eDiplomacy: How the State Department Uses Social Media

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2012/10/26-ediplomacy-hanson

Foreign ministries the world over are scrambling to catch up to this new operating environment, but one in particular has taken some striking initiative: the U.S. Department of State.My Brookings paper which launched today, Baked in and Wired: eDiplomacy @ State, tracks State’s remarkable emergence as the leading innovator in its field. It drills into three areas where its use of ediplomacy has been particularly striking: public diplomacy, internet freedom, and knowledge management.There’s a lot of detail in the paper, but looking at the topline points in just one of these areas – public diplomacy – reveals the changes and challenges connection technologies have ushered in.State now communicates directly with over 15 million people via Facebook and Twitter. That’s about double the audience size from January, and back in January its direct audience reach was already larger than the paid subscriber base of the ten largest newspapers in the U.S. combined.It’s easy to assume this is just a broadcast function. But State’s use of social media is much broader than that. The paper identifies six different ways social media is being used by State. These include many that are obvious – like fast official messaging and consular updates – but many that are subtler. State’s move into "Diplo-media" for example has seen it grow its audience rapidly. The paper defines diplo-media as:Content that seeks to advance broad national interests.An editorial approach that downplays associations with the State Department or U.S. government.Content that is participatory and towards the entertainment end of the content spectrum.Another is the makings of a resiliency capability (although it is not yet necessarily conceived of in this way). This capability has three components:Real-time monitoring: The Bureau of Public Affairs’ Rapid Response Unit has a small team monitoring social media responses to developments that have the potential to impact U.S. national interests. They produce short daily briefing reports with an anecdotal look at the online response to specific events/issues (for example, on the closure of the U.S. embassy in Syria) across the Arabic, Chinese, English and Spanish social media spheres.Identification and cultivation of key online influencers: It is now possible to create maps of online influencers by subject area, which would allow diplomats on the ground to have a better sense of who is driving discussion on specific issues and who they should be reaching out to (in the same way diplomats currently use intuition to identify and build relations with politicians, officials and journalists they think influential).Combined, these three facets amount to a nascent resiliency capability that would allow State to quickly identify social media conversations that have the potential to affect national interests, to put their own case directly to a large online audience, and to reach out and explain their perspective to key online influencers.These changes also bring challenges. Who should control editorial lines when communicating which such massive audiences, what role is there for advertising 

[ED NOTES;IN SHORT E-DIPLOMACY IS A TOOL FROM WICH US STATE DEPT CAN INFLUENCE KEY ISSUES BY SUBVERTING STRATEGIC DEBATES WICH EMERGE AROUND ITS OWN  POLICY  IN REAL TIME...IT NOT ONLY ENACTS  A POLICY TO FURTHER ITS SELF INTERESTS,..AS DEBATE EMERGES AROUND IT IT THEN USES LOCALIZED SHILLS TO ENDORSE AND ADVOCATE FOR IT,THESE WILL BE OF COURSE...US STATE DEPT ''FRIENDLY ACTIVISTS'' ALL AROUND GLOBE..... ALSO SEE  THE SYRIAN HASBARA NETWORK IN ... - THENAKEDFACTS

"Al-Qaeda-NATO nexus destabilizing Syria", by Kourosh Ziabari
 What do you think about the Syrian crisis? THIERRY MEYSSAN The war against Syria was decided by George W. Bush in a meeting at Camp David on September 15, 2001 only a few days after the attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon. At that time, they prepared a list of the countries they would be attacking, and now it's time for Syria. During the past 11 years, the U.S. has been trying to start a war with Syria, and you remember that they had accused President Bashar al-Assad of...  Read more…
Moral Collapse and Mental Disorder, by Pierre Khalaf
By Ghaleb Kandil Moral Collapse and Mental Disorder During the last few days, the Lebanese watched live on television some of the chapters of the resounding collapse of the March 14 forces in the streets of Beirut, Tripoli and Sidon, one which reached its dramatic peak with the scandalous attempt to storm the Serail. This constituted a failed and outrageous act, both politically and morally. Firstly, the moral and cultural collapse of the March 14 forces has been featured in their (...) -   Read more…

Hostages' families stage sit in in front of Turkish embassy
 The families of the Lebanese hostages held in Syria staged a sit in in front of the Turkish embassy in Rabyeh. Owad Ibrahim, one of the two Lebanese hostages who were freed recently, took part in the sit in which aims at pressing the Turkish authorities to speed up the release of the Lebanese captives. The families slammed the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon, warning that all the Turkish nationals, including those serving in the UNIFIL forces will be treated as persona non grata from now on. The sit in occurred amid tight security measures. 

Charbel: Itani in Turkey

Minister of Interior, Marwan Charbel, on Wednesday announced that journalist Fida Itani is now inside Turkey. Charbel's words were delivered upon his arrival to Baabda Palace to partake in the Cabinet session.

Israeli bombs found in Marjeyoun, transmitting device in Blida
A patrol of the South's Investigation Unit found on Wednesday noon a medium-sized wooden box abandoned near a house under construction, owned by Hanna B., in al-Fawar locality. A number of grenade-like bombs were found inside the box, but larger with Hebrew writings on them. A Lebanese Forces Intelligence unit rushed to the scene, examined the box and transported it to an army barracks in Marjeyoun. On the other hand, a resident from Blida border town found a transmitting device. In the details, when a farmer from the afore mentioned town was picking olive trees, he found a device of 20 centimeters long and 20 centimeters height, with an antenna on top of it and batteries inside of it. Lebanese Army and international forces patrols rushed to the scene and worked on dismantling the device and transporting it to another place. The patrols investigated the device to reveal whether the device was an Israeli one and placed for sending signals to the reconnaissance planes which fly over the region on a daily basis or for sending signals to Israel.

ISRAHELLI MINEFIELD IN OCCUPIED GOLAN

Liberman says Golan will stay in Israeli hands | The Times of Israel
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman toured the Golan Heights Tuesday and said that the territory would stay in Israeli hands, calling it non-negotiable under a Likud-Yisrael Beytenu government.The alliance of Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party and the Likud was approved Monday by the Likud Central Committee.“The Israeli Law, which applies to the Golan Heights, has been in place since the days of former prime minister Menachem Begin, which means the Golan Heights are like Tel Aviv or Holon,” he said, according to Ynet.Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 war, and subsequently extended Israeli law to the area.Liberman also cited the ongoing violent situation in Syria as support for Israel’s retention of the Heights.As part of the agreement with Liberman for the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu to run together in January’s elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pledged not to relinquish the Golan Heights in any negotiations with Syria.

[ed notes;of israhelli law is void and non applicable,as it violates international law and pertinent  un resolutions.. Golan Israeli Violations of International Law 08  UN Documents for Golan Heights (Israel/Syria) Syria Reports Violations by Israel of Golan Heights see how he mentions current situation in Syria is further reason to hold on to Syrian Golan?the zionist engineered conflict benefits the continual illegal landgrab by israhell...also see... The Israeli occupation is still planting landmines along the cease-fire line and in the cultivated lands in the occupied Golan 

Slaughterer Israeli Mobile Mines Recently Plant... - THENAKEDFACTS   syriawatch-flashbacks, proving israhell,and ... - THENAKEDFACTS ''pro syrian opposition'' researcher at'd... - THENAKEDFACTS  FLASHBACK ISRAHELLI THINK TANK 2001 THE GOLAN HEIGHTS, SYRIA AND WATER by Yoram Ettinger 

Fighting Erupts Between Western-Backed "Rebels" and Syrian Kurds

Fierce fighting has erupted between Western-backed insurgents and Kurds in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo amid growing threats of a Turkish military intervention...The fighting began on Friday after several hundred armed opponents of the Syrian government, dressed in black and wearing black bandanas inscribed with Islamist slogans, moved into the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Ashrafiya.The incursion triggered a demonstration by Kurdish residents of the district, who marched on the positions taken by the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), demanding that its fighters leave the neighborhood. According to reports, the FSA fighters fired on the demonstrators, killing five and wounding 10 more.According to the reports, five Kurdish fighters died in the clashes, with the rest of the fatalities consisting of the Islamist insurgents and civilians. In the course of the fighting, the Islamist forces kidnapped at least 120 Kurdish civilians in an attempt to force the area to submit to their occupation.

The fighting that followed claimed at least 30 lives, including those of 22 combatants, before the Kurds reasserted control over the district. 

Ashrafiya has become a key objective of the Western-backed forces seeking to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. It is on the main route leading from the northern outskirts of the city to its center and occupies the high ground of Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital.

In the face of a growing challenge from the so-called rebels, increasingly dominated by Islamists and foreign fighters armed and funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with Washington’s collaboration, the Assad regime had relinquished control of Ashrafiya as well as of predominantly Kurdish areas in northern Syria.

The PYD issued a statement after the fighting, declaring, “We have chosen to remain neutral, and we will not take sides in a war that will only bring suffering and destruction to our country.”

The statement blamed the bloodshed on the Islamist militias. “They started to shoot at the crowds gathered at the [FSA] checkpoints,” it said. “They were protesting, calling on the armed groups to leave residential neighborhoods.”

Read more

Arab Sheikhs Sanitizing Image of Hamas In Effort To Help Preserve Zionist Apartheid System
First the porcine prince sweeps through Gaza with his entourage, now the crown prince of Bahrain comes to do the same thing.  All of this is being done with Israeli and US approval, meaning that they are players on the same team.  All that is missing is Prince Bandar, or some other Saudi royal.  They are trying to buy-off the Palestinians, in order to avert any plans for a "Palestinian Spring," the one significant move, yet to be made, which has real potential to topple the Zionist apartheid system.  This puts the Gulf monarchies firmly in the Zionist camp, a revelation which must not be lost on the Palestinians, or the Lebanese.

DISCREDITTED HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND AM-NASTY INT. (CFR FRONTS)MENTION DRACONIAN QATARI CENSORSHIP LAW,BUT SAY NOTHING OF THEIR FUNDING TERRORISTS IN SYRIA AND LIBYA.... Human Rights Watch slams Hamad, raps Qatar’s media law
Human Rights Watch has censured Qatar for a controversial draft media law that restricts the freedom of media and includes harsh penalties for those who criticize Qatar or its allies.The rights organization called on Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani not to pass the draft legislation, arguing that the proposed law is in contradiction with Qatar’s claims to be a center for free expression in the region.The draft law was approved by the Qatar’s legislative assembly in June 2012 and still needs to be ratified by Sheikh Hamad. The draft, however, is the first change to the state’s media laws since Al Thani established the Doha Center for Media Freedom in 2008.According to the draft, violators of the law will be subjected to penalties of up to one million Qatari Riyals (275,000 US dollars).Article 53 of the draft law prohibits publishing or broadcasting information that would “throw relations between the state and the Arab and friendly states into confusion” or “abuse the regime or offend the ruling family or cause serious harm to the national or higher interests of the state.”“Qatar’s commitment to freedom of expression is only as good as its laws, which in this case do not meet the international standards it professes to support,” said Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.“Instead of supporting press freedom, this draft media law is a commitment to censorship.”The New York-based rights organization highlighted the case of an imprisoned Qatari poet, Mohammed al-Ajami - also known as Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb, who was arrested in Doha on November 16, 2011 after reciting a poem in admiration of revolutions across the region.Amnesty International said he was charged with “inciting to overthrow the ruling system” and “insulting the emir.”

[ed notes:as if  dropping the censorship law ,will expunge Qatar crimes abroad like funding terrorists in Libya,or Syria..notic how they say if Qatar is serious about its leadership role in region it will drop law,basically saying you do that  and you are ok,meanwhile the funding to terrorists abroad they wont touch that....also see... Amnesty International on Behalf of Imperialism  How the US State Dept. Recruited Human Rights Groups to Cheer On the Bombing Raids: Those Incubator Babies, Once More?  Amnesty International's Track Record in Haiti since 2004  “Human Rights” Warriors for Empire  Human Rights Watch Brings Neoliberalism To Africa  War Crimes Airbrushed from History: Evidence of Israeli "Cowardly Blending" Comes to Light  Media Manipulation and Human Rights: From Pinochet to Human Rights in China  Massacre in Jenin, Human Rights Watch and the Stage-Management of Imperialism  Hijacking Human Rights: A Critical Examination of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Branch and their Links to the ‘Democracy’ Establishment

UK ‘discards own citizen who refused to spy on Muslims’

A Somali-born Briton was stripped of his citizenship by the home secretary and probably taken in secret to the US for illegal detention and torture as reprisal for his refusal to become an MI5 informant, his family alleges.

Mahdi Hashi grew up in the UK from the age of five and was a British citizen. This summer the 23-year-old went missing, and his family found out that the Home Office had stripped him of his passport for allegedly being involved in Islamic “extremist activities”.His parents are distraught. They say that Madhi is an innocent victim of a British intelligence plot and that he was punished after he refused to work for MI5.“All I can say is that Madhi is a Muslim in belief; he is a practicing Muslim. But being a practicing Muslim does not mean an Islamist. That’s all why he is being victimized,” says Mahdi’s dad Mohamed Hashi. Read more…

Obama administration works to launch new Syrian opposition council
Josh Rogin, ForeignPolicy.com, Oct 30 2012
Syrian opposition leaders of all stripes will convene in Qatar next week to form a new leadership body to subsume the opposition Syrian National Council, which is widely viewed as ineffective, consumed by infighting, and little respected on the ground, The Cable has learned. The State Dept has been heavily involved in crafting the new council as part of its effort oust Assad and build a more viable and unified opposition.. US officials and opposition leaders are calling the initiative the Riad Seif plan.  Of the other three, one traveled from Sweden, one from Jordan, and one from Kuwait. They all spoke briefly and then left the room while the foreign ministers discussed the road ahead. A senior administration official told The Cable:

We wanted more but we couldn’t get them out. The other people were chosen by people from the inside. The New York meeting was designed to tee up the idea that there has to be a new political structure, not just the SNC. The exact structure of the council will be determined in Qatar, not before. We call it a proto-parliament. One could also think of it as a continental congress. We have to get them to bless the new political leadership structure they’re setting up and not only do we have to get them to bless the structure, but they have to get the names on it. We need to be clear: This is what the US supports, and if you want to work with us you are going to work with this plan and you’re going to do this now. We aren’t going to waste any more time. The situation is worsening. We need to do this now.

 The US government will be represented at the Nov 7 Qatar meeting by Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who has been dealing with various opposition groups and weighing in on the composition of the new council, a senior administration official said. For example, Ford pressed for the council to have 50 members in order to include 20 representatives of the internal opposition alongside 15 members of the SNC and 15 other representatives of various Syrian opposition organizations. The idea is also to create an eight- to 10-member executive body made up of technocrats who are not on the new council that would be able to work directly with foreign governments on a day-to-day basis on practical items such as the delivery and direction of humanitarian assistance. The official said:

We could finally have an interface to say, ‘The needs of this place are greater than the needs of people in that place, so please direct assistance here or there.’

 But the Obama administration’s efforts go beyond the attempt to stand up the new council. Although members of Ford’s staff have been in communication with representatives of the opposition Free Syrian Army for some time, in July, Ford made his first in-person contact with the FSA during a visit to Cairo. A special conference call was arranged earlier this month between Ford and several FSA commanders, the official confirmed. 
[ed notes:so zionazi robert ford was meeting with fsa leaders last month?no surpise there...as far as this meeting in doha is concerned...the opposition has  been in doha  waiting for this meeting in luxury hotels,with no smiles supposedly lol..see... LOOK WHOS IN DOHA...ZIONIST AMMAR  also see
THE  SYRIAN HASBARA NETWORK  IN TURKEY Holding...  

‘Key witness’ in Polish presidential plane crash dies, suicide suspected

 A Polish parliamentary investigation into President’s Lech Kaczynski plane crash in Smolensk in 2010 is considering witness protection: A flight engineer set to deliver critical testimony was found hanged in his house in Warsaw. ­The body of Remigiusz Muś, a 42-year-old aviation engineer, was found by his wife in the cellar of their house [...] Read more…

Lebanon Military Prosecution Detains 8 Members of “Free Syrian Army”
Military Investigating Judge in Lebanon Imad Al-Zein issued Monday arrest warrants against eight Syrians, six of them are members of the so-called “Free Syrian Army” and two are supporters of it, the National News Agency reported.The agency indicated that “the arrest warrants were issued after investigating with the detainees for possessing big amounts of unlicensed military weapons and munitions, and firing at the Lebanese army from their tents in Biqaa.”“Judge Zein completed his investigations and referred the file to the military prosecution to review the case,” the agency added

[ed notes;original source national news agency   Eight Syrian pro FSA arrested

Europe sustaining illegal IsraHell settlements
EU imports 15 times more from illegal Israeli settlements than from Palestinians, new report revealsBroad coalition calls on Europe to move decisively beyond rhetoric on settlements The European Union imports 15 times more from Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories than from Palestinians themselves, a new report1 from a coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations, including Christian Aid UK and Ireland, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Diakonia revealed on 30 October.The report, entitled Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements, is the first to compare available export data from Israeli settlements and Palestinians, highlighting the inconsistency at the heart of EU policy.The EU states: “Settlements are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace, and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible”, but continues to provide a primary export market for settlement products. Most EU member states have failed to ensure products are correctly labelled in stores, leaving consumers unaware of the products’ true origin, contrary to the EU’s own directives.The Israeli government estimates the value of EU imports from settlements at around 230 million euros a year, compared to 15m euros a year from Palestinians.“Europe says settlements are illegal under international law and yet continues to trade with them. Consumers are unwittingly contributing to the injustice by buying products that are inaccurately labelled as coming from Israel when in fact they are from settlements in the West Bank,” said William Bell, Policy and Advocacy Officer at Christian Aid UK and Ireland.The report, which has a foreword by the former the EU commissioner for external relations, Hans van den Broek, calls on European governments to adopt a range of concrete measures to stop assisting settlement expansion and close the gap between words and practice. At a minimum, the coalition is calling for clear labelling guidelines to ensure European consumers do not unknowingly buy settlement goods.2 Such guidelines already exist in the UK and Denmark.

[ED NOTES;CLICK LINK FOR WHOLE REPORT..A MUST READ,PLEASE SHARE..

Lawmaker: Ties with US Result in Settlement of 1 Million People in Graveyards
"(Resumption of) the relations with the US will yield no interest for us, because they have a problem with the essence of the Islamic Revolution of Iran," Iranian Parliament's Presiding Board member Javad Jahangirzadeh told FNA on Tuesday. Relations with the US would end in the same fate experienced by Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Qaddafi and Ben Ali, he said, and continued, "If relations with the Untied States could lead to the development of a country, over one million Egyptians would not live in family cemeteries and the Yemeni people would have a different fate today." 

George Galloway on the turkey and syria conflict -  ''TURKEY IS A FRIEND OF ISRAHELL''!
► 6:08► 6:08	www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_VLulSc-KkNEW2 days ago - 6 min George Galloway talks about the recent conflict between Turkey and Syria

[ED NOTES;ALSO SEE...

HARUN YAHYA(ADNAN OKTAR) A SECRET ... - THENAKEDFACTS

South Africa’s ruling party endorses anti-Israel boycott
Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel, Oct 29 2012

Senior members of South Africa’s ruling party this week endorsed a boycott of Israel, seemingly contradicting Pretoria’s official stance of maintaining trade ties with Israel. The move is likely to further strain already frayed ties between the countries. During an international conference hosted by the ANC, which controls two thirds of the National Assembly, delegates endorsed the anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment movement. According to a press release by the South African BDS chapter, there was “wide-spread support from international delegates for the adoption and support of the Palestinian BDS call.” Responding to an objection from a German delegate, who said Israel cannot be compared to South Africa during the apartheid era, ANC chairperson and former South African deputy president Baleka Mbete said Israel was actually “far worse than Apartheid South Africa,” according to a press release published by BDS South Africa. The release states:

Ms Mbete received a resounding round of applause from delegates for articulating this position.

The PLO official present at the conference welcomed the ANC’s support for BDS. In Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry reacted angrily. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel in response to the announcement:

The government of South Africa has stated time and again that it is against boycotts. This release being a hodgepodge of half-truths and entire lies serving as arguments to recommend a policy rejected by the South African government, we’re waiting for South African officials to respond and clarify the official position.”

The president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Zeev Krengel, said, according to local newspaper The Citizen:

Mbete’s statement is the usual attempt to bash and demonize Israel. It is disappointing for Jewish people in South Africa as this adds no value but to incite a level of anti-Israel feeling. Jerusalem is beginning to think the government in Pretoria is as hostile toward Israel as the Iranian regime.

The ANC’s third International Solidarity Conference, which ended Sunday, drew about 1,000 delegates from South Africa and across the globe, mostly former anti-apartheid activists, trade union representatives, religious leaders and various other progressive and left-wing groups. According to the conference’s website:

The meeting aims to unite the likeminded people of the world for peace, solidarity and social transformation to create a world free of human rights abuses and creation of sustainable environments.

Relations between Jerusalem and Pretoria have been strained for several years now, but the rift intensified in May after Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said:

I intend to issue an official notice to require traders in South Africa not to incorrectly label products that originate from the Occupied Palestinian Territory as products of Israel.

In August, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim called upon the citizens of his country to avoid visiting Israel because of Jerusalem’s treatment of Palestinians. Ebrahim said:

Israel is an occupier country which is oppressing Palestine, so it is not proper for South Africans to associate with Israel.

Wissam al-Hassan: A Man Who Had Many Enemies
He was aware of the damage done to Israel through the unraveling of its spy networks in Lebanon, starting in 2007 when the Intelligence Branch commenced its counter-intelligence operations.Hassan also received a clear message from the US Congress, which cut back on some of the joint programs between his branch and its American counterparts. On one occasion, several US Senators explicitly informed Hassan that were facing Israeli pressure to stop their assistance to Lebanon.But the clearest message came from the Jordanian intelligence officer he met with almost a year ago and whose warnings he took seriously.The information was leaked to the press and treated, as usual, as fodder for internal Lebanese politicking. The Information Branch was accused of fabricating the information to use it to pry communications data from telecom operators. Earlier this year, Hassan got another warning. In January 2012, he received a letter from the United Arab Emirates’ intelligence body saying they had credible information that a high ranking officer from the ISF would be targeted with a car bomb in Achrafieh on the road between the ISF headquarters and the officer’s safe house.But for the security officers concerned with the investigation, the issue was critical. Hassan did not know who was behind the plot discovered by UAE intelligence.He assumed it was related to Syrian intelligence operations. He remained convinced of this until he met a UAE intelligence official who told him that their information points to al-Qaeda, specifically one of their groups operating out of the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp.Wissam al-Hassan knew he had to stay a step ahead of his adversaries, some of whom remained a mystery even to him. He knew his enemies were many and that the last seven years of his life as a top intelligence chief only made him more of a target.
[ed notes:click link for whole article...

Months before Assassination, Jordanian Intelligence Warned Al-Hassan: "Israel" Wants Your Head http://www.english.moqawama.org/essaydetails.php?eid=21381&cid=274   

Under the title, "Wissam al-Hassan: They want my head,", "al-Akhbar" Lebanese newspaper revealed information that reflect the possibility of "Israel's" involvement in Achrafieyh blast; thus, the assassination of Lebanese Information Branch head.According to "al-Akhbar" Tuesday's editorial, the victim informed people close to him, that Jordanian officials warned him he is at the center of "Israeli" targets.In details, months before his murder, al-Hassan told a number of his close associates about two meetings he held with the head of Jordanian intelligence [in Germany] and a minister in a direct connection with the Jordanian intelligence. "The two men reported information from meetings with "Israeli" Intelligence officials," al-Hassan said.Al-Hassan further revealed the content of the Jordanian officials talks with the "Israelis", which tackled the situation in Lebanon and its consequences.According to "al-Akhbar" sources, the Jordanians addressed al-Hassan by saying: The "Israelis" aren't satisfied with your performance and you have to be cautious."In parallel, one of the two men warned al-Hassan: "You have to be careful, even in Europe .""Al-Hassan was aware of the fact that the "Israelis" wanted his head and said more than once that he is no longer safe during his visits to Europe," the daily mentioned.It also noted: "The victim knew the size of "Israeli" wrath resulting from the fall of their espionage cells in Lebanon since 2008."Moreover, other sources unveiled to "al-Akhbar" that "The beginning of this year carried another alert to al-Hassan.""He received a letter, in January 2012, from United Arab Emirates Intelligence based on reliable information that a senior officer in the Lebanese Internal Security Unit will be a target of an assassination attempt," they said.Al-Akhbar quoted these sources as saying: "The officer will be the target of a car bomb in the Achrafieyh, on the road between the ISF building and the ISF official's residence.""Al-Hassan was surprised for until that moment , his secret office was unknown," the newspaper added.In this context, it also highlighted: "An Emirati official told al-Hassan that available information reflected that "al-Qaeda", particularly a group in ain al-Helwe camp, is preparing for an assassination attempt."

Federación De Entidades Argentino-Palestinas

PUBLIC OPINION The Argentine Committee of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Federation of entities Argentino-Palestinas, looks at the need to communicate that the ethics Court to the occupation and colonization by Israel in Palestine is momentarily postponed. Due to the pressures of some Zionist entities that unfortunately manipulated the objectives of this Court in solidarity with the Palestinian people, has refused us access to public and private facilities, therefore organisations and personalities convening shall timely new date of the event. Committee Argentina of solidarity with the Palestinian people
Federation of Argentino-Palestinas entities

Uprooted Palestinians: More Saudi forgeries: 'Gaza's 'al Kassam' becomes Shia' 'Ya Zeinab'

White House incumbent and GCC fortunes
There is no declared preference as to whom the GCC would like to see in the White House for the next four years because very little will change for us.It seems all around the world, many leaders and people are following, with much anticipation and apprehension, the US Presidential election on November 6. The outcome will weigh on many issues and may affect their well-being and fortunes in the next four years.However, the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf in particular have borne the brunt of much of US blunders and missteps — which left Iraq shattered, emboldened Iran and upset the fragile balance of power in the Arabian Gulf. Now the US has coined a new phrase for its allies and foes … “Leading from behind”. Is it war fatigue? Or a growing public disenchantment over wars and foreign interventions.I believe in the Arab World and in the Arabian Gulf states, the survey could have mixed results. Not much will change in America’s overarching strategic approach to regional countries and issues. ‘The Change’ will be more in style and less in substance and may be a bit in policy. However, Romney, with his neoconservative agenda, provocative and sabre-rattling statements has come out in favour of war against Iran. He has made an offensive and insulting observation on Palestinians, saying that they are lagging behind the Israelis “because culture does matter”. He was mum on the issue of Israeli occupation, confiscation of land and depriving Palestinians from their rights. He was quite racist and offensive not only to Palestinians, but to all Arabs. For sure, it did not win him friends in the region

It was a welcome move by the US to engage the GCC states this year to elevate its strategic ties from bilateral, country-to-country contact in the GCC to dealing with the GCC collectively as a single entity. I had said in an earlier piece in Gulf News, that this move represents a major shift in US strategic thinking and a shift in US ties with its GCC allies. It is a move from alliance to partnership and should serve both sides well. The GCC has become, with its soft power and a bit of its hard power, the de facto leader of the Arab world due to its role in navigating, leading, initiating and steering the Arab world in times of crises. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in a meeting with the GCC foreign ministers last March, had reiterated the US commitment. “I underscore the rock-solid commitment of the US to the people and nations of the Gulf,” she had said. The US has promised to provide its GCC allies with a missile defence system to protect the GCC’s oil wells and ports from possible Iranian attack.The US shares with the GCC states the need to combat a host of regional challenges that require collective effort, rather than approaching them in an ad hoc, bilateral fashion. Clinton had pointed out at the Strategic Forum in March that the challenges for the US and GCC include ”terrorism, nuclear proliferation, piracy, as well as broader economic and strategic ties. Among other things, it should help the American and GCC militaries pursue in concert a set of practical steps, such as improving inter-operability, cooperating in maritime security, furthering ballistic missile defence for the region and coordinating responses to crises”.As I concluded my piece in Gulf News earlier, the GCC states, their leaderships and people yearn for security and peace for we are living in tough neighbourhood and are fed up with endless crises and wars. There is no declared preference as to whom we would like to see in the White House over the next four years … because we know very little will change for usProfessor Abdullah Al Shayji is the chairman of the Political Science Department, Kuwait University. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/docshayji

[ED NOTES:OK  PROFESSOR LETS RECAP HERE... ON ONE HAND,YOU CRITICIZE  FRAGMENTED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GCC AND WEST(WHO CONDUCTED 3 ZIONIST WARS),INSULTED PALESTINIANS AND EMBOLDENNED IRAN AFTER IRAQ WAR(WICH YOUR COUNTRY KUWAIT INSTIGATED) RIGTH?ON THE OTHER HAND,YOU ARE PRAISING,AND PROMOTING THE VERY SAME WEST AND NATO WHO WERE BEHIND THOSE WARS WITH HELP OF GCC MONARCHIES AND YOUR COUNTRY CORRECT?...I SWEAR YOU COULDN'T MAKE THIS S#&T UP,IF YOU TRIED MY DEAR READERS...

Dr. Al-Shayji earned his Ph.D degree from the  University of Texas in Austin, USA  http://www.ecssr.com/CDA/en/ProfileBank/ViewProfile/0,,2637,00+en-USS_01DBC.html

JINSA SYMPATHIZES WITH SAUDIS ON BAHRAIN REPRESSION...
Arab Fears of Abandonment Could Threaten U.S. Interests http://www.jinsa.org/fellowship-program/evelyn-gordon/arab-fears-abandonment-could-threaten-us-interests#.UJEOl9uoMuN

Perhaps the most noteworthy example was Saudi Arabia's decision to send troops into Bahrain last year without even warning Washington, thereby destroying America's hopes for a negotiated solution between Bahrain's Sunni government and the Shi'ite-led opposition. Saudi Arabia is not only one of America's closest Arab allies, it has traditionally been averse to employing military force outside its bordersYet without confidence that Washington would keep the Iranian wolf from its door, Riyadh felt it had no choice. "We don't want Iran 14 miles off our coast, and that's  not going to happen," a senior Saudi official bluntly told The Washington Post. Having lived with Iranian-backed militias on two of their borders for years, Israelis can sympathize.

For all these states, as cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010 made clear, the make-or-break issue  is Iran's nuclear program. Saudi Arabia urged the U.S. to attack Iran and " cut off the head of the snake."Abu Dhabi's crown prince warned, " Ahmadinejad is Hitler." King Hamad of Bahrain said Iran's nuclear program "must be stopped," because "the  danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it." Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared that the Iraq war "was unnecessary,"  but "Iran is necessary." A senior Jordanian officialsaid that military action against Iran would  be "catastrophic," but he "nonetheless thought preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons  would pay enough dividends to make it worth the risks."All these countries would be delighted if sanctions and diplomacy did the trick instead.But they want  Iran's nuclear program stopped, whatever it takes - and they want to be convinced that America will see to it.Many Americans are understandably weary of American involvement in the Middle East, but the region is still too important to be ignored. Reassuring America's Arab allies should therefore be a priority for whoever wins next month's presidential election.[ED NOTES:LETS ASSESS THAT ABOVE, 1-JINSA,SUPPORTS SAUDI REPRESSION IN BAHRAIN!!! 2-JINSA SUPPORTS GULF PUPPET MONARCHIES AGAINST IRAN 3-JINSA ADVOCATES THAT WHOEVER IS ELLECTED NEW US PRESIDENT NEXT, THEY SHOULD REASSURE THEIR ARAB ALLIES (AND JINSAS )CONCERNS ...ALSO SEE...  ZIONAZI JINSA ADMITS SANCTIONS ON IRAN(ON ITS ZIONISTS AT JINSA ARE ASKING OBAMA WHY ATTACK 5 MUSLIM COUNTRIES BUT NOT 8 INSTEAD http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2011/06/zionists-at-jinsa-are-asking-obama-why.html

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