World News
4/15/02 - 4/21/02

Sunday 4/21/02

Gas Prices Hold Steady Despite News  4/21/02 AP

Microsoft blames Israeli branch for outrageous advertisement  4/21/02 Arab News, Saudi Arabia

Chavez recoups his base  4/21/02 Houston Chronicle: "Many Venezuelans fear another revolt as the armed forces seem split a week after failed ouster."

A Sometime Champion of Democracy  4/21/02 LA Times: "The Bush administration's rapid initial approval of this month's coup in Venezuela has tarnished its status as self-proclaimed champion of democracy and the rule of law in Latin America."

In the Name of Homeland Security, Telecom Firms Are Deluged With Subpoenas  4/21/02 Newhouse

Venezuela coup linked to Bush team  4/21/02 Observer, UK: "But the crucial figure around the coup was [Elliot] Abrams, who operates in the White House as senior director of the National Security Council for 'democracy, human rights and international opera tions'. He was a leading theoretician of the school known as 'Hemispherism', which put a priority on combating Marxism in the Americas."

Thousands march in S.F. protest At least 20,000 decry Bush's Mideast policy, Israeli actions  4/21/02 San Francisco Chronicle: "In one of the largest Bay Area protests in recent years, at least 20, 000 people marched through San Francisco yesterday in opposition to U.S. policy in the Mideast, transforming 2 miles of city streets into a sea of red, green, black and white Palestinian flags."

U.S. Senate Passes Strong Border Security Legislation  4/21/02 Senate: may ban Cubans from travelling to the US.

Sharon plans to annex half the West Bank, says coalition ally  4/21/02 Telegraph, UK

2 Palestinian farmers shot by Jewish settlers  4/21/02 Times of India: just like the Wild West - no wonder some nostalgic Americans support Israel.

T&T Media Attempts Its Own Coup  4/21/02 Tinicenter, Trinidad: interesting report on challenging the major media from Trinidad.

From Holocaust To Genocide  4/21/02 Trinicenter, T&T

Jenin survivors describe Israeli operation  4/21/02 UPI: "Palestinian eyewitnesses have given United Press International detailed accounts of the Israeli military's incursion into Jenin, describing firefights in the tight alleyways that make up much of the refugee camp, and a pattern of house demolition and the use of heavy munitions by Israeli soldiers that appears to have killed many civilians, and left survivors at risk from hunger and disease."

Immigration, Visa Laws, Border & Homeland Security All Strengthened By Senate Bill S.1749  4/21/02 US Mayors: ban on Cubans coming here?

Investigation of Venezuelan coup finds plotters believed US had a role  4/21/02 Yahoo: Just as the US has supported many other acts of repression, Cuba (1898, 1912, etc), Guatemala, Chile, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, etc etc - "The source said US Army Lieutenant Colonel James Rodgers, an aide to the US military attache "was present on the fifth floor of the military command" before Chavez was brought to that installation, Fort Tiuna in Caracas, and remained there until the self-proclaimed provisional government fell apart."

Tens of thousands gather in Washington for largest pro-Palestinian protest in US  4/21/02 Yahoo: "Waving signs equating Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and wearing the traditional Arab headdress, or keffiyah, crowds massed on the Ellipse in front of the White House to voice their disapproval of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and US Middle East policy. Police estimated that around 50,000 people took part in the peaceful protest although organizers, a coalition pro-Palestinian pressure groups, put the figure at 100,000."

Saturday 4/20/02

Protesters March Peacefully in D.C.  4/20/02 AP: "The various groups converged for a concluding rally near the Capitol and support for the Palestinians' cause was the main theme of the day. Authorities do not provide official crowd figures for demonstrations in Washington, but Police Chief Charles Ramsey gave a rough estimate of 35,000 to 50,000."

FBI Closes in on Anthrax Terrorist  4/20/02 Aztlan: "Prime Suspect is a Zionist"

Thousands rally at Washington summit  4/20/02 BBC

Venezuela: muere alto mando militar  4/20/02 BBC: sounds like on of the many helicopter accidents in Afghanistan…

A Coup Signed by Otto Reich  4/20/02 Counterpunch

September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows  4/20/02 Peaceful Tomorrows

STOP US FROM BREAKING TREATY LAW TO PREPARE FOR IRAQ WAR  4/20/02 Peter Dale Scott

SCIENTIST WHO WARNED OF GLOBAL WARMING REMOVED FROM PANEL BY US, OIL GIANTS  4/20/02 Radio Havana

With Support of Poor Venezuelans, Hugo Chávez Made Dramatic Come-Back  4/20/02 Zmag: "Of course, we won't see any neoliberal economists coming to the defense of Chávez for his efforts to help the truly poor. Rather, those economists and the whole neoliberal establishment seem quite disturbed about the fact that Chávez has tapped into the poor masses of his country and can draw upon their support in the event of a right-wing counter-attack. The fact that neoliberal economists never give Chávez any credit for his anti-poverty efforts seems to belie their supposed interest in helping the truly poor."

Friday 4/19/02

U.S. scientist voted off international climate panel  4/19/02 AP: there is no global warming: "A U.S. scientist was voted off an international climate panel Friday following what campaigners claimed was pressure from the oil industry and Washington."

Evidence of Jenin atrocities  4/19/02 Arab News, Saudi Arabia

Ecuador: "¿al-Qaeda acá?"  4/19/02 BBC Mundo: under every bed, once it was a commie, now it's al qaeda, for the greater good of the national security state.

U.S. suspects Saudi pact with Saddam  4/19/02 Debka: Debka is an Israeli psyops site.

Unemployment reaches new record: 261,000  4/19/02 Haaretz, Israel

Police Treatment of Pro-Palestinian Activists Raises Fear of Intimidation Campaign  4/19/02 IndyMedia: "Activists who participated in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the Israeli Consulate in Midtown Atlanta on Friday the 12th are reporting that they have been subjected to police pressure both prior to and during the action. According to sources with the Atlanta Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee(ADC), Atlanta police contacted them by phone before the planned demonstration suggesting that they distance themselves from the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade(RCYB), one of the organizations expected to participate in the event. It is further reported that a member of the RCYB received a similar call inquiring as to whether that group was in fact organizing the demonstration. On the day of the protest, two members of the RCYB who were participating report they were accosted by a plainclothesman wielding a camera who told them; "You start any shit and we're taking you down!"

Saudis desperate for Russia's help  4/19/02 Stratfor

Straw condemns Israel's action in Jenin  4/19/02 Times, UK: "BRITAIN took Israel to task yesterday for its offensive in the West Bank when Jack Straw proposed an international investigation into allegations of atrocities in Jenin."

Economic boycott forces McDonald’s to change name in Egypt  4/19/02 Ummah News: America's efforts to market to 1 billion muslims may prove problematic.

Taliban human bomber kills 14 Americans  4/19/02 Ummah News

Bush throws US support behind Israel  4/19/02 Yahoo: "This is a reward for state terrorism and the war crimes committed by Sharon," top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP after the Bush statement.

Thursday 4/18/02

Venezuela's 'Bolivarian Circles' draw new criticism for alleged role in violence  4/18/02 AP: "But Caracas police, who have arrested at least three people, say some of the shooters belonged to the circles — neighborhood committees that were created after Cuban President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) urged Chavez's followers to organize themselves to defend Chavez's leftist revolution. Castro made the appeal during a 2000 visit." - the same Caracas police said to be in league with the Bandera Roja, shooters on the rooftop linked to Opus Dei.

The Propaganda of Otto Reich  4/18/02 Counterpunch: Miami Mafiosi Otto von Reich, State's point man on the Venezuela coup? "Scrambling to distance themselves from the botched overthrow of the democratically elected Chavez government, the Bush administration admitted that Mr. Reich called the coup leader, Mr. Carmona, and asked him not to dissolve the National Assembly because it would be a "stupid thing to do"… According to the New York Times, Reich told congressional aides that the administration had received reports that "foreign paramilitary forces"-suspected to be Cuban-were involved in the bloody suppression of anti-Chavez demonstrators, in which at least 14 people were killed in Venezuela. Reich, a former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela and lobbyist with ties to Mobil Oil in Venezuela, further told the Congressional staffers that Mr. Chavez had meddled with the historically independent state oil company, provided haven to Colombian guerillas, and bailed out Cuba with preferential rates on oil."

Under the rubble of the refugee camp  4/18/02 Economist: "There is a mass grave beneath it, insist Palestinians. Or, rather, say many, there was before the Israelis collected the corpses and sped them away while keeping the Red Cross, the UN and other independent witnesses firmly at bay. “I saw the soldiers dumping the dead in trucks...I saw this with my own eyes,” says a woman from the camp." Other sources cite refrigerated trucks.

U.S. Papers Hail Venezuelan Coup as Pro-Democracy Move  4/18/02 FAIR

Helicopter Pilot 'Refused Order to Blast Palestinian House'  4/18/02 Guardian

Kissinger faces UK questioning over dictators' network  4/18/02 Independent, UK

US military attache implicated in Venezuela coup  4/18/02 Irish Times

What Really Happened in Venezuela  4/18/02 NewMax: rigth wing propaganda on Venezuela, with interesting details - "Carmona, a member of the Opus Dei group, a conservative Catholic lay order, quickly named all Opus Dei members to his new Cabinet."

Venezuela Si, Cubazuela No!  4/18/02 NewsMax: "Chavez in Venezuela is a close friend and ally of the last tyrant in this hemisphere, Fidel Castro. In addition to Cuba, he is associated with other equally anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-democracy terrorist states including Libya, Iran and Iraq. Chavez also sought and obtained an alliance with communist China." So that's why the US tried to overthrow the democratically elected Chavez who won twice by large margins, because he is antidemocratic!

What the New York Times "overlooked" in the Venezuelan events  4/18/02 World Socialist: "Indeed, those participating in the demonstration in Caracas that proved to be the opening shot of the April 11 coup were considerably wealthier, better dressed and whiter than those who later battled security forces in the city’s working class and poor neighborhoods to protest the military’s seizure of power."

Wednesday 4/17/02

Sharon 'a war criminal' says MP  4/17/02 BBC: "Israeli leader Ariel Sharon has been branded a "war criminal" and a "fool" by former Labour minister Gerald Kaufman. In a blistering attack, the veteran MP, who is Jewish, said Mr Sharon had reduced his country to an "international pariah" whose actions were staining the Star of David with blood."

A coup d’état signed by Otto Reich  4/17/02 Granma, Cuba

The United States is a safe haven for more than 1,000 torturers  4/17/02 Granma, Cuba

US 'gave the nod' to Venezuelan coup  4/17/02 Guardian, UK

Melting glaciers in Himalayas threaten catastrophic floods  4/17/02 Independent, UK: "there is no global warming" - Wall Street Journal

THE UGLY AMERICAN REDUX  4/17/02 Ted Rall: "Bush Backs a Botched Coup in Venezuela...It's too soon to know for certain whether the CIA (news - web sites) tried to engineer an Allende-style operation in Venezuela, but anyone who's read ex-spy Philip Agee's seminal "Inside the Company" recognizes classic signs emanating from New York and Washington: official statements of encouragement are laced with just enough ambiguity to provide plausible deniability; blithe dismissals of democratic principles in friendly media are followed by rapid reversals when things start to go wrong. Don't be too surprised if those gun-toting "Chávez supporters" who opened fire on the April 11th ultimately turn out to be CIA-employed provocateurs. "

The Ongoing Lessons  4/17/02 Trinicenter: coverage of Venezuela from Trinidad - "Were it not for independent Internet news sources the developing story in Venezuela would not have been made public. Without the Internet Vanguards, the coup in Venezuela and the coup of information would have gone unchecked or buried below the prejudices of many with the attitude of "Another Central American Coup, what's new".

Victims of the Dragnet  4/17/02 Village Voice: los desaparecidos in the Banana Republic of EE-UU, complete with Nov 2000 coup d'etat and a ruling junta

The Conspiracy Against Chávez  4/17/02 Zmag: the racist basis for the coup laid bare: "The country has no political prisoners. But the miniscule upper crust and the upper middle class, essentially white, as are many of the intellectuals and journalists, are terrified people of color, people with copper or black skin, rising on the social scale. Here, as everywhere in Latin America, they occupy the lowest rungs of society. They would have to share their privilege, and that seemed unacceptable. "There's an incredible racism in this society," Chávez told me. "They call me the Monkey or the Black, they can't stand that someone like me was elected president."

Tuesday 4/16/02

IRISH FILMMAKER'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF VENEZUELAN COUP D'ÉTAT  4/16/02 Emperor's Clothes: "I arrived in the centre of town just as the shooting started," says Kim. "I filmed a while then took cover in a doorway. Whoever was firing aimed directly at the crowd, which was pro-Chavez. I filmed two dead bodies, both of them beside the podium set up to rally Chavistas to defend the presidential palace...Reports came in from around the country, barracks by barracks, like a Eurovision song contest jury, that the military was rebelling against the coup."

After the coup, Venezuelan president ponders mystery of American plane  4/16/02 Guardian, UK

Amid the ruins of Jenin, the grisly evidence of a war crime  4/16/02 Independent, UK: Goering, Himmler, and the boys could not have done better.

Indymedia reporter Kevin Skvorak from inside the Jenin refugee camp:  4/16/02 IndyMedia, NY: Doing the SS one better: "Total numbers of dead inside the camp range from 200 to 500. No one really has any realistic idea yet and no one here knows how many where removed by the Israelis, but witnesses in the camp saw at least two large refrigerated semi trailers in the camp, and the UN aid people here maintain it is a relatively open secret that the Israelis maintain an “enemies” graveyard in the Jordan valley for events like this."

BAHRAIN ATTACK SENDS SHIVERS IN U.S. FIFTH FLEET  4/16/02 ME Newsline

Fatah vows to take out Sharon if Israel hurts Barghouti  4/16/02 Middle East News Online: "The resistance group also warned the United States against allowing Israel to harm Barghouti indicating that all U.S. ambassadors across the world will be attacked and they "will turn the life of the Israelis into hell."

'Venezuelan coup plotters were in contact with US'  4/16/02 The News, Pakistan: this is naïve acceptance of "limited hangout" US propaganda which puts out a sweetened up version of the truth. Several reports from reputable sources (see below) detail extensive US military, CIA, and State Department support for the miserable losers in Caracas.

Chavez fell foul of Bush doctrine  4/16/02 Toronto Star: hard to find and succinct discussion of Venezuela's energy policies and how they led to the coup.

Al-Qaeda claims attack on Tunisia synagogue: paper  4/16/02 Yahoo

Monday 4/15/02

Chastened Chavez promises change  4/15/02 BBC: "In his strongest conciliatory gesture, Mr Chavez used his address to announce the resignations of the board of directors he appointed to the state-owned oil monopoly PDVSA."

Paracaidistas leales a Chávez lo rescataron de La Orchila  4/15/02 El Mundo

Palestinian captives 'tortured and humiliated' at Israeli army base  4/15/02 Independent: "It appears that many of the disappeared are still alive. But that is where the good news ends. Inside Ofer up to 1,000 Palestinians are detained and have been regularly beaten with wooden batons. They are forced to spend nights sitting in the dirt outside in the cold, in their underwear. They are refused food for days at a time…. An Israeli soldier inside Ofer told B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, that torture was being used inside the camp and that he had seen captives whose toes had been broken."

EGYPT PREPARES COMMANDERS FOR REGIONAL WAR  4/15/02 Middle East Newsline

Three Days that Shook the Media  4/15/02 NarcoNews: "Online Journalism's Finest Hour Exposed and Reversed a Coup"

A profile of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez by Jon Lee Anderson  4/15/02 Petroleum World: the racial basis for anti-Chavez actions laid bare - ""Did you see our Clown Prince last night?" is a typical response. Many white middle-class Venezuelans despise Chavez, and there is a cruel, self-comforting snobbery implicit in their comments about him. For example, "El peon ha tomado la finca"- "The peon has taken over the farm." A prominent financier of impeccable Iberian ancestry invited me to lunch at his house, and, as his black servant brought our drinks, he told me, his face stretching with disgust, how "embarrassed" he felt to have 'ese mono'--that monkey--as his President."

Golpe imperial en Venezuela  4/15/02 Prensa Latina: "Alfredo Peña, alcalde mayor de Caracas y jefe de la notoriamente represiva y corrupta Policía Metropolitana (PM), aportó a los francotiradores, quienes, vestidos de civil, dispararon desde las azoteas cercanas al Palacio a la población civil, particularmente a los simpatizantes del gobierno, quienes tuvieron la mayor cuota de muertos."

VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR CALM, UNITY AND REFLECTION IN DRAMATIC RETURN TO HEAD HIS NATION  4/15/02 Radio Havana: "Qatar was happy with the return of President Chavez said an official statement. The two countries as part of OPEC have a close relationship. Other OPEC countries also sent their congratulations and support."

Four US Troops Killed  4/15/02 Sky

Couple buried alive by Israeli army bulldozer in Nablus  4/15/02 Star Tribune

Costly weekend for US forces in Afghanistan  4/15/02 Ummah News: "US central command in Florida said the deaths were an accident, but the information could not be verified." So many accidents…

VHeadline News Briefs Monday, January 14, 2002  4/15/02 Vheadline: Santeria among the Chavez forces - ""The pro-government protests outside the newspaper's office turned into a Santeria session which Papa Doc would never have done in Haiti ... not the best example of how a government should tackle criticism and the flow of information ... the government has failed in its lack of reliable and convincing word and print spokespersons." Anti-Chavist historian Manuel Caballero agrees with Sanoja Hernandez and dubs the Catia barrio slum protesters as the "new Ton-Ton Macoutes" rather than Nicolas Maduro's grandiose "soldiers of the Revolution."

Cuba: U.S. 'openly behind coup' - Reinstatement of Chavez in Venezuela bodes ill for America  4/15/02 WorldNet Daily

Castro's Man in Caracas  4/15/02 WSJ: vintage Wall Street Journal

Rumsfeld Talks of Iraq Inspections  4/15/02 Yahoo: we don't need no stinking badges! Not content with a disaster in Venezuela, Rummy is all set to do Iraq and drive oil sky high!

World News

"There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to Democracies as against despots: suspicion." -- Demosthenes

Qawafil-ush-Shuhadaa http://www.shuhadaa.com [ARABIC]

Islam Question & Answer - Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Islaam Homepage

Islamic Assembly of North America [IANA on LINE]

Jam'iat Ihyaa' Minhaaj al-Sunnah Homepage

Nida'ul Islam/ The Call of Islam Magazine Online

Words Written in Blood. Arabic book collection of Shaheed Sheikh

Abdullah Azzam [ARABIC]

Maps & Weather

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/

A number of maps here
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/afghanistan.html

http://www.weatherhub.com/

Estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.2 billion worldwide and 3 to 6 million in the U.S. About 20% of all people on earth follow Islam. The religion is in a period of rapid growth.

Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It is followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remaind stable for decades. It is expected that, if current trends continue, Islam will become the most popular religion sometime in the mid-21^st century.

-- http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm

Death from America

Iraq news: Soaring death rates among Iraqi children, 1999 BBC, UNICEF 500,000 child deaths

Ramsey Clark: Report to UN Security Council re: Iraq, 1/26/2000
1.5 million deaths

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World News
4/15/02 - 4/21/02