Pope's Letter to Putin...

SYRIA CRISIS: POPE'S LETTER TO
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN:

To His Excellency

Mr Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

 In the course of this year, you have the honour and the responsibility of presiding over the Group of the twenty largest economies in the world.  I am aware that the Russian Federation has participated in this group from the moment of its inception and has always had a positive role to play in the promotion of good governance of the world’s finances, which have been deeply affected by the crisis of 2008.

In today’s highly interdependent context, a global financial framework with its own just and clear rules is required in order to achieve a more equitable and fraternal world, in which it is possible to overcome hunger, ensure decent employment and housing for all, as well as essential healthcare.  Your presidency of the G20 this year has committed itself to consolidating the reform of the international financial organizations and to achieving a consensus on financial standards suited to today’s circumstances.  However, the world economy will only develop if it allows a dignified way of life for all human beings, from the eldest to the unborn child, not just for citizens of the G20 member states but for every inhabitant of the earth, even those in extreme social situations or in the remotest places. 

From this standpoint, it is clear that, for the world’s peoples, armed conflicts are always a deliberate negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and deep wounds which require many years to heal.  Wars are a concrete refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the international community has set itself, as seen, for example, in the Millennium Development Goals.  Unfortunately, the many armed conflicts which continue to afflict the world today present us daily with dramatic images of misery, hunger, illness and death.  Without peace, there can be no form of economic development.  Violence never begets peace, the necessary condition for development. 

The meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the twenty most powerful economies, with two-thirds of the world’s population and ninety per cent of global GDP, does not have international security as its principal purpose.  Nevertheless, the meeting will surely not forget the situation in the Middle East and particularly in Syria.  It is regrettable that, from the very beginning of the conflict in Syria, one-sided interests have prevailed and in fact hindered the search for a solution that would have avoided the senseless massacre now unfolding.  The leaders of the G20 cannot remain indifferent to the dramatic situation of the beloved Syrian people which has lasted far too long, and even risks bringing greater suffering to a region bitterly tested by strife and needful of peace.  To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution.  Rather, let there be a renewed commitment to seek, with courage and determination, a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation of the parties, unanimously supported by the international community.  Moreover, all governments have the moral duty to do everything possible to ensure humanitarian assistance to those suffering because of the conflict, both within and beyond the country’s borders.

Mr President, in the hope that these thoughts may be a valid spiritual contribution to your meeting, I pray for the successful outcome of the G20’s work on this occasion.  I invoke an abundance of blessings upon the Summit in Saint Petersburg, upon the participants and the citizens of the member states, and upon the work and efforts of the 2013 Russian Presidency of the G20. 

While requesting your prayers, I take this opportunity to assure you, Mr President, of my highest consideration. 

From the Vatican, 4 September 2013

Francis

 

VATICAN CITY, THE HOLY SEE, has consistently opposed military interventions by Western powers since the Civil War began in Syria two years ago. Of particular concern

to them has been the plight of Christian communites who have been subjected to

repeated attacks, killings and lootings by the savage Jihadists of al-Nusra (a direct offshoot of al-Queda in Iraq) and Brigade of Islam, armed, financed and supported by the US, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. NO protests, complaints or concerns for the Christians of Syria have ever been made by the NATO hypocrites and their stooges in the Middle East.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palestine victory at UN

                                (Cartoon: International Herald tribune)

Palestinian Victory at UN

irks Washington/Tel-Aviv

Axis: 

On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to grant Non-member Observer Status to the State of Palestine.

UN Member States number 193. Five didn’t vote. Of those that did, 138 said Yes, nine voted No, and 41 abstained.

As well as USA, Israel and Canada, countries voting No included the Czech Republic, Panama, and four small Pacific island states; Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau. These muppet states are all in hock to the USA financially or politically.

Countries which  abstained included Britain, Germany, Australia, Colombia, South Korea, Haiti (under US-installed puppet president Michel Martelly), Singapore, Rwanda (under US supported Paul Kagame), the Netherlands, Paraguay (under coup d’ etat installed puppet  president, Federico Franco), Poland, Hungary, and 29 others. In a split among EU countries who could not reach a unanimous agreement, Ireland, Italy, France and Spain voted in favour of the resolution much to the consternation of the US and Israeli delegations.

US Opposition

US President Obama strongly opposed upgrading Palestine’s status. He affords Israel one-sided support. No rights for Palestinians is official US policy. US Secretary of State,

Hillary Clinton indulged in bullying, bluster and imperialist arrogance. She blasted the UN vote. “Unfortunate and counterproductive,” she called it. In other words, any support for Palestine cannot be tolerated in the Imperialist World Order.

Palestine was eligible for full de jure UN membership many years ago. Palestine already is a state. The UN vote upgraded its status. The Western whore press misreported what happened. It was really about upgrading  the Palestine state to non-member observer status. The State of Palestine  already exists. It was proclaimed in Algiers on November 15, 1988. At the time, the PLO adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence. PLO legal advisor Francis Boyle drafted it. He called it “determinative, definitive, and irreversible.” It recognized the General Assembly’s 1947 Partition Plan in good faith. 

It also declared:

• its commitment to the UN Charter’s purpose and principles;

• the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), policy, and principles of nonalignment;

• its natural right to defend the Palestinian state, while rejecting “the threat or use of force, violence and intimidation against its territorial integrity and political independence or those of any other state;”

• its willingness to accept UN supervision on an interim basis to terminate Israel’s occupation;

• its call for a Middle East International Peace Conference based on UN Resolutions 242 and 338;

• its asking for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Palestinian lands – since 1967, including East Jerusalem;

• its willingness to accept a voluntary confederation between Jordan and Palestine;

• its “rejection of terrorism in all forms, including state terrorism…;” and

• its acceptance of UN Charter Article 51, the four 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the 1907 Hague Regulations on Land Warfare.

Palestine satisfies all essential criteria for sovereign independence and full de jure UN membership.

All UN Charter states  provisionally recognized Palestinian independence in accordance with UN Charter article 80(1) and League of Nations Covenant article 22(4). As the League’s lawful successor, the General Assembly has exclusive legal authority to designate the PLO Palestine’s legitimate representative.

The Palestine National Council (PNC) is the PLO’s legislative body. It’s empowered to proclaim the existence of Palestine. According to the binding 1925 (League of Nations British Mandate) Palestine Citizenship Order in Council, Palestinians, their children and grandchildren automatically become citizens. So do diaspora Palestinians. Those living in Israel and Jordan have dual nationalities. Occupied Territory residents remain “protected persons” (under the Fourth Geneva convention) until a final peace settlement is reached.

Boyle’s “CREATE THE STATE OF PALESTINE” Memorandum of Law described characteristics needed for world community recognition. They include:

A determinable (not necessarily fixed) territory. Its borders are negotiable. The new state is comprised of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians have lived there for millennia. They rightfully deserve universally recognized sovereignty.They have a fixed population. They are a legitimate state with a functioning government. It is peace loving. It accepts UN Charter provisions and can administer them. It is willing to do so.

In 1988, Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, declared the PLO Palestine’s Provisional Government. It has the capacity to enter into relations with other states. Palestine fully qualifies on all counts. It did so many years ago. Palestine’s Proclamation of Independence created the Government of Palestine (GOP). 

UN Membership

UN approval requires qualifying based on five conditions:

Applicants must be a state, peace loving, accept UN Charter’s provisions, be able to administer them, and be willing to do so. The Security Council only recommends new Member States. Petitioning the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution 377 for an up or down two-thirds vote overrides potential Security Council rejection.The General Assembly has sole admission authority. Thursday’s vote required a majority of voting Member States. Full de jure membership requires a two-thirds vote.

The affect of the November vote means that Palestine can join the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC).Israeli officials can be sued for crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Illegal settlements, outposts, Gaza’s siege, the Separation Wall, and other illegal practices by the Israeli occupiers can be challenged.

Palestine can join the Statute for the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The State of Israel can be sued on the above charges and others.

Palestine can join the Law of the Sea Convention. Doing so establishes sovereignty over its territorial waters. They contain significant gas reserves.

Palestine can become a High Contracting Party to the Four Geneva Conventions. They deal with laws of war and accountability.

Palestine can join the International Civil Aviation Organization. Doing so affords control of its own airspace.

Palestine can join the International Telecommunications Union. With it comes sovereign control over its airwaves, phone lines, and bandwidth.

Palestine’s new status affords all of the above. 

This is what irks Washington and the Zionist Israeli illegal occupiers of Palestinian territory. They can now be held accountable by International Justice for their crimes against the Palestinian people.

 Washington shriek-owl's apoplexy: 

The sourest note in the debate was provided by US representative Susan Rice. The notorious undiplomatic "diplomat" spewed a vitriolic anti-Arab racist diatribe against the Palestinians and their supporters in the General Assembly. Tactless, imprudent and thoughtless, the Stanford Shriek-Owl of Imperialist Hegemony denied the Palestinians their national dignity which is the entitlement of all peoples under the UN Charter and declared that the US, as on all previous occasions, will support only "solutions" to the Middle East conflict which have been approved by Israel. Feigning support for "peace" Rice twists words to ensure that the "peace" referred to is nothing less than the diktat of Zionist Israel, the US's proxy warmonger in the Middle East and elsewhere.

"We will continue to oppose firmly any and all unilateral actions in international bodies or treaties that circumvent or prejudge the very outcomes that can only be negotiated, including Palestinian statehood. And, we will continue to stand up to every effort that seeks to delegitimize Israel or undermine its security. Progress toward a just and lasting two-state solution cannot be made by pressing a green voting button here in this hall. Nor does passing any resolution create a state where none indeed exists or change the reality on the ground. For this reason, today’s vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for U.N. membership. It does not. This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state" Rice declared, dismissing the right of the Palestinians to self-determination as provided by the UN Charter.

Ricezilla was favoured by Mr Obama to replace Hypocrite Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in his new Cabinet but, mounting opposition against the choice across party lines in the US Congress seems to be favouring former Presidential candidate, John Kerry, to eventually get the job. Rice has acted as the perfect  front woman for no-holds-barred imperial ravaging. She’s ultra-hawkish, thuggish, and contemptuous of fundamental human rights. 

Murky dealings

Rice's participation in murky dealings in Africa is well documented. In 1993, she served on Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. She was his Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from October 1997 to January 2001. She supported Washington’s Imperialist war in Afghanistan. In February 2003, weeks before Iraq was attacked, she was asked about Colin Powell’s infamous UN WMD speech which claimed proof that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass-destruction. When it was too late to matter, he called it the “lowest point in his life.” At the time, Rice disagreed. She thought he “proved that Iraq had these weapons" and was, supposedly, hiding them, and she "didn’t think that many informed people doubted that.”

She was involved in  the proxy genocidal wars in  Democratic Republic of Congo. Washington  covertly supported Ugandan and Rwandan forces invading the resources rich Eastern provinces of the Congo. Eastern Congo, the most distant area from the Capital, Kinshasa, and long subject to revolts and rebellions since independence in 1960, was ravaged. Millions of innocent Congolese citizens died in these proxy wars. It’s happening again right now by a rebel force led by ex-Rwandan military. At stake are vast mineral resources. They’re largely untapped. They include oil, gold, diamonds, copper, uranium, cobalt, and tantalum. This is a rare earth essential for manufacturing high-tech electronics. Nuclear power producers also need it.

Rice has close ties to Rwanda’s US supported leader Paul Kagame. Washington trained him at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. She’s also connected to Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni.  African expert Keith Harmon Snow believes the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is “a tool of the Museveni government used to manipulate public opinion, create chaos across the region, gain international sympathy from foreign donors, and serve as a  ruse to facilitate permanent foreign military intervention.” In 2001, the State Department named it a terrorist organization. Since 2008, it’s been called a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group. Washington regularly uses Al Qaeda jihadists and various other groups as allies and enemies.

After the US invasion destroyed Iraq, she supported long-term occupation. She wants no quick pullout of US troops from Afghanistan. She endorsed Imperialist war on Libya last year. She falsified claims about Gaddafi forces committing mass rapes. She ignored US/NATO sponsored killer gang atrocities in the conflict. Rice is an unashamed apologist for war crimes committed by the USA and its allies both official and unofficial.

Rice's conflicts of interest

Several newspapers in the USA have raised questions of Rice's major unexplained conflicts of interest. Rich-bitch par-excellence, according to her 2011 financial disclosures she and her husband own “at least $1.25 million worth of stock in four of Canada’s eight leading oil producers.” These include Enbridge, the oil company extracting the highly toxic tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada's, boreal forest, which are being destroyed to access the oil. Also according to her 2011 financial disclosures she has up to $600,000 equity in TransCanada Corp. It’s building the environmentally destructive Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would cross the Canadian border at North Dakota and proceed through the Midwest on its way to Houston, Texas area oil refineries. The pipeline would cross over the main source of water for the Midwest, the Ogallala Aquifer. The oil would be shipped to China from Houston to fuel that country's expanding energy needs. The pipeline has yet to be approved by the US Senate. 

Rice also has holdings between $5.0 to $11.25 million dollars in the Royal Bank of Canada and lesser Canadian financial institutions funding the tar sands - Keystone XL pipeline enterprises. Her father owned a British Columbia lumber company. Her husband is a former television producer. In 2009, their net worth was estimated at between $23.5 and $43.5 million. These corporate connections are seen by many in the US political sphere as a conflict of interest too big to ignore if Rice had been nominated as next Secretary of State.

In the event, Mr Obama has backed off nominating Rice, choosing Kerry instead; nevertheless, Rice, therefore, remains as a divisive, toxic presence at the United Nations.

Palestinian President Abbas and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon after the vote in the General Assembly