Bombing King David One man’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist
uruknet.info, Italy
July 24, 2006
Nick Possum
Old Possum, Joadja and I went in to the city for the big demonstration
against the Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. It was the biggest
demonstration Sydney had seen since before the invasion of Iraq.
“By a strange coincidence, today is the 60th anniversary of the
bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem”, Old Possum remarked,
as we waited at Town Hall Square for the march to kick off. “While
their air force is unleashing hell in Lebanon, Israelis are dancing
on the graves of 92 people killed by the Irgun terrorist organization
on 22 July 1946”.
“I read in the Times On Line that the British Government has objected
to the Zionists celebrating the event and putting a plaque at the
spot”, I said. “They had a conference to mark the anniversary and
tied themselves in semantic knots trying to find a difference between
‘resistance’ and ‘terror’. In the end, they decided they had been
‘freedom fighters’ while the Arabs were always ‘terrorists'”.
“What’s the story of the bombing?” Joadja asked.
Old Possum leaned on his walking stick and raised his voice a
decibel or two above the din: “The Hotel was the headquarters for the
secretariat of the British Mandate in Palestine. The military command
was also based there. The Irgun team entered the hotel posing as Arabs
delivering milk. The explosive charges were in milk churns, set to go
off after half an hour. A warning call was made to the hotel and to
the nearby French consulate, but it was never acted on by the British,
probably because their guards detected the bombers and there was a
running gunfight with them as they were leaving, during which the
terrorists set off an explosive device in the street outside the hotel.
“The warning call spoke only of an ‘explosive device’, so in the
confusion, the authorities probably thought the attack had been
foiled. Then the real bomb went off, destroying a whole wing of the
hotel. As British military engineers rushed there with heavy lifting
gear to rescue survivors they were impeded by Zionist roadblocks
and stoned and booed by crowds of Jews. As well as Britons, Arabs,
Armenians, Greeks and 15 Jews were killed.”
“Some historians date the beginning of modern terrorism from the
event.”
“Who ordered the bombing?”
“The story goes that David Ben Gurion, the chief Zionist honcho
originally suggested it, but he got cold feet. Moshe Sneh, the leader
of Haganah, the Zionist military command, decided to go ahead and
told Menachem Begin to carry it out.”
“So what was it supposed to achieve? The British Mandate had already
encouraged hundreds of thousands of Jews to settle in Palestine.”
“Yeah, after driving the Turks out in World War I, the British
government decided unilaterally, to establish what it called a
‘National Home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine, over which they
had gained a League of Nations mandate to shepherd the country towards
self-government. Of course there was a slippery little formulation
about it being ‘clearly understood’ that the decision wouldn’t
prejudice the civil and religious rights of the original non-Jewish
communities, who weren’t consulted about the idea. Somehow, the hapless
British officials and soldiers trying to make the Mandate work were
supposed to reconcile the hopes and rights of the native Palestinians
with the implacable thrusting ambition of the Zionist immigrants.
“But in the ten years before the hotel bombing, around 378,000 Jews
had migrated to Palestine. In 1946, the native Palestinian population
was about 1.3 million. Over that short period Jewish immigrants
suddenly made up something like a third of the population! Compare
that to Australia. Our population isn’t yet 21 million. Over recent
years the migrant intake has been less than half a per cent of the
existing population in any year! The redneck nutters would really have
something to screech about if Australia had copped the massive influx
the Palestinians faced. An equivalent rate of immigration would be
six million people coming here since 1996.
“But none of this satisfied the Zionists. By that stage they were
hell-bent on driving the natives out of the place and setting up an
exclusively Jewish state. And that’s what they preceded to do. The
King David Hotel bombing was about clearing the Mandate out of the
way. The British public was outraged, but the politicians realised
they’d created a monster they couldn’t control and they decided it
was time to go.
“In April 1948, Begin’s Irgun, another Zionist group, the Stern Gang
and members of the mainstream Haganah, followed up the hotel bombing
by massacring 254 Palestinians from the village of Deir Yassin. The
aim was to terrorise Palestinians into flight. And that worked too.
By the time it was over they’d depopulated over 400 towns and villages
and driven 700,000 people from their lands and businesses.”
“So now, any Jew, born anywhere in the world, has the ‘right to return’
to Israel, but no Palestinian does”.
Just then, they announced it was time to march, and we shuffled out
onto George Street.
PICTURES of Sydney’s ‘Israel out of Lebanon & Gaza!’ march on 22 July:
l_out!.html .
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H. Silvanyan: Extremism against Armenians Rare in Georgia
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.07.2006 15:59 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia supports any initiatives targeted at
improving the living conditions of population of the Armenian-inhabited
region of Javakhk (Georgia), RA Ambassador to Georgia Hrachya Silvanyan
stated in an interview with Novoe Vremya newspaper. In his words,
the interaction on the Javakhk issue is discussed at the meetings of
government officials while a number of regional projects provide for
contribution by the Armenian side. He reminded that at the recent
sitting of the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental commission RA
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan reiterated Armenia’s readiness to
promote implementation of program for reconstruction of Javakhk’s
infrastructure.
“Armenia can assist in finding an optimal solution for stabilization
in the region.” Hrachya Silvanyan said. At that he underscored
that he stands against the notion of “anti-Armenian spirit”
in Georgia. “National extremism against Armenians is rare in
Georgia. Of course there are nationalists but their number is small
while unproductiveness of their political choice is obvious in
multinational Georgia,” the Armenian diplomat said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sides Should Exert Efforts for Karabakh Conflict Soonest Settlement
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.07.2006 17:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Union regrets over the failure
to reach agreement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the
framework of the G8 summit, EU Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter
Semneby stated at a news conference in Yerevan. In his words, the
talks should go on and the sides should exert every effort for the
soonest settlement. “Next year the borders of the European Union
will closely approach the region. That is why the EU attaches such
importance to the Karabakh conflict resolution,” Semneby remarked.
He also underscored that the EU doesn’t immediately take part in the
talks but is ready to assist in establishing trust between the states,
what is possible within the European Neighborhood Policy. At that
the Finnish diplomat said there is no reason for changing the format
of the talks. “We are not going to substitute the OSCE MG. That is
why I am not speaking of any new proposals or ways of settlement,”
the EU Special Representative said.

NATO WISHES TO RECONCILE ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN;
In exchange for a compromise the conflicting parties are offered economic benefits
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
July 24, 2006 Monday
By Sokhbet Mamedov
PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF NATO PIERRE LELUCH
PREPARED PROPOSALS FOR NAGORNO-KARABAKH REGULATION; President of the
parliamentary assembly of NATO Pierre Leluch will visit Azerbaijan
and Armenia.
President of the parliamentary assembly of NATO Pierre Leluch will
visit Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Baku and Yerevan, he has proposals
for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
After abolishment of the planned meetings of presidents Ilkham Aliyev
and Robert Kocharjan planned this year, two times the parliamentary
assembly of NATO decided to sit them down at a table of negotiations.
A source in the parliament of Azerbaijan reported that president
of the assembly Pierre Leluch already prepared proposals for the
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia that he would present to them
in autumn during his visit to these countries.
According to the source, Leluch will propose several measures to the
parties of the conflict that will allow “avoidance of political and
other difficulties after signing a peaceful agreement.” The president
of the parliamentary assembly promises economic dividends to the
parties in exchange for compromises. So far, Baku and Yerevan prefer
not to say what kind of economic benefits are offered.
This is the second time when Leluch tries to join the negotiation
process carried out under the aegis of the Minsk group of OSCE where
Russia, US and France are co-chairs. Back in May, Leluch invited
presidents Aliyev and Kocharjan to Paris to take part in the spring
session of the parliamentary assembly. Kocharjan ignored the invitation
then, referring to “business.”
According to analyst Alpay Akhmed, Yerevan has to build its relations
with NATO looking back at Moscow that is discontent with active
cooperation of its loyal ally in the Caucasus with NATO. Besides,
in the future this cooperation may grow into a wish to become a
member of this organization. Incidentally, such symptoms are already
observed. In spring, speaker of Armenian parliament Artur Bagdasaryan
visited Europe and spoke about possible entrance of Armenia in NATO
and European Union. However, such liberty of the speaker encountered
harsh critique of the President and Bagdasaryan had to resign.
As for Ilkham Aliyev, lately he has been focusing attention in
every speech on “non-constructive stance of the Armenian part at the
negotiations.” Recently Aliyev announced that “a chance is given to
Armenia to liberate the occupied Azerbaijani territories voluntarily
and to solve the problem without bloodshed and war.”
According to local analysts, such harsh statement by the Azerbaijani
leader can be taken as a response to the recent statement of the
co-chairs of the Minsk group of OSCE where they actually confessed
their helplessness and laid responsibility for resolving the conflict
on heads of the states of the two countries. This means that the
negotiation process has come to a dead end. The cease-fire regime is
very fragile and there are no international separating forces between
the parties of the conflict, which means that an undesirable incident
is not ruled out at any moment. Official Baku also hints that it is
not going to take part in fruitless negotiations.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 20, 2006, p. EV

SERGE SARGSIAN: NEITHER TODAY, NOR IN THE NEAR FUTURE AZERBAIJAN WILL BE ABLE
TO UNFOLD BRIEF MILITARY ACTIONS AGAINST ARMENIA
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Opinion
Neither today, nor in the near future Azerbaijan is capable of carrying
out brief military actions against Armenia. Serge Sargsian, RA Defense
Minister, said in the interview to “Liberty” Radio Station. He added
that the statements of Azerbaijan that its military budget is equal
to the state budget of Armenia is a mere dream. He emphasized that
naturally, the financial sources play a great part today, but the
Armenian army is efficient enough to carry out its duty. As for the
probable resumption of the military actions, Sargsian said that he
is always prepared for the military actions that may begin even
tomorrow. “We are too a small country and any unexpected action
may cause a catastrophe for us,” he said, adding that he is for the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh issue.
Besides, Mr. Sargsian added that the present settlement variant of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is much more favorable for Armenia than
the one submitted in 1997. He emphasized that at present a package
settlement variant is submitted and that defines the final solution
to the conflict. Moreover, the previous one didn’t include the issue
of NKR people’s right for self determination. As for the probable
referendum, he said that in case it isn’t held NKR will still have
a temporary status within 15 years, as well as safety guarantees.

RA DEFENCE MINISTER RECEIVES COMMANDER OF KANSAS NATIONAL GUARDS
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Meeting
RA Defence Minister Serge Sargsian received Todd Banting, Commander of
the Kansas National Guard, and the members of the American official
delegation, today. The Press Service of RA Defence Ministry informed
that US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was also present at the
meeting. In particular, in the course of the meeting, the sides
touched upon the issues of the Armenian-American military cooperation,
focusing the attention on the peace keeping activities and the
sphere of the military medicine. The parties also emphasized the
importance of establishing a sergeant’s institute within the framework
of the Armed forces of Armenia. They also stated the necessity of
establishing cooperation between the military hospitals of Armenia
and Kansas. Banting highly estimated the professional skills of the
Armenian peace keepers in Iraq. He also informed that “Rescuer 2006”
exercises were held at quite a high level.

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN EMPHASIZES IMPORTANCE OF ARMENIA’S
CONDUCTING COMPLEMENTORY FOREIGN POLICY
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Opinion
Armenia conducts balanced foreign policy, making the integration
into Europe and development of the interstate relations within the
framework of CIS, as well as the development of bilateral relations
with several countries are priority course in its foreign policy of
Armenia. RA PM Andranik Margarian, leader of Republican Party, said
at July 22 RPA party congress. “Taking into account our national and
state interests, we state that we are ready to cooperate with the
countries in the region both in the political and economic, and in
the military spheres,” he said. The interstate cooperation should be
built on the principles of equality, Margarian emphasized. Besides,
RA PM Andranik Margarian stated that the current progress fixed in
the Armenian economy is achieved thanks to the cooperation of all
the branches of power.
He added that his party is aimed to preserve the achievements and
complete the programs in progress. He said that the further activities
of the party will be based on the development projects, a well as on
the national safety doctrine. Margarian emphasized that the economic
development of Armenia will secure good living conditions for each
Armenian citizen. As for the cooperation agreement of RPA with ARF
“Dashnaktsiutiun,” the United Labor Party, and other political forces,
Margarian said this will also secure the further stability in Armenia.

Armenian Leader Positively Assesses Serge Sargsyan’s Joining Republican Party
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.07.2006 17:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian gave a positive
estimate to Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan’s joining the
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), RA leader’s spokesman Victor
Soghomonyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
“This is a positive phenomenon taking into account the fact that
during the recent years we witnessed collapse of parties but not
unification of political forces,” Victor Soghomonyan said. He also
remarked the presence of an influential political figure in the RPA
can have a positive impact on the Armenian political field, which is
far from being ideal.

URGENT FUNDS NEEDED FOR HEALTH FOR THE LEBANESE PEOPLE
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Urgent!
WHO appeals for US$ 32.4 million as part of UN appeal
Geneva – Today WHO is appealing for funds for the health of the people
of Lebanon, who require urgent and secure access to health care.
To date, the current conflict has resulted in more than1200 injured
and 346 killed. Several hundred thousand people have fled their homes,
including to neighbouring Syria. Insecurity in South Lebanon, the
destruction of bridges, roads and other infrastructure, and lack of
electricity are threatening people’s health.
The injured need access to equipped, safe and functioning
hospitals. Those who are displaced need access to clean water,
sanitation, immunization and other services. People who are chronically
ill, with diabetes or heart disease require continued access to their
life-saving medicines. Particularly vulnerable are the wounded, women
and children, the elderly and the chronically ill. Access to health
care, food, shelter, water and sanitation are all critical lifelines.
The WHO, on behalf of the partners working on health issues, is
requesting US$ 32.4 million to serve the health needs of 800,000 people
over the next three months. This includes joint actions and activities
with partners including UNICEF, UNFPA and UNRWA. For WHO-specific
activities, WHO is requesting almost US$ 14 million. This appeal is
part of the total United Nations’ Flash Appeal for Lebanon, which
seeks a total of US$ 150 million.
“As more people are displaced and as more infrastructure is destroyed,
the health needs will grow. International concern for the people caught
in this conflict is high. Funding from the international community for
health will save lives and reduce suffering,” said Dr Ala’ Din Alwan,
the WHO Director-Generals’ Representative for Health Action in Crises.
WHO is leading the “health cluster”- the coordination body for health
action in this crisis, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health
(MoH). The funds will increase the health cluster support to the MoH
in tackling several vital areas of health:
– Coordinate the humanitarian response in the health sector;
– Assess the heath impact, damage to health infrastructure and
emergency needs of the health systems;
– Monitor the health threats and risks, including the enhancement of
the disease early warning surveillance and response systems;
– Address gaps in health services delivery and support in the
re-establishment of essential and emergency medical , public health
and environment health services;
– Establish mobile health care units and strengthen functional health
centres capable of delivering maternal and child health, reproductive
health, mental health services and chronic disease management;
– Urgent immunization services campaigns for internally displaced
people, and host communities if needed;
– Establishment and maintenance of vaccine storage and the vaccine
cold chain.
Current priorities are to ensure safe evacuation for the injured
to hospitals where their injuries may be treated. WHO is tracking
medicines and surgical supplies, and warns that it is difficult
to move these into the areas where they are needed. Safe water and
sanitation is also urgent for those who are displaced and living in
about 110 different public locations. To lower the risks of diarrhoeal
and other water-borne diseases, WHO with its partners is distributing
chlorine to disinfect water. WHO has also strengthened its presence in
the region by sending several experts. As many as 150 000 people are
thought to have crossed the border into Syria, WHO is set to assist
the Syrian authorities meet the health needs of these people too.
For more information, contact:
In Geneva: Fadela CHAIB, Communications Officer, telephone +41 22
791 3228, email [email protected]
In Cairo: Ibrahim KERDANY, Communications Officer for the WHO Regional
Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, telephone: +202 27 65037 mobile –
+ 20 10 6019087 email: [email protected]
Sacha BOOTSMA, Information and Communications Officer, telephone
(+20-10) 182 64 23, email: [email protected]
In Beirut: Altaf MUSANI: Regional Adviser for the WHO Regional Office
for the Eastern Mediterranean, mobile telephone: (+20-10) 258 58 22
email: [email protected].

LETTERS FROM LEBANON:BEIRUT SUNDAY JULY 23, 2006
AZG Armenian Daily #138, 25/07/2006
Give Peace a Chance!
Dear Friends,
It has been eleven days. People are really tired of waiting for an
end to a war that feels like both a repetition of what we have seen
decades ago and a novelty in many respects, such as the speed and
extent of destruction. Lebanon is a special and precious country
and continues to be so, thus people refuse to put an end to their
hope in a bright future. Today, I said a short prayer in church. I
wanted us to remember that every Sunday is a day of Resurrection,
not just the peaceful Sundays!
A ceasefire has been expected from the very first day of this new
war in and around Lebanon, but is has not materialized. Fighting has
intensified on the southern border. Sporadic air and sea bombing
of almost all regions in Lebanon has continued, including the
infrastructure of the country. Rockets fired from Lebanon have been
causing damage and casualties in Israel as well. Dozens of thousands
of foreign nationals have left Lebanon by sea or land, including
hundreds of Indian nationals today from their embassy near Haigazian
University. Most USA nationals, probably exceeding 8,000 who had
expressed a wish to leave have already done so. The problems and the
numbers of the internally displaced are intensifying radically. In
previous wars, displacement from Southern Lebanon had a map. Now,
there is no map. Some of the displaced have moved from the south to
the north, others from Beirut to the Bekaa; others from the Bekaa to
Beirut; some from one suburb of Beirut to another, then to yet another;
others from Beirut to the mountains, etc. etc. This war has no clear
terrain and no map.
To our dismay, a ceasefire has not materialized and will probably not
materialize for a number of days. Secretary Condaleezza Rice has tried
to explain why not: “We do seek an end to the current violence. We
seek it urgently… We also seek to address the root causes of that
violence.A ceasefire would be a false promise if it simply returns
us to the status quo”. Having heard this and other similar speeches,
the world concluded that the current crisis will continue indefinitely,
thus explaining why dozens of thousands of foreigners are leaving the
country without giving a ceasefire a chance. Neither I, nor anyone
else I have spoken with in these two days here and abroad was convinced
that postponing a ceasefire will help anyone address the “root causes”
of violence. With all due respect, we know well that looking into
“root causes” of social, human, political, religious or economic
conflicts is not one of the virtues or interests of political powers.
Neither I, nor anyone else around me was comfortable hearing that
a ceasefire can be a “false promise”. When you are under fire,
every ceasefire is a true promise for another opportunity to breath,
to save a life, to treat an injured person, to decently bury a loved
one, to find drinking water, to enjoy the blessings of electricity,
to communicate with the world, and so forth. Obviously, it may be
a temporary promise, but certainly not less temporary than what
political powers and negotiators will be able to accomplish.
I remember teaching my “Pastoral Care” students that when they are to
help people in crisis they have to address the crisis itself before
anything else. If a person has a history of deep problems, a helper
cannot solve all their problems at the crisis hour. A sensitive helper
will, however, accompany the needy person later and will help address
the deeper problem. The same can be said of medical professionals
who cannot let a patient bleed indefinitely from a wound caused by
an injury if they realize that he/she has a chronic disease!
May we all work, pray, act, write, and hope for a ceasefire before
everything else. May we remember, though, that our hope is not in
the ceasefire itself, but what a ceasefire will allow us to do once
it is realized.
I look forward to a week of hopeful activity even in these difficult
times in Beirut and the Haigazian University administrative
offices. Our communities are not only hopeful this too shall pass,
but many groups have been conducting organized activities to reach
out to the needy and the helpless. The majority of the people in
the country have not been working for eleven days now. They have
been watching the news, waiting for an end. Yet, there are new
and meaningful challenges for serving each other in our societies.
Even in these disastrous days, much good can be done. I thank you
for your letters of support. Keep upholding Haigazian University,
our community, Lebanon, and the whole world in your prayers.
Thanks be to God in every situation!
Paul Haidostian, Ph.D.,President of Haigazian University