reed writes

Henry Siegman, director of the U.S./Middle East Project, is a visiting research professor at the Sir Joseph Hotung Middle East Program, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is a former Senior Fellow on the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations and, before that, was national director of the American Jewish Congress from 1978 to 1994. Here is what he wrote in Ha’aretz, Israel’s largest daily newspaper.

By Henry Siegman

Following Israel’s bloody interdiction of the Gaza Flotilla, I called a life-long friend in Israel to inquire about the mood of the country. My friend, an intellectual and a kind and generous man, has nevertheless long sided with Israeli hardliners. Still, I was entirely unprepared for his response. He told me—in a voice trembling with emotion—that the world’s outpouring of condemnation of Israel is reminiscent of the dark period of the Hitler era. (more…)

“Iran’s Jewish community lives in relative tranquility…”

Roger Cohen, a usually conservative-minded columnist for The New York Times, is often the most unusually open-minded writer when it comes to looking at the world around us.

It’s one of the things that I like most about The Times – it is home to such a wide variety of intelligent observation and informed opinion. It’s a comforting place to go in the morning with cup of coffee and an inquiring mind. (more…)

First draft of a speech for Prime Minister Harper   (disclaimer follows) .

Ladies and Gentleman,

First let me congratulate the President-Elect of the United States on his forthcoming inauguration.

Let me also say that Canada is ready and willing to work with you Mr. President, to address in a positive way, some of the most urgent problems facing our planet today.

In particular, I wish to address the issue of Iran's nuclear policy.

Let me say that my government has held discussions with Iranian officials and also with officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency; both have assured us that the government of Iran has no plans to produce a nuclear weapon. For that we are grateful. I wish to add that Iran has offered additional assurances that ought to go some way to alleviate the fears of all those who are concerned about the future peace of our world, including Israel, a state, which has expressed concern for its own security.

Mr. President, the time for belligerent and bellicose rhetoric – as we have both agreed – has passed. The time for angry and provocative slogans has passed.

Indeed, the time has come for a new approach. One that will offer all of us a way out of what seems to so many – an impasse – with no peaceful exit.

Let me be blunt Mr. President.

America has a long and particularly difficult history with Iran. It's a painful history that goes back to the combined British and American action of 1953, to overthrow the democratically elected government of Mohammed Mossadegh. That historical mistake was then compounded by the installation of the dictator, Shah Reza Pahlavi. His autocratic approach to government divided the Iranian people and contributed to the poisoning of relations with America and indeed with the West.

That is simply the stark reality, which we cannot ignore.

We find ourselves today in the deepest and most dangerous of dilemmas.

Mr. President, I repeat, Canada stands ready to do its part.

My government is calling today for the establishment of a world-wide consortium of uranium-producing nations. This consortium, under the legal authority of the United Nations, would undertake to assist the government of Iran and other governments in the development of full-scale nuclear enrichment programmes, dedicated to the production of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. Such a programme would, of course, be subject to strict inspection rules laid down by the IAEA under the direction of its Chairman, the highly respected Dr. Mohammed elBaradei.

Further we call on the community of nations – collectively – to renounce once and for all – any further development of weapons of mass destruction.

Further – we call on all nations, which have not yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to do so without delay.

And finally, we call on all nations, now in possession of nuclear weapons or nuclear facilities of any kind, to open all of their facilities to unfettered international inspection. 

In order to reach these goals, Canada calls upon all members of the international community to support the convening of a bona fide international working group. This group would include your country, Mr. President, as well as Iran, all other members of the Security Council and delegates from IAEA.

Only by taking decisive and meaningful action immediately, will we be able to move forward along the path of peace, which all of us wish to follow.

Thank you.

(Disclaimer: There is no doubt that such a proposal by Mr. Harper followed to its logical conclusion would win him the Nobel Peace prize. It would ensure his legacy as a peacemaker in the ranks of Lester B. Pearson and Nelson Mandela. However it is unlikely that Mr. Harper will ever deliver this speech or indeed anything like it, because he would be calling on India, Pakistan and Israel to support and obey international law.)

[I hope I'm wrong].

Bush’s nuclear hypocrisy exposed.

For almost eight years, the Bush administration has condemned other nations for pursuing a nuclear weapons arsenal, while at the same time maintaining its own storehouse of WMD. Moreover, Bush has – like other American leaderts – turned a blind eye to the actions of the most powerful nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East, Israel.

Now we see a strong argument being made that is diametrically opposed to the  Bush administration’s views…and a radical departure from American political and miltary policy.

According to Today’s Nrw York Times

"A who’s who of the (American) national security establishment — George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry and Sam Nunn — is calling on the United States to lead a global campaign to devalue and eventually rid the world of nuclear weapons.

None of these men (two former secretaries of state, a former secretary of defense and a former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee) is given to casual utopianism — or anything casual. They are trying to shock sensibilities"

The fact that this cadre of dyed-in-the-wool warmongering conservative establishment elite is calling for a global ban on nuclear weapons is a good sign.

The question is this: will the leaders of the world listen…or is it already too late?

Read more here in the New York Times.

Government , Lies and Secrecy

“The Israelis, who are one of the few peoples whose survival is genuinely threatened, are probably more likely than almost any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons.”

That statement was contained in a secret memorandum written in 1969 by Henry Kissinger.

So much of what happens in government is kept secret that it’s no wonder the public can be easily hoodwinked and frightened. The idea that we in the Western World, live in a truly free, democratic and open society is, in some respects at least, disingenuous.

The truth is, we live under regimes that prefer to keep important information under wraps, even when the public’s safety and global wellbeing are at stake. "Democratic" countries such as The United States, Canada and the powerful nations of  the west, claim openess based on the fact that eventually, secret documents are released. The catch is that the information is so old by release time, that it serves only to reveal the stupidity and callous mendacity of the authors…and never in time for the public to react.

Moreover, the mainstream media have shown little interest in alerting the public to the real truth of their leaders’ actions and lies until the last possible moment.

This morning The New York Times published a story about documents concerning Israel’s nuclear weapons capability, explaining that they were "newly released". The fact is – these documents were available over a year ago.

The National Security Archive is a valuable tool for researchers who want to know more about important information secreted in U.S. government files and want that knowledge sooner rather than later.

The revelation of this secret information doesn’t help to correct past mistakes and deliberate prevarication, but it can inform us about just how untrustworthy our leaders really are. It can inspire us to demand more of our present leaders.

On October 7, 1969 , Israeli Ambassador Ytzakh Rabin formally stated to the US authorities that  Israel would not become a nuclear power; but at the same time, the ambassador declared that his country would never sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  This was a clear indication that despite its prouncements to the contrary, Israel reserved the right to itself to become a nuclear power not subject to international law. Kissinger believed Israel had the capacity to build a bomb and also the determination to use it.

• If Kissinger and Nixon did believe that in fact – the Israeli’s might one day actually use their nuclear weapons, why didn’t they take action?
• Why did they simply attempt to have Israeli politicians agree to come clean with their nuclear programme and then go silent when Israel declined to do so?
• Why were they so accepting of Israel’s potential arsenal? 
• Why did they not insist that Israel sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
• Why did they quietly and privately and accept – without real challenge – the deception that allowed Israel to become a nuclear power.
• And why do the nations of the western world still go along with the fiction that Israel may not have such weapons?

The entire effort of the Nixon administration was directed at permitting Israel to act outside the norms of international law.

Now all that deception and all those lies are coming back to haunt the world, as Iran pursues a similar course of prevarication and secrecy, although under a different set of rules and the threat of  an American military attack.

If it’s true that the present leadership in Iran does want to build a nuclear weapon – it may be because they know that way back in 1969, Henry Kissinger speculated that Israel would be " more likely than almost any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons.”

The course of action to pursue now…is for the world to insist on full supervision, inspection and control of all nuclear programmes in The Middle East and elsewhere.