Berichtgeving over Gaza boten met activisten kritiekloos

 

Gelukkig hebben de vredesactivisten die vorige week naar Gaza voeren niet zoveel publiciteit gekregen als zij wellicht hadden gehoopt, maar van kritische of objectieve berichtgeving is nauwelijks sprake.

 

Ook bij De Pers hieronder geen woord over hoe deze mensen zich door Hamas laten gebruiken, het officiële gesprek dat men kreeg met premier Haniyeh, de medailles die hij hun uitreikte en de Palestijnse paspoorten. Men is zelfs door Hamas uitgenodigd om deze trip te maken. Het mag dan ook niet verbazen dat de demonstranten geen enkel kritisch woord hadden tegenover Hamas, diens cynische gebruik van burgers als menselijk schild, het feit dat bij explosies en militaire oefeningen geregeld burgers omkomen, de militaire trainingskampen voor kinderen en hun verheerlijking van geweld tegen Joden.

 

Het is fantastisch dat zovelen zich het lot van de Gazanen aantrekken, maar men wil de werkelijke oorzaken van hun ellende niet zien: na de Israëlische terugtrekking uit Gaza in 2005 had men in het ministaatje Gazastrook kunnen proberen iets op te bouwen (met miljarden aan internationale steun), maar in plaats daarvan werden de kassen en andere gebouwen die de kolonisten (door toedoen van enkele Joods-Amerikaanse zakenlui) hadden achtergelaten, geplunderd en werden vanaf de resten van de Joodse nederzettingen raketten op Israël afgevuurd. Men heeft erg zijn best gedaan te laten zien dat rechts in Israël gelijk zou krijgen: de terugtrekking leidde tot meer geweld, de Hamas claimde deze als een overwinning waarna de rest van Israël zou volgen, en behaalde in de verkiezingen begin 2006 een grote overwinning.

 

Het is verbluffend dat de 'vredesactivisten' deze totaal onkritische houding tegenover en zelfs actieve steun voor een reactionaire en fundamentalistische beweging totaal niet wordt aangerekend. Uiteraard ligt EAJG in katzwijm voor deze 'helden', in het bijzonder het enige Israëlische lid Jeff Halper, een notoire antizionist.

Wanneer gaan we het verschil eens zien tussen propaganda voor Hamas, een behoefte zich met alles en iedereen te verbinden die maar uitgesproken genoeg anti-Israël is, en echt activisme voor vrede, verzoening en coëxistentie? Wanneer gaan we eens inzien dat voor vrede zijn niet gelijk staat aan anti-Israël zijn, en dat de zwakkeren niet automatisch de beteren zijn? Wanneer gaan we het eigen aandeel van de Palestijnen in hun ellende eens zien, en zijn we ook bereid ze daarop aan te spreken?    

 

RP

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

 

Israël - Mensenrechtenactivisten varen naar afgesloten Gazastrook

 

'Dit bezoek verbindt Gaza weer met de rest van de wereld'

http://www.depers.nl/buitenland/237132/Gaza-verbonden-met-rest-van-de-wereld.html

 

Door: Godelief Swank
Gepubliceerd: zondag 24 augustus 2008 22:54

 

 

Mensenrechtenactivisten zijn dit weekend voor het eerst dwars door de Israëlische blokkade van Gaza heen gevaren. 'En dat willen we vaker doen.'

 

Alle scenario's hadden ze van tevoren doorgenomen; Israël kon op ze gaan schieten, ze arresteren, hun boot saboteren of domweg hun vertrek uit de haven van Cyprus tegenhouden.

 

Israël dreigde de twee vissersboten aanvankelijk tegen te houden, maar deed uiteindelijk niets. Met de ogen van de internationale gemeenschap op zich gericht – aan boord zaten 43 activisten uit 17 landen – kon het weinig anders. 'Bovendien deden we niets illegaals', zegt de Palestijns-Amerikaanse Huwaide Erref (32). 'We zijn niet door Israëlische territoriale wateren gevaren, hadden geen wapens aan boord en hebben ons bij vertrek uit Cyprus uitvoerig laten controleren en certificeren.'

 

De advocate zat op een van de twee schepen die zaterdagavond de haven van Gaza-stad binnenvoeren: de Liberty en de Free Gaza. Aan boord hadden ze ruim tweehonderd gehoorapparaten voor kinderen. 'Dat is niet veel, de Palestijnen vroegen ons om negenduizend exemplaren, omdat hun kinderen langzaam doof worden door alle overvliegende Israëlische gevechtsvliegtuigen. Maar deze missie draait ook niet om hulpgoederen. Onze komst laat zien dat een groep gewone burgers in staat is om de hermetisch afgesloten kuststrook van Gaza te bereiken.'

 

Israël laat normaal gesproken nauwelijks goederen en mensen toe tot Gaza, sinds de radicaal-islamitische Hamasbeweging er vorig jaar de macht overnam. Daardoor zijn er tekorten in de kuststrook en kunnen de 1,4 miljoen bewoners zich niet vrij bewegen.

 

'Israël zegt de Gazastrook formeel niet te bezetten, ze weigeren slechts een vrij verkeer omwille van hun eigen veiligheid', zegt Erref. 'Maar onder dat mom konden ze ons niet arresteren, wij vormden juridisch gezien geen enkele bedreiging. Nu dit gelukt is, zijn we al nieuwe missies aan het plannen. We willen een open verbinding creëren tussen Gaza en de rest van de wereld.' En dat is precies waar Israël huiverig voor is. De doorgang van de Liberty en de Free Gazakan een precedent vormen voor toekomstig verkeer van en naar de Gazastrook. 'Ze wilden een provocatie op zee, maar die zullen ze niet krijgen', lichtte een woordvoerder van het Israëlische ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken de doorgang toe.

 

Duizenden Palestijnen stonden de vissersboten zaterdagavond op te wachten. 'Voor hen was onze komst een symbolische', zegt Erref. 'We laten zien dat de internationale gemeenschap hen niet vergeten is.'

 

 

Activisten op 'Free Gaza' boten zwijgen over Hamas dictatuur

 

Wie had dat gedacht? De Israëlische ambassade laat zich gebruiken als verlengstuk van 2 Nederlandse activisten!

(Intern grapje voor wie de recente discussie op IMO en de Volkskrant online heeft gevolgd...)

 

Wouter

 

Eerdere berichten over de 'Free Gaza' boten: hier, hier en hier.

____________

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/28/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast

Showboating over Gaza

The protesters who came ashore last week should blame Hamas rather than Israel for the territory's ills

 

Israel last Saturday permitted two boats of protesters to land on the shores of Gaza. This disappointed the more aggressive agitators in the party, as they hankered for a confrontation with the Israeli navy that never came. Yvonne Ridley, on board making a documentary for an Iranian state-funded broadcaster, must have been particularly frustrated.

Having thoroughly assessed the security risks, Israel granted the ships safe passage. The protesters came ashore with enough hot air to fill the 5,000 balloons they'd brought for the children of Gaza. They also delivered 200 hearing aids. Yet their silence regarding Hamas's abuse of its own people, let alone Israeli civilians, has been deafening.

Ironically, while the protesters tub-thumped their way to Gaza, just three weeks earlier, scores of Palestinians were at the Israeli border, fleeing for their lives. Eleven Palestinians died and more than a hundred were injured in fierce fighting between Hamas and its Fatah rivals. Facing slaughter by Hamas forces, nearly 200 Fatah members fled to Israel for refuge. Bilal Hilles, one of the wounded, described his fear at the prospect of returning to Hamas rule. "It would be like a death sentence for me," he told the Jerusalem Post.

Hamas's enslavement of Gaza continues, as does the silent complicity of the protesters.

Observers should be wary. The portrayal of Israel as pantomime villain and as sole cause of conflict in the Middle East is jeopardising the search for real solutions to complex problems. Sections of liberal society risk sleepwalking into the service of those who represent the antithesis of liberal values, namely Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas.

In Gaza, Hamas has ruthlessly crushed its rivals, stifling criticism and ransacking its opponents. Hamas seized power in a bloody coup d'etat in June last year, during which its Fatah rivals were brutalised and murdered, a fact evocatively illustrated by the sight of a Palestinian Authority official being hurled from a fifth-floor window.

Hamas has used the recent internal violence in Gaza to extinguish the final flames of resistance to its rule. No opposition media remains after Hamas shut down the radio station of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Human Rights Watch recently reported on Hamas's rule, citing "arbitrary arrests, tortured detainees, clamping down of freedom of expression and assembly".

Yet the protesters' anti-Israel dogma prevents an honest assessment of Hamas's abuse of its population and its misuse of resources. Key facts are distorted and disregarded, particularly as regards humanitarian aid, food and fuel supply. Contrary to the most popular distortions, patients and companions are frequently allowed into Israel and the West Bank for medical treatment. In 2007, more than 130,000 Gazans were granted entry on those grounds, a trend that continues to this day.

In keeping with the orders of the Israeli supreme court, millions of litres of fuel are made available every week at the Nahal Oz fuel depot. Hamas has frequently attacked the depot with mortar bombs and rifle fire. Thousands of tonnes of food supplies, medical equipment and building materials are transported through the Sufa and Karni crossings weekly. Following the period of relative calm brokered by the Egyptians in June, the supply has increased considerably. This despite near daily violations in the form of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel. Where does the aid and the fuel go? Why has Hamas frequently attacked the crossings and fuel terminals? Why has Hamas forced staff at petrol stations and bakeries to go on strike? In their zeal to demonise Israel, the protesters are failing to ask these questions. Consequently, they are failing the Palestinians tyrannised by Hamas's illegitimate rule.

The beneficiaries of this intellectual negligence are Hamas and their Iranian sponsors. Iran and its extremist friends are threatening moderates throughout the Arab world - in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Iraq, as well as among the Palestinians. Ironically, Arab Muslim commentators, who traditionally are no friends of Israel, seem more alarmed by the threat than their British counterparts.

It is time to realise that bashing Israel will not build Palestine. Showboating designed to vilify Israel will not steer the Palestinians through the choppy waters to statehood. Instead, the world must encourage the Palestinians to build their infrastructure and develop governing institutions. The extremists who sabotage this must be held to account. Ignoring the fragile dynamics within Palestinian society will merely push Palestinians further towards the Iranian orbit, towards isolation and away from their national aspirations.

The alarm bells about the extremist challenge have been ringing loudest within the Arab world itself. It is time they were heard here. Yet as the agitators and their fan clubs strive for ratings on Iranian TV, the pleas of progressives are falling on deaf ears.

 

Ron Prosor is the Israeli ambassador in London

Aanslagen op Israëlische piloten verijdeld

 

Israëlische Arabieren werken in toenemende mate samen met Palestijnen bij de planning en uitvoering van terroristische activiteiten.

 

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

Cell plotting to assassinate Israeli pilots, scientists arrested

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3589193,00.html
Joint IDF, Shin Bet, police operation exposes Islamic Jihad cell comprised of three Palestinians, two Israeli Arabs, who planned to assassinate Israeli pilots, scientists

 

Efrat Weiss - Ynet News
Published:  08.28.08, 18:22

 

 

An Islamic Jihad cell plotting to assassinate Israeli pilots, scientists and university lecturers was exposed in a joint IDF, Shin Bet and police operation. The arrest was cleared for publication on Thursday evening.

 

The cell was comprised of three Palestinians and two Israeli Arabs from Shfaram. The group also planned to carry out a shooting attack against the IDF checkpoint near Beit Zeit, in the Ramallah area, and go after those suspected of collaborating with Israel.

 

The planning of the assassinations was still in the early stages.

 

The two Israeli Arab members worked on the fundraising front, trying to secure money for the purchase of weapons. The two attempted to contact the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Syria to this end. The cell did have some arms in its possession and had trained extensively ahead of its plan to carry out the Beit Zeit shooting attack.
 

The names of those arrested are:

1. Anis Saffouri – a 20-year-old resident of Shfaram, a communications student at the Bir Zeit University in Ramallah.

2. Hussam Khalil – a 19-year-old resident of Shfaram, an electrical engineering student in Jordan.

3. Mahmoud Bader – a 19-year-old resident of Beit Lakiyah, an Islamic Jihad activist at the Bir Zeit University.

4. Ibrahim Tamliya – a 25-year-old resident of Ramallah, considered a prominent Islamic Jihad activist

5. Ibrahim Hamed – a 26-year-old resident of the Kalandiya refugee camp, an Islamic Jihad activist

 

Anis Saffouri's father, Jamil Saffouri, is one of the suspects implicated in the lynching of Jewish terrorist Edan Nathan-Zada in Shfaram.

 

Hussam Khalil is the son of a prominent Balad operative, and Shfaram officials were surprised to hear his name connected to the fundamentalist Islamic Jihad. Both Balad and 'Sons of the Villages' are secular movements.

Connections to 'Al-Manar' reporters

 

According to the details revealed in the investigation, Anis Saffouri relocated to Ramallah in 2006 to study in Birzeit. Saffouri, already a member of the Sons of the Village movement, developed ties to activists for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as personal and professional ties to reporters linked to the Hizbullah-affiliated 'Al-Manar' network.

 

Saffouri later became active for the ' Jamaat al-Islamiya' movement at Birzeit, and worked to raise funds to support the Islamic Jihad's military operations. He formed a cell with other activists belonging to the organization from the Ramallah region, and worked to recruit other Israeli Arabs to the cell.

 

Hussam Khalil was marked by Saffouri as the man who could help transfer funds from Jordan to Israel to help finance the cell's operations. Khalil traveled to Ramallah to meet Saffouri and another activist, expressed his willingness to help transfer the funds and was officially recruited to the Islamic Jihad.

Hussam confessed in his questioning that he was aware of Saffouri's intentions and understood that the money would be used for military operations.

 

The Shin Bet said the case exposes the cooperation between Israeli Arabs who study in the territories and terror operatives who live there. Saffouri and Khalil will be indicted at the Haifa District Court in the coming days on charges of grave national security offenses.

 

Neheda Barakat uit Libanon: voorbij het zwart-wit denken

Een Libanese ziet met eigen ogen de complexiteit van het conflict en de claims en grieven van beide kanten. Daar zouden Gretta, Anja, Dries, Jaap, Harry en vele anderen nog wat van kunnen leren.

 

RP

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

 

 

Aug 26, 2008 0:53 | Updated Aug 26, 2008 9:08

Getting past the black and white

By GREER FAY CASHMAN

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1219572124477&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Before she actually came here, Neheda Barakat thought of the country as "scary, mystical and an unknown entity." Although the Lebanese-born journalist likes to think that she arrived with an open mind, she could not escape Israel's image abroad as "the aggressor - nothing more, nothing less."

Now, after having almost completed a six-month assignment for Search for Common Ground - a Washington-headquartered nonprofit organization that works to transform the way the world deals with conflict by moving away from adversarial approaches toward collaborative problem solving - and having engaged in numerous in-depth conversations with both Israelis and Palestinians, she understands that nothing in their relationship is black and white.

"You see both sides and you have to be a psychological contortionist to unravel it," she says.

After a successful career with the Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles bureaus of Australia's Channel Nine network and later the Australian Broadcasting Authority, Barakat, 46, took up a special assignments role with Al-Jazeera English in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then in 2006, she accepted a special assignment to work for the UN in New York producing and scripting feature stories about UN projects and matters of special concern.

Her contract with Search for Common Ground was to assist an independent Palestinian News Service which had already been established to get its act together so that it could operate in a more professional manner in accordance with international journalistic standards. She worked mainly in Bethlehem and Ramallah while commuting from Jerusalem.

A passionate professional committed to the ground rules of journalism, she was dismayed with what she found in the Palestinian independent news network.

"The resources aren't there and the skills aren't there," she said over coffee in Jerusalem.

Always ready to tackle a challenge, Barakat, recalling that she had been taught by some of the great teachers in Australian journalism, decided to try to pass on what she had learned to the Palestinian journalists.

The first thing she discovered was that they knew almost nothing about investigative journalism. "They don't know anything about reporting beyond one and a half minutes of news," she says. "They were doing stuff beyond their capability."

Part of the project was capacity building, which meant taking on interns. Although they were very keen, they had no skills, she says, adding: "All they'd been taught was cut and paste."

Moreover, none of them spoke Hebrew; nor, indeed, did the journalists with whom Barakat was working. "I don't know how they could be objective if they didn't know the language of the other side."

As a wordsmith, it also bothered her that the terms used by the Palestinian journalists were biased and non-objective. She took exception to their definition of martyrs, and told them bluntly that the people they considered to be martyrs were suicide bombers and that this was how they were perceived by the Israelis. She also balked at the Palestinians' use of the word "apartheid."

For that matter, she also finds fault with the Israelis, who too often refer to terrorists as Arabs rather than Palestinians. "You have to differentiate," she says. "When you say 'Arab,' it's indicting an entire region. On either side, it's not the language of peace."

Many of the arguments Barakat had with the Palestinian journalists were based on semantics. When they referred to the conflict as an "apartheid war," she told them that they had to delete it from the script. For their part, "the Israelis call it an anti-suicide bomber war," she told them.

"Once you explain it to them," she continues, "they understand, but it will be a long time before it's automatic. It's conditioning. You have to apply some self-examination."

A specialist in current affairs, Barakat initiated a feature on Fatah - Hamas: Truce and Beyond. The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation expressed interest, she says, but the program never went on the air, "because they didn't like what the Hamas guy said about [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas."

The PBC also refused to air another program in which a speaker from Kuwait, another from Lebanon and a local Palestinian discussed how the Arab world uses Palestinians as political pawns. Barakat was angry at the rejection because hard-hitting current affairs programs are supposed to ask hard questions.

Her advice to the PBC is: "Get a grip. Get a reality check."

A feature that got a better reception was a discussion on peace prospects in the light of changing administrations. Participants were Amira Oren of the Foreign Ministry, an Arabic-speaking representative of the US State Department and an adviser to Abbas. The program was conceived in the immediate aftermath of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement that he would not run in the upcoming Kadima leadership primary and with the realization that the other major players, the PA and the US, would also have a change of leadership within the next six months.

In her attempt to teach objectivity and balance, and given the time frame in which she was in the region, Barakat chose 60 years as one of the first subjects for a feature. She didn't specify it as 60 years of Israeli statehood, nor did she mention the word Nakba (catastrophe) in the script.

Although she speaks Arabic, she wrote the script in English because she did not think that her command of Arabic was at a level to be writing in that language. "I never worked so hard on terminology," she says.

The script dealt with people on both sides of the conflict, and the objective was to produce a Western-style current affairs feature where nothing was off limits. "I was trying to show them the professional approach and to demonstrate how this would be a breakthrough for them as journalists. They had to learn that there's one side and the other side to the story - and there's also the unadulterated truth."

In presenting the outline, she pushed beyond the ideas with which Palestinians have grown up, and got them to think about what they have done for themselves over the last 60 years. More than that, she got them to go out to Nablus and Ramallah to do a man-in-the-street survey on precisely that question.

What was interesting was that in Nablus, the respondents could not see beyond the occupation and almost invariably said that they wanted their land back. In Ramallah, however, the respondents tended to be broader in their thinking and blamed the British more than the Israelis for their predicament. They were also more inclined to self-criticism and agreed that they'd been taking aid rather than trying to help themselves.

"They do hope there will be peace," says Barakat. "Like everyone else they're tired of the situation. It's eroding their society."

As a Lebanese, who came to Australia at 10 with her parents and six siblings, Barakat could conceivably have grown up with an anti-Israel bias. But the Middle East conflict - except for the war in Lebanon - was not discussed in their home, she says. Her perceptions of Israel were influenced not by her home environment, but by how it was portrayed in the media.

"It's been personally edifying," she says of her time here. "I've been humbled by the experience. Israel and the Israelis are seen through the prism of conflict. There's only one dimension."

What surprised her is the amount of interaction between Israelis and Palestinians and the number of Israelis who are involved in the Palestinian cause. This gives her great hope for the future. "I say to people: They do live together. When you see that, you say it's going to happen. It may take a long time, but it will happen."

She still finds "hard views" among the Palestinians vis-à-vis any accommodation with Israel, and says to them: "No one is asking you to forget, but you must forgive and go on so that you can benefit yourselves. Look what the Israelis have achieved in 60 years. What have you done? You could have achieved this too."

She did notice, however, that there was a big difference between Palestinians who interact with Israelis "and those who are isolated on the West Bank.

Now that her assignment is almost over, Barakat views it as "an exceptional experience," and is sorry that it is coming to an end. "I'm falling in love with Jerusalem," she confesses.

With hindsight and taking into account all the difficulties that she experienced in fulfilling her assignment, Barakat believes that Search for Common Ground should be tackling the problem differently. "We should be sponsoring and funding journalism schools," she says. "We've come in too late. Their views have been inculcated."

 

Gestolen gas tanks in Ashkelon ontdekt, bestemd voor Gazastrook

 

Niet alleen vanuit Egypte worden spullen de Gazastrook ingesmokkeld.

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

85 tons of illegal gas seized en route to Gaza
Infrastructure Ministry inspectors find 1,700 gas tanks hidden in Ashkelon warehouse, say stolen tanks were intended for terror groups in Gaza

 

Shmulik Hadad - YNET

Published: 08.28.08, 01:14
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3588781,00.html

 

Infrastructure Ministry inspectors seized some 85 tons of illegally manufactured gas in a warehouse in the southern part of Ashkelon's industrial zone.

The gas, which was stored in tanks, is believed to have been in intended for smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

The ministry received a tip-off regarding the operation and dispatched inspectors to investigate. They raided the warehouse on Wednesday night, uncovering 1,700 large tanks.

"The tanks were in a huge warehouse that is not suited for gas storage; it was filled with wooden platforms and had no fire extinguishing system in place. It posed a very grave threat to local residents," said Shimon Ben-Shlomo, a senior inspector with the ministry. Ben-Shlomo added that this is the largest amount of gas ever seized in Israel.

The senior inspector said there was an even greater risk of disaster as area has been bombarded in the past by Gaza rockets. The warehouse is not fortified, Ben-Shlomo said.

According to the ministry, there is a pirate network of gas tank distribution in Israel. Most of the tanks are stolen. In this case, said Ben-Shlomo, the gas was intended to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

"The demand for these tanks wasn't just about the gas, but mostly because these are iron tanks - a metal that can be easily used in the manufacturing or weaponry, rocket and mortar shells," he said.

Local police said in response to the raid that they would arrest the owner of the warehouse and others involved in the storage of the gas and the plan to smuggle it into Gaza.

Abie Nathan (1927-2008) - Dry Bones

 

"Dry Bones" laat zich meestal sceptisch uit over de Arabische bereidheid om vrede te sluiten met Israël, zo ook in de cartoon hieronder uit 1981, kort na de moord op de Egyptische president Anwar Sadat. Des te opvallender is het dat hij de Israëlische vredesactivist Abie Nathan die deze week overleed, kwalificeert als een echte Israëlische held.

 

 

Wouter

__________

 

Abie Nathan (1981)

Today's Golden Oldie is from October 26 1981, twenty days after the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

In Israel we were shocked at the lack of public response in Egypt to the murder of our "peace partner". I'm posting this cartoon today because Abie Nathan has just passed away. He was a true Israeli hero.

According to the AP report that's just come in:

Israeli peace pioneer Abie Nathan dies at 81

JERUSALEM (AP) -"Abie Nathan, the peace activist who made a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane and later founded the groundbreaking "Voice of Peace" radio station, died Wednesday. He was 81.

Nathan died at Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital, the hospital said in a statement.

He burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with his solo flight more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty.

Although he failed in his initial bid to talk peace with the Egyptians, his daredevil escapade won the affection of many Israelis and launched a long and often eccentric one-man crusade to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Over time, he earned a reputation as a maverick peace activist who often took diplomacy into his own hands. He was called a crackpot and a prophet. But many admired the daring of the former Israeli air force fighter pilot as he pounded on Egypt's doors, sailed his pirate radio ship into hostile Middle East waters or risked his life on hunger strikes for peace." -more

Abie at the controls, broadcasting offshore from the "Voice of Peace".

Rest in Peace: Abie Nathan

-Dry Bones- Israel's Political Comic Strip Since 1973

 

 

Al Qaida infiltreert in Israël

Al Qaida werft activisten onder Israëls Arabische bevolking, aldus de Gulf Times. Hamas en andere Palestijnse terroristische groeperingen kunnen overigens niet goed met Al Qaida door een deur, laat staan dat men ermee samenwerkt of het zal helpen voet aan de grond te krijgen onder de Palestijnen.

 

RP

---------

Al Qaeda Seen Establishing Presence Inside Israel  

 

25/08/2008
Gulf Times
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=237591&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

 

Al Qaeda, long crowded out of the Palestinian territories by more localised armed groups, may be establishing a creeping presence inside Israel itself among its large Arab minority, experts say.

 

Over the past year the Shin Beth internal security agency has announced the arrest of four cells inspired by the ideology of Osama bin Laden's global terror network on jihadist websites and suspected of planning attacks.

The most high-profile case was that of a Jerusalem student who allegedly sought advice on an Al Qaeda Internet forum on how to shoot down George W Bush's helicopter during the US president's visit to Israel in January.

An indictment filed last month alleges that Mohamed Najem, 24, from the town of Nazareth, frequently visited the Ekhlass website message board using the alias Mohamed of Sham, a Qur'anic name for Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which specialises in penetrating and monitoring protected jihadist websites, intercepted his alleged postings.

"My brothers in Allah... How can a plane be shot down, and how can that be done? The planes of the dying Bush land and take off over a period of two days in an area close to my residence," read a January 10 message in Arabic.

According to Shin Beth, Najem was one of six Israeli Arabs and East Jerusalem Palestinians who planned how "to apply the movement's ideology".

The six, who face severe charges, have denied belonging to Al Qaeda or planning to launch attacks.

"They might have browsed certain websites, but that does not make them members of an illegal movement," said Lea Tsemel, a lawyer representing the alleged leader of the ring, 21-year-old Yusef Sumeirin, from occupied East Jerusalem.

"They are religious Muslims whose beliefs might be similar to some of Al Qaeda's views, but they were never accepted into the organisation and did not plan any attack," she added.

In another case, Israeli authorities last month detained two Bedouins from the southern town of Rahat suspected of planning attacks on airports, skyscrapers and military bases after joining Al Qaeda online forums.

"In recent months there have been several arrests in Israel that involved mainly Al Qaeda recruitment and planning over the Internet," a security official said on condition of anonymity.

Although the Palestinian cause figures strongly in Al Qaeda's rhetoric the group has never successfully attacked Israel, although it did carry out twin attacks against Israeli targets in the Kenyan city of Mombassa in November 2002.

Al Qaeda never developed much of a following in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where it has been mostly crowded out by older groups such as the late Yasser Arafat's secular Fatah and the Islamist Hamas movement.

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad focus exclusively on battling Israel, they also reject Al Qaeda's vision of a global jihad, precluding any kind of alliance.

"Radical Palestinian groups differ very much from Al Qaeda and in fact try not to be part of Al Qaeda's ideology. In that regard, the groups have different Internet forums, and often these forums are very critical of one another," SITE Intelligence Group director Rita Katz said.

Mutual animosity among the various Islamist groups has endured despite Hamas's seizure of Gaza, she said.

"In recent years we have noticed many new trends in regard to Al Qaeda's activities in Israel. Hamas is no longer part of the global jihad, and is actually considered by Al Qaeda leadership as an enemy," Katz said in an e-mail.

Israeli security officials fear Al Qaeda may manage to recruit Israeli Arabs who have in the past largely avoided the more traditional Palestinian armed groups.

The country's population of more than 7mn includes about 1.2mn Arabs, the descendants of Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state following its creation in 1948.

Experts say that Al Qaeda's network has grown throughout Israel and that the recent indictments should not be seen as isolated cases.

Shay Arbel, a senior researcher for Terrogence, an Israeli firm that specialises in analysing jihadist websites, said that the recent years have seen a sharp rise in the number of Israeli Arabs visiting the Al Qaeda forums.

Gaining access to such sites is possible only after passing a rigorous online test which includes a request for newcomers to present detailed ideas for attacks, Arbel said.

 

 

Israël bekritiseert Jordanië voor gesprekken met Hamas

 

In de Arabische wereld wordt nog steeds gestreeft naar een verzoening tussen Hamas en Fatah (zoals eerder kortstondig na Saoedi-Arabische bemiddeling plaatsvond) om samen sterker te staan tegenover Israël. Dit zou echter betekenen dat ofwel Hamas Israël moet erkennen en zich aansluiten bij het vredesproces, ofwel het vredesproces ten einde komt.

 

Wouter

_________________

Israel slams Jordan's talks with Hamas as 'unhelpful to peace process'

 

By The Associated Press

Last update - 21:12 27/08/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015838.html

 

Israel on Wednesday criticized Jordanian overtures to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, saying the Hashemite Kingdom's reversal of long-standing policy is "unhelpful to the peace process.

In an about-face, Jordan is reaching out to Hamas amid fears that a collapse of Mideast peacemaking would bring an influx of refugees. But the U.S. ally must walk a delicate line to avoid angering its U.S. and Israeli friends.

Hamas is outlawed in Jordan, which has accused the group in the past of trying to destabilize it. But Jordanian intelligence chief Mohammed al-Dahabi held two covert meetings with top Hamas leaders this month, ending a nearly decade-long banishment of the group.

The talks don't mean Jordan, which signed a 1994 peace deal with Israel, is embracing the militant group or is turning its back on Arab-Israeli negotiations. But the kingdom has clearly decided it's better to rebuild a relationship with Hamas than keep shunning it as an enemy amid doubts over the peace process' future.

"We're at a crossroads and Jordan must protect itself and its national interests," said former Jordanian parliament speaker Abdul-Latif Arabiyat.

Jordan fears that the possible failure of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks backed by the Bush administration, which leaves office early next year, could embolden Hamas in the neighboring West Bank, as well as Muslim extremists in Jordan and across the Mideast. Quiet contacts with Hamas could mollify any fallout for Jordan if that happens.

Also, Jordan is worried a failure of talks will revive Israeli hardliner calls for ejecting West Bank Palestinians to Jordan or for parts of the West Bank to form a confederation with the kingdom as an alternative to an independent state.

Jordan, which ruled the West Bank from 1950 to 1967, strongly opposes such a move, as do Hamas and other Palestinians. Jordan's worries are demographic: Roughly half of its 5.8 million population are of Palestinian descent, from families that were displaced to the kingdom in two wars with Israel since 1948. Jordan is ruled by an elite drawn from its native, Bedouin-rooted clans.

Another flood of Palestinians could overwhelm Jordan and even spark civil unrest. In 1970, the Palestine Liberation Organization tried to overthrow Jordan's Hashemite monarchy by setting up a Palestinian government. But Jordan fought a bloody war, known as "Black September," as it evicted the PLO from its territory.

Jordan's contacts with Hamas have already irked Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank and has been battling to end Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip last year.

Abbas sent his interior minister, Abdel Razak Yehiye, to Jordan last week to "find out what the Jordanians are up to and if their contacts with Hamas meant dropping support for the Palestinian Authority," said an Amman-based Palestinian official, insisting on anonymity citing diplomatic sensitivities.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Itai Bardov in Amman called Jordan's contacts with Hamas "unhelpful to the peace process."

"We're against any negotiations with Hamas because we regard it as a terrorist movement," he said. "We should find ways to strengthen the Palestinian Authority instead of legitimizing Hamas, which made an illegal military coup in Gaza."

The United States also considers Hamas a terror organization and has refused contact with it. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after seeing Palestinian and Israeli leaders that there was hope for a Mideast peace deal, but she offered no reason for optimism beyond the fact that the two sides are speaking.

Mindful of its allies' worries, Jordan only reluctantly confirmed its meetings with Hamas, days after they occurred.

State Minister for Information Nasser Judeh said Jordan wanted the meetings to continue, and that the discussions so far had focused only on "pending security issues."

Deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said the talks, headed by Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal, tackled a wide range of issues, including the plight of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, Jewish settlements in the West Bank and ways to "confront a substitute homeland for the Palestinians in Jordan."

With the meetings, Jordan may be hoping to help mend the Hamas-Abbas rift and boost the peace process, averting any talk of a Jordanian solution to the Palestinian question. It may also be trying to help in mediating a release of Israeli Sgt. Gilad Shalit, captured by Gaza militants more than two years ago. Abu Marzouk said the Jordanian intelligence chief inquired in the meetings about Shalit.

The split between Jordan and Hamas dates back to 1999, when Jordan came under tremendous pressure from the United States and Israel because Hamas leaders on its soil were making statements disparaging peace and ties with Israel and America. Jordan ejected Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal and other top leaders for unspecified "illegal activities," shut down Hamas offices and clamped down on lower-ranking members.

Palestijnse bom ontploft op al-Azhar universiteitscampus in Gaza

 

Dit is het zoveelste incident in Gaza, maar toch blijft de mythe wijd verbreid dat Hamas zorgt voor rust en orde, en de wet wordt gerespecteerd.

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

PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Security Chaos and Proliferation of Weapons
Attacks on Officials and Public Institutions

Field Update
27 August 2008


Bomb Explodes in al-Azhar University Campus in Gaza


On Tuesday, 26 August 2008, a bomb exploded in a classroom in the campus of al-Azhar University in the west of Gaza City, but causing no casualties.

This incident is part of the state of security chaos prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 11:30 on Tuesday, 26 August 2008, a bomb placed in a classroom on the first floor of al-Katiba building, which is designed for humanitarian studies college, at al-Azhar University in the west of Gaza City. The room was heavily damaged, but no casualties were reported. A number of college students had attended an exam in the room shortly before the explosion.

It is worth noting that acts of violence were reported on Sunday, 24 August 2008, between supporters of Hamas and Fatah blocs at the university, in which a number of students and administrative staff members were attacked.

PCHR is gravely concerned over this latest attack, which is part of the state of security chaos prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
PCHR calls for respecting university life and academic freedoms.


Public Document
**************************************
For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip.
E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
-----------------------------------
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and write "subscribe" in the subject line.

VN erkent slechte controle grens Libanon-Syrië op wapensmokkel

Ook de VN erkent nu dat er op grote schaal wapens worden gesmokkeld naar Hezbollah, en dat Hezbollah actief is in Zuid-Libanon.

Het is dan ook ongelofelijk dat de leider van UNIFIL onlangs onomwonden stelde dat Hezbollah zich aan resolutie 1701 houdt en slechts Israël die schendt. Misschien is het tijd voor een pittig gesprek met deze man?

 

 

RP

----------

Last update - 07:47 26/08/2008

UN: Lebanon-Syria border still wide open to smugglers

 

By Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015169.html

 

 

Lebanon's eastern border with Syria is wide open to smugglers, according to a report submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday by a task force he appointed to study the issue.

 

The report harshly criticizes both Lebanon and Syria, saying there has been no improvement over the past year despite promises by both countries to address the issue.

 

Israel has long claimed that weapons from Iran and Syria flow freely across this border to Hezbollah, despite the embargo on such shipments imposed by Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. This smuggling, Israel says, has given Hezbollah an arsenal that is both qualitatively and quantitatively superior to what it had before that war, and may even include sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles.
 
In addition, Hezbollah has built a network of sophisticated underground bunkers in some 150 villages throughout south Lebanon in recent months. These bunkers can hold up to 15 fighters, plus rockets and rocket launchers, and in the event of war with Israel, could serve either as missile-launching bases or as ambushes for Israeli ground troops. Neither the UN forces in Lebanon nor the Lebanese Army has done anything to stop construction of these bunkers.

 

The task force, appointed about 18 months ago, published a previous report in June 2007, which said that neither Syria nor Lebanon was doing anything to stop the smuggling. The current report reiterates this conclusion.

 

At the official border crossings, it said, the equipment is outdated, the personnel are poorly trained, and the inspections are inadequate to detect smuggling. There are also several well-known unofficial border crossings, which is where much of the smuggling occurs, and the task force found no impediments to reaching these locations.

 

At Lebanon's airport and ports, it added, the situation is better, but still unsatisfactory.

 

 

Britse academische vakbond verspreidt link naar antisemitisch artikel website David Duke

Antizionisme en antisemitisme liggen vaak dicht bij elkaar, zo blijkt weer. Ook in Nederland gaan discussies over Israël op internet vaak vergezeld van antisemitische opmerkingen en statements, en zijn moderators en redacties vaak bijzonder tolerant ingesteld wat dit betreft.

 

RP

---------

UK union posts link to anti-Semitic article

Aug. 26, 2008
Jonny Paul, London , THE JERUSALEM POST

 

A member of the British academic union that voted to reintroduce a boycott of Israeli academia has posted a link on the union's Web site to an anti-Semitic article on the Web site of former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Jenna Delich, a member of the University and College Union, posted a message on the UCU Web site's activist list with a link to the article.

Delich's message was in support of a colleague who backs the boycott call. It reads: "John, in support to your link this may be a long but also an interesting reading: www. davidduke.com/general/humanitarian-disaster-595.html. No comment necessary. The facts are speaking for themselves, Jenna."

The article, "Racism, not Defense, at the Heart of Israeli Politics," is an attack on the "Israeli oligarchs" and was circulated to hundreds of the union's active members. It was written by a 9/11 conspiracy theorist named Joe Quinn.

In the article he writes: "There is much evidence to warrant an in-depth investigation of the role played by agents of Israel in the 9/11 attacks. Yet the ubiquitous, tiresome and completely baseless threat of being labelled "anti-Semitic‚" for criticizing the actions of the Israeli government effectively prevents all but the most courageous from following the leads. Coincidence? We think not...

"Just what level of power do Israeli interests wield in the halls of power in the US that any investigation into Israeli spying activities on US soil against US intelligence agencies can be so completely quashed? Would this constitute a level of power and control that would allow those interests to carry off a terrorist attack like 9/11 and have it blamed on 'Arab terrorists?'"

Quinn links to the Web site of convicted Holocaust-denier David Irving saying: "On the morning of 9/11 and just as the WTC towers were crumbling, the five Israelis were caught doing the 'happy dance' as they videotaped the Twin Towers fall." The piece closes with the claim: "Either someone does something about these sick psychopaths, or they, and their kind in Washington and around the world, will destroy us all."

The link was discovered by Engage, a group of left-wing trade unionists and academics active in the anti-boycott campaign.

Dr. David Hirsh, lecturer at University of London's Goldsmiths College and editor of the Engage Web site, said: "Since 2003 academic unions have been dominated by a campaign to exclude Israelis, and nobody else, from UK campuses. We have warned the [UCU] general-secretary on numerous occasions that this campaign has imported anti-Semitic ways of thinking into our union, she either didn't understand or didn't care. That the union is now circulating racist material should be understood as a manifestation of its institutional anti-Semitism; it cannot be written off as yet another random accident."

Hirsh said Delich's e-mails on the activist list had already been the subject of two formal complaints to the union. However, the UCU judged that the evidence was unpersuasive.

Dr. Jon Pike, a member of the UCU national executive but speaking in a personal capacity, said: "I'm not surprised that anti-Semitic material has again dropped into my inbox from the union activists' list. What is shocking is the failure of the union's internal procedures to do anything about this. UCU prides itself on being an anti-racist union. In fact, it is probably the most complacent public institution in Britain in relation to increasing anti-Semitism and the leadership turns a blind eye, or worse, to the racism in the union. Behind all this is the campaign of discrimination against Israeli academics which is fostered by some in the union and encouraged by the leadership."

Eve Garrard, senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Keele University in Staffordshire, said: "This is precisely the kind of thing which drove me recently to resign from the UCU. It has become a union which is complacent about anti-Semitism: It regards prejudicial hostility toward Jews, from within the union itself, as something too unimportant for it to bother with. I didn't feel able to remain in an institution which treats anti-Semitism indulgently, as a special exception to a generally anti-racist stance."

The UCU activist e-mail list contains around 700 members. Any union member may subscribe and the list is administrated and monitored by the union.

"Anti-Semitism is routinely tolerated on the activist list when it is expressed in the language of hostility to Israel," Hirsh said. "Only a small group of Jews and anti-racists have been standing up against this culture on the list. Some have been excluded from the list on trumped up charges; others have been driven off the list by continual accusations of bad faith. Some have left the union because they cannot bear to pay their dues to what they consider to be an anti-Semitic organization."

In May, the UCU voted on a motion at its annual conference in Manchester to reintroduce an academic boycott of Israel. The called on union members "to consider the moral and political implications of educational links with Israeli institutions, and to discuss the occupation with individuals and institutions concerned, including Israeli colleagues with whom they are collaborating."

 

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1219572133936&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

 

Iran gaat tweede atoomcentrale bouwen

 

Ami Isseroff stelt de juiste vraag wat betreft Irans kernenergie programma: als er niks te verbergen is, waarom geeft men dan geen volledige openheid van zaken?

 

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

Iran to build second nuke plant - What is the purpose of Non-proliferation agreements?

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/08/iran-to-build-second-nuke-plant-what-is.html

 

It seems pretty certain now that Iran is set to build a second nuclear power plant, though the first one at Bushehr is not yet operational.

 

It is also certain, despite the US National Intelligence Estimate, that Iran is going about the business of creating nuclear weapons. This is shown by the reply to IAEA inquiries about the subject:

 

Iran has been holding several rounds of talks with senior IAEA officials for clarification about intelligence reports that suggested Iran illicitly tried to design atomic bombs. Iran has said it is not the IAEA's job to delve into such allegations.

 

Asked about the talks, Saeedi said: "Iran will try to answer the agency's questions within the framework of its commitments. Our ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency are continuing and are on the basis of our legal commitments."

If it is not the purpose of the IAEA and the non-proliferation agreements to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons, than what might be the possible purpose?

 

Ami Isseroff

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

 

Last update - 17:29 24/08/2008       
Iran building second nuclear plant, says top Iranian official
By Reuters

 

A senior Iranian atomic official said Sunday that Iran has chosen the site for and started designing a new 360 megawatt nuclear power plant.

 

Iran has yet to complete construction of its first nuclear power plant and has previously sent conflicting signals about the state of work on a planned second plant. An Iranian official said this year construction work had already begun.

 

The Islamic Republic is embroiled in a dispute over its nuclear plans, which the West says are to build atomic warheads but Tehran insists are aimed at generating electricity.
 
"We are involved in the design phase of this power station," the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Saeedi, said, referring to plans for a second plant to be built in the area of Darkhovin in southwest Iran.

 

"Gradually the complementary design phase and its building will begin," Saeedi said of the 360 megawatt plant, in comments carried by the official IRNA news agency.

 

"The site has been chosen and the preparation process is under way," he added.

 

The country's first nuclear power plant, with 1,000 megawatt capacity, is being built by Russia in the port city of Bushehr. Iran has said it wants to build nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 20,000 megawatt by 2020.

 

Iranian officials say Iran, which sits on the world's second biggest reserves of gas and oil respectively, wants nuclear energy so it can export more of its hydrocarbons.

 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which carries out routine inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, has mentioned the Darkhovin project in previous reports on Iran.

 

Bushehr power plant has been hit by years of delays. Russia delivered fuel for the plant this year. The head of Russia's nuclear energy agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, is expected to visit Iran in September to discuss a start up date, IRNA reported.

 

Asked about Kiriyenko's visit, Saeedi said: "We are negotiating in order to determine the time of his trip to Iran."

 

Iran has been holding several rounds of talks with senior IAEA officials for clarification about intelligence reports that suggested Iran illicitly tried to design atomic bombs. Iran has said it is not the IAEA's job to delve into such allegations.

 

Asked about the talks, Saeedi said: "Iran will try to answer the agency's questions within the framework of its commitments. Our ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency are continuing and are on the basis of our legal commitments."

 

 

Arabische Liga prijst 'Free Gaza' boot-activisten

"Veel Gazanen werd met de komst van de bootjes een hart onder de riem gestoken", schreef ik eerder. Ik las later dat veel mensen die de boten gingen verwelkomen weer teleurgesteld afdropen, omdat de activisten nauwelijks etenswaar meebrachten. De 200 hoorapparaten hadden natuurlijk makkelijk per luchtpost naar Gaza verstuurd kunnen worden. Wat overblijft zijn een stapel balonnen - leuk voor de kinderen - en goede bedoelingen, hoewel die niet bij alle deelnemers als even goed te kwalificeren zijn. Ik heb nog steeds geen kritiek van de activisten vernomen op hun gastheren van Hamas?

 

De activisten zouden naar verluid een paar weken in Gaza willen blijven om daar de handen uit de mouwen te steken, maar mij dunkt dat het enige waaraan in Gaza geen gebrek is, handen zijn. Of ben ik nu te negatief?

 

Wouter

______________

 

Praise for supporters of Hamas from Arab League

The "humanitarians" who broke the siege did so in support of the illegal rule of the genocidal Hamas.

This minor detail is neglected in news reports. Likewise neglected is the detail that the EU, the United States and Egypt evidently support the "siege" which is only designed to prevent the infiltration of arms and terrorists. If Egypt did not support the so-called siege, they could open the Rafah crossings, and if the EU wanted to break the siege, they would not have withdrawn their monitors after Hamas seized power by brute force in Gaza. Since the boats are carrying Israeli citizens who broke Israeli law, Israel evidently has the right to stop and search them on the high seas.

 

Ami Isseroff

 

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

 

Last update - 15:26 24/08/2008       
Arab League chief praises activists who challenged Gaza siege
By Barak Ravid

 

 

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa on Sunday praised pro-Palestinian peace activists who sailed from Cyprus and successfully broke through an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

 

"These Palestinian supporters who have endured hardship to deliver their message to the world and to express their objection to the harsh siege on Gaza deserve every support and appreciation," Mussa said in a statement.

 

Despite an Israel Defense Forces plan to halt boats bearing left-wing activists on their way to Gaza, the government decided to permit the boats to reach Gaza shores in order to avoid a public relations disaster.
 
Senior political sources in Jerusalem said that the fact that Israel allowed the boats to reach Gaza "took the wind out of the sails of the left-wing activists who were seeking to create a provocation."

 

Several discussions were held last week on this matter. At the time, the IDF raised the idea of forcibly preventing the boats from reaching Gaza. The army officers suggested stopping the boats at sea and towing them to the Ashdod port for inspection, where the activists on board would be detained for interrogation.

 

However, after further consultation, it was decided on Friday to avoid a confrontation and to allow the boats to reach the Gaza Strip. In the wake of that decision, urgent directives were sent to Israel's embassies around the world regarding the stance they should take concerning this event.

 

"These are professional provocateurs and we did not want to cooperate with that on the open seas," a senior political source in Jerusalem said. "Instead of letting the entire international press obsess about this for a week, the boats received almost no coverage, simply because there was no confrontation."

 

Haaretz has learned that before the boats sailed, Israel attempted dialogue with the organizers. After the activists said their goal was to bring medical equipment to Gaza, the Foreign Ministry sent them a letter offering to help transfer the humanitarian aid if the boats would not sail.

 

Discussions will be held in the next few days on whether to stop the boats for inspection once they leave Gaza. Israeli officials are worried they might be used to smuggle wanted Palestinians out of the coastal strip. "They've got a reputation for protecting terrorists and acting as human shields," the political source said.

 

 

MEMRI: Vrouwen in Gaza bereiden zich voor op martelaarschap

 

Vrouwen die hun gezin verlaten om zich tussen Israëli's op te blazen worden als helden voorgesteld en vertellen over hun liefde voor het vaderland en de roeping van Allah. Haaretz berichtte vorige week ook over deze 'feministische golf'.

 

----------

 

MEMRI: Special Dispatch | No. 2034 | August 26, 2008
Women in Gaza Prepare to Become Suicide Bombers

Following are excerpts from a TV report on female Palestinian suicide bombers, which aired on Al-Jadid/New TV on August 19, 2008.

"When the Goal is the Defense of the Homeland - There Is No Difference between Man and Woman"

Reporter: "This elderly Palestinian woman, named Fatima Al-Najjar, led women's demonstrations at the entrance to the town of Beit Hanoun in the winter of 2006, calling upon the occupation to leave her town and stop the killing and destruction. But despite her advanced age, she decided to take a different path."

Fatima Al-Najjar: "I sacrifice myself for the sake of Allah, the homeland, and Al-Aqsa. I ask Allah to accept my sacrifice."

Reporter: "Fatima Al-Najjar blew herself up near several soldiers of the occupation, thus joining the many Palestinian women before her who chose martyrdom over a life of humiliation - Ayat Al-Akhras, Hanadi Jaradat, and Rim Al-Riyashi, who left her two children behind and decided to blow herself up at the Beit Hanoun crossing in northern Gaza. She left her two children an unforgettable lesson on the struggle.

"When the goal is the defense of the homeland, there is no difference between man and woman. Here the women train and learn how to confront the enemy, which plundered the land and besieged their people. Dozens of young Palestinian women undergo training every year - university students, mothers, and working women. They know that their role in the conflict is not restricted to nursing the sick and caring for the children, and that what they are doing here might just change the equation."


"The Mothers and Daughters of Palestine Believe that Death for the Sake of a Free Palestine is a Cheap Price to Pay, Compared to a Life of Humiliation Under the Boots of the Occupation"
Reporter: "This young woman, who calls herself 'Lover of Al-Quds,' has set out more than once on combat operations, some of which were successful and others not. But she is determined to continue."

"Lover of Al-Quds": "This is the belt we wear around our waists, so that we can detonate ourselves at the push of a button. This is a safety button, and so is this. We won't explode unless we press this button. When God instills the will in our hearts... Our strength lies not in the body, but in the heart. If the heart so desires and we are inspired by God to set out...
Every female martyrdom-seeker is inspired by Allah."

Reporter: "'Lover of Al-Quds' is about to be married, but she has told her fiancé: 'If my land calls me, I will respond to the call.' She will not sit at home, awaiting the soldiers of the occupation. Instead, she will go out to confront them, wearing her explosives belt, with which she never parts."

"Lover of Al-Quds": "Even if the Jews come on my wedding day, I will go out to confront them in my wedding gown. Nothing will stop me from committing martyrdom. I have given up all my dreams and aspirations to become a martyrdom-seeker. I have lived an ordinary life. I have lots of free time, I go in and out, I draw - just like any other girl. But when it is the will of Allah that we become martyrs, I will cast all this aside."

Reporter: "The mothers and daughters of Palestine believe that death for the sake of a free Palestine is a cheap price to pay, compared to a life of humiliation under the boots of the occupation. They believe that the upbringing of men requires mothers whose actions do not fall short of the actions of the men."

 

 

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit
www.memritv.org/clip/en/1840.htm

 

 

Liberale Moslim uit Koeweit: "Geen oorlog meer!"

 

Er zijn wel degelijk moslims die zich uitspreken tegen het geweld dat in naam van de islam wordt gepleegd, en die de wrok in de Arabische wereld tegen het Westen aan de kaak stellen.

 

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

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Muslim Liberal: No More War

 

Kuwaiti Liberal to Arabs and Muslims: Stop Worldwide Bloodshed

On May 26, 2008, the liberal website Middle East Transparent(1) posted an article by Kuwaiti liberal Khalil 'Ali Haidar criticizing the culture of war in the Arab and Muslim world and the slogans that perpetuate it.

The following are excerpts from the article:

"Half a Century of Conflagration – Wars and Struggle in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, North Africa, Iraq and the [Persian] Gulf"

"Forty, 50, 60 years of bloodshed and tanks, of wars and resistance, of destroyed buildings and lost ideals, of weeping and wailing, of the murdered and the displaced. Over half a century of wars, demonstrations, shops set on fire, airplanes blown up, revolutions… Glory to the Arabs and disgrace upon their enemies.

"Over half a century of compulsory military service, of the allocation of millions [of dollars] for weapons that will never be used – and if they are, then only to add to destruction. [Over half a century] of neglecting all aspects of civilian life, political stability, and economic development for the sake of defending the honor of the nation, foiling enemy schemes, facing conspiracies, and thousands of other false catchwords.

"Half a century of conflagration – wars and struggle in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, North Africa, Iraq and the [Persian] Gulf; wars that last many years and claim tens and [even] hundreds of thousands of victims; wars that end quickly but cause losses of millions and billions [of dollars]. The youth of the nation are called to arms, and the mind of the nation is enchained by the demands of struggle. All [other] countries progress and develop, while the Arabs and the Muslims move from one war to another, from one crisis to another, from one terrorist act to another, from one front to another, from one jihadist and Islamist group to another...

"The Moroccan [man] slaps in his own face with the bombings in Casablanca. A bereaved Algerian woman weeps over her sons and brothers, who were murdered by da'wa and jihad groups and thrown into a bottomless pit. Egypt oscillates between [heeding] a call for war and a call for peace, between those who want to build tens of thousands of schools and factories and those who want to send tens of thousands of jihad fighters to Lebanon.

"Sudan has ended the war in the south and is already embroiled in the Darfur war… Righteous resistance is destroying Iraq's future, as terrorist forces become [increasingly] expert at blowing up markets and murdering people. Dozens of highly dangerous organizations threaten various Gulf states, Iraq, Egypt, and the entire Arab world. [And all this is] in spite of international forces, which are combating terrorist activities and monitoring [the movements of] thousands of Arabs and Muslims."

"Lebanon Used to Be a Lovely Rose, a Blooming Oasis in the Desert – Overnight, It was Transformed Into a [Wasteland] Of Ruins, [Running With] Blood and Tears"

"Lebanon used to be a lovely rose, a blooming oasis in the desert. Overnight, it was transformed into a [wasteland] of ruins, [running with] blood and tears… The Arabs and the Muslims ignored the destruction, war, and death in Lebanon. To them, the most important thing is the honor of the nation, its solid position, the resistance, the struggle against the new Middle East plan, and a thousand other false new slogans. This is what the Arabs and the Muslims shouted in 1948 in the face of sensible Palestinians, in 1974 to the sane among the Egyptians, in 1990 to the Kuwaitis, in 2003 to the Iraqis, and today are shouting to the Lebanese. At demonstrations everyone is yelling: We don't care about destruction; we don't care about death, let the war continue another ten or even a thousand years."

"Ours is a Nation That Has Engraved Its Name in Death, Bloodshed, and Gunpowder"

"Ours is a nation that has engraved its name in death, bloodshed, and gunpowder. The truth is that we have an enormous quantity of these [commodities], and for some time now, we have been dealing them out to others and exporting them to Europe and the U.S.… I would like to say that I want to surrender my weapon to the nearest [center] for the collection of weapons and ammunition. I want to say that people in the Arab world and in the countries of the Muslim world have had enough bloodshed, violence, murder, scenes of explosions and destruction, and of wailing women, striking themselves [as a sign of mourning].

"I would like to shout to the Arabs and the Muslims: Oh, people! Enough! Oh, [champions] of war, struggle, jihad, and honor! Enough! Life in our homeland has been destroyed. By the doors of the embassies of the French and British, against whose colonialism we fought, stand crowds of young people belonging to the new generation, who are applying for entry visas. The U.S., whose flag we burn at every demonstration, is the one safeguarding peace in the countries of the Arab and Muslim world, as well as in many Third World countries…

"We do not want to stand firm on the resistance front.

"We do not want to have our lives destroyed, our homes reduced to ruins, our children killed, our bridges torn down, our wives widowed, our blood spilled in your incessant wars, which you launch rashly and from which you withdraw without having learned any lessons."

"We Want Peace and Quiet to Prevail in Our Country for the Next Fifty Years"

"We want peace and quiet to prevail in our country for the next 50 years; we will try to live in tranquility, security, and peace. We want our seedlings to grow, [our cattle's] udders to be filled with milk, our trees to yield fruit, our products to sell. We want our youth to have higher education, our schools, universities, and banks to burgeon, our cities and markets to grow, and us to enjoy life. We want to restore our cultural honor and our reputation as seekers of peace and wellbeing, which was trampled by your riders and your chariots [of war].

"We want no war, no warfare, no death and destruction; we don't want a blood-soaked, exploding world. Oh, [champions] of war, jihad and resistance! We don't want this blood-soaked, exploding world that is oozing misery, adversity, and destruction – a world where at every corner one can hear the wails of bereaved women, the screams of frightened children imploring for help, or the groans of the wounded who are about to die. We do't want it, we don't want it…

"We don't want [it anymore]!"

Endnote:
(1) www.middleeasttransparent.com, May 26, 2008.

source: Memri

 

 

Israël laat 199 Palestijnse gevangenen vrij als gebaar naar Abbas

Waarom laat Israël 199 gevangenen vrij en niet 200? Dit is geen toeval zoals je hieronder kunt lezen.

 

Er is binnen Israël veel kritiek op de vrijlating van de gevangenen, zowel omdat een deel van in het verleden vrijgelaten gevangenen later weer aanslagen pleegde, omdat het Abbas toch niet zou versterken en de Palestijnen het toch nooit genoeg vinden, alsook omdat geen gevangenen zouden moeten worden vrijgelaten zolang Shalit nog vast zit. Ook vinden sommigen dat er wat tegenover had moeten staan van de regering Abbas.

 

Hoe het ook zij, ze zijn vrij, en Rice kan nou iets minder hard roepen dat Israël niks voor het vredeproces doet.

 

RP

---------

 

Last update - 11:08 25/08/2008

Israel releases 199 jailed Palestinians, in gesture to Abbas

 

By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1015024.html

 

 

Israel released 199 Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank at 9:30 A.M. Monday, as a gesture of good will to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

 

The Israel Prison Service took the prisoners from Ofer Prison, close to Jerusalem, to the Beituniya checkpoint near Ramallah, Israel Radio reported. Upon their arrival, Abbas was to welcome them at a formal ceremony in his Muqata headquarters in the West Bank city.

 

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said of the release that, "It's not easy to release prisoners, especially prisoners that were involved directly in terrorist acts against innocent civilians."
 
Likud MK Gilad Erdan on Monday blasted the move as a stupid and contemptible act, saying that "killers of Israel" were being released by a failed government as a present to a weak.

 

The state responded Sunday to appeals against the prisoner release by saying that only the cabinet has the authority to revoke such a decision.

 

Last week the cabinet voted in favor of the release, which includes two prisoners convicted of murdering Israelis - both of whom have served nearly 30 years of their sentence - plus 197 convicted of lesser crimes, including attempted murder.

 

Also Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is arriving in the region for talks on the peace process.

 

Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said last week that the release of the prisoners "creates pressure on Hamas and is likely to accelerate the negotiations over [captive soldier] Gilad Shalit."

 

The cabinet held three separate votes on the prisoner issue. The release of the two prisoners with "blood on their hands" was approved by all ministers except Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter; all but Mofaz approved the release of the other 197.

 

These include 26 people sentenced to terms of 10 to 16 years for attempted murder - i.e., shooting attacks or bombings - as well as many convicted of lesser crimes, such as aiding more senior terrorists, illegal weapons possession or membership in a terrorist organization.

 

The third vote, held at Dichter's request, related to freeing another prisoner - the only one on the original list of names who comes from Gaza. Dichter argued that no Gazans should be released until Shalit is freed, and the other ministers accepted this position, voting to strike him from the list.

 

 

Bij bezoek Condoleezza Rice zijn Israël en PA nog ver van vredesakkoord

 

Maandagavond is Condoleezza Rice weer eens aangekomen in Israël en de Palestijnse gebieden om over de voortgang in de vredesbesprekingen te praten. Zij hoopt dat er nog dit jaar iets dat op een akkoord of overeenkomst lijkt kan worden gepresenteerd, maar die kans lijkt zeer klein. Olmert, die binnenkort aftreedt, zou weliswaar graag nog een zogenaamde 'shelf-agreement' overeenkomen met de Palestijnen, een principe-overeenkomst die niet meteen wordt uitgevoerd, maar andere ministers willen niet zo hard van stapel lopen. Rice heeft ondergenoemd "document of partial agreements" al laten vallen volgens boven gelinkt bericht.

 

RP/WB

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

Last update - 10:49 25/08/2008       
ANALYSIS / On verge of Rice visit, Israel and PA far from peace accord

 

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014939.html

 

 

The visit of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will seek to determine whether it will be possible to present an Israeli-Palestinian accord to the world, or even a partial document of agreement, before the end of the current year. Nine months have passed since the Annapolis conference, which was held at the behest of Rice and where the participants promised to "make every effort" to reach a settlement by the end of 2008. Any attempt to redeem that promise will take place in the shadow of a political crisis in Israel.

 

Is a settlement possible? There are serious disagreements in the Israeli leadership over the answer to this. Before bridging the differences between Israelis and Palestinians, Rice will have to pave the way between the contradictory viewpoints of her hosts in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes that it is possible and necessary to reach a "shelf agreement" now - a deal whose implementation will be spread over a decade. The agreement would determine the boundaries of a future Palestinian state, security arrangements and resolve the refugee question. Olmert believes that the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, also would like to reach such an agreement, and so do the Americans. The Bush administration is eager to have some diplomatic achievement before the end of a disappointing tenure. The candidates who hope to succeed him, John McCain and Barack Obama, have told Olmert that they would be glad if Bush would lift the burden of negotiating the Israeli-Palestinian peace from their shoulders.

 

Olmert faces opposition from both Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. In their view, Israel must not rush. Livni believes that detailed negotiations must continue on all issues, and that Israel should avoid an unclear agreement. She also supports deferring resolution of the Jerusalem quagmire. Barak has warned against dangerous illusions, at a time when the gap between the two sides remain substantial.
 
The respective political interests of all those involved is obvious. Olmert is due to step down and wants to end his shortened tenure with a diplomatic achievement. Livni and Barak, who will soon face voters in elections, would prefer to wait for him to go. The prime minister rejects their criticism. His aides say that he is not rushing, and will not relinquish any essential Israeli interests for the sake of a mere document. The principles of the agreement are clear, the aides say, all those involved in it favor the agreement, and it would be a shame to miss this opportunity because of domestic political differences.

 

On one issue, all three agree: They reject the idea put forth by Rice, to publish a document of partial agreements detailing the positions of each side on different issues. In their view, such a document would only harm Israel and would serve as a basis for pressure in the future. Following a meeting in Washington with Rice and Abbas in late July, Livni is of the opinion that the idea will be dropped.

 

However, Rice is keen on showing gains, especially in light of the growing criticism directed against her in the United States. The columnist Jim Hoagland of The Washington Post wrote yesterday that the secretary of state had been "ineffective, petulant and overly tactical" in responding to the crisis in the Caucasus.

 

Hoagland lay responsibility on Rice for the failed Russia policy of the Bush administration and wrote that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates dealt with the crisis in Georgia directly vis-a-vis his counterparts in Moscow, whereas the Russian Foreign Minister screened the calls from Rice. Thus, wounded and eager for some sort of positive legacy, Rice will arrive today on another frustrating mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

 

Weer 2 Qassam raketten vanuit Gazastrook afgevuurd op Israël

 

Als de schendingen van het staakt-het-vuren blijven voortduren, wordt het helemaal niets met het geleidelijk verlichten van de blokkade van de Gazastrook, en blijven de Palestijnen daar voorlopig nog in de impasse (en ellende) zitten.

 

Het aftreden of afzetten van het Hamas bewind zou een alternatieve optie kunnen zijn: weliswaar kon of wilde de PA onder Abbas ook niet veel doen aan de vrijwel dagelijkse beschietingen op Israël, maar die hoeft niet zo'n zware sancties te vrezen als Hamas. Althans als ze de beschietingen voldoende veroordeelt en er tenminste iets tegen probeert te ondernemen. En als ze Hamas aanpakt, waarvan een grotere dreiging uitgaat dan van de groepen die nu de Qassams afvuren. Hamas is zich aan het bewapenen met zwaarder geschut dat veel meer schade kan aanrichten.

 

Er is dus een open vacature voor iemand die Hamas kan en wil afzetten. Israël lijkt de enige kandidaat...

 

Wouter
_________________

2 Qassams land in western Negev; Israel closes Gaza crossings

 

Ceasefire violated once again as rockets fired by Palestinians in north Gaza land in Israeli territory; Barak orders closure of goods crossings in response to attacks

 

Shmulik Hadad - Ynet News

Latest Update: 08.25.08, 20:06
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3587533,00.html

 

 

In yet another violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, a Qassam rocket fired from the northern Strip Monday afternoon landed in an open field near a western Negev kibbutz. No injuries or damage were reported, and sappers were dispatched to the rocket's landing site.

At around 16:35 pm the "Color Red" siren sounded, and a few seconds later an explosion was heard just outside the southern town.

At around 8 pm another rocket fired from northern Gaza landed near a kibbutz located within Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council limits. No injuries or damage were reported in that attack either.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his deputy, Matan Vilnai decided to close the Gaza borders to all goods crossings on Tuesday in response to the Qassam rocket fire towards Israel.
 
Last week a similar response was enacted.

More than 20 rockets were fired toward Israel since the ceasefire went into effect in June. On Tuesday a rocket fired by Palestinians in north Gaza landed in a kibbutz located within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council limits. The Qassam landed in an open area, causing no injuries or damage.

Two days prior to that attack a rocket exploded in the Eshkol Regional Council area in south Israel. About two weeks ago another Qassam fired from Gaza landed near a kindergarten in Sderot. No injuries were reported. 

 

First Published: 08.25.08, 17:16