1. Art and Diseño

Zionist Settlement Projects ‘Inflame Tensions’
Thought for Today
WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – The US State Department has
once again criticized the Zionist regime’s latest plans to construct
hundreds of new settlement projects in the occupied West Bank.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington
is in close contact with Palestinian and Zionist officials over the
issue. The project will “inflame tensions, further isolate Israel
internationally and will not help Israel’s security,” she said.
The best friend of our Holy Prophet is he who,
though not related to him, obeys the orders of Allah
and his greatest enemy is the man who though related
to him, disobeys Allah.
Amir al-Momeneen Ali (AS)
VOL NO: LV 9683 TEHRAN / Est.1959
Sunday, February 1, 2015, Bahman 12, 1393, Rabi as-Sani 11, 1436
Pakistan Mourns Shia
Mosque Blast Victims
Pakistani mourners carry the coffins of the victims of a Shia mosque bombing during the
funeral ceremony in Shikarpur, Sindh Province.
ISLAMABAD (Press TV) – Shia ligious center when people were parts of the province as Shia MusMuslims in Pakistan have started performing Friday prayers in the lims called for three days of peacea three-day mourning period and town of Shikarpur, around 470 ki- ful protests.
staged sit-ins and strikes to com- lometers (300 miles) north of the
Shia Muslims in Pakistan say the
memorate the victims of a deadly port city of Karachi.
government must prevent the killbomb attack on a mosque in the
Most of the victims were be- ing of their community members.
southern province of Sindh.
ing buried on Saturday in Sindh,
Hours after the mosque bombing,
At least 60 people were killed where the provincial government large crowds of Pakistani people,
and dozens injured in the bomb has declared a high security alert.
including members of civil society
attack on a Shia mosque and rePeople shut down their shops in and peace activists, poured onto
the streets of Pakistan’s largest
city of Karachi to voice their outrage over the massacre.
Similar rallies were held in other Pakistani cities, including the
capital, Islamabad, Lahore, and
Quetta.
The angry demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans and
demanded the arrest of those behind the incident. The protesters
also demanded that the Pakistani
government take decisive action
against the forces involved in the
targeted killings, saying that Islamabad cannot provide security
for the Shia Muslim community.
The demonstrators also accused
some Arab monarchies across the
Persian Gulf of supporting and
funding militant groups operating
in Pakistan.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but
pro-Taliban militants usually take
responsibility for similar attacks in
the violence-wracked country.
This is also the latest deadly incident in a wave of violence against
the Shia Muslim community in
Pakistan.
Shias make up about a third of
Pakistan’s population of over 180
million.
Egypt Designates Ezzedine Qassam as ‘Terrorist’ Group
CAIRO (Dispatches) – A court in Egypt has banned the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas,
designating it as a “terrorist” group.
Unnamed judicial officials said on Saturday that the Cairo Court of Urgent Matters claimed in a lawsuit that the group was involved in recent attacks
against Egypt’s security forces.
Following the ouster of Egypt’s former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013, relations between the Egyptian government and Hamas, which governs the besieged Gaza Strip, have strained.
Egypt has also stepped up destruction of cross-border tunnels into Gaza since then.
More than 1,600 tunnels have been demolished since the military-backed government came to power in Cairo last year.
In early January, Egyptian army sources said the military has begun operations to increase the size of the existing 500-meter buffer zone along the
border with Gaza to a full kilometer.
The sources added that the army operations would include the destruction of some 1,220 houses and the eviction of residents in the border area.
The Cairo authorities decided to create the buffer zone after deadly attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula that targeted more than 30 Egyptian soldiers
on October 24, 2014.
The underground routes are the only lifeline for the people of Gaza living under the Zionist blockade. Palestinians use the tunnels to bring essential
supplies, such as foodstuff, cooking gas, medicines, petrol, and livestock, into the impoverished Palestinian territory.
Bahrain Strips 72 Activists of Citizenship
MANAMA (Press TV) – Bahrain
has revoked the citizenship of 72 people accused of attending anti-regime
protests and acting against the government.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry on Saturday issued a statement saying that
72 people were stripped of their nationality because they failed “in their
allegiance duties towards the kingdom” and “harmed its interests.”
“Each citizen of Bahrain has the
responsibility to act in ways that do
not harm the interests of the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the statement said.
It also listed the names of the 72
activists, adding that “proper legal
procedures will be taken” by the
ministry in future to implement the
decision.
Bahraini courts have sentenced
Bahraini protesters clash with police in Manama.
more than 200 activists to long term
prison sentences on charges of involvement in terrorist activities and
acting against the national security.
At least 70 activists have received
life imprisonment since the uprising
began in Bahrain in 2011.
A recent report by Human Rights
Watch said Bahraini courts have become more active in sustaining repression in the country.
“Further evidence emerged [in
2014] of the role that its (Bahrain’s)
courts play in maintaining the repressive order,” HRW said in its
World Report 2015 which was released on Thursday.
The ruling Al Khalifa regime has
launched a heavy-handed crackdown on the peaceful anti-government movement in Bahrain, which
started in 2011.
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom
has seen an escalation of protests
over the past months after the regime in December arrested Sheikh
Ali Salman, a senior cleric and the
leader of the main opposition party,
al-Wefaq.
Separate Bomb Attacks
Leave 9 Dead in Iraq
Security forces inspect a bombing site at a market in Baghdad, Iraq.
BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – At
least nine people have been killed and
several others wounded during separate bomb attacks in and around the
Iraqi capital, Baghdad, sources say.
Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a bomb
went off near a public sheep market in the town of Madain, about
20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast
of Baghdad, on Saturday morning,
killing four people and wounding
11 others.
In another incident, three people
were killed and 10 injured in a blast
near car repair shops in central
Baghdad, police sources said.
Meanwhile, a third explosion reportedly hit an army patrol in the
mainly Sunni town of Taji, just
north of the Iraqi capital, killing two
soldiers and wounding four others.
There was no immediate claim
of responsibility for the bombings.
However, Iraqi officials usually
blame such attacks on the ISIL Takfiri terrorists.
The ISIL Takfiri group launched
an offensive in Iraq in June and
took control of the country’s second
largest city, Mosul, before sweeping
through parts of the country’s Sunni
Arab heartland.
The extremist group has threatened all communities, including
Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, during its advances in the
violence-torn Arab state.
This is while a US-led coalition
has been carrying out air strikes on
ISIL positions in Iraq over the past
months. However, such raids have
so far failed to dislodge the terrorists.
According to the UN, more than
1,100 people were killed and over
1,800 others wounded in terror attacks across Iraq last month, making December 2014 the deadliest
month since 2008.
McCain Boots ‘Low-Life
Scum’ from Senate Hearing
Source: Russia Today
“Get out of here, you low-life scum,” Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) said
to demonstrators who interrupted a congressional hearing in Washington
on Thursday. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was scheduled to
speak at the hearing.
C-SPAN was broadcasting the morning hearing of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by McCain, and caught the senior
lawmaker live on camera as he verbally unloaded on protesters from the
DC-based group Code Pink.
Kissinger, who is best known for his role in the administration of President
Richard Nixon during the height of the Vietnam War, encountered jeers from
the protesters as soon as he entered the Senate chamber.
“Arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes!” activists chanted as the statesman walked before the committee and took a seat alongside the hearing’s
other witnesses: former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and George
Shultz. All three were in attendance to testify at a hearing concerning global
challenges as they apply to US national security strategy.
At least seven members of Code Pink were at the hearing and promptly
ordered out by McCain as they unfurled protest signs.
“Could someone find out where the Capitol Police is?” the committee chair
said.
As the melee subsided, McCain addressed the incident by saying, “I’ve
been a member of this committee for many years, and I’ve never seen
anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration.”
“Get out of here, you low-life scum,” McCain added as another protester
was removed. The lawmaker’s comment was met with a subtle round of
applause from within the room. McCain then saluted Kissinger and said he
“apologizes profusely.”
“What’s really disgraceful is Senator JohnMcCain welcoming the murdering liar Kissinger to Senate hearing as if he had any ethical credibility,” Code
Pink activists wrote on Twitter after the hearing. “Kissinger is the biggest
unindicted criminal of the 20th century. He should be tried at the Hague.”
*****
“A cross section of United States’ statesmen”, remarked my friend Jamsheed,
nicknamed Jimmy (the simpleminded).
Najafi