Benjamin Netanyahu & John Boehner vs Pres OBAMA: Disrespecting An Elected United States President

‪#‎Netanyahu‬

BENJAMIN NETANYAH vs PRES OBAMA: *BOEHNER'S INVITE*

ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU WAS WRONG TO ACCEPT JOHN BOEHNER'S POLITICAL INVITE TO ADDRESS CONGRESS.


ISRAELI PM Benjamin Netanyahu was Wrong to accept U.S. House Speaker Johh Boehner's recent Political invite to address Congress regarding imposing more Sanctions on IRAN.

GOP leaders would Never have done this Politically Spiteful thing to ROMNEY or BUSH or MCCAIN if they were in the White House.

I too Support ISRAEL but Netanyahu was Wrong!

Just think of the Media Optics if Pres OBAMA were to address ISRAELI leaders without Netanyahu's Blessing?

So does Pres OBAMA hate JEWS?

No of course Not!

But Pres OBAMA already has an Active NUKE Deal with IRAN in place.

What does PM Netanyahu hope to accomplish by addressing Congress next Month?

Does Benjamin Netanyahu want Pres OBAMA to Breach this Active NUKE Deal with IRAN for the sake of Politics?
(2016 U.S. Presidential Election)

By the way.........

What about Professional Courtesy for LEADERSHIP and RESPECT for a sitting Elected U.S. President?


~ ARTICLE: "Netanyahu Considering Changes To Congress Speech After Criticism"

Israeli officials are considering amending the format of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned address to the U.S. Congress next month to try to calm some of the partisan furore the Iran-focused speech has provoked.

Netanyahu is due to address a joint session of Congress about Iran's nuclear programme on March 3, just two weeks before Israeli elections, following an invitation from John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the house.

Boehner's invitation has caused consternation in both Israel and the United States, largely because it is seen as Netanyahu, a hawk on Iran, working with the Republicans to thumb their noses at President Barack Obama's policy on Iran.

It is also seen as putting Netanyahu's political links to the Republicans ahead of Israel's nation-to-nation ties with the United States, its strongest and most important ally, while serving as a pre-election campaign booster.

As a result, Israeli officials are considering whether Netanyahu should speak to a closed-door session of Congress, rather than in a prime-time TV address, so as to drain some of the intensity from the event, a source said.

Another option is for the prime minister to make his speech at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington the same week, rather than in Congress.

"The issue has been under discussion for a week," said a source close to the prime minister's office. "(Netanyahu) is discussing it with Likud people. Some say he should give up on the speech, others that he should go through with it."

But Netanyahu told voters from the Russian speaking community on Monday evening that he was determined to discuss Israel's objections in Washington to an emerging deal with Iran but he did not say if that meant a public speech in Congress.

"I am ... determined to go to Washington to present Israel's position to the members of Congress and the American people," Netanyahu said, repeating that nuclear weapons in Iran's hands would constitute an existential threat to Israel.

An opinion poll by Israel's Army Radio on Monday said 47 percent of people think Netanyahu should cancel the address, while 34 percent say he should go ahead with it.

Since the issue arose, there are signs it is having an impact on his poll ratings ahead of the March 17 election.

Obama said his decision not to meet with Netanyahu followed basic protocol of not meeting with world leaders before an election.

"Some of this just has to do with how we do business, and I think it's important for us to maintain these protocols because the U.S.-Israeli relationship is not about a particular party," Obama said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington.

A poll by the Times of Israel on Monday said Netanyahu's Likud would win 23 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, four fewer than the centre-left opposition. Earlier polls showed Likud and the opposition alliance neck-and-neck on 24 seats.

Speaking on radio last week, Israel's deputy foreign minister suggested Netanyahu had been "misled" about the speech, believing it to be bipartisan when the Democrats were not entirely on board.

While that may have created some room for Netanyahu to get out of it if the pressure at home and from Washington becomes too great, it may be too late.

If he withdraws now it may make him look weak with core voters.

Furthermore, he needs an opportunity to play up his tough-on-Iran credentials before election, with national security an overriding issue for voters.


Sources: BBC; Reuters; USA Today; Charlottesville Police Dept; Youtube

Hosni Mubarak: Dead Or Alive? Muslim Brotherhood New Egyptian Dictatorship

Conflicting reports about whether Mubarak has died

Reports conflicted Wednesday over whether the 84-year-old former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, was clinically dead.

The state-run Middle East News Agency, citing medical sources, said he was declared clinically dead shortly after arriving late Tuesday at a military hospital in Cairo, where he had been taken after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest earlier in the day.

But Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, told CNN, "He is not clinically dead as reported, but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition."

Mubarak was taken by helicopter to the military hospital in the Maadi suburb of Cairo, Shaheen said. "He had a heart attack and his heart stopped and he was saved by electric shocks, then placed on respirator," he said. "His pulse is 40.

He then got a brain clot. He is NOT clinically dead as reported but his health is deteriorating and he is in critical condition."

And Mubarak's lawyer, Fareed El Deeb, told CNN, "He has been in a coma for hours now. He has had water on the lungs for 10 days now and his blood pressure is down today, which obstructed his breathing and forced doctors to put him on a respirator.

He was given medicine intravenously to relieve the brain clot, and electric shocks were used to revive him but there was no substantial response.

He is not dead as reported."

El Deeb added that Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, was at his side. He blamed SCAF for not having moved Mubarak last week from the prison to the hospital.

Adel Saeed, the official spokesman of the Egyptian prosecutor, had said earlier, "We were informed by prison authority that Mubarak's heart has stopped and they used electric shocks and CPR to resurrect him. He is now on an artificial respirator and doctors from the armed forces and International Medical Center will inspect him."
Nile TV reported that Mubarak had suffered a stroke.

He was taken from Tora prison hospital to Maadi military hospital, El Deeb told CNN.

"He has suffered a stroke, but he is not dead."

The prosecutor and the military council denied Mubarak had been moved.

His health had been reported in decline since he was ousted as president of Egypt in February 2011 and found guilty of charges related to the killings of hundreds of anti-government demonstrators during the revolution.

Last week, an Interior Ministry spokesman said he was comatose; the spokesman said he suffered from high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats and difficulty breathing.
"We should be skeptical," said Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

"There's a great Arab expression I like and it asks the following question: When you're told that someone is dead, you say, 'Is he dead and buried, or just dead?' I think we are in the middle of this kind of situation."

"Clinically dead is not a phrase that is commonly used, but when it is used, what it usually means is that someone is brain dead," said CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. "In the United States, we would call this person dead because they have no brain activity."

Meanwhile, crowds jammed Tahrir Square once again on Wednesday. But their focus this time was not on Mubarak. Instead, it was on the power grab by the Egyptian military, which last week issued a constitutional decree that stripped the position of president of much of its power after a top court dissolved the parliament.

Those moves were followed by the nation's first presidential election, which pitted Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi against Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Safik. Final results have not been announced.

"It's a media stunt to divert attention from the constitutional decree," said Taha Shaker, a demonstrator in the square. "If he's really dead, it won't make a difference. We've started a sit-in and won't leave unless the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces leaves unconditionally."

"I've come from far away. I'm not leaving until Morsi swears the oath in front of the legitimately elected parliament," said demonstrator Sayed Ahmed. "I don't care about Mubarak. These are games played by the intelligence services."

"If he's really dead, its God's will," said Nasser Shaaban, another demonstrator. "I would hope he lives to see the new president."

Outside Maadi Military Hospital, shortly before midnight Tuesday, there was no additional security. Instead, there were a few policemen outside the main gate and two military police inside the gate. Across the street perhaps a half-dozen journalists sat on the curb smoking cigarettes.




Muslim Brotherhood claims victory in Egyptian presidential vote

The Muslim Brotherhood declared that its candidate won Egypt's historic presidential election this weekend, making the claim hours after openly challenging the nation's military rulers over its dissolution of parliament.

With several million votes still to be counted, the state-run Al-Ahram news website around 4:15 a.m. Monday showed the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi leading with about 5,648,000 votes compared with about 4,705,000 for opponent Ahmed Shafik, who served as Egypt's last prime minister in the waning days of Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Yet the Islamist group, citing what it said were all-but-complete official numbers released to its representatives at polling stations nationwide, asserted that Morsi had won by capturing 52.5% of the overall vote.

The official vote count was scheduled to be finished at some point Monday, with final results to be announced Thursday.

Whoever they declare the winner will become the North African nation's first president since Mubarak, who was ousted in a wave of popular unrest last year after three decades in power.

The next president will wade into a country with a political system mired in controversy, confusion and confrontation, much of it due to events over the past week.

Egypt has no constitution in place, though military rulers have vowed to appoint a 100-person panel to craft such a document.

And a court ruling just days before the runoff appeared to invalidate an Islamist-dominated legislative body and then saw the military swiftly move to dissolve that parliament ahead of the election.

But the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party had won a majority of legislative seats, is bucking this act to dissolve parliament.

Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the Islamist group, called the move "unconstitutional" and said parliamentary speaker Mohamed al-Katatni will convene legislators on Tuesday.

"This parliament was chosen by 30 million voters over a period of three months, and the legislative power was handed to (lawmakers) chosen by the people," Ghozlan said.
"It is unconstitutional to dissolve it."

And Hussein Ibrahim, a Brotherhood member and majority leader in the legislature, insisted Sunday that parliament "has not been dissolved," according to a report from the state-run Al-Ahram news agency.

Vowing the Brotherhood won't "give it to a coup d'etat," Ibrahim said while casting his vote in Alexandria that military rulers must respect a March 30 constitutional declaration that gives only "the people" the authority to dissolve parliament.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, meanwhile, issued a new constitutional declaration Sunday night detailing some powers that the new president will hold, but gave little indication it was budging on the state of parliament.

After being sworn in, the new president will set the date for parliamentary elections and can pardon and appoint government officials and ambassadors to foreign countries.

But the military leadership stated that legislative power, as well as control of the national budget, will remain in its hands until a new parliament is elected.

The Brotherhood "strongly rejected" the military declaration about parliament on its official Twitter feed. The group also said that the constitutional panel picked by parliament will hold its first meeting Monday to begin drafting a constitution, in defiance of the military council.

There's also plenty of dispute over the validity of this weekend's presidential runoff vote, which Shafik and Morsi's campaigns accusing each other of election fraud.

A wild election weekend for Egypt, France and Greece

Turnout appeared sluggish Sunday at some polling stations in Cairo, where streets were mostly quiet despite what many Egyptians viewed as moves last week by military leaders, who have ruled the country since Mubarak was forced out in February 2011, to hold on to power. Some voters may have stayed home because of sweltering heat, officials told the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday in Egypt, 40% of the nation's 50 million eligible voters had cast ballots, according to Farouk Sultan, the head of Egypt's Supreme Presidential Election Commission. In the first round of voting last month, 46% of voters participated.

Officials have reported few voting irregularities in the second round of elections, Sultan said.

To protect the balloting process, authorities went so far as to camp outside polling stations overnight during the runoff. At one station designated for women in Cairo, guards slept on the doorstep.

The Supreme Presidential Electoral Committee approved licenses for 53 organizations to observe the elections, including at least three international groups -- the U.S.-based Carter Center, the South Africa-based Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa and the Arab Network for Monitoring of Elections.

Yet Shafik's campaign filed "several complaints" with Sultan's commission, alleging the Muslim Brotherhood committed "systemic violations."

Specifically, they accused the Islamist group's supporters of bribing voters with "large sums of money and food" to back Morsi, as well as using "intimidation, threats and violence against supporters of candidate Ahmed Shafik." The former prime minister's camp also said it "filed more than 100 official complaints accusing the Brotherhood of ballot rigging and stuffing."

"The Muslim Brotherhood's systematic election violations prove how the (group) does not believe in freedom of choice and democracy unless this democracy brings them to power," Shafik's campaign said in a statement. "The organized and persistent election fraud by the Muslim Brotherhood proves they ... only talk the talk and never walk the walk of liberal democracy."

In a statement on its website, the Brotherhood flatly denied what it called "false reports being circulated" and urged election officials to promptly investigate what it called "games and plots." It also accused "the rival candidate's supporters (of) paying cash bribes to some voters," among other allegations.

Outside the city, in Giza, Mohammed Gamea cast his ballot for Morsi even as he questioned whether the election was fairly handled.

"I don't believe the Egyptian presidential elections are fair to begin with," he said Sunday morning. "The military council, assisted by the elections committee, tried everything to stall and influence the process, from disqualifying previous candidates before the first round -- not to mention the negative campaigns against Morsi -- while keeping quiet about Shafik."

"But despite all (this), I don't believe that there has been any electoral fraud. The ballots will determine what is next for Egypt."

The real obstacle to democracy in Egypt

Some disgruntled voters launched a campaign to invalidate ballots, said Mohamed Ghoneim, the founder of a group that marked "X" on the names of both Morsi and Shafik, thereby nullifying their vote.

Among the boycotters was Mohamed Khamees, who said he lost sight in his left eye from a police beating in Tahrir Square during the early 2011 protests.

"If I give this country for the Brotherhood hands, there is not going to be any more Egypt, it will be destroyed," he told CNN. "And if I give it to someone from the old system, it looks like we did nothing."


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Sources: CNN, Youtube, Google Maps

G8 Summit Shuts Out Israel; OCCUPY Protesters Oppose Protecting RICH; Iran To Nuke Israel; NO PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

WHY VOTE?

JOBS, PROTECTING THE RICH, GLOBAL ECONOMICS, HUMAN RIGHTS (VOTING), REAL SYSTEMIC REFORM & PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2012 G8 SUMMIT MEETING:

Due to Occupy Protesters & other Organizations rallying against Global Leaders attending the 2012 G8 Summit, the Meeting was moved to Camp David for Pres. Obama's Safety.

Occupy Protesters are protesting the 2012 G8 SUMMIT because they are tired of Global Leaders doing what THEY want versus what's Best for THE PEOPLE.

The Middle Class & Poor are Fighting Back against the G8 because the Global Financial System Is FOREVER Rigged To ONLY PROTECT The Rich & Very Rich!

At the Annual G8 Summit Meetings Our Global Leaders come together to Gamble Away more of Our Freedom on Risky Financial Plans & Ideas with the use of Taxpayers' MONEY!

In other words it does NOT matter what the People Want or Need, Global Leaders are going to FORCE their Bitter Pill Financial Decisions down our throats anyway.

Even in America its all about PROTECTING THE RICH, But Make the Poor Suffer, while continuing to PROTECT THE RICH!

Now Please Don't Get It Twisted!

I have absolutely NOTHING at all against people who are Financially Successful.

Every Human Being on Planet Earth Should Have Equal Opportunities To Achieve Some Level Of Financial Success As Mark Zuckerberg Did!

If NOT Billionaires, Then Millionaires Or Just Extremely Comfortable.

In fact I Admire & Applaud ALL People who became Financially Successful via Innovation & Hard Work.

Please Understand that I am NOT one of those American Citizens who Opposes Wealth because I am NOT one of those Individuals.

I LIKE MONEY OK!

I'm just saying that our World's Financial System, including the United States, is Currently NOT Set up to allow Middle Class & Low Income People to Achieve the Same Level of Upward Mobility & Success as that of Most Wealthy People.

Thus the Annual G8 Summit Meeting is NOT about Global Economics, Human Rights, Voting Rights, JOBS, REAL Financial Reform, REAL Systemic Reform or PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Its actually just more of the SAME Status Quo Stuff.

CONTINUING TO PROTECT THE RICH WHILE MAKING THE POOR PAY MORE!

Let’s be REAL for just a moment shall we?

The Global Financial System Is FOREVER Rigged To ONLY Protect The Rich & Very Rich!

More than likely that's the way it will ALWAYS be until Jesus returns!

So much for the Good of Common, Everyday People.

So Why VOTE?

Why do we even continue to VOTE if what WE Need is Never Considered in Local & Global Political Decisions which Affect us?

My VOTE may NOT make a significant mathematical difference in the outcome of an Election or Primary but I will continue to VOTE anyway.

And…..

Parents must instill in their Youth the Importance Of Expressing Our Individual Voices Via The Democratic Process Of VOTING.

i.e., THE DEMOCRACY PROJECT!

Isn't that why the Process of Political Democracy was established?

Why VOTE?

Because as an African-American citizen living in America, I recognize the Blood & Sacrifice My Ancestors & BLACK Leaders of yesterday made so that I could walk into a 21st Century Exit Poll Booth and LEGALLY Cast my Ballot to Elect Politicians. Even Politicians who LIE to ME!

Nevertheless We Must Continue To VOTE & Elect Leaders, even if only for Symbolic Reasons.

Because Voting is the ONLY Way Our Voices will be Heard right?

Wait a minute!

Were any of YOU who Voted in the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Elections & Primaries Invited to Attend the 2012 G8 Summit World Meeting?

I Wasn't!

And why wasn't Israel invited to the 2012 G8 Summit?

I thought NATO has an Alliance with Israel.

Am I wrong?

So why wasn't Israel invited to attend this year's G8 Summit Meeting where Global Financial Plans & Global Peace Talks are discussed?

Because its quite apparent Israel is most likely being Set Up to allow Iran take the First Hit with a Nuke Bomb.

Yes some World Leaders STILL Want to Secretly Protect Iran.

Yes there are also some World Leaders who STILL Want to see Israel wiped Off the Face of Planet Earth!

I Pray I'm Wrong about this Foreign Policy theory Because GOD Almighty Has Vowed To NEVER Allow Israel To Be Destroyed by Anyone or Anything.

Perhaps Our Global Leaders Should Either Read The Holy Bible Or Ask God Directly Via Prayer What HIS Plans Are For Israel's Future.

I Can Tell You That It Mostly Does NOT Include Israel's Destruction.

PRAY FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

PROTECT OUR VOTING RIGHTS!

WE MUST NOT CONTINUE TO JUST KEEP PROTECTING RICH PEOPLE ONLY, WHILE MAKING THE POOR PAY FOR THE RICH!

THERE MUST BE REAL REFORM FOR EVERYONE INCLUDING THE RICH & THE VERY RICH!

OCCUPY UNTIL REAL CHANGE OCCURS FOR EVERYONE!

WHY VOTE?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Attack on Chicago police stations, Obama office were planned, prosecutors say


Three anti-NATO protesters charged with terrorism conspiracy planned to attack four Chicago police stations, the local campaign headquarters for President Barack Obama and the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, prosecutors alleged in court documents Saturday.

While friends of the three men insisted they were just operating a home brewery, prosecutors stated that police found a gun that fires mortar rounds, swords, a hunting bow, ninja-like throwing stars and knives with brass knuckle handles.
The beer operation, prosecutors added, was used to fill bottles with gasoline that would later be thrown as Molotov cocktails.

The three were being held on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and providing material support.
The men were identified as 20-year-old Brian Church, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; 24-year-old Jared Chase, of Keene, N.H.; and 24-year-old Brent Vincent Betterly, of Oakland Park, Mass.

Defense attorneys told a judge on Saturday that undercover police were the ones who brought the Molotov cocktails, and that their clients were entrapped, the Associated Press reported.

Bond of $1.5 million was set for each defendant.

Michael Deutsch, one of their attorneys, later told reporters outside the courtroom that it was all a setup. Two informants "ingratiated themselves" with the three men and "this was all their idea," he insisted.

But Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told reporters "the evidence speaks for itself" about what he called an "imminent threat."

"They were making the bombs ... (and had) directions on how to implement this," added Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Sarah Gelsomino, another attorney for the men, earlier said they were "absolutely in shock and have no idea where these charges are coming from."

"The National Lawyers Guild deplores the charges against Occupy activists in the strongest degree," Gelsomino said in a statement decrying the charges.

Six others initially arrested have been released. They were all detained in a raid Wednesday on a home in Bridgeport on Chicago's South Side, NBCChicago.com reported.
Beer or bombs?

But the group of protesters said what police thought was suspicious was actually a home beer-brewing operation.

“We were handcuffed to a bench and our legs were shackled together. We were not told what was happening,” one of those detained but later released, Darrin Ammussek, told NBCChicago.com.

“I believe very strongly in non-violence, and if I had seen anything that even resembled any plans or anything like that, we wouldn’t have been there," he added.

He claimed that during 18 hours in custody, police never told him why he was arrested, read him his rights or allowed him to make a phone call, The Associated Press reported. He said he remained handcuffed to a bench, even after asking to use a restroom.

"There were guards walking by making statements into the door along the lines of 'hippie,' 'communist," 'pinko,'" a tired-looking Ammussek told reporters just after his release.

NBCChicago.com said the National Lawyers Guild had threatened legal action if the detained protesters were not released or charged by Friday night.

“They came in with guns drawn and broke into a unit that was not housing protesters in order to get into another unit in the building that was housing protesters,” said the guild's Kris Hermes.

Security has been high throughout the city in preparation for the summit, where delegations from about 60 countries, including 50 heads of state, will discuss the war in Afghanistan and European missile defense.

Among the pre-NATO protests planned for Saturday was a march on the home of Mayor Emanuel. The big show will be on Sunday, the start of the two-day NATO summit, when thousands of protesters are expected to march 2½ miles from a band shell on Lake Michigan to the McCormick Place convention center, where delegates will be meeting.


On Friday, Chicago police on bicycles and foot tailed activists through the streets of the city, but ignored taunts and went out of their way to make as few arrests as possible. Protesters made a lot of noise and tried to evade police, but otherwise were relatively uneventful.

In all, police said there was a single arrest on a charge of aggravated battery of a police officer. Another man was briefly taken into custody, but he was released a short time later after being questioned by police, a department spokesman said.

Also, officers were seen trying to arrest a man who scaled a bridge tower and pulled down part of a NATO banner. Earlier, police handcuffed a man at the end of a noisy but largely peaceful rally organized by the nation's largest nurses union.

From the police side of the protest line, it went largely how Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy envisioned it earlier this month when he said, "We're not going to lock somebody up for dropping a banana peel."

Michael Olstewski, 22, a recent music school graduate who came to Chicago from Atlanta, one of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets on Friday for a spontaneous march, said protesters may be waiting to make a big statement.

He said he didn't do anything to get arrested Friday, "but later in the week ... If I feel it's strategic and a powerful statement" he would provoke police into arresting him.




NATO: Alliance partner Israel not invited to Chicago summit, chief denies any Turkey link

Israel will not be invited to NATO’s May 20-21 summit in Chicago, the alliance’s top official said Friday. But he denied that alliance member Turkey had blocked Israel’s participation.

Instead, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the reason is because Israel does not participate in NATO’s main military missions.

News reports have claimed that Turkey blocked Israel’s participation because of the raid in 2010 by Israeli troops on ships heading to Gaza in which eight Turks and a Turkish-American died.

NATO has a system of partnerships with dozens of nations across the globe such as the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program with seven friendly nations, including Israel.

In the past, partner nations did not usually attend the alliance’s summits. But Fogh Rasmussen said 13 would do so this time.

“At the Lisbon summit (in 2010), we made clear that we would enhance dialogue and cooperation with partner nations ... because in today’s world security challenges know no borders, and no country or alliance can deal with most of them on their own,” he told journalists.

Two other members of the Mediterranean group, Jordan and Morocco, are among them. But Fogh Rasmussen said Israel is not because it does not participate in missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

“Israel has not been invited to attend the summit because Israel is neither a participant in ISAF nor in KFOR ... no one has blocked an invitation because it’s not been an issue,” Fogh Rasmussen said. ISAF and KFOR are acronyms for coalition forces in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Earlier this year, Turkey scuttled a plan to include an Israeli warship in a NATO-run flotilla patrolling the Mediterranean.

In the past, Israeli warships and air force jets have joined in some NATO exercises, but Israel’s participation in the naval operation would the first time its armed forces have taken part in one of the alliance’s military operations.

Representatives of about 60 nations and international organizations will attend the Chicago conference. Partner nations include include Sweden, Switzerland, Qatar, Georgia, Australia and New Zealand.

Representatives of Russia and several Central Asian states also have been invited to discuss the war in Afghanistan — the summit’s main focus — “because they provide important transit arrangements to the benefit of our operation,” Fogh Rasmussen said.

The alliance has repeatedly said it is prepared to enhance practical cooperation with all partner nations in the region, including Israel. But some members have opposed past attempts to forge closer cooperation with the Jewish state, saying that could hurt the alliance’s relations with other Muslim countries, including Afghanistan, which remains NATO’s top operational priority.


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Sources: AP, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Russia Today, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Happy Ramadan! (1 Month Of Fasting & Prayer In Observance Of Islam)

Ramadan:

Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn]) (also Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking[1] during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God.

Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله‎, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar, the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.


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Sources: Boston.com, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Netanyahu's Congressional Speech: Compromises, Bin Laden & Nuclear Weapons

Today Instead Of Bashing Pres. Obama Over His "1967 Border" Comments, Israeli Prime Minister"Bibi" Netanyahu Delivered An Allied Friendly Exhortation Before Congress On His Country's Due Diligence To Help Maintain Middle East Peace.

Netanyahu's Kind Words Further Proves All Of The Previous Unnecessary Controversy Stirred Up By The Mainstream Media Following Pres. Obama's Statements Was Nothing More Than 2012 Political Drama Attempting To Make Him Appear Anti-Semitic.

(I Presume That In Secret Bibi Realized It Might Not Be Wise To Fight With Pres. Obama On This Matter. Fighting Is NOT The Same As Negotiating & Rarely Achieves Results.)

It Also Proves Bibi's Desires To Keep Israel's Foreign Policy Partnership With America Strong.

Regarding Pres. Obama's "1967 Border" Comments, He Only Stated In Public What Many World Leaders Have Been Saying For Years In Private, Including Former U.S. President George W. Bush.

Going Forward I'm Very Happy To See That Both Pres. Obama & Benjamin Netanyahu Will Remain Committed To Israel's Security.

However Compromises Are Necessary To Ensure Future Peace With Palestine.

And Even If A Reasonable Peace Agreement Can NOT Be Reached This Year, Something Definitely Needs To Be Done ASAP To Protect Israel's Borders & Keep Her From Being Blown Off The Map By Iran's Nuclear Weapons.

ALERT:

Can Anyone Stop Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad From Using Nuclear Weapons Against Israel Of Which Will No Doubt Cause World War 3?

Stay Tuned.

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

God Bless Israel & The United States Of America!!!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Netanyahu lays out Palestinian settlement terms

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday that he is prepared to make "painful compromises" for a peace deal with the Palestinians, but reiterated his insistence that Israel will never return to the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

Netanyahu said he is prepared to be "generous" in regard to the size of a future Palestinian state, but stressed the importance of keeping control over certain densely settled areas within the West Bank. He stressed that Israeli security will be a major consideration in the establishment of future boundaries.

The prime minister flatly ruled out any so-called "right of return" for Palestinian families who left Israel after the state's founding in 1948.

"Jews from around the world have a right to immigrate to the Jewish state," Netanyahu said. "Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state. This means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel."

The prime minister blamed Palestinians for refusing to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist, and repeated his demand that Jerusalem remain united as Israel's capital.

Netanyahu's speech in the House chamber -- a rare honor for a foreign leader -- was billed by many observers as a response to President Barack Obama's call last Thursday for peace talks based on the 1967 lines with "mutually agreed" land swaps.

Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, were both on hand for the Israeli leader's remarks. Netanyahu was warmly received by Democrats and Republicans alike.

"I am willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace," Netanyahu declared. "In a genuine peace, we'll be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland."

"Some settlements will end up beyond Israel's (current) borders," he acknowledged. But "Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967."

Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 war. The Sinai has since been returned to Egypt. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, a move not recognized by the international community and condemned by Syria, which still claims the land.

The more militant group Hamas now controls Gaza, while the more moderate Palestinian group Fatah administers the West Bank, site of a growing number of Israeli settlements. Ultimately, the Palestinians are aiming to unite Gaza and the West Bank under the authority of a new state.

Netanyahu flatly ruled out negotiations with Hamas, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by both the United States and Israel. He also dismissed prospects of United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state later this year.

"Peace cannot be imposed. It must be negotiated," he said.

At the same time, Netanyahu insisted Israel must be allowed to maintain a military presence along the Jordan River, the eastern boundary of the West Bank.

For their part, Palestinian officials have refused to enter into new talks with Israel on the decades-old conflict until Israel stops building settlements on occupied West Bank land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Looking beyond the dispute with the Palestinians, Netanyahu highlighted the growing danger posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.

"Time is running out," Netanyahu warned. "The greatest danger facing humanity could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons."

"If history has taught the Jewish people anything, it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously," he said. "We are a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say never again, we mean never again. Israel always reserves the right to defend itself."

The Israeli leader congratulated the Obama administration for the recent U.S. military mission resulting in the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

"Congratulations America," he said. "You got bin Laden. Good riddance."

One top Palestinian official blasted the tone of Netanyahu's remarks, telling CNN that the speech was "more talking about war than about piece."

This is "annoying to the greatest extent," said Nabil Shaath, a senior member of Fatah.

Among other things, Shaath criticized Netanyahu's refusal to consider a right of return for the descendents of Palestinians who left around the time of Israel's founding.

Israel is "talking about the right for a people to go back to a land they thought they had 4,000 years ago, but for refugees from Palestine that were driven out of their land only 60 years ago, this is an impossibility for them to get back to their homes," Shaath said.

Having Israeli troops on both sides of a demilitarized West Bank "doesn't make (a future Palestinian nation) a sovereign state by any chance," he asserted.

Without serious peace talks, the Palestinian Authority will seek a formal recognition of statehood at the United Nations in September, Shaath insisted. He dismissed the "furor" over the role of Hamas in such talks, calling it a "pretext for not going into any serious negotiations."

Shaath also said the repeated applause for Netanyahu by members of Congress calls into "serious question ... the even-handedness of America when it comes to a question that is that important to the people of Palestine and the people of the Middle East."

Netanyahu's speech on Capitol Hill was disrupted briefly by a protester who was heard screaming, "Equal rights for Palestine," before police escorted her out of the chamber.

On Monday night, activists from the American anti-war activist group Code Pink interrupted Netanyahu's speech to the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee at least twice. The group criticized what it called "the theft of Palestinian land" and the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

AIPAC is a major force in U.S. politics, drawing top administration and congressional leaders to its conventions.

In his own speech to AIPAC on Sunday, Obama asserted that the "status quo" in the Israel-Palestinian conflict is unsustainable. The president also insisted once again that Israel's pre-1967 borders should be the starting point for negotiations over the shape of a future Palestinian state.

The proposal is a long-standing formulation in peace talks that Obama has now expressed as official U.S. policy for the first time.

"It is a well-known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation," Obama said to applause. "It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years," including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides."

But Obama also criticized the Palestinian push to seek U.N. recognition of an independent state, and a Palestinian Authority-Hamas agreement to hold unifying elections in 2012.


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Sources: CNN, FBI, MSNBC, NY Times, Tehran Times, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Obama Quells 1967 Israeli Borders Ire; Bush Invoked Same Policy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"Congratulations America! "You got bin Laden. Good riddance!"

"Some settlements will end up beyond Israel's (current) borders, But "Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967."


Pres. Obama:
"It is a well-known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation.

"It allows the parties themselves to account for the changes that have taken place over the last 44 years," including the new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides."




As It Relates To President Obama Recently Proposing Israel Return To Her 1967 Or Pre-1967 Borders, I Really Don't Understand What All The Fuss Is About Since Former President G.W. Bush Invoked The Same Policy While Still In Office.

When Bush Proposed Such Policy Does Anyone Recall The Media (Especially CNN & Fox News) Blasting Him About It?

I Don't!

For The Record Pres. Obama Wasn't Attempting To Throw Israel Under The Bus Or Damage Our Alliance Partnership With Israel.

Instead He Was Encouraging Peace Talks Between Israeli & Palestinian Leaders, In Hopes Of Them Hashing Out An Agreement Both Countries Can Live With For Many Years To Come.

Let's Just Face It Folks, This Unnecessary, Fake Anti-Semitic Controversy Is Nothing More Than A Mainstream Media Ploy To Scare Jewish Voters Away From Pres. Obama In 2012.

It Won't Work!

Oh Well Such Is The Dirty World Of Politics Before Another General Election.

Peace In The Middle East!






Obama seeks to reassure Israel on Mideast policy in speech at AIPAC conference


President Obama sought to reassure Israel and its supporters of “ironclad” U.S. support Sunday in a speech to a Jewish lobbying group that also warned that time could be running out for a peace accord with Palestinians.

Obama, wading afresh into a topic that evoked anger from Israeli leaders last week, insisted again that 1967 boundary lines should be the starting point for talks on a new Palestinian state. But he allowed that the dividing line would be negotiated to accommodate Israeli settlements and security needs.

“Israelis and Palestinians will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967,” Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) at its annual conference in Washington.

While sticking to the views he outlined in a Middle East policy speech Thursday, Obama more clearly aligned his position on borders to one espoused by the George W. Bush administration in 2004. The Bush White House had concluded that a return to the precise boundaries that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was “not realistic,” because of the presence of large Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Acknowledging that Israel faced “hard choices” and security risks, Obama argued that stalling on peace negotiations posed even greater dangers for the country’s survival. The Arab Spring movement and changing demographic forces — including growing numbers of Palestinians west of the Jordan River — present long-term challenges to Israel that will be resolved only by the creation of separate homelands for Jews and Palestinians, he said.

Meanwhile, Israel faces increasing political isolation as Palestinians press their demands for international recognition of a Palestinian state, Obama said.

“No matter how hard it may be to start meaningful negotiations under current circumstances, we must acknowledge that a failure to try is not an option,” he said. “The status quo is unsustainable.”

Reassurances

Obama also reiterated themes of unshakable support for Israel that brought loud applause from the packed auditorium of nearly 10,000. He affirmed U.S. opposition to a Palestinian plan to seek a vote in the U.N. General Assembly on Palestinian statehood in September. He vowed to help Israel defend itself, promising U.S. military assistance on missile defense and pledging to block Iranian nuclear aspirations. And he assailed a recent Palestinian unity agreement that elevated the stature of the Hamas movement, which the United States and Israel regard as a terrorist group.

“No country can be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its destruction,” he said.

Obama said he was not surprised by the uproar over his Thursday speech but added that “if there is controversy, it is not based on substance.”

“What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately,” he said. “I’ve done so because we can’t afford to wait another decade, or another two decades, or another three decades to achieve peace. The world is moving too fast. The extraordinary challenges facing Israel will only grow. Delay will undermine Israel’s security and the peace that the Israeli people deserve.”

While the president’s core message differed little, Obama appeared to have succeeded in easing the concerns of some Israelis who had sharply criticized his speech Thursday.

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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who met with Obama for more than two hours Friday, issued a statement saying he was “determined to work with President Obama to find ways to renew peace negotiations.”

“I share the president’s desire to advance peace and I appreciate his efforts, past and present, to achieve this goal,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

The Israeli leader, initially angered by Obama’s call for 1967 border lines as a starting point for negotiations, has since told aides that he is reassured about Obama’s intentions after their talks Friday.

A ‘positive change’

Josh Block, a former AIPAC spokesman who is a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, said Obama’s speech Sunday was a “strong reaffirmation of the U.S.-Israel relationship and represented an important and positive change” from his remarks Thursday.

“By adding a whole section to the speech that was missing on Thursday, President Obama put himself in line with presidents since Lyndon Johnson who have said again and again, Israel cannot go back to the 1949/1967 lines,” Block said. “This is an important and crucial change from what he said last week.”

Other Middle East experts said Obama had made important progress in linking the peace process with Israel’s future security.

“If this is the beginning of a move to publicly convince Israelis and AIPAC partisans about the importance of peace in the language that they best understand — i.e. security — then it’s a really good step,” said Joel Rubin, chief operating officer for the National Security Network, a progressive-leaning think tank.

A Palestinian official also expressed cautious support for the president’s remarks and appeared to offer hope that the push for a U.N. vote in September could be delayed if there is significant progress toward a peace settlement.

“We are not in the business of delegitimizing Israel. We’re in the business of legitimizing Palestinians,” Maen Rashid Areikat, a Palestinian diplomat and chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s delegation in Washington, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Yet a key Arab advocate for Mideast peace said in remarks released Sunday that he had little hope for progress in the near future.

“My instincts tell me not to expect much over the next couple of months, unfortunately,” King Abdullah II of Jordan told ABC News’s “This Week” in an interview taped before Obama’s Thursday speech. “I just have a feeling that we’re going to be living with the status quo for 2011.”

Although questions about his Mideast policy are likely to linger, Obama will be tending to other allies during a weeklong trip to Ireland, England, France and Poland that begins late Sunday.

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Sources: CNN, FBI, Fox News, MSNBC, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps

Assange Holds World Hostage With Huge Encrypted "Insurance" File; Threatens To Release

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WikiLeaks' "Insurance" File Aimed At Ensuring Work Goes On



An encrypted cache of uncensored documents that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has circulated across the Internet may ensure that a huge array of secrets will be revealed even if the website is shut down or Assange is arrested.

Tens of thousands of supporters have downloaded the "insurance" file, which has been available since July, and it includes files on BP and Guantanamo Bay, The Sunday Times reported.

Assange has warned that efforts to curtail his activities could trigger a deluge of national and commercial secrets.

"If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically," he said in a live chat with readers of the Guardian newspaper this week.

One reader asked if he was tempted to release the password for the encrypted file, but he did not respond to the question.

The Sunday Times said the U.S. Defense Department was unsure what was in the file, and computer experts said it was unlikely that the U.S. could defeat its encryption.

Assange is known to possess documents on a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians and Bank of America documents. It is not clear how WikiLeaks obtained the diplomatic documents, but the U.S. government's prime suspect is an Army private, Bradley Manning, who is in custody on charges of leaking other classified documents to WikiLeaks.



WikiLeaks has embarrassed Washington and foreign leaders by releasing a trove of brutally frank U.S. diplomatic cables. The latest batches have touched on U.S. diplomats' view of Afghanistan and North Korea, Iranian nuclear ambitions , and Chinese attacks on U.S. Internet targets.

WikiLeaks crackdown

In the aftermath, Assange has faced a variety of legal and technical pressures.

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He is named in an arrest warrant from Sweden on an allegation of rape, but is currently free in Britain while issues surrounding the warrant are worked out. Politicians in the United States have called for his arrest for releasing U.S. diplomatic documents, and some have even said he should be assassinated.

DDOS attacks on Assange's website Wikileaks gathers strength and was forced to switch hosts after Amazon.com said WikiLeaks had violated terms of service. The site that provided WikiLeaks a domain name cut off service, saying it was being hit by sabotage attacks.

Some of the contingency plans were revealed Friday when WikiLeaks emerged with a Swiss address, WikiLeaks.ch, provided by the Swiss Pirate Party, which champions Internet freedom.

But on Sunday, the Swiss group that now supports the site said the website's main server in France had gone offline.

Denis Simonet of the Swiss Pirate Party said his group is currently redirecting the domain wikileaks.ch to another server based in Sweden.

Simonet told The Associated Press by phone Sunday that the switch could take several hours but that the site that publishes leaked classified documents is still reachable through the numerical address of its Swedish server.

He was unable to immediately say why the French server stopped working.

And WikiLeaks lost a major source of revenue when the online payment service PayPal cut off its account used to collect donations, saying the website was engaged in illegal activity.

The insurance file seems meant to dissuade governments that would attempt to stop Assange's efforts — and to ensure that the material could be released in the event that WikiLeaks is driven offline or Assange is arrested.


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Sources: Forbes.com, Guardian.co,uk, Meet The Press, MSNBC, RT News, Sunday Times, WCNC, Youtube, Google Maps