Protesten tegen Museum van Tolerantie in Jeruzalem

 

Palestijnen en Israelische Arabieren protesteren al weken tegen de bouw van een Museum van Tolerantie in Jeruzalem. De smoes daarvoor is dat dit museum gedeeltelijk op de plaats van een middeleeuwse islamitische begraafplaats wordt gebouwd, maar de plaats wordt al decennia als parkeerplaats gebruikt zonder dat iemand daartegen protesteerde. Het is, met andere woorden, weer eens de bekende stok om de hond mee te slaan.

 

But in an article to be published in Sunday's Jerusalem Post, Hier notes that the site, which was jointly owned by the Israel Lands Administration and the Jerusalem Municipality, had functioned for almost half a century "as the city's municipal car park (a portion of it included three levels of underground parking), serving the diverse communities of Jerusalem. Everyday, since the 1960s, hundreds of Jews, Christians and Muslims parked their cars there. The city of Jerusalem also laid electrical cables and sewer lines below the ground."

 

During that period, Hier goes on, "no Muslim group, including today's most vociferous critics of the museum... raised a word of protest... They were silent because, as the High Court said, '...the area has not been classified as a cemetery for decades.'"

 

Het protest heeft waarschijnlijk dan ook meer te maken met het thema van het museum dan met de begraafplaats.

 

RP

----------

 

The Jerusalem Post
Nov 6, 2008 19:26 | Updated Nov 7, 2008 7:21

 

Wiesenthal dean rejects museum protests as extremist agitation
By YAAKOV LAPPIN AND JERUSALEM POST STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910055540&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Hundreds of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians held a demonstration at the Mamilla Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem on Thursday to protest a High Court decision to allow the construction of the Museum of Tolerance on a site that partially covers the medieval cemetery.

But Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center which is building the museum, has rejected the Islamic condemnations as the voice of extremism and vowed that it will rise as "an institution that offers hope and reason."

On October 29, after a prolonged legal battle, the High Court rejected a petition by the Al-Aqsa Company for Development of Holy Muslim Assets against the museum's construction. The High Court ruled that the $250 million museum safeguarded religious sensitivities and respected the historical burial site.

Muslim opponents say the museum's location violates the cemetery's sanctity. According to Muslim tradition, a number of companions of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, are buried at Mamilla.

But in an article to be published in Sunday's Jerusalem Post, Hier notes that the site, which was jointly owned by the Israel Lands Administration and the Jerusalem Municipality, had functioned for almost half a century "as the city's municipal car park (a portion of it included three levels of underground parking), serving the diverse communities of Jerusalem. Everyday, since the 1960s, hundreds of Jews, Christians and Muslims parked their cars there. The city of Jerusalem also laid electrical cables and sewer lines below the ground."

During that period, Hier goes on, "no Muslim group, including today's most vociferous critics of the museum... raised a word of protest... They were silent because, as the High Court said, '...the area has not been classified as a cemetery for decades.'"

Hier adds that the Wiesenthal Center "offered numerous compromises" during the court process, "but they were all rejected out-of-hand by Sheikh [Raed] Salah" of the Islamic Movement. Now, he writes, Salah "is agitating against its decision because he lost..."

"From this half-century former parking lot in the center of west Jerusalem will rise an institution that offers hope and reason to all the people of Israel and the world," Hier writes.

In a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles, Hier said: "The opposition to the move is not motivated by religious concerns but is a political attempt at a land grab by Islamic fundamentalists, who are in cooperation with Hamas, in the center of west Jerusalem."

During Thursday's protest, Sheikh Kamal Hativ, Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Movement's Northern Branch, said: "We came to announce to the entire world in the name of all Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, those within the Green Line and in the Diaspora - we will not reconcile with you and will not forgive you for violating the graves of our mothers, fathers, and grandparents. We will not forgive you for building the tolerance structure,"

"The cemetery has in any case been in existence before Israel, and the graves of our forefathers will remain after Israel," Hativ added.

Jerusalem Police said the protest passed without incident.

 

Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report

 

Obama wil verhinderen dat Iran kernwapens krijgt

 

Goed nieuws...

 

 

-------

Last update - 00:55 08/11/2008       
Obama: Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable

 

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035367.html

 

 

In Barack Obama's first press conference as United States president-elect Friday, he declared his intention to foil Iran's pursuit of nuclear arms.

 

"Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, I believe, is unacceptable and we have to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening," said Obama, speaking in Chicago.

 

The president-elect made the comments on Iran in response to a journalist's question on what approach he might take with Tehran, given the drawn-out dispute between the United States and Iran over its nuclear program.
 

He also said Iran's support of terrorist organizations was "something that has to cease."

 

Obama confirmed that he had received a letter of congratulations from Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He said that he would review the message and respond appropriately.

 

Declining to say what proposals he might pursue in connection with Iran, Obama said that, "We have only one president at a time."

 

He added that he will move deliberately on how to respond to Iran and what the response might be, but that he won't do it in a "knee-jerk fashion."

 

Obama said: "I am not the president and I won't be until January 20."

 

The president-elect's comments came shortly after Defense Minister Ehud Barak told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday that Israel would not rule out any course of action to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.

 

Most of Obama's press conference was devoted to his plans to deal with the financial crisis that is wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy.

 

Surrounded by a large group of economic advisers, he said the hardships many Americans were suffering economically were an urgent reminder that the nation's leaders must act swiftly to stabilize the financial industry.

 

Obama went on to say that he has asked his transition team, specifically, to work on some ideas to help the staggering auto industry.

 

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's newly chosen White House chief of staff, was among those who stood at his side, along with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

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Meshaal: Hamas wil in gesprek met Obama

 

Het is niet aan Meshaal om voorwaarden te stellen aan gesprekken met Obama. In een recent interview met Sky News (zie onderaan):

 

"Yes we are ready for dialogue with President Obama and with the new American administration with an open mind, on the basis that the American administration respects our rights and our options," Mashaal said.

 

Het volgende is eigenlijk moeilijk serieus te nemen:

 

"Second of all, it's not right that Hamas poses any danger to anyone," Mashaal concluded.

 

Meshaal zelf heeft geregeld opruiende taal tegen Israel en de Joden gebezigd, evenals andere Hamas leiders.

 

Khaled Meshaal in 2007:

"I want to make it clear to the West and to the German people, which is still being blackmailed because of what Nazism did to the Zionists, or to the Jews. I say that what Israel did to the Palestinian people is many times worse than what Nazism did to the Jews, and there is exaggeration, which has become obsolete, regarding the issue of the Holocaust. We do not deny the facts, but we will not give in to extortion by exaggeration. As for the Zionist holocaust against the Palestinian people, and against the peoples of the Arab and Islamic nation - this is a holocaust that is being perpetrated in broad daylight, with the coverage of the media of globalization. Nobody can deny it or claim that it is being exaggerated."

 

Mahmoud Zahar in mei 2008:

Zahar also reiterated Hamas' unwillingness to recognize the State of Israel and said that the group "will continue to persecute the Zionists wherever they are, after we prove that the Zionist army can be defeated - contrary to what was believed in the past, that it is impossible to beat the Zionists."

Speaking in the Gaza Strip, he went on to affirm Palestinian right of return, claiming that the "right of return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians is closer than ever."

"After we defeat the Zionists we will persecute them… we will persecute them to eternity, and the sun of the freedom and independence of the Palestinians will burn all of the Zionists," he continued.

 

Hamas minister voor religieuze zaken Saleh Riqab in mei:

"The goal of the Zionist movement is to establish a state in Palestine, which would become a base for ruling the entire world. Its other goals are to destroy the religions it opposes, particularly Islam; to corrupt values and morality; to spread permissiveness and sex; and to generate moral decline.
(...)

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which are a product of the 1897 Basel Congress, discuss how the Jews should seize control of the world. In Europe, and especially in the U.S., there was a quick Jewish takeover of the major mass media, because in the West, the mass media shapes their mentality and their views. They don't read very much, they just listen."

 

Uit een 'educatief programma' op Hamas' Al Aqsa TV:

Narrator:
"The disabled and handicapped are a heavy burden on the state," said the terrorist leader, Ben Gurion. [Zionist leader - Israel's first PM]
The Satanic Jews thought up an evil plot [the Holocaust] to be rid of the burden of the disabled and handicapped, in twisted criminal ways.
While they accuse the Nazis or others so the Jews would seem persecuted, and try to benefit from international sympathy. They were the first to invent the methods of evil and oppression."
Amin Dabur, head of the Palestinian "Center for Strategic Research":

"About the Israeli Holocaust, the whole thing was a joke and part of the perfect show that Ben Gurion put on, who focused on strong and energetic youth [for Israel], while the rest- the disabled, the handicapped, and people with special needs, they were sent to [to die]- if it can be proven historically. They were sent [to die] so there would be a holocaust, so Israel could "play" it for world sympathy."
Narrator: "The alleged numbers of Jews [killed in the Holocaust] were merely for propaganda."

 

Hamas cultuurminister 'Atallah Abu Al-Subh in april:

Everything we see in the Arab region and around the world - the evil of the Jews, their deceit, their cunning, their warmongering, their control of the world, and their contempt and scorn for all the peoples of the world, which they consider to be animals, cockroaches, lizards, snakes, and despicable maggots that need to be stepped on.

 

Uit een Hamas kinderprogramma eind 2007:

Girl: "To Al-Aqsa, to Al-Aqsa – we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."

Boy: "Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force."

 

Woordvoerder Palestijns parlement Ahmed Bahr (Hamas) in september 2007:

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

 

Hamas vertegenwoordiger Osama Hamdan in augustus 2007:

"We are making the preparations for a confrontation. This is not because we need to be prepared for an Israeli act of aggression – after all, aggression is intrinsic to this entity – but because the final goal of the resistance is to wipe this entity off the face of the Earth. This goal necessitates the development of the capabilities of the resistance, until this entity is wiped out."

 

Het is overigens niet de eerste keer dat Hamas te kennen geeft met de VS te willen praten. In december 2007 schreef men een open brief aan Condoleezza Rice.

 

Hopelijk zal Obama op geen enkele wijze bijdragen aan het legitimeren of het vergroten van de invloed van deze terroristische antisemitische racistische genocidale organisatie.

 

 

RP

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

The Jerusalem Post
Nov 8, 2008 11:03 | Updated Nov 8, 2008 11:04
Mashaal: Hamas wants talks with Obama
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910065500&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Damascus-based Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal congratulated US President-elect Barack Obama in a recent interview with Sky News, and used the moment to emphasize the group's willingness to engage in dialogue with the new president.

"There is no doubt that the recent American election is a big change when you get an American president with African roots," he said. "It's a big change - political and psychological - and it is noteworthy and I congratulate President Obama."

"But as a result of the election and the change, he should know he has duties to the United States and in the whole world and in hotspots especially in the Middle East," the Hamas leader continued.

"Yes we are ready for dialogue with President Obama and with the new American administration with an open mind, on the basis that the American administration respects our rights and our options," Mashaal said.

During the interview, the Hamas leader was adamant that such a dialogue should take place.

"The American administration, if they want to deal with the region, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, they have no other option than deal with Hamas because we are a real force on the ground, effective," he said.

"And we are a movement that won a majority of votes in the election. Second of all, it's not right that Hamas poses any danger to anyone," Mashaal concluded.

IDF aan grens beschoten vanuit Gazastrook

 

Het lijkt erop dat het staakt-het-vuren, wat de Palestijnen betreft althans, definitief ten einde is. Het komt waarschijnlijk pas op het nieuws na de volgende dodelijke Israelische operatie in reactie op de inmiddels meer dan 50 raketten die sinds dinsdag vanuit de Gazastrook op Israel zijn afgevuurd.

 

RP

-------

 

IDF force comes under anti-tank fire

 

Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Nov. 8, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910066599&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

IDF forces patrolling the border fence with Gaza came under anti-tank missile fire on Saturday evening, the army said. No soldiers were injured during the incident.
The IDF Spokesperson Unit said soldiers were on a routine patrol near the Karni Crossing, on the border with northern Gaza, when an anti-tank missile was fired in their general direction. The soldiers returned fire in the direction from which the missile was fired, but no casualties were identified on the Gazan side.

Earlier, on Saturday morning, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on IDF soldiers after the army discovered two explosive devices planted on the border with southern Gaza, near Khan Younis. Army sappers neutralized the explosives with a controlled explosion, before gunmen in Gaza fired at the troops. Soldiers returned fire, but did not identify casualties on the Palestinian side.

The IDF said soldiers were operating on the border area which fell under Israeli sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the IDF is checking into an incident in which a 25-year-old Thai worker was accidentally shot in the shoulder after being misidentified by soldiers near the Lebanese border on Saturday. The man was moderately wounded after soldiers mistook the man for a terrorist who had infiltrated Israeli territory from Lebanon, near Kibbutz Manara.

The IDF said shots were fired after solders' suspicions were aroused, adding that the soldiers had acted properly according to the army's rules of engagement. The worker reportedly had his face covered by a bandanna, and failed to identify himself despite requests to do so. He has been evacuated to Safed's Ziv Medical Center for treatment.

On Friday, nine Kassam rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza, a number of them landing in open territories within the Ashkelon Regional Council and in the vicinity of Sderot. Two people suffered shock and one woman was taken to Sderot's shock treatment center following the attacks. Islamic Jihad's al-Kuds Brigades claimed responsibility for all of the rockets.

The first barrage of five rockets slammed into the western Negev region early on Friday morning, with two landing near kibbutzim in the area. The rockets continued to land throughout the day and into the evening hours.

Since Tuesday, when IDF special forces launched a cross-border raid on a Hamas tunnel and engaged Hamas gunmen in a firefight, Palestinian terror groups have fired over 50 rockets at southern Israel.

IDF aanval Gazastrook gericht op voorkomen nieuwe ontvoeringen

 

Zie eerdere berichten:

Zes Palestijnen omgekomen bij IDF aanval in Gazastrook

Nieuwe Qassam regen na IDF aktie in Gazastrook

Gaza militanten schieten 4 Qassam raketten af op west-Negev

 

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

ANALYSIS / IDF raid in Gaza designed to prevent another Shalit-type abduction

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents
Fri., November 07, 2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034846.html


The decision to take action to expose the tunnel west of the fence on the border of the Gaza Strip Tuesday night was justified and reasonable, even if it had been possible to predict the results: six Palestinians killed, heavy rocket fire on Sderot and a direct hit on the center of Ashkelon. It is hard to see what other choice Israeli leaders had. Such an operation may put the continued cease-fire in danger, but if Hamas had succeeded in its plans to abduct another Israel Defense Forces soldier using the tunnel, the situation would have been infinitely worse.

At least Israel has learned the lesson of the Gilad Shalit abduction. In cases where the Shin Bet security service passes on specific information on a planned attack, a "ticking tunnel" as the IDF called it yesterday, a preventative operation is approved a few hundred meters inside Palestinian territory. Without such operations it would be very difficult to prevent another abduction.

Despite Wednesday's escalation, there are still moderating factors that could prevent the complete collapse of the lull, or tahadiyeh in Arabic.

Israel has no interest in renewing the fighting now. Official spokesmen were careful on Wednesday to describe the paratroopers' operation as a "surgical strike" to remove a specific threat. They emphasized the importance of the cease-fire. Leaders including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are all against waging a major military operation in the Gaza Strip now.

Hamas currently seems to be interested in strenghtening its hold on Gaza. Only a few hours after the rockets were fired on Israel the organization issued a statement saying it still supports the tahadiyeh and that it had asked Egypt to help restore calm to the region.

Hamas wants to complete its defenses before another round of fighting, which it expects may happen in a few months. However, it seems Hamas leaders were willing to sacrifice the cease-fire for a major strategic success such as another abduction. This is not the only example: Last week the Shin Bet released for publication the fact that it has stopped a Hamas militant who had infiltrated into the Negev in an attempt to kidnap a soldier and smuggle him back into Gaza.

On the other hand, Hamas is also forced to respond to the IDF operation. It cannot accept six fatalities among its forces quietly. That is why it needed to restore the balance of terror on Wednesday and set a price for the next time: If Israel continues its attacks on Gaza, then Israel will be attacked too. Nevertheless, the general feeling of commentators in Gaza is that Hamas' top priority, in addition to the renewed talks with Fatah in Cairo next week, is to maintain its hold in Gaza.

In some way the renewed fighting and the return to the headlines in the Arab media will help Hamas in next week's negotiations and provide them a position of strength, as they are once agains portrayed as the leaders of the Palestinian struggle and opposition while Fatah is painted as a Zionist agent.

But Hamas was worried no less on Wednesday by the American elections. Even while fighting was underway in the middle of the Gaza Strip, its spokesmen were busy formulating a first response to Obama's election. The relatively restrained statements about the president-elect seem to indicate that someone in the organization hopes Obama will agree to talk to Hamas despite its radical positions.

It would be interesting to know if in Chicago, just before the end of his moving speech, one of Obama's aides took the time to find out where Dir Al-Balah is and what was actually happening there. It is more than likely that his aides did not bother the president-elect with the matter, even though he still vaguely remembers his visit to the incredible "Qassam Museum" in Sderot a few months ago. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is certainly not the most important thing on Obama's mind at the moment. Anything that develops along the Gaza border over the next few weeks is still the problem of the Bush administration, but the forecast is not very rosy. While in Chicago they are hoping and preparing for a change, in Gaza they are still stuck in the past. It won't be Obama's problem for another six weeks.

 

Waarom Joden op Obama stemmen

 

In dit artikel wordt op die vraag geen echt antwoord gegeven, behalve dat al decennialang ongeveer driekwart van de Amerikaanse Joden op de democratische kandidaten stemt, alle campagnes en voorspellingen van republikeinen ten spijt. Overigens is maar ca. 2% van de Amerikaanse bevolking Joods, dus hun electorale impact is vrij gering.

 

Wouter

__________

 

OP-ED: Why Jews voted for Obama
http://jta.org/news/article/2008/11/05/1000800/op-ed-why-jews-voted-for-obama

By Marc Stanley · November 5, 2008


DALLAS (JTA) - This year, once again, the Jewish community overwhelmingly supported the Democratic nominee for president. With the election of Barack Obama, Jewish voters selected a candidate who, despite an unprecedented smear campaign, represents the values of our community.

This year, we also heard the all-too-familiar claims that the Republican nominee would receive a record amount of the Jewish vote. Again, however, this prediction came up woefully short.

In every election cycle for the past 36 years, Republicans offered "sky is falling" predictions that Jewish voters would give significant support to the Republican nominee. A typical claim was when President George W. Bush's campaign chairman, Marc Racicot, predicted in 2004 that Bush would garner between 30 and 35 percent of the Jewish vote. Despite the Republicans' history of failed forecasts of the Jewish vote prior to 2004, their delusional claims persisted.

In 2004, the media largely bought into the argument that Bush would receive a significant portion of the Jewish vote. A New Republic piece by Lawrence Kaplan titled "Kerry's Jewish Problem" typefied the media's fascination with the prospect that Sen. John Kerry would receive an unusually small portion of the Jewish vote. The media frenzy led many to give credence to Republican claims about the Jewish vote four years ago.

Despite the Republican theory about Jewish voters, results from Election Day 2004 showed the usual overwhelming Jewish support for Kerry. In fact, since 1972, when exit polls were first instituted, the Republican nominee has averaged only 27 percent of the Jewish vote. In recent elections, the Republican nominee has received even less, with Jewish support at 22 percent for Bush in 2004 and 19 percent in 2000, and 16 percent for Bob Dole in 1996. In 2006, the Jewish support of Democratic congressional candidates reached 87 percent.

Nonetheless, the media remained enticed by persistent Republican claims about the Jewish vote during this election cycle. The endless attempt by the media to report the "man bites dog story" led to news articles such as "Obama's Jewish Problem" (Politico, March 13, 2007) and "Obama's Struggle to Secure the Jewish Vote" (NBC, May 23, 2008). Again, this year's supporters of the Republican nominee and members of the media prematurely reported that John McCain would receive a dramatically increased percentage of Jewish support with Obama as the Democratic nominee.

In the early months of the election campaign, the polls projected Obama would receive about 60 percent of the Jewish community's support. Sensing an opportunity to capture a sizable number of Jewish voters, McCain supporters engaged in an unprecedented campaign in the Jewish community. This campaign not only included efforts to paint Obama as an anti-American Muslim, but it also implied that an Obama presidency could bring a second Holocaust. The campaign was widely criticized and outraged many in the Jewish communities they targeted.

As Election Day drew closer and the Jewish community learned more about the two candidates, polling showed that Obama's support in the Jewish community increased to between 70 and 74 percent. Ultimately the Jewish community supported the Democratic nominee in overwhelming numbers. According to exit polling from Tuesday's election, Obama received 78 percent of the Jewish vote - about 25 percent greater than Obama's percentage of total support nationally. That exceeded everyone's expectations.

There are two reasons for this performance. First, Jewish voters took a very close look at both candidates in the final 10 weeks of the campaign. Obama's performance in the debates belied the GOP narrative that he could not be trusted, while McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate undermined his Jewish support.

Second, Jewish Democrats - the National Jewish Democratic Council, along with the Obama campaign and other independent efforts - were better organized than ever.

Every four years, like a broken record, we are subjected to the refrain from Republicans that "this is gong to be the year the Jewish community votes Republican" - but it never proves true. Somewhat prophetically, Ethan Porter of The New Republic got it right last week when he reported that "the fear that Jews might desert the Democratic Party comes up every four years" but "this theory might finally be put to bed."

Indeed, as it has for the last three decades, the theory that Jewish voters would significantly support the Republican nominee again has been discredited.

 

 

(Marc Stanley is the chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council.)

 

Barack Obama kreeg steun van 77 procent van de Joodse kiezers

 

Alle verhalen over de oppermachtige neoconservatieve Joodse lobby ten spijt, heeft Obama overweldigende steun van de Amerikaanse Joden gekregen.

 

RP

---------

 

Last update - 15:02 05/11/2008       
Barack Obama wins 77 percent of Jewish vote, exit polls show

 

By Haaertz Service and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034574.html

 

 

Despite the tense rift between Republican and Democratic Jews over the course of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, exit polls on Tuesday showed that Barack Obama received about 77 percent of the Jewish vote.

 

These numbers were higher even than the 2004 election, when Democratic candidate John Kerry received 74 percent of the Jewish vote. Al Gore received the highest percentage of Jewish votes in 2000, with 79 percent.

 

Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of the J Street lobby group on Tuesday called Obama's victory a sign that the campaign waged against him by Republican Jews comprised "baseless smears."
 
"American Jews resoundingly rejected the two-year, multi-million dollar campaign of baseless smears and fear waged against him by the right wing of our community," he said. "Surrogates and right-wing political operatives in our community stopped at nothing in their efforts to sway Jewish voters against Obama."

 

"We can only hope that these results put to rest for good the myth that fear and smear campaigns - particularly around Israel - can be an effective political weapon in the Jewish community," he added.

 

A Gallup poll released in late October showed Jewish voters favored Barack Obama over John McCain by more than 3 to 1, with 74% saying they would vote for Obama over 22% for McCain.

 

The poll, which interviewed over 650 Jewish registered voters each month since June, showed American Jews growing increasingly comfortable with Obama since July, when the Illinois Senator tied up the Democratic Party nomination.

 

The poll showed support for McCain among Jews stood at a high of 34% in June, before beginning its downward turn in July after Obama's nomination.

 

Hoe gaat Obama zich tegenover Israel opstellen?

 

Welke Israelische kandidaat kan straks goed met Obama samenwerken: Barack & Barak, Barack & Bibi, of Barack en Livni?

 

Dat maakt flink uit. Israel is de laatste decennia sterk afhankelijk geworden van Amerikaanse steun, en de VS hebben in het verleden - met name onder Carter en Clinton, de vorige twee democratische presidenten - vaak flinke druk op Israel uitgeoefend om concessies te doen in vredesonderhandelingen.

 

Wouter

_____________

How will Obama's election affect Israel?

By Leslie Susser · November 6, 2008

http://jta.org/news/article/2008/11/06/1000827/how-will-obamas-election-affect-israel
NEWS ANALYSIS


JERUSALEM (JTA) - Barack Obama's election as America's first black president has left Israeli decision makers deeply impressed, somewhat envious of the workings of American democracy and, in some corners, worried about possible new U.S. policy directions.

With Israel in the throes of its own election campaign, pundits also are asking how America's choice of Obama could affect voters here in February, when Israel holds general elections for Knesset and prime minister.

The major Israeli foreign policy concern is that Obama, who says he favors negotiations with Iran, might begin talks with Iranian leaders without preconditions. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni says this would be interpreted as a sign of weakness and send Tehran the wrong message that it can build a nuclear weapon with impunity.

The Israeli fear is that if there are no preconditions, Tehran simply will use talks with the United States as a smokescreen to continue its drive toward nuclear weapons unhindered. The Israeli government believes no talks should be launched unless the Iranians agree to a verifiable suspension of their uranium enrichment program. At the very least, talks would ensure a delay in Iran's nuclear plans.

After intensive policy-planning sessions on the implications of Obama's victory, the Foreign Ministry decided Wednesday to send seasoned Israeli diplomats to Washington to urge members of the president-elect's inner circle to insist on the uranium suspension precondition and to tighten sanctions against Iran if it balks.

The Israelis are confident this effort could bear fruit, pointing out that like them, Obama is determined to prevent Iran from going nuclear. They say any possible differences are over tactics alone.

Still, a more general fear among some Israelis is that Obama may try to improve America's battered standing in the Muslim world by forcing Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians.

Foreign Ministry officials insist that nothing so far would indicate anything like that happening. Still, Livni issued what appeared to be a veiled appeal to Obama.

"The world," she said, "should respect the current peace process and not expect Israel to make shortcuts that could undermine its basic interests."

If changes are made in U.S. policy on the Palestinian track, Israeli officials do not expect them to come soon. In the short term, they say, the new Obama administration will be focused on the global economic crisis. After that, other issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan and mending fences with the Russians will take precedence over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama's election may make the most difference on the Israeli political scene. His victory over Republican John McCain doesn't seem to augur well for the conservative Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leading in some polls in the race for prime minister. When Netanyahu was prime minister from 1996 to 1999, there was no meeting of the minds between the hawkish Israeli leader, who was determined to hold onto parts of the West Bank he viewed as vital Israeli assets, and a Democratic administration in Washington determined to stabilize the Middle East by achieving a historic Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Some pundits have argued that the friction between Netanyahu and President Clinton was one of the main factors that eventually cost Netanyahu the premiership.

Livni, the Kadima Party leader and Netanyahu's main rival in the race to succeed Ehud Olmert, already is warning that if Netanyahu becomes prime minister again, Israel and the Obama administration could be on a similar collision course.

"If Israel presents itself as a country that opposes any peace process, then the world, led by the U.S., will try to force a process on it," she told the Knesset Wednesday. "Just saying no has never helped Israeli diplomacy."

Netanyahu rejects these arguments out of hand. In an open letter congratulating Obama published in the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot, Netanyahu says he and Obama have a good working relationship and that it was after the two met in Washington that Obama submitted a bill to Congress to tighten sanctions on Iran. Netanyahu also said that in their July meeting in Jerusalem, Obama "showed interest in my plan to advance peace with the Palestinians through economic peace first."

Obama's election also could prompt Israelis concerned about possible pressure from Washington to gravitate toward Netanyahu, who is likelier to stand up to the U.S. administration.

Livni is presenting herself as the candidate for prime minister most likely to share a common language with Obama. Both would be vigorous first-time leaders dedicated to newer, cleaner politics based on pragmatic, middle-of-the road solutions.

She toured the beleaguered Israeli town of Sderot with Obama in July and said she saw a man "committed to Israel's well-being and security." In their meetings, Livni said Obama showed a deep understanding of Israel's positions and needs, including on why Israel cannot accept the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the Labor leader and the third major-party candidate for prime minister, is seeking to portray himself as one who would be able to work with Obama on the basis of their mutual quest for regional stability. But Barak would like to see the Obama administration shift its Arab-Israeli focus from the Palestinian to the Syrian track, where he believes the chances of success and strategic gains are greater.

Barak and other promoters of the Syrian track believe it will take significant U.S. economic and political inducements to persuade Syria to break with its sponsor in Tehran, and they believe Obama might be willing to make commitments the Bush administration would not. So do the Syrians, who expressed jubilation at Obama's victory.

During the campaign, Obama indicated he would support Israel-Syria talks but did not discuss the scope of that support or suggest it would displace U.S. focus on pursuing an Israeli-Palestinian deal.

Of the three contenders for prime minister, only Netanyahu seems vulnerable to attack on the basis of incompatibility with the new U.S. administration. The question is how much his rivals will be able to exploit this as Israel, unlike the United States, appears to be turning politically to the right.

 

Dochter Rabin waarschuwt voor opruiing door extreemrechts

 

Laten we hopen dat Israelische politici sinds de moord op Rabin beter beveiligd worden, want de opruiing en dreigementen door extreemrechts zijn walgelijk en -letterlijk- levensgevaarlijk!

 

Wouter

________________

 

 

Last update - 11:38 04/11/2008

Rabin's daughter, 13 years on: Same incitement exists today

 

By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034207.html

 

 

The daughter of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin warned on Tuesday, the 13th anniversary of his assassination, that the incitement by the extreme right that was prevalent in Israel 13 years ago still exists today.

"Today we are also hearing the same shrill voices, perhaps with different terminology, but it is impossible to ignore their intensity," said Dalia Rabin, speaking to Army Radio.

Israelis were set to mark Tuesday the anniversary of Rabin's death at the hands of an assassin opposed to his peace with a series of rallies across the country.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz last week called for an incitement investigation against right-wing activists, hours they called for a "revenge attack" against Israeli security forces for evacuating an illegal West Bank outpost.

Later on Tuesday, Government officials were scheduled to attend a ceremony at Rabin's grave in Jerusalem.

A memorial rally will be held November 8 at the Tel Aviv square where Rabin was gunned down after a peace rally. It was renamed Rabin Square in his honor.

Yigal Amir shot Rabin three times on November 4, 1995. Amir wanted to stop the peace process Rabin initiated with the Palestinians.

On Sunday, the head of Shin Bet security service warned that extremist settlers might carry out another political assassination. Yuval Diskin said he was very concerned about the possibility.

 

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Opnieuw 5 Qassam raketten in de Negev

 

Hamas heeft gezegd dat ze het staakt-het-vuren willen voortzetten, maar daar is vooralsnog weinig van te merken....

 

RP

-----

 

The Jerusalem Post
Nov 7, 2008 7:24 | Updated Nov 7, 2008 13:39

5 Kassam rockets slam into w. Negev

 

By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910059476&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Southerners woke up to another day of rocket attacks Friday as Palestinian terrorists fired five Kassams at western Negev neighborhoods.

The rockets landed in the Sderot, Eshkol and Sha'ar Hanegev regions. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

One of the Kassams landed near a kibbutz reservoir, while a second hit the fence surrounding another western Negev kibbutz. The other rockets hit open areas.

The Islamic Jihad's armed wing claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Meanwhile, the Ashkelon Parents Association decided to hold a partial strike on Friday morning in protest of, what they called, the government's failure in dealing with the renewed rocket-fire.

Parents sent their children to the city's schools at the later time of 10 a.m.

Some 60 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since Tuesday, when IDF special forces raided a structure 250 meters from the Kissufim border, crossing in Gazan territory, which housed the entrance to a tunnel the army said was intended to enable Hamas to kidnap IDF troops in the immediate future.

Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report

 

Palestijnse steun voor staat op Westoever & Gaza betekent geen acceptie van Israel

 

Een Palestijnse staat nastreven binnen de bestandslijnen van 1949 is heel wat anders dan Israel erkennen, is mij al meermaals opgevallen, maar vaak wordt door de media, politici en mensenrechtenactivisten het feit dat Palestijnen spreken van pre-1967 grenzen als bewijs van erkenning van Israel beschouwd. Zoals blijkt uit onderstaande reactie van de directeur van het onderzoekscentrum van An-Najah universiteit in Nabloes (dat geregeld enquetes houdt), mogen we inderdaad uit het één niet het ander afleiden.

 

RP

-------

Palestinian pollster to IMRA: Palestinian support for state in '67 territories doesn't mean accept Israeli state

 

Dr. Aaron Lerner  - IMRA

6 November 2008

 

At the request of an Israeli radio station, IMRA contacted today the An-Najah National University Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies with the following question relating to a poll they carried out 18-20 September 2008 (poll repeated below):

Dear Sirs,

I was interested in knowing your interpretation as to how can the same poll have these two results?

Do you support or reject the creation of two states on the historic land of Palestine (a Palestinian state and Israel)?
 42.5% I support
 54.3% I reject
 3.2% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
 67.1% I support
 29.6% I reject
 3.4% No opinion/I do not know

Best regards,
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA  www.imra.org.il

The following is the reply:

Dear Dr. Lerner;

Thank you for your e-mail. The result you asked about is correct, in my experience many people support to create a Palestinian state on 1967 territories, but when you asked them about Israel they rejected due to many different factors, one of it they oppose Israel' existence, and you find this among Hamas supporter for example according to Poll No. 35 that 72.4% of Hamas supporters reject the creation of two state on the historic land of Palestine (a Palestinian state and Israel), and 52.6% of Hamas supporters reject of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories , thus, you found a gap between the two questions.

 

According to your question 53.4% of Gazans want to emigrate, yes this result is true, because of a difficult socio-economic and political situations in Gaza Strip in these days.

 

Best wishes

Dr. Hussein Ahmad
Director, Opinion Polls and Survey Studies Center
An-Najah National University
Nablus

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

Van: dinsdag 23 september 2008

Palestijnse opiniepeiling: krap helft voor voortzetten vredesonderhandelingen

An-Najah National University
Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies
Tel: (972) (9) 2345113 / Fax: (972)(9) 2345982
Nablus - Palestinian: P.O.Box 7, 707
Email: Polls@najah.edu hussein596@yahoo.com

Results of Palestinian Public Opinion Poll
No. 35 18-20 September 2008

 

Background

 

The Palestinian political realities are still suffering from a sate of division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the division is intensified by a verbal conflict that escalates with the approaching end of President Mahmoud Abbas's term. Several legal councilors and advisors assert that the President's term ends simultaneously with the term of the PLC in January 2010. Others, however, say that the President's term ends in January of 2009

 

On the other side of the Palestinian scene, Palestinian Israeli negotiations are stand still; they do not show any progress. More than one Palestinian official declared that the negotiations are not going to lead to the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of this year as envisioned by the United States and other participants in these negotiations.

 

As for the truce (hudna) in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the Israeli Government, all parties are still satisfied with their commitment to the conditions of the truce. Some evasions of ceasefire occur every now and then and several Palestinian factions in the Strip declared more than once that the truce is fragile and that Israel is not committed to its terms and conditions.

 

The Results

 

Following are the results of the Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 35 conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah National University during the period from 18-20 September 2008. The University sponsors all polls conducted by its Center.

 

Palestinian public opinion poll no. 35 undertakes the current political realities especially the Palestinian presidential and, PLC elections, the truce (hudna) between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the peace negotiations, the suggested Arab troops, the attempts for reconciliations between Fateh and Hamas in addition to political affiliations and other issues.

 

The sample included 1360 persons whose age group is 18 and above and who have the right to vote. The enclosed questionnaire was distributed on 860 persons from the West Bank and 500 persons from the Gaza Strip. The sample was drawn randomly and the margin of error is about ±3%; still 3.8% of the members of the sample refused to answer the questionnaire.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

The opinions represented in the results reflect those of the study; they do not, by any means, represent the opinion of An-Najah National University.

 

The General Results:

61.1% of respondents supported dissolving the PLC; 29.6% rejected.

20.1% of respondents supported conducting presidential elections at the end of the current President's term; 77.5% rejected

50.7% of respondents supported continuing negotiations under their present conditions between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

18.4% of respondents believed that the present PLC members are performing their duties as required of them.

42.4% of respondents supported allowing Arab troops to enter the Gaza Strip.

52.7% of respondents supported the position of Palestinian factions who oppose allowing Arab troops to enter the West Bank.

30.1% of respondents supported allowing Arab troops to enter the West Bank.

27.4% of respondents supported allowing Arab troops to enter the West Bank and the Gaza Strip simultaneously.

71.5% of respondents supported the truce (hudna) between Hamas and Israel by which Hamas stops firing rockets against Israel and, in return, Israel stops its military operations in the Gaza Strip.

37.1% of respondents believed that if Hamas accepts a truce with Israel, it would mean a retreat from the armed struggle option.

40.4% of respondents believed that the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip accepted willingly the truce that Hamas declared.

48.8% of respondents believed that the truce between Hamas and Israel is an introduction to direct negotiations on the future of the Gaza Strip

54.9% of respondents believed that Fateh Movement is serious in its call for a comprehensive national reconciliation

39.2% of respondents believed that Hamas Movement is serious in its call for a comprehensive national reconciliation

58.2% of respondents believed that the Palestinian public are ready to bring a national reconciliation to a success.

51.8% of respondents believed that the Palestinian leaderships of all factions are serious in their intentions to bring a national reconciliation to a success.

54.9% of respondents believed that the Palestinian Presidency is serious in its call for a national reconciliation.

36.5% of respondents believed that the Arab attempts towards making a reconciliation between Fateh and Hamas will succeed.

27.6% of respondents supported the suggestion that calls for the formation of a Hashemite Jordanian-Palestinian kingdom.

41.7% of respondents supported dissolving the Palestinian Authority.

22.6% of respondents believed that Hamas is the responsible party before Palestinians for the on-going internal division; 14.6% believed that Fateh is the responsible party while 52% believed that some persons inside the two movements are responsible.

42.5% of respondents supported the creation of two states on the land of historic Palestine (a Palestinian state and Israel).

67.1% of respondents supported the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories.

36% of respondents believed that the negotiations that President Mahmoud Abbas conducts will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories.

32.9% of respondents believed that Palestinian resistance in its present shape will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories.

61.2% of respondents assessed the performance of the Palestinian Presidency at the present time as "good".

Regardless of legitimacy or illegitimacy, 57.3% of respondent supported the general policy of the care-taker government of Salam Fayyad.

Regardless of legitimacy or illegitimacy, 29% of respondents supported the general policy of the dissolved government of Ismael Haniyeh.

58.6% of respondents assessed the performance of the care-taker government of Salam Fayyad as "good".

29.4% of respondents assessed the performance of the dissolved government of Ismael Haniyeh as "good".

76.9% of respondents said that they will participate in the coming presidential elections. From among those who said they will participate, 38.5% said that they will give their votes to Fateh's candidate; 17.4% said they will give their votes to Hamas' candidate.

78.1% of respondents said that they will participate in the coming legislative elections. From among those who said they will participate, 37.9% said that they will give their votes to Fateh's candidates; 17.7% said they will give their votes to Hamas' candidates.

If PLC elections are to be conducted, 42.9% of respondents expected the winning of Fateh movement; 17.2% expected the winning of Hamas.

78.2% of respondents supported the formation of a transitional government whose aim will be to prepare for and supervise Presidential and PLC elections

61% of respondents believed that the Palestinian security forces are capable of imposing order and the rule of law on the areas in which they were redeployed.

71.3% of respondents supported the notion that Palestinian arms must only be in the hands of the Palestinian security apparatuses.

52.7% of respondents expressed fear for their lives under the present circumstances.

37.2% of respondents said that the current security, political and economic conditions will drive them to emigrate.

61.2% of respondents said that they are pessimistic of the general Palestinian situation at this stage.

77% of respondents said that they neither feel safe for themselves nor for their families and properties under the current circumstances.

 

As for political affiliation respondents gave the following results:

 People's Party 0.7%
 Democratic Front 1.0%
 Islamic Jihad 2.1%
 Fateh 36.0%
 Hamas 14.4%
 Fida 0.1%
 Popular Front 3.5%
 Palestinian National Initiative 0.7%
 I am an independent nationalist 6.7%
 I am an independent Islamist 2.9%
 None of the above 30.8%
 Others 1.0%


The General Results of the Poll

Do you support or reject dissolving the PLC?
23.2% I strongly support
37.9% I support
23.4% I reject
6.2% I strongly reject
6.3% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject conducting new Presidential elections by the end of the current president's term
14.0% I strongly support
6.1% I support
26.8% I reject
50.7% I strongly reject
2.5% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject continuing negotiations under their present realities between the Palestinian Authority and Israel?
13.5% I strongly support
37.1% I support
33.4% I reject
13.5% I strongly reject
2.4% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the current PLC members are performing their duties as required of them?
18.4% Yes
70.4% No
11.3% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject bringing Arab troops to the Gaza Strip?
12.8% I strongly support
29.6% I support
33.7% I reject
21.1% I strongly reject
2.8% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject the position of Palestinian factions that oppose bringing Arab troops to the Gaza Strip?
17.4% I strongly support
35.3% I support
34.6% I reject
8.0% I strongly reject
4.7% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject bringing Arab troops to the West Bank?
9.0% I strongly support
21.1% I support
45.7% I reject
21.0% I strongly reject
3.2% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject sending Arab troops to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip simultaneously?
27.4% Yes
67.4% No
5.2% No opinion/I do not know

Hamas movement and Israel declared a truce in the Gaza Strip by which Hamas stops firing rockets against Israel and, in return, Israel stops its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Do you support or reject  this truce?
19.2% I strongly support
52.3% I support
17.8% I reject
8.5% I strongly reject
2.3% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that by accepting the truce Hamas is retreating from the armed struggle option?
37.1% Yes
55.9% No
7.0% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip agreed willingly on the truce that Hamas declared?
40.4% They agreed willingly
39.9% They agreed under some pressure from Hamas
2.6% Other
17.1% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the truce between Hamas and Israel is an introduction to direct negotiations on the future of the Gaza Strip?
48.8% Yes
40.7% No
10.5% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that Fateh movement is serious in its call for a comprehensive national reconciliation?
54.9% Yes
38.8% No
6.3% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that Hamas movement is serious in its call for a comprehensive national reconciliation?
39.2% Yes
52.0% No
8.8% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the Palestinian public are ready to bring a national reconciliation to a success?
58.2% Yes
35.4% No
6.4% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the leaders of all Palestinian factions are really concerned with a successful national reconciliation?
51.8% Yes
39.9% No
8.2% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the Palestinian Presidency is serious in its call for a comprehensive national reconciliation?
54.9% Yes
37.5% No
7.6% No opinion/I do not know

There are several Arab attempts made towards achieving a reconciliation between Fateh and Hamas. Do you think that these attempts will succeed?
36.5% Yes
50.8% No
12.7% No opinion/I do not know

There has been a media proposition lately referring to the formation of a Hashemite Jordanian-Palestinian kingdom. Do you support or reject such proposition?
9.7% I strongly support
17.9% I support
34.0% I reject
32.8% I strongly reject
5.6% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject dissolving the Palestinian Authority?
13.4% I strongly support
28.3% I support
37.6% I reject
16.5% I strongly reject
4.2% No opinion/I do not know

Who in your opinion from among Palestinians is responsible for the on-going internal Palestinian division?
14.6% Fateh movement
22.6% Hamas movement
52.0% Some persons from both movements
4.2% Other (specify)
6.6% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject the creation of two states on the historic land of Palestine (a Palestinian state and Israel)?
42.5% I support
54.3% I reject
3.2% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
67.1% I support
29.6% I reject
3.4% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the negotiations that President Mahmoud Abbas is conducting will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
36.0% Yes
53.7% No
10.3% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the Palestinian resistance in its present form will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
32.9% Yes
59.0% No
8.2% No opinion/I do not know

How do you assess the performance of the Palestinian Presidency at the present time?
61.2% Good
31.8% Bad
7.1% No opinion/I do not know

Regardless of its legitimacy or illegitimacy, do you support or reject the general policy of the Palestinian government led by Salam Fayyad?
57.3% I support
32.3% I reject
10.4% No opinion/I do not know

Regardless of its legitimacy or illegitimacy, do you support or reject the general policy of the dissolved government of Ismael Haniyeh?
29.0% I support
61.0% I reject
10.0% No opinion/I do not know

How do you assess the performance of Salam Fayyad's care-taker government?
58.6% Good
30.4% Bad
11.0% No opinion/I do not know

How do you assess the performance of Ismael Haniyeh's dissolved government?
29.4% Good
58.1% Bad
12.5% No opinion/I do not know

If presidential elections are held in the present time, to whom from among the following do you give your vote?
7.3% An independent candidate
2.8% A candidate from the left
13.4% A candidate from Hamas
29.6% A candidate from Fateh
6.0% A national independent candidate
3.7% An Islamic independent candidate
23.1% I will not participate in the elections
14.1% I have not decided yet

If new PLC elections are conducted, whom do you vote for?
6.1% An independent ticket
3.1% A ticket from the left
13.8% A ticket from Hamas
29.6% A ticket from Fateh
6.0% A national independent ticket
4.6% An Islamic independent ticket
21.9% I will not participate in the elections
14.9% I have not decided yet

If new legislative elections were to be held today, which of the following would win?
5.5% Independent Islamists bloc
7.9% Independent Nationalist bloc
42.9% Fateh bloc
17.2% Hamas bloc
2.0% A bloc from leftist organizations
24.5% No opinion/I do not know

Are you in favor of forming a transitional government for the purpose of preparing  for and supervising new presidential and PLC elections?
78.2% Yes
15.2% No
6.6% No opinion/I do not know

Do you think that the Palestinian security forces are capable of imposing law and order on the areas in which they were redeployed?
61.0% Yes
34.0% No
5.1% No opinion/I do not know

Do you support or reject the notion that Palestinian arms should be in the hands of Palestinian security apparatuses, and that any other arms in the hands of other Palestinian men will be considered arms for racketeering business?
71.3% I support
25.4% I reject
3.2% No opinion/I do not know

Are you worried about your life under the present circumstances?
52.7% Yes
46.1% No
1.2% No opinion/I do not know

Do the current security, political and economic circumstances urge you to emigrate?
37.2% Yes
62.0% No
0.8% No opinion/I do not know

Do the current security, political and economic circumstances urge you to emigrate?
West Bank
27.8% Yes
72.0% No
0.2% No opinion/I do not know

Gaza Strip
Do the current security, political and economic circumstances urge you to emigrate?
53.4% Yes
44.8% No
1.8% No opinion/I do not know

Are you pessimistic or optimistic towards the general Palestinian situation at this stage?
35.8% Optimistic
61.2% Pessimistic
3.0% No opinion/I do not know

Under the present circumstances, do you feel that you, your family and your properties are safe?
22.2% Yes
32.4% May be
44.6% No
0.8% No opinion/I do not know

Which of the following political affiliations do you support?

0.7% People's Party
1.0% Democratic Front
2.1% Islamic Jihad
36.0% Fateh
14.4% Hamas
0.1% Fida
3.5% Popular Front
0.7% Palestinian National Initiative
6.7% I am an independent nationalist
2.9% I am an independent Islamist
30.8% None of the above


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

Gaza militanten schieten 4 Qassam raketten af op west-Negev

 

Aangezien beide partijen onlangs nog verklaarden het staakt-het-vuren te willen voortzetten (het loopt af in december), is de kans groot dat de relatieve rust spoedig zal weerkeren. Het feit dat Hamas niet alleen tunnels graaft onder de grens met Egypte door voor de smokkel van wapens, maar ook onder de grens met Israel voor het ontvoeren van soldaten, moet echter te denken geven. Men zal het zeker niet bij één poging laten.

 

RP

-----------

Gaza militants fire four Qassam rockets into western Negev

Last update - 23:17 06/11/2008
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1034659.html


Palestinians fired four Qassam rockets into the Negev as renewed fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Gaza militants continued on Thursday, Israel Radio reported.

All of the homemade rockets struck the western Negev. No injuries or damages were reported in the rocket attack, which came a day after the worst fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Gaza militants since a truce began in the coastal region in June.

Late Wednesday, an Israel Air Force strike targeting a Qassam firing squad in the northern Gaza Strip killed at least one Palestinian gunman, the Israel Defense Forces said. The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad identified the casualty as a one of their own.

Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers sought to contain the fallout from the fighting, but the continued flaring up of violence threatened to unravel it anew.

Gaza militants pounded southern Israel with dozens of rockets on Wednesday to avenge a deadly IDF raid late Tuesday, which left six Palestinian gunmen dead. Neither side seems to have much to gain from a renewal of hostilities, and officials on both sides said they wanted to restore calm.

Islamic Jihad militants has earlier fired two rockets at the western Negev town of Sderot. One of its leaders, Khader Habib, declared the truce over.

Hamas, which agreed to the Egyptian-mediated truce, said Israel was breaching it. The group also claimed responsibility for dozens of rockets fired at the western Negev on Wednesday.

"The occupier has a clear plan to destroy the truce and drown us in blood," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Before the June truce, near daily rocket barrages had severely disrupted life in southern border towns and Israel has not found a military solution to stop them. Retaliatory Israeli airstrikes have killed scores of Palestinians in Gaza.

"We have no intention of violating the quiet," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on a tour of southern Israeli areas bordering Gaza. "But in any place where we need to thwart an action against Israeli soldiers and civilians, we will act," he added.

Hamas, on the other hand, needs the calm to strengthen its hold on Gaza, which it seized control of in June 2007, and restore its military capabilities ahead of a potential future battle with Israel.

Barhoum said the group has fired deep into Israel on Wednesday to demonstrate the price of continued Israeli aggression. At the same time, he said, Hamas had contacted Egyptian mediators to find ways of keeping the truce intact.

Clashes began late Tuesday after the IDF pushed 300 meters into the Gaza Strip to destroy what it said was a tunnel being dug near the border to abduct Israeli troops. During the incursion, the first such raid since the cease-fire went into effect, Hamas gunmen battled Israeli forces. One Hamas fighter was killed, prompting a wave of mortar fire at nearby Israeli targets.

An IAF strike then killed five Hamas militants preparing to fire mortar shells. Hamas responded with the barrage of rockets, including one that reached the city of Ashkelon, some 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Gaza.

Israel's police said the rocket landed in an empty area. There were no reports of injuries or property damage. The army said four soldiers were wounded, two moderately, in the border fighting.

The violence was the worst since Israel and Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-mediated truce in June and revived scenes not witnessed since: ambulances on high alert in Israel as mortars thudded close to Jewish communities, and deadly Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Thousands of Palestinian mourners rushed slain militants through the streets of the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, waving green Hamas flags and vowing revenge.

Gaza residents crowded into hospitals, as ambulances delivered the dead and injured.
Grieving militants in military fatigues fired rounds of automatic weapon fire into the air to commemorate their fallen comrades.

Over Gaza City, the thudding sound of rockets being fired into Israel was audible.
Unmanned Israeli aircraft, often used to target militants, buzzed in the sky overhead.

Israeli defense officials said they had discovered a 300-yard (250-meter) tunnel days ago, and concluded the passage was to be used for a kidnapping. Hamas already is holding an IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit, whom militants captured in a cross-border raid more than two years ago.

Defense officials said they knew the raid could jeopardize the cease-fire, but concluded that Gaza's Hamas rulers would have an interest in restoring the calm.

Sporadic rocket attacks on southern Israel have persisted since the truce, but the attacks were carried out by smaller groups - such as Islamic Jihad - seeking to embarrass Hamas for preserving a truce with Israel.

Continued attacks have prompted Israel to close its border crossings into the coastal strip. Barak announced on Wednesday that the crossings would remain closed until further notice. Israel and Egypt lead a blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed since Hamas seized power of the territory a year ago.

 

 

VN Mensenrechtenraad obsessief tegen Israel gericht

 

Hier ligt een mooie taak voor Barack Obama: zorgen dat de VN een instelling wordt die opkomt voor de mensenrechten en ieder land gelijk behandelt, in plaats van bepaalde landen als zondebok te gebruiken terwijl de werkelijke schurkenstaten vrijuit blijven gaan.

 

RP

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The Jerusalem Post
Nov 5, 2008 2:35 | Updated Nov 5, 2008 11:47
Deputy ambassador slams UN for targeting Israel

 

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225715343502&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Israel denounced the Human Rights Council on Tuesday for targeting it "in an obsessive and discriminatory fashion," but Egypt said it was imperative that the UN body investigate violations of Palestinian rights.

The performance of the council, which replaced the discredited UN Human Rights Commission 2 1/2 years ago, was the subject of debate in the General Assembly which was considering the annual report of the Geneva-based council.

Israel's deputy UN ambassador, Daniel Carmon, told the 192-nation world body that since it considered last year's report, the council had adopted seven resolutions condemning Israel and held "a one-sided special session against Israel" - far more than any other member of the United Nations.

"We all witness a UN human rights body targeting Israel in an obsessive and discriminatory fashion," Carmon said. "We can only watch in disbelief as the council ignores human rights abuses around the world while offering silence at best, and praise at worst to some of the world's most ruthless, abusive dictators."

But Egypt's UN Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz told the assembly "it is imperative to maintain the sustainability of the engagement of the council in ensuring respect of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, and verifying Israel's full adherence to its international obligations."

Those obligations include Israel's commitment to full cooperation with the special UN investigator on human rights in the Palestinian territories and the fact-finding missions established by the council "to investigate the gross violations of human rights," he said.

Abdelaziz noted Israeli officials refused to cooperate with Archbishop Desmond Tutu's investigation into the 2006 shelling of the Gaza town of Beit Hanun and the simultaneous firing by Palestinian terrorists of Kassam rockets at Israeli civilians.

One aim in replacing the highly politicized Human Rights Commission with the Human Rights Council was to keep some of the world's worst human rights offenders from becoming members.

But the council has been widely criticized for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on allegations of human rights abuses by Israel than on any other country.

Muslim countries form a strong bloc on the council and have used their votes to push through resolutions against Israel and block condemnation of their allies, including Sudan. The United States argued against the council and has not sought to join it because rights-abusing countries remain members.

Nigerian Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, the Human Rights Council's president, appealed to UN members "for greater circumspection, objectivity and patience in assessing the work of the council."
"Two years is hardly enough time to be overly critical of an institution which we strongly believe holds great promise as a universal human rights body," he said.

Uhomoibhi did not mention the seven resolutions against Israel, but he said the council held special sessions on the human rights situation in Myanmar and the negative impact of the worsening world food crisis on the right to food as well as on Israeli attacks in Gaza.

France's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, speaking on behalf of the European Union, noted the three special sessions and reaffirmed the need for the council to debate rights violations in the Palestinian territories - but he said the EU would also urge members to come up with "balanced" solutions.

North Korea's deputy UN ambassador Pak Tok Hun also criticized the council for adopting a "stereotyped resolution" on his country in defiance of repeated calls to stop approving country-specific measures.

Met vrienden als rabbi Dov Lior...

 

Zowel ter linker- als ter rechterzijde vergelijken extremisten hun tegenstanders graag met de Nazi's.
Het is een slechte gewoonte en hij wordt dankbaar als excuus gebruikt door antizionisten buiten Israel: als Israeli's het zelf ook doen, hoe kun je dan iets van ons zeggen? Het is natuurlijk niet hetzelfde wanneer de nakomelingen van de slachtoffers of van de daders zoiets zeggen, en het is bovendien nogal inconsequent om Israel van de verschrikkelijkste misdaden te beschuldigen en tegelijkertijd 'haar' gedrag als rechtvaardiging voor eigen gedrag te gebruiken.

 

RP

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With friends like these…
We should all be outraged by settler rabbi who compared IDF troops to Nazis

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3618334,00.html
Noah Klieger

Published: 11.05.08, 18:32

 

 

There is no doubt that with "friends" like Rabbi Dov Lior, the Jewish people in general, and the State of Israel in particular, do not need any haters. Because even the greatest Israel hater would not be able to uses a harsher term than the one used by the rabbi – who embarrasses the entire rabbinical establishment by comparing IDF soldiers to the Nazis.

Again it turned out that some Jews have no boundaries when it comes to their struggle against the rule of law in the country – in both actions and words. This is not about having a different worldview. Regardless of positions or arguments one way or another, some boundaries must never be crossed. Certainly not by Jews, irrespective of whether they are rabbis or common folk.

We should, again, be outraged by the ease with which people around here resort to all sorts of comparisons, not only in respect to Nazi rule, but also the Holocaust in general. How many times have we heard politicians and even men of letters use the word "Shoah" in order to describe what they view as the failed handling of some issue or another – in the economic, social, or educational realm? As if a stock market crash or some kind of ecological failure are "the same" as the Holocaust that befell European Jewry.

I already warned against the daily usage of this term, which symbolizes the brutal extermination of six million Jews – including women, the elderly, men, and children – by the "fuehrer's" thugs.

And now, we see a rabbi in Israel who dares to compare IDF soldiers to those immoral, inhumane murderers. The worst part is that this rabbi is apparently convinced that his horrific words are true, while taking pride in the "ultimate victory" expected for him and his supporters.

What does 'ultimate victory' mean?
This rabbi passes on the venom to the younger generations when he explains to them that his feeling back when Nazi soldiers burst into his home with the intention of transferring Jews to the gas chambers is the same as what he feels today when IDF troops are sent to evacuate an unauthorized outpost.

I would not be surprised if in the future Rabbi Lior claims that authorities are planning to build concentration camps for those who resist the evacuation of outposts.

And by the way, what "ultimate victory" exactly does Rabbi Lior refer to? Victory over Israeli democracy? Victory over the rule of law? Victory over IDF soldiers?

The main problem is that this irresponsible person, while preaching to young people and children and comparing the Nazis to IDF troops, fails to understand how dangerous his words are for all of us, and to what extent they can be used as ammunition by the many Israel haters and Holocaust deniers. As I said, with friends like these…

 

Egyptisch leger traint voor oorlog met Israel - maar is voor vrede

 

"There is no military force other than Israel on their borders, so the drills are simulated with Israel in mind. Every army undergoes drills and builds up plans. The Egyptian army is looking at Israel's capabilities, not its intentions. Egypt believes Israel is fully interested in safeguarding the status quo, and Israel believes the same of Egypt.

"But the Egyptian military cannot ignore its next door neighbor's military and act as if it is neutral," Shapir said.

He added that Israel, too, trained for scenarios involving the Egyptian military. "We can't expect things to be any different," he said. "We are not in the European Union. Before the current era, and before the world wars, European powers held drills with their neighbors in mind."

 

Zolang Mubarak president van Egypte is, is Egypte geinteresseerd in het handhaven van de status-quo, maar Mubarak is oud. Wat er na zijn dood zal gebeuren weet God of Allah, ons mensen is het niet bekend. De Egyptische publieke opinie is sterk anti-Israel, evenals de media en de - vooral islamistische - oppositie. Zolang men het idee heeft dat Israel onverslaanbaar is zullen ook zij er waarschijnlijk geen oorlog mee willen riskeren, maar als dat verandert, waarom dan niet de Palestijnse broeders te hulp komen? Dat is juist het fundamentele verschil tussen Israel en haar buren dat mensen hier, maar ook Shapir negeert: Israel is niet uit op vernietiging van haar buren en zal haar militaire overmacht daar niet voor gebruiken. Wanneer de Arabische buurlanden van Israel (denken dat ze) sterker zijn, is er een aanzienlijke kans dat de roep en de wens om de vroegere vernederingen ongedaan te maken, onweerstaanbaar wordt.

 

De verwijzing naar Europa is niet erg bemoedigend en welhaast ironisch, gezien de wereldoorlogen die volgden.

 

RP

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Expert: Egypt modernizing army, but committed to peace

 

Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Nov. 2, 2008
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225199631823&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 

Egypt's military is gradually doing away with dated Soviet equipment and replacing them with superior American F-16 fighter jets, Apache combat helicopters and Abrams tanks, according to arms control expert Prof. Yiftah Shapir of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Securities Studies.

Egypt has an estimated 470,000 men in its ground forces, 150,000 of them reserves, according to Sapir. The Egyptian army has 3,100 tanks, including more than 1,000 modern M1A1 Abram tanks that were assembled in Egypt after being imported in pieces.

Egypt has no less than 2,110 anti-tank missiles and 3,590 artillery and mortar guns, as well as rocket launchers.

Of the 518 planes that make up the country's air force, 211 are advanced F-16D multi-role jets. Some 35 modernized Apaches are also in service among the 225 air force helicopters.

Egypt has advanced air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and has been supplied by the US with 16 HAWK missile batteries.

It is the Egyptian navy, however, that truly impresses in both its size and makeup, Shapir said.

"If there's one thing the Egyptians have on a bigger scale than us, it is their navy. Egypt has more coastal areas and beaches than Israel, and has received the most advanced forms of frigates, known as Perry-class frigates," he said.

Egypt has 27 guided-missile frigates of various classes, 12 mine warfare vessels, and 19 gunboats. It maintains eight naval bases.

As for unconventional weapons, Egypt may have researched and produced chemical warfare agents and stockpiled mustard and nerve agents, although this has not been confirmed. It is thought to possess 190 scud-type missiles.

Egypt maintains two space satellites, both thought to be for civilian and scientific use.

Shapir said he was not overly concerned by reports of Egyptian military drills in which Israel was the simulated enemy.

"There is no military force other than Israel on their borders, so the drills are simulated with Israel in mind. Every army undergoes drills and builds up plans. The Egyptian army is looking at Israel's capabilities, not its intentions. Egypt believes Israel is fully interested in safeguarding the status quo, and Israel believes the same of Egypt.

"But the Egyptian military cannot ignore its next door neighbor's military and act as if it is neutral," Shapir said.

He added that Israel, too, trained for scenarios involving the Egyptian military. "We can't expect things to be any different," he said. "We are not in the European Union. Before the current era, and before the world wars, European powers held drills with their neighbors in mind."