The Shooting in Orlando ~ A Few Very Basic Thoughts

ED Noor: In my usual way I am not commenting much on this Orlando atrocity simply because it only makes sense to let things shake out a little to ascertain the truths as best one can. I do know that the Saker pretty well sums up my thoughts on the matter at this point. Summer is here, the season of pride parades and all that hoopla so you can imagine this will be milked by many for political points. It will be very easy for the LBGQ+ crowd to use that victim mindset that is so prevalent in cultural Marxist propaganda ~ to win sympathy and understanding from those not involved in the movement or further polarize the entire issue. They are already milking the anti-gun issue. There will be much more as people argue over this and that not to mention whether this was a hoax or false flag. 

The Saker

Frankly, I did not feel like commenting on this shooting.  Primarily, because I don’t believe that this event deserves the reaction it got.  Yes, sure, 50-100+ innocent people were shot/hurt, but that is more or less what happens on a daily basis in so many locations of our planet that I don’t see how the Orlando shooting would deserve some special attention (for example, just four days ago 19 Yazidi ladies were burned alive to death in a cage by Daesh for refusing to have sex with Daesh fighters). But then I got a ton of emails about that.  And, besides, since the homosexual lobby in the USA demands special protection for homosexuals, the massacre in Orlando is a big deal because it is a perfect illustration of how our masters want us to react.

Homosexuals: “good” victims deserving sympathy

Check out this BBC article: “In pictures: LGBT parades across Europe“.  So “gay” pride is, apparently, a big deal to our rulers.  Which makes the massacre in Orlando a big deal too.  Clearly the powers that be are intensely preoccupied with the well-being and safety of homosexuals.  Fair enough.

But then, at the very least, let’s make darn sure that we keep in mind what this massacre has no relationship to:

1) HOMOSEXUALITY.  Yes, the club where the massacre happened was known to be “gay friendly” and the presumed shooter apparently wanted to kill homosexuals.  But so what?  If he has chosen any other group, vegans, or Latinos, or soccer players or diabetics, this would really made no difference to the nature of the massacre or for the evaluation of the character of the shooter.  Innocent blood is innocent blood.  There are not subcategories for this.

2) ISLAM.  Yes, the shooter apparently call 911 to declare his allegiance to Daesh and Daesh has, according to reports, claimed responsibility for the massacre.  So what?  Anybody can claim responsibility for anything, including the Garden Gnome Liberation Front.  I would even argue that Daesh has nothing to do with Islam either because Daesh’s relationship to Islam is similar that of a tumor to a healthy tissue: a lot of common DNA, for sure, but with some absolutely crucial differences which makes them mortal enemies.

The AR-15: the cause of all evil

3) GUNS.  Turns out that the supposed perpetrator did have a legal firearm license.  But he should not have had it.  He was known to be a wife beater and he was reportedly mentally unstable.  Under Florida law, both of these conditions should have resulted in his firearms license been revoked.  In other words, even if this shooter purchased his guns legally, his license should have been revoked.  When an alcoholic continues to drive around in his car and ends up killing somebody, does anybody suggest that cars are to blame?  Of course not.  And yet in the case of mass shootings guns are inevitably blamed for the violence.  So what is the political agenda here?

So if this is not about homosexuality, Islam or guns,

what is it about?

It is about making us BELIEVE

that it IS is about homosexuality, Islam and guns, of course!

Yazidi ladies: “bad” victims who do not deserve sympathy

Whether this is just a perfect opportunity or the latest in an apparently endless series of false flags does not really matter.  What is certain is that the Empire and its propaganda machine are making maximal use of this event to convince us that homosexuals deserve our heartfelt sympathy and that they need some kind of special protection and that guns and Islam are truly awful things.  Does that sound incredibly stupid to you?

Of course it does ~ and that is because it is incredibly stupid.

But we are talking about the country in which solving a basic math equation is enough to make you look like a terrorist.  So “incredibly stupid” is exactly what works best.

And then there is the upcoming election.  Sure, Trump comes across as more anti-Muslim than Hillary.  But Hillary is a rabid gun hater, and she is backed by Obama. Besides, last year there has been a long string of mass shooting which were not only rather bizarre, but which were used by the 1%ers to try to blame violence on guns and disarm law-abiding citizens.  Does this latest shooting not just look *perfect* for the Obama administration?

Islam: the other cause of all evil

We will probably never find out if Omar Mir Seddique Mateen was just a a “lone wolf” with some real sympathies for Daesh, whether he truly was an isolated psychopath, or whether he was lovingly nurtured by one of the other US 3 letter agencies and then carefully planted at the right time and place (he was a “person of interest” for the FBI).

The worst lie of them all is the one that is implied: if we get rid of all guns and if we get rid of all Muslims, then we will be much safer.  That is utter nonsense.  Not only because guns and Muslims are not the problem, but because it is simply impossible to be safe!  There have always been terrorist attack, and there will always be.  Today it was a Muslim with a gun.  Yesterday it was a Japanese with sarin gas.  Tomorrow it could be anybody anywhere, armed to the teeth by illegally purchased guns (like in the Charlie Hebdo attack ~ the French total ban on guns did not help one bit) or armed with a far more deadly weapon (say a common pathogen like E.coli, a legally available toxic agent like Cyanide or even a Water Hemlock extract to poison, say, a school’s cafeteria).  Explosives are very easy to manufacture and can be delivered anywhere a car can drive.  In terms of terrorism ~ where there is a will, there will be a means.

The Pulse: the club where it all happened

One more thing about guns: not only are homosexuals usually known to be easy victims (this is the reason why cowards love to attack them ~ they usually don’t fight back), but under Florida law it is illegal to bring a firearm into bar.  So bar, just as schools, are legal “gun free zones” which makes them ideal for mass shootings and makes it possible for one single shooter to shoot 50 or more people. 

In Florida, these “gun free zones” are pretty much the only places where you can hope to shoot a lot of people safely, everywhere else the chances of somebody shooting right back at you are rather high as there are no less than 1,477,675 people legally licensed to carry a weapon in Florida (the highest figure in the USA).  Concealed weapon carriers include all races, all age groups, males and females from any and all social groups.  This is why it has become rather dangerous to start shooting people in Florida, because chances are somebody nearby will shoot right back at you.   That is a paradox ~ “gun free zones” have turned into honeypots for all sorts of mass shooters.  That is also something the imperial media will never tell you.

Do you really think that he cares?

By definition, terrorism is about terror.  About fear.  About emotions.  

Those who use terrorism want us to freak out, to lose our ability to think logically.  

They want us to listen to our emotions, and only some of our emotions.  So each time some atrocity occurs and the imperial propaganda machine starts to hammer us with ‘special news flashes’ you know that they are trying to freak you out.  Don’t let them do this to you.  

Don’t let them disconnect your brain. 

This latest atrocity in Orlando proves absolutely nothing and it only means something if you are willing to give it a meaning.  I categorically refuse to do so.  For me, 50+ innocent people died yesterday, and that is simply disgusting.  But it is also meaningless.  To “respond” to that pseudo-event with any kind of “policy” is the pinnacle of stupidity and hypocrisy.

Our resistance has to be first and foremost a resistance for our minds and souls.  We have to think and react as we do, not as “they” want us to.  If we pay attention to their non-events, then we will miss our real events, especially our victories over them!  And, make no mistake, they are getting weaker while we are getting stronger, even if their media says otherwise and if our victories are never reported.

My hope is that the next time when the imperial propaganda machine presents us all with a tear-jerker “outrage” or “terrorist attack” nobody will email me to ask my opinion about it because none of us will care very much (even if it happens close to our homes).  I hope that we will be focused on the real horrors of our times, like the 40 million Americans who have been victims of child sexual abuse or the 45 million of Americans who are currently living below the poverty line.  Terrorism is really an illusion created by our rulers to blind us to our condition.  Ignore it. Keep your attention focused on reality!

The Saker

PS: for those interested in really understanding the reality of gun ownership in the USA, I recommend this excellent report: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2629704 (download the PDF!)

PERPETUAL HELL” OF THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS

Law and principle are utterly meaningless to the great, civilized powers, who just fidget and whisper sweet nothings in Israel’s ear.

Stuart Littlewood 

My Catbird Seat

April 2, 2011

A delegation of parliamentarians has returned from a tour of the refugee camps in Lebanon and made its report http://www.prc.org.uk/newsite/images/stories/pdfs/PRC_lebanon_delegation.pdf

MP Gerald Kaufman with delegates in Lebanon

It was led by former British government minister Sir Gerald Kaufman MP and included four members of the European Parliament and three of the British Parliament. The delegation’s purpose was to assess the humanitarian situation faced by Palestinians living in Lebanon’s refugee camps, and it was able to raise issues at the highest level with the Lebanese in a series of meetings.

The UN Refugee Agency describes the plight of Palestinian refugees as “by far the most protracted and largest of all refugee problems in the world today”.

Three-quarters of the 11 million Palestinians are refugees. Their plight is at the core of the 63-year struggle against Israel. All other issues, political and humanitarian, arose as a consequence of Israel’s denial of the right of refugees to return to their land.

The report reminds us that a whole host of international treaties and conventions recognize the right to return including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. The Right of Return for refugees is guaranteed under Humanitarian and Human Rights Law and countless UN resolutions.

And the UN has affirmed the right of return through its Resolution 194 on no less than 122 occasions.

But to the international community none of this is worth the screeds of paper it is written on. Law and principle are utterly meaningless to the great, civilized powers who just fidget and whisper sweet nothings in Israel’s ear.

Meanwhile, over 400,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon’s 12 ‘official’ (UNRWA-run) refugee camps and its many ‘unofficial’ camps, amounting to approximately 10 percent of the country’s population. They are politically marginalized, without basic social and economic rights, trapped in often squalid surroundings, and without hopes for the future.

Palestinian refugees, says the report, suffer more in Lebanon than in any other country that hosts them.

EUROPE SHOULD “BALANCE OUT” AMERICA’S ROLE

President Suleiman told the delegation:

“Lebanon does not have the capacity to absorb 400,000 people; we simply cannot offer them a good life. The truth is that we will not see peace in the Middle East without the implementation of the refugees’ right of return.”

Foreign minister, Dr Ali Chami, said:

“It is not acceptable that Palestinians have been living outside their own state since 1948. The half a million in Lebanon are in complete misery and a very dire situation. The clear solution is the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital”. He also spoke of the Israelis’ intransigence: “Since 1978, according to UN resolutions, Israel has violated Lebanese sovereignty every day, while the international community has failed to deter them.”

Referring to Israel’s invasions and occupation of Lebanon, Deputy Speaker Al Zain said:

“Lebanon has endured a lot for the Palestinian cause… It is high time the West liberated itself from double standards and stopped supporting satellite regimes that do not respect Palestinian rights.”

A Hezbollah MP remarked:

“More than two million people have been killed because of this cause. There are millions of Palestinian victims around the world and the international community has paid out billions of dollars, but there is still no solution”.

Another MP added:

“There needs to be seriousness in dealing with Israel and an end to backing dictatorships. Palestine had free elections in 2006, but the West conspired to undermine the results. If this corruption isn’t corrected the West will face the biggest upheaval in the region since 1948-49.”

On Europe the Deputy Speaker said:

“The world needs another power to balance out America’s role, Europe should fulfill this role.”

Palestinian Refugee Camps - Lebanon

Recalling the Sabra and Shatila camp massacre of at least 800 in 1982 while Beirut was under Israeli occupation.

BRITISH MP JEREMY CORBYN

British MP Jeremy Corbyn reflected:

“The pain of the Sabra and Shatila massacres… never goes away. It was a poignant moment for the delegates to be able to lay a wreath at the memorial. It was sad to see the continued poverty in those camps nearly 30 years on, but we were inspired by the people. The description by Mohammed Omar Deeb, an elderly survivor of the massacres and his determination that one day he would see his village in Palestine and that all his family would see a free Palestine is typical of the enduring spirit of the Palestinian people.”

Two inquiries held Israel indirectly responsible and Ariel Sharon was especially implicated.

Refugees must remain at the centre of all peace talks.

After their visit the delegation concluded.

The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are victims many times over.

They are denied access to their homeland.

They are the victims of Lebanon’s civil wars and the numerous Israeli invasions and occupation.

They are victims of the unwillingness of the international community to secure justice and the unwillingness of the Lebanese authorities to grant them their basic human rights.

Their recommendations are…

The international community, including Israel, is responsible for guaranteeing the rights of Palestinian refugees and providing them with protection.

While Lebanon and many members of the United Nations offer appropriate rhetoric, this must be matched with concrete steps to tangibly improve the lives of the refugees in Lebanon and put an end to the catastrophic conditions in which they live.

An appropriate solution is needed that restores and protects the human rights of the refugees, including their right to return to their land.

In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees have a status that falls far short of even second class citizenship. This should be corrected without delay.

All parties should respect and enforce United Nations General Assembly

Resolution 194 which calls for the return of the refugees.

As Israel has shown no inclination to respect the rights of Palestinian refugees under international law, it is incumbent on the international community to enforce a resolution.

The European Union and its member states, including the United Kingdom, should significantly increase their funding to UNRWA to allow the agency to fulfill its remit.

Negotiators, politicians and activists should ensure that Palestinian refugees remain at the centre of all peace talks.

Lebanon’s position on the refugees is woefully inadequate. The 17th August 2010 law should be implemented immediately as a first step to normalizing the lives of Palestinian refugees by improving human, civil and property rights and lifting restrictions on the professions available to Palestinians.

On housing, all restrictions that limit the right to adequate housing for Palestinians should be removed, including any legislation that discriminates against Palestinians who are not officially citizens of a recognized state. A degree of security of tenure should be guaranteed and restrictions on bringing building materials into refugee camps should be removed, including the fines or penalties imposed on Palestinians for attempting to make their homes habitable.

As regards the environment, minimum levels of sanitation and access to clean water for all Palestinian refugees should be ensured.

As regards employment, restrictions on Palestinian access to all professions should be lifted and the process of obtaining work permits eased.

As regards education, Lebanon should ensure that all children under its jurisdiction have access to education equal to that enjoyed by Lebanese nationals.

As regards non-ID refugees, their status in Lebanon should be regularized and refugees provided with identification documents.

It’s altogether a shocking situation. Congratulations to the delegation for seeing it from the refugees’ angle and making their findings public.

“Conditions are unspeakable…

the real culprit is Israel”

Sir Gerald Kaufman, who led the delegation, summed up. “When I went to Gaza in 2010 I thought I had seen the worst that could be seen of the appalling predicament of Palestinians living in conditions which no human being should be expected to endure. But what I saw in the camps in Lebanon is far worse and far more hopeless.

“The conditions are unspeakable, but for over 400,000 of our fellow human beings this is their life: today, tomorrow and for a future that cannot even be foreseen. At least in Gaza, frightful though the situation is, the people are free within the confines of their blockaded prison. In the camps of Lebanon they are not free and this is, to a very considerable degree, the responsibility of the Lebanese government which could allow conditions to improve and could allow the victim freedom of movement, but specifically refuses to do it.

“Yet, culpable though the Lebanese government undoubtedly is, the real culprit is the Israeli government, which by refusing to come to a settlement with the Palestinians, is directly and horrendously responsible for the plight of those immured in the camps.

“It makes me more determined than ever to fight for the rights of the Palestinian people and to campaign against the deliberate decision of the Israeli government to perpetuate the hell in which so many Palestinians are living”.

There speaks one of the few honorable, decent men

in the cesspit of Westminster politics…

and a Jew.

 Children of Shatila in their only playground.
.

At the time of Israel’s appalling blitzkrieg on Gaza’s civilians, Sir Gerald famously told the House of Commons:

“My parents came to Britain as refugees from Poland. Most of their families were subsequently murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town of Staszow.  A German soldier shot her dead in her bed. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

“It is time for our Government to make clear to the Israeli Government that their conduct and policies are unacceptable, and to impose a total arms ban on Israel. It is time for peace, but real peace, not the solution by conquest which is the Israelis’ real goal but which it is impossible for them to achieve. They are not simply war criminals; they are fools.”

Kaufman tells it the way it is, as do many brave Jewish peace groups – Jews for Justice and the like ~ and all credit to them for standing against the cruel Israeli regime.

So why cannot other Jews around the world, who reckon themselves to be well-informed and able to tell right from wrong, also speak up? What say all those making their fortunes here in the UK and living in luxury in Hendon, Golders Green and Manchester?

Stu art Littlewood is a photographer, activist and writer. He is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information please visit :www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk.  He is a frequent contributor to My Catbird Seat. He can be reached at: stu@f8.eclipse.co.uk.

TARGETING PALESTINIAN MOTHERS

USA: A TERRORIST TRAINING BASE

LEBANON ~ A LETTER TO JANET ABOUT SABRA-SHATILLA

SNIPPITS AND SNAPPITS: FROM TAHRIR SQUARE TO SHATILA CAMP ...

SNIPPITS AND SNAPPITS: THE CHILDREN OF SHATILA

LIVES LIVED AND LOST IN TIME ~ REMEMBERING SHATILA

RETURN TO SHATILA

MUNIR’S STORY: 28 YEARS AFTER THE MASSACRE AT SABRA-SHATILA

CAN LEBANON COME IN FROM THE COLD?

SABRA AND SHATILA MASSACRE

QADAFFI'S HOLD ON LIBYA WEAKENS

There have been widespread reports that Libyan soldiers have used live ammunition on protesters [Reuters]

Al Jazeera

February 22, 2011

THE above statement, as you will see, is beyond an understatement!
.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has appeared on state television to signal his defiance in the face of a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule.

"I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs," 

Gaddafi told Libyan state TV, which said he was speaking outside his house on Tuesday.
.

The remains of soldiers who defected from Gadaffi.

On Monday, William Hague, the British foreign minister, had suggested that Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela, a report that the government of that country denied.

Gaddafi, in his first televised appearance since protests to topple him began last week, was holding an umbrella in the rain and leaning out of a van.

"I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing," Gaddafi said in a 22-second appearance.

State TV reported earlier that pro-government demonstrations were taking place in Green Square in the capital.

Libyan forces loyal to Gaddafi have fought an increasingly bloody battle to keep the veteran leader in power with residents reporting gunfire in parts of the capital Tripoli and one political activist saying warplanes had bombed the city.

Scores of people have been reported killed in continuing violence in Tripoli amid escalating protests across the North African nation.

"In a sense this is a pariah regime that will not have any chance of governing anymore and the international community could come to terms on whether this is a genocide and whether there should be international intervention to protect the Libyan people from the militias of the regime," said Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst.

WHAT ABOUT PALESTINE!?!?! 

DO THE PALESTINIANS NOT DESERVE PROTECTION

FROM A CRUEL MILITARY REGIME?

"We've heard even a NATO spokesman saying that the Libyan regime should stop committing war crimes against its people so I think there is momentum out there but certainly it's not quick enough."

Deep cracks were showing and Gaddafi seemed to be losing vital support, as Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigned, air force pilots defected and major government buildings were targeted during clashes in the capital.

At least 61 people were killed in the capital city on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. The protests appeared to be gathering momentum, with demonstrators saying they have taken control of several important towns and the city of Benghazi, to the east of Tripoli.

Protesters called for another night of defiance against the Arab world's longest-serving leader, despite a crackdown by authorities

Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, spoke to Al Jazeera.

One of today's casualties.

A huge anti-government march in Tripoli on Monday afternoon came under attack by security forces using fighter jets and live ammunition, witnesses told Al Jazeera.

"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast .

"Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car, they will hit you."
 

Sounds a lot like the IDF, does it not?

.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said it was "time to stop this unnacceptable bloodshed" in Libya.

A group of army officers issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to "join the people" and help remove Gaddafi.

Gadaffi knew he could not trust his own military. For this reason he hired mercenaries from another African country at $30 000 a man.
.

The justice minister resigned in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters and diplomats at Libya's mission to the United Nations called on the Libyan army to help overthrow "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi".

Both Libya and Venezuela denied reports that Gaddafi had fled to the South American country.

Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.

Libyan authorities have cut all landline and wireless communication in the country, making it impossible to verify many reports.

With reports of large-scale military operations under way in Tripoli, a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon said the UN chief held extensive discussions with Gaddafi on Monday, condemned the escalating violence in Libya and told him that it "must stop immediately”.

UN, ARAB LEAGUE MEETINGS

The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Libya, diplomats said.

They said the meeting, referred to as "consultations", had been requested by Ibrahim Dabbashi, the Libyan deputy ambassador, and would start at 1400 GMT.

Dabbashi and other diplomats at Libya's mission to the UN on Monday said they sided with protesters in Libya.

Earlier, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, called for an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League to take place on Tuesday.

The aim is to discuss the current crisis in Libya and to put additional "pressure" on the government, Al-Thani told Al Jazeera.

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL REGARDING PALESTINE?

He said the international community must act now. "I feel a big sympathy for the Libyan people. We don't accept using force in this way or any way against the people or against any nation from their governments," he said.

The comments came just hours after Ahmed Elgazir, a human-rights researcher at the Libyan News Centre (LNC) in Geneva, Switzerland, told Al Jazeera that security forces were "massacring" protesters in Tripoli.

Elgazir said the LNC received a call for help from a woman "witnessing the massacre in progress who called on a satellite phone".

Earlier, a privately run local newspaper reported that the Libyan justice minister had resigned over the use of deadly force against protesters.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ahmad Jibreel, a Libyan diplomat, confirmed that the justice minister, Mustapha Abdul Jalil, had sided with the protesters.

Jibreel further said that key cities near Libya's border with Egypt were now in the hands of protesters, which he said would enable the foreign media to enter the country.

WHAT ABOUT PALESTINE!?

WHAT IS THIS HYPOCRISY? 

THIS IS INTERNATIONAL HYPOCRISY!

WHAT HAPPENS IN LIBYA IS HORRID,

WE MUST SUPPORT THE PEOPLE

BUT SO IS WHAT HAPPENS DAILY IN PALESTINE!

AND WHERE IS THEIR SUPPORT?

LIBYA: MASSACRE IN BENGHAZI

Veterans Today

February 20, 2011

 

Where is the USA, the UN?

Why is Dictator Gaddafi

Allowed to Commit Genocide

in front the Whole World?

Gaddafi Buys Mercenaries

Armed with Killing Machines

While Protestors Arm Themselves

with Freedom, Liberty, and Justice.

Will Evil Win the Day?

Will Freedom Ring?

Security forces have shot dead scores  (HUNDREDS) of protesters in Libya’s second largest city, where residents said a military unit had joined their cause.

While Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi attempted to put down protests centred in the eastern city of Benghazi against his four-decade rule, Al Jazeera began receiving eyewitness reports of ”disturbances” in the capital Tripoli early on Monday as well.

There were reports of clashes between anti-government protesters and Gaddafi supporters around the Green Square.

“We are in Tripoli, there are chants [directed at Gaddafi]: ‘Where are you? Where are you? Come out if you’re a man,” a protester told Al Jazeera on the phone.

A resident told the Reuters news agency that he could hear gunshots in the streets and crowds of people.

”We’re inside the house and the lights are out. There are gunshots in the street,” the resident said by phone. “That’s what I hear, gunshots and people. I can’t go outside.”

An expatriate worker living in the Libyan capital told Reuters: “Some anti-government demonstrators are gathering in the residential complexes. The police are dispersing them. I can also see burning cars.”

There were also reports of protesters heading to Gaddafi’s compound in the city of Al-Zawia near Tripoli, with the intention of burning the building down.

Meanwhile the head of the Al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya has threatened to cut off oil exports unless authorities stop what he called the “oppression of protesters”, the Warfala tribe, one of Libya’s biggest, has reportedly joined the anti-Gaddafi protests.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Shaikh Faraj al Zuway said: “We will stop oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours” if the violence did not stop. The tribe lives south of Benghazi, which has seen the worst of the deadly violence in recent days.

Akram Al-Warfalli, a leading figure in the Al Warfalla tribe, one of Libya’s biggest, told the network: “We tell the brother (Gaddafi), well he’s no longer a brother, and we tell him to leave the country.” The tribe lives south of Tripoli.

Protests have also reportedly broken out in other cities, including Bayda, Derna, Tobruk and Misrata ~ and anti-Gaddafi graffiti adorns the walls of several cities.

Anti-government protesters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi have reportedly seized army vehicles and weapons amid worsening turmoil in the African nation.

A local witness said that a section of the troops had joined the protesters on Sunday as chaos swept the streets of the city, worst hit by the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year old rule.

Mohamed, a doctor from Al Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, confirmed to Al Jazeera that members of the military had sided with the protesters.

“We are still receiving serious injuries; I can confirm 13 deaths in our hospital. However, the good news is that people are cheering and celebrating outside after receiving news that the army is siding with the people,” he said.

“But there is still a brigade that is against the demonstrators. For the past three days demonstrators have been shot at by this brigade, called Al-Sibyl brigade.”

The witness reports came on a day in which local residents told Al Jazeera that at least 200 people had died in days of unrest in Benghazi alone. The New York-based Human Rights Watch on Sunday put the countrywide death toll at 173. The rights group said its figure was “conservative”.

ACTIONS IN LIBYA

‘MASSACRE’

News of the rising death toll came as residents of Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, reported renewed gunfire from security forces in the city.

Sadiq al Ghiryani, a Libyan religious leader, told Al Jazeera a “massacre” was under way in the city and troops firing shots were mostly mercenaries. Kamal Hudethifi, a judge, described the killings as “ethnic cleansing”.

The Reuters news agency said at least 50 people had been killed in Benghazi since Sunday afternoon.

Moftah, a Benghazi resident, who requested Al Jazeera use only his first name, said the city had become a “war zone” in recent days.

Residents have barricaded the streets with overturned trash cans and debris, and security forces have largely confined themselves to two compounds, though snipers continue to target protesters, he said.

The forces who remain are “thugs” loyal to Gaddafi, Moftah said, and they are firing high-caliber ammunition at protesters.

The eyewitness report came a day after security forces opened fire at a funeral in the eastern coastal city on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and injuring scores more.

A group of six alleged mercenaries ~ reportedly brought in from Tunisia and other African nations to bolster pro-Gaddafi forces ~ were captured and arrested by demonstrators in the city of Shahat.

BIG OIL WATCHES AS DEATH TOLL RISES

Big Oil has lots of new deals in Libya.

  

Money is on the online with the Dictator and freedom could get in the way of profits.    

Will Obama step in or will he be shanked by Oil Barons and Zionists with an agenda?

Stay Tuned…….