From the Independent
The West is silent as Libya falls into the abyss
Patrick Cockburn, Sunday 2 November 2014
Remember the time when Libya was being held up by the American, British, French and Qatari governments as a striking example of benign and successful foreign intervention? It is worth looking again at film of David Cameron grandstanding as liberator in Benghazi in September 2011 as he applauds the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi and tells the crowd that “your city was an example to the world as you threw off a dictator and chose freedom”.
Mr Cameron has not been back to Benghazi, nor is he likely to do so as warring militias reduce Libya to primal anarchy in which nobody is safe. The majority of Libyans are demonstrably worse off today than they were under Gaddafi, notwithstanding his personality cult and authoritarian rule. The slaughter is getting worse by the month and is engulfing the entire country.
“Your friends in Britain and France will stand with you as you build your democracy,” pledged Mr Cameron to the people of Benghazi. Three years later, they are words he evidently wants to forget, since there was almost no reference to Libya, the one military intervention he had previously ordered, when he spoke in the House of Commons justifying British airstrikes against Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq.
The foreign media has largely ceased to cover Libya because it rightly believes it is too dangerous for journalists to go there. Yet I remember a moment in the early summer of 2011 in the frontline south of Benghazi when there were more reporters and camera crews present than there were rebel militiamen. Cameramen used to ask fellow foreign journalists to move aside when they were filming so that this did not become too apparent. In reality, Gaddafi’s overthrow was very much Nato’s doing, with Libyan militiamen mopping up.
Human rights organisations have had a much better record in Libya than the media since the start of the uprising in 2011. They discovered that there was no evidence for several highly publicised atrocities supposedly carried out by Gaddafi’s forces that were used to fuel popular support for the air war in the US, Britain, France and elsewhere. These included the story of the mass rape of women by Gaddafi’s troops that Amnesty International exposed as being without foundation. The uniformed bodies of government soldiers were described by rebel spokesmen as being men shot because they were about to defect to the opposition. Video film showed the soldiers still alive as rebel prisoners so it must have been the rebels who had executed them and put the blame on the government.
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Rock throwers in Israel can now be sentenced to 20 years
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An amendment to Israel’s penal code will allow for sentences of up to 20 years for throwing stones or other objects at vehicles.
Israel’s Cabinet passed the amendment at its weekly meeting on Sunday.
“Israel is taking vigorous action against terrorists and those who throw stones, firebombs and fireworks,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting.
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From PressTV
Egypt, Israel agree to set up Gaza buffer zone: Report
Egypt and Israel have agreed on a plan for the establishment of a buffer zone along the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip, a report says.
According to the Qatar-funded al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper, an unnamed Western diplomat recently said Egyptian and Israeli leaders had earlier agreed over the plan regarding the creation of the buffer zone.
The Qatari daily is reportedly headed by a former Arab member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset).
The paper said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire in Gaza back in August – which ended its deadly 50-day war on the Palestinian enclave – in order to prevent Qatar and Turkey from getting involved.
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Haaretz
Analysis || Netanyahu rooting for Republicans in U.S. midterm elections
White House staffers don’t need the National Security Agency to guess what results the Israeli prime minister would like to wake up to on Wednesday morning.
The lights will be on very late Tuesday night in the Prime Minister’s Office, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be glued to Fox News as he waits for a call from Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer about the results of the midterm U.S. congressional elections.
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Kerry calls Netanyahu, apologizes for anonymous ‘chickenshit’ remark
JERUSALEM (JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for a U.S. official’s anonymous attack describing the Israeli prime minister as “chickenshit.”
The conversation took place on Friday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters the following day. Kerry on Thursday had called the slur “disgraceful, unacceptable, damaging,” saying, “That does not reflect the president, it does not reflect me.”
In the phone call, Kerry and Netanyahu also discussed the situation in Jerusalem and the importance of de-escalating tensions.
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From PressTV
Israeli lawmaker tours al-Aqsa Mosque amid tensions
An Israeli lawmaker has visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid high tensions over restrictions against Palestinians to enter the holy site.
On Sunday, Israeli MP Moshe Feiglin toured the al-Aqsa compound while angry protesters chanted slogans against his presence there.
The far-right member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) is among leading supporters for increased Israeli access to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The MP’s tour came only days after an Israeli mayor visited the compound.
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From PressTV
ISIL executes another group of Sunnis in Anbar
The ISIL Takfiri terrorists have executed another group of Sunni people in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, tribal sources say.
“Daesh (ISIL) executed last night (Saturday) 67 members of the Albu Nimr tribe including children and women,” said Naeem al-Kaud, a senior leader the Sunni Albu Nimr tribe, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.
The official added that the victims were among around 200 tribal captives held by the Takfiris in the town of Ras al-Maa, north of Anbar.
“The 125 others also face the threat of death,” he stated.
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