Winter Patriot Community Blog

March 5, 2012 - ...The grainy footage depicts wards full of wounded men, blindfolded and shackled to their beds. Some bear marks of extreme beating. The apparent instruments of torture - a rubber whip and electrical cable - lie openly on a table in one of the hospital wards. On the orders of the Syrian government, all of those shot or injured in protests in Homs must be brought to the Military Hospital for treatment. But wounded people should never expect this sort of "treatment": the hospital employee, claims many are whipped and beaten in their beds - and worse... The employee says he attempted several times to stop what he called "the shameful things" that were happening in the military hospital but was branded a "traitor". He was interviewed in a safe location. "I have seen detainees being tortured by electrocution, whipping, beating with batons, and by breaking their legs. They twist the feet until the leg breaks," he told "Mani", a French photojournalist, who himself risked his life, smuggling the covert footage out of Syria. "They perform operations without anaesthetics," the hospital employee told him. "I saw them slamming detainees' heads against walls. They shackle the patients to beds. They deny them water. Others have their penises tied to stop them from urinating."...

March 5, 2012 - British journalist Andy Worthington, the author of "The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison," has been documenting the array of human rights abuses at Guantanamo for over six years now, after he personally became angry that the US government would not say who they were holding at Guantanamo. Worthington was recently a guest speaker alongside investigative journalist Jason Leopold at the UC Hastings College of Law, in San Francisco on January 13, 2012, hosted by the college's chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. The event, entitled "Ten Years of Guantanamo," was held amidst protests around the world calling for the prison to be immediately shut...

March 5, 2012 - Their stories flow like water. One lost a son and brother, killed by a missile that tore from the sky as they sat talking with others; one man's father was among those who died when a missile hit a tribal gathering. Another man, a wage labourer, was in the local bazaar when he heard his father was also among the dozens killed in the same incident. These individuals and their stories represent the collateral damage of America's drone missile programme in Pakistan, a covert CIA operation that has been conducted largely out of sight and beyond scrutiny....

March 5, 2012 - We know for a fact that US President Barack Obama can utter extremely strong words. We know it because he heard him yesterday being as assertive and as firm as any leader can possibly be. Practically groveling for Jewish votes, Obama put on his "I heart Israel" face and let out all the stops."...when one-sided resolutions are brought up at the Human Rights Council, we oppose them. When there are efforts to boycott or divest from Israel, we will stand against them. And whenever an effort is made to delegitimize the state of Israel, my administration has opposed them. So there should not be a shred of doubt by now - when the chips are down, I have Israel's back." You sure do, Mr. Obama. Without a doubt. So,anyone can understand why we Palestinians just don't want to hear it when Obama or any of his mouthpieces in the government express their "deep concern" for Israel's gross violations against the Palestinians....

March 5, 2012 - I listened to President Obama's speech to AIPAC Sunday, March 4, 2012, while sitting outside the Washington Convention Center where AIPAC was holding its annual conference... Obama said the Iranian government denies the Holocaust. I would say that Iranian government is not the only "denier." President Obama and his advisors are the "deniers" of incredible Israeli violence and horrific violations of international law. In his speech, Obama said, "When the Goldstone report unfairly singled out Israel for criticism (after Israel attacked Gaza), we challenged it." Having been to Gaza within days after the 22-day Israeli attack on Gaza that killed 1440, wounded 5,000 and left 50,000 homeless (13 Israelis were killed-5 by Israeli fire), I know the Goldstone Report is accurate in its recording of endless Israeli attacks on Gaza by air, land and sea. President Obama must not know that the Goldstone report comments on the actions of all parties, not just the Israelis. How would Obama know whether the report is accurate or not, when not one Obama administration officer has visited Gaza to observe the destruction first hand, nor have they asked any of the American citizens who have travelled to Gaza for their observations....

March 5, 2012 - Sneaking across the desert behind army lines, al-Qaida militants launched a surprise attack against military bases in south Yemen, killing 107 soldiers and capturing heavy weapons they later used to kill more troops, officials said on Monday. The military officials said at least 32 of the militants were killed in Sunday's fighting in Abyan province, and scores were wounded on both sides. Medical officials in the area confirmed the death toll figures. They said the poor services in local hospitals accounted for the death of many soldiers who suffered serious wounds but could have survived had they been given better medical care....

March 5, 2012 - The Libyan government should urgently increase security for the roughly 12,000 displaced people from Tawergha in western Libya, Human Rights Watch said today. Nearly a month after militias raided a Tawergha camp in Janzur, shooting dead one man, three women, and three children, that camp and others still lack adequate protection, Human Rights Watch said. In Tripoli and other western areas, Tawerghans have been subjected to attacks, arrests and harassment since August 2011, mostly by militias from Misrata, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch has found no evidence that the government is investigating these crimes or the shooting deaths in Janzur...

March 5, 2012 - The explosion of national anger in Afghanistan after the revelation that U.S. soldiers dumped and burned copies of the Quran in an incineration pit has an uncanny familiarity with the history of previous foreign occupations of the country. Despite ceaseless official media campaign through the decade of U.S.-led war to convince us how well things were going for NATO, the battle for the hearts and minds in Afghanistan has not been won. Dozens of Afghans have been killed in violent demonstrations across the country. Relations between foreign forces and civilians on one hand, and the Afghan population on the other, have sunk to a new low...

March 5, 2012 - A Palestinian student was in critical condition on Monday after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister when Israeli troops attacked a protest near Ramallah, medics said. Medics at Ramallah's main hospital confirmed that 20-year-old Mohammed Abu Awad was in intensive care after an Israeli soldier shot a tear gas canister at his head. Palestinian security sources said the student had been injured as Israeli troops attacked a peaceful rally in support of a hunger-striking female prisoner near the Atara checkpoint, five kilometers north of Ramallah....

March 4, 2012 - Barack Obama has admonished Israel for "too much loose talk of war" with Iran and said the world has a responsibility to give sanctions an opportunity to discourage Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. Speaking ahead of a meeting on Monday with the Israel prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, Obama sought to head off pressure for him to commit to military action against Tehran if it crosses specified "red lines" in its nuclear programme....

March 4, 2012 - US Attorney General Eric Holder is prepared to deliver a major policy speech at Northwestern University on Monday afternoon, explaining for the first time his Justice Department's rationale related to the President's putative power to order the assassination of American citizens without judicial oversight. The explanation has long been speculated at by legal experts and civil rights activists, as the Obama Administration is known to have a "kill list" and has assassinated multiple American citizens inside Yemen without providing any charges against them beforehand....

March 4, 2012 - US Attorney General Eric Holder is prepared to deliver a major policy speech at Northwestern University on Monday afternoon, explaining for the first time his Justice Department's rationale related to the President's putative power to order the assassination of American citizens without judicial oversight. The explanation has long been speculated at by legal experts and civil rights activists, as the Obama Administration is known to have a "kill list" and has assassinated multiple American citizens inside Yemen without providing any charges against them beforehand....

March 5, 2012 - A Palestinian student was in critical condition on Monday after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister when Israeli troops attacked a protest near Ramallah, medics said. Medics at Ramallah's main hospital confirmed that 20-year-old Mohammed Abu Awad was in intensive care after an Israeli soldier shot a tear gas canister at his head. Palestinian security sources said the student had been injured as Israeli troops attacked a peaceful rally in support of a hunger-striking female prisoner near the Atara checkpoint, five kilometers north of Ramallah....

March 5, 2012 - Amnesty International has expressed concern over the worsening health of Hana al-Shalabi, a Palestinian woman who has been on hunger strike since 16 February against her detention without charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities. Al-Shalabi, 29, has vowed to continue her hunger strike despite an Israeli military court shortening the period of her "administrative detention" by two months. Currently detained at Hasharon prison, she previously spent more than two years in detention without charge or trial and was released in October 2011 as part of the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange...

March 5, 2012 - Amnesty International has expressed concern over the worsening health of Hana al-Shalabi, a Palestinian woman who has been on hunger strike since 16 February against her detention without charge or trial by Israeli occupation authorities. Al-Shalabi, 29, has vowed to continue her hunger strike despite an Israeli military court shortening the period of her "administrative detention" by two months. Currently detained at Hasharon prison, she previously spent more than two years in detention without charge or trial and was released in October 2011 as part of the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange...

March 5, 2012 - Afghanistan faces an acute problem of malnutrition and food insecurity, with children suffer from one of the highest levels of chronic malnutrition in the world, according to the latest data from the government and the World Bank. Fifty-four percent of Afghan children under five are chronically malnourished and 34 percent are underweight, says the report on Poverty and Food Security in Afghanistan: Analysis based on the National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment of 2007/08...

March 5, 2012 - Three relatives of Palestinian political detainees were arrested by Israeli soldiers on Sunday during a jail visit, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported on Monday. According to the report, the incident took place at Rimon military detention facility. The Prisoners Society announced that troops stormed the visitors area and arrested 26 year old Daiyala Matar, and her 15 year old brother Saeed. They were visiting their brother Mohamed who is currently serving a life sentence after being detained since 2003 by the Israeli military....

March 4, 2012 - Sunday has ended with 62 martyrs fallen in Syria including 7 children, 3 women and 1 martyr who was tortured to death. The distributions are as follows: 17 martyrs in Homs (6 of whom were executed at the field in Baba Amr neighbourhood); 18 martyrs in Hama (including 13 died in the workers massacre in the area of Har Benafsah); 12 martyrs in Damascus Suburbs (including 8 who were killed in the town of Madaya); 4 martyrs in Daraa, 5 martyrs in Idlib, 2 martyrs in each of Damascus and Aleppo, and one martyr in each of Banyas and Deir Ezzor...Idlib: The regime's army gives the city one day to hand over the members of the Free Syrian Army and their weapons and cars or else the city will be stormed with tanks and heavy machinery. There are reports of 4 battalions of the regime's army being centered in the village Mastouma, ready to storm Idlib. Mastouma is the closest village to the city. The threat followed a meeting of the commanding officer with the elders of the city.

March 4, 2012 - There are so many basic things most of us take for granted....like, electricity. But in Gaza - especially these days - it's a precious commodity. Power (of the electrical kind) has been rationed to some extent ever since I started visiting Gaza in 2009. As a freelance writer, it became part of my daily routine to shift from place to place in search of a good wifi connection - although, I should note, it was never good enough to down- or upload videos easily, back-up my computer or conduct a clear Skype conversation for any length of time....

March 4, 2012 -It was on this day, February 29, 1948, that 28 British soldiers were killed as a mine exploded under the Cairo-Haifa train. Lehi, also known as Stern Gang, a Zionist terrorist group, claimed responsibility. But the Cairo-Haifa attack was only one of several acts of terrorism that Israeli Zionists employed. And the Stern Gang was just one of several terrorist organizations working to establish a Jewish-Israeli state in Palestine. Israel, then, was born on a wave of Zionist terrorism. Some the West would like to see Palestinians and Palestinian statehood quietly go away, to suffer in silence and to die in darkness. But even now as electricity is slowly being cut from the Gaza Strip, not to mention a harsh economic blockade that for years has caused immense suffering, terror comes to mind....