vrijdag 11 juli 2008

Hamas gebruikt staakt-het-vuren beter dan Israël

Alex Fishman maakt een interssante vergelijking tussen het staakt-het-vuren met Hamas in Gaza en het staakt-het-vuren tijdens Israëls onafhankelijkheidsoorlog: Israël gebruikte dit om haar troepen te hergroeperen en aan wapens te komen, terwijl de Arabieren uitrustten van zes weken hard vechten. Na een maand bleken zij dan ook een ander leger tegenover zich te hebben, en waren de krachtsverhoudingen ingrijpend veranderd. Hopelijk zorgt Israël ervoor dat het nu niet zover kan komen, want wat is anders het nut van een staakt-het-vuren?

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Why are we doing nothing?

While Hamas uses lull to build up strength, Israel has not done a thing

Alex Fishman YNET

Published: 07.08.08, 15:15
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3565514,00.html

Our politicians cannot see beyond their nose: They secured a lull with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and then got tired and went to get some rest. Barely three weeks have passed, and they already forgot why they reached a truce in the first place.

The ceasefire is the first lull in Hamas' "war of independence" since it took over Gaza. The group uses every moment in this lull in order to better organize and build up strength ahead of the next round of fighting. And what do our leaders do in order to take advantage of the lull ahead of the next round? Nothing. We're on vacation.

What bothers Gaza-region residents more than anything is the fortification of homes. They are fed up with the promises by now. If the homes are not fortified people will be leaving. Gaza-region municipal leaders are concerned that area residents will use the summer vacation to seek alternatives somewhere else. If nothing is done on the fortification front by the end of the vacation, many residents may not return.

Seemingly, the lull came at the right time. Residents could have expected to see their communities flooded by contractors and laborers the moment quiet prevailed, with secured rooms being constructed at a dizzying pace. After all, this is what was decided; this is precisely what the government promised.

Moreover, it is clear to everyone that the relative quiet brought by the lull is only temporary, and that every day that passes without it being used for building fortifications and improving our anti-rocket alert system is a wasted day. Yet for the time being, nothing has changed on the ground. Not one brick has been laid, and no wall has been moved.

Yet the decision has already been taken. The 2008 State Budget includes a sum of NIS 327 million (roughly $100 million) earmarked for the fortification of 3,300 apartments at 12 Gaza-region communities, including Sderot. Six months have passed since this amount was designated for this end, and on the ground there is nothing but silence.

PM's intervention required

We are being told that some contracts have been initiated for now. In some cases this was done by residents and in other cases by the Housing Ministry. By the end of 2009, perhaps, the secured rooms will be built as planned. We can only hope that Hamas and the lull will adjust themselves to this timetable.

Municipal leaders clearly understand that this issue requires the prime minister's intervention. He needs to stimulate a speedy effort and accelerate matters. He needs to decide and order the Treasury to hand over funds for fortification. If there is no fortification, there will be no people either.

The IDF Home Front Command and Defense Ministry object to the evacuation of communities under fire, on principle. Yet if there is no fortification, nobody will be asking them. People will do what they see fit. So if officials do not intend to invest in fortification, they should invest in evacuation plans and in the re-housing of tens of thousands of people.

Even if the truce is violated, and the IDF proceeds to operate inside the Gaza Strip, Qassam rockets and mortar shells will continue to land for some time at least. So why don't we take decisions now, instead of improvising later?

VN: Hezbollah is niet aan het herbewapenen

A UN source told Ynet in response to the report that several incidents which have taken place in recent weeks prove that southern Lebanon is not free of arms. The source said everyone is aware of this reality, yet the UN cannot admit that Israel's claims are true, as this would show the UN has failed.

En dus wordt er niks aan het probleem gedaan en wordt de schone schijn opgehouden. Totdat er een nieuwe oorlog uitbreekt en iedereen weer de mond vol heeft van de Israëlische agressie.

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UN: Hizbullah isn't rearming

Israeli reports of new Hizbullah military buildup rejected; however, UN source says Israel is right

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3562751,00.html

Yitzhak Benhorin

Published: 07.01.08, 20:03

WASHINGTON – Israel's claims that the Hizbullah is rearming and building new military infrastructure in the areas north and south of the Litani River have been found to be unsubstantiated, a United Nations report says.

The report, complied by the UN commission tasked with monitoring the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which effectively ended the Second Lebanon War, did state that for the first time in the last few years, the UN forces inspecting the area were interrupted by gunmen.

The report made no mention of Hizbullah's systematic disruptions to the routine operation of UNIFIL forces present in Southern Lebanon.

Sources in UN headquarters said Tuesday that the members of the UN Security Council were aware of the real situation on the ground, but noted that the Security Council has to act in line with the reports submitted to it.

The UNIFIL forces stationed in Lebanon, under the command of Italy's Major-General Claudio Graziano, have yet to report any Hizbullah efforts to arm itself, thus preventing the UN Security Council from taking any action.

Moreover, several Security Council members are also part of the UNIFIL force currently deployed in Lebanon – and therefore are unable to rate their performance on the ground.

Hamas gebruikt staakt-het-vuren voor herbewapening

Het staakt-het-vuren zal Hamas versterken, maar toch denken velen dat het de vrede dichterbij brengt.

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FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU

Hamas caught using cease-fire to rearm

'This period will make that our capacities will be stronger than before truce'

Posted: July 08, 2008
2:35 pm Eastern
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=69083

By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

TEL AVIV – A mysterious explosion at a Hamas training facility in the Gaza Strip today occurred while terrorists were attempting to produce rockets that can hit further inside Israel, Hamas sources told WND.

The explosion underscores the Gaza-based terrorists' utilization of a cease-fire agreed to with Israel last month to rearm, train and produce advance weaponry for use against Israel.

"It is not really a period of rest. We have been training, receiving religious courses ... we've been producing weapons, working on smuggling everything that can reinforce us," said a senior terrorist in Gaza, speaking on condition his name be withheld.

"This period will make that our capacities will be much stronger than before the truce," the senior terrorist said.

Two militants reportedly were killed in a Hamas training camp in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis when an explosion caused a building to collapse.

Hamas sources told WND the explosion occurred while Hamas experts were testing a new Qassam rocket they were trying to fit with two engines. Current Qassams run on one engine.

The Hamas sources said the goal during the truce is to produce a rocket that can travel 24 kilometers, which will put the strategic Israeli port city of Ashdod within range.

Since Israel agreed to the truce last month with the Hamas terrorist organization, at least seven rockets and a handful of mortars have been fired from the territory aimed at nearby Jewish communities.

Members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, which is at odds with Hamas, took credit for most of the rocket fire.

To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.

woensdag 9 juli 2008

Joodse vluchtelingen willen ook op de agenda (NRC)

In NRC handelsblad van 7 juli schreef Carolien Roelants met duidelijke tegenzin over de Joodse vluchtelingen uit Arabische landen. Ze heeft het over een Joodse lobbygroep die nu ook aandacht eist. Palestijnse organisaties die voor de vluchtelingen opkomen worden nooit 'lobbyclubs' genoemd. Het woord 'lobby' staat zowel in de inleiding van het artikel als nog twee keer met betrekking tot de bijeenkomst die de organisatie 'Justice for Jews from Arab countries' organiseerde.

De berichtgeving is kritisch en afstandelijk. Men eist 'gerechtigheid' aldus Roelants, maar het blijft onduidelijk wat dat is. Zo onduidelijk, dat ze er later apart contact over opneemt. Bij berichtgeving over onrecht de Palestijnen aangedaan kom ik dergelijke scepsis niet tegen.

Er worden nauwelijks voorbeelden gegeven van de discriminatie, geweld en vervolging van de Joden in de Arabische wereld. Het blijft een algemeen verhaal, het verhaal van een lobbyclub, en men moet vooral deze ex-vluchtelingen niet met de Palestijnse willen vergelijken, de echte slachtoffers. "Dat doen we ook niet" zo stelt een woordvoerder van JJAC haar gerust, "maar we willen niet vergeten worden".

Men kan beide groepen inderdaad niet vergelijken: de Palestijnen waren in een bloedige burgeroorlog met de Joodse gemeenschap in Palestina verwikkeld, die door henzelf was begonnen in reactie op het VN delingsplan. Palestijnse leiders riepen op tot vernietiging van de Joodse gemeenschap, zoals Hitler in Europa had gedaan. De Joden uit Arabische staten werden collectief gestraft voor de stichting van Israel, zonder dat zij zelf in opstand kwamen of wat voor aanleiding dan ook gaven voor hun verdrijving. Een ander verschil is dat veel Arabische vluchtelingen in kampen terecht zijn gekomen waar zij na 60 jaar nog steeds zitten, terwijl de Joodse vluchtelingen in Israel en elders een nieuw thuis hebben gevonden.

Terwijl Roelants nalaat concrete voorbeelden te geven zoals bomaanslagen en pogroms in Cairo waarbij honderden Joden omkwamen en verbranding van synagoges in Aleppo, vindt ze het wel nodig de lezer erop te wijzen dat de Zionisten, en later de Israëlische overheid, veel Arabieren ook hebben aangemoedigd om naar Israel te komen. "Maar dat kwam tijdens de bijeenkomst van JJAC niet aan de orde" voegt ze er vinnig aan toe. Dat veel Palestijnen ook werden opgeroepen om te vertrekken, door de leiders van de Arabische staten maar ook door lokale leiders, is echter iets waar de NRC het nooit over heeft. Maar de vraag is hoeveel het er überhaupt toe doet. Je mag geen synagoges in brand steken, en ook niet een bepaalde bevolkingsgroep haar burgerrechten ontnemen. Het bloedbad in Deir Yassin wordt toch ook niet minder erg door de wetenschap dat de Palestijnen uit naburige dorpen waren opgeroepen te vertrekken?

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Het artikel van Carolien Roelants en een reactie erop zijn hier te vinden: http://www.israelfacts.eu/03c1989ac60b2ff0f/index.html

Meer informatie over de vluchtelingen (zowel Joodse als Palestijnse): http://www.israel-palestina.info/vluchtelingen.html

VN Resolutie 1701 dreigt te bezwijken

Het hangt dus mede af van ons of Hezbollah zich verder zal bewapenen en er mogelijk een einde komt aan de wapenstilstand. De Europese Unie, die de meeste soldaten in Zuid-Libanon heeft, zou kunnen aandringen op beter toezicht en handhaving van resolutie 1701. We staan altijd klaar om Israel te bekritiseren en zaken voor de Palestijnen voor elkaar te krijgen, laten we nu tonen dat we ook voor Israels veiligheid opkomen en voor het internationale recht wanneer het Israel in het gelijk stelt.

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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Defense officials: UN Resolution 1701 on the verge of collapse

Jul. 9, 2008 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330903869&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, passed to stop the Second Lebanon War, is on the verge of collapse as Syria continues to rearm Hizbullah, senior defense officials warned Tuesday night ahead of a scheduled security cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will convene the cabinet to discuss the rearmament of Hizbullah since the Second Lebanon War and to discuss ways to curb the flow of weapons from Syria to the guerrilla group.

During the meeting, the ministers will be briefed by Military Intelligence on Hizbullah's rehabilitation and preparation for another round of violence with Israel.

Defense officials said Israel's only course of action at present was to attempt to place pressure on diplomatic officials from European countries that contribute to UNIFIL.

"Syria is rearming Hizbullah at a rapid pace and this is proof that 1701 has completely failed," one official said.

The peacekeeping force's mandate will be up for renewal next month and Israel is looking to see if it will be possible to make changes that will give the force more freedom to prevent Hizbullah's rearmament.

Waterschaarste in Israël (Meer van Tiberias op kritiek niveau)

Vanwege de droge winter kampt Israel met een ernstig water tekort, en wordt de bevolking opgeroepen om zuiniger met water om te springen. Waar dit artikel over zwijgt, is de hoeveelheid water die voor de landbouw wordt gebruikt (waarvan een groot deel naar Europa wordt geëxporteerd), evenals privé zwembaden en andere verspilling van water. Misschien moet er wel een speciale watertax komen, zodat zulke zaken zeer kostbaar worden en voorkomen kan worden dat de kwaliteit van het drinkwater in gevaar komt. Het is op zich al een knappe prestatie om een bevolking van 7 miljoen mensen in een zo droog land van voldoende en goed water te voorzien, en daarnaast ook nog tomaten, citroenen, dadels en bloemen te kweken, maar meer inventiviteit en de bereidheid de eigen levensstijl aan te passen zijn waarschijnlijk nodig om ook in de toekomst voldoende en schoon drinkwater te behouden.

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Kinneret drops to 'Lower Red Line'

Jul. 7, 2008 jpost staff and ehud zion waldoks

THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215330884009&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

After reporting Monday that the water level of Lake Kinneret, which supplies some 25 percent of Israel's drinking water, had dipped below the lower red line, the Water Authority plans to reveal an emergency plan at a press conference Tuesday morning.

According to the authority, the level of the lake stood at 213 meters below sea level - the lowest in five years. According to the water company, the last time levels reached this lower red line was in summer 2003.

The Water Authority marks three threshold lines on the lake: The upper red line, the lower red line and the black line. The upper red line is 208.9 meters below sea level; when the lake reaches the upper line, the Deganya Dam is opened to allow greater flow into the Jordan River and prevent the lake from overflowing; if the level reaches the the lower red line, the concentration of pollutants rises to undesirable levels and pumping water from the lake is prohibited.

When the black line - 214.4 meters below sea level - is reached, the openings to the pumps are exposed to the air, and they can no longer send lake water into the National Water Carrier.

There is growing concern that the water level will drop to the black line this summer which, if crossed, would indicate that irreversible damage had been done to the Kinneret. At the bottom red line, the water level is about two meters above the current black line now. The Kinneret loses about a centimeter a day to evaporation alone.

As a result, the possibility of halting pumping from the Kinneret later this summer has been discussed.

Not only the Kinneret has been hard hit by four consecutive years of meager rainfall. The water levels of the mountain and coastal aquifers - Israel's two other sources of fresh water - are also low. If the water level in the coastal aquifer drops by too much, salt water could mix with the fresh water supply.

In response to the crisis, the Water Authority has restricted water use for gardening and requested more desalinated water. Desalinated water has been the government's choice for a solution to plummeting fresh water sources, with several new plants slated to begin operations in the next few years. However, those plants will not be ready in time to address the current water shortage, which is expected to continue into next year.

The public can conserve a significant amount of water through simple measures. Do not run the water while washing dishes - soap up a bunch of them and then rinse them all at once. Take shorter showers. Devices are also available that can be affixed to faucets to regulate their flow, saving water.

Water Authority head Uri Shani has said that practicing water conservation could save an amount equivalent to the output of one large desalination plant.

Water Authority Spokesman Uri Schor told The Jerusalem Post Monday, "We reached the bottom red line this morning and we still have the summer before us."

Schor explained that passing the red line starts "processes that reduce water quality and begins to endanger the water source itself."

We're in crisis, because "there just isn't any water," he said.

dinsdag 8 juli 2008

Iran blijft bedreiging voor Israëls bestaan

Problemen zat met Iran, zie ook bijvoorbeeld:

Iran heeft kernwapenproject herstart volgens inlichtingendiensten

Doodstraf voor bloggers in Iran?

Families van vermiste Iraanse Joden eisen informatie in deal met Hezbollah

Israël op rand van oorlog met Iran?

Iraans bedrijf: "trouw of wordt ontslagen"

en Toen kwamen ze voor de Bahai ....

Een oplossing is helaas niet zomaar voor handen...

Wouter

___________

Iran remains a threat to Israel's very existence

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/04/dl0401.xml

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 04/07/2008

Amid the winks and nudges about a reduction of tension between America and Iran, it should not be forgotten that Tehran's policy, enunciated most forcefully by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is the destruction of Israel.

That is already apparent in Iranian support for Hamas and Hizbollah. Possession of nuclear weapons would give it a further edge.

While it is unlikely that Tehran would launch a direct atomic assault on the Jewish state, it would acquire greater leverage over its Arab neighbours as the undisputed hegemon in the Gulf, and could pass on nuclear know-how to its guerrilla proxies.

Until Iran accepts the existence of Israel and suspends uranium enrichment, any responsible government in Jerusalem must consider it an existential threat to the Jewish state.

The diplomatic chatter over the past few days has been about easing the confrontation between America and Iran through negotiation. Tehran has said nothing about stopping the gas centrifuges near Natanz, nor softened its hostility towards Israel.

A diplomatic solution would obviously be preferable to military action, which could convulse the Middle East and push the cost of oil through the roof - but not at any price.

Tehran may be counting on doing a deal with the present American administration before a new, unpredictable man enters the White House in January. Having made progress in nuclear talks with North Korea, George W. Bush may be hoping to do the same with Iran in the final months of his presidency.

However, what is convenient to Tehran and Washington could lead to the isolation of Israel and push it into unilateral military action that could quickly embroil the West in a wholesale conflagration, whether in southern Iraq or the Strait of Hormuz.

As an impetus for solving deep-seated strategic problems, an electoral timetable is suspect.

Looking back at the divisions over Iraq in 2003, it is essential that the six countries negotiating with Iran are united in insisting that Israel's security must not be jeopardised.

A deal over the head of the country most threatened by Iran would be both morally wrong and carry enormous political risks. In its essentials, Tehran remains inimical to Western interests.

That should not be forgotten in handling a regime that has persistently lied over its nuclear programme and, under Mr Ahmadinejad, has stepped up calls for Israel's destruction.

"Telegraph view" is written by our team of leader writers and commentators. This team includes David Hughes, Philip Johnston, Simon Heffer, Janet Daley, Con Coughlin, Robert Colvile, Iain Martin and Alex Singleton.

Iran heeft kernwapenproject herstart volgens inlichtingendiensten

Als Irans kernprogramma alleen voor vreedzame doeleinden is bestemd, waarom dan delen ervan afsluiten voor inspectie door de VN?

De Iraanse Revolutionaire Garde, zoals Ami Isseroff hieronder ook opmerkt, houdt zich niet bezig met de Iraanse energievoorziening of academisch onderzoek. Dit is het eliteleger van Iran. Alles wijst erop dat Iran in rap tempo aan een kernbom aan het werken is, en zich daarbij niks aantrekt van buitenlandse kritiek of symbolische sancties.

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Western intelligence claims Iran has renewed nuclear weapons bid

The news that Iran is building P2 centrifuges in concealed factories is certainly not good. On the one hand, more efficient centrifuges are not necessarily going to be used to make an A-bomb. It is not quite a "smoking gun" signal in the way that work on detonator mechanisms or warheads might be.

On the other hand, the fact that the work is concealed and is undertaken by the Iranian Republican Guard Corps is fairly damning. Iranian Republic guards do not engage in academic research or in atoms for peace projects.

If they are working on P2 centrifuges, they may be working on "smoking gun" projects as well. The fact that that is not known in the West might simply indicate the inadequacy of the intelligence networks. The ambiguous project might have looser security with the intent that the news will get out.

Ami Isseroff

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Iran has resumed A-bomb project, says West

By Con Coughlin - Telegraph News

Last updated: 8:13 AM BST 07/07/2008

Iran has resumed work on constructing highly sophisticated equipment that nuclear experts say is primarily used for building atomic weapons, according to the latest intelligence reports received by Western diplomats.

The work is aimed at developing the blueprint provided by Dr AQ Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, who sold Iran details of how to build atom bombs in the early 1990s.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which has overall responsibility for the country's nuclear programme, has set up several civilian companies to work on the programme whose activities are being deliberately concealed from the United Nations nuclear inspection teams.

The companies, based on the outskirts of Tehran, are working on constructing components for the advanced P2 gas centrifuge, which can enrich uranium to weapons grade two to three times faster than conventional P1 centrifuges.

Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment programme at Natanz, which Tehran insists is designed to produce fuel for nuclear power, runs on P1 centrifuges. But Iranian nuclear scientists recently conducted successful tests on a prototype P2 centrifuge at Natanz, and the Revolutionary Guard has now set up a network of companies to build components for the advanced centrifuges.

This has raised concerns among Western experts that Iran is continuing work on its nuclear weapons programme, despite Tehran's protestations that its intentions are peaceful.

"If Iran's nuclear intentions were peaceful there would be no need for it to undertake this work in secret," said an official familiar with the intelligence reports.

A previous clandestine attempt by Iran to develop P2 centrifuges was halted in 2004 after the existence of a civilian company set up by the Revolutionary Guard was exposed. UN nuclear inspectors found traces of weapons-grade uranium at the company when they inspected the premises.

Reports that Iran has resumed work on sophisticated uranium enrichment technology follow Tehran's announcement at the weekend that it has no intention of halting its uranium enrichment programme at Natanz.

Iranian officials were speaking the day after they had formally submitted their response to a package put together by the world's leading powers – including Britain – offering a number of incentives in return for halting enrichment.

While European officials yesterday refused to disclose details of the Iranian response, one said that "it was not something that made us jump up and down for joy".

An Iranian government spokesman said: "Iran's stand regarding its peaceful nuclear programme has not changed."

According to recent intelligence reports, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, personally ordered the Revolutionary Guard to set up companies for the secret manufacture of components for P2 centrifuges this year.

One of the companies is in a residential building in Amir Abad, western Tehran, where its work is unlikely to be detected by UN nuclear inspectors. One of the facilities is said to be run by a company owned by the Revolutionary Guard.

The operation is a direct copy of the Revolutionary Guard's previous attempt to develop P2 centrifuges, when research work was undertaken by the Kalaye Electric Company, which claimed it was manufacturing watches.

When its true activity was revealed to UN nuclear inspectors in 2004, they found the company had succeeded in building the centrifuges and enriching small quantities of uranium to weapons grade.

Senior officials from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency are supervising the current clandestine programme, which is based on the atomic weapons blueprint sold to Iran by Dr Khan in 1994.

Reports that Iran is actively working on Dr Khan's blueprint will deepen suspicions that Tehran has resumed work on its nuclear weapons programme.

Doodstraf voor bloggers in Iran?

Waarschijnlijk kan bloggen je binnenkort je leven kosten in Iran. Bloggers zijn de afgelopen jaren al vaak het slachtoffer geworden van de politie en de geheime dienst, en dit dreigt dus nog erger te worden. Iran breidt het aantal 'misdaden' waarvoor iemand kan worden geëxecuteerd steeds verder uit. Waarom de regering zo bang is voor de ideeën en ervaringen van veelal jongeren en studenten, laat zich raden.

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Iran Parliament to Debate Death Penalty for Bloggers

Written by Marshall Kirkpatrick / July 4, 2008 3:52 PM

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/iranian_deth_penalty_for_bloggers.php

The Iranian parliament is set to debate a draft bill that would add a number of crimes to the list of those that can result in execution, among them "establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy." Apostasy means the abandonment of a religion. The official Iranian news agency reports that the bill is intended to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society."

Iran already imprisons bloggers for challenging the government and executed 317 people for other crimes last year, up from 177 the year prior according to Amnesty International.

The French Press Agency reported on the bill yesterday and according to The Committee to Protect Bloggers, the BBC's The World radio show will offer a more in depth report in the coming days.

Blogging is wildly popular in Iran, where a new generation of young people frequently challenge the old, hyper-conservative religious government. The Committe to Protect Bloggers says that Iran is "among the worst offenders in terms of harassing, arresting and imprisoning bloggers, as well as students." You can see the group's extensive coverage of Iranian cyber-censorship and harrasment of bloggers here. The Iranian government has blocked access to Facebook, Yahoo! and Flickr, among other sites.

We at ReadWriteWeb condemn the application of the death penalty to bloggers as itself an abhorent crime. Cultural relativism has its place, but this isn't it. We want to offer our support to the new generation of Iranian young people struggling for freedom online and elsewhere, in any way we can, short of a US invasion of the country.

*** Balanced Middle East News *** MidEastweb http://www.mideastweb.org Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Abbas krijgt telefoontje van Peres

Zou Abbas nog wel geloven in de kansen op een vredesovereenkomst?

Voor het bericht over de uitspraken van Shimon Peres zie hier.
Om Peres wat te helpen, het enige letterlijke citaat dat er staat is: "It would be very hard to reach an agreement"

Nou, daar zijn vriend en vijand en onverschillige buitenstaander het toch wel over eens, dunkt me...

Wouter

__________________

President Receives Phone Call from Israeli President

Date : 6/7/2008 Time : 22:37
http://english. wafa.ps/?action=detail&id=11902

AMMAN, July 06, 2008, (WAFA PLO news agency) - President Mahmoud Abbas received on Sunday a telephone call from Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Israeli President denied what some of the media reported on his tongue, especially with regard to President Abbas.

Peres also expressed his regret in this regard, confirmed that he was committed to the peace process and he has not changed his position on this matter.

*** Balanced Middle East News ***
MidEastweb http://www.mideastweb.org
Subscribe - mail to mewnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

PA premier Fayyad wil internationale troepenmacht in Gazastrook

De UNIFIL troepenmacht in Zuid-Libanon (bestaande uit o.a. Fransen en Italianen) doet helemaal niets tegen de Hezbollah, die daar volgens VN resolutie 1701 niet aanwezig mag zijn, noch aan de wapensmokkel via Syrië. Waarom zou een Arabische troepenmacht in Gaza wel effectief optreden tegen Palestijns terrorisme en wapensmokkel? De kans dat dat gebeurt is exact 0,0000%. De enige voorwaarde waaronder buitenlandse troepen in Gaza wel een bijdrage aan vrede zouden kunnen leveren, is wanneer Israël eerst groen licht krijgt om Hamas, Islamitische Jihad en andere extremistische groeperingen in Gaza te verslaan. Het blijft zelfs dan echter de vraag of het uitsluitend Arabische troepen moeten zijn, gezien het virulente antizionisme en antisemitisme in de Arabische wereld.

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Fayyad wants foreign troops in Gaza

Palestinian prime minister proposes deploying Arab security forces in Gaza Strip to reassert Palestinian Authority's control over region. Israel remains skeptical

Reuters

Published: 07.07.08, 20:16
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3565208,00.html

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Monday he was proposing ideas that include the temporary deployment of Arab security forces in Gaza to help reunite Hamas-run Gaza with the West Bank.

Fayyad said his ideas, proposed in meetings with foreign Arab and Western officials, complemented an initiative by President Mahmoud Abbas last month to offer a national dialogue to end the rift between the secular factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization and their Islamist rival Hamas.

Fayyad said restoring Palestinian Authority control over the Gaza Strip, run by Hamas since violence a year ago and separated from Abbas' Fatah-run West Bank "is a key objective of policy and has to be pursued vigorously at all times".

"The separation has to end. I'm deeply worried that over the past year, the separation has been reinforced. This situation has to be reversed quickly," he told Reuters in an interview.

"What I've been talking about are ideas aimed at providing practical solutions to issues of concern that have been cited as impediments to the achievement of unity," Fayyad said.

"The ideas include seeking Arab security support to help with the security situation in Gaza and deal with the obvious need for help that we have in restructuring our security capabilities and provide security services in a manner that is reassuring and effective to all during a transitional period."

Arab diplomats said Egypt, which has mediated a fragile, truce between Hamas and Israel, was ready to host a dialogue between the Palestinian factions but was not eager to deploy its troops in Gaza. Other Arab states, however, said they were willing to consider the proposal, diplomats said.

Israel skeptical

Israel has in the past two years softened its opposition to having foreign troops in the Palestinian territories but remains skeptical that many states would be willing to contribute.

Abbas dismissed a Hamas-led government last June following its seizure of the Gaza Strip and appointed a Western-backed government headed by Fayyad in the West Bank.

Hamas, backed by Syria and Iran, has consolidated its power in Gaza despite sanctions imposed by Israel and its Western allies and much of the Arab world for refusing to recognize Israel and past peace agreements with Israel.

Abbas has sought the help of Arab states to convince Hamas to end what he says is its coup in Gaza and end the rift that has undermined his peace talks with Israel aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas has said it wants to confine reconciliation talks to Abbas' Fatah movement and insists talks should be without any preconditions.

Hamas regards its own Ismail Haniyeh, who headed an elected government from 2006, as still being prime minister and rarely responds to comments by Fayyad, a former World Bank economist who is not a member of Fatah.

zondag 6 juli 2008

Families van 12 vermiste Iraanse Joden doen oproep aan Olmert

Omdat deze families niet in Israël wonen kunnen zij de regeringsleden en Knessetleden niet continu bestoken met hun hartverscheurende verdriet om het gemis van hun geliefde of naaste familielid. Het feit dat het Iraanse regime mensen zomaar laat verdwijnen en de familie waarschijnlijk nooit te weten zal komen wat er met hen is gebeurd, is een schande die een scherpe veroordeling door de VN, Amnesty en Human Rights Watch verdient, en Europa en de VS zouden druk op Iran uit moeten oefenen om hieraan een einde te maken.

Hoeveel mensen er in totaal in Iraanse gevangenissen wegrotten zonder enige vorm van proces weet waarschijnlijk niemand.

Voor de media zijn deze mensen in elk geval een stuk minder interessant dan de Palestijnse gevangenen in Israël, die wel een proces hebben gehad (behalve zij die in administratieve detentie zitten, wat maximaal een half jaar kan duren), en die contact hebben met de buitenwereld.

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July 6, 2008

Contact: Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, 011.972.52.383.7020
media@israellawcenter.org

Families of 12 Missing Iranian Jews Make Final Plea to Prime Minister Olmert for News About Their Loved Ones

The families of 12 missing Iranian Jews, believed to be imprisoned in Teheran, have written a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to meet with them prior to undertaking any steps in the pending deal with the Hizbollah terrorist organization. The families will demand that Israel not release any information concerning the fate of four missing Iranian officials to the United Nations without receiving information on their disappeared loved ones as well.

The 12 Jews were arrested in the 1990s as they sought to escape from Iran across the border with Pakistan and they are believed to still be held in Iranian prisons. The Iranian diplomats were captured by Christian militia forces in South Lebanon in 1982 during the first Israeli-Lebanon War..

Among the missing Jews is Babak Teherani, the son of Los Angeles parents, Ilana Cohen-Teherani and Yousef Shaouliian Teherani who is believed to have been arrested in Iran 14 years ago while attempting to cross the border and was spotted in a Tehran prison several years after his disappearance. Babak was arrested near the Iran-Pakistan just prior to his attempt to escape, on or around June 10, 1994 and was only 14 went he disappeared. A Muslim neighbor from Teheran, who later joined the Teherani family in Los Angeles, has testified that he saw the boy, and other of the 11 missing Jews, alive and well in a dark and damp Teheran prison in 1996.

The urgent letter, sent to the Prime Minister by the Teherani familiy's attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of the Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center human rights organization, demands that the Prime Minister not authorize the transfer of information regarding the missing Iranian diplomats until such time as reliable and detailed information is received about the fate of all the missing Iranian Jews. The families have never received any acknowledgment of their loved ones' arrests, status or whereabouts from the Islamic regime.

The families wrote in the letter that their feeling of abandonment is deep and they feel that their case has been pushed aside and forgotten by all, including the government and Israeli public.

The letter to the PM argues that the government must honor the obligations imposed upon it by the Israeli High Court approximately two years ago in a prior petition brought by the Persian families that [the Israeli government] "Push forward diligently without sparing any effort in order to gain information about the [12 missing] Jews of Iran."

The families are insisting that there be a "quid pro quo" on information about their family members in exchange for the release of the details on the fate of the missing Iranians. According to Darshan-Leitner: "Saving the lives of these missing Jews, still being held in Iranian prisons after years of torture must be a central component of any deal with Hizbollah and Iran."

http://www.israellawcenter.org

Verbal Jam - Sadistisch terrorisme

Hier de reaktie van Verbal Jam op de aanslag met de bulldozer van afgelopen week.

__________________________

Verbal Jam - scherp, satirisch

Sadistisch terrorisme

Posted: 03 Jul 2008 07:57 AM CDT

Ik ben onthutst en geschokt. Kwaad ook. Na lange onderhandelingen heeft de Israëlische regering zich bereid getoond om gevangenen te ruilen tegen de lijken van de ontvoerde soldaten Eldad Regev en Ehud Goldwasser . Hun ontvoering was de aanleiding tot de juli-oorlog in 2006 tussen Israël en Hezbollah.
Vorig jaar maakte ik nog een radioreportage over de acties in Israël om de regering aan te zetten tot onderhandelen. Er was namelijk totaal niets meer van de soldaten vernomen. Maar dat die actie zo'n macabere uitkomst kon hebben had ik niet verwacht.

Waarom maak ik mij hier druk over? Ten eerste omdat de soldaten waarschijnlijk tijdens of na hun ontvoering door de Hezbollah zijn vermoord en niet tijdens 'normale' gevechtshandelingen. Dat is in strijd met de internationale verdragen
Ten tweede omdat Ehud Goldwasser afkomstig is uit Nahariya. Dit kustplaatsje in het noorden van Israël is zoals u misschien weet mijn second hometown.
Ten derde omdat één van de vrij te laten gevangenen een Palestijnse terrorist is met de naam Samir Kantar. Hij pleegde in 1979 op zestienjarige leeftijd vanuit Libanon een terroristische aanslag in datzelfde Nahariya. Het was een van de meest walgelijke aanslagen in de Israëlische geschiedenis.

Rond middernacht op 22 april 1979 landde Samir Kantar samen met drie andere strijders in een rubberboot op het strand van Nahariya. De operatie werd uitgevoerd als protest tegen het vredesverdrag tussen Israël en Egypte. De terroristen drongen schietend en gooiend met granaten een appartementengebouw binnen.
Daar woonde ook het gezin Haran. Moeder Smadar wist zich met haar tweejarig dochtertje Yael in de kruipruimte te verstoppen. Vader Danny vluchtte met zijn vierjarig dochtertje Einat in de richting van een ondergrondse schuilkelder. Ze werden echter door de terroristen gegrepen en naar het strand gesleurd. Daar werd Danny voor de ogen van zijn dochtertje doodgeschoten. Samir Kantar sloeg daarna de kleine Einat met haar hoofd tegen een rotsblok en sloeg haar de schedel in met de kolf van zijn geweer.

Het drama werd nog extra bizar toen bleek dat moeder Smadar tijdens hun verblijf in de kruipruimte per ongeluk haar eigen dochtertje had verstikt. Om te voorkomen dat het kind geluid maakte, had zij haar hand over haar mond gelegd, met noodlottig gevolg.
In het gevecht met de terroristen sneuvelden ook nog twee politieagenten. Twee terroristen werden eveneens gedood, Samir Kantar en een kompaan werden gearresteerd. Samir werd veroordeeld tot 542 jaar cel. Volgens zijn broer heeft hij na dertig jaar cel nog steeds geen enkel berouw.

Deze gestoorde sadist dreigt nu op vrije voeten te komen. Hij is inmiddels 46 jaar en is dus jong genoeg om er nog eens lekker tegenaan te gaan.
Buiten dat is het naar mijn bescheiden mening sowieso niet handig om dode Israëlische soldaten te ruilen voor levende terroristen. Het zal de Hezbollah bij toekomstige incidenten in elk geval geen aanleiding geven om humanitair om te gaan met hun gijzelaars. Waarschijnlijk heeft premier Olmert ervoor gekozen dat de families van de soldaten eindelijk zekerheid krijgen en hun zonen kunnen begraven. Jammer dat Samir Kantar niet óók als lijk kan worden teruggestuurd. Maar dat is natuurlijk weer een te emotionele reactie...

Gelukkig is er vandaag ook een gunstig bericht uit de sector terrorisme. De Colombiaanse ex-presidentskandidaat Ingrid Betancourt is door het leger uit handen van de Farc bevrijd.

Egypte ontdekt drie smokkeltunnels op grens met Gazastrook

Waarschijnlijk het topje van de ijsberg...

Men wil waarschijnlijk de Rafah grens binnenkort openen (dit zou volgens het staakt-het-vuren akkoord gebeuren wanneer de wapensmokkel wordt aangepakt en er een deal is waarin Shalit vrij komt), want de spanning loopt daar op. Onlangs hebben Gaza demonstranten de grens bestormd en heeft Egypte ze met waterkanonnen terug kunnen dringen, en men heeft niet echt zin een volgende keer kogels te moeten gebruiken.

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Egypt uncovers three tunnels on border with Gaza strip

By DPA

Last update - 20:59 05/07/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999094.html

Egyptian police uncovered three tunnels near the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip Saturday and seized weapons and explosives in the strategic Sinai peninsula, according to security sources.

Police uncovered two tunnels in Barahma north of the Rafah border crossing and a third tunnel south of the crossing, the sources said.

Quantities of fuel were found in the tunnels, the sources added without giving further details.

Police also found TNT explosives in Hilwa near the town of Arish in northern Sinai, and nine automatic rifles and ammunition in Muqdaba, in the centre of the peninsula.

The Sinai desert in north-eastern Egypt is strategically important because it borders Israel and the Gaza Strip and has been the scene of several wars between the two countries.

Now it is a demilitarized zone in accordance with the peace treaty between the two countries.

Israel has been pressing Egypt to stem weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip via the Sinai desert. Egyptian authorities regularly uncover weapons caches and tunnels there.

Hamas gevangenen feliciteren familie van martelaar bulldozer aanval

Dit zijn de gevangenen die Israël waarschijnlijk binnenkort zal vrijlaten in ruil voor Shalit. Dit zijn de mensen die in de Palestijnse gebieden als helden worden gezien. En dit zijn mensen waarvan velen vinden dat Israël ze zonder voorwaarden moet vrijlaten, en zonder voorwaarden mee moet gaan onderhandelen.

Voor de duidelijkheid: de aanslag afgelopen woensdag vond plaats in West-Jeruzalem, op de Jaffa straat tussen het busstation en de markt.

RP

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Hamas prisoners call on escalating the resistance in the West Bank

5 July 2008

Website of Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades - the armed branch of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
www. alqassam.ps/english/?action=showdetail&fid=1077

Hamas prisoners sent congratulations to the family of the martyr of bulldozer operation which took place in the occupied Jerusalem ," Hossam Dwaiyat", the person who carried out the bulldozer operation in Jerusalem last Wednesday.

The prisoners of Hamas saluted the martyr Dwaiyat, they welcomed the heroic operation carried out by him and which led to the death of three Zionist settlers and wounding 45 as the recognition of the occupation.

In a letter leaked on July 4th,2008 from the prisons, Hamas prisoners said, "The operation carries a very important meanings to be read carefully by everyone, as the resistance work to be continued and continuous whatever the limitations and precautionary measures, the resistance against the occupation is not exclusive to a part of people, but it is rather the right of the Palestinian people."

They pointed out that every means is possible to be used by the Palestinian resistance in order to hurt the Zionist enemy . They called on the resistance in the West Bank to escalate the jihadist work and to raise the pace of resistance against the occupation.

Hamas prisoners summed up by saying, "The well-studied resistance based on the willingness of steadfastness and patience , it can alone impose the demands of the Palestinians against the occupation, it can alone end injustice siege on our people as happens in the Gaza Strip; whereas, the negotiation processes have proved its fiasco.

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

Palestijnse "Chutzpa": bulldozer incident wellicht verkeersongeluk

The association demanded in its statement that investigations be held under international supervision since there are some indications that the incident was in fact a road accident with nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In Addameer's statement, they suggest that the attacker may simply have lost control of his bulldozer.

Dit is grote nonsens, want de bulldozer reed zeer bewust in op een bus en auto's. Een vrouw gaf haar baby net op tijd aan een omstander want nadat haar auto was geraakt door de bulldozer, reed deze opnieuw achteruit over de auto waardoor de moeder gedood werd.
Ze was de dochter van het echtpaar Loevenstein, een Nederlandse familie in Israël, de baby was haar enige kind.

Het is niet echt aan de Palestijnen om te willen bepalen hoe Israël dit incident onderzoekt, een excuus en een onderzoek naar de verheerlijking van geweld in Palestijnse media, schoolboeken en moskeeën zou meer op zijn plaats zijn. Helaas is de zelfkritische houding van veel Israëli's nog niet door de Palestijnen overgenomen.

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Addameer: bulldozer incident investigation needs international supervision

Date: 05 / 07 / 2008 Time: 14:30
www.maannews. net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30335

Gaza - Ma'an - Addameer (Conscience) Prisoners' Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of political prisoners and detainees released a statement on Saturday condemning "execution" of Jerusalem bulldozer attacker Husam Dwayyat.

The statement described the execution as "violation of the right to life. "

The statement also slammed the Israeli Knesset's decision to demolish the man's home, describing the action as "racial behavior and collective punishment against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem."

The association demanded in its statement that investigations be held under international supervision since there are some indications that the incident was in fact a road accident with nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In Addameer's statement, they suggest that the attacker may simply have lost control of his bulldozer.

Addameer called on the international community to intervene in order to halt the process - already in motion - to destroy the home of the Dwayyat family.

Rol Israël in bevrijdingsaktie Ingrid Betancourt Colombia

Israël is expert in terreurbestrijding en gijzelsituaties. Na het fiasco bij de Duitse bevrijdingspoging van de Israëlische Olympische ploeg in München in 1972, besloot men de bevrijdingsaktie in Entebbe (Oeganda) in 1976 zelf in de hand te nemen, waarbij men het naast de gijzelnemers tevens opnam tegen de soldaten van Idi Amin, en met succes! Helaas is zo'n aktie niet haalbaar in Hamasstan of Hezbollahstan...

Bij onderstaand bericht vroeg ik me even af of Nicolas Sarkozy Israël om hulp zou hebben gevraagd om zijn geadopteerde dochter te bevrijden, maar ze zijn blijkbaar door Colombia zelf benaderd.

Wouter

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Israeli involvement in Colombia hostage rescue

Last update - 08:48 04/07/2008

Colombia hostage rescue: the Israeli angle

By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies

Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was released after six years in captivity on Wednesday, compared her "impeccable" rescue operation to Israeli commando operations.

Perhaps she did not know it, but Israel indeed contributed to the elaborately-planned, daring rescue mission.

Betancourt, who was kidnapped in 2002 by Marxist rebels in Colombia (FARC), was rescued without a shot being fired. Colombian military agents, who had penetrated FARC's leadership, instructed her guards to transfer her to another rebel group.

Her captors put her on a helicopter that arrived as scheduled, little knowing that their comrades-in-arms were undercover Colombian soldiers. Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held in the jungle, including three Americans, were freed.

Since word of the dramatic rescue spread, speculation in the world media has attributed the success to people trained by Israeli intelligence. But an Israeli figure familiar with the military aid to Colombia said there was "no need to exaggerate" Israel's involvement in the operation.

The Israelis involved in the operation feel it is important to accord the credit to Colombia. The Israeli activity, involving dozens of Israeli security experts, was coordinated by Global CST, owned by former General Staff operations chief, Brigadier General (res.) Israel Ziv, and Brigadier (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser.

"It's a Colombian Entebbe operation," Ziv said Thursday when he returned from Bogota. "Both regarding its national and international importance. Betancourt has become a symbol of the struggle against international terror. This is an amazing operation that wouldn't shame any army or special forces anywhere in the world."

Asked about the Israeli involvement in it Ziv said there is "no need to exaggerate."

"We don't want to take credit for something we didn't do," a company source said. "We helped them prepare themselves to fight terror. We helped them to plan operations and strategies and develop intelligence sources. That's quite a bit, but shouldn't be taken too far."

Israelis may not have taken part in the rescue, but they advised and guided, sold equipment and intelligence technology.

The Israeli involvement began a year and a half ago, when Colombia asked Israel for help in its struggle against FARC, which had become a militia specializing in kidnapping civilians and military figures for ransom and drug trading.

Israel has over the years sold Colombia planes, drones, weapons and intelligence systems. At the Defense Ministry's suggestion, Global CST won the $10 million contract to work with Colombia.

Ziv and Kuperwasser did not take part in the fighting, at the Defense Ministry's instructions. They hired experts who had worked for the Mossad, Shin Bet security service and IDF in various capacities.

"Well I have to say that this operation was exclusively carried out by the Colombian Army," Colombian ambassador to Israel Juan Hurtado Cano said in an interview with Infolive TV, Jerusalem.

Huis slopen als afschrikkingsmaatregel?

Terwijl een paar jaar geleden is besloten te stoppen met het vernietigen met de huizen van terroristen na een aanslag, wil Israël deze praktijk nu weer invoeren, zij het wel alleen op Israëlisch grondgebied, dus niet in de bezette gebieden. Argument is o.a. dat men plegers van aanslagen die in Israël of Oost-jeruzalem wonen extra zwaar aanrekent dat zij hun eigen land, waar zij vele rechten genieten, zo benadelen. Machteloosheid is helaas ook een motivatie:

A series of High Court of Justice rulings state there is no guarantee that the method is effective. However, given "the few means at the state's disposal to defend itself against living bombs, it cannot be scorned," the court has stated.

De praktijk is eerder afgeschaft omdat het niet effectief was, en het potentiële aanvallers niet afschrikte, noch hun familieleden ertoe bracht beter op te letten of manlief of een van de kinderen zich niet vreemd gedroeg. De enige rechtvaardiging lijkt te zijn dat als de familie daadwerkelijk van de plannen wist, zij medeplichtig is aan de daad door dit niet bij de politie te melden en dus strafbaar is. Het Hooggerechtshof heeft deze voorkennis bij familieleden dan ook als voorwaarde gesteld voor de vernieling van het huis, maar het lijkt me lastig dit te bewijzen. Het zou beter zijn als de familieleden worden aangeklaagd voor voorkennis van de aanslag zonder deze te melden, en vervolgens eventueel worden veroordeeld volgens het Israëlische strafrecht.

The High Court will not approve a demolition if it is convinced it constitutes disproportionate and unreasonable harm to the family of the terrorist. And in recent years, the High Court has shown increasing willingness to intervene in security considerations.

Wat is 'disproportionate and unreasonable harm'? Als je huis wordt vernield sta je op straat. Het enige dat zoiets de ene keer onredelijk en de andere keer tot redelijk zou kunnen maken, is wederom de vraag of de familieleden wisten van de plannen en hebben geprobeerd die te voorkomen.

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Haaretz / July 4, 2008
Legal Analysis / Family can appeal demolition

By Ze'ev Segal
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998833.html

Following the terror attack in Jerusalem this week, the cabinet is considering resuming house demolitions, including the East Jerusalem homes of terrorists. The authority to demolish homes has existed on local law books since 1945, requires no due process, and also applies to houses inside Israeli territory.

The state has said in the past that house demolition is a critical means of pressuring Palestinian families to prevent acts of terror.

A series of High Court of Justice rulings state there is no guarantee that the method is effective. However, given "the few means at the state's disposal to defend itself against living bombs, it cannot be scorned," the court has stated.

The Supreme Court has avoided commenting on the efficacy or wisdom of the means, and addressed only its constitutionality. The rulings state that demolition cannot be used as a punishment.

Nonetheless, the High Court has consistently rejected appeals against house demolition and accepted defense establishment arguments that it is a preventive measure designed to deter potential terrorists, and stated that family members' prior knowledge of planned attacks is "a mandatory precondition to applying the military authority to demolish."

In any case, it is evident that a house cannot be demolished, in contrast to being sealed off, without giving the family the opportunity to be heard by the High Court of Justice. The court already has ruled that house demolition does not contradict the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom.

The High Court will not approve a demolition if it is convinced it constitutes disproportionate and unreasonable harm to the family of the terrorist. And in recent years, the High Court has shown increasing willingness to intervene in security considerations.

Lessen in Arabisch en propaganda op Harvard - USA

Niet alleen de Palestijnse Autoriteit gebruikt schoolboeken vol met anti-Israëlische propaganda, ook cursussen Arabisch op Amerikaanse universiteiten gebruiken teksten en films waarin Nasser als de grote volksheld wordt neergezet, Jeruzalem als een puur Arabische stad en Israëlische soldaten als bloeddorstige kindermoordenaars.

RP
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The Washington Post
Teaching Arabic and Propaganda

By Joel B. Pollak
Saturday, July 5, 2008; A15
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402093.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

At Harvard, the star of Arabic A is a girl named Maha. Maha Muhammed Abulaal, to be precise. She's the pouty protagonist in the melodrama that runs throughout "Al-Kitaab," the standard beginning text in Arabic classes at Harvard and other American universities.

We are taught to speak our first Arabic sentences by expressing Maha's incurable angst. We learn in Chapter 1 that Maha is desperately lonely. In later chapters, we are told that she hates New York, has no boyfriend and resents her mother.

Soon we encounter her equally depressing relatives in Egypt -- such as her first cousin Khalid, whose mother died in a car accident and who was forced to study business administration after his father told him literature "has no future."

Like Maha, Khalid is loveless; his only romantic prospect ran away with a rich engineer. The family eventually intervenes with plans to marry the cousins off to each other. This makes everyone equally unhappy.

Then the story ends.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of Americans studying Arabic has more than doubled. Nearly 24,000 U.S. students enrolled in Arabic classes in the fall of 2006, the Modern Language Association reported in November. In 2002, 264 colleges offered Arabic; as of the 2006-07 academic year, 466 did.

Young, ambitious Americans are responding constructively to our country's new challenges by demanding Arabic classes. But there are not enough teachers to meet this demand, and the available textbooks are suffused with the stale prejudices and preoccupations of the pre-Sept. 11 Middle East.

To study Arabic in America today is to be inducted into a world of longing, abandonment and regret. And that's before you even touch the political issues.

Most maps of the Middle East in "Al-Kitaab" do not include Israel, though a substantial minority of Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, are native Arabic speakers. Alongside simple Arabic poems, students read about anti-Western heroes such as Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The DVD that comes with "Al-Kitaab" includes footage of Nasser's mass rallies in Cairo -- including slogans in Arabic and French such as "Brother Nations in Struggle, We Are By Your Side." These scenes of totalitarian rage are fondly described by the narrator as "dreams of his youth."

The accompanying lesson describes the highlights of Nasser's career, including the nationalization of the Suez Canal and the formation of the United Arab Republic. No mention is made of Egypt's defeat in the Six-Day War or of Nasser's brutal, repressive rule. In my class, we were asked to recite a passage about Nasser to practice our vocalization. (I refused.)

The last lesson in the book -- which we skipped -- features Maha's mother speaking wistfully of her childhood in Palestine: "My childhood was taken from me!" Over mournful music on the DVD, she talks about returning to Jerusalem, as if she were a refugee, but the images suggest that she left voluntarily after the Six-Day War, when Israel offered citizenship to the Arab residents of East Jerusalem. The fact that Israel also claims Jerusalem as its capital is ignored.

My class watched three movies this semester, all with political themes. One was "West Beirut," which cast Christians as the prime bad guys in Lebanon's civil war (though, to be fair, there was plenty of hatred all around). Another was "The Tale of Three Jewels," an allegorical film about Palestinian nationalism that portrayed Israeli soldiers as bloodthirsty child-killers.

The third movie, "Destiny," told the story of the great medieval Islamic philosopher Averroes and his struggles against Islamic religious fundamentalism. It was a bit more nuanced than the first two. But the film omitted the fact that it was only through the Hebrew transcription of Averroes's writings by Jewish scholars in Egypt that his works were preserved for posterity.

Friends and relatives who have used "Al-Kitaab" at other American universities report similarly morose experiences. At several colleges and high schools, students have created Facebook profiles for Maha. The Harvard profile for Maha informs visitors in the "About Me" section: "I'm pretty lonely. I only have one friend. My parents are always busy."

We may laugh, but there is something fundamentally wrong with this indoctrination into misery. Most introductory language classes avoid controversial political subjects. In fact, they often highlight the brighter side of different cultures. Particularly with the growing importance of Arabic, can't we do better?

The U.S. government has funded studies on anti-Semitism in Palestinian textbooks. Fairfax county officials have asked the State Department to investigate the teaching materials at a Saudi-funded school. "Al-Kitaab" is published by Georgetown University Press, with some assistance from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Perhaps we should also be looking into the content of the federally funded materials used in Arabic programs at our own universities. Learning Arabic should not include lessons in political propaganda.

The writer is a student at Harvard Law School.

Gevangenenruil: de prijs van 'tegen elke prijs'

In Israël is fel gedebateerd en gedemonstreerd over de gevangenenruil met zowel Hezbollah als Hamas. De kwestie ligt erg gevoelig gezien het Israëlische principe om elke soldaat thuis te brengen, zelfs dode soldaten. De terroristische groeperingen weten dit en vragen een enorme prijs, vaak de vrijlating van honderden gevangenen -waaronder velen met bloed aan hun handen- voor één soldaat. Behalve dat een deel van hen weer opnieuw geweldsdaden tegen Israël zal gaan plegen, maakt het pogingen om meer soldaten te ontvoeren ook erg aanlokkelijk. Wat dat betreft is te hopen dat Hezbollah haar lesje heeft geleerd van haar 'glorieuze overwinning' in de Tweede Libanon Oorlog van 2006.

Wouter

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The cost of 'at any cost'

By Alexander Yakobson
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998050.html

Those who say "at any cost" are usually not prepared to admit what the real cost is. The expected cost of the exchange of "prisoners for bodies" with Hezbollah is more Israeli bodies. Those who will pay this price have families, too, but with no one to wage a media or public campaign for them. They have no one to preach in their name to the country's leaders and accuse them of insensitivity. Protecting them is the lackluster, thankless job of a responsible national leadership.

The debate over the swap did not take place along expected political lines. It cannot be said this time that the left pressured the other side to give in. Yossi Beilin was against the deal, while Orthodox ministers and MKs supported it.

Neither can it be said that the deal was forced on the defense establishment: While the chiefs of the Mossad and the Shin Bet security service opposed it, the chief of staff was in favor. This is not the victory of one camp or approach over another. This unfortunate decision reflects national - not to say tribal - and religious-traditional sensitivities characteristic of the Israeli right, no less than it reflects the sensitivities of the Israeli left in its present liberal and individualistic form (very different from its classical form).

In this case various forces came together in an extreme way: a focus on the individual to the extent of ignoring the general interest (and the fact that individuals who compose the collective are the ones who pay a price for harm to the collective); the power of the media in a modern, free society; the natural tendency to stand with individuals in their problems with the government; the powerful Jewish tribal emotion of solidarity "at any cost" - going so far as to endanger the tribe itself; and the particular Jewish sensitivity to providing a Jewish burial for the dead.

With regard to the last issue, this is not about obedience to a rule of Jewish law, as a strong basis against a dangerous deal of this type can also be found in Jewish law. It is about deep-set feelings that, while they stem from the religious and traditional Jewish world, impact many secular people. A stranger would not understand the force of these feelings in dictating political decisions that endanger human life. This is one of the cases in which the stranger would be right.

All these attitudes and sensitivities have their places, in forms that are rational and not extreme. They can also be found to share a foundation of principle, despite the tension between them. Their correct integration is very powerful, and to a great extent this is the secret of Israel's strength.

However this also becomes the secret of its weakness when the weaknesses of all these approaches are combined. This time the combination created a dangerous Israeli weakness in the face of a determined and unbridled enemy, an enemy that has no interest in a "diplomatic solution" of any kind. The uncovering of a weakness like this in the face of such an enemy is not a matter of damaged prestige; it is a serious danger to human life.

Clearly a refusal to exchange prisoners would also inflict a heavy price. When it comes to bringing home live prisoners, there is no choice but to compare costs - the cost of dealing as opposed to the cost of a refusal to deal. There is no precise and agreed-on formula to compare such costs. This is a harsh dilemma and an issue for legitimate debate, one in which no side should be permitted to say "at any price." However, the release of prisoners in exchange for bodies is a red line that should not be crossed.

A free and open society has one well-known characteristic: it frequently appears weaker than it really is. Not because the weaknesses are not real and painful, but because in the final tally the sources of strength in such a society usually outnumber its weaknesses. If this were not the case, world history over the past century would be very different, and Israel would not have marked 60 years of independence.

Hezbollah sees the agreement as a victory, and not without reason. However, while Nasrallah's muses roar, the cannons are silent. Israel's northern border has been completely quiet for the past two years - the longest since the 1960s. Clearly we cannot know what the new day will bring. But it seems that the last conflict did not lead Hezbollah to the conclusion that Israel can be challenged without fear. This organization is celebrating Israel's weaknesses, but it also understands its strength.

VN troepen UNIFIL in Libanon gedwongen foto's te wissen van verborgen kabels

Israël schent resolutie 1701 door regelmatig met (bij mijn weten onbemande) spionagevliegtuigjes over Libanees grondgebied te vliegen zoals ze al jaren placht te doen. Gek is dat niet, want als ze het van UNIFIL moeten hebben om Hezbollah in de gaten te houden (laat staan ertegen op te treden), dan kunnen ze wel inpakken...

Wouter
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Haaretz / Last update - 10:13 02/07/2008
UN troops in Lebanon forced to delete images of covert cables

By Yoav Stern and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998254.html

Soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were forced by local Lebanese residents to delete photos of suspicious-looking underground cables, according a report submitted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The incident constitutes the second time in recent months that the work of the peacekeeping force has been restricted because of pressures from local residents - this in strict violation of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War that brought the UNIFIL forces to south Lebanon.

According to the UN secretary general's report, on May 28, UNIFIL peacekeepers located cables that were buried in southeast Lebanon.

They proceeded to take photographs of the cables, and were subsequently surrounded by local residents who hurled stones at them and in turn took pictures of the soldiers themselves.

The incident was brought to an end only after UNIFIL agreed to delete the photos, despite the fact that UN policy permits the use of cameras by the peacekeeping forces.

The report, the seventh released on the implementation of Resolution 1701, also said that UNIFIL increased the number of its observation posts in the Shaba Farms area, and called on Israel to accept one of the solutions that has been offered to end its presence in the northern section of the border village of Rajar.

The report also emphasized the fact that Israel and Lebanon need to visually delineate the border through clear border markings. There are currently nine markings on the border - in the form of blue barrels - that have been approved by both Israel and Lebanon.

Regarding the presence of the Israel Air Force in Lebanese skies, the report states that in the last several months, Israel has increased its flyovers, which constitute a violation of UN Resolution 1701.

Smokkelen van Egypte naar Gazastrook via de zee probleemloos

De kust van Gazastrook wordt blijkbaar niet meer gecontroleerd, noch door Israël noch door Egypte? Dit nieuws is aan de aandacht van de altijd alerte media ontsnapt, lijkt het.

Wouter

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Smuggling from Egypt to Gaza via Sea with no interference by Israel or Egypt

Dr. Aaron Lerner

Date: 2 July, 2008

Yediot Ahronot correspondent Alex Fishman reports in today's edition that according to senior Israeli security sources, Egypt has reduced it naval anti-smuggling activities as compared to the past.

Palestinian boats loaded with people and suspicious material can be seen passing within meters of Egyptian Coast Guard boats on their way from Egypt to Gaza. Sometimes the Egyptians can be seen waiving hello to the passing boats and dinghies.

"Until the "calm" the [Israeli] Navy stopped boats, dinghies, etc. going from the Egyptian coast towards the Gaza coast that were suspected of being associated with the smuggling of weapons or activists to Gaza. Since the "calm" this activity of the [Israeli] navy has ceased such that the water passage to Gaza has transformed into the "secure path" for smuggling.The complaints that Israel has passed to Egypt so far on this matter have not been answered in the field," reports Fishman.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)

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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il