Revolutionary rapper Lowkey comments:

“These democracy activists, as we speak that are in Liberation Square, are having their pictures taken by the State Security and State Television and by media all over the world and those activists are being targeted. They are being targeted with the full support of the United States. What the United States is trying to do at this stage is maintain the status quo, but change the face. They want a more acceptable face to the exact same status quo and the people are rejecting that status quo.”

While the US puts more stopgap suggestions to the Mubarak/Suleiman regime, Wael Ghonim expresses the wishes of the protesters. Move over, Malcolm Gladwell, here’s Wael Ghonim on the Egyptian Internet Revolution 2.0.

Egypt Links

The Palestine Cables: Egyptian VP Suleiman, Israel’s favorite, wants ‘Gaza to go ‘hungry’ but not ‘starve”
Exclusive: Mamdouh Habib interview on new US/Israeli Egyptian pet Omar Suleiman
US company helped Egypt spy on citizens
Labor Actions in Egypt Boost Protests
Egypt Revolution’s Actors: The Media (pt.1)
Obama and Egypt’s Future
Egypt takes aim at Al-Jazeera for protest coverage
Egypt: Strike! Strike! Strike!
Wael Ghonim: Negotiation days with Mubarak are over
Mubarak rumored to be planning ‘sick leave’ in Germany
Omar Suleiman warns of coup as tensions rise between Egyptian demonstrators, army
Egyptian workers take the lead
Iran refuses opposition permission to march in support of Arab uprisings
US Marines heading to Egypt?
Ben Ali and Mubarak: Brothers in arms
Meet Egypt’s Future Leaders
The Crumbling Anchors of Mubarak’s Support
Egypt’s army ‘involved in detentions and torture’
Musicians’ Union protest
US sets parameters for Egypt

Suleiman was quoted on Sunday as suggesting Egypt was not ready for democracy and a government statement said the emergency law would be lifted “according to the security conditions” — a phrase giving the authorities wide latitude.

As Egyptians staged one of their biggest anti-Mubarak protests yet, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs described Suleiman’s comments about democracy as “unhelpful.”

Mubarak, under pressure from more than two weeks of unprecedented demonstrations, has said he will not seek re-election in September but has refused to resign.

After Biden spoke to Suleiman by telephone on Tuesday, the White House issued a statement listing four steps the United States wants Egypt to take:

1. “Restraining the Ministry of Interior’s conduct by immediately ending the arrests, harassment, beating, and detention of journalists, and political and civil society activists, and by allowing freedom of assembly and expression;

2. “immediately rescinding the emergency law;

3. “broadening participation in the national dialogue to include a wide range of opposition members; and,

4. “inviting the opposition as a partner in jointly developing a roadmap and timetable for transition.”

#Jan25 Telecommunication workers on strike
Egypt and Poli-Sci US academia
Obama consults Saudi King Abdullah on Egypt

“The President emphasized the importance of taking immediate steps toward an orderly transition that is meaningful, lasting, legitimate, and responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

“The President also reaffirmed the long-term commitment of the United States to peace and security in the region.”

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is under siege after days of raging street protest is known to be close to King Abdullah, who has condemned efforts by what he said were “intruders” to interfere with Egypt’s stability.

‘We Focused Too Much on the Rulers’ – patronising EU racism about the arab revolt in Egypt
Richard Cohen: Egyptian democracy will be “a nightmare” – US racism against the arab revolt
Egypt army would intervene in case of chaos, minister says
Sheridan, faithful shill for Israel, lies and drums up fear of the MB in Murdoch gutter press
WikiLeaks: Suleiman told Israel he would ‘cleanse’ Sinai of arms runners to Gaza
The Revolt in Egypt is Coming Home – John Pilger
Hamas says Egypt ex-minister tied to church attack
The minister had tried to blame the bombing on a Palestinian group associated with AQ
Egyptian military & regime systematic discrimination against Copts
Prosecution investigates Interior Minister’s alleged involvement in church attack
Egypt says military intervention on table
J Street says it invited boycott advocate to its conference so as to pillory her

Palestine / Israel Links

The Palestine Papers, or How Everything You Thought You Knew about the Peace Process Was Wrong
Al Arakib villagers beaten and gassed as they protest the 16th demolition of their homes
Well Gideon, the poor people of Egypt may be ignorant in your view, but they are not stupid, nor ignorant of the scam that is pulled on them by their regime at the behest of imperialism.
AICafe 11.2: Practical Advocacy, BDS Actions in Europe
Israel bombs medical aid warehouse in Gaza EXCLUSIVE PICTURES
Education in East Jerusalem: A Prohibited Democratic Right
Center: Woman detained en route to brother’s cell
UK physician to TAU: Discipline pro-boycott academics
U.S. reaffirms commitment to Israel’s security
Center: Expired food at Israel prison
Temporary ban on Palestinians entering Egypt
Students protest Israeli diplomat Khaldi in Edinburgh
The glib ambassador – The Israeli envoy in Britain is wrong to condemn student protests
Israeli war criminal Barak whines about Egyptian democracy protests to Obama
Will Egypt Protests Boost Israel’s Budding Energy Market?
‘Army of Shadows’ Hillel Cohen
Wikileaks: The economic reasons behind the siege on Gaza
Personal data decision set to boost EU-Israel trade

Wikileaks Links

2011-02-09 Wikileaks responds to one of the Wikileaks tell all books

Other Links

Grassroots Support for Aristide’s Return
Turkey’s rising role in the Middle East and its foundering EU Accession – A star-crossed collision?
“All those involved in my treatment should be jailed for war crimes” Former Guantánamo Bay prisoner Mamdouh Habib speaks with WSWS
Torturing Democracy
‘Tortured’ British man in Iraq faces trial tomorrow
Young Activist Faces 10 Years in Prison After Trying to Save Public Lands From Oil and Gas Companies
Expelling journalists: a long-established FSB policy
The Iraq Briefing Book

The blogonewspunditwitosphere is swarming with theoreticians, some suggesting Wikileaks played an integral role, others admiring social media, still others more measured and analytic, and others highlighting the dangers of social media for protestors.

Being well-enmeshed in the social media arena, I have perceived continuous international solidarity for the Tunisian revolution, with people’s liberation movements against injustice across the Middle East and elsewhere that tyranny blooms darkly. Yet while information, communication and cyberactivism essentially grease the wheels of change, it is suffering people under the boot who put their lives at risk on the front line, doing the really heavy lifting and organisation.

Few commentators outside the African/Middle East region have examined the impact of “Mohamed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian who set himself on fire in protest against unemployment and poverty” who “has become a symbol of Tunisian sacrifices for freedom”, or extolled the involvement of Tunisian trade unions, grassroots solidarity movements and opposition parties. As Qunfuz notes:

The dictator, thief and Western client Zein al-Abdine Ben Ali, beloved until a few hours ago in Paris and Washington, has been driven from Tunisia. His reign was ended not by a military or palace coup but by an extraordinarily broad-based popular movement which has brought together trades unions and professional associations, students and schoolchildren, the unemployed and farmers, leftists, liberals and intelligent Islamists, men and women. One of the people’s most prominent slogans will resonate throughout the Arab world and beyond: la khowf ba’ad al-yowm, or No Fear From Now On.

Egyptian blogger, Zeinobia, further dispels colonial western mythology which minimises the achievement of the Tunisian people.

No one has a hand in the success of this revolution except the people of Tunisia , no Islamists nor communists , it was a pure people’s action. Those who only woke up on the revolution last Friday have these lame excuses and explanations because they did not follow the matter since the 17th of December 2010. I am proud to say that I have followed it since the beginning ,this is a real people’s revolution. The people of the world do not understand what is happening because it happened too fast. The Tunisian people are highly educated , they have the highest level of literacy in the Arab world and Africa combined together , they know their rights very well and they have suffered a lot. They know what they know and did.

With a tangible, similar grassroots movement for liberation within Egypt and elsewhere, Mubarak and his fellow puppet dictators must be very nervous indeed. How will the neocolonial empire regard the potential tumbling of its house of cards? what of the actions of the Israeli coloniser if Egypt follows the Tunisian trajectory? would Israel then shift its convenient ‘existential threat’ tactic to focus on Egypt rather than Iran?

Remembering Muriawec’s Grand Strategy “Iraq is the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia the strategic pivot, Egypt the prize” theorem which ignited some in the Pentagon and inspired neozioconservatives, what are these dark forces ruminating? will the empire choose to relinquish power and opt for sleazy neoliberal ‘polite rape’ or are we heading toward a stark regional standoff where it is increasingly exposed and isolated as the major hand supporting tyranny?

The imperial entity and its cronies supported the Tunisian dictatorship, as it was considered to be a reliable partner in the duplicitous ‘war on terrorism’.

During a 2004 visit by Ben Ali to the White House, in advance of Tunisia’s hosting of an Arab League summit, George Bush, the then US president, praised his guest as an ally in the war on terrorism, and praised Tunisia’s reforms in “press freedom” and the holding of “free and competitive elections”.

The same was repeated in 2008 by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who praised the improved “sphere of liberties” when human rights abuses were rampant in Tunisia. In once instance, at least 200 people were prosecuted against the backdrop of socio-economic protests in one southern mining town, Redhayef.

When certain European officials criticised Tunisia’s human rights record, they generally praised its economic performance.

For US and European leaders, Tunisia’s deposed president had been considered a staunch ally in the war on terrorism and against Islamist extremism.

In solidarity, we can keep reminding each other through many convenient means that the main game is for money, impunity, power positioning and control of resources against equal human rights, liberty and justice. Unless power is wrested from the ruling class, unless all are equally subject to the rule of law, the cards have merely been shuffled.

Related Links

Arab Activism: Brought to you by a White Man
2011-01-15 What the US state cables on Tunisia said
The Press Release The ADC Did Not Release On The Revolution In TUNISIA
Tunisian poet Echebbi’s words hold warning for tyrants of Arab world
Timeline: Tunisia’s civil unrest
Tunisians cautious on concessions
Talk Morocco on the Tunisian Uprising
Social media and the Tunisian revolution
What if Tunisia’s revolution ended up like Iran’s?
Could Tunisia Be The Next Twitter Revolution? Ctd
Wikileaks disclosures play key role in Ben Ali’s outing
For the Arab World, a Potent Lesson
“Centrism” and the Rule of Law
Was What Happened in Tunisia a Twitter Revolution?
The First Middle Eastern Revolution since 1979
#Tunisia a small country, without natural resources, but… #sidibouzid
This Is The Wikileak That Sparked The Tunisian Crisis
Tunisia: the Uprising Has a Hashtag
Tunisian president toppled
Tunisia’s bitter cyberwar
‘First Wikileaks Revolution’: Tunisia riots blamed on cables which revealed country’s corruption
The rebirth of Arab activism
Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution: Unprecedented, but uncertain
Tunisia Uprising 2010/11
Ousted president in Saudi Arabia
Profile: Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - Tunisian president flees amid a wave of deadly social protests in a dramatic end to his 23 years in power.
photo of police in uniforms pillaging & looting shops #sidibouzid
Tonight we are all Tunisians
The First WikiLeaks Revolution?
Pro-U.S. President Flees Tunisia: That WikiLeaks Angle
Joy as Tunisian President Flees Offers Lesson to Arab Leaders
Not Twitter, Not WikiLeaks: A Human Revolution
Tunisia: Can We Please Stop Talking About ‘Twitter Revolutions’

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Israeli bulldozers do the talking
Israeli occupation to build a hotel on the ruins of the Qashala cemetery
Israel grouchy with its collaborating oppressors? blocks delivery of Russian armored vehicles to Palestinian territories
Latest Chapter in Mideast Tension Is Dennis Ross vs. George Mitchell
AIPAC’s Man, Dennis Ross, Now In Charge of Middle East
World-renowned computer scientist suffers harrowing mid-air IQ drop
Palin doesn’t threaten pogroms
Glenn Beck’s Jewish Obsession Plus More On Iran Sanctions Idiocy
CPJ condemns Israeli security for humiliating screening
Leading UK store backs settlement boycott
Salah Ad-Din Al-Husseini, Prominent Palestinian poet dies in Cairo
Orthodox publication openly calls for death camps
Pro-Israel Control of Obama’s Middle East Policy

Today’s Wikileaks Links

Blacklisting WikiLeaks
John Pilger’s Investigation Into the War on WikiLeaks and His Interview With Julian Assange
NSW Greens MP explains why Wikileaks matters
Belarusian Helsinki Commitee & Frontline, HR organisations, targeted by Lukashenka
Government-controlled newspaper accuses EU countries of plotting Lukashenka’s overthrow
More opposition activists have homes searched by KGB
More Shamir shenanigans, and someone else is noticing:
This is how many of us feel about Wikileaks
WikiLeaks covers Belarus’ banking sector
“… Below is the full version of the document provided to the online Naviny.by newspaper by representative of the WikiLeaks media organization Israel Shamir.”
Unpublished Wikileaks Cables Appear on State-Backed Belarussian Website
Belarus: Widespread searches and judicial harassment of human rights defenders following Presidential Elections
Unredacted WikiLeaks Cables Leaked to Internet

Other Links

The United States as Jared Loughner: How the State Sanctifies Murder
Brazil’s environment chief resigns over controversial Amazon dam
More than 610 killed in Brazil flooding, mudslides
Alastair Campbell diaries: How Blair’s Bible reading prompted Iraq ‘wobble’
PHR’s new report, Broken Laws, Broken Lives, “for the first time medical evidence to confirm first-hand accounts of men who endured torture by US personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. These men were never charged with any crime.”
USA Today Edits the Count of the Dead in Iraq
Obama in Tucson: Shame, Hypocrisy and Deceit
Australian floods: Why were we so surprised?
Kuwait: Physical assault, arbitrary detention and fears of unfair trial against human rights defender Dr Obaid Alwasmi
No Victors in Lebanon
Aboriginal languages in NSW

The Chair of the US House Committee on Homeland Security shows why Wikileaks is essential. His words are simply repellent and fascistic.

WikiLeaks today condemned calls from the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security to “strangle the viability” of WikiLeaks by placing the publisher and its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, on a US “enemies list” normally reserved for terrorists and dictators.

Placement on the US “Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons List” would criminalize US companies who deal with WikiLeaks or its editor. “The U.S. government simply cannot continue its ineffective piecemeal approach of responding in the aftermath of Wikileaks’ damage,” King wrote in a letter to the Secretary of the US Treasury, Geithner. “The U.S. government should be making every effort to strangle the viability of Assange’s organization.”

’The Homeland Security Committee chair Peter T. King wants to put a Cuban style trade embargo around the truth—forced on US citizens at the point of a gun,’ said Julian Assange.

’WikiLeaks is a publishing organization. It is time to cut through the bluster. There is no allegation by the US government or any other party, that WikiLeaks has hurt anyone, at any time during its four-year publishing history, as a result of anything it has published. Very few news organizations can say as much.’

’WikiLeaks has “terrorized” politicians from Kenya to Kansas over the last four years. Quite a few have lost office as a result. That doesn’t mean we are “terrorists”—it means we doing our job. We intend to “terrorize” Peter King, Hillary Clinton, corrupt CEOs and all the rest for many years to come, because that is what the people of the world demand.’

King noted that some U.S. companies had voluntarily cut off ties to Wikileaks, but that a New York publisher had recently agreed to pay Assange for an autobiography. Assange has said the eventual book royalties would help ’keep Wikileaks afloat’.

’By targeting WikiLeaks and the US publisher Knopf for economic censorship, King reveals his abiding hatred for the US constitution. When the founding fathers wrote, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”, they did not provide an exception for blustering fools like Peter T. King.’

Related Links

Bradley Manning Charge Sheet 5th July, 2010 [.pdf]

Today’s Wikileaks Links

Exclusive Interview: Julian Assange on Murdoch, Manning and the threat from China
Wikileaks volunteer detained and searched (again) by US agents
Welcome to AnonOps Network
Wikileaks: Publication of Twitter data may violate EU law
I’ve got secret files on Murdoch as ‘insurance’, claims Assange
“WikiLeaks condemns US embargo move”
The Media’s Continuing War On Wikileaks

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Rabbi: Sins led to woman’s murder
Israeli ambulances refuse to enter ‘unrecognized’ Palestinian villages
Iran says US, Israel ‘sabotaged’ Lebanon govt
Israeli troops capture Lebanese man: army
Torture by Israel : 1999 to the present
The Holocaust, Palestine and the Arab World: Gilbert Achcar interviewed
Israel’s Orthodox Rabbis: ‘Palestinians to the Ovens!’
Thirteen homes and three school buildings destroyed by Israeli forces
DANKNER: Decline to brutality – I am ashamed
Israeli FM’s visit protested in Greece
Erdogan says Israeli FM is despicable

Other Links

What if Tunisia had a revolution, but nobody watched?
Police Stopped Loughner’s Car on Day of Shooting
The social significance of the Arizona massacre
Mayhem Spreads in Tunisia; Curfew Decreed
Soldiers on the streets as Tunisian violence reaches capital
Tomgram: William Hartung, Lockheed Martin’s Shadow Government
Steve Bell on Sarah Palin’s ‘blood libel’
Tunisia in turmoil
Letters from Tunisia
Ghetts, the census and Guantánamo Bay
Flood shark sightings have residents on edge
The CIA File on Luis Posada Carriles
How Haiti was abandoned : the broken promises of support for Haiti from the world’s most powerful governments–and the neoliberal agenda they are pursuing instead.

In the light of this, it is peculiar that Aftenposten editor, Hilde Haugsgjerd, won’t own up as to where her paper obtained the documents. It would be welcome if Wikileaks could clarify, particularly since Hilde is claiming that Assange is “angry” about Aftenposten’s access.

The editor of Oslo-based newspaper Aftenposten was fending off reaction Tuesday to a commentary she wrote on her paper’s access to all of the more than 250,000 diplomatic cables initially leaked to the non-profit organization WikiLeaks. She had called it a “paradox” that WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange reportedly is angry that Aftenposten now can report freely from the leaked cables.

Aftenposten’s editor-in-chief, Hilde Haugsgjerd, elaborated on her media company’s access to the WikiLeaks documents.

“Paradoxically enough, the chief of one of our times’ biggest leaks is angry because there was a leak from his own leak,” editor-in-chief Hilde Haugsgjerd wrote in her commentary in Monday’s edition of Aftenposten. She wrote that Aftenposten’s own access to the cables, with no strings attached, “destroyed Assange’s own strategy for when and how documents about international conficts and themes should be made public.”

WikiLeaks, Haugsgjerd claimed, had a media plan to “secure themselves the best possible coverage and contribute to the most international debate possible around the leak’s content.” Aftenposten, she noted is not adhering to WikiLeaks’ plan, which she referred to as a “news monopoly” that involved a consortium of international media outlets.

“We have not signed the confidentiality clause that hinders (the media outlets) from publishing stories without an explicit agreement with WikiLeaks,” Haugsgjerd wrote.

That sparked a reaction from journalists at The Guardian in the UK, which has been among the media outlets that secured access to the cables from WikiLeaks. Nick Davies of The Guardian’s editorial staff told the web site for Norway’s journalists’ union, Journalisten, that Assange has had “zero influence” on The Guardian’s editorial decisions regarding its use of the WikiLeaks cables.

The Guardian also scotched Aftenposten’s boast about having exclusive access to all the documents.

Davies claimed that the agreement signed between The Guardian and WikiLeaks determined, in fact, that Assange would not have any influence, and he has not.

David Leigh, another editor at The Guardian, told Journalisten on Tuesday that his paper has all the cables as do the other newspapers in the original agreement with WikiLeaks. Leigh told Journalisten that the papers themselves have decided what they will publish, and when. After writing their stories, he said, edited copies of the relevant cables are sent to WikiLeaks (with some identities deleted, for example, for security reasons) so that WikiLeaks can publish the documents at the same time.

I’m equally curious about Karl Rove’s relationship with the Swedish government and attempts to extradite Julian Assange to the US.

Amongst other striking releases, Aftenposten has published cables relating to German commercial spy satellite development.

12.2.2009: GERMANY SEEKS U.S. PARTNER TO DEVELOP OPTICAL SPACE IMAGERY CAPABILITIES – “Eckardt said that DLR explored various scenarios for international partnerships, but in the end came to the conclusion that a U.S. partnership (DG) made the most “business sense.” “Should DLRs partnership with DG materialize, DLR indicated that the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) would be the “prime customer identified”, with DG serving as the U.S. market entry point.”
15.2.2009: GERMANY EXPANDING OVERHEAD RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAMS AND EYE CLOSER USG PARTNERSHIP –
“(S//NF) On 8 April 2009, US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) officers met with German Intelligence Service (BND) officials to discuss Germanys plans for expanded nationally operated overhead reconnaissance resources.”

This cable above is weird because the contents refers to a meeting in April, 09 whereas the cable is dated 15th Feb 09. The date for removal of embargo is 05/14/2034 … so the cable may really be dated 05/14/09.

20.5.2009: GERMAN COMPANY MARKETING SATELLITE IMAGERY TO US DESPITE FRENCH OPPOSITION – “Without going into details, Walati claimed that a German/US cooperative agreement on HiROS would fend off the French opposition.”
3.9.2009: GERMANY TO FRANCE: STAY OUT OF OUR COMMERCIAL SATELLITE AFFAIRS
10.9.2009:GERMAN INTELLIGENCE VIEWS ON OPTICAL RECONNAISSANCE CAPABILITIES – “The BND has come to the conclusion that having complementary optical imagery along side Germanys SAR-Lupe data is essential and is actively promoting HiROS. BND advocates a HiROS partnership with the US as a way to share costs/risk and well as provide some political cover from the French.”
11.9.2009: GERMAN OPTICAL SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING: THE PATH FORWARD Satellite sensors can ‘see’ potentially down to 25 – 40 cm. There goes the neighbourhood.
30.9.2009: GERMAN SPACE AGENCY SEEKING USG SUPPORT ON OPTICAL SATELLITE COOPERATION – “DLRs two primary objectives for this meeting were to float the idea of combining the military aspects of the GPS and Galileo Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems under the framework of NATO (reporting SEPTEL) and to solicit USG support for cooperation on HiROS. ”

UPDATE 7/1/11

Shoeless Assange claims Aftenposten is a Wikileaks media partner, Aftenposten disagrees. What the hell is going on?

Neither Wikileaks commander or his spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson have so far wanted to comment on his relationship to Aftenposten. The newspaper claims to have gotten all the so-called “Cable Street” – over 250,000 diplomatic documents – without having to enter into any agreement with Wikileaks. . It has, however, the site’s so-called media partners – reject as El País, The Guardian and Le Monde – concluded.

COLD FEET? Even though the temperature was around freezing, went Assange in the base stone. DN is not aware whether it was a conscious choice or a consequence of bad times.

- Aftenposten is currently a media partner of Wikileaks, says Julian Assange to DN before reporting to the police.

- However, Aftenposten said that it is not it?

- Events are treated as other media partners.

- It’s amazing to hear him say it. We are not a media partner of Wikileaks, says chief editor of Aftenposten Hilde Haugsgjerd.

“Lite content”

December, it is not known whether the leak of Wikileaks documents to Aftenposten has happened alerts directly from the site, from one of its media partners or others with access to the material.

Commenting on Monday wrote Hilde Haugsgjerd that Wikileaks “after what we know, to say the least [is] unhappy with the newspaper Aftenposten also has received the so-called” Cable Street “with 251 287 U.S. diplomatic documents from a source” . Haugsgjerd stressed that “the Aftenposten is not included in the Assange refers to as the consortium, the few international editors who from the start was invited to participate in the publication of all documents,” and that the newspaper is free to publish cases from the documents without having to deal with Wikileaks.

- I can not comment. I have not read the comment, “said Assange.

Assange would not say anything more about the relationship to Aftenposten – a relationship which, however, has become more and more inflamed in the past two weeks. The reason for Haugsgjerd comment will be telephone calls between journalists in Aftenposten and Wikileaks few days before Christmas. In the calls attempted and Julian Assange spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson to conduct negotiations to bring Aftenposten publication of documents in controlled circumstances.

Would negotiate

- I know Assange have had contact with a few reporters with us. I do not know the details of these conversations, except that he has expressed a desire that we should be included as one of Wikileaks’ media partners. He has also expressed a desire to talk to me, but I have not heard from him, “said Hilde Haugsgjerd.

She denied that anyone in Aftenposten has entered into any agreement with Assange, and stressing that the newspaper is free to use the Wikileaks material.

- Since he has not spoken with either me or the other of the Aftenposten editors, it goes without saying that the newspaper has not entered into any agreement with him.

- Assange claims the now, however, that you are a media partner. What do you think about it?

- It seems as if Assange wish and believe that we will be media partners. Men at han ønsker og mener det, betyr jo ikke at vi er en mediepartner. But he wants and believes it, does not mean that we are a media partner.

- So what are you then?

- We have not had access to this material from Wikileaks. And I know that we have gained access to the material without having entered into any agreement on use. We are now keen to use the material in a responsible manner, “said Haugsgjerd.

Newspapers gossip

The agreements between Wikileaks and media partners have never been made public, and the details in them are not known.. But Julian Assange said himself to The Guardian, 3 December that part of the agreement is that the media partners will review and contribute to sladding of the documents that the papers reviews before they are published on the Wikileaks website. . In this way, Wikileaks escaped much of it is very time consuming skidding work. It has been known that the agreement also contained a release date for when the first cases could be released.

After the DN understand the Evening Post’s journalists have refused to acquiesce to the demands of Assange. They showed that the Event has been given access to the documents without any prior agreement.

Aftenposten has the last three weeks published cases each day from the disputed documents, but Wikileaks has little posted the documents referred to Aftenposten, the site makes such alerts when the other media partners publish cases based on diplomatic documents

Related Links

Norwegian paper says it has all WikiLeaks cables
Aftenposten Wikileaks cables
Vanity Fair profiles Julian Assange: Wikileaks threatened to sue Guardian over leaked cables
BACKGROUND: Vanity Fair’s spectacularly unfair portrait of Assange & WikiLeaks
Vanity Fair turgid scuttlebutt : The Man Who Spilled the Secrets
The day Julian Assange threatened to sue The Guardian over the US embassy cables story
Strategic Communications Conference Will Cover New Media for Government on January 20 – Speakers include the US State Department, Microsoft, HP, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, The Israeli Consulate (LA), Booz Allen Hamilton and others.
US envoy assessing WikiLeaks fallout
Cables reveal how US and UK sought to plunder Zimbabwe’s resources

Israel / Palestine Links

Tell Combined Systems Inc. to Stop Providing Tear Gas that Israel
Uses to Kill and Maim Protesters
The Israelis arrest three Beit Rema municipality officials
Open letter to Combined Systems Inc, Maker of Israeli Tear Gas by Joseph Dana
On the morning following the putsch : Knesset NGO persecution law : ‘Israeli equivalent of the burning of the Reichstag’
Ivory Coast, Palestine, democracy, and the rule of law
Israel asks U.S. to ban Turkish charity behind Gaza flotilla
Is Israel on its way to becoming like Saudi Arabia or Iran?
A New Year’s song of hope for Gaza
A “support rally” for the controversial English Defence League is scheduled to take place at the Toronto Zionist Centre on Tuesday night. The event is being organized by the Jewish Defence League of Canada.
Netanyahu woos top Labor minister in bid to save coalition – ‘On Tuesday, Netanyahu asked Ben-Eliezer to join him on his trip to Cairo today and invited him for the first time to join the debate at the prestigious Forum of Seven. In addition, Netanyahu agreed to Ben Eliezer’s request to allow more than 5,000 Palestinian farming and construction laborers to work in Israel. Ben-Eliezer had made the request months ago, but until now it had been rejected by the prime minister and his close associates’.
Israel embraces fascism and where is the Zionist Diaspora?
Israeli Leftists Show Alliance in Wake of Palestinian’s Death
Palestinian medical teams remove bodies after clashes in Jabaliya

Other Links

Turkey’s bid for global actorhood: Davuto?lu’s new foreign policy lexicon
The U.S. Invasion of Panama: ‘Greatest Genocide in Our History’
ATO Troops Kill Three Civilians in Afghan Night Raid – Ghazni Province Raid Sparks Angry Protests Among Locals
NT Intervention Housing Travesty
First for child sex abuse reporting laws
Monbiot takes on critics and shows transparency
Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates Resolution- January 5, 2011 : FBI Raids on Trade Union, Anti-War and Solidarity Activists
U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into the U.S.

Download Wikileaks posters and other paraphenalia for Operation Paperstorm.

While you are at it, please vote here for signs to go on buses in Seattle highlighting Israeli war crimes.

Today’s Wikileaks Links

Julian Assange Calls ABC News Reporter ‘Tabloid Schmuck’ And Walks Off When Asked About Rape Charges
Freed Assange launches attack on ‘illegal and aggressive’ US investigation
Assange denounces ‘business McCarthyism’
Wikileaks and the Moral Dualism of the U.S. State Department
Robert Fisk: Stay out of trouble by not speaking to Western spies
Not-So-Gentle Persuasion: US Bullies Spain into Proposed Website Blocking Law
Joe Biden v. Joe Biden on WikiLeaks – Glenn Greenwald slices through absurd US prevarications
Why Israel has not figured in Wikileaks yet – unfortunately titled post by Asad Abukhalil as there are several cables dealing with Israel and Palestine which I’m annotating on this site.
John Pilger: Swedes are smearing him and encouraging the US – this article refers to the Guardian annotation of Swedish allegations.
Is Julian Assange being railroaded or will European Court on Human Rights derail the train
WikiLeaks’ lesson on Haiti
US embassy cables: ICC prosecutor alleges Bashir secret fortune of $9bn
US embassy cables: US sought to press new EU chief on rendition
WikiLeaks cables: Julian Assange says his life is ‘under threat’
Bank of America Suspends Payments to WikiLeaks
The Anonymous WikiLeaks protests are a mass demo against control
Opinion: WikiLeaks and its anti-Semitic spokesmen
WikiLeaks founder not welcome at Davos forum
‘Hope Is Action’: Hedges and Ellsberg Arrested at White House Protest
WikiLeaks’ Assange gets leaked on
Julian Assange’s Secret Patron
Wikileaks: MPAA, RIAA and BSA Lobbied for HADOPI
WikiLeaks Reveals U.S. Twisted Ethiopia’s Arm to Invade Somalia
Julian Assange like a hi-tech terrorist, says Joe Biden
Wikileaks Show Why Washington Won’t Allow Democracy in Haiti
US Pressured Italy to Influence Judiciary with CIA Renditions

Today’s Australian Wikileaks Links

Policy failure puts Fiji on brink of ruin
US pressure over Saddam scientist
Julian Assange Don’t Shoot the Messenger stamps
Aussie “journalist” repeats “get Iran” mantra of her Zionist lobby friends

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

The orphaned Israeli left
U.S. military chief: We are ‘very ready’ to counter Iran – more US lies about Iran’s intentions
UN: Israel demolished 47 Palestinian structures in one week
New York-based rabbi: Letter forbidding rental to Arabs endangers Jews abroad
Bantustan on track : Palestinian PM: Plan to declare statehood by 2011 remains on track
Hasbara joke of the day : Clinton a danger to Israel
Book review: “Spy Trade” details history of Israel lobby in the US
Arab states preparing UN resolution against Israeli settlements
Marrickville Council first to support the boycott Israel campaign
On Clinton’s sycophantic, racist speech on Israel
MNA Khadir in Quebec urges boycott of shoe store selling shoes made in apartheid Israel
Ladysmith Black Mambazo plans to break the boycott against Israel and play there – disgraceful
US Senators can’t handle the truth about apartheid Israel – Seeking Boycott of Durban 111
‘Israeli War Crimes’ signs to go on Metro buses
Obama’s failure has served to expose Israeli intransigence here and abroad
Palestinian farmer watches settlers burn 19 of his sheep, killing 12
Disorganized Priorities (as usual) – housies have other things to do.
Israel/West Bank: Separate and Unequal : HRW Report on Israeli apartheid
NGO Monitor’s scurrilous response to the HRW report
Palestinians embark on the ‘Intifada of Graves’ – the evil Israeli occupier objects to Palestinians burying their dead on Palestinian land
Zionism is the chauvinist poison which renders Israel as a deadend toxic ghetto.
Settlers Destroy Farms and Trees Near Nablus, Unleash Dog on 66-year-old
“Boycott Sabra and Tribe Hummus” guerilla advertising spotted in San Francisco
The State of Israel Against Freedom of Expression
High Court ruled tax breaks based on location discriminate against Arab communities but government ignored ruling
Kosovo organ donor ring: the Israeli connection
S. African politicians ‘beaten up by IDF’ – Parliament members say ‘shoved’ by soldiers during anti-Israel protest in village near Bethlehem last week.
Netanyahu: Peace process deadlock not the reason for attacks on Israel
Refugees’ flat torched in Ashdod – Burning tire thrown at apartment’s door; five Sudanese nationals lightly hurt
Israel can’t defeat Hezbollah – Israeli expert
Human Rights Watch report: West Bank ‘separate but unequal’ – dastardly NGO Monitor glowering at the end

Other Links

Afghans: Victimized by Conflict, Occupation, Extreme Deprivation and Genocide
US drones slaughter 54 in Pakistan
Who is worthy of ‘self determination’ in Iraq
Scale of Walsh cover-up by church breathtaking
10,000 Belarusians protesting against election
Uladzimir Niakliaeu, leader of the opposition movement “Za Praudu” (“For Truth”) and several of his people were badly beaten today by people in dark camouflage.
Minsk, Protests
Bite Me : An evolutionary case for cannibalism.

Strip away the caginess and the obfuscation—remember, no one is allowed secrets but WikiLeaks – and Hrafnsson, who took over spokesman duties when Assange was jailed last week, confirms that WikiLeaks chose Shamir to work with their Russian media partners. After its investigation, the Swedish Radio program Medierna concluded flatly that “Israel Shamir represents WikiLeaks in Russia.”

Moynihan, senior editor at Reason, gained notoriety himself from involvement in ‘the protest movement “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” which began in May 2010. The movement grew in response to censorship by Comedy Central of an episode of South Park which depicted the Prophet Muhammad’.

For verification of the Wikileaks/Shamir story, I’ve trawled through Moynihan’s source material.

According to Magnus Ljunggren, Professor Emeritus of Russian Literature at the University of Gothenburg [TR]

In an extensive commentary, jointly signed by the editor and Shamir and bearing the title “How the world will explode in the air of a great Wikileaks’, explained that the latter has exclusive access to Assanges documentation – in the same way, therefore, that the son in Sweden.

Ljunggren continues, saying that a photo of Shamir with Assange prompted

Yulia Latynina, based in Anna Politkovskaya of Novaya Gazeta to go out on the radio station Echo Moskvy with the question: What does it mean that Assange let themselves be represented by an extremist? She said that Shamir also offered their materials to the newspaper Kommersant, but met with a cold shoulder, for it would not take him with pliers.

Her conclusion was that it is a shame that Wikileaks documents in other countries were analyzed by experienced journalists, but in Russia by a total incompetent and deceitful Jew hater.

Karin Olsson notes on her blog at Expressen:

Expressen Kultur’s article today has P1′s media put out Saturday’s program in advance. There Wikileaks spokesperson confirms that Israel Shamir is working for them and that they know of his anti-Semitic background. De har också en intervju där Israel Shamir förnekar sitt faderskap till Wahlström. Hör inslaget här. They also have an interview with Israel Shamir denies his paternity of Wahlstrom.

On Swedish Radio:

It is Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson confirming the media Israel Shamir involvement with Wikileaks – but would not accept that there would be no problem for the organization.

Moynihan, who has lived in Sweden, annotates the radio interview:

Wahlström and Shamir, father and son, are the WikiLeaks representatives for two rather large geographic areas. According to Swedish Radio’s investigation, Wahlström is the gatekeeper of the cables in Scandinavia, and “has the power to decide” which newspapers are provided access and what leaks they are allowed to see. (At the time of filing, Wahlström had yet to respond to an email request for comment.)

In Russia, the magazine Russian Reporter says that it has “privileged access” to the material through Shamir, who told a Moscow newspaper that he was “accredited” to work on behalf of WikiLeaks in Russia. But Shamir has a rather large credibility problem, so Swedish Radio put the question directly to WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson.

Swedish Radio: Israel Shamir…Are you aware of him? Do you know him?

Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks spokesman: Yes. Yes, he is associated with us.

SR: So what is his role?
Hrafnsson: Well, I mean, we have a lot of journalists that are working with us all around the world. And they have different roles in working on this project. I won’t go into specifics into what each and everybody’s role is.

SR: Are you aware of how controversial Israel Shamir is in an international context?

Hrafnsson: There are a lot of controversial people around the world that are associated with us. I don’t really see the point of the question.

SR: Are you aware of the allegations that he is an anti-Semite?

Hrafnsson: I have heard those allegations…yes, yes. [Pause] What is the question really there?

SR: The question is, do you that that would [sic] be a problem?

Hrafnsson: No, I’m not going to comment on that.

The Moscow Times investigates the Russian Reporter’s association with Shamir:

Shpak refuted criticism that Russian Reporter, which belongs to the Kremlin-friendly Expert publishing group, was withholding material damning to the authorities.

“You can read allegations arguing the exact opposite — that we just publish damning material — in the patriotic press,” he said by phone.

The magazine has cooperated with Israel Shamir, a Russian-born Israeli journalist, on WikiLeaks.

But Shpak denied that Shamir alone was responsible for the magazine’s access to WikiLeaks.

Shamir said by phone that he was a freelancer who was “accredited” to WikiLeaks. “This means I have working relations with them but does not mean going to the banya together,” he said.

He also denied allegations that one of the cables quoted by Russian Reporter was forged.

Writing in The Moscow Times earlier this week, liberal journalist Yulia Latynina said the magazine had made up quotes from a report about EU diplomats’ instructions before a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“The cable is real, it has just not been published yet,” Shamir said.

RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is funded by the U.S. Congress) says:

According to the magazine “Russky Reporter,” for example, the famous walkout by Western diplomats during Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s speech to the United Nations in September 2009 was not spontaneous and had in fact been planned by Washington.

The magazine, citing WikiLeaks documents, claimed in a December 2 article that U.S. officials gave detailed instructions to EU representatives on when to leave the room during Ahmadinejad’s speech. The claim, if substantiated, could be deeply embarrassing to the United States.

But unlike other media reporting on the WikiLeaks revelations, “Russky Reporter” provided no documents to back up its allegations. An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database fails to yield relevant U.S. cables, causing some analysts to suggest the magazine might be exploiting WikiLeaks to propagate false information.

“The problem is that what should be backed by the cables does not actually appear in the published cables,” says Yulia Latynina, one of several Russian journalists to have voiced doubts over the credibility of “Russky Reporter,” which claims to have a privileged relationship with WikiLeaks. “This allegation is left hanging in the air, to put it mildly.”

WikiLeaks did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the existence of the cables and its relationship with “Russky Reporter.”

…

“Russky Reporter” claims to be one of the few media outlets that were given early access to WikiLeaks’ quarter-million U.S. cables.

Only four media organizations, however, are known to be collaborating directly with WikiLeaks: “The Guardian” in Britain, “Le Monde” in France, “El Pais” in Spain, and “Der Spiegel” in Germany.

“The Guardian” has shared the material with “The New York Times” and the five newspapers have been advising WikiLeaks on which documents to release, what redactions to make, and when to publish.

Unlike “Russky Reporter,” these newspapers have carried stories relating exclusively to cables that have been simultaneously released by WikiLeaks and coordinated with the publication in question.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Leibin says that his magazine’s collaboration with WikiLeaks is slightly different.

“To be accurate, we’re not cooperating in the same way as ‘The Guardian’ or ‘The New York Times.’ Their staff journalists worked together with WikiLeaks activists going through this vast database to find things they were interested in publishing,” Leibin says. “In our case, a freelance journalist worked for us: Israel Shamir, who has been an activist with WikiLeaks. It simply turned out that we knew an activist from WikiLeaks.”

Shamir could not be reached for comment.

In an apparent attempt to dispel any doubt about its ties with the secret-leaking website, the magazine has posted a photo of Shamir standing next to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on its website.

The Russian Reporter article containing the photo of Shamir and Assange is penned by Israel Shamir and Vitaly Leibin.

That the materials were able to reach interested readers, the publication will be implemented in concert with the leading magazines of the world, the main partner in Russia – “Russian Reporter”.

…

Head and founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange fled from persecution in northern Europe. Next to him is now a journalist Israel Shamir , thanks to his work “Russian reporter” gets preliminary materials before they become public.

Is this photo bona fide? there’s no exif information. The shadow on Shamir ends before it crosses the red on his right side. The edge of the shadow cast by Assange on Shamir’s clothing is very sharp compared with the shadow on Assange’s clothing. There’s some odd pixelation on the right side of Assange’s face.

Is Wikileaks and in particular Julian Assange aware of Shamir and son’s dubious affiliations? what is Shamir hoping to gain through his involvement in Wikileaks? is RFE/RL running a counter campaign?

UPDATE MARCH 2011

WikiLeaks statement that was given to, but not used by, the UK satirical current-affairs magazine, Private Eye:

Israel Shamir has never worked or volunteered for WikiLeaks, in any manner, whatsoever. He has never written for WikiLeaks or any associated organization, under any name and we have no plan that he do so. He is not an ‘agent’ of WikiLeaks. He has never been an employee of WikiLeaks and has never received monies from WikiLeaks or given monies to WikiLeaks or any related organization or individual. However, he has worked for the BBC, Haaretz, and many other reputable organizations.

It is false that Shamir is ‘an Assange intimate’. He interviewed Assange (on behalf of Russian media), as have many journalists. He took a photo at that time and has only met with WikiLeaks staff (including Asssange) twice. It is false that ‘he was trusted with selecting the 250,000 US State Department cables for the Russian media’ or that he has had access to such at any time.

Shamir was able to search through a limited portion of the cables with a view to writing articles for a range of Russian media. The media that subsequently employed him did so of their own accord and with no intervention or instruction by WikiLeaks.

We do not have editorial control over the of hundreds of journalists and publications based on our materials and it would be wrong for us to seek to do so. We do not approve or endorse the the writings of the world’s media. We disagree with many of the approaches taken in analyzing our material.

Index did contact WikiLeaks as have many people and organisations do for a variety of reasons. The quote used here is not complete. WikiLeaks also asked Index for further information on this subject. Most of these rumors had not, and have not, been properly corroborated. WikiLeaks therefore asked Index to let us know if they had received any further information on the subject. This would have helped WikiLeaks conduct further inquiries. We did not at the time, and never have, received any response.

Shamir Links

On Anna Ardin, Israel Shamir and glass houses
Russian Reporter – How exactly Wikileaks will blow the world
Medierna – Confirmed for the media: notorious anti-Semite working on Wikileaks
Karin Olsson Blog – Wikileaks messenger – Wahlstrom and Shamir – must be reviewed
Daddy’s Boy?
THE ISRAEL SHAMIR CASE
Israel Shamir exposed! A fake or a plant?
E-mail: SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT ISRAEL SHAMIR
Lord Ahmed’s unwelcome guest
Putin Bristles Over Leaked U.S. Cables
Critics Allege Russian Magazine Is Misrepresenting WikiLeaks Cables
Israeli writer is Swedish anti-Semite
WikiFakes watch: Russia
Israel Shamir: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
WikiLeaks employs Israeli-Swedish Holocaust-denier
Opinion: WikiLeaks and its anti-Semitic spokesmen
Victims, jilted lovers or undercover agents
Head of the Belarusian President’s Administration Uladzimri Makei had a meeting with Israel Shamir, representative of WikiLeaks website’s founder.
Telling Shamir quote? “For a smear that really sticks, you need to get it from an ex-apostle. An accusation by a Caiaphas does not impress. If you are targeting a leftist, hire leftists.”

Today’s Wikilinks

Uncle Sam vs Wikileaks – game
WIKILEAKS – UK
XKCD Wikilinks comic (don’t miss the ALT text)
A Bayesian Take on Julian Assange

Most Americans critical of WikiLeaks dump: poll
Don’t let the evidence get in the way of a good conspiracy theory
Spamhaus’ False Allegations Against wikileaks.info
Julian Assange’s bail challenged in high court by Sweden

Today’s Australian Wikilinks

Link to Wikileaks cables at The Age – ‘The Age believes it is acting in the public interest by publishing both news reports on these matters and selected cables on which those reports are based.’ Good
The Age Australian Wikileaks cables
Reader riposte: WikiLeaks
Secrets And Leaks
WikiLeaks exposes the two faces of America
Out of the war: policies for an Australian contribution to a sustainable peace in Afghanistan
WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange may not have broken the law by publishing leaked diplomatic cables, Treasurer Wayne Swan has conceded.

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

‘We’ll Wipe Israel Off the Map’ and Other Things Ahmadinejad Never Said
Danny Ayalon Plays a Losing Blame Game
The Press Release ADC Never Issued About FBI Raids
Instead of befriending neo-fascists, Israel should make peace
Hussein Ibish And The Good Old Days
BDS hits the Sydney suburbs

Other Links

Scientists Figure Out How to Erase Pathological Fear
Australian Coastlines after global warming

Third, Julian Assange has made another claim for WikiLeaks, which he says sets it apart from other media organisations. According to this op-ed in The Australian last week:

WikiLeaks coined a new type of journalism: scientific journalism. We work with other media outlets to bring people the news, but also to prove it is true. Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?

Well, WikiLeaks clearly doesn’t insist on ‘scientific journalism’ being practised by all the media outlets with which it’s working. The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald are still publishing story after story by Philip Dorling – stories that have deeply embarrassed or compromised Kevin Rudd, Mark Arbib, Joel Fitzgibbon, and Stephen Gumley, to name just a few, not to mention the US Embassy in Canberra. But we can’t judge for ourselves if Dorling has reported accurately or fairly, because Fairfax hasn’t posted a single cable online.

On Monday I sent an email to SMH editor-in-chief Peter Fray, asking him why not. His response (read it in full here) makes it clear that the primary reason is to protect not the public, but Fairfax’s commercial, interest:

…the volume of material in The Australian referenced cables means we are still mining the source documents. There are, for instance, several potential stories in each cable; to put the material online would be to give access to our competitors in the local market.

That’s not a line of reasoning that has prevented The Guardian, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde or any other of WikiLeaks’s collaborators from posting cables online to support their stories; and it would seem to be in direct contravention of the principles espoused by Julian Assange. Perhaps he’s been too preoccupied by other matters recently to have noticed.

Philip Dorling has undoubtedly scored a major scoop for Fairfax. Most of the stories he’s writing – and there are goodness knows how many to come – are fascinating, especially to politics and foreign policy junkies. But we’re having to take them on trust, and we shouldn’t have to. And very few are telling us stuff we didn’t already know (Kevin Rudd’s a control freak; Defence Procurement is a mess; China doesn’t like the Defence White Paper): what they are telling us is that the US Embassy knew it too, often before we did. Surprise, surprise.

The Australian puts in its bib bleating “We would have loved the leaks given to Fairfax papers but we note the problems they have had sieving wheat from chaff”, patting itself and the rest of the mainstream media on the back for raising Wikileak’s circulation, and filtering the information on behalf of an inept public. This is the sort of contemptuous attitude which further encourages one to distrust Australian dead wood media generally. The UK Guardian has managed to keep its pact with its readers, while Australians are deemed inadequate.

Geoffrey Robertson, QC is to defend Julian Assange tonight in old Blighty, and this will not be televised but live-blogged at the Guardian. Around the globe, demonstrations for Wikileaks and Julian Assange proliferate, and ‘all-out cyberwar’ is presaged following the trial.

Hearing

@newsbrooke Heather Brooke
In an amazing nod to the fact we live in digital age, judge has said we can tweet #assange. So I will be along w @AlexiMostrous #

Today’s Wikilinks

Julian Assange to appear in court to appeal for release
RBS chairman said directors ‘failed to live up to their duties’
Mervyn King plotted banks bailout by four cash-rich nations
Wikileaks Events and protests
In Defense of DDoS
Iceland may ban MasterCard, Visa over WikiLeaks censorship
A brilliant fan-made video
J’Accuse: Sweden, Britain, and Interpol Insult Rape Victims Worldwide
The US Government’s pursuit of WikiLeaks could be its undoing
‘Draconian’ whistleblowing laws need an overhaul, says academic
George Monbiot: These astroturf libertarians are the real threat to internet democracy
Why Wikileaks is now splitting the liberal elite
Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information
Wikiriver – wikileaks newsfeed

Today’s Australian Wikilinks

‘Defend Wikileaks’ Australian rallies & meetings
More than 1000 WikiLeaks protesters have vowed to march through Sydney today despite being refused permission by police.
Julian Assange’s overdue library book
WikiLeaks ‘a risk’: Defence Minister Smith

Rallies defend Wikileaks and the ‘right to know’
Lowy Institute Rory Medcalf “The website is bad for diplomacy and encourages voyeurism”. Newspeak for public scrutiny of politicians?
Sydney rally – http://yfrog.com/h2spfuj, http://yfrog.com/gyqxnnj, http://yfrog.com/h05m8aj, http://yfrog.com/h03k2jgj, http://yfrog.com/gy29tjj, http://yfrog.com/h0hz6hj, http://yfrog.com/h34yxnj, http://yfrog.com/h4w6otj, http://twitpic.com/3fsstd, http://twitpic.com/3fsoon, http://twitpic.com/3fsr4k, http://twitpic.com/3fsrl4

WikiLeaks protesters stopped by riot police – Sydney
Defending Wikileaks faces Oprah-obsessed police force

Melbourne rally – http://yfrog.com/h2oy3bnj, http://yfrog.com/h3nc7apj, http://yfrog.com/h4mgqbtj, http://yfrog.com/h2lm8nj, http://yfrog.com/h3si1lj, http://yfrog.com/h3wcmjj, http://yfrog.com/h37ioaj, http://yfrog.com/h05m8aj, http://yfrog.com/0cv2bz, http://yfrog.com/gyty5bj, http://yfrog.com/gy8qvuj, http://yfrog.com/h0qlngj, http://yfrog.com/h0kxqtj, http://yfrog.com/h4xksdj
LCA reins in profession over WikiLeaks outrage

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Rescuing Zionism at Palestinian expense – Ali Abunimah shows how the US has chosen racism and Israel over Palestinian human rights and justice.
Gaza Health Ministry: 137 of required medicines out of stock
Stormy weather adds to plight of Gaza’s refugees
US editorial says Israel similar to North Korea
Knesset Approves New Law Preventing Detainees From Meeting Lawyers For Six Month
EU shelves recognition of Palestine
Chances of two-state solution in Palestine seen fading away – sorry, already gone
Internal pressure on Netanyahu mounts over prospect of apology to Turkey
Hamas reiterates all of Palestine claim
2011 ‘difficult’ for Mideast peace: Rudd – ‘Israel’s “settlement activity should cease and it must cease”‘.
Rudd: “What we need to see is not another peace process. What we need to see is a peace outcome.” Let’s have a justice outcome, please Kev. Equal rights, an end to occupation and recognition of right of return.
Israel’s War On Jerusalem Children
Scott Horton Interviews Max Blumenthal
Two more leftwing activists summoned to a meeting with Israel’s General Security Service
Asia2Gaza protest against Israel at Palestine square in Tehran
Israel and the Misrule of Law
Israel refuses entry to Palestinian firefighters being honored for Carmel fire assistance
Arab actor: Boycott Israeli cinema
Tourists in Washington: anatomy of an European Mideast failure
The Internet Goes to War

Other Links

Richard Holbrooke Dead: Diplomat Dies At 69
Police drag protester from wheelchair – the Beeb outdoes itself for squalid interviewing.
Jody McIntyre’s inspired reporting on Electronic Intifada.
How Holbrooke Lied His Way into a War
Tony Blair’s ex-roommate shut down inquest into death of David Kelly

As far as I am aware, no Australian media is linking directly to Wikileaks cables, despite 1885 mirror sites in Australia and elsewhere. Since the Australian Attorney General has muttered that it may take the Australian Federal Police up to a year to locate a crime to fit the cables’ release, our gutless media may be hedging its bets.

In another article, Keane nails Mastercard, Paypal and Visa for providing service for donations to illegal Israeli settlement activities.

‘Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all enable donations to be made to US-registered groups funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in defiance of international law.

It appears at least one of the major credit cards also enables donations to an extremist Jewish group that has placed a bounty on the lives of Palestinians.’

As I’ve previously revealed, an Australian Zionist organisation, the United Israel Appeal’s New South Wales branch, also offers online credit card facilities for tax deductible donations to its Women’s Division, 50% of whose funds are directed toward the consolidated revenue of Keren Hayesod which is involved in illegal Israeli ‘national’ heritage projects in the West Bank.

Currently, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is in Israel causing waves with his demands for Israel to submit to IAEA inspections and renew the settlement freeze.

“Our view has been consistent for a long period of time, and that is that all states in the region should adhere to the NPT, and that includes Israel.”

But it is what he added next by referring to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that has caught Israeli officials by surprise: “And therefore their nuclear facility should be subject to IAEA inspection.”

He was speaking before reports that a WikiLeaks cable suggested Australia, along with the US, could be drawn into a nuclear war in the Middle East if Israel were to attack Iran in an attempt to disable its nuclear program.

Perhaps Rudd hasn’t noticed that Lieberman told the Russians in 2009 that Israel did not intend attacking Iran, nor that Israel has repeatedly, deliberately and tactically linked ‘peace’ with Palestinians with the US confronting Iran. That this fiction about an attack on Iran must be maintained when the IAEA inspectors have not found any evidence of wrongdoing is annoying. The Israelis can’t attack without US support. The US would prefer a non-confrontational dialogue with Iran. Senator Kerry made this perfectly clear in February, 2010. Thus, ‘peace’ with Palestinians is also a fiction.

“There’s nowt wrong wi’ owt what mitherin’ clutterbucks don’t barley grummit!”

Israeli officials were not surprised by Mr Rudd’s call for Israel to sign the NPT but were taken aback by his call for IAEA inspections. One high-ranking Israeli official said: “I don’t remember any Australian minister saying (Israel’s) facilities should be put under inspection.”

…

On settlements, which have been at the centre of the collapse of direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, Mr Rudd said: “The position of the Australian government has long been clear. We do not support new settlement construction and the reason is that it undermines the prospects of the successful prosecution of peace negotiations.”

Mr Rudd said the Australian government fully understood Israel’s security concerns from Gaza, but that settlements were “a different matter”.

He expressed concern after comments by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, that if the peace talks achieved nothing he might dissolve the Palestinian Authority and hand over day-to-day running of the West Bank to Israel. “There is a second reality also, which is what security challenges Israel would face if the peace process entirely collapses, if the Palestinian Authority totally disengages or if Abu Mazen were to give effect to what he publicly implied in his recent statements about folding the authority, or if the moderate Arab states would begin to adopt a different posture against a protracted and non-successful peace negotiating process.”

Mr Rudd warned that there may be serious consequences if the peace process collapsed.

“All of us, if we are any students of the history of the last decade or so, have a grasp of what can go wrong, and what can go wrong big time if the Palestinian people don’t have a stake in a negotiated outcome,” he said.

For Palestinians, there are serious consequences if the peace process continues, because the interminable peace process is and has always been a facade for more Israeli land theft. Netanyahu called the US bluff with his refusal to stop settlement building despite handsome US bribes and now further, insisting Jerusalem will not be shared. Unless there are concrete repercussions from the US and other nations, the Israel will continue to steal, murder and occupy in pursuit of its expansionist strategy and goal. Is Kevin a knowing participant in this ongoing villainous mythology? A brief examination of a map of the illegal West Bank settlements should be enough for him to realise the two state solution is a vexatious illusion and a de facto one state with discontinuous, unofficial bantustans is the present reality. Israel is an apartheid state to be engaged accordingly with a tangible justice process through boycotts, divestments and sanctions to shortcircuit the duplicitous ‘peace process’ charade.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a cavern in Mordor, US gollums are plotting a star chamber, associated pseudo-laws and an attempt to spirit Julian Assange, the bearer of inconvenient tidings, into their pocketses.

Today’s Wikilinks

Inside Story – WikiLeaks’ financial crisis
How to Support Julian Assange & Wikileaks
Wikileaks.org domain comes back online, helped by new DNS providers
Indoleaks Touts Revealing WikiLeaks Documents, But Technical Problems Persist | The Jakarta Globe
Julian Assange Boasted About ‘Asian Teengirl Stalkers’ In Online Dating Profile
Foreign Office memo shows 2002 plan to sell Iraq invasion to UK media
America, the Grim Truth
America’s Facile, Self-Congratulatory Response to Wikileaks
Julian Assange wined and dined at US Embassy
Call for action over death calls
China: A Nobel Peace Prize for Assange?
Sweden colluding with US to charge Assange with espionage
Wikileaks mum in UK mercy dash
Cablegate Reveals Government Requesting Access to Microsoft Data, Kill Switches
Danish Politiken mirrors Wikileaks on Amazon servers
Wikileaks Christmas Song 2010
Assange attorney: Grand jury meeting in Virginia on WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks Can Survive Swedish, U.S. Assange Probes, Lawyers Say
Another cable searcher
Assange lawyers say US preparing charges
Imperialist diplomacy exposed: Behind the witch-hunt of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
There Is Something To See Here
Peter Ludlow on “The Political Philosophy of Julian Assange”
Vatican reaction to WikiLeaks claims (LOLOL)
WikiLeaks row: why Amazon’s desertion has ominous implications for democracy
Rumsfeld: Government documents in new memoir, but not like WikiLeaks
Of Wikileaks, Whistleblowers and Whipping Boys
US Poll: People Behind WikiLeaks Should be Prosecuted (how dumbed down are Americans!!)
The Swedish prosecutor denies political pressure from the United States. From Wikileaks published documents show the opposite.
Hilarious: ‘XXXXXXXXXXXX passed on the suggestion from his North Korean interlocutors that the USG arrange for Eric Clapton to perform a concert in Pyongyang. As Kim Jong-il’s second son, Kim Jong-chol, is reported to be a great fan, the performance …could be an opportunity to build good will.’
WikiLeaks founder Assange says Pentagon plans prosecution
Inside Story – WikiLeaks and the craft of journalism
Food for thought. Updated Sunday 12 December
WikiLeaks may make the powerful howl, but we are learning the truth
Rundle: timeline of Assange’s visit to Sweden and events that followed
Swedish Police Leak May Clear Assange
WikiRebels
WikiLeaks cyber war: pro-Assange Anonymous v US nationalists
The Ballad of Julian Assange
What makes Assange tick from somebody who should know
Leaks and Leakers : NO QUARTER
WikiLeaks: Tying Assange to Manning Won’t Be Easy
WikiLeaks release ‘deplorable’: Obama
Hyperdemocracy
PdF Presents: A Symposium on Wikileaks and Internet Freedom
Danish search engine for cables
Why did I back Julian Assange? It’s about justice and fairness
Wikileaks and arms sales | Jewbonics
Sodomy charges were a set-up

Today’s Australian Wikilinks

Rudd defends Assange’s rights
Israel praises Labor allies
Lawyers defend WikiLeaks founder Assange
Defence costings dodgy
In other leaked US cables, Australian diplomats are reported as telling their US counterparts that the Australian government was ”completely aligned” with the United States in regard to Iran.
Rudd derided ‘loathsome’ Ahmadinejad – ‘Israel saw Australia ”as playing an important role in the ‘global PR battle’ on Iran’ – time for Australia to stop sucking up to apartheid Israel and US imperialism
ALP stuck on two state non-solution – Joint Statement on Australia-Arab Relations
Kevin Rudd defends Julian Assange’s rights – and promises him a laptop
The net will win against deception
Australia doesn’t seem to know what morality is re Wikileaks
Blast from the past: Departing ALP member tells of deep Zionist influence in party
Mungo: WikiLeaks principle critical, but contents … oh well
Iran not a rogue state: Australia
WikiLeaks exposes foreign policy’s dark side
Free Speech Is S*xy Again
Doug Cameron joins Labor Left rally to support Julian Assange
Australian Media’s Finest Defend Wikileaks
The cables and the damage done
Israel’s policy of separation is backed by Western powers
Antony Loewenstein speaks to Sydney Wikileaks Rally
So this is what the Afghan war is all about
WikiLeaks: gathering secrets in the new age
US refused cable access to Canberra
Here’s the story of how the Age received their cables, which they don’t publish, just interpret. IMV this undermines the cables’ credibility and usefulness.
The weight of the word
Labor’s big guns squirm in the WikiLeaks glare
Mark Arbib, aka CIA Agent 007
Compromising the Labor Party: WikiLeaks, the US Alliance and Mark Arbib
Arbib goes quiet, but many are talking
Wikileaks reveals Labor powerbrokers in regular contact with US Embassy
Government under fire at Assange rallies
‘Professor Chomsky, a long-term critic of US foreign policy, said Mr Assange was performing a civic duty. “Systems of power wish to protect themselves from citizens, while at the same time sparing no effort to intrude into private lives so as to better establish their control.”
Australia: WikiLeaks cables reveal secret ties between Rudd coup plotters and US embassy
Leaks point to US concerns over Australian role in Afghanistan

Today’s Palestine / Israel Links

Dutch giant PGGM reconsidering companies involved in Israel-occupied territories
Israel trying to eject Palestinians from Jordan Valley to take over region
Santa leads Boycott Apartheid Israel action in Brisbane
Knesset Approves New Law Preventing Detainees From Meeting Lawyers For Six Month
PALESTINE CAMPAIGNERS CLAIM BOYCOTT SUCCESS AS COUNCIL REJECTS CONTROVERSIAL BIDDER – Edinburgh Council rejects Veolia
Israel attacked for arrests of hundreds of children
The crumbling alliance / A natural lose-lose for Netanyahu
Suspected Israeli neo-Nazi arrested in Kyrgyzstan
IOF troops assault old woman, arrest her son
Blind woman sent to jail for harboring Palestinian
Winning Hearts and Minds for Palestine
Photos: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine 43rd Anniversary Rally, Gaza City
Connection between the human rights march and West Bank demonstrations?
Israeli apartheid in Lod (Palestinian name Lydda)
Ghoul: Israel violates all international laws protecting rights of prisoners
Tom Friedman to Israeli Government: Suck On This! (when will Friedman et al realise 2 state is a non-solution?)
Israel/Palestine needs a South African style truth and reconciliation commission
Israel says it won’t share Jerusalem
Poll: Israel’s Arabs don’t want to be part of Palestinian state
Livni moans about Israel being at a ‘strategic disadvantage’; begs to continue the negotiations charade [Jpost]
British parliament debates Palestinian children prisoners
‘An Israeli human rights group has accused the police of arresting Palestinian minors as young as five in east Jerusalem and dealing with them in ways that violate the country’s laws, as well as international laws.
Israel dumps chem. waste in W Bank
Australian FM visits Israel as part of his world tour
The Israelis In The Machine. Or, SIA Later, Alligators…
Rudd, Yad Vashem and William Cooper
Jewish Congress Leaders Demand Pope To Combat the “Delegitimization” of Israel
New CWP Report – “All-Out War: Israel Against Democracy”
‘Our lives became something we’d never dreamt’: The former Israeli soldiers who have testified again
Israel to Destroy Electric Infrastructure Near Hebron
Kissinger relaxed about Jews being put in gas chambers
Former EU leaders call to sanction and boycott Israel

Other Links

Cancun agreement builds towards a global climate deal | Greenpeace Australia Pacific
UK Govt Moves Against 12 Year Old Dissident
Police-state tactics against protesters in Britain

‘Wikileaks provides a game breaking revelation of the secrecy, duplicity, violence, and criminal nature of the imperial state’ – Michael Parenti

Couldn’t resist borrowing this O’Really factor from the esteemed Antony Loewenstein blog. Watch it all for best effect.

2010-12-04: NSW Supreme Court solicitor: Letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard

by Peter Kemp, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW, on 2010-12-04

Dear Prime Minister
From the Sydney Morning Herald I note you made a comment of “illegal” on the matter of Mr Assange in relation to the ongoing leaks of US diplomatic cables.

Previously your colleague and Attorney General the Honourable McClelland announced an investigation of possible criminality by Mr Assange.

As a lawyer and citizen I find this most disturbing, particularly so when a brief perusal of the Commonwealth Criminal Code shows that liability arises under the Espionage provisions, for example, only when it is the Commonwealth’s “secrets” that are disclosed and that there must be intent to damage the Commonwealth.

Likewise under Treason law, there must be an intent to assist an enemy. Clearly, and reinforced by publicly available material such as Professor Saul’s excellent article:

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/dont-cry-over-wikil…

…Julian Assange has almost certainly committed no crime under Australian law in relation to his involvement in Wikileaks.

…. More

Contact the Australian Prime Minister here: http://www.pm.gov.au/PM_Connect/Email_your_PM and let her know what you think.

Some Links for Today

Debunked: “Julian Assange is a Traitor (U.S.)”
WikiLeaks cables show surrender is only option offered to Taliban
Wikileaks.org blocked, but mirror sites proliferating
The Wikileaks Manifesto, by Julian Assange
WikiLeaks’ Assange to fight any extradition: lawyer
The Ottoman Empire, 1798-1923
Are You Targeted?
The price of the Treasury’s Policy – how Netanyahu’s fiscal cuts slashed into the Israeli firefighting budget
Ali Abunimah and Ilan Pappe at the Palestine Solidarity Conference in Stuttgart, Nov 27 2010
WikiLeaks cables: Conservatives promised to run ‘pro-American regime’ Leaked dispatch reveals how US diplomats are amused by Britain’s ‘paranoid’ fears about so-called special relationship
No job if you link to WikiLeaks, warns Columbia
Universities Warn Students: Reading/Discussing Wikileaks Could Cost You a Future Government Job
WikiLeaks on the run
Wikileaks on Facebook
Saving Ergenekon through WikiLeaks
Is the Crackdown on Wikileaks and Threats of Julian Assange’s Arrest Exactly What He Was Planning?
Global Gaza, Global Ummah
The Shameful Attacks on Julian Assange
Wikileaks hounded? – Reporters Without Borders
Burden of Proof – for those who need an obvious tool to deal with the all-pervasive conspiracy theorists.
Nepali Maoists on Wikileaks: American “Press Freedom” is Illusion
Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg calls for boycott of Amazon.com
International campaign targets WikiLeaks web site
Rubberhose
Marutukku
Wikileaks: Numerous Reasons to Dismiss US Claims that “Ghost Prisoner” Aafia Siddiqui Was Not Held in Bagram
Is WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange a Hero? Glenn Greenwald Debates Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News
Alliance Online says attacks on Assange & Manning point to ‘dangerous atmosphere of intolerance & persecution’
Cablebgate
Personal message from Julian Assange
Julian Assange under investigation by police in Australia
Evading a shutdown, WikiLeaks mobilizes Twitter supporters
Jeremy Scahill: WikiLeaks Cables Confirm Secret U.S. War Ops in Pakistan
IFJ Condemns United States “Desperate and Dangerous” Backlash over WikiLeaks
Shame on Australia: Australia Should be Behind Wikileaks Founder
Australia shows true colours over Wikileaks (and the look is bad)

A Question to Julian Assange on the Guardian

Any chance you can clarify your remarks about Netanyahu’s consistency between public and private utterances? is consistent lying in public and private to be applauded? Are you aware that ‘peace’ for Israel is code for ‘stalling while we steal more Palestinian land’?

Hoping there’s cable which comes to light illustrating that Barak communicated his (documented) private intention for the Gaza massacre to the US even before he entered with malice aforethought into the duplicitous truce with Hamas.

Julian answers other questions

Coincidentally, Facebook is coming under scrutiny for leaking its users’ information to third parties without their consent. Some of the beneficiaries don’t even know they had or could use the data – loose hooks are trolling for bites.