Birzeit University student held in administrative detention
Electronic Intifada - 9 Jul 2008
rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr rIn the middle of the night of 27 March 2008, at around 3am, Hanna Qassis was woken up by a loud thump at the door. When he went into the living room he saw seven soldiers standing in his house. His mom had opened the door. A soldier who appeared to be the commander and spoke in broken Arabic, asked who else lives in the house. Hanna, the eldest in the family after his father passed away, said his brother also lives there. He was told to go and wake him up.

U.S. Congressman: Iran Resolution Must Change
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 9 Jul 2008
Summary: Rep. WexlerI am not willing to leave even the “slightest crack” open for this president to unilaterally set this nation down another disastrous path of war in Iran. It is unacceptable for Congress once again to leave the door open for President Bush to exploit—as he did when Congress authorized the use of military force against Iraq in a 2002 resolution. I believe it is essential that Congress remove the language in H. Con. Res. 362 that could lead to president Bush’s unilateral imposition of a blockade on Iran. source: The Huffington Postread more

HR 362 and the Alarming Escalation of Hostility Towards Iran
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 9 Jul 2008
Summary: The current tension among political observers as to whether the U.S. and/or Israel will undertake military action against Iran before president Bush leaves office has been greatly intensified by the prospect that Congress will pass a frightening resolution, HR 362, as early as this week. source: Common Dreamsread more

Victory for the Raytheon 9
UKWatch.net - 9 Jul 2008
On 11 June 2008, 6 people, who had occupied the offices of Raytheon in Derry and destroyed computers, were acquitted of criminal damage by a Belfast jury. Raytheon is a huge US arms manufacturer, with sales of $20 billion in 2006 and over 70,000 employees worldwide. It makes Patriot, Tomahawk, Cruise and Sidewinder missiles, and much more besides. The action which gave rise to the criminal charges took place on 9 August 2006 during Israel?s war on Lebanon, in which well over 1,000 Lebanese civilians were killed by Israeli bombing and shelling. On 30 July 2006, an Israeli aircraft targeted a residential building in Qana in southern Lebanon with a Raytheon-supplied ?bunker buster? bomb. As a result, 28 civilians, from two extended families, the Hashems and the Shaloubs, were killed. The dead included 14 children. This event led to 9 members of the Derry Anti War Coalition occupying Raytheon?s offices in Derry ten days later. They remained there until forcibly removed by police in riot gear about 8 hours later. Substantial damage was done to Raytheon property: ?Documents found on the premises were thrown from the windows to supporters outside. After our supporters were moved away by the police, computers, already damaged, were hurled out. Our main target was the mainframe: we knew that putting this out of action would disrupt Raytheon?s ordering system and thus hamper production, including production of missiles. The mainframe was decommissioned with a fire-extinguisher.? This account is taken from The Raytheon 9: Resisting war crimes is not a crime, an excellent pamphlet about the affair by Eamonn McCann, who took part in the occupation. The action eventually led to 6 of the participants appearing before a judge and jury in Belfast in May 2008, charged with criminal damage and affray. On 4 June 2008, after the prosecution had put its case, the judge expressed the opinion that there was no case to answer on either charge. However, the prosecution appealed to a higher court and won with respect to the criminal damage charge, which then had to be put the jury. A few days later, the jury found all the accused not guilty on the criminal damage charge. The charge of affray was dismissed by the judge without it being put to the jury. The trial went largely unreported in the local Northern Ireland media, and in the Dublin and London media. The same is true of the verdict, even though it has sensational implications. The defence argued that the accused had undertaken their action in order to prevent war crimes being perpetrated in Lebanon by Israel using Raytheon-supplied weapons. In the words of Eamonn McCann in a statement afterwards, by finding the accused not guilty: ?The jury has accepted that we were reasonable in our belief that: the Israel Defence Forces were guilty of war crimes in Lebanon in the summer of 2006; that the Raytheon company, including its facility in Derry, was aiding and abetting the commission of these crimes; and that the action we took was intended to have, and did have, the effect of hampering or delaying the commission of war crimes.? [1] In other words, in the opinion of the jury, having heard the evidence, it was reasonable of the defendants to believe that Raytheon was engaged in criminal activity by supplying Israel with armaments and that they were justified in perpetrating criminal damage on Raytheon property in order to hamper this criminal activity. In his statement, Eamonn McCann called ?on the office of the Attorney General and the Crown Prosecution Service, in light of this verdict, to institute an investigation into the activities of Raytheon at its various plants across the UK, with a view to determining whether Raytheon is, as we say it is, a criminal enterprise.? Gagging order The Raytheon trial would normally have taken place in Derry, where the offences alleged were committed. However, on 14 September 2007, the prosecution requested a change of venue, on the grounds that protests outside the court might intimidate jurors, and coverage in the local media might prejudice them. At this time, the presiding judge, the Derry recorder, Corinne Philpott, banned publicity about the case, but in such general terms that journalists present didn?t know what they were allowed to report and what was banned. There was no reporting of the application for a change of venue. On 10 December 2007, Judge Philpott imposed a blanket ban on reporting in Northern Ireland of any matter relating to the trial, including anything at all relating to Raytheon. The objective seems to have been to prevent publicity in Northern Ireland about Raytheon?s arms business, which might make a jury incline to the view that damaging its computers was a good idea. There was no attempt by mainstream media organisations in Northern Ireland or elsewhere to have this extraordinary gagging order lifted or modified, despite the fact that their work was being hampered by the ban. For example, the Village magazine reported on 29 February 2008: ?Suzanne Breen (formerly of Village, now writing for the Sunday Tribune) has been referred to the Attorney General for possible contempt in an article published on 18 November in the Sunday Tribune. She had mentioned possible witnesses from the USA and Lebanon, and that, if convicted, defendants could face lengthy jail sentences. ?Also RTE has ordered Belfast independent production company Below the Radar to delete sections on Raytheon from a film about Ireland and the arms trade transmitted on 14 January. The effect of the ban is that all discussion of Raytheon?s presence in Derry has been shut down.? [2] However, a legal challenge to the order was launched by Shane O?Curry of the Foyle Ethical Investment Campaign. As a result, the Belfast recorder, Judge Burgess, modified the order in late February 2008 to limit the ban to the usual one on pre-trial reporting of material directly relevant to the trial. It could then be reported for the first time that the Derry recorder had acceded to the prosecution?s request to move the trial from Derry to Belfast. Notes [1] www.ukwatch.net/article/raytheon9_acquitted [2] www.village.ie/Ireland/Northern_Ireland/Media_gag_over_Derry_arms_factory_occupation/

Spin Doctor Behind Davis’ Campaign Promotes ID Cards
UKWatch.net - 9 Jul 2008
A spin doctor behind David Davis and his much-vaunted “freedom” campaign against creeping state surveillance is an influential figure in the worldwide promotion of identity cards. Kevin Bell is vice-president of Fleishman-Hillard, a global public relations firm representing security companies that have introduced ID cards in the United States and Spain. Opposition to the Government’s move to introduce a British ID card is a major plank of the David Davis for Freedom campaign website, which Fleishman-Hillard also set up. Mr Bell has been close friends with Mr Davis for more than 20 years. But they appear to be on opposite sides of the national debate that the politician is hoping to spark about Britain’s surveillance society. Mr Bell has spoken at a Home Office-supported conference promoting the controversial ID card, a scheme that Mr Davis cites as one of the main reasons for his shock resignation as shadow Home Secretary earlier this month. The title of Mr Bell’s speech was “Achieving public acceptance”. The embarrassing disclosure comes as Mr Davis launches his all-or-nothing attempt to return to Parliament on a civil liberties agenda. During Mr Davis’s dramatic resignation speech, which has forced a by-election next month in his East Yorkshire constituency of Haltemprice and Howden, he has railed against “the database state”. He attacked the British ID card plan as “the most intrusive system in the world” at the low-key launch of his election campaign last Friday. Mr Davis’s hopes of fighting a by-election to highlight Labour’s “authoritarian” policies have been undermined by the fact that Labour, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and even the BNP declined to field candidates to stand against him. Instead, his best-known opponent is David Icke, a former sports presenter who has claimed he is the son of God. Other candidates include the Church of the Militant Elvis Party, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (whose candidate is called Mad Cow-Girl), the New Party, the Christian Party, the Freedom 4 Choice Party, the Socialist Equality Party, the National Front, a market trader, a variety of independent candidates, an anti-rape campaigner and a performer who twice represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest during the 1960s. Mr Davis’s stand against “the ceaseless encroachment of the state into daily lives” already sits awkwardly for some voters with his support for the death penalty. Britain’s proposed ID card scheme, to be rolled out by 2010, could eventually cost taxpayers 6bn. One of the security firms interested in a government contract is Texas-based Entrust. It already provides software for the national identity card used by 40 million Spanish citizens. Mr Davis criticised David Blunkett, who introduced the ID Card Bill, when the former home secretary announced he was taking up a paid consultancy with Entrust. However, Entrust is represented by Fleish-man-Hillard, whose digital media team designed Mr Davis’s campaign website. Tom Ridge, the former US minister for homeland security in the Bush administration and a prominent supporter of ID cards, sits on the PR firm’s international board. Among its other American clients is Blackboard Inc, a security company responsible for the introduction of ID cards on US campuses. Mr Davis said “Mr Bell is an old friend. He did initially help set up my website for the present campaign, for which payment will be made and declared in due course.” Mr Bell did not respond.

UK workers campaign against ID cards
UKWatch.net - 9 Jul 2008
Representatives of the UK?s aviation workers say they are being used as political pawns to further the UK government?s controversial ID cards programme. The British Air Transport Association (BATA) says aviation workers are being used as guinea pigs for the scheme. ID cards for airside workers, those who work beyond airport security checks, will become compulsory in 2009. Roger Wiltshire, secretary general of BATA, says, ?We do feel we?re being used politically. The government intends a creeping introduction, to [lend the cards credibility]. We will be the first industry to have compulsory ID passes, even before the voluntary scheme is in place.? About 100,000 UK airport workers with airside access are likely to be the first to be issued with Britain?s new biometric identity cards. A spokesman for UK airport operator BAA says, ?We can confirm that we are in preliminary discussions on ID cards.? UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, is expected to announce proposals for the initial rollout of the scheme this week. However, the opposition Conservative Party claims that the UK government is introducing ID cards by stealth by making them compulsory in some areas, including that of airport security. The controversial scheme is estimated to cost 5.4 billion (US$$10.8 billion). The UK?s Home Office says, ?We are looking at starting [to issue ID cards] to certain parts of the population and rolling out the programme incrementally, and it?s right that our first priority should be to consider where ID cards can be of greatest benefit to the security of the UK.?

Iraq and Oil: Will the Corporate Media Ever Make the Connection?
AlterNet: War on Iraq - 9 Jul 2008
Now that the New York Times has made the shocking discovery that the Iraq War may be related to oil, how will corporate media address the issue?

The Fruit Hunters: Author Adam Leith Gollner on the Politics of Fruit and the Secret History of the “Miracle Berry”
Democracy Now - 9 Jul 2008
We speak with Montreal-based writer Adam Leith Gollner about his new book, “The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession.” Gollner traveled around the world in search of what he calls the forgotten histories of fruit. Among his discoveries: the “miracle berry”, a cranberry-like fruit that turns sour into sweet, but for questionable reasons—including possible conflicts with corporate interests—has yet to reach American consumers.

As Global Food Crisis Tops G8 Summit Agenda, World Leaders Enjoy Lavish 18-Course Banquet
Democracy Now - 9 Jul 2008
Shortly after saying they were “deeply concerned” about soaring global food prices and supply shortages, world leaders attending the G8 summit in Hokkaido sat down to an 18-course gastronomic extravaganza, courtesy of the Japanese government. We take a look at the global food crisis, food independence and real democracy with bestselling author, Frances Moore Lapp.

Foreclosure Phil: Journalist David Corn on How McCain Campaign Adviser Phil Gramm Helped Create the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Democracy Now - 9 Jul 2008
In the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, David Corn writes, “Who’s to blame for the biggest financial catastrophe of our time? There are plenty of culprits, but one candidate for lead perp is former Sen. Phil Gramm. Eight years ago, as part of a decades-long anti-regulatory crusade, Gramm pulled a sly legislative maneuver that greased the way to the multibillion-dollar subprime meltdown. Yet has Gramm been banished from the corridors of power? Reviled as the villain who bankrupted Middle America? Hardly. Now a well-paid executive at a Swiss bank, Gramm cochairs Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign and advises the Republican candidate on economic matters.” [includes rush transcript]

Five Ways Wall Street and Washington Set Us Up for the Crash: Author Nomi Prins Explains Where Congress Went Wrong on Lending
Democracy Now - 9 Jul 2008
The worst of the economic crisis may be far from over. That was the message of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday. He indicated that the housing and financial turmoil will persist deep into next year. The Senate, meanwhile, is deliberating a bill this week that would provide government-backed loans to 400,000 homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. We speak with former investment banker turned journalist and author, Nomi Prins, about “Why the Economy Went South.” [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for July 9, 2008
Democracy Now - 9 Jul 2008
Iran Says Test-Fired Missiles Capable of Hitting Israel, US Targets, US, Czech Republic Sign Missile System Deal, Iraq Presses Withdrawal Timetable Demand, 6 Killed in Attack on US Consulate in Istanbul, Cheney Office Censored Climate Change Testimony, Obama Denies Shifting Political Stances, McCain Jokes About ?Killing? Iranians, Admin Blocking Payments to Gitmo Attorneys, Rights Groups, Ex-Prisoners Call on China to Free Jailed Dissidents, Panel: Repeal War Powers Act, Poll: Congressional Approval Hits 9%