Hizbullah says “Israeli”-Palestinian negotiations a play to aid Barak in elections…(1)

Hizbullah deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem maintained that the United States would not have considered Lebanon's particularity concerning the issue of settling Palestinian refugees were it not for the historic victory achieved by the Resistance against the occupation forces.

Speaking during a celebration held in honor of outstanding students in Rassoul al-Azzam theological school, Qassem considered that the ongoing “Israeli”-Palestinian negotiations is part of a scenario made up to back up “Israeli” Prime Minister Ehud Barak to win the coming prime ministerial elections.

Moreover, Hizbullah deputy Secretary-General said that hope is in the hands of the Palestinian people, who is continuing their intifadah and developing it towards armed Resistance in the aim of achieving its legal rights.

 ‘Inside job’ irks Hizbullah webmaster…(2)
Hacker targets resistance, but is enemy closer than we think? Warren Singh-Bartlett investigates

The online intifada is not over yet. After the flurry of cyberstrikes last October and November during the first months of the current uprising ­ when websites in “Israel”, Palestine, Lebanon and eventually the United States were temporarily shut down by politically motivated hackers ­ the electronic rebellion appeared to be on the wane.
Then just after the Christmas holidays Hizbollah.org, a site that has suffered more than its fair share of attacks over the last few months, was hit again.
But this time, the attack was different. Malek Hossein, the man responsible for keeping Hizbullah online, believes the site was not disrupted by “Israeli” hackers but by employees at Interland.com, the Atlanta-based internet service provider (ISP) that has hosted the Hizbullah site for over a year.
Pointing to the nature of the disruption ­ the site was stripped of all its information and reduced to a page full of links that led nowhere ­ Hossein says this kind of job could only have been pulled off by someone with full access to the company’s computers.
“Having a website is a little like having a room filled with information,” he explained. “We didn’t lose a file or two. What happened in our case was more like someone had come along and taken the entire room.”
But could it really be that Interland, who bill themselves as the people who “make the web work for you,” are actually making the web work against Hizbullah? Would sabotaging a single website, regardless of its content, really be worth an ISP running the risk of ruining its reputation?
If this was an inside job, perhaps the work of a politically motivated employee acting on his or her own, wouldn’t any responsible company want to find out what had happened and attempt to explain themselves to the customer? And why couldn’t this have been the work of an outside hacker rather than an Interland employee? After all, hackers can and do wreak enormous damage on websites and databases all over the world; passwords can be stolen, viruses can be planted and files can be deleted.
Unfortunately, no one at Interland, which is based in Atlanta, was available to comment on these questions on Monday afternoon. Nor for that matter was anyone available for comment last Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
The employee who answered the phone at the technical support department said the company was experiencing a “post-Christmas backlog” and restricted himself to saying that his department was unaware of any disruptions to their server over the holiday period but promised that he would “look into the matter.”
Hossein does not pretend to have the answers but says that for him, the clincher was the manner in which the ISP dealt, or rather did not deal with the problem.
“The way they handled everything showed they weren’t really serious,” he said. “The (technical) support department just kept making jokes saying, ‘we don’t understand you’ or ‘what do you mean?’ and we never got a reply to any of our e-mails.”
He is adamant that the attack bears all the marks of an inside job. “We’re almost 100 percent sure,” he said. “If it had been hackers, I think the company would definitely have replied to our enquiries.”
Insider? Outsider? Only Interland really knows and right now, they are not saying. In a sense, the matter is already academic. Within a day of the problem going uncorrected, the website had been moved, at first to the Moqawama website (www.moqawama.org) and then once space on a new ISP had been found, back to its original address (www.hizbollah.org).
At the moment the new site is still on a US-based server. Hossein says he plans to move Hizbollah.org to a Lebanese server in the future and while this would not make the site immune to sabotage, it would make it easier to monitor.
If this latest attack does mark a new phase in the online intifada, Zionist websites might want to start taking precautions of their own, as a recent press-release from moqawama.org pointed out that the incident “will not pass by forgotten or (go) unregistered for our future plans … As they say, patience is a virtue.”

“Israeli” warplanes violate Lebanese airspace…(3)

“Israeli” occupation fighter jets once more violated Lebanese airspace, by flying over southern regions at low altitude. “Israeli” warplanes staged mock air raids over the southern region of Germouk, in the south, and reached the Bekaa area.

Meanwhile, occupation troops evacuated the main observation point at the Abad holy site on the Lebnaese-Palestinian border, continued fencing the roads along the borders.

Lahd fails to obtain asylum in France…(4)

Antoine Lahd, head of the former so-called Southern Lebanese Army, the militia which collaborated with the “Israeli” military occupation in southern Lebanon, returned to Tel Abib from Belgium after he failed to obtain an entry visa to France.

Lahd told “Israeli” daily Yediot Ahronot that since the “Israeli” pullout from Lebanon on May 24, he has been promised to be able to permanently reside in Paris, however, the French authorities did not give him the permission.

The “Israeli” newspaper reported from persons close to Lahd that his health condition is unstable, and his morale is at its lowest.

Iranian envoy flays “Israel”…(5)

Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Ali Sobhani said Monday that Palestinian-”Israeli” negotiations provided no reason for optimism and the situation in the region was “open to all possibilities.”
“We believe the negotiations have not made tangible progress regarding the Palestinian people achieving their legitimate rights and so we feel they don’t call for optimism,” Sobhani told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud ahead of Prime Minister Hariri’s official visit to Iran on Saturday.
“We believe the region is presently open to all possibilities because of “Israeli” intransigence and domestic problems in “Israel”,” Sobhani said when asked whether he expected a deterioration in the regional situation or a peaceful outcome.
He said he believed that “the basic problem at present lies in this Zionist regime, which is not willing to give the Palestinian people their legitimate rights.”
Asked whether Iran would back Lebanon and Syria militarily in the event of any “Israeli” aggression, Sobhani said: “We hope things will not reach a war stage and that the international community will respond to proposals that ensure a sound solution to the Palestine problem.”
However, he added that during the meeting he reiterated Iran’s support for Lebanon and Syria against “any aggression.”
Sobhani welcomed Hariri’s upcoming visit to Tehran “as it represents a consolidation of bilateral relations and indicates Iran’s desire to support Lebanon’s stand on the Palestinians right to return home.”

Palestinians demonstrate for their right of return…(6)

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon demonstrated on Monday to demand the right to return to their homeland in what is now “Israel”.
The demonstrations took place shortly after news that Arafat rejected a proposal by US President Bill Clinton for a final peace deal with “Israel”.
Several hundred protesters in Ain al-Hilweh raised Lebanese and Palestinian flags and carried models of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Others torched cardboard models of “Israeli” settlements.
Sheikh Mahmoud Asadi, a Palestinian cleric, displayed property documents of land he says he owns in Palestine.
“Any solution which does not include the refugees issue is unacceptable,” Asadi said. “This land is ours and we will definitely get it back.”
Khaled Mohammed Hassan, 31, from Acre, showed reporters property documents for houses owned by his family in their homeland.
Hassan urged Palestinian negotiators not to forget refugees scattered around the world.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement in which it urged all Arab countries to support the Palestinians’ right of return.
The statement “refused to waive the right to a full return,  postpone such return, or return in a symbolic way.” It continued: “The Palestinian people’s struggle in Palestine will continue and escalate until the return is completed.”
A similar protest took place in Bourj al-Shemali, near Tyre.
“No to settlement in Lebanon. Yes to return to Palestine,” shouted several thousand protesters in the camp.
A statement by the Palestine Liberation Organization declared that “there will be no regional stability unless the Palestinian diaspora regains the right to return.”
Lebanon is home to about 360,000 registered Palestinian refugees who are denied citizenship and the right to most forms of work. Palestinian factions here, including many opposed to Arafat, have constantly called for the right of return and expressed opposition to settlement in Lebanon.
Version of Clinton’s peace plan circulated in the media says all Palestinian refugees and their descendants who came from what became “Israel” in 1948 cannot be granted the right of return because they would threaten “the foundations of “Israel”.”

Intifadah fighters hit more occupation targets…(7)

“Israeli” military spokesman said that Palestinians have opened fired on four “Israeli” cars at the edge of Ramallah near Nablus in the West Bank and also attacked Elon Mireh settlement.

Attacks on a military patrol, and the majority of “Israeli” posts in the Gaza Strip close to the Palestinian-Egyptian border were carried out by Palestinians, added the spokesman.

Occupation forces, which pledged to continue elimination of  intifadah leaders, chained and shot a Fatah faction member. However, he miraculously survived despite severe gunshot injuries.

 Palestinian security officials said “Israeli” troops shot dead a Palestinian man aged 32 on Monday near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.

Syria and Pakistan denounce “Israeli” atrocities in occupied Palestinian territories…(8)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has rejected “Israeli” threats against his country. Assad who discussed deadlocked Middle East peace-making with Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf said the struggle to liberate occupied Arab land and establish Middle East peace would continue. Musharraf will hold talks on regional developments and bilateral ties with senior officials in Beirut on Tuesday. 

“ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf held talks in Damascus on bilateral relations and the Middle East peace process. Assad said no “Israeli” threats will prevent Damascus from continuing the struggle to liberate occupied Arab territories and establish a just and durable Mideast peace. The Syrian leader stressed Syria will not be quote deceived by false promises. “Israel” had threatened what it called decisive action against Syria and Lebanon if Damascus did not curb Hizbollah resistance fighters, who captured three “Israeli” soldiers from the occupied Shibaa Farms last October. “Israel” held Syria responsible for the operation. President Assad called on “Israel” to withdraw from the occupied Shibaa Farms and release all Arab detainees to pave the way for peace throughout the region. Syria has held sporadic peace talks with “Israel” since 1991, but the negotiations broke off last January without agreement on the fate of the occupied Golan Heights. Syria demands a complete “Israeli” withdrawal from the strategic plateau. Pakistan's leader reaffirmed backing for Syrian and Arab efforts to liberate land under “Israeli” occupation. Assad and Musharraf denounced “Israel’s” crackdown on Palestinian civilians. Musharraf was in Damascus as part of a regional tour. He will also hold talks with senior officials in Amman and Beirut.

Footnotes:

1-     Manar TV, 8-1-2001.

2-     The Daily Star, 9-1-2001.

3-     Manar TV, 8-1-2001.

4-     Same source.

5-     The Daily Star, 9-1-2001.

6-     Same source.

7-     Manar TV, 8-1-2001.

8-       Future TV , 8-1-2001.