Sometimes Malaysia's multiracial, multireligious benefits are shown like the below. (Lily)
1．Malaysiakini（http://www.malaysiakini.com）
(1) Anti-Israel group fails to hand over memo to Felda, 23 November 2012
by Aidila Razak
A PAS-led group of about 700 people today failed to hand over a memorandum to the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) urging it stop alleged sale of palm oil to a “Jewish company”.
Guards at Felda headquarters at Jalan Semarak, Kuala Lumpur refused to open the gates or allow representatives in to submit the memorandum to Felda chairperson Isa Samad.
“This is how they treat Malaysians, as if Felda belongs to their parents,” PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu told the demonstrators.
“Even at the Istana Negara they accept and allow representatives in.”
According to Felda settler rights NGO Anak president Mazlan Aliman, Felda was informed via fax and email prior to the demonstration today.
In the memorandum, Mazlan claims that Felda subsidiary Felda Iffco Oil Products Sdn Bhd is assisting the Jewish cause by selling raw palm oil to a Singapore-based Jewish company.
He said that by allowing Felda to sell palm oil to a Jewish company, the government is “in cahoots with Israel”.
‘Secret ties to Israel’
“We urge the government and Felda to immediately halt the sale of palm oil by Felda Iffco and any Malaysian plantation company to Israel or Jewish companies.
“We do not lose out by rejecting trade with Jewish companies as there are many other countries who are ready to buy palm oil from Malaysia,” he said.
He added that Malaysia’s “secret ties to Israel” also reveals the government’s hypocrisy.
Also appended to the memorandum are purported trade documents showing that palm oil was shipped by Felda Iffco to Bunge Agribusiness Singapore via Pasir Gudang this year.
According to its website, Bunge Limited - a food processing corporation - was founded in 1818 in Amsterdam and is now present in 40 countries.
However, it has no operations in Israel. It became a public-listed company in 2001 and now employs more than 35,000 people worldwide.
About half of those at the demonstration today were tertiary students, some from institutions outside of Kuala Lumpur, who had marched from the US embassy at Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.
The demonstrators called for the destruction of Israel, and carried placards denouncing trade with the nation, including one placard carried by a demonstrator that read: ‘A drop of Felda palm oil = one Zionist bullet’.
Responding to a similar call for a trade boycott in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said that Malaysia practices open trading and cannot determine the end location of its products.
However, Malaysia has no diplomatic or direct trade relations with Israel.
(2) Brickfields history to be wiped out, 23 November 2012
by M Krishnamoorthy
Journalist and pastor Balan Moses, who grew up in Brickfields, feels that there is very little being done to conserve the nostalgic and historical past of this part of Kuala Lumpur.
Unfortunately, the historical 100 Government Quarters in the area will be demolished to make way for modern buildings, Moses notes in his book Brickfields and Beyond: Stories from the Past to be launched tomorrow.
“The iconic Hundred Quarters along Jalan Rozario and Jalan Chan Ah Tong, which is to be demolished next year (2013) as part of a redevelopment project, should be preserved for posterity.
“I feel that the authorities should consider modifying the re-development proposal to maintain some semblance of history by retaining some of the facades of the quarters. I agree that one cannot stop development but some thought should be placed on preserving heritage buildings like these,” said Moses, who is now an editorial trainer at New Straits Times.
Moses is inviting all those who have lived in Brickfields in the 1950s and 60s to attend the launch at the Lutheran Church in Brickfields at 10am. “We can discuss ways of conserving whatever remains of the old Brickfields’ heritage can be conserved.”
Moses said that conservation had been managed very well in some parts of the city where the facades of late 19th century and early 20th century shophouses had been retained with some measure of architectural ingenuity.
There are plans to build a multi-storey car park and hawker stalls in place of the historic Hundred Quarters. “Imagine having stalls and restaurants in buildings that are a throwback to a time long gone. Tourists and locals may very well appreciate the history that comes with the food.
“The Hundred Quarters where I lived for 15 years epitomises the neighbourhood that has grown on me over the years. I, like many others, feel the imminent loss of the place that shaped many a world view,” he told Malaysiakini in an interview.
Moses has used the uniqueness of the time they lived in as the backdrop for the stories. “All of them are stories culled from half-remembered tales from my childhood and youth, a melange of fact and fiction,” he said.
He has also attempted to include social commentary on the traditions, customs, conventions and practices among Malayans, and later Malaysians, on issues like class differences, romance and nation-building within a multi-racial populace.
The book will be launched by former Malaysian Bar Council president Dr Cyrus Das. It is an anthology of 15 short stories set in Kuala Lumpur’s historic suburb of Brickfields in the 1950s and 1960s.
This is Moses’ second effort at putting down for posterity the lifestyle, ethos and character of a community in a bygone era. He has moved genre to fiction by bringing to life some of the characters featured in his first book, Brickfields: A Place, A Time, A Memory published in 2007.
Brickfields and Beyond: Stories From The Past may be reminiscent of the past for most Malaysians who grew up in such small enclaves around the country in the 1950s and 1960s. It may also prove to be of benefit to younger readers wanting to experience a way of life redolent of the past when things were far less complicated than they are now.
“As development changes the face of Brickfields, this book may help readers conjure pictures in their mind’s eye of a time gone past that will surely never return.”
Moses, who has also been pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church Brickfields for the past five years, is contributing all proceeds from the sale of the books to the Hands Across Brickfields project which he initiated three years ago.
Under the project, nearly 200 packets of food are distributed to the poor of Brickfields, including destitute single-parent families, drug addicts and the homeless, every Sunday afternoon at the compound of the church.
・M KRISHNAMOORTHY is a freelance journalist and local coordinator for CNN, BBC and several other foreign television networks. He was formerly a journalist with The Star and New Straits Times and has authored four books.
2. AsiaNews.it （http://www.asianews.it）
(1) Another superfluous war, Israeli activist says, 17 November 2012
by Uri Avnery
In an editorial published on the Gush Shalom website, Israeli journalist Uri Avnery looks at the Gaza crisis, which continues to kill on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. For the activist, what is happening is "a continuous chain of events" involving both nations. To stop the air strikes, "the real remedy is peace. Peace with the Palestinian people."
Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) - Israel's Operation "Pillar of Cloud" against the Gaza Strip "is not Cast Lead II" (conducted in December 2008-January 2009), but an attempt by Netanyahu "to cause maximum damage to Hamas with minimum civilian victims. [. . .] The question is whether this can be kept up as the war goes on," said Uri Avnery, Israeli journalist, writer and leader of Gush Shalom (The Peace Bloc), an independent organisation that is in favour of a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine on the basis of a two-state solution within the 1967 borders. What follows is an editorial by Uri Avnery on the Gaza crisis.
HOW DID it start? Stupid question.
Conflagrations along the Gaza Strip don't start. They are just a continuous chain of events, each claimed to be in "retaliation" for the previous one. Action is followed by reaction, which is followed by retaliation, which is followed by ...
This particular event "started" with the firing from Gaza of an anti-tank weapon at a partially armored jeep on the Israeli side of the border fence. It was described as retaliation for the killing of a boy in an air attack some days earlier. But probably the timing of the action was accidental - the opportunity just presented itself.
The success gave rise to demonstrations of joy and pride in Gaza. Again Palestinians had shown their ability to strike at the hated enemy.
HOWEVER, THE Palestinians had in fact walked into a trap prepared with great care. Whether the order was given by Hamas or one of the smaller more extreme organizations - it was not a clever thing to do.
Shooting across the fence at an army vehicle was crossing a red line. (The Middle East is full of red lines.) A major Israeli reaction was sure to ensue.
It was rather routine. Israeli tanks fired cannon shells into the Gaza Strip. Hamas launched rockets at Israeli towns and villages. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis rushed to their shelters. Schools closed.
As usual, Egyptian and other mediators went into action. Behind the scenes, a new truce was arranged. It seemed to be over. Just another round.
The Israeli side did everything to get back to normal. Or so it seemed. The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister went out of their way (to the Syrian border) to show that Gaza was off their minds.
In Gaza, everybody relaxed. They left their shelters. Their supreme military commander, Ahmad Ja'abari, climbed into his car and drove along the main street.
And then the trap closed. The car bearing the commander was blown up by a missile from the air.
SUCH AN assassination is not carried out on the spur of the moment. It is the culmination of many months of preparation, gathering of information, waiting for the right moment, when it could be executed without killing many bystanders and causing an international scandal.
Actually, it was due to take place a day earlier, but postponed because of the bad weather.
Ja'abari was the man behind all the military activities of the Hamas government in Gaza, including the capture of Gilad Shalit and the successful five-year long hiding of his whereabouts. He was photographed at the release of Shalit to the Egyptians.
So this time it was the Israelis who were jubilant. Much like the Americans after the Osama bin-Laden assassination.
THE KILLING of Ja'abari was the sign for starting the planned operation.
The Gaza Strip is full of missiles. Some of them are able to reach Tel Aviv, some 40 km away. The Israeli military has long planned a major operation to destroy as many of them as possible from the air. Intelligence has patiently gathered information about their location. This is the purpose of the "Pillar of Cloud" operation. ("And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way - Exodus,13:21).
While I am writing this, I don't know yet how the whole thing will end. But some conclusions can already be drawn.
FIRST OF All, this is not Cast Lead II. Far from it.
The Israeli army is rather good at discreetly drawing lessons from its failures. Cast Lead was celebrated as a great success, but in reality it was a disaster.
Sending troops into a densely populated area is bound to cause heavy civilian casualties. War crimes are almost inevitable. World reaction was catastrophic. The political damage immense. The Chief of Staff at the time, Gabi Ashkenazi, was widely acclaimed, but in reality he was a rather primitive military type. His present successor is of a different caliber.
Also, grandiose statements about destroying Hamas and turning the Strip over to the Ramallah leadership have been avoided this time.
The Israeli aim, it was stated, is to cause maximum damage to Hamas with minimum civilian victims. It was hoped that this could be achieved almost entirely by the use of air power. In the first phase of the operation, this seems to have succeeded. The question is whether this can be kept up as the war goes on.
HOW WILL it end? It would be foolhardy to guess. Wars have their own logic. Stuff happens, as the man said.
Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the two men in overall command, hope the war will wind down once the main aims are achieved. So there will be no reason to employ the army on the ground, enter the Gaza Strip, kill people, lose soldiers.
Deterrence will be restored. Another truce will come into force. The Israeli population surrounding the Strip will be able to sleep soundly at night for several months. Hamas will be cut down to size.
But will this whole exercise change the basic situation? Not likely.
Ja'abari will be replaced. Israel has assassinated dozens of Arab political and military leaders. Indeed, it is the world champion of such assassinations, politely referred to as "targeted preventions" or "eliminations". If this were an Olympic sport, the Ministry of Defense, the Mossad and the Shin Bet would be festooned with gold medals.
Sometimes one gets the impression that the assassinations are an aim in themselves, and the other operations just incidental. An artist is proud of his art.
What have the results been ? Overall - nothing positive. Israel killed Hizbollah leader Abbas al-Moussawi, and got the vastly more intelligent Hassan Nasrallah instead.
They killed Hamas founder Sheik Ahmad Yassin, and he was replaced by abler men. Ja'abari's successor may be less or more able. It will make no great difference.
Will it stop the steady advance of Hamas? I doubt it. Perhaps the opposite will happen. Hamas has already achieved a significant breakthrough, when the Emir of Qatar (owner of Aljazeera) paid Gaza a state visit. He was the first head of state to do so. Others are bound to follow. Just now, in the middle of the operation, the Egyptian prime minister arrived in Gaza.
Operation "Pillar of Cloud" compels all Arab countries to rally around Hamas, or at least pretend to. It discredits the claim of the more extreme organizations in Gaza that Hamas has gone soft and lazy, enjoying the fruits of government. In the battle for Palestinian opinion, Hamas has gained another victory over Mahmoud Abbas, whose security cooperation with Israel will look even more despicable.
All in all, nothing basic will change. Just another superfluous war.
IT IS, of course, a highly political event.
Like Cast Lead, it takes place on the eve of Israeli elections. (So, by the way, did the Yom Kippur war, but that was decided by the other side.)
One of the more miserable sights of the last few days has been the TV appearances of Shelly Yachimovich and Ya'ir Lapid. The two shining new stars in Israel's political firmament looked like petty politicians, parroting Netanyahu's propaganda, approving everything done.
Both had hitched their wagons to the social protest, expecting that social issues would displace subjects like war, occupation and settlements from the agenda. When the public is occupied with the price of cottage cheese, who cares about national policy?
I said at the time that one whiff of military action would blow away all economic and social issues as frivolous and irrelevant. This has happened now.
Netanyahu and Barak appear many times a day on the screen. They look responsible, sober, determined, experienced. Real he-men, commanding troops, shaping events, saving the nation, routing the enemies of Israel and the entire Jewish people. As Lapid volunteered on live television: "Hamas is an anti-Semitic terrorist organization and must be crushed."
Netanyahu is doing it. Adieu, Lapid. Adieu Shelly. Adieu Olmert. Adieu Tzipi. Was nice seeing you.
WAS THERE an alternative? Obviously, the situation along the Gaza Strip had become intolerable. One cannot send an entire population to the shelters every two or three weeks. Except hitting Hamas on the head, what can you do?
A lot.
First of all, you can abstain from "reacting". Just cut the chain.
Then, you can talk with Hamas as the de facto government of Gaza. You did, actually, when negotiating the release of Shalit. So why not look for a permanent modus vivendi, with the involvement of Egypt?
A hudna can be achieved. In Arab culture, a hudna is a binding truce, sanctified by Allah, which can go on for many years. A hudna cannot be violated. Even the Crusaders concluded hudnas with their Muslim enemies.
The day after the assassination, Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin, who had been involved in mediating Shalit's release, disclosed that he had been in contact with Ja'abari up to the last moment. Ja'abari had been interested in a long-term cease-fire. The Israeli authorities had been informed.
But the real remedy is peace. Peace with the Palestinian people. Hamas has already solemnly declared that it would respect a peace agreement concluded by the PLO - i.e. Mahmoud Abbas - that would establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, provided this agreement were confirmed in a Palestinian referendum.
Without it, the bloodletting will just go on, round after round. Forever.
Peace is the answer. But when visibility is obscured by pillars of cloud, who can see that?
(2) Israel, instrumental in Hamas's victory and Mahmoud Abbas's defeat, says Israeli activist , 23 November 2012
by Uri Avnery
Israel's goal in its "Pillar of Defence' operation was to undermine Abbas's UN request. Everyone appears to agree on this: Israel, Hamas, Egypt and the United States. The great former statesman now peace activist suggests steps to take to achieve coexistence: direct dialogue with Hamas and support for a Palestinian seat at the UN. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has other plans: colonising the West Bank and let Gaza be.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - The Gaza truce has several winners (Hamas, Israel, Mohamed Morsi) and one loser: Mahmoud Abbas. Seemingly, everybody wants to weaken him in order to stop his request that Palestine be recognised as a permanent non-member state of the United Nations on 29 November.
Uri Avneri, activist and founder of Gush Shalom (the Peace Bloc), analyses the fallout from a week of war. He argues that Israeli and Palestinian families have a common destiny and looks at the consequences of the truce reached in Egypt. He is in favour of a Palestinian seat at the United Nations and direct dialogue with all components of the Palestinian people.
The mantra of this round was Once And For All.
"We must put an end to this (the rockets, Hamas, the Palestinians, the Arabs?) Once and For All!" - this cry from the heart was heard dozens of times daily on TV from the harassed inhabitants of Israel's battered towns and villages in the South.
It has displaced the slogan which dominated several decades: "Bang And Finish!"
It did not quite work.
The big winner emerging from the cloud is Hamas.
Until this round, Hamas had a powerful presence in the Gaza Strip, but practically no international standing. The international face of the Palestinian people was Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian National Authority.
No more.
Operation Pillar of Cloud has given the Hamas mini-state in Gaza wide international recognition. (Pillar of Cloud is the official Hebrew name, though the army spokesman decreed that the English name, for foreign consumption, should be Pillar of Defense.) Heads of state and droves of other foreign dignitaries made their pilgrimage to the Strip.
First was the powerful and immensely rich Emir of Qatar, owner of Aljazeera. He was the first head of state ever to enter the Gaza strip. Then came the Egyptian prime minister, the Tunisian foreign minister, the secretary of the Arab League and the collected Arab foreign ministers (except the one from Ramallah.)
In all diplomatic deliberations, Gaza was treated as a de facto state, with a de facto government (Hamas). The Israeli media were no exception. It was clear to Israelis that any deal, to be effective, must be concluded with Hamas.
Within the Palestinian people, the standing of Hamas shot sky-high. The Gaza Strip alone, smaller than an average American county, has stood up to the mighty Israeli war machine, one of the largest and most efficient in the world. It has not succumbed. The military outcome will be at best a draw.
A draw between tiny Gaza and the powerful Israel means a victory for Gaza.
Who remembers now Ehud Barak's proud declaration in the middle of the war: "We shall not stop until Hamas gets on its knees and begs for a cease-fire!"
Where does that leave Mahmoud Abbas? Actually, nowhere.
For a simple Palestinian, whether in Nablus, Gaza or Beirut, the contrast is glaring. Hamas is courageous, proud, upright, while Fatah is helpless, submissive and despised. Pride and honor play a central role in Arab culture.
After more than half a century of humiliation, any Palestinian who stands up against the occupation is the hero of the Arab masses, in and outside the country. Abbas is identified only with the close cooperation of his security forces with the hated Israeli occupation army. And the most important fact: Abbas has nothing to show for it.
If Abbas could at least show a major political achievement for his pains, the situation might be different. The Palestinians are a sensible people, and if Abbas had come even one step closer to Palestinian statehood, most Palestinians would probably have said: he may not be glamorous, but he delivers the goods.
But the opposite is happening. The violent Hamas is achieving results, the non-violent Abbas is not. As a Palestinian told me: "He (Abbas) has given them (the Israelis) everything, quiet and security, and what did [or "does"] he get in return? They spit in his face!"
This round will only reinforce a basic Palestinian conviction: "Israelis understand only the language of force!" (Israelis, of course, say exactly the same about the Palestinians.)
If at least the US had allowed Abbas to achieve a UN resolution recognizing Palestine as a non-member state, he might have held his own against Hamas. But the Israeli government is determined to prevent this by all available means. Barack Obama's decision, even after re-election, to block the Palestinian effort is a direct support for Hamas and a slap in the face of the "moderates". Hillary Clinton's perfunctory visit to Ramallah this week was seen in this context.
Looked at from the outside, this looks like sheer lunacy. Why undermine the "moderates" who want and are able to make peace? Why elevate the "extremists", who are opposed to peace?
The answer is openly expressed by Avigdor Lieberman, now Netanyahu's official political No. 2: he wants to destroy Abbas in order to annex the West Bank and clear the way for the settlers.
After Hamas, the big winner is Mohamed Morsi.
This is an almost incredible tale. When Morsi was elected as the president of Egypt, official Israel was in hysteria. How terrible! The Islamist extremists have taken over the most important Arab country! Our peace treaty with our largest neighbor is going down the drain!
US reactions were almost the same.
And now - less than four months later - we hang on every word Morsi utters. He is the man who has put an end to the mutual killing and destruction! He is the great peacemaker! He is the only person who can mediate between Israel and Hamas! He must guarantee the cease-fire agreement!
Can it be? Can this be the same Morsi? The same Muslim Brotherhood?
The 61 year old Morsi (the full name is Mohamed Morsi Isa al-Ayyad. Isa being the Arab form of Jesus, who is regarded in Islam as a prophet) is a complete novice on the world stage. Yet at this moment, all the world's leaders rely on him.
When I wholeheartedly welcomed the Arab Spring, I had people like him in mind. Now almost all the Israeli commentators, ex-generals and politicians, who uttered dire warnings at the time, are lauding his success in achieving a cease-fire.
Throughout the operation I did what I always do in such situations: I switched constantly between Israeli TV and Aljazeera. Sometimes, when my thoughts wander, I am unsure for a moment which of the two I am looking at.
Women weeping, wounded being carried away, homes in shambles, children's shoes strewn around, families packing and fleeing. Here and there. Mirror images. Though, of course, Palestinian casualties were 30 times higher than the Israeli ones - partly because of the incredible success of the Iron Dome interception missiles and home shelters, while the Palestinians were practically defenseless.
On Wednesday I was invited to air my views on Israel's Channel 2, the most popular (and patriotic) Israeli outlet. The invitation was of course withdrawn at the last moment. Had I been on air, I would have posed to my compatriots one simple question:
Was It Worthwhile?
All the suffering, the killed, the injured, the destruction, the hours and days of terror, the children in trauma?
And, I might add, the endless TV coverage around the clock, with legions of ex-generals appearing on the screen and declaiming the message sheet of the prime minister's office. And the blood-curdling threats of politicians and other nincompoops, including the son of Ariel Sharon, who proposed flattening neighborhoods in Gaza City, or even better, the whole Strip.
Now that it is over, we are almost exactly where we were before. The operation, commonly referred to in Israel as "another round", was indeed round - leading nowhere than to where it started.
Hamas will be firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, if not more firmly. The Gazans will hate Israel even more than before. Many of the inhabitants of the West Bank, who throughout the war came out in their thousands in demonstrations for Hamas, will vote in even greater numbers for Hamas in the next elections. Israeli voters will vote in two months as they intended to vote anyhow, before the whole thing started.
Each of the two sides is now celebrating its great victory. If they organized just one joint celebration, a lot of money could be saved.
What are the political conclusions?
The most obvious one is: talk with Hamas. Directly. Face to face.
Yitzhak Rabin once told me how he came to the conclusion that he must talk with the PLO: after years of opposing it, he realized that they were the only force that counted. "So it was ridiculous to talk with them through intermediaries."
The same is now true for Hamas. They are there. They will not go away. It is ridiculous for the Israeli negotiators to sit in one room at the Egyptian intelligence service HQ near Cairo, while the Hamas negotiators sit in another room, just a few meters away, with the courteous Egyptians going to and fro.
Concurrently, activate the effort towards peace. Seriously.
Save Abbas. As of now, he has no replacement. Give him an immediate victory to balance the Hamas achievements. Vote for the Palestinian application for statehood in the UN General Assembly.
Move towards peace with the entire Palestinian people, including Fatah and Hamas - so we can really put an end to the violence,
Once and for all!
(End)
