Dear Israel… thank you

Thank God for Israel. We should be sending them bouquets right now. Great big arrangements of tube-roses and gladiolas, with a little card pinned to a leaf. Inside should be a cute drawing of a teddy bear with hearts popping around him and a hand-written message saying “Dear Israel, stay villainous! You make us look good! Love, Pakistan.”

The killing of aid workers on the way to Gaza by typically over-zealous, kill-hungry Israeli forces is a tragedy. It is an act of heinous cruelty by a nation that has worked hard towards innovating in the field of heinous cruelty. And most importantly, it distracted attention away from us. Because right now, we are looking pretty heinous and cruel ourselves. Almost 100 innocent Pakistanis killed in a single act of terrorism, perpetrated on the basis of religion, condoned by a government that is conspicuously silent in regards to criticism of the event and sanctioned by a nation that never once raised a voice of protest against such repugnant discrimination.

Talat Hussain arrives back home

Three Pakistanis, including TV anchor and columnist for Express Tribune Talat Hussain, who were detained by Israel following the brutal Israeli army raid on Freedom Flotilla, arrived in Islamabad on Friday.

After a warm welcome, Talat thanked the journalist community, organizations and people from cross sections of the society for this respect and the prayers for their safe arrival.

Talat Hussain, said that he and his team “had seen death from very close,” as Israeli commandoes boarded the boat and fired indiscriminately. “They started firing and two people died close to where I was,” said Hussain, who arrived in Lahore on Thursday.

US fails to condemn Israel’s attack on aid flotilla

WASHINGTON: The United States has declined to condemn Israel for its raid on a humanitarian flotilla headed for Gaza, but said the incident showed Middle East peace talks were needed “more than ever”.

The White House and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did describe the situation in Gaza as “untenable” and “unacceptable,” but Washington’s reaction on Tuesday to the raid did not match the explicit rebukes of Israel of some of its allies.

As diplomatic fallout multiplied, and threatened to derail a laborious bid to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, US President Barack Obama also called key regional power broker, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Attack on Gaza peace flotilla

What country sends its soldiers to carry out a raid on a civilian ship, killing several people, and then blames the people on the ship for all the murder and mayhem? Israel. The head of the Israel Defence Force (IDF – a misnomer if ever there was one) was quoted as saying after the deadly attack on a flotilla of ships carrying activists from all over the world trying to break through Gaza’s naval blockade (in place since 2007) the following: “There is no connection between what occurred on the ship and peace efforts and humanitarian aid. Our forces were met with extreme violence from cold weapons, and in once instance, from firearms that were snatched from our fighters.” So, General Gaby Ashkenazi is saying that the soldiers of the much-vaunted Israeli army had to use all the resources – read weapons – at its disposal to quell the resistance it apparently faced from activists who were trying to break through the naval blockade. Perhaps one should ask the IDF chief if this indeed was the case, how come not a single Israeli soldier was killed or even wounded but 20 activists died?

We all need to stand up and be counted

The horrific attacks on the Ahmadi community on May 28 exacted nearly 100 lives. These are not random terrorist attacks. They are the outcroppings of Pakistan’s intolerant political structures and they morally implicate all of us. The attacks go back to so-called ‘disturbances’ in 1953 when violent mobs organised by a number of Islamic political groups went on a pillaging spree. The riots resulted in a Court of Inquiry under Justices Muhammad Munir and Muhammad Rustam Kayani. Their report provided a detailed analysis of the predicament of turning a pluralistic and multi-denominational country like Pakistan into a confessional state. It noted that no two alims could agree upon the exact definition of a Muslim, rendering impossible the task of deciding who falls within, much less outside, the definition. The implication was that the government must remain aloof in matters of freedom of conscience. These belong to the realm of theological debate, not of law and the state.

Iran warns Israel against attacking Syria

Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Rida Rahimi (right) shakes hands with Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otri after a news conference in Damascus….

DAMASCUS: Iran will “cut off Israel’s feet” if the Jewish state attacks Damascus, Iranian Vice- President Mohammad Rida Rahimi vowed on Friday at the end of a two-day visit to key regional ally Syria.

“We will stand alongside Syria against any (Israeli) threat,” Rahimi said at a news conference with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri. Rahimi described Syria as a “strong country that is ready to confront any threat” and pledged that Tehran “will back Syria with all its means and strength”. Earlier this month, Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed that Syria was supplying militant group Hezbollah with Scud missiles. Syria has denied the charges.

Ten killed in Israeli attack on Gaza-bound convoy

GAZA: At least ten people were killed, and 30 wounded in a naked Israeli attack on Gaza-bound aid convoy.

Israeli warships attacked at least one of the six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for blockaded Gaza. The al Jazeera satellite channel reported that Israeli navy forces fired at the ship and boarded it, wounding the captain.

The reports came just after daybreak, with the vessel still well away from the Gaza shore. Israel had earlier declared it would not allow the ships to reach Gaza.

Threat to destroy Indian N-plant stopped attack on Kahuta

Pakistan had warned India in the early 80s that an attack on nuclear assets in Kahuta would evoke a retaliatory strike on its Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay.

By Iftikhar A. Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan had warned India in the early 80s that an attack on nuclear assets in Kahuta would evoke a retaliatory strike on its Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay.

The truth about drone attack fatalities

Three US researchers, Matthew Fricker, Avery Plaw, and Brian Glyn Williams have written a paper on US drone attacks in Fata. It contradicts the widely held view in the media and academia that the attacks lead to large-scale civilian casualties. Their paper titled ‘New Light on the Accuracy of the CIA’s Predator Drone Campaign in Pakistan’ will be published in the Sentinel, the magazine of the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Centre.