Western concern for Palmyra hypocritical

Surprisingly, we see a great deal of compassion and concern coming from the West for Palmyra.  Yes, we should all be concerned.  This is grave.   And Syria’s rich heritage is in danger.  But the West’s concern?  Give me a break.  Was there ANY concern when  in the lead up to the Iraq invasion, in January 2003, some sixty New York based collectors and dealers by the name of “American Council for Cultural Policy” met with Mr. Bush and discussed ways to loot Iraq’s artifacts by suggesting that once the country was invaded, there should be more lax antiquities laws – antiquities they subsequently stole?

How about the destruction of a civilization by American forces, the helicopters which have sandblasted the brick façade of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon from 605 to 562 BC.  – the utter destruction of one of the best know civilizations – the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Parthians, Sassanids, and Muslims, all part of Iraq’s culture and contributors to humanity?

Incidentally, not long ago, the Western media (parroted by non-Western media) was holding ISIL accountable for the destruction of antiquities in Iraq – what a convenient way to hide their crimes.

Now, after destroying Syria, having failed to assault it militarily even after all the lies about chemical weapons, they want to ‘total mobilisation’ to save Palmyra?

Shameless.

Israel justifying land grab?!

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel’s new deputy foreign minister’s speech in which she claims all the ‘holy land’ belongs to Israel is making the rounds in the media.  Good that the media is showing these appalling claims, but it is also the responsibility of the media (now Western mouthpiece media) to explain realities as well. The ancient Land of Canaan which was known as 'the crossroads of the ancient world' (its importance was in the centrality of it - the corridor, the passageway, the sea outlet - a place where surrounding nations had to come to in order to fight each other and win or lose in battle) was and has always been home to Cannanites (present day Palestinians. For well over 5000 years ago, in spite of conquest by Egyptians, Turkish, Assyrian, Persian, and Jewish (David and Solomon and the Ten Tribes of Israel), the land belongs to Palestinians according to the Atlantic Charter (self governing right) as the Canaanites were the first, which gave them priority; their descendents have continued to live tehre, which gives them continuity; and with the exception of the 800,000 refugees, they continue to live there. The Canaanites are the Palestinians or the Arab population of today. The legal occupants of the land and certainly not the Jews/Israelis. Putting aside human laws, even if one does believe in God's land to the Jews as claimed, Abraham did not promise the land to the Jews alone. When Abraham made a covenant with God through circumcision, all the land of Canaan was promised to him as 'an everlasting possession'. When the Bible says the word 'to thy seed', it included Arabs. Both Moslems and Christians can claim descent from Abraham through his son Ishmael. Moreover, when the covenant of circumcision was made with Abraham (Genesis xvii), and the land of Canaan promised as 'an everlasting possession,' it was Ishmael who was circumcised - Isaac had not been born yet. Furthermore, on every Jewish festival, Jewish voices say: “Umipnay chatoenu golinu mayartsaynu" - "Because of our sins we were expelled from our land". It is believed that at a predestined time, God will send the Jews the Messiah and they will be able to return to the Promised Land. Jews are to accept exile and not attempt to force their way back. They stayed away from Jerusalem for 2,000 years because their religion forbade them from returning, not because they could not return. Yet today, those who are violating the laws of man and lay claim to ‘Eretz Yisrael’ as God’s land promised to them, are the ones who are betraying the very God they pretend to worship. So it seems that both Atlantic Charter and the "holy" writ are irrelevant when it comes to Israeli genocide and expansion. Shameless murderers and even more shameless those who support them.