Sderot, schuilkelder hoofdstad van de wereld

Bijgebouw van een school in Sderot met scherfinslagen van een Qassam raket

 

 

Een goed artikel op Israned over Sderot, een vergeten stad:

 

"Sderot kampt met een groot aantal kinderen die tekenen van een psychisch trauma vertonen. Bij maar liefst 40% van de jeugd in Sderot is vastgesteld dat zij mentale problemen hebben. Veel kinderen hebben last van slapeloosheid, nachtmerries en bedplassen en een groot gedeelte vertoont gewelddadig gedrag. Het aantal geweldsdelicten in Sderot is dan ook hoger dan in andere Israëlische steden.

 

Veel mensen zijn om die reden uit Sderot weggegaan, volgens sommige bronnen zelfs 40%.

Anja Meulenbelt vindt dat wel prima:

 

Meulenbelt spreekt op haar weblog zelfs van "wat stomme raketten die in de afgelopen tijd geen enkele dode hebben veroorzaakt. Hartstikke vervelend dat er mensen in Sderot bang zijn voor raketten, maar ook volstrekt achterlijk om daar dan met kinderen te blijven zitten. Zij kunnen, anders dan de mensen in Gaza, weg. En ik verdenk de Israëlische regering ervan dat ze met opzet die mensen daar in Sderot laten zitten, zodat ze door kunnen gaan om zichzelf af te schilderen als de slachtoffers die zich verdedigen moeten." (1 april 2009, http://bit.ly/bX9zTa)

 

De ongevoeligheid voor lijden aan de andere kant is stuitend. Waarschijnlijk heeft de gemiddelde Palestijn nog meer medegevoel dan Meulenbelt, terwijl het van Palestijnen die zelf onder moeilijke omstandigheden leven juist beter is te begrijpen dat ze niet in staat zijn ook Israelisch leed te onderkennen. Meulenbelt doet met zo'n houding de Palestijnse zaak geen goed. En de idee dat mensen uit Sderot wel weg kunnen, is ook idioot. Juist in Sderot wonen veel mensen die het ook niet breed hebben, veel immigranten uit Marokko en andere niet westerse landen. De overheid laat ze daar niet expres zitten, maar gaat niet hele steden ontruimen want dat is precies wat Hamas wil: zoveel mogelijk van Israel onleefbaar maken. Een strategie die Meulenbelt blijkbaar onderschrijft.

 

RP

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vrijdag 15 oktober 2010

http://www.israned.com/2010/10/sderot-schuilkelder-hoofdstad-van-de.html

Sderot, schuilkelder hoofdstad van de wereld

Tekst & Fotografie: Tjeerd Langstraat / www.ncab.nl

 

Op zo'n anderhalf uur rijden ten zuiden van Tel Aviv ligt Sderot. Nog eens 2 km. zuidelijker ligt de grens met Gaza, van waaruit vrijwel dagelijks raketten en mortieren worden afgevuurd op Sderot. Zowel de gewapende tak van Hamas, de Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, als de al-Aqsa Martelaren Brigade, gelieerd aan de Fatah-partij van president Mahmoud Abbas en zelfs Al Qaida eisen de verantwoordelijkheid op voor deze aanslagen.

Huiveringwekkende cijfers
Sderot heeft zo'n 20.000 inwoners. Het is een mengelmoes van Israëliërs, Marokkanen, Russen, Somaliërs en Algerijnen. De seizoensarbeiders die Sderot en de omliggende nederzettingen en kibboetsen bewonen komen onder andere uit Eritrea, China en Thailand. Joden, moslims en christenen wonen hier naast elkaar en hebben een belangrijke gemeenschappelijke deler: ze worden dagelijks bestookt met raketten en mortieren vanuit de Gazastrook.

Sinds 2001 zijn er ruim 12.000 raketten op Sderot afgeschoten. Na de terugtrekking van Israël uit Gaza in 2005 en de gewelddadige overname van het dagelijks bestuur op de Fatahbeweging door Hamas in 2007 heeft het aantal beschietingen een enorme vlucht genomen: ruim 7.000 raketten zijn er sinds 2005 vanuit Gaza op Israëlische burgerdoelen geschoten. Dat zijn gemiddeld iets minder dan 4 raketten per dag.
Sinds de laatste oorlog, Operatie Cast Lead (27 december 2008 – 17 januari 2009), zijn de aanslagen afgenomen, maar toch wordt Sderot en omgeving nog vrijwel dagelijks beschoten. September 2010 zijn er 24 mortieraanvallen op Sderot en omgeving geweest. Op 15 september hebben er maar liefst 9 aanslagen op Israël plaatsgevonden, het grootste aantal op één dag sinds maart 2009. Onder de 9 explosieven waren twee fosforbommen. De laatste dode als gevolg van een mortierbeschieting viel afgelopen augustus. Een Thaise seizoensarbeidster werd dodelijk getroffen terwijl zij aan het werk was op het land. 
 

15 seconden tot de explosie
Achter de hekken aan de grens met Gaza staat hittegevoelige laserapparatuur opgesteld. Wanneer er een projectiel wordt afgeschoten reageert dit systeem door het alarm af te laten gaan, het beruchte Tseva Adom. Dit 'Code Rood Alarm' is geen sirene, maar een indringende vrouwenstem die de inwoners waarschuwt dat er binnen 15 seconden een inslag zal zijn. In het kleine centrum van Sderot runt Sasson Sarra al decennia lang een kleine kiosk. Hij vertelt dat hij al zijn hele leven in Sderot woont. De kiosk is overgegaan van vader op zoon en zijn vijf kinderen wonen nog allemaal in Sderot.

"Denk je eens in dat ik met drie van mijn kinderen op de markt loop en het Tseva Adom gaat af. Tussen de tientallen mensen die op de vlucht slaan, moet ik in 15 seconden mijn drie kinderen en mijzelf in veiligheid brengen. Dat kan niet, dat lukt gewoon niet. Ik moet ter plekke besluiten welke van mijn kinderen ik oppak en welke ik op hoop van zegen achter mij aan laat rennen. Hopend dat hij of zij niet onder de voet wordt gelopen in de chaos. Kiezen tussen wie van je kinderen je als eerste redt is een duivels dilemma, maar dagelijkse realiteit.

"Sderot kampt met een groot aantal kinderen die tekenen van een psychisch trauma vertonen. Bij maar liefst 40% van de jeugd in Sderot is vastgesteld dat zij mentale problemen hebben. Veel kinderen hebben last van slapeloosheid, nachtmerries en bedplassen en een groot gedeelte vertoont gewelddadig gedrag. Het aantal geweldsdelicten in Sderot is dan ook hoger dan in andere Israëlische steden.

Schuilkelder hoofdstad van de wereld
Lange tijd heeft de Israëlische overheid weinig tot niets gedaan ter bescherming van de burgerbevolking van Sderot. Anno 2010 is de overheid dan eindelijk begonnen aan een grootschalig bouwproject. Er worden maar liefst 5.000 extra bunkers bijgebouwd en met name voor de appartementenbewoners is een extra slaapbunker geen overbodige luxe. Het is onmogelijk om in 15 seconden vanaf de derde verdieping naar beneden te rennen om een veilig heenkomen te zoeken in een van de openbare bunkers. Op straat zijn de bushokjes half bushokje, half bunker, langs de kant van de weg staan kleine bunkers voor langsrijdende automobilisten en de huizen in Sderot die nog geen eigen schuilkelder of bunker hadden krijgen deze nu aangebouwd. Mooier wordt Sderot er niet van. De bunkers worden veelal direct tegen het huis aangebouwd of voor het raam geplaatst. Lichtinval of uitzicht is een ondergeschoven prioriteit.

Geen geld om te verhuizen
Waarom blijven de inwoners van Sderot hun kinderen blootstellen aan het dagelijkse gevaar van raketinslagen en mortieraanvallen? "Simpel, we hebben het geld niet om te verhuizen," zegt Sassan Sarra. "Het wordt altijd gebracht alsof je zo maar even kan verhuizen. Maar laat ik het eens omdraaien: zou jij de stad of het dorp waar je woont direct verlaten als je door wie dan ook zou worden aangevallen? Zou jij alles en iedereen achterlaten? Je vrienden, je familie, je geboortegrond, je huis en je werk. En wat denk je, dat je binnen no-time ergens anders een huis en werk vindt? We kunnen niet weg, en we willen niet weg. Ondanks de gevaarlijke levensomstandigheden."

Het is rustig op straat. In Sha'ar Hanegev, een kibboets net buiten Sderot is net een mortier ontploft. Het explosief is neergekomen tussen twee gebouwen op een speelveldje en heeft enkel materiële schade ingericht. De twee gebouwen doen dienst als kindercrèches en zijn deels beveiligd tegen raket- en mortiervuur. Het speelveld daarentegen is een open ruimte waar de kinderen normaliter spelen. De inslag was nipt een half uur voordat de crèche haar deuren zou openen.

Noam Bedein, journalist en in die hoedanigheid oprichter van het Sderot Media Center vertelt: "Ik ben in Sderot komen wonen om zelf te ervaren hoe het is om onder continue dreiging van raketaanvallen te moeten leven. Het viel me namelijk op dat de media, internationaal, maar zelfs nationaal, weinig berichten over wat er in Sderot gebeurt. Hieruit is het Sderot Media Center voortgekomen. Besef je wel dat Sderot de enige stad ter wereld is waar de burgerbevolking dagelijks wordt aangevallen door terroristen? Maar waar volgens de publieke opinie de Israëlische regering of het IDF niet mag ingrijpen."

Bedein vervolgt: "De aanval van vanochtend is een goed voorbeeld van waarom zo'n aanval maar in weinig media terug te vinden is: er zijn geen slachtoffers gevallen. Een half uur later en er waren wel doden gevallen. De kinderen zouden op het speelveld aan het spelen zijn, de ouders zouden rond het veld staan. Maar zelfs dan, als Israël hierop zou reageren door de terroristen in Gaza op te sporen zou Israël hiervoor publiekelijk worden afgemaakt."

Bedein heeft met het mediacenter het enige (lokale) informatiepunt dat bericht over Sderot. Zijn centrum is gedurende de jaren een betrouwbaar instituut gebleken. Naast de reguliere journalistieke werkzaamheden leidt hij politici en diplomaten van over de hele wereld rond in Sderot. Ook heeft hij voor het Goldstone-rapport inzake operatie Cast Lead zijn verhaal mogen doen. Komend jaar zal Bedein Nederland aandoen waarbij het de planning is dat hij voor de Tweede Kamer zal spreken. Om ook daadwerkelijk het debat aan te kunnen gaan met Israël-critici staat hij te popelen om Harry van Bommel, Kamerlid voor de SP en Anja Meulenbelt, lid van de SP te spreken. Beiden reizen regelmatig af naar Gaza, zijn fanatieke Israël-critici, maar hoor je zelden kritiek leveren op het gewelddadige beleid van Hamas.

Meulenbelt spreekt op haar weblog zelfs van "(...) wat stomme raketten die in de afgelopen tijd geen enkele dode hebben veroorzaakt. Hartstikke vervelend dat er mensen in Sderot bang zijn voor raketten, maar ook volstrekt achterlijk om daar dan met kinderen te blijven zitten. Zij kunnen, anders dan de mensen in Gaza, weg. En ik verdenk de Israëlische regering ervan dat ze met opzet die mensen daar in Sderot laten zitten, zodat ze door kunnen gaan om zichzelf af te schilderen als de slachtoffers die zich verdedigen moeten." (1 april 2009, http://bit.ly/bX9zTa)

Bedein: "Nogmaals, elk verhaal heeft twee kanten, Israël doet ook zeker veel dingen fout, maar hoe kan het dat volksvertegenwoordigers en politici deze misdaden niet afkeuren en raketbeschietingen op burgers afdoen als onzin?"

 

Studie over geweldsspiraal Israel en Palestijnen

 

Een bekende theorie over het conflict is de zogenaamde geweldsspiraal. Geweld van de ene kant lokt een tegenactie uit die ook weer een reactie oproept tot in het oneindige. Zo'n spiraal is alleen te doorbreken doordat een of beide partijen bereid zijn (tijdelijk) af te zien van een gewelddadige reactie. Een andere bekende theorie is dat het voor de hand ligt dat de sterkste partij het eerst stopt met schieten, en vandaar de vele oproepen aan Israel om niet te reageren op Palestijns geweld en zo 'vrede een kans te geven'.

 

Het klinkt mooi, maar er is wel wat op af te dingen, zo laat ook Elder of Ziyon hieronder zien: zo reageert Israel meestal inderdaad op Palestijns geweld, maar de Palestijnen reageren niet altijd op Israelisch geweld. Veel aanslagen zijn niet gepleegd in reactie op een Israelische legeroperatie maar omdat men tegen de bezetting is, tegen het feit dat Israel in Jeruzalem zit en vaak tegen het bestaan van de Joodse staat überhaupt. Anderzijds lokt Israelisch geweld ook niet perse meer Palestijns geweld uit, maar voorkomt dit soms ook doordat aanslagen verijdeld worden en terroristische cellen ontmanteld. De tweede intifada is niet gestopt door een staakt het vuren maar doordat het Hamas en co bijna niet meer lukte om nog aanslagen te plegen. Pas daarna heeft men een vrijwillig staakt het vuren in acht genomen, om weer aan kracht te winnen en internationale goodwill te kweken. Ook na de Gaza oorlog was het juist erg rustig: het Israelische geweld heeft een afschrikwekkend effect gehad op Hamas dat zich nu op de bestendiging van haar macht in Gaza richt en voorbereidt op eventuele toekomstige confrontaties met Israel.

 

RP

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Study claims scientific proof for "cycle of violence"

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/10/study-claims-scientific-proof-for-cycle.html

From The Boston Globe, an op-ed by Nancy Kanwisher and Anat Biletzki:

As the Israeli-Palestinian peace process once again crashes on the hard rocks of Middle East reality, it is worth stepping back to reconsider the conventional wisdom on this apparently intractable situation. In a paper we recently published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,'' we found that, in contrast to the perception on each side of the conflict that the other side is the aggressor while it only retaliates, in fact, both sides act in response to the other's aggression.

Although anecdote and speculation are popular in discussions of the Middle East conflict, we used data and quantitative analysis to determine whether these perceptions are true. One data set was the timeline of Qassam rocket firings, compiled by the Israeli Defense Forces. Another was the day-by-day timeline of killings of Israelis by Palestinians and of killings of Palestinians by Israelis, compiled by the Israeli Human Rights organization B'Tselem. We tested whether the violent behavior of each side occurs in response to violence committed by the other side — or whether it is simply arbitrary.

We found that the violence on each side is not arbitrary. Instead, a few days after Palestinians kill Israelis, Israel retaliates by killing Palestinians, and in the few days after Israel kills Palestinians, the number of rockets fired into Israel increases. Thus, both Palestinians and Israelis are more likely to attack after they themselves have been attacked.

These findings refute the common view that because the conflict results from the immutably hostile character of the foe, there is nothing either side can do to stop it. Our data suggest that the conflict is not the inevitable result of the fundamentally violent character of either Israelis or Palestinians. Instead, the violence of each side is at least in part contingent on the behavior of the other side. So there is, in fact, something each side can do to reduce the violence directed against it. Our result may seem obvious: if both sides retaliate, then the Middle East is yet another part of the world where retaliatory "tit for tat'' dynamics perpetuate conflict.

The authors of the study are a professor of neuroscience at MIT. Anat Biletzki is a professor of philosophy at Tel Aviv University.

Looking further at their methodology they use something called Vector Autoregression, the math of which I cannot hope to understand.

But read carefully what they say again in the parts I put in bold. They are saying that Israel retaliates to killings with killings - incursions, targeted attacks, whatever - and the Palestinian militants respond to Israeli killings with rockets.

There is a very important unstated fact that supports both these findings and the opposite conclusion:

When Palestinian Arabs mount a terror attack meant to have a high probability of killing Israelis - meaning, remote controlled bombs, or suicide bombings, or ambushes - it takes time for them to plan it. Usually one can expect a number of weeks between conceiving of an attack and the actual operation.

Clearly, fatal terror attacks are not responses to specific events where the IDF killed people, because it simply takes too much time for the PalArabs to mount such an operation. Therefore, their retaliations have been chiefly rocket attacks, something that takes little time to plan and implement.

Which means that, contrary to what the authors are implying, Palestinian Arab terrorists by definition instigate every non-rocket terror attack against Israeli civilians, and Israel indeed does retaliate. Yes, the terrorists fire rockets back for further retaliation, but the cycle dies down because most of them do not kill or injure anyone. If they are "lucky" and a rocket hits someone then the cycle can go another round or two.

Yet the clear piece of information that the authors miss is that the major terror attacks are not retaliatory, unless you expand the definition of "retaliation" to include the entire existence of Israel or of "occupation."  Bombings are certainly not planned and implemented in the "few days" that the authors used to feed their mathematical models. Their methodology is fatally flawed because they do not take the time it takes to plan terror attacks into account.

Their airy conclusions, that if only Israel would stop retaliating then the terrorists would stop as well, are unfounded.

And a significant number of Hamas rocket attacks, at any rate, were not retaliatory for specific events. This can be seen from their own press releases. I don't know the percentages, but while many rocket attacks are stated as to be in response to specific events, others are more general.

For example, here is how they announce rocket attacks that are in response to specific events, from June 14th 2006:

Occupation forces continue to perpetrate war crimes against Palestinians. Last Friday, they killed 7 members of the same family and injured dozens of civilians on the Beit Lahya beach in the north of the Gaza Strip. And on Tuesday, nine civilians, including 2 children and 4 paramedics, were intentionally killed by occupation planes.

In response to these crimes, Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades continues the response to these crimes. At 04:00 today, Al-Qassam Brigades fired one Qassam rocket at the Sofa checkpoint, east of Rafah.

But for a different set of rockets a couple of weeks later, the press releases were far more general. From July 4, 2006:

Izzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades fired one Qassam Rocket at the occupied city of Asqalan north of the border of the Gaza Strip. The bombardment took place at 19:00 on Tuesday, July 4, 2006. The operation is a new development of the ongoing "Faithfulness of the Free" resistance campaign against the occupation assault on the Gaza Strip, in which occupation forces continue to attack civilian targets.

Even the rocket attacks cannot be said to be generally retaliatory for specific events, because Hamas is nice enough to tell us the reasons for the attacks!

For these two reasons, it appears that this study is fatally flawed in its approach, its methodology and in its conclusions.

 

 

Nieuwe Israelische uitvinding voor snelle diagnose longkanker

Goed nieuws uit Israel, dus verwacht het niet in de media hier. De boycotters kunnen dus weer wat aan hun lijst toevoegen:

 

These findings have great potential for fast, easy, and cost-effective early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer. Be sure to look for this, and other fine Israeli innovations on the next Code Pink boycott list, because saving lives is never as important as advancing an ideology.

 

 

RP

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A New Product to Boycott: Non-invasive lung cancer test developed in Israel.

http://proisraelbaybloggers.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-product-to-boycott-non-invasive.html

 

Another medical marvel out of Israel- A non-invasive, inexpensive way to diagnose lung cancer:

"Using an array of sensors made of gold particles measuring just 5-nanometers wide (one nanometer is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair), researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed an "electronic nose" able to distinguish the breath of lung cancer patients from those without the disease. The research results, published online yesterday on the Website of Nature Nanotechnology, could lead to a rapid and non-invasive way of diagnosing and screening for lung cancer." In an initial trial, the "breathalyzer" test was able to detect lung cancer with 86 percent accuracy.

Also interesting about this project is that the research in Israel was led by Dr. Hossam Haick, an Arab Israeli and winner of many awards for his research, including the Chair for Leaders in Science and Technology (2006-2008), the Israel-France Award for Academic Excellence (2008), the Herschel Rich Innovation Award (2008), the Minerva Short-Term Research Award (2008), the Bergmann Award for Excellent Young Scientists (2007), the CREATE Award (2007), the Al-Qendil Prize (2007), and the YMCA (2007) and Rotary (2007) Honorary Decorations. In addition, Dr. Haick was selected for the lists of "50 Leading Israelis for 2007" and "four saluted Israeli scientists" of Yedioth Aharonot. Other honors and awards include the Fulbright fellowship, 'Israel Ministry of Science and Technology' awards, Dr. Avrahami prize, and CNR-IMIP prize. Just what we'd expect from Israel, the apartheid state.

These findings have great potential for fast, easy, and cost-effective early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer. Be sure to look for this, and other fine Israeli innovations on the next Code Pink boycott list, because saving lives is never as important as advancing an ideology.

De vrouw van Achmadinejad was ook mee naar Libanon

Meneer en mevrouw Ahmadinejad (in chador)

 

Voor foto's van het bezoek van Achmadinejads vrouw aan Libanon, zie dit artikel op Brabosh.

Helaas is er niet veel van haar te zien, maar Brabosh heeft uitgezocht dat ze een goede opleiding heeft gevolgd en professor is aan de Universiteit van Teheran, en dat het echtpaar drie kinderen heeft. Jammer dat ze continu zo opgesloten zit.

 

RP

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De vrouw van Ahmadinejad was er ook

http://brabosh.com/2010/10/15/de-vrouw-van-ahmadinejad-was-er-ook/

Posted on 15 oktober 2010 by brabosh

Van de echtgenote van president Mahmoed Ahmadinejad is maar weinig bekend, behalve dan het feit dat ze een bril draagt en drie kinderen heeft. Ze komt zelden in het openbaar en de meeste reporters kennen niet eens haar naam of weten hoe haar stem klinkt. Niemand weet hoe oud ze is noch is haar levensloop bekend. Nochtans zou Azam al-Sadat Farahi geen domoor zijn. Mevrouw Ahmadinejad behaalde een masters diploma als ingenieur in de mechanica en doceert tot op vandaag als professor aan de Universiteit van Teheran.

Zij is net zoals haar man een sjiitische moslim, erg conservatief en de zaak van de Iraanse revolutie evenzeer toegewijd als haar man. In een loslippige bui heeft de president ooit gezegd dat zij lekker kookt, dat ze graag reist met het presidentiële vliegtuig en het erg leuk vind om haar man te begeleiden op zijn vele officiële reizen naar alle uithoeken van de wereld.

Azam al-Sadat Farahi, de First Lady van Iran, schonk haar man drie kinderen, een dochter en twee zonen. De oudste is de dochter die eveneens een ingenieur in elektronica. Zij huwde kort nadat haar vader de huidige president van Iran werd. De Ahmadinejad's hebben ook twee zonen, de oudste heet Mahdi en de jongste is Ali Reza. Beide zonen studeren voor ingenieur aan de Universiteit voor Wetenschap en Technologie. Over haar zonen is er verder niks te vertellen. Voor zover bekend zouden ze zich niet eens inlaten met de ambities van hun ouders.

Behalve de foto bovenaan, die dateert van 2008, zijn alle andere foto's in dit artikel van het bezoek dat Mevrouw Ahmadinejad gisteren en eergisteren bracht aan Libanon. De meeste foto's gaan over haar bezoek aan het Museum van het Verzet in Mlita in Zuid-Libanon, in ere gehouden voor en door Hezbollah. [bron: Pal Today]

 

Waarom het niet meer botert tussen Amerikaanse Joden en president Obama (vervolg)

 

Deel 1 van dit artikel staat hier, met een inleiding van mij; deel 2 wordt hieronder door Ami Isseroff ingeleid.

 

Wouter

______________

 

The Jews and Obama

http://www.zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2010/10/14/the-jews-and-obama/

Posted: 14 Oct 2010 09:38 AM PDT

These two articles were meant for Vanity Fair, but appeared in Jewish World review instead, because they drew the "wrong" conclusions.  Both articles are published here.

I do not know if they are right or wrong. It is striking that American Jewish loyalty to President Roosevelt continued even after it was certain he would do nothing to stop the Holocaust or take in refugees. He was also opposed to the creation of Israel.

However, American Jewish loyalty to the Democratic party did not begin with Roosevelt. It began before then, and was probably cemented by the association of Woodrow Wilson and Louis Brandeis. Jewish leadership in the American labor movement, the civil rights struggle and other progressive causes, as well as the concentration of Jews in the urban strongholds of the Democratic party created   a natural association between Jews and the Democratic party long before Roosevelt.

Obama probably understands very well that for most Americans, including Jews,   domestic issues are always going to be more important than foreign policy issues.  American Jews may quarrel with the Democratic part about Israel policy, but it will always be a family fight. Few Jews will ever vote for Republicans, and the ones that do will not vote Republican because of Israel, but because they support Republican positions.

Secretary of State James Baker III (a Republican) was speaking the truth both about Republican attitudes and Jewish voting when he said, "F– the Jews, they didn't vote for us." But it would be naive to believe American foreign policy is based on sentiment. Nixon was both a Republican and an anti-Semite, but he helped Israel because he understood  that supporting Israel is in America's best interest. American Jews and Israeli officials have failed to convince President Obama that  supporting Israel is good for America.  Never mind what is "good for the Jews."

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

AMERICAN JEWS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA, Part II

By Edward Klein with Richard Z. Chesnoff

An in-depth look at what went wrong. More importantly, how it happened

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "Maybe Jews and blacks were once the closest of allies in Chicago," said Joseph Aaron, the liberal editor of The Chicago Jewish News, Chicago's largest Jewish newspaper, "but in the years that Obama was being shaped, a lot of young blacks, especially in the South Side neighborhood where Obama lived, harbored animosity toward Jews and Israel.

"Two central issues divided blacks and Jews in those years," Aaron continued. "Blacks saw affirmative action as a way to overcome prejudice, while many Jews saw it as a quota system designed to keep them out. It was also a time when Israel, snubbed by many nations, especially in black Africa, chose to forge close ties with the apartheid regime in South Africa. That included selling Israeli arms to South Africa. We never realized the degree to which those links to South Africa hurt black sensitivities.

"Add it all up and you don't come up with an anti-Semitic Obama. That is not who Obama is. What you do come up with is someone who doesn't really understand our attachment to Israel or Israel's importance to Jews as a people, a president who doesn't have a gut love for Israel like some of his predecessors, but someone who understands the Palestinian position better than any president we've had, someone with no natural affinity for Jews or Israel, and someone who approaches the Middle East, as he does most everything else, dispassionately and with a burning desire to fix the problem."

As The New York Times wrote about Obama in the months leading up to the 2008 Democratic National Convention: "The secret of his transformation, [from a newcomer] to the brink of claiming the Democratic presidential nomination, can be described as the politics of maximum unity. [Obama] moved from his leftist … base to more centrist circles; he forged early alliances with the good-government reform crowd only to be embraced later by the city's all-powerful Democratic bosses; he railed against pork-barrel politics but engaged in it when needed; and he empathized with the views of his Palestinian friends before adroitly courting the city's politically potent Jewish community."

That courtship brought Obama the support of some of the wealthiest and most powerful Jews in Chicago, including Penny Pritzker, of the Hyatt hotel-chain family; Betty Lu Saltzman, daughter of the late real-estate baron Philip Klutznik; former congressman Abner Mikva; Lester Crown, a billionaire benefactor of Jewish charities; and Lee Rosenberg, a media-and-entertain mogul, who traveled with Obama during his 2005 senatorial-election campaign visit to Israel, where Obama placed a handwritten prayer for peace in a crack in Jerusalem's Western Wall. Only one of those Jewish sponsors has publicly criticized the president for his tough line on Israel, but Lee Rosenberg, the recently installed president of the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), has expressed his distress in private conversations with Obama.

Some critics blame Obama's advisers, including former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, whose Israeli father was a member of the Irgun underground during Israel's struggle for statehood; David Axelrod, the president's chief political adviser; and Valerie Jarrett, a close friend of the Obamas', who attends practically all of the president's meetings and is often the last person to leave the Oval Office.

"The problem is naivete in the Obama administration," Robert Lieber, professor of government and international affairs at Georgetown University, told a reporter from The Jewish Week. "The president came into office with the assumption that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is by far the most central urgent problem in the region—which it is not—and that it is the key that unlocks everything else in the region. And they believe the [Israeli-Palestinian] situation was ripe for progress, which it absolutely isn't."

By the end of March, most of the organized Jewish community was in full cry against the Obama administration's treatment of Israel. However, the voice of Chuck Schumer, the most influential elected Jewish official in Washington, was conspicuously silent. That gave Ed Koch, an incurable gadfly, the opportunity to taunt his frenemy Schumer in his blog.

"Chuck Schumer resented my blog," Koch told us. "He called me and said, 'How can you say this? I'm a protector of Israel.' And I said, 'Chuck, you're not speaking out!' And he said, 'I'm doing it behind the scenes.' He was upset because there was a piece quoting me as saying, 'It's obvious Chuck wants to be the majority leader in the Senate if Harry Reid leaves, and Chuck doesn't want to criticize the president and diminish his chances.'"

Throughout April, the pressure on Schumer continued to mount. Finally, late that month, Schumer could no longer hold his tongue. "[State Department spokesman P. J.] Crowley said something I have never heard before, which is, the relationship of Israel and the United States depends on the pace of the negotiations," Schumer said. "That is terrible. That is a dagger, and that's because the relationship is much deeper than the disagreements on negotiations, and most Americans—Democrat, Republican, Jew, non-Jew—would feel that. So I called up Rahm Emanuel and I called up the White House and I said, 'If you don't retract this statement, you are going to hear me publicly just blast you on this.'

"You have to show Israel that it's not going to be forced to do things it doesn't want to do and can't do," Schumer continued. "At the same time, you have to show the Palestinians that they are not going to get their way by just sitting back and not giving in, and not recognizing that there is a state of Israel. And right now there is a battle going on within the administration. One side agrees with us, one side doesn't, and we're pushing hard to make sure the right side wins, and if not, we'll have to take it to the next step."

After Schumer's j'accuse, it became clear that Obama had overplayed his hand. In part, it appeared that the president had allowed himself to be influenced by the growing volume of anti-Israel anger coming from the left wing of the Democratic Party, notably from students and faculty on campuses, where calls for the "delegitimization" of the Jewish state have become quite acceptable. In part, too, the president probably placed too much weight on recent sociological studies that indicate a shift in American Jewish attitudes on Israel.

"The majority of today's American Jews don't see themselves as outsiders or victims anymore," says Binyamin Jolkovsky, the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Internet magazine Jewish World Review. "That's positive. But that feeling of equality has also produced a communal negative. The fear that came with being an outsider also gave most Jews, even non-religious ones, a cohesive sense of responsibility regarding their Jewish identity in general and Israel in particular.

"That's changed," Jolkovsky continues. "I'm no senior citizen, but today's generation didn't witness the Holocaust; they don't understand what was entailed in the birth of Israel; they don't even remember the real threats of the 1967 Six-Day War; they probably never read the novel Exodus. The majority of young American Jews think that somehow Israel will always be there. They don't understand that when your enemies say they want to destroy you they mean it."

In the end, what Obama didn't count on was that, for all the changes taking place among young "progressive" Jews, Jerusalem remains a third rail in American politics. The person who seemed to understand that better than anyone else was Elie Wiesel, the Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, who took out full-page ads on April 16 in major American newspapers to express his views regarding Jerusalem.

"For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics," Wiesel wrote. "It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture—and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming."

Klein interviewed Wiesel following a private lunch he had in early May with President Obama at the White House. "The invitation came before my public statements on Jerusalem," Wiesel told us. "The president gave it to me in February while presenting me with the National Humanities Medal. It was a very interesting lunch, as one can imagine. He is a good listener. We were alone. No small talk. Only substance. Jewish history, moral philosophy. Naturally, the Middle East situation came up. Israel, the Palestinians and especially Iran. I had the feeling the president was sensitive to my insistence to leave Jerusalem to the end of the negotiations. In general, he understood better the Israeli position. When I left him, I told the press outside that the tensions were gone. Had I been asked to elaborate, I would have added: But the problems remained."

By this summer, with the fall midterm elections looming ever larger in the calculations of the White House, the Obama administration had softened some of its more controversial Mideast policy positions. For instance, on Jerusalem, the White House conceded that the question of the city's status should now come at the end of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, as Elie Wiesel desired, rather than at the beginning, as the president originally wanted.

Along with this apparent U-turn in substance, the White House launched a P.R. campaign to win back the allegiance of the Jewish community. The president set the tone. He sent a warm message of greeting on the occasion of Israel's 62nd independence day. Two days later he also sent a personal letter to Alan Solow, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in which he re-asserted his support for Israel's security.

The following month, pro-Obama rabbis from communities all over America were invited to the White House for schmooze-fests with Rahm Emanuel, Daniel Shapiro, the national-security official who deals, with the Middle East, and Dennis Ross, the administration's top Iran-policy official.

"The three men told the Democratic rabbis that the administration has three priorities in the Middle East," Caroline Glick reported in The Jerusalem Post. "First, Obama seeks to isolate Iran. Second, he seeks to significantly reduce the US military presence in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq. And third, he seeks to resolve the Palestinian conflict with Israel."

As part of its P.R. campaign, the White House had David Axelrod do a mea culpa. "With some of the leadership of the Jewish community, there were some bumps in the road over our first year in office," Axelrod admitted in a phone conversation. "Some of those bumps resulted purely from a lack of communication. But we've had a sustained and vigorous round of communications since, and I think that's been helpful."

In July, when Netanyahu returned to Washington, he was given the red-carpet treatment. He was honored with a working lunch in the Cabinet Room and a joint press conference, in which Obama said something no other president had said about Israel's security. After declaring Israel's strategic value to the U.S., Obama said, "We strongly believe that given its size, its history, the region that it's in, and the threats leveled against… it, that Israel has unique security requirements… . And the U.S. will never ask Israel to take any steps that would undermine its security interests."

The crowning moment in Washington's charm offensive came in early September when Obama hosted a White House meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas to inaugurate direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Few Mideast experts were sanguine about the prospects for these talks, and in fact Abbas threatened to scuttle the whole program if Israel failed to extend its moratorium on West Bank settlement construction.

But many Jews still wondered whether these were tactical rather than substantive changes. Indeed, the essential ingredients of the Obama administration's Mideast policy seemed not to have changed at all. The goal was still the same—to conclude successful peace talks by applying pressure on Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"In my view, the Obama administration has not pulled back from its desire to ingratiate itself with the Arab world," says Kenneth J. Bialkin, chairman of the America-Israel Friendship League. "Yes, they've pulled back from saying that Israel's conduct endangers the lives of American soldiers in the Middle East. But most of the charm offensive was aimed at damage control in order to salvage the Jewish vote this fall."

Domestic politics surely played a role in the president's calculations vis-a-vis the American Jewish community. But in the long run, realpolitik–a system of international relations based on practical rather than moral considerations–will determine Obama's approach to Israel. The major foreign policy question confronting Obama is how to extricate America from the morass of two wars in the Middle East. And in pursuit of that goal, Obama expects Israel to strike a peace accord with the Palestinians and their Arab allies–no matter how real or unreal that expectation may be.

"Obama and his people believe the Palestinian leadership is genuinely ready for historic compromise," says David Horovitz, the London-born editor of The Jerusalem Post. "The unfortunate consensus in Israel–and not just the hawks–is that while we wish [the Arabs] were [ready], they aren't…. [T]o our great sorrow–and to our great cost–we are not convinced that even the relative moderates like Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad have internalized the idea that Jews have historic rights here too."

Indeed, in the days just before the new peace talks began, Palestinian leaders went out of their way to declare that while they might be prepared to negotiate with Israel, they would never recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East–namely, Israel's very raison d'etre. In other words, nothing fundamental has changed in the Arab approach to Israel's right to exist since the creation of the State of Israel 62 years ago. Thus, whether the Israelis, the American Jews and the other supporters of the Jewish state like it or not, the harsh truth is that during the second half of Barack Obama's first term in office, the president's refusal to face reality in the Middle East is likely to shape American policy.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

EDWARD KLEIN is a well-known writer and editor with a distinguished career in American journalism.

After serving an apprenticeship as a copy boy for the New York Daily News, he went on to earn a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, which awarded him a traveling fellowship to Japan. There, he learned to speak Japanese and traveled throughout Asia as a foreign correspondent for United Press International. Upon his return to New York, he joined Newsweek, where he became foreign editor and then assistant managing editor with jurisdiction over foreign and military affairs.

From Newsweek, he joined The New York Times. As editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine, he led this flagship publication of the Sunday Times to new heights of public interest and editorial excellence. During his editorship, The New York Times Magazine won the first Pulitzer Prize in its history.

Since leaving The Times, Edward Klein has written many articles for Vanity Fair and other national magazines. For Parade, he wrote "Walter Scott's Personality Parade," the most widely read column in the English language.

JWR contributor and veteran journalist RICHARD Z. CHESNOFF was Senior Correspondent at US News & World Report, and is now a columnist at the NY Daily News and the Huffington Post. A two-time winner of the Overseas Press Club Award and a recipient of the National Press Club Award, he was formerly executive editor of Newsweek International. The paperback edition of his critically acclaimed book, "Pack of Thieves: How Hitler & Europe Plundered the Jews & Committed the Greatest Theft in History" is now on sale.

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Antisemitisme op Facebook: "Kill a Jew Day"

Digitaal antisemitisme en oproepen tot geweld is een nieuw probleem dat nog maar mondjesmaat wordt onderkend, laat staan ertegen opgetreden. Het probleem is dat het zo lastig aan te pakken is omdat iedereen overal en altijd en via oneindig veel adressen en kanalen razendsnel dingen op internet kan zetten.

 

RP

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"Kill A Jew Day": Wiesenthal Center Identifies Spike In Virulent Anti-Jewish Facebook Pages

http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8716279

September 27, 2010 

Center says social network hub removing anti-Semitic threats, "as fast as we identify them"

Simon Wiesenthal Center researchers have uncovered over two dozen FACEBOOK sites with titles like "Kill a Jew Year" and "Kill a Jew Day" during the past week alone. "Some have been posted from the United States, others from the United Kingdom," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of  the Jewish Human Rights NGO's Digital Terrorism and Hate project. He indicated that the Wiesenthal Center had received numerous complaints about these recent threatening postings and others like them on FACEBOOK (examples are included below). "FACEBOOK officials have been very cooperative  in removing these calls for anti- Jewish violence, but the hate continues to sprout at an alarming rate. We know they are committed to thwarting online bigotry, but if such a trend continues, we will urge FACEBOOK and other social networking hubs to track and preempt online bigots more aggressively," Cooper added.

Wiesenthal Center officials said they were particularly disturbed by these FACEBOOK postings as they were inspired by a national "Kick a Ginger Day" last November 20th, which actually resulted in numerous assaults against redheads.

The Wiesenthal Center's 2010 annual report on digital terrorism and hate identifies over 12,500 problematic websites, newsgroups and social media postings that promote terrorism, racism, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and Islamophobia. "With the world's embrace of Social networking it is not surprising that  haters and those promoting terrorism increasingly focus their efforts online to denigrate their enemies as well as recruit and fundraise for their causes. That is why the Wiesenthal Center has been urging more vigilance by key Internet providers during  a series of briefings and meetings with officials at FACEBOOK, Yahoo, Google and YouTube," Rabbi Cooper concluded.

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

For more information contact Rabbi Cooper (currently in Jerusalem ) Israel cell +524-316-448 or US cell 1-310-210-9750 1-310-210-9750   

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). 

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter,  or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

 

Nog steeds haatlectuur op Arabische en Iraanse stands Frankfurter Buchmesse

Voor meer afbeeldingen van de boeken zie het originele artikel.

 

Niet alle voorbeelden hieronder zijn even extreem, maar dat er jaarlijks zoveel anti-Westerse en soms ronduit antisemitische boeken op de Frankfurter Buchmesse worden tentoongesteld, is zeer verontrustend. Stands die er ieder jaar staan en al eerder een waarschuwing hebben gekregen verschijnen gewoon het jaar daarop weer met dezelfde rotzooi. De organisatoren zouden dus veel harder moeten optreden en stands na een waarschuwing gewoon verwijderen.

 

RP

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Eighth Year of Wiesenthal Centre Chasing Hate from the Frankfurt Book Fair

http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=8782167

Paris, 8 October 2010

In his report to Frankfurt Book Fair Director, Jurgen Boos, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr.Shimon Samuels, noted that "this is the 8th Year that the Simon Wiesenthal Centre monitors incitement to hate and violence on the display stands of this, the most important and largest book fair in the world". (This year, 7533 exhibitors from 111 countries over 172000 sq.m. of display area, receiving over 300000 visitors).

Samuels noted that the Director had always stressed his "commitment to promoting international standards, best practices and respect".

The report revealed that "despite the continued industrial production and domestic sale of antisemitic and conspiracy theory volumes in Turkey – even available at the Istanbul airport – it was your intervention, based upon our report, that has resulted in caution on the part of all 24 of the Turkish stands."

Samuels added that "a representative of Turkey's Publishers' Association, informed me that they were 'warned not to breach their exhibitor contracts by displaying hate literature that could be illegal under German law'".

The Centre lamented that "unfortunately, this caution was not reflected on the Iranian and Arab stands listed below (see photos below).

The exhibitor explained the content of each of these childrens' text as propoganda arms of resistance.

The shelves of this stand are replete with propaganda and glorification of violence.

This very elegant stand, through lithographs and poetry presents such documents decorated with Stars of David, tanks, bombs, - apparently, thus subliminally transmitting a message of incitement propoganda.

Five books: from left on Al Ahram Establishment – Cairo stand Hall 5.O.A920:
-"Nazis in Cairo – Danger?", Mohammed Tarut -"Development of Israel-Indian Relations and Arab Security", Ameen Shaaban Ameen, Al Mahrissa, Cairo, 2010 -"The Mossad and The Assassination of the Arab Ulema",Yusef Hassan Yusef -"The Mossad – The Hidden Aspect", Dr. Yusef Hassan Yusef, Al- Nafeeda Library -"The Life of the Israelites in Egypt between Religion and historical Facts", Hisham Saraya, 2010

- The Fingertips of Death, Raid al Azawi, AL Dar al Massiah Al Lubnanieh - Cairo Hall 5.O. A915

"Kerbala Sahidi" – an Iranian, Turkish language DVD documentary glorifying "Shaheed" martyrdom through suicide terrorism, Ahlul Bayt World Assembly – Tehran Hall 3.O.A 940.

Three military books for adolescents transmitting the same message as above.
ISCU Iran Publishers Hall 5.O.A 953 "The New Zionists - A Never Ending Mission", Nasir bin Muhamed al-Zumal, Al Rushd Publishing House, Riyadh, 2006 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stand Hall 5.OA916  

Tameer Institute for Community Education, Ramallah, five books, Hall 5.O.D 913 -"My Codename is a Butterfly", Allam Sharaf, 2009 -"The Picture", Najla Attala, 2010 -"On a Cafe Pavement", Sallah Tawfiq, 2010 -" A Small Light", Ghida Alhassi, Gaza, 2010 -" Dream of the Thin Boy", Ahmad Shukheir, 2010

Deutsch-Palästinensische Gesellschaft, Rhein-Main, Offenbach, Hall 5.O.D915 -"Endure, Endure, Al Aqsa – Oh to Eliminate…"
-"The bleeding eyes and bleeding hands should know – the night will vanish and the chains will disappear – fight for the freedom of the
prisoners: Palestinian Ministry for Prisoner Affairs, 2010 (a bumper-sticker).

"The Great Operation", Ahmad Arabloo, Shahed Government Publishers, Books of I.R. Iran, Hall 3. O. K 361 A military book for adolescents which portrays the Iran-Iraq war as a battle for the paramountcy of Shiah over Sunna, glorifying hate and violence.

Samuels emphasised that "these stands are chronic annual recidivists, who have ignored previous warnings that their publishers and exhibitors are in violation of their contractual obligations to the Frankfurt Book Fair".

The Centre urged Boos "to see that the German authorities adopt the same measures as were successfully taken with Turkey: first to confiscate the above-mentioned offensive texts and to unambiguously blacklist their respective exhibitors from participation in the 2011 Fair".

"If the "Turkey response" is effectively applied, I am hopeful that, at the next Fair, I will be able to report that there is nothing to report".

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

 

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels on 0033(0)609770158


Use this link to read Dr. Samuels' report to Frankfurt Book Fair Director, Jurgen Boos...

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE
66, rue Laugier
75017 Paris-France
Tel:+33(0)1 47 23 76 37
Fax:+33(0)1 47 20 84 01
E-mail: csweurope@gmail.com

Israelische soldaten over behandeling van terroristen

 

Dit zul je nooit tegenkomen in die zogenaamde kwaliteitsreportages op Canvas, Panorama, Zembla etc.

Een vrouwelijke medische soldaat moet de terrorist behandelen die achter de aanslag zat van twee weken eerder in een restaurant in Haifa. Bij die aanslag kwamen 21 mensen om, zowel jonge kinderen als bejaarden:

 

Two weeks later, Orit was called in when she was off duty at 2 a.m. to give medical attention to a prisoner. She approached him and asked his name, Halel Jaradat he said.

"I immediately froze, I knew who he was," Orit said. "And there he was, the person responsible for killing the 21 innocent people."

As she approached him, Orit said, she put her emotions aside, took a deep breath and treated him. When she finished, he said 'shrukran,' which means 'thank you' in Arabic.

"It wasn't an easy moment," Orit said. "I felt like I betrayed the 21 victims for his actions, because he was there thanking me for treating him while they were dead."

 

In de opleiding leert men dat ras, religie, nationaliteit maar ook de daden van iemand irrelevant zijn voor de medische behandeling die diegene krijgt. Ook in Israelische ziekenhuizen is dat de norm, en er worden jaarlijks tienduizenden Palestijnen behandeld, ook daders en planners van aanslagen.

 

RP

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IDF soldiers talk to American students

http://www.zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2010/10/14/idf-soldiers-talk-to-american-students/

Ami Isseroff on Israel News, Oct 14, 2010

American University students have a certain image of Israeli "occupation" soldiers. Our soldiers probably rank in popularity somewhere between Goualds and the Tottenkopf SS. Some American University students at CSUF (California State at Fullerton)  got to hear two young Israeli soldiers tell about their experiences. Those expecting baby-eating war criminal religious fanatic monsters were probably disappointed:

Orit and Jonathan, who did not wish to disclose their last names, answered questions from the audience and stressed the moral code [see Ethical Code of the IDF]  IDF soldiers must abide by.

Jonathan, who served as an infantry officer for five years, did not talk about his experiences in combat.  Rather, he focused on the moral code of conduct,,,

Orit, who was required to join the army when she turned eighteen, put her passion for photography, painting and flute playing on hold when she joined the IDF.

"No soldier wants to be in the war, you risk your life, and you risk the life of others to save the life of another," Orit said.

Orit served in the army as a combat medic and believes that she was at least given the opportunity to save a life at a time rather than taking one.

On Oct. 1 2003, a 29 year-old Palestinian woman named Hanadi Jaradat woman crossed the border illegally into Israel and entered a local Israeli restaurant in Haifa.

Orit looked around at the audience and described the scene.

"She sits down, enjoys a delightful meal and when she finished, pushes a button and blew her self up. Twenty-one people killed, including three generations of two families were killed in cold blood," Orit said.

Hanadi Jaradat was sent by her brother Halel Jaradat to perform the terrorist attack; the Israeli army believed that he was in hiding, but they were not successful in capturing him.

Two weeks later, Orit was called in when she was off duty at 2 a.m. to give medical attention to a prisoner. She approached him and asked his name, Halel Jaradat he said.

"I immediately froze, I knew who he was," Orit said. "And there he was, the person responsible for killing the 21 innocent people."

As she approached him, Orit said, she put her emotions aside, took a deep breath and treated him. When she finished, he said 'shrukran,' which means 'thank you' in Arabic.

"It wasn't an easy moment," Orit said. "I felt like I betrayed the 21 victims for his actions, because he was there thanking me for treating him while they were dead."

At only eighteen years old, Orit was required to treat a major terrorist.

"I was trained not to discriminate against race, nationality or moral standards," Orit said. "I was trying to give him medical aid merely according to the wounds and medical needs, nothing else, I knew I had to treat him."

Dozens of combat medics are faced with these challenges day in and day out, said Orit, who also said she is proud of being part of an army that follows ethical treatment and human rights…

"Dialogue leads to negotiation, and negotiation leads to peace," Orit said. "And peace will get there soon."

 For video click here: IDF soldiers talk to American students

 

 

Vredesoverleg loopt vast op Joodse staat, niet op nederzettingen (IMO)

Een tweestatenoplossing?

 

 

Een tweedelige analyse van Ratna op IMO Blog over de vastgelopen vredesonderhandelingen en de oorzaken daarvan.

 

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

Vredesoverleg loopt vast op Joodse staat, niet op nederzettingen

Begin deze week wezen de Palestijnen wederom diverse voorstellen en compromissen af, waaronder een voorstel om in ruil voor een hernieuwde bouwstop Israël als Joodse staat te erkennen, en een voorstel waarbij Israël van de VS bepaalde garanties krijgt in ruil voor een verlenging van twee maanden van de bouwstop.

Lees verder...

 

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

Palestijnse staat nog geen garantie voor einde conflict met Israel

De Palestijnen hebben een aantal alternatieven voor de vredesbesprekingen, die inmiddels tot een dode letter zijn verworden, naar voren gebracht. Wellicht de belangrijkste is om eenzijdig een Palestijnse staat uit te roepen binnen de Westoever en Gazastrook en die erkend te krijgen door de VN, VS en EU. Als een dergelijke staat, zonder vredesverdrag met Israël, wordt erkend, zal dat het conflict verergeren. Het zal een openlijke uitnodiging zijn aan allerlei 'verzetsgroepen' om Israëli's op gebied waar die staat is uitgeroepen aan te vallen, inclusief de oude stad van Jeruzalem. Israël zal immers niet zonder vredesverdrag de gehele Westoever willen verlaten, om van Oost Jeruzalem maar te zwijgen.
Lees verder...

 

Vrede in Midden-Oosten in ruil voor Constantinopel?

 

Zoals Richard Nixon al zei: "Die paapsen zijn niet te vertrouwen!"

 

Wouter

_____________

 

Paus: Vrede in Midden-Oosten in ruil voor Constantinopel

http://sargasso.nl/archief/2010/10/14/paus-vrede-in-midden-oosten-in-ruil-voor-constantinopel/

14-10-2010 om 17:00 door Perik

Paus Benedictus XVI wil zijn steun aan de joodse staat Israel intrekken in ruil teruggave van Constantinopel – het huidige Istanbul – aan de christenen. De paus zou hier afgelopen weken over hebben onderhandeld met de Iraanse president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. De twee leiders spraken eerder af om tot vergaande samenwerking te komen in de wereldwijde 'war on atheism'. De uitruil van Jeruzalem tegen Istanbul zou de eerste stap zijn om te komen tot een nieuwe religieuze wereldorde. Turkije is woedend.

De aankondiging van de paus om vanaf nu met islamieten samen te gaan werken in plaats van met joden komt op een gevoelig moment. De Iraanse president legt op dit moment een omstreden staatbezoek af in Libanon. In een poging Palestijnse-Iraanse folkore nader bij elkaar te brengen, zal Ahmadinejad vandaag aan de grens met Israel aanwezig zijn bij het ritueel stenigen van joodse vrouwen. Hezbollah, de Regionale Islamitische Natuurorganisatie tot Behoud van Zeldzame Vlinders en Duurzaam Zoetwaterbeheer, bereidt zich voor op een eventuele geweldadige reactie van Israel.

Turkije, de huidige machthebber in de omstreden bezette gebieden rond de Bosporus, heeft furieus gereageerd op de overeenstemming tussen buurland Iran en het Vaticaan. De onverzoenlijke houding die de Turkse president Abdullah Gül aanneemt in het al meer dan vijf eeuwen slepende conflict over de brute bezetting van Constantinopel lijkt het regime steeds verder te isoleren van de buitenwereld. De internationale gemeenschap ziet juist in toenemende mate nieuwe mogelijkheden om via mondiale ruilverkaveling een groot aantal oude territoriale geschillen op te lossen.

Kabinet in gedoogberaad

Het vandaag aangetreden Nederlandse kabinet heeft nog geen officieel standpunt ingenomen in het snel escalerende internationale conflict. Maxime Verhagen, die vanmorgen vroeg nog minister van buitenlandse zaken was: "Mijn katholieke roots zeggen, laten we onze Heilige Vader en die Mahmoud Ahmadinejad steunen tegen de joodse en Ottomaanse bezettingen! Wij papen krijgen er een prachtige oude kathedraal voor terug. Maar de man die vanmiddag minister van buitenlandse zaken is, denkt daar wellicht anders over."

Uiteindelijk zal het officiële standpunt van Nederland in overleg met gedoogleider Geert Wilders genomen worden. Premier Mark Rutte: "In het gedoogaccoord hebben we nu eenmaal afgesproken dat Wilders verantwoordelijk is voor de portefeuille 'welke-moslims-gaan-we-vandaag-bashen?'." Bronnen in Den Haag verwachten dat Wilders nog deze middag gaat uitrekenen met welk diplomatiek Nederlands standpunt hij bij de meeste moslims grote verontwaardiging oproept.

 

Bemoeienis Achmadinejad wordt niet gewaardeerd door Palestijnse Autoriteit

 

Zo hoor je nog eens wat: Iran bezet Arabische eilanden die aan de UAE toebehoren!  Daarover heb ik nog geen VN resolutie gezien; of is dit de veelgeroemde Arabische fantasie van duizend-en-een-nacht, volgens welke Israel ook de Libanese Sheba Farms bezet, en Mohammed zijn gevleugelde paard aan de Klaagmuur had vastgebonden, waar ohnehin nooit een Joodse tempel zou hebben gestaan?

 

Wouter

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MEMRI Special Dispatch | 3295 | October 13, 2010
Palestinians / Iran / Inter-Arab Relations

PA Minister of Religious Endowments Mahmoud Al-Habbash Lambastes Iranian President Ahmadinejad's Interference in Inter-Palestinian and Inter-Arab Affairs

Following is an interview with Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Endowments Mahmoud Al-Habbash, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on September 6, 2010:

 

 

Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "Whoever believes in Allah and in Judgment Day should say worthy things or remain silent. But the president of the Iranian Farsi Republic does not say worthy things, nor does he remain silent. On the contrary, he said bad things, rubbing salt in the wounds of the Palestinian people.
"It is considered blatant and inacceptable interference in Palestinian affairs when he talks about the elected Palestinian president, who represents all Palestinians, home and abroad, according to Palestinian law as well as the Palestinian constitution, both in the PLO and in the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, Mr. Ahmadinejad should not have fallen into this trap. He should not have made this terrible mistake, both against the Palestinians and against his own Iranian people.
[...]
"The Iranian regime's interference in Palestinian affairs has never led to anything positive. What has been the outcome of Iranian interference in the Palestinian cause? First, it has caused a rift among the Palestinians, through its encouragement and support of Hamas, inciting it to carry out a coup against the PA.
"Second, Mr. Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime are working to weaken the Arab front, by targeting Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and some Gulf states. We have witnessed what happened in Bahrain in recent days. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime occupies UAE islands in the Arabian Gulf - which should not be called 'the Persian Gulf.'
"They occupy Arab islands in the Arabian Gulf, thus providing a pretext for the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and for the claim that it is not the only occupation in the region, because Iran also occupies Arab land.
[...]
"The entire world - not only us - questions the legitimacy of the Iranian president. The Iranian people itself questions the legitimacy of President Ahmadinejad.
[...]
"This Persian regime in Iran has shown us nothing but prattle, and negative, destructive interference in inter-Palestinian and inter-Arab relations. Iran's attempts to divide and weaken the Arab ranks - whose interests do they serve? The interests of the Palestinian cause or the interests of the Israeli occupation? Striking a blow against the Iraqi enterprise, starting a war that lasted eight years, weakening Iraqi capabilities - whose interests did it serve?
[...]
"There is not a single Palestinian who can rely on the word of Mr. Ahmadinejad. No Palestinian child attributes any value to his words." [...]

 

_____________

 

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2630.htm.
To view the Palestinian Media Studies Project page, visit
http://www.memri.org/palestinianmediastudiesproject

 

For assistance, please contact MEMRI at memri@memri.org.

ADL spreekt zich uit tegen polarisatie en islamofobie

 

Wat Abraham Foxman, leider van de Anti Defamation League, schrijft over polarisatie geldt ook voor Nederland, en zijn oproep tegen discriminatie en anti-moslim sentimenten deel ik. De ADL wordt overigens door antizionisten en zogenaamde critici van Israel als ultrarechtse pro-Israellobby weggezet, zoals iedereen die niet net zo 'kritisch' is als zij.

 

Foxman schrijft:

 

Therefore, despite the fact that there is a serious enmity between the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Isaac; despite the fact that the greatest conveyer belt for anti-Semitic incitement in the world today comes from the Muslim world -- in the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe and even in Latin America; and despite the fact that Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaida, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Iranian regime purport to speak in the name of Islam, and commit to end Israel's existence and to the destruction of the Jewish people -- when religious bigotry rears its ugly head against Muslims, we must speak out.

We must differentiate between extreme theology and ideology in Islam, and condemn it and challenge it, while at the same time define and separate it from the non-extremist ideology and theology. We must condemn the brand of Islam that venerates violence and intolerance, and welcome into the modern world the rest of Islam that rejects violence and intolerance.

 

RP

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Op-Ed: Speak out against anti-Muslim bigotry

By Abraham H. Foxman

October 11, 2010

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/10/11/2741240/op-ed-speak-out-against-anti-muslim-bigotry

 

BOSTON (JTA) -- In recent months our society has devolved into one more and more characterized by polarization, rage, stridency and partisanship.

We find ourselves in a time where people are put to loyalty tests, where one's motivation in disagreeing is interpreted in the most cynical way no matter the record of the individual. And it opens one up to hyperbolic charges of one kind of another. People can't just have different legitimate opinions anymore -- they are charged with being guilty of betrayals, of conspiracies, of abandonment of principles, of endangering all our values.

Most symptomatic is the tendency to exploit issues associated with an ethnic, racial or religious group by reviving or updating stereotypes about a particular community.

Unfortunately, this is not new to America. The classic case study is the treatment of African Americans.

As American Jews we have been subjected to virulent anti-Semitism, often with the acquiescence of government or its apathy. Catholics, too, were victims of religious prejudice. As recent as 50 years ago, some questioned whether a Catholic should be president: Would John F. Kennedy be directed by the pope rather than the American people? Mormons continue to be ridiculed for their religious beliefs.

Now, as a result of the debate surrounding the mosque near Ground Zero, we are witnessing a surge in anti-Muslim bigotry. It is evident that this surge is taking place with greater force now than at a time when one might have expected it, immediately after 9/11.

At that time we were worried about an explosion of hatred against American Muslims, particularly after there were a few serious incidents following the terrorist tragedy. As things turned out, anti-Muslim bigotry did not explode. Yes, there were incidents, and even one is too many, but dire predictions did not materialize.

But now, nine years later, we are seeing a surge of incidents. I believe it is related to the broader trends in America -- the lack of civility, the tendency to see enemies all around and the reinforcement of prejudicial views rather than diverse views.

Islam is one of the world's great religions. But like Judaism and Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism and others, if it isn't your religion you most likely have little knowledge, if any, of its beliefs and practices. Ignorance has always been one of the common denominators of those who are bigoted against "the others." And ignorance can breed fear, which too easily can become hatred.

The Muslim community in America is being confronted by ugly, in-your-face religious bigotry and we must speak out against it, educate against it and label it anti-American.

Therefore, despite the fact that there is a serious enmity between the Children of Ishmael and the Children of Isaac; despite the fact that the greatest conveyer belt for anti-Semitic incitement in the world today comes from the Muslim world -- in the Middle East, in North Africa, in Europe and even in Latin America; and despite the fact that Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaida, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Iranian regime purport to speak in the name of Islam, and commit to end Israel's existence and to the destruction of the Jewish people -- when religious bigotry rears its ugly head against Muslims, we must speak out.

We must differentiate between extreme theology and ideology in Islam, and condemn it and challenge it, while at the same time define and separate it from the non-extremist ideology and theology. We must condemn the brand of Islam that venerates violence and intolerance, and welcome into the modern world the rest of Islam that rejects violence and intolerance.

We must speak out when there are threats to burn the Muslim holy book, the Koran. ADL condemned the threat to burn the Koran on "Burn a Koran Day" in Gainesville, Fla., and spearheaded a coalition of interfaith leaders to speak out with the message of "we will not remain silent in the face of religious Intolerance."

We must speak out when Muslims face opposition to the legal building, expansion or relocation of their houses of worship -- their mosques, which is why we established an interfaith task force. We must speak out when Muslims are denied religious accommodation.

We believe you fight hatred -- be it because of one's religion, race, ethnicity -- with legitimate action and civil discourse.

By standing up, speaking out, saying no to religious bigotry, gaining understanding and respect through education and working together, we can -- to borrow an ADL catchphrase -- make a world of difference and at the same time strengthen the fabric of our democratic and diverse society. We can do no less. We can help restore respect and civility.

(Abraham H. Foxman is the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. This Op-Ed was adapted from a speech he delivered to ADL's annual meeting in Boston on Oct. 7.)