zaterdag 20 december 2008

Durban II: VN anti-racisme of anti-Israel conferentie?

 
Het ziet er naar uit dat Maxime Verhagen zich aan zijn belofte zal houden dat Nederland niet bij "Durban II" (de VN anti-racisme vervolgconferentie in Geneve) aanwezig zal zijn als Israel-bashing een van de hoofdthema's is zoals het op Durban I was. Als het niet lukt de ontwerp tekst, met een paar stevige anti-Israel passages erin, nog te veranderen, gaat Nederland zich bij de boycot door Israel en Canada aansluiten.
 
RP
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Herhaling van onfrisse debatten

http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/wereld/article1926565.ece/Herhaling_van_onfrisse_debatten_.html

Ontwerptekst VN-conferentie: Israël is enige staat die discrimineert

 
Minister Verhagen dreigt met een boycot van de anti-racisme conferentie van de VN. Hij vreest anti-semitische ondertonen. Heeft hij gelijk?

'Durban II', heet de conferentie onofficieel. In Genève praten in april gedelegeerden van VN-lidstaten over de bestrijding van racisme. Net als in 2001, toen ze confereerden in de Zuid-Afrikaanse badplaats Durban. Of liever: hopelijk níet net als toen.

De beraadslagingen destijds werden bezoedeld door 'mensenrechtenactivisten' die opkwamen voor de Palestijnse zaak. Ze deelden pamfletten uit met klassieke anti-semitische spotprenten, verwijzingen naar de Protocollen van de Wijzen van Zion (het mythische Joodse complot om de heerschappij van de wereld over te nemen), en Davidssterren vervlochten met hakenkruizen.

De activisten deden niet mee aan de eigenlijke VN-conferentie maar aan een parallel forum, waar onderdrukten aller landen hun strijd bundelen: van de Indiase dalits tot Roma's en Tibetanen. Maar de anti-Israëlische activisten zetten de hele VN-conferentie in een kwade reuk.

Lees verder op Trouw

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Ontwerp: blokkade bezette gebieden is genocide

In Genève wordt gedebatteerd over een verklaring tegen racisme. Volgens de ontwerptekst staat daarin onder meer:

De bezetting en afsluiting door Israël van Palestijnse gebieden zijn „een nieuwe vorm van apartheid, een misdaad tegen de menselijkheid, een vorm van genocide en een ernstige bedreiging van de internationale vrede en veiligheid."

De conferentie „betuigt diepe spijt over de raciale discriminatie tegen de Palestijnen" en roept op die te beëindigen.

De conferentie signaleert een toenemende intolerantie tegen leden van 'vele religies'. „Het meest alarmerende verschijnsel is de intellectuele en ideologische rechtvaardiging van islamofobie."

Die „verschuilt zich achter de vrijheid van meningsuiting (...) en achter de oorlog tegen het terrorisme."

De 'sterker wordende discriminatie van moslims' moet worden tegengegaan. Omdat 'de bestaande nationale wetten en rechtbanken' daarin tekortschieten, „moeten internationaal bindende normen worden opgesteld die adequate garantie bieden tegen belastering van godsdiensten."

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Zie UN Watch voor een uitgebreid dossier.

Obama legt contacten met Joodse organisaties van links en rechts over Midden-Oosten

 
Een open houding en oog voor alle meningen over het Midden-Oosten conflict binnen de Amerikaans-Joodse gemeenschap is natuurlijk alleen maar toe te juichen, maar ik hoop dat Obama zich niet alleen zal laten leiden door het groeiende aantal 'kritische groeperingen', die van gematigde groepen als Americans for Peace Now tot radikale anti-zionistische groeperingen als Jewish Voice for Peace reikt.
 
De grote gevestigde Joodse organisaties zijn vaak wat conservatiever dan het Joodse publiek, waarbij de vele 'alternatieve' organisaties vaak juist een stuk linkser zijn en wel erg eenzijdig anti-Israel. Ook het relatief nieuwe J Street stelt wat dat betreft teleur, en vervalt veelal in eenzijdige kritiek op Israel. Een kakofonie aan (vaak tegenstrijdige) stemmen zal Israel niet ten goed komen. Tegenover de machtige Arabische lobby en de groeiende groep Israel critici is het belangrijk dat er een redelijk, gematigd maar ook krachtig pro-Israel geluid te horen is. Organisaties als het rechtse ZOA en genoemde linkse vredesorganisaties of actiegroepen dragen niet bij aan vrede en veiligheid voor Israel.
 
RP
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Obama solicits broad Jewish views on Middle East
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/12/obama-solicits-broad-jewish-views-on.html
 
When Diane met Mort

By Ron Kampeas · December 19, 2008
 
 
How did it go in that speech? Folks in red states who hate eavesdropping, folks in blue states who believe in an awesome God?
 
Add to that folks in pro-Israel groups who want settlers in the farthest reaches of the West Bank and folks in, ummm. .... other pro-Israel groups who don't.*
 
President-elect Barack Obama's transition team's first official encounter with the Jewish community suggested a substantial change in how his administration will deal with Jewish groups: Present were the array of dovish pro-Israel groups, including the Israel Policy Forum, J-Street, Americans for Peace Now and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom.
 
Of those groups, only IPF made the occasional appearance at meetings with Bush administration officials - and that was because the group has always been careful to cast a non-partisan tint to its pro-negotiations posture, effusively praising the Bush administration's peace-brokering efforts, however infrequent those were until a year or so ago. Other more liberal groups at the table - including the Reform movemen'ts Religious Action Center - were also occasionally invited, but the emphasis is on "occasionally."
 
What was remarkable about Thursday's meeting is that the Obama team also reached out to the other side, including the Zionist Organization of America. Dan Shapiro, the transition official who handled foreign policy at the meeting, made it clear he wanted to hear all voices.
 
The Bush administration's infamous tetchiness at criticism seemed to be a thing of the past: ZOA has slammed Obama's transition team  for including strident Israel critic Samantha Power in a post that barely registers above chief cook and bottle washer, but has failed to praise it for installing true-blue pro-Israel types like Jim Steinberg in more senior posts.
 
And that was fine with the dovish types, or at least with Diane Balser who directs Brit Tzedek, a group that has lobbied in recent years for increased aid to the Palestinians, even as ZOA has lobbied against it.
 
"The Obama team said they were open and understood everyone had a seat," Balser told me. "To acknowledge there is more than one view on Israel, that we're not monolithic - I consider that a step forward for us."
 
Balser was so enchanted by the new order, that she sought out the ZOA's Mort Klein afterwards, and they had a civil, even pleasant conversation, she said, and discovered something in common (aside, of course, from a love for Israel, however differently slanted): Each, it turns out, has a sibling who thinks their politics are, well, nuts.
 
Klein confirmed the conversation. "I tell my brother he's adopted, and he reminds me we look alike," he said.
 
Klein said he thought Balser "was delightful and pleasant, although her group's views are not delightful and pleasant."
 
Klein wasn't so sure about the breadth of the transition team's outreach, noting that Americans for a Safe Israel, which is similarly hawkish, was not present - although he was not sure they were not invited.
 
Klein said he took the opportunity during the meeting to contradict some of the dovish groups' positons, pointing out shortcomings in the Arab League's peace plan (it is unclear, for instance, on the status of Palestinian refugees and leaves open the possibility of a mass return.)
 
He also said that he corrected misimpressions of support for a two-state solution, noting that at least two Israel parties in the Knesset are opposed - and that support among American Jews has dropped in recent years to less than 50 percent.
 
*The Red State/Blue State nexus doesn't work here - Balser is from Boston and Klein is from Philadelphia.
 

IDF tegenover sterker Hamas na half jaar staakt-het-vuren


Een analyse van de voor- en nadelen van het staakt-het-vuren van het afgelopen half jaar.
 
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IDF faces stronger Hamas
 
Lull had benefits, but it also allowed Hamas to build up its military strength
 
Alex Fishman - YNET
Published: 12.19.08, 00:49 / Israel Opinion
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3641065,00.html

 
The Gaza Strip lull also served as a platform for tightening the ties between Israel and Egypt. The Gaza crisis did not trickle into Egypt, and the Egyptians did not cave in to Hamas on the issues important to Israel, such as the opening of the Rafah Crossing or the release of Hamas detainees held by Cairo.

The lull also allowed for the advancement of the Saudi peace initiative and the maintenance of polite relations with the moderate Arab world. It was no coincidence that Jordan's King Abdullah invited Prime Minister Olmert and Defense Minister Barak to meet with him about two months ago. The possibility of ending the lull jeopardized, and still jeopardizes, the Jordanian regime's stability.

Thanks to the lull, we also got less airtime on television screens in Europe and the United States. This enabled the International Quartet to cling to a policy of boycotting Hamas and provided the US Administration with some quiet, so it could focus on affairs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lull also enabled the IDF to prepare, formulate plans, and equip itself. However, the same cannot be said of Gaza-region residents. The time was not used efficiently for completing fortifications and preparing for the possibility of more communities coming under the rocket threat.

Army officials also believe that a clash on the Gaza front may prompt a second front in the north, so the lull spared us another violent round on two fronts, simultaneously and at an inconvenient timing.

Hamas doubled its rocket arsenal
The defense establishment, including the defense minister and army chief, see more benefits than drawbacks to the lull. However, the advantages are counterbalanced by the deepening Hamas hold on the Strip and the build up of the group's military capabilities.

At this time, Hamas possess a rocket arsenal that is double the size and range of what it had six months ago. Hamas has 8,000 to 10,000 rockets of various types. Six months ago, its rockets had a 20-kilometer (roughly 12 miles) range. Today, the group may be able to hit Beersheba.

Meanwhile, Gaza's defense system has been completed. It includes eight divisions and 16,000 armed personnel, as well as anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons. The quality of the defenses against Israel's armored forces has improved, and underground tunnels are much more secure. Toady, Gaza is home to tunnels extending for about 50 kilometers (roughly 30 miles,) improved bunkers, and better intelligence means.

Israeli officials expected that the lull would serve to advance negotiations on the release of Gilad Shalit. Yet this did not happen.

In summary, what the IDF could have done six months ago is much more complicated today. Therefore, there is no rush now. Or as the defense minister put it: The war won't run away.

 

3 Qassams in Negev op vrijdagochtend bij einde staakt-het-vuren

 
Dit lijkt nog relatief weinig, ook in vergelijking met de Qassams die de afgelopen dagen al waren afgevuurd. Hamas stuurt blijkbaar niet echt aan op een confrontatie. Uit voorzorg zijn Hamas leiders alvast ondergedoken: dat kan betekenen dat men wel meer aanvallen van plan is, of men vreest dat Israel ook zonder een escalatie in de raketaanvallen de leiders kan gaan aanvallen, wat onwaarschijnlijk is.
 
RP
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3 Kassams hit South, gunmen fire at farmers as truce ends
 
YAAKOV KATZ and KHALED ABU TOAMEH , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
Palestinian terrorists fired three Kassam rockets at the western Negev on Friday morning, slightly over an hour after the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza factions officially ended.

Two of the rockets landed in open fields in the Eshkol region, while the third slammed into the Sha'ar Hanegev area. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

Also Friday morning, Gaza terrorists fired at farmers near Kibbutz Nir Oz, in the Eshkol region. No one was wounded, but vehicles were damaged.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks.

On Thursday night, Hamas officials in Gaza and Beirut announced that the terror group would not extend the truce. Nevertheless, even before the officials announcement, eleven rockets and six mortar shells had already been fired into Israel, following 24 rockets fired the day before.

In Gaza, Hamas leaders went underground out of fear of being targeted by Israel. The group also evacuated many of its institutions and security installations in anticipation of an escalation with the IDF.

Defense officials said that the only acceptable situation would be complete quiet on the Gaza front, like there was throughout most of the cease-fire and before the IDF launched an operation in November to uncover and destroy a tunnel being dug from Gaza into Israel. The operation triggered a sharp escalation in rocket fire.

"We will only accept quiet like there was before the operation in November," a senior defense official said. "Sporadic fire of several Kassams a day is unacceptable and will lead us to a collision course with Hamas."

On Thursday, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant held a security assessment at his headquarters in Beersheba, after which dozens of armored vehicles deployed along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officers in the Gaza Division said their orders were to be "ready for an escalation at a moment's notice."

IDF sources said the past week's rocket fire was carried out by Islamic Jihad under orders from Hamas to escalate the situation. Hamas, the officers said, wanted to pressure Israel into opening the border crossings and expanding the cease-fire to the West Bank.

IAF bombings of two Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza overnight Wednesday were aimed at sending a message to the terror group that it would pay for its affiliation with Hamas, the officials said.

The decision not to renew the cease-fire was taken following a series of consultations between Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. It was being regarded as a victory for the Syrian-based Hamas leadership, which, along with other radical groups such as Islamic Jihad, was strongly opposed to an extension unless Israel lifted its Gaza blockade.

Some Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip had maintained that the cease-fire should be extended so as not to give Israel an excuse to launch a massive military operation.

Despite the announcement, sources close to Hamas predicted that the movement would eventually agree to abide by a renewed cease-fire. The sources said it was trying to extract concessions from Israel as a precondition for extending the cease-fire.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel of "destroying" the cease-fire by continuing to target Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank and by refusing to reopen the border crossings into the Gaza Strip.

"There is no room for extending the cease-fire and Israel bears full responsibility for its collapse," he said. "Tomorrow [Friday] will be the last day of the truce."

Representatives of other groups joined Hamas in declaring that the cease-fire was over.

Saleh Zeidan, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, cited the continued Israeli blockade as the reason for letting the cease-fire lapse. He called on all armed groups in the Gaza Strip to prepare for a new round of confrontation with Israel.

Walid Hils, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, said his organization "reserved the right to defend the Palestinians against Israeli aggression after December 19." He warned Israel against assassinating prominent figures or invading the Gaza Strip, saying it would pay a heavy price for such an "adventure."

Abu Mujahed, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees - an alliance of various armed groups in the area - said that Israel had ended the cease-fire through its policy of "killings and incursions" in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, UNRWA announced on Thursday that it had exhausted all stocks of flour in its warehouses in the Gaza Strip. Food distribution, the UN agency said, would be suspended from Thursday until further notice.

vrijdag 19 december 2008

Israëls geheime actieplan voor Gaza

 
Israel heeft een plan om een einde te maken aan de raketbeschietingen en Gilad Shalit terug te krijgen, maar dat is strict geheim, aldus dit artikel. Zou het? Zou men Shalit op het spoor zijn? Zou men een manier weten om een einde aan de raketbeschietingen te maken zonder honderden slachtoffers te maken, of het risico te lopen dat meer soldaten worden ontvoerd? Heeft Israel een nieuw geheim wapen ontwikkeld, dat alleen terroristen treft en onschuldige omstanders automatisch ontziet? We zullen het moeten afwachten, of wie weet praat een van de betrokkenen z'n mond wel weer voorbij.
 
RP
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Cabinet approved secret Gaza plan last week; now, ministers must keep silent
 
Published:  12.17.08, 00:52 / Israel Opinion 
Part 2 of analysis by Ron-Ben Yishai
(Part 1 see here)
 
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as opposed to what is being published on occasion, is not enthusiastic about escalating the IDF's response to the sporadic rocket and mortar fire originating from Gaza. He knows that harsh responses will ultimately require the IDF to carry out a large-scale operation in the Strip which it does not wish to embark on at this time. Therefore, Olmert is adhering to the same restrained positions as Barak and Ashkenazi.
 
Yet this leaves many members of the Israeli public confused and mostly frustrated. Reports regarding Hamas' considerations in favor of and against the lull abound. Yet the considerations that prompt the Israeli government to openly declare that it wishes to see the lull go on are much less clearer to Israel's citizens. The statements made by the politicians lead us to understand that top security officials are curbing more hawkish actions, which many ministers support.
 
The explanations offered by Defense Minister Barak to the public fail to make it clear why the ministers - including Deputy PM Ramon, Foreign Minister Livni, and Transportation Minister Mofaz, among others - make do with belligerent statements, instead of uniting in order to enforce a belligerent decision in the cabinet. It is still unclear what Minister Barak and his deputy Vilnai mean when they say that the IDF is prepared to carry out a broad and creative series of Gaza operations, and will be carrying it out - at the "right time." What conditions are required in order to create this timing?
 
The key to deciphering all those question marks apparently has to do with the policy and action plan formulated by top security officials. The plan was approved by the kitchen-cabinet last week. We are dealing with a plan that is meant to secure several targets, including the release of Gilad Shalit and a long-term solution to the terror attacks originating in the Gaza Strip.
 
There is no way of knowing whether the policy and action plan are effective and whether they will secure the desired results. Their execution may prove that we are dealing with a complete fiasco. However, security officials are justifiably claiming that exposing the plan, and even exposing the considerations it is based on and the preparatory steps required for its successful execution, may jeopardize its outcome and the lives of IDF soldiers.
 
For that reason, the prime minister and senior ministers make sure to remain silent and vague - this includes making ministers and senior officials and officers sign declarations of secrecy. It is legitimate for the government and defense establishment to prevent such sensitive information from being revealed publicly. However, this requires government ministers to draw the right conclusions and maintain their restraint.
 
The vague statements made by ministers because of electoral considerations on the advice of their strategic advisors cause damage. On the one hand, they do not help the public in understanding and coping with the situation, yet on the other hand they may expose Israel's intentions. Even the defense minister and foreign minister must behave responsibly now, overcome their urges, and remain silent.
 

UNRWA staakt voedseldistributie in Gazastrook

 
Nadat het staakt-het-vuren vandaag officieel afloopt, kan de situatie haast alleen nog maar slechter worden. Het Hamasleiderschap in Gaza lijkt dat in te zien, en is volgens analysten eigenlijk voor verlenging van het staakt-het-vuren, maar is 'overruled' door de in Syrië (of is hij echt naar Soedan verhuisd?) verkerende Meshaal, die onder sterke Syrische en Iraanse invloed staat.
 
Wat ook zou helpen: bereid te zijn Gilad Shalit vrij te laten in ruil voor 1000 gevangenen in plaats van 1500, en Israels tegenvoorstel wat betreft de ca. 500 gevangenen die voor directe betrokkenheid bij dodelijke aanslagen vastzitten en wiens vrijlating Hamas eist, te accepteren. Israel heeft zich daarin al behoorlijk soepel opgesteld, en de criteria voor het vrijlaten van gevangenen al meermaals versoepeld...
 
RP
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The Jerusalem Post
Dec 18, 2008 10:34 | Updated Dec 18, 2008 15:24
 
UNRWA suspends Gaza food distribution
By JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728244676&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


UNRWA announced on Thursday that, effective immediately, it would stop distributing emergency food aid in the Gaza Strip.

According to a press release issued by the United Nations agency Thursday morning, the decision was made after the blockade on Gaza "exhausted all stocks of flour" in the UN warehouses. The statement said that the most recent wheat shipment, which was scheduled for December 9-10, was prevented from entering the area due to the general border closure.

In the weeks leading up to the end of the ceasefire between Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel, which is set to expire on Friday, terrorists have notably increased their attacks, with over 40 rocket strikes since Tuesday.

The UN relief agency said that the suspension of its aid distribution would be in effect until further notice.

A total of 750,000 refugees out of a population of 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip depend on food assistance from UNRWA, the agency said. On average, the agency distributes food to about 20,000 refugees per day.

Meanwhile, a UN report said the closure of Gaza had created a "profound human dignity crisis."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Gaza's 1.4 million people were increasingly preoccupied with obtaining basic supplies such as water and food.

According to the report, unemployment now stands at 49 percent, up from 32% a year ago. It also said residents of Gaza City were without power for up to 16 hours a day, half the city's residents received water only once a week for a few hours and 80% of the drinking water was substandard.

Hamas zal staakt-het-vuren niet verlengen

 
Twee enigzins tegenstrijdige berichten in de Jerusalem Post over Hamas' positie wat betreft het staakt-het-vuren, waarbij volgens het andere bericht Hamas er nog niet uit is, en de leiders uit Gaza proberen Meshaal ervan te overtuigen dat het staakt-het-vuren moet worden voortgezet. Meshaal staat onder sterke invloed van Iran en Syrië, en die willen niet dat Egypte op die manier opnieuw een diplomatieke overwinning behaalt. Dat zou ook de hoofdreden zijn dat de verzoeningsgesprekken tussen Fatah en Hamas onder leiding van Egypte stuk liepen. Zie: Who is calling the shots in Hamas?
 
Ondertussen heeft Islamitische Jihad vandaag en gisteren tientallen raketten op Israel afgevuurd, waarna Israel een luchtaanval op raketlanceerders uitvoerde, en is het staakt-het-vuren in feite al non existent.

RP
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The Jerusalem Post
Dec 18, 2008 7:28 | Updated Dec 18, 2008 21:05
 
 
Hamas officially declared Thursday evening that it would not extend the six-month-old truce between Gaza factions and Israel, although 11 Kassam rockets and five mortar shells had already pounded southern Israel by mid-afternoon.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that "there is no chance of extending the calm" and that Israel was to blame for the failure. It was not clear if this was Hamas's final word. The group often issues contradictory statements.

The cease-fire had been due to expire on Friday and the tempo of hostilities between the two sides had been drastically rising over the last three days.

No one was wounded in Thursday's attacks, but several buildings were damaged when one of the rockets landed in the middle of a western Negev kibbutz.

Shortly after noon, IAF aircraft launched an airstrike against two Kassam rocket launchers - one had been used moments earlier to launch a rocket, while the other was said to be loaded. Both were destroyed in the attack, the IDF said.

Soon after the first early morning rocket barrage, the IAF struck terrorist infrastructure in two separate locations.

One of the targets was an arsenal containing rockets in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza. Another was a factory for the production of rockets and other explosives in Khan Yunis. Both strikes were conducted with fighter jets and helicopters, the IDF said.

Meanwhile, Palestinians reported that an IAF strike in northern Gaza which followed Wednesday's rocket barrage left a 47-year-old man dead after a missile allegedly hit his home, causing a balcony to come crashing down on him. The IDF, however, said that it had targeted a rocket-launching cell and did not confirm the reported casualty.

The latest flare up comes after nearly 40 rockets struck the western Negev in the past two days, leaving many to wonder over the likelihood that the ceasefire would be extended beyond Friday.

In a poll conducted by the Knesset channel, 47 percent of respondents said that the country had erred in agreeing to a cease-fire, while 43% said it was the right choice. 35% of respondents said that the ceasefire should be extended, while 58% said it should not.

3 Lichtgewonden door Qassams in Sderot op woensdag


De Palestijnen kondigen het einde van het staakt-het-vuren niet alleen met woorden aan.
 
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The Jerusalem Post
Dec 17, 2008 16:08 | Updated Dec 17, 2008 21:30
 
Barak says IDF won't rush into Gaza op, after 3 hurt by Kassams
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728234910&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


Despite some 24 rockets hitting the western Negev Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel would not rush into an operation in Gaza.

"We are not deterred from an operation in Gaza but we are also not rushing into one," Barak said during a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies. "When there is no choice we will act when and where we see fit."

Three people were lightly wounded late Wednesday afternoon when two Kassam rocket fired by Gaza terrorists landed next to a Sderot shopping parade.

Cars and shops were also damaged in the attack, which came when hundreds of people were doing their shopping in the area.

The casualties were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing the rockets.

Following the attack, the IAF fired missiles at two rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip, next to Beit Hanun. The army said that the launchers were ready for use.

Later, four more Kassams hit the Sdot Negev region, one damaging a building, and another landed in the Sha'ar Hanegev region. No additional casualties were reported.

In response to the ongoing cease-fire breaches, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned of impending Israeli military action.

"The rocket fire is just clarifying what we've been saying all along, that we can't have a situation where supposedly there is an agreed-upon ceasefire, while the reality on the ground is completely different," Olmert said after voting in the Kadima primaries.

"Of course this demands that we address it," the prime minister continued, "And we will address it."

Trade, Industry and Labor Minister Eli Yishai also commented on the latest violations, calling for an emergency Security Cabinet session to discuss the matter and warning the terrorists in Gaza that no one was immune from an Israeli response.

"These terrorist Kassam rocket-launching cells are butchering Sderot and the communities in the Gaza periphery as if they're just shooting targets, whereas over here [some decision-makers] have turned into pillars of salt, and pillars of ice [with regards to] feelings," he said.

"Those who [try and] massacre us must know that we, too, have targets, and that nobody is immune," Yishai continued.

Earlier on Wednesday, Spokesman for the United States Military's European Command Capt. Ed Buclatin visited Sderot as the guest of IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu.

Buclatin was driven through Ashkelon and Sderot in an armored vehicle provided by the IDF. Military sources said that the Americans requested the vehicle due to the Kassam barrage.

US officials rejected a report that aired on Army Radio according to which Washington recently issued a directive that all US officials need to travel in armored vehicles in Sderot and Ashkelon. The officials said that each case was evaluated on an individual basis.

"This is not a sweeping directive but when there is a threat like there was today then the security instructions are to travel in an armored car," an American official explained.

Buclatin's visit comes on the heels of the deployment in September of the high-powered X-Band radar in Israel to help defend the country against Iran. The radar is operated by the European Command.

During his visit, Buclatin's met with senior IDF commanders and was briefed on the current situation in the Gaza Strip. He visited several bases, including the Nevatim Air Force Base in the south and the Navy's base in Haifa.

"This is an amazing opportunity to visit Israel, meet my counterparts, and get a first-hand understanding of the issues and challenges that the IDF Spokesperson's Unit is faced with everyday," Buclatin said.

Benayahu said the visit was important in order to exchange ideas on the way to work with the media at a time of war.

"We have extensive experience working with the media during wartime," he said. "It is clear to us all that spokesmanship is monumentally important in urban warfare and the war on terror."

Invloed Iran op Hamas neemt toe

 
 
Men heeft Hamas nooit kunnen betichten van vredelievende bedoelingen, maar het wordt mogelijk alleen nog maar erger.  

RP
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'Iran influence over Hamas is growing'
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
Iran's influence over Hamas has increased in recent months and Teheran is playing a key role in the terror group's decision-making process regarding whether to extend the cease-fire with Israel that will expire on Friday, defense officials said Monday.

According to the officials, Egypt - which for years was the main address for dealings with Hamas - has lost its authority over the terror group and is being replaced in part by Iran. The Gaza issue has been a source of contention between Teheran and Cairo in recent weeks.

As an example of Egypt's decline, the official noted that in November, Hamas rejected an Egyptian request to come to Cairo for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"Egyptian influence over Hamas has dropped," a senior defense official said Monday. "Iran's influence, on the other hand, is on the rise."

On Monday, some 80 trucks carrying fuel and basic humanitarian supplies were allowed into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom and Nahal Oz Crossings.

Defense officials said that the crossings were specially opened to allow the transfer of the supplies, which Israel is obligated to allow into Gaza even when the crossings are officially closed.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that he would not be deterred from launching a military operation in Gaza.

"I am not deterred from an operation in Gaza but am also not running into Gaza," Barak said, during a meeting with visiting Austrian President Heinz Fischer. "If there will be quiet it will be met by quiet. If the truce will be breached and there is no choice, we will operate in the right way and at the right time."

Although the truce began on June 19, "it was agreed explicitly that there is no expiration date" in the agreement, head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad said Monday, a day after returning from talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo.

"In the end, the test is the calm and the benefit the residents have had for long months, even though it is relative calm," he added.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal however, said on Sunday that the truce would not be renewed when it expires on Friday. Other Hamas officials said that the group had not yet made a decision on whether or not they would seek to renew the agreement.

Asked whether any progress had been made on the issue of captured soldier Gilad Schalit during the talks in Egypt that he had on Sunday, Gilad said the only real test was "whether he's [in Israel] or not."

He said that the issue of the cease-fire with Hamas was crucial to freeing the captured soldier, and expressed hope that Schalit "would return alive and well."

Meanwhile, Israel released 224 Palestinian prisoners Monday in a gesture to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Jubilant detainees waving Palestinian flags jumped on the roof of one of the buses carrying them to freedom.

The buses headed from an IDF checkpoint to Abbas's headquarters in nearby Ramallah, where he hugged and kissed each former detainee.

Initially, Israel was to free 227 prisoners. However, Israeli Prison Service spokesman Yaron Zamir said only 224 were freed, and the release of three others was still under review.

Eighteen of the prisoners were released to Gaza.

Abbas told the detainees in Ramallah that he would work to win the release of all the remaining prisoners in Israeli jails.

"Our happiness will not be complete until all of the 11,000 prisoners are freed," Abbas said.

One of the prisoners, Abdel Nasser Hussein, 28, had been arrested at dawn on his wedding day 30 months ago. His fiancee, Alaa Issa, showed up smartly dressed in a matching coat and head scarf Monday, bearing a bouquet of red roses. They hugged and kissed.

"It's indescribable happiness," said Hussein, a former member of the Palestinian security forces. "You can't put a price on freedom, and my hope that is that the president will keep working for my colleagues to be released."

After exchanging rings, they walked arm-in-arm, their friends and family clapping and singing a traditional wedding song. They plan to marry in two weeks.

 
AP contributed to this report.

VN-voorzitter beschuldigt Israel van laster

 
De demonisering en uitsluiting van Israel lijkt steeds extremere vormen aan te nemen. De beweringen van de Nicaraguaanse voorzitter van de Algemene Vergadering stroken niet met de eerdere berichten.

RP
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The Jerusalem Post
Dec 16, 2008 8:23 | Updated Dec 16, 2008 15:19

UNGA head accuses Israel of slander
By ALLISON HOFFMAN, JPOST CORRESPONDENT IN NY
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728212812&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

 
A top UN official accused Israeli diplomats of slander Monday after a dispute last week over diplomatic protocol in which he allegedly tried to prevent Israel's envoy from giving a speech on human rights.

General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann issued a strongly worded statement calling the claim a "malicious and absolute lie" and suggesting that comments from Israeli officials to the press "could best be characterized as slander" and suggesting that "in any court of law this is a criminal act."

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Enrique Yeves, d¹Escoto also said he had received death threats on the Internet that were being investigated by "the pertinent authorities."

D¹Escoto said in the statement he planned to bring up the issue with the Israelis at a meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev responded by announcing she had canceled the meeting.

"The role of the President of the General Assembly should be to unite the international community and promote shared interests and values. However, since his first days as president of the General Assembly, Mr. D'Escoto has been divisive and controversial, abusing his position," Shalev said in a statement issued by her spokeswoman Mirit Cohen.

The war of words was the latest in a series of heated exchanges between the two in the press that began with Shalev calling d'Escoto an "Israel hater" in September, after he declined to castigate Iran¹s president for saying that Israel should be wiped off the map.

D'Escoto, a Nicaraguan diplomat and former Sandinista government minister who currently holds the one-year General Assembly presidency, subsequently said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that he "loved" Israel but more recently called for a boycott and divestment from the international community after comparing Israeli policies in Palestine to South African apartheid.

The furor bubbled over last week ahead of the 60th anniversary celebration of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights, at which Israel was scheduled to speak on behalf of the Western European regional group as its temporary chair. Shalev told the Post last week she suspected d'Escoto had initially decided not to schedule speeches from regional blocs in order to stop her from speaking.

D'Escoto fiercely denied that he had tried to silence Israel, saying in a statement that only high-level UN officials were initially slated to make addresses. European envoys intervened and urged him to include regional blocs, Shalev told the Post last week.

Shalev was ultimately invited to address the gathering, along with representatives from the Arab League and other nations.
 

woensdag 17 december 2008

Assad wil toegang Syrië tot Meer van Galilea

 
Zie hier de compromisbereide instelling van Syrië. Als Syrië de internationale grens van 1923 zou voorstellen, zou dat geen enkel probleem zijn. Syrië heeft echter in 1948 een strook van de Golan met geweld veroverd op Israel. Terwijl men zelf altijd hard klaagt over de illegaliteit van Israëlische landveroveringen verzwijgt men eigen agressief gedrag.
 
Helaas gaan onze media, zoals het Acht Uur Journaal, daar vaak in mee, en presenteren Syrië als compromisbereid en Israël als de dwarsligger, zoals onlangs in een tweedelige reportage over de Golan.
 
RP
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Assad wants Syrian access to Kinneret
jpost.com staff and herb keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST
 
Damascus has drafted a document defining the boundaries of the Golan Heights and which puts Syria on the northeastern Kinneret shore, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the talks.

The sources said that Damascus was waiting for an Israeli reply through Turkish mediators.

"The president was clear that Syria wants to know the Israeli view about what constitutes occupied Syrian territory before progress can be made," one of the sources said.

"According to Syrian thinking, Israeli agreement on the six (geographical) points could help seal a peace deal next year. But Israel may not be able to provide a response any time soon, when it is in such political turmoil," a second source said.

A Syrian official said that the paper sent to Turkey includes reference to geographical points on the present northeastern shore of the Kinneret. "The document puts us on the water," the official said.

Israel said it could neither confirm nor deny the report.

It follows a Jerusalem Post report of December 5, which quoted London-based Al-Hayat newspaper as saying that Syria was refraining from engaging in direct peace negotiations with Israel until it received answers to six questions sent to Jerusalem regarding the future of the Golan Heights.

According to the report, Turkey presented both sides with an offer to advance the negotiations, and during the diplomatic activity that followed, both countries exchanged six questions. Israel asked about security guarantees, and Syria asked about the Golan and future borders.

The paper reported that Syria had submitted its responses to the Turks, but had asked that they not be shown to Jerusalem officials until the Israelis submitted their own answers.

Israel has never acknowledged that it received any document from the Syrians, and an official in the Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the Al-Hayat story.

Another Israeli diplomatic official, however, said the Syrian government had said publicly it wasn't interested in beginning direct negotiations with Israel until a new US administration was in place.

The Syrians are very keen on intensive US involvement, something the Bush administration was hesitant to offer, but something to which the Obama administration may be more amenable.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak attended an IDF Armored Corps drill in the Golan on Tuesday and said that the exercise "instills confidence in the might and capabilities of the IDF."

Hamas zal staakt-het-vuren vrijdag beëindigen - of toch niet?

 
Hamas is het er wel/niet over eens dat het staakt-het-vuren niet wordt voortgezet.
Het lijkt erop dat de harde lijn, die sterk wordt beinvloed door Syrië en Iran, heeft gewonnen.
 
RP
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Last update - 09:25 16/12/2008       
Agreement in Hamas: Cease-fire to end Friday
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046923.html
 
 
After expressing contradictory positions on Sunday, Hamas' leadership on Monday adopted a united stance: The cease-fire with Israel, which expires this Friday, will not be extended.
 
On Sunday, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshal, had said precisely that, but Gaza-based leaders of the movement insisted that no decision had yet been reached.
 
Monday, however, Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Ayman Taha, said the movement had concluded that there was no point in extending the truce "as long as Israel isn't abiding by its terms" - though he added that talks on continuing the cease-fire were still taking place.
 
Specifically, Taha said, Israel was supposed to have expanded the truce to the West Bank - something Hamas demanded but Israel in fact never promised - and opened the Gaza border crossings, and "this hasn't happened."
 
Asked whether this means Hamas will launch a massive barrage at Israeli targets on Friday, Taha replied that the organization would only respond to Israeli aggression.
 
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that Israel is not "running into Gaza," but is also not afraid of a military operation there.
 
"If the lull is violated and the situation requires it," he told Austrian President Heinz Fischer, in Jerusalem, "we will act in the proper manner."
 
Israeli defense sources said they believe Hamas is still internally divided over whether to extend the truce, but in any case, the army will heighten its alert along the Gaza border lest Hamas opt for escalation.
 
Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's political-security department, told Israel Radio Monday that if Hamas violates the cease-fire, "we need to take suitable military action." Nevertheless, he added, he opposes a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, because "we've already tried military solutions in the past, and this has not always brought immediate results."
 
Moreover, said Gilad, such an operation would make Israel responsible for 1.5 million Palestinian residents of Gaza, inflame the Muslim world and endanger the peace with Jordan and Egypt.
 

Verboden Hezbollah zender Al Manar krijgt podium in Belgisch parlementsgebouw

 
In België gebeuren soms vreemde dingen. Een tijdje terug wilde Canvas Hitlers lievelingskostje op TV laten koken door een topkok in een serie over het lievelingseten van beroemdheden.
 
De Belgische antizionisten lijken soms nog een tikje radikaler dan hier, waar je je toch nog net niet kunt voorstellen dat GroenLinks en de SP samen een bijeenkomst organiseren waarbij men de leider van Hezbollah TV station Al Manar uitnodigt.

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PERSBERICHT

Maandag 15 december 2008

In Europa verboden Arabische zender Al Manar krijgt podium in federaal parlement
 
Het FORUM der Joodse Organisaties neemt aanstoot aan de toestemming die werd verleend voor de lezing van vandaag in het federaal parlement, georganiseerd door Ecolo in samenwerking met de PvdA, door o.a. Abdullah Kassir, directeur generaal van Al Manar.

Deze Arabische zender werd in Europa uit de ether gehaald omdat zij antisemitische teksten verspreidde. Door het regelmatig uitzenden van citaten uit de "Protocollen van Sion" roepen zij op tot Jodenhaat. Sommige Arabische zenders beperken zich echter niet tot de verspreiding van Jodenhaat, maar zenden ook teksten uit als "de moslim is een superieur wezen die de plicht heeft om onvolwaardige westerlingen af te maken".

Het FORUM der Joodse Organisaties is dan ook diep geschokt dat dit soort opruiende taal tot in het hart van ons Belgische democratie kan doordringen.

FORUM der Joodse Organisaties

Forum der Joodse Organisaties vzw
Diane Keyser
secretary general
Lange Herentalsestraat 48
2018 Antwerpen
www.fjo.be

Belgian Political parties "invite" Hezbollah in the Belgian Parliament
 
At least two prominent members of Hezbollah will speak today in the heart of the European capital, thanks to all the Belgian political parties.
 
A Belgian MP, Fouad Lahssaini booked a conference room in the Belgium Parliament to host, today, a conference of the Union Internationale des parlementaires pour la Palestine. Due to speak at the conference, are Dr Hussein Al Haj Hassan, Lebanese MP, member of the Hezbollah and Abdullah Kassir, CEO of Al Manar, the TV station of Hezbollah. Al Manar was banned in several European countries including France and Germany for incitation to murder, racism and hate propaganda.
 
It is interesting to note that the decision to give this room to UIPP was submitted to the "Conference of the Presidents" which gathers all the parties represented in the Belgian Parliament. It seems that no one had an objection or ask for any precision on who will speak. That means that anyone could book a room in the Belgian Parliament without further control or that the Belgian parties think it is normal to let Hezbollah speak in the house of democracy.
 
In the eighties, Hezbollah took several European hostages in Lebanon, sometimes for years. Since that, the organisation was pointed for terrorism activities in Argentina, France, Germany and other places.
 

Wie runt Hamas?


Er lijkt onenigheid te zijn binnen Hamas over de vraag of het staakt-het-vuren moet worden verlengd of niet. Hoewel er van een echt staakt-het-vuren eigenlijk sowieso geen sprake meer is, is het aantal raketten en mortiergranaten stukken lager dan voor het staakt-het-vuren in juni werd ingesteld.
 
De Hamas rally afgelopen zondag, waarbij een fake Israelische soldaat smeekte om zijn vader en moeder te mogen zien en werd vernederd, komt niet over als een gebaar van goede wil. Tegelijkertijd beseft Hamas in Gaza dat de enige manier om de grenzen open te krijgen een nieuw staakt-het-vuren is.
 
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Last update - 03:00 15/12/2008    
 
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Haaretz
 
 
Israel and Hamas on Monday ratcheted up their public statements ahead of the critical date of Friday, December 19 when the six-month old cease-fire is set to expire. In Damascus, Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal threatened that calm would end this week. At the huge Hamas rally in Gaza on Sunday, the crowds saw a Hamas activist dressed as kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told her Austrian counterpart that Israel could not leave Gaza to Hamas rule.
 
Rather than clarifying things, the deluge of declarations clouds them. While Meshal threatened in Damascus, Hamas leaders in Gaza said things had not yet been decided. Ambiguity serves Hamas at this point, especially with Israel announcing far and wide that it wants to continue the cease-fire. That is the message emissary Amos Gilad brought to Cairo on Sunday, and that is in fact what Livni is saying, after the threats.
 
After Meshal announced on Sunday that the cease-fire agreement would not be renewed, Gaza Hamas leader Ayman Taha said Meshal's statements did not obligate the organization.

Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas government head in the Gaza Strip, delivered an ambiguous message of his own. In the evening, Meshal announced in interviews from Damascus that the calm had indeed ended but immediately hedged: Hamas would respond to Israeli action (that is, it would not be the one to break the cease-fire).
 
The Israeli defense establishment said on Sunday that the contradictory statements reflect real disagreement in Hamas and a battle for hegemony. Meshal and senior leaders of the military wing in Gaza, headed by Ahmed Jabri, lean toward a breaking of the cease-fire; Haniyeh and the political wing in Gaza disagree. But even the position of the hawks is not carved in stone. Even they are jockeying for a better position, to ease the economic embargo on Gaza, while at the same time increasing actions along the fence and firing rockets at the Negev without Israel responding.
 
Who will decide? Since Israel assassinated Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in the winter of 2004, Hamas has no single boss. Decisions are made by committee and tug-of-war among the various factions. Hamas has agreed to a few cease-fires over the years, sometimes over Meshal's objections.
 
The proud and militant tone at the Gaza rally on Sunday cannot cover up the fact that Hamas is under some pressure now. Despite their public statements, Haniyeh and Meshal know that Israel will not expand the cease-fire to the West Bank, and ordinary people are still suffering greatly every day in Gaza.
 
Livni said on Sunday, "There is no calm that includes shooting at us," and that every time fire comes from Gaza, it will call forth an Israeli response. An impressive declaration, but for the unfortunate fact that Sderot and its environs have been drawing fire for more than a month and the army has not been allowed to respond.
 
Amos Gilad toed that same official line on Sunday when he came back from talks in Cairo, where he heard Egyptian agreement to Israel's interpretation that the cease-fire is not limited to a six-month trial, as Hamas would have it.
 
But both Cairo and Jerusalem know that the key lies in Gaza. Hamas will decide whether the cease-fire persists or breaks down. On Sunday, by the way, saw a relatively low dose of rocket fire - one Qassam and three mortars, with no injuries. The Israel Defense Force believes some of the fire is directed on purpose at open spaces to avoid injuries, while keeping the pressure on Israel.
 
Meanwhile, Hamas marked the 21st anniversary of its establishment by Yassin and a group of students, with a 200,000-strong rally, according to Gaza reporters. The high point was particularly repulsive, even for Hamas ceremonies. Reenacting bus bombings has apparently gone out of fashion, but Hamas found a replacement: a man dressed in an IDF uniform in the role of Gilad Shalit missing his mother and father (in Hebrew).
 
Haniyeh and his aides watched this miserable performance from the grandstand. From the television pictures they appeared undeservedly smug. After all, they have not returned even one Palestinian prisoner to his parents, two and a half years after Shalit's abduction, while the PA has received more than 900 prisoners from Israel in that time.
 
The rally shows there is apparently nothing much to the hope of quite a few people in Israel and the West that Hamas is going to change its spots. Even now, Hamas continues promising that Palestinian refugees will return to the homes they lost in 1948, and that the war will go on until Israel is destroyed. The Shalit element in the rally shows Hamas cannot offer its supporters much except a good place in the next world.
 

Antizionistische Joden zien aanslagen Mumbai als straf van God

 
Ja, Joods antisemitisme bestaat. Deze mensen werken samen met de PLO tegen Israel, en worden door antizionisten soms aangehaald als 'bewijs' dat ook veel Joden niet blij zijn met Israel. Gelukkig is het maar een splintergroepering, maar vanwege hun extreme standpunten krijgen ze veel aandacht. Leden van Naturei Karteh demonstreerden indertijd mee tegen de 'muur' in Den Haag en kregen veel aandacht van de media, zonder dat men duidelijk maakte hoe extreem hun denkbeelden zijn. Ze waren ook aanwezig op de holocaust ontkenningsconferentie in Iran vorig jaar.
 
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Article published in anti-Zionist faction's leaflet says Chabad's 'collaboration' with secular Israelis led to Mumbai terror attack
 
Kobi Nahshoni
Published:  12.15.08, 11:45 / Israel Jewish Scene
 
 
An article published this weekend in a leaflet distributed by anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox stream Neturei Karta asserted that the terror attack on the Chabad House in Mumbai was a punishment from God for the organization's collaboration with Zionist Israelis.
 
Six Jews were killed in the attack three weeks ago, including the two Chabad emissaries to the Indian city. Chabad Houses around the world serve as community centers for Jews regardless of the degree of their religious observance.
 
According to the article, Chabad was rightfully punished for its relations with "the filthy, deplorable traitors – the cursed Zionists that are your friends."
 
The writer went on to slam the Hasidic group for inviting to the emissaries' funeral "villainous heads of state who uttered words of heresy and blasphemy."

Chabad itself was imbued with "false national sentiment," the article said, and the organization's centers around the globe hosted religious Jews alongside secular ones without making any distinction "between good and evil, right and wrong, pure and impure, a Jew and a convert, a believer and a heretic."
 
The conclusion, according to the writer, was that "the road you (Chabad) have taken is the road of death and it leads to doom, assimilation and the uprooting of the Torah."
 
 

dinsdag 16 december 2008

Partijdige VN functionaris geweerd door Israel

 
Het is volkomen gerechtvaardigt dat iemand die de Joodse staat meermaals met de nazi's heeft vergeleken, en op geen enkele manier probeert om ook maar enigzins fair te zijn in zijn rapportages aan de VN, in Israel niet gewenst is. Voordat antizionisten weer beginnen over dat Israel niet tegen kritiek kan: geen land wordt zo veelvuldig bekritiseerd, zowel in de eigen kranten en door de eigen inwoners als door buitenlandse journalisten en allerhande (zogenaamde) vredes- en mensenrechtengroeperingen. Van een officiele VN functionaris mag echter verwacht worden dat hij zijn taak uitvoert, en Israel hoeft niet mee te werken aan een propagandacampagne tegen haarzelf. Als de VN dit in de toekomst wil vermijden kunnen ze misschien een iets minder extreme antizionist sturen, en zijn taak zo aanpassen dat ook mensenrechtenschendingen door de Palestijnen eronder vallen.
 
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Last update - 15:45 15/12/2008       
Israel expels UN rights envoy who compared Israelis to Nazis
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046838.html
 
 
Professor Richard Falk, a United Nations envoy who once sparked controversy by comparing Israelis to Nazis, has been barred entry to Israel and was put on a plane bound out of the country early on Monday.
 
In March, the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council appointed Falk, a Jewish American and professor emeritus at Princeton University, to a six-year term monitoring the human rights situation as UN Special Rapporteur in the Palestinian territories.
 
Israel's Foreign Ministry said in September that it would not allow Falk to enter the country, after the BBC quoted Falk as defending statements he made last year equating Israel's treatment of Palestinians with Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. Falk told BBC that Israel had been unfairly shielded from international criticism.
 
 
Israel has also complained that Falk's mandate as an investigator was confined to human rights violations by Israel toward Palestinians and did not encompass violations by Palestinians toward Israelis.
 
Falk had been scheduled to hold meetings in Ramallah in the coming days with representatives of many human rights organizations.
 
The Adalah rights organization Monday sent an urgent letter to Interior Minister Meir Shitreet and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, demanding that they lift the ban on Falk, which it called "a severe blow to the rights of the Palestinian civilian population living under Israeli occupation, a population which must be afforded protection by the occupier under international humanitarian law.
 
The letter said it was "Israel's obligation as a member of the UN and a signatory to various international human rights conventions to respect the work of UN representatives, to enable their human rights missions and to assist them in fulfilling their responsibilities without fear of
repercussions."
 
Prior to Falk's formal assumption of his duties, Israel had in the past allowed Falk to enter the country. This was the first time he had arrived in Israel in his role as Special Rapporteur.
 
The Foreign Ministry said that it has been made clear to Falk in advance that he would be denied entry into Israel, and that Israel would not cooperate with him.
 
"Falk was not invited by Israel, nor did he coordinate the visit, as UN regulations obligated him to do," said Simona Helprin, head of the Foreign Ministry's human rights department.
 
"It is indeed rare that Israel bars entry in this manner, but we cannot accept a situation in which an envoy arrives about whom it is known in advance that he will not carry out his role properly."
 
According to Helprin, the UN is under an obligation to see that its envoys are objective and fair, while Falk has compared the situation in the territories with that of the Nazi Holocaust. "From Israel's standpoint, he is not objective," she said.
 
The council's previous investigator, John Dugard from South Africa, compared Israeli treatment of Palestinians to apartheid, the discriminatory policy of the previous white regime in South Africa toward blacks.

Rudolph Kastner redder en/of verrader van de Joden tijdens de Holocaust

 
Rudolf Kastner, een Roemeense Jood die een deal sloot met Adolph Eichmann waarmee hij duizenden van de kampen redde, wordt door anti-zionisten vaker aangehaald als voorbeeld voor de zogenaamde collaboratie van de Zionisten met de Nazi's. Maar ook in Joodse en Zionistische kringen waren zijn daden omstreden.
 
Wouter
_______________
 

Kastner libel not dead: Zionist hero who saved Jews in World War II was murdered because of revisionist slander campaign

Rudolf Kastner of Kluj Rumania was in an impossible position. As a Jew under Nazi rule, he had to cooperate with the Nazis in extermination of Jews if he was to survive. As a Jew, he had to try to save as many Jews as he could from the claws of Adolph Eichmann. Kastner did succeed in saving large numbers of Jews. Had he refused to cooperate with the Nazis, he would have been replaced by someone else.
 
But Kastner evoked the enmity of some, and the Revisionist Zionist movement used that enmity to conduct a smear campaign against Kastner and the Zionist movement, that resulted in Kastner's murder. Additionally, the irresponsible and malicious inventions of the revisionists were retailed to an American author, Ben Hecht, who wrote a book called Perfidy. The tale told by Hecht is that the (Labor Zionist controlled) Jewish Agency conspired with Kastner to murder European Jews. This absurdity was eagerly accepted by "true believer" revisionists, and has long since been propagated to anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic journals, pamphlets and Web sites.
 
Ami Isseroff
-----------------------------
 
 
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1046039.html

 
 
More than 50 years after the murder of Israel (Rudolf) Kastner, the de facto head of the Jewish Aid and Rescue Committee in Budapest, the controversy surrounding him is being rekindled.

Kastner, who made a deal with Adolph Eichmann in 1944 to allow between 1,600 and 1,700 Hungarian Jews to leave for Switzerland in exchange for money, gold and diamonds, was convicted in Israel in 1955 for collaboration with the Nazis. The court ruled that Kastner had indeed "sold his soul to the devil."

Two years later he was murdered outside his home in Tel Aviv.


The affair has spawned more than 10 books, a theater play and a television film. Now a storm has been raised again after the documentary "Killing Kastner" by the American director Gaylen Ross was screened at the Haifa International Film Festival two months ago.

Gideon Levy wrote in Haaretz about the movie that it was time to beg for Kastner's forgiveness. Ten letters to the newspaper in response helped rekindle the 50-year-old controversy. Even today, five decades later, Baruch Tzahor refuses to forget the injustice that was caused to Kastner, who, as Levy wrote, saved more Jews by negotiations than the partisans, Warsaw ghetto rebels or other heroes. At the age of 83, Tzahor, who lives with his wife in moshav Zofit, is still troubled by the affair that shook the young Israeli state.

"All the accusations against Kastner were lies," he says. "I know because he tried to save me."

Tzahor met Kastner in 1945 in the Jewish hospital in Vienna, a few weeks before the Russian occupation. Tzahor (then Weiss), then 20, was hiding with a friend from the Gestapo in the hospital cellar.

Kastner gave him a box of candy and said "in two weeks I'll be here with transportation and take you to Switzerland, out of the Nazi occupation zone." It was the end of March 1945, and the two, who already heard the Soviet army's guns, decided to pass. They were released two weeks later when the Russians marched into the city. Tzahor's family perished in Auschwitz, but he never forgot Kastner.

They met again 10 years later in Kfar Sava. Kastner was then a Mapai functionary who came to campaign for the elections. Tzahor was branch chairman for the Ahdut Ha'avoda (Labor Unity) party, which later joined Mapai to form the Labor party.

This time Kastner was the one in trouble. In 1953 he was accused in a pamphlet published by Malchiel Gruenwald, a journalist from Hungary, of collaborating with the Nazis.

The Israeli government sued Gruenwald for libel on Kastner's behalf, but the trial became a diatribe against Kastner for his activities during the Holocaust. "The press said he only saved rich, connected people. I knew this was not true. He wanted to save me, and didn't ask if I had money," Tzahor related.

Readers' letters to Haaretz repeated the old accusations that Kastner had deceived Hungary's Jews by failing to warn others that the "resettlement" promised by the Nazis was in fact deportation to Auschwitz. He was accused of facilitating the Germans' liquidation of Hungarian Jewry.

"Kastner did not keep quiet," says Tzahor."He sent emissaries to all the communities to tell the Jews not to get on the trains."

"This affair is not dead," says history Professor Yechiam Weitz from the University of Haifa, author of "The man who was murdered twice - the life, trial and death of Dr. Israel Kastner."

"The issue is so loaded that it won't let some people go," says Weitz, who wrote that "with his own two hands Kastner saved more Jews than any Jew before him or since."

Tzahor did not testify on Kastner's behalf in court due to the rivalry between his party and Mapai, Kastner's party. Yisrael Galili, one of Ahdut Ha'avoda's leaders, forbade him to testify. "He said the community needs heroes, not people who collaborated with the Germans," says Tzahor.

Moshe Vartash, 81, of Ramat Hasharon also defended Kastner in a letter to Haaretz. "I think he was a hero," he says. "He could have escaped right when the Germans entered Hungary, but he didn't. My mother, who was in the Budapest ghetto, received a Swiss sponsorship thanks to him. Many Budapest Jews were saved because Kastner's negotiations delayed their deportation," he says.
 
 

maandag 15 december 2008

Waarom Israël het staakt-het-vuren met Gaza wil voortzetten

 
Hoewel er in Israel wordt gespeculeerd over en gedreigd met een militaire invasie nadat het staakt-het-vuren officieel ten einde komt aanstaande vrijdag, is de kans klein dat dit daadwerkelijk zal gebeuren. Alle redenen waarom Israel dat eerder dit jaar niet heeft gedaan, ondanks soms tientallen raketten per dag, gelden nu nog steeds. Men heeft geen exit strategie, wat moet er daarna met de Gazastrook gebeuren, men kan niet voorkomen dat grote aantallen raketten worden afgevuurd als wraak, men is bang voor veel slachtoffers aan beide kanten. De nu bijna dagelijkse raketaanvallen zijn onaanvaardbaar maar er is geen echt beter alternatief. Zolang er niet een flink aantal mensen gedood of gewond wordt bij een raketaanval, zal Israel terughoudend blijven reageren.

Het afsluiten van de grenzen, dat nu de voornaamste reactie is, is makkelijker en minder risicovol. Het is waar dat dit ook onschuldige burgers treft, maar dat geldt voor iedere Israelische reactie. De mensen die zo tegen welk Israelisch optreden dan ook zijn, zouden eens moeten bedenken hoe een einde aan de raketbeschietingen te maken, zonder het al te makkelijk te maken voor Hamas en co om zich verder te bewapenen en hun macht verder uit te breiden.

RP
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Analysis: Why Israel prefers the cease-fire in Gaza
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 14, 2008
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728196517&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull


On Thursday, after a grueling weeklong maneuver spanning the Golan Heights and the Upper Galilee, Col. Avi Peled summed up his first brigade-level exercise as commander of the Golani Infantry Brigade:

"The capabilities that were demonstrated here instill within me confidence that the brigade is prepared for any challenge that awaits it."

By the end of the month, Peled will lead the Golani Brigade in its return to operational duty on the Gaza front following four months of training. It will replace the Paratrooper's Brigade, which has been there since July.

Following Khaled Mashaal's announcement Sunday that Hamas will not extend the cease-fire, chances are that Golani will lead military operations in the Gaza Strip after Friday, when the six-month truce expires.

Peled is no stranger to Gaza and was commander of the Southern Gaza Brigade when Gilad Schalit was taken captive by Hamas 904 days ago near Kerem Shalom.

In August, he became commander of the Golani Brigade after serving as commander of its elite Egoz Battalion.

So, while Israeli officials made a point Sunday to stress that the IDF was prepared for renewed violence with Hamas, officials in Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office said that in the end, Israel was in favor of continuing the truce.

There are a number of reasons why and they were set out in a document prepared for Barak recently by the ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau on the benefits of extending the cease-fire.

Firstly, and most important, is that Israel knows how it gets into Gaza but does not know how to get out.

At the moment, the Fatah Party - led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - is not strong enough to fill the vacuum that would be created by a major Israeli operation and subsequent withdrawal.

After disappointment with UNIFIL in south Lebanon, Israel is also opposed to a multinational or NATO-like force deploying in Gaza.

So, without a clear and defined exit strategy, the document asked, what is the point in an operation in the first place?

Another consideration is that under any operation - limited or massive - Hamas would still succeed in firing Kassam rockets into Israel, likely by the dozen. The most rockets fired into Israel in one day from Gaza has been around 60.

Fears in the defense establishment are that Hamas is capable of firing closer to 200 in the event of a large Israeli operation inside the Gaza Strip.

Barak is also concerned that small-scale operations in Gaza could lead to a larger attack that would eventually force Israel to take over the entire Strip all over again.

The assumption is that with the increased rocket fire, the IDF would be under immense pressure to push deeper into Gaza, killing more innocent Palestinians and losing more soldiers on the way.

Public pressure would mount against the continuation of the operation as the IDF loses soldiers and fails to stop the rocket fire and Israel would come under harsh public condemnation, possibly even from the new administration in Washington.

Last but not least is the northern front and concern that Hizbullah - which is still calling to avenge last February's assassination of Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus - will take advantage of Israel's preoccupation in Gaza to launch an attack along the border with Lebanon.

This happened once before in the summer of 2006. Two weeks after Schalit was kidnapped, Hizbullah abducted reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.

While the IDF's units, like Golani, are prepared for renewed violence in Gaza, there is still the home front to worry about. Last week, the cabinet approved the allocation of NIS 600 million to build reinforced security rooms for thousands of housing units in Gaza-belt communities. Needless to say, it will take time for these rooms to be built.
 

Hezbollah te gast in het Belgische Parlement

 
Waarom het Belgische parlement ruimte beschikbaar stelt aan een organisatie die verantwoordelijk is voor tientallen terroristische aanslagen, onder andere op Joodse doelen in Argentinië, op Amerikaanse en Israëlische doelen, is me een raadsel. Hezbollah is, net als Hamas, voor het vernietigen van de staat Israël door middel van gewapende strijd, en zij wil in Libanon een theocratie a la Iran opzetten. Waarom moet een westerse democratie haar daarbij ondersteunen door haar een platform en legitimiteit te verschaffen??
 
Al Manar, het televisistation van Hezbollah, is in verschillende landen verboden vanwege haar radikaal antisemitische karakter. Zo worden de 'Protocollen van de Wijzen van Zion' als een betrouwbare bron opgevoerd en de Holocaust ontkend.
 
RP
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Hezbollah te gast in het Parlement

 
  
Links: Hussein Al-Haj Hassan, Hezbollah-parlementslid in Libanon. Midden: Abdullah Kassir, directeur van de Libanese Hezbollah-zender Al Manar. Rechts: Dyab Abou Jahjah, sinds mei 2008 algemeen directeur van de IUPFP.

De twee Hezbollah-kopstukken die u links op de foto's hierboven ziet, zijn maandagmiddag te gast in het Belgische parlement. Niet in de plenaire vergadering of in een commissie, maar in een conferentiezaal die door het Parlement ter beschikking wordt gesteld van een congres van de IUPFP, een internationale vereniging van parlementsleden die de Palestijnse zaak genegen zijn. Sinds begin dit jaar wordt de IUPFP geleid door de Bekende Vlaming van Libanese afkomst Dyab Abou Jahjah. Ooit verklaarde dit heerschap dat hij lid was geweest van Hezbollah, maar later trok hij die woorden weer in en verklaarde hij dat dit een leugentje om bestwil was geweest, om politiek asiel te kunnen krijgen in België (wat hem geweigerd werd), zogenaamd als afvallig ex-lid op de vlucht voor de wraak van Hezbollah.


Wat er ook van zij, de eerste grote activiteit van de Belgische tak van IUPFP (onder het voorzitterschap van Luk Vervaet) staat dus op stapel, in de prestigieuze congreszaal van het Parlement. Bij de sprekers vallen alvast twee prominente leden van Hezbollah op, de pro-Syrische en door Iran gefinancierde terroristische beweging uit Libanon. Nu moet ik bij dat woord "terroristisch" wel de volgende duiding verstrekken: ten eerste staat Hezbollah wel in de VS op de zwarte lijst van terroristische organisaties, maar niet in Europa. De Europese politici konden het er immers niet over eens worden of Hezbollah op de zwarte lijst moest komen. Voor Nederland, Canada, de VS en Israël is Hezbollah zonder meer een terroristische organisatie. Voor Groot-Brittannië en Australië is enkel de militaire vleugel van Hezbollah terroristisch, terwijl de politieke vleugel en de uitvoerende vleugel dat niet zijn. Politieke partij, radicale sjiïtisch-islamitische fractie, militante beweging, privé-militie, terroristische groepering: Hezbollah is een mix van al deze gedaantes. Met het oog op de totstandkoming een vreedzame oplossing voor het Libanese conflict menen sommige EU-politici nu de rode loper te moeten uitrollen voor Hezbollah.

Twee prominenten uit de politieke vleugel van Hezbollah zijn dus maandag in het Parlement:
  1. Abdullah Kassir, directeur van de Hezbollah-televisiezender Al Manar, en tevens voormalig parlementslid voor Hezbollah. Geert Bourgeois deed als Vlaams minister van media inspanningen om de ontvangst en doorgifte van Al Manar (niet te verwarren met de Brusselse lokale radio Al Manar) in Vlaanderen te laten verbieden. Iets waar ik het - als voorstander van vrije informatiestromen - niet mee eens ben, want hoe kan ik weten hoe slecht, haatdragend of opruiend een zender is als ik er niet eens mag naar kijken? Maar toch is het interessant om weten dat de directeur van de zender die Bourgeois wou verbieden en die in Duitsland en Frankrijk al is verboden, zich morgen in het pluche van het Paleis der Natie zal bevinden.
  2. Hussein Al-Haj Hassan, parlementslid voor Hezbollah. Na het gewapend conflict tussen Israël en Hezbollah in augustus 2006 wierp Hassan zich op als woordvoerder van de militaire vleugel door te verklaren dat het reguliere Libanese leger niet in staat was om Libanon te verdedigen, en dat Hezbollah de enige waarborg was voor de Libanese nationale eenheid.

Nu is het uiteraard altijd mogelijk dat de conferentie te elfder ure nog verplaatst wordt naar een andere locatie, of wordt afgelast. Voor het schrijven van dit artikel heb ik mij gebaseerd op de informatie die vandaag, zondag, via publieke kanalen beschikbaar was.



En om te eindigen met een positieve noot: de toespraak van de heer Hussein Al-Haj Hassan zal gaan over "de uitwisseling van gevangenen met de staat Israël". In de normale literatuur van de deelnemende verenigingen is er meestal sprake van "de zionistische entiteit", af en toe van "Israël", maar de combinatie van die naam met "staat" schijnt in te druisen tegen hun "statuten"...