Check The Other Site for Cutting Edge Middle East News and Perspective

The OtherSite – Truth? Justice? Peace? Is a new initiative by Dr. Gabi Weber & Simon Köhl in Freiburg, South Germany.

Dr. Gabi Weber of Freiburg, Germany

(SALEM / FREIDBURG) - A new German Website, othersite.org/about/, aims at providing a platform for open exchange of idea and discourse without censorship, mainly about topics related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This new project is welcome news for those of us who endeavor to tell the real, albeit unpopular truth, of the real nature of Israel's structure of military politics that completely impact the life of every Palestinian.

Among the many people who have provided timely and critical information to our newsroom over the years about the struggle in Palestine, are a steadfast few who never waiver or lose their way. Lesson one for all involved: defending the Palestinians who are stripped of their human rights, brings the wrath of the fundamentalist Zionist Israeli government and its well funded supporters.

Dr. Gabi Weber: a German physician, working full-time in an orthopedic rehabilitation hospital, defies the insults and ridiculous charges as she conducts and publishes research related to the tragedy of a place that was invaded by armed Jewish refugees 64 years ago. As the mother of three Palestinian-German kids, she has a personal stake in it.

The story of Israel and Palestine involves a series of tragic periods of ethnic cleansing and human indifference. Israel is still fighting what many see as a war for religious dominance and there are no rules in waging this campaign it seems - based on the historical records that are easily accessible to all of us. Dr. Weber says the new site will encourage positive discussion for those already engaged.

“

Our aim is to encourage journalists, thinkers, writers, artists, musicians and activists to share their thoughts and to narrate their own story. It is our belief that German society could benefit from receiving "true" information concerning Palestine and the Arab world from additional sources rather than the usual mainstream media.

”

In May 2010 she founded Cafe Palestine Freiburg together with a friend. Cafe Palestine is a non-profit body organising lectures, talks, conferences, exhibitions, concerts and many other activities on a monthly basis. Topics are related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.http://cafepalestinefreiburg.blogspot.de/

Also keenly involved in the new Website is Simon Köhl is a German hydrologist who works for a software company. During his childhood, he read a series of books dealing with the German history – such as "Mit dem Rücken zur Wand" and "Die weiße Rose". This opened a path for his further investigation of this particular period of German history. Over time and due to his engagement with the holocaust he developed special interest in Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Since the Hydrological Institute of Freiburg University had a strong cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Simon was wondering about the other side and in particular Palestinian water issues. Finally he spent six months of internship at Birzeit University in the West Bank and the PWA (Palestinian Water Authority). He explains that during this time, he underwent a most powerful experience, which affected his everyday life.

Q&A with Gabi Weber Tim King: Can you describe the type of content that people will see? Dr. Gabi Weber: The general impression is that German society could very well do with receiving "True" information concerning the Middle East and related topics from a different and additional media source. The aim is to collate and disseminate relevant articles from the alternative media about Middle Eastern topics namely human rights, which I started to deal with since the massacre on the Palestinian Gaza Strip in 2008-2009. Furthermore, we aspire to present the German-language readers with content written in German and with relevant content translated into German from other languages. Gradually, a database of articles will be collated and demonstrated on my website which will help in-depth research. In this way, I will enhance availability and accessibility to the reader. Tim King: How about the people helping with the project? Dr. Gabi Weber: The website is open to any valuable material, be it abstract information or critical analysis. Names of authors and or any other people assisting in the publication process may appear on the website, should they have no objection. The initiative would benefit from passionate people who think that they can contribute, including writers, translators and editors etc. Tim King: Why this is important? Dr. Gabi Weber: Given then fact that people come from different societies and upbringing and have passed multiple processes of socialization, their level of knowledge and politicization of international relations, is different. Therefore, I thought it is a positive move to enrich their knowledge (unlike abstract information only) so that they are able to make an educated opinion in their daily political participation as citizens in their countries.

In fact it was due to her own first-hand experience with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, that Dr. Gabi Weber started her political activism. This was in January 2009, during the war on Gaza. Gabi began to transmit news from alterative media, built a useful Internet list and a network, corresponding with organizations, activists, scholars, schools and other groups all around the world. In fact this is a time when many people came to fully grasp the fact that Israel was killing civilians en mass, including more than 400 children.

Gabi says the further aim is to collate and disseminate relevant articles from the alternative media about Middle Eastern topics, namely human rights, which Dr. Weber has been dealing with since the massacre on the Palestinian Gaza Strip in 2008-2009.

“

Moreover, we aspire to present the German-language readers with content written in German (which will be sorted in one section) and with relevant content translated into German from other languages. (A section in English will be established). Gradually, a database of articles will be collated and demonstrated on this website which will be conducive for in-depth research. In this way, we will enhance availability and accessibility to the reader. The website is open to all and particularly to any valuable material, be it abstract information or critical analysis. Names of authors and or any other people assisting in the publication process may appear on the website, should they have no objection. The initiative would benefit from passionate individuals who are able to contribute, including writers, translators and editors etc.

”

This new Website by Dr. Gabi Weber and Simon Köhl is an excellent new project that will contribute to important efforts underway to educate the people about the lives of Palestinians and why change is mandatory. I know many who write about Middle east affairs will be using it as a resource, I suggest visiting the site regularly.

You can find an interview with Dr. Gabi Weber in German here: http://www.muslim-markt.de/interview/2012/weber.htm

Latest Posts

German

Annette Groth: "Sicherheitsforschung jenseits rechtlicher Kontrolle - Profit statt Menschenrechte"
http://othersite.org/431/
Dr. h.c. Hans-C. von Sponeck: Internationale Schutzverantwortung - Der lange Weg der UNO vom Konzept zur Norm
http://othersite.org/hans-c-von-sponeck-internationale-schutzverantwortung-der-lange-weg-der-uno-vom-konzept-zur-norm/
Evelyn Hecht-Galinski "Ramadan in Zeiten von Besatzung und Unterdrückung"
http://othersite.org/evelyn-hecht-galinski-ramadan-in-zeiten-von-besatzung-und-unterdruckung/
German Foreign Policy "Newsletter - The Day After"
http://othersite.org/german-foreign-policy-newsletter-the-day-after/




English

ANALYSIS
Dr. h.c. Hans-C von Sponeck "Responsabilty to Protect - Concept and Implementation..."
http://othersite.org/hans-c-von-sponeck-responsability-to-protect-r2p-concept-and-implementation-opportunity/
Annette Groth "Security Research Beyond Legal Control ..."
http://othersite.org/annette-groth-security-research-beyond-the-reach-of-the-law-profits-in-place-of-human-rights/

Mouin Rabbani "Reflections on a Lifetime of Engagement with Zionism, the Palestinian Question... Interview with Noam Chomsky"
http://othersite.org/reflections/

SYRIA
Christoph Dreier "Germany Participates in War Preparations against Syria"
http://othersite.org/christoph-dreier-germany-participates-in-war-preparations-against-syria/
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya "The Syrian Intelligence War: A Tale of Two Security Headquarters"
http://othersite.org/mahdi-darius-nazemroaya-the-syrian-intelligence-war-a-tale-of-two-security-headquarters/
Michel Chossudovsky "Syria - NATO´s Next 'Humanitarian' War? - Interactive I-Book"
http://othersite.org/michel-chossudovsky-syria-nato%C2%B4s-next-humanitarian-war-online-interactive-i-book/
Saman Mohammadi "Flipping the Script - The Western Media´s Syria Propaganda is Falling Apart"
http://othersite.org/saman-mohammadi-flipping-the-script-the-western-medias-syria-propaganda-is-falling-apart/

PALESTINE
Eva Bartlett: Zionist Attempt to Whitewash Gaza Realities
http://othersite.org/eva-bartlett-zionist-attempt-to-whitewash-gaza-realities/
Oded Na´aman "The Checkpoint - Terror, Power and Cruelty"
http://othersite.org/oded-na%C2%B4aman-the-checkpoint-terror-power-and-cruelty/
Who Profits Report "Captive Economy - The Pharmaceutical Industry and the Israeli Occupation"
http://othersite.org/who-profits-report-captive-economy-the-pharmaceutical-industry-and-the-israeli-occupation/
Jonathan Cook "Western Complicity Exposed - Israel Rewarded... For What?"
http://othersite.org/jonathan-cook-western-complicity-exposed-israel-rewarded-for-what/
Alan Hart "EU´s Latest Message to Israel: "Do Your Worst Without Fear of Sanctions by Us""
http://othersite.org/alan-hart-eu%C2%B4s-latest-message-to-israel-do-your-worst-without-fear-of-sanctions-by-us-2/
Relief Web Report "Gaza´s Children - Falling Behind: The Effect of the Blockade on Child Health in Gaza"
http://othersite.org/481/
Uri Avnery "Talking Zionism"
http://othersite.org/uri-avnery-talking-zionism-2/
Mazin Qumsiyeh "It Happened in July"
http://othersite.org/mazin-qumsiyeh-it-happened-in-july/


Video - Al Jazeera Documentary "The Owners of the Land" 3 Parts
http://othersite.org/video-owners-of-the-land/

Al Franken and Tim King in Afghanistan

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. Tim is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

He holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu, India.

The notorious list comprising Tim's ancestors includes Pedro de Alvarado, the lieutenant of Hernando Cortez of Spain; King Phillip IV, Eleanor of Aquitaine and William the Conqueror. Perhaps most interestingly, King John; the dark force in the story Robin Hood, and also the last Spanish governor of California, a real person fictionalized as the arch rival of the character in Zorro, are in reality both Tim's multiple-great grandfathers.

Tim at his family ranch in Chino, California.

Others include a Confederate officer in the U.S. Civil War and a decorated 'hero' of the Mexican-American War and the so-called 'Indian Wars'. In fact on the east coast, Tim's lineage with the Slaughter and King families, pre-dates the Mayflower and several members of his family were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. He says his family's past; some of which is very dark; some quite chivalrous, presents a certain responsibility, and that in part drives his desire to see that people in today's world are not exploited or allowed to suffer in silence as victims of Human Rights violations, as people of previous times were.

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005. Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 100 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide. You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com. Visit Tim's Facebook page (facebook.com/TimKing.Reporter)