Our American government is currently financing and maintaining a fabulous all-comprehensive housing program that can provide you with modern newly-constructed state-of-the-art housing at either subsidized prices -- or free! And talk about location location location. This wonderful model housing program isn't located in undesirable places like the grungy old Boston inner city or shabby run-down parts of L.A. And, unlike those tacky bankrupt schools in California and Mississippi, this place has outstanding schools too. And its healthcare services, shopping centers and freeways are also top-of-the-line.
These fabulous new housing programs are located in a place that is sunny, modern, upscale and family-friendly -- Israel!
According to USA Today, "Nefesh B'Nefesh, a non-profit organization, provides grants of $3,000 to $10,000 as an incentive for Jews to move [to Israel]. Nefesh B'Nefesh, which means 'Soul to Soul,' also helps arrange housing, jobs and schools for immigrants' children."
"But what do I have to do to be eligible for all this wonderful subsidized housing?" you might ask. That's easy. Just become Jewish. And apply. It's your birthright. You're in!
"But if America is sponsoring a housing program that is available to only one religious group, isn't that against our Constitution and civil rights? Doesn't this program have to be available to ALL Americans to be legal? And doesn't it go against the separation of church and state?" Nah. Not a problem. There are no churches involved.
dinsdag 7 juli 2009
Voor Amerikanen die Jood worden gesubsidiëerde huizen in zonnig land?
Dit is het soort onzin dat hier door mensen als Thomas von der Dunk, Dries van Agt, Gretta Duisenberg en Anton van Hooff wordt beweerd, en door vele tientallen reaguurders op de Volkskrant online. Joden worden bevoordeeld, en op kosten van de belastigbetaler in de VS kunnen Joden goedkoop, ja zelfs gratis, wonen in Israel.
RP
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A person named Jane Stillwater has posted a fictional rant about Aliya to Israel entitled "New foreclosure remedy: Become Jewish & move to Israel!" The article alleges that American taxpayers pay for the grant that is given by Nefesh beNefesh for new immigrants from North America, that Americans pay for their housing, which is supposedly all in the settlements ("East Jerusalem high rises" and that it is easy to become a Jew and go to Israel at the expense of the American taxpayer. Here's a sample of this wicked concoction:
None of the allegations are true. The United States does not pay for or subsidize housing in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The United States underwrites loan guarantees for Israel, but it deducts the sum it estimates that Israel spends on settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The U.S. tax payer does not pay for the loans, just the guarantees, which make it possible for Israel to get money at lower interest rates. The United States government does not pay for Nefesh Benefesh, which is financed by the Israeli government, individual private donors and a foundation. It is rather difficult, as everyone knows to undergo the orthodox conversion that is needed in order to be recognized as a Jew by the orthodox establishment.. This bizarre rant has to be seen to be believed. It shows what happens when the hysteria over settlements is carried to an absurd extreme.
Ami Isseroff
Journaliste mag niet lachen met vrienden op Gaza strand
Vaak wordt gezegd dat Hamas geen islamitische leefregels wil opleggen, maar in de praktijk gebeurt dat wel degelijk.
RP
RP
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The Jerusalem Post
Jul 4, 2009 23:04 | Updated Jul 5, 2009 13:17
'They accused me of laughing in public'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443716574&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A Palestinian female journalist complained over the weekend that Hamas policemen attempted to arrest her under the pretext that she came to a Gaza beach dressed immodestly and was seen laughing in public.
The journalist, Asma al-Ghul, said that the policemen instead confiscated her passport. Since the incident, she added, she has been afraid to leave her home, especially after receiving death threats from anonymous callers.
"They accused me of laughing loudly while swimming with my friend and failing to wear a hijab," Ghul told a human rights organization in the Gaza Strip. "They also wanted to know the identity of the people who were with me at the beach and whether they were relatives of mine."
In a phone interview with the Dubai-based Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news Web site, the journalist said that the policemen who stopped her belonged to the Hamas government's Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice security force.
The special force reports directly to the Ministry of Waqf Affairs and is said to be a copy of units that have long been operating in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
The Hamas government, according to local reporters, has refrained from publicly admitting that the force exists out of fear of being branded fundamentalist.
The Hamas force consists of dozens of plainclothes police officers who patrol beaches, public gardens, restaurants, hair salons and coffee shops to make sure that males and females are not mixing together and that the women are dressed modestly.
Ghul said that many Palestinian women have noticed the presence of the police officers at the beaches and other sites. She said that the talk in the Gaza Strip these days was about Hamas's intention to impose the hijab on all female school children from first to 12th grade.
She said she was astonished by the fact that the Hamas security forces were providing security to hotels that are frequented by women wearing miniskirts while at the same time targeting "common people" who go to the beaches and public parks.
Ghul said that Hamas has banned men in the Gaza Strip from swimming topless. "And as in my case, Hamas has banned women from laughing while swimming," she added.
She and her friends were stopped by Hamas policemen while swimming in the sea. She said that the policemen confiscated her passport and laptop after accusing her of laughing loudly and appearing in immodest clothes in a public place.
Two of her male friends were detained for questioning for three hours. They said the police officers beat them and abused them verbally before releasing them.
Hamas security commanders initially said that the journalist and her friends were stopped because they were having a mixed party at the beach. Later, one of the commanders said that Ghul was stopped because she was not wearing a hijab while swimming. Another commander claimed that the journalist and her friends were stopped because they had been seeing smoking nargilas and partying in a public place.
Islam Shahwan, spokesman for the Hamas security forces, said that policemen have been deployed at the beaches at the request of the Ministry for Waqf Affairs. He said the policemen's task is to impose law and order and prevent harassment of families picnicking and swimming at the beaches.
"We are there for the safety of the people," he said. "We operate there to prevent men from harassing women. We've received many complaints about these negative practices."
Shahwan said that Hamas does not interfere with the way women want to dress. However, he stressed, "we must preserve our Islamic culture and traditions. If there's a woman who wants to dress as she wishes, she must go to a private swimming pool and not to a public place."
The Jerusalem Post
Jul 4, 2009 23:04 | Updated Jul 5, 2009 13:17
'They accused me of laughing in public'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443716574&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A Palestinian female journalist complained over the weekend that Hamas policemen attempted to arrest her under the pretext that she came to a Gaza beach dressed immodestly and was seen laughing in public.
The journalist, Asma al-Ghul, said that the policemen instead confiscated her passport. Since the incident, she added, she has been afraid to leave her home, especially after receiving death threats from anonymous callers.
"They accused me of laughing loudly while swimming with my friend and failing to wear a hijab," Ghul told a human rights organization in the Gaza Strip. "They also wanted to know the identity of the people who were with me at the beach and whether they were relatives of mine."
In a phone interview with the Dubai-based Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news Web site, the journalist said that the policemen who stopped her belonged to the Hamas government's Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice security force.
The special force reports directly to the Ministry of Waqf Affairs and is said to be a copy of units that have long been operating in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
The Hamas government, according to local reporters, has refrained from publicly admitting that the force exists out of fear of being branded fundamentalist.
The Hamas force consists of dozens of plainclothes police officers who patrol beaches, public gardens, restaurants, hair salons and coffee shops to make sure that males and females are not mixing together and that the women are dressed modestly.
Ghul said that many Palestinian women have noticed the presence of the police officers at the beaches and other sites. She said that the talk in the Gaza Strip these days was about Hamas's intention to impose the hijab on all female school children from first to 12th grade.
She said she was astonished by the fact that the Hamas security forces were providing security to hotels that are frequented by women wearing miniskirts while at the same time targeting "common people" who go to the beaches and public parks.
Ghul said that Hamas has banned men in the Gaza Strip from swimming topless. "And as in my case, Hamas has banned women from laughing while swimming," she added.
She and her friends were stopped by Hamas policemen while swimming in the sea. She said that the policemen confiscated her passport and laptop after accusing her of laughing loudly and appearing in immodest clothes in a public place.
Two of her male friends were detained for questioning for three hours. They said the police officers beat them and abused them verbally before releasing them.
Hamas security commanders initially said that the journalist and her friends were stopped because they were having a mixed party at the beach. Later, one of the commanders said that Ghul was stopped because she was not wearing a hijab while swimming. Another commander claimed that the journalist and her friends were stopped because they had been seeing smoking nargilas and partying in a public place.
Islam Shahwan, spokesman for the Hamas security forces, said that policemen have been deployed at the beaches at the request of the Ministry for Waqf Affairs. He said the policemen's task is to impose law and order and prevent harassment of families picnicking and swimming at the beaches.
"We are there for the safety of the people," he said. "We operate there to prevent men from harassing women. We've received many complaints about these negative practices."
Shahwan said that Hamas does not interfere with the way women want to dress. However, he stressed, "we must preserve our Islamic culture and traditions. If there's a woman who wants to dress as she wishes, she must go to a private swimming pool and not to a public place."
Avigdor Lieberman irrelevant geworden als minister BuZa Israel
Dit was te verwachten, en daarom is het zo moeilijk te begrijpen waarom Netanjahoe Lieberman als minister van buitenlandse zaken heeft geaccepteerd. Lieberman is niet de duivel die Israel haters van hem maken, maar hij is erg ontaktvol en ziet niet dat hij niet alleen zijn eigen positie, maar ook zijn eigen land hiermee in gevaar brengt. Overigens vind ik de reacties van Sarkozy en Kouchner ook niet erg diplomatiek. Hopelijk gebeurt er iets waardoor Netanjahoe een excuus heeft hem te ontslaan zodat aan deze tragedie een einde komt.
"The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman keeps saying the Foreign Ministry needs to return to its roots and focus on advocacy."
Daar heb ik weinig van gemerkt. In reactie op het lijvige en zeer kritische rapport dat Amnesty vorige week uitbracht over de Gaza Oorlog, kwam het ministerie met de voorspelbare reactie dat men te weinig aandacht had voor de duizenden raketten van Hamas. Dat is waar, maar waarom niet ingegaan op de vele concrete beschuldigingen van oorlogsmisdaden en informatie geleverd die een en ander in een ander licht zet? En waarom heeft Israel zich niet wat coöperatiever opgesteld naar Amnesty toe? Het is waar dat Amnesty vaak niet evenwichtig is in haar oordeel over Israel, maar je kunt beter praten en informatie leveren dan de deur dicht slaan.
RP
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Lieberman has become irrelevant
By Barak Ravid - Haaretz
It's been 100 days since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn-in, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's impact on foreign policy has been negligible. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have been handling ties with the U.S.; President Shimon Peres has been in charge of dealing with the Arab world and Lieberman and his office have faded into irrelevance.
Whereas, in the coalition agreement, Lieberman demanded to be made responsible for ties with the U.S., Barak is in fact in charge of negotiations over construction in West Bank settlements. Meanwhile, there's no end in sight to Egypt's and Jordan's boycott of Lieberman. In an effort to fill the void, Peres will travel to Jordan's capital Amman to meet with King Abdullah on Tuesday. And Lieberman? In two weeks' time he will tour Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia to counter Iran's influence in Latin America.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's critical remarks about Israel's hawkish foreign minister, during his recent meeting with Netanyahu, are just the tip of the iceberg. Many diplomats who have met Lieberman got the feeling that there was no one to talk to and that he has no influence over the Israeli decision-making process.
The fact that Lieberman has left a bad impression is evident from a story he himself told Moscow's Jewish community about his meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Lieberman told his counterpart that the "natural growth" of West Bank settlements required continued construction, citing the shortage of kindergartens in his hometown of Nokdim as an example. Kouchner cynically retorted that faced with a shortage, the children of Nokdim could always attend Palestinian kindergartens. "I'm not sure they have kindergartens," was what Lieberman told his Moscow audience he replied. "And even if they did, our kids wouldn't make it back alive."
The French foreign minister was not amused.
Lieberman's visit to Washington constitutes further evidence of his problematic image. Ahead of his arrival, Israeli diplomats had tried to present him as someone pragmatic and reasonable. When he arrived in the U.S. capital, he was not given an audience with U.S. President Barack Obama - even though Peres, Barak and Netanyahu, who had visited before him, had met with the president. Lieberman's aides said in response that they had not asked to meet with Obama.
But the worst was still to come. His meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was described as a disaster. Clinton was reportedly offended by Lieberman's comments during the press conference and when she later accidently fell and hurt her hand, Washington diplomatic circles joked that "she was pushed down the stairs by Yvet," according to a senior U.S. official, who referred to Lieberman by his nickname.
Surprisingly, none other than Barak has come to Lieberman's aid. He tells every foreign leader he meets that he has to run any policy issue past the foreign minister.
Meanwhile, Lieberman's vision of closer cooperation with Moscow is at an impasse. The Kremlin isn't particularly enthused by the idea and Russia's policies toward Israel have stiffened.
Foreign Ministry officials are trying their utmost to protect Lieberman and say every foreign policy decision is made jointly by him, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the ministry's director general, Yossi Gal. "It's all coordinated," Lieberman's office insists. "Any attempt to portray a different picture is false."
Other Foreign Ministry officials believe Lieberman isn't interested in being involved in every decision the way former foreign minister Tzipi Livni was. "Foreign policy issues just aren't his flesh and blood," they say. "Perhaps he doesn't want the responsibility of making decisions on such charged political issues as the settlements."
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman keeps saying the Foreign Ministry needs to return to its roots and focus on advocacy. But what exactly does that mean? Last week Lieberman told a joke to Israeli diplomats being sent abroad - it sheds light on his idea of diplomacy. "A tourist went to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and saw a lamb and a wolf together in a cage," Lieberman said. "He asked the zoo keeper, 'How do you get a lamb and a wolf to live together peacefully?' The zoo keeper responded: 'We put a new lamb in the cage every morning.'"
Whereas, in the coalition agreement, Lieberman demanded to be made responsible for ties with the U.S., Barak is in fact in charge of negotiations over construction in West Bank settlements. Meanwhile, there's no end in sight to Egypt's and Jordan's boycott of Lieberman. In an effort to fill the void, Peres will travel to Jordan's capital Amman to meet with King Abdullah on Tuesday. And Lieberman? In two weeks' time he will tour Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia to counter Iran's influence in Latin America.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's critical remarks about Israel's hawkish foreign minister, during his recent meeting with Netanyahu, are just the tip of the iceberg. Many diplomats who have met Lieberman got the feeling that there was no one to talk to and that he has no influence over the Israeli decision-making process.
The fact that Lieberman has left a bad impression is evident from a story he himself told Moscow's Jewish community about his meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Lieberman told his counterpart that the "natural growth" of West Bank settlements required continued construction, citing the shortage of kindergartens in his hometown of Nokdim as an example. Kouchner cynically retorted that faced with a shortage, the children of Nokdim could always attend Palestinian kindergartens. "I'm not sure they have kindergartens," was what Lieberman told his Moscow audience he replied. "And even if they did, our kids wouldn't make it back alive."
The French foreign minister was not amused.
Lieberman's visit to Washington constitutes further evidence of his problematic image. Ahead of his arrival, Israeli diplomats had tried to present him as someone pragmatic and reasonable. When he arrived in the U.S. capital, he was not given an audience with U.S. President Barack Obama - even though Peres, Barak and Netanyahu, who had visited before him, had met with the president. Lieberman's aides said in response that they had not asked to meet with Obama.
But the worst was still to come. His meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was described as a disaster. Clinton was reportedly offended by Lieberman's comments during the press conference and when she later accidently fell and hurt her hand, Washington diplomatic circles joked that "she was pushed down the stairs by Yvet," according to a senior U.S. official, who referred to Lieberman by his nickname.
Surprisingly, none other than Barak has come to Lieberman's aid. He tells every foreign leader he meets that he has to run any policy issue past the foreign minister.
Meanwhile, Lieberman's vision of closer cooperation with Moscow is at an impasse. The Kremlin isn't particularly enthused by the idea and Russia's policies toward Israel have stiffened.
Foreign Ministry officials are trying their utmost to protect Lieberman and say every foreign policy decision is made jointly by him, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the ministry's director general, Yossi Gal. "It's all coordinated," Lieberman's office insists. "Any attempt to portray a different picture is false."
Other Foreign Ministry officials believe Lieberman isn't interested in being involved in every decision the way former foreign minister Tzipi Livni was. "Foreign policy issues just aren't his flesh and blood," they say. "Perhaps he doesn't want the responsibility of making decisions on such charged political issues as the settlements."
The Yisrael Beiteinu chairman keeps saying the Foreign Ministry needs to return to its roots and focus on advocacy. But what exactly does that mean? Last week Lieberman told a joke to Israeli diplomats being sent abroad - it sheds light on his idea of diplomacy. "A tourist went to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and saw a lamb and a wolf together in a cage," Lieberman said. "He asked the zoo keeper, 'How do you get a lamb and a wolf to live together peacefully?' The zoo keeper responded: 'We put a new lamb in the cage every morning.'"
Buitenpost Migron heeft nog een jaar tijd
Na veel getouwtrek en mitsen en maren is er een overeenkomst dat de bewoners van de buitenpost Migron binnen een jaar zullen verhuizen naar de nederzetting Adam. Big deal. De vervangende huizen voor de mensen in de buitenposten hadden natuurlijk al lang klaar kunnen zijn, en hadden natuurlijk in Israel zelf gebouwd moeten worden, anders is het een sigaar uit eigen doos. Barak heeft Mitchell beloofd dat de illegale buitenposten binnen weken of hooguit maanden zullen zijn geëvacueerd. Dat klopt dus niet met de overeenkomst die over Migron is bereikt.
RP
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'Migron would have one year of grace'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
'Migron would have one year of grace'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
The residents of Migron, an illegal outpost in the West Bank, should have a year to voluntarily evacuate, and if they refuse, at the end of that time they should be evacuated by force, the state said during a High Court of Justice hearing Monday.
During the discussion on the illegal outpost, which following a petition submitted by the left-wing Peace Now group, the state's representative said it would take a year until housing units in Adam are ready to absorb the people currently living in Migron.
Attorney Aner Hellman, the state's representative, emphasized that the understanding between the government and the settlers on evacuating Migron voluntarily was an important achievement, but, "If the residents of Migron do not buy the lots which will be ready in a year, there will be no escaping evacuating them by force."
Attorney Michael Sfard, representing Palestinians who say the lands where Migron is built belong to them, said the estimate of a year was optimistic, and that it would take longer until the plan could be implemented.
He further stated that resettling Migron's residents to Adam, a large settlement which is also beyond the Green Line, would harm the basic rights of Palestinian residents.
"It would be better to leave Migron standing than to approve a construction plan in Adam," he said.
Migron residents reacted with fury to the hearing.
"The fate of Judea and Samaria neighborhoods cannot be decided upon in a hearing in this or any other court," they were quoted by Army Radio as saying, adding that they were not prepared to accept any evacuation agreement.
They further stated that "we were sent to this place 10 years ago by the country in order to settle the rocky and empty hill which had never been worked upon, and we didn't expel any people from their land."
During the discussion on the illegal outpost, which following a petition submitted by the left-wing Peace Now group, the state's representative said it would take a year until housing units in Adam are ready to absorb the people currently living in Migron.
Attorney Aner Hellman, the state's representative, emphasized that the understanding between the government and the settlers on evacuating Migron voluntarily was an important achievement, but, "If the residents of Migron do not buy the lots which will be ready in a year, there will be no escaping evacuating them by force."
Attorney Michael Sfard, representing Palestinians who say the lands where Migron is built belong to them, said the estimate of a year was optimistic, and that it would take longer until the plan could be implemented.
He further stated that resettling Migron's residents to Adam, a large settlement which is also beyond the Green Line, would harm the basic rights of Palestinian residents.
"It would be better to leave Migron standing than to approve a construction plan in Adam," he said.
Migron residents reacted with fury to the hearing.
"The fate of Judea and Samaria neighborhoods cannot be decided upon in a hearing in this or any other court," they were quoted by Army Radio as saying, adding that they were not prepared to accept any evacuation agreement.
They further stated that "we were sent to this place 10 years ago by the country in order to settle the rocky and empty hill which had never been worked upon, and we didn't expel any people from their land."
Ben-Eliezer ziet Obama als kans voor vredesakkoord met Palestijnen
Ook dit is een geluid uit de volgens Martijn van Dam 'ultrarechtse' Israelische regering.
RP
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'US appeasement toward Iran is worrying'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
'US appeasement toward Iran is worrying'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
In the first Israeli response to North Korea's belligerent test-launching of missiles over the weekend, Industry Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Saturday he was "very troubled by the American reaction to North Korea's actions," adding he was "not at all calm regarding the American appeasement towards Iran."
Ben-Eliezer was speaking in a casual cultural event in Ramat Gan and his statements did not constitute the official position of the government.
"As far as I'm concerned, the estimates regarding the date that Iran will have nuclear weapons do not matter. For me, an Iranian nuclear bomb is a fait accompli but the world continues to play a double game with Iran, with statements and UN resolutions by day and more than 1,000 European companies still trading with Iran by night. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad sees through the West's weakness and giggles when he knows everyone needs Iranian oil and money," Ben-Eliezer said.
Tying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Iran, Ben-Eliezer said that the Iranian nuclear threat had created a shared interest between Israel, the United States and the moderate states of the Arab world. "Stopping Iran's nuclearization," he said, "is a main issue for us, the Americans and the moderate Arab world. We must take this opportunity and lead towards separation from the Palestinians and immediate resumption of negotiations. We must move towards a solution as fast as we can, with sponsorship and involvement by Arab leaders. We have been in the territories for 42 years and our situation is worsening by the day. We must sit and reach a diplomatic solution. As a former defense minister and current member of the cabinet I say - Israel is one of the strongest countries I know. We should work towards an agreement and not be afraid."
He said Israel must never cut a deal with the Palestinians only in the West Bank, rather than tying it to the Gaza Strip. "Otherwise," he said, "we will have three states for two peoples. I safely say that when the moderate Arab world, led by Egypt, knows we are serious and determined and indeed plan to take the course of diplomacy - they will cooperate with us and give their full backing to our diplomatic actions."
Ben-Eliezer also spoke of Israel's relations with the United States following the election of US President Barack Obama. "He's no [George W.] Bush and no [Bill] Clinton, but he's certainly not a [Jimmy] Carter. He sees the world differently and I think maybe this is a chance for us to overcome psychological hang-ups and 'flow' with the diplomacy he leads. Israel is in agreement and understanding with the Americans, [and has] strategic understandings I cannot imagine living without. A strong Israel is also an American interest, but strengthening settlements is not. I look at the full half of the glass - let's leverage US pressure for our benefit. Maybe in five years we will be able to say we gave a great present to our children and grandchildren."
Ben-Eliezer was speaking in a casual cultural event in Ramat Gan and his statements did not constitute the official position of the government.
"As far as I'm concerned, the estimates regarding the date that Iran will have nuclear weapons do not matter. For me, an Iranian nuclear bomb is a fait accompli but the world continues to play a double game with Iran, with statements and UN resolutions by day and more than 1,000 European companies still trading with Iran by night. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad sees through the West's weakness and giggles when he knows everyone needs Iranian oil and money," Ben-Eliezer said.
Tying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Iran, Ben-Eliezer said that the Iranian nuclear threat had created a shared interest between Israel, the United States and the moderate states of the Arab world. "Stopping Iran's nuclearization," he said, "is a main issue for us, the Americans and the moderate Arab world. We must take this opportunity and lead towards separation from the Palestinians and immediate resumption of negotiations. We must move towards a solution as fast as we can, with sponsorship and involvement by Arab leaders. We have been in the territories for 42 years and our situation is worsening by the day. We must sit and reach a diplomatic solution. As a former defense minister and current member of the cabinet I say - Israel is one of the strongest countries I know. We should work towards an agreement and not be afraid."
He said Israel must never cut a deal with the Palestinians only in the West Bank, rather than tying it to the Gaza Strip. "Otherwise," he said, "we will have three states for two peoples. I safely say that when the moderate Arab world, led by Egypt, knows we are serious and determined and indeed plan to take the course of diplomacy - they will cooperate with us and give their full backing to our diplomatic actions."
Ben-Eliezer also spoke of Israel's relations with the United States following the election of US President Barack Obama. "He's no [George W.] Bush and no [Bill] Clinton, but he's certainly not a [Jimmy] Carter. He sees the world differently and I think maybe this is a chance for us to overcome psychological hang-ups and 'flow' with the diplomacy he leads. Israel is in agreement and understanding with the Americans, [and has] strategic understandings I cannot imagine living without. A strong Israel is also an American interest, but strengthening settlements is not. I look at the full half of the glass - let's leverage US pressure for our benefit. Maybe in five years we will be able to say we gave a great present to our children and grandchildren."
VS dwingt Israelische concurrent uit competitie voor gevechtsvliegtuigen te stappen
Sympathisanten van de Palestijnen halen altijd graag de miljarden aan die Israel van de VS ontvangt, maar vergeten dat daaraan allerlei voorwaarden zijn verbonden die gunstig zijn voor de VS, en die Israels wapenindustrie steeds afhankelijker van de VS hebben gemaakt. Ondertussen wordt Israel geregeld gedwongen zich uit deals terug te trekken omdat dit 'slecht is voor de relatie met de VS.' Het is vreemd en tegenstrijdig met het principe van nationale soevereiniteit dat Israel niet op eigen gelegenheid met bondgenoten van de VS deals op defensiegebied kan sluiten.
RP
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IAF forced out of Indian fighter jet bid
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
IAF forced out of Indian fighter jet bid
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
Under pressure from the Pentagon, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been forced to back out of a joint partnership with a Swedish aerospace company to compete in a multi-billion dollar tender to sell new multi-role fighter jets to the Indian Air Force.
The deal, estimated at a whopping $12 billion for over 120 new aircraft, is being fought over by Lockheed Martin's F-16, Boeing's F-18/Hornet, Russia's MiG-35 and BAE's Eurofighter. IAI was asked by Saab, manufacturer of the Gripen, to jointly develop an advanced model which would compete for the deal.
The Defense Ministry ordered IAI to back out of the deal after the Pentagon expressed concern that American technology, used by Israel, would be integrated into the Gripen offered to the Indians.
"The stated concern was that Western technology in Israeli hands would make its way to the Indians," one Israeli official said.
What was strange with the American request was that Boeing and Lockheed Martin - the two largest US defense contractors - are also competing for the Indian deal. For this reason, Israeli officials said it was more likely that the Americans were concerned that if IAI competed for the deal with Saab, it would force the American companies to lower their prices.
A multi-role fighter, the Gripen is in service in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa. IAI was supposed to provide the electronic systems - radar, communications and electronic-warfare - for the plane.
This is not the first time that an Israeli company has been forced out of a deal due to concerns that competing with American companies would endanger Israeli-US relations.
Last summer, the MoD ordered Israel Military Industries (IMI) to back down from submitting a bid for a half-a-billion dollar deal to develop and manufacture a new tank for the Turkish Armed Forces.
At the time, Turkey had informed the MoD of its interest in developing a new tank and asked if IMI would want to submit a bid. SIBAT - the MOD's Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization - decided not to submit an Israeli offer so not to compete with the Americans and endanger Israeli-US defense relations.
The deal, estimated at a whopping $12 billion for over 120 new aircraft, is being fought over by Lockheed Martin's F-16, Boeing's F-18/Hornet, Russia's MiG-35 and BAE's Eurofighter. IAI was asked by Saab, manufacturer of the Gripen, to jointly develop an advanced model which would compete for the deal.
The Defense Ministry ordered IAI to back out of the deal after the Pentagon expressed concern that American technology, used by Israel, would be integrated into the Gripen offered to the Indians.
"The stated concern was that Western technology in Israeli hands would make its way to the Indians," one Israeli official said.
What was strange with the American request was that Boeing and Lockheed Martin - the two largest US defense contractors - are also competing for the Indian deal. For this reason, Israeli officials said it was more likely that the Americans were concerned that if IAI competed for the deal with Saab, it would force the American companies to lower their prices.
A multi-role fighter, the Gripen is in service in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa. IAI was supposed to provide the electronic systems - radar, communications and electronic-warfare - for the plane.
This is not the first time that an Israeli company has been forced out of a deal due to concerns that competing with American companies would endanger Israeli-US relations.
Last summer, the MoD ordered Israel Military Industries (IMI) to back down from submitting a bid for a half-a-billion dollar deal to develop and manufacture a new tank for the Turkish Armed Forces.
At the time, Turkey had informed the MoD of its interest in developing a new tank and asked if IMI would want to submit a bid. SIBAT - the MOD's Foreign Defense Assistance and Defense Export Organization - decided not to submit an Israeli offer so not to compete with the Americans and endanger Israeli-US defense relations.
maandag 6 juli 2009
Israël, Hamas en het leren van fouten (Nederlands Dagblad)
Hieronder een genuanceerd opiniestuk van Jan van Benthem, redacteur bij het christelijke Nederlands Dagblad.
Ik heb zelf het rapport van Amnesty gelezen, en vind het eerlijk gezegd nogal eenzijdig. De veroordeling van Hamas is in veel mildere bewoordingen dan die van Israel gesteld, bovendien beschuldigt men Israel ervan expres en zonder enig militair doel op burgers te schieten en huizen en andere gebouwen te hebben gebombardeerd, iets wat zeer moeilijk hard te maken is, vooral zonder gedetailleerde informatie van Israels kant.
Het rapport geeft verder absoluut geen context voor de oorlog en haar oorzaken, en de grootschalige wapensmokkel en duizenden raketten van de afgelopen jaren, de vele (pogingen tot) aanslagen en de ontvoering van Shalit blijven alle onvermeld. Het rapport is grotendeels gebaseerd op aangrijpende ooggetuigenverslagen over Israelische wreedheden, zonder dat Amnesty enige afstand van deze bronnen neemt, of enig vraagteken zet. Het is niet meer te controleren of alles ook precies zo gebeurd is, want, hoe cynisch dat misschien ook klinkt, ooggetuigenverslagen kloppen niet altijd 100% zoals ze zijn verteld.
Ook wat betreft het aantal slachtoffers en het aantal burgers onder hen baseert Amnesty zich op Palestijnse bronnen. Het is verkeerd en vooral ook vreselijk stom dat Israel niet heeft meegewerkt met het onderzoek en vragen van Amnesty niet heeft beantwoord, maar dat geeft Amnesty niet het recht op grond van Palestijnse bronnen Israel van de meeste verschrikkelijke oorlogsmisdaden te beschuldigen, op te roepen tot een wapenembargo en tot vervolging van verschillende Israelische militairen en politici.
RP
--------------
Israël, Hamas en het leren van fouten
Geplaatst: 04 juli 2009 06:13, laatste wijziging: 03 juli 2009 20:15
door Jan van Benthem
Drie dingen heeft Amnesty International bereikt met zijn rapport over de Gazaoorlog.
Laten we bij het begin beginnen: het Israëlische leger is het meest morele leger ter wereld en de zaak van Hamas is de meest rechtvaardige van alle volken. Zeggen ze zelf. En ze zijn zo overtuigd van hun zaak dat of nu de VN of Human Rights Watch of zoals deze week Amnesty International een rapport uitbrengt waarin wordt gesproken over 'oorlogsmisdaden', het protest uit zowel Tel Aviv als de Gazastrook zo hevig is dat de argumenten uit deze rapporten niet tot hen doordringen.
Precies dat onderstreept waarom die rapporten er zijn gekomen. Want het gaat daarin over de vraag, hoe er met het leven van anderen is omgesprongen. Roekeloos en onverschillig, is de herhaalde conclusie.
En dat mag geen enkele regering of beweging negeren, door bij voorbaat luid te protesteren. Alleen door de eigen fouten onder ogen te zien, kan daar lering uit worden getrokken en herhaling worden voorkomen.
Heilig doel
Nu zijn de in de eerste regel geciteerde aannames meteen fikse blokkades. Wie zichzelf beschouwt als de beste of denkt te strijden voor een heilig doel, heeft niet direct de neiging te luisteren naar kritiek op het eigen handelen.
Toch is er wel een essentieel verschil dat ook weer uit het Amnestyrapport van deze week [blijkt]. Israël heeft in het geval van de Gazaoorlog gehandeld uit verdediging tegen de duizenden Qassamraketten die uit de Gazastrook zijn afgevuurd. Dat is niet alleen een recht van een regering, het is zelfs een plicht om de eigen burgers te beschermen.
Hamas en andere gewapende Palestijnse groepen, zoals Amnesty ze noemt, schenden volgens Amnesty per definitie al het internationale recht door het afvuren van Qassamraketten op burgerdoelen in Israël. ,,Iedere raket is potentieel dodelijk en de intensieve barrage van zulke raketten veroorzaakte paniek onder de burgerbevolking van Zuid-Israël. Duizenden gezinnen vluchtten naar andere delen van het land en wie wel bleef moest iedere keer hollen om dekking te zoeken als het alarm waarschuwde voor een naderende raket''. Hamas en zijn soortgenoten kreeg ook de volle laag als het gaat om het gedrag in de Gazastrook zelf door midden tussen de burgers aanvallen op Israëlische doelen te plegen.
Dat Hamas hier lering uit zal trekken is volstrekt onwaarschijnlijk. De terreurbeweging ziet de eigen strijd als een heilige jihad en mochten burgers daar het slachtoffer van worden, wel, dan zijn dat martelaren die Allah wel rijk zal belonen. Deze houding is in de Arabische pers vorige maand fel veroordeeld, waarbij Hamas verantwoordelijk werd gesteld voor iedere druppel bloed die in de Gazastrook is vergoten. ,,De waarheid is dat de leiders van Hamas als enigen verantwoordelijk zijn voor het bloedbad in Gaza. Zij alleen waren de heersers in Gaza, zij besloten de de-escalatie te beëindigen, wat het begin van een oorlog met Israël betekende.''
Er is overal over gesproken en zowel Hamas als Israël roepen om het hardst dat het rapport 'ongebalanceerd en oneerlijk is' (Hamas) en 'geen verband houdt met de werkelijkheid' (Israël). Maar omwille van de verloren levens van honderden burgers moet er naar geluisterd worden.
Aan de kant schuiven
Betekent dit nu dat Israël het Amnestyrapport dus aan de kant kan schuiven omdat het toch allemaal de schuld van Hamas is? De reactie uit Tel Aviv duidt daar wel op. Een van de meest inhoudelijke argumenten is dat Amnesty heeft verzuimd Hamas te betitelen als een terroristische beweging maar het omschreef als een 'bewapende groep'. Bovendien zouden veel van de feiten die Amnesty naar voren brengt niet kloppen. ,,De getuigen in het rapport zijn betrokkenen en staan onder druk van Hamas, zoals is aangetoond door onafhankelijke onderzoeken in de internationale media'', aldus het Israëlische ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken in een reactie. Die 'internationale media' zullen wel verbaasd hebben opgekeken: tot nu toe werden zij door Israël juist beticht van een bevooroordeelde eenzijdigheid en nu hebben ze ineens het gelijk van Israël bevestigd?
In sommige gevallen is dit wel het geval. Eerdere berichten als zou Israël een VN-school doelbewust hebben beschoten zijn inderdaad ontzenuwd door nauwkeurig onderzoek van 'de media'. Er wordt nauwkeurig gelet op evenwichtigheid in de berichtgeving over Israël en de Palestijnen, soms zelfs door een speciale commissie zoals de BBC voor heeft ingesteld, soms door een ombudsman als bij de NOS. Ook nu is bijvoorbeeld op Radio1 het bericht over het Amnnestyrapport bijna per woord gewogen: evenveel voor de volgens Amnesty door het Israëlische leger begane oorlogsmisdaden als voor die van Hamas.
Het zou erg wenselijk zijn als Israël dat zelf ook deed. Want hoewel de acties in de Gazastrook tegen de voordurende rakettenregen in beginsel terecht waren, zijn er bij de uitvoering wel honderden burgers omgekomen. Dat de cijfers daarover bij Amnesty sterk verschillen van die van Israël heeft onder meer te maken met de vraag, hoe bijvoorbeeld agenten in opleiding van de Hamas burgerwacht worden gezien - als terroristen want verbonden aan Hamas als Israël doet of primair als burgers.
Maar los van dit soort verschillen zijn er wel naar schatting driehonderd kinderen en ruim honderd vrouwen omgekomen door Israëlische kogels, granaten, raketten of bommen. Israël zegt voortdurend er alles aan te doen dit te voorkomen en dat deze slachtoffers vooral worden veroorzaakt door het feit dat Hamas tussen de burgers opereert. Amnesty wijst er daartegenover op dat veel van de slachtoffers zijn gevallen door precisiewapens waarbij degenen die ze gebruikten het kennelijk voor lief namen dat er ook burgers of zelfs soms alleen burgers door zouden omkomen, eenzelfde conclusie als die van een VN-onderzoekscommissie twee maand geleden.
'Recht - niets mee te maken'
Is het onachtzaamheid geweest, of speelde er meer? Israël zelf zegt dat zijn leger uiterst nauwkeurig heeft gehandeld en er alles aan heeft gedaan om volgens internbationaal recht te handelen. Maar een persoonlijk gesprek met een oudere kolonel, die recht en moraal altijd hoog heeft, aan het begin van de acties in de Gazastrook duidde toen al op iets anders. ,,Kom niet bij me aan met dat internationaal recht'', zei hij toen, ,,daar hebben we niets mee te maken. Waar was dat toen Hamas al die duizenden raketten op ons afschoot? Wie protesteerde toen? We gaan nu met ze afrekenen, op onze manier.''
Een manier die te vaak is ontspoort, zegt Amnesty nu. Israël wilde niet meewerken aan het rapport, wil er ook nu eigenlijk geen kennis van nemen, wil ook niet meewerken met de onafhankelijke onderzoekscommissie die de Raad voor de Mensenrechten van de VN heeft ingesteld en wordt geleid door rechter Richard Goldstone. Het zou dat ondanks alle kritiek die het op deze onderzoeken heeft toch wel moeten doen. Het vergroot de eigen geloofwaardigheid en het geeft de kans er lessen uit te leren. Want Hamas bereidt zich voor op het volgende conflict. De tunnels bij Rafah werken al weer volop, nu zelfs tot zestig meter diep onder de grond zoals de Jerusalem Post gisteren berichtte. Hoe omvangrijk het goederen en wapentransport door die tunnels is, kan worden afgeleid uit een schatting van de zender Al-Arabiya, die er onderzoek naar heeft gedaan en tot een aantal van achthonderd tunnels komt. Zo'n enorm netwerk valt door bombardementen vrijwel niet meer uit te schakelen, citeert de JP een hoge Israëlische officier. Kortom, er moet worden nagedacht over nieuwe tactieken. En omwille van het leven van die omgekomen kinderen en hun moeders: léés daarbij wat er in de eerste Gazaoorlog is fout gegaan.
Religieuze leider PA verkondigt antisemitische leugens
Dit soort opruiing en geschiedvervalsing is schering en inslag binnen de 'gematigde' Palestijnse Autoriteit van Machmoud Abbas, en is net zo'n groot obstakel voor de vrede als de voortgaande bouw in de nederzettingen. Toch hoor je er zelden over buiten 'zionistische' kringen; de media negeren het, Obama negeert het, de EU negeert het, de VN en Amnesty International negeren het, en al die zogenaamde vredesactivisten negeren het ook. Toch is de verspreiding van haat vaak een effectieve manier om volken tegen elkaar op te zetten en leidt het meestal tot geweld.
RP
-----------------
Bulletin July 5, 2009 - Palestinian Media Watch
Senior PA religious official repeats incendiary lies and libels about Israel, Jews and Jewish history
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
In a single TV interview, one of the Palestinian Authority's most senior religious officials has reiterated several of the many fundamental lies, libels and defamations about Israel, Jews and Jewish history that play a central role in PA ideology and hate propaganda. Tayseer Tamimi, the PA's Chief Religious Justice, regularly appears as a religious authority in the official PA media and at public events.
In this recent interview, Tamimi teaches that the Quran says that Jews have inherently negative traits and have been evil throughout history; that Jerusalem has no Jewish holy sites; that Israel is destroying the foundation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is now "hanging in midair;" that Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Jewish Temple; and that Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian.
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
In a single TV interview, one of the Palestinian Authority's most senior religious officials has reiterated several of the many fundamental lies, libels and defamations about Israel, Jews and Jewish history that play a central role in PA ideology and hate propaganda. Tayseer Tamimi, the PA's Chief Religious Justice, regularly appears as a religious authority in the official PA media and at public events.
In this recent interview, Tamimi teaches that the Quran says that Jews have inherently negative traits and have been evil throughout history; that Jerusalem has no Jewish holy sites; that Israel is destroying the foundation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is now "hanging in midair;" that Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Jewish Temple; and that Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian.
Tamimi's recent libels, lies and defamations, PATV (Fatah), June 9, 2009:
#1. The Quran says Jews have inherently negative characteristics
#2. Jews have no connection to Jerusalem
#3. Israel is acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque
#4. Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Temple
#5. Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian prophet of Islam
==========
#1. The Quran says Jews have inherently negative characteristics
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DnL-X8fCH4
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"Concerning the Jews, the Holy Quran says that they lack understanding, are void of wisdom, know nothing, violate agreements, etc. However, the Jews were known - it was known about them throughout history- that they make false claims, lies, forgery, slander, and fabrications, in order to justify their aggression, land theft, defilement of holy sites, appropriation of land, destruction of homes, murder of children, women, and the elderly."
#2. Jews have no connection to Jerusalem
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xO6AiYMxe4
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"I know of Muslim and Christian holy sites in [Jerusalem]. I don't know of any Jewish holy sites in it... Israel has been excavating since 1967 in search of remains of their Temple or their fictitious Jewish history."
#3. Israel is acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_WA6uWWKqs
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"The [Israeli] excavations' purpose is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In fact, its foundations have been removed. Chemical acids were injected into the rocks to dissolve them. The soil and the pillars [were moved] so the mosque is hanging in midair. There is an Israeli plan to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to build the Temple."
#4. Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Temple
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BySsBVrbaDs
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"When the Prophet [Muhammad] entered Jerusalem, after landing with his 'riding animal' in the Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, he tied it to the western wall, which is known today [by Muslims] as the al-Buraq Wall, and which the Jews usurped by falsification and deception [saying it is the Western Wall of the Temple]. Orthodox Jewish groups, such as Neturei Karta, denounce all the actions of the Israeli government and the Zionist movement in Jerusalem. They, more than us, say these claims are false and a distortion of the Jewish faith."
#5. Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian prophet of Islam
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGoDhj7nRwU
Archbishop Atallah Hanna (speaking humorously): "We [Christians] are local stock, 100% Palestinian and Arab produce."
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice: "Jesus is the only Palestinian prophet."
====================
#1. The Quran says Jews have inherently negative characteristics
#2. Jews have no connection to Jerusalem
#3. Israel is acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque
#4. Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Temple
#5. Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian prophet of Islam
==========
#1. The Quran says Jews have inherently negative characteristics
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DnL-X8fCH4
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"Concerning the Jews, the Holy Quran says that they lack understanding, are void of wisdom, know nothing, violate agreements, etc. However, the Jews were known - it was known about them throughout history- that they make false claims, lies, forgery, slander, and fabrications, in order to justify their aggression, land theft, defilement of holy sites, appropriation of land, destruction of homes, murder of children, women, and the elderly."
#2. Jews have no connection to Jerusalem
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xO6AiYMxe4
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"I know of Muslim and Christian holy sites in [Jerusalem]. I don't know of any Jewish holy sites in it... Israel has been excavating since 1967 in search of remains of their Temple or their fictitious Jewish history."
#3. Israel is acting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_WA6uWWKqs
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"The [Israeli] excavations' purpose is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In fact, its foundations have been removed. Chemical acids were injected into the rocks to dissolve them. The soil and the pillars [were moved] so the mosque is hanging in midair. There is an Israeli plan to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to build the Temple."
#4. Orthodox Jews deny the Western Wall is part of the Temple
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BySsBVrbaDs
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice:
"When the Prophet [Muhammad] entered Jerusalem, after landing with his 'riding animal' in the Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, he tied it to the western wall, which is known today [by Muslims] as the al-Buraq Wall, and which the Jews usurped by falsification and deception [saying it is the Western Wall of the Temple]. Orthodox Jewish groups, such as Neturei Karta, denounce all the actions of the Israeli government and the Zionist movement in Jerusalem. They, more than us, say these claims are false and a distortion of the Jewish faith."
#5. Jesus was not a Jew but a Palestinian prophet of Islam
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGoDhj7nRwU
Archbishop Atallah Hanna (speaking humorously): "We [Christians] are local stock, 100% Palestinian and Arab produce."
Tayseer Tamimi, PA Chief Religious Justice: "Jesus is the only Palestinian prophet."
====================
Palestijnse Autoriteit neemt wapens en explosieven van Hamas in beslag
Meer aanwijzingen dat Hamas probeert om een coup te plegen op de Westoever. Eerder al bleek dat Hamas probeerde aanslagen op PA functionarissen te plegen.
Het feit dat Fatah, en niet Israel, deze coup en aanslagen verijdelt is een goed teken, maar de vraag is wel of Fatah daar zonder Israelische aanwezigheid op de Westoever toe in staat was geweest.
RP
Het feit dat Fatah, en niet Israel, deze coup en aanslagen verijdelt is een goed teken, maar de vraag is wel of Fatah daar zonder Israelische aanwezigheid op de Westoever toe in staat was geweest.
RP
------------
PA: Arms, explosives and cash seized from Hamas
Date: 05 / 07 / 2009 Time: 11:56
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39031
Nablus - Ma'an Exclusive - The Palestinian Authority has in recent months seized arms, explosives and millions of dollars in cash from Hamas, a PA official said on Sunday.
The official, security forces spokesperson Adnan Ad-Damiry, told Ma'an that its West Bank officers have discovered "large amounts of explosives and bombs in the districts of Nablus, Hebron and Qalqiliya."
He also alleged that Hamas intended to use the weapons "heinously" against PA forces.
"PA forces discovered apartments, which Hamas purchased to use as operating centers between the West Bank and Gaza Strip to implement orders to kidnap officials," he said, adding that the movement intended to "implement other plans that threaten Palestinian security and safety."
The official claimed the Fatah-allied PA had also "seized large amounts of money [8.5 million US dollars] entering the Palestinian territories illegally," cash he said would be used to maintain Hamas' own military forces in the West Bank.
Ad-Damiry also dismissed the frequent Hamas accusations that PA forces participate in politically motivated arrest campaigns, saying that "if a tsunami hit the West Bank, Hamas would accuse the PA of being responsible for it." He said PA forces only arrest Hamas affiliates on suspicion of smuggling weapons or money.
"We will continue our work until Hamas stops planning and implementing its coup" in the West Bank, "as it did in the Gaza Strip," the spokesperson insisted, calling the PA's ongoing operations against the Islamic movement a "duty to fight all illegal phenomena and maintain Palestinians' security and safety."
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority security forces detained four Hamas affiliates in the West Bank on Saturday evening, according to the Islamic movement.
In a statement received by Ma'an, Hamas said that the detentions took place in Qalqiliya, Tulkarem and Nablus, pointing out that a woman was also among those arrested.
Hamas accused PA forces of detaining and torturing women in the West Bank, calling on the PA to release the women at a minimum, and to put an end to the issue of political arrests once and for all.
A Hamas spokesperson called on human rights organizations, Egyptian officials and party leaders to halt this "manipulation of the Palestinians' fate," and urged relevant parties to expose "the truth of the detaining of women and political arrests in the West Bank."
PA: Arms, explosives and cash seized from Hamas
Date: 05 / 07 / 2009 Time: 11:56
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=39031
Nablus - Ma'an Exclusive - The Palestinian Authority has in recent months seized arms, explosives and millions of dollars in cash from Hamas, a PA official said on Sunday.
The official, security forces spokesperson Adnan Ad-Damiry, told Ma'an that its West Bank officers have discovered "large amounts of explosives and bombs in the districts of Nablus, Hebron and Qalqiliya."
He also alleged that Hamas intended to use the weapons "heinously" against PA forces.
"PA forces discovered apartments, which Hamas purchased to use as operating centers between the West Bank and Gaza Strip to implement orders to kidnap officials," he said, adding that the movement intended to "implement other plans that threaten Palestinian security and safety."
The official claimed the Fatah-allied PA had also "seized large amounts of money [8.5 million US dollars] entering the Palestinian territories illegally," cash he said would be used to maintain Hamas' own military forces in the West Bank.
Ad-Damiry also dismissed the frequent Hamas accusations that PA forces participate in politically motivated arrest campaigns, saying that "if a tsunami hit the West Bank, Hamas would accuse the PA of being responsible for it." He said PA forces only arrest Hamas affiliates on suspicion of smuggling weapons or money.
"We will continue our work until Hamas stops planning and implementing its coup" in the West Bank, "as it did in the Gaza Strip," the spokesperson insisted, calling the PA's ongoing operations against the Islamic movement a "duty to fight all illegal phenomena and maintain Palestinians' security and safety."
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority security forces detained four Hamas affiliates in the West Bank on Saturday evening, according to the Islamic movement.
In a statement received by Ma'an, Hamas said that the detentions took place in Qalqiliya, Tulkarem and Nablus, pointing out that a woman was also among those arrested.
Hamas accused PA forces of detaining and torturing women in the West Bank, calling on the PA to release the women at a minimum, and to put an end to the issue of political arrests once and for all.
A Hamas spokesperson called on human rights organizations, Egyptian officials and party leaders to halt this "manipulation of the Palestinians' fate," and urged relevant parties to expose "the truth of the detaining of women and political arrests in the West Bank."
Geinfiltreerde terrorist uit Gazastrook opgepakt
Israel verijdelt nog geregeld aanslagen en verhindert de opbouw van nieuwe terroristische cellen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever.
RP
-------------
Terrorist Infiltrator from Gaza Arrested and Charged
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Office)In a joint Israel Security Agency-Israel Police operation, Abd El-Rahman Talalkeh, was arrested in the Negev, in the early morning hours of 1.6.09, after having left the Gaza Strip and infiltrated into Israel via the Sinai Peninsula. He admitted to having undergone extensive military training in the Gaza Strip, on behalf of the Popular Resistance Committees, in order to establish a terrorism infrastructure inside Israel. The aforesaid training included small arms; preparing various chemicals, car-bombs, explosive belts and bags; the use of explosives; use of GPS devices; map-reading; and intelligence gathering.
Talalkeh, born in 1984 and a resident the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, was dispatched to Israel in order to recruit terrorists and establish a terrorism infrastructure in Judea and Samaria in order to perpetrate various attacks including suicide attacks and the abduction and murder of soldiers in order to use them as bargaining chips.
Talalkeh was indicted today (Sunday), 5.7.09, in Be'er Sheva Magistrates Court.
zondag 5 juli 2009
Mensenrechten op de Westoever: Hoe de Palestijnen te helpen
De prijs van de relatieve rust en veiligheid op de Westelijke Jordaanoever is een soms bruut en willekeurig optredend politieapparaat dat ook de persvrijheid beknot en onschuldige slachtoffers maakt. Hervorming en samenvoeging van de vele veiligheidsdiensten van de PA staat al jaren op het verlanglijstje van de sponsors, maar men durft blijkbaar niet te dreigen om de geldkraan dicht te draaien als er niets verbetert. Wellicht is er de afgelopen jaren ook wel wat verbeterd, je leest er weinig over, of is beter niet haalbaar in die situatie en omgeving? De Arabische buurlanden doen het doorgaans ook niet beter, dus het ligt beslist niet alleen aan de Israëlische bezetting die zo makkelijk van alles de schuld krijgt.
Wouter
________________
How To Help the Palestinians
by Khaled Abu Toameh
by Khaled Abu Toameh
Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009 at 10:36 AM
The leaders of the Palestinian Authority do not want the international community to hear anything about massive abuse of human rights and intimidation of journalists that its security forces are practicing almost on a daily basis in the West Bank.
They do not want the world to see that, with the help of the Americans and some Europeans, they are building more prisons and security forces than hospitals and housing projects for the needy.
They want the US and the rest of the world to continue believing that peace will prevail tomorrow morning only if Israel stops construction in the settlements and removes a number of empty caravans from remote and isolated hilltops in the West Bank.
The Palestinians do not need a dictatorship that harasses and terrorizes journalists, and that is responsible for the death of detainees in its prisons. In the Arab world we already have enough dictatorships.
The Palestinians do not need additional security forces, militias and armed gangs. In fact, there are too many of them, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
American and European taxpayers' money should be invested in building hospitals, schools and housing projects. Investing billions of dollars in training thousands of policemen and establishing new security forces and prisons will not advance the cause of peace and coexistence.
There is no doubt that many Palestinians would love to abandon the culture of uniform and weapons in favor of improved infrastructure and medical care.
As for the international media, it's time to abandon the policy of double standards in covering the Israeli-Arab conflict. For many years, the mainstream media in the US and Europe turned a blind eye to stories about financial corruption under Yasser Arafat. The result was that Arafat and his cronies got away with stealing billions of dollars that had been donated to the Palestinians by the Americans and Europeans.
Back then, many foreign journalists said they believed that the stories about financial corruption in the Palestinian areas were "Zionist propaganda." Other journalists said they would rather file an anti-Israel story because this way they would become more popular with their editors and publishers.
Recently, a Palestinian TV crew was stopped at a checkpoint in the West Bank, where soldiers confiscated a tape and erased its content.
This incident, hardly received any coverage in the mainstream media in the US and Europe.
The reason? The perpetrators were not IDF soldiers, but Palestinian Authority security officers. And the checkpoint did not belong to the IDF; it was, in fact, a Palestinian checkpoint.
The story of the detention of the TV crew -- which, by the way, belonged to Al-Jazeera and the erasure of the footage did not make it to the mainstream media even after Reporters Without Borders, an organization that defends journalists worldwide, issued a statement strongly condemning the assault on the freedom of the media.
"Journalists must be able to work freely," Reporters Without Borders said. "The erasure of this video footage proves that the Palestinian security forces try to cover up their human rights violations. This incident should be the subject of an enquiry by the Palestinian Authority."
Walid Omari, the head of the Qatar-based satellite TV station's operations in the West Bank, told Reporters Without Borders that his crew was preparing a report on the death of a detainee at the Palestinian Authority detention center in Hebron that might have been the result of torture.
"We were the only ones to investigate this case and we did it despite strong pressure from the Palestinian Authority," Omari said.
Al Jazeera's Hebron correspondent went with a cameraman to the victim's home in the village of Dura, where they interviewed the family and filmed the body.
As they were returning to Hebron in a vehicle displaying the word "Press," they were detained by Palestinian Authority security forces at a checkpoint and taken to a police station, where the video footage they had just recorded was erased. They were allowed to go after an hour.
One can only imagine the international media's reaction had the TV crew been detained by Israeli security forces. Anti-Israel groups and individuals would have cited the incident as further proof of the "occupation's brutal measures" against the freedom of the media.
Moreover, it is highly likely that Israeli human rights organizations like Betselem would have dispatched researchers to the field to investigate the incident had IDF soldiers been involved.
Yet foreign journalists and human rights activists working in Israel and the Palestinian territories either chose to ignore the story or never heard about it simply because it was lacking in an anti-Israel angle.
One can also imagine how the media and human rights organizations would have reacted had a Palestinian died in Israeli prison after allegedly being tortured.
Haitham Amr, a male nurse, was detained by the Palestinian Authority's US-backed and trained General Intelligence Force on suspicion of being affiliated with Hamas. He was one of more than 700 Palestinians who are being held without trial in West Bank prisons that are run by security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
These security forces, which are being referred to by many Palestinians as the Dayton Forces [a reference to ret. US general and security coordinator Keith Dayton], claimed that Amr was killed after he jumped from the second floor of a building where he was being held in Hebron. The family and human rights organizations insist that Amr died as a result of severe torture.
If the Palestinian Authority really had nothing to fear, why did it send its police officers to detain the TV crew and confiscate the tape? Is the Palestinian Authority trying to hide something?
True, Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayad hold more moderate views than Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal.
But Abbas and Fayad do not enjoy enough credibility among their own people, largely due to their open ties with Israel and the West. The security and financial support that the Americans and Europeans are giving to the Palestinian Authority is nothing but a bear hug.
That is perhaps why they chose to ignore the story about the male nurse whose family says was tortured to death by security officers who receive their salaries from US and European taxpayers' money.
They do not want the world to see that, with the help of the Americans and some Europeans, they are building more prisons and security forces than hospitals and housing projects for the needy.
They want the US and the rest of the world to continue believing that peace will prevail tomorrow morning only if Israel stops construction in the settlements and removes a number of empty caravans from remote and isolated hilltops in the West Bank.
The Palestinians do not need a dictatorship that harasses and terrorizes journalists, and that is responsible for the death of detainees in its prisons. In the Arab world we already have enough dictatorships.
The Palestinians do not need additional security forces, militias and armed gangs. In fact, there are too many of them, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
American and European taxpayers' money should be invested in building hospitals, schools and housing projects. Investing billions of dollars in training thousands of policemen and establishing new security forces and prisons will not advance the cause of peace and coexistence.
There is no doubt that many Palestinians would love to abandon the culture of uniform and weapons in favor of improved infrastructure and medical care.
As for the international media, it's time to abandon the policy of double standards in covering the Israeli-Arab conflict. For many years, the mainstream media in the US and Europe turned a blind eye to stories about financial corruption under Yasser Arafat. The result was that Arafat and his cronies got away with stealing billions of dollars that had been donated to the Palestinians by the Americans and Europeans.
Back then, many foreign journalists said they believed that the stories about financial corruption in the Palestinian areas were "Zionist propaganda." Other journalists said they would rather file an anti-Israel story because this way they would become more popular with their editors and publishers.
Recently, a Palestinian TV crew was stopped at a checkpoint in the West Bank, where soldiers confiscated a tape and erased its content.
This incident, hardly received any coverage in the mainstream media in the US and Europe.
The reason? The perpetrators were not IDF soldiers, but Palestinian Authority security officers. And the checkpoint did not belong to the IDF; it was, in fact, a Palestinian checkpoint.
The story of the detention of the TV crew -- which, by the way, belonged to Al-Jazeera and the erasure of the footage did not make it to the mainstream media even after Reporters Without Borders, an organization that defends journalists worldwide, issued a statement strongly condemning the assault on the freedom of the media.
"Journalists must be able to work freely," Reporters Without Borders said. "The erasure of this video footage proves that the Palestinian security forces try to cover up their human rights violations. This incident should be the subject of an enquiry by the Palestinian Authority."
Walid Omari, the head of the Qatar-based satellite TV station's operations in the West Bank, told Reporters Without Borders that his crew was preparing a report on the death of a detainee at the Palestinian Authority detention center in Hebron that might have been the result of torture.
"We were the only ones to investigate this case and we did it despite strong pressure from the Palestinian Authority," Omari said.
Al Jazeera's Hebron correspondent went with a cameraman to the victim's home in the village of Dura, where they interviewed the family and filmed the body.
As they were returning to Hebron in a vehicle displaying the word "Press," they were detained by Palestinian Authority security forces at a checkpoint and taken to a police station, where the video footage they had just recorded was erased. They were allowed to go after an hour.
One can only imagine the international media's reaction had the TV crew been detained by Israeli security forces. Anti-Israel groups and individuals would have cited the incident as further proof of the "occupation's brutal measures" against the freedom of the media.
Moreover, it is highly likely that Israeli human rights organizations like Betselem would have dispatched researchers to the field to investigate the incident had IDF soldiers been involved.
Yet foreign journalists and human rights activists working in Israel and the Palestinian territories either chose to ignore the story or never heard about it simply because it was lacking in an anti-Israel angle.
One can also imagine how the media and human rights organizations would have reacted had a Palestinian died in Israeli prison after allegedly being tortured.
Haitham Amr, a male nurse, was detained by the Palestinian Authority's US-backed and trained General Intelligence Force on suspicion of being affiliated with Hamas. He was one of more than 700 Palestinians who are being held without trial in West Bank prisons that are run by security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
These security forces, which are being referred to by many Palestinians as the Dayton Forces [a reference to ret. US general and security coordinator Keith Dayton], claimed that Amr was killed after he jumped from the second floor of a building where he was being held in Hebron. The family and human rights organizations insist that Amr died as a result of severe torture.
If the Palestinian Authority really had nothing to fear, why did it send its police officers to detain the TV crew and confiscate the tape? Is the Palestinian Authority trying to hide something?
True, Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayad hold more moderate views than Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal.
But Abbas and Fayad do not enjoy enough credibility among their own people, largely due to their open ties with Israel and the West. The security and financial support that the Americans and Europeans are giving to the Palestinian Authority is nothing but a bear hug.
That is perhaps why they chose to ignore the story about the male nurse whose family says was tortured to death by security officers who receive their salaries from US and European taxpayers' money.
Israel overweegt verzachten Gaza blokkade om Shalit vrij te krijgen
Ik vind het niet gerechtvaardigd om de hele bevolking van de Gazastrook onder druk te zetten door de levering van etenswaren, kleding en allerlei gebruiksvoorwerpen te beperken vanwege de gijzeling van één soldaat. Anderzijds IS Gaza een vijandig gebied waarmee Israel op voet van oorlog verkeerd en wiens regime haar vernietiging nastreeft. Juist de apologeten die beweren dat Hamas de legitieme, gekozen regering van deze Palestijnen is, hebben geen recht van klagen: deze democratische regering hoeft alleen één soldaat vrij te laten -in ruil voor vele Palestijnse gevangenen- om het lijden van haar onderdanen aanzienlijk te verzachten.
Wouter
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Last update - 08:03 04/07/2009
Report: Israel mulling easing Gaza siege
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097645.html
The Defense Ministry has recommended a partial lifting of the embargo on the Gaza Strip as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinians to spur talks to free a long-held captive soldier, Israeli media reported Friday.
Israel has been linking the opening of Gaza's borders to the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Hamas militants for more than three years. Hamas has been pushing for a deal to trade him for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli jails.
Israel imposed a near-total embargo of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after Hamas militants violently took control of the territory.
According to the new plan, reported by the news Web site Ynet, Israel would increase supplies of coffee, tea, soup, meat, fish and canned goods into Gaza ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in August, to promote a deal for Shalit.
Israel would also renew shipments of fuel, clothing, kitchenware and egg-laying chickens as part of the package.
Ynet reported that the proposal had been drafted by defense officials and awaits the approval of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
The Defense Ministry would not officially comment on the report.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that if there was any truth to the report, it would represent a righting of a previous wrong.
"The Palestinian people have one single, clear demand - the siege must be lifted and all the crossings have to be open and life to get back to normal in the Gaza Strip," he told reporters outside a Gaza mosque after Friday prayers.
The idea behind the plan, according to Ynet, was to lift the embargo gradually and link it to progress on Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at releasing Shalit from captivity. The plan does not include transferring products such as steel and concrete, which are needed to rebuild the battered territory but could also help Hamas improve its military capabilities.
Hamas and other militants have fired thousands of missiles at Israeli border towns and communities in recent years.
Israel has come under heavy pressure from the international community - including the Obama administration - to lift its embargo, which has crippled the Gaza economy. Gaza has survived largely thanks to a booming underground smuggling trade between Gaza and Egypt.
Report: Israel mulling easing Gaza siege
By The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097645.html
The Defense Ministry has recommended a partial lifting of the embargo on the Gaza Strip as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinians to spur talks to free a long-held captive soldier, Israeli media reported Friday.
Israel has been linking the opening of Gaza's borders to the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Hamas militants for more than three years. Hamas has been pushing for a deal to trade him for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli jails.
Israel imposed a near-total embargo of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after Hamas militants violently took control of the territory.
According to the new plan, reported by the news Web site Ynet, Israel would increase supplies of coffee, tea, soup, meat, fish and canned goods into Gaza ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which begins in August, to promote a deal for Shalit.
Israel would also renew shipments of fuel, clothing, kitchenware and egg-laying chickens as part of the package.
Ynet reported that the proposal had been drafted by defense officials and awaits the approval of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
The Defense Ministry would not officially comment on the report.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that if there was any truth to the report, it would represent a righting of a previous wrong.
"The Palestinian people have one single, clear demand - the siege must be lifted and all the crossings have to be open and life to get back to normal in the Gaza Strip," he told reporters outside a Gaza mosque after Friday prayers.
The idea behind the plan, according to Ynet, was to lift the embargo gradually and link it to progress on Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at releasing Shalit from captivity. The plan does not include transferring products such as steel and concrete, which are needed to rebuild the battered territory but could also help Hamas improve its military capabilities.
Hamas and other militants have fired thousands of missiles at Israeli border towns and communities in recent years.
Israel has come under heavy pressure from the international community - including the Obama administration - to lift its embargo, which has crippled the Gaza economy. Gaza has survived largely thanks to a booming underground smuggling trade between Gaza and Egypt.
zaterdag 4 juli 2009
PA verhinderde Hamas aanslag op Abbas
De PA lijkt de veiligheidssituatie op de Westoever steeds beter onder controle te hebben, en Hamas 'activisten' voelen zich schijnbaar in het nauw gedreven.
Is Haaretz politiek correct? In 'mijn tijd' gingen aktivisten de straat op met folders, affiches en spandoeken, of blokkeerden wel eens een toegangsweg voor onze tegenstanders. Staken was ook nog een optie. Een wapen en een foto van mijn doelwit heb ik nooit op zak gehad...
Wouter
Eerder bericht hierover: Hamas wilde aanslagen op PA in Westoever uitvoeren
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PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas
By Avi Issacharoff - Haaretz
PA: Arrested Hamas activists planned to assassinate Abbas
By Avi Issacharoff - Haaretz
Hamas activists arrested by the Palestinian Authority have admitted to tracking the movements of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to gathering intelligence on his security, PA sources told Haaretz.
Their motive clearly was to assassinate Abbas, the sources said.
"Hamas' intention was to scuttle the reconciliation talks [between Hamas and Fatah] in Cairo and to create chaos in the West Bank, in contrast to the sense of security that has characterized the territory for the past two years," Fatah spokesman Fahmi Zarir told Haaretz.
Palestinian Authority Secretary Taib Abd-Arahim had said Monday amid the Cairo talks that Palestinian security forces had arrested 10 Hamas members planning to attack PA institutions. The detainees admitted they were planning to assassinate several senior Palestinian Authority officials on July 1, in order to halt the conciliation talks, he said.
Now, new details have now emerged about the plot: The Hamas activists were caught with weapons, maps and photos of senior Palestinian officers. The photos and maps indicated the cell was conducting surveillance on Abbas himself.
Sources say Palestinian security forces have detailed confessions in which the suspects acknowledged planning to assassinate several PA officials and stated they were observing Abbas' movements. PA sources say their motive was clear: to assassinate Abbas. The cell had three to five members, between the ages of 25 and 30.
A spokesman for Hamas' military wing has denied the allegations. However, if they are true, this is evidence not only of Hamas' intention to scuttle reconciliation with Fatah, but also to stage a coup of sorts against the Palestinian Authority. Reports suggest Hamas' military wing has an extremist agenda, but Hamas' political leadership in the west bank is thought not to have been aware of the plot.
Their motive clearly was to assassinate Abbas, the sources said.
"Hamas' intention was to scuttle the reconciliation talks [between Hamas and Fatah] in Cairo and to create chaos in the West Bank, in contrast to the sense of security that has characterized the territory for the past two years," Fatah spokesman Fahmi Zarir told Haaretz.
Palestinian Authority Secretary Taib Abd-Arahim had said Monday amid the Cairo talks that Palestinian security forces had arrested 10 Hamas members planning to attack PA institutions. The detainees admitted they were planning to assassinate several senior Palestinian Authority officials on July 1, in order to halt the conciliation talks, he said.
Now, new details have now emerged about the plot: The Hamas activists were caught with weapons, maps and photos of senior Palestinian officers. The photos and maps indicated the cell was conducting surveillance on Abbas himself.
Sources say Palestinian security forces have detailed confessions in which the suspects acknowledged planning to assassinate several PA officials and stated they were observing Abbas' movements. PA sources say their motive was clear: to assassinate Abbas. The cell had three to five members, between the ages of 25 and 30.
A spokesman for Hamas' military wing has denied the allegations. However, if they are true, this is evidence not only of Hamas' intention to scuttle reconciliation with Fatah, but also to stage a coup of sorts against the Palestinian Authority. Reports suggest Hamas' military wing has an extremist agenda, but Hamas' political leadership in the west bank is thought not to have been aware of the plot.
Saoedi-Arabië weigert concrete vredesgebaren naar Israël
Is het gewoon een kwestie van wie de eerste stap zet, het eerste gebaar maakt? Als Israel nu onafhankelijk van toezeggingen vooraf, de nederzettingenbouw bevriest en serieus werk gaat maken van het ontruimen van buitenposten, is dan niet een tegengebaar van Arabische zijde te verwachten? Omgekeerd, als de Arabieren nu zonder voorwaarden vooraf verklaren dat ze Israël willen erkennen en vrede ermee sluiten, ze hoeven wellicht nog niks concreets daarvoor te doen zoals de voorstellen hieronder, is dan niet een duidelijk tegengebaar van Israelische zijde te verwachten? Het wantrouwen is groot van beide zijden, en elk woord en gebaar wordt kritisch afgewogen. De Arabieren hebben tot nog toe geweigerd om zelfs rechtstreeks met Israel aan tafel te gaan zitten om te praten over vrede, ondanks uitnodigingen daartoe van Olmert en zelfs van Sharon.
Wouter
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'Saudis block US push for normalization'
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
________________
'Saudis block US push for normalization'
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
There are no guarantees the Arab world would move forward with steps of normalization toward Israel if Jerusalem declared a settlement freeze, according to assessments reaching Jerusalem, even though US President Barack Obama still believes he can convince Saudi King Abdullah to make some gesture toward Israel.
The assessments come amid reports that Israel and the US are working on a package deal that may include a time-limited moratorium on settlement construction in return for gestures from the Arab world.
According to these assessments, however, the Persian Gulf and North African states are unlikely to make significant moves unless Saudi Arabia does, and the Saudis believe they made their gesture toward Israel in the form of the 2002 Arab peace initiative.
Obama, according to these reports, still believes the Saudis can be persuaded to moved on the issue.
Among the gestures being discussed are opening trade offices, direct economic links, public cultural and educational ties, as well as overfly rights for Israeli airlines.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Thursday on Israel Radio that Israel could not be expected to take immediate steps such as a settlement freeze "when the other side isn't prepared to make a small step."
Ayalon echoed what Defense Minister Ehud Barak had been saying in recent days, that any move on settlements needed to be seen as part of a wider regional picture.
He also said, in regards to calls for a freeze for natural growth construction, that Israel "cannot strangle 300,000 residents."
Ron Dermer, the director of policy planning in the Prime Minister's Office, said in a wide-ranging interview that appeared in The Jerusalem Post, "I think if people want to reach an understanding, they can reach an understanding on the issue."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who returned Wednesday from his meeting a day earlier with US envoy George Mitchell in New York, has briefed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the talks. Netanyahu and Mitchell are expected to meet in two weeks.
In the meantime, a government official said the discussions with Washington on the issue were continuing. "The policy goal at the moment is to try reaching common ground with the US, which is where the effort is being placed. We hope that it is successful."
The official also said it was Israel's hope that if an agreement was reached, it would be endorsed by the Europeans, who have become increasingly vocal in their calls for a complete settlement freeze.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called on Israel to end settlement construction, saying such activity jeopardized efforts toward a two-state solution.
"I think it is now important to get commitments from all sides and that includes the issue of settlement building," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag. "I am convinced that there must be a stop to this. Otherwise we will not come to the two-state solution that is urgently needed."
The assessments come amid reports that Israel and the US are working on a package deal that may include a time-limited moratorium on settlement construction in return for gestures from the Arab world.
According to these assessments, however, the Persian Gulf and North African states are unlikely to make significant moves unless Saudi Arabia does, and the Saudis believe they made their gesture toward Israel in the form of the 2002 Arab peace initiative.
Obama, according to these reports, still believes the Saudis can be persuaded to moved on the issue.
Among the gestures being discussed are opening trade offices, direct economic links, public cultural and educational ties, as well as overfly rights for Israeli airlines.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Thursday on Israel Radio that Israel could not be expected to take immediate steps such as a settlement freeze "when the other side isn't prepared to make a small step."
Ayalon echoed what Defense Minister Ehud Barak had been saying in recent days, that any move on settlements needed to be seen as part of a wider regional picture.
He also said, in regards to calls for a freeze for natural growth construction, that Israel "cannot strangle 300,000 residents."
Ron Dermer, the director of policy planning in the Prime Minister's Office, said in a wide-ranging interview that appeared in The Jerusalem Post, "I think if people want to reach an understanding, they can reach an understanding on the issue."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who returned Wednesday from his meeting a day earlier with US envoy George Mitchell in New York, has briefed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the talks. Netanyahu and Mitchell are expected to meet in two weeks.
In the meantime, a government official said the discussions with Washington on the issue were continuing. "The policy goal at the moment is to try reaching common ground with the US, which is where the effort is being placed. We hope that it is successful."
The official also said it was Israel's hope that if an agreement was reached, it would be endorsed by the Europeans, who have become increasingly vocal in their calls for a complete settlement freeze.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called on Israel to end settlement construction, saying such activity jeopardized efforts toward a two-state solution.
"I think it is now important to get commitments from all sides and that includes the issue of settlement building," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag. "I am convinced that there must be a stop to this. Otherwise we will not come to the two-state solution that is urgently needed."
Campagnes rond Israëlische voorzitter wereldartsenorganisatie WMA
Stuart Palmer is een vriendelijke Israëli van Britse afkomst met een echtgenote geboortig uit Nederland. We hebben hen ontmoet bij een bezoek aan Haifa, waar zij in 2006 onder vuur lagen van Hezbollah raketten.
Zoals veel Israëli's maakt hij zich zorgen over de talrijke anti-Israël campagnes in hun landen van herkomst. In Engeland is dat nog een stuk erger dan hier, met diverse boycot-oproepen bij onderwijsvakbonden e.d.
Deze petitie is alleen bedoeld voor medici, dus graag alleen serieuze en relevante ondertekeningen. Bijna 4.000 mensen hebben tot nu toe getekend.
Wouter
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Israeli Citizens Action Network
ICAN For volunteer Public Diplomacy
Dear ICAN members who are members of the medical profession
Anti-Israel activity and campaigns in the medical press are unfortunately nothing new; however they have reached a new "low" in the last few months. The most recent manifestation of the anti-Israel phenomenon infecting the medical world is a letter spearheaded by Dr. Derek Summerfield and signed by 725 physicians, "publicly protesting and appealing against the recent appointment of Dr. Yoram Blachar, longstanding President of the Israeli Medical Association, as President of the World Medical Association."
The "facts" brought in the letter are nothing new. There were allegations made against Israel of torture, but no names were provided. An effort was made by the Israeli Medical Association, to speak personally with each and every physician who signed the letter, that could be located and most were never employed by, nor had any connection to, the Israeli Prison Services as claimed in the letter. Of the three who were employed there, all vigorously denied any involvement in interrogations, torture or medical approval for the above.
The letter further states that Dr. Blachar has made statements which were untrue on at least 10 occasions in the Lancet and the BMJ. No basis is made for these claims other than the opinion of the authors.
Finally, Summerfield goes so far as to accuse the IMA ethics chairman, Prof. Avinoam Reches, of being personally involved in torture. Whatever political views one may hold, we firmly believe that politics has no place in medicine. Medicine is meant to serve as a bridge, not a divide. The intermingling of medicine and politics is dangerous, particularly when opinions, presented as facts, are presented on the pages of medical journals.
The current situation is viewed as extremely dangerous for the future of Israeli medicine, of academic freedom and international cooperation.
ACTION - IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, a letter of support for Dr. Blachar, for the IMA and for Israeli medicine can be found at: http://www.petition.fm/petitions/ima
Please sign your name and country and in the 'Notes' section please include your title, field of medicine (or other) and place of employment. Please send this letter on to others who you feel might be similarly interested in expressing support.
Stuart Palmer
Director
IDF schiet jonge Palestijnse moeder neer bij checkpoint?
Waar de IDF al niet goed voor is. Een paar jaar terug werd er bericht over Palestijnen die zich opzettelijk lieten opsluiten om in Israelische gevangenissen rustig en comfortabel te kunnen studeren (van Israelisch belastingsgeld?), en nu levert Israel ook onbedoeld hulp bij zelfdoding?
Als haar poging geslaagd was, had Israel weer internationale veroordelingen aan haar broek gehad van bijv. de VN Mensenrechtenraad, wegens het neerknallen van een jonge Palestijnse moeder met een speelgoedgeweertje, met in de NRC een foto van een huilend weeskind...
Wouter
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Palestinian woman wounded by IDF fire
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
_________________
Palestinian woman wounded by IDF fire
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A Palestinian woman carrying a suspicious object was moderately wounded by IDF fire on Friday morning near the Bekaot checkpoint in the Jordan Valley, north of Jericho.
The soldiers shot at the woman's lower body after shooting in the air and after she did not heed their calls to stop advancing towards them, the military said.
After the woman was shot, the soldiers discovered she was carrying a toy gun. She was evacuated to Haemek Hospital in Afula in moderate condition.
An officer of the Civil Administration who interrogated the wounded woman asked her why she acted in the way she did. She showed him bruise marks on her hands and said she wanted to kill herself after having been abused in her house. The woman is an 18-year-old, married with a child.
The IDF said troops at the checkpoint acted according to protocol.
Three years ago, a gunman shot and killed an IDF soldier at the same checkpoint. IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Ro'i Farjun was killed at there in August 2006, after a Palestinian opened fire at him. Troops returned fire, killing the gunman.
The soldiers shot at the woman's lower body after shooting in the air and after she did not heed their calls to stop advancing towards them, the military said.
After the woman was shot, the soldiers discovered she was carrying a toy gun. She was evacuated to Haemek Hospital in Afula in moderate condition.
An officer of the Civil Administration who interrogated the wounded woman asked her why she acted in the way she did. She showed him bruise marks on her hands and said she wanted to kill herself after having been abused in her house. The woman is an 18-year-old, married with a child.
The IDF said troops at the checkpoint acted according to protocol.
Three years ago, a gunman shot and killed an IDF soldier at the same checkpoint. IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Ro'i Farjun was killed at there in August 2006, after a Palestinian opened fire at him. Troops returned fire, killing the gunman.
IDF reaktie op Gaza rapport Amnesty International
De IDF bijt stevig van zich af in onderstaande reaktie op het rapport van Amnesty International over de Gaza Oorlog, zonder echter op specifieke aanklachten in te gaan. Of het wijs is van Israel om medewerking te weigeren aan dit onderzoek of het nog lopende VN onderzoek is maar de vraag. Uit eigen IDF onderzoek bleek het merendeel van de Palestijnse doden wel degelijk strijders te betreffen, maar dat overtuigde weinigen omdat het IDF natuurlijk niet onpartijdig is. De Palestijnse bronnen van Amnesty in de door Hamas gecontroleerde Gazastrook kunnen echter evenmin zonder meer worden vertrouwd, en ook de Verenigde Naties is berucht om haar anti-Israel beleid. Amnesty lijkt zich echter vierkant achter de VN-lijn te scharen.
Dat Amnesty, dat overigens ook Hamas beschuldigde van schending van het internationaal humanitaire recht, tot een wapenembargo tegen beide partijen oproept totdat het oorlogsrecht gewaarborgd kan worden, is onhoudbaar. Hamas - en Hezbollah - gaat toch wel door met de smokkel van door Iran en co geleverde wapens, en de precisiewapens die Israel vaak gebruikt hebben juist tot doel het aantal burgerslachtoffers te minimaliseren. Dat er toch nog honderden burgerdoden vielen komt deels door grove onverschilligheid bij soldaten en commandanten, maar hoofdzakelijk door de aard van de a-symetrische strijd tegen een guerrillaleger in een dichtbevolkt gebied, en soms door domme misverstanden in de mist van de oorlog.
Wouter
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IDF response to Amnesty Report
(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson)
(Communicated by the IDF Spokesperson)
2 July 2009
We find it both questionable and objectionable that a well-respected and ostensibly objective international organization such as Amnesty could produce a report on Operation Cast Lead without properly recognizing the unbearable reality of nine years of incessant and indiscriminate rocket fire on the citizens of Israel. The slant of their report indicates that the organization succumbed to the manipulations of the Hamas terror organization.
Operation Cast Lead was a result of nine years of Hamas' unrelenting Kassam, Grad and mortar shell fire on more than a quarter of a million of Israel's citizens. Rocket fire was Hamas' preferred terror tactic, and they ruthlessly used populated areas of the Gaza Strip in order to carry out their attacks.
We did not find in the report a proper reference to the reality of the Israeli home front or to Israeli security concerns, and therefore the report seems unbalanced. It presents a distorted view of the laws of war that does not comply with the rules implemented by democratic states battling terror.
It also ignores the efforts of the IDF to minimize as much as possible harming uninvolved noncombatant civilians. During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF utilized various fighting methods and advanced technology to minimize harm to the civilian population, while engaging terrorists who were operating from densely populated areas and using the local population as a "human shield."
In many cases, areas in which strikes of legitimate targets were to take place, as required by international law, the IDF warned the local population prior to the attack, via leaflets, radio broadcasts, and direct calls to private cellular telephones. It should be stated that the IDF only targeted military targets and avoided harming civilians, sometimes to the detriment of its own military interests.
In addition, during Operation Cast Lead, the IDF enabled for the transfer of humanitarian aid and also instated a daily several hour cease fire so that the goods could be safely distributed.
The Amnesty report ignores a critical aspect of Operation Cast Lead - Hamas consistently, deliberately and routinely violated International Law, specifically the prohibition against the use of "human shields." While Hamas was using Palestinian civilian centers to fire rockets at the citizens of Israel, the IDF went to great lengths to combat their terrorism while maintaining a firm commitment to the laws of war.
Documented evidence, from aerial drones, ground footage and independent accounts, prove, beyond all doubt, that Hamas deliberately exploited population centers - including medical, educational, recreational and religious facilities - to provide tactical cover for their terror activities.
It is to Amnesty International's discredit that the report they issued, focuses so intently on any and all IDF infractions, and ignores the blatant violations of international law perpetrated by Hamas.
Out of a professional, ethical and judicial obligation to thoroughly inspect certain claims made regarding Operation Cast Lead, the IDF conducted a number of investigations following the operation. The investigations proved that the IDF operated throughout the fighting in accordance with international law, maintaining high ethical and professional standards and in many incidents, for the sake of avoiding harm to unassociated civilians, even limited itself beyond existing judicial obligations. Nonetheless, the investigations found a few, unfortunate incidents that are unavoidable during combat - especially the type of combat Hamas forced upon the IDF during Operation Cast Lead, when it chose to fight from within civilian population centers.
In addition to the investigations ordered by the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF is currently looking into complaints that were received from various sources - private lawyers, human rights organizations (including Amnesty) and media outlets (both domestic and international) - that raise different questions regarding the way in which the IDF operated during Operation Cast Lead. In certain cases, the Chief Military Advocate has already ordered the opening of a criminal investigation.
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
Operation Cast Lead was a result of nine years of Hamas' unrelenting Kassam, Grad and mortar shell fire on more than a quarter of a million of Israel's citizens. Rocket fire was Hamas' preferred terror tactic, and they ruthlessly used populated areas of the Gaza Strip in order to carry out their attacks.
We did not find in the report a proper reference to the reality of the Israeli home front or to Israeli security concerns, and therefore the report seems unbalanced. It presents a distorted view of the laws of war that does not comply with the rules implemented by democratic states battling terror.
It also ignores the efforts of the IDF to minimize as much as possible harming uninvolved noncombatant civilians. During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF utilized various fighting methods and advanced technology to minimize harm to the civilian population, while engaging terrorists who were operating from densely populated areas and using the local population as a "human shield."
In many cases, areas in which strikes of legitimate targets were to take place, as required by international law, the IDF warned the local population prior to the attack, via leaflets, radio broadcasts, and direct calls to private cellular telephones. It should be stated that the IDF only targeted military targets and avoided harming civilians, sometimes to the detriment of its own military interests.
In addition, during Operation Cast Lead, the IDF enabled for the transfer of humanitarian aid and also instated a daily several hour cease fire so that the goods could be safely distributed.
The Amnesty report ignores a critical aspect of Operation Cast Lead - Hamas consistently, deliberately and routinely violated International Law, specifically the prohibition against the use of "human shields." While Hamas was using Palestinian civilian centers to fire rockets at the citizens of Israel, the IDF went to great lengths to combat their terrorism while maintaining a firm commitment to the laws of war.
Documented evidence, from aerial drones, ground footage and independent accounts, prove, beyond all doubt, that Hamas deliberately exploited population centers - including medical, educational, recreational and religious facilities - to provide tactical cover for their terror activities.
It is to Amnesty International's discredit that the report they issued, focuses so intently on any and all IDF infractions, and ignores the blatant violations of international law perpetrated by Hamas.
Out of a professional, ethical and judicial obligation to thoroughly inspect certain claims made regarding Operation Cast Lead, the IDF conducted a number of investigations following the operation. The investigations proved that the IDF operated throughout the fighting in accordance with international law, maintaining high ethical and professional standards and in many incidents, for the sake of avoiding harm to unassociated civilians, even limited itself beyond existing judicial obligations. Nonetheless, the investigations found a few, unfortunate incidents that are unavoidable during combat - especially the type of combat Hamas forced upon the IDF during Operation Cast Lead, when it chose to fight from within civilian population centers.
In addition to the investigations ordered by the Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF is currently looking into complaints that were received from various sources - private lawyers, human rights organizations (including Amnesty) and media outlets (both domestic and international) - that raise different questions regarding the way in which the IDF operated during Operation Cast Lead. In certain cases, the Chief Military Advocate has already ordered the opening of a criminal investigation.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
vrijdag 3 juli 2009
Hamas legt 'Koran belasting' op in Gazastrook
Vaak wordt gezegd dat Hamas geen islamitische staat wil stichten en geen religieuze regels oplegt. Religie en een extremistische ideologie zijn bij Hamas overigens nauw verbonden, en in die religieuze centra zullen Palestijnen weer fraaie dingen leren over de Joden en het Westen, en over de heilige strijd voor de bevrijding van geheel Palestina, en dat het martelarenschap het hoogst haalbare is....
RP
RP
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Gaza: Hamas imposes 'Koran levy'
Salaries of public officials in Strip to be cut in effort to reinforce Koran study centers
Gaza: Hamas imposes 'Koran levy'
Salaries of public officials in Strip to be cut in effort to reinforce Koran study centers
Ali Waked - YNET
Special Hamas tax: The Hamas government in Gaza has recently decided to cut the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees in the Strip in order to finance Koran studies.
In an effort to reinforce Koran study centers across Gaza, Hamas has decided to deduct one percent of the salaries of public officials in the Strip and earmark the funds to the Koran schools.
Notably, Koran study centers in the Strip are considered a major Hamas power source used to elicit support for the organization.
Dr. Taleb Abu Sha'r, the Minister for Religious Affairs in the Hamas government, said the decision aims to encourage Koran studies and religious devotion.
"The decision proves that the government attaches great importance to those who teach and study the Koran, and it expresses a desire to assist them," he said.
The new "Koran levy" is not the only unusual tax introduced by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Every few months, the Hamas government enforces a deduction in the salaries of each public official in order to pay unemployment allowances in the Strip.
In an effort to reinforce Koran study centers across Gaza, Hamas has decided to deduct one percent of the salaries of public officials in the Strip and earmark the funds to the Koran schools.
Notably, Koran study centers in the Strip are considered a major Hamas power source used to elicit support for the organization.
Dr. Taleb Abu Sha'r, the Minister for Religious Affairs in the Hamas government, said the decision aims to encourage Koran studies and religious devotion.
"The decision proves that the government attaches great importance to those who teach and study the Koran, and it expresses a desire to assist them," he said.
The new "Koran levy" is not the only unusual tax introduced by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Every few months, the Hamas government enforces a deduction in the salaries of each public official in order to pay unemployment allowances in the Strip.
Is een vernederd Israel in Amerika's belang?
Ik kan dit artikel hartgrondig onderschrijven, zoals geldt voor meer artikelen van Ari Shavit.
Het valt te hopen dat het ook in Amerikaanse regeringskringen wordt gelezen.
Ik zou er nog aan toe kunnen voegen dat een evenwichtigere houding van de VS de bereidheid tot concessies in zowel Israel als onder de Palestijnen zal vergroten. Juist de eenzijdige focus van de VS (en de rest van de wereld) op de nederzettingen en ander (vermeend) Israelisch onrecht versterkt nationalistische sentimenten in Israel, terwijl die focus de Palestijnen het gevoel geeft dat zij niks hoeven doen en kunnen afwachten totdat de VS Israel dwingt hun eisen in te willigen, zoals Abbas met zoveel woorden in de Washington Post heeft gezegd.
RP
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Last update - 04:44 02/07/2009
Is a crushed Israel in America's best interest?
By Ari Shavit, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097244.html
RP
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Last update - 04:44 02/07/2009
Is a crushed Israel in America's best interest?
By Ari Shavit, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097244.html
Seven months after Barack Obama's victory in the presidential election, it is still not clear what the United States' new strategic goal is: halting Iran's nuclear program, or learning to live with a nuclear Iran? It is also not clear what the new U.S. vision for the Middle East is: a partial but realistic peace, or a full but fictitious peace? It is not clear whether Obama's United States plans to isolate Middle Eastern extremists or encourage them. It is not clear what its attitude toward Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran will be. Nor is it clear whether it will leave Iraq victorious or defeated. But, on one issue, there is no doubt. In everything related to Israel, Obama's United States has adopted a tough-love strategy.
"Tough love" is a loaded phrase. It has educational, emotional and sometimes even sexual connotations. It encompasses the paternalistic belief that the educator knows what's better for the pupil's welfare than the pupil does. Therefore, it has traditionally been associated with reform schools and patronizing conservatism.
Recently, however, "tough love" has become the rage in liberal circles in Washington and New York. Democratic opinion leaders - many of them Jewish - have begun to speak with shining eyes about the need to administer a dose of tough love to Israel: to train it, wean it, set boundaries for it. To force it against its will to do what is good for it.
Israel, for its part, has done quite a bit to bolster the tough-love advocates. The pampered Israeli-American princess abused its status as the apple of Uncle Sam's eye. For years, it made a mockery of the U.S. administration and embarked on a spree of settlements, checkpoints and illegal outposts. With reckless abandon, it threw off every yoke and waved a red flag at the good and the great in America's capital.
Therefore, when Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel entered the White House, many people advised them to tame the rebel. And the president and his chief of staff received the advice enthusiastically. To the two tough guys from Chicago, the idea of loving Israel in a strong, painful manner sounded cool.
The results can be seen almost every day on television screens throughout the world: an American policy taken straight out of a British public school. A diplomacy comprised of public reprimands. The new United States is trying to wean Israel from its bad habits by means of the teacher's ruler. Even as it bows and scrapes to Saudi Arabia and is scrupulously careful of Iran's honor, it humiliates Israel. The president's feet on the table were a message. The goal is a well-trained, obedient Israel.
The United States is a superpower. If the United States wants a broken, battered Israel, it will get a broken, battered Israel. This is a collision between a tank and an ATV, between a stealth bomber and a glider. But the question the White House ought to be asking itself is whether riding roughshod over Israel serves its goals - whether a crushed Israel is an American interest.
The answer is unequivocal: no. Already, Israel's public humiliation is hurting America. It is making even moderate Arabs unwilling to contribute anything to advancing the diplomatic process. And without a significant Arab contribution, there will be no diplomatic process.
But a continued tough love policy toward Israel is liable to do damage that is far more serious - and irreversible. Without a strong Israel, a Middle East peace can neither be established nor survive. Without a strong Israel, the Middle East will go up in flames.
Therefore, instead of playing games taken out of a basic training manual, Americans and Israelis must work in harmony. They must think outside the box and come up with a creative solution, based on listening to each other and mutual respect. They must jointly advance a genuine regional peace.
The hour is late. Both Obama's government and Benjamin Netanyahu's government have made serious mistakes the last few months. But ultimately, both Obama and Netanyahu are worthy leaders who want to do the right thing. Therefore, the two must stop the dangerous game they are playing. The time has come to replace tough love with sensible, grown-up love.
Volgens IDF onderzoek werd meisje in Gaza gedood door Palestijns mortiervuur
Door wie is het meisje gedood? Voor de Palestijnen is zij hoe dan ook een martelaar en het zoveelste symbool van de strijd tegen het wrede en machtige Israel. Voor Israel is dit het zoveelste voorbeeld van hoe Hamas de eigen bevolking in gevaar brengt en daar politiek gewin uit probeert te slaan.
RP
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IDF initial probe: Gaza girl killed by Palestinian mortar shells
yaakov katz and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
IDF initial probe: Gaza girl killed by Palestinian mortar shells
yaakov katz and jpost.com staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A 17-year-old Palestinian girl was killed, and five other civilians were wounded on Thursday during a fire exchange between Gaza gunmen and soldiers from an IDF patrol, after the patrol was fired upon near the Nahal Oz Crossing.
Palestinian sources earlier said an IDF tank shell which landed in the central Gaza Strip killed the girl. The sources said at least five people were wounded in the incident.
The military said the troops responded with gunfire and mortar shells, but did not use tanks. It said mortar shells fired by the soldiers landed in open areas in the Gaza Strip.
The army added that all of the mortar shells fired by the Palestinians landed inside the Gaza Strip.
Shortly after the event took place, Hamas announced that the victim was actually a three-year-old girl.
The Hamas claim regarding the victim's age could not be confirmed.
No soldiers were wounded in the attack.
There was no word on whether the gunmen incurred casualties.
Palestinian sources earlier said an IDF tank shell which landed in the central Gaza Strip killed the girl. The sources said at least five people were wounded in the incident.
The military said the troops responded with gunfire and mortar shells, but did not use tanks. It said mortar shells fired by the soldiers landed in open areas in the Gaza Strip.
The army added that all of the mortar shells fired by the Palestinians landed inside the Gaza Strip.
Shortly after the event took place, Hamas announced that the victim was actually a three-year-old girl.
The Hamas claim regarding the victim's age could not be confirmed.
No soldiers were wounded in the attack.
There was no word on whether the gunmen incurred casualties.
Joodse heilige boeken vernield in 'ontruimde' nederzetting Homesh
Als Israel deze nederzetting heeft ontruimd, moet het er natuurlijk op toezien dat dat ook zo blijft, en niet toelaten dat in hoekjes en gaatjes van de vernielde huizen toch nog mensen samenkomen, zogenaamd om te studeren. De wet is de wet en de staat moet die handhaven. Nu de Palestijnen hier boeken hebben verbrand proberen de kolonisten van Homesh een symbool te maken van 'verzet'. De regering had dat beter kunnen voorkomen. Uiteraard is de Palestijnse actie op geen enkele wijze goed te keuren, maar de krokodillentranen van de kolonisten zijn hier ongepast.
RP & WB
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Suspicion: Palestinians burned holy Jewish books at Homesh
Dozens of Talmuds, bibles, prayer books defaced at unauthorized yeshiva located in evacuated West Bank settlement; Minister Edelstein demands permanent structure, adequate protection for Jewish students
Suspicion: Palestinians burned holy Jewish books at Homesh
Dozens of Talmuds, bibles, prayer books defaced at unauthorized yeshiva located in evacuated West Bank settlement; Minister Edelstein demands permanent structure, adequate protection for Jewish students
Efrat Weiss - YNET
Police suspect that Palestinians defaced and burned holy books at a yeshiva located on the grounds of the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh.
"The sight was awful," the yeshiva's dean, Rabbi Elishamah Cohen, told Ynet. "Dozens of holy books - Talmuds, bibles, and prayer books - were almost completely burned."
Police have launched an investigation, but no perpetrators have been detained as of yet.
Homesh was evacuated during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank in the summer of 2005. Since then, right-wing activists have made repeated attempts to rebuild the settlement, and every once in a while IDF forces arrive at the site to evacuate them.
About a dozen people have returned to Homesh to live and study in a wooden structure housing a yeshiva. Several weeks ago, security forces destroyed the yeshiva, but students have made use of a remaining courtyard of one of the homes destroyed during the Disengagement.
It is suspected that Palestinians raided the yeshiva while its students were visiting the nearby settlement Shavei Shomron. "It is evident that the Arabs who torched the holy books did so meticulously," said Rabbi Cohen. "The books were almost completely charred. We managed to salvage a few pages."
Yossi Dagan of Homesh First, the grassroots group planning to rebuild the West Bank settlement, said "we demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu order the establishment of a large, official settlement in Homesh. This should be the government's response to this national humiliation."
Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein (Likud) called on the government to erect a permanent structure that will house the yeshiva and see to it that the students are protected "so that such severe anti-Semitic incidents will not repeat themselves".
Police have launched an investigation, but no perpetrators have been detained as of yet.
Homesh was evacuated during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank in the summer of 2005. Since then, right-wing activists have made repeated attempts to rebuild the settlement, and every once in a while IDF forces arrive at the site to evacuate them.
About a dozen people have returned to Homesh to live and study in a wooden structure housing a yeshiva. Several weeks ago, security forces destroyed the yeshiva, but students have made use of a remaining courtyard of one of the homes destroyed during the Disengagement.
It is suspected that Palestinians raided the yeshiva while its students were visiting the nearby settlement Shavei Shomron. "It is evident that the Arabs who torched the holy books did so meticulously," said Rabbi Cohen. "The books were almost completely charred. We managed to salvage a few pages."
Yossi Dagan of Homesh First, the grassroots group planning to rebuild the West Bank settlement, said "we demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu order the establishment of a large, official settlement in Homesh. This should be the government's response to this national humiliation."
Minister of Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein (Likud) called on the government to erect a permanent structure that will house the yeshiva and see to it that the students are protected "so that such severe anti-Semitic incidents will not repeat themselves".
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