vrijdag 16 maart 2012

Vader Gilad Shalit over het ontvoeren van Israelische soldaten

 

De Guardian gaat weer eens de mist in, en stelt haar anti-Israel bias boven de waarheid. Het is ook bijna te mooi om niet te gebruiken: Noam Shalit, de vader van de meer dan vijf jaar ontvoerde soldaat Gilad, die zegt dat hij als hij Palestijn was hetzelfde zou doen. Welk bewijs heb je dan nog nodig dat de een z’n terrorist de ander z’n vrijheidsstrijder is, en dat het dus volledig subjectief is welk geweld je goedkeurt en afwijst? Oftewel: de Palestijnen strijden terecht voor hun vrijheid, de Joden deden vroeger hetzelfde en zouden het weer doen als ze in die positie zaten. Shalit maakt wel enkele opmerkingen in deze richting, maar gaat niet zo ver om te zeggen dat hij als Palestijn ook zoiets zou doen. De nuance doet er hier wel degelijk toe, zeker ook gezien het feit dat de interviewer hem bepaalde zaken in de mond probeer te leggen, en hij meermaals ontwijkende antwoorden geeft.

So, to recap: Shalit didn’t really say that he would kidnap an Israeli soldier if he were a Palestinian. When asked by the interviewer whether he would do such a thing, he gave equivocal responses. He said he didn’t know what he would do if he were a Palestinian but suggested that he might have tried to fight the Israeli army “in a different way.” Asked whether he would rule out kidnapping, he noted -- factually -- that Jewish fighters kidnapped British officers during the British Mandate period.

 

Dat laatste is inderdaad gewoon waar, maar hij suggereert hier wel een overeenkomst, en die is mijns inziens niet terecht. Ten eerste: de Gazastrook is niet langer bezet, en Shalit was vlakbij Gaza door terroristen uit Gaza ontvoerd. Ten tweede: De Britten traden hard op tijdens de mandaattijd en hielden zich niet aan diverse afspraken en verplichtingen van het mandaat, zoals de vrije vestiging van Joden in het land en hun recht op vrije immigratie. Ze traden erg hard op tegen de ‘illegale’ immigratie en tegen de ondergrondse organisaties die zich daarmee bezig hielden. Het Joodse bestuur was zeer compromisbereid en werkte met de Britten mee en samen en accepteerde diverse delingsplannen en voorstellen, dit in tegenstelling tot de Palestijnen, die niks met het Britse gezag te maken wilden hebben en sowieso niet met de zionisten en alles afwezen.

 

RP

----------

 

Guardian got it wrong—Noam Shalit didn’t say he would kidnap Israelis if he were Palestinian

Britain’s Guardian newspaper has a story that is being picked up by various outlets around the world. The headline: “Gilad Shalit's father: I would kidnap Israelis if I were Palestinian.”

The story’s first sentence reported that Noam Shalit “said he would kidnap Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian.” According to The Guardian, Noam Shalit made the statement in a television interview.

Yet the only direct quote The Guardian provides on the topic doesn’t by itself substantiate the sensational headline. The quote is: "We also kidnapped British soldiers when we were fighting for our freedom" -- a statement of historical fact, not an assertion of what Shalit would or would not do in the event of a hypothetical change of nationality.

Moreover, I couldn’t find any English-language Israeli outlet that had reported on Shalit’s statement -- surprising given the provocative nature of the words being attributed to him by The Guardian. So I was a little suspicous.

I had a Hebrew-speaking colleague track down the interview with Israel’s Channel 10. It turns out Shalit didn’t quite say what The Guardian says he said.

Here’s a transcript (translated from Hebrew) of what Shalit actually said:

Q. So you support talking to Hamas?

Shalit: I support talking to anyone.

Q. Including Hamas?

Shalit: Including Hamas. Everyone who wants to talk with us.

Q. As a Knesset member, would you go out tomorrow to talk with [Hamas Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh?

Shalit: Haniyeh’s not yet ready to recognize us. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened yet.

Q. And if he recognizes us?

Shalit: If and when we get the bridge, we’ll cross it. Of course.

Q. That is, even if the kidnappers of Gilad themselves one day are senior officials in the Palestinian administration and agree to recognize Israel, you would sit with them as an Israeli Knesset member.

Shalit: Presumably -- I said that if they change their ways and are prepared to recognize us and recognize that there is a Jewish state, that there’s Israel, there’s the State of Israel, yes, and they stop the war against then yes – absolutely.

Q. Shake his hand?

Shalit: Yes.

Shalit: How did Barak say? If I were Palestinian, it’s possible I too would be a terrorist or a freedom fighter -- how they call them -- or something else.

Q: If you were a Hamasnik, would you abduct an Israeli soldier?

Shalit: I don't know but maybe I would fight IDF forces in a different way, I don't know.

Q: But you don't rule it out.

Shalit: If I were a Palestinian?

Q: Yes, abducting a soldier to release prisoners.

Shalit: We also kidnapped British officers way back when, when we were fighting for our freedom.

Q: You're a cold fish.

Shalit: Thanks.

So, to recap: Shalit didn’t really say that he would kidnap an Israeli soldier if he were a Palestinian. When asked by the interviewer whether he would do such a thing, he gave equivocal responses. He said he didn’t know what he would do if he were a Palestinian but suggested that he might have tried to fight the Israeli army “in a different way.” Asked whether he would rule out kidnapping, he noted -- factually -- that Jewish fighters kidnapped British officers during the British Mandate period.

So he didn’t categorically say he wouldn’t kidnap Israeli soldiers if he were a Palestinian, but -- contra The Guardian -- he also didn’t say he would. (Britain’s Jewish Chronicle had a more accurate report on the interview.)

He also said that that he would be willing to shake the hands of Hamas leaders, but conditioned that on them recognizing a Jewish state and stopping their violence.

It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout from the interview for Noam Shalit. Several months after the prisoner exchange that won his son’s freedom, Shalit announced (somewhat controversially) that he would run for Knesset with the Labor Party. 

 

 

Noam Shalit: We kidnapped soldiers too

http://blogs.jta.org/telegraph/article/2012/03/16/3092190/guardian-got-it-wrong-noam-shalit-didnt-say-he-would-kidnap-israelis-if-he-were-palestinian

By Jennifer Lipman, March 16, 2012

The father of the IDF soldier captured by Hamas and released five years later last October has given a controversial interview expressing a level of understanding of the terrorist groups' actions.

Noam Shalit, whose son Gilad was just 19 years old when he was kidnapped during a cross border raid, revealed his ambitions to become a Labour Party Knesset member in January.

His political leanings were made clear with comments this week, in which he told Israel's Channel 10 that he was not averse to speaking to Hamas.

"I am in favour of speaking to anyone who wants to talk to us," he said. "If they change their ways and are willing to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, yes, I would shake their hand."

Mr Shalit also noted that Jewish paramilitary groups in Mandate Palestine "also kidnapped British soldiers when we were fighting for our freedom".

But the soldier's father, who spent months camped in front of Benjamin Netanyahu's house to campaign for action on his son's case, said that the Prime Minister should have imposed financial sanctions on Gaza.

He said: ''As soon as they capture an Israeli soldier and are not willing to release him and asking for such a price, you should put the pressure on them, including stopping the transfer of money."

He had little praise for Mr Netanyahu's role in Gilad's homecoming. "Every poll found that 70 per cent of the public wanted the deal," he said. "Netanyahu saw the public would not tolerate a repeat of what happened to Ron Arad."

Later this month, Gilad Shalit will be released from compulsory IDF service.

 

Weer twee dode Palestijnse kinderen die ten onrechte Israel worden aangerekend

 

Een weekje schieten over en weer leidt ook altijd tot de nodige fake foto’s van onschuldige Palestijnse kindertjes die zomaar door het wrede Israel werden gedood, waarbij geldt: hoe bloediger hoe beter. Een medewerkster van VN organisatie OCHA twitterde een foto van een bebloed meisje in de handen van haar vader. Het beeld was tijdens de Gaza oorlog ook al tegen Israel gebruikt en het arme kind blijkt van een schommel te zijn gevallen. De foto stamt van augustus 2006. Het is wel honderden keren geretweet, en VN medewerkster Khudood Badawi zit nog gewoon op haar plaats. Geen excuses, geen rectificatie, zelfs geen berisping: de VN houdt de kaken op elkaar. Een andere foto die opdook was deze van een jongen die zogenaamd het bloed van zijn net gedode broertje opruimt met een zwabber. Het blijkt echter om het bloed van een zojuist gedode koe te gaan.

 

Er zijn nog meer voorbeelden, zoals de tiener die afgelopen maandag omkwam wat in verschillende media (die een Palestijnse getuige citeerden) onterecht aan Israel werd toegeschreven (zie bericht hieronder). Je zou verwachten, dat na de vele fake foto’s en verhalen uit de Libanon oorlog van 2006 en de Gaza oorlog van 2009 de media inmiddels wat sceptischer zijn tegenover Palestijnse bronnen, en dat ook een instantie als de VN niet meer als een neutrale bron wordt beschouwd. Het is niet de eerste keer dat een VN medewerker liegt over Israelisch geweld.

 

RP

------------ 

 

AFP ignores its own report; blames Israel for two child deaths from fictional airstrike (UPDATE)

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/03/afp-ignores-its-own-report-blames.html

 

From AFP: 

A Gazan child died on Wednesday from wounds sustained in four days of Israeli-Palestinian violence, but a truce deal appeared to be holding, despite more rocket fire and two Israeli raids.

Gaza emergency services spokesperson Adham Abu Selmiya said Baraka al-Mughrabi, aged 7, died from severe injuries sustained during an Israeli bombing raid on Gaza City on Saturday.

The boy's death, which raised to 26 the number of Palestinians killed in four days of bloodshed, came 24 hours after Israel and militant groups in Gaza agreed to observe a ceasefire deal in a bid to end the confrontation, which saw more than 200 rockets fired at Israel. 

Yet Mughrabi was injured not on Saturday, but in the same Monday morning incident that killed teenager Nayif Qarmout.

Which an AFP reporter (and photographic evidence) confirmed was not an Israeli airstrike.

AFP described the incident where Qarmout and now Mughrabi were killed as a kind of "work accident" where an explosive device carried by 15-year old Qarmout went off.  The IDF denied any strike in the area and AFP confirmed that.

It is no surprise that "Gaza medical officials" will lie and blame Israel for the deaths, but AFP reporters should presumably know what they themselves reported.

The number of victims from the airstrikes is 24, not 26, of whom 20 were terrorists (and at least one, a farmer, was effectively a human shield as Islamic Jihad terrorists were injured in the same strike.) 

Sloppiness or bias?

UPDATE: Ma'an was wrong; Mughrabi was not one of the kids with Qarmout. He was killed by a terrorist bulletFrom AP:

A Palestinian boy accidentally struck by a bullet when militants fired in the air during a funeral died of his injuries Wednesday, family members and witnesses said.

Palestinian health official Adham Abu Salmia initially said that 8-year-old Barka al-Mugrahbi died of wounds sustained in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.

However, Israel's military said it did not carry out a strike in the area at the time.

The boy's relatives and witnesses later said the boy was marching in the funeral procession for a Gaza militant Monday when he was struck in the head by an errant bullet.

At the time, gunmen were firing in the air, they said. 

 

But did AP go back to Adham Abu Salmia and ask him why he lied? Will AP and other wire services keep quoting him even though they know he is a liar?

 

Jerusalem Post over antisemitisch VPRO-spel "Kolonisten van de Westelijke Jordaanoever"

 

De kolonisten van de Westelijke Jordaanoever, een satire op de Kolonisten van Catan, heeft deze week de Jerusalem Post gehaald. De VPRO jongerensite Dorst had deze al eind 2010 op hun website gezet, en recentelijk is hij prominent herpost. Ik schreef eerder over deze satire:

 

Het spel is enerzijds een grappige variant op het bekende 'Kolonisten van Catan' maar zit helaas vol met clichés en vooroordelen over de Joden en kolonisten. Zo wordt continu gerefereerd aan je handelsgeest, en ook vlijt en spaarzaamheid zijn onontbeerlijk om te winnen. Er is zelfs een speelkaart waarin aan 'Joodse gierigheid' wordt gerefereerd. Overwinningspunten zijn onder andere het Anne Frankhuis, de Klaagmuur en de Synagoge. In het beste geval heeft men nogal willekeurig van alles genomen wat aan Joden en Israel is gerelateerd en dat in dit spel verwerkt. In het slechtste geval worden de kolonisten aangegrepen om de Joden zwart te maken en vooroordelen te bevestigen. Want wat precies heeft het Anne Frank huis of de Neue Synagoge in Berlijn te maken met nederzettingen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever? Had men dan geen heiligdommen die daar liggen (er zijn er genoeg) kunnen nemen? Wordt hier een verband gesuggereerd tussen de bezetting en de Holocaust? En waarom die Joodse gierigheid? Als je een heel klein beetje je best wilt doen bij zo'n satire geen verkeerde indruk te wekken en geen mensen te kwetsen dan doe je dat toch niet?

 

Inmiddels heeft de VPRO, vanwege alle commotie, het spel van de site gehaald. Men licht dit als volgt toe op de website van de NRC:

 

De omroep liet eerder weten niet van plan te zijn het spel van de website te verwijderen. De omroep doet dat nu alsnog, "niet omdat we er niet achterstaan, maar omdat het satirische doel nu wordt overschaduwd door beschuldigingen van antisemitisme", aldus de woordvoerder tegenover persbureau Novum.

 

Verschillende Joods-zionistische organisaties hadden de VPRO daarom verzocht, en blijkbaar was men de aandacht zat. Je kunt zeggen dat dit van slappe knieeen getuigt. Op je staat er achter, en dan laat je je niet door een vriendelijk briefje van het CIJO of het Wiesenthal Center vermurwen. Of je vindt bij nader inzien dat het spel wellicht toch iets te ver ging en 'verkeerd opgevat kan worden', zegt dat het je spijt wanneer dit mensen heeft gekwetst en haalt het er vervolgens af. Maar nu lijkt het alsof men vooral van het gezeur af wilde zijn. Ik vind het zelf ook nogal zwak dat men helemaal niet inhoudelijk op de kritiek ingaat. Satire is een ding, maar gaat 'Joodse gierigheid' niet gewoon te ver, ook gezien het verleden? Het is geen schande een fout te erkennen. Het spel is door jongeren gemaakt, en stond op een plek waar zij hun gang konden gaan. De VPRO wilde hun niet gaan censureren. Daar kan ik me iets bij voorstellen. Maar als je er dan even over nadenkt, dan snap je wel dat zoiets gewoon niet kan, en trek je daar de enige juiste conclusie uit: je verwijdert het spel. Zo'n houding getuigt van lef en eerlijkheid, maar dat is helaas nog een brug te ver.

 

Zie ook: het Israel spel van de VPRO 

 

RP

--------- 

 

Dutch state-funded TV offers anti-Semitic game

By CNAAN LIPHSHIZ AND BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

03/14/2012 06:24

In downloadable game, players can use 'Anne Frank card' to colonize West Bank, 'Jewish stinginess' card to gain resources.

 

 

THE HAGUE\BERLIN – A Dutch public broadcasting network last month offered its viewers a board game featuring Israeli settlers who use "Jewish stinginess" and "the Anne Frank card" to colonize the West Bank.

Organizations combating anti-Semitism have called on the Dutch government to persuade the network, VPRO, to halt the downloading of the board game. 

A VPRO representative said the game was not anti-Semitic, but rather a thought-provoking satire.

The game, titled "The Settlers of the West Bank," is based on the multiplayer hit "The Settlers of Catan," first released in Germany in 1995. The Dutch variant appeared in 2010 on the VPRO website – a self-described liberal-Protestant network.

In the game, the user is a settler trying to expand his community and mine diamonds and Dead Sea mud while producing textile and bulldozers. Players can use the "Jewish stinginess" card to force competitors to hand over resources. The instructions refer three times to the "nation's typical mercantile spirit."

Terrorist attacks are described as a natural result of settlement expansion. "Saw wood, and you get wood chips: Not everyone's happy with the Israeli settlements. Least of all the terrorist," the instructions explain. "Terrorist attacks" cost players resources.

The settler may also use the "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad card" to avoid losing resources to a terrorist and simultaneously draw resources from other players. The Anne Frank House is a "winning point" for the settler.

The game first appeared on VPRO's website for younger viewers and was prominently reposted last month. The network explained the reposting by saying: "It's one of the items everyone loves to hate."

"Criticism of the settlement movement cannot appear in the form of anti-Semitic stereotypes," said Joël Serphos, chairman of the Dutch youth organization CiJO – For Israel, for Peace. Serphos added that this "gave the wrong impression, that criticism on settlements is rooted in anti-Semitism."

Serphos, whose organization opposes settlement expansion, called on the Dutch Education, Culture and Science Ministry to compel the network to remove the game from its website and apologize for its publication.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center strongly condemned VPRO for publishing the "disturbing" game.

"It would be more likely as a product of neo-Nazis or Ahmadinejad," Dr. Shimon Samuels, the center's director for international relations, told The Jerusalem Post.

References to Jewish stinginess, the exploitation of minerals and the "contemptuous misuse" of Ann Frank's House as a "winning point" were "anti-Semitic tropes," Samuels said.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science provided 89 percent of VPRO's budget of 51,973,000 euros in 2010.

"This funding makes the Netherlands the largest financier of hate incitement among youth in Europe," Samuels said.

The Wiesenthal Center has written to Viviane Reding, the European Commission's vice president for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, urging her "to take all available measures to press The Hague to withdraw its funding from VPRO for as long as it serves as a vector for racism."

Queried by the Post, VPRO Communications Manager Marina Alings defined the game as "satire." VPRO is of the opinion that "although the item 'The Settlers of the West Bank' could have done with some more delicate detailing, it is not fitting to earmark it as anti-Semitic," she said.

The VPRO Dorst youth section "ironically commented on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with its satirical item," Alings said.

Alings added that VPRO did not seek permission from the designers of the original game before releasing the Dutch variant. "Since 'The Settlers of the West Bank' was made with such an unmistakable hint to the board game 'The Settlers of Catan,' the VPRO did not feel it was necessary," Alings said.

Freek Manche, spokesman for the Dutch Education Ministry, said "the minister of education, culture and science has no opinion about this specific game." He added that the minister would not ask to remove the item from the website since it is not her responsibility.

Manche said that VPRO told the ministry that the website that offers the game was developed by young editors of the weekly magazine VPRO Gids, which does not receive a government subsidy, but is financed through membership fees from VPRO's approximately 300,000 subscribers.

In the Netherlands, the original board game, "The Settlers of Catan," is marketed by the 999 Games company.

PR representative Saskia de Lint told the Post the firm "wants to stay out [of the issue] because we do not wish to take a stand." She added: "We deeply regret the use of the game by [the young viewer platform of] VPRO."

De Lint would not say if the firm views the distribution of the Dutch game as copyright infringement, nor whether 999 Games would ask VPRO remove the controversial content.

Calls and emails to the original game's distributors in the US and Germany were not immediately returned. The company's US representatives were at a retail convention in Las Vegas and were not immediately available for comment.

 

Hoe je verkozen in de Palestijnse verkiezingen

 

Helaas wordt je populariteit onder Palestijnen voor een groot deel bepaald door hoe actief je tegen Israel bent, hoe lang je in een Israelische gevangenis hebt gezeten en hoeveel Joden je hebt gedood. Ook in Israel wordt je populariteit bepaald door hoelang je in het leger hebt gezeten, en vooral je heldenrol in een van de oorlogen, zullen sommigen nu zeggen en dat klopt, al wordt je populariteit in Israel door wel meer dan dat alleen bepaald. Maar in Israel hangt het af van hoe goed je je land hebt gediend en niet hoeveel Palestijnen je hebt gedood. De soldaten die het Iron Dome raketafweer systeem bedienen zijn bijvoorbeeld helden voor veel Israeli’s, maar zij zijn puur defensief bezig. Hoe dan ook, de Palestijnen hebben bijna uitsluitend terroristen als helden, en niet mensen die op allerlei manieren iets voor de Palestijnse cultuur en samenleving hebben betekend. Het is deze negatieve houding en het zichzelf definieren als vijand van Israel, dat een groot obstakel tot vrede vormt.

 

RP

----------

 

How to Get Elected in the Palestinian Territories

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2945/palestinian-territories-election

by Ibrahim Sayyed
March 15, 2012 at 5:00 am

In our Palestinian culture, it is much more important if one "graduates" from an Israeli prison than from the most prestigious university in the world.

It is not clear at this stage when and if new presidential and parliamentary elections will ever be held in the Palestinian territories: The two major Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas, have yet to end their power struggle and agree on the formation of a Palestinian unity government that would pave the way for long overdue elections.

But if anyone is hoping that the elections will see the rise of moderate and charismatic leaders to power, then he is living in an illusion. In our Palestinian culture, it is more important if one "graduates" from an Israeli prison than from the most prestigious university in the world.

In our society, people like Prime Minister Salam Fayyad do not get many votes because they did not spend time in an Israeli prison. Fayyad's chances of winning would be higher if he had killed a Jew or sent his son to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel.

The number of years one spends in Israeli prison can even be a major factor in getting a job or a military rank in the Palestinian Authority. Many of the Palestinian "colonels" and "generals" earned their ranks not by attending military academies, but by spending years in Israeli prison for their involvement in violence.

PLO Chirman Yasser Arafat would choose his security chiefs and top aide according to the number of years they had spent in prison or the number of Israelis they had killed. "You spent 20 years in prison? Then you get the rank of colonel!" Arafat would say. "You carried out an attack in which three Jews were killed? You are a general!"

Jibril Rajoub and Mohammed Dahlan, the two former security chiefs who served under Arafat, were appointed thanks to their having spent time in Israeli prison, not because of their qualifications, and the reason some Palestinians have begun talking about jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti -- who is serving five life sentences for his role in shooting attacks that killed a number of Israelis during the Second Intifada -- as the leading candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas.

Marwan Barghouti is therefore widely respected by Palestinians because of his role in the "Revolution."

A man like Fayyad, who studied in Texas and did not spend one day in an Israeli prison, stands no chance at the ballot box against people like Barghouti -- the by-product of what happens when the Palestinian Authority leadership praises prisoners and terrorists as heroes.

The Palestinian prisoners who were released in the Gilad Schalit prisoner agreement last October have already been offered thousands of dollars as well as apartments by both Palestinian governments: the one in the West Bank and the one in the Gaza Strip.

And it should not come as a surprise if some of these ex-prisoners, many of whom have Jewish blood on their hands, will be enthusiastically elected in the next round of Palestinian elections.

The Palestinians have raised an entire generation of glorification of suicide bombers and terrorists -- the direct result of decades of incitement and indoctrination, to which Palestinians are exposed at a very early age.

Under such circumstances, is it even a good idea at all to hold new elections in the Palestinian territories?

 

Raketvuur in Gazastrook en zuid-Israel

 

Sinds het staakt het vuren maandagnacht van kracht ging zijn er alweer diverse raketten op Israel afgevuurd, en zijn de scholen opnieuw gesloten in een aantal plaatsen. Toch kopten de websites van het AD en Trouw gisteren: "Israëlische luchtaanval op Gaza ondanks staakt-het-vuren". Het is pas interessant voor veel media wanneer Israel terugschiet, en de raketten uit Gaza worden over het algemeen gezien als primitieve en weinig schadelijke projectielen. Het gaat echter inmiddels vaak om Grad raketten met een bereik van 50 km of meer en ook veel meer explosieve lading dan de vroegere Qassams, die overigens ook steeds beter worden. Als Israel geen maatregelen zou nemen zoals het bouwen van schuilkelders, sluiten van scholen en nu het Iron Dome raketafweersysteem, waren er veel meer slachtoffers door deze raketten gevallen. 

 

RP

----------- 

 

Rockets fired at south

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4203653,00.html

Brittle ceasefire rattled again as four projectiles are fired at southern cities. Grad fired as Ashdod intercepted by missile defense system; Qassams hit Eshkol, Hof Ashkelon

Neri Brenner

Latest Update: 

03.16.12, 07:36

 

The fragile armistice between Israel and the Gaza terror groups was stretched further on Thursday night as several rockets were fired at western Negev communities from the Strip.

 

Gaza terrorists fired a Grad rocket at Ashdod, which was intercepted by a nearby Iron Dome battery. Moments later Qassam rockets hit open areas in Eshkol Regional Council and the outskirts of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported in either case.

 

A fourth rocket fired from Gaza overnight Friday landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no reports of injury or damage.  

  

Later Thursday night, Palestinian source in Gaza Strip reported that Air Force helicopters fired at an open area in the Sudaniya neighborhood in the Strip's northwest, as well as east of Gaza City.

 

Other reports said that Israel Navy ships fired at the Gaza coast. No injuries were reported.

  

Thursday morning saw a Gaza-launched rocket explode in an open area near Netivot. Several hours later a Grad rocket fired at Beersheba was intercepted by the Iron Dome system.

  

The IDF refrained from targeting any terror hubs in the Strip Thursday, following a request from Egypt to temper its response in order "not to lose proportions" and allow the ceasefire time to take effect.

 

A political source told Ynet Wednesday that "at this time Israel will not respond to rockets fired at the south since the ceasefire took effect," adding that "After each round of escalation we see what is known as the 'tail' – a few hours during which there is still some fire, as if to show that they have the last word.

 

"The situation is still within Israel's containment. We're following the situation closely," the source added.

 

Following the sporadic rocket fire and mounting security concerns, several municipalities, including Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beersheba, Ofakim and Gan Yavne announced that they intend to suspend Friday's school day.

 

Educational institutions will remain open in Hof Ashkelon and Shaar Hanegev regional councils and in Kiryat Malachi. The University of Ben Gurion will also remain open.

 

 

 

donderdag 15 maart 2012

Israël verdeeld over afschaffen Talwet

 

De ultraorthodoxe charedische gemeenschap spreekt van een aanval op haar manier van leven. Door de Talwet –die in augustus vervalt– konden studenten van een jesjiva, een joodse school voor religieuze studie, aan hun militaire dienst ontsnappen.

 
Zonder leger - en steeds meer Israeli's maakten gebruik van de Talwet - komt er zeker een einde aan de manier van leven van deze haredi's...
Wouter
_____________

 

Israël verdeeld over afschaffen Talwet

http://www.refdag.nl/nieuws/buitenland/israel_verdeeld_over_afschaffen_talwet_1_629188

13-03-2012 11:45 

 

JERUZALEM (IPS) – De uitspraak van eind vorige maand van het Israëlische hooggerechtshof die de zogeheten Tal-wet annuleert (die orthodox-joodse studenten vrijstelt van militaire dienst), roept tegengestelde reacties op. 

 

De ultraorthodoxe charedische gemeenschap spreekt van een aanval op haar manier van leven. Door de Talwet –die in augustus vervalt– konden studenten van een jesjiva, een joodse school voor religieuze studie, aan hun militaire dienst ontsnappen. 

 

Alle niet-Arabische Israëliërs moeten op hun achttiende het leger in voor twee tot drie jaar. Vooral de snel groeiende charedische gemeenschap maakt van de vrijstelling gebruik. Deze ultraorthodoxe joden maken ongeveer 10 procent van de Israëlische bevolking uit. Het aantal vrijgestelden ligt momenteel rond de 60.000. 

 

De tien jaar oude wet is meermaals verlengd. Het Israëlische leger ziet het aantal dienstplichtigen sinds 2002 gestaag teruglopen, onder meer als gevolg van de vrijstellingen. 

 

Tegenstanders van de wet noemen hem oneerlijk omdat hij een aanzienlijk deel van de bevolking vrijstelt. „Als je gelijke rechten wilt, moet je ook gelijke plichten hebben", aldus Tal Nachom van Yisrael Beitenu. 

 

Leden van de charedische gemeenschap noemen de beslissing een aanval op het religieuze leven in Israël. „De rechters weten niet waarover ze het hebben omdat ze een seculiere achtergrond hebben en de regels van het jodendom niet kennen", aldus rabbi Simon Hurwitz.

 

Zorgen om chemische en biologische wapens van Syrië

 
In de Nederlandse media heb ik vreemd genoeg nog niets gezien over onderstaande kwestie.
 
Wouter
___________
 

US, Jordan mulling ways to secure Syrian bio-weapons

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4200557,00.html

Washington, Amman are reportedly devising ways to keep Damascus' chemical, biological weapons caches out of terror groups' hand should Assad fall

Yitzhak Benhorin

Published:

03.09.12, 09:24

 

WASHINGTON – The United States and Jordan are reportedly discussing ways to secure what is believed to be Syria's substantial stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of Hezbollah or al-Qaeda, should Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime come to its end.

 

Syria is believed to have one of the world's largest arsenals of nerve agents, including Sarin, cyanide, and mustard gas; and is one of only seven nations not to sign the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

 

--- Related stories:

According to a Friday report in the Wall Street Journal, the two nations' militaries are developing joint contingencies in wake of mounting concerns that – should Assad be toppled – various terror groups will try to acquire the country's WMDs.

 

According to the report, one plan may see Jordan's Special Forces, "Acting as part of any broader Arab League peacekeeping mission, go into Syria to secure nearly a dozen sites thought to contain weapons."

 

Several top-ranking Jordanian defense officials visited the Pentagon in February, to discuss the threat posed by Syrian weapons of mass destruction.

 

According to Pentagon sources quoted in the report, Washington and Amman "do not foresee unilateral commando raids inside Syria." Locating and securing weapon sites will, however, remain a key part of any peacekeeping mission in the country.

 

The threat posed by Syria's WMD caches has become one of the most pressing issues for the West vis-à-vis Damascus.

 

US experts on Syria's weapons program say that Damascus is storing its nonconventional weapons in nearly a dozen sites, largely in northern and central Syria. Some of these sites are in cities currently racked by violence, such as Hama and Homs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly conveyed his concerns over Syria's WMDs to US President Barack Obama in their meeting earlier in the week.

 

US officials believe a UN Security Council resolution allowing outside intervention by Western powers in Syria remains impossible, saying that the Arab League would have a better chance at broker a peaceful diplomatic solution to the dire situation in Syria.

 

woensdag 14 maart 2012

Rode Kruis Gaza en de Qassam raketten

 

Volgens de vice president van het Rode Kruis in Gaza zijn er de afgelopen vier maanden geen raketten afgevuurd vanuit de Gazastrook op Israel, omdat de ‘militante groeperingen’ zich allemaal aan het informele staakt het vuren hielden. Uit Elder of Ziyon, die een interview met de beste vrouw op de BBC bespreekt:

 

Mona El-Farra [vice president Red Crescent, RP] re-interrupted back, and continued by denying, twice, that there have been any rocket attacks from Gaza. 

“let me tell you that for the last four months there were no rockets against Israel and Palestinians respected the cease-fire.” 

 

Ha'aretz lists rocket attacks for the past year:

January, 2011 - 39 rockets fired toward Israel

February, 2011 - 28 rockets fired toward Israel

March, 2011 - 105 rockets fired toward Israel following clashes in Gaza

April, 2011 - 140 rockets fired toward Israel following an IDF hit on a Hamas terror cell

May, 2011 - 1 rocket fired toward Israel

June, 2011 - No rockets were fired toward Israel

July, 2011 - 27 rockets fired toward Israel

August, 2011 - 171 rockets fired toward Israel after a coordinated terror attack by Palestinian militants kills eight Israelis

September, 2011 - 13 rockets fired toward Israel

October, 2011 - 56 rockets fired toward Israel as response to release of former captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit

November, 2011 - 9 rockets fired toward Israel

December, 2011 - 42 rockets fired toward Israel

January, 2012 - 18 rockets fired toward Israel

February, 2012 - 30 rockets fired toward Israel

March, 2012 - Some 200 rockets fired toward Israel after the IDF assassinates the leader of Popular Resistance Committees

 

Juist ja. Tot zover de betrouwbaarheid en onpartijdigheid van een organisatie als het Rode Kruis waar het Israel en de Palestijnen betreft. Wanneer in de NRC of elders iemand van het Rode Kruis in Gaza of de Westoever wordt geïnterviewd, neem wat diegene allemaal zegt dan met een flinke korrel zout.

 

RP