Hamas hield wereld voor de gek met aantallen doden Gaza

 

As an example of such distortion, he cited the incident near a UN school in Jabalya on January 6, in which initial Palestinian reports falsely claimed IDF shells had hit the school and killed 40 or more people, many of them civilians.

In fact, he said, 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident - nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants. Furthermore, as had since been acknowledged by the UN, the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, and its shells did not hit the school compound.

"From the beginning, Hamas claimed that 42 people were killed, but we could see from our surveillance that only a few stretchers were brought in to evacuate people," said Levi, adding that the CLA contacted the PA Health Ministry and asked for the names of the dead. "We were told that Hamas was hiding the number of dead."

Waarom zijn dergelijke zaken niet eerder naar buiten gebracht? Nu is de kans dat de media het nog oppikken minimaal. Wie beweren er ook weer allemaal dat de Israelische hasbara zo succesvol is?

 

RP

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

 

 

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304788684&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Feb 15, 2009 23:46 | Updated Feb 16, 2009 12:53

'World duped by Hamas death count'

By YAAKOV KATZ

Four weeks after the cessation of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF finally opened its dossier on Palestinian fatalities on Sunday for the first time, and presented to The Jerusalem Post an overview utterly at odds with the Palestinian figures that have hitherto formed the basis for assessing the conflict.

Anas Naim, a nephew of Hamas Health Minister Bassem Naim, who was killed on Jan. 4 in Gaza City, was described in Palestinian reports as a 'medic.'
Photo: Courtesy

While the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, whose death toll figures have been widely cited, reports that 895 Gaza civilians were killed in the fighting, amounting to more than two-thirds of all fatalities, the IDF figures shown to the Post on Sunday put the civilian death toll at no higher than a third of the total.

The international community had been given a vastly distorted impression of the death toll because of "false reporting" by Hamas, said Col. Moshe Levi, the head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), which compiled the IDF figures.

As an example of such distortion, he cited the incident near a UN school in Jabalya on January 6, in which initial Palestinian reports falsely claimed IDF shells had hit the school and killed 40 or more people, many of them civilians.

In fact, he said, 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident - nine Hamas operatives and three noncombatants. Furthermore, as had since been acknowledged by the UN, the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, and its shells did not hit the school compound.

"From the beginning, Hamas claimed that 42 people were killed, but we could see from our surveillance that only a few stretchers were brought in to evacuate people," said Levi, adding that the CLA contacted the PA Health Ministry and asked for the names of the dead. "We were told that Hamas was hiding the number of dead."

Palestinians carry a wounded man into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during Operation Cast Lead.
Photo: AP [file]

As a consequence of the false information, he added, the IDF was considering setting up a "response team" for future conflicts whose job would be to collect information, analyze it and issue reports as rapidly as possible that refuted Hamas fabrications.

Basing its work on the official Palestinian death toll of 1,338, Levi said the CLA had now identified more than 1,200 of the Palestinian fatalities. Its 200-page report lists their names, their official Palestinian Authority identity numbers, the circumstances in which they were killed and, where appropriate, the terrorist group with which they were affiliated.

The CLA said 580 of these 1,200 had been conclusively "incriminated" as members of Hamas and other terrorist groups.

Another 300 of the 1,200 - women, children aged 15 and younger and men over the age of 65 - had been categorized as noncombatants, the CLA said.

Counted among the women, however, were female terrorists, including at least two women who tried to blow themselves up next to forces from the Givati and Paratroopers' Brigades. Also classed as noncombatants were the wives and children of Nizar Rayyan, a Hamas military commander who refused to allow his family to leave his home even after he was warned by Israel that it would be bombed.

The 320 names yet to be classified are all men; the IDF has yet complete its identification work in these cases, but estimates that two-thirds of them were terror operatives.

The CLA gave the Post the names of several fatalities who it said had been classified by the Palestinians as "medics," but who it stated were Hamas fighters, including Anas Naim, the nephew of Hamas Health Minister Bassem Naim, who was killed during clashes with the IDF on January 4 in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood of Gaza City.

Following the clashes, the Palestinian press reported that Naim was killed and that he was a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Gaza CLA, however, produced photographs of Naim posing holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and a Kalashnikov assault rifle that had been posted on a Hamas Web site.

Levi stressed that on no occasion were civilians deliberately targeted, and that every effort was made to minimize civilian casualties.

Work on the death toll list was started during Operation Cast Lead under Levi's direction. A special team was set up and led by an officer in the CLA who coordinated efforts with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and worked from statistics and information on the dead from the Hamas Health Ministry, the media in Gaza, and other Palestinian and Israeli intelligence sources.

Much controversy and confusion has surrounded the number of Palestinian noncombatants killed during Israel's three-week campaign against Hamas, with the IDF and the Shin Bet refusing to release official numbers to refute Hamas allegations. Israeli estimates were intermittently leaked to the press but not published in official press statements.

RELATED

• Analysis: Belatedly, the IDF enters the life-and-death numbers game
• Opinion: The war in retrospect
• IDF: 9 medics killed in Gaza op were Hamas operatives

Joodse samenzwering in het Verre Oosten

 

De Joodse samenzwering is ook in het Verre Oosten populair als verklaring voor de Westerse, en met name Amerikaanse almacht. Het idee dat de Joden Amerika beheersen, zou afkomstig zijn van Europese reactionairen en antisemieten uit de late 19de eeuw, en zijn overgewaaid naar de Europese kolonieën. Chinezen hadden in Azië een vergelijkbare reputatie vanwege hun sociaal-economische positie, maar zonder religieuze component. En aangezien half Azië Chinees is, heeft ook nooit iemand geprobeerd ze allemaal uit te moorden...

 

Wouter

_______________

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063823.html
The Jewish conspiracy in Asia

By Ian Buruma


In the case of Mahathir, a twisted kind of Muslim solidarity is probably at work. But, unlike European or Russian anti-Semitism, the Asian variety has no religious roots. No Chinese or Japanese have blamed Jews for killing their holy men or suggested that their children's blood ended up in Passover matzos. In fact, few Chinese, Japanese, Malaysians, or Filipinos have ever seen a Jew, unless they have spent time abroad.

So what explains the remarkable appeal of Jewish conspiracy theories in Asia? The answer must be partly political. Conspiracy theories thrive in relatively closed societies, where free access to news is limited and freedom of inquiry curtailed. Japan is no longer such a closed society, yet even people with a short history of democracy are prone to believe that they are victims of unseen forces. Precisely because Jews are relatively unknown, therefore mysterious, and in some way associated with the West, they become an obvious fixture of anti-Western paranoia.

Such paranoia is widespread in Asia, where almost every country was at the mercy of Western powers for several hundred years. Japan was never formally colonized, but it, too, felt the West's dominance, from at least the 1850s, when American ships laden with heavy guns forced the country to open its borders on Western terms.

The common conflation of the U.S. with Jews goes back to the late 19th century, when European reactionaries loathed America for being a rootless society based only on financial greed. This perfectly matched the stereotype of the "rootless cosmopolitan" Jewish moneygrubber. Hence the idea that Jews run America.

One of the great ironies of colonial history is the way in which colonized people adopted some of the very prejudices that were used to justify colonial rule. Anti-Semitism arrived with a whole package of European race theories that have persisted in Asia well after they fell out of fashion in the West.

In some ways, Chinese minorities in Southeast Asia have shared some of the hostility suffered by Jews in the West. Excluded from many occupations, they, too, survived by clannishness and trade. They, too, have been persecuted for not being "sons of the soil." And they, too, are thought to have superhuman powers when it comes to making money. So when things go wrong, the Chinese are blamed, not just for being greedy capitalists, but also, again like the Jews, for being communists, since both capitalism and communism are associated with rootlessness and cosmopolitanism.

As well as being feared, the Chinese are admired for being cleverer than everybody else. The same mixture of fear and awe is often evident in people's views of the United States, and, indeed, of the Jews. Japanese anti-Semitism is a particularly interesting case.

Japan was able to defeat Russia in 1905 only after a Jewish banker in New York, Jacob Schiff, helped float bonds for Japan. In that sense, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" confirmed what the Japanese already suspected: Jews really did pull the strings of global finance. But, instead of wishing to attack them, the Japanese, being a practical people, decided that they would be better off cultivating those clever, powerful Jews as friends.

As a result, during World War II, even as the Germans were asking their Japanese allies to round up Jews and hand them over, dinners were held in Japanese-occupied Manchuria to celebrate Japanese-Jewish friendship. Jewish refugees in Shanghai, though never comfortable, at least remained alive under Japanese protection. This was good for the Jews of Shanghai. But the very ideas that helped them survive continue to muddle the thinking of people who really ought to know better by now.

 

Ian Buruma's latest book is "The China Lover." Copyright: Project Syndicate

 

 

Nieuwe Hamas pop verklaart Zionisten de oorlog in kinderprogramma

 

 Is het op dergelijke manier aanzetten tot geweld en haat niet ook een oorlogsmisdaad?

 

 ----------------------------

 

Palestinian Media Watch

Bulletin
Feb. 15, 2009

Hamas puppet: I declare war on the Zionists   After having three puppet hosts, the Mickey Mouse look-alike, the bee and the rabbit, all die on TV, Hamas children's television has introduced a fourth puppet host. The new one, a bear named Nassur, appeared Friday on Hamas TV promising to be a Jihad fighter, and declaring war on the Zionists. To see Nassur declare war on the Zionists click here Below is the full transcript of the video: Nassur: "I will join the ranks of the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam [Hamas'] Brigades. I will be a Jihad fighter with them and I will carry a rifle. Do you know why, Saraa?" Saraa: "Why?" Nassur: "To defend the children of Palestine, the children who were killed, the children who were wounded, the orphaned children. That's why, from this moment, I declare war on the criminal Zionists. Not only me, me and you. You are ready, right, Saraa?" Saraa: "We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for our homeland!" [Al-Aqsa TV, Feb. 13, 2009]   Contact Palestinian Media Watch:   p:+972 2 625 4140 e: pmw@pmw.org.il f: +972 2 624 2803 w: www.pmw.org.il

 

Grootschalige vernieling huizen Gaza door IDF moeilijk juridisch te verantwoorden

 

Welk leger in gevecht met een vijand die de taktieken van Hamas gebruikt, zou de test moeiteloos doorstaan en geen gevaar lopen op veroordelingen in de internationale arena? We mogen blij zijn dat wij niet met een dergelijke vijand aan onze grenzen te maken hebben. De internationale rechtsregels, met de beste bedoelingen opgesteld, lijken zo juist groeperingen als Hamas in de kaart te spelen. Dat kon toch nooit de bedoeling zijn geweest?

 

RP

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

 

IDF probe suggests its destruction of Gaza homes is indefensible
By Amos Harel - Haaretz

Last update - 08:42 15/02/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1064161.html

 

Israel Defense Forces investigations into last month's offensive in the Gaza Strip indicate the army could face significant difficulties justifying the scale of destruction of civilian homes during the fighting. A military source involved in the investigation told Haaretz, "It's clear to us that in a small portion of the combat sectors immeasurable damage was caused, and that is very difficult to justify from a legal perspective, particularly if such justifications are called for in legal proceedings with international organizations."

In the course of fighting, the IDF destroyed hundreds of houses in different sectors, and Palestinian sources estimate several thousands of houses suffered damage. Some of the homes were struck as a result of aerial strikes, others during ground fighting in densely-built urban areas.

Still others were damaged by bulldozers or in controlled explosions according to the orders of battalion and brigade commanders on the ground. However, those making the decisions were often not the brigade commanders themselves, but support staff such as operational commanders.

Senior commanders attached to units operating in Gaza last month said IDF bulldozers were in high demand during the fighting, and brigade commanders often pushed for their units to be granted such vehicles.

Last week Channel 2 reported that according to estimates produced by the security establishment, about one-third of those killed during the fighting were "uninvolved civilians," a figure which Palestinian sources put much higher.

The IDF believes this is a reasonable figure given the scope of combat, and that is roughly in line with casualty figures resulting from U.S. operations in Iraq and those of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

In most of the legal proceedings surrounding civilian casualties, the army intends to argue they represent "collateral damage," namely unavoidable consequences of an enemy hiding among civilian populations, or of mistakes in directing fire, such as in the well-publicized strike that claimed several members of the Abu al-Aish family in the Jabalya refugee camp.

Still, the massive destruction of houses is harder to justify in legal terms. Investigations reveal that in many instances, commanders ordered the destruction of houses obstructing a "line of sight" from an IDF position, or because commanders believed certain buildings could be used to endanger their own safety.

In other instances, houses were destroyed after explosives or Kalashnikov rifles were discovered there, even when it could have been possible to conduct a controlled explosion causing limited damage.

In dozens of instances, houses were destroyed on suspicions (which turned out to be unfounded) they concealed smuggling tunnels underneath. An official in the IDF legal apparatus said justifying such operations will be exceedingly difficult.

On other occasions, there appear to have been discrepancies in the scope of destruction between different combat sectors, apparently as the result of differences in senior officers' command methods.

Livni wil geen tweede viool spelen in regering Netanyahu

 

Dit is een goede zet van Livni. Voor Netanjahoe is een regering met nog vier kleine en voor een deel ook erg radikale partijen waarschijnlijk net zo onaantrekkelijk als de macht met Livni delen in een soort rotatiesysteem zoals Peres en Shamir indertijd deden.

 

RP

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

 

Last update - 15:25 15/02/2009       
Livni hints she'll reject offer to join Netanyahu government
By Haaretz Service
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1064248.htmls

 

 

Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni on Sunday hinted that she would not join a government led by Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu. "I have already been No. 2 and from that position I will not be able to advance procedures," she said during closed talks.

 

Livni has been holding private talks with MKs from her party, in a bid to recruit their support in heading for the opposition.

 

Livni's associates made similar comments over the weekend, ahead of the faction's first meeting since last week's elections. "Either a rotating coalition or we go to the opposition," they said. "We won't sit in an right-wing government under Netanyahu's leadership."
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has urged Livni to join the opposition rather than joining Netanyahu's coalition, it emerged on Sunday.

 

According to Olmert, such a political move would ensure the victory of Kadima once Netanyahu's government were to fall.

 

Livni herself is inclined to remain in opposition should she fail to form a parliamentary majority, and many Kadima members are likely to back this stance.

 

In response to Olmert's recommendation, Likud called on Kadima to join Netanyahu's government.

 

"It is unfortunate that Livni would not leave petty politics aside and consider national interests as a top priority," Likud said in a statement.

 

Likud officials said Sunday that Netanyahu would summon Livni for coalition negotiations immediately after tapped by President Shimon Peres to form the government, Israel Radio reported.

 

Meanwhile, former Labor Chairman Amir Peretz (Labor) on Saturday called on his successor, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, to step down from his position as party leader. Under Barak, Labor won only 13 seats - an unprecedented low for the faction.

 

Peretz has said he is intent on running for the party's chairmanship.

 

 

Zal VS onder Obama deelnemen aan 'Durban 2' racisme conferentie?

 

Er lijkt een andere wind vanuit Washington te gaan waaien, en niet in alle opzichten een zachte. Wat heeft de VS op een dergelijke racistische top, mede georganiseerd door Iran en Libië, te zoeken? Meer oog hebben voor andere belangen dan die van de VS betekent niet dat niet alles gedaan moet worden om een herhaling van de Durban conferentie te voorkomen.

 

RP

-----------

Last update - 02:55 15/02/2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1064159.html
Israel concerned U.S. may agree to take part in 'Durban 2'
By Barak Ravid


Officials in Jerusalem expressed concern that Israel and Barack Obama's administration are on a collision course over an expected U.S. decision to participate in "Durban 2," the second UN-sponsored World Conference Against Racism, scheduled in Geneva this April.

The Foreign Ministry has sought to block efforts by senior U.S. officials to convince Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to alter American policy set during the Bush administration not to attend the conference, which is regarded by Israel as a forum of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli vitriol.

Israel is boycotting the conference because a declaration equating Zionism with racism is expected to be made there. In addition, it is expected that the organizers and participants will charge that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, and, like before in Durban, will make anti-Semitic statements.
The Bush administration agreed with Israel last year that the U.S. would not participate unless it received guarantees that the conference would not become a stage for anti-Semitism and one-sided criticism of Israel, as occured during the first Durban meeting in 2001.

Canada also announced that it was boycotting the conference and the Foreign Ministry has tried in recent months to convince European Union countries to also avoid participating.

The Foreign Ministry received confidential telegraphs from Israel's embassies in Washington, the United Nations and Geneva, about a possible change in the policy of the new U.S. administration regarding "Durban 2."

"Iran and Arab countries will once more take over the conference, and if the U.S. participates in 'Durban 2,' it will be a major blow," a senior Israeli diplomat told Haaretz. "This will pull the rug from under us and will lead to the participation of many more countries in the conference."

In one of the telegrams, a number of Obama officials reportedly pressed Secretary of State Clinton to announce the U.S. would participate in the conference.

One of the leading officials pressuring Clinton on "Durban 2" is the new U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who was Obama's close campaign adviser.

Rice is also pushing for the U.S. to join the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. The body had been boycotted by the U.S., in part because of its one-sided criticism of Israel.

President George Bush had accused the HRC of opting to focus on Israel instead of dealing with the genocide in Darfur.

The other official pushing for American participation in "Durban 2" is Samantha Power, another Obama adviser at the National Security Council.

Power participated in the initial Durban conference as the representative of a non-government organization and is known for her strong criticism of Israel. In the past, she expressed support for cutting U.S. military assistance to Israel and transferring the funds as aid to build a Palestinian state.

Senior State Department officials contacted Israeli diplomats and asked them to take swift action to block the Durban initiative.

"This is the time for Israel and Jewish organizations to intervene," U.S. officials said.

 

 

Assad's toespraak over de Zionistische Entiteit in Syrisch school curriculum

 

Met dit land moet Israel vrede sluiten? Aan dit land moet Israel land teruggeven? Volgens een recent bericht stonden Israel en Syrië op het punt te beginnen met directe vredesonderhandelingen toen de oorlog in Gaza uitbrak. Dit soort tirades spelen rechts in Israel, dat tegen vrede met Syrië is, ongelofelijk in de kaart.

 

RP

---------

MEMRI: Special Dispatch | No. 2243 | February 13, 2009
Syria
Assad's Speech on 'Terrorist Zionist Entity' To Become Part of Syrian School Curriculum

 

At the Second Islamic Conference of Ministers in Charge of Childhood, held February 3, 2009 in Khartoum, Syrian Education Minister Dr. 'Ali Sa'd announced that the concept of the" terrorist Zionist entity," presented by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his speech at the January 16, 2009 Doha summit, would be incorporated into the Syrian school curriculum. In that speech, Assad accused Israel of perpetrating another Nazi holocaust in Gaza, claiming that the spilling of Arab blood since the establishment of Israel was intended to bring about a purely Jewish state. Assad also called to instill in the future Arab generations the principle "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," to ensure that they would never forget or forgive Israel's actions.

 

Following are excerpts from statements by Syrian Education Minister Dr. 'Ali Sa'd and by other Syrian and Arab officials, as well as excerpts from Assad's speech at the Doha summit.

Syrian Education Minister: Assad's Message Must Be Transmitted to Future Generations
At the conference, which was attended by representatives of 36 Arab and Islamic countries, Syrian Education Minister Dr. 'Ali Sa'd said: "The Syrian Education Ministry regards the strategic concepts and ideas presented by President Bashar Al-Assad at the emergency summit on Gaza as [an outline for a] work plan."

He added that at a meeting held by the ministry, attended by all elements in charge of developing the Syrian curriculum and textbooks, it had been decided to incorporate these concepts and ideas into the new curriculum and books, in order to inculcate them in "the generations that would build the nation's future," and thereby teach them that "the Zionist entity is a terrorist entity."

Sa'd stressed that if the expressions "We will not forget and not forgive" and "terrorist entity" (as a label for Israel) appeared in Syrian textbooks, it would "create awareness about [the nature of] this entity, and constitute immeasurable support for resistance in the [battle]field." Sa'd also stated that President Assad and his wife had a personal interest in education and concern for this issue, and that they intended to "equip the nation's [future] generations with the knowledge, ideology, values, and abilities [necessary] to meet the needs of the [country's] renewed development."(1)

It should be noted that the Khartoum conference adopted the Syrian delegation's recommendation to term Israel a "terrorist entity" in textbooks and in the media.(2)

At a reception for the delegations attending the Arab Youth Conference, held February 3-6, 2009 in Syria, Ba'th Party National Deputy Secretary Muhammad Sa'id Bkheitan announced that Syria "saw the Arab youth as the nation's hope for strengthening the endeavor of construction, progress, and support for the enterprise of resistance to occupation and aggression."

Several delegation heads likewise expressed their appreciation for "the role played by Syria in strengthening the culture of resistance and steadfastness," and the conference proposed "to inculcate the culture of resistance as a culture of an Arab generation that believes in the power of life, aspires to freedom, and opposes the culture of defeatism."(3)

Assad: "Israel - The Most Dangerous [Brand of] Nazism in the Modern Era"

In his speech at the January 16, 2009 Doha summit on Gaza, Assad declared: "The starting point of our decisions today will be our support for the people of Gaza in the face of the new Nazi holocaust [perpetrated by] Israel... [However, our understanding] will not be complete unless we realize that the problem lies not only in the occupation per se, but in the nature of the enemy we are facing.

"This enemy has established itself through slaughter, sustained itself through plunder and destruction, and anchored its future in genocide. This is an enemy who speaks only the language of blood, and hence understands only the language of blood. The spilling of Arab blood since Israel's establishment is regarded by Israel's leaders as the fuel needed to [power] the machine [designed] to create a purely Jewish state. [This state] will become possible only after the non-Jews are expelled from Palestine and those remaining are exterminated.

"It follows that the [current] Gaza events are not merely a response to [Hamas'] missiles - [because] had missiles not existed, the [Israelis] would have invented them and fired them [themselves] as an excuse [for their aggression]. Rather, [the Gaza offensive] is a link in the long chain [of actions] aimed at creating the Palestine of their dreams, which they presume to portray as a country without a people.

"There must be legal measures so that Israel stands trial - despite our lack of faith in the relevant international institutions - so that it will be written in the annals of history that [the Israelis] are not only racists but [represent] the most dangerous brand of Nazism in the modern era.

"Oh brothers, we are a nation of peace, and our national, Arab, and human moral values are anchored in peace. Likewise, we have tried to forget the massacres of Deir Yassin, Kafr Qassem, Jenin, Qana - both the first and the second - and many others perpetrated by Israel against the Arabs. But Israel insists on reminding us of the truth about itself. We have a very good memory. [and] we promise them that we will continue to remember.

"But, more importantly, we will ensure that our sons remember too. We will preserve for them the pictures of the Gaza children, with their open wounds oozing blood on their toys. We will tell them about the martyrs, the bereaved [families], the widows, and the cripples. We will teach them that 'Allah favors and loves the strong believer over the weak one,' [and to uphold these principles:] 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'; 'he who started the fight is guilty'; and what was taken by force will only be reclaimed by force.

"We will explain to them that those who do not remember the past forfeit the future as well. On the walls of their rooms, we will hang posters exhorting every Arab child who is born into this world 'Do Not Forget' - so that when he grows up, he will say to them, 'No, I will neither forget nor forgive'."(4)

"For Every Arab Child Killed, Dozens of Resistance Fighters Are Born"
"I stress [to the Israelis] that the war crimes they are committing will bring them nothing but generations of Arabs imbued with [even] deeper hatred for Israel. The [Arabs'] strength and determination will grow faster than [Israel's] arsenal, and the power [of their determination] will be more lethal. This means that for every Arab child killed, dozens of resistance fighters are born - thus, [the Israelis] are digging the graves of their children and grandchildren with their own hands.

"Today, they have an opportunity to plant the seeds of the future they want - for better or for worse. Later, they will no longer be able to determine what harvest [they will reap]. They have sowed blood and will reap nothing but [blood]. And when the seedling grows, it will be much bigger than the seed from which it sprang."(5)

 

Endnotes:
(1) Al-Ba'th (Syria), February 3, 2009.
(2) Teshreen (Syria), February 5, 2009.
(3) Al-Thawra (Syria), February 6, 2009.
(4) Al-Ba'th (Syria), January 17, 2009.
(5) Al-Ba'th (Syria), January 17, 2009.

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

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

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Hamas klaar om Shalit te ruilen

 

Een deal waarbij Israel 1.000-1.500 gevangenen vrijlaat voor Shalit is niet alleen slecht voor Israel maar ook voor Abbas en Fatah.

Het is bovendien de vraag of de nieuwe regering zich straks gebonden zal voelen aan een overeenkomst die een demissionaire en onpopulaire regering er nog even op het laatst heeft doorgejast.

 

RP

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

 

Last update - 12:20 13/02/2009

Hamas said ready to sign deal on Shalit release

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063968.html

 

 

Hamas is prepared to sign a deal next week for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a long-term truce agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported on Friday.

According to the report, Hamas will cement the truce within the next few days and finalize the deal to free Shalit by Wednesday.

Palestinian sources told Al-Hayat that Shalit, who was captured by Hamas-allied militants in a 2006 cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel, would be freed in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
According to the report, the deal would include the release of women and children, as well as a number of Palestinian lawmakers and ministers.

Egypt has been trying to broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, which is holding Shalit. Cairo's negotiator, Omar Suleiman, told the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram on Friday that Israel is refusing to allow iron, aluminum and cement into the Gaza Strip until the deal for Shalit's release has been reached.

Suleiman also said that Egypt has rejected Israel's offer to release jailed Palestinian residents of the West Bank into the Gaza Strip, insisting that they be returned to their homes.

Cairo will meet next week with Israel over Hamas' response to the Egyptian truce proposal, the negotiator added.

According to Suleiman, there are still four obstacles preventing the deal from being finalized: ongoing Qassam fire, the construction of a barrier between Gaza and Israel, Hamas' commitment to observe the truce, and the halt of weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Suleiman also said that Egypt was prepared to work with the new Israeli government, regardless of its leader, but warned that any attack on Gaza would harm Cairo-Jerusalem relations.

Meanwhile, another Egyptian newspaper reported that Hamas has rejected a Qatari offer of $400 million dollar in exchange for Shalit.

The Egyptian report of an imminent deal on Shalit's release contradicts statement made Thursday night by Hamas deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzouk.

In an interview with the Egyptian news agency MENA, Abu Marzouk confirmed that the Islamic militant group has agreed to a long-term truce with Israel and said Cairo, which has been mediating between Hamas and Israel, would announce the truce within two days of consultations with other Palestinian factions.

However, Abu Marzouk said that a deal for Shalit's release would be negotiated later. He also told the agency that under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel will reopen six border crossings with the strip.

Earlier Thursday, Hamas said that the sides had come to an agreement in most of the issues which had been stalling the truce. "Most of the obstacles that prevented us from reaching an agreement were resolved and an announcement of a deal is expected," said Taher al-Nono, a member of Hamas's negotiating team in Cairo.

Nono said the agreement would ensure the end of all violence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the opening of the territory's border crossings.

Israel had no comment on the reports.

Terms of Egyptian truce proposal

According to the Egyptian proposal, a declaration of an 18-month ceasefire would be followed by an exchange of prisoners, the opening of Gaza's border crossings and reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions.

It would take the place of a shaky January 18 truce that ended Israel's 22-day military offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.

Israel's envoy to the talks, senior defence official Amos Gilad, is expected to return to Cairo, possibly on Saturday night.

 

These are the components of the proposed deal, according to Western diplomats and Palestinian officials:

Gaza-Egypt crossings
Egypt would open the Rafah border crossings with Gaza under the auspices of international monitors and border guards who would report to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival. Turkey may also send a force to oversee the functioning of Rafah, Gaza's only passage to the outside world that does not go through Israel.

The Hamas Islamist group, which beat Abbas's secular Fatah faction in a 2006 election and seized control of the Gaza Strip 18 months later, has been vague on whether it would cede control of the Gaza side of the crossing to Abbas' security forces.

Gaza-Israel crossings
Israel would open border crossings with the Gaza Strip, but it is unclear how soon and under what conditions. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has hinged a full opening of the crossings on the release of Shalit.

Olmert has also refused to offer Hamas guarantees that the passages will stay open.

Israel has insisted that certain materials be barred from entry because they could be used to make rockets, fortifications or explosives. These include certain types of steel piping and chemicals used in agriculture, Israeli defense officials said.

Hamas officials say they have demanded more details about what would be excluded from entering the impoverished enclave, which will require massive amounts of steel, cement and other commercial goods to rebuild after the war.

Prisoner swap
Israeli and Palestinian officials have sent mixed signals about the status of prisoner swap talks. Hamas has demanded that Israel free 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. Diplomats said Israel would free closer to 1,000.

Buffer zone
A 300-meter wide buffer zone would be established along Gaza's border with Israel, from which militants would be barred. Israel initially proposed a zone 500 to 800 meters wide.

 

Bewegingsvrijdheid voor Palestijnen op Westoever verruimd

 

Het is natuurlijk mooi dat Israel meer roadblocks gaat verwijderen, maar het zal het effect van 1000 vrijgekomen Hamas politici en terroristen niet ongedaan maken. Een deel van die mensen komt van de Westoever en zal daarnaartoe terugkeren, en dat zal, zowel psychisch alsook fysiek, de beweging een flinke boost geven. Voor Abbas en het gematigde Palestijnse leiderschap is de op handen zijnde deal tussen Israel en Hamas dan ook bepaald niet gunstig.

 

RP

----------

IDF to ease movement for Palestinians in W. Bank
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Feb. 12, 2009
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304769497&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

 

In an effort to bolster PA President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a possible prisoner swap with Hamas, the IDF on Thursday announced a series of goodwill gestures it will make to strengthen the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Quartet envoy Tony Blair and presented him with the list of restrictions Israel plans to ease in the coming days.

At least one main dirt roadblock near Hebron will be lifted. A second dirt roadblock near Ramallah was planned to be lifted but will not for the time being due an increase in shooting attacks in the area.

Last month, an Israeli was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting near Ramallah.

On Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel was considering implementing a list of goodwill gestures to help Abbas out of concern that trading many Hamas security prisoners for St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit would undermine the PA president's regime. In 2008, the IDF lifted more than 140 roadblocks in the West Bank.

OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni informed his Palestinian counterparts of the new measures during a meeting late Wednesday night. Shamni announced that the IDF was also permitting the opening of 12 new PA police stations in Area B, where Israeli has security control and the Palestinian have civil control under the Oslo Accords.

The IDF is also issuing special travel permits for PA security commanders and other VIPs that will allow them to pass through checkpoints. Palestinians who are allowed into Israel for medical treatments or study in Israeli medical schools will receive six-month permits instead of the three-month permits they received until now.

On the economic level, the IDF announced that it will begin allowing Israeli Arabs into Nablus on weekends. Israeli Arabs are already allowed into Jenin and have been instrumental in increasing the economic activity in the city.

Volgens Israel waren doden Gaza voor tweederde terroristen

 

Als er in totaal 1,134 Palestijnen zijn gedood, waarvan 673 strijders en 288 burgers, wat waren die overige 213 dan? En als de cijfers zo precies zijn, duidt dat erop dat men lijsten van namen heeft. Door die vrij te geven zijn de cijfers controleerbaar en kunnen die tegenover de claims van de Palestijnen en de VN worden gezet. Nu blijft het bij verschillende claims die niet te verifiëren zijn.

 

RP

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Israel: Two-thirds of Palestinians killed in Gaza fighting were terrorists
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

Last update - 02:35 13/02/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063883.html

 

Israel says that about two-thirds of the Palestinians who were killed in the Gaza fighting were members of terror organizations who took part in the fighting, Channel 2 News reported Thursday.

These include the Hamas police cadets who were killed in an Israeli air strike at the beginning of the operation.

Channel 2 cited a report issued by Military Intelligence and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, listing 1,134 Palestinian fatalities, 673 of which belonged to Hamas and other groups.

Only 288 were innocent civilians, the report says.

The Palestinians reported 1,330 fatalities but did not submit their names.

Amnesty International beschuldigt Hamas van elimineren tegenstanders

 

Eindelijk heeft ook Amnesty International aandacht voor de oorlogsmisdaden van Hamas, waardoor ook de media er enige aandacht aan besteden. Er is nog altijd nauwelijks aandacht voor het misbruiken van de eigen burgerbevolking als schild door Hamas, ondanks het vele bewijs dat daarvan voorhanden is, zoals luchtfoto's, video's en ook uitspraken van Palestijnen daarover. Het cynische gebruik van ziekenhuizen, ambulances en moskeeën door Hamas wordt nog steeds genegeerd.

 

RP

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

Hamas whacking internal opposition - Palestinian democracy in action

Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents

 

'Islamist group forces in Gaza engaged in campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of collaborating with Israel,' human rights group says
AFP - Ynet
Published:  02.10.09, 15:29

 

 

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Hamas of waging a campaign to kill or maim scores of Palestinian opponents in the Gaza Strip since the end of December.
 
The human rights group said in a report that at least two dozen men have been shot dead by gunmen from the Palestinian militia that governs the Gaza Strip since December 27.

"Scores of others have been shot in the legs, knee-capped or inflicted with other injuries intended to cause severe disability, subjected to severe beatings ... or otherwise tortured or ill-treated," it added.

"Hamas forces and militias in the Gaza Strip have engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of 'collaborating' with Israel, as well as opponents and critics," the report said.

The victims included members of Palestinian Authority security forces and members of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party, Amnesty said.

The campaign began shortly after the beginning of the three-week Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip on December 27 and continued after the ceasefire on January 18, according to Amnesty.

'Perpetrators did not conceal their weapons'

 

Palestinian human rights groups and victims first made such accusations at the end of last month, saying the Hamas rulers of Gaza were persecuting members of the rival Fatah movement to quash any opposition.

Taher al Nunu, a spokesman for Hamas, denied the charges at the time, dismissing them as "lies spread by Ramallah," where Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are based.

 

Amnesty International said the targets included former detainees who were accused by Hamas of collaboration with Israel after escaping from Gaza's central prison when it was bombed by Israeli forces on December 28.

Some were shot dead in hospitals where they were being treated for injuries suffered during the bombing raid, sometimes in front of distraught relatives, according to the testimony gathered by the human rights group.

"The perpetrators of these attacks did not conceal their weapons or keep a low profile, but, on the contrary, behaved in a carefree and confident - almost ostentatious - manner," the report noted.
 
Amnesty said there was "no doubt" that the victims were abducted, killed, shot and tortured by Hamas security forces and armed militias, adding that the evidence was "incontrovertible."

It called on the "Hamas de facto administration" to immediately end the campaign, accept an independent and impartial investigation and guarantee that victims and witnesses would not be targeted.

 

 

Palestijnen moeten hun vredeskansen grijpen en met Hamas afrekenen

 

De notie dat de VS en de EU een oplossing moeten opleggen aan Israel en de Palestijnen is populair en wijd verbreid. Edwin Bennatan legt uit waarom dat volgens hem niet alleen geen goed idee is, maar ook onnodig.

 

Het volgende lijkt zijn these tegen te spreken:

 

With a right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, it is highly unlikely that the current peace deal will remain on the table or that meaningful negotiations will be resumed anytime soon.

 

Dat ligt echter volgens Bennatan aan het feit dat de Palestijnen voor de zoveelste keer een vredesvoorstel hebben verworpen.

 

RP

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

 

Hamas must be brought to book for havoc they have sown

Hamas must be brought to book for havoc they have sown

EDWIN BENNATAN

Mon, Feb 09, 2009

OPINION: Israelis are fed up with the Palestinians' inability to take Yes for an answer, writes EDWIN BENNATAN.

THE RENOWNED physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who was known for his colourful objections to incorrect or sloppy thinking, was once asked for his opinion of a paper written by a young student. "This is not right," declared Pauli. "It's not even wrong."

Some arguments are so blatantly flawed that they do not even deserve being called wrong. Such is Lara Marlowe's simplistic view of the Israel-Palestinian conflict (Opinion and Analysis, February 3rd) in which she proposes that the US and the EU impose a solution on the two sides. "The UN should flood the Gaza Strip with blue helmets," she suggests, "who would prevent Hamas firing rockets."

She continues: "The most maddening thing about the conflict is that there is such an obvious solution, as there was in Northern Ireland."

First, the Middle East is not Northern Ireland. Cambridge historians John Bew and Martyn Frampton have stated in a recent report that although it has become "fashionable to look to the lessons of the peace process in Northern Ireland as holding insights for other areas of conflict, simplistic comparisons may be unhelpful".

While the aims of the IRA posed no "existential threat" to the British, they argue, "the objectives of Hamas require the destruction of the state of Israel". The researchers also maintain that while the IRA's political goals were local, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is part of a global Islamist movement.

Second, Israel has already experienced the impotence of UN forces when, in 1967, UN peacekeepers were swiftly removed from the Egypt-Israel border in response to the first demand from Egypt's president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who then proceeded to mass his army on the border, which led to the Six Day War. Israel has no reason to believe that the UN would act differently today.

And as for the notion that the US and the EU should impose a solution to the conflict, Marlowe seems to have a mental picture of two brawling children whose parents need to send them off to bed with no supper until they learn to behave.

Israel is not the 30th or 20th strongest force in the world; it is one of the most powerful forces (which it needed to become to survive in a tough neighbourhood), and it will never accept an imposed arrangement that it believes would imperil its very existence. Israel is not facing just Hamas, or even just the Palestinians. The situation in the Middle East is more complex than that.

As Bew and Frampton have noted, Israel is facing a global Islamist movement in which Iran plays a leading role, and which also includes Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood who are fighting to overthrow the relatively moderate pro-western governments in Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Marlowe needs to understand this before she offers her simplistic proposals.

Marlowe is also apparently unaware that the Palestinians have been offered a two-state solution, which they have repeatedly rejected. As far back as 1947, the Palestinians rejected UN Resolution 181 on the partitioning of British Mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab (the Jews of Palestine accepted the UN partition plan).

More recently, the Palestinians rejected US president Bill Clinton's proposal in 2000 at Camp David for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which included the removal of Jewish settlements. Amin al-Mahdy reported in the Arabic daily newspaper Al-Hayathow Yasser Arafat, in an interview two years later, lamented his mistake in rejecting the peace offer.

Al-Mahdy wrote: "Arafat has admitted his mistake in refusing Clinton's proposals. But what he should have explained was why he refused, why it was wrong, and why it took him two years to realise it. Now the situation has deteriorated to a degree that goes beyond the mistake of rejecting the Clinton peace plan. That rejection was part of a tragic cycle of mistakes that involved resorting to violence and a direct alliance with the Islamic political groups before the negotiations.

"This tragic cycle of mistakes overthrew the idea of peaceful negotiations and did a lot to bring down the Israeli left and the peace movement."

Six years after the Palestinians rejected Clinton's proposals the Israeli peace camp regained its ground and returned to power in the 2006 elections. Peace negotiations with the Palestinians resumed, and additional details of the peace deal were ironed out (Palestinian control of Arab east Jerusalem, compensation for Palestinian refugees, and land swaps of territory in Israel proper in exchange for 4 per cent of the West Bank adjacent to the Israel border).

But again the Palestinian leadership rejected the deal that their negotiating team had worked out with the Israelis, and which offered them virtually everything they had been demanding (other than the destruction of Israel).

The latest barrages of cross-border rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, and the war that followed, have all but ended the current attempts at peace. To be blunt, the Israeli public is fed up with the Palestinians' inability to take Yes for an answer, and is expected once again to shift to the right at tomorrow's elections.

With a right-wing government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, it is highly unlikely that the current peace deal will remain on the table or that meaningful negotiations will be resumed anytime soon.

So where does this leave Lara Marlowe's analysis? She is clearly unaware of the history of this long and sad conflict, and seems to be preoccupied with baseless rumours and innuendos that serve no useful purpose.

But Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak got it right a few days ago in his address in honour of Egypt's national police force day. It is the responsibility of the Palestinian people, he said, to settle the score with Hamas for the pain and the destruction it has caused them.

If the Palestinians took Mubarak's advice that would be a welcome step towards peace.

© 2009 The Irish Times

 

Langdurig staakt-het-vuren Israel-Hamas over 2 dagen bekendgemaakt

En wat als de nieuwe regering het daar straks helemaal niet mee eens is?? In Nederland mag een demissionair kabinet geen grote beslissingen meer nemen, maar in Israel werkt dat blijkbaar iets anders.... Het maakt de kans dat het staakt-het-vuren standhoudt er niet groter op.

 

RP

-----------

 

Last update - 23:58 12/02/2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063740.html Hamas: Egypt to announce Gaza truce in 2 days

By The Associated Press

The official Egyptian news agency is reporting that a top Hamas leader says the militant group has agreed to a long-term truce deal with Israel over the Gaza Strip. Moussa Abu Marzouk told MENA that Egypt would announce the truce in two days after consulting with other Palestinian factions. It was unclear whether Israel had already agreed to truce. Marzouk told the agency that under the Egyptian-brokered deal Israel will reopen six border crossings with the Strip. Egypt is trying to mediate a truce deal between Hamas and Israel to solidify a cease-fire that ended Israel's devastating 22-day offensive in Gaza in mid January. Earlier on Thursday, Hamas said a truce agreement with Israel on the Gaza Strip would most likely be announced in the next three days. "Most of the obstacles that prevented us from reaching an agreement were resolved and an announcement of a deal is expected within three days," said Taher al-Nono, a member of Hamas's negotiating team in Cairo. Nono said the agreement would ensure the end of all violence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the opening of the territory's border crossings. Hamas demands any Gaza truce include full opening of its borders. Israel wants guarantees Hamas will be prevented from smuggling weapons into Gaza. Earlier on Thursday, MENA said Hamas' strongman from Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, and deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzouk from the group's Damascus branch were taking part in the negotiations in the Egyptian capital. Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Omar Suleiman has been trying to broker a more solid cease-fire following Israel's 22-day offensive in Gaza last month, which was launced in aim to bring Hamas's rocket firing into southern Israel to a halt.

Definitieve verkiezingsuitslag Israel: Kadima 28, Likoed 27, Yisrael Beiteinu 15, Labor 13 zetels

Ondanks het feit dat Livni nu definitief heeft gewonnen lijken haar kansen op het premierschap niet erg groot, omdat Shas en Yisrael Beitenu waarschijnlijk voor een coalitie met Netanjahoe zullen kiezen als zij daarvoor in ruil een aantrekkelijke post in zijn regering kunnen krijgen. Informateurs kennen ze in Israel geloof ik niet; alle partijen spreken tegenover president Peres hun voorkeur uit over wie een regering mag samenstellen, waarna diegene daarmee direct aan de slag gaat.

 

RP

 

Zie ook ons achtergrondartikel over de Israelische partijen.

-----------

 

Last update - 23:33 12/02/2009

Final election results: Kadima 28 seats, Likud 27, Yisrael Beiteinu 15
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063744.html


Click here for exclusive Haaretz coverage of the elections in Israel

Members of Israel's central elections committee said on Thursday the apportionment of Knesset seats would remain as is following the final tally of Israel Defense Forces soldiers' ballots.

Kadima led by Tzipi Livni captured the largest number of Knesset seats - 28 - edging the Likud's 27 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu made history on Tuesday, becoming the third-largest party in the Knesset with 15 seats. The Labor Party finished with a disappointing 13 seats; Shas with 11; United Torah Judaism won five seats; the National Union captured four; United Arab List - Ta'al - four; Hadash - three; Meretz - three; Balad - three; and Bayit Hayehudi ("The Jewish Home") - three.

The results of Tuesday's election were finalized Thursday after the votes of IDF soldiers were tallied. It was thought these additional ballots could nab Yisrael Beiteinu or the Likud party another Knesset seat, which would have put Likud and Kadima on equal standing in terms of Knesset representation.

Knesset seats are allocated after a party's votes are divided by 120, the number of parliament seats. About 28,000 votes are required per seat. Parties must garner at least 2 percent of the vote to be represented in parliament. The party closest to approaching the 2 percent minimum, the Green Movement-Meimad, is not expected to make the cut, as it would need more than 40,000 additional votes.

Excess voting arrangements allow parties with more than the necessary minimum to enter parliament, but less than the votes needed to nab an extra seat, to allocate "excess" votes to an allied party.

The military vote was not expected to nab Meretz a fourth seat. Zahava Gal-On, one of the Knesset's most highly-regarded lawmakers, is fourth on the Knesset list. President Shimon Peres will not begin consulting with the parties over the formation of a new coalition until next Wednesday, when the election results are officially published.

Kadima, Likud declare victory after final tally

Whoever thought that the announcement of the final election results would put an end to the bickering over which party emerged the winner - and which should form the next governing coalition - was mistaken.

After tallying the ballots cast by soldiers, the physically challenged, and diplomats from abroad, the central election committee confirmed that the apportionment of Knesset seats would remain as was announced on election night.

"Tonight the campaign led by Bibi (nickname of Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu) and the wheeler-dealers of the Likud aimed at stealing power and the will of the voter in Israel must come to an end," read a statement released by Kadima minutes after the official results were announced.

Kadima repeated its call for Netanyahu to join a national unity government with Tzipi Livni serving as prime minister. "With the completion of the vote count Kadima won and it is the largest party," the party statement read. "Netanyahu must accede to Tzipi Livni's call and join a centrist national unity government headed by her."

Likud officials responded to Kadima's statement with scorn. "Kadima's statement is pathetic and shows that it continues to spin some imagined reality instead of recognizing a political reality in accordance with the voter's verdict," a Likud communiqué read. "An absolute majority of Israelis wants Netanyahu as prime minister and clearly rejected Kadima's way which has failed."

 

 

IDF soldaat veroordeeld voor schietincident in Hebron

Nu al  die anderen nog, kun je cynischerwijze denken, maar feit is dat het leger dergelijke incidenten wel degelijk serieus neemt.

 

RP

---------
 

Soldier who fired gunshots in Hebron to be jailed
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3670656,00.html

 

(VIDEO) Corporal Nahum Ben-Yaakov of Givati Brigade arrested after Ynet publishes video showing him threatening, firing in air during clash between settlers, Palestinians. Plea bargain states soldier to serve five months in prison

 

Hanan Greenberg - Ynet
Published:  02.12.09, 09:35

 

 

VIDEO - An Israel Defense Forces soldier, who fired gunshots in the air during a clash between settlers and Palestinians near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba adjoining the city of Hebron, will serve five and a half months in prison, according to a plea bargain which will be presented to the court in the coming days.

"The soldier's actions were severe, so the punishment must deter all those holding weapons in their hands," a military source involved in the affair said Thursday.

 

The incident, first reported by Ynet, took place during a clash which broke out last November in a wadi between Kiryat Arba and Hebron. Corporal Nahum Ben-Yaakov of the Givati Brigade, who lives in the area, was off duty at the time but was caught into the scene of the riot.

 

He was documented with a video camera firing in the area at least twice with his military weapon. He was arrested after the video was released by the B'Tselem human rights organization.

The soldier's trial has been taking place at the Southern Command's military court for the past two months. The Judges' panel is headed by Lieutenant Colonel Orly Markman.

Ynet has learned that the sides held a series of discussions recently, which resulted in a plea bargain. The deal reveals that Ben-Yaakov faces an older indictment for the possession of weapons. According to the agreement, the two affairs will be united to one indictment which will be summed up to five and a half months in prison.

After the shooting incident, sources in the IDF said that the soldier had no reason to fire the shots as no one's life was in danger during the clash.

 

Illegal use of weapon

 

The military source refused to detail the Hebron incident's part in the punishment, but hinted that the military prosecution viewed Ben-Yaakov's actions as an illegal use of weapons.

 

"IDF soldiers holding weapons must always remember the rules and use them only when their life is in danger or when they were specifically instructed to do so. This did not happen in the current affair," the source said.

 

As part of the plea deal, the soldier will be convicted for the possession of military property, as claimed in the older indictment. He will also be convicted of illegal using weapons and of making threats, as claimed in the latest indictment.
 
The soldier's lawyer, Attorney Chai Haber, refused to comment on the content of the expected deal.

 

"We'll present the agreement in the next court session," said Habre. "My client did not fire at anyone, and this can be seen in the documentation of the event, when other members of the security forces also fired in the air during the clash. The plea bargain does include an older indictment filed against my client, but I cannot elaborate."

 

 

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25.000 bloemen uit Gaza naar Europa

 

Geen bommen maar blommen uit Gaza. Is daar werkelijk een verzoek van Maxime Verhagen voor nodig?

 

Wouter

______________

25,000 flowers to be exported from Gaza to Europe
(Communicated by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Spokesman)
11th February, 2009


In the first time in over a year, and at the request of the Dutch Government, Israel has approved and will facilitate the export of 25,000 carnations from Gaza to the European market. The flowers will be shipped tomorrow morning (Thursday12/2/2009) via Kerem Shalom cargo terminal and are scheduled to arrive in Europe by Valentines Day.

Links in Israel heeft een zware klap gehad bij de verkiezingen

 

Het valt me op dat Kadima door de een als (centrum-)rechtse partij wordt aangemerkt en door de ander bij het linkse blok wordt gerekend (dat ook met Kadima nog geen meerderheid heeft). Kadima begon als afspliting van de 'linkervleugel' van de rechtse Likoed, hoewel oprichter Sharon moeilijk als links te kwalificeren valt, maar aangevuld met Labor leden waaronder de huidige president Peres, die ik toch zeker niet rechts zou kunnen noemen. Een middenpartij lijkt mij dus de beste kwalificatie. Naar Israelische verhoudingen is links vooral een partij die vrede door een compromis met de Palestijnen nastreeft, en ik geloof dat Kadima dat oprecht doet.

Livni slaagde er in september vooral niet in om een nieuwe coalitie te vormen, omdat zij erop stond dat met de Palestijnen over Jeruzalem moest kunnen worden onderhandeld. Als zij ook nu daaraan vast houdt, lijkt het me nagenoeg onmogelijk dat ze nu wel een coalitie gevormd krijgt....

 

Wouter
_________________

Meretz chairman: Left suffered harsh blow

 

MK Chaim Oron says despite election failure, his party 'will continue to serve as a key element in establishment of social-democratic Zionist Left'

 

Eli Senyor - YNET

Published: 02.10.09, 23:37
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3669870,00.html

 

Merger with new leftist movement fails miserably: Meretz Chairman Chaim Oron said Tuesday night following the publication of TV exit polls that "the Left suffered a harsh blow".

According to the polls, the left-wing party will only have four representatives in the next Knesset.

Oron promised that his party would continue to be a key element in the political arena in a bid to hold a dialogue with different sectors of Israeli society.

Meretz had hoped that its merger with the new left-wing movement would help the party gain at least six Knesset seats. According to Channel 1 exit poll the party got five seats, while all other polls predicted it would settle for only four.

"Based on the energies which I saw today as well, and the forces existing within us, we must overcome the difficult feeling we are experiencing this evening. We won't be annihilated," Oron stated, promising that Meretz will continue to be "a key element in the establishment of a Zionist dovish and humanistic Social-Democratic Left in the State of Israel. This vacuum has not been filled in these elections."

Labor lost these elections

Oron added, "The fact that what is perceived as the leftist camp - Labor and Meretz - and those groups which did not cross the threshold, reached less than 20 Knesset seats, must switch on a red light for all of us.

"First of all, however, this fact must create a commitment of each and every one of us to do what the Israeli Left needs so much. Out of a desire to hold dialogue with different sectors of Israeli society; out of a desire to say clearly that the State of Israel is not divided between Kadima and the Likud, between Lieberman and the National Union."

The other side of the leftist camp which Oron referred to was also disappointed by the election results. Senior Labor Party members responded to the exit polls, which gave the party between 13 to 14 seats, by stating that "the public has spoken."

Education Minister Yuli Tamir and MKs Ophir Pines-Paz and Shelly Yacimovich all agreed that the voters sent them a message that the party must sit in the opposition.

Yacimovich said, "This is a democratic decision which is very difficult for us. The people have spoken. We will sit in the opposition courageously and reestablish ourselves as a peace-seeking social-Democratic party."

Pines-Paz added that "something very serious happened to us - we paid a heavy price. Labor lost these elections, and it must self-examine itself."

 

(Satire:) Nieuwe Joods-Zionistische Provocatie

 

In de Arabische (en ook de Nederlandse) pers wordt de Israelische 'ruk naar rechts' gehekeld. Maar in de Arabische wereld zelf valt er niet veel te kiezen......

 

-------------------- 

Fresh Jew Zionist Provocation

10.02. 2009
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000660.html
Original content copyright by the author
Zionism & Israel Center http://zionism-israel.com

An egregious provocation of the Jew Zionist Tel-Aviv regime occurred on February 10, 2009. All right thinking progressive peoples should be organizing protests. All progressive nations such as Libya and Saudi Arabia should be initiating a severe security council reprimand.

For the eighteenth time in their history, the apartheid Tel-Aviv regime has held free elections, a clear affront to right thinking Arab peoples everywhere, and otherwise nearly unheard of in the Middle East. Did not the clarion voice of progressivism in the Middle East, the Saudi Arab News, rightly protest that the Zionist elections would not bring peace? In Saudi Arabia of course, there is no danger of any such heretical practice of elections.

Imagine the horror of right thinking Arab peoples: In Israel, the communist party is allowed to run alongside Zionist parties, and the communists are not the most radical. Most of the parties have female candidates, and most support the teaching of evolution as well as rights for homosexuals. Such horrors are unheard of in well run countries like Saudi Arabia of course.

In Syria, Omr Jaftali asks in Tishreen, "Which new extremist will be elected?" Syrians have no such uncertainty of course. They know precisely which extremist will be elected, because only one extremist is ever running, and he always gets well over 90% of the vote. There is no election night tension in Syria.

In Egypt, where any party can run as long as they agree with the government, media are likewise justifiably outraged. Who can blame them? The Jew Zionists of the Tel-Aviv government insist on holding this embarrassing rite of elections, contrary to all customs in the Middle East. Over 30 parties competed in the elections, and not one of them has its own army! Between all the Israeli parties, there is not a single armed faction or assault rifle. The closest thing to that was an old cache of arms from the Israel War of Independence discovered in Kibbutz Nirim not long ago.

The right-thinking Hamas, democratically chosen by the Palestinian people after throwing a sufficient number of them off tall buildings in Gaza, use a different procedure for deciding issues. Hamas has recently killed tens of opposition figures in Gaza according to Amnesty International. There is no problem deciding which extremist will run the government in Gaza.

Arab world commentators are excited because a party that wants to deny citizenship to disloyal Arab citizens might get as much as 15% of the vote in Israel. Arab countries have no such problems. Disloyal citizens are hanged or in some cases gassed en masse. Most Arab countries expelled their Jewish population, loyal or not, a long time ago. Non-Muslims cannot be citizens at all in Saudi Arabia, and they cannot even enter the city of Mecca. In Egypt, candidates sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood got about 20% of the vote in the last elections. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to establish a Caliphate throughout the world and make Islam the state religion everywhere. They are not considered an extremist party of course, not by any means.

There was a serious violation of democratic decorum during this Zionist provocation. A candidate of a right-wing party was barred from exercising his right to oversee elections in Um-el-Fahm, after Arab demonstrators created a violent mob scene.

These elections are a sinister Zionist propaganda coup to gain sympathy with the West - clearly planned by the Israel Lobby. Palestine Solidarity Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace and all the other right-thinking and progressive forces should urge President Obama, the EU and the UN to institute a Secular Arab Palestinian Democracy in occupied Palestine, similar to the flourishing democracies in Gaza, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Libya, and eliminate this blot on the almost perfect Human Rights Record of the Middle East. Perfectly awful, that is.

Ami Isseroff

 

Kadima en Likoed houden beide coalitiebesprekingen met Yisrael Beiteinu

Livni en Netanjahoe claimen beiden de overwinning, en zijn beiden al begonnen met coalitiebesprekingen. Dat betekent dat partijen als Shas en Yisrael Beiteinu Livni en Netanjahoe handig tegen elkaar uit kunnen spelen, en maximale concessies in de wacht kunnen slepen.

 

RP

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Last update - 00:08 12/02/2009
Election aftermath
Wooed by Kadima and Likud, Lieberman agrees to more talks with Livni
By Lily Galili, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063348.html


After an inconclusive general election Tuesday seemed likely to send Israel into political limbo, Kadima leader Tzipi Livni met with Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman in Jerusalem on Wednesday in a bid to build a coalition.

Kadima won 28 of 120 Knesset seats in Tuesday's vote, putting it narrowly ahead of the rightist Likud, which garnered 27 seats. Both Livni and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory Tuesday night, each arguing the right to form and lead the next government. The two parties began intensive efforts Wednesday to form rival coalitions.

 

The far-right Yisrael Beiteinu came in third place, winning 15 seats with its anti-Arab, anti-religious platform, and securing the position of kingmaker in the formation of the next government. The once dominant Labor, led by Ehud Barak, came a dismal fourth with 13 seats.

Livni told Lieberman on Wednesday that the people had made their choice for the next prime minister, and it was her that they had chosen.

She said that now was the time for unity, and for the Yisrael Beiteinu leader to advance his agenda. The pair agreed to hold further talks.

Speaking before the meeting, Livni vowed to fight to become the next prime minister.

"The people chose me in droves. I feel a great responsibility to translate the power that has been given to me into action, to advance the country and to unify the people," said Livni from her Tel Aviv home.

Kadima's narrow lead makes it uncertain whether Livni will be able to put together the 61-seat bloc needed to form a government. Netanyahu has a better chance of forging a coalition because of gains by right-wing parties, his natural allies.

Early Wednesday, Lieberman said he was leaving his options open, indicating he could jump either way. Yisrael Beiteinu was to convene later Wednesday to discuss its coalition options.

The outgoing coalition chairman, Kadima MK Yoel Hasson, said Wednesday morning that a team would begin negotiations immediately in order to forge a Livni-led coalition.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, was also due to meet Wednesday afternoon with Lieberman, after talks with Shas leader Eli Yishai, whose ultra-Orthodox party received 11 seats.

Yishai on Wednesday morning told Army Radio that, "We committed ourselves before the election to recommend Benjamin Netanyahu to the president. The people's choice is a rightist government. This, of course, doesn't rule anything out."

The Shas leader was referring to President Shimon Peres legal obligation to consult with all the parties as to who they prefer as prime minister, after which whoever is recommended by more Knesset members is given the nod. Hence if the religious and rightist parties all recommend Netanyahu, he would get first crack at forming a government.

Peres will meet next week with party leaders to hear their recommendations, and around February 20 expects to assign the task, presidential spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch said.

Yisrael Beiteinu sources: We won't rule out joining coalition with Shas

Sources in Yisrael Beiteinu said Wednesday their party was not ruling out joining a coalition that included Shas. The announcement came despite Lieberman's pledge Tuesday that he would not forget Shas' attacks on his party and himself.

On Saturday night Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said that, "Whoever votes for Lieberman gives strength to Satan."

Should the two rightist parties succeed in putting their antagonism behind them, Netanyahu would likely find coalition-building significantly easier.

"We aren't making an ultimatum," said a senior Yisrael Beiteinu official. "It also doesn't matter from our point of view that Bibi's first meeting is actually with Shas. Everything depends on the fundamentals."

Although most of the ballots were counted by Wednesday morning, the final results may not be known until Thursday afternoon, when election officials finish counting the soldiers' votes and other absentee ballots.

There are about 150,000 eligible absentee voters, so if the race remains close their votes could be decisive. In past elections, the soldiers' vote has often leaned rightward.