Google Sparks Outrage by Abolishing Palestine on Maps

Google's decision to wipe Palestine from its map app and portray the occupied territories as Israel sparks online protest campaign.

Journalists and activists have excoriated Google for wiping Palestine completely off its map app, depicting the entire occupied Palestinian territories as part of the state of Israel.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Forum initiated an online campaign to pressure the internet giant to reconsider its stance. The organization accused Google of being “part of the Israeli scheme to establish its name as a legitimate state for generations to come and abolish Palestine once and for all.”

“The move is also designed to falsify history, and geography as well as the Palestinian people’s right to their homeland, and a failed attempt to tamper with the memory of Palestinians and Arabs as well as the world,” the statement continued.

In response, critics on Twitter have used the hashtag #BoycottGoogle to condemn the company. A petition on Change.org urging Google to put Palestine back on the map has garnered 147,402 signatures as of Monday, just shy of its 150,000 goal.

“The omission of Palestine is a grievous insult to the people of Palestine and undermines the efforts of the millions of people who are involved in the campaign to secure Palestinian independence and freedom from Israeli occupation and oppression,” reads the petition.

“Whether intentionally or otherwise, Google is making itself complicit in the Israeli government's ethnic cleansing of Palestine,” it continues.

In 2013, hackers replaced the homepage on Google’s local domain in Palestine with a message calling for the company to remove the name Israel from its map app and replace it with Palestine, arguing that the state of Israel is illegal.

Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, which forcibly displaced more than 750,000 Palestinians, Israel has further shrunk Palestinian territories by seizing vast swaths of land. Israel has expanded illegal settlements on tens of thousands of hectares since occupying the West Bank and Gaza in 1967.

The United Nations recognizes the state of Palestine with the status of a non-member observer state.


Sumber - teleSUR English

Bersatu lebih teguh

Baginda Sultan berkenan bergambar ramai bersama para pemimpin negara di Sidang Kemuncak OIC ke-13.

ISTANBUL, 14 April – Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam, hari ini bertitah menekankan kepentingan bagi perpaduan dan kesepakatan dalam kalangan negara-negara ahli OIC dalam menegakkan keadilan dan kedamaian dunia.

Titah Baginda, keadaan keselamatan global yang semakin kompleks dan menakutkan serta ketidaktentuan perspektif ekonomi dunia telah menimbulkan cabaran-cabaran dan peluang-peluang terhadap masyarakat OIC.

Justeru itu, sesuai dengan tema sidang kemuncak, Baginda menekankan agar negara-negara ahli perlu bersatu lebih teguh lagi berbanding sebelum ini.

Dalam titah Baginda pada Sesi Kerja Pertama sidang kemuncak itu yang diadakan di Pusat Kongres Istanbul, Republik Turki, Baginda Sultan memuji kerja-kerja yang telah dilakukan oleh OIC dalam melaksanakan Program Sepuluh Tahun Mekah, dan seterusnya melahirkan rasa gembira atas segala usaha yang telah membawa kepada peningkatan dalam perdagangan intra-OIC; penekanan yang lebih besar terhadap kesihatan, pendidikan, wanita dan kanak-kanak; dan penubuhan suruhanjaya hak asasi manusia.

Baginda dalam titahnya juga menekankan terhadap keperluan bagi OIC untuk terus meningkatkan kerja dan usaha lagi bagi mengatasi cabaran-cabaran seperti isu teras Palestin, pengganasan, keganasan melampau, Islamofobia, kemiskinan, wabak-wabak penyakit dan bencana-bencana alam.

Baginda menyambut baik Program Tindakan 2025 OIC dan memberi sokongan terhadap pelaksanaannya. Pelan tindakan yang baru itu diwujudkan atas program tindakan OIC yang sebelum ini dan ianya menangani matlamat-matlamat yang baru seperti perubahan iklim dan pembasmian kemiskinan.

Program baru itu, tambah Baginda, juga menggalakkan dialog-dialog dan moderation antara agama yang merupakan penting dalam menangani kebimbangan terhadap keganasan melampau dan Islamofobia.

Antara perkara penting yang turut Baginda tekankan adalah mengenai nasib rakyat Palestin yang telah dinafikan hak dalam pertumbuhan dan pembangunan sosioekonomi yang bermakna berikutan cabaran-cabaran geopolitik di rantau Asia Barat.

Baginda seterusnya menggesa negara-negara ahli OIC agar terus mengukuhkan segala usaha mereka melalui apa saja cara yang mungkin dapat menyelesaikan isu berpanjangan Negara Palestin, dan seterusnya memberikan sokongan yang tidak berbelah bahagi Negara Brunei Darussalam kepada rakyat Palestin dalam perjuangan mereka untuk mendapatkan hak bagi menentukan nasib mereka sendiri.

Dalam mengakhiri titah, Baginda menyeru semua negara ahli OIC untuk bersatu dalam jiwa dan raga mereka dalam perpaduan bekerja agar OIC lebih relevan lagi terhadap rakyat-rakyat yang mereka wakili.

Terdahulu Baginda berkenan berangkat menghadiri Sesi Pembukaan Sidang Kemuncak OIC Ke-13 yang diadakan di Pusat Kongres Istanbul, Republik Turki.

Keberangkatan tiba Baginda dialu-alukan oleh Presiden Republik Turki, Tuan Yang Terutama Recep Tayyip Erdogan yang juga Pengerusi Sidang Kemuncak Pertubuhan Kerjasama Islam sesi ke-13.

Baginda seterusnya dijunjung menyertai sesi bergambar ramai bersama raja-raja serta ketua-ketua negara dan kerajaan negara-negara ahli dan bukan ahli Pertubuhan Kerjasama Islam (OIC).

Sesi Pembukaan bagi Sidang Kemuncak OIC Sesi Ke-13 dimulakan dengan ucapan pembukaan oleh Presiden Republik Arab Mesir, Tuan Yang Terutama Abdel Fattah al-Sisi selaku Pengerusi Sidang Kemuncak OIC Sesi Ke-12 yang disampaikan oleh Menteri Hal Ehwal Luar Negeri Republik Arab Mesir,Tuan Yang Terutama Sameh Hassan Shoukry.

Ini diikuti dengan ucapan daripada Setiausaha Agung OIC, Tuan Yang Terutama Iyad Ameen Madani serta ucapan daripada Tuan Yang Terutama Presiden Republik Turki selaku Pengerusi Sidang Kemuncak OIC Sesi Ke-13.

Di samping menghadiri sesi kerja pertama itu, Baginda Sultan turut berkenan mengadakan Perjumpaan Dua Hala dengan Raja Arab Saudi dan Penjaga Dua Masjid Suci, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud yang berlangsung di Hamidiye Salon, Pusat Kongres Istanbul, Republik Turki.

Semasa perjumpaan tersebut, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam dan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja Saudi bertukar-tukar pandangan mengenai hal ehwal serantau dan antarabangsa dan seterusnya membincangkan cara-cara bagi memperkukuhkan lagi hubungan erat antara kedua-dua buah negara.


Sumber - Media Permata

The Vilification of Muslims

Alliance of Christian, Jewish and Hindu Fundamentalists

by DEEPAK TRIPATHI

The recent attacks at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine’s office and a Jewish store near Paris have sparked another round of explosive debate about Islam and Muslims. The actions of Cherif and Said Kouachi were condemned. How the two brothers born and raised in France became radicalised was discussed in newspapers and on airwaves. Their existence on the fringes of French society and previous encounters with the law, already on record, were highlighted. Belgian police subsequently carried out operations in Verviers and other parts of the country.

Competition among Western leaders to rush to Paris to mark the tragic events was intense. The British Prime Minister David Cameron and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu appeared particularly exercised. Stakes are high for Cameron and Netanyahu in coming elections in Britain and Israel respectively. The French presidency was not keen on Netanyahu visiting the country, but he turned up anyway.

Reminding the world of his Christian faith, David Cameron condemned the “fanatical death cult of Islamist extremism” and insisted: “You cannot appease them; they hate our democracy, our freedom, our freedom of expression, our way of life.” Netanyahu was not going to be left behind. Describing the attacks as brutal acts of savagery, he insisted that radical Islam knew “no boundaries” and the response had to be international.

Reminding his audience yet again that Israel had experienced similar attacks and that he knew the pain, Netanyahu said: “The terrorists want to destroy our freedoms and our civilization … we can defeat this tyranny that seeks to extinguish all our freedoms.”

Some commentators have pointed out the inherent bigotry and duplicity of this rhetoric. Chris Hedges, in a piece on Truthdig.com, said that the Charlie Hebdo shootings were neither about free speech nor radical Islam. Rather, the killings represented the fury of those hopeless, brutally controlled and mocked by the privileged.

The latest vilification of Muslims and their faith is the result of an old alliance of fundamentalist Christians and Jews for at least a century, certainly since the beginning of the Anglo-French project to create what became Israel in 1948. In the post-9/11 era, the trend to caricature Muslims has become more sweeping and venomous. Muslims all over the world are facing a sustained attack.

Had the Palestinian scholar Edward Said, author of the acclaimed book Orientalism been alive, he would have described it as a new form of Orientalism which imagines, emphasises, exaggerates and distorts, and is solely directed against Muslims everywhere. The rise of the Hindu nationalist BJP to power in India, a secular country of more than a billion people and nearly 150 million Muslims, represents the entry of a new player in this alarming reality. Not even a year in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has already started to fiddle with the Indian constitution.

The terms “secular” and “socialist” are being removed from the preamble in government publications, without the required legislative approval for which the BJP government does not have sufficient strength. Leading government ministers and party allies have begun to openly suggest that the plan is to do away with the term “secular” from the constitution altogether, some claiming that India was never a secular country. Paranoia and religious zealotry are on the ascendancy.

The leader of the self-styled World Hindu Organisation, Pravin Togadia, absurdly laments that the population of Hindus in India is only 82 per cent. Togadia says he would not let this number decline to 42 in a few years, because “then their property and women will not remain safe”. He is determined to push the Hindu population up to 100 per cent.

Hindu women married to Prominent Muslims are accused of committing “love jihad” and demands are being made that their husbands convert to Hinduism. Walking in the corridors of power, if not occupying seats, are people who would make India a monolithic Hindu theocracy, a distorted mirror image of Saudi Arabia.

India’s vice president Hamid Ansari, a career diplomat before taking up his current post in 2007, was recently hounded by right-wing supporters and sympathisers of Modi’s government. As President Pranab Mukherjee took the salute during India’s Republic Day parade on 26 January, Ansari and several ministers in Modi’s government stood at attention, as the protocol requires.

Only the vice president was singled out for “insulting the national flag” and attacked by chauvinist Hindus in vehemently abusive terms. This against someone who had served as India’s ambassador in countries including Australia, Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and at the United Nations and, from 1980 to 1985, was Chief of Protocol in the Indian foreign ministry.

As part of the concerted drive against Muslims, a number of myths are being perpetuated by chauvinists and should be critically examined. Two myths stand out in particular. One that only Muslims (the world over) are violent – all others are doves of peace. Second that India’s 82 per cent Hindus face a demographic threat from Muslims.

Now, let us look at some of the facts. Traders from what is Damascus today started visiting India in the eight century. Sufi pacifism came to India much before. Muslim invasions began in the early eleventh century. Muslims and Christians of modern India have descended from those who adopted other religions for a variety of reasons – love, allurements, coercion or oppression, no less under the brutal Hindu caste system for centuries.

First Christians were believed to have landed on the coast of southern India in the year 52 AD when St Thomas is said to arrived in Kerala. It has taken almost fifteen centuries for the Muslim population of India to reach 14 per cent. Any talk of Hindus declining by 20 per cent, and Muslims rising, is therefore disingenuous and anti-intellectual.

Let us also examine the claim that only Islam and its followers are violent; others are fountains of peace. The history of wars between Christians and Muslims from the late eleventh to the thirteenth century took numerous lives. Legend has it that Pope Urban II told his followers it was right to kill non-Christians in defence of Christianity and those who die for their faith would occupy a chosen place in heaven.

Christian crusades were extraordinarily brutal and led to Muslim wars. In his war against the United States, Osama bin Laden’s rhetoric was strikingly similar, as is the rhetoric on the extremes of other religions in modern times. Conflicts in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East are as much local as led by Western military powers. One only has to look at those extremes with sincerity.

Let us see examples of some more fallacies, perpetuated by the appeal to popular opinion, ignorance or blind religious chauvinism. One is that Hinduism is a religion of peace. Not always. Those who killed thousands of Sikhs in India after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by two Sikh bodyguards in 1984 were not Muslims, but Hindus. And at the time of partition of British India in 1947, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs committed unspeakable atrocities on each other, killing more than a million and displacing many more.

Wars in Indo-China and elsewhere in southeast Asia involved Buddhists and Christian colonial powers – French, British and Dutch. Let us ask ourselves who continues to persecute Rohingya Muslims in Burma (Myanmar) which is 80 per cent Buddhist? And where does the responsibility lie for the civil war in Sri Lanka following decades of discrimination of Hindu and Muslim Tamils by the Buddhist Sinhala majority that led to the Tamil rebellion and the rise of Tamil militant groups after the 1983 anti-Tamil riots?

When the fog of hatred is thick and the lust to have it all becomes uncontrollable, it is difficult to recognize that humans throughout history have shown extraordinary capacity to harm fellow humans. No one comes out better in this.


Sumber - CounterPunch

French Parliament Votes to Recognize Palestinian State

France’s Socialist-led parliament has passed a symbolic vote to recognize Palestinian statehood, despite staunch objections from Israel. MPs in Britain and Spain have already passed similar motions.

The proposal was passed with 339 votes in favor and 151 against, meaning that it was supported by more than two-thirds of French lawmakers.

Israel immediately responded, saying that the motion would “harm the peace process,” AFP reported.

The vote is non-binding, but sends a signal that Israelis and Palestinians must return to the negotiating table, following the collapse of US-mediated statehood talks in April.

“We don’t want a symbolic recognition that will only lead to a virtual state. We want a Palestinian state that is real so we want to give a chance to negotiations,” Europe Minister Harlem Desir told lawmakers after the votes were tallied.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has supported the vote, setting a two-year deadline for the creation of an independent Palestine. He said that if no resolution had been found by then, France would officially recognize Palestine anyway.

So far, Sweden has been the only country to diplomatically accept the existence of Palestine, despite similar symbolic votes across Europe.

But not everybody accepted Tuesday’s motion as a ”gesture of peace and friendship,” as it was described by its supporters.

“It will add fuel to the fire in a region that doesn’t need that at all,” said Christian Jacob, leader of the conservative UMP Party, which voted against the initiative.

Outside the parliament building, several hundred Jewish demonstrators gathered in protest, bearing placards reading: “Hamas + Fatah = Terrorist state.”

Israeli officials have said that Europe’s drive to legitimize Palestine is a validation of Hamas’s rocket attacks on settlements inside Israel, and disincentivizes Palestinians from making any further concessions during future talks.

April’s negotiations stalled after the Palestinians refused to abandon their commitment to the “right of return,” a condition that means potentially millions of Arabs from nearby regions would be entitled to Israeli citizenship.

In turn, Jerusalem is failing to budge on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and insisting that IDF troops should be stationed permanently in the area, even after the creation of an independent Palestine.

The situation has been further inflamed by Israel’s incursion into Gaza this summer, in which over 2,100 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis died.


Sumber - Global Research

FactCheck: who recognises Palestine?

By Patrick Worrall

British MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Commons motion urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state.

The vote will not affect government policy, but the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, supported the motion.

This suggests that a future UK government may recognise the Palestinian territories, currently occupied by Israel, as a country.

For the full-size interactive map click here

What happened in the vote?

The motion, proposed by Labour MP Grahame Morris, stated: “This house believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel, as a contribution to securing a negotiated two state solution.”

It was carried by 274 votes to 12, with hundreds of MPs abstaining.

Mr Miliband and other Labour frontbenchers voted in favour, while both Lib Dem and Conservative ministers were obliged to abstain, as is the convention with a backbench motions.

Conservative MP Mike Freer, whose Finchley and Golders Green constituency is home to a large Jewish community, quit his junior ministerial post so he could vote against the motion.

Of the other 11 MPs who voted against, six were Conservatives and five were Northern Irish MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party.

Sir Alan Beith was the only Liberal Democrat to vote against the motion. The party’s policy is to support the recognition of Palestine as a state and 28 Lib Dems voted in favour of the motion.

The motion is not binding on the government.

What is Britain’s position on the Palestinian territories?

Britain does not recognise Palestinian as a sovereign state.

The government says it will only do so when the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate the end of the Israeli occupation through the Quartet peace process.

In 2011 the then-foreign secretary, William Hague, said: “The UK judges that the Palestinian Authority largely fulfils criteria for UN membership, including statehood as far as the reality of the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territories allows, but its ability to function effectively as a state would be impeded by that situation.”

He added: “We reserve the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at a moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.”

In 2011, along with more than a dozen European countries, the UK decided to upgrade the status of Palestinian diplomats.

In the same year, Britain abstained when the United Nations voted on upgrading Palestine’s status from “observer entity” to “non-member observer state”.

Some 138 countries voted in favour of the upgrade. Britain was among 41 nations that abstained, including Germany and the Netherlands. But most EU states voted for the resolution and it was carried.

Only nine countries voted against it, including Israel, the United States, Canada and Israel’s closest ally in the EU – the Czech Republic.

Some commentators saw the status upgrade as de facto UN recognition of Palestine’s sovereignty.

But Palestine is still not a full member of the UN. That would require a recommendation by the Security Council, which would probably be vetoed by the US.

Which other countries recognise Palestine?

Some 133 of the UN’s 193 member states have individually recognised Palestine as a state.

That represents 69 per cent of members and covers almost exactly 80 per cent of the population of the world at time of writing.

Of those, 17 countries explicitly say that they recognise a Palestinian state with the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War. In other words, they back Palestinian claims to the whole of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem.


Sumber - The FactCheck Blog

Brunei komited Tentang keganasan

NEW YORK, 25 Sept – Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam bertitah menegaskan komitmen Brunei untuk berdiri bersatu dengan komuniti antarabangsa dalam menentang keganasan dalam apa-apa jua bentuk dan menolak ekstremisme.

Tegas Baginda, Brunei menyokong semua usaha serantau dan antarabangsa dalam memerangi keganasan.

“Dan kami akan terus mengambil bahagian dalam inisiatif global seperti dialog antara agama dan dialog antara tamadun untuk menggalakkan persefahaman, toleransi dan rasa hormat di kalangan masyarakat dunia.”

Serentak dengan itu Baginda menyeru semua negara untuk mengambil tindakan bersepadu dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang meluas dan diburukkan lagi dengan kepesatan globalisasi dan saling keterkaitan.

Baginda Sultan berkenan mengurniakan titah pada Perhimpunan
Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu ke-69 di New York.

Baginda Sultan menekankan perkara ini semasa berkenan mengurniakan titah pada Perhimpunan Agung Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu ke-69 di New York hari ini. Berangkat sama Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Duli Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Malik.

Dalam titah, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia turut menyentuh mengenai potensi peningkatan pertikaian dan ancaman kepada keamanan dan keselamatan antarabangsa telah mengakibatkan tragedi-tragedi manusia yang mengerikan seperti penembakan MH17 dan situasi teruk di Gaza.

Walaupun prospek perang habis-habisan kelihatan jauh kini, kejadian-kejadian situasi memburuk, pertempuran-pertempuran kecil dan amalan menempah bahaya telah menunjukkan kita bagaimana ancaman konflik dan keganasan terus menjadi halangan kepada aspirasi jangka masa panjang bagi dunia yang lebih baik.

Mengenai Palestin, kebebasan dan keadilan telah lama lampau tempoh.

Penderitaan berpanjangan yang dialami oleh saudara-saudara Palestin adalah contoh jelas mengenai bagaimana kecilnya makna matlamat perkembangan kita jika tiada keamanan dan kestabilan.

Mereka mesti diberikan hak asasi asas untuk hidup dengan maruah dan menikmati pembangunan ekonomi.

“Kita digalakkan dengan gencatan senjata oleh pihak-pihak yang berkaitan,” titah Baginda sambil menambah,

Baginda menghargai usaha-usaha yang dilakukan oleh banyak negara yang membolehkannya terjadi.

Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia dalam titah Baginda turut merakamkan penghargaan kepada pegawai-pegawai PBB, pasukan pengaman dan sukarelawan di lapangan yang sering kali bekerja dalam keadaan yang sukar serta meletakkan nyawa mereka dalam risiko.

Baginda juga memberi sanjungan kepada Setiausaha Agung PBB serta pegawai-pegawainya yang tidak menghiraukan penat lelah mempromosikan matlamat badan dunia itu terutama dalam perkara-perkara penting yang menjejaskan kehidupan serta keselamatan masyarakat dunia.

Baginda berterima kasih kepada Tuan Yang Terutama Ban Ki-Moon atas sokongan peribadi beliau serta penyertaannya pada Sidang Kemuncak ASEAN-PBB ke-5 di Brunei tahun lalu.

“Hari ini adalah hari istimewa untuk Beta secara peribadi dan juga Negara Brunei Darussalam. Ia menandakan ulang tahun ke-30 keahlian Brunei dalam pertubuhan yang dihormati ini.

“Menoleh ke belakang, kita terpisah daripada segi ideologi. Kini, kita dihubungkan oleh globalisasi dan saling-kebergantungan, dalam mencari pendekatan bersama untuk menangani pelbagai cabaran yang dihadapi umat manusia.

“Tatkala kita berdepan dengan masalah-masalah lama dan baru, Beta percaya PBB adalah tempat terbaik untuk menanganinya secara kolektif. Inilah kekuatannya dan hari ini ia terbukti ketika kita berusaha untuk merealisasikan Matlamat Pembangunan Milenium (MDG). Kita sedang hampir sampai ke sasaran MDG.”

Titah Baginda, Brunei amat gembira untuk melihat komitmen bersepadu global serta konsensus untuk membasmi kemiskinan serta menggalakkan lagi keamanan dan pembangunan mapan.

Untuk sekian lama, titah Baginda, Brunei telah secara aktif menyumbang kepada usaha serantau dan antarabangsa dalam latihan dan pembangunan kapasiti seperti menerusi “Inisiatif bagi Integrasi ASEAN” dan “Program Pengayaan Bahasa Inggeris bagi ASEAN” dengan kerjasama Amerika Syarikat.

Usaha yang serupa juga dijalankan menerusi Dana Komanwel bagi Kerjasama Teknikal. Usaha-usaha PBB dan stakeholder yang berkaitan dalam menerajui usaha ke hadapan melangkaui 2015 adalah sangat dihargai.

“Beta amat gembira bahawa kita telah mencapai banyak kejayaan dalam inisiatif-inisiatif semasa. Kita juga telah banyak menimba pengalaman yang berharga. Ini semua memberikan kita asas-asas yang hebat untuk meneruskan perjalanan dalam dekad-dekad mendatang.

“Beta gembira dimaklumkan bahawa perbincangan mendalam serta perundingan yang meluas telah pun dijalankan dalam membentuk rangka kerja universal bagi menyampai dan melaksanakan agenda-agenda pembangunan transformatif selepas 2015.

“Oleh itu, Beta amat mengalu-alukan haluan masa depan yang menekankan kepentingan pembangunan sumber manusia yang bersifat inklusif, berorientasikan rakyat serta berdaya tahan.”

Elemen-elemen ini, jelas Baginda juga merupakan sebahagian daripada Wawasan Negara Brunei Darussalam 2035, yang dihasratkan untuk meningkatkan kebajikan rakyat serta menikmati kualiti hidup yang lebih tinggi.

“Beta juga gembira bahawa terdapat keyakinan yang sepadu terhadap pentingnya penjagaan alam sekitar. Dalam hubungan ini, Beta amat menghargai Sidang Kemuncak Iklim PBB dalam merangsang sokongan kepada usaha menangani impak perubahan iklim dan dalam memastikan satu agenda pembangunan pasca 2015 yang dinamik dan transformatif.”

Bagaimanapun, tambah Baginda lagi, pada masa ini dan lebih-lebih lagi pada dekad akan datang, Baginda melihat terdapat banyak cabaran yang perlu ditempuhi untuk merealisasikan matlamat mulia terhadap usaha bersejarah ini.

Ini kerana situasi serantau dan antarabangsa terus menjadi ancaman kepada ketidakstabilan, ketidakadilan, perbezaan sosial dan ekonomi serta bencana alam yang semakin kerap berlaku.

Walaupun terdapat keamanan dan kestabilan di dunia, perkembangan sejak beberapa tahun yang lalu telah mengingatkan kita tentang isu-isu keselamatan yang kompleks, pergolakan dan ketidakstabilan yang timbul daripada aktiviti manusia yang boleh menghalang kemajuan pembangunan jangka panjang.

“Kami amat bimbang dengan perkembangan isu keselamatan di beberapa buah tempat di dunia ini, di mana peningkatan konflik boleh melemahkan keazaman masyarakat antarabangsa dan keupayaannya untuk mencapai inisiatif seluruh dunia.

“Negara Brunei Darussalam, sebagai peranannya, telah menyertai pasukan keamanan PBB, terutama sekali UNIFIL, dan beberapa misi pemantauan keamanan antarabangsa di selatan Filipina. Kami kekal komited dalam perkara ini.”

Menurut Baginda, tinjauan keseluruhan lebih rumit disebabkan cabaran yang bersifat global seperti kesan perubahan iklim, ekstremisme dan keganasan serta kesan serius penyakit berjangkit.

Dalam memastikan aspek-aspek positif globalisasi, ia memerlukan masyarakat negara-negara untuk bekerja rapat bersama-sama.

“Kita mesti memperbaharui pendekatan kita, tadbir urus dan mengukuhkan kerjasama terutama dalam menyelesaikan isu-isu baru yang memerlukan tindakan kolektif global dengan satu matlamat.

“Beta ingin memberi penekanan kepada keperluan untuk bekerja dengan cara yang komprehensif, terutamanya dalam menjamin keamanan dan keselamatan.

“Kualiti kehidupan rakyat kita hanya boleh dipertingkatkan lagi melalui pembangunan ekonomi inklusif dan kemajuan sosial.

“Dengan aktiviti semberono manusia yang tidak reda-reda, akibat degradasi alam sekitar setentunya memberi kesan negatif ke atas pembangunan keseluruhan.

“Ini adalah bidang-bidang yang memerlukan komitmen, perkongsian dan kreativiti yang diperbaharui di dalam komuniti global kita.”

Baginda juga menekankan mengenai kepentingan mengukuhkan keupayaan dalam pengurusan bencana, ini kerana bencana alam yang kerap berulang dan bertambah kuat dalam tahun-tahun kebelakangan, dan telah menyebabkan kerosakan dan kesusahan kepada ramai orang.

Tahun lalu, Brunei Darussalam telah menganjurkan latihan bantuan kemanusiaan dan bantuan bencana dalam kalangan kakitangan tentera dari negara-negara besar dan kecil di Asia Pasifik, iaitu acara pertama sejenisnya di bawah proses Mesyuarat Menteri-Menteri Pertahanan ASEAN Campur.

“Beta sangat kagum melihat kerjasama rapat dan perpaduan yang ditunjukkan oleh para peserta dari pelbagai latar belakang dalam usaha menyelamatkan nyawa,” titah Baginda, sambil menambah usaha serantau sedemikian hanyalah langkah sederhana.

Lebih penting lagi, tambah Baginda, prinsip saling hormat-menghormati, mempercayai dan penuh keyakinan yang

sangat penting, mengetepikan perbezaan, mendukung kedaulatan undang-undang dan keadilan, dan mempromosikan kerjasama patut menjadi asas dalam menyelesaikan konflik bagi membolehkan kita terus menikmati kedamaian dan kestabilan.

Dalam semangat yang sama, adalah penting kita bertegas dalam mengatasi perbezaan dan bergerak ke depan dalam membuka lagi perdagangan global.

Baginda juga menekankan semula bahawa usaha-usaha dalam merealisasikan MGD akan menjadi sia-sia jika, pada masa yang sama, kita tidak mengendahkan komitmen menggunakan cara aman dalam menyelesaikan pertikaian seperti yang termaktub dalam Piagam PBB.

Melihat kepada masa depan, Baginda kekal menaruh harapan, dan percayai bahawa pertubuhan ini masih diperlukan untuk memastikan bahawa generasi seterusnya akan menikmati kehidupan yang terjamin dan makmur, dan yakin bahawa PBB akan terus menjadi sumber harapan.

Jadi adalah penting semua negara melakukan sedaya upaya untuk membuat sumbangan positif kepada pertubuhan itu.

Apa yang kita putuskan dan lakukan kini akan menentukan masa depan generasi seterusnya.

“Oleh itu, mari kita terus bekerjasama supaya mereka mewarisi legasi kedamaian berpanjangan, kemakmuran dan pembangunan mapan,” titah Baginda.


Sumber - Media Permata

Editorial: Israel loses war on all fronts

“WE MUST defeat Hamas – next time”, the headline in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz is the most serious indictment of the Zionist misadventure in Gaza. In fact, this has been Israel’s most self-defeating war. Backed by world’s most monstrous war machine, it has failed militarily, politically, strategically and on the diplomatic front it has been a disaster.

The main objective of the massive military operations was to reduce the resistance capability of Hamas and make it politically irrelevant. Exactly opposite of this has happened.

After relentless and indiscriminate military operation for more than three weeks, Hamas is very much there. In fact, it has emerged more powerful – both politically and militarily.

One of the most significant aspects of this Israeli misadventure is the heavy loss the Zionist army has suffered. So far Israeli death toll from 25 days of attacks at 66, Hamas says the number at more than 150.

Apart from inflicting heavy damage, Hamas has been able to wear down the Israeli army. Tired and humiliated, the Israeli army has already started withdrawing from the Gaza without diminishing the Hamas capability to hit Israeli cities. The Israeli narrative of “right to self-defence” has been completely rejected by the international community.

The biggest setback came when international airlines began cancelling their flights to Tel Aviv. Although the flight ban was for a short period, this had very telling effect on the Israeli psyche as for the first time they could sense international isolation and the fear that if the conflict spreads, they have no escape route.

On the other hand, Hamas has emerged the hero of resistance against Israel’s illegal war. Instead of weakening Hamas’ sovereignty over Gaza, the Israeli assault has consolidated Hamas’ political grip. In the end, it’s Israel which is the real loser, both on the war and diplomatic fronts.


Sumber - The Brunei Times

Death Toll Hits 1382 as Israel’s Offensive on Gaza Continues for 24th Day

GAZA, July 31, 2014 (WAFA) – At least 1382 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are women and children, while more than 7800 others have been injured since the beginning of the Israeli ongoing aggression on Gaza on July 8, according to medical statistics.

As Thursday marks the 24th day since the aggression began, a least 19 Palestinians, including children, a disabled female and two journalist, were killed in a series of Israeli air and artillery attacks across the Gaza Strip, while many others were injured, said WAFA correspondent.

The recent attacks follow a bloody day in which at least 129 Palestinians were massacred and 350 were injured in a series of Israeli artillery and air attacks across the Gaza Strip.

Four Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli shelling; an Israeli warplane targeted a civilian car, claiming the lives of three Palestinians and injuring several others. A child was also killed and two others were injured in an Israeli shelling on al-Tofah neighborhood to the east of Gaza.

Meanwhile, 33 Palestinians were killed during a series of airstrikes targeting several areas across the strip.

Earlier on Thursday, two civilian Palestinians were killed and another was seriously injured, after an Israeli warplane targeted their car while driving in Tuffah district in Gaza City, reported WAFA correspondent.

Meanwhile, Journalist Mohammad Thahir died of his wounds he sustained in a strike that targeted the marketplace of Shujaeya district, east of Gaza City, on Wednesday.

Journalist Sameh al-Aryan, of al-Aqsa TV, also died Thursday of his wound which he also sustained in the Israeli bombing of the marketplace of Shujaeya on Wednesday.

The Israeli massacre in Shujaeya claimed the lives of almost 18 innocent Palestinians, including journalists, medics and other staff affiliated with the International Red Cross and others with the Palestinian Red Crescent, in addition to children, women and elderly.

Earlier, five Palestinians were Thursday killed in an Israeli artillery attack that targeted, with several missiles, a group of people in the town of Abasan, southeast of Khan Younes. They were identified as Naji Abu-Mustafa, Hani Abu-Mustafa, Ashraf Au-Tuaima, disabled Falastenie Abu-Tuaima, and Mohamad Foad Khamis an-Najjar.

Medical sources said also Adham Seyam, a child, died of his wounds, which he had sustained in an Israeli bombing on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, a few days ago.

Meanwhile on Thursday morning, 58-year-old Aref Barakah was killed as an Israeli artillery shell that hit his house located in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza.

A twenty three year old mother, identified as Maha Abu-Helal, was also killed, whereas her husband and her two children were injured, when an Israeli bombardment targeted her house in al-Jeneneh district in Rafah City in the morning hours.

Earlier at dawn, Baraa Ibrahim, 19, die of his wounds, sustained in an Israeli air attack on Nusseirat refugee camp on Wednesday, reported medical sources.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ahmad Loah died of his wounds, which he sustained in an earlier Israeli shelling, while being treated at a hospital.

In the meantime, an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft targeted a motorbike in Khan Younes, claiming the life of Mohammad Fesifis, 32.

Meanwhile on Thursday, an Israeli F16 jet fighter bombed and destroyed a two-storey building in ad-Daraj neighborhood, in Gaza City, turning it into heaps of rubble, yet no casualties were reported.

Israeli artillery also fired 10 missiles targeting an open agricultural area, east of al-Maghazi refugee camp, setting fire to the area where civil defense teams have been unable to reach due to mass shortage of the necessary equipment.

Israeli artillery also bombed the surrounding of al-Awda Mosque in Deir el-Balah with 10 missiles, causing severe damages to nearby homes.

Warplanes further hit a location in Beit Lahiya, to the north of Gaza, yet no injuries were reported.

Medical sources said also a number of Palestinians were injured in an Israeli airstrike that hit a house belonging to al-Helew family in Jabaliya, with no injuries reported.

In the meantime Israeli warplanes hit a house, belonging to Hammouda family, in Beit Lahiya, whereas the house of Abu Hwishil in Bureij refugee camp was also bombed.

WAFA correspondent said warplanes continued to shell several areas in Gaza City on Thursday, leaving many people injured. They were transferred to hospital for medical treatment.


Sumber - WAFA

Subdued Aidilfitri For Palestinians As Death Toll Tops 1,000 In Gaza

By Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) -- It will be a subdued Aidilfitri celebration for the Palestinian community here, in light of Israel's military operation in Gaza which has so far killed over 1,000 Palestinians.

At least eight members of the community here have had their family members killed in the brutal military offensive, according to Mohammad Alherbawi, the media director with the Palestinian Cultural Organisation Malaysia (PCOM).

"The Israeli war machine has deprived us from being happy on this holy day. However, we'll still celebrate Eid and gather to prove to the world that the Palestinian people deserve to live as people in other countries in the world," he told Bernama.

Mohammad said members of the community would gather for small-scale events featuring talks, as well as sessions tailored for the children.

He said there were currently about 3,000 Palestinians in Malaysia.

Sharing his views, Muslim Imran, who has been staying for about 10 years in Malaysia, admitted it would not be easy for any Palestinian to enjoy 'kuih raya' when their fellow countrymen were being massacred by the Zionist regime.

"Many Palestinians here have decided that the Eid celebration this year will be a small affair or called off altogether," said the PCOM board of directors chairman.

He said a special reception might be organised for the families of those killed in the Israeli offensive.

Meanwhile, Yayasan Al-Quds Malaysia executive director Mohammad Makram Balawi lambasted Tel Aviv for launching the attack during Ramadan, a blessed month that had been "smeared with the blood of the innocents".

"I harbour the hope that our children could once again celebrate Eid in a free Palestine and displaced Palestinians could return to our homeland. It would be a very happy time for all of us," said the Jordanian-born.

The PhD student at a local university here has stayed in Malaysia for the past five years with his wife and children.


Sumber - BERNAMA

Lapan cara boleh bantu Gaza

DUA puluh hari telah berlalu sejak serangan rejim pengganas Zionis di Gaza yang bermula pada awal Ramadan. Jumlah syuhada di Gaza makin bertambah. Hospital tidak lagi mampu menampung bilangan mereka yang tercedera. Bilangan wanita dan kanak-kanak yang dibunuh juga makin meningkat.

Kerosakan harta benda, bangunan dan tanah pertanian tidak dapat digambarkan. Setelah bangkit dari serangan sebelumnya yang mengorbankan ribuan nyawa, Gaza berdarah kembali, dan mereka memerlukan bantuan kita lebih dari sebelumnya.

Bagi Muslim, tuntutan untuk membantu saudara-saudara kita di Gaza adalah jauh lebih besar daripada tuntutan kemanusiaan, ia adalah manifestasi keimanan dan persaudaraan Islam.

Kita boleh membantu Gaza dengan banyak cara, di bawah ini disenaraikan lapan cara yang efektif bagaimana kita boleh bantu Gaza, sekali gus membuka jalan untuk membebaskan Palestin dan Masjid Al Aqsa daripada cengkaman rejim pengganas Zionis.

Memberi sumbangan harta: Mereka amat memerlukannya bagi membangunkan kembali kehidupan selepas peperangan ini berakhir. Sudah tentu dana yang diperlukan adalah bagi tujuan perubatan, pendidikan, makan-minum, pembangunan semula bangunan-bangunan yang dimusnahkan, pembelaan anak-anak yatim dan macam-macam lagi.

Sumbangan kewangan ini boleh disalurkan melalui banyak NGO di Malaysia yang amat aktif berperanan seperti Aman Palestin.

Berdoa: Doa adalah senjata mukmin yang paling efektif, terutamanya dalam waktu-waktu krisis. Antara doa yang diamalkan oleh Rasulullah adalah Qunut Nazilah. Jangan lupa doakan kemenangan umat Islam setiap kali selepas solat fardu dan juga pada kesempatan-kesempatan lain.

Boikot produk penyokong Zionis: Boikot adalah satu mekanisme efektif yang telah berjaya di banyak negara dalam memberi tekanan kepada Israel. BDS movement, sebuah gerakan anti aparteid yang berusaha keras untuk memboikot rejim pengganas Zionis melaporkan bahawa nilai eksport Israel berkurang dengan signifikan kesan daripada boikot.

Perbaiki kualiti ibadah: Seorang jeneral tentera Israel bernama Moshe Dayan pernah menyatakan dia hanya akan gentar bila umat Islam mampu untuk solat Subuh berjemaah di masjid sepertimana solat Jumaat. Ini adalah petunjuk bahawa Israel memahami hakikat agama ini, iaitu mereka hanya akan ditumpaskan oleh kelompok Muslim yang berkualiti. Maka kita mesti memulakannya dengan memperbaiki kualiti ibadah, diulang MESTI, terutamanya ibadah wajib. Ibadah sunat juga mesti dipertingkatkan. Biasakan diri kita dengan zikir-zikir dan bacaan al-Quran.

Lebih cakna tentang isu Palestin: Untuk memahami isu ini dengan lebih baik, tidak cukup sekadar kita beremosi pada waktu krisis berlaku. Namun, kesedaran bermusim ini lebih baik ada dari tiada. Kesedaran ini mesti diisi dengan maklumat yang sahih. Kita mesti mengetahui sejarah penjajahan Palestin, terutamanya sejak tahun 1948. Isu Palestin bukan sekadar isu serangan di Gaza.

Bacalah buku-buku yang membicarakan perkara ini secara ilmiah. Laburkan sedikit wang dan luangkan sedikit masa untuk memahami. Hadirkanlah diri ke program-program anjuran Aman Palestin yang memberi maklumat tentang Palestin.

Kempen kesedaran: Kesedaran tentang isu Palestin mesti dipromosikan seluas-luasnya. Gunakanlah apa sahaja medium komunikasi yang ada untuk menyedarkan masyarakat tentang kepentingan isu ini kepada umat Islam seperti Blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube atau apa jua medium yang ada.

Didik anak-anak dengan semangat pembebasan Al Aqsa: Isu Palestin juga mesti diterapkan dalam diri anak-anak. Bagi mereka yang telah berkeluarga dan mempunyai anak-anak, letakkanlah agenda cakna Palestin sebagai salah satu agenda utama dalam keluarga.

Boikot cara hidup Zionis: Akhir sekali, cara hidup tajaan rejim pengganas Zionis untuk melalaikan umat Islam seperti berhibur secara berlebihan, membuang masa dengan aktiviti lara, membazir dengan kemewahan melampau dan terlibat dalam pergaulan bebas tanpa batas mesti diboikot, jika kita benar-benar serius untuk membebaskan Al-Aqsa.

Kesimpulannya, iltizamkan diri dengan Islam. Insya-ALLAH, setiap langkah ke arah kebaikan yang kita buat, maka masa untuk pembebasan Al Aqsa juga akan semakin hampir.


Sumber - Sinar Harian

KENYATAAN MEDIA NDP MENGUTUK PENCEROBOHAN SERTA PENINDASAN ISRAEL TERHADAP BUMI DAN RAKYAT PALESTIN

KENYATAAN MEDIA

Dewan Harian yang bersidang pada hari ini 18 Ramadhan 1435 bersamaan 16 Julai 2014 sebulat suara menyatakan sokongan yang tidak berbelah bahagi di atas pendirian kerajaan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia menyokong perjuangan rakyat Palastine membebaskan tanah air mereka daripada cengkaman penjajahan rejim Israel.

NDP sejak ditubuhkan Tahun 2005 konsistan mengutuk pencerobohan serta penindasan Israel terhadap bumi dan rakyat Palastine; dan menggesa supaya Israel segera berundur ke sempadan 1967.

Dewan Harían juga menyeru pihak berkenaan supaya terus memberikan sokongan dan bantuan selain daripada doa dan munajat dalam bentuk yang lebih bermakna seumpama bantuan kemanusiaan.

Dewan Harían juga telah menubuhkan sebuah Jawatankuasa Bantuan Kemanusiaan Rakyat Palastine di ketuai oleh TYT Timbalan Presiden, Saudara Juned Haji Ramli.

Jawatankuasa ini akan mengadakan pertemuan dengan Yang Berhormat Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri untuk membincangkan kaedah terbaik bagi melaksanakan arahan tersebut terutama sekali bagi mendapatkan nasihat dan garis pandu pengutipan yang akan melibatkan orang awam.

Jefry Haji Mohd Daud
Setiausaha Agung NDP
Limbaruh Hijau
No.15 Spg 323, Jin Jerudong,
Negara Brunei Darussalam.
18 Ramadhan 1435 / 16 Julai 2014

Western media and art of distorting narrative

Palestinians flee their homes to take shelter at the United Nations school in Gaza City, yesterday.
Israel briefly deployed ground troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time early Sunday as its military
warned northern residents to evacuate their homes, part of a widening campaign against militant
rocket fire that's seen more than 160 Palestinians killed

Asif Ullah Khan
Bandar seri Begawan

“ISRAEL under renewed Hamas attack”, says BBC while CNN headline is more dramatic “Rockets rain on southern Israel”. The front page of USA Today reads “Israel: rocket fired every ten minutes” and “How Hamas reached deeper into Israel”. The New York Times ran the headline “Israel vs Gaza: for now, it’s rockets vs interceptors”.

If this was not enough, doyen of broadcast journalism ABC News’ Diane Sawyer went overboard to paint Israel as the “victim”. She in her news programme says “We take you overseas now to rockets raining down on Israel today as Israel tried to shoot them out of the sky. Then she shows video footage of a Palestinian family gathering belongings in the smoking debris of a missile-hit home in Gaza. But Sawyer identifies it as “an Israeli family trying to salvage what they can.”

Sawyer then describes an image of a Palestinian woman surrounded by destroyed homes as “one woman standing speechless among the ruins,” with the implication that she is Israeli.

We must bear in mind that the above mentioned cases come not from right-wing Fox News but the mainstream news organisations which are not only known for their accuracy but also their balanced coverage, meaning showing both sides of the picture, in this case — the conflict.

The irony is that BBC, the epitome of fair and balanced journalism, has become a propaganda tool for Israel. Writing in The Guardian, Owen Jones says the macabre truth is that Israeli life is deemed by the western media to be worth more than a Palestinian life – this is the hierarchy of death at work.

Jones further says: But the media coverage hardly reflects the reality: a military superpower armed with F-15 fighter jets, AH-64 Apache helicopters, Delilah missiles, IAI Heron-1 drones and Jericho II missiles (and nuclear bombs, for that matter), versus what David Cameron describes as a “prison camp” firing almost entirely ineffective missiles. Twenty-seven Palestinians are reported to have died in Gaza – and, mercifully, no Israelis have been killed by Hamas rockets – and yet the BBC opts for the Orwellian “Israel under renewed Hamas attack”.

Jones goes on: And so it goes for the events surrounding the abduction and vile murder of three Israeli teenagers. What was not widely reported by the western media was that – in the raids that followed their disappearance – six Palestinians, including a child, were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. As Amnesty International put it, these were “blatant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”.

Such concerted campaign against the Palestinians cannot be termed as an editorial oversight. As they say there is method in the madness. Israeli propagandists infiltrated into major news organisations have very sinisterly changed the narrative. Israel has become the “victim”. The Goliath of the Middle East armed with world’s most modern war machine has become David, defending itself against onslaught of rockets fired by Hamas.

The entire Western media is in sync as far as the narrative of the conflict is concerned. Israeli atrocities, its illegal expansion of settlements and denial of basic human rights to Palestinians do not find place in news headlines rather a new term has been introduced Hamas-run, Hamas-run hospital etc.

People are surprised how a journalist of Diane Sawyer’s calibre could commit such a silly mistake.

Sawyer is not new to the Middle East. She has extensively covered this region and even interviewed Yasser Arafat.

All this is the result of a powerfully sophisticated public relations strategy orchestrated by Israel and partially paid for by US tax dollars, which has even made inroads into BBC.

According to Redress Information & Analysis, an independent website dedicated to exposing injustice, disinformation and bigotry, Raffi Berg, the editor of the BBC News website’s Middle East section, has been sending his staff emails advising them to write more favourably about Israel. In one email, sent during Israel’s eight-day assault on Gaza in November 2012, which killed nearly 200 Palestinians, Berg asked BBC colleagues to word their stories in a way which does not blame or “put undue emphasis” on Israel for starting the prolonged attacks. Instead, he encouraged journalists to promote the Israeli government line that the “offensive” was “aimed at ending rocket fire from Gaza”.

The pro-Israeli media has not only distorted the reality but also changed the entire narrative of illegal occupation of the Palestinian land. The Israeli viewpoint is presented in such a way that it is divorced from the history of the conflict. Like the present situation, the main story is rockets fired by Hamas but the context and background of what Israel has done in Gaza is completely absent from the narrative and this is done with such finesse and subtlety that the aggressor and oppressor becomes the victim and real victims are portrayed as aggressors or attackers. Pictures of Palestinian children throwing stones at tanks are prominently shown to justify every killing by Israeli soldiers and bombing raids by F-16s. Words like Israeli war crimes, massacres, assaults, invasion, raids and offensives are not used while reporting Israeli aggression and any reference to previous Israeli killings or attacks is missing.

All Israeli bombings are referred to as a defensive measures or retaliation which can’t be any farther from the reality as it is the Palestinians who are resisting and taking defensive measures against the Israel aggression. No matter how many innocent civilians, including children, are killed, no matter how many homes are destroyed, the western media narrative remains pro-Israel, echoing the policies of their governments. One TV anchor has rightly called US journalists as stenographers for the US government.


Sumber - The Brunei Times