BBC journalist vermoord volgens onbekende Palestijnse factie

Als dit waar is, is het zeer slecht nieuws. Er zijn nauwelijks nog buitenlandse journalisten in Gaza, en daar komt nu wellicht helemaal een einde aan. Het vreemde is, dat deze journalisten veelal het verhaal van Palestijnse kant naar buiten brengen en dus een belangrijke rol spelen voor hun. Kon of wilde de Palestijnse regering journalisten niet beter beschermen? Hoeveel moeite heeft men gedaan om Johnston vrij te krijgen?

De volgende claim is onjuist:

 

The group, calling itself the Brigades of Tawheed and Jihad, said that its
demands for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails had been
ignored.

 

Tot nu toe had geen enkele groep de ontvoering geclaimd, laat staan dat het eisen of een motief bekend had gemaakt. 

 

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

 

April 16, 2007

BBC reporter dead, says militant group
http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east//article1658089.ece

Sonia Verma in Jerusalem

A previously unknown Palestinian militant group last night claimed that it had killed the BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in Gaza more than a month ago.
The group, calling itself the Brigades of Tawheed and Jihad, said that its demands for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails had been ignored. The BBC and the Palestinian Government are treating the claim with suspicion.

"The BBC is aware of these reports," the corporation said, "but we stress that at this stage it is rumour with no independent verification."

Group claims BBC reporter killed
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4C6F3D97-B50F-4A2F-AE6F-32D2215D886A.htm

An unknown Palestinian group has said that it has killed a British journalist kidnapped over a month ago in Gaza City, but the claim could not be confirmed.

In a statement sent to news organisations on Sunday, "The Brigades of Tawheed and Jihad" said that it killed Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent, to support demands for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

However, the BBC and the Palestinian government both said there was no evidence to back up the claim.

"The BBC is aware of these reports," the corporation said in a statement. "But we have no independent verification of them."

The group claiming to have killed him is unknown in Gaza, but the name has been used elsewhere in the Middle East by organisations linked to al-Qaeda.

"This party that issued the statement about the so-called killing is unknown to the security services," Hani Kawasmeh, the Palestinian interior minister, told a news conference in Gaza City.

"There is no information to confirm the killing of Johnston until now."

Johnston was snatched at gunpoint in Gaza City on March 12. Since then there had been no demands from his captors or any word on his condition.

He has been missing longer than any other foreigner kidnapped in Gaza.

The only foreign reporter still based in Gaza, he was snatched just weeks before he was scheduled to end his three-year stint there. Other news organisations withdrew their foreign-born reporters because of the deteriorating security situation there.

Source: Agencies

 

Palestinijnse facties roepen op tot meer ontvoeringen

Palestijnse facties, inclusief de aan Fatah geliëerde Al Aqsa Martelaren Brigade, roepen op tot de ontvoering van meer Israëlische soldaten om alle Palestijnse gevangenen vrij te laten.

The statement confirmed that Hamas "intends to release all the prisoners,
regardless of their faction or affiliation, by all means available and at
any cost, especially after the failure of the diplomatic efforts, the weak
agreements and the false promises."

Hamas also called on the Israeli leaders to "comply with the factions'
demands, accelerate the exchange deal and avoid deception."

Uiteraard zal een succesvolle deal slechts een uitnodiging zijn om meer soldaten te ontvoeren, aangezien Hamas alle gevangenen vrij wil krijgen. Israël moet in daden duidelijk maken dat de enige manier voor Hamas om Palestijnse gevangenen vrij te krijgen, is door Israël te erkennen en het geweld af te zweren. Gevangenenruil dient op een een-op-een basis te gebeuren (Palestijnen zijn toch evenveel waard als Israëli's?). Gevangenen die voor kleine vergrijpen vastzitten of in administratieve detentie zijn, zou men als 'goodwil gesture' vrij kunnen laten. Anders zullen meer ontvoeringen volgen en vernederende gevangenendeals die de populariteit van Hamas vergroten.

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

Palestinian factions encourage further abductions of Israeli soldiers in order to ensure a prisoners' exchange
Date: 16 / 04 / 2007  Time:  15:05

Khan Younis - Ma'an - A number of Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have called for more Israeli soldiers to be captured in order to ensure Palestinian prisoners are released in exchange. They say that this action is necessary following the failure of the diplomatic efforts to release the Palestinian prisoners.

In a statement, Hamas said that their movement urges the armed brigades of Al-Qassam (Hamas), Al-Aqsa (Fatah), An-Nasser (Popular Resistance Committees), Al-Quds (Islamic Jihad), Abu Ali Mustafa (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and others, to work together to capture more Israeli soldiers in order to exchange them with Palestinian prisoners .

The statement confirmed that Hamas "intends to release all the prisoners, regardless of their faction or affiliation, by all means available and at any cost, especially after the failure of the diplomatic efforts, the weak agreements and the false promises."

Hamas also called on the Israeli leaders to "comply with the factions' demands, accelerate the exchange deal and avoid deception."

The statement called upon the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to hold a special session to discuss the prisoners' issue and to draw up plans to activate this issue at an international level. It also called on the international community to play their role in releasing the prisoners and not to keep silent.

Hamas also called on the Palestinian people to actively participate in the celebrations marking Palestinian Prisoners' Day on Tuesday, 17th April. In particular, Hamas urged the public to attend the special celebrations taking place outside the PLC in Gaza City at 5pm on Tuesday.

In the same regard, the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa brigades said that "there was no response by the Israelis to release the prisoners and we urge all our fighters to capture and abduct Israeli soldiers and citizens."

The Al-Aqsa brigades said in a statement that the Israelis will be targeted everywhere if the Israeli government does not release the prisoners.

The statement also called on the international organizations and human rights societies to exert pressure on the Israeli government to release the prisoners.

In the same regard, the Popular Resistance Committees, and its armed wing, the An-Nasser Salah Addin Brigades, called on the Palestinian government to connect any future truce with the Israelis with the prisoners' issue and their release.

A statement issued by the PRC said that it is ready to do its utmost in order to release the prisoners. It also urged Palestinians to show their support for the prisoners on Palestinian Prisoners' Day on 17th April.

Olmert says ready for talks based on Saudi plan

Israël wil onderhandelen op basis van het Saoedische vredesplan

 

Under U.S. pressure, Olmert signalled this week that Israel would be prepared to take part in talks with the working group, which was expected to include countries like Egypt and Jordan that already have formal relations with Israel.

 

Dat klinkt mooi, maar het is de vraag is of de werkgroepen die de Arabische Liga woensdag zal opstellen, het mandaat zullen krijgen om werkelijk te onderhandelen:

Egypt's foreign minister said at the weekend the working groups were not "mandated to negotiate," but other diplomats in the region said initial contacts could lead to direct negotiations.

 

(...)

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, speaking in Paris, said the broader Arab world will not agree to normalize relations with Israel before a peace deal is reached.

"We can come to a solution through negotiations," Mubarak said. "But it's not possible to normalize and then start talks."

 

Dat klinkt al een stuk beter dan het dictaat dat eerder werd opgelegd: Israël moet zich terugtrekken en meewerken aan een 'eerlijke oplossing van het vluchtelingenprobleem' en daarna kan er over erkenning worden gepraat. Mubaraks positie (die waarschijnlijk gematigder is dan van sommige andere Arabische staten) blijft echter problematisch omdat, om tot een vredesverdrag te komen, Israël vergaande concessies moet doen, en het daarvoor duidelijke veiligheidsgaranties nodig heeft. 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Olmert says ready for talks based on Saudi plan

Reuters - Monday, April 16, 2007
By Adam Entous

Israel said on Monday it was ready to start talks based on a Saudi Arabian land-for-peace initiative but made clear it wanted Riyadh and other Arab League members with no formal ties to the Jewish state to take part.

"I'm ready to sit with them on the basis of the Saudi plan. And I'm ready to listen very carefully to their proposal on the basis of this plan and to see how we can work together to ultimately find common ground," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview.

The comments came ahead of a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday of an Arab League committee expected to set up several working groups to promote the 2002 peace initiative, including one that would hold contacts with Israel.

Under U.S. pressure, Olmert signalled this week that Israel would be prepared to take part in talks with the working group, which was expected to include countries like Egypt and Jordan that already have formal relations with Israel.

Saudi Arabia was not expected to join directly.

Diplomats have sent mixed messages about whether this working group could be charged with negotiating with Israel over the details of the initiative, which offers normal relations to the Jewish state in return for land occupied since 1967.

Egypt's foreign minister said at the weekend the working groups were not "mandated to negotiate," but other diplomats in the region said initial contacts could lead to direct negotiations.

Olmert signalled his support for the talks when he told his cabinet on Sunday that he was "willing to hold a dialogue with any grouping of Arab states about their ideas."

But Israeli officials made clear that they want the Arab League to include a wider range of countries, including those like Saudi Arabia that do not have formal ties with Israel, in any future talks.

CENTRAL ROLE

Olmert said Saudi Arabia could play a central role. Even though the kingdom does not have formal relations with the Jewish state, Olmert strongly hinted that unofficial contacts have already taken place.

The Saudis have rejected Olmert's call for a regional conference that would include them and other Arab states.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, speaking in Paris, said the broader Arab world will not agree to normalize relations with Israel before a peace deal is reached.

"We can come to a solution through negotiations," Mubarak said. "But it's not possible to normalize and then start talks."

The land-for-peace initiative, relaunched at an Arab League summit in Riyadh, offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

Olmert has said that he sees positive points in the Saudi-led peace initiative. But Israel opposes the return of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in what is now the Jewish state, and wants to hold on to major settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank.

__,_._,___

Studie: antisemitische incidenten wereldwijd verdubbeld in 2006

Uiteraard zullen velen zeggen dat dit wordt veroorzaakt door Israëls bezettingspolitiek. Volgens een van de onderzoekers zijn Achmadinejad en de recente Libanon oorlog de belangrijkste oorzaken:

 

The head of the institute, Prof. Dina Porat, said the two principle events that encouraged anti-Semitism were the efforts of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deny the Holocaust, and the Second Lebanon War.

 

During the war, "even the world's mainstream journalism portrayed the figure of the Jew as characterized by brutality," Porat said.

 

De vele -op zijn zachtst gezegd- overdrijvingen in het nieuws (Beirut heeft aanblik van Dresden, Libanon naar de steentijd gebombardeerd) en in cartoons, op radio en TV, demonstraties, vergelijkingen van de Hezbollah en de Palestijnen met het verzet in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, hebben allen bijgedragen aan een negatieve beeldvorming over Joden en Israël.

Bovendien kan 'politiek gemotiveerd' antisemitisme op steeds meer begrip rekenen, immers, het is logisch dat je als Marokkaanse tiener kwaad bent over wat je Palestijnse broeders wordt aangedaan, toch? Net als bij huiselijk geweld en ongewenste intimiteiten, is de enige succesvolle bestrijding om consequent te zijn en geen rechtvaardigingen toe te laten. Dat sexy truitje is net zo min een excuus als een Israëlisch bombardement. Antisemitisme is fout. Altijd, overal.

 

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

Last update - 14:26 15/04/2007   

Study: Anti-Semitic incidents worldwide doubled in 2006

 

By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848591.html

The year 2006 saw a sharp rise in incidents of anti-Semitism worldwide, and the highest total number of incidents since 2000, according to a study released Sunday by the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Anti-Semitism and Racism in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress to correspond with Holocaust Memorial Day.

 

A total of 590 incidents of violence or vandalism were reported in 2006 against Jews, Jewish property and Jewish institutions.

 

The number of physical assaults on Jews was twice as high as it was 2005, the report stated.

 

Since the incidents occur as matters of circumstance, it is difficult to identify the attackers and bring them to trial. Still, the majority of the assailants were Muslim immigrants and extreme right-wing youths, it said.

 

In 2006, incidents of harassment at schools and Jewish community centers also doubled from 2005. The number of synagogues desecrated also rose by a third.

 

The countries with the greatest rise in anti-Semitism were Great Britain, Australia, France and Canada.

 

In Great Britain, the number of violent anti-Semitic incidents was highest in the past 20 years, as more than 100 Jews were assaulted.

 

The number of violent incidents in France rose by 45 percent and doubled in Canada.

 

The head of the institute, Prof. Dina Porat, said the two principle events that encouraged anti-Semitism were the efforts of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deny the Holocaust, and the Second Lebanon War.

 

During the war, "even the world's mainstream journalism portrayed the figure of the Jew as characterized by brutality," Porat said.

Soros adds voice to debate over Israel lobby

Het volgende citaat uit onderstaand artikel is een beetje vreemd:

The billionaire investor George Soros has added
his voice to a heated but little-noticed debate over the role of
Israel's powerful lobby in shaping Washington policy in a way critics
say hurts U.S. national interests and stifles debate.

Hoezo 'little noticed'? De 'studie' van Mearsheimer en Walt, en Carters boek over Israëlische Apartheid zijn uitgebreid bediscussieerd in de Amerikaanse media. In Nederland hoor en lees ik overigens al jaren verhalen over de zogenaamde machtige Israël lobby, die de buitenlandse politiek van de VS zou bepalen en kritiek in de kiem zou smoren. Uiteraard is het absoluut niet P.C. te wijzen op de gelijkenis met theorieën over de Joodse almacht die al eeuwenlang in Europa opgeld doen. Men moet immers iedere indruk vermijden als dat men de waarde bepleiters van deze theorie voor antisemiet wil uitmaken.  

AIPAC now has more than 100,000 members and is rated one of the most
influential special interest groups in the United States, its political
clout comparable with such lobbies as the National Rifle Association.

De hele 'pro-Israël' lobby stond qua donaties aan kandidaten en partijen in 2004 met $ 5 miljoen slechts op de 39ste plaats, ver achter koploper de advocaten lobby met $ 86 miljoen, de gepensioneerden lobby, de vastgoed lobby en vele andere lobby groepen die de presidentskandidaten sponsorden.

Wie of wat ze als meest invloedrijk heeft gelabeled, blijft in het artikel onduidelijk. AIPAC presenteert zich graag als een machtige groep waar politici niet omheen kunnen - dit doet iedere lobby groep overigens. Om te bepalen hoe invloedrijk ze werkelijk zijn, is het onvoldoende op hun glossy jaarlijkse meeting of andere PR stunts af te gaan. AIPAC's invloed in het Witte huis, met name bij het ministerie voor buitenlandse zaken is beperkt.

Van alle lobbies die er in de VS actief zijn, is AIPAC waarschijnlijk de meest bekende.
Soros mengt zich niet in een 'little noticed' debat, maar in modieus-linkse kritiek op alles wat met Israël en Zionisme te maken heeft. Jammer, want over Europa heeft hij best zinnige dingen te zeggen.

__________________________________________________
 
Soros adds voice to debate over Israel lobby
Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:39pm ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-04-16T033913Z_01_N13215323_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-ISRAEL-LOBBY.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

By Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The billionaire investor George Soros has added
his voice to a heated but little-noticed debate over the role of
Israel's powerful lobby in shaping Washington policy in a way critics
say hurts U.S. national interests and stifles debate.

In the current issue of the New York Review of Books, Soros takes issue
with "the pervasive influence of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC)" in Washington and says the Bush administration's
close ties with Israel are obstacles to a peace settlement between
Israel and the Palestinians.

Soros, who is Jewish but not often engaged in Israel affairs, echoed
arguments that have fueled a passionate debate conducted largely in the
rarefied world of academia, foreign policy think tanks and parts of the
U.S. Jewish community.

"The pro-Israel lobby has been remarkably successful in suppressing
criticism," wrote Soros. Politicians challenge it at their peril and
dissenters risk personal vilification, he said.

AIPAC has consistently declined comment on such charges, but many of its
supporters have been vocal in dismissing them. Historian Michael Oren,
speaking at AIPAC's 2007 conference in March, said the group was not
merely a lobby for Israel. "It is the embodiment of a conviction as old
as this (American) nation itself that belief in the Jewish state is
tantamount to belief in these United States," he said in a keynote speech.

The long-simmering debate bubbled to the surface a year ago, when two
prominent academics, Stephen Walt of Harvard and John Mearsheimer of the
University of Chicago, published a 12,500-word essay entitled "The
Israel Lobby" and featuring the fiercest criticism of AIPAC since it was
founded in 1953.

AIPAC now has more than 100,000 members and is rated one of the most
influential special interest groups in the United States, its political
clout comparable with such lobbies as the National Rifle Association.

Palestinian security forces to patrol Gaza-Egypt border

 

Een enkele keer komt er hoopvol nieuws uit het Midden-Oosten, en lijken Israeli's en Palestijnen bereid samen te werken. Helaas wordt het vaak door de feiten ingehaald. Snel posten dus.   

Palestinian security forces to patrol Philadelphi

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3388219,00.html

Palestinian presidential guard to deploy along Gaza-Egypt border to prevent weapons' smuggling, will also deploy along northern border to prevent Qassam launchings

Ronny Sofer

Published:

04.15.07, 17:28 / Israel News

The prevention of weapons' smuggling was a key topic at a Sunday meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The meeting dealt with possible channels of Palestinian-Israeli cooperation. 

 Abbas and his associates presented a deployment plan for Palestinian presidential guards along the Philadelphi Route, as part of the effort to prevent weapons' smuggling to Gaza via Egypt.

The plan, according to American General Keith Dayton, also outlines the deployment of presidential guards along other areas of the Gaza border, in order to prevent terror operatives from launching Qassams, laying explosives and undertaking other violent activities.  

 

 The plan was derived as part of an effort to increase the strength of the presidential guards, using US support, in coordination with Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

During the meeting, Olmert and Abbas agreed on the continued operation of a multilateral committee comprised of Israelis, Egyptians, Americans and Palestinians, that will deal with the issue of weapons' smuggling prevention.

This committee has met several times in the past, but Olmert and Abbas both requested that the frequency of these meetings be increased.  

 

The two leaders also both requested that the European Union continue to monitor and operate the Rafah border crossing, and asked that Karni crossing operating hours be extended to 11 p.m. starting Sunday, in order to aid in the transfer of Palestinian wares and humanitarian supplies.  

 

Olmert requested that Abbas work to stop Qassam launchings immediately, prevent Hamas armament and secure the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.  

 

A source said that Olmert and Abbas did not discuss the Arab summit peace initiative during a comprehensive meeting, including Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The source did not report whether or not the two leaders discussed the issue one-on-one.  

 

"It was a positive meeting, part of the ongoing dialogue which helps build confidence between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership," Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.  

 

"The next meeting will be in a couple weeks and there's a strong possibility it will be in (the West Bank town of) Jericho," she added.

Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas aide, said: "This meeting is only the beginning. I don't think that one meeting can solve all the problems ... or (reach) the political horizon."

Following the meeting, Livni headed to Jordan, to discuss the latest version of Arab summit's peace initiative. The foreign minister will return Sunday night, to participate in events in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Reuters contributed to this report

__._,_.___

.

__,_._,___

Hamas: we zullen doorgaan met verzet

Verzoenende woorden van een pragmatisch geworden Hamas?? Vergelijk dit met Olmerts oproep tot onderhandelingen met de Arabische staten en de Palestijnen. Zoals altijd is onduidelijk wat met de 'bezetting' wordt bedoeld, en is het twijfelachtig om het voorzichtig uit te drukken of er nog ruimte voor Joodse rechten (zoals het recht op zelfbeschikking) is, nadat de Palestijnen al hun rechten hebben verkregen.
---------------------

Hamdan : We will persist in resistance till the end of occupation ,restoring
the Palestinian rights and the return of the Palestinian refugees
15 April 2007
Hamas Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades website

Osama Hamdan, Hamas deputy in Lebanon, confirmed yesterday that the movement
will persist in resistance and will never give up this road till the
withdrawal of the occupation , restoring the usurped rights and the return of
the Palestinian refugees.

He said" Hamas will keep the promises, will be honest to the rights and the
blood of martyrs , and will continue in the road of Jihad till the end of the
occupation , the regain the Palestinian rights and the return of the
Palestinian refugees to their cities and villages"

Hamdan said that in a Hamas festival arranged on Saturday 14/4 in the "
Returned camp" for the Palestinian refugees in the city of "Hams" in Syria.
The festival was held in the occasion of the " Land Day" and the Martyrs Week.
Thousands of people from the camp attended the festival including Factions'
deputies , institutions , patriots and others.

The leader in Hamas movement referred to the martyrs " who map out the borders
of Palestine by their blood" . Also, Hamdan referred to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin "
who was an argument to all the healthy" and to doctor Rantisi " who was called
" Palestine's falcon" during his message that there will no return ,
liberation and dignity but with Jihad".

Hamdan clarified that martyrdom is a " victory not a defeat" reminding that
the Zionist forces assassinated Dr.Ranitisi in 2004 and retreat from Gaza
Strip in 2005 " hearing the words of the Ranitisi that we will get victory
Sharon , we will get victory Bush". Also , in 2006 the Palestinian people let
the resistance to get the victory when voting to the resistance movement. In
2007 , the Zionist  conspiracies were defeated in Mecca agreement which ended
the internal conflict describing this agreement of the achievement to
prevention of bloodshed , opening the way to arrange the Palestinian house and
to rebuild the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

The leader in Hamas movement cleared that Hamas is very keen to rebuild the
PLO in order to unify all the efforts of the Palestinian people in a national
project in a resistance framework.

Syria: Without peace, resistance will liberate Golan Heights

Dit is in feite een simpel dreigement. Als Israël niet de Syrische voorwaarden voor vrede aanvaart, zal Syrië de Golan met geweld terugveroveren. Voor onderhandelen is in de Syrische visie geen ruimte. Zoals ik eerder heb geschreven, is een dergelijke houding alleen gebruikelijk nadat de vijand vernietigend is verslagen. Trekt Syrië hier misschien een iets te grote broek aan?
-------------

Syria: Without peace, resistance will liberate Golan Heights
Syrian information minister says Damascus wants peace, but will resort to
violence if Israel rejects peace proposal; 'any nation living under
occupation has the prerogative to resist,' he says
Roee Nahmias YNET Published: 04.16.07, 21:33 / Israel News

"If Israel rejects the Arab League peace proposal, resistance will be the
only way to liberate the Golan Heights," warns Syrian Information Minister
Muhsen Bilal, at a press conference in Damascus Monday.

The minister explained that Syria had an interest in renewing talks with
Israel with support from America and Russia. "Syria wants to reach a fair,
comprehensive peace," he added. However, he also stated that "any nation
living under occupation has the prerogative to resist. In Lebanon, Palestine
and Iraq, we must liberate all occupied Arab land."

Bilal blamed Israel for causing instability in the Middle East.

He also referred to Ibrahim Soliman's visit to Israel. Soliman, a
Syrian-American, is recognized as someone who reached an understanding with
former Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Liel regarding peace between
Israel and Syria.

"We have nothing to do with his visit," Bilal made clear. "Nobody elected
Soliman to represent Syria. He does not speak for any Syrian institute. It
is not our approach, to conduct underground negotiations."

Damascus announced Monday that it planned to host an international
conference to discuss "media coverage of the Palestinian problem and Iran's
right to have nuclear technology for peaceful purposes."

Bilal told reporters that the conference would focus on "several studies on
the Arab media coverage - professional ethics versus commitment to national
matters - as well as the concept of resistance in the Arab media."

The conference will take place on April 30; it will be headed by Syrian
President Bashar Assad; and 350 journalists, academics and politicians are
planned to attend.

Saudi Columnist: "The Right of Return Is an Illusion"

Special Dispatch-Reform Project/Arab-Israeli Conflict
April 12, 2007
No. 1540

Saudi Columnist: "The Right of Return Is an Illusion"

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD154007 .

In two recent articles in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, Saudi columnist Yousef Nasser Al-Sweidan argued that the Palestinian refugees' right of return is an idea that cannot be implemented, and that the only solution is for the refugees to be naturalized in the countries where they currently reside.

The following are excerpts from the articles:


The Right of Return – An Idea that Cannot Be Implemented

In the first article, published March 5, 2007 and titled "On the Impossible [Idea] of the Right of Return," Al-Sweidan wrote: "...The slogan 'right of return'... which is brandished by Palestinian organizations, is perceived as one of the greatest difficulties and as the main obstacle to renewing and advancing the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians based on the Road Map and a two-state solution.

"It is patently obvious that uprooting the descendents of the refugees from their current homes in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and other countries, and returning them to Israel, to the West Bank, and to Gaza is a utopian ideal and [a recipe for] anarchy. More than that – it is an idea that cannot be implemented, not only because it will upset the demographic [balance] in a dangerous and destructive manner, and will have [far-reaching] political, economic and social ramifications in such a small and constrained geographical area, but [mainly] because the return [of the refugees] stands in blatant contradiction to Israel's right as a sovereign [state], while the Palestinian Authority lacks the infrastructure to absorb such a large number of immigrants as long as the peace process... is not at its peak..."


The Refugee Problem is the Result of Mistakes By the Host Countries

"Clearly, the refugee problem is mainly the result of cumulative mistakes made by the countries where [the refugees] live... such as Syria and Lebanon, which have isolated the refugees in poor and shabby camps lacking the most basic conditions for a dignified human existence. Instead of helping them to become fully integrated in their new society, they let them become victims of isolation and suffering... Later, the worst of all happened when Arab intelligence agencies used the Palestinian organizations as a tool for settling scores in internal Arab conflicts that probably have nothing to do with the Palestinians...

"The Israelis, on the other hand, were civilized and humane in their treatment of the thousands of Jewish refugees who had lost their property, homes and businesses in the Arab countries, and who were forced to emigrate to Israel after the 1948 war. The Israeli government received them, helped them, and provided them with all the conditions [they needed] to become integrated in their new society...

"The lies of the Syrian Ba'th regime, and its trading in slogans like 'right of return,' 'steadfastness,' 'resistance,' 'national struggle,' and all the other ridiculous [slogans], are evident from the fact that, to this day, dozens of Palestinian families [remain] stranded in the desert on the Syrian-Iraqi border, because the Syrian regime refuses to let them enter its horrifying Ba'th republic and return to the Yarmouk [refugee] camp.

"The Arab countries where the Palestinians live in refugee camps must pass the laws necessary to integrate the inhabitants of these camps into society. [In addition, they must] provide them with education and health services, and allow them freedom of occupation and movement and the right to own real estate, instead of [continuing] their policy of excluding [the refugees] and leaving the responsibility [of caring for them] to others, while marketing the impossible illusion of return [to Palestine]..."(1)


The Refugees Don't Need Another 60 Years of Misery

In the second article, published March 16, 2007 and titled "Naturalization is the Solution," Al-Sweidan wrote: "There is no doubt that the Palestinian refugees in Syria and Lebanon – who have for many long years been fed by their Arab hosts on impossible dreams and on shiny promises that were soon broken – do not need another 60 years of misery, wretchedness and suffering... in order to figure out for the thousandth time that all the talk about the 'bridge of return' is [nothing but] nonsense and deceit – a fairytale that exists only in the old, worn-out demagogy of the Arab propaganda...

"In reality, there is no 'bridge [of return]'... except for the bridge that we now must pass... called the peace process and normalization of relations between the Arabs and Israel. Undoubtedly, the Arabs cannot continue to avoid the implementation [of the peace process], which brooks no further delay. [Any delay] will have a heavy price for the Arab societies in the present and in the future, considering the sharp strategic changes [occurring] in the Middle East. [These changes] demand an immediate and final solution to the Arab-Israeli conflicts, and [require] the two sides to direct their joint energies and efforts towards confronting the Iranian nuclear threat which imperils us all."


The Inevitable Solution is to Naturalize the Refugees in the Host Countries

"As the Middle East peace process gains momentum, and as the regional and international forces remain committed to the need to resolve this [conflict]... there is a growing necessity for a realistic, unavoidable and bold decision that will provide a just solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees by naturalizing them in the host countries, such as Syria, Lebanon, and other countries.

"Even though this is a humanitarian [project], it requires intensive efforts on the legislative, economic, logistic, and administrative levels, in order to integrate the Palestinians organically into the social, economic and political fabric of the Arab societies...

"By every conceivable and accepted criterion, naturalizing the refugees [in the Arab countries] is the inevitable solution to [this] chronic humanitarian problem. The fact that [this solution] constitutes an important part of the overall peace process and of the historic reconciliation between the Arabs and the Israelis will help to reinforce [the naturalization process] and to perpetuate it."(2)

Endnotes:
(1) Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), March 5, 2007.
(2) Al-Siyassa (Kuwait), March 16, 2007.


*********************
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit
organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies
of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are
available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-Mail: memri@memri.org
Search previous MEMRI publications at http://www.memri.org/  

Marwan Barghouti's wife: I would tell terror victim's mother to leave my country

Marwan Barghouti's wife: I would tell terror victim's mother to leave my country
Date: 11 April, 2007

Reporter: If you would have the chance to talk with a Jewish mother who lost her son in an attack planned by your husband, what would you tell her?

Fadwa Barghouti (wife of Marwan Barghouti): I would tell her to leave my country (broad smile).

Interview broadcast on Israel Television Mabat News -  11 April 2007
[Translation of the Hebrew subtitles broadcast in the interview by IMRA]

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il

Palestijnse eenheidsregering (cartoon Berend Vonk)

Deze sterke cartoon van Berend Vonk over de Palestijnse eenheidsregering troffen wij aan op Dutchblog Israel.

 

 

Arabisch vredesplan geen handreiking maar dictaat

In Podium van dagblad Trouw verschenen vorige week twee opiniestukken waarin Israël werd verweten geen vrede te willen sluiten met de Arabische wereld: van oud-ambassadeur Ader en van Haaretz redacteur Barel.

Onderstaande reactie van mij op Barel werd helaas niet geplaatst.

Ratna 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arabisch vredesplan geen handreiking maar dictaat

12.04.2007

In Podium van zaterdag 7 april wordt Israël er - wederom - van beschuldigd het Arabische vredesinitiatief te hebben afgewezen en oorlog boven vrede te verkiezen. De Arabische staten boden Israël vorige week een nieuwe kans zich te ontdoen van zijn gijzelnemers, aldus Zvi Barel van Haaretz, maar het blijft liever gegijzeld dan dat het met de Arabieren over vrede praat. Een vergezochte analogie, en bovendien onjuist.

Premier Olmert heeft het Arabische vredesinitiatief 'een startpunt, maar geen eindpunt' genoemd, en voorgesteld om met de gematigde Arabische staten op basis van dit voorstel te praten over vrede. In onderhandelingen brengen beide partijen hun positie naar voren en proberen vervolgens tot overeenstemming te komen. Bij een serieus conflict tussen twee gelijkwaardige partijen komt het nooit voor dat één partij een voorstel van de andere kant onvoorwaardelijk accepteert, en vervolgens slechts details en technische zaken uitgewerkt hoeven te worden. Toch hebben de Arabische staten en de Palestijnen Olmerts voorstel tot onderhandelingen afgewezen en geëist dat Israël eerst het Arabische vredesplan onvoorwaardelijk accepteert. Zowel Amr Moussa, de leider van de Arabische Liga, als de Saoedische Minister van buitenlandse zaken Saud al-Faisal hebben het onomwonden als een eindbod gepresenteerd, en ervoor gewaarschuwd dat afwijzing door Israël zal leiden tot een escalatie van geweld. Moussa heeft bovendien in een officiële persconferentie verklaard dat er pas sprake kan zijn van 'normale betrekkingen' met Israël nadat het zich uit alle in 1967 veroverde gebieden heeft teruggetrokken, er een Palestijnse staat is, en een 'rechtvaardige oplossing' voor het vluchtelingenprobleem op basis van VN resolutie 194 is gevonden. Dat is niet iets wat je in twee dagen even regelt, en gedurende al die tijd waarin Israël nederzettingen ontruimt, land overdraagt aan de Palestijnen en vluchtelingen opneemt, gaat de Arabische boycot van Israël dus door, evenals de actieve steun van sommige staten aan terrorisme tegen Israël en de verspreiding van de walgelijkste antisemitische leugens. Dit is geen vredesaanbod, maar een dictaat, een eis tot overgave.
Resolutie 194 wordt in de Arabische wereld en door de Palestijnen algemeen geïnterpreteerd als een onvoorwaardelijk 'recht op terugkeer' van alle vluchtelingen en hun nakomelingen naar Israël. Zowel leiders van Fatah als Hamas hebben er tijdens de recent gehouden Arabische top op aangedrongen vooral geen compromis te sluiten wat betreft dit 'recht op terugkeer'. 76 Palestijnse organisaties hebben een officiële brief geschreven met dezelfde oproep. Voor Israël is juist het 'recht op terugkeer' het voornaamste struikelblok in het Arabische vredesplan. Het wijst er terecht op dat dit een twee-statenoplossing tegenspreekt, althans in de zin van twee staten voor twee volken, van erkenning van het recht op zelfbeschikking van zowel Joden als Palestijnen. Immers, de 'terugkeer' van miljoenen vluchtelingen zou spoedig leiden tot een Arabische meerderheid in Israël.
Het Arabische vredesplan spreekt van normale of natuurlijke betrekkingen met Israël, een vage formulering waarbij opzettelijk de gangbare diplomatieke term 'normalisatie van betrekkingen' is vermeden. Ook wordt niet gerept over erkenning van Israël als Joodse staat. De acceptatie van Fatah van een twee-statenoplossing is wat dit betreft eveneens altijd ambigu geweest: men is bereid Israël te erkennen, maar beschouwt tegelijkertijd de Wet op de Terugkeer, die bepaalt dat iedere Jood naar Israël kan immigreren, als racistisch. Terwijl iedere soevereine staat zijn eigen immigratiepolitiek kan bepalen, zou Israël dit recht niet toekomen. De Palestijnse eenheidsregering ging zelfs dit te ver en in de regeringsverklaring wordt in het geheel niet van een twee-statenoplossing en erkenning van Israël gesproken. In de Arabische landen worden de Joden als religie, niet als volk beschouwd, wordt de millennialange band van de Joden met het land Israël/Palestina en Jeruzalem ontkend en wordt geregeld de Holocaust ontkend omdat dit als de belangrijkste rechtvaardiging van de staat Israël wordt gezien. Er is dan ook weinig vertrouwen aan Israëlische kant dat men werkelijk bereid is Israël te erkennen in ruil voor een einde aan de bezetting en een Palestijnse staat, en de vasthoudendheid wat betreft het recht op terugkeer van de vluchtelingen is hier slechts een illustratie van.
Voorafgaand aan serieuze vredesonderhandelingen zouden beide partijen onomwonden het zelfbeschikkingsrecht van de ander in een deel van historisch Palestina moeten erkennen. Vervolgens zouden beide kanten hun goede wil moeten tonen, de Israëli's door het ontruimen van buitenposten, vergroten van de bewegingsvrijheid van Palestijnen en het vrijlaten van gevangenen, de Palestijnen door het tegengaan van wapensmokkel, van het afvuren van qassamraketten en opruiing in de media (allemaal zaken die beide partijen ook volgens de Routekaart voor Vrede moeten doen). Beide kanten zouden bovendien moeten investeren in 'vredeseducatie', in het zien van de andere kant als mensen, niet bezetters of terroristen, met legitieme claims en grieven, en de eigen bevolking moeten voorbereiden op vergaande concessies.
Het Arabische vredesinitiatief is een goed public relations offensief, maar bevat weinig substantie.

Ratna Pelle

America, Israel and the Arab world: A War of Narratives

Volgens David Brooks, columnist bij de New York Times, heeft de notoire 'studie' van Mearsheimer en Walt naar de Joodse lobby in de VS niet alleen anti-Israël sentimenten in de VS versterkt, maar ook geleid tot een minder kritische houding van Arabische elites ten opzichte van de eigen cultuur. Dit moge niet verbazen: zelfkritiek is al niet in overvloed aanwezig in de Arabische wereld, en bevestiging vanuit de westerse wereld dat niet zij maar Israël de oorzaak van alle problemen is, is natuurlijk meer dan welkom. Israël bashers kunnen zich dan ook serieus afvragen of zij de Arabische zaak wel zoveel goed doen.

 

The events of the past three years have shifted their diagnosis of where the cancer is — from dysfunction in the Arab world to malevolence in Jerusalem and in Aipac. Furthermore, the Walt and Mearsheimer paper on the Israel lobby has had a profound effect on Arab elites. It has encouraged them not to be introspective, not to think about their own problems, but to blame everything on the villainous Israeli network.

And so we enter a more intractable phase in the conflict, which will not be a war over land or oil or even democratic institutions, but a war over narratives. The Arabs will nurture this Zionist-centric mythology, which is as self-flattering as it is self-destructive. They will demand that the U.S. and Israel adopt their narrative and admit historical guilt. Failing politically, militarily and economically, they will fight a battle for moral superiority, the kind of battle that does not allow for compromises or truces. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
The New York Times

April 8, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

A War of Narratives

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/opinion/&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=7c27c076Q2FQ27.DpQ27YQ5BQ7EHHYQ27jmmlQ27mxQ27mhQ27HQ2FS2SH2Q27

By David Brooks.

On the Dead Sea, Jordan

I just attended a conference that was both illuminating and depressing. It was co-sponsored by the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan and the American Enterprise Institute, and the idea was to get Americans and moderate Arab reformers together to talk about Iraq, Iran, and any remaining prospects for democracy in the Middle East.

As it happened, though, the Arab speakers mainly wanted to talk about the Israel lobby. One described a book edited in the mid-1990s by the Jewish policy analyst David Wurmser as the secret blueprint for American foreign policy over the past decade. A pollster showed that large majorities in Arab countries believe that the Israel lobby has more influence over American policy than the Bush administration. Speaker after speaker triumphantly cited the work of Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and Jimmy Carter as proof that even Americans were coming to admit that the Israel lobby controls their government.

The problems between America and the Arab world have nothing to do with religious fundamentalism or ideological extremism, several Arab speakers argued. They have to do with American policies toward Israel, and the forces controlling those policies.

As for problems in the Middle East itself, these speakers added, they have a common source, Israel. One elderly statesman noted that the four most pressing issues in the Middle East are the Arab-Israeli dispute, instability in Lebanon, chaos in Iraq and the confrontation with Iran. They are all interconnected, he said, and Israel is at the root of each of them.

We Americans tried to press our Arab friends to talk more about the Sunni-Shiite split, the Iraqi civil war and the rise of Iran, but they seemed uninterested. They mimicked a speech King Abdullah of Jordan recently delivered before Congress, in which he scarcely mentioned the Iraqi chaos on his border. It was all Israel, all the time.

The Americans, needless to say, had a different narrative. We tended to argue that problems like Muslim fundamentalism, extremism and autocracy could not be blamed on Israel or Paul Wolfowitz but had deeper historical roots. We tended to see the Israeli-Palestinian issue not as the root of all fundamentalism, but as a problem made intractable by fundamentalism.

In other words, they had their narrative and we had ours, and the two passed each other without touching. But the striking thing about this meeting was the emotional tone. There seemed to be a time, after 9/11, when it was generally accepted that terror and extremism were symptoms of a deeper Arab malaise. There seemed to be a general recognition that the Arab world had fallen behind, and that it needed economic, political and religious modernization.

But there was nothing defensive or introspective about the Arab speakers here. In response to Bernard Lewis's question, "What Went Wrong?" their answer seemed to be: Nothing's wrong with us. What's wrong with you?

The events of the past three years have shifted their diagnosis of where the cancer is — from dysfunction in the Arab world to malevolence in Jerusalem and in Aipac. Furthermore, the Walt and Mearsheimer paper on the Israel lobby has had a profound effect on Arab elites. It has encouraged them not to be introspective, not to think about their own problems, but to blame everything on the villainous Israeli network.

And so we enter a more intractable phase in the conflict, which will not be a war over land or oil or even democratic institutions, but a war over narratives. The Arabs will nurture this Zionist-centric mythology, which is as self-flattering as it is self-destructive. They will demand that the U.S. and Israel adopt their narrative and admit historical guilt. Failing politically, militarily and economically, they will fight a battle for moral superiority, the kind of battle that does not allow for compromises or truces.

Americans, meanwhile, will simply want to get out. After 9/11, George Bush called on the U.S. to get deeply involved in the Middle East. But now, most Americans have given up on their ability to transform the Middle East and on Arab willingness to change. Faced with an arc of conspiracy-mongering, most Americans will get sick of the whole cesspool, and will support any energy policy or anything else that will enable them to cut ties with the region.

What we have is not a clash of civilizations, but a gap between civilizations, increasingly without common narratives, common goals or means of communication. 

__,_._,___

Fatah leden niet blij met mogelijke vrijlating Marwan Barghouti

Niet alle Palestijnen zijn blij als Marwan Barghouti, die een nationale heldenstatus heeft, in de aanstaande gevangenenruil vrij zou komen. Terecht wordt gevreesd dat zijn vrijlating vooral Hamas zal versterken, dat de Israëlische soldaat kidnapte waartegen de vele Palestijnse gevangenen worden uitgeruild, en niet zijn eigen Fatah partij.

Fatah prefers to see Barghouti released as part of a goodwill gesture by Israel to President Mahmoud Abbas.

Zo'n 'goodwill gesture', een paar weken nadat de Israëlische soldaat is vrijgelaten, is natuurlijk nauwelijks geloofwaardig. Wellicht was het beter geweest als Israël had aangeboden Barghouti vrij te laten in ruil voor concessies van Fatah. Het zou sowieso beter zijn als men geen grote hoeveelheden gevangenen vrij laat voor Shalit, want dit is een beloning voor het ontvoeren van Israëli's. 

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

Fatah members fear Barghouti's release

Fatah says release of former Tanzim leader as part of prisoner exchange deal with Israel may increase public support for Hamas, spark upheaval within faction; Barghouti's associates: Fatah members are wary of his 'threatening status'

Ali Waked - YNET Published: 04.08.07, 23:01 / Israel News

While Hamas leaders have already promised Marwan Barghouti's family that the former Tanzim leader in the West Bank would be included in a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, some Fatah members would rather see him remain in jail.

Barghouti is at the top of the list of senior prisoners the Palestinian Authority is demanding Israel free in exchange for IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, but some Fatah members fear his release would boost support for rival faction Hamas.

Senior Fatah officials are trying to convince Barghouti's family to back efforts to release him as part of a more comprehensive deal with Israel for which Hamas does not get all the credit.

The Islamic group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Shalit in a cross-border operation near Gaza in June of last year.

Fatah prefers to see Barghouti released as part of a goodwill gesture by Israel to President Mahmoud Abbas.

'Release would spark changes within the party'

Barghouti's associates have accused Fatah members opposed to his release of being concerned with Barghouti's 'threatening status within Fatah.'

Barghouti, whose relations with Hamas' leaders are excellent, was instrumental in the drafting of a document drafted by Palestinian prisoners, which urged the formation of a Palestinian unity government and to end internal strife.

Along with Hamas, he also helped devise a ceasefire between rival Palestinian factions, which was declared in March 2005 in Cairo.

Several Fatah leaders fear that Barghouti's release would spark the beginning of changes within the party, some of which they may not approve of.

In the past Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was opposed to releasing Barghouti in exchange for Shalit, but no final decision has been made.

Barghouti was captured in Ramallah in April 2002 during Operation Defense Shield. He was arrested not far from the office of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat after a long manhunt by IDF and Shin Bet forces.


 

Vrijlating van 'zware jongens' geeist in ruil voor Israelische soldaat

Wat zullen al deze gevangenen - met name de planners van verschillende dodelijke zelfmoordaanslagen - doen als zij vrijkomen?? De Koran bestuderen? Wellicht is het beter als Israël één man opgeeft om er vele in de toekomst te redden. Uiteraard kan men wel aanbieden om mensen die voor kleinere zaken vastzitten (geen bloed aan hun handen hebben) en vrouwen en jongeren vrij te laten.

_______________________________________________________  

 

Notorious Palestinian prisoners demanded in Shalit exchange

Palestinians demand release of terrorists convicted of murdering hundreds of civilians in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier. List includes masterminds behind Ze'evi assassination, Karin A weapons ship, scores of suicide bombings

 

Ali Waked Published:  04.09.07, 20:29 / Israel News

 

The captors of the Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, have handed over the names of the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners they want released to Israel several days ago, through Egyptian mediators.

 

 Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, the most senior Palestinian held by Israel, is among the hundreds of inmates the Hamas organization wants in exchange for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti said Monday. The information minister and the prisoner are distant relatives.

Marwan Barghouti, seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, is serving five consecutive life terms for his involvement in the murders of four Israelis and a Greek monk, and the demand for his release could complicate the swap as Barghouti's release would require a pardon by Israel's president since he was tried in a civilian, not a military court.

 

Before the eruption of the Palestinian intifada in 2000, Barghouti was seen as a moderating influence among Palestinians, pushing for peace talks and a Palestinian state next to Israel. Israeli peace activists met with him frequently.

 

 Additional Palestinian prisoners on Hamas' list include Ahmed Saadat, who headed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small PLO faction. In 2001, gunmen from Saadat's faction assassinated an Israeli Cabinet minister, Rehavam Zeevi, in a Jerusalem hotel.

 

Four PFLP members have been charged in the assassination, but Israel's attorney general said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute Saadat in the killing. Saadat faces trial in a military court for unspecified security offenses.

 

Masterminds behind hundreds of deaths

 

The list includes, among others, the names of prisoners convicted for their involvement in dozens of suicide bombings inside Israel. The most prominent of these is Abdullah Barghouti, a Hamas leader in the West Bank who is serving out 67 consecutive life terms. Barghouti pleaded guilty to building the bombs that murdered 66 people and wounded more than 500 in a series of suicide bombings.

 

Hamas is also demanding the release of Hassan Salama, a Hamas leader who in the mid-90's led a wave of suicide bombings. Salama was convicted of murdering 67 Israeli citizens and was sentenced to several dozen consecutive life terms.

 

Another name on the list likely to cause outrage is Fouad al-Shoubaki. In his capacity as former chief of military financial affairs for the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat, al-Shoubaki orchestrated the arrival of the Karin A weapons ship which was intercepted by the IDF in 2002 while en route from Iran to Gaza. Al-Shoubaki was arrested in March 2006 during Israel's raid on the Jericho prison.

 

The list also calls for the release of some 40 Palestinians imprisoned since before the Oslo accords in 1993.

 

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report__._,_.___

.

__,_._,___

Shin Bet: Hamas bereidt nieuwe aanslagen voor

Dit is de Hamas betekenis van het 'recht op verzet tegen de bezetting', zoals het in de Palestijnse regeringsverklaring is opgenomen. Men doet wat men zegt. 

"The picture that emerges in interrogations of the members of the cell
clearly signals that the Hamas organization in Qalqilyah has shifted from
the stage of 'force building' to the operational stage and the carrying out
of attacks, including suicide attacks inside Israel. According to
information, they continue to work on planning and execution of significant
attacks, including ones in the immediate future," the Shin Bet announcement
read.

En dit is de betekenis van het staakt-het-vuren dat er is tussen Israël en de Gazastrook:

Egypt recently arrested a Hamas suicide bomber who was trying to cross from
the Gaza Strip into Israel through Sinai.

Hamas militants were also involved in a number of sniper attacks targeting
Israelis driving close to the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip.
In one of the attacks, an Israel Electric Corporation employee was
moderately wounded.

De Palestijn die de aanslag wou plegen kon Israël binnenkomen omdat hij met een Israëlisch-Arabische vrouw is getrouwd. Dit spreekt de vele aantijgingen tegen dat Israëlische Arabieren hun Palestijnse echtgenoten niet over kunnen laten komen, en laat bovendien zien dat aan de ruimte die Israël wat dit betreft biedt wel degelijk gevaren kleven. 

The suicide bomber, a member of the Qalqilyah cell, managed to enter Israel
because he holds an Israeli identity card. Although a resident of Qalqilyah,
he is married to an Israeli Arab from Taibeh - and received residency status
as part of the program of reuniting families.

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

Shin Bet: Hamas planned T.A. Passover bombing
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent / Last update - 03:01 10/04/2007

The Shin Bet announced Tuesday morning that in late March it broke up a Hamas cell in Qalqilyah that had planned to detonate a car bomb in Tel Aviv during Pesach, apparently at the time of the seder, on the holiday's first night.

According to the details released by the security service, the driver, a suicide bomber, had managed to cross into Israel in a vehicle laden with about 100 kilograms of explosives. However, once he reached Tel Aviv, and for reasons that are still unclear, he changed his mind and returned to Qalqilyah.

Nineteen members in the cell have been arrested by the security forces. No names of the suspects were released for publication.

"The picture that emerges in interrogations of the members of the cell clearly signals that the Hamas organization in Qalqilyah has shifted from the stage of 'force building' to the operational stage and the carrying out of attacks, including suicide attacks inside Israel. According to information, they continue to work on planning and execution of significant attacks, including ones in the immediate future," the Shin Bet announcement read.

This latest incident has further boosted the evidence that Hamas has resumed its terrorist activities following a long hiatus that began with the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip last November.

Egypt recently arrested a Hamas suicide bomber who was trying to cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel through Sinai.

Hamas militants were also involved in a number of sniper attacks targeting Israelis driving close to the fence separating Israel from the Gaza Strip.
In one of the attacks, an Israel Electric Corporation employee was moderately wounded.

It is believed that behind the attacks is Ahmed Jabari, the head of the military wing of Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, who opposed the establishment of the unity government between his party and Fatah. Jabari is particularly dissatisfied with the fact that he and his men are not being awarded the positions of power they believe they deserve.

The degree to which Jabari and the Qalqilyah-based cell are linked is unclear. During the past two years, most of the Hamas cells operating in Samaria had followed orders originating in the Gaza Strip.

The suicide bomber, a member of the Qalqilyah cell, managed to enter Israel because he holds an Israeli identity card. Although a resident of Qalqilyah, he is married to an Israeli Arab from Taibeh - and received residency status as part of the program of reuniting families. The vehicle he was driving had Israeli license plates, and had collected intelligence on possible targets for an attack.

The terrorist changed his mind, returned to Qalqilyah, and left the vehicle in the backyard of a home. Arrests of suspects began shortly after his return, and then the vehicle exploded. There were no casualties as a result of the explosion.

The Shin Bet has described the explosion as a "work accident," euphemism for a technical malfunction.

The Qalqilyah cell is the largest Hamas grouping to have been exposed in the West Bank in recent years. The last time a Qalqilyah-based Hamas cell carried out an attack in Israel, 21 teenagers were killed in a blast at the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv, in June 2001.

UN vormt mogelijk commissie om wapensmokkel naar Hezbollah te onderzoeken

 

Een goed geluid vanuit de VN. Men neemt eindelijk de wapensmokkel naar Hezbollah serieus.  

Er is helaas een addertje onder het gras: 

 

However, the statement stipulates that the proposed committee will only
be formed if all 15 members of the Security Council vote in favor of it.

The Security Council presidency is rotated alphabetically each month.
This means the formation of the committee is dependent on the consent of
member countries such as Qatar, South Africa, Indonesia and Russia,
among others.

De kans dat al deze landen met de vorming van een dergelijke commisssie instemmen is uiterst klein.   

07/03/2007 Haaretz
UN may form c'tee to review weapons smuggling to Lebanon
By Shlomo Shamir

NEW YORK - The United Nations Security Council will consider forming a
special committee to review accusations that Syria and Iran are
smuggling arms to Hezbollah through southern Lebanon.

The possibility of forming committee was included in a statement by the
Security Council president, U.K. Ambassador to the UN Sir Emyr Parry
Jones. The statement was circulated among member states in preparation
of a discussion on the matter tomorrow.

The statement proposes forming a team of experts commissioned by
Britain, France and the U.S., to examine whether weapons are indeed
being smuggled to Lebanon, as Israel has repeatedly claimed. The
initiative was launched Friday, and was considered a significant step
toward resolving the issue.

However, the statement stipulates that the proposed committee will only
be formed if all 15 members of the Security Council vote in favor of it.

The Security Council presidency is rotated alphabetically each month.
This means the formation of the committee is dependent on the consent of
member countries such as Qatar, South Africa, Indonesia and Russia,
among others.

"The initiative is a demonstration of the ongoing effort to counter the
efforts of Hezbollah and to promote stability within Lebanon," a senior
diplomat told Haaretz.

The initiative is a result of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's
briefing last week to member states, following his tour in the Middle East.

Sources in New York said the secretary-general informed the Security
Council that he had obtained evidence from Israel and from "another
country" that indicate Syria and Iran were indeed smuggling arms into
Lebanon.

_.___

.

__,_._,___