Solana stated: “We are very concerned at the events in Gaza.  We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exercise maximum restraint.”

Egypt asked Israeli ambassador Shalom Cohen to demand an end to the attacks.  Egypt opened its Rafah border crossing to Gaza so that persons wounded could get medical care.

Egypt president Hosni Mubarak said that “Egypt condemns the Israel attacks.”

Statement by the president of the UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council called for an end to all violence in Gaza.

“The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza and called for an immediate halt to all violence,” said council president Neven Jurica, Croatia’s ambassador, in a statement that he read.

“The members called on the parties to stop immediately all military activities,” Mr. Jurica said.

A video of some of the death and destruction caused by the Israeli military was found on the website of The Real News Network: http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=91&task=videodirectlink&id=704

Photo Credits:

Bodies lined up (Mahmud Hams for AFP/Getty Images)

Destroyed police station (Mohammed Abed for AFP/Getty Images)

A policeman shot and killed a 15-year-old, unarmed boy in Athens, which set off injury causing, property damaging and peaceful protests

On the night of Friday, December 6, 2008, in a popular district in Athens called Exarcheia, 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot and killed by police.  

A fellow student at Psychiko Public High School named Nikos witnessed his friend’s killing.  An interview of Nikos was translated from Greek to English and published at: http://www.anarkismo.net/article/10959

Nikos said Alexandros’ nickname was Gregory.  He and Nikos planned to meet at Mesolongi Street in Exarcheia after Niko attended a polo match.  At 7:10 p.m. Alexandros phoned Nikos to advise that the match was over and he was going to start out for Exarcheia. 

Nikos arrived at Exarcheia less than five minutes before Alexandros.  They went to a convenience store to get something to eat and some soft drinks.  They went out to the sidewalk on Mesologgiou Street to eat and talk. 

While eating their food at the intersection of Mesolongi and Tzavelia, they heard a loud bang.  “Near enough to us that we could hear it, but far enough away that we couldn’t figure out what had happened,” Nikos said.  “We didn’t pay any attention.”  But within two minutes, four or five persons passed by and said that “the cops are coming, something happened . . . .”

Nikos said that out of curiosity they went to the middle of Tzavelia Street to see what happened.

When we went out into the middle of the walkway, we saw from a distance of 15 to 20 meters two police officers. . . . Next they stopped at the intersection . . .  .  There was no one else, Alexandros was in front of me and I was behind and to the right of them. . . . Someone from behind me tossed an empty plastic bottle and naturally it did not reach the police. . . . When I saw the police, they started to curse at me and Alexandros, saying ”We will f— the Virgin Mary, come here and I’ll show you who is the tough guy’” and things like that.  The guys behind us were yelling “get back” and ”go to hell” at the  police.

When someone threw the plastic bottle, the police . . . took their weapons out of their holsters, aimed in front of them, that  is toward the place where I, Alexandros and the other person were, and three continuous shots were heard. . . . They aimed towards our location  and  fired!

Alexandros fell down . . . on  the first or second gunshot . . . .  People were yelling and some people lifted up Alexandros’ shirt.  I saw that he had a hole in the middle of the chest and a little toward the heart.  There was blood from the wound.

Let me tell you also that the police who fired, when they saw Alexandros fall, they left. . . . Then the ambulance came and took Alexandros, dead.  I say this because he didn’t have a pulse and there was blood coming from his mouth.

Since Alexandros’ death, there has been civil unrest in Athens.

“It began with one death, one bullet, fired in anger by a hot-headed policemen [sic] in the heart of Athens’ edgy Exarcheia district on last Saturday,” wrote Helen Smith in The Observer on the website of the London newspaper Guardian.  “No one thought they would wake up to a revolt in the streets.  But the death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos . . . was the match that lit the inferno.”

“This was only the latest instance of police brutality against immigrants, and left-wing and anarchist activists — especially youth, in the wake of a major youth resistance movement against privatization of education that rattled the right-wing government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis,” wrote Panos Petrou in the December 18, 2008 edition of Counterpunch.

“The [young man's] murder triggered an immediate reaction,” wrote George Yorgos.  “Thousands of angry young protesters fed up with continuous unpunished police violence seized the center of Athens in a manner of  hours.”

In a December 14, 2008 report, Ms. Smith stated that Greece was in week two ”of pitched battles between rock-throwing protesters and riot police — with security forces turning to Israel and Germany to replenish depleted reserves of toxic gases to contain the angry crowds . . . .”

Ms. Smith added:

[T]he orgy of violence that has gripped this beautiful land masks a deeper malaise.  It is a sickness that starts not so much at the top but at the bottom of Greek society, in the ranks of its troubled youth.  For many these are a lost generation, raised in an education system that is undeniably shambolic and hit by whopping levels of unemployment (70 percent among the 18-25s) in a country where joblessness this month jumped to 7.4 per cent.  . . . One in five Greeks lives beneath the poverty line.  Exposed to the ills of Greek society as never before, they have become increasingly frustrated witnesses of allegations of corruption implicating senior conservative government officials and a series of scandals that have so far cost four ministers their jobs.

 On the night of the 15-year-old boy’s death and thereafter tens of  thousands of persons of persons have demonstrated on the streets of Athens.  They have also demonstrated in Thessaloniki, Patras and in smaller towns and villages. 

“While most of the protests have been peaceful, the tone of the demonstrations has been set by a violent fringe, with more young people willing to join such elements than in the past,” wrote Jenny Percival in the December 14, 2008 edition of Guardian.

“In the end, the violence that we use is minimal in comparison to the violence the system uses, like the banks,” said Paris Kyriakides, who identified herself as an anarchist.

“The police attacked the demonstrations, using chemical sprays and tear gas,” wrote Mr. Petrou, a member of the Workers International Left (DEA by its initials in Greek).  “The demonstrators resisted by building barricades and bonfires all night long in the center of Athens.”

The protesters targeted police stations and banks.  More than 30 banks were set on fire along with large stores and public buildings.

“Armed with Molotov cocktails and stones, the demonstrators attacked symbols of police, setting patrol cars, banks and department stores on fire in the angriest riots to erupt in Greece in years,” wrote Mr. Yorgos.

Eleftherotypia, a Greek newspaper, reported that during the past 10 years 70 persons were killed by police.

“The demonstrators made their objectives known: By targeting the police departments, they were attacking the government’s authoritarian policy of repression,” Mr.  Petrou wrote.  “By targeting the banks, they were attacking the symbols of capitalism to show their anger with neoliberal policy.”

The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) was a primary organizers of some demonstrations.

“The hatred of police repression and the country’s rich was everywhere,” Mr. Petrou wrote.

Alekos Alavanos, the head of SYRIZA, met with Prime Minister Karamanlis.  Instead of coming out of the meeting with a plea for the protesters to stop, Mr. Alavanos urged people to continue to work to topple the Karamanlis government.  Mr. Alavanos also demanded that the government give a “real apology” to Greek youth, disarm the police, end the privatization of education and increase employment opportunities for youth.

The Communist Party of Greece , through party secretary Aleka Papariga, criticized SYIZA for supporting the anarchists.  PASOK, the social democratic party led by Georgios Papandreou, denounced murder, police oppression and the demonstrations.  PASOK proposed candlelight vigils.

“DEA is participating enthusiastically in the resistance movement,” wrote Mr. Petrou.  “We support the unity of the young demonstrators fighting against repression and the workers and their unions fighting against exploitation.”

“The right-wing government [of Karamanlis] is headed toward its downfall,” wrote Mr. Petrou.  “Every opinion poll shows that is has already suffered a huge loss of support after the outbreak of big corruption scandals revolving around illegal sales of public land in collaboration with the church.”

Mr. Karamanlis’ government has a majority by only one vote.

The protests are for not just the killing of Alexandros Grigoropoulos but also for ”a struggle to overthrow government’s policy,” said Panagiotis Sotiri, a spokesman for a coalition of leftist groups called Uniting Anti-Capitalist Left.  “We are experiencing moments of a great social revolution.”

The policeman who shot and killed Mr. Grigoropoulos is now in jail on a charge of murder.   He alleges that he fired a warning shot in self-defense.  The policeman who was with him was charged as an accomplice.  The lawyer for Mr. Grigoropoulos disputed the claim of self-defense and said that the policeman aimed to kill without significant provocation.

Photographs of the conflict with captions are found at: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/2008_greek_riots.html

THE COFFIN OF ALEXANDROS GRIGOROPOULOS IS CARRIED AT A FUNERAL ON DEC. 9, 2008 IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF ATHENS

A slide show depicting the social unrest in Greece is at: http://www.slide.com/r/mJUgZRxc0T9LgaGmy3h6C7RBw6ciaAFb?cy=bb

Photo Credits:

Coffin carried by mourners photo: Reuters (Oleg Popov)

Policeman in flames photo: Associated Press (Lefteris Pitarakis)

A MEMORIAL FOR ALEXANDROS GRIGOROPOULOS NEAR THE AREA WHERE HE WAS KILLED IN ATHENS.

A GREEK RIOT POLICEMAN IS ENGULFED IN FLAMES FROM A PROTESTER'S PETRO BOMB ON DEC. 12, 2008 IN ATHENS

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush “has expressed the feelings and ambitions of the Iraqi people toward the symbol of tyranny”

“

MR. ZAIDI AT THE MOMENT THAT HE PITCHED HIS SHOE AT MR. BUSH

The “Shoe Man” (aka the”Baghdad Clogger”) has become a hero for Iraqis.

The shoe man is Muntazer al-Zaidi, a 28-year-old journalist who took off his shoes at a press conference in Baghdad and threw them at President George W. Bush, who was speaking at a podium.  (The journalist was also identified as Muntadar Al-Zeidi.)

“This is a gift from the Iraqis, this is the farewell kiss, you dog!,” Mr. Zaidi shouted in Arabic as he threw the first shoe.   And as he threw the second shoe, he shouted: ”This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!” 

Mr. Zaidi was at the press conference being given by Mr. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on December 14, 2008.  He was covering the  event for Al-Baghdadia, an independent news agency based in Cairo, Egypt.  His brother, Durgham al-Zaidi, said he was jailed in a secure area of the Green Zone in Baghdad.

“He has a broken arm and ribs and cuts to his eye and arm,” the brother was quoted as saying  in a report by Oliver August of London’s Times Online.  “He is being held under forces under the command of Muwafaq al-Rubaie.”  (Rubaie is Iraq’s national security advisor.)

“Thousands of Iraqis, both Sunni and Shia, took part in a second day of street protests [on December 16, 2008] demanding Mr. Zaidi’s release and hailing him a national hero,” Mr. August wrote.  “In Mosul . . . an estimated 1000 protested carried banners and chanted slogans in support.  Several hundred more protested in Nasiniyah, a Shia city . . . and in Fallujah, a Sunni area . . . .”

Nassar Afrawi, a  protester in  Nasiriyah, said: “Muntadhar al-Zaidi has expressed the feelings and ambitions of the Iraqi people toward the symbol of tyranny.”

After Mr. Zaidi threw the shoes, he was immediately man-handled and taken into custody.

“Security guards . . . surrounded Zaidi, took him outside and beat him,” wrote Eric Ruder in the December 17, 2008 edition of  the Socialist Worker.  “His screams were audible in the room where Bush, Maliki and the rest of the journalist remained.”

Judge Dhai al-Kinani, who is investigating the occurrence, gave a statement to the Associated Press in which he said that Mr. Zaidi ”was beaten in the news conference and we will watch the tape and write an official letter asking for the names of those who assaulted him.”

Judge Kinami said the investigation would be completed and sent to the criminal court within seven to 10 days.

“Images of Bush ducking the fast-flying shoes . . . aired repeatedly on Arab satellite TV networks were cathartic for many in the Middle East, who have for years felt that their own leaders kowtow to the American president,” wrote Robert H. Reid of the Associated Press.  “So the sight of an average Arab standing up and making a public show of resentment was stunning.”

The article by Mr. Reid added:

The pride, joy and bitterness it uncorked showed how many Arabs place their anger on Bush personally for what they see as a litany of crimes — chief among them the turmoil in Iraq and tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion.

“I swear to Allah, he is a hero,” said Mr. Zaidi’s sister, who is nicknamed Umm Firas.  “May Allah protect him.”

Some of the words of Mr. Bush’s speech just before the shoes were thrown were reported by Matthew Rothschild in The Progressive:

Seconds beforehand, Bush had bragged about the Iraq War approaching “a successful end” and being “decisively on its way to being won.”  He even reheated some of the boilerplate about Iraq being “a force for freedom and a force for peace in the heart of the Middle East, a country that will serve as a source for stability in a volatile region.”

Mr. Zaidi’s brother, Maythem al-Zaidi, said that his brother ”was provoked when Mr. Bush said [during the news conference] this is a farewell gift to the Iraqi people,” said a report in The New York Times.

Remi Kanazi, a Palestinian-American poet living in New York, wrote in an article that appeared in Dissident Voice:

It doesn’t take someone with an IQ higher than the president to deduce why Iraqis are so pissed off: our government is responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqis, the country lacks proper access to electricity, and nearly five million people have been made refugees.  Compound this with Bush cramming US victory chants down the throats of  Iraqis, and one can understand the journalist’s tame gesture.

An opinion article by Hamera Tahir that appeared in London’s Guardian discussed the symbolism of the shoes being thrown at the United States president:

Is it any wonder that George Bush had shoes thrown at him as a symbol of utter contempt?  The US has trampled on its own ideals with its illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; it has torn to shreds its notions of democracy and justice for all with its illegal prisons in Abu Ghraid and Guantanamo, and by rendition.   As if that wasn’t enough, the breathtaking greed and fraud of its Wall Street traders has brought the entire world to its knees.  Every economy has suffered the negative effects of the “greatest country in the world.”

A 54-second video with two different angles of Mr. Zaidi throwing his shoes at Mr. Bush is found at: http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GZAZ_enUS281US281&q=bush%20shoe&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Dana Perino said: “The president harbors no hard feelings over the incident. . . . Obviously, [Mr. Zairi] was very angry.”

Outside the White House, a group of anti-war protesters held a shoe protest on December 17, 2008.  “The demonstrators threw shoes at a man wearing a President Bush face mask and wearing a jail uniform,” said a report on the website of Democracy Now.

Photo Credit:

AP Photo

AN IRAQI JOURNALIST THROWS A SHOE AT PRESIDENT BUSH DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE IN IRAQ ON MR. BUSH'S FAREWELL VISIT TO THE COUNTRY THAT HE CASUED TO BE INVADED AND OCCUPIED