Today, which is the feast of St. Andrew also marks the anniversary of the murder of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu at the behest of the Jews in Romania in 1938. Codreanu was Romanian Orthodox and leader of The Legion of the Archangel Michael. He was known to his comrades as Căpitanul ("The Captain").A man who fought and died for God and Nation.
Do remember him in your prayers.
A recommended book is The Prison Notes.
http://thoughtactioneire.blogspot.ie/2011/10/prison-notes-corneliu-zelea-codreanu.html
Irish people are standing up for themselves. This article reposted below is of great public interest.
Posted on November 29, 2012 by raymond
A short time ago, this writer received a copy of a confidential formal Notice sent yesterday to Minister Phil Hogan demanding answers to a number of hard hitting questions about his controversial Household Charge Act. The Notice was copied to Noonan, Shatter, senior judges, and others.
Hogan was given 72 hours to answer “in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner” a series of pointed and well-thought-out questions. If Hogan doesn’t answer each and every question completely and satisfactorily he will be forced to answer to the Irish People in the High Court early in the New Year.
The Notice served on Hogan arises from a summons served on an individual (whom we shall not name in the interest of privacy). This individual has been summonsed to appear in court for failing to make a declaration regarding the Household Charge.
This lawful challenge to the Powers That Be is incredible news! At last, some Irish people have found the cojones to stand up for themselves. It’s now time for us all to row in behind the originators of this powerful document and show all these colluders in government and the judiciary that it is they who are subservient to us – not the other way round. It is time the masters took over their own house and put the uppity servants in their place.
The Notice was served on Hogan by Fitzpatrick Financial Solutions (FFS) of Portlaoise and we say fair play to them and wish them well when they take on Hogan in the High Court. We can see that FFS mean business by the depth and detail of the questions posed. Their language is also forthright and assertive.
In dealing with Hogan’s Department of the Environment, FFS accuses the Minister and his staff “of a criminal conspiracy and cover up.”
FFS warns Hogan: “If you do not answer ALL of the questions in the manner prescribed, we will have no issue standing the €157 required, for our client to take you and your cohorts into the High Court and force you to answer publically [sic] for your duplicity.”
FFS asks the Minister a very pertinent question that goes to the core of this traitorous government and the last one: “How is ‘the Act’ of the ‘Household Charge Act 2011′ not the equivalent to dictatorship, bondage and slavery?”
I’m posting the full document here in the greater public interest.
Household Charge Notice to Phil Hogan 2711121
Also, I understand the author of this document will be giving a talk on the Household Charge at the Lay Litigation Day on Saturday, 8th December, in The Grand Hotel, Moate, Co. Westmeath, from 8.30am to 6.30pm.
www.LayLitigationDay.eventbrite.com
If you are fighting the banksters, or know someone who is, this is a day not to be missed.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1129/mullingar-eviction-andrew-bradshaw.html
A Mullingar man in his 30s is battening down the hatches after an apparent attempt to evict him from his home.
Supporters are flocking to Andrew Bradshaw's home at 5 Beechlawns, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, after he returned home yesterday to find the locks changed on his front door.
Mr Bradshaw has been surrounded by friends and supporters of the Anti-Eviction Taskforce in a bid to keep him in his home.
"I hadn't expected to find myself locked out of my own home," said Mr Bradshaw, an out-of-work mobile panel beater who has lived at the Mullingar address for over ten years.
Mr Bradshaw said that his dogs had also been removed, but he later retrieved them, before regaining access to his home. He spent most of yesterday evening securing locks and boarding up his windows with pallets.
There was another knock at the door early this morning, which went unanswered. "We're under siege here," he said.
A notice has been posted on the front door with contact details for Dublin-based solicitors, Margetson & Greene, stating that access to the house can be gained by contacting Mullingar Garda Station.
Word of Mr Bradshaw's situation has spread, with anti-eviction activists and common law activists calling on members of the public to join them at Beechlawns to stop any moves towards eviction.
This morning, a local resident - who has been following Mr Bradshaw's situation on Facebook - dropped by with a bag of turf and some words of support.
A video featuring an interview with Mr Bradshaw has been posted on the web, in which he gave some more details about his circumstances.
He said that the death of a close family member, and a subsequent road accident, led him to a situation where he was forced to go to sub-prime lenders to keep up with his mortgage repayments.
But his supporters are determined that he has rights.
"It's an asset grab," one supporter fumed. "This is just another example of tangible assets being arrogantly taken away from ordinary people by banks and financiers."
With Enda Kenny keen to avoid being branded the “Abortion Taoiseach’, Leo Varadkar has outlined he is not a ‘fan of referendums’. Many have noted that the “Expert Group” avoided an option of putting this to the Irish people. People across Ireland have spoken in relation to the killing of unborn babies.
O’Duffy fought for Faith and Nation. What does the modern day Fine Gael stand for?
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/varadkar-not-calling-for-an-abortion-referendum-576019.html
29/11/2012 - 11:27:35
The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar is denying reports that he clashed with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the issue of a referendum on abortion.
The Irish Independent reported that Mr Varadkar told a Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meeting last night that a referendum on the issue of suicide as grounds for a termination should not be ruled out, but the Taoiseach disagreed.
Minister Varadkar said the events of parliamentary party meetings are private.
However, he did say that he has never called for a referendum.
Mr Varadkar said: "There certainly wasn't a row and I can tell you that for certain.
"What there was was a very good three-hour meeting where 50 to 60 people gave their views on how we should move forward on the abortion issue. I haven't and I am not calling for an abortion referendum, I am not a fan of referendums at all."
News via Youth Defence
https://www.facebook.com/YouthDefence
“EVERY child matters - born and unborn. At the Dáil today to launch a new campaign to make sure Fine Gael keeps its PRO-LIFE promise.”
Earlier this year thousands of people protested outside the Labour centenary conference in Galway. Labour under Gilmore has certainly turned its back on the people. The Labour party is losing members and support. Many of their politicians are expected to retire at the next general election.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/resignation-mars-labour-centenary-celebrations-3308959.html
“By Fiach Kelly and Conor Kane
Wednesday November 28 2012
LABOUR Party centenary celebrations in Tipperary this weekend have been overshadowed by a local councillor resigning from the party because of its policies in government.
Former Clonmel mayor Darren Ryan (29) has left the party because he says Labour "has lost its traditions and values".
Labour was founded in Clonmel in 1912 and special centenary celebrations are planned for this weekend.
Mr Ryan, who sits on Clonmel Borough Council and South Tipperary County Council, is an ally of Labour MEP Phil Prendergast.
Mr Ryan said the party had "turned its back on the very people it claims to represent.
"The four founding principles of the party – freedom, equality, community and democracy – have not been to the forefront whilst making decisions in government."
- Fiach Kelly and Conor Kane”
Vigils have continued outside the abortuary since it opened. Let’s have it closed by Christmas.
Edwin Poots considering move that could hit Belfast abortion clinic
By Noel McAdam
Wednesday, 28 November 2012Edwin Poots said he is considering measures which could see Northern Ireland's first private abortion clinic put out of business.
The health minister told the Assembly that he is looking at the possibility of only allowing legal pregnancy terminations on NHS facilities in Northern Ireland.
If such a move was approved it would make abortions at the private Marie Stopes clinic illegal.
The clinic opened last month amid protests from pro-life campaigners.
The subject was raised at Stormont on Monday when Mr Poots answered questions about the Marie Stopes clinic and the lack of guidance for healthcare professionals carrying out abortions in Northern Ireland.
At Question Time Traditional Unionist MLA Jim Allister asked the minister whether “to bring certainty and quell the controversy that has arisen from the opening of the Marie Stopes abortion clinic, an option he might consider would be to provide that such termination of pregnancy as may be lawful in certain circumstances could only lawfully be carried out in a National Health Service facility?”
Mr Poots replied: “We are considering all options and are seeking legal advice on all of them with respect to what can be applied in Northern Ireland. The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) is continuing with its course of work.
“There is different governance for Northern Ireland than for the rest of the UK in that respect. It may be something that can be done simply by giving the RQIA all the responsibility for monitoring all bodies.
“Alternatively, it may be that we only permit abortions to be carried out in a health service facility. All those things are open for discussion. All those things are currently being looked at.”
UUP MLA Sandra Overend asked if Mr Poots would follow the probe of the death in Galway of Savita Halappanavar “so that any lessons relevant to Northern Ireland could be quickly applied”.
Mr Poots responded: “I am very clear that we set the rules here on abortion. It is not something that has been kept at Westminster, and I am glad that it is not with Westminster. A previous Secretary of State indicated that it was their deepest regret that they had not introduced abortion to Northern Ireland.”
It is understood Mr Poots was referring to Mo Mowlam.
A few weeks ago thousands of Irish people marched through the town of Castlebar. Politicians will say or do anything to get elected.
27/11/2012 - 17:42:18
The Pro Life Campaign said today that the Taoiseach would be breaking a pre-election promise if he introduces legislation for abortion.
It claimed that the simplest way to provide legal clarity to women with medical complications during their pregnancy is to draw up new guidelines rather than legislation.
Barrister William Binchy has called on the Taoiseach to keep his promises.
"The Taoiseach is the member of a political party and has given a pre-election pledge not to introduce legislation for abortion in this country," he said.
"There's no need to do so. There's absolutely no need to do so."
Life is precious.
https://www.facebook.com/PreciousLife.Ireland
“THIS IS A LIVE BABY, BORN WITHOUT THE MOTHER'S "WATER" BEING BROKEN FIRST!
It's a newborn, still in the sac. I thought it was an amazing opportunity to see something so rare. Like a glimpse of what it's like "on the inside". Hope you all appreciate it as much as I do. I can't believe how squished up they are, inside of it! Amazing!”
Innocent human lives are torn apart during an abortion. No to the intentional killing of our future generation. Abortion is murder.
By Fionnan Sheahan, Fiach Kelly and Lise Hand
Tuesday November 27 2012
FINE Gael is tearing itself apart over the threat of suicide being grounds for abortion – as a shadow is cast over the expert advice given to the Government on the issue.
A respected member of the expert group on abortion resigned last summer, but her departure was never disclosed by Health Minister James Reilly.
A leading family doctors' representative, Dr Ailis Ni Riain, was one of two GPs on the expert group, but she left the group in unexplained circumstances in May. Dr Ni Riain was to the forefront of research into crisis pregnancies and post-abortion counselling.
Her resignation only came to light last night, as tensions mount in Fine Gael over abortion, with the risk of suicide as a grounds for a termination becoming the new battleground.
Party ministers and TDs told the Irish Independent they have a concern about the threat of suicide being used as a pretext for obtaining an abortion where there is not actually any psychological risk to the mother.
The stance puts Fine Gael A respected member of the expert group on abortion resigned last summer, but her departure was never disclosed by Health Minister James Reilly.
A leading family doctors' representative, Dr Ailis Ni Riain, was one of two GPs on the expert group, but she left the group in unexplained circumstances in May. Dr Ni Riain was to the forefront of research into crisis pregnancies and post-abortion counselling.
Her resignation only came to light last night, as tensions mount in Fine Gael over abortion, with the risk of suicide as a grounds for a termination becoming the new battleground.
Party ministers and TDs told the Irish Independent they have a concern about the threat of suicide being used as a pretext for obtaining an abortion where there is not actually any psychological risk to the mother.
The stance puts Fine Gael on a collision course with the Labour Party but also throws up a contradiction with the law as set out under the X Case.
Some TDs even believe there should be a referendum to resolve the issue, although they accept this is highly unlikely.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny gave his strongest indication yet that Fine Gael will not put up with a liberal abortion regime – because the vast majority of the public don't want abortion available on demand.
Mr Kenny also firmly ruled out any free vote in the Dail for Fine Gael backbenchers, which is causing a difficulty for many of his TDs.
Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar last night supported the Taoiseach's that decision – although he did concede that abortion is potentially the most divisive issue within Fine Gael.
To further complicate the matter, Dr Reilly has to explain why a member of the group resigned. That Dr Ni Riain's resignation only came to light last night, on the eve of the publication of the report, raises questions over why Dr Reilly didn't publicly disclose her departure.
The expert group was dogged by controversy over the delays in its completion amid speculation of disputes among its members.
Dr Ni Riain is a long-serving and prominent member of the Irish College of General Practitioners, where she previously served as Women's Health Director and Director of Advocacy and Professional Competence.
She was previously a member of several state boards, including the National Cancer Screening Programme.
Dr Ni Riain was unavailable for comment and the minister's spokesman said he was "unaware" of the reasons behind the resignation.
Meanwhile, the Government will discuss the report today. A fortnight ago, before the Savita Halappanavar case, the debate was over whether there would be new laws or not, but the frontline has now moved on to what criteria will be included.
"I don't think there is any problem in Fine Gael with passing legislation to protect the life of the mother. It's suicide that's the problem," a minister said.
Reservations
Fine Gael sources say there are up to 20 TDs in the party who would have reservations about where the line is drawn on granting permission for an abortion.
"How do you decide someone is going to commit suicide? We all accept the need for legislation and regulation, but where do you draw the line on some-
one coming out and saying they are suicidal? That is my biggest fear, that this will result in widespread abortion in years to come," another minister said.
The Coalition will today discuss and publish a report by an expert group on abortion, which indicates new laws will need to be passed.
Growing numbers of Fine Gael ministers and TDs accept new laws will be needed to clarify where a termination is needed to protect the life of the mother.
Under the X Case ruling by the Supreme Court, the threat of suicide is a reason to grant an abortion – and this is backed up the Government's expert group report. Labour's official policy is also to legislate for the X Case.
Mr Kenny says the vast majority of people now accept the Government has to deal with the abortion question – but don't want it available on demand.
In the clearest expression of his views on the contentious issue to date, Mr Kenny said "legal certainty" was needed for the medical profession.
The Taoiseach said the Government would "deal with" the report, adding: "We need to provide for legal certainty and for circumstances from a medic's perspective to deal with this.
"We will deal with it, don't ask me for a specific date, I don't envisage this drifting along interminably. I'd like to deal with it as soon as it's practicable to do so."
Health Minister Dr James Reilly said: "This is not an issue that I will leave behind me as Minister for Health."
- Fionnan Sheahan, Fiach Kelly and Lise Hand
With many Labour politicians expected to retire at the next election, will their parting shot be, abortion. In the sham that was the Children’s Rights referendum, Labour urged a ‘Yes’ vote. Now, they are seeking to allow for the killing of the unborn child during a ‘limited abortion’.A vote for Labour will be a vote for abortion should this political party contest future elections.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1126/breaking5.html
MARY MINIHAN
Labour will this week press for an early Cabinet commitment to legislate for limited abortion amid party concerns about Minister for Health James Reilly’s ability to implement a new legal framework.
The expert group on abortion’s report will be brought to Cabinet tomorrow. It says legislation consistent with the Supreme Court ruling on the X case is required and this should be followed by ministerial regulations.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin yesterday said the Government would act “speedily” and insisted the Coalition would not be the seventh administration to fail to act on the 1992 judgment.
An early statement of intent by Cabinet this week would provide cover for Labour backbenchers who will come under pressure to vote for former Socialist TD Clare Daly’s revamped abortion Bill on Wednesday night.
A group of Fine Gael TDs opposed to what they regard as “liberalisation” of abortion laws is expected to lobby Dr Reilly with their concerns about cases involving threatened suicide. Cork deputy Jim Daly said he “would be concerned that that might lead to abortion on demand”.
There is widespread disgruntlement among Fine Gael TDs that the expert group’s report was leaked to media outlets before they saw it. Party chairman Charlie Flanagan said: “I find it very regrettable that the report has been leaked ... and the public representatives haven’t seen it yet.”
In addition, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald called for Dr Reilly’s resignation over the weekend after The Irish Times disclosed that two locations in Dr Reilly’s North Dublin constituency were added to a list of places chosen for primary care centres the evening before the Government announcement.
There is also some doubt within Labour on Dr Reilly’s ability to steer legislation for limited abortion through the Oireachtas. However, Mr Howlin said he “absolutely” supported his Cabinet colleague, whom he said had one of the most difficult jobs in public life.
Dáil debate
Mr Howlin said on RTÉ’s This Week he hoped a “calm, considered, comprehensive” debate would begin in the Dáil this week, “and very speedily thereafter the Government will come to its own decisions in terms of drafting legislation and presenting that to the Oireachtas”.
The expert group’s report says women who have been refused abortions should have access to an appeals process to seek a review. Particular centres where terminations can take place should be specified.
The group of medical and legal experts favour setting out the provision of abortion in primary legislation, with related operational matters delegated to the Minister to govern through regulations.
Abortions could take place only when a risk to the life of the mother could be averted by terminating a pregnancy.
The report was commissioned before the death of Savita Halappanavar in University Hospital Galway in October. Ms Halappanavar’s husband, Praveen, has said doctors refused a termination when she was miscarrying because a foetal heartbeat was still present.
Labour Senator Ivana Bacik said: “It will be difficult to oppose Clare Daly’s Bill without some statement of intent to legislate.”
Many people saw the heavily pregnant Sinead Redmond speak at a rally agitating for abortion in Ireland. She is in her eight month of pregnancy. Many atheists and anti Catholic people are agitating for abortion on demand in Ireland. What has been discussed is the Irish constitution and in particular the preamble. These atheists take the time to make war on God, to renounce him, to mock him, to keep him out of society.
The common good in society is certainly not abortion on demand or any intentional killing of the unborn child in designated ‘clinics’. The preamble of our constitution is worth reading and sharing.
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom
is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all
actions both of men and States must be referred,
We, the people of Éire,
Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our
Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our
fathers through centuries of trial,
Gratefully remembering their heroic and
unremitting struggle to regain the rightful
independence of our Nation,
And seeking to promote the common good, with
due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity,
so that the dignity and freedom of the individual
may be assured, true social order attained, the
unity of our country restored, and concord
established with other nations,
Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this
Constitution.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/legal-abortion-not-the-answer-in-ireland-deaths
Tue Nov 20, 2012
Do the tragic deaths in Ireland of Savita Halappanavar and her pre-born daughter Prasa really make a case for legal abortion? Many across the world are coming to that conclusion but overlooking an important piece of information recently reported in The Irish Times and The Guardian: an autopsy revealed that Halappanavar died of septicaemia “documented ante-mortem” and E.coli ESBL.
Countless news reports are only talking about the septicaemia (i.e., blood poisoning), but few are discussing E.coli ESBL, which, incidentally enough, can lead to, you guessed it, septicaemia. Just what is E. coli ESBL? An antibiotic-resistant bacteria (not to be confused with regular strains of E. coli that cause food poisoning) that is associated with urinary tract infections (UTI). This strain of E. coli has been spreading in the UK and last year two babies died in nearby Wales because of it. The presence of E. coli ESBL is particularly problematic if Halappanavar was given antibiotics to fight an infection that was resistant to those very antibiotics.
According to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, E. coli is one of the most common organisms to cause a UTI and complicated UTIs are frequently associated with pregnancy. They write, “The likelihood of treatment failure and serious complications, particularly the development of antimicrobial resistance, is more common in cUTI [complicated urinary tract infection].
So instead of jumping to the conclusions that Halappanavar needed an abortion and that Ireland needs to legalize the killing of the youngest of its kind, the reasonable approach would be to get to the bottom of what Halappanavar’s condition was and examine how it was, or was not, responded to. We have yet to hear from the hospital and the medical professionals involved as to what precisely happened, but with this report of her dying from E. coli ESBL one wonders how killing Halappanavar’s baby Prasa would have killed the E. coli.
Is it possible that E. coli ESBL ascended her vagina and entered her uterus via the dilated cervix? Yes, that’s possible. But it’s also possible that her cervix dilated (thus initiating a miscarriage) because E. coli ESBL ascended her urinary tract and caused an infection in her kidneys, which can lead to uterine contractions, and if not treated, to cervical change.
So the infection could have been elsewhere in her body besides the uterus. Even if it was in the latter (a condition known as chorioamnionitis) then it is an ethical course of action to induce labour to eliminate this pathological and lethal condition (the presence of infected membranes) from her uterus. But that act itself wouldn’t have eliminated the E. coli ESBL if it actually originated in the urinary tract, which, if resistant to interventions like antibiotics, could have lead to the septicaemia.
And yet, The Toronto Star would have you believe, “There’s a very simple reason why Savita died. It’s because she wasn’t listened to.” On the contrary, much more needs to be known about how she died. But what we do know is that jumping to the conclusion that abortion should be legalized in Ireland overlooks the underlying medical condition and makes the dangerous assumption that we need to kill one person to save another.
In discussing such a topic one could be regarded as a ‘Fenian’ or a ‘West Brit stooge’ but it is an interesting article and comments from Peter Robinson, who famously requested an ‘Ulster fry’ when held in a Garda station in Co. Monaghan in 1986.
It is true that many Catholics are proud to be British and could be regarded as Ulster Loyalists also. Recently many Catholics and protestants stood together in opposition to the abortuary in Belfast.
Like elsewhere there is a total economic and social collapse in the North. The evils of Capitalism are present in Ulster though that monster is collapsing. Capitalism continues to exploit people regardless of them being a Catholic or a protestant.
We need real truth and justice there. It’s necessary to look beyond the Green v Orange. Future posts on the blog will develop and expand on these points and look at solutions regarding Ulster. Many favour an Independent Ulster. We need a new type of society.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/robinson-most-catholics-want-to-stay-in-uk-575506.html
The North's First Minister Peter Robinson has said a majority of Catholics and Protestants now wish to remain within the United Kingdom.
Addressing his party’s annual conference, the Democratic Unionist Party leader said they were standing on the verge of a defining period for unionism.
“The siege has lifted, the Troubles as we knew them are over, and the constitutional debate has been won,” he said.
Mr Robinson, 63, said a majority across both communities in the North now support the constitutional position within the UK.
“They know they are better off with Britain,” he said.
Dismissing calls for a referendum on the border, Mr Robinson said it would not be the right thing to do despite his confidence of the outcome.
“Republicans asking for a border poll makes turkeys voting for Christmas look like a carefully considered strategy,” he told supporters.
Mr Robinson, who took over the party reins from founder Ian Paisley five years ago, warned members that the DUP had to be relevant to the modern world and must move with the times.
Insisting he would drive change where needed, he urged more than 700 delegates to look outward and beyond their normal horizons.
“My goal as leader is to lay the groundwork that will cement our place within the Union,” he said.
“If that means taking tough decisions or abandoning out-dated dogmas, then I’ll do it.”
Mr Robinson said the party had to challenge itself as well as others to build a society where everyone feels equally valued.
The main themes of the keynote address at the two-day gathering were the union, jobs and reconciliation.
Mr Robinson said he wanted to focus on a vision of hope, of progress, optimism and accomplishment for the future.
While the current economic difficulties are tough, they would pass in time and the North would emerge stronger than ever, he said.
To achieve this, he said unionists had to accept power sharing with Sinn Féin has increased support for the constitutional status quo in Northern Ireland.
“Some people still wonder, after all that has happened, how we can work with Sinn Féin," he added.
“The answer’s simple: it’s really not about us; it’s about making life better for the people we represent.
“It’s not always easy, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do.”
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney yesterday became the first Irish Government minister from the Republic of Ireland to address a DUP conference.
Buying Irish goods and employing Irish people is a necessity. Many people are growing their own food and are shopping locally in Irish owned business. Every effort must be made to buy Irish. Interesting article below.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/are-those-irish-brands-in-your-basket-probably-not-214911.html
By ConallÓ Fátharta
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Many of us think Irish brands are Irish made, but it is not always the case, writes Conall Ó Fátharta
IF you think the everyday tea, soup, and cheese you consume are made here in Ireland, it’s time to think again.
A recent study carried out on behalf of Love Irish Food found a surprisingly large number of people thought well-known brands were produced here when, in fact, many are not only manufactured abroad, but are not even Irish-owned.
The study, undertaken by market research experts, Kantar Worldpanel, found that the food grocery market in Ireland was worth an estimated €7.1bn last year, with branded products representing €3.3bn, or 47%, of the market, and non-branded and private label representing the remaining 53% or €3.8bn.
Love Irish Food estimates that at least €1.5bn, or 45% of the branded products sold last year, were imported, highlighting an estimated €300m opportunity for the Irish economy if shoppers were to switch to buy just two more Irish-produced products per shop.
Interestingly, many of these are bought by consumers who believe they are buying Irish-made products, when many are produced abroad.
For example, some 80% of those surveyed believed that Siúcra sugar was Irish, when in fact it is only Irish in name. It is actually German-owned and produced.
Similarly, 77% believe that the traditional staple of many Irish homes — Lyons Tea — is produced in Ireland, when in fact it is owned by the Unilever group and manufactured entirely in Britain.
The same can be said for Cully and Sully Meals, which is now US-owned and produced in Britain.Other products many Irish people believe be homegrown but which are produced abroad include HB Ice Cream, Erin Soup, and Charleville Cheese.
Interestingly, other products not commonly believed to be Irish are just that. For example, Robert Roberts’ tea and coffee has been produced entirely in Ireland for well over a century.
Other products produced entirely in Ireland include Avonmore Fresh Soup, Goodfella’s Pizza, Batchelors, Barry’s Tea, YR Sauce, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Twirl, Flake, and Time Out, Club Orange, Cidona, Club Lemon, Kilmeaden cheese, and Miwadi, to name a few.
Executive director of Love Irish Food Kieran Rumley said small changes towards buying Irish would make an enormous economic impact here, but said consumers were increasingly aware of the origin of the contents of their shopping baskets.
“There are some quiet champions of Irish-produced [products] to be found out there, brands that are here, employing people and contributing,” said Mr Rumley. “People seem to be making a genuine effort to buy Irish in the current climate. The price is competitive and when people go out to spend, they seem to be more conscious of buying Irish. It’s a patriotic impulse with a small ‘p’.”
Mr Rumley said it was time for people to be concerned about where their produce comes from, as well as being concerned with its ingredients and nutritional value.
“People get very exercised about ingredients or nutritional content but why not emphasise on packaging the country of origin? It’s a very easy thing to add to packaging or to a shelf where a product is sold,” he said.
The Eleison Comments of Bishop Richard Williamson. Catholics and non Catholics must wake up to the fact of the International Financiers enslaving people and entire Nations through debt. A positive though is a significant number of people are now aware of the truth. Those seeking truth will find it and the alternative media is an excellent resource. The Financiers, these ‘Money Men’ and the establishment want people to be dumb for a simple reason.
Number CCLXXX (280)
24 November 2012
DICTATORSHIP IMMINENT
A remarkable portrait of our contemporary world appeared two months ago on the Internet website, 321gold. The title is daunting: “Decline, Decay, Denial, Delusion and Despair”, but the content is surely true to life. Starting from a street scene to be found no doubt all over the eastern United States, the author concludes that within 15 years an Orwellian dictatorship will descend upon his country as the unwanted effect of wanted causes. But the USA is not typical of the whole world ? The whole world is buying into the American way of life. “Let the buyer beware”!
This autumn in the streets of Wildwood, New Jersey, the author observed pavements encumbered with a host of heavily overweight men and women under 50 years of age rolling around town on government-subsidized mobility scooters to visit one fast-food joint after another in order to gorge on sugar-laden goodies which would give their latest model scooters more work than ever. His amusing name for them ? - “The weight-challenged disabled on their powered mobility enhancement vehicles.” Such is the flight from reality of “political correctness” and its language.
The author seeks causes for this tragic-comic effect : how can the American people that once saved 12% of their income have been persuaded to frighten the obesity statistics off the end of the charts with a debt-laden, sugar-sodden way of life, with no more savings for themselves and with an unbearable burden of debt being bequeathed to their children and grand-children ? Of course there is a lack of self-control on their part, he says, but there must be something more sinister, some mind behind such a mindless scene. He says the mass of citizens are being manipulated by an invisible government that has mastered the modern techniques of mass manipulation.
He quotes a pioneer of these masters from the 1920’s, Edward Bernays: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the masses is an important element in democratic society... Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society... Whether in politics, business, social conduct or ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses.” They are “the true ruling power of the country,” and they “pull the wires which control the public mind.” For what purpose ? For their own wealth and power.
It is they who have organized today’s financial and economic crisis for their own benefit. They have “wrecked the world economy... shifted their worthless debt onto the backs of taxpayers and unborn generations, thrown senior citizens and savers under the bus by stealing $400 billion per year of interest from them, and enriched themselves with bubble-level profits and bonus payments.” And when the plug has to be pulled on this unsustainable way of life, then our invisible masters have prepared for us a 1984 “dictatorship of tears” with militarized police with millions of bullets, surveillance cameras and drones everywhere, imprisonment without charges and so on and so on. Yet, says the author, it is the citizens’ own fault who have preferred ignorance to truth, sickness to health, media lies to critical thinking, security to liberty.
There is only one thing lacking to this admirable analysis: could our governing elite have run so wild, or our masses have turned so dumb, if either had retained the least sense of a God who judges us all at death, according to Ten Commandments ? Of course not. Catholics, wake up !
Kyrie eleison.
An article here from John Smeaton. It should be remembered that any and all direct and deliberate action to end the life of a child even “if the mother’s life be at risk” constitutes abortion.
http://spuc-director.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/induced-delivery-of-non-viable-children.html
In the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanar, various pro-life and Catholic commentators have been claiming that inducing delivery of Savita's child would have an appropriate course of action. They claim that an induction does not constitute abortion and is standard medical practice in Ireland.
These commentators are wrong. In its 2009 "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services", the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) teaches [my emphases inbold]:"45. Abortion (that is, the directly intended termination of pregnancy before viability or the directly intended destruction of a viable fetus) is never permitted. Every procedure whose sole immediate effect is the termination of pregnancy before viability is an abortion..."
....
"49. For a proportionate reason, labor may be induced after the fetus is viable."Savita was in the 17th week of pregnancy. There is no scientific evidence that unborn children are capable of surviving outside the womb at such a young age. If the doctor in Savita's case had agreed to induce her child, he would have been performing an abortion. The principle of double-effect would not have justified inducing Savita because:
the termination of pregnancy before viability (which would certainly have killed the child) would have been directly intended, and would not have been (as double-effect requires) an indirect and unintended effect
the sole immediate effect of the inducing would have been the termination of pregnancy before viability, thus killing the child
there are alternative ways of managing these highly distressing cases (see my blog on the International Symposium on Maternal Health held in Dublin in September).
The intrinsic wrongness of inducing babies before viability has been taught clearly by the Catholic Church. In the late 19th century a doctor who practised premature delivery of non-viable children in the belief that it could save mothers' lives asked the Holy Office (now called the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith) if his practice was licit. The Holy Office replied* in 1895:
"In the negative, according to other decrees [of the Holy Office]".
This reply of the Holy Office was approved the next day by Pope Leo XIII himself. One of those "other decrees" (1889) had declared as not "licit":
"every surgical operation that directly kills the fetus".
Another papally-approved reply by the Holy Office in 1898 referred to the 1895 reply above (condemning premature delivery of non-viable children) as a
"decree...on the illicitness of abortion".
The Church was thus making clear that premature delivery of non-viable children is abortion.
In 1902 another reply of the Holy Office decreed that it was not permitted to extract from the womb an unborn child earlier than six months after conception (at that time, the point of viability), explaining that:"[W]ith respect to time...no accleration of the birth is licit, unless it be performed at the time and according to the methods by which in the ordinary course of events the life of the mother and that of the fetus are considered."
In other words, premature delivery of non-viable children violates their right to life. Pro-life and Catholic commentators should take care not to deny that truth nor promote such inducing as an ethical response to medical emergencies.
*See "The Sources of Catholic Dogma", Henry Denzinger, Loreto Publications, 1955, section 1889 onwards.
Click on the url for the article.
http://z10.invisionfree.com/Ignis_Ardens/index.php?showtopic=11424
“This is an excellent article.
Notice especially the pertinent statement of our Pope, Saint Pius X:
"We are unable to favor this movement. We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem-but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church, I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized Our Lord; therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people."
Furthermore, the author presents some clear insights :
"…But although the Jewish power of Communism has been quantitatively a greater oppressor of the Church - having killed more priests and desecrated more altars - the Jewish power of Zionism has hit the Church at the very core by seizing and profaning the one land which above all others is the Holy Land..."”
Excellent article published on Nama Wine Lake.
November 22, 2012 by namawinelake
The regular audience on here will be aware of the prediction that Permanent TSB, the 99.5% state-owned bank, will run out of cash by April 2013 when it needs redeem significant bonds UNLESS the bank can dispose of assets beforehand or it gets an additional bailout. Yesterday, PTSB issued a statement to the stock exchange confirming that it has sold €351m of loans (net of provisions and write-offs at February 2012) for a total of €287m. This means that PTSB will need book a further loss in its books of €64m, and may arouse suspicion that the price is a fire sale price forced on PTSB by its imminent obligations to redeem significant bonds in January and April 2013.
The buyers of the loans are identified in the PTSB release as a SPV called “Consumer Auto Receivables Finance Limited” and a “global bank”. It is understood that Deutsche Bank is behind both, and industry insiders have raised eyebrows at the involvement of Deutsche Bank is these loans, the majority of which are understood to be car finance loans, because car finance is not an area in which Deutsche Bank specializes.
In addition, there has been a management buy-out of a PTSB unit, Permanent TSB Finance Limited. The management set up a new company called “First Citizen Finance Limited” and all staff in the PTSB unit are expected to transfer to the new company. The new company is contracted by the buyer of the loans to service the loans. “Management buy-out” might be a grandiose term for this transaction as PTSB has said the sale was for “a nominal consideration”.The unit which was bought out by management made a €16m loss in 2011, according to the statement, but it is unclear if that includes loan impairments and the operating profit of the businesses was not disclosed.
So, did a bank into which we have to date shoveled €4bn and which we own 99.5% execute a financially stupid transaction? Was the sale price for the loans of €287m a “fire sale price” forced on the company by the need to repay bonds in January and April 2013. And was selling a unit to management for “a nominal sum” a good deal for PTSB? Davy Corporate Finance again advised PTSB and how much did they get paid on the transaction? How were the portfolios marketed so as to maximize value? Can we expect Deutsche Bank, which doesn’t specialize in car finance, to flip the assets and make a quick windfall profit?
Given that Minister Noonan keeps on telling us the details of these transactionsin banks which we practically own are commercially sensitive, who knows, who can tell.
Michael Collins, an avid reader regarded "The Napoleon of Notting Hill" as his favourite GK Chesterton novel.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1122/1224326952346.html
MICHAEL PARSONS
Michael Collins’s prayer book has come to light in France 90 years after his death in Béal na Blá.
The book, titled The Christian Armed against the Seductions of the World and the Illusions Of His Own Heart, contains prayers and meditations and was found among his belongings in Portobello Barracks, Rathmines, following his death in August 1922.
After it was returned to the Collins family, the prayer book was given, as a gift, to a nun – Sr Aloysius at the Convent of Mercy in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, in November 1922 .
The leather-bound book, with gilt-edged pages, was eventually inherited by an Irish woman, who now lives in southern France. She has decided to sell it, along with a letter from a priest, Fr Ignatius of the Passionist Order, who had given the book to Collins.
The prayer book contains “instructions for meditation” on 31 topics (“maxims”) such as: “Time is precious; the loss of it is irreparable”; and, “The number is small of those who are saved” .
Other chapters include morning and evening prayers and a “Consideration on the Passions of Jesus Christ”.
The book has a single black-and-white illustration of Jesus carrying the cross and a quote from St Luke’s Gospel: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”.
Ireland’s idol
Collins clearly had a profound impact on the nun. Sr Aloysius’s notes, written into the prayer book, refer to Michael Collins as “Ireland’s idol”; “her Joan of Arc”; and “her greatest hero and leader”.
She said the book was her “best-loved and greatest treasure and will be preserved and cherished for all time”.
The prayer book and the priest’s letter will be auctioned as one lot by Mealy’s, the rare books auctioneers, in Dublin next month, with a pre-sale estimate of € 1,200-€1,800.
In the letter, sent to Collins’s sister after her brother’s death, Fr Ignatius reveals that he gave the prayer book to Collins during a mission at Greystones, Co Wicklow, in 1921, which Collins had attended before departing for London to negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Fr Ignatius recalled Collins, despite “being busy in Dublin, worked and worried almost beyond endurance”, had returned to the Grand Hotel in Greystones “one night very late and very tired on the eve of his departure to London re the pact”.
The priest continued: “He got up the next morning as early as 5.30am, came to the church and made a glorious general Confession and received Holy Communion.
“He said to me after Confession: ‘Say the Mass for Ireland and God bless you Father!’ He crossed an hour or so later to London.”
Fr Ignatius wrote: “There is not a man in a million would have done what Michael did that he might get to Confession and Holy Communion.”
Crucially for collectors of memorabilia, the letter confirms that he had given Collins the prayer book “in memory of the mission”.
You are encouraged to contact Peadar Toibin to offer him support http://peadartoibin.ie/contact/ Our unborn children are our future generation, and with mass emigration, killing our children will be opposed. Do take the time to contact Peadar Toibin.
See article below
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/sinn-fein-gags-its-own-td-over-abortion-law-3302209.html
By Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor
Thursday November 22 2012
SINN Fein would not allow a prominent TD refusing to support his party's call for abortion laws to speak in its Dail debate.
The party's rising star, Peadar Toibin, broke ranks and didn't sign a Sinn Fein party motion calling for X Case legislation – laws to allow abortions where the mother's life is at risk – because he is pro-life.
The party's deputy leader Mary-Lou McDonald denied Mr Toibin had been gagged as a result of his stance.
But before Sinn Fein's high-profile jobs spokesman went to ground, he did explain his stance to the Irish Independent last weekend.
Mr Toibin said he was not supporting his party motion because it called for legislation on the X Case and he comes from a pro-life stance.
He said he agreed with most of the motion, particularly expressing sympathy with the family of Savita Halappanavar on her death.
Mr Toibin said he would not seek to legalise abortion in line with the X Case.
Mr Toibin said he also believed "very strongly" that in any case where a woman's life is in danger, "every measure should be taken" to save her life.
But he felt the X Case judgment was "flawed" and if enacted in legislation it could be abused and could allow abortions up to birth.
"It would lead to the liberalisation of abortion in Ireland and that would be my strong fear," he said.
Mr Toibin said the party hierarchy accepted his position, as there are differences in all parties on the issue.
However, since then, his utterances on the issue have been limited and the party has said it will deal with his failure to support party policy internally.
Contradictory
Contrary to party leader Gerry Adams' claims he hadn't spoken to Mr Toibin "person to person", the Irish Independent understands he did try to convince him to support the motion.
Mr Toibin's position has also thrown a spotlight on Sinn Fein's contradictory stance on abortion.
In Northern Ireland, where the party is in power, Sinn Fein has maintained a staunchly anti-abortion stance, while in the Republic it wants X Case legislation.
- Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor
The famous mural of Bobby Sands MP at the Provisional Sinn Fein shop in Catholic West Belfast. He stated “our revenge will be the laughter of our children”. This article is not to bash Irish republicanism as we must remember a voice of working class loyalists is now a director in the abortuary in Belfast.
Time and again people both north and south have rejected abortion.
Article via the Life Institute.
November 7, 2012
The media cover-up of the IFPA scandal could put women's lives at risk
Last week the Irish Independent, to its credit, carried a major report revealing how the advice being given by the Irish Family Planning Association and other tax-payer funded agencies is putting the lives of Irish women at risk.
The Independent reported that "an undercover probe had revealed that women were told to hide their abortions from their doctors, a course of action that could endanger life if post-surgery abortion complications remain undiagnosed".
According to reporter, Gemma O'Donoghue: "at the Dundalk office of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), a client was told she could lie to her doctor about having had an abortion, advice that could put a woman's life at risk, Professor Sam Coulter Smith, the master of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, has warned".
Dr Coulter Smith explained that "There are certain recognised complications that can arise with terminations. Perforation of the womb is one of them and it can have a devastating effect on the integrity of the uterine wall in subsequent pregnancies."
"I am aware of cases where women have died because they didn't tell doctors they had had termination which caused their womb to perforate," he continued.
So here we had an taxpayer-funded body, using taxpayer funds to give 'advice' that could have caused a woman to lose her life. This was pretty shocking stuff, but there was more.
The investigation also showed that 'counsellors' at abortion referral agencies were telling women how to obtain the abortion pill illegally. At Tallaght IFPA one woman was told: "If you have an address in the North or you can buy a PO box number, and get them to send it . . . You can. . . then go and collect the tablets in the North and take them down here."
The Independent sais that following a five-hour examination of the material, the HSE launched an investigation, and that Gardai at Dublin's Store Street station are also looking into the evidence.
The rest of the Irish media then roundly ignored these shocking revelations. It seems that putting women's lives at risk - and using taxpayer funding while breaking the law - isn't of any interest to RTÉ, the Irish Times, the Journal etc.
Of course, it's been fairly obvious for a long time that abortion advocates are happy to overlook women's welfare to further the cause of killing unborn babies. But what may really be motivating the media cover-up is the risk of losing abortion campaigners their enormous tax payer funding.
In the past ten years the IFPA has seen their income more than double because of lavish tax payer funding, and they have received an eye-watering €10 million from the Irish government since the Crisis Pregnancy Agency first began pouring cash into the abortion-advocating outfit.
Being so flush with cash allows the IFPA ample time and resources to continue their push for abortion, and to engage U.S. lawyers to bring Ireland to the European Court in an attempt to foist abortion on Ireland.
If the HSE - and Health Minister, James Reilly - were serious about accountability and about protecting women in crisis, they would immediately suspend all funding of the IFPA pending a full investigation of illegal practices at the abortion referral agency.
And surely James Reilly should be asking some searching questions of the former IFPA chief, Tony O’Brien, who he has appointed as head of the Irish health service. Yesterday, the Senate heard calls for an open and transparent investigation into allegations of illegal and dangerous activities in abortion referral agencies. If the Minister was serious about protecting women's health he would establish such an inquiry immediately and suspend funding for the IFPA immediately.
Or will the practice of putting women's lives at risk simply continue? Any media worth its salt would make sure to find answers to those questions. Instead, with some few exceptions, we're seeing that the Irish media seem only too anxious to perpetuate the cover-up.
BY HILARY WHITE
Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:53 EST
DUBLIN, November 20, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The new head of a government-appointed inquiry into the death of Savita Halappanavar has said that countries with restrictive abortion laws need to be “challenged” to reconsider legalization. While the international abortion lobby, mainstream media, and abortion campaigners in parliament and at the EU are clamoring for Ireland to immediately pass legislation legalizing abortion, the Health Services Executive announced today that Professor Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, the head of obstetrics and gynecology at St Georges Hospital, will lead the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mrs. Halappanavar’s death.
Professor Arulkumaran is the president-elect of the abortion advocacy group International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). He authored a statement on the “rights-based approach” to childbirth, published in 2009 in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, in which he said that countries with “restrictive abortion laws” should “look at the evidence available in favor of liberal abortions laws and debate the possibility of making the choice of termination of pregnancy a legal right for women.”
“In the same breath, it is important to stress that wherever there is a liberal law on termination of pregnancy, the provision of safe and comprehensive abortion care is paramount to a successful reduction in maternal morbidity and mortality as a result of the complications of abortion,” he said.
The country’s leading pro-life advocates have expressed “serious concerns” about the appointment, calling it a “grave error” that compromises the credibility of the inquiry. Given the huge public interest and pressure from the abortion lobby, they said, the inquiry must take care to avoid all possible appearance of having a political agenda.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that the government must immediately move to replace Dr. Arulkumaran to ensure a fair investigation. “It is difficult to see how that can be achieved by appointing someone to lead the team who has clear bias in favour of abortion,” she said.
FIGO is a major player in the international abortion movement. It includes representatives of every international abortion group, including International Planned Parenthood and the UNFPA, on its Committee for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights. The US-based Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues described FIGO as supporting a “radically pro-abortion agenda” in the 124 countries in which it operates.
Six other members of the team investigating Savita Halappanavar’s death include experts in anesthesia, midwifery, obstetrics and gynecology, who will review the care provided to Mrs. Halappanavar and submit a report to the Dail. HSE’s National Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Dr Philip Crowley, told a press conference today that with the appointment of Dr. Arulkumaran, “we will have a thorough, independent, and expeditious review of the facts surrounding the tragic death of Mrs. Halappanavar.”
Health Minister Dr. James Reilly said that major concern for the government in appointing the inquiry was to ensure the appearance of objectivity and independence from the government.
Dr. Reilly also told media that the long awaited report from the government’s expert group examining the country’s abortion law would be brought to the Cabinet today, but said that it will not be until early in the new year that any decisions are made. He told RTE radio, the national broadcaster, that it would be a “derogation of duty” not to deal with the abortion law, saying that every woman has a right to have “legal clarity regarding treatment available to her.”
“I have read the report and I need to study it further. It’s a hugely complex issue that has divided the country… and we’re not going to solve it in a matter of weeks,” he said. Meanwhile, the government has received a letter signed by 50 Members of the European Parliament demanding that Ireland legislate on abortion.
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This comes as it is confirmed that pro-abortion groups met to discuss ways to exploit the death of Savita.
http://www.galwaynews.ie/28901-labour-mep-slams-exploitation-savita-halappanavars-death
“November 20, 2012 - 2:04pm
LABOUR MEP SLAMS EXPLOITATION OF SAVITA HALAPPANAVAR'S DEATH
Labour MEP Phil Prendergast says she does not believe that Savita Halappanavar died because physicians wouldn’t terminate her pregnancy for religious or legal reasons.
Ms Prendergast – who worked as a midwife for years – says it is not credible that staff would blatantly disregard the life of the mother in favour of an unviable foetus.
She’s urging people to await the outcome of the inquiries into Ms Halappanavar’s death before jumping to wrong conclusions.
Ms Prendergast was speaking in Strasbourg where more than 50 MEPs have signed a letter demanding that the Taoiseach introduce abortion legislation.
The Labour MEP has slammed the move as a cynical exploitation of a tragedy and is pleading with people to take a more balanced view of what may have happened to Savita.”
Zionist Terror in Palestine
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=60369
By Dr Lasha Darkmoon on November 18, 2012
http://www.globalresearch.ca/gaza-the-politics-of-greater-israel/5312107
By Nile Bowie
Global Research, November 17, 2012
“The Bible finds no worse image than this of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency towards conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won’t allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn’t matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetual war. Israel’s must be the same. The two states solution doesn’t exist; there are no two people here. There is a Jewish people and an Arab population… there is no Palestinian people, so you don’t create a state for an imaginary nation… they only call themselves a people in order to fight the Jews.” [1]- Benjamin Netanyahu
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza being perpetuated under ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ comes at an interesting time. Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements into Palestinian lands has increased at unprecedented rates. Netanyahu’s administration has approved the construction of 850 settler homes in the occupied West Bank in June 2012, even after the Israeli parliament rejected a bill to retroactively legalize some of the existing homes in the area. [2] The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank has almost doubled in the past 12 years, with more than 350,000 residing illegally under international law. [3] While Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman asserts Tel Aviv’s unwillingness to permit Palestinians any right to return to their lands, emphasizing, “not even one refugee,” apartheid enforced on ethnic and religious lines has become a ratified part of Israeli government policy. [4] Far-right political discourse that was once considered extremism is now the status quo in Israel.
While Netanyahu publically announced support for a Palestinian state on the West Bank, his government has threaten to end the Oslo Accords if the United Nations General Assembly granted Palestine with non-member observer state status. [5] A panel of Israeli jurists assembled by Netanyahu’s government to determine the legal status of the West Bank concluded that there is “no occupation” of Palestinian lands and that the continued construction of settlement outposts are entirely legal under Israeli law, despite critical international opinion. Netanyahu’s far right-conservative Likud party was established on the philosophy of Ze’ev Jabotinksy, who called for the establishment of a ‘Greater Israel,’ a concept embraced by Israeli historian Benzion Netanyahu, the father of today’s Prime Minister. Under his fathers influence, Benjamin Netanyahu was indoctrinated in the ideological foundations of Revisionist Zionism, which promote Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (Palestine) and the full biblical land of Israel by contemporary Jews, an oil rich landmass extending from the banks of the Nile River in Egypt to the shores of the Euphrates.
As rocket fire hits Tel Aviv for the first time since the Gulf War, the ongoing siege of Gaza must be seen as what it is – a premeditated component of Israeli expansionism. Netanyahu was a zealous supporter of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s 2008-2009 sieges on Gaza known as ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, while Israel suffered only 13 causalities. [6] On November 14, 2012, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an offensive into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip and began announcing their progress through an official Twitter account. IDF forces assassinated a prominent Hamas military commander, Ahmed Jabari, who was allegedly in possession of a draft copy of a permanent truce agreement with Israel. [7] The agreement included mechanisms for maintaining the cease-fire in the case of future military exchanges between Israel and the Hamas-led political factions of the Gaza Strip. Militants from the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza retaliated by firing rockets into Israeli territory, a large percentage of which were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
Benjamin Netanyahu used this retaliation to claim the moral high ground by warning that he will take “whatever action is necessary” to stop further rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. [8] IDF officials have called on 30,000 reservists to prepare for a possible extended ground incursion into Gaza, as IDF forces indiscriminately kill civilians attempting to strike Palestinian aerial and naval targets. [9] The Obama administration has condemned Hamas for perpetuating violence, while Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government led by Mohamed Morsi recalled Egypt’s ambassador from Tel Aviv. Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil arrived in Gaza after the second day of Israeli attacks in a show of support for Palestine. Through ‘Operation Pillar of Defense,’ Israel is targeting the military foundations of Hamas, while attempting to portray itself as a victim in the international media. IDF forces dropped thousands of Orwellian leaflets over Gaza, urging citizens to take responsibility for their own safety, due to Hamas “once again dragging the region to violence and bloodshed.” [10]
Despite Israel targeting the elected Hamas government of Gaza, an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas,” cites a former Israeli official who claims that Israel encouraged the formation of Islamist groups to counterbalance secular nationalists affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Israeli government even officially recognized a precursor to Hamas called Mujama Al-Islamiya as a charity group, allowing it to build mosques and an Islamic university. [11] Israel cooperated with the influential Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was opposed to secular Palestinian activists, as he spearheaded the Sunni Islamist movement that became Hamas. In late October 2012, Gaza’s Hamas government received Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, for an official visit. As part of an aid development package, Al-Thani granted Hamas $400 million, at least $150 million of which will go towards a housing project in southern Gaza – it would be reasonable to assume that large portions of that aid would be invested in defense. [12]
The support given to Hamas by Qatar must be understood through the context of its engagement in Syria. The New York Times articled titled, “Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria,” states that the arms being shipped to Syria by Saudi Arabia and Qatar are being used to bolster jihadists and al-Qaeda affiliated groups attempting to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad. [13] Qatar has held numerous meetings of US-backed Syrian opposition leaders and hosts a critical American military air base at Al-Udeid, west of the capital, Doha. Qatar has also allowed the establishment of a Brooking Institute center on its territory. Brookings’ Saban Center for Middle East Policy published “Saving Syria: Assessing Options for Regime Change” in March 2012, and the directives described in the report have ostensibly become the policy of allied Western and Gulf countries aiming to topple the Syrian government. The Saban Center that published the report was established in 2002 when Israeli-American mogul Haim Saban pledged nearly $13 million to the Brookings Institution in an attempt to influence pro-Israeli policy. [14]
Despite paying lip service to the Palestinian cause, Qatar is supporting policy engineered to give Israel a pretext to consolidate its power. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have cooperated with the United States and Israel by exporting the Salafist ideology that is so prominent among radical rebel fighters in Hamas and the Free Syrian Army, and using their enormous oil wealth to fund and arm these movements. An unapologetic Op-Ed written by Israeli columnist Guy Bechor titled, “Dangers of a Palestinian state,” bemoans the possibility of an independent Palestine, in fear of the nation becoming a hub for extremist violence:
“A sovereign Palestinian state will immediately absorb 700,000 Palestinians who are living in terrible conditions in Syria, another 750,000 Palestinians who currently live in Lebanon and hundreds of thousands of others who will flock to the new state from all over, because to them the West Bank and Israel are America – just ask the African infiltrators. Due to the ‘Arab Spring,’ Syria and Lebanon would gladly kick the Palestinians out, and the Palestinian state would welcome them with open arms in order to change the demographic reality on the ground. Qatar and Saudi Arabia would fund the entire exodus.
Thus, the Palestinian state would become one of the most densely populated areas in the world and pose a direct security and demographic threat to Israel. In other words, in the near future we may see hundreds of thousands of Palestinians settling in the West Bank. Some of them are among the most dangerous people in the Middle East: Salafis, members of armed Syrian and Lebanese militias, as well as members of various jihadi groups. They will settle in places that overlook Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem. The demographic balance in this region will be changed forever. Our lives will become a Syrian-style nightmare.” [15]
In 1952, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan spoke ardently of Tel Aviv’s ultimate goal, the creation of ‘an Israeli empire’ – today, Netanyahu has led his administration with megalomaniacal hubris, and has emphasized a messianic-catastrophic worldview where Israel is “the eternal nation.” [16] Indeed, a Salafist-dominated Palestine would cause troubles for Israel, and it provides a much-needed pretext for Israel to militarily engage with Palestine groups, with the eventual goal of recapturing their land for Jewish settlement. ‘Operation Pillar of Defense,’ launched just months away from Israel’s elections, is a calculated component of the Netanyahu government’s strategy to topple Hamas and continue absorbing Palestinian territory. Decades of occupation and apartheid have shaped the current scenario; Israel has dehumanized an entire people by seizing their land and forcing them into prison-like ghettoes. Adherents to political Zionism have shown contempt for a genuine political solution to the Palestinian conflict, and the Netanyahu administration is poised to crush all opposition to the Jewish state.
Amid reports of rocket fire striking Jerusalem, it is clear that the Israeli response will be swift and unforgiving. While the historic plight of the Palestinian people cannot be ignored, the conduct of Hamas is counter-productive and radical, despite the Israeli firepower being exponentially more destructive. The siege on Gaza is an impetus to consider Henry Kissinger’s prediction, “In 10 years, there will be no more Israel.” Sixteen US intelligence agencies that collectively issued an 82-page analysis titled, “Preparing for a Post-Israel Middle East,” concluded that Netanyahu’s Likud coalition has enthusiastically condoned and supported illegal settlements, while enforcing an apartheid-style infrastructure upon Palestinians. [17] Israel, the only nuclear-armed country in the Middle East, has all the attributes of an international pariah state and its current path is unmaintainable. If Israel devastates Gaza, the backlash would create momentum that threatens the very existence of the Jewish state. Under Bibi’s watch, Israel will either continue to enforce the ideological tenants of political Zionism on its neighbors, or die trying.
Notes
[1] Received Wisdom? How the Ideology of Netanyahu’s Late Father Influenced the Son, TIME, May 02, 2012
[2] Israel to build more West Bank homes, Al-Jazeera, June 07, 2012
[3] Population of Jewish settlements in West Bank up 15,000 in a year, The Guardian, July 26, 2012
[4] Lieberman: Netanyahu’s stance on 1967 borders reflects viewpoint of most Israelis, Haaretz, May 23, 2011
[5] Israel: We will annul Oslo Accords if Palestinians seek upgraded UN status, Haaretz, November 14, 2012
[6] Israel to take ‘whatever action necessary’ to stop Gaza rocket fire, The Telegraph, November 12, 2012
[7] Israeli peace activist: Hamas leader Jabari killed amid talks on long-term truce, Haaretz, November 15, 2012
[8] Israel to take ‘whatever action necessary’ to stop Gaza rocket fire, The Telegraph, November 12, 2012
[9] IDF calling up 30,000 reserves ahead of possible Gaza ground operation, The Times of Israel
[10] Operation Pillar of Defense: IDF Disperses Leaflets Above Gaza Strip, IDF Blog, November 15, 2012
[11] How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas, The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2009
[12] Qatari ruler uses historic Gaza visit to call on Palestinian factions to unite, The Times of Israel, October 23, 2012
[13] Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria, The New York Times, October 14, 2012
[14] Humanitarian Buffer Zones in Syria: How Misinformation Obscures the Israel Lobby’s Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy, Dissident Voice, October 16, 2012
[15] Dangers of a Palestinian state, YNet, November 13, 2012
[16] As Netanyahu pushes Israel closer to war with Iran, Israelis cannot… Haaretz, August 03, 2012
[17] Kissinger, US intelligence community endorse “World Without Israel,” PressTV, September 30, 2012
Nile Bowie is a Kuala Lumpur-based American writer and photographer for the Centre for Research on Globalization in Montreal, Canada. He explores issues of terrorism, economics and geopolitics.
