Goldstone said his central criticism of Israel is that its strategy intentionally applied disproportionate force in Gaza to inflict widespread damage on the civilian population. His report found that the Israeli air and ground attacks destroyed 5,000 homes; put 200 factories out of operation, including the only flour factory in the country; systematically destroyed egg-producing chicken farms; and bombed sewage and water systems. "If that isn't collective punishment, what is?'' Goldstone asked.'
Gaza, with 1.5 million Palestinian population, has been under a tight Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade since 2007 when the Hamas movement took over the territory after democratically elected in the 2006 elections. A convoy of cargo and passenger ships filled with supplies is currently attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Support of autocratic Muslim rulers
Another disappointment for the Muslims is Obama administration's failure to advance democracy and human rights, especially in the Middle East.
In his most eloquent speech at the Cairo University, President Obama said: "I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose."
Tellingly, Obama chose to deliver this message in Egypt, which is ruled by one of the most oppressive regimes in the Middle East. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has clung to power since 1981 under emergency laws that allow him to imprison thousands of dissidents without charge or trial, and to stifle peaceful political activity. Interestingly, as a strategic ally of the United States, Mubarak's regime receives nearly $1.8 billion a year in U.S. assistance, making it the second-highest beneficiary of American foreign aid after Israel.
The Obama administration maintains decades-old U.S. policy of supporting autocratic regimes -- like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan -- in exchange for political acquiescence. Virtually all governments in the Middle East rely on vast secret police agencies to keep them in power, using the "war on terror" as a cover to silence any opposition.
In Pakistan, US maneuvered to install a client government of President Asif Ali Zardari, popularly know as Mr. 10 percent for extracting money from all big commercial deals. In August 2003, a
Swiss Court found former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her widower, Asif Zardari, guilty of money laundering. Investigation Judge Daniel Devaud sentenced Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari to a six-month suspended jail term, fined them $50,000 each and ordered they pay more than $2m to the Pakistani Government. The case was related to an illegal six per cent of commission or bribe worth $12 million for awarding a pre-shipment customs inspection contract to two Swiss firms Societe Generale de Surveillance and Cotecna. The judge said they had illegally deposited millions of dollars in accounts in Switzerland and ordered the money be returned to Pakistan. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the government to reopen the corruption case against President Zardari.Relations with American Muslims
In the aftermath of 9/11, the seven-million strong American Muslim community remained under siege and Obama administration's measures have done little to make their life easy.
Despite healing words from President Obama about bridging the divide between the Muslim world and the West, America's Muslim community is subject to pervasive and persistent attacks by the federal government. The Arab and Muslim community has yet to see substantive changes on a variety of issues, including excessive airport screening, policies that have chilled Muslim charitable giving and invasive FBI surveillance guidelines.
More than a year later, President Obama has yet to set foot in an American mosque. And he still has not met with Muslim and Arab-American leaders. But less publicly, his administration has reached out to this politically isolated constituency.
Muslim and Arab-American advocates have participated in policy discussions and received briefings from top White House aides and other officials on health care legislation, foreign policy, the economy, immigration and national security. They have met privately with a senior White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to discuss civil liberties concerns and counterterrorism strategy.
Since the Cairo speech, the administration has been confronted with the FortHood shooting spree in which Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and U.S.-born Muslim, killed 13 people, the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight en route to Detroit by a Nigerian Muslim, plus botched New York car-bombing by an American of Pakistani origin.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
