Friday 27 December 2013
Mizher: Resistance must unite
Mizher: Resistance must unite to confront crimes like killing of child Hala Abu Sbeikha
Dec 26 2013
Mizher said that the killing of Abu Sbeikha, 3 years old, and the injury of a number of Palestinian civilians demonstrates the brutality of the criminal occupation who continues its aggression also against the Palestinian people in the West Bank through settlement construction, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the imposition
of facts on the ground and the assassination of the resistance.
He said that in light of this situation, Palestinian resistance forces must conduct a comprehensive review to develop a national strategic framework to confront the occupation and respond to its ongoing crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Mizher said that resistance is the right of our people
guaranteed by all international norms and conventions and that our people have the right to defend themselves in the face of this criminal aggression. He pointed out that the occupation seeks to maintain the situation and preserve the truce.
Mizher added that the Zionist occupation has noted the developing potential of deterrence of the Palestinian resistance during the recent war on Gaza, and hesitates to expand its operations in anticipation of the reaction of the Palestinian resistance, which previously has hit the heart of the Zionist entity with rockets. He noted that the occupation practiced killing and bombing operations from time to time in order to keeep the Strip and the resistance under the pressure of Zionist military operations, but that it seeks to maintain a calm that serves its interests in the present time in light of the situation in the Arab world and internationally.
Mizher noted that the Zionist occupation’s aggressive racist policies including the targeting of children and the elderly is consistent, in light of the ongoing and continuous breaches of the so-called truce through its targeting of farmers in the border areas, fishers in the sea, and others, as well as continuing the siege on
Gaza and turning it into a prison for over 1 million people. All of this is happening, he said, under the eyes of the international community which does not act to condemn or counteract the aggression, killings, siege and closure imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
The Front always rejects truce with the occupation as a wrong policy exploited by the Zionist occupation to continue its aggression and tyranny against our people, said Mizher. He criticized Hamas’ acceptance of an agreement for calm, because it serves to maintain its authority and presence in Gaza.
In another context, Mizher warned of the serious danger of the so-called Kerry Plan by the US Secretary of State that threatens the national rights of the Palestinian people, ignores the right of refugees to return and attempts to legitimate the ongoing occupation of the Jordan Valley, saying all must confront this
dangerous project and pressure the Palestinian leadership to reject any such projects and immediately end the negotiations, which are rejected across the Palestinian political and social spectrum.
aburahmaComrade Emad Abu Rahma, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, also called for the formation of a unified resistance front of all Palestinian factions to confront aggression against the Palestinian people in an interview with Voice of the People radio. Abu Rahma said that the program of resistance
is the realistic and practical alternative to the futile negotiations which achieved nothing for the Palestinian people and are a mechanism to impose the US-Israeli project upon the Palestinian people.
The Kerry proposals include the adoption of the full vision of Zionist “security” to perpetuate the occupation and settlements, with no recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to return and self-determination, said Abu Rahma.
Speaking to the siege on Gaza and the occupation authorities’ closing of Kerem Shalom crossing, Abu Rahma noted that this is an ongoing method used as a means of pressure against Palestinians in Gaza. He called on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for the free movement of goods and people, in
order to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people facing occupation and siege.
Dec 26 2013
Zionist aggressions continually target the Palestinian people in different forms, bombing Palestinians, targeting innocent civilians in the border areas, and today targeting innocent children through indiscriminate shelling of homes, noting the murder of Hala Abu Sbeikha, said Comrade Jamil
Mizher said that the killing of Abu Sbeikha, 3 years old, and the injury of a number of Palestinian civilians demonstrates the brutality of the criminal occupation who continues its aggression also against the Palestinian people in the West Bank through settlement construction, the Judaization of Jerusalem, the imposition
of facts on the ground and the assassination of the resistance.
He said that in light of this situation, Palestinian resistance forces must conduct a comprehensive review to develop a national strategic framework to confront the occupation and respond to its ongoing crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people. Mizher said that resistance is the right of our people
guaranteed by all international norms and conventions and that our people have the right to defend themselves in the face of this criminal aggression. He pointed out that the occupation seeks to maintain the situation and preserve the truce.
Mizher added that the Zionist occupation has noted the developing potential of deterrence of the Palestinian resistance during the recent war on Gaza, and hesitates to expand its operations in anticipation of the reaction of the Palestinian resistance, which previously has hit the heart of the Zionist entity with rockets. He noted that the occupation practiced killing and bombing operations from time to time in order to keeep the Strip and the resistance under the pressure of Zionist military operations, but that it seeks to maintain a calm that serves its interests in the present time in light of the situation in the Arab world and internationally.
Mizher noted that the Zionist occupation’s aggressive racist policies including the targeting of children and the elderly is consistent, in light of the ongoing and continuous breaches of the so-called truce through its targeting of farmers in the border areas, fishers in the sea, and others, as well as continuing the siege on
Gaza and turning it into a prison for over 1 million people. All of this is happening, he said, under the eyes of the international community which does not act to condemn or counteract the aggression, killings, siege and closure imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
The Front always rejects truce with the occupation as a wrong policy exploited by the Zionist occupation to continue its aggression and tyranny against our people, said Mizher. He criticized Hamas’ acceptance of an agreement for calm, because it serves to maintain its authority and presence in Gaza.
In another context, Mizher warned of the serious danger of the so-called Kerry Plan by the US Secretary of State that threatens the national rights of the Palestinian people, ignores the right of refugees to return and attempts to legitimate the ongoing occupation of the Jordan Valley, saying all must confront this
dangerous project and pressure the Palestinian leadership to reject any such projects and immediately end the negotiations, which are rejected across the Palestinian political and social spectrum.
aburahmaComrade Emad Abu Rahma, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, also called for the formation of a unified resistance front of all Palestinian factions to confront aggression against the Palestinian people in an interview with Voice of the People radio. Abu Rahma said that the program of resistance
is the realistic and practical alternative to the futile negotiations which achieved nothing for the Palestinian people and are a mechanism to impose the US-Israeli project upon the Palestinian people.
The Kerry proposals include the adoption of the full vision of Zionist “security” to perpetuate the occupation and settlements, with no recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people to return and self-determination, said Abu Rahma.
Speaking to the siege on Gaza and the occupation authorities’ closing of Kerem Shalom crossing, Abu Rahma noted that this is an ongoing method used as a means of pressure against Palestinians in Gaza. He called on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for the free movement of goods and people, in
order to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people facing occupation and siege.
U.S. judge says NSA phone surveillance is lawful
U.S. judge says NSA phone surveillance is lawful
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL
NEW YORK Fri Dec 27, 2013
CREDIT: REUTERS/JIM URQUHART
(Reuters) - A federal judge ruled that a National Security Agency program that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls is lawful, calling it a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.
Friday's decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan diverged from a ruling by another judge this month that questioned the program's constitutionality, raising the prospect that the Supreme Court will need to resolve the issue.
In a 54-page decision, Pauley dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit contending that the NSA collection of "bulk telephony metadata" violated the bar against warrantless searches under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The judge also referred often to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died, and said broad counter-terrorism programs such as the NSA's could help avoid a "horrific" repeat of those events.
"This blunt tool only works because it collects everything," Pauley wrote. "Technology allowed al Qaeda to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. The bulk telephony metadata collection program represents the government's counter-punch."
The program's existence was first disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in Russia under temporary asylum. His leaks have sparked a debate over how much leeway to give the government in protecting Americans from terrorism.
ACLU PLANS APPEAL
Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. said the "almost Orwellian" NSA program amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion" that was likely unconstitutional.
Leon also ordered the government to stop collecting call data on the two plaintiffs in that case, but suspended that portion of his decision so the government could appeal.
The ACLU has argued before Pauley that the NSA program was an unwarranted "dramatic expansion" of the government's investigative powers over Americans' day-to-day lives.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, on Friday said the group was "extremely disappointed" with Pauley's decision, saying it does away with "core constitutional protections. He said the ACLU will appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said the department is pleased with the decision.
Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. ultimately accept Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case will get to the (Supreme Court) by the end of next year."
President Barack Obama has defended the surveillance program but has indicated a willingness to consider constraints, including whether to give control of metadata to phone companies or other third parties. Intelligence officials have said this could prove costly and slow investigations.
On December 18, a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on some NSA surveillance operations.
It said that because intelligence agencies could not point to specific cases where telephony metadata collection led to a major counter-terrorism success, the intrusiveness of such intelligence gathering might outweigh the public benefit.
Obama is expected next month to set forth his own proposals for possible surveillance reforms.
RUBBER STAMP, OR VITAL WEAPON?
In rejecting the ACLU motion for a preliminary injunction to block the NSA program, Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combating terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."
While acknowledging that the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," he said its constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."
Pauley added that he found no evidence that the government had used bulk telephony metadata for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.
The program also faces a legal challenge by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a data privacy group. In a statement, the group said it was "obviously disappointed" with Pauley's decision, but that it would continue pursuing its own cases.
Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist who brought the case before Judge Leon, called Pauley's ruling "an outrageous decision that ignores the legitimate fears of the American people and in effect rubber stamps a police state."
Pauley was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton. Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Both cases interpreted a 1979 Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Maryland, that said people have no "legitimate expectation of privacy" regarding phone numbers they dial because they knowingly give that information to phone companies.
While Leon said Smith's relevance had been "eclipsed" by technological advances and the advent of cell phones, Pauley said this did not undermine the finding that people have "no subjective expectation of privacy in telephony metadata."
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterintelligence & Terrorism, in a statement said Pauley's decision "preserves a vital weapon for the United States in our war against international terrorism."
The case is American Civil Liberties Union et al v. Clapper et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-03994.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Ros Krasny and Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Dan Grebler)
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL
NEW YORK Fri Dec 27, 2013
 |
A National Security Agency (NSA) data gathering facility is seen in Bluffdale, about 25 miles (40 kms) south of Salt Lake City, Utah, December 17, 2013. |
CREDIT: REUTERS/JIM URQUHART
(Reuters) - A federal judge ruled that a National Security Agency program that collects records of millions of Americans' phone calls is lawful, calling it a "counter-punch" to terrorism that does not violate Americans' privacy rights.
Friday's decision by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan diverged from a ruling by another judge this month that questioned the program's constitutionality, raising the prospect that the Supreme Court will need to resolve the issue.
In a 54-page decision, Pauley dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit contending that the NSA collection of "bulk telephony metadata" violated the bar against warrantless searches under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The judge also referred often to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died, and said broad counter-terrorism programs such as the NSA's could help avoid a "horrific" repeat of those events.
"This blunt tool only works because it collects everything," Pauley wrote. "Technology allowed al Qaeda to operate decentralized and plot international terrorist attacks remotely. The bulk telephony metadata collection program represents the government's counter-punch."
The program's existence was first disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in Russia under temporary asylum. His leaks have sparked a debate over how much leeway to give the government in protecting Americans from terrorism.
ACLU PLANS APPEAL
Pauley ruled 11 days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. said the "almost Orwellian" NSA program amounted to an "indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion" that was likely unconstitutional.
Leon also ordered the government to stop collecting call data on the two plaintiffs in that case, but suspended that portion of his decision so the government could appeal.
The ACLU has argued before Pauley that the NSA program was an unwarranted "dramatic expansion" of the government's investigative powers over Americans' day-to-day lives.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, on Friday said the group was "extremely disappointed" with Pauley's decision, saying it does away with "core constitutional protections. He said the ACLU will appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Peter Carr said the department is pleased with the decision.
Stephen Vladeck, an American University law professor who specializes in national security, said if federal appeals courts in New York or Washington, D.C. ultimately accept Leon's analysis, "then it seems likely, if not certain, that this case will get to the (Supreme Court) by the end of next year."
President Barack Obama has defended the surveillance program but has indicated a willingness to consider constraints, including whether to give control of metadata to phone companies or other third parties. Intelligence officials have said this could prove costly and slow investigations.
On December 18, a White House-appointed panel proposed curbs on some NSA surveillance operations.
It said that because intelligence agencies could not point to specific cases where telephony metadata collection led to a major counter-terrorism success, the intrusiveness of such intelligence gathering might outweigh the public benefit.
Obama is expected next month to set forth his own proposals for possible surveillance reforms.
RUBBER STAMP, OR VITAL WEAPON?
In rejecting the ACLU motion for a preliminary injunction to block the NSA program, Pauley said the public interest tilted "firmly" toward the government, for which combating terrorism "is an urgent objective of the highest order."
While acknowledging that the program "vacuums up information about virtually every telephone call to, from, or within the United States," he said its constitutionality "is ultimately a question of reasonableness."
Pauley added that he found no evidence that the government had used bulk telephony metadata for any reason other than to investigate and disrupt terrorist attacks.
The program also faces a legal challenge by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a data privacy group. In a statement, the group said it was "obviously disappointed" with Pauley's decision, but that it would continue pursuing its own cases.
Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist who brought the case before Judge Leon, called Pauley's ruling "an outrageous decision that ignores the legitimate fears of the American people and in effect rubber stamps a police state."
Pauley was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton. Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Both cases interpreted a 1979 Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Maryland, that said people have no "legitimate expectation of privacy" regarding phone numbers they dial because they knowingly give that information to phone companies.
While Leon said Smith's relevance had been "eclipsed" by technological advances and the advent of cell phones, Pauley said this did not undermine the finding that people have "no subjective expectation of privacy in telephony metadata."
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterintelligence & Terrorism, in a statement said Pauley's decision "preserves a vital weapon for the United States in our war against international terrorism."
The case is American Civil Liberties Union et al v. Clapper et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-03994.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Ros Krasny and Nate Raymond; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz and Dan Grebler)
President undertakes visit to Israel, Palestine!
''Israel and Sri Lanka renewed diplomatic ties in 2000, and reportedly have a robust military relationship. Israeli weaponry, including Kfir fighter jets and Dvora fast attack boats helped Sri Lanka to defeat the Tigers terrorists in 2009.'' The Island December 26, 2013, 8:59 pm
President undertakes visit to Israel, Palestine
December 26, 2013, 8:59 pm
The Island By Ifham Nizam
President Mahinda Rajapaksa accompanied by a top delegation, would shortly visit Israel and Palestine, a Presidential Secretariat official said.He said the four day tour in January would involve a number of discussions with a special focus on strengthening economic ties with the two countries. President Rajapaksa would spend two days in Israel and the other two days in Palestine.
Top agenda for President Rajapaksa would be his meetings with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, the official said.
President Rajapaksa will discuss ways and means of promoting bilateral relations and opportunities for further cooperation in various fields such as agriculture, tourism, trade and employment.
The Island learns that President Rajapaksa led delegation will discuss holding annual consultations which they believe will provide a solid platform to further strengthen multifaceted relations and promote closer economic cooperation for mutual benefit between Sri Lanka and these two nations.
Sri Lanka and Israel held their first bilateral consultation on enhancing trade ties last year. This came immediately after Palestinian President Muhammad Abbas toured Sri Lanka and signed several agreements.
Recently discussions were held between External Affairs Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama and Ruth Kahanoff, head of Asia and the Pacific department of the Israeli foreign ministry. Both were heading their respective delegation at bilateral consultations.
Israel recently also agreed to offer more employment opportunities for Sri Lankans.
Israel and Sri Lanka renewed diplomatic ties in 2000, and reportedly have a robust military relationship. Israeli weaponry, including Kfir fighter jets and Dvora fast attack boats helped Sri Lanka to defeat the Tigers terrorists in 2009.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=94791
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