woensdag 15 februari 2012

Israel niet verantwoordelijk voor energietekort Gaza

 
Een vreemde situatie: energie kopen van je gezworen vijand, of: energie verkopen aan iemand die je bestaansrecht geeneens erkent.
Toch gebeurt het in het Midden-Oosten, en als Hamas geen diesel meer van een Israelisch bedrijf wenst af te nemen, krijgt Israel gewoon de schuld.
 
Wouter
___________
 
 
 
From Egypt Independent:
The Gaza Strip's sole electricity station has become inoperative because Egypt has begun to crack down on fuel smuggling activities through their shared border, a Palestinian energy official in Gaza said Tuesday.

Gaza Energy Authority official Ahmed Abul Amreen said in a press conference that the authority cannot meet electricity demands for hospitals, educational facilities, and water and sewage stations. He said the amount of electricity Gaza receives from an Israeli company fulfills only 35 percent of the population's needs.

Palestinian news agency Maan quoted Abul Amreen as saying that the power plant's inactivity has brought the strip's primary electricity source to a halt, noting that Gaza already suffers a great shortage in wattage supplies.

The official held Israel responsible for the crisis. He also called upon the Egyptian Parliament to back Palestinians and continue to support them with the necessary fuel supplies.

For nearly two weeks, Gaza has been undergoing a worsening fuel crisis caused by a halt in supplies smuggled through underground tunnels traversing its border with Egypt. The conundrum has rendered 90 percent of local oil stations idle.

Israel supplies Gaza with about 120 megawatts of electricity a day, while the strip's only power plant produces 60 megawatts. But since Gaza needs at least 270 megawatts, the strip suffers daily blackouts that can last for eight hours.
Ma'an adds:
While limited amounts of gas, mainly used by individual households, are purchased from Israeli suppliers and permitted to enter the besieged strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing, most of Gaza's energy is brought unofficially from Egypt using underground tunnels. 

Egyptian supplies are cheaper than the Israeli companies, which themselves purchase gas from Egypt, a Ma'an correspondent said. 

But with Egypt beset by continuing domestic unrest after throwing out Hosni Mubarak a year ago, agreement has yet to be reached on stable fuel deliveries to Gaza, he added.

Here is what the latest weekly COGAT report, on goods that transverse the crossings, has to say:

Israel is providing exactly the same amount of electricity to Gaza it always has. As we see above, "Palestinians"  instructed the Israelis not to provide the Strip with heavy-duty diesel because they could get the fuel - reportedly cheaper - from Egypt.

But as far as I can tell, not a single official - from the PA, the electric utility or from Hamas - has explicitly called for Gaza to resume purchasing fuel from Israel to alleviate this crisis, something that COGAT seems more than willing to facilitate.

Assuming that the money for the fuel could be found, the question that must be asked is - why no calls to buy fuel from Israeli suppliers?  Why are people's lives being put at risk unnecessarily? Why are we seeing headlines about a energy crisis in Gaza when the solution is so simple?

I asked the IDF asking them who made the decision not to accept Israeli fuel, Hamas or the PA? Here is what they answered:
The decision to buy heavy-duty diesel from Egypt and not Israel was made by Hamas. Over the last year, the government in Gaza has gradually stopped buying diesel from Israel and increased its purchases from Egypt. This is also the source of the recent power problems in the Strip, including the local power plant shutting down.

There is no Israeli decision to purposefully stop selling diesel to Gaza; the decision came from the Hamas, and again, the situation isn't black and white--if you look at previous reports from the last months, there are still small amounts of diesel entering Gaza from Israel. If and when the demand returns, Israel is fully willing to supply, as it did in the past.
Is Hamas' refusal to buy the needed fuel from Israel a matter of principle, pride - or propaganda? 
 

Aanwijzingen dat Iran achter bomaanslagen op Israeli's zit

 
Terwijl de aanslagen op diverse atoomgeleerden in Iran alom aan Israel worden toegeschreven, ondanks het feit dat hier geen enkel officieel bewijs voor is (maar met name een heel duidelijk motief), is men voorzichtig wat betreft de aanslagen in India, Georgië en Thailand. 'Israel wijst naar Iran, Iran ontkent' is de teneur. Dat kan wel wezen, maar ligt het ook in dit geval niet wel heel erg voor de hand dat Iran hier achter zit? Iran zwoer wraak na de aanslagen op haar atoomgeleerden en de strengere sancties tegen haar kernprogramma. De spanningen tussen Iran en Israel zijn de laatste tijd flink opgelopen met dreigende taal over en weer. En het is precies vier jaar na de dood van Hezbolla's tweede man Ihmad Mughnieh, en daaarvoor heeft Hezbollah wraak gezworen. Hieronder staan concretere aanwijzingen hoewel er over India blijkbaar nog niet meer bekend is.
 
RP
-----------
 
 
 
From The Times of India:
Investigators got a crucial clue to the assailant in the footage from two CCTV cameras installed at industrialist Analjit Singh's 15, Aurangzeb Road residence. The bomber, in brown jacket on a motor cycle, is seen tailing the embassy car at 3.10 pm at a distance of 2-3 seconds. The cameras could not capture the registration number of the bike. 

...Speaking on the condition of anonymity, Indian intelligence sources suspected an Iranian connection to the magnetic bomb attack which they feel could be a retaliation against the covert attempts to thwart the Shiite regime's relentless pursuit of a nuclear programme which the West as well as Sunni Muslim countries are convinced is meant to equip the theocracy with nuclear weapons. 

Sources also said Israel had recently confided in Indians their fears of Israeli targets coming under attack from Iranian sympathizers. Sources in Delhi Police did not rule out the possibility of Iranian sympathizers enlisting the modules of Lashkar, who despite their loathing of Shias, are unremitting in their animosity towards Israel.

From Al Arabiya:
Officials investigating the bomb that shattered an Israeli embassy car in India on Monday have found that the explosive was the first of its kind in the country and could have been made by "foreign experts," a senior police official said.

"The bomb was perfectly made and we have never seen such a bomb in Delhi. Maybe, it was made by foreign experts," the official told the Times of India.

Israeli missions worldwide are on alert and coordinating with Indian security forces, IBN Live reported, as a forensic lab report detailing the exact nature of the explosives used in the blasts is expected within the next 24 to 48 hours.

"A sophisticated incendiary device was used in the blast, a first in its kind for a terror attack in India. This has been giving officials cause for concern," the news channel reported.

Sources say the Home Ministry is expecting a detailed report from Delhi Police on its preliminary investigations by Tuesday evening.
From YNet:
A man thought to be Iranian was seriously wounded in Bangkok on Tuesday when a bomb he was carrying exploded and blew one of his legs off, police and a government spokeswoman said.

Police said at least five people including a foreigner were injured in three series blasts in the Thai capital Bangkok.

"There were three explosions, but no dead," Police Major General Wichai Sungprapai told AFP.

Several Thai television stations reported the wounded man was carrying explosives at the time. They said an identification card found in a satchel nearby indicated he may be of Iranian descent.
Other Thai media fill in the details:
Foreign Ministry is assigned to talk to Iran as a suspect seriously injured in the blast was believed to be an Iranian.

Pol Maj Gen Wichai Sangprapai, deputy metropolitan commissioner was quoted as saying the suspect and two other Iranians rented a house in Soi Pridi Panomyong 31 for months.

The house was suspected to where the bombs were made. However the explosives went off this morning in the house, sending to the three to flee.

Two of them managed to escape while the suspect followed them.

A taxi refused to pick up the suspect who was covered with blood from the blast, so he threw a bomb at the driver, damaging the vehicle. The suspect then walked away and threw the bomb at a police officer who tried to stop him.

However the bomb fell to the ground and went off, mutilating his legs.

Police are now hunting for the fleeing two Iranians.
He said three foreigners were living at the house but two had fled.

I don't know if it was luck or a poorly-made bomb that stopped the New Delhi bomb from exploding the gas tank. My guess is that it was home-built according to Iranian specifications, as it is probably easier to build a rudimentary magnetic bomb than to smuggle one in from Iran. 

It would be interesting to see the types of bombs that the suspects in the Thai blasts were building. 

(h/t Philtheman) 
 

dinsdag 14 februari 2012

Hamas verdeeld over akkoord met Fatah

 
De kakelverse overeenkomst tussen Abbas (PA) en Mashal (Hamas in Syrië) voor een 'eenheidsregering' die nieuwe verkiezingen gaat voorbereiden, lijkt alweer een doodgeboren kindje. Het lokale leiderschap van Hamas in de Gazastrook, degenen met feitelijke macht dus, lijkt grotendeels tegen, om principiële redenen (het zou een impliciete erkenning van Israel inhouden) dan wel financiële (men is afhankelijk van geld uit Iran, dat tegen elk compromis is); bovendien zou het teveel aan Abbas toegeven, die de eenheidsregering zou gaan leiden.
 
Wouter
_____________
 

More indications of a split within Hamas

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-indications-of-split-within-hamas.html
 
From YNet:
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar has publicly expressed his opposition to a reconciliation agreement signed this week by the Islamist group's politburo chief, Khaled Mashaal, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Zahar told a Gaza-based news agency that the agreement, under which Abbas would head an interim unity government of politically independent technocrats whose main task would be to prepare for presidential and parliament elections, was finalized without consulting other Hamas leaders.

"Handing the reins of government to Abbas is completely unacceptable," Zahar said. "It's a strategically erroneous plan."

The Hamas leader added that Hamas leaders in Gaza and abroad will convene in the coming days to discuss the terror group's official position on the agreement.
In the interview, Zahar said that the Doha declaration of unity was effectively Meshal recognizing Israel and that it causes a "major threat" to the future of Hamas.

He denied that there was a rift, and said that political decisions in Hamas must not be done unilaterally but must instead go through its Shura council.

Meanwhile, Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh is in Iran, and
Al Arabiya sees that as another indication of a split:
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah's trip to the Iranian capital of Tehran highlighted the disagreement between the movement's leaders at home and abroad, particularly his relationship with Damascus-based politburo chief Khaled Mashaal.

Haniyah's acceptance of an invitation by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to participate in the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, demonstrates the disagreements between Hamas leaders inside and outside the Gaza Strip, said political analyst Mekhimar Abu Saada.

"This division started becoming clear after the reconciliation agreement signed in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas," he said.

At the time, he explained, Mashaal surprised Hamas by granting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas a one-year grace period to conduct negotiations with Israel.

However, Abu Saada added, divisions inside Hamas were made clear when the resistance movement was required to take a stance as far as the Syrian crisis is concerned and the general inclination was to reject Iran's demand that Hamas support Bashar al-Assad's regime like Lebanon's Hezbollah did.

"Mashaal was in the camp that favored distancing itself from Iran and Syria and getting closer to the Sunni axis represented by Turkey, Qatar, and the Palestinian president."

That is why, he pointed out, this visit seems to have been an explicit rejection of Mashaal's stance and that of the majority of Hamas leaders.

"This move by Haniyah and any similar moves likely to take place by Hamas leaders at home can be attributed to financial factors."

Abu Saada explained that Hamas in Gaza is more in need of financial aid from external powers and that is why it is in its best interest not to contradict Iran.

"This, in addition to Haniyah's objection to the rapprochement between Mashaal and Abbas, is expected to encourage the prime minister to maintain strong relations with Iran even though it supports the Syrian regime unlike Hamas's initial stance."

According to sources, Hamas leaders abroad as well as several Gulf nations advised Haniyah not to accept the Iranian invitation.
For his part, Haniyeh told a crowd in Iran that Hamas will never recognize Israel and will actively seek its destruction:
Hamas "will never recognize Israel," its Gaza prime minister said Saturday in a speech in Iran that is likely to complicate Palestinian efforts to form a unity government in the teeth of opposition from the Jewish state.

"They want us to recognize the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinian people and in the name of all the world's freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognize Israel," Ismail Haniyeh said.

"The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned," he said.
Haniyeh's reiteration of Hamas's long-held stance was made on the occasion of Iran's commemoration of its 1979 Islamic revolution. The Gaza leader spoke to an estimated crowd of 30,000 from a stage alongside Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
 

Rusland beschuldigt Westen van bewapenen rebellen in Syrië

 
Los van het feit dat hier geen bewijzen voor lijken te zijn, exporteert Rusland al jarenlang grote hoeveelheden wapens naar Syrië, en heeft dus behoorlijk wat bloed aan zijn handen. Ook zijn Russische wapens in handen van Hezbollah gekomen.
 
RP
------------

Russia accuses West of arming Syrian rebels
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=257323
By REUTERS
02/10/2012 17:51

Without specifying which nations he is accusing, Moscow's deputy FM says Western countries are arming and advising rebels, says Russia will take "drastic measures" if West keeps pushing issue at UN Security Council.

MOSCOW - Russia said on Friday that the West was stoking the conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In an attempt to deflect criticism of Russia for blocking a UN Security Council resolution urging Assad to give up power, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Western states were stirring up trouble in Syria, where Assad has pursued a violent crackdown since March on protests against his 11-year rule.

"Western states inciting Syrian opposition to uncompromising actions, as well as those sending arms to them, giving them advice and direction, are participating in the process of fomenting the crisis," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying.

He did not specify which nations were arming Syrian rebels.

On Sunday Russia and China vetoed a Western-Arab draft UN resolution that called on Assad to quit. That drew US and European criticism which Russia dismissed as hysterical.

Ryabkov, speaking on a visit to Colombia, said Russia would take "drastic measures" if the West kept trying to intervene in Syria's internal affairs through the Security Council.

"The UN council is not a tool for intervention in internal affairsand is not the agency to decide which government is to be next in one country or another," Ryabkov said. "If our foreign partners don't understand that, we will have to use drastic measures to return them to real grounds."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is almost certain to win a presidential election in March, warned the West not to meddle in the affairs of Syria, or those of Russia.

Russia's lower house of parliament adopted a statement on Friday condemning the West for "intervening in other states' affairs and imposing outside decisions on them".

Some lawmakers in the assembly, which is controlled by Putin's ruling party, called for firmer resistance to the West.

"There is criticism in the Duma that Russia's position on Syria is not strong enough. They say Russia should press its point harder," Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Reuters.
 

Facebook en Twitter helpen Ali Abunimah Palestijnse leugens verspreiden

 
Elder wijst er op dat de leugen dat Israel de Al Aqsa Moskee wil vernietigen en de derde Tempel herbouwen een lange staart heeft. Deze werd reeds in de jaren '20 en '30 gebruikt door de mufti om de Arabieren in Palestina tegen de Joden op te zetten. Het werkte toen en het kan nu weer werken, en daarom is het zo gevaarlijk om dit soort onzin te verspreiden. Ali Abunimah, die bij mensen als Meulenbelt in hoog aanzien staat, en verschillende keren in Nederland is geweest op uitnodiging van het Palestina Komitee en zelfs Oxfam-Novib, weet wat hij doet. Hij is tegen Israel en tegen vrede. Hij is voor een Palestijnse overwinning, geen compromis.
 
RP
----------
 

Now Twitter helps fuel hateful Arab incitement

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/02/now-twitter-helps-fuel-hateful-arab.html
 
From The Warped Mirror blog in JPost:

Friday night, I discovered that on his Electronic Intifada blog, Ali Abunimah had put up a post claiming that Likud leaders were planning to go to Al-Aqsa early Sunday morning and that they were calling for “cleansing” Jerusalem and building a Jewish temple instead of the mosque. At the bottom of the post, Abunimah added an update that half-heartedly acknowledged that there was no basis to the story, but he nevertheless concluded by claiming:

"There’s certainly no doubt that whoever published this flyer […] is tapping into a history of calls and growing support for destroying Al-Aqsa. Feiglin’s supporters too are clear about their desire to take over the Temple Mount."
 
In response, I wrote a post pointing out that spurious claims about Jewish threats to the Al-Aqsa mosque had been used by Arab agitators for almost a hundred years: it was the notorious mufti Haj Amin al Husseini who first used this libel in the 1920s. In the almost 100 years that have passed since then, it was of course only sites sacred to Jews that were desecrated and destroyed in Jerusalem.

When I wrote this post last night, I noted that Abunimah’s post had about 100 tweets and some 150 Facebook endorsements. Some 24 hours later, it had 381 tweets and 523 Facebook “likes”, and there were the beginnings of a Twitter intifada: word of the evil designs of the wicked Likudniks had reached the popular Egyptian-American writer Mona Eltahawy, who send out a tweet about it – and she has more than 100 000 followers…

Luckily, by that time, Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department and professor at Princeton, had also gotten word of the story and found out that it was a hoax. Realizing that it was a very dangerous hoax, she sent out multiple tweets to alert her more than 20 000 followers.

Mona Eltahawy quickly deleted her original tweet and also helped to get out the message that it was a hoax, but by that time, the Al-Aqsa libel was already spreading like wildfire. As one tweet by a professor of sociology put it: “Scared of all the fake rumors about Al #Aqsa. First rule of sociology is if enough people believe something, it will have real consequences.”

Maybe Ali Abunimah will be pleased by the thought that just like with his #IsraelHates- campaign, he once again managed to cause a stir in the Twittersphere – and this time around, there was even the specter of going beyond a merely verbal “Electronic Intifada” to a real intifada of senseless violence and bloodshed.
The Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation and various Muslim firebrands are well-known for creating false rumors about supposed Israeli designs on the Temple Mount. They do it practically every week on their website, and many of those make it into the mainstream Palestinian Arab press. Here are just a few I have documented over the years:

November 2008:
Israel Antiquities Authority drawing up plans to build the Third Temple
April 2009: Israel is building a subway to the Temple Mount
June 2009: Netanyahu is planning to build the Third Temple
September 2009: Israel will give exclusive access to Jews to the Al Aqsa Mosque for 50 days a year
February 2010: Cracks on the Temple Mount is from Israeli construction and plans to destroy it
March 2010: Israel will start construction of the Third Temple on March 16, 2010

Now we have Twitter and inciters like Abiminah who are willing to help these rumors spread even faster. And it would be funny if it wasn't true that sometimes rumors like these lead to deadly results.

 

maandag 13 februari 2012

Pax Christi verontwaardigd over kritiek van Joods Actueel

 
Pro-Israel bloggers en organisaties zoals Joods Actueel doen het vaak voorkomen alsof vredes- en mensenrechtengroepen alleen Israel bekritiseren en zwijgen over moslimgeweld. Dat klopt natuurlijk niet, maar wel valt op hoeveel tijd en aandacht ze besteden aan Israel en de Palestijnse gebieden in verhouding tot de overige pakweg 99% van de Arabische wereld, en vooral de stellige en veroordelende toon tegenover Israel, waar ze bij inter-Arabisch geweld vaak veel genuanceerder zijn. Belgische organisaties zijn hierin overigens nog een stuk extremer dan hun Nederlandse tegenhangers. Ik ben geneigd dit te wijten aan de katholieke achtergrond van de Belgen. De katholieke kerk is nooit enthousiast geweest over de Joodse staat; pas in de jaren '90 knoopte het Vaticaan eindelijk betrekkingen aan met Israel.
 
Wouter
_____________
 

Schokkende stilte van Vlaamse ngo's over slachtingen in Syrië – BBC brengt harde beelden

http://joodsactueel.be/2012/02/09/schokkende-stilte-van-vlaamse-ngos-over-slachtingen-in-syrie-bbc-brengt-harde-beelden/

Donderdag 9 Februari 2012 11:03 

 

Een team van BBC News geraakte de Syrische stad Homs in en brengt er verslag uit van de bombardemenden. Foto's van dode lijkjes en andere verschrikkingen passeren de revue (zie hier). Maar anders dan bij de oorlog van Israël tegen Hamas (wat trouwens een gerechtvaardigde actie was om raketbeschietingen te doen stoppen) lijken de Vlaamse ngo's oorverdovend stil voor deze beelden. 

 

Ga even kijken op de website van PaxChristi, Intal, Broederlijk Delen en anderen zoals het ACW en de ABVV en je zult er haast niets over lezen, meer nog op de website van vrede vzw schrijft Ludo De Brabander zelfs dit:"er wordt duidelijk hard opgetreden tegen de oppositie, maar niet op een schaal zoals je dat soms leest in bepaalde media…" 

 

Totaal anders ging het er aan toe wanneer Israël verwikkeld zat in een oorlog met Hezbollah en Hamas – daar vielen voor alle duidelijkheid 10 keer minder burgerslachtoffers dan in Syrië. 

 

Michael Freilich: "Het is duidelijk, voor deze ngo's is Arabisch bloed goedkoop, het heeft geen waarde. Waarom zie je ze dan wel plots ageren in de oorlog tegen Hamas en Hezbollah? Simpel, want wat telt is kost was kost Israël aanvallen, zwart maken en oproepen tot economische en andere sancties tegen dat land. Anti-zionisme met een antisemitische inslag? Ik kan het in ieder geval moeilijk anders uitleggen.

Ik vraag dan ook dringend dat de miljoenen euro's financiële steun aan deze organisaties wordt herbekeken en dat het geld in de plaats daarvan wordt overgemaakt aan slachtofferhulp in Syrië."

En aangezien niemand het doet, lanceer ik hierbij dan ook een oproep aan de ngo's om volgende week te gaan protesteren voor de Syrische ambassade in Brussel. Want wat nu telt is hier geen vetes uitvechten met anti-Israëlische organisaties maar steun genereren voor de Syrische bevolking.

 

Op de blog van het Nederlandse Elsevier schrijft Afshin Ellian, hoogleraar aan de universiteit van Leiden over dezelfde problematiek in zijn land: "Vindt u het niet raar dat Harry van Bommel, Jan Pronk, Martijn van Dam en andere vrienden niet demonstreren voor de Syriërs? Een vreemde toestand. Harry van Bommel demonstreerde wel samen met boze moslims tegen de oorlog in de Gazastrook. Nu worden duizenden ongewapende burgers in Syrië gedood en is Harry met zijn boze moslims in geen velden of wegen te bekennen."

 

----------

 

Pax Christi verontwaardigd over kritiek van Joods Actueel

http://joodsactueel.be/2012/02/09/pax-christi-verontwaardigd-over-kritiek-van-joods-actueel/

Donderdag 9 Februari 2012 15:11

Jo Hanssens, de voorzitter van Pax Christi Vlaanderen, contacteerde onze redactie naar aanleiding van ons artikel met kritiek op de ngo's (lees hier).  
Hanssens benadrukte dat zijn organisatie wel degelijk strijdt tegen het geweld in Syrië en daar zelfs een opiniestuk over heeft laten publiceren in De Standaard op 13 januari jongstleden.(
lees hier) 

 

De voorzitter van Pax Christi benadrukt ook dat zijn organisatie anders is dan Intal en Vrede vzw die vanuit een ideologie opereren. "Wij hebben geen ideologie zoals deze organisaties, wij hebben enkel het humanitair recht waar wij ons op baseren. Wij zijn zeker niet anti-Joods of anti-Israël". 

 

De redactie neemt akte van dit antwoord maar blijft toch een aantal bemerkingen maken:
- Pax Christi staat 
op de recente lijst van organisaties die steun geeft aan een academische boycot tegen Israël. De organisatie zegt wel tegen boycot van Israël te zijn maar hun daden tonen dus een heel andere zaak. (Volgens Hanssens wordt deze opmerking onderzocht, dat onderzoek is nu reeds 6 maanden aan de gang…)

- Op hun website staan er 425 artikels over Israël, 262 over Palestina en 100 over Gaza, daarentegen haalt Syrië slechts 25 artikels…

- Het standpunt op 13/01/12 in De Standaard eindigt met een vraag aan de Belgische regering "om waakzaam en coherent te zijn"…
Bij de Gaza oorlog luidde het als volgt:"Stop de slachting in Gaza, Stop de straffeloosheid, Opschorting van de akkoorden EU-Israël!" (
zie artikel)

- De teneur is trouwens direct al gezet in de titels van deze opiniestukken, bij Syrië luidde de titel "Enkele zekerheden over Syrië" en bij Israël was het "Stop de waanzin in Gaza".

 

zondag 12 februari 2012

Joden en Arabieren op Westoever planten samen bomen

 
Elder of Ziyon heeft gelijk dat het hypocriet is om alleen voor dialoog te zijn als men beide de bezetting hekelt - zoals in veel dialooggroepen gebeurd -, en niet wanneer eens niet Israels (vermeend) wangedrag centraal staat. Hier gaat het blijkbaar niet zozeer om politiek maar om praktisch samenleven, en het is mooi als men elkaar daar vindt. Dat wil natuurlijk niet zeggen dat er geen misstanden (aan beide kanten overigens) zijn, en beide partijen zouden die in hun eigen gemeenschappen moeten aankaarten.
Praktische samenwerking biedt nog geen oplossing voor de ongelijkheid en politieke meningsverschillen, maar is een belangrijk beginpunt om vijandbeelden af te bouwen en vertrouwen te scheppen.
 
RP & WB
----------------------
 

Shhhh! Jews and Arabs from territories plant trees - together!

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/02/shhhh-jews-and-arabs-from-territories.html
 
Here's another example of co-existence that the Leftists don't want people to see:

School children from the Efrat settlement and residents of the neighboring Palestinian village of Jurat al-Shama planted trees together in an initiative that promoted co-existence in the West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.

The event, held on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, aimed to block the hazardous dust that is being disseminated by a nearby tree-processing plant.

The factory's owner and a resident of Jurat al-Shama, Abu-Taled, relented recently to residents' complaints and built a stone wall that blocked the dust; but the barrier proved bothersome to both the Palestinian and Jewish residents of the area.

When a new traffic circle was installed at the entrance to Efrat recently, Mayor Oded Ravivi decided to level the land between the plant and the settlement, and replace the wall with a small forest.

"We met with Abu-Taled, and agreed to plant a grove on Tu B'Shvat in order to block the dust," Ravivi said. "Abu-Taled was very enthusiastic, and promised to bring friends and employees.

"This is how we could fulfill the mitzvah while also tightening our ties and work towards peaceful co-existence," he said, refering to the Jewish custom of planting trees on the nature-oriented holiday.

According to Ravivi, the sides are currently considering the possibility that Efrat security personnel would guard the factory at night, as part of the effort to cultivate a neighborly relationship.
To the Israel-hating Left, "co-existence" means attending conferences where Jews and Arabs can both attack Israel equally.

They hate real cooperation and co-existence between Jews and Arabs in Judea and Samaria, because it exposes them as hypocrites.

The idea of Jews with kippot working next to Arabs in keffiyehs does not make them smile. On the contrary, it makes their blood boil.

Proving once again that the Israel-hating Left is anything but liberal.
 

Sinds vrijlating Shalit vijf pogingen tot ontvoering van soldaten in noord Israel

 
Op veel plekken in de wereld is het gevaarlijk om als vrouw alleen te liften; in Israel is het liften als soldaat tegenwoordig gevaarlijk. Vooral in noord-Israel, waar het openbaar vervoer niet altijd optimaal is, wordt vrij veel gelift, ook door dienstplichtige soldaten op weg naar huis, vaak in uniform.
 
Dat de IDF vijf pogingen tot ontvoering heeft voorkomen, lijkt me wat onjuist gesteld: er zijn 5 meldingen geweest van ontvoeringspogingen, waarom niet mislukten is onvermeld.
 
Wouter
_____________
 

IDF foiled 5 kidnap attempts since Shalit was freed

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/02/idf-foiled-5-kidnap-attempts-since.html
 
 
From the IDF:
Since the soldier abducted by Hamas terrorists and kept in captivity in the Gaza Strip for five years, SFC Gilad Shalit, was returned to Israel, there were over five attempts to kidnap soldiers in northern Israel.

"There is a direct link between Shalit's return and the kidnapping attempts," said Northern Command's military police commander, Lt. Col. Nir Golan and explained: "Terror organizations know that Israel will pay a high price for kidnapped soldiers and their motivation to abduct additional soldiers is on the rise."

The abduction attempts were reported by soldiers. After such an attempt is reported, it is conveyed to the IDF criminal investigation division for further investigation. "The reports that could not be proven false are considered to be kidnapping attempts," said Lt. Col. Golan.

The military police began intensified preventative operations, such as mock abductions and raising awareness among soldiers. "Every day there are undercover teams looking for hitchhiking soldiers," said Lt. Col. Golan.
I was curious as to who would be attempting to kidnap soldiers in the north - Hezbollah? Hamas? Israeli Arabs?

I asked the IDF spokesperson and the reply I received was "The kidnapping attempts were executed by Israeli Arabs, sympathizers with terror organizations. That's all we can say about the subject currently."