Mauritania  5 January 2009

Mauritania is one of only three Arab League countries to have diplomatic ties with Israel.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Babah Ould Sidi Abdalla said Monday that Mauritania’s ambassador in Tel Aviv had been ordered to return for consultations.
Abdalla declined to comment further and did not explicitly say the move was made in protest.
On Sunday, security forces fired tear gas to disperse people in Mauritania’s capital who were protesting the incursion into Gaza.

Jordan  9 January 2009

An Arab official told Ynet that Jordan recalled the ambassador as an act of protest, even though it had initially claimed that he was asked to return to Amman over an “internal matter”.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Al-Jazeera this week that he was worried that Israel was plotting a “conspiracy against the Palestinian people and the future of Palestine” in its offensive on Gaza.

Venezuela expells Israeli ambassador 6 January 2009

The statement [of the Venezuelan foreign minister] added that the government “condemns strongly the flagrant violations of international law” by Israel and “denounces their planned utilization of state terrorism.”

Venezuela tosses Israeli Ambassdor and Embassy Staff

The Foreign Ministry [of Israel] added that every country must decide whether it is on the side which is fighting terrorism, or the side supporting it.

The problem is that the question is becoming increasingly blurred as the civilian death toll at the hands of the Israeli military rises.

Denmark summons Israeli ambassador

Denmark has summoned the Israeli ambassador in Copenhagen in protest at recent attacks on clinics run by a Danish charity in Gaza.

….”We are deeply chocked that the Israeli air strikes directly prevent the humanitarian aid effort,” Reuters quoted secretary general of DanChurchAid, Henrik Stubkjaer, as saying on Tuesday.

So far the world’s leaders are giving a very poor showing as to who supports and who opposes genocide - even as has been the case in regard to the genocide in Afghanistan and Iraq. Silent leaders as well as the openly supportive ones should NOT be followed…unless, of course, you like where they are going. We, the “common people”, need very much right now to become uncommon people in defense of what is right against what is wrong, in defense of each other, rather than being easily led into fearing and hating and killing each other for the sake of the warmongers who capitalize on it.

Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. ~Hermann Goering