Palestine - Up with the People

Latest UPDATE further down !

الأمم المتحدة تمنح فلسطين صفة "دولة مراقب"ـ

Palestine's president Abbas meeting with UN Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon in New York while trying to shore up UN support.

Today, about three hours from now, there will be a vote at the United Nations General Assembly that could bring a status change for the Palestinian territories. That vote is intended to recognise Palestine as a non-observer state, such boosting international recognition of West Bank, Ghaza Strip and East Jerusalem as the State of Palestine.

Even though, this can be regarded as a mere symbolic act that will not remove a single Israeli checkpoint, Palestine would then be able to join the International Criminal Court when it comes to sue Israel for its alleged war crimes. As expected, Israel and the U.S.A. are opposing a change in status for Palestinians. Furthermore, a U.S. aid package averaging $600 million per year could be at stake, together with $210 million in tax revenue that could be withheld by Israel.

Yet, this vote is being expected to pass in the General Assembly as opposition is restricted to a few UN members like the U.S.A., Israel, Britain and most probably Germany while France already declared its support of Palestine.

Editor's Comment:
Even though the act of promoting the people of Palestine might be a rather symbolic act, it should be considered that throughout human history similar symbolic gestures have triggered off important developments. In fact, many collective efforts and even wars have started from such symbolic events.

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UPDATE shortly before UN decision:

Standing ovations for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas after his speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

Only U.S., Israel and Germany known to obstruct the Palestinian bid.

France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Italy have pledged to endorse the Palestinian cause. Britain ready for conditioned support of Palestine.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations called Palestine an "Iranian terrorist camp". Conjuring up historic events that served the national interest of Israel, he played down the importance of an expected UN decision in favour of Palestine. One international observer noticed Israel's ambassador not mentioning the fact that Israel once as well came into being as a recognised independent state on behalf of a United Nations' decision.

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UPDATE after UN decision:

The pro-Palestinian draft resolution passed in favour of Palestine:

صوتت 138 دولة لصالح القرار و9 ضده وامتنعت 41 دولة
عن التصويت

138 nations voted pro, 9 nations voted no, 41 nations abstained.

After the vote: Israel's ambassador to the UN (above) and celebrating Palestinians in Ramallah (below).

The following day, November 30, German media and German national TV said in their regular news program "Palestine received observer status" which could easily be mixed up with a so-called "non-state observer status" that was held by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) since 1974. Indeed, the Palestinian territories are now enjoying what is called an "observer state status" which gives them some additional rights and fixes the Palestinians' claim of presenting themselves to the international community as an independent state, even though partly occupied by Israel.

Al-Jazeera named it "non-observer status" while صفة دولة مراقب, the Arabic expression used by Al-Arabiya, is near to "status of a controlling or supervising state" which includes another aspect of the word "observer".

According to different German media, Germany finally decided to abstain from vote after earlier reports of Germany being decided to vote against the pro-Palestinian draft.

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China's Aircraft Carrier - Latest News

On November 26, Chinese and Western media reported the first flight operation on board of China's brandnew aircraft carrier "Liaoning". That event was troubled by the sudden death of the responsible commander of seaborne fighter jets, Luo Yang, who had died the day before from a heart attack at the age of 51.

According to Chinese sources, the final configuration of the "Liaoning" should comprise 50 fighter jets and helicopters:

26 dual-engine Chinese fighter jets Qian-15 ( also known as C-15 or Shenyang J-15 and purportedly comparable to U.S. F-18 jets).
20 helicopters equipped for anti-submarine combat.
4 helicopters used as an early-warning system.

According to Western sources, the "Liaoning" will not be fully operational before 2013. While that carrier has been constructed on the hull of an abandoned Soviet carrier, the "Varyag", same Western sources are saying that another Chinese aircraft carrier should already be in construction, being entirely built on Chinese parts.

Further information can be found on another blogspot of mine dealing with the inauguration of China's first aircraft carrier.

The below poster reveals detailed technical data. Carrier "Liaoning" should therefore be smaller in size than U.S. Nimitz-class carriers which make up as the ultimate and most sophisticated "dinosaurs" of the seas:

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The Impact of Middle Eastern Developments on
the Distribution of Visitors to "Blueprint News"

While dealing with the daily visitor statistics of "blueprint news", I noticed that some of my recent blogspots brought about lots of additional visitors. These visitors referred to such news items dealing with a probable war on Iran, the proceedings of Egypt's president Morsy and the current Ghaza conflict. All those subjects are interrelated within a wider frame that comprises relations between Israel, Palestine and Egypt as well as some kind of ubiquitous Islamic resistance against a U.S.-Israeli alliance that is allegedly threatening the world of Islam in general and the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the people of Palestine in detail.

No wonder that visitors from Israel and the surrounding countries are increasingly interested in such frame of interrelated items as can be seen from their regional distribution below:

Please note: The maps on this site are showing visitor access points that can be activated by one or more visitors according to their individual specifications. There are general access points for a certain country / region or specific access points enabling the identification of a single visitor. Visitors using address tags like ".com" or ".net" instead of country tags cannot be detected. All local visitor signs are referring to the last 200 registered visitors. Visits dating back more than two weeks have not been included.

Above: Visitor access point activated from Jerusalem
(subject of interest: Egypt's new president Morsy)

Visitors from Northern Pakistan are showing a similar distribution for their subjects of interest together with an unusual increase in the number of visits:

Arabic Press - Ghaza and Syria in Comparison

The photos are showing Israeli shelling of Ghaza City (right) and ruins left by Syrian government shelling of civil targets.

مفاجأة مؤلمة للسوريين حملتها حرب إسرائيل على غزة

Israel's war against Ghaza came as a sad surprise for Syrians.

بأكثر من 1500 غارة جوية قتلت إسرائيل 160 فلسطينيا مقابل 817 سوريا قتلهم النظام

In more than 1500 air raids, Israel killed 160 Palestinians corresponding to 817 Syrians killed by the [Syrian] regime.

[Source: Al-Arabiya on November 22, 2012]

Kairo - " March of the 2 Million "

After Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi issued a constitutional decree widening his presidential powers, thousands took to the streets of Kairo, either in favour (above picture) or in opposition of that decree. On the occasion, Morsi fired the prosecutor general who is being regarded as a relic of former president Mubarak's rule and considered to have hampered criminal prosecution of former regime officials. Morsi already tried to sack the prosecutor general earlier in October but failed because he was lacking the power to do so.

Two prominent leaders of the opposition and a member of the Lawyer's Syndicate called for a "march of the 2 million" to force Morsi's return to the "path of legality" (below picture from left to right: Mohammed El Baradei, founder of the Constitutional Party, Sameh Ashour, head of the Lawyer's Syndicate, and Amr Moussa, former secretary-general of the Arab League).

قوى سياسية مصرية تعلن معارضتها لقرارات الرئيس المصري الأخيرة في مؤتمر صحفي بمقر حزب الوفد

Political forces in Egypt announce their opposition against the last decrees of Egypt's president on a press conference at the site of the Wafd Party.

Israel - New War Against Ghaza

Latest UPDATE for November 17 / 18 further down !

غزة: القصف الاسرائيلي يتواصل، وصاروخ يسقط قرب القدس

Ghaza: Israeli shelling continues while rocket hits near Jerusalem.

After a new type of rockets hit areas of Israel, up to now considered to be secure, Israel is planning an offensive against Palestinian Hamas insurgents in Ghaza.

Above: Range of rockets used by the Hamas movement to attack Jerusalem and Tel Aviv from the Ghaza strip. The Iranian Fajr فجر 5 missile has given a new dimension to the long-standing war between Palestinian insurgents and Israel. Such missiles have been smuggled from Egypt into Ghaza via the demilitarized zone neighbouring Ghaza.

Much support from Egypt should not be expected by Israel when it comes to stop smuggling weapons into Ghaza as president and prime minister of Egypt have already shown their sympathy for the Hamas movement. That should be clear, at least, after Egypt's PM Hisham Kandil visited Ghaza for some hours today.

Above: Egyptian PM Hisham Kandil (left) meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (right).

اعلنت حركة حماس عن تلقيها "عدة عروض من دول مختلفة" لإبرام إتفاق تهدئة مع إسرائيل، مبينة أنه "لا جدية لدى إسرائيل في وقف هجماتها على الفلسطينيين في قطاع غزة."ـ

The Hamas movement announced to deal with "several proposals from different states" [for] a conclusion [giving priority to] an appeasement with Israel [while] making it clear that "there is no [advantage until the moment] Israel is ending its attacks on Palestinians in the Ghaza sector."

وقال الجيش الاسرائيلي الجمعة إنه قرر اغلاق ثلاثة طرق قريبة من قطاع غزة امام حركة المرور المدنية، في اشارة اخرى الى تحشيد محتمل للقوات البرية في المناطق المحاذية للقطاع

On Friday, the Israeli army said it decided to close three passages near the Ghaza sector for [public] traffic of [Ghaza] city [thus giving] another hint on possible concentration of desert troops in the environment facing the [Ghaza] sector.

[Source: BBC Online, Arabic service, on November 16]

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مليون إسرائيلي يحتمون في الملاجئ من صواريخ غزة

A million Israelis need to seek shelter against rockets from Ghaza.

[Source: muslims.net, an Al-Jazeera company, on November 17]

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مزيد من الشهداء والجرحى في غزة، والمقاومة ترد بقصف المستوطنات

Many martyrs [or: dead war heroes] and wounded in Ghaza [while] the resistance is responding with shelling the "implanted colonies".

[Source: Alalam Online, Iranian News Channel, on November 17, 2012]

Editor's Note: The expression "implanted colonies" has the full meaning of "implanted colonies in occupied territories" and should therefore refer to any Jewish settlements. The Iranian website in Arabic language (cropped image below) is mentioning a death toll of 31 Palestinians and 450 wounded in recent fightings.

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On November 17, the center of the Hamas movement in Ghaza has been destroyed by Israeli troops.

Two days before (Nov. 15) the PLO Delegation in Washington DC published a comment at the beginning of renewed military action against the Ghaza strip, staged by Israel and formally approved by the Obama administration. In the below snapshot of that comment, the address of the original PDF document has been inserted to enable verification.

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كتائب القسام قالت إنها أطلقت صواريخ استطاعت الوصول إلى تل أبيب و القدس

The al-Qassam Brigades said they launched rockets able to reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

مراسل الجزيرة: 3 جرحى في قصف إسرائيلي على مبنى يضم مكاتب إعلامية في قطاع غزة

According to Al-Jazeera's reporter there should have been three wounded during Israeli shelling of a building that is hosting [news agencies] in the Ghaza strip.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV, on November 17/18]

Editor's Note: The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing formed in 1992, is named in commemoration of influential Palestinian nationalist Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam. Although the al-Qassam Brigades are an integral part of Hamas, they also operate independently of Hamas, and at times contrary to Hamas' stated aims. Short-range rockets they use are, as well, named Qassam rockets, even though they might be almost identical to the rather primitive Katyusha missiles used by Hezbollah insurgents in Lebanon.

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Above: Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister of the Hamas government for Ghaza, in an interview with the English service of Al-Jazeera.

November 18 - First Statistics of War
At least 55 people in Ghaza killed by Israeli air strikes and hundreds wounded.

Israeli army says 50 rockets have been fired from the Ghaza strip on Sunday.
Israeli army says 33 rockets have landed in Israeli territory on Sunday.

520 rockets have landed in Israel since start of operation "pillar of defense".
280 rockets fired from Ghaza have been intercepted by "iron dome", an air defence system, in that time.

Above: Launch of Hamas rocket.

Arab League says it will send a delegation to the Ghaza strip on Tuesday while "Mideast Quartet" leader Tony Blair is to meet Israeli PM Netanyahu.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, English service, on November 18, 2012.]


Palestinian Riot in the West Bank

مواجهات بين شبان فلسطينيين و قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي في محيط معتقل عوفر العسكري غربي رام الله و في جنوبي نابلس

Confrontations between Palestinian youngsters and Israeli occupation forces in the environment of Ofer military prison, west of Ramallah and south of Nablus.

[Source: Al-Jaazeera, Arabic TV, on November 18]

Editor's Note: The military prison of Ofer, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, is notorious among Palestinian insurgents. There are accusations of human rights' abuse in that place.

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Above: Neighbours of Israel visiting "blueprint news" (i.e. activated visitor access points in the region for the last 200 registered visitors).
Below: Visitor from one of the finest neighbourhoods in Washington DC.

North Korea - Missile Tests - Kim Il Sung

Latest UPDATE included on November 15 !

美韩专家：朝鲜进行多次火箭发动机试射

U.S. and South Korean experts are saying North Korea has carried out rocket motor tests on different occasions.

According to BBC, North Korea should have launched another long-range missile on Friday, November 9, after several tests that damaged the launching site. Even though the rocket managed to fly for a certain time, it finally exploded in the air. North Korea says the aim of the launch was to put a satellite into orbit - a move marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder Kim Il-sung.

Ifeng Network 凤凰网, a Chinese news service based in Hongkong, said the North Korean site used for this test has changed its appearance between April and September 2012, probably due to unsuccessful tests of rocket engines.

As can be seen on the above satellite photos, a brandnew cement platform (in April) has been spoilt or destroyed (till September) while a newly built platform is already coloured in orange which might be hinting at spilt rocket fuel. During the same time, lots of fuel barrels were removed from the control center's immediate neighbourhood. Furthermore, the forest area near the launching tower seemingly suffered from some fire.

韩国政府今天呼吁朝鲜尽快展开改革。

Today [November 13], the South Korean government called on North Korea to carry out reforms as soon as possible.

[Source: Ifeng News on November 13, 2012]

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On November 12, 2012, a China based source, known for uploading videos from North Korean TV to the internet, promoted some propaganda video that showed a failing North Korean rocket launch, yet implying a possible involvement by some "U.S.- South Korean military alliance". A grinning U.S. defence minister Panetta is shaking hands with his South Korean partner. That is all what can be guessed from watching the video without any knowledge of the Korean language. If anyone of my blogspot's visitors is coming from Korea, he could sent me a short comment on what is exactly happening in that video.



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In 2012 North Korea is celebrating the 100th anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung. As the Democratic People's Republic of Korea DPRK and the People's Republic of China are long-standing allies, a special "friendship emission" of postage stamps has been released by both countries:

Kim Il-sung, together with wife and son Kim Jong-il

Kim Il-sung, together with son Kim Jong-il and daughter

"Daddy and his students" (visit of a North Korean college in 1961)

Headline of an article celebrating the 100th anniversary of Kim Il-sung and that was published in the North Korean Labour Party's daily Labour News 劳动新闻 on Sunday April 15, 2012:

伟大的主体太阳的历史永远传下去

" The history of [our] great and only sun shall be handed down forever. "

The text under the image is saying that, both, " military and civilians are harbouring proud feelings for their successful leader whose significance should be far-reaching ".

Mali - West African States Targeting Al-Qaeda

مالي ترحب بنشر قوة دولية لكنس القاعدة شمال البلاد

Mali welcomes the deployment of an international force to "sweep" Al-Qaeda from the north of the country.

باماكو - رحب المسؤولون في مالي الاثنين بقرار قادة دول غرب أفريقيا بإرسال 3300 جندي للإطاحة بالمتمردين الإسلاميين من شمال الدولة ، والذي ينتظر قرارا من الأمم المتحدة

Bamako - On Monday [November 12], responsible [circles] in Mali welcome the decision of West African leaders to send 3.300 troops in order to [repulse] Islamic rebels from the north of the country. [That decision] is now awaiting [an approval] by the United Nations.

وقال وزير دفاع مالي ، الكولونيل ياموسا كامارا ، لوكالة الأنباء الألمانية إن خطط القيام بعملية بقيادة أفريقية للإطاحة بالمتطرفين "واضحة الآن"ـ

The defence minister of Mali, Colonel Yamousa Kamara, told the German Press Agency [i.e. DPA] that plannings [are under way] for the execution of an operation under African leadership in order to [repulse] the extremists "precisely [that time]".

Editor' Note:
The African troops should comprise soldiers from 13-15 ECOWAS countries. The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of 15 countries, founded in 1975 in order to promote economic development in the region. Yesterday, November 11, national leaders decided during their meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, to sent troops to Mali.

[Source: Al-Arab Online العرب اونلاين on November 12 and Al-Jazeera, Arabic service, on November 11, 2012]

Above: Al-Qaeda troopers in Northern Mali

Iran - New Tensions in the Gulf Region

UPDATE of Iranian News on November 11/12 further down !

إيران تعترف باستهداف طائرة أمريكية فوق الخليج

Iran acknowledges having targeted a U.S. plane over the [Persian] Gulf.

وزارة الدفاع الأمريكية قالت إن الطائرة كانت في مهمة مراقبة روتينية

The U.S. defence minister said the plane was occupied with a routine surveillance.

[Source: Al-Arabiya on November 9, 2012]

According to the Iranian defence minister Ahmed Wahidi [below image] this should have happened the week before.
The night before his announcement, a German TV source already reported an "unmanned U.S. plane" [or drone] should have been chasen by two Iranian jet fighters without being damaged [above image]. Both reports are being considered to refer to the same incident.

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Latest News from Iran as published by Al-Bawaba البوابة in Amman, Jordan, on November 11, 2012:

ما هو حال إيران بعد العقوبات الاقتصادية!ـ

تستخدم أميركا سلاح العقوبات الاقتصادية كأداة من أدوات السياسـة الخارجية ، هدفها إخضاع الدولة المستهدفة وكسر إرادتها

Headline: It's not so [with] Iran after economic sanctions !

America is using the weapon of economic sanctions as the instrument [of choice] among all instruments of foreign politics, [such] targeting the subjugation of the exposed nation and breaking its will.

[Source: Al-Bawaba on November 11]

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البرلمان الايراني سيحقق في وفاة مدون في السجن

The Iranian parliament will inquire on a reported death case in prison. [Source: Al-Bawaba on November 11]

واشنطن تطالب إيران بفتح تحقيق حول وفاة مدون في السجن

Washington demanding Iran to open an investigation on the circumstances of a reported death [case] in prison.

طالبت وزارة الخارجية الامريكية الجمعة إيران بفتح تحقيق حول وفاة مدون إيراني في السجن كان اعتقل نهاية تشرين الاول/ اكتوبر وتوفي في السجن حسب ما اعلن منظمات حقوق الانسان

On Friday [i.e. November 9], the U.S. secretary of foreign affairs demanded Iran to open an investigation on the circumstances of a reported Iranian death [case] in a prison. [After being] arrested at the end of October, [that person] died in prison according to [a news release] by "human rights organizations".

[Source: Al-Bawaba on November 10]

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إيران تستأنف جولة محادثات جديدة مع الوكالة الدولية للطاقة الذرية في 13 ديسمبر

Iran resumes a new round of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency on December 13.

[Source: Al-Bawaba on November 11, 2012]

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Air Defence Exercises beginning on November 12, 2012, become the largest display of Iran's military might up to now. [Source: Al-Jazeera]

U.S.A. - Back to Business

The complete results of U.S. presidential elections being barely known, the world is back to business again. Due to different factors essential stock markets in the U.S.A., in Europe and Asia have gone down.

As usual, U.S. commentators are putting the blame on difficulties in the Eurozone (Germany's economic slowdown, violent protest in Athens following the presentation of a 17 bn $ austerity plan, a high-ranking comment from Brussels).

Yet, there are U.S. related problems as well: On top of it is the so-called "fiscal cliff" of 600 bn $ that has to be dealt with immediately by the old / new president who now needs to reach a bargain with his Republican opposition in the House of Representatives on "Capital Hill". Stagnation in the reduction of U.S. unemployment and the unwillingness of many tax payers to carry more are further items needed to be considered. - However, Obama finally got rid of "Monopoly Man" Mitt Romney which makes it much easier for him to do his job.