vrijdag 14 september 2007

Iran executeert drie vrijheidsstrijders uit Al Ahwaz

Iran heeft drie Arabieren opgehangen vanwege hun heroische vrijheidsstrijd tegen de Iraanse kolonialistische agressie in Al-Ahwaz, een Arabische streek die sinds 1925 door Iran wordt bestuurd (volgens hen dus bezet) als de provincie Khuzestan.
 
Iran wil deze regio 'Persificeren' en heeft daartoe al meer dan een miljoen Perzen in de regio gehuisvest, en een evengroot aantal Arabieren verjaagd. Stel je nou eens voor dat Israël deze vrijheidsstrijders van geld en wapens en trainingen zou voorzien, en dat zij een veelvoud van het aantal aanslagen zouden plegen van wat zij nu doen. De VN Mensenrechtenraad en de Algemene Vergadering zouden daar geen enkel probleem mee hebben, maar slechts Iran veroordelen voor haar schendingen van de mensenrechten. Vakbonden en kerken in het Westen zouden boycots van Iran afkondigen, en Iraanse sporters en artiesten in Westerse landen konden steevast op protesten rekenen. Irans bestaansrecht zou door een rits aan organisaties binnen en buiten de VN ter discussie worden gesteld of zelfs ontkend, het land zou geregeld racistisch worden genoemd en soms zelfs met nazi-Duitsland gelijk worden gesteld.

Er zijn daadwerkelijk verontruste rapporten verschenen over de mensenrechtenschendingen in Khuzestan, en de UNPO en de EU hebben tot maatregelen tegen Iran opgeroepen, maar dit heeft nog niet tot aktie geleid. De VN Mensenrechtenraad heeft het onderwerp op de agenda gezet voor haar vergadering op Sint Juttemis.
 
Waarom heeft vrijwel niemand nog van Al Ahwaz en de etnische zuiveringen daar gehoord, tonen de media geen interesse, en waarom wordt Iran nooit veroordeeld door de VN Mensenrechtenraad voor het ophangen van niet alleen terroristen, maar ook homosexuelen of leden van de Bahai minderheid?
Ratna & Wouter
___________________

13/09/2007 RIA Novosti Agence russe
Iran executes three terrorists charged with 2005 explosion
http://en.rian.ru/world/20070913/78548263.html

TEHRAN, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - Three convicted terrorists have been executed in Iran in connection with two explosions in October 2005, Iranian media reported Thursday.

The explosions, which took place in the city of Ahwaz, in the province of Khuzestan, killed at least six people and wounded around 100. The two bombs went off in a shopping center.

Although a number of foreign-based Arab groups claimed responsibility, no definite information about who exactly carried out the attack ever emerged.

The Iranian government accused groups with links to foreign states, including the U.K., of planning the bombings after Iran was hit by a series of bomb attacks around the country in 2005-06.

Although it is not known exactly how many people were arrested in connection with the attacks, more executions are likely.

"A number of criminals are awaiting the death sentence in connection with the bombings," the city's public prosecutor said after the executions.


*** Balanced Middle East News ***
MidEastweb
http://www.mideastweb.org
Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

MewBkd - Background & analysis -
mail to Mewbkd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

News Letter -  our commentary -
mail to mideastweb-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Egyptische toneelschrijver Ali Salem spreekt zich uit tegen "Cultuur van de dood"

Niet iedereen in Egypte denkt er gelukkig zo over als de officiele acteursbond die een acteur die in een film speelt waar ook een Israëli in speelt, op het matje heeft geroepen.

Toneelschrijver Ali Salem heeft Israël bezocht, en zegt over vrede:

Ali Salem: "When you suffer such an ignominious defeat as in 1967, and when you begin to uncover what your mistakes were, you begin to think that you must not be defeated in peace as well, that you must not lose the battle for peace as well as the war.
"We have finished the conflict of war, and we enter the competition of peace. Peace is not a beautiful garden, in which we and the Israelis will sit together. Peace is a venue for competition. Human jealousy requires us not to be inferior to them in terms of democracy, human rights, import, export, education, and scientific research."

Een grandioos idee om de jaloezie en aangetaste eer dat de Israëli's het zoveel beter voor elkaar hebben, om te zetten in competitiedrang, om niet verongelijkt te zijn maar te denken "Dat kunnen wij trotse Egyptenaren ook, we zullen ze eens wat laten zien".
 
Maar waarschijnlijk zal ook deze man wel weer door een officiële organisatie tot de orde worden geroepen, want om in deze competitie een kans te maken, moet er behoorlijk wat veranderen in Egypte.
 
 
Ratna
--------------------

Special Dispatch-Egypt/Reform Project
September 13, 2007
No. 1713

Egyptian Playwright Ali Salem Speaks Out Against "Culture of Death"

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD171307.

The following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian playwright Ali Salem, which aired on Abu Dhabi TV on August 16, 2007.

To view this clip, visit:
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1554.htm

To view the MEMRITV webpage on Egyptian playwright Ali Salem, visit:
http://www.memritv.org/subject/en/152.htm


"Whoever Tells You That Bread is More Important Than Freedom is a Fraud And a Thief"

Ali Salem: "There is no contradiction between freedom and what I call the 'pot of meat.' I will go even further, and say that the 'pot of meat' – not to mention the fruit, bread, salt, pepper, and salads, and on cold winter nights, hopefully a bowl of soup – bears an inherent connection to philosophy and freedom. If you are free, you can plant your field, and raise buffaloes and cows, and you are free to go and sell them at the market.

"You have a trade that earns you money, and there is a merchant who will buy and slaughter them, and then he will sell it at the market. In such a case, you are working at a job that brings you money. You need a society with freedom in politics, economy, and education in order for this cycle to be complete. Whoever tells you that bread is more important than freedom is a fraud and a thief.

"The meat, in this case... There are also cheese, olives, and pastrami, and there are shoppers at the supermarket – all these things require political and economic freedom.

[...]

"The Culture of Death is a Culture of Irresponsibility"

"The culture of death is a culture of irresponsibility. It is a culture in which a person considers all the 'others' to be his enemies. He is terrified of them, and he feels he must finish them off before they finish him off. In addition, this culture does not glorify life – although life is the greatest thing Allah has created for us. I'm not relying on any religious authority or historical examination, but I can only give you my personal opinion. Allah created us in order to enjoy this beautiful universe, and in order to make it even more beautiful, or at the very least, to keep it beautiful.

[...]

"It is in the interest of the people of this region to achieve peace."

Interviewer: "You've visited Israel, and you are one of the supporters of peace."

Ali Salem: "True."

"We Have Finished the Conflict of War, And We Enter the Competition of Peace"

Interviewer: "Some people criticize you for this stand. In brief, on what objective foundations do you base your defense of peace?"

Ali Salem: "When you suffer such an ignominious defeat as in 1967, and when you begin to uncover what your mistakes were, you begin to think that you must not be defeated in peace as well, that you must not lose the battle for peace as well as the war.

[...]

"We have finished the conflict of war, and we enter the competition of peace. Peace is not a beautiful garden, in which we and the Israelis will sit together. Peace is a venue for competition. Human jealousy requires us not to be inferior to them in terms of democracy, human rights, import, export, education, and scientific research."

[...]

Interviewer: "How do you view the future of political Islamic movements, and their connection to Arab society in particular?"

Ali Salem: "Arab history is full of such movements. In elementary school, we used to read: 'And then the Sultan wiped them out,' or 'Then the Emir finished them off,' or 'Then he went to the city and turned it to rubble.' Times have changed, and no one is allowed to wipe out anybody. Today, the [Islamists] are not the main force. They are in the opposition. The public is learning every day that this kind of conflict will get them neither a Palestinian state nor human rights."


*********************
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Search previous MEMRI publications at www.memri.org

woensdag 12 september 2007

Sheikh Raed Salah van Islamitische Beweging in Israël: 'Israël en de bezetting zullen verdwijnen'

Sheikh Salah, van de in Israël gevestigde Islamic Movement, hield een speech op de jaarlijkse "Aksa in gevaar" conventie. Volgens hem zal Israël alle Arabische staten aanvallen 'if we remain in this situation'.
 
Hij sprak dreigende taal richting Israël:
 
"Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque have experienced occupation by various peoples in the past and lived through this occupation. I tell the Israelis: You and your occupation will disappear, Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque will remain forever."
 
 
Jeruzalem is inderdaad door allerlei volken bezet geweest in het verleden, tot de Joden het weer in handen kregen. Overigens is het bestuur over de heilige plaatsen geheel in handen van de betreffende religies.
 
Laten we een ding niet vergeten: Salah is een Israëlisch staatsburger. Als je dit soort dingen leest, begrijp je dat sommige Joodse Israëli's deze mensen als vijfde kolonne beschouwen. Salah zet de Israëlische Arabieren op tegen hun eigen staat, en is daarmee medeverantwoordelijk voor hun lastige positie in Israël.   
 
 
Ratna
______________________________
 
Updated Sep 8, 2007 1:06
'Israel and occupation will disappear'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1188392564230&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

"Like the Israeli terror was leashed on Syria two days ago, it will reach each and every Muslim country if we remain in this situation," Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, said Friday, referring to the flyover that Syria alleged on Thursday IAF jets undertook the night before.

The "situation" Salah was talking about in the "Aksa in Danger" convention in the Arab town Umm el-Fahm included references to most issues troubling Muslims in the greater Middle East: "Iraq is slaughtered in live transmission, Sudan cut in half in live transmission, Afghanistan disappears - and now Palestine is the victim of an evil scheme transmitted live. This is the time to test your leadership and its legitimacy," he called to Muslim leaders worldwide.

Salah dedicated much of his speech for calling on the warring Palestinian factions to reunite.

"I turn to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to the Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and swear you in Allah's name, in the name of the masses present here, in the name of our children and elders and in the name of the shaheeds - to renew the Palestinian dialogue. I call on you to establish a Palestinian unity government and to keep to the Mecca agreement [a Saudi-mediated unity agreement signed in Mecca in March]. Jerusalem and Al Aksa call you, do not let down their call," he told attendants.

Haniyeh, of Hamas, has been officially removed from duty as Palestinian prime minister by PA chairman Abbas, of Fatah, shortly after Hamas's
violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.

Salah was recently accused of incitement, when he called on Palestinians to initiate a "third intifadah" to stop Israeli renovation works near the Temple Mount that he claimed were hurting the Aksa mosque.

On Friday he again issued a direct threat at Israel.

 "Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque have experienced occupation by various peoples in the past and lived through this occupation. I tell the Israelis: You and your occupation will disappear, Jerusalem and the Aksa Mosque will remain forever."
 

According to organizers, approximately sixty thousand people arrived to attend the convention. But Israeli police made an estimate that no more than 10,000 people came to the event.

This was the 12th time the convention took place. Shauki Hatib, chairman of the Israeli Arab Monitoring Committee, who usually attends, was missing this year, but MK Abbas Zakhur (UAL), head of the Islamic Movement's southern branch, made his first appearance in the convention. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa gave a speech transmitted by video conference.

Woordvoerder Palestijns parlement Ahmad Bahr: "Joden zijn broeders van varkens en apen"

De woordvoerder van de Palestijnse Wetgevende Raad (het Palestijnse parlement), Achmad Bahar van Hamas, zette onlangs zijn visie op Jeruzalem uiteen (uitgezonden op Hamas' Al Aqsa TV op 21 augustus):

The liberation of Jerusalem will not be achieved by means of glittering slogans, cheap arrogance, and degrading concessions. It will be achieved by realizing the divine path in the souls of the Muslims, and by raising the generation of the coming victory to lead the battle against the brothers of apes and pigs. By Allah, Jerusalem will be restored only through Jihad. The foundations of the monstrous entity will be shaken only by the love of martyrdom for the sake of Allah. By Allah, even if all Palestinians die for the sake of Jerusalem and Palestine, and if they all attain the honor of martyrdom for the sake of Allah, this would be a small and cheap sacrifice for the sake of Jerusalem.

Van de 'brothers of apes and pigs', waarvan er gisteren 69 gewond raakten in een raketaanval van het heldhaftige Palestijnse verzet, wordt uiteraard verwacht dat zij dit alles gelaten over zich heen laten komen. Sterker nog, zij moeten er hun medewerking aan verlenen door checkpoints weg te halen, 'verzetsstrijders' vrij te laten, en niks te ondernnemen tegen raketaanvallen en wapensmokkel. Verder moeten zij netjes stroom en electriciteit blijven leveren, en de grenzen openstellen voor in- en uitvoer.

Misschien ben je inderdaad wel een rund als je op die manier met je eigen veiligheid stunt, maar dat zal Bahr niet hebben bedoeld.
Even serieus: natuurlijk betekenen dit soort uitspraken niet dat Israël nooit enige concessie moet doen, maar de aanwezigheid en macht van dit soort lieden maakt het allemaal wel knap lastig. Doen alsof ze er niet zijn, het niet zo bedoelen of geen macht hebben, zal de problemen niet oplossen. Dit soort uitspraken moet zeker zo hard worden veroordeeld als de Israëlische nederzettingen.
Hou echter je adem niet in tot de eerste Europese politicus hier zijn verontwaardiging over heeft uitgesproken.
PS: In april riep deze woordvoerder al op om alle Joden, Amerikanen en hun bondgenoten te vermoorden.
 

Enquete populariteit kabinetsleden regering Olmert (september 2007)

Zo denkt het Israëlische publiek over hun regering. Je zult de meeste namen waarschijnlijk niet kennen (ik ook niet), maar opvallend is dat de beste een dikke 6 scoort en de slechtste een 3-.
 
Premier Olmert scoort een 3,2, vice-premier Ramon een 3,8 en minister van defensie Barak een 4,7. Minister van buitenlandse zaken Livni scoort het beste met een 6,1. Wat ik niet begrijp is dat een dergelijke regering gewoon blijft zitten en doet alsof er niks aan de hand is. Een probleem is echter dat er ook geen geweldige alternatieven zijn, zodat verkiezingen niet perse de oplossing zijn.
 
De politiek zou aantrekkelijker moeten worden, zodat al die getalenteerde wetenschappers en technici (in Israël wonen relatief de meeste Nobelprijswinaars, en ook het aantal mensen met een universitaire opleiding en het aantal boeken dat wordt gedrukt behoort tot de hoogsten wereldwijd) de politiek ingaan en hun talenten benutten om het land te dienen.

Ratna
Meer enquetes:
Israeli Peace Index poll - August 2007
Palestinian Public Opinion Poll (PSR Poll 25 - September 2007)
_____________________________________________________

Poll rating members of the Olmert cabinet
Dr. Aaron Lerner (IMRA) 12 September 2007

Poll carried out last week by Teleseker of a representative sample of 489 adult Israeli Jews for Maariv.

Question: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is terrible and 10 is excellent, what grade do you give for the performance of _____.

Percent don't know post holding = percent who either did not know what position the person holds in the Government or did not know who the person is at all.

The list is sorted by grade (PM Olmert is at the bottom of the list)
___

Daliya Itzik - Knesset Chairwoman
Grade 6.3 Percent don't know post holding 15%
___

Tzipi Livni - Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Grade 6.1 Percent don't know post holding 5.5%

Prof. Daniel Friedman - Minister of Justice
Grade 5.3 Percent don't know post holding 18.5%

Ariel Atias - Minister of Communications
Grade 5.2 Percent don't know post holding 35.5%

Avi Dichter - Minister of Internal Security
Grade 5.2 Percent don't know post holding 11.1%

Yuli Tamir - Minister of Education, Culture & Sport
Grade 5 Percent don't know post holding 3.3%

Shaul Mofaz - Minister of Transport
Grade 5 Percent don't know post holding 6.5%

Yitzhak Herzog - Minister of Social Affairs and Social Services
Grade 5 Percent don't know post holding 19.4%

Eli Yishai - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor
Grade 5 Percent don't know post holding 11.1%

Avigdor Leiberman - Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Strategic Affairs
Grade 5 Percent don't know post holding 13.3%

Meir Sheetrit - Minister of the Interior
Grade 4.9 Percent don't know post holding 14.8%

Ehud Barak - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
Grade 4.7 Percent don't know post holding 9.9%

Shalom Simhon - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Grade 4.6 Percent don't know post holding 35.5%

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer - Minister of National Infrastructures
Grade 4.6 Percent don't know post holding 19.3%

Roni Bar-On - Minister of Finance
Grade 4.3 Percent don't know post holding 18%

Yizhak Aharonovitch - Minister of Tourism
Grade 4.3 Percent don't know post holding 43.6%

Yaakov Ben-Yizri - Minister of Health
Grade 4.3 Percent don't know post holding 16.3%

Gideon Ezra - Minister of  Environmental Protection
Grade 4.2 Percent don't know post holding 19%

Yaakov Edri - Minister (Liaison between the Government and the Knesset)
Grade 4.2 Percent don't know post holding 37%

Rafi Eitan - Minister Responsible for Pensioners
Grade 4 Percent don't know post holding 17.2%

Ze'ev Boim - Minister of Housing and Construction
Grade 4 Percent don't know post holding 36%

Ramon - Vice Prime Minister
Grade 3.8 Percent don't know post holding 17.7%

Raleb Majadele - Minister of Science, Culture and Sport.
Grade 3.7 Percent don't know post holding 32%

Ruhama Avraham - Minister responsible for the liaison between the Government and the Knesset
Grade 3.3 Percent don't know post holding 28.5%

Ehud Olmert - Prime Minister
Grade 3.2 Percent don't know post holding 2.2%

Yitzhak Cohen - Minister (Responsible for Religious Councils)
Grade 3 Percent don't know post holding 59%

Meshulam Nahari - Minister without portfolio
Grade 2.9 Percent don't know post holding 61%


--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website:
www.imra.org.il

Weer Palestijnse zelfmoordaanslag verijdeld in Be'er Sheva

Dit is de tweede keer in korte tijd dat een zelfmoordaanslag wordt verijdeld. Iedereen die denkt dat er zo weinig aanslagen meer zijn omdat Hamas zich heeft gematigd, kan dus wakker worden.
Intussen heeft Hamas de raketaanval waarbij 69 soldaten gewond raakten, een 'overwinning van God' genoemd. Hij is opgeëist door de Islamitische Jihad en de Volksverzets Comités. Sindsdien zijn er alweer verscheidene raketten afgevuurd op Israël.
 
Ratna
_________________________________

Security forces thwart planned holiday suicide bombing in Be'er Sheva
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies Last
update - 13:40 12/09/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903592.html

Security forces last week thwarted a planned suicide bombing that was to take place in Be'er Sheva in the coming days, according to information made public Wednesday.

A Palestinian terrorist from the Gaza Strip, armed with an explosives belt, was able to infiltrate Israel through the border with Egypt. He was captured by Border Police troops in the area, and handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning.

The terrorist, who is the son of a Rafah Hamas militant, told investigators that he was dispatched by the Popular Resistance Committees in order to strike a bustling area in Be'er Sheva.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired four Qassam rockets at the western Negev on Wednesday morning, a day after a similar attack on an Israel Defense Forces base left 69 soldiers wounded.

The rockets struck open areas near Kibbutz Nir Am and the Erez Crossing. There were no injuries and no significant damage in the attacks, although the rockets did cause several brush fires.

One soldier was critically wounded in the early morning strike on the Zikkim basic training base for non-combat personnel, which is located near the Gaza Strip. Four others were seriously hurt, and another 10 were moderately wounded. The remainder were lightly hurt, many of them suffering mainly from shock.

Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees took responsibility for the attack, while Hamas, which controls the Strip, the rocket strike as a "victory from God."

Hours after the pre-dawn salvo, Israel Air Force aircraft struck open areas of northern Gaza, Army Radio reported. Palestinian sources said that at least four Gazans were hurt in the air strike, two of them hospitalized.

A second Qassam struck an area of the western Negev later in the morning, causing damage but no injuries.

Late Tuesday evening, Palestinian militants fired two more Qassam rockets at the western Negev. A short while later, Palestinian witnesses said the IDF targeted a Qassam rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip. No one was injured, the witnesses said.

Antisemitisme en de Anti-Israël Lobby

Naast de door Robbins genoemde Arabische lobby is de eveneens Arabische Aramco olie lobby zeer invloedrijk, en ook die van verschillende Amerikaanse olie firma's (die immers weten dat een pro-Arabische lijn van de VS beter is voor hun belangen). Dit wil niet zeggen dat er geen invloedrijke Joodse lobby is, maar het is absurd te claimen dat zij het buitenlandse beleid van de VS zou bepalen - tegen de belangen van de VS in -zoals Mearsheimer en Walt beweren. Nog absurder is het te doen alsof dit een nieuwe ontdekking is, en iets dat men tot voor kort nog niet kon of durfde te zeggen, en dat je nog steeds duur kan komen te staan. Anti-Zionisten roepen dit al jaren, en er waren al antizionisten voordat Israël werd gesticht.
 
 
Ratna
___________
 
 
Anti-Semitism and the Anti-Israel Lobby
What's so nefarious about Jews exercising their right to speech?

BY JEFF ROBBINS
Sunday, September 9, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

A crop of Israel's critics--most prominently Jimmy Carter and now Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, the authors of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"--have managed something of a feat: They express no concerns about the massive pro-Arab effort, funded in significant measure by foreign oil money, taking American Jews to task for participating in the American political process; meanwhile, they inoculate themselves against charges of anti-Jewish bias by pre-emptively predicting that "the Jewish lobby" will accuse them of it.

Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer, in particular, have been heralded by Israel's critics for their "courage" in attacking American Jews, who have allegedly "strangled" criticism of Israel. Their case seems one part laughable, and one part eyebrow-raising.

An anecdote from my own experience with the anti-Israel lobby may shed some light on the absurdity of the Walt-Mearsheimer offensive. Not long after Sept. 11, 2001, I received a call from a major defense contractor asking for a favor. I was serving as president of the Boston chapter of the World Affairs Council, a national organization that debates foreign policy, and the defense contractor was one of the Council's principal sponsors.

The Saudi Arabian government was sponsoring a national public relations campaign to cultivate American public opinion, and was sending Saudi emissaries around the country to make the case that Saudi Arabia was a tolerant, moderate nation worthy of American support. Would the Council organize a forum of Boston's community leaders so that the Saudis could make their case?

While this was patently no more than a Saudi lobbying effort, we organized the forum, and it was well-attended by precisely the slice of Boston's political and corporate elite that the Saudis and their defense contractor benefactor had hoped for. The Saudis maintained that their kingdom should be regarded as a promoter of Middle East peace, and that the abundant evidence that Saudi Arabia was in fact promoting a virulent brand of extremist Islam should be discounted.

Saudi Arabia paid for the trip of its emissaries to Boston, for the Washington-based public relations and lobbying company that organized the trip, and for the Boston public relations and lobbying company that handled the Boston part of the visit. And it drew upon the resources and relationships of the defense contractor, which sells hundreds of millions of dollars of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, to support and orchestrate its public relations effort.

 

The billions in petrodollars Arab states spend in the U.S. for defense, construction, engineering and consulting contracts position them nicely to win friends in high places, and friends are what they have. That is true all over the world, is true in this country, and has been true for quite some time. As Secretary of State Cordell Hull noted 60 years ago, "The oil of Saudi Arabia constitutes one of the world's great prizes." His successor, Edward Stettinius, opposed the creation of a Jewish state in the Middle East, stating, "It would seriously prejudice our ability to afford protection to American interests, economic and commercial . . . throughout the area."

The Saudis and their allies have not been shy about supplementing their considerable leverage in the U.S. by targeting expenditures to affect the debate over Middle East policy by funding think tanks, Middle East studies programs, advocacy groups, community centers and other institutions.

To take one obvious example, just last year Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated $20 million each to Harvard and Georgetown Universities for programs in Islamic studies. Prince Alwaleed, chairman of a Riyadh-based conglomerate, is the fellow whose $10 million donation to the Twin Towers Fund following the Sept. 11 attacks was rejected by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani after the Saudi Prince suggested that the U.S. "re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinians."

Georgetown and Harvard had no apparent qualms about accepting Prince Alwaleed's money. The director of Georgetown's newly-renamed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center rejected any suggestion that the Saudi magnate was attempting to use Saudi oil wealth to influence American policy in the Middle East. "There is nothing wrong with [Prince Alwaleed] expressing his opinion on American foreign policy," he said. "Clearly, it was done in a constructive way."

In other words, for those who accept the Arab line on the Israel-Arab conflict--namely, that it is the product of Israeli intransigence in some form or another--the increasing proliferation of Middle East-funded enterprises all across the country aimed at advancing the Arab view of the conflict constitute "nothing wrong." Nor are those hewing to the anti-Israel line troubled by the way in which the massive Islamic bloc of nations, by dint both of their number and their economic leverage over the rest of the world, are able to guarantee an incessantly anti-Israel agenda at the United Nations and other international fora.

Although the aggressive deployment of petrodollars and oil-based influence from foreign sources aimed at advancing a pro-Arab line constitutes "nothing wrong" as far as Israel's critics are concerned, a new political fashion holds that there is something very wrong indeed about American Jews and other American backers of Israel expressing their support for Israel, and urging their political leaders to join them in that support.

Our major newspapers and networks, with correspondents in Israel able to take advantage of an Israeli political system that is a free-for-all and an astonishingly vibrant and self-critical Israeli press, report daily on every twist and turn of the conflict and are very frequently critical of Israel. As for American campuses, most objective observers would have little difficulty concluding that far from being criticism-free, they are in fact dominated by critics of Israel. Clearly, as strangleholds on criticism go, whatever stranglehold the pro-Israel community has on debate in the U.S. is a very loose one indeed.

If the charge that American Jews are able to stifle criticism of Israel is simply silly, the leveling of the charge that there is something nefarious about Jews urging support for the Jewish state raises questions about whether Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer have descended into a certain ugliness. And the tactic of trying to neutralize those questions by loudly predicting that they will be asked, however clever a tactic it may be, does not neutralize them.

It is apparently the authors' position that, even in the face of the overwhelming leverage of an Arab world swimming in petrodollars, with a lock on the U.N. and an unlimited ability to pay for pro-Arab public relations, American Jews are obliged to stay silent. In essence, Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer have repackaged the "the-Jews-run-the-country" stuff which has long been the bread and butter of anti-Semites. 

Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer deny that they are anti-Semitic, and that is certainly good news. But where they are apparently content with foreign oil money being used to advance a pro-Arab position on the Middle East, but devote themselves to criticizing American Jews for lobbying their public officials in support of the Jewish state, one may legitimately wonder what phrase would apply. Surely, one's denial that he is anti-Semitic, while welcome, is hardly dispositive; after all, the marked increase in anti-Semitism around the world is well-documented, and yet one rarely hears anyone actually announce that they are anti-Semitic, or that their views are anti-Semitic.

But if anti-Semitism is too harsh a term, and if the word "bigoted" is also taken off the table, perhaps one can be forgiven for concluding that "anti-Jewish bias" fits the bill here. After all, where there is nothing wrong with foreign money from Arab countries advancing a pro-Arab agenda in Messrs. Walt's and Mearsheimer's world--but there is something very wrong with American citizens who are Jewish exercising their civic right to speak out on behalf of Israel and taking issue with the pro-Arab agenda--even the most vehement disclaimers of any bias against Jews lack a certain credibility.

The potency of the Middle East-funded anti-Israel lobby around the world and in the U.S. is difficult to ignore. Yet, Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer and others who adhere to an anti-Israel line ignore it. In and of itself, this is not surprising. When at the same time they portray American Jews' efforts to make the case for Israel as morally suspect, however, they open themselves up to reasonable charges of something far more troublesome than mere hypocrisy, and that is anti-Jewish bias, by whatever name.

Mr. Robbins, a U.S. delegate to the U.N. Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration, is an attorney at Mintz, Levin in Boston.

dinsdag 11 september 2007

Iran zet zich in voor normen en waarden - in Sharia stijl

Als je in Iran woont kun je een ernstige berisping - en mogelijk ook straf - krijgen voor het 'verkeerd' dragen van je hoofddoek. Dit betekent dat er een plukje haar onderuit komt of hij er niet islamitisch genoeg uitziet. Ook een zichtbaar stukje huid van been of arm of enkel is ten strengste verboden. Daarnaast is de strijd ingezet tegen de koffieshops, biljarthuizen en satelliet televisie.
 
Zie hier voor een vergelijking tussen de mensenrechten en tolerantie in Iran en Israël.
 
Ratna
____________________________

Iran steps up crackdown against 'immoral' activity
Sep 10 04:29 AM US/Eastern
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070910082938.0nbc8ddu&show_article=1

Iran is pressing on with one of its toughest moral crackdowns in years, warning tens of thousands of women over slack dress, targeting "immoral" cafes and seizing illegal satellite receivers, local media reported on Monday.

The Iranian police launched the crackdown in April in a self-declared drive to "elevate security in society" that encompassed arrests of thugs, raids on underground parties and street checks of improperly dressed individuals.

Reza Zarei, commander of police in Tehran province, said that since the drive began police in his region have handed out 113,454 warnings to women found to have infringed Iran's strict Islamic dress rules.

"Of these 1,600 cases have been given to the judiciary" for further investigation, he said.

He added that 5,700 people -- including 1,400 men -- have been sent to "guidance classes" on how to behave in society.

Zarei said police have been targeting billiard halls and coffee shops -- the latter hugely popular in Tehran as a meeting place for men and women -- as certain establishments promoted immorality.

"One of the main grounds for the creation of social and ethical crimes are billiard halls and coffee shops," he said.

The student news agency ISNA and the Kargozaran newspaper quoted Zarei as saying that police had shut down 3,000 coffee shops and billiard halls although the official IRNA news agency said the establishments had merely been given warnings.

"I am pleased to have carried out this plan to elevate security in society," Zarei said.

Watching satellite television is illegal in the Islamic republic as it is deemed to spread decadence and has long been the target of periodic crackdowns by the police.

Zarei said police had closed down 68 warehouses selling satellite equipment, seized 27,000 receivers and arrested 535 people linked to the underground industry.

Some reformists in Iran have argued that the authorities would be better off combating poverty or traffic rather than moral laxity but conservatives have applauded the police for seeking to restore revolutionary Islamic values.

Petitie tegen vernielingen bij afgravingen op Tempelberg

Het Committee to Prevent Destruction of the Temple Mount Antiquities heeft een petitie ingediend tegen de Israëlische regering en de Israel Antiquities Authority, omdat zij geen actie ondernemen tegen de grootschalige graafwerkzaamheden door de Waqf op de Tempelberg. De regering en de IAA zijn verplicht om alle heilige plaatsen te beschermen en te voorkomen dat bij bouwwerkzaamheden restanten of waardevolle archeologische vondsten verloren kunnen gaan. Aan Israëlische werkzaamheden moet daarom altijd eerst een archeologische opgraving vooraf gaan om dergelijke schade te voorkomen. Deze voorzichtigheid staat in schril contrast met de huidige werkzaamheden van de Waqf, bedoeld om electriciteitskabels te vervangen.

The petition, against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, other cabinet ministers and the Israel Antiquities Authority, maintains that Temple courtyards were located where the dig is taking place, and that some 400 tons of dirt removed in the process contain priceless archaeological artifacts from various periods.

"The excavations were carried out in an area where the bedrock is sometimes at a depth of only half a meter," the petition stated. "Therefore, massive digging to a depth of a meter and a half entails damage to ground layers, some of which may have been in place since the first Temple stood there 3,000 years ago. Excavating with heavy equipment and tractors severely damaged the ground and directly caused the destruction of ancient stones and other artifacts."

Onder de ondertekenaars van de petitie zijn de Israëlische schrijver A.B. Jehoshua, bekende politici en archeologen en mensen uit de veiligheidssector, met visies uit het gehele politieke spectrum.
 
Ratna
__________________________________

Group petitions court to stop Muslim dig on Temple Mount
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 23:19 09/09/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/902475.html

Members of the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday, seeking to stop an excavation by the Waqf, or Muslim religious trust, on the Temple Mount.

Waqf officials say the digging of the trench, 500 meters long and 1.5 meters deep, is necessary to replace 40-year-old electric cables. But the petitioners say the work "is causing irreversible damage to antiquities and archaeological artifacts of the greatest importance, and is being carried out illegally, without the requisite authorizations."

The petition, against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, other cabinet ministers and the Israel Antiquities Authority, maintains that Temple courtyards were located where the dig is taking place, and that some 400 tons of dirt removed in the process contain priceless archaeological artifacts from various periods.

"The excavations were carried out in an area where the bedrock is sometimes at a depth of only half a meter," the petition stated. "Therefore, massive digging to a depth of a meter and a half entails damage to ground layers, some of which may have been in place since the first Temple stood there 3,000 years ago. Excavating with heavy equipment and tractors severely damaged the ground and directly caused the destruction of ancient stones and other artifacts."

The petitioners charged that law enforcement authorities are failing to meet their obligation to uphold the Antiquities Law on the Temple Mount.

The petition was signed by author A. B. Yehoshua; former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat; Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; prominent archaeologists Ephraim Stern, Amihay Mazar, Ehud Netzer, Israel Finkelstein, Moshe Kochavi, Gabriel Barkai and Eilat Mazar; retired Israel Defense Forces generals Zvi Zamir, Yitzhak Hofi and Giora Eiland; attorney Shmuel Berkovitz; and The Jerusalem Post, which also claimed that the Mount is closed to media coverage.

An IAA official said Sunday that its policy on Temple Mount excavations "is subordinate to the government." A political source said the Waqf's work was authorized by the police and the IAA.

Waqf officials termed the committee's charges "propaganda" and repeated their position that the biblical Temple was never located in the area known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

maandag 10 september 2007

Duitse vakbonden sluiten zich aan bij Amerikaanse in verzet tegen boycot Israël

Goed nieuws uit Duitsland! De Duitse Federatie van Vakbonden spreekt zich krachtig uit tegen boycots van Israël:

In its statement opposing the boycott campaign, the DGB said "Israel's right to exist is non-negotiable," adding that "Anyone who challenges the foundations of the Jewish state can always reckon with our decisive resistance". 

DGB President Michael Sommer recently told a German newspaper that calls for boycott measures are reminiscent of the Nazi slogan, "Don't Shop at Jewish Stores!"

Dit zouden ze eens aan hun Britse partners moeten uitleggen.
 
Ratna
________________
 
German Unions Follow U.S. Labor to Oppose Boycott Against Israel
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/09-07-2007/0004658626&EDATE=FRI+Sep+07+2007,+12:32+PM

    NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
 
   The president of the Jewish Labor Committee today applauded yesterday's decision by Germany's largest labor federation to oppose a growing boycott campaign against Israel. JLC President Stuart Appelbaum, who is also the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the move by the 6.5 million-member Confederation of German Trade Unions [Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund DGB] is a "powerful statement against the Israel-bashing which has become common in the European labor movement." In July, the leaders of virtually every major U.S. union signed on to a JLC statement blasting British union support for the boycott effort.

    "The backers of the boycott campaign have pulled out the stops to brand Israel as the embodiment of evil in the Middle East," said Appelbaum. "Though they claim they are concerned with the problems facing Palestinians, their efforts only bolster the extremists who refuse to accept Israel's right to exist."

    In its statement opposing the boycott campaign, the DGB said "Israel's right to exist is non-negotiable, " adding that "Anyone who challenges the foundations of the Jewish state can always reckon with our decisive resistance"

    DGB President Michael Sommer recently told a German newspaper that calls for boycott measures are reminiscent of the Nazi slogan, "Don't Shop at Jewish Stores!"

    "When U.S. labor leaders stood up against the Israel-bashers in July they sent a powerful message of solidarity to the people of Israel and everyone else who believes in peace, " Appelbaum said. "Now, with the added backing of Germany's labor movement, the tide may be starting to turn against the boycott campaign."

    Based in New York, the JLC is a national organization of Jewish union activists and their supporters. Information on the JLC can be found on the web at:
http://www.jewishlabor.org
 
 
*** Balanced Middle East News ***
MidEastweb http://www.mideastweb.org
Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

MewBkd - Background & analysis -
mail to Mewbkd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Politie confisceerde wapens en explosieven van Neo-Nazi jongeren in Israël

Haaretz geeft hieronder verdere details over de in Israël gearresteerde bende van jonge Neonazi's.

Zoiets is toch ongelofelijk in Israël:

One video shows some of the teens surrounding a young Russian heroin addict, who admits he is Jewish. Later they order him to get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Russian people for being Jewish and a junky. They beat him mercilessly, along with another man who comes to his aid.

De Anti-Defamation League weet duidelijk niet goed wat het hiermee aan moet, en beschouwt de Neonazi's onterecht als slachtoffers:

In a statement, the group said neo-Nazi behaviour was a problem arising from the difficulties faced by immigrants, adding "The youth are angry at Israelis for holding them in contempt and lash out with hatred."

"The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazi they strive to emulate," the statement said.

Je emigreert eerst met je ouders naar Israël - omdat een van hun grootouders of familie Joods is - en dan ga je daar Joden aanvallen en eist excuses voor het feit dat ze Joods zijn. Op een bepaalde manier is het misschien zielig, maar het is in de eerste plaats walgelijk.  
 
Ratna
____________________________________________
 
Sun., September 09, 2007 Haaretz
Police seize explosives and M-16 rifle belonging to neo-Nazi cell
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/902093.html

Police have seized 5 kilograms of explosives, a pistol, and an M-16 assault rifle belonging to a group of alleged neo-Nazi youths in Petah Tikva. Police believe the group intended to use the weapons against punk rockers in the city, with whom they often clash violently.

A gag order was lifted Saturday night on the arrest one month ago of the eight Petah Tikva teens, who are suspected of running the neo-Nazi cell.

The suspects, aged 17 to 19, confessed to assaulting dozens of people, mainly foreign workers around Tel Aviv's central bus station and Carmel market, causing many of them serious injury.

The suspects' remand was extended Sunday by three days, and the prosecution is expected to submit an indictment Tuesday.

Police confirmed that the majority of the suspects were enrolled in Israeli public schools, and at least one was drafted into the army. Police suspect that the youth who was drafted fled the country after giving his army-issue M-16 to a member of the cell.

Police uncovered the cell a year ago, while investigating vandalism at the main synagogue in Petah Tikva, where neo-Nazis sprayed swastikas and Adolf Hitler's name on walls and prayer books. Computers seized from two suspects arrested in that case led police to dozens of video files documenting brutal assaults on foreign workers.

Superintendent Revital Almog, who was in charge of the investigation, said that the police learned that a "neo-Nazi cell was being operated in Israel by people living in Israel but believing in Nazi ideology and in Hitler."

"We discovered that besides their meetings, at which they praised Nazi ideology, they used to go out to Tel Aviv in a group to perpetrate racist attacks," Almog continued.

Almog said that the teens would deliberately select victims who they deemed too weak to complain. Most of them were foreign workers who the teenagers would attack, telling them that because they were not white, they would be harmed.

One video shows some of the teens surrounding a young Russian heroin addict, who admits he is Jewish. Later they order him to get down on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Russian people for being Jewish and a junky. They beat him mercilessly, along with another man who comes to his aid.

The group was also reportedly planning to celebrate Hitler's birthday at Yad Vashem.

More than 20 people who were in touch with the suspects, mostly via the Internet, were questioned throughout the investigation. Their parents were also questioned, and said they knew nothing of their children's activities.

Among those questioned was Rostislav Bogoslavski, who was arrested several months ago on suspicion of killing two people and hundreds of cats in Petah Tikva. Police believe Bogoslavski cooperated with two of the cell members in some acts of vandalism in the city.

Almog said that all of the suspects are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They all came to Israel through the Law of Return, but "their connection to Judaism is distant, through grandparents or distant family connections," she said.

The Anti-Defamation League responded to the arrests by urging that the group not be used as a stereotype for Russian immigrants in Israel, and saying that such cases were marginal.

In a statement, the group said neo-Nazi behaviour was a problem arising from the difficulties faced by immigrants, adding "The youth are angry at Israelis for holding them in contempt and lash out with hatred."

The ADL clarified that while the detainees were from the former Soviet Union and religiously identified as Christians, they had immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return which grants "even grandchildren of Jews sanctuary in the Jewish state."

"The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazi they strive to emulate," the statement said.


*** Balanced Middle East News ***
MidEastweb http://www.mideastweb.org
Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

MewBkd - Background & analysis -
mail to Mewbkd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Grote aanslag verijdeld - Hamas probeert terreur netwerk te herbouwen op Westoever

"Grote aanslag verijdeld"
Zolang er geen doden vallen komt het niet in het nieuws, en dus denken veel mensen dat er geen aanslagen zijn in Israël omdat Hamas zich aan een staakt-het-vuren houdt en zich heeft gematigd. Er worden echter geregeld aanslagen verijdeld, wapendepots gevonden en Palestijnen met explosieven aangehouden bij checkpoints. Met name voor het smokkelen van explosieven door een checkpoint worden vaak tieners gebruikt - Zij komen makkelijker door dan (jong) volwassen Palestijnen.

Hiermee is overigens niet gezegd dat iedere checkpoint onmisbaar is voor Israëls veiligheid. Het leger is momenteel bezig in opdracht van minister van defensie Barak om een lijst op te stellen van checkpoints die kunnen verdwijnen om zo de Palestijnen meer bewegingsruimte te geven. Dit soort lijsten roept echter vaak weer verzet op van andere mensen uit de veiligheidssector, en worden er inderdaad checkpoints opgedoekt, dan staan Hamas, Islamitische Jihad, de Al-Aqsa Martelaren Brigades of de Al-Quds Brigades klaar om uit te testen welke Israëlische experts nou gelijk hadden.

Ratna
______________________________

Diskin: Hamas is trying to rebuild infrastructure in West Bank
Shin Bet chief appears before cabinet, reveals IDF, Shin Bet foiled major suicide attack last week
Ronny Sofer YNET Published: 09.09.07, 17:46 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3447732,00.html

"The IDF and Shin Bet prevented a major suicide attack last week: Terrorists tried to smuggle a car bomb and several suicide bombers into Israel. Security forces intercepted the car, blew it up and seven terrorists were killed," Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin revealed in Sunday's cabinet meeting. He was referring to an incident on Thursday near the Kissufim border crossing in the central Gaza Strip.

"In recent months there have been numerous attempts, both from Gaza and from the West Bank, to carry out attacks on Israel," he told the ministers.

According to Diskin, the IDF uncovered a big Hamas weapons lab a few days ago. The organization, he said, is trying to rebuild its infrastructure in the West Bank and is doing its best to intensify weapons smuggling from Egypt.

Fatah, said Diskin, has demonstrated some policy changes: "Fatah is trying to organize mass prayers on Fridays and the Palestinian Authority has closed down 103 of Hamas' establishments in the West Bank.

"We have also seen some sporadic attempts at preventive action on part of Palestinian security forces," he added. "They have limited effect, but they show a certain change in policy."

Earlier Sunday, an IDF force at a checkpoint near Nablus detained a Palestinian teen, who was found to be carrying three pipe bombs meant to be used in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

An IDF investigation revealed that the youth was ordered to transfer the explosives from one side of the checkpoint to the other, where he was to hand them over to the suicide bomber. The explosives were seized and detonated by army sappers.


*** Balanced Middle East News ***
MidEastweb http://www.mideastweb.org
Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

MewBkd - Background & analysis -
mail to Mewbkd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Acht Russische immigranten jongeren gearresteerd voor Neo-Nazi activiteiten in Israël

Neonazi's in Israël...
Dit is geen misplaatste grap van antizionisten, of de bekende leugen dat de Israëli's met de Palestijnen doen wat hen zelf door de Nazi's is aangedaan.
 
Het is een triest gevolg van de grootschalige en (te?) ruimhartige immigratie van Russen in met name de jaren '90. Daar zij - of hun ouders - onder de Wet op de Terugkeer naar Israël zijn gekomen, hadden hun ouders tenminste één Joodse grootouder of andere naaste verwant.
 
Helaas brachten sommige immigranten blijkbaar de xenofobie mee die overal in het Oostblok is opgelaaid na de val van het Sovjet-communisme, en die velen juist hoopten te ontvluchten toen ze naar Israël kwamen.
 
Terugsturen zal wel niet gaan, maar natuurlijk horen zulke jongeren in Israël niet thuis. - Waar eigenlijk wel?
 
Abby
___________________________________________________________

Israeli 'neo-Nazi gang' arrested
 
Alleged Nazi gang members
The gang photographed themselves doing Nazi salutes

 
Israeli police say they have broken up a gang of neo-Nazis who are accused of carrying out attacks on foreigners, gay people and religious Jews.

The eight suspects, aged 16-21, are all Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union. They were arrested a month ago, but the news only emerged on Saturday.

Police say searches of their homes yielded Nazi uniforms, portraits of Adolf Hitler, knives, guns and TNT.

Israel was founded in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust in which millions died.

The arrests follow a year-long inquiry which began after a synagogue in Petah Tikva, a city east of Tel Aviv, was desecrated with graffiti of Nazi swastikas and the name of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his horror at what he called "violence for the sake of violence."

"I am sure that there is not a person in Israel who can remain indifferent to these scenes, which indicate that we too as a society have failed in the education of these youths," he said.

Tattoos

The eight accused, who include the group's alleged leader, are all from Petah Tikva.

The gang members sported tattoos popular with white supremacists - including the number 88, code for Heil Hitler because "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

It is difficult to believe that Nazi ideology sympathisers can exist in Israel, but it is a fact
Revital Almog, lead investigator
"We believe that this is the main gang working in the area... the main gang that exists [in Israel] that attempts to use Hitler's ideology," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP news agency.

Police say the gang members would target homosexuals, Jews who wore a skull cap and drug addicts, often video taping their attacks.

"It is difficult to believe that Nazi ideology sympathisers can exist in Israel, but it is a fact," Revital Almog, the police official who led the investigation, told Israeli public radio.

Video tapes

The suspects have admitted assaulting a number of people in Tel Aviv, most of them foreign workers.

Ms Almog said the gang would pick on someone who appeared unable to defend themselves and then attack.

They often filmed or photographed the violence.

Dachau inmates
An estimated six million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust
Footage of the attacks show people lying on the ground whilst being kicked by more than one assailant.

In one clip a man is hit around the back of the head with a bottle.

According to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz one video shows gang members surrounding a Russian drug addict as he admits to being a Jew. The youths then order him onto his knees to beg for forgiveness for being Jewish and a drug addict before viciously beating not only him, but also another man who tries to intervene.

The suspects all migrated to Israel under the Law of Return which allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to become a citizen.

Ms Almog said of the accused, "their connection to Judaism is distant, through grandparents or distant family connections".

zondag 9 september 2007

VS oud-senator James Abourezk: "9-11 was een Zionistisch complot"

Er zitten gekke mensen in de Amerikaanse senaat....
Op Hezbollah's Al Manar legt oud-senator James Abourezk uit waar het terrorisme vandaan komt, en wie er achter de aanslagen op 9/11 zitten...
 
James Abourezk: "No, it's after the Soviet Union collapsed. The Zionists were looking around for another enemy to have, because to them the Soviet Union was an enemy because they wouldn't allow Jewish emigration. So they used that as an organizing tool, basically, and when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was no more organizing about the Soviet Union. So they looked around, and they said: Well, the Muslims. Let's find the Arabs and the Muslims, and make them the boogeyman. And that's what they did."

Interviewer: "But why did this sentiment of hatred increase after 9/11?"

James Abourezk: "Well, because the Arabs who were involved in 9/11 cooperated with the Zionists, actually. It was a cooperation. They gave them the perfect excuse to denounce all Arabs. It's a racist sort of thing, really racist – you know, picking out these 19 or 20 terrorists – they were terrorists – and saying all the Arabs are like them. So, you know, people in America don't really look at it that deeply, and they accept what the government and the press are saying."[...]

 
 
Zo extreem is dit alles wellicht toch niet. Vorig jaar - vijf jaar na 9/11 - stonden de kranten vol met de allerlei complottheorien, in het blad van Amnesty International las ik zojuist een ingezonden brief van iemand die een website heeft gewijd aan 'het vinden van de waarheid over 11 september', en op een conferentie over het Midden-Oosten, mede georganiseerd door de Novib, werden DVD's met complottheorieën hierover uitgedeeld. 
 
Abourezk meent overigens ook dat Ilan Pappe de geschiedenis van Israël adequaat beschrijft, Alan Derschowitz een 'echte slang' is, en Hezbollah en Hamas legitieme verzetsbewegingen zijn.
 
Op dergelijke onzin past eigenlijk maar één reactie, vrij naar Greenpeace:
 
Pigs can fly
Earth is flat
Israel is behind 9/11
Zionism is racism 
 
 
Ratna
 
(PS: Op een bevriende web log: De waarheid over 11 september 2001 )
_____________________________________________________________ 
 
Special Dispatch—U.S. and the Middle East 
September 7, 2007
No. 1708

Former U.S. Sen. James Abourezk on Hizbullah TV: The Arabs Involved in 9/11 Were Cooperating with the Zionists; People in America Don't Really Look at it That Deeply - They Accept What the Government and the Press Are Saying

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD170807

The following are excerpts from an interview with former U.S. senator James Abourezk (D-SD), which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 30, 2007.

To view this clip, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1551.htm.


"Yes, I Watch Al-Manar... in America"

Interviewer: "Mr. Abourezk, welcome to Al-Manar TV."

James Abourezk: "Thank you very much."

Interviewer: "It's good to have you."

James Abourezk: "Yes, I watch Al-Manar on one of the cable channels in America."

Interviewer: "Good, that's excellent. Especially [considering] the fact that Al-Manar TV was banned in the U.S. Does that really show something which is like shooting the freedom of expression?"

James Abourezk: "Well, freedom of expression is free for those whom the government likes. If they don't like them, freedom of expression goes out the window, apparently."

[...]

James Abourezk: "...You heard in the press."

Interviewer: "Now look what's happened in the case of Dr. Norman Finkelstein. It's something which is, you know..."

James Abourezk: "It's disastrous, disastrous. They've..."

Interviewer: "What happened to him?"

Alan Dershowitz – "A Real Snake"

James Abourezk: "He lost his tenure bid. So he therefore is going to have to go somewhere else, and find a job teaching."

Interviewer: "Why?"

James Abourezk: "Well, because they shot down his tenure. Even though his department was all for it, and the department heads were all for it, the president of that university shot it down."

Interviewer:  "It's just because he was not an advocate of Israel?"

James Abourezk: "No, because the lobby put pressure on him – specifically, Alan Dershowitz. He's a real snake, I have to say that."

[...]

Interviewer: "You also called Hizbullah and Hamas 'resistance fighters.'"

James Abourezk: "They are."

Interviewer: "While the U.S. administration brands them as 'terrorist organizations'..."

James Abourezk: "That was done at the request of Israel. That name was done at the request of Israel – that the United States calls them terrorist organizations."

"The Original Terrorists [in the Middle East] Were Headed by [Menahem] Begin"

Interviewer: "On the other hand, you also declared that the original terrorist groups in the Middle East were the Jewish terrorist groups. What is this based on?"

James Abourezk: "It's based on fact. In fact, the original terrorists were headed by Begin, who was the head of the Irgun, and by Shamir, another prime minister, who was the head of... one of the three members of the Stern gang's leadership. I used to know Natan Yellin-Mor, by the way, one of the three leaders of the Stern gang, and he became a peacenik. He wanted peace in the Middle East, and he would..."

Interviewer: "Stern being one of the gangs of... Israeli gangs..."

James Abourezk: "One of the terrorist groups, vicious terrorist groups. Natan Yellin-Mor became... He was one of the heads of the Stern gang. They had a three-part head, and he was one of them. But he became a peacenik. He wanted peace between the Arabs and the Israelis, and so they boycotted him, the Israelis. When he would come to Washington, nobody would talk to him. So he used to come to me, and I would make appointments for him."

Interviewer: "But what made him change his mind?"

James Abourezk: "I don't really know. I think he saw the folly in what was going on. But you know... I mean... Look, anybody who knows anything about the history of Israel knows that Israel, by force of arms, stole all the territory in Palestine. There's no question about it. There's a new historian, Ilan Papp?, an Israeli historian, who's written an excellent book called The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.
 
Yes, it's an excellent book, and it's history, and it's true history. But it tells how they had a plan to go in and kill and terrorize the Palestinians, to make them empty out Palestine, so they could take it over. That was a very vicious thing they did, and the more vicious thing is that now they call the Palestinians 'terrorists.'"

Interviewer: "Who are homeless in their own land..."

James Abourezk: "Absolutely, yes."

Interviewer: "Here I need to ask you something, which is growing and escalating in the Western world, and particularly in the U.S., which is this immense wave of anti-Arab, anti-Muslim sentiment, lumping all Arabs together as 'terrorists.' This was clearly manifested in movies and TV series, like 24. Why? Why now? Is it just after 9/11?"

"The Arabs Who Were Involved in 9/11 Cooperated With the Zionists"

James Abourezk: "No, it's after the Soviet Union collapsed. The Zionists were looking around for another enemy to have, because to them the Soviet Union was an enemy because they wouldn't allow Jewish emigration. So they used that as an organizing tool, basically, and when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was no more organizing about the Soviet Union. So they looked around, and they said: Well, the Muslims. Let's find the Arabs and the Muslims, and make them the boogeyman. And that's what they did."

Interviewer: "But why did this sentiment of hatred increase after 9/11?"

James Abourezk: "Well, because the Arabs who were involved in 9/11 cooperated with the Zionists, actually. It was a cooperation. They gave them the perfect excuse to denounce all Arabs. It's a racist sort of thing, really racist – you know, picking out these 19 or 20 terrorists – they were terrorists – and saying all the Arabs are like them. So, you know, people in America don't really look at it that deeply, and they accept what the government and the press are saying."[...]

"Israel... Wanted Syria Weakened Somehow, and to be Made an Enemy of the United States – So They Got Their People in Congress to Pass the [Syria Accountability] Act"

Interviewer: "Since we are here now in Damascus, the capital of Syria – how did you face this Syria Accountability Act, which most think is unfair? But as a former senator – where does the injustice here, particularly in this act, lie?"

James Abourezk: "Well, the injustice is that because Israel... I'm telling you, Israel is behind this move, because they wanted Syria weakened somehow, and to be made an enemy of the United States, so they got their people in Congress to pass the act. You see, the members of Congress are afraid to vote against anything the lobby wants. So, this is something the lobby wants..."

Interviewer: "So who is controlling who?"

James Abourezk: "The lobby is controlling the Congress."

Interviewer: "But you said that the U.S. is not in need of Israel, but rather, Israel needs the U.S."

James Abourezk: "Yes, that's right. But how they..."

Interviewer: "It's very paradoxical."

James Abourezk: "Well, how they fulfill that need is by pressuring Congress to support Israel. The chief objective of the Israeli lobby is to keep the American taxpayers' money flowing to Israel. That's the chief objective. They stop anybody who criticizes Israel, so that may stop the money from flowing. That's why they attack people who attack Israel."[...]

"I... Marveled at the Hizbullah Resistance to Israel... It Was  a Marvel of Organization, of Courage and Bravery"

Interviewer: "Sir, in 2001, you came all the way from the U.S. to Lebanon to congratulate Lebanon, the Lebanese, and the resistance for the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon. Now what do you say during this time, which is in remembrance a year of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and the earthshaking victory of the resistance, supported by the people of Lebanon. What do you say to them?"

James Abourezk: "That was quite an extraordinary thing, I thought. I actually marveled at the Hizbullah resistance to Israel, how they did it. It was a marvel of organization, of courage and bravery. I thought it was quite something."

Interviewer: "Do you think it's only the courage and organization that made them do this?"

James Abourezk: "Yes, absolutely. They were highly organized, the resistance, and they were very brave. They didn't turn and run, like some Arabs armies have done. They were defeated because of that. But this is something new for the Arab world. I said at the time: The Lebanese army should ask Hizbullah to come and organize it, to train them, you know. And all the Arab armies should have the Hizbullah come and do that."

*********************
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-Mail: memri@memri.org
Search previous MEMRI publications at
www.memri.org

__,_._,___

Sabeel en Christelijk antizionisme

Onlangs is in Nederland een afdeling van Sabeel opgericht, een organisatie van Palestijnse Christenen en sympathisanten. Men is uiteraard voor vrede en gerechtigheid voor beide volken, maar: Israël moet geboycot, Palestijnse Christenen hebben zogenaamd alleen te lijden onder de bezetting, niet onder discriminatie door Hamas en de Palestijnse Autoriteit, nergens wordt met een woord gerept over Palestijns geweld, alle vluchtelingen moeten kunnen terugkeren naar Israël, enz. enz.
 
Sabeel is gebaseerd op de zogenaamde bevrijdingstheologie, en op 'replacement theology', de doctrine dat de kerk de plaats van de Joden als uitverkorenen heeft ingenomen. Vaak wordt daarbij gesuggereerd dat Joden daarmee ook hun recht op zelfbeschikking hebben verloren, en God de Joden straft vanwege het doden van Christus. Voor meer informatie over de replacement theology zie het artikel Christian Zionism.
 
Volgens een recent artikel van Sabeel is Israëls bestaansrecht gebaseerd op de Holocaust, en meent Israël dat het vanwege de Holocaust recht heeft op een staat op Arabisch land. Even wordt vergeten dat het Zionisme al in de 19e eeuw ontstond en de Volkenbond Palestina in 1922 als Joods Nationaal Thuis voor de Joden aanwees.
 
De Holocaust heeft de noodzaak van Joodse zelfbeschikking op tragische wijze duidelijk gemaakt, maar het Joodse recht op zelfbeschikking staat daar los van. De notie dat Israël was gesticht op Arabisch land ontkent de Joodse band met en aanwezigheid in Palestina door de eeuwen heen, en impliceert dat er een Palestijnse staat was die zomaar werd ingenomen door Europese kolonisten. Palestijnse nationale aspiraties ontstonden pas na 1948, als reactie op het Zionisme. Bovendien waren het de Arabieren die iedere vorm van deling afwezen en een oorlog tegen de Joodse gemeenschap in Palestina begonnen...
 
Ratna
___________

Genocide in Sheep's clothing: Fair Witness debunks Sabeel

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2007/09/genocide-in-sheeps-clothing-fair.html

 
RELIGION PRESS RELEASE SERVICES
A Press Release Distribution Service from Religion News Service
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 4, 2007
Contact: Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.
(212) 870-2320
New York, New York

 
Fair Witness Deplores Statement By Rosemary Radford Ruether
 
Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East deplores a statement entitled "Beyond Holocaust and Nakba Denial: Toward Compassionate Co-humanity" by Professor Rosemary Radford Ruether which recently appeared on the Friends of Sabeel, North America website.

"Sabeel has a long history of denying the legitimacy of the Jewish state and employing supersessionist themes, classic anti-Semitic themes and the use of deicide language in its characterizations of Israel," according to Fr. James Loughran, S.A., Director of the Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute. "We therefore find any claim on the part of this organization to be seeking 'compassionate co-humanity' somewhat disingenuous from the outset."
   
The lack of a genuine search for "compassionate co-humanity" is evidenced at the beginning of Prof. Ruether's article where she attempts to explain Holocaust denial by alleging that the Jewish history with Nazi Germany has somehow been transformed into an Israeli sense of entitlement to a "state built on Arab land." "Prof. Ruether is a scholar. She should acknowledge that the modern state of Israel was not 'built on Arab land,'" says Rev. Dr. Bruce Chilton, the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College. "After World War I what had previously been territory of the Ottoman Empire was divided into what are now 21 independent Arab countries and one Jewish state based upon both peoples' centuries' old ties to this land. The boundaries drawn have sometimes proven problematic, but it does not help to distort history further."

Curiously, Prof. Ruether uses a purported anecdote about some anonymous settlers in Gaza ten years ago to add credence to her premise that a Holocaust driven mentality shapes Israeli policy.  This anecdote strikes Fair Witness as too conveniently supportive of Ruether's point to be credible, especially where she puts quotes around statements then attributed to "the settlers."  Did they all cry out these alleged statements in unison?  The statements, even if actually made by some Israelis, are irrelevant.  Comments by random Israeli settlers express neither Israeli policy nor national perspective.  Fair Witness is dismayed by Prof. Ruether's disingenuous attempt to suggest they do.

While Fair Witness disapproves of a tendency on the part of some to overuse the Holocaust as a rhetorical and political tool, this in no way renders Ruether's insidious use of this historical tragedy to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Jewish state permissible.  "The world did not need the Holocaust to justify the creation of a Jewish state.  Jews, just like the Palestinians and all other peoples, have the right to constitute an autonomous and sovereign political community," says Sr. Ruth Lautt, Fair Witness National Director.

Ms. Ruether's article includes the sensationalist and baseless claim that Israeli leaders such as David Ben-Gurion planned the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.  While she provides no citation for this invidious accusation, it appears to be based upon a letter written by the former Prime Minister to his son. "Ben-Gurion's letter has recently been widely misquoted," says Dexter Van Zile, who has carefully researched the matter.  "The actual Hebrew text (as reported by  Efraim Karsh, Professor of Mediterranean Studies at the University of London, on pages 50-51 of Fabricating Israeli History) reads 'We do not wish, we do not need to expel Arabs and take their place … All our aspiration is built on the assumption that there is enough room in the country for ourselves and the Arabs.'"

"How carefully did Prof. Ruether research her sources?" questions Van Zile.  "You can't level an accusation as heinous as intentional ethnic cleansing based upon what appears to be nothing but shoddy scholarship."

Prof. Ruether also resorts to drawing the contrived parallel between the Palestinian "Nakba" and the Holocaust. "There would have been no Palestinian or Jewish refugees had the Arab nations accepted the U.N. partition (under resolution 181) of the British mandate," points out Rev. Dr.  Roy W. Howard, pastor of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church (USA) in Rockville, Maryland.  "Prof. Ruether leaves that piece of history out of her narrative.  She also neglects to point out that the 'expanded state of Israel' resulted not from some (implied) Israeli landgrab -- but from a war that followed the combined Arab armies' attempt to destroy Israel. 

Prof. Ruether's final point is that the respective suffering of the Jewish and Palestinian people holds the potential for building a mutual respect on which a peaceful solution could be constructed.  "It is a shame that this hopeful aspiration, with which we concur, is merely tacked onto the flurry of distorted historical narrative by which Ruether delegitimizes Israel's standing and thereby undermines the very outcome she claims to seek," laments Rev. Dr. Peter Pettit, Director of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College.
_______________________________

Sr. Ruth Lautt, OP, Esq.
National Director
Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East
475 Riverside Drive, Ste 1960
New York, NY 10115
(212) 870-2320
www.christianfairwitness.com