Politieke satire op Palestijnse staats-TV

Eindelijk eens leuk nieuws uit de Palestijnse gebieden!

Wouter

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Koefnoen op de Westbank
Geplaatst op: maandag 28 september 2009
Door: Gerard Driehuis


Als zelfspot het begin is van zelfrelativering, dan gaat het met de Palestijnen de goede kant op. Sinds een paar weken zendt de staatstelevisie wekelijks "Watan a la Wattar" uit, een soort Koefnoen, maar dan Palestijns.

 

Er worden grappen gemaakt over de Palestijnse eenheid (geen land en twee regeringen), over de president en zelfs over homoseksualiteit. De makers waren onzeker of het publiek toe was aan grappen over zichzelf. Maar iedere week stemmen meer Palestijnen af op "Watan a la Wattar". Zelfs president Abbas schijnt er lol in te hebben.

 

Het toont aan dat er op de Westbank veel is veranderd. Toen Jasser Arafat nog leefde, werd iedereen met een afwijkende mening nog gewoon opgesloten. Nu is er al ruimte voor satire. Het belooft veel. Want de Joodse buren zijn ook al 3000 jaar goed in zelfspot.
http://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/koefnoen-op-de-westbank.html  

 
Bron: Christian Science Monitor

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Satire - Palestijnse tv-show vol giftige humor

Eindelijk dictatortje pesten in Palestina

 

Door: Eva Ludemann
Gepubliceerd: donderdag 1 oktober 2009 00:48
Update: donderdag 1 oktober 2009 06:56

http://www.depers.nl/buitenland/341313/Eindelijk-dictatortje-pesten-in-Palestina.html

 

 

Een Palestijnse tv-show drijft de spot met de machthebbers, en dat is uniek in de Arabische wereld. 'Wij sparen niemand.'

Een latent homofiele Hamas-extremist, mannelijke advocaten in boerka en een Palestijnse politicus die in zijn boxershorts terugkeert van vredesonderhandelingen, omdat Israël hem weer eens heeft uitgekleed. Iedereen kijkt met ingehouden adem. En lacht zich een rotje. Palestijnse politici, Fatah, Hamas, Israël, de Amerikaanse en Europese vredesgezanten; niemand is veilig voor de satire Al-Watan a la Wattar ofwel 'Thuisland aan een Zijden Draadje.' Sinds een maand nemen drie Palestijnse cabaretiers iedereen op de hak. Met naam en toenaam. En op de Palestijnse staatstelevisie.

Het is voor het eerst in de Arabische wereld dat zoiets mogelijk is. De overwegend dictatoriale Arabische heersers dulden geen kritische geluiden op hun beleid, laat staan dat zij met zichzelf laten spotten. Hun staatszenders zijn gewoonlijk niets anders dan promotievehikels voor henzelf en hun families.

Not amused

Voor de vijf miljoen Palestijnen die de afgelopen maand elke avond naar Al-Watan a la Wattar keken, was de show alleen daarom al een verademing. Direct na het breken van de ramadanvasten stond overal de televisie afgestemd op de satire. Het programma, opgenomen in Ramallah op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, werd overal in de Palestijnse gebieden uitgezonden. Ook in Gaza, waar Hamas sinds twee jaar een puriteins-islamitische scepter voert.

'Hamas was not amused', grinnikt producent Sami al-Jabber. 'Maar de Fatah-ministers eerst ook niet. Die belden ons in het begin met woedende reacties, ze eisten dat ons programma werd verboden.' Van Mah-moud Abbas, de Fatah-president op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, is inmiddels bekend dat hij moest giechelen om de aflevering waarin hij te kakken werd gezet. Die speelde over vijfhonderd jaar, als het eerstvolgende democratische Fatah-congres eindelijk eens zou worden gehouden, en onder de heerschappij van een onbuigzame en eveneens zelfbenoemde president Abbas de Dertiende. Voor die aflevering was van te voren toch maar even presidentiële goedkeuring gevraagd; die werd verkregen.

Al-Watan a la Wattar zou eerst alleen tijdens de Ramadan worden uitgezonden, maar vanwege het succes keert de show binnenkort terug. Niet meer dagelijks, maar een keer per week. 'De mensen vinden de satire fantastisch', vertelt de 31-jarige scriptschrijver en cabaretier Imad Farajeen. 'Iedereen heeft zo genoeg van alle ellende, we zijn toe aan wat luchtigers. Maar belangrijker: wij zeggen wat iedereen voelt en denkt: we willen vrijheid en democratie. Wij houden onze mond niet langer.'

Volgens Farajeen hangt de toekomst van zijn thuisland letterlijk aan een zijden draadje. Door de wurgende Israëlische bezetting en de aanhoudende bouw van nederzettingen op Palestijns land, maar ook vanwege het gewelddadige conflict tussen de facties van Fatah en Hamas. 'Met onze show maken we onze politici onze frustratie en woede duidelijk. En wij sparen niemand.'

Zelfs Yasr Abed Rabbo, het hoofd van de staatsgesponsorde Palestijnse Broadcasting Company dat de show uitzendt, omdat Abed Rabbo het imago van de zender wil verbeteren, werd op de hak genomen. Hij speelde mee in een aflevering van de satire. Als zichzelf, de wat onderdanige vredesonderhandelaar die hij sinds jaar en dag is. Keurig in pak gestoken ontvangt hij 'president Obama'. Die komt een uur te laat: 'Het spijt me, ik werd opgehouden door alle Israëlische checkpoints.' 'Geeft niets', antwoordt Abed Rabbo minzaam. 'Jullie Amerikanen zijn al zestig jaar te laat voor de Palestijnen.'

Geheime Zaken

Volgens producer al-Jabber heeft de staatszender de Palestijnen met de satire een vrijheid gegeven, die het hen niet meer kan afnemen. 'En we rekken hem steeds verder op. Ik ben nu ook bezig met een televisieserie, Geheime Zaken. Het gaat over wat zich afspeelt binnen in de ministeries, de intriges, ruzies, geheimen.'

Hij lacht. 'Wij Palestijnen hebben geen celebrity's, dus filmen we onze ministers. Wat de satire betreft: degenen die tijdens de Ramadan nog niet aan de beurt zijn gekomen, nemen we binnenkort te grazen. Dat hebben we ze beloofd.'

 

Joodse herinneringen in Chabad huis Mumbai

 

In Mumbai (het vroegere Bombay) is het vorig jaar verwoeste Chabad huis opnieuw opgebouwd. Bij die aanvallen kwamen meer dan 170 mensen om, maar de rabbijn van het Chabad huis en zijn vrouw waren waarschijnlijk de enigen die bewust door de terroristen waren gedood, na eerst te zijn gefolterd. Een jaar na dato regeert de angst onder de Joodse gemeenschap in Mumbai, en de nieuwe rabbijn wil niet met zijn naam in de krant. Wat ik beschamend vind, is dat de media dit antisemitische aspect van de aanvallen grotendeels hebben genegeerd, zoals Arabisch antisemitisme doorgaans wordt genegeerd of gebagatelliseerd.

 

RP

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Mumbai Jewish memories

Memories of Attacks Shadow Mumbai's New Jewish Center

 

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

 

 

MUMBAI, Sept. 29 -- The only clue to what's inside this secret location is a small mezuza, a door ornament that traditionally marks a Jewish home. Nearby, Indian police officers with assault rifles stand guard near high iron gates.

 

This is Mumbai's new Chabad House, a Jewish center that keeps its whereabouts private after attacks here in November that left more than 170 people dead, including a rabbi and his wife. The center's address is given out only to Jews looking for a place to observe Friday night Sabbaths, eat a kosher meal or show solidarity after what happened last year.

 

Of those killed in the three-day siege, security experts said, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivkah, 28, were probably the only ones singled out for execution. The young emissaries from the orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch movement were tortured and killed inside the old Chabad House, also known as Nariman House, during the attacks. Their 2-year-old son, Moshe, was dramatically rescued by his Indian nanny.

 

As Mumbai mourned for those killed in the attacks, the rabbi's father, cradling his orphaned grandchild at a prayer service, vowed that the Chabad House would rise again in the same spot. But that was not to be.

 

Daily life in Mumbai returned to normal in the days after the attacks, in which 10 gunmen working in teams of two struck at 10 sites, but many Jews and Israelis in Mumbai -- and across India-- are scared.

 

"We have had a beautiful life in India. We were always accepted," said Reema Sisodia, who was close friends with the rabbi's wife. "Now we have been shocked in the most brutal way. There is a lot of fear."

 

Any feeling of normalcy is a long way off for Mumbai's Jewish community. "It's a healing process," said Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, director of the Chabad Mumbai Relief Fund, which raised money for Moshe's care. "But this is our tribute to them, to keep going, even if it's tough."

 

After a long search, a couple has been found to replace the Holtzbergs, whose portraits hang in the new Chabad House. But, for security reasons, the new rabbi and his wife asked not to be named.

 

"My parents do worry for me. And sometimes I am afraid to go outside," said the new rabbi's wife, a soft-spoken woman who was arranging a plate of kosher beef brought to her by a traveler from New York. "But they are also proud of us for coming."

 

In this seaside metropolis of 14 million, security gaps remain vast, Indian analysts say. They say Mumbai is almost impossible to police, given the size and skill of the police force, as well as the city's growth in the past decade.

 

Last week, the Israeli government warned of "imminent" terrorist strikes across India by Pakistan-based Lashkar-i-Taiba, an Islamist group accused by the Indian and U.S. governments in the November attacks. Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau recommended that Israelis and Jews in India avoid crowded areas -- an almost impossible task, especially in Mumbai, one of the world's most densely populated cities.

 

The travel warning came during the most holy month in the Jewish calendar, which includes Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, a day of atonement with a 25-hour fast. After sunset Monday, members of the Chabad community in Mumbai broke their Yom Kippur fast quietly over apple-and-chocolate cakes and water.

 

The gathering was far smaller than in previous years, when the Nariman House hosted an array of guests: young Israeli backpackers looking for a break, American and Israeli businessmen, Jews from across the world on yoga or meditation retreats, along with some of the city's estimated 4,000 Jews.

 

Rescued from the bullet-scarred walls of the Nariman House was a painting of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last living leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The Lubavitch community has dispatched more than 4,000 husband-and-wife teams to run such Chabad centers in 73 countries, including in volatile ones such as Sri Lanka, Congo and Iraq.

 

In 2003, the Holtzbergs, newly married, opened the first Chabad center in Mumbai, one of 12 across India. The deeply religious Rabbi Holtzberg was seen as understanding and open toward young secular Israelis.

 

"They come to India to do everything the army didn't allow them to do," Holtzberg once wrote in an online journal, referring to young Israelis, who are required to join their country's armed forces for a certain amount of time. "Their shoes had to be polished and tied -- here they wear sandals. They had to cut their hair -- here they grow their hair long."

 

Today the Nariman House still looks like a war zone.

 

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which owns the building, is trying to figure out what to do with it. Its officials plan to hold a memorial there to mark the first anniversary of the attacks.

 

Israeli officials say it is an unsafe location, near narrow and dark alleys, where enemies could hide easily.

 

Over trays of braided challah bread, many at the Yom Kippur gathering said they didn't want the new Chabad center to turn into a heavily guarded bunker. Its very mission is to reach out to Jews who are away from home.

 

"I practically stalked them to find the location," said Sharon Zeevi, 27, an Israeli who is traveling across India. "I knew the Holtzbergs. I was with them here two years ago. I really wanted to find the new location."

 

A little later, she was pleasantly surprised to see a friend and fellow traveler from Israel. They hugged and laughed and caught up on each other's journeys.

 

"You found it," Zeevi told her. "Come, break your fast."

 

 

Meeste Amerikaanse Joden steunen Israelische posities

 

Wie vertegenwoordigt de positie van de Amerikaanse Joden het best? Daarover woedt een felle discussie tussen de gevestigde mainstream Joodse organisaties en organisaties die vinden dat de VS Israel meer onder druk moet zetten om concessies te doen, zoals de nieuwe lobbyclub J Street, Brit Tzedek wa Shalom, Americans for Peace Now en radikale organisaties als Jewish Voice for Peace. Uit onderstaande enquete blijkt dat de bewering van vooral J Street, dat de Joodse gemeenschap hun voorstellen steunt (geen sancties tegen Iran, praten met Hamas, eenzijdige Israelische concessies) in elk geval niet klopt.

 

RP

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Survey: US Jews overwhelmingly support key Israeli positions

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/09/survey-us-jews-overwhelmingly-support.html

 

 

An annual survey commissioned by the American Jewish Committee found that American Jews overwhelmingly support key Israeli policy positions, even though about 30% of the respondents characterized themselves as "distant" or "fairly distant" in their identification with Israel. 94% of the respondents insisted that Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state in any peace agreement. 75% believe that the ultimate Arab goal is destruction of Israel.  79% believe Israel cannot achieve peace with a Palestinian government that includes the Hamas. A plurality of 49% nonetheless support creation of a Palestinian state. Only 8% support Israel dismantling all of the West Bank settlements, but 52% support dismantling some of the settlements. 51% are opposed to President Obama's call for a complete Israeli settlement freeze.  54% approve of the Obama administration's handling of US-Israel relations. 59% approve of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of Israeli-American relations. 58% oppose Israeli compromise regarding the unity of Jerusalem in any peace settlement. 51% do not believe a time will come when Israel and its Arab neighbors will be able to settle their differences peacefully. 53% of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, only 16% identified as Republicans, with 30% labeling themselves "independent."

 

Regarding Iran, 66% of American Jewish respondents would support an Israeli attack on Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons and 56% would support an American attack on Iran. By way of comparison, a Zogby poll in October of 2007 found that 49% of Americans supported a US attack on Iran at the time. No more recent data are available for comparison.

 

The dovish J Street lobby group has contended that its insistence on an Israeli settlement freeze is representative of the views of a majority of American Jews. The survey does not bear out this contention.

 

Ami Isseroff

Richard Goldstone om de tuin geleid met fictieve Servische oorlogsmisdadiger in Joegoslavië tribunaal

 

Ik neem aan dat dit op zijn beurt geen hoax is.

 

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Goldstone indicted fictional character as history's greatest rapist of Muslim women

This sort of thing can happen when you don't bother about things like rules of evidence.

 

When Goldstone Indicted a Fictional Character (and a Dead Man)
 
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

 

(IsraelNN.com) Judge Richard Goldstone, whose recent United Nations Human Rights Council investigation purported to find evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, once indicted a fictional Serbian character and a dead man for war crimes as well. As in Gaza, those indictments were also allegedly based on "eyewitness testimony."

 

Goldstone headed the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the United Nations in 1993. In 1995, one year into his term as chief ICTY prosecutor, Goldstone presented an indictment of several Serbs for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As brought to light in the weekend edition of the Hebrew-language Makor Rishon newspaper, among those indicted was a man identified as "Gruban".

 

Gruban, later identified more fully as Gruban from Bijelo Polje, was charged with viciously raping Muslim prisoners in what was identified by the prosecution as essentially a Serbian concentration camp. His crimes were given weight by an anonymous individual identified only as "Witness F", who claimed to have suffered at the hands of the notorious war criminal.

 

As described by Makor Rishon, "Within just a few months, the black silhouette of 'Gruban' was plastered on a poster of the most wanted war criminals in Bosnia." At the time, Makor Rishon noted, the American newspaper The Boston Globe published an article wondering why the poster of "Gruban" stated that his description, father's name, location and age were all listed as "unknown".

 

The problem for NATO forces in tracking down the serial rapist was that Gruban from Bijelo Polje, also known as Gruban Malic, is a fictional character from Hero on a Donkey, a famous Serbian novel about World War II by Miodrag Bulatovic.

 

The Gruban hoax was the result of a conversation in a Bosnian cafe between Yugoslavian war correspondent Nebojsa Jevric and an American journalist desperate to see a "real war criminal", according to Makor Rishon. Jevric identified "Gruban Malic" by name as the Serbian people's "worst war criminal", having committed the most rapes.

 

After the indictment of "Gruban" became known, Jevric capitalized on his countrymen's bemused fascination with Goldstone's "investigation" and wrote a book called Hero on a Donkey Goes to The Hague. In the book he detailed how his comment to an American reporter took on a life of its own.

 

In 1998, even after the true identity of the "war criminal" was known, the charges against "Gruban Malic" were officially dropped for lack of evidence by Goldstone's successor. Thirteen other flesh-and-blood Serbs were also taken off the same ICTY indictment docket alongside "Gruban" - including a man that Goldstone indicted several years after he had already died.

 

Enquete onder 2.402 Palestijnen over conflict

Ook uit deze enquete blijkt dat Fatah veel populairder is dan Hamas, en Abbas meer dan twee keer zo populair als Haniyeh. Verder blijkt dat men de bezetting en blokkade van de Gazastrook niet als de belangrijkste problemen beschouwt (de interne verdeeldheid, economische probelemen en criminaliteit scoren alle drie hoger). Over een tweestatenoplossing en de voorwaarden blijkt men sterk verdeeld.

 

RP

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Findings of the IPI poll of 2,402 Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza between Jun 23 and Jul 17 2009 include:
www.ipacademy.org/images/ppts/ipi_mideast_poll.ppt#3

Here are several options for a Palestinian state. Please tell me which option you would prefer most.
A. First set of options
55%  A Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza, separate from Israel
11% One state shared by both Palestinians and Israelis
11% Palestine joins a confederation with Jordan and Egypt with shared defense and foreign policy
B. Second set of options
37%  A Palestinian state with final borders including land swaps alongside the Israeli state now with all other issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements to be negotiated
27% Status quo continues until all these issues have been negotiated and agreed
14% A Palestinian state with provisional borders alongside the Israeli state now with all other issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements to be negotiated

The Arab Peace Initiative calls for:
*. Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967, according to UN resolution 242;
*. The creation of a Palestinian state on those lands;
*. Resolution of the refugee problem according to UN resolution 194 and;
*. Arab recognition of Israel.
Comparing the Arab Peace Initiative to the status quo, do you strongly prefer this plan, somewhat prefer this plan, somewhat prefer the status quo, or strongly prefer the status quo?

66% Prefer Arab Peace Initiative
18% Prefer status quo


Here are parts of a possible deal to implement the Arab Peace Initiative and establish two separate states of Palestine and Israel.

Favor  56% Oppose 42% Under UN Res 242, withdrawal from all Gaza and West Bank, except 4% land swap for some settlements.

Favor  46% Oppose 52% East Jerusalem Palestine's capital, with Arab neighborhoods, including in Old City, and Temple Mount; Jewish neighborhoods, Jewish Quarter, Wailing Wall to Israel.

Favor  53% Oppose 44% Palestine has strong internal security forces and, after five years' calm, an Army; until then Jordanian, Egyptian troops ensure security.

Favor 69% Oppose 27% Refugees' right of return and compensation recognized under UN Res 194. Host countries, Israel, and 3rd countries decide residency. Return to Palestine free, Israel admits as many as Australia, Canada, and European countries. Compensation paid for lost property and possessions

Favor 56% Oppose 38% Plan's implementation ends conflict and claims. Palestine will be sovereign state. Palestine and Israel recognize each other diplomatically and as homelands of their peoples.

What is your opinion of:
The United States :  Favorable 16% Unfavorable 80%
President Barack Obama  Favorable  27% Unfavorable 69%

Do you think US President Barack Obama will make significant progress on promoting peace between Palestine and Israel based on two states?
Likey 41%  Unlikely 56%

Here are several steps that could be taken to advance the peace process. Please tell me which issue you think is most important
28% Evacuation of settlements/outposts
27% Release of prisoners
13% Further withdrawal from the West Bank
11% Easing of border crossing
07% Halting demolitions and settlement building activity
06% Easing of checkpoints

What is the biggest problem facing Palestine?
44% Political division/ conflict
33% Economic problems
31% Insecurity/Crime
30% Israeli Occupation
 23% Blockade/Gaza

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the following political figures handle their jobs?

Mahmoud Abbas as President?
Satisfied 55% Dissatisfied  41%

Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister?
Satisfied 46% Dissatisfied  51%

Ismail Haniyeh as Hamas leader?
Satisfied 32% Dissatisfied  64%


PLC Vote Preference
Fatah 45%
Hamas 24%
Third Way 3%
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine 2%
PNI 3%
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine 2%
Palestine Islamic Jihad 2%
Independent Nationalist 6%
Don't know/refused 13%

Willingness to Switch Vote
Mind made up 72%
Could change 18%
Don't know 5%
Refused 6%

Presidential Vote Preference
Mahmoud Abbas 52%
Ismail Haniyeh 22%
Other 3%
Neither/Don't know 23%

Re-election Vote Preference
Re-elect Abbas 50%
Elect someone else 44%
Don't know 6%

Leader Attributes Resister
23% Abbas/Fatah
37% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
36% Haniyeh/Hamas

A Strong Leader
32% Abbas/Fatah
39% Neither/Both
01% Don't Know
25% Haniyeh/Hamas

Cares About People Like You
34% Abbas/Fatah
42% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
20% Haniyeh/Hamas

Get Things Done
36% Abbas/Fatah
37% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
24% Haniyeh/Hamas

Unifier
36% Abbas/Fatah
40% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
20% Haniyeh/Hamas

Peace-Maker
42% Abbas/Fatah
33% Neither/Both
03% Don't Know
21% Haniyeh/Hamas

Best Party for Issues

Resistance to Israel
29% Prefer Fatah
37% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
36% Prefer Hamas

Reunifying Gaza and West Bank
31% Prefer Fatah
47% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
12% Prefer Hamas

Improving Human Rights
33% Prefer Fatah
45% Neither/Both
03% Don't Know
18% Prefer Hamas

Independent Palestinian State
34% Prefer Fatah
43% Neither/Both
02% Don't Know
19% Prefer Hamas

Reaching Peace witih Israel
44% Prefer Fatah
39% Neither/Both
03% Don't Know
12% Prefer Hamas

Improving Palestine's Economy
45% Prefer Fatah
31% Neither/Both
01% Don't Know
21% Prefer Hamas

What is your opinion of the following international organizations?
UN Favorable 48% Unfavorable 50%
UNSCO Favorable 42% Unfavorable 56%
UNRWA Favorable 70% Unfavorable 29%

What is your opinion of the following countries?
(Percent Favorable)
Jordan 81%UAE  80% Qatar  79% Saudi Arabia  76%
Lebanon  74% Egypt  69% Kuwait  68%
Syria  62% Morocco 61% Iran 50%

What is your opinion of the following countries and international organizations?
(Percent Favorable)
The European Union 54% France  21%
Britain 18% The United States  16%  Israel 6%

Who do you perceive as Palestine's closest ally in the region?
Egypt: 23%
Nobody: 15%
Jordan: 14%
Iran: 12%
Syria: 11%
Saudi Arabia: 8%
UAE: 8%
Qatar: 4%

Who do you perceive as Palestine's greatest threat in the region?
Israel: 76%
USA:  9%
Iran: 6%
Other: 4%
Jordan: 3%
Nobody: 1%

 

Israel boycot houdt boycot Microsoft in

Palestina activisten opgelet! Alweer een product dat je niet mag gebruiken. Nou had je toch al een probleem met je computer, want de chips in de processoren van de servers van je hostingprovider, Provalue b.v., worden geproduceerd en ontwikkeld in Israelische fabrieken nabij Netanya. Ook mobieltjes zijn overigens uit den boze, omdat een deel van de software daarvan in Israel is ontwikkeld. 

 

RP

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Microsoft's free antivirus developed in Israel
Development of Microsoft Security Essentials began in Herzliya Pituach.
Tzachi Hoffman
30 Sep 09 15:14
http://globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000501737&fid=942

 

 

Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) yesterday announced that it will allow free downloads of its new Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program for registered private customers. The beta version of the program has been available for several months. Owners of legal versions of Microsoft Windows can download Microsoft Security Essentials without registering. The program also works on thin hardware such as Netboxes.

Development of Microsoft Security Essentials began in December 2008 at the Microsoft Israel R&D center in Herzliya Pituach. A team of dozens of programmers, overseen by Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie, handled the development.

Microsoft Israel product team leader Shai Kariv said, "We've added new options for private users with our antivirus. The product uses the latest antivirus technologies. It's easy to use, download, and maintain, and it's free. There's no need to register anywhere, and there's no advertising on it."

"Globes": How will the new antivirus affect the competition against the for-pay option?

Kariv: "That's hard to assess at this time, but that's not our goal. For-pay programs do good work protecting Windows, and we're targeting customers who don't install antivirus programs. Our emphasis isn't to compete against other programs, but to offer free antivirus to most of the people who don't have an up-to-date program, either because it's hard for them to pay for it or because they don't want to pay."

 

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 30, 2009

 

Palestijnen zien Shalit als sleutel tot vrijlating gevangenen

Gisteren werd bekend dat Israel 20 gevangenen vrijlaat voor een levensteken van Shalit, wat het zoveelste bewijs is dat deze strategie voor de Palestijnen werkt. Dat wil zeggen, ze krijgen er uiteindelijk waarschijnlijk wel een flink aantal gevangenen mee vrij, maar de prijs die ze betalen is natuurlijk hoog. Na de ontvoering van Shalit heeft Israel honderden Palestijnen gedood in de Gazastrook in een legeroperatie mede om Shalit vrij te krijgen. Israel zou zich ook wat betreft de opening van de grensovergangen van Gaza soepeler opstellen als Shalit niet was ontvoerd of inmiddels vrij was. Omdat Hamas vasthoudt aan een totaal van liefst 1.400 gevangenen in ruil voor Shalit, die in drie verschillende fasen moeten worden vrijgelaten, waarvan ook nog eens honderden met bloed aan hun handen, is er nog geen deal.

Voor Hamas ligt het echter anders: die honderden gedode Palestijnen, en de meer dan 1.000 doden tijdens de Gaza Oorlog, bevestigen haar imago van martelaren die het tegen het oppermachtige Israel opnemen. Door vast te houden aan onmogelijke eisen komen ze standvastig over. Liever 2.000 dode Palestijnen om uiteindelijk 1.400 gevangenen vrij te krijgen, gevangenen die, eenmaal op vrije voeten, voor een deel waarschijnlijk de 'gewapende strijd' tegen Israel weer zullen opnemen en een martelaarsdood sterven.

 

Het is dergelijke 'logica' die het conflict zo onoplosbaar maakt.

RP
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Bulletin - Sept. 30, 2009

Palestinian Media Watch

PA and Hamas:
Kidnapping Israeli soldiers key to freeing imprisoned terrorists

Hamas video animations mock Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit
Cartoon presents him as key to unlock prisoner issue
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik


Despite disagreements on other issues, the PA and Hamas agree that kidnapping Israeli soldiers and holding them hostage is the key to freeing terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails, some of whom are serving multiple life terms for murder.

Having changed its longstanding policy of refusing to negotiate with terrorists, Israel in recent years has released thousands of terrorists, including murderers, in exchange for the release of a few Israeli soldiers, bodies of soldiers and one civilian.

In 2006 Hamas kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and has been holding him hostage while demanding the release of 1,400 imprisoned terrorists, including hundreds who have murdered Israeli civilians.

A cartoon showing Gilad Shalit as the key to a lock with the text "Prisoners" recently appeared in the Palestinian paper Al-Quds. [Al-Quds, Aug. 28, 2009]

Both Fatah and Hamas have stated that the kidnapping-for-hostage policy is the Palestinians' most effective tool to force the release of terrorist prisoners.

See PA Minister for Prisoners advocating kidnappings: http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=663&fld_id=663&doc_id=1298
See Hamas Minister of Interior advocating kidnappings: http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=638&fld_id=638&doc_id=1302

 

See full transcripts below.

Two video animations showing hostage Gilad Shalit as Hamas's prime leverage for prisoners' release have appeared on Hamas TV. Both applaud the Palestinian kidnapping-for-hostage policy, and advocate more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.

One animation shows a Hamas child using a stone (symbolizing Gilad Shalit) to scrape away at a chain (symbolizing Israeli prisons) painted on a wall. A song promises that many "Gilads" will be the means to release Palestinian prisoners. The boy tells the chain that the Palestinians are patient and can wait for the chain to break. The boy then drops the stone, and on it appears a picture of Gilad Shalit. The boy tells Shalit that Hamas will be back to "finish the job." The video ends with Shalit crying, and calling "Mommy!"

The second animation shows Gilad Shalit being held prisoner and talking to a Hamas child. The Shalit character says Israel does not care about him, and suggests that the only way for him to be released would be for Hamas to kidnap more soldiers. The child understands that further kidnappings would cause drafted Israelis to refuse to serve in the army out of fear of being kidnapped, and thus scare Israeli leaders  -who otherwise don't care about Shalit - into accepting Hamas's terms.

The following is the transcript of the first Hamas TV animation mocking Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit and promising more kidnappings of soldiers:

 

(Song) "In the prisons, our heroes cried with joy: Our day of release has come; this land is our country! You [Israelis] will all be 'Gilads'. We'll capture you."
Hamas child uses a stone to scrape away at a chain painted on a wall.
Child [to chain]: "You don't want to break- that's OK. Take your time; we're not in a hurry, we're very patient."
Child drops stone, and image of Gilad Shalit appears on stone.
Child [to stone - Shalit]: "You stay where you are; don't move. Tomorrow we'll be back and we'll finish the job."
(Song) "It is inevitable that the chains will be broken."
[The video ends with the stone - Gilad Shalit - crying: "Mommy!" (in Hebrew)]
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), April 21, 2009]

 

The following is the transcript of the Hamas TV animation mocking Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit and promoting the kidnapping-for-hostage policy:

 

Gilad Shalit: "Mommy!"
Hamas child: "Who is it? Gilad [Shalit]? [Child laughs] Poor you! You've been rotting here for 3 years, and no one cares."
Gilad Shalit: "Please release me!"
Hamas child: "Are you asking me to be a collaborator and a traitor, that I'll betray my people and my homeland? Are you crazy!"
Gilad Shalit: "I have an idea: You [Hamas] go and capture more soldiers, they [Israelis] will be afraid and accept your terms to free me."
Hamas child: "Ah, they will free you not because they love you, but to prevent anxiety among your soldiers, so they won't be afraid, and stop their military service."
Gilad Shalit: "True."
Hamas child: "Gilad, stay here, and pray that [Hamas] succeeds in capturing another [soldier], so you'll be freed. Bye."
Gilad Shalit: "Mommy! Mommy! (in Hebrew) Free me!"
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 6, 2009]

 

Following are two examples of PA and Hamas ministers advocating kidnapping of Israeli soldiers:

Ashraf Al-Ajrami, PA Minister of Prisoners:
"The language of peace and negotiations is not enough to urge Israel to cooperate positively regarding prisoners. The way Israel likes, it seems, is to exchange [prisoners] with kidnapped Israeli soldiers."           
[PA TV (Fatah), June 5, 2008]

 

Click here to view: http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=638&fld_id=638&doc_id=1298

Said Siam, PA Minister of Interior (Hamas):
"In the past, Hamas succeeded in kidnapping many Zionist soldiers. From among our forces there are thousands of prisoners. They (the forces) have to think how to free these prisoners, and I believe that there is no alternative but to kidnap soldiers to exchange for them.
Hamas has kidnapped 10 soldiers.
There is nothing the Resistance cannot do. When there is a goal and a good plan, the goal can be achieved, especially about prisoners, which is top priority.
During the PA administration, Hamas has succeeded in kidnapping and hiding bodies, but unfortunately, two bodies were handed over for nothing. When there is a kidnapping, and it is secured, each case at its own time has its own negotiations."         
[Abu Dabi TV, June 26, 2006]

 

Click here to view: http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=638&fld_id=638&doc_id=1302

It should be noted that months before the Shalit kidnapping, PMW released the Siam speech, and warned that kidnapping-for-hostage was Palestinian policy.

 

===============================
Contact Palestinian Media Watch:
p:+972 2 625 4140e: pmw@palwatch.org
f: +972 2 624 2803w: www.palwatch.org
PMW | King George 59 | Jerusalem | Israel

 

80% Seculieren en maar 37% Haredi mannen werken

 

Ondanks het feit dat meer dan 50% van de ultra orthodoxe mannen niet rond komt, is een meerderheid toch zeer tevreden met hun leven, terwijl ruim 40% van de seculiere mannen niet rondkomt en slechts 28% van hen tevreden is. God maakt blijkbaar veel goed. Om de een of andere reden zijn deze beide vragen niet aan vrouwen gesteld. Zowel ultra-orthodoxe als seculiere vrouwen verdienen een stuk minder dan mannen, al is het verschil bij de seculieren iets kleiner.
Ik vind het percentage mannen dat zegt niet rond te kunnen komen overigens erg hoog, en dat voor een land dat het naar ik heb begrepen ondanks de crisis economisch nog relatief goed doet.

Om meer ultra orthodoxe mannen aan het werk te krijgen zal het schoolsysteem ingrijpend moeten veranderen, zodat hun kinderen een substantieel deel van de tijd zullen besteden aan 'normale' vakken en onderwijs. Dergelijke hervormingen worden tegengehouden door de ultra orthodoxe partijen in de regering, die in iedere coalitie zitten. Zij kunnen wijzen op het veel hogere percentage ultra orthodoxen dat zeer tevreden is met hun leven en daar sta je dan als seculiere econoom met je mond vol tanden.

 

RP

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

Report: Only 37% of haredi men work
Salary gap between secular, ultra-Orthodox population significant with haredi men earning 30%, and haredi women earning 35% less than secular women. Earning power between sexes puts women at significant disadvantage in both haredi and secular populations

 

David Regev - YNET

Published: 09.30.09, 07:55
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3782668,00.html

 

Only 37% of haredi men work, as opposed to some 80% of their secular counterparts, according to statistics presented to Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer while touring centers for women's employment in the ultra-Orthodox town of Modiin Ilit.

Among working women, there is also a significant gap. Some 49% of haredi women are gainfully employed, while 70% of secular women work.

The average gross monthly salary of haredi women is NIS 3,690 (about $980), about 40% lower than haredi men's gross monthly salary, which stands at an average NIS 6,123 (about $1,625).

The gap in earning power between the sexes is lower in the secular population, in which women earn 36% less than men. The average gross monthly salary for secular women is NIS 5,698 (about $1,512). The average gross monthly salary for secular men is NIS 8,955 (about $2,375).

This puts the average gross monthly salary of haredi women at about 35% lower than that of the average gross monthly salary of secular women. The gap between secular and haredi men is narrower, with haredi men earning on average 30% less than their secular counterparts.

Some 52% of haredi men reported that being unable to cover their monthly household expenses in contrast with 42.4% of secular men.

Following these findings, Minister Ben-Eliezer said that his ministry would take measures to integrate the haredi community into the workforce, through initiatives such as professional training courses and additional benefits. Despite the dim statistics, some 63% of haredim said they were highly satisfied with their lives, in comparison with only 28% of seculars.

Leugens over Joden (Nausicaa Marbe)

 

Ik heb al eerder over de betreffende tekst op de website van Stop de Bezetting geblogd, en ik had het ook weer ergens gelezen, maar met Nausicaa Marbe's column in de Volkskrant krijgt het pas echt bekendheid. Marbe schrijft:

 

Want wie iets gruwelijks ontkent dat evident gebeurd is, doet dat om te kwetsen, pijn te doen, te ontregelen, haat te ventileren en om te dreigen.

 

Dat geldt voor een deel van de holocaustontkenners, en vooral voor de subtiele types als Gretta Duisenberg, die niet zozeer ontkennen alswel relativeren, waarvan de gewraakte tekst op SdB een sprekend voorbeeld is. Achmadinejad en de echte ontkenners menen wellicht werkelijk dat het allemaal schromelijk wordt overdreven, onder invloed van de almachtige Joodse lobby. Antisemieten geloven echt dat zo'n lobby bestaat, en ik denk dat Hitler echt dacht dat de Joden Duitsland in gevaar brachten, en het internationale Finanzjudentum samen met de bolsjewieken de wereld ten onder zou doen gaan. Veel mensen in de Arabische wereld denken echt dat de zionisten achter 9/11 zaten en dat Israel het hele Midden-Oosten aan zich wil onderwerpen, en grenzen wil van de Nijl tot de Eufraat. Mensen zijn in staat de meest idiote dingen te geloven en daar vervolgens ook naar te handelen.

 

Uiteindelijk maakt het echter weinig verschil: de antisemieten die echt denken dat de Joden de holocaust hebben verzonnen om sympathie en een staat te krijgen, en de antisemieten die wel weten dat de holocaust heeft plaats gevonden maar die uit kwaadaardigheid en om te kwetsen ontkennen. 

 

Ratna Pelle

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

 

Leugens over Joden

 

Nausicaa Marbe

http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/4188/Leugens_over_joden

 

 

 

President Ahmadinejad is een charlatan. Zijn ontkenning van cruciale feiten uit de mondiale geschiedenis veegt alle aanknopingspunten voor dialoog weg.

Ik heb geen geduld met mensen die de geschiedenis ontkennen,' zei Barack Obama afgelopen juni. Hij doelde op Ahmadinejad die weer eens de Holocaust had ontkend. Ook tijdens zijn Caïro-rede hekelde Obama de holocaustontkenning als deeply wrong. Omdat hij de dag daarna naar Buchenwald ging, raadde hij die bestemming ook Ahmadinejad aan. Preken tegen dovenmansoren.

Ontkenning
Deeply wrong is een understatement. De ontkenning van de holocaust is een daad van geweld tegen een ieder die in de holocaust dierbaren verloren heeft. De ontkenning van cruciale feiten uit de mondiale geschiedenis veegt alle aanknopingspunten voor dialoog weg. De boodschap is: je kunt de pot op met je geschiedenis. Een bewering gemaakt op oorlogsvoet.

Want wie iets gruwelijks ontkent dat evident gebeurd is, doet dat om te kwetsen, pijn te doen, te ontregelen, haat te ventileren en om te dreigen. Met plezier in vijandigheid. Als de waarheid niet meetelt, als die verdraaid wordt om bloeddorst op te roepen, is alles mogelijk. Zulk racistisch machtsvertoon belooft rabiate onbarmhartigheid tegenover Israël.

Ontkenningstirade
Nu lijkt het misschien dat Ahmadinejad, die deze week bij de Verenigde Naties nu eens níet in zo'n ontkenningstirade verviel, iets opgestoken heeft van Obama's handreiking aan de islamitische wereld. Mij dunkt eerder dat hij zijn jodenhaat aangepast heeft aan zijn gehoor.

Wat werkt in het Midden-Oosten – het antisemitisme vitaal houden met haatpreken – is niet de ideale aanpak in New York. Daar trapte hij op de emotiepedaal, huilde hij om Palestijnse vrouwen en kinderen, appelleerde hij aan de moraliteit van de wereld. Er zullen commentatoren zijn die zich op het toetsenbord werpen om hem gelijk te geven.

Wie echter nadenkt, ontmaskert de charlatan: het gaat Ahmadinejad niet over de uitzichtloosheid van het conflict, de ellende van mensen, de vluchtelingenkampen, de onderhandelingen. Om mensenrechten? Zeker hij die thuis met scherp op studenten schiet.

Complex
Om oorlogslachtoffers? Zeker hij die anti-Israëlisch terrorisme sponsort. Laat staan dat hij oog heeft voor de complexe toedracht van het conflict. Want complex is die. Wie beweert dat 'de zionistische entiteit' alle schuld treft, liegt de boel evengoed bij elkaar als wie Israël enkel vrijpleit.

Het gaat Ahmadinejad niet om Palestijnen, wel om joden wereldwijd die complotten zouden smeden.

In New York hekelde hij de 'kleine groep' die mondiaal de dienst uitmaakt. Het type antisemitisme zonder shoa-ontkenning dat in het Westen breed aanslaat. Beschaafde mensen verlieten de zaal.

Maar holocaustontkenning kan ook zonder de ontkenning van zes miljoen doden. Zie de site van Stichting Stop de Bezetting waarop staat dat de holocaust niet primair met joden van doen heeft. Letterlijk, onder 'Doelstellingen': 'Voor en tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog voltrok zich - na de Eerste Holocaust tegen de Armeniërs - de Tweede Holocaust.

Homoseksuelen
Al dan niet systematisch werden vermoord homoseksuelen, Esperantisten, zigeuners, 'economisch onwaardigen', Russen, etnische Polen, gehandicapten, Jehova's getuigen, Vrije Bijbelonderzoekers, vakbondsleden, vrijmetselaars, communisten, Spaanse republikeinen, Serven, Quakers, mensen die zich verzetten tegen de nazi's en joden.

Omdat in Israël en daarbuiten de schijn wordt gewekt dat de joden exclusief de slachtoffers van de Holocaust waren en hun lijden het ergste ooit, dient de herinnering aan de slachtoffers bij voorkeur levend te worden gehouden bij de Holocaustgedenkplaatsen in Europa. Op kosten van Israël dient er een Nakba gedenkplaats te komen van tenminste dezelfde omvang en kwalitatieve uitvoering als de Holocaust gedenkplaats in Israël.' Getekend: Gretta Duisenberg.

Let op: joden worden als laatsten genoemd, hekkensluiters. Over deze belediging is nagedacht. Het is een pikante ontdekking van deze specialiste in holocausten 'voor en tijdens de oorlog', dat het leed van Esperantisten even omvangrijk was als het leed van joden.

Wannseeconferentie
Wellicht beschikt Duisenberg over documenten waaruit blijkt dat tijdens de Wannseeconferentie in 1942 Reinhard Heydrich de aanwezigen overhaalde om de 'Endlösung der Quaker- oder der Freien Bibeluntersucher-Frage' niet door sterilisatie maar door Zyklon B uit te voeren. En wat zou Hitler blij zijn geweest dat hij Europa's dorpen en steden kon uitkammen op hele generaties 'Freimaurer' ter bevolking van zijn ghetto's en concentratiekampen.

Met zulke vileine relativeringen ontkent Duisenberg de 'Judensache' en het feit dat de holocaustindustrie is opgericht om joden uit te roeien. Kwestie van 'schijn wekken' aldus Duisenberg - die zelf altijd gebeten reageert als terecht de schijn ter sprake komt die zij met haar insinuaties wekt.

 

Israëli's en Palestijnen werken samen om lokaal watertekort op te lossen

Er zijn veel van dit soort lokale samenwerkingsprojecten en initiatieven, zowel op de Westelijke Jordaanoever als in Israel zelf. Soms, maar lang niet altijd, deelt men een politieke visie en zijn de betreffende Israeli's ook fel tegen de bezetting gekant. Ook in en rond de nederzettingen wordt er echter veel samengewerkt, ondanks de ideologische verschillen.

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

Israelis, Palestinians work together in bid to solve local water shortage
By Akiva Eldar   
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117315.html


"Wadi Fukin is a rich valley, full of water: The springs there gush forth, the soil is fruitful and generous, every resident has a pool for collecting the spring water, and the vegetable plots are abundant with produce, and olive groves are planted in it, and vine tendrils are found all along it, shoulder to shoulder. And at the top of the mountain above the wadi - the foundations of the city of Betar and the settlement of Betar Ilit."

This heartwarming description comes from "The Yellow Wind" by David Grossman, who during his journey through the territories in 1987 was able to decipher the signs that preceded the first uprising against the occupation, the first intifada that broke out at the end of 1987.

In the early 1950s, after the "acts of retribution" that followed the harassment of Israel Defense Forces patrols, the residents of Wadi Fukin scattered in all directions and almost all the homes in the village were blown up. For all these years they continued to cultivate their plots and lived from the produce of the land. In 1972 then-defense minister Moshe Dayan ordered that the refugees of Wadi Fukin be restored to their village. It is said that the primitive agriculture that has been preserved since the 16th century touched the heart of the amateur archaeologist. "They may be the only ones who had the good fortune of returning from lives as refugees to normal lives, and can say something about the chances of reconciliation and forgiveness," wrote Grossman. "In the distorted climate of the occupation, when any act of kindness is done, it's almost by necessity crooked and twisted, and in the end it is only one of the many faces of arbitrary behavior."

The distorted climate of the occupation has become slightly altered since then with the distortions of the Oslo Accords. The homes of the village and the vegetable plots have been branded "Area B." All around them everything is "Area C," "State lands" that will soon become a construction site and will be annexed to Betar Ilit. The small ultra-Orthodox settlement has become a big city. In the morning hours the high-rise buildings cast their shadows over the Palestinian neighbors in the valley. According to the town's Web site, "the population of Betar Ilit now numbers about 35,000 residents - may their numbers increase - who live in about 6,000 housing units."

The tower cranes testify that in Betar Ilit the construction freeze in the settlements is nothing but a distant rumor. As far as the 1,200 residents of Wadi Fukin are concerned, the freeze is an oppressive reality. The village elder, Mohammed Mansara, who is called Abu Mazen around here, makes a circle with a callused hand that encompasses the vegetable plots, the water pools and the small stone houses on the hillside. The Israeli government makes sure that nobody will go beyond this line. The young people who want to build a home for themselves can only eat away at the vegetable plots, the villagers' source of livelihood for generations.

The residents of Wadi Fukin are among the approximately 70,000 Palestinians whose homes, and sometimes whose lands as well, are in Area C, under full Israeli control. From 2000 to 2007 only 91 building permits were granted to the Palestinians (in the settlements during the same period over 18,472 housing units were built, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics). Over 94 percent of Palestinian requests for construction permits were rejected, according to Defense Ministry statistics acquired by MK Haim Oron of Meretz.

And in spite of all that, according to Grossman, Wadi Fukin can once again "herald a chance for reconciliation and forgiveness." Earlier this month, 22 years after the author's visit, a group of veteran leaders, the "Elders," made their way along the narrow road that winds through the fruitful valley. The former leaders were welcomed by a group of activists from the Friends of the Earth - Middle East from Wadi Fukin and the neighboring community of Tzur Hadassah, that borders the Green Line from its Israeli side. They are working together to preserve the valley and protect it from the blights of the large settlement. "It was touching to see the harmony with which they are dealing together with the challenges and the opportunities," wrote former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in the Washington Post.

World Heritage Site

Gidon Bromberg, director of the Israeli office of Friends of the Earth - Middle East, convened the members from the village and Tzur Hadassah in the Al-Fukin local council building, in our honor. Alongside council head Mahmoud Mufriah sat Tamar Gardinger and Dr. Dudy Tzfati of Tzur Hadassah. Tzfati, a geneticist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, remembers hikes in the wadi during his childhood. "When I came to Tzur Hadassah 40 years later, I was amazed at the sight of the piles of trash and the tremendous construction in the settlements," he says. "I realized that the wadi was in danger and decided that I couldn't stand on the sidelines."

Gardinger, a lecturer in education for democracy at the Adam Institute for Democracy and Peace, says that many of their neighbors in the community (which numbers about 5,000 residents) support the joint activity and at the same time, most of the people in Tzur Hadassah are indifferent to what is happening in the wadi.

Over four years ago, after the area commander issued injunctions to seize the lands of a number of farmers in Wadi Fukin for the purpose of building the separation fence, one third of the residents of Tzur Hadassah signed a petition initiated by Friends of the Earth - Middle East. "The Israeli community understood that instead of providing them with security, the fence would harm the springs and lands of the village, and will rob the Palestinian farmers of their livelihood and arouse hatred toward their Israeli neighbors," explains Bromberg.

A delegation of the residents appeared at the time before the Civil Administration along with the village heads. Aside from the damage to the water and landscape, they said that the village is a candidate to be listed as a World Heritage Site thanks to the traditional agricultural methods practiced there.

Raid Samara, head of the regional council, declares that he has not come to talk about politics but about the quality of the environment. "It's important for you to know that our situation is more difficult than it was before Oslo," says Samara. "The population is growing, water consumption has increased, as well as the amount of sewage. If we wait until the bigshots reach an agreement we'll be left without water and without land," he warns.

Bathwater and cucumbers

Wadi Fukin-Tzur Hadassah is one of 25 joint communities in which the Friends of the Earth - Middle East are operating in the framework of the "Good Water Neighbors" initiative (with American, Swedish and Norwegian funding). It is one of the only regional projects remaining from the vision of the New Middle East. The objective is to bring the water shortage that is shared by Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians onto the public agenda, and to encourage joint management of the region's water resources, explains Bromberg. He says that "the Jordan River and the Hadera stream are examples of the fact that water crosses borders and interests, and that one side can't handle it alone."

Recently the organization held a joint workshop in Ein Gedi for environmental activists from Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, about the use of "gray water" (household wastewater). The graduates receive the title of "Good Water Neighbors" and are sent to disseminate the message of environmental cooperation.

So it is that while politicians speak loftily about "normalization," in Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian schools they are studying from the same "Water Book," which was written in Hebrew and Arabic. The Peace Vegetables cooperative of Wadi Fukin and Tzur Hadassah markets the village's cucumbers to their Israeli neighbors, and last Tu Bishvat (Jewish Arbor Day) the children of the two communities planted 20 green saplings along the imaginary Green Line that separates their houses. In the winter they will come back and together prepare the devices for gathering rainwater on the roofs of the houses and pray for rain - perhaps even for peace.

 

 

De ondergang en verdrijving van de Joden van Lybië

Sympathisanten van de Palestijnen vertellen graag hoe vreedzaam Joden en Arabieren samenleefden in het Midden-Oosten voordat die vermaledijde zionisten kwamen en iedereen wilden overheersen. Zolang de moslims in de meerderheid en dominant waren, en de Joden zich daaraan aanpasten, ging het in de ogen van de moslims prima. De Joden hebben daar gemengde gevoelens over. In de Arabische wereld ging het vaak beter dan in Europa, maar er waren, afhankelijk van tijd en plaats, tal van discriminitoire en vernederende maatregelen en gebruiken, en van gelijkwaardigheid was geen sprake.

Na de stichting van Israel zijn bijna alle Joden uit de Arabische landen gevlucht en verdreven, met achterlating van een hoeveelheid land die meerdere keren de oppervlakte van Israel omvat. Zie ook: http://www.israel-palestina.info/vluchtelingen.html 

 

RP

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

Decline and fall of Libyan Jews
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2009/09/decline-and-fall-of-libyan-jewry.html

(From Point of No return)

 

The Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi  knows all about Jews. Jews dressed like Arabs and lived in harmony with Arabs, he tells Time magazine. But they are heading to disaster because they dared have their Jewish state, instead of one state shared with the Palestinians. Gaddafi here restates the old dhimmi idea - the Jews are 'our Jews' who must defer to Arabs for protection.

 

So successful was coexistence in Libya, that  under Gaddafi's watch Libya became judenrein! For the benefit of Time readers and others who are tempted to believe Gaddafi's lies, Point of No Return charts the decline and fall of Libyan Jewry:

 

1938  Italian racial laws applied to Libya's 30,000 Jews.

1942  600 Jews die in Giado work camp
1945  Two-day pogrom: 130 Jews killed
1948  14 Jews killed in pogrom
1949 - 1952 : 90 percent of Jews flee for Israel
1951  Constitution abolished. PM Mahmud Muntassar says Jews can have no future in Libya.
1952 Independent Libya bans emigration, joins the Arab League
1953 Libya signs up to the anti-Israel boycott. Night-time searches of Jewish homes for 'Zionist' material
1954 Maccabi sports club closed
1960 Muslim appointed head of Jewish community council
1961 Assets belonging to Libyan Jews in Israel seized. Only Libyan nationals can buy property (excludes Jews). Jews cannot vote.
1963 Nasserists press for closure of US and UK bases
1963 Murder of Jewish leader Halfalla Nahum, 84
1967 Six-Day War. Jews donate to Palestinian cause. 60 percent of Jewish assets destroyed in Tripoli. Italian and Jewish shops burnt. 10 Jews killed.
        300 Benghazi Jews detained for own safety. Two families (14 people) massacred. Almost all Libya's remaining 5,000 Jews evacuated out of the country.
2002 Esmeralda Meghnagi, Libya's last Jew, dies.

 

Egyptische mediagroep boycot Israeli's

Dit is Egyptes reactie op Obama's toenadering en verzoek aan de Arabische landen om, in ruil voor de maandenlange harde druk die hij op Israel heeft uitgeoefend en de concessies die dat tot gevolg had, ook een gebaar van goede wil te maken, zodat zijn mooie vredesplannen niet in duigen vallen. Het is natuurlijk volkomen van de pot gerukt dat in een land dat vrede met Israel heeft gesloten, het officiële staatsmedium een dergelijke boycot afkondigt, en dat zou zeker niet mogelijk zijn zonder de goedkeuring van president Moebarak.

 

A senior editor at the Al-Ahram daily said that the Al-Ahram group has always been a supporter of dialogue, and an opponent of discrimination, including discrimination against Israel, but the fact that Israel has "gone against peace and elected an extremist government which opposes peace and supports killing and destruction" had changed the group's outlook.

He added that the group will work toward preventing "normalization" and contact with the Israelis until the achievement of a lasting and just peace, "which means Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories."

 

Om tot vrede te komen, zijn stappen van beide kanten nodig, en ook vertrouwenwekkende maatregelen van de Arabische staten. Hoe weet Israel anders dat, als het zich heeft teruggetrokken, Egypte en al die andere landen daadwerkelijk stoppen met hun boycot van Israel, opruiing, delegitimatie en het continu tegenwerken van Israel in de VN en op internationaal diplomatiek gebied? Er zal vast iets niet deugen aan die terugtrekking, omdat Israel bijvoorbeeld niet bereid is om geheel Oost-Jeruzalem op te geven, om alle vluchtelingen en hun nakomelingen toe te laten of om genoeg wapens door te laten naar de Gazastrook of de dan bevrijde Westelijke Jordaanoever.

Het is dus Egypte dat de vrede weer een stapje verder weg brengt.

 

Overigens behandelt Egypte de aan Hamas verwante Moslimbroederschap in eigen land ook niet echt volgens het humanitaire recht, houdt het zelf de grens met Gaza ook gesloten en heeft het bepaald geen behoefte aan een sterk Hamas in een Gaza met open grenzen en hopen wapens.

 

RP

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

 

Last update - 18:48 28/09/2009       
Egypt media group agrees on massive Israel boycott
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117398.html

 

 

The London-based Arabic-language daily A Sharq al Awsat reported Monday that the board of directors of the powerful Egyptian media group Al-Ahram had decided to boycott Israel and Israelis of all positions.

 

The Al-Ahram group is considered the most powerful media body in Egypt. Al-Ahram publishes newspapers considered to be the official mouthpiece of the Egyptian government.

 

The boycott, approved by a majority of nine board members over six following a heated debate, includes a ban on meeting with and interviewing Israelis, and a ban on participation in events (seminars, conferences, lectures) in which Israelis are taking part.

 

According to the report, the board of directors also banned Israelis from entering the building housing the Al-Ahram offices. The ban includes Israeli diplomats stationed in Egypt.

 

During the same meeting, it was decided to take action on the matter of Dr. Hala Moustafa, the editor of Al-Ahram's Democracy magazine, after she stirred anger and disapproval earlier this month when she met with Israeli ambassador Shalom Cohen.

 

A statement regarding the board's decision has been personally delivered to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

 

A senior editor at the Al-Ahram daily said that the Al-Ahram group has always been a supporter of dialogue, and an opponent of discrimination, including discrimination against Israel, but the fact that Israel has "gone against peace and elected an extremist government which opposes peace and supports killing and destruction" had changed the group's outlook.

 

He added that the group will work toward preventing "normalization" and contact with the Israelis until the achievement of a lasting and just peace, "which means Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories."

 

Dr. Moustafa said Monday that she had yet to receive any notice regarding the board's decision. However, it is believed that an investigation against her will begin Tuesday. Moustafa said that she will defend her stance and argue that Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty and as such, a meeting with Israel's ambassador is not a violation of Egyptian law.

 

Israels oorlogsmisdaden in Gaza?

"Israelis, too, were angry. After withdrawing from Gaza, they did not get peace but eight years of incessant rocket and mortar fire into Southern Israel. On the single day I spent in the Southern Israeli city of Sderot, three rockets landed. I wondered at the time how long Israel would put up with the situation, and I wondered, too, how long the world would do nothing. In the end, the world did nothing, so Israel did something. Doing nothing is the UN's version of passive aggressive behavior. It's not a war crime. It just produces them."

Waarom vraagt geen enkele journalist in Nederland zich dergelijke zaken af?

 

RP

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Israel's War Crimes?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2009/09/israels_war_crimes.html

 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not much of a public speaker, at least not in English, but what he had to say at the United Nations on Thursday was both sad and provocative. It was sad that any Israeli leader -- anyone, for that matter -- would find it necessary to bring to the rostrum proof that the Holocaust had happened and to rebuke those UN delegations that stayed in their seats for Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has asserted it had not.

 

But it was something else that Netanyahu said that I found provocative: the suggestion that under UN rules, both Roosevelt and Churchill would have been brought "to the dock as war criminals."
"What a perversion of truth," Netanyahu went on. "What a perversion of justice."

Is it? The possibility, I grant you, is jarring, but the fact remains that both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were complicit in the wholesale bombing of German cities in which no effort was made to spare civilian lives and, indeed, hundreds of thousands of them were killed. The two most famous examples are the fire bombings of first Hamburg and then Dresden with huge civilian losses.

But Netanyahu did not mention the most obvious example of a retroactive war crime, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There, too, civilians were the main target. He did not mention, either, the fire bombings of Tokyo, which resulted in a greater loss of life than Hiroshima.

Netanyahu's point is worth considering. In Gaza, Israel, as opposed to the United States and Britain in World War II, went out of its way to minimize civilian fatalities. That does not mean, as the UN Human Rights Council has alleged, that Israel (as well as Hamas) did not commit war crimes in Gaza, only that had it followed Harry Truman's logic in authorizing the atomic bombing of Japan, it would have relied almost exclusively on air power to pound Gaza into submission. That would have ended the rocket attacks into southern Israel and would not have cost Israel the life of a single soldier. As it was, Israel reported 10 soldiers killed (4 by friendly fire) and 336 wounded.

Clearly, standards of what constitutes a war crime have changed -- and a good thing, too. But what has not changed is anger and provocation. In World War II, Germany and Japan's bombing of population centers and their record of atrocities fueled a desire for payback. (The Russians excelled at this.) Truman had scant sympathy for Japanese civilians, but his first priority was to end the war and save American lives. He was, after all, the commander in chief. Still, you can imagine what various human rights groups would today say about the "disproportionate" use of force.

Israelis, too, were angry. After withdrawing from Gaza, they did not get peace but eight years of incessant rocket and mortar fire into Southern Israel. On the single day I spent in the Southern Israeli city of Sderot, three rockets landed. I wondered at the time how long Israel would put up with the situation, and I wondered, too, how long the world would do nothing. In the end, the world did nothing, so Israel did something. Doing nothing is the UN's version of passive aggressive behavior. It's not a war crime. It just produces them.

 

By Richard Cohen  |  September 25, 2009; 10:41 AM ET

 

Hoe Richard Goldstone een echt onderzoek naar de Gaza Oorlog verhinderde

 

Benjamin Pogrond is een voormalig anti-Apartheids activist uit Zuid-Afrika en een fel criticus van de Israelische bezetting van de Westelijke Jordaanoever.

 

RP

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

 

How Goldstone prevented a real Gaza investigation

http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2009/09/how-goldstone-prevented-real-gaza.html

 

After every military operation there should be an investigation, and in well ordered societies, all military actions should be subject to civilian judicial review. This is not the norm, but it should be. In Israel, there are occasionally such reviews, and probably the Gaza operation warranted one. Unfortuanately, Judge Goldstone made such a review of the Gaza operation impossible. After a blood libel it is hard to convince Jews to investigate whether kosher slaughter is humane, and after a "pound of flesh nearest the heart" verdict nobody is going to listen to a call to investigate irregularities in banking practices. It is unclear why Judge Goldstone chose to lead a lynch mob against Israel and to legitimize the Hamas, but in doing so he guaranteed that his hypocritical call for an investigation will fall on deaf ears. He has made matters worse, because he has the effrontery to ignore all counter-evidence, and then to write in Op-Eds that the IDF didn't refute a single one of his claims. If the coals of hell are brought down on his head, it is little enough considering the damage he has done.

 

Ami Isseroff

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

 

How Goldstone erred
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1116945.html

By Benjamin Pogrund

 

 

At least three times in his life, Richard Goldstone has gone against prevailing wisdom in taking on challenging jobs. Two were in apartheid South Africa - and he was brilliantly successful in both. The third, his Gaza inquiry, has brought down the coals of hell upon his head.

 

During the first three decades of apartheid, many judges were appointed because of their loyalty to the Afrikaner government. One result was a decline in the quality and status of South African courts. In response, the government sought to appoint some liberal lawyers of quality. Most, however, were reluctant to join the bench because it meant applying apartheid laws.

 

Some accepted: Goldstone, who made his name as a barrister in nonpolitical commercial cases, became a Supreme Court judge in 1980. The next year, far from merely applying the law, he handed down a judgment that struck at the heart of a basic apartheid law - the Group Areas Act, which had split the entire country into different areas where people of different races were respectively compelled to live and work, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people of color.
 
Goldstone ruled in favor of an Asian woman appealing against eviction from her home, and said she first had to be provided with alternative accommodation. His startling judgment ended such evictions.

 

His second challenging job came in 1991. Apartheid was winding down and the country was beset by violence, in which thousands were killed. A mysterious "Third Force" of government agents was rumored to be behind the killings. President F.W. de Klerk asked Goldstone to head a commission to investigate the terrible violence. Goldstone accepted - and ran it like no other commission before: Over three years, he issued 47 reports, revealing horrendous details about murder squads set up and funded by the government.

 

Gaza has been Goldstone's latest challenge. He again accepted a mandate from a poisoned source: the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. I have no doubt that he acted with the best of intentions, as he has his entire life, first in South Africa and then in the world, to ensure justice be done. But I also believe that this time, his decision is open to question.

 

First, Goldstone underestimated the Human Rights Council's malevolence toward Israel. Most members harbor deep hatred for Israel, and wish for no less than its destruction. Goldstone should have been warned off by the refusal of several people before him to accept the job, including former Irish president Mary Robinson.

 

Second, he accepted the council's mandate, even though it had declared in advance that Israel was guilty of war crimes in Gaza. It is not enough that the council's chairman later said the mandate could include Hamas: Apart from the fact that this statement does not bind the council, his findings on Hamas will mean little or nothing in practice because the organization is not a recognized government and is beyond international action. Israel is the council's target and Goldstone has delivered it. His report has more strength because he is a Jew and enjoys international status.

 

Third, rejecting objections, he allowed Prof. Christine Chinkin to remain a member of his four-person commission even though, back in January, she had already publicly found Israel guilty, referring to its "prima facie war crimes" in Gaza. Goldstone thus seriously, even fatally, undermined the commission's credibility, and in doing so raised questions about his own good sense.

 

Fourth, the nearly 600-page report includes many pages of descriptions and allegations of Israeli oppression at home and on the West Bank. That is valid if the intention is to provide a context for Israel's actions in Gaza. But then it must be done properly, with careful research and assessments for a fair presentation of the mix of history, religion, culture and politics that make up the complex situation, including both good and bad. The report does not show that knowledge and understanding; instead, time and again, it's Israel that is bad, bad, bad.

 

Fifth, the report follows the usual line pursued by members of the council and Israel's other enemies - treating Israel as though it were a unique source of evil instead of examining Gaza in the light of experience elsewhere, in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, where the military has taken on terrorists in a civilian setting.

 

Richard Goldstone is now under savage attack from many in the Jewish world. Right-wingers have gone berserk, with outpourings of hysterical condemnation. More measured criticism has come from Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the UN, who said there were "very serious concerns about many of the recommendations in the report," and U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, who criticized the report for its "cookie-cutter conclusions" about Israel's actions, while it limited its comments on "the deplorable actions of Hamas to generalized remarks."

 

But Kelly also urged Israel to further investigate IDF actions in Gaza. And that indeed is what Israel should do. I believed last December and still do that Israel was justified in going into Gaza. But I remain uncertain and uncomfortable about exactly what Israel did and why it did it. Was white phosphorous used over civilian areas? If so, why? What about the early killing of scores of policemen? What about reports that rescue parties were blocked from reaching the wounded, civilians carrying white flags were killed while fleeing and human shields were used? Why were journalists kept out?

 

The IDF says emphatically that it behaved correctly, but it is not enough for it to investigate itself. An independent investigation is needed - and the obvious person to head it is former Israeli Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, who would give it strength and status, at home and abroad. Israelis need it for their own moral peace of mind, or if wrong was done, to recognize and to address it. Israel needs to be certain that it can tell Goldstone and other critics that their accusations are skewed and unjustified.

 

Benjamin Pogrund, a former South African journalist, first reported on Richard Goldstone 48 years ago.

Geen hotel op plaats massamoord in Kiev na internationale protesten

De plannen van de gemeente Kiev om een hotel te bouwen op de plaats waar tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog meer dan 30.000 Joden zijn vermoord door SS troepen, met hulp van de lokale bevolking, gaan niet door. Vanwege internationale protesten heeft de burgemeester het plan, dat door de gemeenteraad was goedgekeurd, afgeblazen.

 

RP

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Kiev scraps plan for hotel at site of Babi Yar massacre by Nazis
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117111.html

By Haaretz Service

 

 

Kiev's Mayor has scrapped a plan to build a hotel on a memorial site of one of the most notorious massacres of Jews during the Holocaust, following an international outcry.

 

Last week, the Kiev municipality approved a plan to build 28 hotels, including one on the memorial site of the Babi Yar attrocity, to accommodate the tens of thousands of visitors expected for soccer's 2012 European Championships.

 

But Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi later used his veto to cancel the plan, according to reports Saturday.
 
On September 29 and 30, 1941, German SS troops, supported by other German units and local collaborators, gathered 33,771 Jewish civilians at the ravine outside Kiev and murdered them with machine guns.

 

After the Soviet Union's collapse, Ukraine set up a monument on the site.

 

Chernovetskyi has reportedly been interested in turning his city's remaining green space into real estate and is taking advantage of Euro 2012 to implement his plan, city sources said.

 

Hillary Clinton zet Arabische staten onder druk voor normalizeren betrekkingen met Israel

Het is goed dat de VS ook de Arabische staten onder druk zet om concessies te doen, al gaat het vooralsnog om beperkte en voor een deel ook symbolische concessies. Het feit dat de meeste Arabische staten hier tot nu toe afwijzend op hebben gereageerd, toont aan dat het nog wel even zal duren voordat zij "demonstrate to the Israeli public that Israel will be an accepted, normalized part of the region." Oftwel: voordat Israel het idee heeft dat het conflict niet langer om haar bestaansrecht gaat, maar om precieze grenzen en andere specifieke zaken, waar men door praten en onderhandelen, geven en nemen een oplossing voor kan vinden. Zolang veel Israeli's dit conflict als een existentieel conflict ervaren, en dat steeds bevestigd zien in uitspraken en gedrag van Arabische staten, zullen zij niet snel geneigd zijn om  gebied op te geven en de Palestijnen een eigen staat te bieden.

 

RP

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Clinton pushes Arabs on normalization
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST

Sep. 26, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253820682865&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urged Arab nations to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel and supporting the Palestinians in an effort to help restart stalled Mideast peace talks.

Clinton made the case with senior officials from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The session followed President Barack Obama's talks this past week with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

She declined comment on the substance of her discussions, but told reporters afterward that the talks were "extremely productive."

However officials said the Obama administration wants Arab states to make "tangible" and "credible" goodwill gestures toward Israel and provide political and economic support to Abbas to lay the groundwork for a resumption in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, officials say.

Among the gestures toward Israel that US has suggesting are opening trade and commercial offices, allowing Israeli aircraft overflight rights and promoting academic and cultural exchanges.

Thus far, most have resisted, demanding that Israel first make concessions, including a total settlement freeze, which Netanyahu has refused despite heavy US pressure.

Even in the absence of such a step, US officials say the Arabs should act.

"We don't want to have the perfect be the enemy of the good," said Jeffrey Feltman, the top US diplomat for the Middle East. "We don't want to wait for the perfect package. It's time to start negotiations now."

"We hope that the Arabs would find ways to demonstrate to the Israeli public that Israel will be an accepted, normalized part of the region," he told reporters ahead of Clinton's meeting. He added that Arab financial and moral support for the Palestinians also was critical.

"We would hope that the Arabs would find ways to support President Abbas and his team as they go into negotiations," Feltman said.

Israel en PA in conflict over aankaarten oorlogsmisdaden Gaza Oorlog bij VN strafhof Den Haag

 

Terwijl ik dacht dat het de laatste tijd goed ging op de Westoever, zijn volgens onderstaand bericht de spanningen tussen Israel en de Palestijnse Autoriteit recentelijk toegenomen. Een van de redenen is dat de PA een verzoek bij het Internationale Strafhof in Den Haag heeft ingediend om claims van oorlogsmisdaden door Israel gepleegd tijdens de Gaza Oorlog afgelopen winter te onderzoeken. Israel zou geen toestemming voor een tweede telefoon provider op de Westoever willen geven zolang de PA dit verzoek niet intrekt, wat de PA economisch hard zou treffen. Is dit ontoelaatbare chantage of terecht gebruik van middelen die Israel ter beschikking staan? Ik ben niet thuis in de technische kant van een en ander, en de nadelen/risico's die Israel van toekennen van de frequentie ondervindt. Wel overtuigend vind ik het argument dat de PA zelf er bij Israel op zou hebben aangedrongen om Hamas vooral hard aan te pakken tijdens operatie Cast Lead. Als dat waar is, moet de PA nou niet zeuren over vermeende oorlogsmisdaden. Het Goldstone rapport en een eventueel onderzoek naar oorlogsmisdaden gepleegd door Israel zijn in het belang van Hamas, en zullen een Palestijnse staat niet dichterbij brengen.

 

Overigens bevat het Goldstone rapport vele onjuistheden, tegenstrijdigheden en blijkt men kritiekloos met Palestijnse bronnen te zijn omgegaan.

Zie onder andere: http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/ 

Men is intussen aan deel 15 van wat er allemaal niet klopt.

 

RP

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

'Drop war crime suit or we'll block new cellphone operator'
By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Haaretz 27 September 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1117296.html

 

Tensions are mounting between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following Ramallah's call on the International Court at The Hague to examine claims of "war crimes" that the IDF allegedly committed during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. The issue is already weighing in on the relations between the leadership of Israel's defense and security establishment with their counterparts in the West Bank, and is part of a growing list of Israeli complaints about the behavior of PA officials.

Meanwhile, Israel has warned the Palestinian Authority that it would condition permission for a second cellular telephone provider to operate in the West Bank - an economic issue of critical importance to the PA leadership - on the Palestinians withdrawing their request at the International Court.

The issue of a second cellular provider is at the center of talks between the PA, the international Quartet, and Israel, and has been ongoing for some months. Currently the sole provider is Pal-Tel, and the PA prime minister, Salam Fayyad, considers the introduction of another carrier as an important step in improving the civilian infrastructure in the West Bank. The project is central to Watanya, the company that is set to serve as the second provider, and profits are expected to be substantial

However, if the project is not approved by October 15, the PA will be forced to pay a penalty estimated at $300 million, the sum that has already been invested in licensing and infrastructure.

Western diplomats, including the Quartet's envoy to the region, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, have made it clear to senior Israeli officials that time is running out, and have urged them to allow for the establishment of a second provider to go forward.

Israel's objections begin with the issue of transmission frequencies. The frequencies that the Palestinians want the new company to use are very close to ones used by the Israel Defense Forces in some of its most sensitive activities.

"Israel is making it difficult for us on many levels," complains Mohammed Mustafa, economic adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. "They now want us to pressure Pal-Tel to release some of its frequencies, so that they can be used by Watanya."

However, another, more substantive issue was recently added, when the Palestinian Authority appealed to the International Criminal Court. Security sources told Haaretz that this move, which was authorized by Fayyad and Abbas, incensed senior officials of the defense establishment, especially army Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

Ashkenazi has been kept busy by involvement in a holding action against the threat that Israeli officers would be brought before the court as a result of charges that the IDF committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Concern has intensified following the grave report that the Goldstone Commission released two weeks ago on behalf of the United Nations.

In Israel the argument is that the PA is being unfair, and that at the time of the operation in the Gaza Strip, last winter, its senior officials encouraged their Israeli counterparts to step up the pressure on Hamas, and even to attempt to bring its rule in the territory to the point of collapse. However, at a latter stage they joined those decrying Israel and its alleged actions in the Strip.

In light of this tension, the chief of staff conditioned his approval of a second cellular provider to the Palestinians' withdrawing their appeal to the court.

"The PA has reached the point where it has to decide whether it is working with us or against us," senior figures in the defense establishment have said. At the PA it is being said, in response to the Israeli demands, that Abbas and Fayyad will water down their appeal to the ICJ, though they will refuse to promise that it will rescinded entirely.

During the past year Israel defense officials have often praised the Palestinians on improving their contribution to securing the West Bank, and of the decisive character of the leadership under Fayyad. However, in recent weeks there have been increasing claims that even as the Authority is being praised by Israel and the international community, it is behaving irresponsibly by violating agreements between the two sides.

The Israeli claims focus on the growing presence of Palestinian security personnel in civilian clothing in East Jerusalem, contrary to the obligations of the PA. The security personnel participate in prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque, and at other sites in the city, and have stepped up their presence in the Jerusalem's medical and educational facilities. Moreover, they have also been involved in the abduction of Palestinians suspected of selling property to Jews.

======================

Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:  For some reason, the English edition of Haaretz did not have space in its summary of the considerably longer original Hebrew article to include the following:

"The activities of the Authority raised the ire of Shabbak head Yuval Diskin [AL: who, according to Ben Caspit in the lead item in the 25 September Friday supplement of Maariv ("There is a Partner") is ecstatic about security arrangements with the PA...oops]. Recently the Authority cancelled an Iftar party (feast breaking the Ramadan fast) it planned in eastern Jerusalem with the participation of Palestinian ministers, after an Israeli warning...

Israeli intelligence elements who studied the decisions of the Fatah Conference held last August in Bethlehem reached the conclusion that the declarations in favor of continuing the armed struggle are serious and worrying. The government was presented a study of the matter prepared by the Shabbak and the conclusions of Military Intelligence were similar. Despite these conclusions, the Israeli leadership decided not to publicly clash with Abbas over the matter.

In the background of the Israeli claims towards the PA today stand that lessons of history: In the years after the Oslo Agreements, in the mid-nineties, Israel frequently ignored alarming signs regarding the behavior of the PA leadership, headed by chairman Yasser Arafat.  The concern of some of the security elements today is that Israel is entering a similar trap, even if the style and behavior of Abbas and Fayad differs from Arafat.  In additional, it is feared that the enhanced training and equipment the Authority apparatus receives now  will be pointed one day against Israel, in the case that a third intifada breaks out."

The original Hebrew:
www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1117280.html