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Post by ninathedog on Jan 6, 2010 22:20:38 GMT 4
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TUNNEL_LIVING_VEGAS?SITE=OKOKL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTJan 4, 5:42 AM EST Tunnels beneath Vegas a refuge for homeless peopleBy OSKAR GARCIA
Associated Press WriterLAS VEGAS (AP) -- Underneath its glitzy casinos, far from the bright marquees, there is another Las Vegas, a pitch-black, dank underworld virtually unknown and unseen by those who live, work and play above. About 300 people - mostly men battling demons of various addictions - live in the underground storm system built to protect the desert playground from the infrequent cloudburst. There's no sign or word of welcome down here. Drug use is nearly universal. Most people carry makeshift weapons and the police don't often come unless they're called. But the denizens have found a haven in the labyrinth of concrete tunnels that snake beneath the city and its suburbs. In a place where total darkness can be just one bend away, visitors to this urban netherworld stumble across the unexplainable. A beat-up teddy bear lies next to a dirty chef's knife propped up against a wall. Graffiti turns into murals near sparse pockets of light. A scruffy black cat's meow is startling as it scrambles in a pile of junk to escape a flashlight's beam. The echoes of footsteps change as boots hit standing water, or accidentally kick empty beer bottles as they tiptoe past midday sleepers. Fetid smells of garbage, dirty water and wet cloth waft through the corridors. Each subterranean encampment can be as spartan as a few worn blankets, or as elaborate as an apartment fitted with queen-size beds, dining utensils and knickknacks. One camp just west of the Las Vegas Strip is wallpapered with hardcore pornography, a collage of magazine pages modified with hand-drawn comic book-like dialogue bubbles giving voice to naked women. "You'd be surprised the things that wash down in this channel ... it's hard to even describe," said Rick "Iron" Cobble, a 45-year-old Oklahoma native, who sleeps in a 5-foot-high tunnel near the south end of the glittering Strip, not far from the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Cobble, battling severe drug addiction while living near a mound of washed up garbage, said his only belongings are a small mound of blankets and his clothes. "Right now I'm just trying to survive," Cobble said. "That's the only way you can put it." Rich Penksa, a retired correctional sergeant who began traversing the tunnels earlier this year for a nonprofit's homeless outreach, said he first heard about the tunnels years ago from prison inmates who told tales of living under Sin City when not behind bars. "I don't think I've ever felt odder than when I'm down in that tunnel environment," said Penksa, who once encountered thousands of spiders feasting on the baby mosquitoes multiplying in standing water. Penksa frequents the tunnels for HELP of Southern Nevada, which is working to place tunnel residents into more conventional homes. What started as a piecemeal set of individual drains is now part of a 500-mile maze of pipes, washes, basins and open channels, said Betty Hollister, spokeswoman for the Clark County Regional Flood Control District that built the system. Local jurisdictions maintain it using sales tax money at a cost of $7.9 million last fiscal year. About 200 miles of the system - mostly built since 1986 - are underground drains ranging from 2-foot pipes to 12-foot-high, 20-foot-wide reinforced concrete boxes that shape channels, Hollister said. The people who call these tunnels home - mostly men ages 35 to 50, are a distinct breed, Penksa said. "Even the folks that are homeless above ground are very leery of the inhabitants of the tunnels. They're kind of feared," he said. Annie Wilson, homeless liaison for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said officers usually only go into the tunnels when they are called or if they are doing homeless outreach. Penksa said he has encountered a few children and women living alone below, but no families. Most inhabitants don't like intruders and avoid conversation. Eric D., a 40-year-old New Yorker who has spent the past five years sleeping between four tunnels near various casinos, said he's largely left alone in these desolate hallways - leaving him free to use drugs. "Down here, we're out of sight, out of mind," he said. "Which is cool with me because that's the way I prefer it." Eric, who asked that his last name not be used, said people end up in the tunnels for a lot of different reasons - he's addicted to methamphetamines and marijuana. "This is the worst situation anybody could ever be in, and I did it to myself," he said. Eric said the pitch black passageways are livable if you're not claustrophobic, don't mind thingyroaches or black widow spiders and can tolerate "nasty" smells that get worse when things get wet. Even small amounts of rain make the tunnels dangerous. "When the water comes, if you're not ready for it, it'll take you," Cobble said. "It's not like a little trickle." The drains and 82 basins work together like bathtubs, with rainwater filling basins then draining through large output pipes, Hollister said. The system, driven by gravity, propels water east to Lake Mead. The change in elevation from Red Rock Canyon - 2,800 feet, or twice the height of the Stratosphere Tower - means water can travel as fast as 30 mph through the tunnels with levels rising as much as one foot per minute, Hollister said. Eric is known as the weatherman among his tunnel neighbors because he spends hours watching television in the casinos' sports books and keeping up with weather forecasts. "I've seen these things fill all the way to the roof," he said. "If somebody doesn't watch the weather, and you get caught, you can lose your life in here." Fortunately, Las Vegas went 347 days without any rainfall in 2009, and had only five days where at least 0.10 of an inch of precipitation fell. Still, since 1960, there have been 31 flood deaths in the city, according to the flood district, including five deaths since 1992 believed to be homeless people. Matthew O'Brien, a writer who began exploring the tunnels in 2002 and wrote a book about them published in 2007, said people live in the tunnels for a wide range of reasons, including to get out of the desert summer heat that easily passes 100 degrees. O'Brien said the vast majority are addicted to either drugs, alcohol, gambling or some combination of the vices. "In these tunnels, no one bothers you, no one harasses you - there's a permanence," he said. "When you leave and come back, you know your home's going to be there in the tunnel." O'Brien said the tunnel residents largely live off the excesses of the casino corridor by panhandling or cashing out unplayed slot machines - a practice known as the credit hustle. Eric says the hustle, while once lucrative, has become less reliable as Sin City battles a harsh economic downturn keyed by deteriorating tourism. "The money, up until I'd say three years ago, was just too good to not do it. I literally averaged $150 a day cash money in my pocket," Eric said. "And when you have a speed habit like I did and you have a marijuana habit like I do, it was the greatest thing in the world." Penksa said the majority of tunnel dwellers don't want assistance. Still, HELP has placed 18 tunnel residents into permanent housing since March. Eric said he's hoping to get out of his concrete home soon, and would likely be out already if not for his marijuana habit. "I have to make right with my family and I don't want them thinking I'm going to spend my whole life living like this, like a bum," Eric said. "Fifteen years of doing the same monotonous, dumb stuff, it's time I gotta do something right for myself. I can't do it no more, I'm so tired of being who I am." © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy. Matthew O'Brien, author of Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas, takes you on a tour of the storm drains. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUemh8g4Hh0The Tunnel PeopleA dark labyrinth that's home to people "under" Las Vegas. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7i-7sd3ygWitness - Under the Neon - Part 1"Under the Neon" is an extraordinary journey below the surface of the bright lights of Las Vegas, to meet some of the city's homeless people who are battling to make a home for themselves under the streets of gold in the city's storm-drains and tunnels. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI9HuyrB3FAWitness - Under the Neon - Part 2www.youtube.com/watch?v=DADeIWGiyA0 |
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 2:35:12 GMT 4
Aid convey arrives in Egypt on way to GazaYnetNews.com
Published: 01.04.10, 00:01An international aid convoy will be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip after organizers struck a deal with Egyptian authorities over its transit route. Egypt's state-owned Middle East News Agency says a ship carrying the 150-vehicle convoy with hundreds of tons of humanitarian supplies will be unloaded at the Egyptian port of El-Arish after arriving Sunday. (AP) www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3829163,00.html................. Report: Egypt opens Rafah crossing at Gaza border for three daysBy DPA
Last update - 13:26 03/01/2010
Haaretz.com Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday for a scheduled three-day period, state-run newspapers reported. Palestinians with travel plans and visas for foreign countries would be allowed out, along with patients in need of medical care, Al-Ahram daily said. The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has generally been closed since 2007, when infighting between Palestinian factions raged, culminating in the Islamist Hamas movement taking over the territory. Most recently, on December 23, Egypt opened the border for several hundred patients. Gaza's only other crossing points lie along its border with Israel, which imposes a tight blockade on the territory. Egypt's border with the Palestinian territory has been the source of protests recently, as hundreds of international activists marched on Rafah, demanding the authorities open the crossing point. The Egyptian government eventually allowed 86 members of the group entry into Gaza. Cairo has also come under increasing criticism for reportedly strengthening a wall along the border, with Palestinians concerned it might affect underground smuggling tunnels used to bring in basic supplies, such as food, but also weapons. www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1139565.html ......................... EDIT: FOCUS: OPINONViva Palestina's bumpy roadBy Dr Hanan Chehata
photo: Chehata says most of volunteers joined the group because of their convictions [Reuters] In an international effort to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, Viva Palestina (VP) volunteers from around the world have left their families and in some cases resigned from their jobs in order to take part in this humanitarian undertaking. They have done this for no other reason than that they feel strongly about the crisis in Gaza. The images that they saw flash across their television screens during the assault on Gaza in 2008-9 has been seared into their minds. It is sad that it took such a horrific tragedy to wake people up but one inevitable consequence of the Israeli attacks and their cruel blockade was certainly to educate the world as to the reality of the situation. Civil actionUntil that point many people could not even pinpoint Gaza on a map. Now they are spending their time and risking their personal safety to defend Gaza and its people. Seeing the images of the chaos and destruction during the Gaza assault certainly mobilised a lot of people into civil action. Immediately following the atrocities, those who were appalled by the number of civilians killed, who had seen the UN buildings, schools, mosques and hospitals deliberately targeted decided that they could no longer sit back or pretend that they did not know what was taking place. Ignorance was no longer an excuse. Action was called for and multiple tactics were employed from the grassroots level upwards. Protests and demonstrations were held, MPs were bombarded with emails and letters, campaigns to boycott Israeli goods were put into action and yet, while all of this has drawn attention to the plight of the Gazans, the situation has not improved. In fact, the siege is tightening and the condition of the people living there has deteriorated considerably. More direct action was clearly required. People were becoming increasingly disillusioned by the inaction of their governments and, in some cases, their direct complicity in Israel's oppression and aggression against the Palestinian people. Thus enters VP 2009. Here was finally a way for individuals who felt betrayed by their government's to take direct action and be themselves a tangible part of the solution. By physically taking in the aid that Israel would not otherwise let through, not only is the convoy alleviating the short term suffering of the Palestinian people by providing them with desperately needed medicine, clothes and other vital humanitarian aid but it is also refocusing attention on the ongoing crisis that exists in Gaza. However, in a fairly unexpected turn of events a new actor has walked into the scene. If you ask anybody the question, "who is responsible for the siege on Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people?", they will inevitably respond "Israel", and rightly so. Cairo's complicityWhile Egyptian government has been complicit for a very long time now, its wrongdoings have been of a secondary nature. However, somehow, recently Egyptian government is succeeding, much to Israel's delight, in diverting attention away from the Israelis. This has primarily been done by their insistence on placing unreasonable obstacles in the path of the convoy. For instance, the VP Convoy had planned to enter Gaza on December 27 to mark the first anniversary of the attack. That was intended to show how, one year on, the siege continues to compound the suffering of the Gazans. They have not been allowed to rebuild their homes or their lives. Instead of being in Gaza and handing over the aid to the waiting recipients on 27th of December as planned, the VP Convoy was stranded in a compound in Jordan with hundreds of vans and ambulances full of aid. The reason for this was that Egypt had refused to grant permission for the convoy to pass through the necessary part of their territory. The Egyptian government has been extremely uncooperative and have fought VP every step of the way. While VP has done their utmost to accede to their demands, the Egyptian authorities continued to place more onerous conditions which George Galloway, the British MPand VP leader, has said he is unwilling to undertake. These include dealing with the Israeli government directly. Why should VP have to deal with Israel when the issue is about taking aid from one Arab country to another? Extra costEventually, we were forced to return to Syria from where we chartered special flights to transport us to El-Arish while our vehicles were loaded onto ferries. The extra cost, which exceeded $300,000, could have meant the total collapse of the mission because the sum required was most certainly beyond the reach of individual convoy members. Thanks to the generosity of the Turkish contingent and a few other Arab donors, we managed to continue with our journey. There is absolutely no justification for the Egyptians' stalling tactics. Even now after our arrival in El-Arish and in spite of previous agreements, we are confronted with new obstacles, namely the number of vehicles allowed to enter. Egypt refused access to Gaza, angering the convoy of activists [AFP] Instead of making the transition as easy as possible for those who have taken it upon themselves to do the job that frankly Arab governments should be doing, Egypt seems to be almost punishing the Convoy for daring to try and help the people of Palestine and are playing a power game, trying to show who is in control, a completely unnecessary game to play, against merely powerless individuals, considering what is at stake. Frustration, anger and disgust with the Egyptian government have naturally increased incrementally as the days have passed. They have been the subject of much vilification. I have spoken to many people who have vowed to boycott Egypt from now on. It is bad enough that Egypt is allying itself with Israel, the aggressor, against the victim, Palestine, by tightening the siege and restricting access to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing but shortly before we left home the news that they were building an underground steel wall at Rafah to block off access to the tunnels, the one lifeline to Gaza, set the tone for everyone's disgust. Worse still, while we are sitting miles away from our destination, stranded and tired we received news that Benjamin Netanyahu was welcomed into Cairo with open arms. What a disgraceful state of affairs! A convoy of humanitarian aid is treated with hostility while the perpetrators war crimes are welcomed with open arms! Role of villainEgypt has had every opportunity to redeem and to recast itself in the role of the hero. Instead they have needlessly and voluntarily cast themselves in the role of villain. I am half English and half Egyptian and used to be so proud of that fact but since Egypt have chosen to ally itself so unnecessarily and immorally with Israel, I feel a profound sense of shame. When Convoy members know of my heritage, I am bombarded with a tirade of very reasonable questions including "Why is Egypt adding to the suffering of the Palestinian people?" "Why are the Egyptians not helping their Muslim brothers and sisters - aren't they part of the Muslim Ummah (community) as well?" These are all perfectly reasonable questions to which I have no answers. Now that we are on its territory, all that is left is to call upon Egypt allow our convoy through! I love Egypt and I love its people and have to keep reminding those that I meet that the Egyptian people are not being fairly represented by their government. I fear that if it does not change its policies immediately they will be branded irrevocably with the same label deserved by Israel, War Criminals and villains of modern history. Dr Hanan Chehata is travelling with the Viva Palestina convoy. She is director of public relations at the Middle East Monitor (MEMO), London. Her blogs from the convoy can be read on www.memonitor.org.uk
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
In depth• 'Fighting to break Gaza siege' • Egypt blocks US activists' march • Video: Gaza aid held up in Jordan
english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/20101633050183414.html........ Sky News Report on clashes at Gaza Borderwww.youtube.com/watch?v=gObPx_3NOWAGunfire at Gaza Protest Near Egypt The New York Times
By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: January 6, 2010 JERUSALEM — An anti-Egypt rally in southern Gaza turned deadly on Wednesday when demonstrators rushed the border fence and stoned Egyptian troops on the other side, leading to an exchange of gunfire and the death of an Egyptian soldier. Nine Egyptian soldiers and a dozen Palestinians were wounded from stones and gunfire, witnesses and medics said. It was the most serious Palestinian-Egyptian violence along the closed Gaza border since Israel’s short-lived invasion more than a year ago, and reflected rising tensions between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the Egyptian government, which, like Israel, appears determined to keep Gaza isolated. The demonstration, organized by Hamas, protested Egypt’s refusal to allow international aid and solidarity missions into Gaza as well as Egypt’s construction of an underground barrier to obstruct smuggler tunnels. Those tunnels supply both goods and arms to Hamas and Gaza. As Hamas leaders gave speeches, young men climbed the border fence and threw rocks at the Egyptians, witnesses and police reported, and Palestinian police officers shot in the air to control the crowd, though to little avail. Egyptian troops then shot from their side. “Two Palestinians were instantly wounded from five bullets,” a witness said. The Egyptian forces also tear-gassed demonstrators who waved Hamas and Turkish flags, witnesses said. A Palestinian aid convoy was stopped by Egypt in the northern Sinai city of El Arish and included Turkish activists. The group, called Viva Palestina, consisted of 500 people, including Americans, British and Jordanians. It had scuffled earlier with Egyptian security officials in El Arish. Dozens were hurt. A compromise was reached and part of the convoy was en route into Gaza by nightfall. “The area is calm now and the situation on the border is stable,” said Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, at a news conference in Gaza City. The Egyptian soldier who was killed was in an observation tower 100 yards from the demonstration’s stage, witnesses said. Dr. Ahmed Shehada of Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, said it had taken in 12 wounded Palestinians, “most of them hit by gunshots.” Fares Akram contributed reporting from Gaza.
www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/world/middleeast/07gaza.html?hp.......... **********Incident involving police and Viva Palestina convoy participants: *** Raw footage of police throwing rocks available on the CNN site --[/color] www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2010/01/06/vo.egypt.al.arish.clashes.cnn.html**********Statement by George Galloway on Sky News --www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9mFOlSU94Viva Palestina convoy attackedwww.youtube.com/watch?v=MXDwVmP7F68Aid convoy attacked in Egyptwww.youtube.com/watch?v=9qlEFgLJ4VMBrian Lenzo, Ralph Bean and Tom Middleton, who is traveling with the Viva Palestina convoy to Gaza, report on an apparent crackdown by Egyptian authorities.
EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES have attacked a convoy carrying humanitarian relief supplies destined for the people of Gaza.Information was difficult to obtain, but members of the Viva Palestina convoy managed to report that they were facing a force of more than 2,000 riot police in the Egyptian port city of El Arish, and that numerous participants were detained and suffered injuries in the clashes. At midday on Tuesday, Viva Palestina convoy leader Kevin Ovenden issued an alert saying that the group's "situation is now at a crisis point." Ovenden wrote that Viva participants had been negotiating with a senior official from Cairo about taking the convoy's aid and vehicles into Gaza through the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah. Ovenden reported that the official they were negotiating with left, and the convoy was confronted with more than 2,000 riot police. "[We] are determined to defend our vehicles and aid," read Ovenden's alert. "The Egyptian authorities have, by their stubbornness and hostility towards the convoy, brought us to a crisis point." After the alert appeared on the Viva Palestina Web site, reports started emerging via Twitter and Facebook of police violence, rock throwing and injuries to convoy members. The cause of the confrontation is still unclear. Numerous initial reports from convoy members posting on Twitter said that men in civilian clothes carried out the attack. One convoy participant wrote, "ppl were attacked by outsiders who came with stick and stones and entered compound, this was a set up." Another reported, "Instigators started moving in from within the police lines and moved on the inside of the police side of the barricades. Convoy members were sitting on the ground when shouts from police lines started and then wham, hell. Just helped bandage a friend's head." Various reports put the injured at between 10 and 55, with five ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qlEFgLJ4VM......................................... ......................................... News Middle EastAid convoy breaks Gaza seigeAl Jazeera.net
UPDATED ON: Thursday, January 07, 2010
01:19 Mecca time, 22:19 GMT
A humanitarian aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies has arrived in the Gaza Strip nearly a month after it embarked from the UK. Members of the much-delayed Viva Palestina convoy began passing through Egypt's Rafah border crossing into Gaza on Wednesday, waving Palestinian flags and raising their hands in peace signs. Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza, said the first wave of vehicles was greeted by Gaza's Hamas leaders as well as members of a Turkish humanitarian organisation that aided in bringing the convoy to the strip. "We had been expecting the arrival of the convoy amid much fanfare but it almost caught the Palestinians here by surprise," he said. "The doors suddenly flung open and within minutes the first batch of about 12 or so vehicles made their way from the Egyptian side to the Palestinians." More than 100 vehicles followed the first batch into Gaza shortly afterward, he said. Violent clashesParticipants of the convoy are expected to spend the next 48 hours distributing the aid supplies. Viva Palestina's arrival in Gaza followed violent clashes between Egyptian security forces, Palestinians and members of the convoy. Hours before the convoy's arrival, an Egyptian soldier was shot dead during a clash with Palestinian protesters who had gathered along the border to protest a delay in the convoy's arrival. Egyptian forces opened fire to disperse the stone-throwing protesters, and at least 35 Palestinians were wounded in the ensuing clash, according to Hamas officials. Late on Tuesday, more than 50 people were wounded during a clash between Egyptian authorities and international members of the convoy. The protests were sparked by an Egyptian decision to allow 139 vehicles to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing, but requiring a remaining 59 vehicles to pass via Israel. Bitter disputesThe convoy, led by George Galloway, a British MP, had already been delayed by more than a week, after he and a delegation of Turkish MPs failed to persuade the Egyptians to change their mind. The convoy of nearly 200 vehicles arrived in Egypt's port city of al-Arish on Monday after a dispute with Cairo on the route. But the arrival came after a bitter dispute between its organisers and the government, which banned the convoy from entering Egypt's Sinai from Jordan by ferry, forcing it to drive north to the Syrian port of Lattakia. Al Jazeera's Amr El Kahky, who has been travelling with the convoy, said Viva Palestina's organisers had hoped to reach Gaza by December 27. "We're talking about an almost 10 day delay. The convoy members are happy to have reached their destination," he said. "Many of them have taken time off from their jobs in Europe and other areas and that's why they're happy to deliver the aid and go back home to resume their normal lives. So their jubilation is justified." Gaza blockadeIsrael and Egypt have severely restricted travel to and from the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized power there in June 2007, after winning Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. The blockade currently allows only very basic supplies into Gaza. The siege has severely restricted essential supplies and placed Gazans in a dire situation, made worse by Israel's military assault last winter that reduced much of the territory to ruins. Galloway, the convoy organiser, said the mission represents only "a drop in the ocean" as long as the siege on Gaza continues. "No number of convoys is going to solve the problems here," he told Al Jazeera. "So we're not only trying to bring in aid, we're trying to show the world there is a siege. "If there is anyone who doubted there is a siege on Gaza, they certainly aren't doubting it now after the events of the last 31 days with this convoy." Source: Al Jazeera
english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/01/201016165325573953.html ............... Viva Palestina Convoy — Enters Gaza —
Rafah Crossing Interviewswww.youtube.com/watch?v=k2M3yUhk5eU Wed 6 Jan 2010 @ 1820GMT: Clips from Press TV coverage of Convoy arrival in Gaza. Interviews with Derry, Slough and others. Stills: is.gd/5ONT8Get News & Follow the convoy: readingpsc.org.uk/convoyThe Viva Palestina aid convoy to Gaza which left London on December 6th has been blocked from entering Egypt then held at the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The convoy, which is made up of more than 200+ vehicles, planned to reach Rafah on December 27th. |
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 18:57:11 GMT 4
at whose feet do we place the blame? "Connect events which are seemingly unconnected, and when you do that you arrive at the truth." "There is a committee of three hundred men who rule the world. They are known only to each other and nothing happens without their consent." Illuminati and the Committee of Three Hundredwww.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_committee300_13.htmDr. John Coleman, being a historian in intelligence community, researched in full scope the sinister forces behind the New World Order movement. This video lecture represents a culmination of his findings about secret societies which form this global movement and how it came into existence. topics include www.nro.gov/........................................................... The "Committee of 300" now call themselves "World Government Founders for the NWO". Online library collection — www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_sociopol_committee300.htm#MultimediaContents 01.- Forward 02.- An Overview and some Case Histories 03.- An Overview and some Case Histories 04.- Institutions Through Which Control is Exercised 05.- Past and Present Institutions/Organizations and those Directly Under Influence of The Committee of 300 06.- Special Foundations and Interest Groups 07.- Banks 08.- Legal Associations and Lawyers 09.- Accountants / Auditors 10.- Tavistock Institutions in the United States 11.- Past and Present Members of The Committee of 300 12.- Bibliography, Summaries and Notes Additional Information - Committee of 300 aka Olympians - Targets of the Illuminati and the Committee of 300 - Diplomacy by Deception - An Account of the Treasonous Conduct by The Governments of Britain and The United States - Order of The Garter - Targets of The Illuminati and The Committee of 300 - The Bilderberg Group - Main File - The Club of Rome - Committee of 300 - The Tavistock Institute - Main File Books-Treaties - Las Sociedades Secretas y Su Poder en El Siglo XX - por Jan Van Helsing - Secret Societies and Their Power in The 20th Century - by Jan Van Helsing - The Biggest Secret - by David Icke Multimedia - The Secret Rulers of The World - Wake Up America! - Illuminati and The Committee of 300 - Dr. John Coleman Return to Brotherhoods-Secret Societies Return to The New World Order Return to Temas / Sociopolitica Return to Temas / Libros www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_sociopol_committee300.htm#Multimedia........................ Video of the Israel Supreme Courtwww.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhK5N3AxusIsraeli Rothschild Supreme Courtwww.youtube.com/watch?v=1e0LB1GWtakThe Occult Link Between the Rothschilds and Israel
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SRhGsmLziASymbology in Israeli Supreme Court Buildingwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-aFxhs_u0www.youtube.com/watch?v=knvY-7kZ3aU........ google: Hitler Rothschild —www.google.com/search?q=hitler+rothschild........ Zionist Relations with Nazi Germanyby Faris Glubb © 1979ninathedog.livejournal.com/569784.htmlTable of Contents Introduction Chapter I. — The Early Zionist Attitude to Anti-Semitism Chapter II. — The Common Ground Between Zionism and Nazism Chapter III. — The Ha'avara Agreements Chapter IV. — The 1938 Emigration Accords Chapter V. — The Ghetto Revolts Chapter VI. — Zionist Policy on the Holocaust Chapter VII. — Kastner and the Hungarian Jews Chapter VIII. — The Concealment of Evidence Chapter IX. — The Irgun and Nazism Chapter X. — Assessment of ZIonist Policy towards Nazism References .................... Introduction Despite the appearance of large numbers of books on Nazi Germany's barbaric treatment of the European Jews, there is widespread public ignorance on one important aspect of this question: the relationship between the Zionist movement and Nazi Germany. The information on this subject is available, but has not yet been gathered together in a single comprehensive study. (refer to 51 Documents of Zionist Collaboration With The Nazis) This study is intended, at least partially, to remedy this deficiency. Owing to the delicate nature of this subject, and the Zionist tendency to brand any non-Zionist or anti-Zionist viewpoint as "anti-semitic", all the material on Zionist-Nazi relations in this study is taken from exclusively Jewish sources. The writers quoted cover a wide spectrum of views, from extreme Zionist to anti-Zionist, with various shades in between. The reader will thus be able to form an accurate and objective opinion on the basis of evidence presented by leading Jewish historians. I The Early Zionist Attitude to Anti-Semitism The central tenets of Zionism are that the Jews constitute a "nation" separate from all other nations, and that they must be "ingathered" from the various parts of the world to Palestine, to form their own nations-state there. The European phenomenon known as "anti-Smeitism" maintains that the Jews are an unassimilable, alien element in European society, which should be removed from Europe. The founder fo the political Zionist movement, THeorldor Herzl, was aware of the philosophical common ground between Zionism and anti-Semitism when he wrote: "The governments of all countries scourged by anti-Semitism will be keenly interest in assissting us to obtaining the sovereignity we want."(1) Herzl "frequently asserted in all innocence that anti-Semites weound be the Jews' best friends and anti-Semitic governments their best allies. But thits faith in anti-Semites expressed very elloquently and even touchingly how close his own state fo mind was to that of his hostile environment and how inmitely he did belong to the 'alien' world... "Anti-Semitism was an overwhelming force and the Jews would have either to make use of it or be swallowed up by it. In his own words, anti-Semitisim was the 'propelling force' espoinsible for all Jewish suffering since the destruction of the Temple and it would continue to make the Jews suffers until they learned how to use it for their own advantage. In expert hands this 'propelling force' would prove the most salutory factor in Jewish life, it would be used in the same way that boiling water is used to produce steam power."(2) Hezl was a man who practised what he preached. The methods he used in his diplomatic efforts to further the Zioinst cause accorded with the principals he proclaimed. This is strongly illustrated by the approaches he maed to Czarist Russia, which at the beginning of this centry was the power that applied the most fanatical and cruel anti-Jewish polices of massacre, expulsion and discrimination. Althogh Herzl never achieved his dream of an audience iwth the Czar, he did hold talks with the Czarist Interior Misister ... continues online transcription with typographical errors available to read here:ninathedog.livejournal.com/569784.htmlpurchase from Amazon: Zionist Relations with Nazi Germany by Faris Glub © 1979www.amazon.com/Zionist-Relations-Germany-Faris-Glubb/dp/0911026118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262873903&sr=8-1One copy available for $645.Fifty-One Documents of Zionist Collaboration With the Naziswww.amazon.com/51-Documents-Zionist-Collaboration-Nazis/dp/1569804338/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1262874052&sr=8-1-fkmr0A Threat From Within: A History of Jewish Opposition to Zionismwww.amazon.com/Threat-Within-History-Opposition-Zionism/dp/1842776991/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262874112&sr=1-1Anti-Zionist Jewish Protestors are
attacked by an AIPAC conference attendeewww.youtube.com/watch?v=3dSHl3C9kgYCAUTION: extremely offensive anti-semitic language Sheikh Jarrah demonstration Friday 25-12-09www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3gKcpeFCb4.............. .................. .................. ........... ...... .. clip from THE RINGWORM CHILDRENwww.youtube.com/watch?v=cpA6Zioq57wTHE RINGWORM CHILDREN posted in its entirety— video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6118144849760405404#.................   |
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 20:58:12 GMT 4
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 22:09:29 GMT 4
France to set up new court to investigate genocidePage last updated at 11:37 GMT, Thursday, 7 January 2010
BBC.comThe French government has announced that it will set up a new panel to try cases of genocide and war crimes committed in France or abroad. The new court would speed up the way genocide cases are tried where the suspect is on French territory but the process involves several jurisdictions. The unit is to include linguists and specialists with historical knowledge. French authorities are currently hearing several cases against Rwandan genocide suspects living in France. Those being investigated include Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the late president Juvenal Habyarimana, whose plane was shot down in 1994, triggering the violence and killing inside Rwanda. 'No sanctuary'In a joint statement to the newspaper Le Monde, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, and the justice minister, Michelle Alliot-Marie, said legislation to create a new unit within the Paris High Court would be presented in the coming six months. "As the homeland of human rights, France will never be a sanctuary for the authors of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity", the statement said. The move, part of broader legal reform in France, will not change French war crimes law. However, it will enable courts to move more rapidly through the complicated international procedures involved in investigating crimes committed outside France. The announcement comes as Mr Kouchner is in Rwanda at the start of an African tour which will also take him to Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso. Mr Kouchner is due to hold talks in Kigali with the Rwandan president Paul Kagame, in his first visit following the resumption of diplomatic ties between France and Rwanda last November. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8445629.stm............ What is a war crime?By Tarik Kafala
BBC News
Page last updated at 16:59 GMT, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 17:59 UKThe trial of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic at The Hague throws a renewed spotlight on the prosecution of war crimes. But what exactly are war crimes? What body of laws do they refer to and who has the right to try a suspect for such crimes? The concept of war crimes is a recent one. Before World War II, it was generally accepted that the horrors of war were in the nature of war. But during World War II the murder of several million people - mainly Jews - by Nazi Germany, and the mistreatment of both civilians and prisoners of war by the Japanese, prompted the Allied powers to prosecute the people they believed to be the perpetrators of these crimes. The Nuremberg trials in 1945 and 1946 led to 12 Nazi leaders being executed. A similar process started in Tokyo in 1948. Seven Japanese commanders were hanged, though the Allies decided not to put Emperor Hirohito in the dock. These trials were essentially the precedents for the cases that the modern-day tribunal in The Hague hears. In addition, individual governments, feeling that justice has not been done, have acted on their own initiative. At the heart of the concept of war crimes is the idea that an individual can be held responsible for the actions of a country or that nation's soldiers This happened most famously in 1960, when Adolf Eichmann, a high-profile Nazi closely involved in the organisation of the concentration camps and the policies of the Holocaust, was tracked down in Argentina by Israeli agents. He was kidnapped and taken to Israel where he was put on trial and subsequently hanged. A more recent example was the 1987 trial of Klaus Barbie - a leading Nazi during the German occupation of France. Barbie was sentenced to life imprisonment. Body of lawsAt the heart of the concept of war crimes is the idea that an individual can be held responsible for the actions of a country or that nation's soldiers. Relatives rebury victims of the Srebrenica massacre, July 2008 Prosecutors aim to get justice for the victims of Bosnian war crimes Genocide, crimes against humanity, mistreatment of civilians or combatants during war can all fall under the category of war crimes. Genocide is the most severe of these crimes. The body of laws that define a war crime are the Geneva Conventions, a broader and older area of laws referred to as the Laws and Customs of War, and, in the case of the former Yugoslavia, the statutes of the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague (ICTY). Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as: "Wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including... wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or wilfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, ...taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly." This, international lawyers say, is the basic definition of war crimes. The statutes of The Hague tribunal say the court has the right to try suspects alleged to have violated the laws or customs of war in the former Yugoslavia since 1992. Examples of such violations are given in article 3: * Wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity * Attack, or bombardment, by whatever means, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings * Seizure of, destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion, charity and education, the arts and sciences, historic monuments and works of art and science * Plunder of public or private property. The tribunal defines crime against humanity as crimes committed in armed conflict but directed against a civilian population. Again a list of examples is given in article 5: * Murder * Extermination * Enslavement * Deportation * Imprisonment * Torture * Rape * Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds. Genocide is defined by the tribunal as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group". But the law on war crimes is continually evolving. In February 2001, the tribunal in The Hague delivered a ruling that made mass systematic rape and sexual enslavement in a time of war a crime against humanity. Mass rape, or rape used as a tool of war, was then elevated from being a violation of the customs of war to one of the most heinous war crimes of all - second only to genocide. Spotting a war crimeIt is not always easy to spot a war crime. The displacement of civilians from their homes by an enemy army is not necessarily a war crime. It can be argued that the displacement is being carried out for the protection of the civilians. It only becomes a war crime if the expulsions can be proven to be part of campaign of ethnic cleansing or designed as a mass punishment of civilians. Equally, is it a war crime for the air force of one country to bomb an enemy's television station because of the propaganda in the broadcasts? Under the Geneva Conventions, this is not a war crime. Just about all aspects of a state's infrastructure - roads, bridges, power stations, factories - become legitimate targets if they might be put to military use. Such attacks only become war crimes if the extent of collateral damage to civilians and civilian interests resulting from the attack would be excessive compared to the military advantage gained from the attack. International courtInternational human rights groups have long called for a uniform and global legal system for dealing with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Apart from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, established in May 1993, an international tribunal was established in Arusha, Tanzania, for cases resulting from the atrocities carried out in Rwanda in 1994. Another is trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor over war crimes committed during the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Although these represent significant further steps in bringing those accused of war crimes to justice, they are, like Nuremberg and Tokyo, committed to dealing with war crimes in specific conflicts. In July 2008, Surinam became the 107th country to join the International Criminal Court, set up in 2002 as a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for crimes against humanity. The United States has refused to sign the treaty, arguing the court could be used to pursue politically motivated prosecutions. Other major powers including Russia, China and India have also refused. The question of whether international courts of this kind are political - as defendants like Slobodan Milosevic argued - hangs over all international legal institutions. In a sense it is true that the tribunals are political since the international political will to establish and fund them has to exist before they can get to work. Critics of international courts often argue that international justice can only be truly legitimate when all war crimes, committed by any county, come under the jurisdiction of a single international court. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1420133.stm.............. Israel protests to Britain over arrest fearReuters/Jerusalem
Latest Update: Thursday7/1/2010
January, 2010, 12:26 AM Doha Time
GulfTimes.comIsrael has protested to Britain over the threat of arrest for alleged war crimes faced by its visiting high-profile figures after fresh controversy over a trip by military officers, a deputy minister said. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who has himself been threatened with arrest in Britain, said on the Internet site Twitter that he had protested to Britain’s attorney general at the “impossible situation regarding claims against senior Israeli officials in the UK”. Ayalon made his complaint to Patricia Scotland, the British government’s chief legal adviser, on Tuesday when she visited Jerusalem, an aide said yesterday. The meeting followed the cancellation by the Israeli military of a visit by a group of officers to Britain because of fears of arrest, Ayalon’s aide said. At the request of private petitioners, courts in England and Wales have the power to issue arrest warrants under the 1988 Criminal Justice Act for suspected war crimes committed anywhere in the world. Last month, Israel demanded Britain change that law after reports that ex-foreign minister Tzipi Livni would have risked arrest on war crimes charges over last year’s Gaza offensive, had she not cancelled a visit to London. International human rights bodies, including a commission set up by the UN, have said Israeli political and military officials should answer allegations of war crimes over the three-week Gaza offensive launched in late December 2008. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, while the toll on the Israel side was 13. Israel said it acted according to high military and moral standards during the war. During a visit to Britain in October, Ayalon faced calls by pro-Palestinian groups for his arrest as an Israeli government official. www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=335969&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 23:17:37 GMT 4
Unsold H&M clothes found in rubbish bags as
homeless face winter chillMegastore at the centre of a storm of protest after New York graduate
student discovers bags of cut up garmentsEd Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 7 January 2010 18.40 GMT farm3.static.flickr.com/2720/4254755640_3f01416e6d_o.jpg
A graduate student discovered bags of cut up clothes from a New York H&M store.
Photograph: Timothy A Clary/AFP
The clothing megastore H&M has found itself at the centre of a storm of protest after one of its flagship outlets in midtown Manhattan was discovered cutting up unsold garments and dumping them in rubbish bags on the street. The revelation that the Swedish-headquartered global chain was destroying unused clothes in the middle of one of the bitterest winters and deepest recessions to hit New York in many years led to an outpouring of angry comments on the social networking site Twitter. The company said it was looking into the incident and emphasised its commitment to community responsibility. The rubbish bags full of pristine clothes were discovered by a graduate student at the City University of New York, who came across them one night as she was walking to the subway. Cynthia Magnus tracked them to the 34th Street H&M store, a popular venue for visiting tourists and New Yorkers in the centre of Manhattan. Inside the bags were gloves with the fingers cut off, socks, patent leather shoes with the instep cut up and warm men's jackets slashed across the body and arms. "It was a very frigid night, and there were bags upon bags of warm winter clothing not 50 feet away from where a homeless man slept on cardboard boxes," Magnus said. Shocked by what she found, she took some of the bags home to Brooklyn and tried to salvage the clothes. She also contacted H&M's Swedish headquarters complaining about the dumping, but when she received no reply she took the story to the New York Times.She also exposed a similar dumping exercise that was being carried out by a contractor of America's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, on the neighbouring block. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, the number of people sleeping rough in New York City has reached its highest level since the great depression of the 1930s. Current levels are thought to be about 39,000 people without a home, including more than 10,000 families and 16,500 children. Homelessness has been exacerbated by the economic downturn, which has pushed the number of families in receipt of food stamps into the city to record highs. A cold snap has also reduced overnight temperatures in New York to -10C. Paradoxically, five blocks away from the H&M store is a group called New York Cares, which mobilises support for the community by coordinating voluntary efforts. As part of its help to homeless and poor families in the city, it holds an annual drive that redistributes 70,000 partially used winter coats to needy individuals. The group points out that nine out of 10 homeless adults need new winter coats each year because they have no place to store one during the summer months. Nicole Christie, a spokesperson for H&M, said the company was committed to taking responsibility for how its operations affect people and the environment across its 200 US stores and worldwide. She said garments that did not meet quality thresholds were regularly donated to local and international aid organisations, including the refugee body UNHCR and a New York branch of the charity Gifts In Kind, with 500,000 pieces of clothing given away globally last year. As for the dumping from the 34th street store, Christie said: "We are looking into this isolated incident, and working to improve our routines."
Wal-mart said it was also investigating.
Magnus said she was pleased that H&M and Wal-Mart had both acknowledged a problem but added "it remains to be seen whether they mean what they say. There was clearly a mechanism in place here the thoroughness with which the H&M clothing was destroyed suggests it was deliberate and according to instructions." * Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp@guardian.co.uk * Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk
* If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk
* Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
+44 (0)20 3353 2000
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/07/h-m-wal-mart-clothes-found
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 7, 2010 23:56:03 GMT 4
Witch-doctors reveal extent of
child sacrifice in UgandaBy Tim Whewell -- BBC News, Uganda
Page last updated at 09:45 GMT, Thursday, 7 January 2010A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda has heard first-hand accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than authorities have acknowledged.One witch-doctor led us to his secret shrine and said he had clients who regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. Meanwhile, a former witch-doctor who now campaigns to end child sacrifice confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son.
FIND OUT MORE...
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm
Crossing Continents Uganda: Battling the Witch-Doctors is on Radio 4 on Thursday 7 January 2010 at 1102 GMT
Tim Whewell's film will be on Newsnight on Thursday 7 January 2010 at 2230 GMT on BBC Two
Listen or watch again via the BBC iPlayer
The Ugandan government told us that human sacrifice is on the increase, and according to the head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly.In the course of our investigation we witnessed the ritual torching of the shrine of a particularly active witch-doctor in northern Uganda by anti-sacrifice campaigners. The witch-doctor allowed ceremonial items including conch shells and animal skins to be burned in his sacred grove after agreeing to give up sacrifice. He told us that clients had come to him in search of wealth.  farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/4254076375_33ce681669_o.jpgFormer witch-doctors demonstrate an initiation ceremony in Lira in the northern region of Uganda "They capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits… They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming," he said. Asked how often clients brought blood and body parts, the witch-doctor said they came "on average three times a week - with all that the spirits demand from them." We saw a beaker of blood and what appeared to be a large, raw liver in the shrine before it was destroyed, although it was not possible to determine whether they were human remains. ExtortionThe witch-doctor denied any direct involvement in murder or incitement to murder, saying his spirits spoke directly to his clients. He told us he was paid 500,000 Ugandan shillings (£160 or $260) for a consultation, but that most of that money was handed over to his "boss" in a nationwide network of witch-doctors. Head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force, assistant commissioner Moses Binoga of the Ugandan police, said he knew of the boss referred to - involved in one of five or six witch-doctor protection rackets operating in the country. "The senior ones extort money from lower people because they deal in illegal things," he told us. Mr Binoga said police had opened 26 murder cases in 2009, in which the victim appeared to have been ritually sacrificed, compared with just three cases in 2007. "We also have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate we have not traced. We cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice," he said. But child protection campaigners believe the real number is much higher, as some disappearances are not reported to police. ActivismFormer witch-doctor turned anti-sacrifice campaigner Polino Angela says he has persuaded 2,400 other witch-doctors to give up the trade since he himself repented in 1990. Mr Angela told us he had first been initiated as a witch-doctor at a ceremony in neighbouring Kenya, where a boy of about 13 was sacrificed. "The child was cut with a knife on the neck and the entire length from the neck down was ripped open, and then the open part was put on me," he said. When he returned to Uganda he says he was told by those who had initiated him to kill his own son, aged 10. "I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife and brought it down like a guillotine." Asked if he was afraid he might now be prosecuted as a result of confessing to killing 70 people, he said: "I have been to all the churches… and they know me as a warrior in the drive to end witchcraft that involves human sacrifice, so I think that alone should indemnify me and have me exonerated." Uganda's Minister of Ethics and Integrity James Nsaba Buturo believes that "to punish retrospectively would cause a problem... if we can persuade Ugandans to change, that is much better than going back into the past." Child protection activists in organisations such as FAPAD (Facilitation for Peace and Development) and ANPPCAN (African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect) have highlighted recent cases of ritual killing and called for new legislation to regulate so-called "traditional healers". Witness testimonyIn some cases against alleged witch-doctors due to come to trial later this year, police will use the testimony of children who managed to survive abduction. One such witness is a three-year-old boy called Mukisa, who was left for dead after his penis was hacked off by an assailant. He survived thanks to quick work by surgeons, and later told police he had been mutilated by a neighbour who is known to keep a shrine. Mukisa's mother told us: "Every time I look at him, I ask myself how his future is going to be - a man without a penis - and how the rest of the community will look at him, with private parts that can neither be attributed to a man or a woman. Every time I recall the normal birth that I had and the way Mukisa is now, it is like the end of the world." news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 8, 2010 2:35:58 GMT 4
Gazan children honor victims of Israeli warThu, 07 Jan 2010 17:08:23 GMTGazan children have released balloons carrying pictures of Palestinians killed during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip one year ago. Dozens of children released balloons in Abu Ja'far Al Mansur School for Boys in the Al-Atatra area that was heavily bombarded during the war. They attached pictures of their parents and family members, who were killed by the Israeli army, to the balloons, IMEMC reported. The children also carried posters slamming the silence of the international community about the unjust attack on the Gaza Strip and demanding the prosecution of the Israeli military and political leaders. “Why was I blinded? What did I do? Why can't we live like other children do, in peace and security?” said one of the children who lost his sight after his home was bombarded by the Israeli army. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the 2008-2009 Israeli land, sea and air war on the Gaza Strip which devastated the Gazan infrastructure and inflicted about USD 2 billion in damages on its economy.
TE/HGH
www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115582§ionid=351020202....... CAUTION: graphicwww.youtube.com/watch?v=-K8caHPpInE
Gaza families mourn dead after UN school bombed - 07 Jan 09
January 07, 2009
In the 12 days of Israel's war on Gaza, the shelling of a United Nations school on Tuesday has been the most shocking incident. More than 40 people were killed. Israel claims the school was a legitimate target because rockets were fired from it.
But the UN has vehemently denied those claims.
Al Jazeera is the only international news channel with correspondents on both sides of the border. Ayman Mohyeldin visited what's left of the school, and the families now in mourning. google search: school gaza united nationsvideo.google.com/videosearch?q=school gaza united nations ........................................... 'Israel to compensate UN for Gaza war damages'By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Last update - 00:02 08/01/2010 Israel has agreed in principle to reimburse losses the United Nations suffered during Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter, a UN spokesman said on Thursday. Spokesman Martin Nesirky declined to give a figure or other details of the accord. A UN inquiry last year put the cost of damage to UN property in Gaza during the conflict at over $11 million, almost all of it caused by Israeli forces. Israel said damage to UN premises was caused unintentionally when its troops responded to Palestinian fire and argued that Hamas operatives fought in, or near UN-protected buildings during the fighting. Israel, however, agreed to consider a UN compensation request sent in July. Another UN official who asked not to be identified said $10.5 million was "the figure that has been bandied about, but nothing has been finalized." "Agreement has been reached in principle on the terms of an arrangement under which Israel would make a payment to the United Nations," Nesirky told reporters. The United Nations is awaiting a "green light" from the Israeli government on the deal and expects it "imminently," he said. "When that green light is given, an agreement will be formalized between the United Nations and Israel and a payment will be made." UN officials said the compensation related primarily to property since there had been no UN loss of life. The main damage to UN property in Gaza came on Jan. 15 when Israeli shells hit a compound of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), badly damaging a warehouse and training center. Several UN-run schools were hit in other strikes. www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1141055.html..................... Israel drops warning leaflets over GazaThu Jan 7, 1:23 PMGAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli planes on Thursday dropped thousands of leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning residents to stay clear from the border after Palestinian militants fired mortar shells into Israel. The letters, which were dropped over northern Gaza and Gaza City, warned residents not to get within a range of 300 metres (yards) from the heavily secured border with Israel. "Anyone who gets closer than this will be in danger," the leaflet read in Arabic. Palestinian militants earlier fired a salvo of more than five mortar shells that fell near the Israeli community of Kerem Shalom, causing no casualties or damage, an army spokesman said. As a result, Israel closed down the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip "until further notice," the defence ministry said in a statement. ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100107/world/mideast_conflict_gaza_12
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 8, 2010 23:13:04 GMT 4
The PM's are all on Marci's desk.  Everything's cool: we'll do the chat with D next week.  Plus, D has had a minor heart issue and has been off his feet the past 48 hours. The class continues via closed circuit direct to him and he is performing like the top dog in the course, with the 2 exams being given by County Personnel. There is a legal provision due to Dan's illness we readied just in case. Dan has requested that ALL of the posts from the Humanitarian Issues thread be printed and placed on his desk. We are aware of the tunnels in Vegas, and have operated via representatives with people in them. We established contacts who act as guides. We can't get into locations for the people's safety, as many women and children seek shelter there. Love, Eagles Disobey Thank you, Eagles Disobey! And thank you, Dan, for requesting a printed copy of this thread. Over the next few days, I'd like to give everyone, especially Dan, a chance to catch up. I do need to add a follow-up on the Israeli air strikes in Gaza which occurred last night, so I'll just post a report on that and then keep quiet for the rest of the day -- maybe for several days. Thanks for making efforts to follow my train of thought, unpopular as it may be. There's so much that I want to submit on this matter and it can get jumbled and my emotions can make it difficult at times to know how to proceed. This stuff makes me feel sick, truly, and I know it's sickening to others as well. Thank you all for your attention in spite of how difficult this is to look at. From my heart, I speak with sincere concern...and with great urgency, as innocent lives are at stake. Love and peace to you all! Jen. .................... .................... Israel drops warning leaflets over GazaThu Jan 7, 1:23 PMGAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli planes on Thursday dropped thousands of leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning residents to stay clear from the border after Palestinian militants fired mortar shells into Israel. The letters, which were dropped over northern Gaza and Gaza City, warned residents not to get within a range of 300 metres (yards) from the heavily secured border with Israel. "Anyone who gets closer than this will be in danger," the leaflet read in Arabic. Palestinian militants earlier fired a salvo of more than five mortar shells that fell near the Israeli community of Kerem Shalom, causing no casualties or damage, an army spokesman said. As a result, Israel closed down the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip "until further notice," the defence ministry said in a statement. ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/100107/world/mideast_conflict_gaza_12
Three people, including a 14-year-old-boy, have been killed in
Israeli air strikes overnight in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.BBC.com
Page last updated at 09:19 GMT, Friday, 8 January 2010 Crater left by an Israeli strike on what Palestinian describes as
a metal workshop (Gaza 7–8 Jan 2010)
farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4256551793_76920885fa_o.jpgThe Israeli military said it was responding to mortar and rocket attacks on Thursday on Israel from Gaza. It said it attacked two tunnels on the border with Egypt, a tunnel to be used by militants for crossing into Israel and a weapons making site. The strikes hit targets Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah. The militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said an Israeli jet had also bombed a building in Gaza City. On Thursday, Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning residents to steer clear of the border after Palestinian militants fired mortar rounds into Israel. Gaza militants have fired more than 280 rockets or mortars at Israel since the end of a devastating offensive against the territory on January 18, according to the Israeli military. Palestinian groups and human right organisations say about about 1,400 Palestinians died during the offensive. Thirteen Israelis also died in the fighting. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8447410.stm |
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 9, 2010 20:41:31 GMT 4
World HeadlinesProblems at Cairo airport as aid activists leave09/01/2010 - 09:48:52Heated arguments have erupted as authorities attempt to send home some 500 international activists who were part of an aid convoy to the blockaded Gaza Strip, a Cairo airport security official said today. The official said many activists could not pay for their plane tickets and the Foreign Ministry was asking their respective embassies to foot the bill. The Viva Palestina aid convoy bound for the Gaza Strip arrived Tuesday at the Mediterranean port of El-Arish where participants scuffled with Egyptian security when part of the convoy was not allowed through. The official also said a special plane from Istanbul for Turkish activists was delayed on the tarmac. breakingnews.iol.ie/news/world/problems-at-cairo-airport-as-aid-activists-leave-441279.html............... Three Injuries in Bil’in, Including one Journalistby Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC NEWS
Friday January 08, 2010 18:12As has been the case for almost five years now, villagers of Bil'in along with their international and Israeli supporters marched toward the wall, where an Israeli military unit was located behind blocks of cement. During the demonstration Iyad Burnat head of the popular committee sent a message to US President Obama and Egypt’s Mubarak to stop supporting the apartheid wall, and to start working towards peace. He also denounced the Irish company C.R.H. for its continued support to the building of the apartheid Wall. The army had earlier closed the gate in the wall with razor wire. When the protesters attempted to reach the land confiscated behind, soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Journalist Abbas Al-Momani and Dr. Rateb Abu Rahmah, a member of the Popular Committee, were each hit with tear gas canisters in their heads. Edo Medix, an Israeli activist, was also injured. Bil'in village is subjected to daily invasions by the Israeli military. Troops target local organizers' homes and families that host international supporters. www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57575....... Israeli Occupation Forces pay a "social visit"
to Bil'in, January 06, 2010www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEUGzUWrDGE
January 06, 2010At Dawn today, 6-1-2010, some 35 to 40 Israeli Occupation Forces in 6 jeeps and a troop carrier raided the home of Rani Ayub in the West Bank village of Bil'in: there were no arrests as Rani was arrested four weeks ago in his home and has been held, incommunicado, since then in the notorious Mascobia (Russian Compound) police/interrogation center in West Jerusalem with no family visits, access to lawyers or even a charge. Iyad Burnat, head of Bil'in's Popular Committee say's the occupation soldiers were on a trawling exercise, seeking documentation and Rani Ayub's mobile phone. When repeatedly challenged to justify their heavy presence in the village, all that was proffered by way of explanation was that they were there "to talk" and one at least was "just doing his job." This raid follows hard on the heels on what appears to be an attempted kidnapping of children in Bil'in yesterday which was foiled by Bil'in photographer; Hamde Abu Rahma who spotted them hiding in an olive grove well equipped with creature comforts such as camping matts for sleeping to ease the discomfort of lying flat on the ground - two Bil'in children; Amar Rayed Al-Kateeb, 13, and Sameer Jadallah Al-Kateeb, 14, were kidnapped by IOF soldiers two weeks ago whilst playing in an olive grove on the outskirts of the village close to the Apartheid Wall, Sameer is still held incommunicado in Israeli custody, Amar was released in the the early hours of the following day to his parents. In the ongoing repression and criminalisation of all nonviolent resistance to the occupation the present modus operandi of the Israelis is to arrest or kidnap Palestinian children or teenagers and terrorise false confessions out of them in order to frame the prime movers in the peaceful protests or else charge the leading lights with bizarre Kafkaesque offences such as that of Bil'in Popular Committee Coordinator, Abdullah Abu Rahma, who faces a charge of "possession of arms" (spent tear gas canisters). So it goes in the West Bank and Bil'in.
Category: Nonprofits & Activism
Tags:
Abdullah Abu Rahma Iyad Burnat Sameer Jadallah Al-Kateeb Amar Rayed Al-Kateeb Hamde Abu Rahma Ashraf Abu Rahma Rani Ayub Bil'in edited for length...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfXDzyzkUVA
On Friday 18-12-09, 6 musicians were arrested by Israeli police, in a well prepared ambush. They were arrested while walking and drumming peacefully down Hanevi'im st. (in West Jerusalem) to the Palestinian Neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah (in East Jerusalem). At a non- violent demonstration against the occupation of Palestinian houses by Israeli settlers 21 more people were violently arrested by Israeli police.
 farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4258999267_254df3c7d9_o.jpg farm3.static.flickr.com/2730/4259013371_9f3825127f_o.jpg.................................. UK Jewish MP criticizes Israeli atrocitiesLINK TO VIDEO —video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5947273536149454393&ei=lJ5IS768B5iQqwKHifTXAQ&q=nazi+israel&hl=en&client=firefox-a#05:50 - 11 months ago "My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers
murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.""Israel was born out of Jewish Terrorism" "Tzipi Livnis Father was a Terrorist" Astonishing claims in the House of Parliamnet. SIR Gerald Kaufman, the veteran Labour MP, yesterday compared the actions of Israeli troops in Gaza to the Nazis forced his family He accused the Israeli government of seeking "conquest" and added: " They are not simply war criminals, they are fools." Category: News & Politics Tags: SIR Gerald Kaufman israel acting like nazis nazi attacks UN aid compound with White Phosphorous Shells unrwa zionist mark regev tzipi livni israeli gaza ban broke cease fire ceasefire restricted media news coverup democratic hiding atrocity palestine gagged murder genocide school schools un united nations rocket shooting palestinian war crime air strikes CLICK ON THE CC For Subtitles HAGA EN EL subtítulos Kliknij na cc napisy اضغط على القانون الجنائي للترجمات ................................ ................................ ................................ Israeli Soldiers Refuse to Serve in Palestine (2001)part onewww.youtube.com/watch?v=HVgL6h909aMpart twowww.youtube.com/watch?v=OLqqNZW2O50....... The Johnny Procedure:
Israeli Soldiers Speak Out Against Operation Cast Leadgoogle search: Johnny Procedure Operation Cast Lead
www.google.com/search?q=the+johnny+procedure+operation+cast+lead
google search: Refuseniks Israel
video.google.com/videosearch?q=refuseniks+israel+soldiers&view=3 zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/c... Up to date list of Refuseniks: oznik.com/news/021225.htmlList of Refusenik signers (Hebrew Only): oznik.com/h/combined_list.htmlIn May of 2002 CBS interviewed Israeli Soldiers who conscientiously refused to serve in the occupied/stolen land in Palestine. They drafted a letter to explain their grievances. January 2002, a group of Israeli reserve officers and combat soldiers returned from their duty in the Gaza strip, and drafted a letter that would change they way Israelis conceive the military control of the occupied territories. This document came to be known as the Combatant's Letter: * We, reserve combat officers and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, who were raised upon the principles of Zionism, self-sacrifice and giving to the people of Israel and to the State of Israel, who have always served in the front lines, and who were the first to carry out any mission in order to protect the State of Israel and strengthen it. * We, combat officers and soldiers who have served the State of Israel for long weeks every year, in spite of the dear cost to our personal lives, have been on reserve duty in the Occupied Territories, and were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people. * We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides, * We, who sensed how the commands issued to us in the Occupied Territories destroy all the values that we were raised upon, * We, who understand now that the price of Occupation is the loss of IDF's human character and the corruption of the entire Israeli society, * We, who know that the Territories are not a part of Israel, and that all settlements are bound to be evacuated, * We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this War of the Settlements. * We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. * We hereby declare that we shall continue serving the Israel Defense Force in any mission that serves Israel's defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose -- and we shall take no part in them. Israeli Soldiers against the Occupation: www.seruv.org.il/english/signe... www.combatantsforpeace.org/www.breakingthesilence.org.il/... sjlendman.blogspot.com/2008/04... www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp... www.calpeacepower.org/0101/ref... www.seruv.org.il/english/defau... Comments are moderated, and they will not post immediately. Category: Education Tags: Israel IDF Soldiers Occupation Zionism Zionists Palestine Palestinians Courage www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cMs0nai4JQIsraelis Soldiers refuse to serve in Gaza!Israelis protest against the war in Gaza,
Tel Aviv January 8th 2009.הטלוויזיה החברתית מציגה: סרבנות עזה 2009 הפגנת חיילי מילואים נגד המלחמה בעזה, ראיונות עם מפגינים המעידים כי יסרבו להתגייס למלחמה בעזה. ההפגנה התקיימה מול הקריה ב - 8/1/2009. Link to movie on Social TV Web Site: www.tv.social.org.il/medini/st... Category: Nonprofits & Activism Tags: Israel Social TV. Gaza refuse Israelis Soldiers
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 9, 2010 20:55:08 GMT 4
edited for length: Israeli Occupation Forces pay a "social visit"
to Bil'in, January 06, 2010www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEUGzUWrDGE
January 06, 2010At Dawn today, 6-1-2010, some 35 to 40 Israeli Occupation Forces in 6 jeeps and a troop carrier raided the home of Rani Ayub in the West Bank village of Bil'in: there were no arrests as Rani was arrested four weeks ago in his home and has been held, incommunicado, since then in the notorious Mascobia (Russian Compound) police/interrogation center in West Jerusalem with no family visits, access to lawyers or even a charge...continues... spoken by cameraman to soldier: "Have you any sense of shame??" farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4259868198_51661ac705_o.jpg |
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Post by nodstar on Jan 10, 2010 3:50:26 GMT 4
Hiya Nina .. Thank you so much for the very informative posts, and all the time and energy it takes to sort through the many articles.  The Palestinian issue is indeed unpopular .. and I truly appreciate your efforts, because main stream media often wont touch this issue. Thanks also to GG for posting about the Tunnel People in Vegas This thread is doing GREAT !!! ;D Many thanks Nod |
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 10, 2010 4:00:54 GMT 4
post withheld for another time
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Post by ninathedog on Jan 10, 2010 4:05:12 GMT 4
Hiya Nina .. Thank you so much for the very informative posts, and all the time and energy it takes to sort through the many articles. The Palestinian issue is indeed unpopular .. and I truly appreciate your efforts, because main stream media often wont touch this issue. Thanks also to GG for posting about the Tunnel People in Vegas This thread is doing GREAT !!! ;D Many thanks Nod wow, Noddie, thank you!! I keep expecting to get a note asking me to tone it down, but this topic is close to my heart and closer to my soul so I've been proceeding as compelled. Thank you very, very much for your encouragement!! love! jen. |
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Post by Eagles Disobey on Jan 13, 2010 10:12:19 GMT 4
www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html7.0 quake hits Haiti; 'Serious loss of life' expectedJanuary 13, 2010 12:12 a.m. EST (CNN) -- A major earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and power lines and inflicting what its ambassador to the United States called a catastrophe for the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
Several eyewitnesses reported heavy damage and bodies in the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where concrete-block homes line steep hillsides. There was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening, but the U.S. State Department has been told to expect "serious loss of life," department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.
"The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best," the ambassador, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN.
Pictures sent to CNN's iReport show homes and small businesses in Haiti that have collapsed.
The magnitude 7.0 quake -- the most powerful to hit Haiti in a century -- struck shortly before 5 p.m. and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It could be felt strongly in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away, witnesses said.
Mike Godfrey, an American contractor working for the U.S. Agency for International Development, said "a huge plume of dust and smoke rose up over the city" within minutes of the quake -- "a blanket that completely covered the city and obscured it for about 20 minutes."
Witnesses reported damaged buildings throughout the capital, including the president's residence and century-old homes nearby, and The Associated Press reported that a hospital collapsed. President Rene Preval is safe, Joseph said, but there was no estimate of the dead and wounded Tuesday evening.
He said an official of his government told him houses had crumbled "on the right side of the street and the left side of the street."
"He said it is a catastrophe of major proportions," Joseph said.
Impact Your World: How you can help
Frank Williams, the Haitian director of the relief agency World Vision International, said the quake left people "pretty much screaming" all around Port-au-Prince. He said the agency's building shook for about 35 seconds, "and portions of things on the building fell off."
"None of our staff were injured, but lots of walls are falling down," Williams said. "Many of our staff have tried to leave, but were unsuccessful because the walls from buildings and private residences are falling into the streets, so that it has pretty much blocked significantly most of the traffic."
Read what people in Haiti are saying via social media
Haiti's government is backed by a U.N. peacekeeping mission established after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
The headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Port-au-Prince collapsed, a U.N. official told CNN.
There was no immediate report of any dead or wounded from the building, but Alain Le Roy, the undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations said of the 9,000-member, Brazilian led-force, "For the moment, a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for."
Outside the capital, several people were hurt when they rushed to get out of a school in the southwestern city of Les Cayes, said the Rev. Kesner Ajax, the school's executive director. Two homes in the area collapsed and the top of a church collapsed in a nearby town, he said, but he did not know of any fatalities.
Les Cayes, a city of about 400,000 people, is about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince.
The quake took place about 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground, according to the USGS -- a depth that can produce severe shaking. At least 10 aftershocks followed, including two in the magnitude 5 range, the USGS reported.
Appeals for aid after quake strikes Haiti
Jean Bernard, an eyewitness in Port-au-Prince, told CNN the city had no electricity Tuesday evening. The first quake lasted 35 to 40 seconds, he said.
"A lot of houses [and] buildings went down, and people are still running all over the streets," Bernard said. "People are looking for their wives, looking for their husbands and their kids. It's scary."
Luke Renner, an American staying in Cap-Hatien, a city nearly 100 miles north of Port-au-Prince, said he was sitting at his home when "the whole world started to shake."
"It felt like our whole house was balancing on a beach ball," Renner said. "We heard the whole community screaming and in an uproar during that whole 20- to 30-second window."
"I haven't seen any structural damage here," Renner continued. "With the sun setting it may be difficult to tell. In the morning we'll know for sure."
Because of the earthquake's proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing, "it could cause significant casualties," said Jian Lin, a senior geologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
In Washington, President Obama said the U.S. government would "stand ready to assist the people of Haiti." At the Pentagon, the U.S. military said humanitarian aid was being prepared for shipping, but it was not yet clear where or how it would be sent. A U.S. aviation source said the control tower at the Port-au-Prince international airport collapsed, possibly hindering efforts to fly relief supplies into the country.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Washington is offering "our full assistance" to Haiti."
The deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Haiti, David Lindwall, told Clinton that he saw "significant damage" from the quake and said U.S. officials there expect "serious loss of life," Crowley said.
And Clinton's husband, former President Clinton -- now the U.N. special envoy for Haiti -- said the world body was "committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."
The United States has been heavily involved in Haiti commercially, politically and militarily for most of the last century. U.S. intervention under Clinton restored Aristide to power in 1994 after a 1991 coup, and a U.S. jet hustled him out of the country again in 2004 following a rapidly spreading uprising against his government.
The disaster is the latest to befall the country of about 9 million people, roughly the size of Maryland. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world.
With people stripping the trees for fuel and to clear land for agriculture, the mountainous countryside has been heavily deforested. That has led to severe erosion and left Haitians vulnerable to massive landslides when heavy rains fall.
Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994, while Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the country's crops in 1998. And in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people as it passed north of Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives.
Gonaives was hit heavily again in 2008, when four tropical systems passed through.
In addition, a Haitian school collapsed in November 2008, killing more than 90 people and injuring 150 -- a disaster authorities blamed on poor construction.
Eighty percent of Haiti's population lives under the poverty line, according to the CIA World Factbook.
CNN's Mallory Simon, Edvige Jean-Francois, Shasta Darlington, Deb Feyerick, Matt Smith, Pierre Meilhan, Mike Mount and Brandon Griggs contributed to this report.
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Everything's cool: we'll do the chat with D next week. 
Plus,
