Holocaust tentoonstelling in Naalin op Westelijke Jordaanoever

Dit is een nobel initiatief, dat alle lof verdient. Het volgende is echter onjuist:

 

""Unfortunately, we are paying the price for the immense pain suffered by the Jews during the Holocaust. There is no comparison between our suffering and that of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, but everyone should understand that we are suffering too, as a result of what the Germans did to the Jews."

 

Nee, de Palestijnen betalen de prijs voor hun eigen onwil een compromis te accepteren. De inwoners van Naalin betalen de prijs voor de tweede intifada, toen honderden Palestijnen zich in bussen, op pleinen, en in restaurants in Israel opbliezen. Men betaalt de prijs voor het blijven vechten tegen een sterkere vijand, in plaats van te gaan onderhandelen. Niet alles wat Israel doet is rechtvaardig, maar dat betekent niet dat dat is veroorzaakt door de Holocaust.

 

Het Israelische wantrouwen in de Palestijnen komt door een lange geschiedenis van geweld en pogingen Joden te vermoorden, die teruggaat tot de pogroms door de mufti in gang gezet van de jaren '20 en '30 van de vorige eeuw. Vanwege het aanhoudende Arabische 'verzet' zetten de Britten de Joodse immigratie naar Palestina stop, notabene nadat Hitler aan de macht was gekomen en zijn plannen steeds duidelijker werden. Na de oorlog en de Holocaust wilde de moefti zoiets ook wel in Palestina uitvoeren, en zette daartoe een legertje op.

 

Het is gemakzuchtig de Holocaust als oorzaak van de Israelische agressie aan te wijzen, en de eigen rol zo buiten beschouwing te laten. Maar misschien is dit vooralsnog een brug te ver. Zolang de Palestijnen hun eigen rol blijven ontkennen zal het echter moeilijk blijven tot echte verzoening en toenadering te komen.

 

RP

---------------

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3662822,00.html

Naalin holds Holocaust exhibit

'Unfortunately, we are paying price for pain suffered by Jews,' says member of village committee

Roi Mandel

Published:

01.27.09, 20:47

 

As the world commemorated the Holocaust Tuesday, a small village in the West Bank held a surprising exhibit memorializing the most tragic event in modern Jewish history.

 

Naalin, a village that has become the symbol for the Palestinians' battle against Israel's construction of a separation fence in the West Bank, erected a display of photographs purchased from Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and invited the public to learn more about the persecution of the Jews.  

Residents gaze at Holocaust images in Naalin (Photo: Khaled)

 

Mohammad Amira, a member of the village's Land Defense Committee, said hundreds of people visited the exhibit by early afternoon. He said many had praised the initiative.

 

"People are surprised at what they see here; there are people who are seeing images of the suffering in the Holocaust for the first time. There are people who didn't know anything about Jewish history," Amira said.

 

Regarding the decision to present the exhibit to residents of Naalin, many of who have been harmed by the construction of the separation fence, Amira said, "We thought the public should understand the pain and suffering the Nazis caused the Jews.

 

"Unfortunately, we are paying the price for the immense pain suffered by the Jews during the Holocaust. There is no comparison between our suffering and that of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, but everyone should understand that we are suffering too, as a result of what the Germans did to the Jews."

 

'Jewish pain has strength'

Khaled Mahmid, who heads the Arab Institute for Holocaust Research and Education in Nazareth, said he believes the Arabs "must understand the Holocaust – the power and strength that the Jews' pain has."

 

He added, "All violence Palestinians perform on the Israelis is not effective, causes suffering, and summons Holocaust anxiety among the Jews."

 

"The Holocaust," Mahmid said, "was a horrible and methodical murder of six million innocents, which affects all of the citizens of Israel even today. The Palestinians need to understand that the Jews have a defense mechanism deriving from the horrid murder in the Holocaust."

 

He said the two-state solution would only have a chance to succeed if the Palestinians made an effort to understand this "profound pain", and relinquished all acts of violence "that stirs existential anxiety in the Jews." Mahmid added that the violence exhibited by both sides is a direct result of the Holocaust.

 

Regarding the exhibit Mahmid said, "The Koran orders us to acknowledge the Holocaust and understand it. The Jews must remember that many of them were saved during the Holocaust thanks to their brothers in the Arab lands. We must overcome Hitler's affects together."

 

 

 

Spanje verandert wet over vervolgen oorlogsmisdadigers

Ook België heeft de wet uiteindelijk aangepast, zodat Sharon niet vervolgd kon worden voor oorlogsmisdaden. Dit gebeurde echter pas nadat ook Belgische politici kans liepen met deze wet te worden vervolgd voor oorlogsmisdaden die in Congo zouden zijn gepleegd. Hoe dan ook, zijn dergelijke wetten niet bedoeld om politici van bevriende naties te vervolgen voor beslissingen waar wij het misschien niet mee eens zijn, maar voor het vervolgen van echte oorlogscriminelen en schurken zoals Idi Amin en Robert Mugabe.

RP

 

Zie ook: EU subsidieert Palestijnse NGO die Israeli's aanklaagt

------------- 


Last update - 16:38 30/01/2009

Spain to amend law in bid to prevent war crimes probes against Israel
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaertz Service The Associated Press


Spain announced on Friday its plans to amend the law that granted a Spanish judge the authority to launch a war crimes investigation against senior Israeli officials.

The judge decided to launch an investigation against Israel's National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six other current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed one Hamas militant and 14 other people, including nine children.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos telephoned Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday, and told her his government was undertaking swift action to amend the law that made the launching of the probe against Israeli officials possible.

Livni welcomed Spain's decision to amend the law, and said it was an important announcement for the Israeli public.

"Legal systems around the world have been exploited by cynics whose sole purpose is to hurt Israel," she said on Friday. "It's good that Spain decided to put an end to this phenomenon."

Israel's Justice Ministry on Friday transferred documents to the Spanish court that had allowed the opening of the war crimes probe, urging the court to drop the charges.

On Thursday, Ben-Eliezer, who served as defense minister at the time of the bombing, blasted the decision as "ludicrous." He said that "even more than ludicrous, it is outrageous. Terror organizations use the courts of the free world and the mechanisms of democratic nations to file lawsuits against a country that operates against terror."

Judge Fernando Andreu said the attack by Israel, which targeted senior Hamas militant Salah Shehadeh in a densely populated civilian area, might constitute a crime against humanity.

"I do not regret my decision." added Ben-Eliezer. "Salah Shehadeh was a Hamas activist, an arch-murderer whose hands were stained with the blood of about 100 Israelis and who carried out the most heinous attacks against our citizens."

The Justice Ministry on Thursday sent the Israeli Embassy in Madrid a large amount of documents which included legal rulings and Supreme Court decisions dealing with the targeted killing of Shehadeh.

Israeli Ambassador to Spain Rafi Shotz will on Friday give the material to the Spanish judge in order to help bring a cancellation of the ruling.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak earlier Thursday lambasted Andreu's decision as "delusional."

"Whoever calls the assassination of a terrorist a 'crime against humanity' is living in an upside-down world," said Barak, in a statement released by his ministry.

Barak added that, "All senior officials in the security establishment, current and erstwhile, have acted appropriately on behalf of Israel and from a commitment to defend its citizens."

The judge is acting under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain of such an offense or crimes like terrorism or genocide even if they are alleged to have been committed in another country.

Andreu announced the probe in a writ issued Thursday.

The people named in the suit include Dan Halutz, former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff and Israel Air Force commander at the time, as well as Ben-Eliezer.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the decision to open the probe.

"It's absurd; Israel is fighting against war criminals and they are charging us with crimes?" said Netanyahu, speaking on Army Radio.

He added: "There is nothing more ridiculous and absurd than them accusing us, a democracy legitimately protecting itself against terrorists and war criminals, of these crimes; it is absurd and makes a mockery out of international law."

Meanwhile, Israel is preparing for a wave of lawsuits by pro-Palestinian organizations overseas against Israelis involved in the latest Gaza fighting, claiming they were responsible for war crimes due to the harsh results stemming from the IDF's actions against Palestinian civilians and their property.

Senior Israeli ministers have expressed serious fears following the war about the possibility that Israel will be pressed to agree to an international investigation of the losses among non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead; or alternately, that Israelis will be faced with personal suits, such as happened to Israeli officers who were accused of war crimes in Britain for their actions during the second intifada.

 

Moshe Yaalon, of hoe citaten van Israeli's vervalst worden

Een helder voorbeeld van hoe uitspraken van Israeli's verdraaid worden tot nep-citaten om Israel en het zionisme in een kwaad daglicht te zetten. Heeft iemand zo'n verkeerd citaat eenmaal op internet gezet, dan gaat dat een eigen leven leiden en wordt dit eindeloos aangehaald en herhaald. Zo zijn er vele tientallen citaten van Sharon, Dayan, Begin, Rabin, Ben-Goerion, sommige compleet verzonnen of verdraaid, bij andere is essentiële context weggehaald. De bedoeling is altijd te laten zien hoe wreed de Israeli's waren of zijn, dat het zionisme een racistische beweging is die erop uit is om iedere Arabier te onderwerpen en soms zelfs dat zij gebaseerd is op een nazistische ideologie van raszuiverheid. Hoe dan ook, laat onderstaande een reden zijn om dit soort citaten voortaan met een flinke korrel zout te nemen.

 

RP

----------

 

The Jewish Press / Jan. 14, 2009
What Did Moshe Yaalon Really Say?
by Jason Maoz, Senior Editor
Posted Jan 14 2009
http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/37792/

 

 

An op-ed column in last Thursday's (Jan. 8) New York Times by Columbia professor of Arab studies Rashid Khalidi, while fairly unremarkable in its boilerplate condemnation of Israel's military operation in Gaza, ended dramatically with a citation of the following statement allegedly made in 2002 by former IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon:

"The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."

Pretty strong imagery, bringing to mind an Israeli boot planted firmly on the neck of a prostrate Palestinian. But a simple Google search immediately made it clear the quote is not just inaccurate but turns the meaning of Yaalon's actual words upside down, and so the Monitor's alter ego wrote about the matter on Commentary magazine's Contentions blog. (Meanwhile, the trusty folks at CAMERA had also been on the case and are demanding a correction or clarification from the Times.)

The bogus version of the quote (which Khalidi did not originate but which he used in his 2005 book Resurrecting Empire) has been circulating on the web since at least early 2003, cited ad nauseam by Arab news services, neo-Nazi websites and leftist bloggers, though never with a hyperlink to the actual article where it supposedly appeared - an August 2002 interview in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Here is what Yaalon actually said when asked, "Do you have a definition of victory? Is it clear to you what Israel's goal in this war is?":

<quote>
I defined it from the beginning of the confrontation: the very deep internalization by the Palestinians that terrorism and violence will not defeat us, will not make us fold. If that deep internalization does not exist at the end of the confrontation, we will have a strategic problem with an existential threat to Israel. If that [lesson] is not burned into the Palestinian and Arab consciousness, there will be no end to their demands of us .
<end quote>

He later elaborated:

<quote>
The facts that are being determined in this confrontation - in terms of what will be burned into the Palestinian consciousness - are fateful. If we end the confrontation in a way that makes it clear to every Palestinian that terrorism does not lead to agreements, that will improve our strategic position. On the other hand, if their feeling at the end of the confrontation is that they can defeat us by means of terrorism, our situation will become more and more difficult .

<end quote>

         Tellingly, the same week Haaretz ran the interview with Yaalon, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharanot published the transcript of a speech Yaalon had just given to a conference of rabbis in Jerusalem. Its blunt tone drew criticism from leftists, but the sentiments expressed dovetailed with what Yaalon told Haaretz: "It is imperative that we win this conflict in such a way that the Palestinian side will burn into its consciousness that there is no chance of achieving goals by means of terror."

          It's clear, then, that in both his speech to the rabbis and his interview with Haaretz, Yaalon - far from saying the Palestinians had to be "made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people" - was stating that the Palestinians had to understand that Israel would not be defeated by violence and terror.
Further indication that Yaalon did not make the remark attributed to him by Khalidi and others is that two days after publication of the Haaretz interview, Israeli über-leftist Uri Avnery wrote a column in Maariv detailing everything he found offensive in Yaalon's responses. There was no reference to any statement by Yaalon about making the Palestinians understand that "they are a defeated people."

             It's hard to say with any degree of certainty who first circulated the egregious misquote, though one of the earliest and most oft-cited sources is Henry Siegman, formerly a Jewish organizational official and for years now one of Israel's fiercest critics in the American Jewish community. Siegman has used the misquote in a number of columns over the past six years, though not always consistently.


             What is fairly certain is that this is yet one more example of an insensitive or incendiary comment falsely attributed to Israeli officials (one of the most notorious is the statement Ariel Sharon is supposed to have made regarding Israel's control of Congress) and given eternal life among in cyberspace for the comfort and edification of Israel's enemies.


Jason Maoz can be reached at jmaoz@jewishpress.com

Hamas leiders roepen overwinning uit na Gaza Oorlog

Hamas claimt de overwinning, zoals te verwachten, en zegt dat de bevrijding van Jaffa, Jeruzalem, Tel Aviv en de rest van Palestina nu nabij is. Wat verontrustend is is dat de media de Hamas propaganda zo klakkeloos overnemen en tegelijkertijd blijven geloven dat met Hamas te praten is en uiteindelijk vrede te sluiten door Israel.  

 

Senior Hamas official Isma'il Radhwan stated at the rally: "The Gaza victory has paved the way to Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, the Negev, and the West Bank. Gaza is not our [only] enterprise; [our national enterprise includes] Gaza and Palestine. We will continue fighting until the occupation is defeated on Palestinian soil."(4)

 

Meshaal: "As we won the Gaza war, so we will win a war aimed at lifting the siege and opening the crossings, as a preliminary to the liberation of the country, the return [of the refugees], the liberation of Jerusalem, and extricating ourselves from the occupation."(1)

 

Hamas wil Palestijnse eenheid slechts baseren op deze ideeën en strategie, niet op onderhandelingen en compromissen.

 

RP

----------

Mash'al: "The Resistance Entered Every Home, and Has Become an Ideal Among the Arab Nation and Worldwide"

 

"What happened in Gaza was the first real serious war [fought by] our people on their territory, and therefore it constitutes a turning point in the war with the Zionist enemy. The occupation has failed both politically and in the [battle]field, in that it was compelled, after three weeks, to stop the fighting unilaterally, with no agreement, binding conditions, or stipulations restricting the resistance.

"Two weeks prior to the ceasefire, the Zionist entity, through mediators, attempted to impose on us conditions of surrender, [i.e.] stopping the resistance in Gaza by [declaring] a long-term tahdia [calm] and disarming it.

"However, we staunchly held our ground both in the [battle]field and in the political arena. We rejected these conditions, and they were forced to stop their aggression, [admit] defeat, and withdraw unconditionally. We were adamant in our rejection [of these conditions], since we put our trust in our people's choices and rights.

"The enemy leaders wanted to achieve several objectives: to break the resistance, defeat it, and expel it from Gaza; [and] to inculcate our nation with defeatism, end Hamas's rule, and stop the firing of missiles. What was the outcome? The resistance showed fortitude and became an element equal to [the Israeli army], despite the difference in resources. The firing of missiles continued; our people rallied around the resistance and stood fast. Hamas, which [the Israelis] had set out to destroy, gained strength; the resistance has entered every home and has became an ideal among the Arab nation and worldwide."

"We Want an Intra-Palestinian Dialogue... But the Residents of the West Bank Must Rise Up and Resist... As Happened In Gaza"

Mash'al continued: "We were glad when the intra-Arab conciliation began, [although] it has not been achieved; [now] we seek an [intra-]Palestinian conciliation. However, having learned a lesson in Gaza, we want a conciliation based on the resistance and the rights, rather than on pointless negotiations, agreements, and conditions [set by] the Quartet. We want an intra-Palestinian dialogue - but in order to provide it with the proper basis, the residents of the West Bank must rise up and resist until victory, as happened in Gaza.

"This, however, will be possible only if the resistance fighters [i.e. Hamas members imprisoned by the PA in the West Bank] are set free and if the weapons of the resistance are regarded as legitimate and honored.

"As we won the Gaza war, so we will win a war aimed at lifting the siege and opening the crossings, as a preliminary to the liberation of the country, the return [of the refugees], the liberation of Jerusalem, and extricating ourselves from the occupation."(1)

Palestinian Factions "Creating New Supreme National Authority... The PLO No Longer Constitutes a Supreme Authority of the Palestinians"

At a rally marking the "Gaza victory" in Qatar, Mash'al said that the Palestinian factions were initiating a "surprising" move and were acting to "create a new supreme national authority, that will represent the Palestinians in [Palestine] and outside it, and will include all the national Palestinian forces and all the streams in the Palestinian people...
In its present state, the PLO no longer constitutes a supreme authority of the Palestinians; instead, it has turned into an administration aimed at dividing the Palestinian home."(2)

Hamas Spokesman to PA: "Join What Your People Has Chosen - Jihad and Resistance"

At the rally, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called on the PA: "Stand aside and catch your breath. You are exhausted and must rest, so that the people can rest [as well]. The equations have changed; victories have been achieved; all bets have failed. Enough! Time is not on your side, and the clock cannot be turned back. Join what your people has chosen - jihad and resistance."(3)

"The Gaza Victory Has Paved the Way to Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, the Negev, and the West Bank... We Will Continue Fighting Until the Occupation is Defeated on Palestinian Soil"

Senior Hamas official Isma'il Radhwan stated at the rally: "The Gaza victory has paved the way to Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, the Negev, and the West Bank. Gaza is not our [only] enterprise; [our national enterprise includes] Gaza and Palestine. We will continue fighting until the occupation is defeated on Palestinian soil."(4)

Mash'al to Europe: "You Should Be Ashamed... For Not Making It Possible For Us to Obtain Weapons... The Time Has Come For Reciprocal Relations With Hamas"

At the Qatar rally, Mash'al addressed Europe, saying: "You should be ashamed. It is a crime that you are cannot stop the aggression against us, and that you are not making it possible for us [to obtain] the weapons of the resistance. It will be a mark of disgrace on the forehead of Europe and the rest of the Western entities, if this policy continues.

"The time has come for reciprocal relations with Hamas, which has been legitimized both by the struggle and by the ballot box...(5)

Mash'al then addressed U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, warning him against disregarding the resistance, and saying, "All political, security, and military efforts will fail if they are based on disregarding the resistance."(6)

 

MEMRI Special Dispatch | No. 2219 | January 29, 2009

=========
Endnotes:
(1) www.palestine-info.info, January 21, 2009.
(2) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 21, 2009.
(3) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 21, 2009.
(4) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 21, 2009.
(5) Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 21, 2009.
(6) Al-Sharq (Qatar), January 29, 2009.

For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.
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.

MEMRI
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
www.memri.org

EU subsidieert Palestijnse NGO die Israeli's aanklaagt

Het is schandalig en arrogant dat in verschillende Europese landen Israelische politici en officieren worden aangeklaagd voor oorlogsmisdaden. Het volgende is tekenend:

 

The case was eventually dismissed and the law changed after Belgian officials linked to African dictators realized that they, too, were vulnerable to prosecution.

 

Europese staten hebben niet alleen de nodige tonnen boter op hun hoofd, maar waren niet lang geleden in Afrika en andere continenten betrokken in de nodige onverkwikkelijke zaken, en sommige landen hebben nog steeds banden met onfrisse figuren. In plaats van steeds zo op vermeende Israelische wandaden te focussen, zouden we beter onze eigen rol in de wereld kritisch onder de loep kunnen nemen, en ons afvragen of wij het in Israels plaats zoveel beter zouden doen. Hoe zouden wij reageren als we omringd waren door landen die op zijn best een koude vrede met ons hebben, maar waarvan sommigen groeperingen steunen die uit zijn op onze vernietiging en daartoe bijna dagelijks raketten afschieten? De morele zelfgenoegzaamheid die steeds naar boven komt waar het Israel betreft is walgelijk, en het geeft te denken dat het juist Israel is dat door ons steeds de les wordt gelezen.  

 

RP

----------

Analysis: EU-funded Palestinian NGO leading the 'Spanish inquisition'

GERALD M. STEINBERG , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 30, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233050212794&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

The case in Spain against Israeli officials, which stems from the 2002 air force attack that destroyed the home of a senior Hamas terrorist and killed several of his children, is based on the universal jurisdiction provisions in the legal systems of a number of democratic countries.

While designed to bring heinous dictators to justice, "lawfare" - as this tactic has been dubbed - is exploited by non-governmental organizations that use the façade of universal human rights to promote their political goals.

The pattern emerged in 2001 when Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Badil (which focuses on refugee claims) and other NGOs used Belgium as the venue for allegations of war crimes against then-prime minister Ariel Sharon. The case was eventually dismissed and the law changed after Belgian officials linked to African dictators realized that they, too, were vulnerable to prosecution.

In 2005, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, who had retired from the IDF and was traveling to London to raise funds for the treatment of autism, stayed on an El Al plane at Heathrow Airport after NGOs targeted him with legal proceedings. This case, too, was later dropped, but the damage had been done.

The Spanish example of "lawfare" was initiated by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). With a large budget provided by the European Commission, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and other European governments, PCHR is among the leaders of the anti-Israel demonization strategy.

The strategy was developed in the NGO Forum of the 2001 Durban Conference, the goal being to use boycotts and legal processes to brand Israel an "apartheid" state, while legitimizing terrorism. During the recent Gaza operation, PCHR issued over 50 statements, most of which included allegations of "war crimes."

In contrast, top Israeli government figures have been very slow to recognize these threats and devise a counter-strategy. While "lawfare" has been around for a number of years and PCHR filed its request with Spanish authorities in June, it has failed to register in the IDF and elsewhere.

After the Gaza operation, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to provide legal support for officials caught up in the harassment - a belated and irrelevant approach. In response to the developments in Spain, Defense Minister Ehud Barak reacted angrily and Pubic Security Minister Avi Dichter expressed hope "that common sense will prevail" among Europeans.

Somewhat more concretely, the Foreign Ministry has pressed European governments to amend their legal codes to prevent NGOs from bringing such cases to court, but scant attention has been paid in Israel to EU and government funding for PCHR. There has been no cost to European officials, such as the Spanish prime minister, who are still welcomed by Israel as peace mediators.

After the surprise attack delivered by the Spanish court, the Israeli government will have to give much higher priority to preventing "lawfare" cases before ministers and IDF officers are met by police in the arrivals hall and taken for interrogation.

 

=============
Prof. Gerald M. Steinberg is executive director of NGO Monitor and chairs the Political Science Department at Bar-Ilan University

Een gemiddeld antwoord aan de gemiddelde anti-zionist

 

Het is logisch dat de Palestijnen het VN delingsplan niet accepteerden, aangezien zomaar de helft van hun land werd afgepakt, zo betogen sympathisanten van de Palestijnen vaak. Hieronder een reactie op onder andere deze bewering, met historiche bronnen.

 

RP

-------------

 

Generic reply to Generic anti-Zionist

29.01. 2009
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000657.html
Original content copyright by the author
Zionism & Israel Center http://zionism-israel.com

If you are like me, your inbox is flooded with "criticism of Israel" these days. This comes in a variety of forms.

I prefer the peace loving humanitarians who are frank and open, and write something like,

Jew, your Talmud teaches you to hate goyim. We have had enough of your Jew atrocities against the oppressed Hamas freedom fighters. We are going to finish Hitler's work.

The more polished ones also use the "F***" word to good effect. I value intellectual honesty and straightforward old fashioned race hate and gutter language, especially when the writer, with priceless unconscious humor, explains that "not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism, you f*ing Jew bastard."

Letters from Jews are more problematic. It is not that we do not understand that there are Jewish anti-Semites as well as anti-Zionists. We know that. It is not even that we cannot, at bottom, understand the depravity and mental cowardice that makes Jews turn against our own people. But the feeling of shame that such Jews exist is overwhelming, and the bad aroma they leave in the air, like that which is experienced after opening a rotten egg, is hard to disperse.

Some of the letters assert that the doings in Gaza were precisely like the Nazi suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt, others may be based on the usual premise that Israel has no right to exist. Most of them combine both arguments. At bottom, the reason they are critical of this or that Israeli action is that Israel has no right to exist according to them. The reason Israel has no right to exist is that Jews are in some way inferior to other peoples in their views. We should always ignore the superficial current "issues" and get to the nitty gritty of the argument.

Because there is always so much of this going 'round, we have compiled a series of questions and answers for such people that we hope you find helpful: FAQ-Zionism and Israel. It is important to answer these perennial accusations when they appear in public debate, because we need to address a neutral audience that often has no grasp of basic facts. The crazies have created their own set of facts, which are just as convincing to the ignorant as the actual facts - more convincing in fact, because they are more sensational and easier to digest. The bad information drives out the good. They always have "scoops" that nobody else saw. It is a source of continual amazement that no matter how much one writes about the Middle East and Zionism, no matter what long list of documents and meticulous proofs one amasses, the crazies are always there to offer you "new information" that you must consider, and which they think you never saw.

It is generally a waste of time replying to "criticism of Israel" by such people in e-mails, as there is no hope of changing their mind. It is however, a useful intellectual exercise and sometimes serves to let off steam. I have replied at length to one of these gentlemen of Jewish extraction, Menachem Korn by name. To anticipate the notes I might get from some of our readers, I note that you can look him up in Google and see what sort of erudite and rational thought this sort of person represents. I won't write more because Snoopy of Simply Jews promises to take up the subject.

It seems a pity to waste a useful set of replies on this one fellow, especially as he wrote a standard sort of multipurpose anti-Zionist screed and I gave a standard sort of multipurpose reply that can be recycled. Herewith the correspondence, slightly edited.

His first letter:

I saw your article here making fun of Jewish life in America: Aliya to Dotan Alabama

I wonder if you would like to comment on the following excerpted from an email to a relative who is a strong Zionist:

Perhaps Israel has a positive destiny in the world. I honestly do not know. But one thing is for sure: the original UN partition plan was unfair and unrealistic. And it is time that people acknowledge that fact. For the injustice behind it is the source of all the misery ongoing to this day.

Many people think that the violence committed by Palestinian groups against Israel today is no different in kind than the sabotage committed by Zionist terror militia against the British Mandate before 1948, or the attacks of the Jewish partisans in the Warsaw Ghetto against the German occupying forces. You may not agree with this assessment, but you need to have a logical reason for not agreeing. And the first step is to understand the historical process, in which Israel was created as a "Jewish" state with a 40% Arab minority population who would live at best as second class citizens. Also the Jews, who owned only 7% of the land prior to 1948, were awarded with 60% of the land by the UN. These two facts alone should alert you to the injustice behind the UN decision.

Mr Korn goes on to provide "educational links" to a number of "proofs" of the inequity of Zionism of the usual kind.

Korn's letter was the more valuable as it was admittedly a canned anti-Zionist screed of a standard type, that had been already sent to at least one of this gentleman's unfortunate relatives. It is a boiler plate type, that deserves the attention of a boiler plate reply that can be used on any occasion.

Mr Korn,
The land was promised to the Jewish people under international law by the Balfour Declaration [actually by the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine] . On the basis of that pledge, the Zionist movement invested sweat, blood and money to turn a land of malarial swamps into a viable homeland for the Jews.

At a critical moment in history that land, that was to have been a refuge for the Jews, was closed to Jewish immigration. The partition plan, which took half of the 20 - odd percent of the mandate land [remaining after the partition of Transjordan] and gave it to the Arabs, was certainly unfair to the Jews who had developed the land and made it support nearly 2 million people,

Many people can think what they want. We are not responsible for their depraved ideas. If you think that a suicide bomber blowing up in a discotheque and killing 15 year old kids is the same as attacking British soldiers who were drowning Jewish immigrants in the Mediterranean, then it is your problem and not ours.

If you think that the massacre of 6 million Jews who did nothing to incur the ire of the Nazis is precisely the same as actions taken against terrorists in self defense, there is nothing anyone can do about that.

Hitler also had excuses for hating the Jews.

The Arabs of Palestine in 1948 were led by Hajj Amin El Husseini, an escaped Nazi war criminal. Their plan was suited to his ideas, and had they won the war in 1948 every Jew in Palestine would have been slaughtered.

Jews had lived for hundreds of years in Jerusalem. In a series of pogroms, the Arabs, spurred on by British imperialists and later by the Abwehr, reduced the Jewish population of the old city of Jerusalem from 5,000 to about 3,000 and then to about 1,600 soulds. This sorry remnant too was ethnically cleansed to the last man, woman and child in 1948. This was considered an example of the humane behavior of the Jordan Legion under its British officers. The Jews of Hebron were similarly forced out of their city, where they had lived for hundreds of years. There is no doubt that that would have been the fate of every Jew living in the land of the Palestine mandate had the Arabs won the war.

Not only Golda, but Ben Gurion also said that there is no Palestinian Arab people, and besides them several Arabs said it as well. Before 1948 there were no Palestinians here except us Jews. Arabs did not call themselves Palestinians, but rather Arabs. The war of extermination that was organized by the Nazi Grand Mufti in 1948 was not waged on behalf of a Palestinian people but rather on behalf of the Arab ouma and the Muslim ouma. There was never any record of a Palestinian Arab national life in history, nor did they ever make any claim to self determination as a separate nation, but only as part of the Arab people. Since 1967, Yasser Arafat and the PLO created, or tried to create, a new reality. The jury is still out on whether or not there is a Palestinian people and a Harakat Wataniyeh filistiniya, (Palestine Liberation Movement) as the PLO/FATAH claim, or whether there is only a Harakat Mukawama Islamiyeh - Hamas - the MUSLIM Resistance movement, which actually has no national aspirations but only religious aspirations.

Golda and Ben Gurion's pronouncements were in any case appropriate rejoinders to the declarations of the PLO and of anti-Zionists like yourself, that there is no Jewish people, and to the declared intention of the PLO to wipe out Israel.

Be that as it may, Israel accepted the legitimacy of the Palestinian people and their right to a state. Too bad that certain depraved degenerates, along with the reactionary genocidal religious fanatics of the Hamas, have still not accepted the legitimacy of the Jewish people, and our right to a state.

If you think that Golda's pronouncement about Palestinian Arabs was unjust, how much more outrageous is the denial of the right to self determination to the Jews, who are one of the oldest nations on earth?

Sincerely,
Ami Isseroff

Mr Korn would not leave well enough alone, and sent the following rejoinder:

the British made promises to BOTH sides in World War I: the Jews and the Arabs.

Balfour was only half the equation.

i encourage you to read the following about how the Balfour declaration really came about:

rense.com/general34/amaz.htm
sweetliberty.org/issues/israel/freedman.htm
benjaminfreedman.net/
...

The following is an edited summary of several of my replies to the above.

What you mean to say is that Arab propaganda later made out that the British had made promises to both sides.

Several British officials made it clear that no promises were made to the Arabs regarding Palestine, except that civil rights of the inhabitants would not be infringed. The obligation the British undertook, at the behest of British anti-Zionist Jews, was to provide only a Jewish national home in Palestine [rather than to make all of Palestine a national home]. This was clearly fulfilled when the British created Transjordan, and Mr Churchill said as much:
Churchill White Paper 1922.
[Churchill also made clear British recognition of the significance of the League of Nations Mandate, which was a declaration in International Law]:

But in order that this community should have the best prospect of free development and provide a full opportunity for the Jewish people to display its capacities, it is essential that it should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on the sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in Palestine should be internationally guaranteed, and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.

This, then, is the interpretation which His Majesty's Government place upon the Declaration of 1917, and, so understood, the Secretary of State is of opinion that it does not contain or imply anything which need cause either alarm to the Arab population of Palestine or disappointment to the Jews.

The above was written by Mr. British Government Himself, Winston Churchill, in an open and public document. There is nothing ambiguous about it.

Balfour, who wrote the declaration, opined that it would eventually lead to a Jewish State. [See Balfour's views on Zionism]. Who understood the intentions of Mr. Balfour and Mr. Churchill better, Messrs Balfour and Churchill, or Mr Jeff Rense and Mr. Benjamin Freedman?

Can you provide a reference to the Freedman White Paper or the Rense White Paper as instruments of British policy? When did they serve in HM government?

King Feisal made it clear that Arabs welcomed the Zionists, and that their only beef was to ensure that the British would honor their promises to Feisal concerning Syria:
Feisal-Frankfurter Correspondence
Feisal-Weizmann agreement

In any case, it doesn't matter what the British promised during WW I, but rather what was anchored in international law in the Mandate of the League of Nations.

Rense is a racist conspiracy Web site and the rest are anti-Zionist screeds. Unlike the references you give, the above are original documents. - they reflect what happened, not what some anti-Zionist or anti-Semite wants you to believe happened in history. The obligation to provide balance only extends to telling the truth whether it hurts or helps one side or the other. It doesn't extend to giving equal space to lies and conspiracy theories.

You did not explain how you can adamantly assert that the Palestinian Arabs are a nation with the right of self determination, while maintaining that Jews are a non-entity.

Ami Isseroff

If you find the above useful, save them for whenever you are confronted by the sort of arguments that Mr Korn and his ilk are apt to use.*

Ami Isseroff

 

* Arguments are always more effective if you can cite original documents to back them up. If you received this article in text only format, here are the URLs of the documents mentioned above:

http://www.zionism-israel.com/Balfour_Declaration_1917.htm  Balfour Declaration.
http://www.zionism-israel.com/hdoc/Feisal_Weizmann_Agreement.htm  Feizal - Weizmann Agreement.
http://www.zionism-israel.com/hdoc/Feisal-Frankfurter-Correspondence.htm  Feisal-Frankfurter Correspondence
http://www.zionism-israel.com/Balfour_Introduction_to_Zionism.htm  Arthur Balfour - Zionism
http://www.mideastweb.org/1922WP.htm  Churchill "command" White Paper
http://www.mideastweb.org/Mandate.htm .

You can find all the above linked from: http://zionism-israel.com/zionism_documents.htm
Additional replies to the skeptics, the malicious and the ignorant:
http://zionism-israel.com/issues

---

Original content is Copyright by the author 2009. Posted at ZioNation-Zionism and Israel Web Log, http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000657.html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Disributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only.

Gaza familie als menselijk schild gebruikt door Hamas

 

Het zoveelste voorbeeld van hoe Hamas de bevolking als menselijk schild gebruikt. Behoorlijk gevaarlijk ook voor deze familie uit Gaza om Hamas zo openlijk te beschuldigen.

Wouter

_____________


Bulletin
Jan. 29, 2009

Palestinian Media Watch

Gaza victims describe being used as human shields by Hamas

by Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook

 

Members of a Gaza family whose farm was turned into a "fortress" by Hamas fighters have reported that they were helpless to stop Hamas from using them as human shields. They told the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper that for years Hamas has used their property and homes for military installations from which to launch rockets into Israel, dig tunnels and store arms. According to the victims, those who tried to object were shot in the legs by Hamas.
 
The following are excerpts from the article from the official Palestinian Authority daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida:


"The Abd Rabbo family kept quiet while Hamas fighters turned their farm in the Gaza strip into a fortress. Right now they are waiting for the aid promised by the [Hamas] movement after Israel bombed the farm and turned it into ruins...

The hill on which the Abd Rabbo family lives overlooks the Israeli town Sderot, a fact that turned it into an ideal military position for the Palestinian fighters, from which they have launched hundreds of rockets into southern Israel during the last few years. Several of the Abd Rabbo family members described how the fighters dug tunnels under their houses, stored arms in the fields and launched rockets from the yard of their farm during the nights.

The Abd Rabbo family members emphasize that they are not [Hamas] activists and that they are still loyal to the Fatah movement, but that they were unable to prevent the armed squads from entering their neighborhood at night. One family member, Hadi (age 22) said: "You can't say anything to the resistance [fighters], or they will accuse you of collaborating [with Israel] and shoot you in the legs."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 27, 2009]

Hezbollah aanslag op Israelisch doel in Europa verijdeld

 

Een nogal vaag bericht.

 

Wouter

__________

 

 

Hizbullah attack against Israeli target in Europe foiled
Jan. 28, 2009
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

 

Israel's intelligence agencies recently thwarted a major Hizbullah terror attack against an Israeli target in Europe, security officials revealed on Wednesday.

 

The attack was foiled by Israel in conjunction with a European intelligence agency. Hizbullah planned the attack to avenge the February 2008 assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus.

 

Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered Israeli security services to raise their level of alert out of fear that Hizbullah will increase its efforts to launch an attack against an Israeli or Jewish target abroad ahead of the first anniversary of Mughniyeh's assassination on February 12.

 

Mughniyeh was the commander of Hizbullah military forces and was assassinated on in a car bombing in Damascus. While Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination, Hizbullah has declared its intention to avenge Mughniyeh's death by striking at Israel.

 

The assessment in the Israeli intelligence community is that Hizbullah plans to attack an Israeli target overseas that will not have its direct fingerprints on. Hizbullah is believed to have extensive terror infrastructure in Africa and South America and was allegedly behind the bombings in 1992 and 1994 in Buenos Aires.

 

Hizbullah, the intelligence community believes, is deterred from launching an attack along the northern border out of fear of Israel's potential response. The two recent Katyusha rocket attacks into northern Israel are believed to have been carried out by a Palestinian terror group, although under the direction of Hizbullah.

Grenzen Gaza weer open na terreuraanval op IDF jeep

 

Het is bijna ondoenlijk om de grenzen te openen voor humanitaire hulp aan Gaza en tegelijkertijd duidelijk te maken dat geen aanvallen op Israel meer getolereerd zullen worden. Dat kan men alleen duidelijk maken door tijdelijk de grenzen te sluiten of militaire aktie te ondernemen...

 

Wouter

__________

 

Crossings reopen following lethal terrorist attack

28th January, 2009
(Communicated by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Spokesman)

 

Kerem Shalom, Karni, Nahal Oz and Erez crossings operated on Wednesday enabling humanitarian movements and transfer of humanitarian goods in to Gaza. Throughout the day, a total of 174 trucks with 4701 tons of supplies at the request of UNRWA, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, The International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and a donations from Jordan and Let the Animals live Israel. Also, goods for the private sector comprised of dairy products, fruit, and reproductive eggs. Also, 45,000 liters of heavy duty diesel for the Gaza power station were transferred via the Nahal Oz fuel depot. Following extensive maintenance activities, Karni conveyor belt resumed operation and conveyed 3116 tons of different types of grain.

Before the lethal terrorist attack at Kissufim on the 27th January, 2009, causing the immediate closure of the crossings, a total of 243 tons of grain were transferred via the Karni conveyor belt. Via the Nahal Oz fuel depot 82,000 liters of heavy duty diesel and 25 tons of gas for domestic needs were transferred.

Today Kerem Shalom, Karni, Nahal Oz and Erez crossings are operating for humanitarian needs.

Since the beginning of the operation, 74,979 tons of humanitarian supplies have been transferred to the Gaza Strip. Also, 6,682,451 liters of fuel have been conveyed through Nahal Oz and Kerem Shalom. In the ongoing humanitarian effort, since the unilateral cease fire (18/1/2009), 35,404 tons of aid has been delivered to the Gaza Strip and 2,873,900 liters of fuel.

 

De Noorse diplomate met haar Nazi-vergelijking

 

Gedurende de Gaza operatie waren de vergelijkingen met het getto van Warschau niet van de lucht. Niet alleen botte reaguurders op internet en antisemieten op Stormfront beweren zulke nonsens, maar ook steeds meer politici en diplomaten.

 

RP

-----------

Nazi-Shmatzi hypocrisy

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/01/nazi-shmatzi-hypocrisy.html

Aren't we all getting just a bit tired of comparisons between the Warsaw Ghetto and the Gaza Strip? When did the SS truck in food supplies for the Jews and treat them in German hospitals?

 

The Hamas in Gaza "revolted" in order to realize their "legitimate right" to destroy Israel. The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto revolted in order to defend their honor, since saving their lives was a hopeless proposition. Those who really cannot tell the difference are totally depraved and devoid of moral sense, but at least they should be able to count. How many Jews were left alive at the conclusion of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ?? - A.I.

 

 

Hypocrisy!

 

by David A. Harris
Executive Director
American Jewish Committee
January 26, 2009

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Trine Lilleng,

 

You were an unknown Norwegian diplomat till this month.

 

No longer.

 

As first secretary in the Norwegian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, you recently sent out an email on your office account in which you declared: "The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany."

 

Accompanying your text were photos, with an emphasis on children, seeking to juxtapose the Holocaust with the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza.

 

Clearly, you are miscast in your role as a diplomat, all the more so of a nation that has sought to play a mediating role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

 

In fact, you're desperately in need of some education.

 

Let's begin with your current posting. You've been in Riyadh since 2007.

 

If you're so anguished by human rights violations, perhaps you could have begun by devoting some of your attention - and email blasts - to what surrounds you.

 

Or were your eyes diplomatically shut?

 

Have you failed to notice the many legal executions, including beheadings, going on in your assigned country?

 

Have you ignored the often abysmal treatment of foreign workers, many from Asia, who also happen to be disproportionately counted among the victims of Saudi capital punishment?

 

Have you neglected the gender apartheid that surrounds you? Did you ever look out of your car to notice that Saudi women are proscribed from driving, and that's hardly the worst of it?

 

Have you checked the skyline of Riyadh or Jeddah lately to count the number of church spires or other non-Muslim houses of worship?

 

Have you bothered to inquire about the fate of homosexuals?

 

Okay, you were AWOL on those issues. Maybe you just didn't want to offend your hosts by speaking the truth, or maybe you're suffering from that diplomatic disease known as "localitis" or "clientitis."

 

But surely a woman like you, with such capacity for empathy for those in far-away places, and especially for children in danger, couldn't remain silent about other human rights transgressions, could she?

 

After all, could an individual so deeply moved by the plight of Palestinians in Gaza remain silent about what a New York Times columnist earlier this month described as "hell on earth" - Zimbabwe? Could a person so anguished by the fate of Palestinian children stay mum about a country where a girl's life expectancy at birth is 34, much less than half that of her Norwegian counterpart, and where the health care sector has vaporized, all thanks to the one-man rule of Robert Mugabe?

 

Could such a dedicated humanist possibly avert her eyes from the deadliest conflict since the Second World War, which has killed over five million people, many of them children, in the Congo in the past decade - not to mention the documented and widespread use of torture, rape, and arbitrary detention?

 

An observer of such acute sensitivity could hardly hold her tongue while Afghan girls attempting to go to school have been doused with acid by those who wish to deny young women access to education, reminiscent of the five years of Taliban rule, could she?

 

In neighboring Pakistan, where you served in the Norwegian embassy for three years, the beleaguered human rights community must have been fortunate to have such an impassioned voice for all that's wrong in this failing state. Or was that voice, perhaps, on mute?

 

The children of Sderot, the Israeli town near the Gaza border, have been in desperate need of just such a spokesperson as you for the past eight years.

 

After all, their town has been in the crosshairs of literally thousands of missiles and mortars fired from Gaza. Those Israeli children live with all the signs of trauma, knowing that, with only 15 seconds warning, they could be hit at any time in their schools, their parks, or their beds. Yet, during my visit there last week, for some reason, those children and their parents had yet to hear you speak out for them. What a pity!

 

And the children of Iran could use your help as well. According to human rights groups, Iran has no compunction about executing children or those who were children when their crimes were allegedly committed.

 

Oh, and by the way, your compassionate help would also undoubtedly be welcomed by others under the gun in Iran, including women's rights activists, union organizers, student protesters, independent journalists, reformist politicians, and religious minorities. And let's not forget, once again, the children of Israel, who, according to the Iranian president, don't have a right to live.

 

But wait! A Google search about you reveals nothing, not a single word, regarding your views on Zimbabwe, Congo, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sderot, or Iran. Or, for that matter, Burma, Darfur, Syria. Shall I go on?

 

Only Israel, faced with those who wish to destroy it, manages to prompt your impassioned correspondence and righteous indignation. Why?

 

No less, your stunning lack of education extends beyond the contemporary world to 20th century history, specifically the Holocaust.

 

Your invocation of the Holocaust to describe what's taken place in Gaza is, frankly, nothing short of obscene.

 

Your claim that the grandchildren of the survivors are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them goes beyond any norm of decency, much less honesty.

 

Approve or disapprove of the Israeli military operation, but there is no basis whatsoever for such a comparison.

 

When Israel entered Gaza in a war of self-defense in 1967, the population was 360,000. After Israel withdrew totally from Gaza in 2005, it was estimated at 1.4 million.

 

Would that the Jewish population under Nazi rule had quadrupled!

 

When Israel entered Gaza in 1967, life expectancy for women was 46. When it left Gaza, it was 73.

 

Shall we even bother to discuss life expectancy for Jews under Nazi occupation?

 

The Second World War in Europe lasted from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945 - 68 months in all. That means an average monthly extermination rate of nearly 90,000 Jews.

 

Compare that to the total number of victims in Gaza over three weeks - roughly guesstimated at more or less 1,000 - and recall that the majority were armed fighters committed to Israel's destruction, who used civilians, including children, as human shields, mosques as arms depots, and hospitals as sanctuaries.

 

Believe me, Ms. Lilleng, if the "grandchildren of the Holocaust survivors" had wanted to do exactly what the Nazis did to their grandparents, they would have unleashed their full air, land, and sea power. They would have thrown the Israel Defense Forces' ethical guidelines to the wind, kicked out the UN and Red Cross personnel on the ground, stopped humanitarian transports of food, fuel, and medicine, prevented media reporting, and left absolutely nothing - and no one - standing.

 

Unless, of course, they needed slave labor, in which case they would have carted off the able-bodied to work in Auschwitz replicas until they dropped. Or material for ghoulish medical experimentation, in which case, in the spirit of Mengele, they would have kept Palestinian twins alive temporarily.

 

But Israel didn't do any of these things. It's a peace-seeking democracy dedicated to the rule of law - unlike so many of the countries whose horrific sins you blithely choose to overlook.

 

What are we to make of your selective moral outrage and rank hypocrisy?

 

You ought to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why Israel, and only Israel, makes your blood boil and leads you to speak out, even at the risk of grossly distorting both reality and history.

 

The answer, Ms. Lilleng, should be painfully obvious.

Hamas oorlogsmisdaden in Gaza

 

De berichten - en bewijzen - van oorlogsmisdaden gepleegd door Hamas stapelen zich op. Hieronder worden een aantal zaken op een rijtje gezet.

 

RP

---------

Hamas war crimes in Gaza

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/01/hamas-war-crimes-in-gaza.html

The truth about Hamas crimes in Gaza

The evidence of Hamas' war crimes, its exaggeration of civilian casualties and damage to property, its abuse of humanitarian aid and its intimidation of Gaza's residents are finally coming to light.

Despite Hamas' best efforts to hide the truth about events in the Gaza Strip, the evidence of Hamas' war crimes, its exaggeration of civilian casualties and damage to property, its abuse of humanitarian aid and its intimidation of Gaza's residents are finally coming to light.

Israel knows better than most countries the horrors of war. Eight years of constant rocket barrages targeting Israeli civilians, eight years of trying tactic after tactic to stop these war crimes left Israel with little choice but to invoke its legitimate right of self-defense.

When Israel did strike back against Hamas terror in Gaza, it took unprecedented and innovative steps to try to encourage civilians to avoid Hamas positions, even placing tens of thousands of phone calls warning residents in hazardous areas. As British Colonel (ret.) Richard Kemp commented on the BBC, "I don't think there's ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the IDF is doing today in Gaza."

To Israel's great sorrow, innocent civilians in Gaza have been harmed. However, the figures of civilian casualties have been greatly exaggerated. Most of these figures come from Hamas sources, amplifying the number of civilians killed by including as "children" teenage Hamas fighters and as "women," female terrorists. According to an Israeli investigation, of the 1,100-1,200 reported casualties, 250 were civilians. The rest are believed to be terrorists or have yet to be identified, but given that most of them are young men in their 20s, it is not unreasonable to assume that they are also members of Hamas or other terrorist organizations.

Hamas is responsible, both morally and under international law, for many of the dead and injured civilians. This terrorist organization deliberately used the local population as human shields, a war crime. Civilian structures were used as launching pads for rockets, a tactic that is extremely hazardous to residents. Civilians were prevented, at gunpoint, from fleeing the sites of battles and even children have been grabbed to be used as living bulletproof vests. Even ambulances were not safe from hijacking attempts by terrorists, who would lure the ambulances into the heart of battle to transport Hamas terrorists to safety.

Property damage, while sizeable, has also been exaggerated. As Tim Butcher, a journalist intimately familiar with the Gaza Strip reported (Telegraph, Jan 20): "There had been no carpet bombing of large areas, no firebombing of complete suburbs. Targets had been selected and then hit, often several times, but almost always with precision munitions. Buildings nearby had been damaged and there had been some clear mistakes... But, in most the cases, I saw the primary target had borne the brunt… For the most part, I was struck by how cosmetically unchanged Gaza appeared to be."

Hamas' rocket attacks, which continued throughout the operation, constituted a double war crime. Not only were they aimed at about 15% of Israel's civilian population, they were cynically carried out from locations immediately adjacent to homes, schools, hospitals, relief agency warehouses, mosques, public buildings - as well as from the office building that housed foreign media studios. These reprehensible acts were documented not only in Israeli aerial films, but by the international media.

As Rod Nordland (Newsweek, Jan 20) described one event, "Suddenly there was a terrific whoosh, louder even than a bomb explosion. It was another of Hamas's homemade Qassam rockets being launched into Israel - and the mobile launchpad was smack in the middle of the four [apartment] buildings, where every apartment was full…"

Lorenzo Cremonesi (Corriere della Sera, Jan 21) relates the testimony of "Um Abdallah": "Practically all of the tallest buildings in Gaza that were hit by Israeli bombs … had rocket launching pads on their roofs, or were observation decks for the Hamas. They had also put them near the big UN warehouse, which went up in flames."

Many of Gaza's residents are now returning home. Some have found weapons left behind by Hamas terrorists who turned their homes into forward positions against the IDF, or worse, bodies of terrorists killed during the fighting. Many blame Hamas for the loss of life and property damage caused by Hamas' practice of hiding among the civilian population. However, critical as they are of the Hamas regime in private, few, if any, residents of Gaza will accuse Hamas publically, a move that is tantamount to suicide.

An official Fatah spokesman in Ramallah (Jerusalem Post, Jan 19) reported that 100 of his men in Gaza have been killed or wounded, some brutally tortured, by Hamas. A Fatah leader in Gaza City claimed that members of his faction were being held in school buildings and hospitals that Hamas had turned into make-shift interrogation centers, and as many as 80 were either shot in the legs or had their hands broken for allegedly defying Hamas' orders (see also video of Fatah testimonials about Hamas).

Ulrike Putz (Der Spiegel, Jan 23) managed to interview Palestinians who were not too intimidated by Hamas to speak (as long as their full names were not used): "Hail found out after the cease-fire that the militants had used his house as a base for their operations. The door to his house stood open and there were electric cables lying in the hallway. When Hail followed them they led to his neighbor's house which it seems Hamas had mined. As Hail, in his mid-30s, sat on his porch and thought about what to do a man came by: He was from Hamas and had left something in Hail's home. He let him in and the man then emerged with a bullet proof vest, a rocket launcher and an ammunitions belt. An hour later a fighter with Islamic Jihad called to the door, then disappeared onto the roof and reappeared with a box of ammunition."

Israel has a strong interest in the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip and will work together with the international community and moderate Arab regimes to improve the lives of Gaza's residents. However, caution most be exercised to ensure that the aid does not end up in Hamas' pockets.

This is not unwarranted wariness - Hamas has a long history of stealing humanitarian aid for its own use, even while the operation was ongoing. As Yaacov Katz reported (Jerusalem Post, Jan 12), "Hamas raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole their contents and sold them to the highest bidders." Earlier (Jerusalem Post, Jan 6) Mr. Katz related that "Hamas has set up an independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat its operatives wounded in fighting with the IDF - and, according to Israeli estimates, it is pilfering a significant portion of the medicine allowed into the Strip…"

These reports are not only coming in from Israeli sources. Jordan's News Agency (Petra, Jan 20) reported on the hijacking of humanitarian aid on its way to UNWRA warehouses in >Gaza for distribution to the civilian population: "A number of armed men have seized on Tuesday a Jordanian aid convoy after entering the Gaza Strip… The armed men opened fire at drivers after crossing Karem Abu Salem [Kerem Shalom] crossing point and forced them to head to their own warehouses."

Hamas' hijacking of humanitarian aid is not only ethically repulsive, it is extraordinary given that Hamas is attempting to claim that the motive for its rocket attacks is to force the opening of the crossings. This assertion is, of course, preposterous given that the rocket fire started eight years ago, when there was free trade with Gaza and continued after Israel completely withdrew from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Hamas' constant and deadly rocket, mortar, truck-bomb and shooting attacks on the crossings are one of the prime reasons for their closing.

The complexities of fighting terrorist organizations are becoming more familiar to democratic states, including NATO forces in Afghanistan. A British soldier who served there analyzed the IDF's activities in light of his experience and noted (The Spectator, Jan 24) that "I believe that I and other soldiers understand the stress, friction and confusion that combat brings in a way that media commentators and UN bureaucrats never can."

However, one principle is clear to any unbiased analyst - as long as Israel, and not Hamas, is blamed for civilian casualties and property damage, Hamas will continue to use civilians as human shields and violate every basic rule of international humanitarian law.

As Nir Boms, vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East, and Shayan Arya an Iranian activist, wrote (Jerusalem Post, Jan 28), "War, even when justified, brings much injustice with it. But there is also an important lesson to be learned, and a hope that this time it will not be completely missed by the rioting Arab street... The Palestinian discourse often fails to address the question of responsibility and accountability for Palestinian choices, decisions and leadership." The Palestinians in Gaza must accept and take responsibility for the consequences of the Hamas leaders they chose.

Fortunately, the truth is starting to come to light. Even a senior European Union official - Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid - denounced Hamas, not only stating (AFP, Jan 26) during his visit to Gaza: "I intentionally say this here - Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such," but also concluding that: "At this time we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas" for the conflict in Gaza.

Source: Israel MFA

Hulp uit Israel voor slachtoffers Gaza

 

Onderstaand artikel laat zien dat Sander van Hoorn, die maandagavond bij Pauw en Witteman beweerde dat er in Israel helemaal geen empathie is voor de Palestijnen in Gaza, niet de waarheid vertelde. Het initiatief van de kibboets beweging is niet het enige voorbeeld. Zo meldde iemand uit Israel dat de Israelische TV onlangs een reportage had over een vrijwilligersorganisatie die pakketten met voedsel en kleding inzamelt die de bevolking doneert aan de bevolking in Gaza (namens de Israelische bevolking). Een ander net had een reportage over een Israelische vrijwilligster die in de Israelische ziekenhuizen Palestijnse families begeleidt waarvan de kinderen tijdens de oorlog door Israel zijn opgenomen voor behandeling. Verder bouwde Israel een veldhospitaal bij een van de grensovergangen in Gaza voor hulp aan de bevolking van Gaza.

De Israelische televisie besteedde en besteedt wel degelijk aandacht aan het leed in Gaza, zo hoor ik van Israeli's, zoveel zelfs dat Yonit Levy van Arutz 2 tijdens de oorlog kritiek van kijkers kreeg wegens, vermeende, te grote aandacht voor de situatie van de Palestijnen.

 

Het verhaal van de Palestijnse dokter wiens huis in Gaza werd gebombardeerd werd door Sander van Hoorn gepresenteerd als een bewijs van de onverschilligheid in Israel over de humanitaire kant van de oorlog in Gaza. De Israelische TV (Arutz 10) had over hem  een reportage waarin hij verhaalde de hele dag door telefoontjes en sms-jes te krijgen van Israeli"s met empathische boodschappen. In een andere reportage over de dokter met de vrouw die hem verbaal had geattaqueerd in het ziekenhuis, spraken beiden met elkaar over de gevoelens van woede en verdriet die ze hebben. Aan het eind besloten ze telefoonnummers uit te wisselen.

 

RP

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48 Gaza orphans to travel to Israel for 2-week rest
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3663039,00.html

 

Kibbutz Movement initiative in cooperation with Haifa, Kibbutz Sasa, Kfar Qassem plans to host Palestinian children orphaned during Operation Cast Lead in hopes of creating more peaceful future

 

Tamar Trabelsi-Hadad
Ynet - Published:  01.28.09, 09:37

 

 

Forty-eight Palestinian orphans whose parents were killed in bombings during Operation Cast Lead were planned to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for two weeks of rest and recovery from their grim reality at home.

Tuesday's closure of the crossings with Gaza made it unclear whether the children, aged 8-15 would be able to arrive as scheduled.

Haifa Municipality, Kibbutz Sasa and the Candle for Peace and Solidarity association in Kfar Qassem have been preparing to greet the kids in recent days, and are awaiting their arrival on Wednesday barring any last minute changes.

The children will be hosted in Haifa, Sasa and Kfar Qassem as part of the Kibbutz Movement's humanitarian initiative.

A rich program in Haifa's various sites was designed for the orphans, including a visit to the Museum of Science, the zoo, a cruise in Haifa bay, trips around the city, watching movies and children's theater, and other social activities.

During their stay the children will also meet with Israeli students from schools in Haifa.

Head of the Kibbutz Movement's special assignment division Yoel Marshak, who operated the volunteers' headquarters for southern residents under rocket fire is also managing the current humanitarian project.

 

Marshak said Tuesday evening that the humanitarian effort was meant to ease the orphans' suffering and not aid terrorists.

 

"The Kibbutz Movement educates its sons to be the first on the battlefield and kill the enemy before being killed, and on the other hand, once the cannon fire stops, we adopt orphan children who, maybe, thanks to our humanitarian effort, we'll put an end to the wars in the future," he said.

 

"The children who have received love from us will remember this experience for many years and when they grow up will reach out for peace. I believe the change will come only from the youth out of will and recognition and not from treaties."

 

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said the municipality was ready to receive the children Wednesday morning, and that a bus carrying a city representative would meet the children at Erez crossing.

"The children are the hope for the future," said Yahav, "We are rising to the challenge of hosting the children from Gaza to show the world things can be different."

Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog who is responsible for humanitarian aid sent to Gaza welcomed the project Tuesday night, saying, "This is a very important initiative. The State of Israel makes an absolute distinction between aid to the civil population in the Gaza Strip and Hamas."

 

David Regev contributed to this report

 

Israelische regering verzamelt schadeclaims van Joden uit moslimlanden

Dit had de regering al veel eerder moeten doen. Het is ongelofelijk dat de vlucht en verdrijving van ca. 850.000 Joden uit Arabische landen zo weinig aandacht krijgt en velen daar helemaal niet van weten of menen dat zij door zionistische propaganda zijn overgehaald naar het nieuwe Israel te komen. Volgens verschillende schattingen hebben de Joden uit Arabische staten een veelvoud aan land en eigendommen achter moeten laten als wat de Palestijnen in 1948 verloren, terwijl zij - in tegenstelling tot de Palestijnen - geen oorlog waren begonnen.

 

RP

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Gov't to recover assets in Muslim lands
Haviv Rettig Gur , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 27, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233050188760&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

The Pensioners Affairs Ministry has created a new department over the past two weeks that will begin to collect specific claims by Jews who lost their property when they left Arab countries during the 20th century.

More than 850,000 Jews fled or were expelled from Arab lands and Iran, most after Israel's founding in 1948. Estimates of the value of the property they were forced to leave behind are hard to come by, ranging from as low as $16 billion in known assets to as high as $300b. when estimates of the value of their abandoned real estate are included.

"Israel has talked about this on and off for 60 years. Now we're going to deal with it as we should have all along," said Dr. Avi Bitzur, director-general of the Pensioners Affairs Ministry.

The ministry established a department with an initial staff of five to begin to collect the claims of the Jewish refugees, about 80 percent of whom settled in Israel. Bitzur will host a panel on the issue at next week's Herzliya Conference, and over the next two weeks hopes to pass a decision through the cabinet mandating discussion of Jewish refugees whenever the question of Arab refugees are raised in peace negotiations.

According to Bitzur, who is also a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University, the new effort comes to fill a gap in awareness both in Israel and abroad. "The UN has dealt at least 700 times with Arab refugees and their property, but not once with the issue of Jewish property," he says.

It's also time for Israelis to get to know better the history of the Jews of Arab lands, who make up some 60% of the ethnic ancestry of Israeli Jews.

"It's time to deal with this amongst ourselves," says Bitzur. "I say that as a citizen, as a father and as an academic. We should know the history of the pogrom in Baghdad in 1941, of the Lybian Jews who ended up in Bergen Belsen. It's time for people to know that there was this part of the Jewish people and its history was brought to an end."

In late 2007, Baghdad-born American Jew Heskel M. Haddad, representing the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, called on the Israeli government to begin to seriously examine the issue of Jewish property left behind in Arab lands.

At the time, Haddad told The Jerusalem Post that WOJAC had a staggering 100,000 square kilometers in property deeds.

Yet it is uncertain whether the recent initiative can survive after the February 10 Knesset elections. The Pensioners Affairs Ministry was established as part of a coalition deal with the Gil Pensioners Party in 2006. With the Pensioners currently polling below the threshold to return to the Knesset, would the ministry - and with it the newly-formed department - survive in a new coalition?

According to Bitzur, emphatically yes. "The department was formed by a government decision which continues to be in effect after the elections. The department has been approved and funded by the Finance Ministry, and its workers are government workers with all the implied protections," he explains.

Internationally, too, the project has support. "The US Congress [in mid-2008] decided that any discussion of refugees in the Middle East must include the Jewish refugees from Arab lands. The current presidency of the EU, the Czech Republic, agrees with this position," he says.

 

Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report.

 

VS moet Iraans schip met wapens laten gaan, mogelijk bestemd voor Gazastrook

De Amerikaanse papieren belofte om te helpen de wapensmokkel naar Gaza te stoppen lijkt in de praktijk weinig waard te zijn.

 

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This is what US promises about Gaza mean...

 

Last update - 01:11 28/01/2009       
U.S. releases Iranian ship believed to be carrying arms for Gaza
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent

 

 

The U.S. navy was forced to release an Iranian boat detained in the Red Sea on suspicion of carrying arms to Hamas-ruled Gaza. Weapons of various kinds were found aboard the ship, which was flying the Cypriot flag when it was stopped January 19.

 

The ship was released Tuesday when it became apparent that there was no legal basis for holding it.

 

At a press conference in Washington, Admiral Mike Mullen, who heads the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said although American naval personnel boarded the ship and found the weapons, they had no legal authority to impound the arms. He suggested that more stringent resolutions by the UN Security Council would be required, stating clearly that Iran is violating standards against arms smuggling.

 

Mullen stressed involving Iran in solving regional problems, including the deteriorating condition in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but that ultimately the matter should be left to diplomats. With regard to the Obama administration's approach to the Iranian threat, he said that the military option is not off the table, but that it must remain the last option.

 

 

Nieuwe EU voorzitter uit Tsjechië vriend van Israel

"It all depends of course on the abandonment of terror, but the close relationship that has developed between Hamas and the Gazan population teaches that one day it will be necessary to accept [Hamas]."

 

Het is een veelgehoorde mantra dat er geen militaire oplossing is voor Hamas en andere extremistische groeperingen, maar veel bijvoorbeeld fascistische bewegingen zijn met geweld verslagen en vernietigd. Nadien bleek hun aanhang toch niet zo groot te zijn en werden velen nette democraten. Natuurlijk blijven er aanhangers van deze bewegingen bestaan, zoals neo-nazi's of nieuwe communistische partijen in Oost-Europa en Rusland, maar als beweging hebben zij geen macht, geen leger en vormen zij geen serieuze bedreiging voor de staten waarin zij actief zijn. Militair verslagen worden is vaak een effectieve manier gebleken om een beweging of gedachtegoed minder populair te maken.

 

Het is jammer dat iemand die zo duidelijk sympathie voelt voor Israel meedoet aan deze Hamas mode, maar zoals hij zelf ook toegeeft: hij moet in wat hij zegt rekening houden met de Europese consensus, en die schuift onmiskenbaar op richting acceptatie van Hamas. Een zeer zorgelijke ontwikkeling, die laat zien hoe weinig wij van onze eigen geschiedenis hebben geleerd.

 

RP

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The Zionist prince of Czechia

Haaretz

Last update - 21:09 27/01/2009       
'New EU president is a true friend of Israel, a Zionist prince'
By Adar Primor

 

 

Ever since January 1, the European Union has been ruled by a prince. This was stated recently by the French daily Le Monde, which also described that prince, scion of a noble Austro-Hungarian family, as a man of rare and courtly manners: He dresses elegantly, often wearing a bow tie, and smokes a wooden pipe; he nurtures a regal mustache and kisses women's hands with archaic gallantry.

 

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has been at the helm of the European Union's agenda for nearly a month now in his capacity as current President of the EU Council of Ministers. He is 71 years old, a Catholic by religion, a conservative by habit, a liberal by leanings, identified with the left and a representative of the Green Party in the Senate of the Czech Republic. In Israel, they are pleased to add to this unique mix that he is "a true friend."

 

Going by his most recent statements and the descriptions in Jerusalem of his activities, one might have formed the impression that here we have a "Zionist prince:" He was active in initiating a Euro-Israeli conference to advance Israel's integration into the EU, he has declared that Operation Cast Lead was a "defensive measure" and he has rejected calls in Europe for investigation of "war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces."
 
In an exclusive interview with Haaretz, Schwarzenberg spoke at length about the shared history and the close ties that developed over the years between Jews and Czechs.

 

He recalled the warm attitude of the first Czech president Tomas Masaryk, and that of his friend and former patron Vaclav Havel; the arms shipments to Israel during the War of Independence; the key role that Jews played in Czech lands beginning in the Middle Ages and the fact that his country was, "the only one in the Soviet bloc that did not follow an anti-Semitic policy."

 

When Hitler celebrated the Anschluss in Vienna in 1938, one of his relatives - Adolf Schwarzenberg - went out and hung a black flag on the facade of his home in Prague.

 

When the Nazis forbade socializing with Jews, he opened the garden of his home and hung up a sign saying "Welcome, Jews." Another of his uncles, Jindrich Schwarzenberg, was sent to Buchenwald for his opposition to the Nazis.

 

Karel Schwarzenberg himself savors a happier anecdote that has been with him for many years.

 

"This was at the end of January 1948," he said. "I was a boy of 10 at the time. A high-ranking Israeli delegation came to Prague and I was sent by my parents to show them one of the houses that the family owned. The delegation signed a contract with my parents to rent the building, which became Israel's first embassy in Czechoslovakia.

 

On Israel's first Independence Day the Star of David flag was raised on its facade - that was the first Israeli flag ever flown in our country."

 

When he was asked during Operation Cast Lead why he supported Israel, he replied with astonishment, "The question should be why am I one of the few who are evincing understanding for Israel's motives. The answer is that I enjoy the luxury of speaking the truth."

 

Despite all this, Schwarzenberg learned quite quickly that his role as current president requires that he present an additional, more complex "truth," one that will also represent his 26 partners in the EU.

 

The statement by the Czech government spokesman to the effect that Israel was conducting a "defensive war" was amended within 24 hours and called for both sides to stop the shooting.

 

"As the foreign minister of the Czech Republic I could express myself more easily, I could express the opinions of my government and my own personal opinions," Schwarzenberg now acknowledges. "Since January 1 and my taking up of the rotating presidency I must fulfill the role and express the opinion of the mainstream of Europe."

 

This is also the key to understanding the unusual visit here by the Czech prime minister and five leaders of Europe's larger countries - Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain - immediately after the cease-fire. While in Israel the visit was depicted as a "rare demonstration of support," Schwarzenberg says that this was only the stated aim.

 

Another aim was to create pressure on Israel to lift the siege on Gaza and open the crossing points. In this context and when it is a matter of friends, says Schwarzenberg, the "luxury of speaking the truth" becomes "an obligation."

 

"I must present my position frankly, to the effect that with regard to the Palestinian population the policy of the State of Israel is mistaken," he said. "The siege and the transformation of the entire population into a hostage of Hamas is a boomerang policy that is manifested in the besieged population identifying more and more with Hamas."

 

No extremists - or else

 

The current president of the EU Council hastens to stress, "the tremendous importance of trans-Atlantic relations," and when asked about the recent statement by United States President Barack Obama about conducting an "aggressive policy" in the Middle East, he has no problem signing on to it. Moreover, he also jibes naturally to the words of his counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in response to the statement by Obama.

 

"I hope that the population of Israel will be wise enough not to vote for extremists and bring them into the Knesset," he says with regard to the expected election of Likud MK Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in the approaching elections and the impressive gains made by Yisrael Beiteinu MK Avigdor Lieberman. "A policy that will permit the expansion of the settlements - especially after what has now happened in Gaza - will be disastrous for Israel's standing in Europe and presumably in the United States as well. Wars do, of course, have psychological repercussions, but it is my fervent hope that the moderate parties will, after all, be the ones that win in the election."

 

If this does not happen he warns, "The defense of Israel's interests - something that is dear to my heart - will become a pretty hopeless case to promote."

 

When he is asked to speak concretely and say whether there is a danger to the upgrading of relations with Europe, of which some of his colleagues demanded the suspension during the fighting in Gaza, he replies in the affirmative.

 

Will the improvement of our trade and economic agreements and the expansion of the joint diplomatic framework indeed be suspended?

 

"In every conflict in the world it is sometimes important to strike and obtain victories but ultimately historical experience shows us that dialogue is essential, even with the cruelest of enemies," he says.

 

He does not have magic solutions.

 

"It all depends of course on the abandonment of terror, but the close relationship that has developed between Hamas and the Gazan population teaches that one day it will be necessary to accept [Hamas]."

 

In the meantime, he recommends to Israel that it maintain "indirect relations" with the organization, "which are sometimes very effective. This has been proven historically. Israel too is experienced in this. There are, after all, contacts at a certain level, somewhere, even between Iran and Israel."

 

Does Israel have indirect relations with Iran?

 

"I am certain that this is so, even though no one - in Israel or in Iran - is going to declare this officially."

Hamas gevangenen geven toe moskeeën te gebruiken voor training en wapenopslag

 

Voor wie het niet gelooft als Israel het zegt of als Israel video's laat zien waarop het te zien is, geeft Hamas hier zelf toe moskeeën te gebruiken om wapens op te slaan en mensen te trainen.

RP

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Last update - 12:15 28/01/2009

Hamas captives tell Shin Bet: We used Gaza mosques to hide arms, for training

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059456.html

 

The Shin Bet security service released details Tuesday regarding its interrogation of two Hamas men who were arrested by the Israel Defense Forces during the Gaza military campaign, including the militants' use of mosques for weapon caches and military training.

There are more than 20 terrorists currently being held in Israel from the Gaza operation.

One of those is Ramzi Abed-Rabo, a 30-year-old Hamas member from Jabalya. The Shin Bet indicated he admitted under questioning that he used to watch IDF movements from his house and report about them to Hamas. He also told his interrogators about the location of Hamas weapon storage sites, in tunnels, in the homes of activists, and in citrus groves and mosques.

Another Hamas member, Subahi Atar, 27, from the village of al-Atatra in the northern Gaza Strip, told interrogators that he was a member of a Hamas security cell in the area around his village.

He was recruited by the military wing of Hamas two and a half years ago and underwent training in handling weapons, firing rockets and preparing explosive charges.

Last year, he also learned to use anti-tank missiles. Atar said that his theory instruction took place at a mosque in his village. He reportedly also admitted to helping dig a tunnel under a building which was used by the internal security service of Hamas.

Dozens of other Gazans were released and returned to the Gaza Strip after brief interrogations.

 

 

Kritisch rapport over UNRWA

 

Er zijn meerdere aanwijzingen dat UNRWA zeer partijdig is en sommige UNRWA medewerkers - in overgrote meerderheid Palestijnen - zelfs met Hamas verbonden zijn. Terwijl iedereen inmiddels wel van Mearsheimer en Walt heeft gehoord, en hun stelling dat de steun van de VS aan Israel haar belangen schaadt, wordt zelden gesproken over het feit dat de VS driekwart van het budget van UNRWA levert, een organisatie die duidelijk partij kiest voor de Palestijnen, die de wens op terugkeer van de vluchtelingen in stand houdt en in haar scholen de haat tegen Israel en Joden in stand houdt met propagandistische schoolboeken. UNRWA is in geen enkel opzicht een neutrale humanitaire organisatie, en haar verklaringen en de cijfers van doden die zij hanteert dienen dan ook in dat licht te worden beschouwd.

 

RP

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Report: UNRWA pays terrorists
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3662945,00.html

In sharply worded report, former legal advisor to UN agency says group must redefine oxymoronic labeling of Palestinians with Jordanian, Lebanese citizenship as refugees

 

Yitzhak Benhorin

Published: 01.28.09, 00:51

 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees employs and provides benefits for terrorists and criminals, asserts a former legal adviser to UNRWA who left the organization in 2007. James Lindsay, now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, served as an attorney with the US Justice Department for two decades before leaving to work for UNRWA in 2000.

Titled 'Fixing UNRWA: Repairing the UN's Troubled System of Aid to Palestinian Refugees,' Lindsay's report puts forward suggestions intended to improve the agency. Established by the US and Britain after the 1948 war, UNRWA's objective was to aid displaced Palestinians.

Lindsay writes that although the US remains UNRWA's main contributor, the agency's positions contrast with Washington's.

During the recent fighting in Gaza a number of UNRWA institutions were bombed by the IDF, which claimed that terrorists had fired at forces from within or near the UN compounds. The agency's employees took a clear-cut stance against Israel during the war.

Lindsay's report warns that the agency has deteriorated increasingly over the years since its establishment, and that it was currently offering services to those who were not actually in need of them. "No justification exists for millions of dollars in humanitarian aid going to those who can afford to pay for UNRWA services," the report says.

He suggests UNRWA make operational changes and "halt its one-sided political statements and limit itself to comments on humanitarian issues; take additional steps to ensure the agency is not employing or providing benefits to terrorists and criminals; and allow the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), or some other neutral entity, to provide balanced and discrimination-free textbooks for UNRWA initiatives."

Lindsay concludes his report by saying that only these changes would allow the agency to complete its task in the Middle East. "For the Palestinians it serves, this means ending their refugee status and returning, after nearly sixty years, to what most of them so desperately seek: normal lives," he writes.

The report will be handed over to US President Barack Obama's administration, which is keen to help fix the ailing agency.

"The United States, despite funding nearly 75 percent of UNRWA's initial budget and remaining its largest single country donor, has largely failed to make UNRWA reflect US foreign policy objectives. UNRWA initially served US humanitarian purposes, but in later years often clashed with US policies," the report says.

Lindsay claims the most important change that should be made in the agency is "the removal of citizens from recognized states – persons who have the oxymoronic status of "citizen refugees" – from UNRWA's jurisdiction. This would apply to the vast majority of Palestinian "refugees" in Jordan, as well as to some in Lebanon and Syria."

 

 

Luchtaanvallen Israel tegen smokkeltunnels Gazastrook

 

Het lijkt me onwaarschijnlijk dat dit de opmaat is voor hernieuwde grootschalige vijandelijkheden, maar de situatie is zeer instabiel. Een zelfverklaard staakt het vuren van beide partijen zonder enige afspraken of garanties of controle mechanisme zal geen langdurige rust bieden. Ondertussen is de wapensmokkel hervat en laat Israel geen bouwmaterialen toe voor de wederopbouw van Gaza. Deze beide zaken zouden in theorie perfect uitwisselbaar zijn, maar Hamas zal nooit instemmen met echt effectieve actie tegen de wapensmokkel, en Israel wil de grenzen niet echt openen voordat Shalit vrij is.

 

RP

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Israeli aircraft attack tunnels along Gaza-Egypt border

 

Israeli air force strikes tunnels used for smuggling weapons along Philadelphi Route early Wednesday in response to Hamas' attack on Israeli forces Tuesday that left one soldier dead. Locals reported fleeing their homes in panic

Reuters

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3663002,00.html

Published: 01.28.09, 07:35

 

Israeli aircraft struck at tunnels used for smuggling goods and weapons on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Wednesday, hours before a US peace envoy was due to arrive in the Jewish state.

Residents of the Gaza town of Rafah and Hamas security officials said some people began to flee their homes in panic as the aircraft struck three times before dawn. There was no initial word of casualties.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed that Israel had carried out air strikes on smuggling tunnels in the town of Rafah.

The strike came as a response to Tuesday's attack by Gaza militants on an Israeli military vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb while patrolling the Gaza border, killing one soldier and wounding three others, the army spokesman said.

An air strike shortly afterwards killed one Palestinian on a motorcycle whom the spokesman identified as the planner of the roadside bomb attack.

The exchanges were the first major military developments since Hamas and Israel declared separate ceasefires earlier this month after Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said late on Tuesday that the killing of the man on the motorcycle was only an initial reaction and that Israel's full response was still to come.

Mitchell coming to region

Israel and Hamas are negotiating through Egyptian mediators on a longer-term truce. Hamas wants Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel wants guarantees that Hamas will not again fire rockets at Israeli towns.

Later on Wednesday, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel to take the first steps towards reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

A former US senator and experienced mediator who helped end the Northern Ireland conflict, Mitchell began his regional tour in Cairo on Tuesday bearing a message from US President Barack Obama that the "moment is ripe" for peace talks.

He will meet Israeli leaders on Wednesday afternoon and visit the West Bank on Thursday to talk to Palestinian leaders, but Western diplomats said he would not meet Hamas officials.

 

Hamas terrorisme verantwoordelijk voor Gaza Oorlog volgens EU chef internationale hulp

 

Een Belg die Hamas zo onomwonden hard veroordeeld: gezien de sterk pro-Palestijnse geluiden die doorgaans uit België klinken is dit opmerkelijk. Zelfs Hamas stond perplex.

 

Gezien de verwoestingen in de Gazastrook lijkt het mij niet houdbaar dat Israel geen cement en stalen buizen zou binnenlaten. Het zou goed zijn als dit materiaal kan worden ingevoerd onder nauwe controle kan hulporganisaties, zodat het niet in verkeerde handen kan vallen en tegen Israel gebruikt door Hamas.

 

Wouter

___________

EU aid chief: Hamas has 'enormous responsibility' for Gaza war
By Reuters

Last update - 19:40 26/01/2009
www.haaretz.com:80/hasen/spages/1058891.html

Standing in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Monday, the European Union's foreign aid chief condemned Hamas for acting like "a terrorist movement," and accused the Islamist group of having "enormous responsibility" for the devastation caused during Gaza in three weeks of fighting between Hamas and Israel.

Louis Michel was among the most senior foreign officials to visit the coastal enclave since Hamas seized control in 2007.

"Hamas has an enormous responsibility for what happened here in Gaza," said Michel, the humanitarian aid commissioner, as he stood in a United Nations aid compound damaged by an Israeli shelling.

He echoed Israeli criticisms that Hamas used civilians as "human shields" by fighting in populated areas and, describing Hamas rocket fire on Israel as a "provocation", he said in English: "Hamas is acting in the way of a terrorist movement."

Michel also criticized Israel for the offensive - which it launched in a bid to end daily rocket fire from Gaza on its southern communities - and appealed to Israel to allow in more aid.

Hamas said it was "shocked" at his comments.

Michel, a former Belgian foreign minister, said that, in line with EU policy, he did not meet Hamas officials, most of whom have remained out of sight since fighting ended a week ago.

The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians and Michel announced a further 58 million euros in humanitarian aid for 2009, of which 32 million euros would go to Gaza.

Speaking of the Israeli bombardment, he criticized the destruction of factories and other economic infrastructure: "What I saw was abominable. It was unjustified," Michel said.

He called on Israel to open its crossing points with the Gaza Strip "massively", to let in not only food and medicines but materials required for reconstruction.

Israel denies entry to supplies such as cement and steel piping, saying that these can be used by Hamas for military ends. Israel has also defended its military tactics in Gaza, saying they were appropriate for warfare in congested areas. A Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri, criticized Michel's remarks.

"It was shocking to see a European official giving cover to massacres and terrorism committed by the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian people," he said.

"Palestinian resistance is as legitimate as the resistance of European countries that fought against foreign occupiers."

Michel, who said both sides should be held accountable for breaches of international law, said: "When you kill innocents, it is not resistance. It is terrorism."

 

 

Volgens IDF slechts 250 burgerdoden in Gazastrook

 

De strijd om de getallen zal nog wel even voortduren. Hopelijk worden het IDF en de VN en hulporganisaties het uiteindelijk eens op dit punt. Het maakt toch wel uit voor het uiteindelijke oordeel over deze oorlog. Evengoed is elk dood kind en elke dode burger er één teveel, en zijn er veel gewonden en materiele en psychische schade te betreuren.

 

Wouter

___________
 

IDF: Only 250 of Gaza fatalities were civilians

 

Senior military sources say recent findings indicate at least 700 of those killed in Gaza offensive were gunmen. Palestinians claim only 300 armed men killed
Hanan Greenberg - YNET

Published: 01.26.09, 12:38
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3661940,00.html

 

A continuing IDF investigation into the number of civilian Palestinian casualties during the Israeli offensive in Gaza indicated that only 250 of the fatalities were civilians.

The military estimates that between 1,100 and 1,200 people were killed during the offensive. Some 700 of are believed to be militants and most are believed to be Hamas operatives.

The IDF is still trying to ascertain the identity of the remaining fatalities, but security sources said many would probably turn out to be militants as well. "Hamas is familiar with the numbers and is doing everything it can to concealed them," said an IDF source.

The data presented by the Palestinian is vastly different: Palestinian Groups operating in the Strip have reported 92 of the fatalities as gunmen, 48 of whom were affiliated with Hamas, 32 with Islamic Jihad, 10 with the Popular Resistance Committees' Salah a-Din Brigades and two with the Mujahedeen Brigades.

According to a Palestinian source, the majority of the Palestinian fatalities were killed in air raids. The Palestinians reported 200 police officers were killed in the first day of the Gaza shelling, alone.

Hamas claimed that "the Israelis are concealing their losses and lying about the losses suffered by the Palestinians."

'Ratio of 1:3'
The military is doing everything it can to compile accurate data regarding the identity of those killed in Gaza, including debriefing soldiers and cross-referencing their information with intelligence.

Gaza Division Chief Brigadier-General Eyal Eisenberg alluded to the fact that the majority of the Palestinian fatalities were Hamas operatives, but refused to specify numbers.

The IDF has yet to verify the identity of some 200 fatalities, mostly men in their 20s, whose identification is delayed because they are still buried under the rubble. The defense establishment believed many of them would prove to be Hamas men.

Many of the fatalities were considered to be civilians at first, because there were no weapons found with them, said a military source, "But that method of operation is consistent with the way Hamas was hiding in the midst of civilians, moving between their strongholds with no weapons. In many cases someone thought to be a civilian casualty turned out to be a Hamas operative after we ran our checks."

The civilian-gunman casualty ratio, he added, was one to three, proving that the IDF was targeting Hamas and not civilians. The IDF stressed that the forces took significant precautions in order to avoid harming any civilians; but considering the way that Hamas chose to involve civilians in the fighting, mounting a surgical strike resulting in absolutely no civilian casualties was impossible.

Armistice likely to hold
As for the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the defense establishment believes it is likely to hold; especially given Hamas' failure to boast about any substantial achievements, like kidnapping a soldier.

"The devastation in Gaza, which is a direct result of the nature of a battlefield formed by Hamas, is enormous and it's a deterrent factor for Hamas, which finally realizes the might if the IDF," said a defense establishment source.

"They don't seem to be interested in violating the ceasefire, but if the do, they will realize that (Israel) has no intention of reverting back to the days of a surgical response."

The success of Operation Cast Lead, added the source, has led the military to begin implementing some of the operational patterns used in the offensive to other sectors.

Ali Waked contributed to this report

Hamas probeerde ambulances te kapen tijdens Gaza Oorlog

 

Dit zijn bekende praktijken van Hamas en andere terreurgroepen. Zie ook dit filmpje dat al jaren op internet te vinden is.

 

Wouter

_____________

 

Hamas tried to hijack ambulances during Gaza war

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hamas-tried-to-hijack-ambulances-during-gaza-war/2009/01/25/1232818246374.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

 

Jason Koutsoukis in Gaza City
January 26, 2009

 

PALESTINIAN civilians living in Gaza during the three-week war with Israel have spoken of the challenge of being caught between Hamas and Israeli soldiers as the radical Islamic movement that controls the Gaza strip attempted to hijack ambulances.

Mohammed Shriteh, 30, is an ambulance driver registered with and trained by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

His first day of work in the al-Quds neighbourhood was January 1, the sixth day of the war. "Mostly the war was not as fast or as chaotic as I expected," Mr Shriteh told the Herald. "We would co-ordinate with the Israelis before we pick up patients, because they have all our names, and our IDs, so they would not shoot at us."

Mr Shriteh said the more immediate threat was from Hamas, who would lure the ambulances into the heart of a battle to transport fighters to safety.

"After the first week, at night time, there was a call for a house in Jabaliya. I got to the house and there was lots of shooting and explosions all around," he said.

Because of the urgency of the call, Mr Shriteh said there was no time to arrange his movements with the IDF.

"I knew the Israelis were watching me because I could see the red laser beam in the ambulance and on me, on my body," he said.

Getting out of the ambulance and entering the house, he saw there were three Hamas fighters taking cover inside. One half of the building had already been destroyed.

"They were very scared, and very nervous … They dropped their weapons and ordered me to get them out, to put them in the ambulance and take them away. I refused, because if the IDF sees me doing this I am finished, I cannot pick up any more wounded people.

"And then one of the fighters picked up a gun and held it to my head, to force me. I still refused, and then they allowed me to leave."

Mr Shriteh says Hamas made several attempts to hijack the al-Quds Hospital's fleet of ambulances during the war.

"You hear when they are coming. People ring to tell you. So we had to get in all the ambulances and make the illusion of an emergency and only come back when they had gone."

Eyad al-Bayary, 32, lost his job as a senior nurse at the Shifa Hospital, the largest in Gaza City, about six months ago because he is closely identified with Fatah, the rival political movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Twice last year Mr Bayary was arrested by Hamas, and once he was jailed for six days for flying the Fatah flag above his house in Jabaliya. He now works part-time as an English teacher at al-Azhar University.

"After the first day of the war, I go to the hospital to work, to help, but I was told to go away. They tell me 'you are not needed here' and they push me away," Mr Bayary said.

Since the ceasefire was declared on January 17, Hamas has begun to systematically take revenge on anyone believed to have collaborated with Israel before the war.

Israel makes no secret of the fact that it has a network of informants inside Gaza who regularly provide information on where Hamas leaders live, where weapons are being stored and other details that formed an important part of Israel's battle plan.

According to rumour, a number of alleged collaborators have already been executed. Taher al-Nono, the Hamas government's spokesman in Gaza, told the Herald that 175 people had been arrested so far on suspicion of collaborating.

"They will be dealt with by the court and the judge and we will respect the judge's decision," Mr Nono said.

And if the sentence is death?

"We will respect the decision."

But the breakdown between Hamas and Fatah over the last 18 months did not prevent some co-operation between the two sides during the war.

The commander of one al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade unit - the brigades are a coalition of secular militia groups which operate under the loose umbrella of Fatah - said the real enemy remains Israel.

The unit commander, who used the name Abu Ibrahim, invited the Herald into his home.

On the wall of his lounge room hung the portraits of George Habash, who founded the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a communist paramilitary organisation, and Abu Ali Mustafa, the man who succeeded Habash as leader of the PFLP and who was killed by Israeli forces in 2001.

"Of course we fought together with Hamas because we all have the same aim: to liberate our homeland," he said.

With his two-year old daughter on his knee, Mr Ibrahim, 30, said he would never accept peace or negotiation, even if it might lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

"I believe in the existence of Israel because it exists on my land - but the war with Israel will only end when I liberate all of my land. This last war with Israel was not the first war, and it will not be the last."

Rebuilding the Strip

GAZA CITY: Hamas will begin a big reconstruction effort in the Gaza Strip today as the territory's 1.5 million people start to recover from the devastating three-week war with Israel that claimed more than 1300 lives and destroyed thousands of buildings, factories and farms.

Life was beginning to return to a relative state of normality yesterday, with schools, universities and businesses back open.

But with most government buildings destroyed during the war, and piles of concrete rubble on street corners, Gazans face a huge effort to return the Strip to the impoverished state that existed before the war began.

Thousands of Gazans who lost their homes are still living in temporary accommodation provided in United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools, and electricity is being rationed, with homes receiving power for just a few hours a day.

A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Ayman Taha, said his organisation would observe a truce with Israel for 18 months on the condition all the crossing points with Israel were opened.

With Hamas's popularity apparently plummeting in as a result of the war, the movement's leadership is using financial handouts to boost morale.

Hamas leaders from Gaza and Damascus, Syria, travelled to Cairo yesterday to meet Egyptian intelligence leaders and leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organisation for talks aimed at resolving Hamas's dispute with the Fatah movement of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In Israel the appointment of George Mitchell as special envoy of the US President, Barack Obama, to the Middle East has met with caution and suspicion.

Israeli Foreign Ministry officials were scrambling to put together a brief for Mr Mitchell, who is due to visit Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah this week, as well as Egypt and Jordan.

Israeli officials believe Mr Mitchell's first step will be to recommend the "road map for peace" plan announced by the former president George Bush in 2002 be extended.

Israelis have also begun to turn their attention to the general elections on February 10. With polls indicating the right-wing Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu is on track to return to the Prime Minister's office he occupied in 1996, the centrist Kadima Party leader, Tzipi Livni, warned yesterday that if the far-right won government it would lead to an inevitable rift with the US.

 

Egypte dringt bij Hamas aan op staakt-het-vuren

 

Israel heeft een meerjarig staakt het vuren voorgesteld, en opening van de grensposten, in ruil voor vrijlating van Shalit en een regeling om wapensmokkel tegen te gaan. Bij een meerjarig staakt het vuren kan Hamas zijn populariteit en identiteit niet langer ontlenen aan het plegen van 'verzet' tegen de bezetting, en moet het laten zien dat het een gebied kan besturen en de mensen een betere toekomst kan bieden. Hamas zal zeker niet met een staakt het vuren instemmen dat het onmogelijke maakt nog wapens binnen te smokkelen, maar kan er waarschijnlijk wel van op aan dat Egypte dat niet geheel kan tegengaan, ook als men dat echt zou willen proberen.

 

Voor een langdurig staakt het vuren zullen goede afspraken moeten worden gemaakt en waarschijnlijk internationale waarnemers nodig zijn, wil het enige kans van slagen hebben. Het helpt ook niet echt wanneer zo'n deal nog eventjes een weekje voor de verkiezingen wordt gesloten, en de nieuwe regering er mogelijk niet achterstaat.

RP
-----------

Last update - 11:52 26/01/2009

Egypt to Hamas: Take Gaza truce before Netanyahu is PM
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1058679.html
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent, The Associated Press and Haaretz Service 

 
Officials in Egypt are attempting to persuade Hamas to accept Israel's current offer of a truce in Gaza before a far less accommodating government under Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is elected, the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported Monday.

The newspaper quoted the officials as telling Hamas that surveys in Israel show the opposition leader is likely to come to power in February's general election, adding that he would form a coalition with "extremist parties."

They reportedly said that Hamas stands to "lose everything" under these circumstances.

Hamas' Gaza spokesman Ayman Taha, meanwhile, has said recently that Israel has offered his Palestinian Islamist group a 10-year cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt is also demanding a truce of a number of years' duration. But Taha said the group would agree to a cease-fire of no more than between one year and 18 months. Another Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radwan, said a long-term cease-fire "kills" the right to resistance by the Palestinians.

Also Monday, the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Israel has offered Hamas a cease-fire for an unlimited amount of time and the opening of Gaza's borders in return for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

According to the report, Hamas rejected the offer on the grounds that it linked the opening of the border crossings to Shalit's release.

Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a 2006 cross-border raid. He is believed to be still held in the Strip.

Hamas and Israeli officials have also indicated that much of the discussion has centered on control of the border crossings in and out of Gaza. Hamas wants the blockade on Gaza lifted. Israel wants assurances that weapons smuggling into the Gaza strip will stop.

"Hamas listened to the Israeli proposal presented by [Defense Ministry official] Amos Gilad, and with it a proposal for a ceasefire for a year and a half, but Hamas presented a counterproposal of one year only," Ayman Taha told reporters in Cairo after talks with Egyptian intelligence officials.

The Hamas delegation met with the heads of Egyptian intelligence on Sunday who transmitted to them Israel's positions. Jerusalem has not yet clarified what stance it had presented.

Meanwhile, Taha reiterated the group's calls for a lifting of the blockade imposed on the impoverished and devastated Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt as a condition for the truce. "[Hamas] called for a complete lifting of the blockade and an opening of all the crossings," Taha said.

Hamas proposed to Egyptian mediators that European and Turkish monitors be present at the border crossings, but rejected the presence of Israeli monitors, saying Israeli monitoring was "a large part of the problem," according to Taha.

Asked if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's forces would be present at the crossings, Taha said: "Hamas is the existing government in Gaza."
Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas's Fatah faction in fighting in 2007. Egypt has ruled out opening the Rafah crossing in the absence of the Palestinian Authority and European Union observers.

Commenting on the talks, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera satellite television on Sunday that Hamas was unwilling to alter its positions to Israel's benefit.

"The Israelis must understand that they will not achieve through politics what they failed to do militarily," Hamdan said.

Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip in late December with the declared aim of ending Hamas rocket attacks on its southern communities. About 1,300 Palestinians, at least 700 of them civilians, were killed during the 22-day offensive, while Israel put its death toll at 10 soldiers and three civilians.

Hamas: No reconciliation with Fatah until it ends Israel peace talks

Hamas official Hamdan also said Sunday that Fatah movement must end peace negotiations with Israel before any reconciliation talks can take place.

The remarks were bound to complicate Arab efforts to reconcile Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Speaking at a rally in Beirut Sunday, Hamdan - a close ally of Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal - said that the group welcomed Palestinian dialogue, but any reconciliation should be based on a resistance program to liberate territory and regain rights.

He also demanded that the PA end security coordination with Israel, and maintained that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had ended.

"Those who committed mistakes must correct their mistakes through a clear and frank declaration to stop security coordination with the [Israeli] occupation, release [Hamas] prisoners and later end negotiations [with Israel] because the peace process is irreversibly over," said Hamdan.

"It's time for us to talk about a reconciliation based on a resistance program to liberate the [occupied] territory and regain rights," he added.

Asharq Al-Awsat also reported Saturday that Hamas had suggested representatives of the Palestinian Authority be stationed at the Rafah crossing, but that they be residents of Gaza, not the West Bank.

Israel has been allowing some supply convoys into Gaza, though its borders remain largely closed. The Israel Defense Forces says more than 125 trucks a day - on some days nearly 200 - have entered Gaza since fighting ended on January 17th, but aid workers say the numbers are not enough.

 

 

De mythe van het recht op terugkeer

Dit artikel stelt terecht dat het zogenaamde 'recht op terugkeer' van de Palestijnse vluchtelingen niet is verankerd in het internationale recht, en dat VN Algemene Vergadering resolutie 194 (door zowel Israel als de Arabische staten toendertijd afgewezen) ook niet van een dergelijk recht spreekt, terwijl die wel altijd wordt aangehaald in dit kader. Overigens is het denken binnen de Verenigde Naties over vluchtelingen en of zij terug moeten kunnen keren naar plaatsen waar nu een andere (en vijandige) etnische groep de macht heeft, veranderd en de interpretatie van 194 heeft ook met deze veranderingen te maken, zo laat onderstaand artikel zien.

 

Zijn conclusie: Israel kan het Arabische vredesplan en resolutie 194 accepteren zonder zich zorgen te maken het 'recht op terugkeer' te hebben erkend. Dit lijkt mij optimistisch. Het is bekend dat in de Arabische wereld, maar ook in de VN, velen 194 (waarnaar in het Arabische vredesinitiatief wordt verwezen) wel zo opvatten. Israel moet daarom blijven duidelijk maken dat in de eerste plaats dit recht niet bestaat en in de tweede plaats 'recht op terugkeer' Joodse zelfbeschikking in gevaar brengt, en dit door sommigen ook openlijk als doel ervan wordt genoemd.

 

RP

----------

 

The right of return myth
By Eyal Benvenisti
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1049425.html

 

What does the Beirut Declaration really say? Seven years after the Saudi peace initiative, and more than six years after the initiative received the backing of the Arab League, public discussion of the matter is beginning here. Some of the speakers are taking a suspicious approach, seeing a treacherous no hiding behind the yes of the Beirut Declaration.

 

This approach is healthy and appropriate, but it necessitates the gathering and evaluation of facts.

 

Here are a number of facts from international law that have to do with one of the key problems of the conflict: The demand for the return of the Palestinian refugees.
 
The Beirut Declaration called upon Israel to conduct peace negotiations that will include a "just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194." It is clear to everyone that an "agreed upon" solution means that the solution also has to be agreed upon by Israel, and that "just" implies flexibility that does not necessarily stick close to the strict letter of the law.

 

However, what is the meaning of the requirement that the agreement be in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194? Resolution 194, say the suspicious, recognizes the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, and therefore Israel must not be seduced by the initiative.

 

However, the truth is that in Resolution 194 there is no recognition of the refugees' right of return. Indeed, since the 1990s the Palestinians have been claiming that the resolution recognizes the right to return but their claim is baseless. On the contrary, the resolution denies the refugee's right to return to his home.

 

Moreover, the resolution set as a goal for the UN the solution of the problem of the refugees by means of resettling them in Arab countries. The formulation that was passed was amenable to convenient interpretation from Israel's perspective, because it left in its hands the judgment as to whether, when and how many refugees it would accept into its territory.

 

The struggle for the formulation of 194 was complex and strenuous. The opening position was bad from Israel's view, because the draft of the resolution suggested by Count Folke Bernadotte recognized the right of the refugees (only the Arab refugees) to return to their homes as soon as possible.

 

The formulation that was passed was crucially different. Those refugees (implicitly also Jewish refugees) who wish "to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date." The language of the resolution left all the important questions open: Who will sort the refugees and determine whose return will enable them to live in peace with their neighbors, whether their return is practicable and if so when this will be possible and more.

 

The resolution also established a "Conciliation Commission" that assessed that because of the changes that had taken place during the course of the war and immediately after it, any plan for the return of refugees would have to be coordinated with Israel and that the number of refugees permitted to return would be agreed upon and final. The UN General Assembly accepted this position.

 

The position that denies the right of return was also the position of international law in the era after World War II. This was an era when forced population transfers were perceived as the appropriate way to reduce ethnic frictions and build national identities. During the course of the 1990s it seemed as though a change had occurred in the position of international law in light of the ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia. The desire to prevent acts of slaughter and expulsion led to widespread recognition of the obligation to return the refugees to their homes. In the course of this, the distinction between the Bosnian refugees and the Palestinian refugees was blurred.This was the period during which the Palestinians adopted Resolution 194, and read into it the ostensible recognition of the right of return.

 

Since then, more than 10 years have gone by during which there has been a general sobering up from the solution of return. Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan's 2003 plan to settle the conflict in Cyprus recognizes that the Cypriot refugees do not have the right to return to their homes. Annan draws a distinction between the Bosnian and Cypriot refugees because of the circumstances of life that had changed during the 30 years that had elapsed since the conflict erupted there, and the legitimate needs of those who had settled into the refugees' homes.

 

It is hard to exaggerate the significance of the precedent in the UN position that recognizes the right of governments to negotiate on behalf of refugees. In the waning days of 2008 there are those who have doubts even as to the wisdom of the effort to return the Bosnian refugees to their homes, as their return has led to a crisis-prone situation that is liable to degenerate into renewed violence at any moment.

 

There are those who are saying that the Beirut Declaration adopts the Palestinian reading of Resolution 194. This claim is untenable for a number of reasons, among them the recognition of the need for Israeli agreement and the statement that the Palestinians will not be resettled in Arab countries in which special circumstances prevent this. That was a promise to Lebanon, which understood that the declaration relinquishes the demand for return and therefore hastened to defend its fragile demographic balance. However, even if the claim that the Beirut Declaration adopts the Palestinian interpretation is true, in light of the correct interpretation of Resolution 194, Israel's acceptance of the initiative would not constitute recognition of the right of return.

 

______________

 

The author is a full professor at the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law

 

 

Waarom moslims de Holocaust ontkennen - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

 

Vandaag was de jaarlijkse Auschwitz Herdenking in Amsterdam.

________________

 

Waarom ze de Holocaust ontkennen

http://hoeiboei.blogspot.com/2009/01/waarom-ze-de-holocaust-ontkennen.html

Waarom ze de Holocaust ontkennen

Behalve de nauwelijks aflatende anti-Semitische propaganda, heeft een groot deel van de moslimwereld er zelfs nog nooit van gehoord.

Op een dag in 1994, toen ik in Ede woonde, kreeg ik bezoek van mijn halfzuster. Wij waren beiden immigranten uit Somalië en we hadden allebei asiel aangevraagd in Nederland. Mijn verzoek was gehonoreerd, het hare niet. Het feit dat aan mij een asielstatus was toegekend, stelde mij in de gelegenheid te studeren. Mijn halfzuster had die mogelijkheid niet.

Om toegelaten te worden tot de universiteit van mijn keuze moest ik drie cursussen met goed gevolg afleggen: een talencursus, een inburgeringscursus en een cursus geschiedenis. In de voorbereidende cursus hoorde ik voor de eerste keer over de Holocaust. Ik was op dat moment 24 en mijn halfzuster was 21.

In die dagen stonden de kranten vol van de genocide in Rwanda en de etnische zuiveringen in het voormalige Joegoslavië. Op de dag dat mijn halfzuster me bezocht, duizelde het mij nog steeds omtrent het lot van 6 miljoen Joden in Duitsland, Nederland, Frankrijk en Oost-Europa.

Ik wist nu dat onschuldige mannen, vrouwen en kinderen van elkaar waren gescheiden. De Jodenster werd op hun kleding vastgemaakt, ze werden per trein vervoerd naar de kampen waar ze werden vergast voor geen enkele andere reden dan dat ze Joods waren.

Ik zag foto's van massa's skeletten, zelfs van kinderen. Ik hoorde huiveringwekkende verhalen van sommige van diegenen die Auschwitz en Sobibor hadden overleefd. Ik vertelde dit aan mijn halfzuster en ik liet haar de foto's in mijn boek zien. Haar reactie was net zo gruwelijk als de foto's in mijn boek.

Met grote overtuiging schreeuwde mijn halfzuster: "Het is een leugen! Joden weten altijd hoe ze de mensen zand in de ogen moeten strooien. Ze zijn niet vermoord, vergast of massaal afgeslacht. Maar ik bid tot Allah dat op een dag alle Joden in de wereld zullen worden vernietigd."

Ze zei niets nieuws. Ik herinner me dat tijdens mijn jeugd in Saoedie-Arabië mijn onderwijzers, mijn moeder en onze buren ons bijna dagelijks vertelden dat Joden slecht waren, de gezworen vijanden van de moslims, en dat hun enige doel was de Islam te vernietigen. Ons werd nooit iets verteld over de Holocaust.

Later woonde ik als teenager in Kenia. Ik kan me nog goed herinneren hoe de filantropie ons bereikte uit Saoedie-Arabië en andere regio's in de Perzische Golf. De bouw van moskeeën en donaties aan ziekenhuizen en de armen gingen daarbij hand in hand met het vervloeken van de Joden. Joden waren volgens de geruchten verantwoordelijk voor de dood van baby's en voor epidemieën als AIDS. Ook geloofde men dat zij de oorzaak waren van oorlogen. Ze waren hebzuchtig en zouden er alles aan doen om ons Moslims te vermoorden. Als we ooit vrede en stabiliteit wilden kennen en als we niet uitgeroeid wilden worden, dan moesten we de Joden vernietigen. Voor diegenen onder ons die niet in staat waren de wapens tegen hen op te nemen, was het genoeg onze handen samen te voegen, de ogen hemelwaarts te richten en tot Allah te bidden opdat hij ze zou vernietigen.

Westerse leiders die vandaag de dag zeggen dat ze geschockeerd zijn door Ahmadinejad's conferentie, met de ontkenning van de Holocaust als thema, moeten nodig hun ogen eens openen voor de realiteit. Voor de meerderheid van de moslims in de wereld is de Holocaust geen belangrijk historisch gegeven dat wordt ontkend. We weten eenvoudigweg niet dat het ooit plaatsvond omdat we er nooit over zijn geïnformeerd.

Het totale aantal Joden in de wereld wordt tegenwoordig geschat op rond de 15 miljoen, zeker niet meer dan 20 miljoen. Aan de andere kant wordt de moslimbevolking werweldwijd geschat op tussen de 1.2 en 1.5 miljard. Niet alleen groeit deze bevolking razendsnel, ook is ze erg jong.

Wat Ahmadinejad's conferentie zo schrikbarend maakt is de (stilzwijgende) instemming van mainstream moslims. Ik blijf mezelf voortdurend afvragen: Waarom is er geen tegenconferentie in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum of Jakarta die Ahmadinejad veroordeelt? Waarom hullen de 57 leden van de Organisatie van de Islamitische Conferentie zich in stilzwijgen over dit onderwerp?

Wellicht is het antwoord op die vraag even simpel als gruwelijk: Generaties lang hebben de leiders van deze zogenaamde moslimlanden hun bevolking een voortdurend dieet van propaganda gevoerd dat gelijk is aan dat wat een generatie van Duitsers (en andere Europeanen) werd gevoerd - dat Joden ongedierte zijn en als zodanig dienen te worden behandeld? In Europa was de logische conclusie de Holocaust. Als het aan Ahmadinejad ligt, zal hij niet wachten op de toestemming van moslims om de daad bij het woord te voegen.

De wereld moet keer op keer worden geïnformeerd over de Holocaust - niet alleen in het belang van de overlevende Joden en hun nageslacht maar in het belang van de mensheid in zijn geheel.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is een vaste medewerker van AEI (American Enterprise Institute).
Oorspronkelijk bericht: Why they deny the Holocaust

Vertaling: Kees Bakhuyzen -HB

A.B. Yehoshua's open brief aan Gideon Levy

 

Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy mocht vanavond zijn zegje doen op het Acht Uur Journaal bij Sander van Hoorn, die terecht opmerkte dat Levy een eenling is, een 'roepende in de woestijn'. Naast een koor aan Palestijnse slachtoffers en linkse aktivisten, zijn vooral de meest kritische Israëli's welkom bij de publieke omroep in Nederland om uit te leggen hoe fout Israël wel niet is. Dat heet gebalanceerde berichtgeving: Israël zowel door Palestijnen als door Israëli's laten bekritiseren.

 

Vrede en begrip zijn volgens mij alleen te bereiken als beide kanten op hun verantwoordelijkheid worden aangesproken, en als beiden de hand uitstrekken naar de ander. Mensen als Levy (en Sander van Hoorn en de meeste Nederlandse media) laten na Hamas en de Palestijnen aan te spreken.

 

Wouter
_____________

Last update - 03:13 16/01/2009

A.B. Yehoshua / An open letter to Gideon Levy
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055977.html
By A.B. Yehoshua


Dear Gideon,

You remember that in recent years I called you occasionally to praise you for your articles and your writing about the wrongs done to the Palestinians in the administered territories, whether by the army or by the settlers. Physical wrongs, land expropriations, acts of abuse, perversions of justice and so on. I told you that it is very difficult to read what you write, because it weighs on our conscience, but that the work you are doing and the voice you are sounding are extremely important. I was also concerned about your physical safety, knowing that you risked your life by visiting such hostile places.

I did not ask you why you did not visit Israeli hospitals in order to tell the painful stories of Israeli citizens who were hurt in terrorist attacks. I accepted your position that there are plenty of other journalists doing this and that you had taken on the crucial mission of telling the story of the afflictions of the other side, our enemies today and our neighbors tomorrow. Accordingly, it is from this position of respect that I find it necessary to respond to your recent articles on the war in which we are engaged today, so that you will be able to preserve the moral validity of your distinctive voice for the future. A few years ago, when the Hatuel family - a mother and her four children, of blessed memory - were killed on the way to one of the settlements in Gush Katif, I believed that this terrible death pained you as it did all of us but that like many of us you said in your heart: Why should these Israelis endanger their children by living provocatively, hopelessly, dangerously and immorally in Gush Katif? By what right do 8,000 Jews expropriate a sizable area in the densely overcrowded Gaza Strip in order to build blossoming villages before the eyes of hundreds of thousands of refugees living in such abysmal conditions? You were angry, as I was, at the parents and at those who sent them. And even though I believe that like all of us you felt the pain of the children who were killed, you did not brand the leaders of Hamas "war criminals" as you did the Israeli leaders, and you did not demand the establishment of an international tribunal to try them.

 

 

When I asked you after the disengagement from Gaza, Gideon, explain to me why they are firing missiles at us, you replied that they want us to open the crossings. I asked you whether you truly believe that if they fire missiles the crossings will be opened, or the opposite. And whether you truly believe that it is right and just to open crossings into Israel for those who declare openly and sincerely that they want to destroy our country. I did not get an answer from you. And even though the crossings were in fact opened many times, and were closed in the wake of the missile attacks, regrettably I still did not see you standing firmly behind a moral position which says: Now, people of Gaza, after you expelled the Israeli occupation from your land, and justly so, you must hold your fire.

The doleful thought sometimes crosses my mind that it is not the children of Gaza or of Israel that you are pining for, but only for your own private conscience. Because if you are truly concerned about the death of our children and theirs, you would understand the present war - not in order to uproot Hamas from Gaza but to induce its followers to understand, and regrettably in the only way they understand in the meantime, that they must stop the firing unilaterally, stop hoarding missiles for a bitter and hopeless war to destroy Israel, and above all for the sake of their children in the future, so they will not die in another pointless adventure.

After all, now, for the first time in Palestinian history, after the Ottoman, British, Egyptian, Jordanian and Israeli conquests, part of the Palestinians has gained a first and I hope not a last piece of land on which they are to maintain a full and independent government. And if they start building, developing and pursuing social endeavors, even according to Islamic religious law, they will prove to the whole world, and especially to us, that the moment we terminate the occupation they will be ready to live in peace with their surroundings, free to do as they wish, but also responsible for their deeds.

There is something absurd in the comparison you draw about the number of those killed. When you ask how it can be that they killed three of our children and we cause the killing of a hundred and fifty, the inference one can draw is that if they were to kill a hundred of our children (for example, by the Qassam rockets that struck schools and kindergartens in Israel that happened to be empty), we would be justified in also killing a hundred of their children.

In other words, it is not the killing itself that troubles you but the number. On the face of it, one could answer you cynically by saying that when there will be two hundred million Jews in the Middle East it will be permissible to think in moral terms about comparing the number of victims on each side. But that is, of course, a debased argument. After all, you, Gideon, who live among the people, know very well that we are not bent on killing Palestinian children to avenge the killing of our children. All we are trying to do is get their leaders to stop this senseless and wicked aggression, and it is only because of the tragic and deliberate mingling between Hamas fighters and the civilian population that children, too, are unfortunately being killed. The fact is that since the disengagement, Hamas has fired only at civilians. Even in this war, to my astonishment, I see that they are not aiming at the army concentrations along the border but time and again at civilian communities.

Please, preserve the moral authority and concern that you possessed, and your distinctive voice. We will need them again in the future, which promises further ordeals on the road to peace. In the meantime, it would be best for us all - we and the Palestinians and the rest of the world - to follow the simple moral imperative of Kantian philosophy: "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

In friendship always,

 

 

The writer is an Israeli author. His latest novel, "Friendly Fire," was published in recent months.

Hamas wil pas verzoening met Fatah als vredesoverleg met Israel stopt

 

Hamas is bereid tot verzoening met Fatah als Fatah aan al haar eisen tegemoet komt. Fatah moet vooral stoppen met de vredesonderhandelingen met Israel en de samenwerking op veiligheidsgebied opzeggen. Hamas wil van de Westoever een tweede Gaza maken, een gebied van waaruit raketten op Israel worden afgevuurd met bloedige Israelische invallen als gevolg. Dat werkt namelijk de radikalisering en dus de steun voor Hamas in de hand. Misschien dat iemand mij eens uit kan leggen hoe verzoening van Fatah en Hamas precies bij kan dragen aan vrede?

 

RP

-----------

Last update - 16:21 25/01/2009       
Hamas: No reconciliation with Fatah until it ends Israel peace talks
By News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1058514.html

 

 

A senior Hamas official on Sunday said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement must end peace negotiations with Israel before any reconciliation talks can take place.

 

The remarks by Osama Hamdan were bound to complicate Arab efforts to reconcile Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

 

Hamdan is Hamas' representative in Lebanon and is close to top Damascus-based political leader Khaled Meshal.
 .
Speaking at a rally in Beirut Sunday, Hamdan said Hamas welcomed Palestinian dialogue, but any reconciliation should be based on a resistance program to liberate territory and regain rights.

 

He also demanded that the PA end security coordination with Israel, and maintained that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had ended.

 

Earlier Sunday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the Islamist militant group would not accept any mediated truce agreement with Israel in Gaza unless Israel reopened the Palestinian territory's border crossings.

 

Barhoum made the comments ahead of talks with Egyptian officials on means to reopen the Gaza border, largely closed since the group violently took over Gaza in June 2007.

 

"We are not going to accept less than opening the borders ... and lifting the sanctions," said the spokesman, adding that discussions would address a detailed cease-fire agreement.

 

The issue of the crossings is key to preserving the cease-fire declared after Israel's 3-week offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Israel, the United States and Egypt are trying to work out security arrangements to ensure Hamas does not smuggle weapons into the strip before any opening.

 

Another Hamas spokesman, Ayman Taha, told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Saturday that his group wants European Union and Turkish troops to patrol Gaza's border crossings with Israel.

 

"We reject an open-ended cease-fire, but temporary calm with guarantees can be discussed," he also said, without specifying how long.

 

A low-level delegation from Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank-based government, is also in Cairo for talks, but is not expected to meet with the Hamas envoys.

 

Asharq Al-Awsat also reported Saturday that Hamas had suggested representatives of the Palestinian Authority be stationed at the Rafah crossing, but that they be residents of Gaza, not the West Bank.

 

Israel has been allowing some supply convoys into Gaza, though its borders remain largely closed. The Israel Defense Forces says more than 125 trucks a day - on some days nearly 200 - have entered Gaza since fighting ended on January 17th, but aid workers say the numbers are not enough.

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Kieskompas in Israël groot succes

 

Ben je benieuwd wat je in Israël zou moeten stemmen als dat kon? Wil je weten welke partij het dichtste bij jouw ideeën staat? In samenwerking met Kieskompas en de VU is er nu een Israëlisch Kieskompas dat jouw positie ten opzichte van de verschillende partijen bepaalt. Er zijn drie hoofdthema's: het vredesproces met de Palestijnen, sociaal economisch beleid en seculier versus religieus.

 

--------------------

http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1387211/Kieskompas+in+Israel+groot+succes.html
Kieskompas in Israël groot succes
23-01-2009 11:58 | Buitenlandredactie

 

 

JERUZALEM/AMSTERDAM - De lancering van het Kieskompas in Israël is een doorslaand succes gebleken. Op de eerste dag bezochten donderdag zo'n 200.000 mensen de digitale stemwijzer.

Vier servers hadden de organisatoren van het Kieskompas gisteren klaar staan om de lancering van het Kieskompas in Israël te faciliteren. Dat aantal moest tot zeven worden uitgebreid om de stroom bezoekers aan te kunnen. Vrijdagmorgen stond de teller op 250.000.

Het Kieskompas is een digitale stemwijzer die kiezers aan de hand van een serie vragen laat zien welke politieke partij het best bij hen past. Het instrument is ontwikkeld door een Israëlisch instituut, in samenwerking met de Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA). Het kompas is ook op de site van deze krant in te vullen.

Politicoloog André Krouwel, verbonden aan de UvA en mede-initiatiefnemer van het Kieskompas, spreekt van een "enorm succes." "Vlak na het in de lucht gaan van de site hadden we 40.000 bezoekers per uur." De bezoekersaantallen zijn te vergelijken met de lancering van het Nederlandse Kieskompas in 2006.

Het succes van de lancering valt volgens Krouwel enerzijds te verklaren uit het feit dat de traditionele partijen hun ideeën steeds minder geprononceerd uitdragen. Anderzijds is er een groot aantal nieuwe partijen waarvan niet altijd duidelijk is waar ze voor staan.

Krouwel verwacht volgende week een eerste analyse van de resultaten die het invullen van het Kieskompas in Israël heeft opgeleverd. Israël gaat op 10 februari naar de stembus om een nieuw parlement te kiezen.

-----------------

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and Y-net Present:
The 2009 Israel Election Compass
An interactive tool to promote informed voter participation

 

Jerusalem, January 19-IDI announced today the release of the 2009 Israel Election Compass, an interactive web-based tool developed specifically for the 2009 Israeli national elections. Hosted by Y-net, Israel's largest news portal, the Compass allows users to orient themselves within Israel's political landscape based upon 30 multiple choice questions.

Based on a concept developed in Holland and employed successfully during the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections, IDI's Election Compass encourages informed participation in the electoral process.  In Holland, one out of every three voters completed the questionnaire in the 2006 elections. In the U.S., the host site of the Wall Street Journal registered four million hits for their compass in the months preceding the 2008 presidential election.

"Although Israel's current electoral campaign is extremely short, we have high hopes for the software and its impact on voter turnout," said IDI Senior Fellow Prof. Asher Arian. "We also expect that the Compass will induce Israel's politicians to speak out on the issues," he added.

Based on an extensive questionnaire in three main areas-Security, Social-Economic, and Religion-the tool maps voter preferences onto a virtual map of the political spectrum, enabling individual voters to see which parties best match their views.

The Election Compass went live on January 22nd. It is available through IDI's Election 2009 homepage.
( www.idi.org.il/sites/english/Pages/Elect09.aspx )

For more information on the Israeli Electoral Compass, or to arrange an interview with project director Professor Asher Arian, please contact IDI's Director of International Communications, Mr. Barak Cohen, at 02-530-0877, or via e-mail at Barak@idi.org.il.
==============
The Israel Democracy Institute is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit public policy institute dedicated to strengthening the structural and ethical foundations of Israeli democracy.

Waterstand in Meer van Galilea op dieptepunt tijdens record droogte

 

Bij de Albert Hein zag ik cherry-tomaatjes uit afwisselend Israel, Marokko en Spanje, een groente die veel water vergt om te telen uit landen die alledrie met waterschaarste kampen.

 

En in Gaza worden bloemen geteeld voor de export.

 

Wouter

____________

Pumping from Kinneret halted as water drops to critical level
By Avi Bar-Eli Haaretz 21 January 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057384.html

The pumping of water from Lake Kinneret, which serves as Israel's primary water reservoir, was halted on Monday as water levels reached just 40 cm above the critical "black line," below which all pumping is forbidden. Pumping was stopped as Israel suffers the driest winter season since measurements began in the 1920s.

Since the beginning of the rainy season (October), precipitation throughout the country has reached only 50-70% of its average. January, the rainiest month in the season, has seen just 22 mm of rain - 10% of the multi-annual average for the month - in central and northern areas. Without a dramatic change in the meteorological picture, January 2009 is expected to be the driest in recorded history.

The Water Authority said this week that there is already an unprecedented shortage in Israel's water reserves. The Dan, Banias and Snir rivers are at historic low levels, even though the rainy season is well advanced. These rivers should be pouring some 80 cubic meters of water into the Kinneret lake in January, but as of January 18, there has been almost no flow of water this month. Water sources feeding the Kinneret are also at their lowest level since measurements began. If February is not unusually rainy, the Water Authority says, the Banias and Snir rivers will nearly dry up.

Suspension of pumping from the Kinneret has resulted in increased pumping from Israel's aquifers, which are also in deficit after four years of drought - and on the brink of the fifth consecutive dry year.

And the question arises: What has been done to date to address the increasing water shortage? The Water Authority slashed allocations to farmers by 50% in 2008, placed a moratorium on planting new gardens and canceled all discounts on consumption for garden irrigation. Simultaneously, the Water Authority launched a public advertising campaign to encourage people to save water, which it says has resulted in the saving of 100 million cubic meters of water. Nevertheless, the campaign is heard broadcasted only from time to time.

The authority plans to cut another 100 million cubic meters from its allocation to agriculture, which is already suffering the consequences of the devastating earlier cuts, place a sweeping moratorium on irrigation of public lawns - and possibly private ones as well - and increase efficiency of water consumption in the industrial sector. At present the authority is not planning to restrict household water use.

As plans for additional desalination plants at Sorek and Ashdod move forward at a snail's pace, Water Authority chief Uri Shani has announced that the authority will call on international sources for information on available technology for importing water.

Nevertheless, the tender for the desalination plant in Ashdod, the fifth in Israel, has raised plenty of interest from both local and international corporations. Foreign companies that will be participating tomorrow in a bidders' conference include Wacorp Hyundai India, Nhon Corporation from Vietnam, Mid-Century Beijing from China and the representative of a company based in Oman in the Persian Gulf. Israeli companies that have promised to send delegates include IDE Technologies, Housing and Constructing, Granite Hacarmel, GE and Siemens Israel.

The current tender is for planning and constructing a 65-dunam (16-acre) sea water desalination plant in the northern industrial zone of Ashdod. The plant will be capable of desalinating up to about 100 million cubic meters of sea water a year, or at least 100,000 per day.

The conference will present the draft tender which, for the first time, will not be for a direct franchise between the contractor and state. Instead, the plant is to be operated by Mekorot-Yizum for 25 years under a "Build, Operate,Transfer" (B.O.T.) agreement with the state. The agreement became possible after the Comptroller's department waived the need for a tender for the state-owned water company subsidiary Mekorot Yizum.

The cost of the project, which is expected to begin operating in 2012, is estimated at $450 million.

In a strong show of support for the project, Minister of National Infrastructure Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Water Authority head Uri Shani, Mekorot chairman Eli Ronen, Mekorot Yizum chairman Ido Rozolio and CEO Giora Guttman will participate in the conference.

IDF strategie die in Libanon faalde slaagde in Gaza

 

Ethiek en een oorlog winnen, kunnen die samengaan? Nauwelijks...

 

The General Staff identified the public's intolerance for soldiers' deaths as an Achilles heel. The IDF used tremendous firepower, knowing this would claim the lives of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, to reduce its own casualties and forestall a situation in which the war would be brought to an end prematurely.

 

Hamas was diep ingegraven in Gaza en relatief goed en professioneel voorbereid, mede dankzij training en materiaal van Iran. Hamas een zware klap toebrengen zou ofwel veel Israelische soldaten het leven kosten, of een overmaat van wapengeweld vereisen dat ook veel Palestijnse burgers zou treffen. Bij (relatief) veel dode soldaten keert het Israelische publiek zich tegen de operatie, bij veel dode Palestijnse burgers neemt de internationale druk om de operatie te beëindigen snel toe, zoals ook bij eerdere Israelische offensieven gebeurde.

 

Wouter

______________

 

Last update - 12:46 24/01/2009       
ANALYSIS / The IDF model that failed in Lebanon succeeded in Gaza
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057933.html

 

 

It was almost inevitable that most Israelis would be left with a somewhat sour feeling at the end of the war in Gaza. The left was furious about the killing of Palestinian civilians and the widespread destruction wrought across Gaza; the right was angry at the security cabinet for not letting the Israel Defense Forces win. The soldiers in the field were sorry that the operation ended without the return of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. And the media quickly moved to cover the inauguration of Barack Obama. By midweek, the Gaza campaign had already been relegated to the back pages of the papers.

 

No few myths that had been cultivated - in these pages, too - were proved false by the operation. The ground operation did not exact large-scale Israeli casualties, the rocket fire was considerably reduced due to the presence of IDF troops in Gaza, and the army withdrew without an organized "exit plan." On the other hand, the prewar assumption that it would be difficult to achieve a clear-cut victory in a confrontation with Hamas was proven correct. Far from raising a white flag, Hamas hurried to mark the IDF's departure with victory processions.

 

The public's partial disappointment stems from the disparity between the expectations that developed against the backdrop of the relatively smooth entry of the ground forces, and the difficulty of translating the fighting into an arrangement that would vanquish Hamas. Israel's leaders knew from the outset that these were unrealistic expectations, but even several General Staff officers this week maintained that Israel was only four kilometers away from delivering a crushing defeat to Hamas. That was the distance between the forward paratroopers in the north of Gaza City and their buddies from the Givati Brigade in the city's southern part. If the circle had been closed, so this argument goes, we would have seen a different outcome.

For the IDF, the Gaza operation was a corrective experience in the wake of the failure and humiliation it sustained during the Second Lebanon War. The conditions of the confrontation facilitated the army's task: Not only did Hamas turn out to be a weaker foe than Hezbollah, but the performance of the Israeli officers improved, from Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to GOC Southern Command Yoav Gallant, from the brigade commanders, who raced ahead, to the logistics personnel. But we should also remember the situation in which the IDF's top brass found itself (in part, of course, due to its own fault) at the outbreak of the previous war.

 

Considering the circumstances, the position paper former GOC Norther Command Udi Adam submitted to the Winograd Committee (which examined the conduct of the 2006 Lebanon war) was surprisingly frank. In it, Adam wrote: "Northern Command did not fulfill its mission - stopping the firing of the Katyushas." Stopping the rocket fire was not officially included in the orders given to the IDF in 2006, but Northern Command nevertheless acknowledged its failure in this regard in retrospect.

 

In Gaza, the reduction of rocket fire was cited as the operation's only goal, and the IDF adopted a smart media posture that anticipated any operational result with regard to the rocket attacks: IDF spokespersons emphasized time and again that, "it is impossible to get to the last launcher" and anticipated that between 100-300 rockets would be fired at Israel every day. When Hamas did not meet this expectation and fired an average of just 60 rockets (and 20, toward the operation's end) a day, the media focused on Hamas' failure - not on the fact that the attacks continued.

 

In 2006, when Israel went to war against Hezbollah, Northern Command had nine tanks stationed along the entire border with Lebanon. Half of the string of outposts were manned by a reserve battalion, which the commanding officers considered declaring unfit for action. Southern Command moved into Gaza after two years of meticulous planning, with each brigade and battalion perfectely aware of its sector and mission. In a meeting with Ashkenazi and Gallant at the beginning of this week, the brigade commanders who fought in Gaza said that, in contrast to Lebanon, this time they felt the missions were more firmly defined: The brigades were not rocked by orders that changed each passing day. Intelligence was also accurate: Battalion commanders say that they often knew exactly what to expect around the next bend in the road.

 

This time, the Israel Air Force's role was completely different. The political echelon authorized Ashkenazi to do what his predecessor, Dan Halutz, was not permitted to do in Lebanon: to launch a widespread attack on governmental targets as a means to pressure the enemy. Not only was the IAF tuned in to the ground forces' requests, it made a special effort to hunt down the rocket launchers. Unlike in 2006, the General Staff did not draw a "yellow line," artificially dividing the operational sector between Northern Command and the IAF.

 

The model that failed in Lebanon was, for the first time, successfully implemented in Gaza. This time, Southern Command was in charge of the entire combat arena, including aerial actions and "targeted assassinations." True, all available means were placed at its disposal, but it seems as though Gallant learned some lessons from Udi Adam. Gallant had one division commander working under him: Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg (who proved successful in Gaza, after his failure as a division commander in Lebanon). Adam had to cope with four division commanders, some of them hard to get along with.

 

Ashkenazi and Gallant worked reasonably well together, despite considerable personal tension and a dispute over the operation's continuation. In the "kitchen cabinet," Olmert-Barak-Livni gleaned the impression that Ashkenazi - who favored an end to the operation before expanding the ground offensive ("Phase 3") - insisted on informing the trio about Gallant's opposite stance. In the previous war, knowledgeable sources noted, the only time a different position was presented was when Halutz was sick. An officer who was in contact with the political echelon during the Gaza operation says he now understands what went so horribly wrong in Lebanon: "It was weird, to put it mildly." Another senior figure adds: "It is difficult to conduct a war when an election campaign is under way. Two of the 'kitchen cabinet' members were interested in the operation's implications for the elections. The third [Olmert] was busy with the question of what it would all mean for his legacy."

 

Moral combat?

 

At midday Monday, as a senior officer met with journalists for a background briefing to sum up the operation (public interviews with the chief of staff will probably have to wait for his retirement in two years), Prof. Asa Kasher entered the General Staff building in the Kirya, the defense establishment complex in Tel Aviv. About a decade ago, Kasher, a philosopher, helped draw up the IDF's code of ethics. During the second intifada, he and Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin (a combat pilot and now director of Military Intelligence) co-authored a document entitled "Moral Combat Against Terrorism," which defends the use of force against terrorists who hide amid a civilian population. The incident that motivated the document's drafting was the assassination of Salah Shehadeh, a senior Hamas figure, in an attack which also left 15 civilians dead. But that was a proportional attack compared to the firepower the IDF unleashed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

 

Compared to Hezbollah, Hamas prepared a ramified defensive network to block the IDF's entry. The number of underground mines and booby-trapped buildings in Gaza was unprecedented. Hamas failed because the IDF proceeded with a strategy of pounding, first from the air, then on the ground. A series of conversations with officers this week reinforces the conclusion formed at the outset of the ground operation: The General Staff identified the public's intolerance for soldiers' deaths as an Achilles heel. The IDF used tremendous firepower, knowing this would claim the lives of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, to reduce its own casualties and forestall a situation in which the war would be brought to an end prematurely.

 

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, conjectured that Israel wanted to "educate" Hamas and the inhabitants of Gaza by means of brutal collective punishment. Such an interpretation is not entirely wrong, given the scale of the destruction wrought by the Israeli-made Viper mine-clearing machines (which cause an underground explosion that sets off hidden land mines). Officers in command posts describe a different atmosphere that was dictated by the senior command level. Reports from the field mention a directive for bulldozers to raze dozens of buildings - not because they were booby-trapped, but because they were blocking the forces' "line of vision."

 

The truth must be said: For years the army has demonstrated insensitivity in regard to killing Palestinian civilians, certainly in times of heavy fighting. In the fall of 2004, during Operation Days of Penitence in the Gaza Strip, one could see the grim faces of officers, after learning about the deaths of two children from Sderot by a Qassam rocket. The result was not long in coming: seven civilians were killed by tank fire at an UNRWA school in Jabalya. Anyone who saw that incident will not be surprised at the 42 civilians who were killed in a similar barrage during Operation Cast Lead. Israel does not implement murderous methods like the Russians in Chechnya, or violence on a par with American actions in Iraq. But it is acting far more harshly than it did in Jenin during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 or in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon, in 2006. The present aggressive policy reminded veteran officers, among them the chief of staff, of the actions of the Israeli forces in Lebanon in 1982. Perhaps we can expect another generational trauma, of the kind that engendered the film "Waltz with Bashir" so late in the day.

 

Meshal as Nasrallah

 

The final scene of "Waltz with Bashir" was reenacted in Gaza this week. The film ends with a segment from a TV report filmed by military correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps, following the September 1982 massacre. A Palestinian woman, standing amid the ruins, shouts: "Where are the Arabs? Where are the Arabs?" The same complaints were voiced by Gazans, who, this time, too, were shocked at the Arab world's indifference. With the active encouragement of Al Jazeera, large demonstrations were held in Cairo and Amman and even in Jakarta, Indonesia. But the Arab regimes did not rally to Hamas' cause. Even Hezbollah maintained relative quiet along the northern border, apart from the firing of two Katyushas.

 

The Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported this week that the head of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Meshal, expressed disappointment at the Arab reaction to the operation during a closed session of the Arab summit in Qatar. Not only did Hamas remain almost alone in the campaign against Israel, it also suffered a painful blow in the military confrontation. The best proof of this was its agreement to an unconditional cease-fire while IDF troops were still in the Gaza Strip. Al-Ahram reports that Meshal admitted that he had not expected the Israeli reaction to be so severe and sustained - the same sentiment that was expressed by Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon two and half years ago.

 

Outwardly, Hamas broadcast a different message. Military Intelligence tends to give Hamas high grades for the credibility of its announcements in ordinary times. But since the start of the ground operation, Hamas' fabrications have gone off the charts. One of the organization's spokesmen claimed this week that Hamas had expelled the IDF from the Gaza Strip. The spokesman of the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, admitted to losing only 48 of its men in the fighting. And how many Israeli soldiers were killed? Forty-nine, according to Hamas (in reality, 10 soldiers were killed). Conversations with residents of Ramallah and East Jerusalem indicate that from their point of view, Hamas won. They claim that Hamas withstood Israeli military pressure and that the IDF struck only civilians in the Gaza Strip. Asked why they think Hamas stopped firing rockets, they explain that it was a good-will gesture to Barack Obama on the occasion of his inauguration.

 

 

Hamas aanklagen voor oorlogsmisdaden

 

Hamas voor oorlogsmisdaden aanklagen is best wel een origineel idee. Westerse mensenrechten organisaties hebben het nog niet verzonnen.

 

Wouter

____________

Jan 23, 2009 0:39 | Updated Jan 23, 2009 6:25
Israeli NGO: Try Hamas for war crimes
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643727610&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
By REBECCA ANNA STOIL 

 

In the shadow of threatened international legal action against Israeli leaders following Operation Cast Lead, Shurat Hadin: The Israel Law Center became the first group to launch a legal counterattack Thursday.

The organization sent a request to Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to charge Hamas members captured during the campaign with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In the letter, the NGO argues that Israel is required under international law to try Hamas operatives for those offenses as opposed to the usual charges such as murder, membership in a terror organization and illegal weapons possession, for which Hamas members usually face trial. Hamas, the letter said, was in violation of the Geneva Convention in firing rockets at civilian targets, and that violation constitutes a war crime.

Furthermore, it argued, systematically targeting Israeli civilians violated the Hague Convention and constituted a crime against humanity.

But why should Israel prosecute? The legal Israel-advocacy organization used the same justification as Israel's opponents to justify indicting Israeli military and civilian leaders overseas - that any country that is party to the fourth Geneva Convention is mandated to try any war criminals.

"As the Europeans, the Arab states and the United Nations are calling for an investigation of the IDF's actions in Gaza, Israel must ride the same wave and bring to trial the Hamas members who were caught for war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Shurat Hadin chairwoman attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner. "In the year 2008 alone, thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip against innocent Israeli civilians. Israel has an ethical obligation to try Hamas activists who attacked civilian targets and to show the world that Hamas's rocket attacks constituted war crimes carried out during this war."

The appeal to Mazuz came on the same day that Lorenzo Cremonesi, a lead reporter for the Milan-based Corriere della Serra, reported that his research in the Gaza Strip indicated that Hamas gunmen violated international humanitarian law by using civilians as human shields, dressing combatants up as medics and driving in commandeered ambulances and using UN buildings to launch rockets.

Only one day earlier, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's trip to address her European counterparts in Brussels almost ran aground after rumors circulated in the Israeli Arab press that an arrest order was going to be issued for her upon arrival.

While former and current IDF officers are indeed at risk for such arrest warrants, current cabinet members are likely immune from foreign indictment for war crimes.

 

 

Hamas neemt controle over op smokkeltunnels Gaza

 

Hamas is alweer wapens aan het smokkelen, want het weet wat de zwaar gehavende inwoners van de Gazastrook het hardste nodig hebben. Belangrijker dan het recht op voedsel, kleding, onderdak en veiligheid, is immers het fundamentele recht op gewelddadig verzet tegen een overmachtige tegenstander.

 

Wouter

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Hamas takes control of all Gaza tunnels
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Jan. 22, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1232643727069&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Hamas has seized control of all the smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and has been moving additional arms into the Strip since Operation Cast Lead ended on Sunday morning.

During the three-week operation, the IDF destroyed 80 percent of the 300 tunnels that Hamas is believed to have dug under the 14-kilometer stretch of land separating Gaza and Egypt.

Some of the tunnels were not destroyed - like the one that was filmed by foreign media on Wednesday - out of humanitarian considerations.

Several tunnels have pipes that transfer fuel from Sinai to Gaza. The concern in the IDF was that if it bombed such a tunnel, a huge explosion would result - possibly also on the Egyptian side - and civilian casualties.

The IDF was also concerned that if a fuel tunnel were bombed, Hamas would respond by attacking the Nahal Oz fuel depot where there are gas canisters and fuel tankers, which if detonated would cause major collateral damage in Gaza and Israel.

The tunnels in Rafah are usually run by local Palestinian clans, and Hamas's decision to take control is believed to be part of the group's attempts to reestablish its regime in Gaza. Hamas can now decide what is smuggled into the Strip and give priority to weapons and explosives.

On Wednesday night, CBS News reported that the US Navy had intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea carrying arms allegedly on their way to Gaza. Israel is concerned that Iran will try to transfer long-range Fajr missiles to Hamas capable of hitting Tel Aviv.

Also on Wednesday, Hamas commandeered the trucks carrying humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip as part of its effort to show that it is providing for the Palestinian people.

Defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that Hamas had also taken over a mental hospital in Gaza City and had kicked out the patients to use the facility as a jail for Fatah supporters.

The officials said Hamas was concerned that Fatah would try to take advantage of its weakened state and attempt to take back control over Gaza. During Operation Cast Lead, Hamas imposed curfews on predominantly Fatah neighborhoods and executed any Fatah member seen on the street.

Also on Thursday, Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, was in Cairo for talks about Gilad Schalit and the new anti-smuggling mechanism.

The new mechanism Israel had set up with the Egyptians to counter the smuggling of weaponry and explosives into the Gaza Strip consists of three layers - intelligence cooperation, obstacles in Sinai and the deployment of new tunnel-detection technology along the border. Defense officials said Gilad would likely travel to Egypt every other week to oversee the mechanism's effectiveness.

Fatah vertegenwoordigers mogen van Hamas grens Gaza-Egypte controleren

 

PA-vertegenwoordigers uit Gaza zouden de grens met Egypte mogen monitoren van Hamas. Het lijkt dubieus of dat een goede grenscontrole zou opleveren, gezien de geweldadige opstelling van Hamas tegen Fatah in Gaza. Zouden deze Fatah-mensen werkelijk melding durven maken van waargenomen wapensmokkel? Mij lijkt dat zij zowel als hun families daarmee gevaar kunnen lopen.

 

Wouter

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Hamas agrees to allow Fatah forces to patrol Rafah crossing
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

Last update - 16:21 24/01/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1058242.html

 

The London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday that Hamas has suggested representatives of the Palestinian Authority be stationed at the Rafah crossing, but that they be residents of Gaza, not the West Bank.

Also on Saturday, Hamas officials laid out some of their conditions for a continuation of the Gaza truce and for the release of captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

A Hamas delegation comprising representatives from Gaza and Damascus traveled to Cairo is to meet with Egyptian officials on Sunday.

One Hamas official reiterated the group's demand that Shalit be freed as part of a larger prisoner exchange, and that his release not be tied to the issue of opening Gaza's border crossings.

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told Asharq Al-Awsat that his group wants European Union and Turkish troops to patrol Gaza's border crossings with Israel.

The discussions in Egypt will focus on a working paper to consolidate the cease-fire with Israel following the three-week offensive.

One official said the talks - slated for Sunday - will also address the fate of Israeli soldier Shalit, captured by militants in a June 2006 cross-border raid.

The Hamas officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The six-day-old truce remains fragile. Israel wants a halt to arms smuggling to the militants, while Hamas wants an end to Gaza blockade. Hamas demands the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.