Syrië voert wapensteun aan Hezbollah op

 

Hezbollah zint nog steeds op wraak voor de moord op Mugniyah, waarvan Israel wordt verdacht.

 

Wouter

_______________

IDF: Syria offers Hezbollah greater support than ever
Syria is transferring weapons to Hezbollah that it did not dare to hand over before, Senior IDF intelligence official tells Knesset committee Tuesday; PM
Netanyahu: Iran creating false impression, we're not seeking confrontation with Syria
Amnon Meranda - Ynet

Published: 03.02.10, 17:16
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3856875,00.html

 

Syria is crossing previous red lines in supplying Hezbollah with weapons, handing over arms that it never before dared transfer to the Lebanese terror group, the head of the IDF's research division of Military Intelligence says.

"Syria is handing over to Hezbollah components that it would not dare hand over before," Yossi Baidatz told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday.

Addressing the Hezbollah threat, the senior IDF official said the group was facing a dilemma between its Jihadist identity and commitment to Iran on the one hand and Lebanon's domestic arena on the other hand.

"For that reason, although it has maintained the quiet and is uninterested in a clash, it attempts to carry out a revenge attack for Mugniyah's death, especially against Israeli targets abroad," Baidatz said. "Simultaneously, it continues to build up its strength for a confrontation against Israel, deploys its members broadly throughout south Lebanon but also deeper, and accumulates advanced weapons - long-range missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and anti-tank missiles, with Iran's and Syria's assistance."

'Iranian regime won't collapse soon'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the issue, noting that "there is a process of military buildup and very methodical provocation by Iran."

"We are not seeking any kind of confrontation with Syria. The talk about us preparing for an offensive against Syria is unfounded," the PM said. "This false impression is being created by Iran."

Baidatz added that "Iran continues to tighten its ties with the radical axis."

"Just look at the three-way meeting held in Syria," he said. "It included the commander of Iran's revolutionary forces, who are responsible on behalf of Iran for supplying weapons to all terror groups at all regions."

Also in respect to Iran, Baidatz said that hopes for an imminent collapse of the Ayatollah regime are premature.

"The potential for something taking place within the Iranian population exists, but there's a great distance between the riots we saw and the regime's collapse," he said. "The Iranian regime is not about to collapse, and those who expect that Iran will soon collapse will be gravely disappointed."

BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) voor Israel?

 

Mijn mening over het boycotten van Israel heb ik al jaren geleden op mijn website geplaatst. Helaas moet dit steeds weer herhaald worden, zoals nu er op universiteiten wereldwijd weer de "Israelische Apartheids Weken" worden "gevierd". Een fraaie traditie, die al teruggaat tot 1933....

 

Wouter

______________

 

Let's talk about BDS

03.03. 2010
http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000730.html
Original content copyright by the author
Zionism & Israel Center http://zionism-israel.com

Some of my American friends tell me that young Jewish people are complaining: "Why can't we talk about BDS?" "What's wrong with BDS?" "Please let's talk about BDS." "How come you never want to talk about BDS?"

Indeed, one Emily Schaeffer wrote an article in the anti-Israel blog Mondoweiss entitled, "People are talking about BDS."

So if people are talking about BDS, why not talk about it? By all means, let's talk about BDS.

Any subject referred to by its initials is likely to be something unpleasant, best discussed with caution in public: VD, STD, AIDS. The initials are used to euphemize reality. We can talk about the "C-word" without saying the name of the disease, and that makes us feel much better about it.

BDS is not much different. It stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. These are ugly words, especially when applied to Jews. They were first applied in Nazi Germany and enforced by Sturmabteilung troops - SA Storm Troopers.

BDS is BDS is BDS. BDS by any other name has the same stench

In 1943, the Arabs states began their "BDS," when they resolved not to purchase any goods manufactured by Jews in Palestine. The inspiration for this initiative was very likely the Arab Palestinian Grand Mufti, Hajj Amin Al Husseini, who was busy recruiting troops for the SS and hobnobbing with Adolf Hitler.

That boycott evolved into the Arab boycott, a part of the Arab strategy for eliminating the state of Israel, that has been and remains, in place since 1948. Except for Egypt and Jordan, the boycott is observed throughout the Arab world, in violation of World Trade Organization agreements. The Arab Boycott violates US law. The BDS movement is an extension of the Arab boycott.

So we don't want to use a nasty word like "Boycott," especially not if we want to attract young Jewish people, just as we would want to avoid using nasty words like "venereal" and "disease," with their unpleasant associations. BDS sounds so much more innocuous, doesn't it?

All those things with initials get odd theories attached to them: "You can get it from a toilet seat." "It's not transmitted the way people think it is." "It is not as dangerous as people tell you." Again, BDS is not much different. Emily Schaeffer, who is either ignorant or mendacious, tells her readers:

As more and more people come to realize that BDS is simply a non-violent, creative, temporary tool for highlighting what is really happening within Israel and in the
territories ... Israelis will have to start looking inside ...

The Palestinian call for BDS is not a campaign to bring Israel to its end, but rather a campaign to force Israel to uphold its commitments under international law and the moral and legal standards of a real democracy.

Emily Schaeffer and anyone else can know, if they care to, that BDS is not a "temporary tool," but a campaign to bring Israel to it's end. It is not "Zionist propaganda." It is what the BDS supporters and initiators say.

We must turn the one-state solution into a relevant political agenda...
....
About sanctions/boycott campaigns as a necessary means:
- The legitimacy of Israel's regime must be challenged for its racism on the one hand, and its colonialist character on the other. The only way this regime can be brought to collapse is from outside. We have to call for boycott and sanctions against Israel.

- There is no chance to change Israeli society from within, we are at a dead end and Israeli society is becoming increasingly fascist.

- We are dealing with the dismantling of power, and the question is how to convince this power to voluntarily dismantle. I totally agree that something more drastic is needed. (Source: Originally at badil.org/Campaign/Expert_Forum/Haifa/Summary.htm),

The Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid states "We are opposed to imperialism, sectarianism, and Zionism." (source: baceia.org/about-us/ ).

There is no doubt that BDS is not a "temporary measure." BDS really is aimed at ending Israel as a homeland of the Jewish people. The liberal J Street group has pointed this out in a circular letter:

The BDS movement, whose dogmatic, counterproductive approach underlies "Israel Apartheid Week," aims to delegitimize Israel's very existence – making no distinction between West Bank settlements and Israel proper, and refusing to support a two-state solution that results in a viable Palestinian state and a secure, democratic Israel that is a homeland for the Jewish people, living side by side in peace and security.

Moshe Warshawski, a BDS enthusiast stated:

Peace, or, better, justice, cannot be achieved without a total decolonization (one can say de-Zionisation) of the Israeli State...

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Those who seek to end Zionism seek to end the existence of the Jews as a people. In other words, they advocate cultural genocide. But the one state solution they seek to impose would leave a defenseless Jewish minority prey to a Muslim/Arab majority intent on its destruction. There is every likelihood that the end of Zionism will end the existence of the Jews- the physical genocide of the Jewish people in Israel.

Most of us who are alive today cannot remember when there was no Jewish state. The parents of most university students were not alive when there was no Jewish state. Human beings have limited imaginations. We tend to believe that what exists now, always existed, and will always exist in the future. In reality, nation states have arisen and disappeared many times in the past. Think about a reality in which there is no Jewish state at all, and what it would mean to Jews living in the Diaspora. The time when "Jew" was an epithet for a creature of derision, when there were quotas that screened Jews out of universities, when Jews were objects of contempt in literature, may seem like ancient history, but all this existed in the United States and other "enlightened" parts of the world in the last century. That time can very easily return.

So, by all means talk about BDS. Ask the BDS spokespeople and the organizers of Israel Apartheid Week, "What is your real goal?" What do they mean by "peace?" What is behind their talk about "justice?" What hides behind the rhetoric about "occupation?" And where is the "occupation?" Is it in Nablus, according to them, or in Tel Aviv and Haifa? Ask them, and ask yourself, why Israel and Zionism are being singled out for delegitimation. China has brutally occupied Tibet since 1949. Nobody seriously proposes a boycott of China. Nobody is trying to delegitimize the Chinese state, or deprive Chinese of the right of self determination. Russian brutality in Chechnya was unimaginable, but the BDS people are not calling for an end to Russia, and not asking for a boycott of Russia. Iran has terrorized its own people for the past thirty one years, murdering dissenters, religious minorities, homosexuals and religious transgressors. Iran is threatening regional peace with its nuclear development program, conducted in defiance of the United Nations. But the BDS people are, of course, opposed to sanctions on Iran.

Perhaps you think it is "hysterical alarmism" to point out the possibility of ending the Jewish state. Think again. If the BDS movement did not believe Israel and Zionism could be eliminated, they would not be doing what they do.

Hat Tips: BlueTruth Fresno Zionism

Ami Isseroff

---

Original content is Copyright by the author 2010. Posted at ZioNation-Zionism and Israel Web Log, http://www.zionism-israel.com/log/archives/00000730.html where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Disributed by ZNN list. Subscribe by sending a message to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward by e-mail with this notice, cite this article and link to it. Other uses by permission only.

Israel heeft haar fouten, maar apartheid valt daar niet onder

 

Richard Cohen schrijft:

 

But anti-Semitism is not so easily dismissed with others. This is "Israeli Apartheid Week" on campuses across the world, and it is clear that what furiously animates many of the protesters are not legitimate grievances but imaginary ones. Israel is not above criticism and the Palestinians have their case, but when that case is constructed out of lies about the Jewish state, it not only represents a wholly unoriginal cover of some old anti-Semitic ditties but also denigrates the Palestinian cause. It does not need lies.
As for Israel, its critics do it no good when they couch their criticism in insults. Years of this sort of stuff have made Israel tone-deaf to legitimate criticism and exasperated with any attempt to find fault. That's why Israel refused to cooperate with the South African jurist Richard Goldstone when, on behalf of the United Nations, he looked into alleged war crimes. The United Nations had once equated Zionism with racism. After that, it was hard to care what the United Nations thought.

 

De VN heeft wel meer gedaan dat haar geloofwaardigheid in Israel heeft aangetast. De Algemene Vergadering neemt jaarlijks tientallen anti-Israel resoluties aan die kunnen rekenen op een automatische meerderheid. De 'Mensenrechtenraad', waarin verschillende dictaturen zitting hebben, besteedt het leeuwendeel van haar tijd aan het veroordelen van Israel en het verspreiden van allerlei leugens over dit land. Onder VN vlag zijn tientallen organisaties actief die zich inzetten voor de 'onvervreemdbare rechten' van de Palestijnen. Een van de zeven divisies van de VN is zelfs geheel aan de Palestijnse zaak gewijd. Het gaat daarbij niet zozeer om de bezetting, maar om delegitimatie van Israel, een VN lidstaat. Haar stichting wordt jaarlijks bij de zogenaamde Nakba herdenking betreurd. Israel heeft als enige VN lidstaat in diverse gremia geen zitting, omdat dit door het machtige islamitische blok wordt tegengehouden.

Zie ook: Israel en de Verenigde Naties

 

RP

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

The Washington Post / Tuesday, March 2, 2010; A15
Israel has its faults, but apartheid isn't one of them
By Richard Cohen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/01/AR2010030102761.html

 

Toward the end of last year, Jimmy Carter apologized for some of his very harsh statements about Israel. In an "open letter to the Jewish community" -- and with a vagueness that ill becomes him -- he airily mentioned criticisms that "stigmatize Israel" but omitted his own contribution: the implication that Israel is, like the racist South Africa of old, an "apartheid" state.

Carter used the term in his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." It could be argued that he meant the label to apply only to the West Bank, but even so the use of the term was incorrect and deliberatively provocative. Carter was waving the bloody shirt of racism, and he knew it.

What can be said about others who apply the term to Israel in general? No apology has come from them -- and the way things are going, none will be forthcoming. The use of the word has become commonplace -- Google "Israel and apartheid" and you will see that the two are linked in cyberspace, as love and marriage are in at least one song. The meaning is clear: Israel is a state where political and civil rights are withheld on the basis of race and race alone. This is not the case.

The Israel of today and the South Africa of yesterday have almost nothing in common. In South Africa, the minority white population harshly ruled the majority black population. Nonwhites were denied civil rights, and in 1958, they were even deprived of citizenship. In contrast, Israeli Arabs, about one-fifth of the country, have the same civil and political rights as do Israeli Jews. Arabs sit in the Knesset and serve in the military, although most are exempt from the draft. Whatever this is -- and it looks suspiciously like a liberal democracy -- it cannot be apartheid.

The West Bank, more or less under Israeli military rule, is a different matter. But it is not part of Israel proper, and under every conceivable peace plan -- including those proposed by Israeli governments -- almost all of it will revert to the Palestinian Authority and become the heartland of a Palestinian state.

Yet Israel's critics continue to hurl the apartheid epithet at the state when they have to know, or they ought to know, that it is a calumny. Interestingly, they do not use it for Saudi Arabia, which maintains as perfect a system of gender apartheid as can be imagined -- women can't even drive, never mind vote -- or elsewhere in the Arab world, where Palestinians sometimes have fewer rights than they do in Israel.

A recent op-ed on Israel in the Financial Times employs the word apartheid several times. Some of the time it seems to be applied to the West Bank, but other times it is applied to Israel proper. Either way, this shoe doesn't fit. (Security concerns are not rooted in racism.) The author of the piece is Henry Siegman, a harsh critic of Israeli policies and a former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, so anti-Semitism is not the issue here -- just sound judgment. Sometimes impatience can lead to imprudence.

But anti-Semitism is not so easily dismissed with others. This is "Israeli Apartheid Week" on campuses across the world, and it is clear that what furiously animates many of the protesters are not legitimate grievances but imaginary ones. Israel is not above criticism and the Palestinians have their case, but when that case is constructed out of lies about the Jewish state, it not only represents a wholly unoriginal cover of some old anti-Semitic ditties but also denigrates the Palestinian cause. It does not need lies.

As for Israel, its critics do it no good when they couch their criticism in insults. Years of this sort of stuff have made Israel tone-deaf to legitimate criticism and exasperated with any attempt to find fault. That's why Israel refused to cooperate with the South African jurist Richard Goldstone when, on behalf of the United Nations, he looked into alleged war crimes. The United Nations had once equated Zionism with racism. After that, it was hard to care what the United Nations thought.

To Carter's credit, he must have understood that a hunk of his audience had stopped listening. He was right to apologize, wrong not to have been more specific and a bit late in appreciating the damage he's done. Israel has its faults, (don't get me started), but it is not motivated by racism. That's more than can be said for many of its critics.

VS vice-president Joe Biden bezoekt Israel volgende week

Volgende week komt vice president Joe Biden van de VS naar Israel en de Palestijnse gebieden en zal in Tel Aviv een speech houden waarin hij de verbondenheid van de VS met Israel benadrukt, aldus Haaretz. Ook zal hij Israel oproepen geen unilaterale actie te ondernemen richting Iran. In Yediot Achronot zei minister Clinton echter dat het nog maanden kan duren voordat de VN Veiligheidsraad met een nieuwe ronde sancties tegen Iran in zal stemmen. Sancties die waarschijnlijk van hun scherpe kantjes zullen zijn ontdaan door China en de Arabische en islamitische leden van de Veiligheidsraad.

 

Ondertussen zal Obama na Egypte en Turkije binnenkort Indonesië als derde islamitische land bezoeken. Het laat allemaal toch een wat onprettige nasmaak achter, en dan heb ik het nog niet over de antisemitische tirade van Louis Farrakhan, leider van 'de Nation of Islam', die Obama's kandidatuur steunde. Laten we hopen op een felle veroordeling door Obama, misschien wel in het grootste moslimland ter wereld.

RP

-----------

Biden to speak directly to Israelis from Tel Aviv
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1153312.html
 

 

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address the Israeli public directly next week during a speech he is scheduled to deliver at Tel Aviv University, focusing on American commitment to Israel's security, Iran's nuclear program and the peace process.

 

Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday in Jerusalem that Biden is seeking to ensure that Israel and the United States are in alignment on the issue of preventing the Iranian nuclear threat.

 

Kerry, who is privy to the details of efforts to impose sanctions on Iran, hinted Monday at a press conference in Jerusalem after a meeting with the prime minister that Biden's visit to Israel, and that of other senior administration officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, aims at restraining Israel against the possibility of unilaterally attacking Iran.
 
To date the U.S. administration has not made a serious effort to reach out to the Israeli public, unlike addresses by President Barack Obama aimed at the Arab and Muslim world. Obama will continue to convey his message, which began during speeches in Turkey and Egypt, with another during an official visit to Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country.

 

Obama has also not yet visited Israel as U.S. president.

 

Biden is due in Israel on March 8, for a three-day visit that will also include the Palestinian Authority.

 

An Israeli political source has told Haaretz that Biden would like "to make a speech that is important and significant for Israeli-American relations."

 

The political portion of his visit will likely concentrate on the Iranian nuclear question, with Biden stressing before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. expects Israel to assist in the effort to foil, using diplomatic means, Iran's nuclear ambitions through the imposition of effective sanctions at the UN Security Council, thus avoiding unilateral steps that may include an attack on Iran's nuclear installations.

 

In response to a question on whether the U.S. is concerned about the possibility of such Israeli action, Senator Kerry said Monday that "the prime minister is more than aware through his conversations with the Secretary of State and the President himself, as well as just through his own common sense - I think he is very tuned in to not being rash or jumping the gun here or doing something that doesn't give those other opportunities a chance."

 

Kerry explained that one of the reasons for the sort of dialogue that has been taking place with the visits of U.S. officials and "one of the reasons that I am here and other people were here and VP Biden is coming shortly - is to make sure we are all on the same page and that we are all clear about what time frames may exist or what threat levels may be real or unreal and what options may be on the table for us. I think we are on the same page and I found the prime minister tremendously supportive of the initiatives that we are taking right now, and other countries are taking, and very hopeful that they can have an impact."

 

Louis Farrakhan: 'Obama onder druk van Joodse lobby'

"[You] can't even engage in constructive argument over the veracity of the figures of the Holocaust. We know something happened, sure, but you can't talk about [it]. In certain cities in Europe they arrest you and put you in prison for denying such."

Further on in his address, Farrakhan also reiterated his claims that the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was "an inside thing."

 

Farrakhan, speaking to a crowd of 20,000 followers at Chicago's United Center on Sunday, said that Obama's political problems began when he, according to the Chicago Sun Times report, stood up to the Jewish lobby during a White House meeting.

When they left the White House, his problems began," Farrakhan said, adding that "the Zionists are in control of the Congress."
Minister Farrakhan also referred to the U.S. president's chief economical advisors, Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Larry Summers, asking "Who does he have around him? The people from Goldman Sachs."

 

Is dit antisemitisme of antisemitisme? Als de Joden echt zoveel macht hadden, waarom heeft Obama dan Israel nog niet bezocht? Waarom de druk op de nederzettingenbouw? Waarom zijn er niet allang veel hardere sancties tegen Iran in werking? Waarom heeft de VS haar ambassade niet naar Jeruzalem verplaatst? Waarom veroordeelt de VS het feit dat Israel een paar illegaal gebouwde huizen heeft afgebroken in Oost Jeruzalem, en een paar huurders eruit heeft gezet die hun huur niet meer betaalden? Waarom erkent de VS Jeruzalem niet als hoofdstad van Israel? En waarom worden lezingen van vertegenwoordigers van de Israelische regering op universiteiten afgelast onder druk van moslimorganisaties, of de betreffende spreker het spreken onmogelijk gemaakt? Waarom vinden er activiteiten plaats op tientallen universiteiten in het kader van de 'Israel Apartheid weken'? Enz. enz. enz.

 

RP

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

Last update - 21:01 01/03/2010    
Farrakhan: Obama is targeted by U.S. Jewish lobby, Zionists
By Haaretz Service
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1153097.html 
 

 

U.S. President Barack Obama is targeted because of standing up to the Jews who control American politics as well as its economy, the Chicago Sun Times quoted the leader of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan as saying on Monday.

 

Farrakhan, speaking to a crowd of 20,000 followers at Chicago's United Center on Sunday, said that Obama's political problems began when he, according to the Chicago Sun Times report, stood up to the Jewish lobby during a White House meeting.

 

When they left the White House, his problems began," Farrakhan said, adding that "the Zionists are in control of the Congress."
 
Minister Farrakhan also referred to the U.S. president's chief economical advisors, Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Larry Summers, asking "Who does he have around him? The people from Goldman Sachs."

 

The leader of the Nation of Islam added that "bloodsuckers of the poor" were rewarded with a bailout.

 

Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in response to Farrakhan's speech that "anybody who thought the old Farrakhan was gone: He never was."

 

"It's the same Farrakhan: ugly and anti-Semitic. With age, he doesn't get milder, he gets uglier."

 

Further on in his address, Farrakhan also reiterated his claims that the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was "an inside thing."

 

Last year, the Anti-Defamation League lashed out at Farrakhan for remarks he made in which he accused "the Israeli lobby" of controlling the government.

 

"When the people of Gaza were being slaughtered, the pro-Israeli lobby sent messages to the House and the Senate of words that they wanted them to use, gave them the language, and now you have bipartisan support," Farrakhan told supporters in Rosemont, Illinois in a speech.

 

"You cannot deny the pro-Israeli lobby and get re-elected," Farrakhan said. "Ask Cynthia McKinney. Ask David Hilliard. Ask our mayor in Oakland, California. Ask [former Illinois Senator Charles] Percy. Ask Jimmy Carter. You can't criticize, you can't say nothing because if you do, you're branded as an anti-Semite."

 

"Why, U.S. Congress, will you not speak? It is because you fear a lobby that has money and influence that will turn you out of your seat? So you're terrorized. That's why you don't act for the American people that sent you to Congress. You are not their representative. You are the representative of the money and interests that have bought your soul."

 

At one point during his address, Farrakhan implied that the validity of Holocaust records should be open to debate.

 

"[You] can't even engage in constructive argument over the veracity of the figures of the Holocaust. We know something happened, sure, but you can't talk about [it]. In certain cities in Europe they arrest you and put you in prison for denying such."

 

"There's not a vote that the pro-Israeli lobby wants that doesn't get bipartisan support," Farrakhan said. "Why? Because the Israeli lobby controls the government of the United States of America."

 

The remarks were again met with strong condemnation by Abe Foxman.

 

"Louis Farrakhan is at it again," said Foxman. "After his near-silence on Jews over the last several years, we thought Minister Farrakhan had put his long history of anti-Semitism and racism behind him, or at least had held his views in check. Apparently, that was wishful thinking. Once again he is clearly comfortable with putting his bigotry on display, unfettered and unhidden for his supporters and the world to see."

 

 

Kritiek op Knessetlid dat 'Israel Apartheid Week' steunt

 

Stel: een Arabisch kamerlid van de SP neemt deel aan een wereldwijde anti-Nederland week in het kader waarvan op meer dan 40 universiteiten activiteiten georganiseerd worden, waaronder de VS en diverse Arabische landen. Wat zouden wij daarvan vinden? Hoe zouden kamerleden van andere fracties reageren? Het is je moeilijk voor te stellen, want zo'n week bestaat niet en zal er ook niet snel komen, maar ik denk dat het land te klein zou zijn. Het dubbele paspoort van Aboutaleb en Albayrak was reden voor felle aanvallen van de PVV en Leefbaar Rotterdam, het lidmaatschap van een door de Marokkaanse koning ingestelde adviesgroep voor migratiebeleid was al reden voor felle aanvallen en verdachtmakingen aan het adres van het PvdA kamerlid Arib. Met andere woorden, moslims en mensen met Arabische wortels worden in Nederland om minder verdacht gemaakt en beticht van een gebrek aan vaderlandsliefde, en dat niet alleen door de PVV.

 

De kritiek van Israelische Knessetleden van diverse pluimage op de deelname van het Arabische lid Jamal Zahalka aan de Israel apartheidsweken zal door Nederlandse media en bloggers echter ongetwijfeld worden neergezet als bewijs van extreem nationalisme, zoals alle kritiek van Israeli's op de vergaande activiteiten van een kleine groep zeer actieve antizionistische Israeli's (zowel Joden als Arabieren) wordt afgedaan als blijk van racisme en eng nationalisme.

RP

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

 

MKs blast Balad head for accepting invite
By REBECCA ANNA STOIL - 02/03/2010  
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=169969

 

Jamal Zahalka to speak as part of Israel Apartheid Week.
 

 

Jewish MKs blasted Balad Party chairman MK Jamal Zahalka Monday in advance of his first scheduled stop on an Israeli Apartheid Week speaking tour.

 

Despite the near across-the-board criticism of Zahalka's participation, Hadash Chairman MK Muhammad Barakei defended Zahalka's actions and said he too received invitations and would have liked to participate.

 

"I call on the Knesset Speaker and the Knesset Ethics Committee to consider an appropriate response to MKs such as Zahalka," said MK Moshe Matalon (Israel Beiteinu). "It cannot be that an MK who earns his salary from Israeli taxpayers goes out and lectures against the country and its existence. This hater of Israel ought to earn his living from his audiences and from those who arrange his lectures around the world."

 

MK Danny Danon (Likud) echoed Matalon's calls for an Ethics Committee probe into Zahalka's conduct.

 

While joining in the condemnation, MK Robert Tibayev (Kadima) pointed out that Zahalka's controversial remarks and participation in international Israel Apartheid Week events in England, Canada and the United States actually contradicted Israel's detractors.

 

"There is no other state in the world where a member of the parliament goes out on a tour to lecture and incite against his country," said Tibayev. "The fact that Zahalka does this is the best proof that Israel is truly a democracy of all of its citizens. It is a pity that Zahalka himself takes advantage of his status to incite against his country, but in doing so he proves the very strength of Israeli democracy."

 

"Israel Apartheid Week is very important because of Israel's actions, such as building the security fence, maintaining settler-only roads and engaging in selective detention, among other things," said Barakei. "When Israel feels the need, it sends representatives around the world to preach its cause, but when it isn't comfortable, it hides itself away within its borders."

 

Knesset officials were unaware Monday of any other MKs planning to participate in international Israel Apartheid Week activities, and Zahalka was the only MK listed as a headliner in the week's main events. Zahalka was set to begin his tour Monday night at a lecture sponsored by Oxford University's Arab Cultural Society together with Israeli professors Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim, and continue Tuesday at Cambridge University.

 

Later in the week Zahalka will cross the Atlantic and lecture in New York City and at Canada's University of Ottawa and McGill University in Montreal.
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Hamas leiding in Gaza bepaalde Israelische burgerdoelen voor Qassam raketten

 

Dit is natuurlijk in feite allemaal duidelijk en bekend, en zoiets als uitleggen dat het in de winter kouder is dan in de zomer. Maar helaas geloven sommige normaal gesproken intelligente mensen klakkeloos de propaganda van Hamas, zelfs als die zichzelf tegenspreekt. Men gelooft eigenlijk alleen die propaganda van Hamas die men graag wil geloven, en negeert alles, ook uit 'sympathieke' bronnen, dat dat tegenspreekt. Hieronder dus nog maar eens het bewijs dat Hamas het bewust op Israelische burgers heeft gemunt en dit een belangrijk element is van haar ideologie en strategie, zoals die op haar website en door haar leiders vaker is uitgelegd.

 

During the Gaza conflict, the Qassam Brigades, acting as Hamas's military arm, launched some 600 rockets against Israel. This was high-trajectory fire by inherently inaccurate weapons, covering a broad swath of southern Israel. Targets included the major cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Beersheba (combined population 850,000), as well as numerous smaller towns and settlements. Hamas has boasted that more than one million Israelis live within range of its rockets. The Qassam Brigades website recorded 147 Grad launches against cities and towns during the conflict, with the following distribution:

     * The "occupied" city of Ashkelon: 57
     * The "occupied" city of Ashdod: 41
     * The "occupied" city of Beersheba: 25
     * The "usurped" town of Netivot: 17
     * "Usurped Azata": 4
     * "Eshkol": 3

 

RP

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

Washington Institute for Near East Policy / PolicyWatch #1635
Resistance and Rockets: Hamas Targeting of Israeli Civilians
By Jeffrey White
February 25, 2010
http://washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3179

 

Recently, Hamas has gone to extraordinary lengths to prove that it did not attack civilian targets in Israel during the December 2008 to January 2009 Gaza conflict. But a review of the organization's own media -- including the website of its military arm, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (qassam.ps), and the Hamas-associated monthly journal Filastin al-Muslima (fm-m.com) -- shows that Hamas knowingly and repeatedly fired on Israeli population centers in southern Israel. To accept Hamas's latest claim that it did not launch rockets at civilians is to deny its numerous past claims to the contrary.

Claim vs. Conduct

On February 3, 2010, Hamas released a fifty-two-page response to the UN's Goldstone report regarding its conduct during the Gaza war (called the "Battle of al-Furqan" in the organization's commentary). According to this document, the killing and wounding of Israeli civilians was unintentional -- Hamas forces had targeted only military installations during the fighting. This claim was based on a supposed internal investigation conducted by Hamas and led by its justice minister, Faraj al-Ghoul.

Historically, however, Hamas's targeting of Israeli civilians goes beyond wartime exigencies -- it is a fundamental aspect of the group's struggle against Israel. Civilian casualties are neither regretted nor lamented. To the contrary, they are approved and applauded within Hamas's internal publications and its propaganda aimed at Arab audiences. For example, in one Arabic article on the Qassam Brigades website (alqassam.ps/arabic/news1.php?id=14256), the group discusses rocket operations during the al-Furqan battle and cites the heroism of the Qassam Brigades personnel who conducted the attacks. Hamas subsequently declared that its February 3 report should not be interpreted as an apology for inflicting Israeli civilian casualties.

Indeed, rocket attacks against southern Israel were the Qassam Brigades' primary offensive operation during the Gaza conflict. Hamas planned for such strikes as an integral part of its war preparations, and its rocket system was well resourced and exercised prior to Israel's Operation Cast Lead (for details, see Policy Focus #97, Hamas in Combat: The Military Performance of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement).

Hamas rocket forces are controlled through a chain of command running from the top leadership down to individual firing units. Decisions about when to fire on Israel and what types of targets to bombard were made at a high level: by the military "cabinet" comprising senior Hamas leaders in Gaza, including the commander of the Qassam Brigades. Operational orders were then sent down to combat brigade and battalion firing units and their attached rocket units.

The Hamas rocket inventory contained some 1,500 unguided artillery rockets, including short-range "Qassam" types of 90, 107, and 115 millimeters and long-range 122-millimeter "Grad" rockets. The Grads are the most destructive rockets in the Hamas arsenal, capable of reaching 22 to 40 kilometers.

During the Gaza conflict, the Qassam Brigades, acting as Hamas's military arm, launched some 600 rockets against Israel. This was high-trajectory fire by inherently inaccurate weapons, covering a broad swath of southern Israel. Targets included the major cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Beersheba (combined population 850,000), as well as numerous smaller towns and settlements. Hamas has boasted that more than one million Israelis live within range of its rockets. The Qassam Brigades website (alqassam.ps/arabic/operations2.php?id=63) recorded 147 Grad launches against cities and towns during the conflict, with the following distribution:

     * The "occupied" city of Ashkelon: 57
     * The "occupied" city of Ashdod: 41
     * The "occupied" city of Beersheba: 25
     * The "usurped" town of Netivot: 17
     * "Usurped Azata": 4
     * "Eshkol": 3

In addition, an estimated 400 Qassam-type rockets were fired at Israeli targets closer to Gaza, including "usurped" Sderot. On the same page on its website, Hamas claims to have fired a total of 213 Grads during the conflict; in other words, nearly 70 percent were aimed at civilian population centers (i.e., the 147 launches mentioned above). The highest number of Grad strikes claimed against a military target was 26 at the "Ofakim military base."

The Qassam Brigades considers its bombardment of large population centers deep within Israel as one of its major accomplishments of the war. Its website trumpets the breaking of the 40-kilometer range barrier and the shelling of Beersheba as major achievements (alqassam.ps/arabic/news1.php?id=14256). And the January 2009 issue of Filasteen al-Muslima (fm-m.com/2009/feb/8-1.php) includes a chronology of events during the al-Furqan conflict that lists rocket activity, including the following:

December 28, 2008: "The Qassam Brigades and the resistance factions continue to launch rockets at Israeli towns and settlements."

December 30, 2008: "Al-Qassam Brigades bombing, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and 'Sederot,' and the settlements 'Ofakim,' 'Kiryat Gat,' and 'Kiryat Malachi.'" J

January 1, 2009: "Al-Qassam Brigades bombed the Zionist military air base 'Ansrim' [Hatserim?] and the ports of Ashdod and Ashkelon."

January 2, 2009: "Al-Qassam Brigades and resistance groups bombard Ashkelon and other Zionist towns and settlements, which led to the wounding of four Zionists."

The chronology also contains a number of other entries describing attacks on "Zionist" cities, towns, and settlements and attributing them to unspecified "resistance" factions or groups. These strikes were probably conducted at least in part by the Qassam Brigades.

Hamas's War against Israel

Attacks on civilian targets are in keeping with Hamas's concept of war against Israel. Hamas views the war in both Palestinian nationalist and Islamist terms. Not only is it a war of liberation for all of Palestine, fought against the "occupiers" or "usurpers," it is also a jihad. Qassam Brigades personnel killed in action are described as having been on "Jihad Missions," and the group uses the slogan "It is a Jihad, victory or martyrdom" on its pubic statements. In a recent interview on the Brigades website, a spokesman stated, "We have prepared previously and we are still preparing for jihad against the enemies of God"
(alqassam.ps/arabic/dialogue.php?id=265).

When addressing its internal membership and Arab audiences, Hamas frequently invokes "resistance" as a principal means of achieving its goals. For example, in a January 22, 2010, speech, senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, stated, "Hamas will keep rejecting the occupation and refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist entity. Priority will remain building and developing the resistance." Many observers tend to dismiss such rhetoric as mere posturing; but that is far too easy a rationalization. Resistance and jihad are mutually reinforcing concepts, and Hamas uses them to legitimize acts of violence against civilian occupiers, including rocket attacks and terrorism. These are essentially offensive, not defensive, concepts -- the usurped land must be fought for, and the usurpers driven from it.

Conclusion

Hamas targeting of civilians is not an Israeli fabrication -- the group has used its own elaborate media networks to publicize and praise rocket operations throughout the conflict. Hamas views attacks on civilians as legitimate, appropriate, effective, and even heroic. Such strikes are fundamental to its operations -- part of the Hamas way of war.

It is primarily because Hamas's weapons are limited in accuracy and destructive power that more civilians are not killed and wounded. Hamas is working hard to address these limitations, however, through the acquisiton of more-effective and longer-range rockets; as recently as January 15, 2010, Mashal threatened to turn Israel into a cemetery once the next round of major hostilities erupts. Such ambitions should be remembered as Western leaders evaluate Hamas's conduct of war and consider their positions toward the group.

---
Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, specializing in the military and security affairs of Iraq and the Levant.

Mabhouh mogelijk door Arabische staten omgebracht

 

De 'zaak Mabhouh' wordt steeds vager en ingewikkelder, en de link met de Mossad is uiterst zwak. Inmiddels zijn 27 verdachten aangehouden en voor een groot deel weer vrijgelaten. Twee van hen zijn naar Iran gevlucht. Ondertussen heeft niemand het over wat Mabhouh allemaal uitvrat en hoe zich dat tot het internationale recht verhoudt, en waarom Dubai en andere Arabische staten Hamas blijkbaar op hun grondgebied dulden.

Nu zouden zelfs Hamas bronnen hebben gezegd dat Arabische staten waarschijnlijk (ook) met de moord op Mabhouh te maken hebben.

 

RP

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

The Jerusalem Post
'Arabs may have targeted Mabhouh'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
02/03/2010 18:05
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=170021

Hamas man: Jordanian, Egyptian agents tracked terror chief before murder.


Arab countries may be complicit in the January 19 assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Hamas sources said on Tuesday, according to various reports.

Citing a report by Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Reuters quoted Hamas official Mahmoud Nasser as saying that Jordanian and Egyptian intelligence agencies had probably tracked Mabhouh prior to his assassination.

Nasser told the newspaper that there was evidence showing that Mabhouh had been targeted by moderate Arab countries because he had handled sensitive information concerning the activities of Hamas and other Islamist elements. He added that that assassination may have been carried out earlier than planned.

According to the newspaper, Nasser is in charge of Iran's ties with Hamas and had worked closely with Mabhouh prior to the latter's death.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, The National reported that Dubai police requested FBI assistance in investigating the assassination of Mabhouh.

The UAE-based English-language paper reported that the US investigators will be charged with probing the ties between the suspects which have been named in the murder and their prepaid credit cards, most of which were issued by the same Iowa bank, Meta. The FBI has also been asked to find links between the alleged assassins and the Israeli Mossad.

According to the report, the FBI neither confirmed nor denied whether any such request had been made.

The National also noted a business link between Payoneer, the Paypal-esque company which had issued the credit cards, and Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm. Moshe Mor, one of Greylock's founders, was reportedly an officer in the IDF's military intelligence branch.

Palestijnse rellen in Hebron en Jeruzalem afgelopen weekend

 

Het voornemen van premier Netanjahoe van Israël vorige week, om enkele belangrijke Joodse heilige plaatsen op de Westoever toe te voegen aan de lijst van Israëlisch nationaal erfgoed, heeft geleid tot rellen in Hebron en Jeruzalem. Palestijnen hebben voor een derde intifada gewaarschuwd (maar dat doen ze al jaren vrij regelmatig).

De herdenking van Baruch Goldstein door extremistische Israëli's maakt het er allemaal niet beter op.

 

Wouter

_____________

Haaretz - 1 March 2010
Settlers remember gunman Goldstein; Hebron riots continue

By Chaim Levinson and Avi Issacharoff

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152775.html


Confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Hebron continued for the fifth day in a row Friday, with the Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and police to protest the inclusion of the Cave of the Patriarchs on a list of Israeli "Heritage sites." The site holy to both Jews and Muslims houses a synagogue and a mosque. Last night dozens of settlers in nearby Kiryat Arba held a ceremony in memory of Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 shot and killed 29 Muslim worships and injured 125 at the Cave of the Patriarchs before being killed himself.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited Hebron on Friday and warned Israel of increased risk of violence as a result of the Israeli government decision on the sites, adding "we are all united against the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and against the terror of the settlers."

Last Sunday, at a cabinet meeting in the north, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the heritage program would include two West Bank sites, Rachel's Tomb in the Bethlehem area and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. As reported in Haaretz, the two West Bank sites were added to the heritage site list at the last moment and Netanyahu did not consult with security forces regarding the decision.

The U.S. administration condemned the decision to include the West Bank sites, as did the Jordanian parliament.

In the past several days Netanyahu has tried to calm tensions over the issue and to convey a conciliatory message, including assurances that the status quo between Jewish and Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs will not be altered and that only the Jewish side of the site will be renovated, inasmuch as the Muslim portion of the site had already been renovated recently.

An increased police presence was deployed at the Kiryat Arba commemoration in memory of Baruch Goldstein. The police prevented the participants from reaching Goldstein's grave in the settlement. On the eve of Purim last night, among those in the area were extreme right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Kiryat Arba council member Mordechai Sayed, who attended the memorial ceremony for Goldstein said "I have come to honor a friend who saved many people in his life and in his death." Another council member, Yisrael Bramson, said, "we have respect for Dr. Goldstein, for his work and his deeds."

Kiryat Arba councilman Benzion Gopstein said "Goldstein observed the commandments - not only to eat hamentashen [Purim pastries] but also the work of Mordechai and Esther [of the Purim story] who avenged the enemies of the Jews. We are here to honor his legacy."

During the ceremony the Book of Esther was read and a scuffle broke out between two drunk people, one of whom was injured. They were both arrested.

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

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3855426,00.html

Riots erupt on Jerusalem's Temple Mount

Hebron tension spreads to Jerusalem: Youths barricaded in al-Aqsa Mosque since Saturday evening throw stones at passerby, prompting police forces to enter compound. Stones hurled at police in Old City as well; Four police officers and 18 protestors injured; seven suspects arrested

Efrat Weiss 02.28.10, 09:05

 

Morning of clashes in Jerusalem's Old City: Police forces entered the al-Aqsa Mosque plaza at the Temple Mount on Sunday morning after dozens of Arab youths who barricaded themselves in the mosque on Saturday night began hurling stones at passersby entering the Temple Mount compound.

 

Two policemen and two Border Guard officers were lightly injured by stones hurled in the Old City's alleys. They received medical treatment on site and resumed their activity. At least 18 protestors were injured and seven were arrested.

 

Sources in the mosque reported that at least eight worshippers were hurt by tear gas. According to the Palestinians, hundreds of policemen encircled the mosque, demanding that the youths evacuate themselves.

 

The police reported that some 30 Arab youths had barricaded themselves inside the mosques and that efforts made by the Waqf (the council managing Muslim sites) to remove them had failed. Police entered the mount's plaza following the stone throwing and closed its gates, and the youths fled into the mosque.

 

The police then opened the mount's gates to worshippers, but restricted entrance to the site to male worshippers with Israeli identity cards over the age of 50 and to female worshippers of all ages.

 

The mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority condemned the police forces' entry to the mosque compound, which he said was aimed at allowing extremists to enter the area. He warned against the serious implications of the police's entry.

 

Waqf sources said that Jewish worshippers had entered the compound and were protected by the police. A Jerusalem Police official strongly denied the claim, saying that "this is a lie. Some 1,000 visitors have entered the Temple Mount compound since the morning hours, both Jews and non-Jews."

 

Visits to the site continue as usual, although stones are occasionally being thrown from the mosques towards the police forces stationed at the entrances.  

 

Clashes in Old City streets

Stones were occasionally thrown at police officers in the alleys of the Old City, including near the Antonia Fortress, which is one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. There were no reports of injuries. Seven suspects were detained for questioning. 

 

Some 100 girls who attempted to launch a protest march in the Sultan Suleiman area in east Jerusalem were stopped by the police.

 

It is estimated that Sunday's events at the Temple Mount come following the tension that arose over Israel's decision to include the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to its list of national heritage sites.

 

Members of the Waqf and various Islamic organizations, including the Islamic Movement, urged Muslims over the weekend to flock to the Temple Mount, claiming that "radical Jewish organizations have called on their followers to arrive at the mount today and on Tuesday in an attempt to lay the cornerstone for the temple."

 

The Islamic organizations also called on Muslims to be on high alert around March 16, when they said extreme Jewish organizations were planning to mark the global day for the temple's reconstruction.

 

Ali Waked contributed to this report

 

 

Conny Mus en het slechte imago van Israel

 

Conny Mus, verslaggever in Israel en de Palestijnse gebieden voor RTL Nieuws, heeft de afgelopen week meermaals negatief gereageerd op Israels laatste poging wat aan haar imago te doen. Hieronder mijn reactie daarop.

 

RP

-----------

 

Conny Mus en het slechte imago van Israel

 

IMO Blog, 2010

 

(....)

Zijn reactie op een recent initiatief van de Israëlische regering om de bevolking actiever te betrekken bij de promotie van Israël, is dan ook voorspelbaar. Het negatieve imago waar Israël mee kampt ligt natuurlijk niet aan de buitenlandse journalisten die bevooroordeeld te werk zouden gaan, maar aan Israëls beleid en agressie tegen de Palestijnen. Overigens kwam ik in de nieuwsberichten over het plan in o.a. Trouw en Ynet nauwelijks een verwijzing naar buitenlandse journalisten tegen. Mus dikt de zaak flink aan door te stellen dat Israël haar miljoenen inwoners gaat 'opleiden tot ambassadeurs van het Joodse land' die 'alle misverstanden die er bestaan over Israël tijdens vakantie of zakenreis in het buitenland maar even recht moeten zetten.'

Uit het feit dat op de website die Israëli's over de campagne informeert een filmpje staat met twee zogenaamde buitenlandse journalisten maakt hij op dat de campagne voornamelijk tegen buitenlandse journalisten is gericht, en dat vindt hij 'zorgwekkend'. Hij beweert in een interview met HP De Tijd onder de kop "Conny Mus: 'Israëlische campagne is kinderachtig'" dat 'onze lezers, kijkers en luisteraars' intelligent genoeg zijn om 'een goed beeld te hebben van Israël', juist dankzij de excellente verslaggeving van Mus cum suis. Ruik ik hier enige eigenwaan? Daarnaast beticht hij Israël ervan op deze manier burgers op te zetten tegen journalisten, en de toch al negatieve sfeer tegenover buitenlandse journalisten in Israël te verergeren. Hij beklaagt zich er voorts over dat burgers hem soms niet te woord willen staan en beweert vervolgens: "De sfeer in Israël is extreemrechts te noemen en het zal nog meer mensen motiveren om in het buitenland actief hun land te verkopen en te verdedigen." Ik zou een buitenlandse journalist die de sfeer in Nederland extreem-rechts noemt omdat Wilders nogal wat onzin uitkraamt en op grote winst staat, een tikkeltje ongenuanceerd vinden. Ook D66 staat op fikse winst, en dat juist met een fel anti-Wilders geluid. In de media en door andere partijen wordt hij continu tegengesproken en uitgedaagd, zoals dat hoort in een democratie. Conny Mus slaat in zijn column op de website van RTL, waarin hij eveneens de Israëlische campagne hekelt, helemaal door:

 

"Dat Israël's imago er slecht voorstaat, heeft namelijk niets met ons, maar met Israël zelf te maken. Zijn wij verantwoordelijk voor de laatste twee oorlogen die Israël is begonnen in Libanon en Gaza met duizenden slachtoffers onder burgers in die landen? Zijn wij verantwoordelijk voor een Israëlische politiek die werkelijk alleen maar doet wat ze zelf goed vinden: gewoon doorbouwen met nog meer nederzettingen in palestijns gebied, het platwalsen van arabische huizen in Oost-Jeruzalem en joodse kolonisten in datzelfde arabische deel van de stad maar hun gang laat gaan? Zijn wij verantwoordelijk dat er iedere week palestijnen wel ergens op de Westelijke Jordaanoever of Gaza worden doodgeschoten? Zijn wij verantwoordelijk dat er een extreem-rechtse Israëlische regering in het zadel zit, die palestijnen alleen maar in de wielen rijdt, met nog meer tegenstrijdige maatregelen, waardoor palestijnen weinig zin hebben om met ze aan tafel te gaan zitten?"

Dit getuigt van een enorm gebrek aan zelfkennis en zelfreflectie als journalist. Mensen baseren hun beeld van - en oordeel over - conflicthaarden voornamelijk op de media. Als ze er zelf niet zijn geweest of er vrienden of familie hebben wonen, zijn de media hun voornaamste, in feite de enige, informatiebron. Tijdens de Gaza Oorlog lieten de media, inclusief het RTL nieuws, dag in dag uit beelden zien van gebombardeerde gebouwen, gewonde Palestijnen, 'civiele' politiemannen die op de grond creperend hun laatste gebed zeiden, een constante stroom van nieuwe gewonden die het Shiva ziekenhuis werd binnengevoerd en op de grond en in gangen werden gelegd vanwege ruimtegebrek, etc. etc. Wat we niet zagen waren de tientallen raketten die dagelijks op Israël werden afgevuurd of het feit dat scholen en andere voorzieningen in een gebied waar een miljoen Israëli's wonen gedurende de Gaza oorlog gesloten waren en mensen er de meeste tijd in schuilkelders doorbrachten. We zagen ook niet dat Hamas wapens in scholen en moskeeën had geplaatst, kinderen in de strijd gebruikte, raketten afschoot vanuit binnenplaatsen en nabij scholen en zich verschool tussen de burgerbevolking om minder kwetsbaar te zijn. Van veel van deze zaken waren beelden voorhanden, maar die werden niet uitgezonden. Zoals NRC Handelsblad geen enkel tegenstuk op de tirades van Mohammed Benzakour en Gretta Duisenberg plaatste, zo zonden de journaals en actualiteitenrubrieken de ene na de andere reportage vanuit Palestijns gebied en perspectief uit, liet men Palestijnen aan het woord en mensenrechtenorganisaties die vooral met Palestijnen werken en praten, en werd dit niet gebalanceerd met reportages of interviews van Israëlische kant.

Zie verder op IMO Blog: Conny Mus en het slechte imago van Israel

 

 

Klaagmuur straks met Coca Cola reclame

 

Ik heb zelf nog geen Poeriem feest meegemaakt, maar het schijnt een combinatie te zijn van carnaval (verkleedpartijen) en 1 april (elkaar voor de gek houden).

Net als bij ons doen ook de kranten aan dat laatste mee....

 

Wouter
______________


Last update - 10:07 28/02/2010
Israel may let sponsors beam messages onto Western Wall

By Avi Nalaf, Haaretz Correspondent
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152770.html

 

Most people go to the Western Wall to pray, but now some will also head there to pay.

The cabinet is set to approve a plan that would allow for sponsorship messages to be beamed onto the Western Wall, sources in the Prime Minister's Office told Haaretz Saturday.

If the law is passed by the Knesset, any company will be able to project the image, logo or slogan of its choice on the ancient stones, for a price.

The proposal, drawn up by MK Mordechai Hidud, will take advantage of technology being developed by Kfar Sava-based start-up Kotelad. The company - the brainchild of U.S.-born Joe King - has come up with an innovative laser projector capable of beaming high-quality images onto walls, domes, minarets and steeples.

"After thousands of years of just being there, the Western Wall will finally be able to fulfill its commercial potential," King said. "The religious and spiritual center of the Jewish people should reflect Jewish heritage - and thus be dedicated to bringing in a healthy profit."

Kotelad held a trial run of the system last week, beaming the Coca-Cola logo onto the Wall, much to the bemusement of worshipers gathered below. And it seems that the trial was not only a technological success, with local vendors reporting a 14 percent increase in the sale of soft drinks.

The Western Wall Heritage Center plans to open an ad sales division, and sell wall space on a per-stone basis. Prices are expected to be upward of NIS 1,000 per stone per day. When no advertising is running, the wall will have the message "What are you waiting for? The Third Temple? Advertise now!" a source in the Heritage Center said.

Some companies that have already expressed an interest in the project, including Bank Discount ("Feel like you're talking to a brick wall? Talk to us instead"), Netvision ("If God didn't get your note, why not send an e-mail?") and Ytong ("If it's not Ytong, I'm not praying"). G. Yafit is reportedly also in talks to have her likeness beamed onto the wall 24 hours a day.

According to Hidud, the money raised will be used to replace the paper skullcaps that are stolen by the thousands by visitors to Judaism's holiest site, to set up a searchable online database of the notes that people place between the stones of the Wall, and to build a 14-foot high partition between sections reserved for men and women.

 

 

Op ruim 40 universiteiten 'Israelische Apartheid Week'

 

De kern van hun boodschap is dat Israël geen bestaansrecht heeft. Niet een bepaald beleid of de bezetting is het probleem, maar de kern van wat Israël is en waarom het is gesticht, namelijk als Joodse staat waar Joden wereldwijd vrijelijk naartoe kunnen komen. Dat ook Israëli's eraan meedoen, doet daar niks aan af. Joods antizionisme is ouder dan de staat Israël, en heeft zowel sterke linkse als orthodoxe wortels.

 

Zie ook: ZIONISME = RACISME EN APARTHEID, Zionisme, racisme, kolonialisme en Apartheid en Boycot Israël?

 

RP

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

 

Last update - 02:57 01/03/2010       
Universities worldwide mark 'Israeli Apartheid Week'
By Danna Harman, Haaretz Correspondent in Europe
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1153017.html
 

 

LONDON - A filmmaker, anthropologist and economic researcher are among those headlining events marking what pro-Palestinian organizers have declared as "Israeli Apartheid Week" - and all three speakers are Israeli.

 

University campuses in more than 40 cities around the world are marking the week with lectures, films, multimedia events, cultural performances and demonstrations.

 

Since they were first launched in 2005, the events have become some of "the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar," according to its organizers.
 
Its aim, they state on their Web site, is to "contribute to this chorus of international opposition to Israeli apartheid and to bolster support for the boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) campaign."

 

Though many of the details about those events were not being promoted on the Apartheid Week Web site, it did list several events being offered by Israelis.

 

Among them is Shir Hever, an economic researcher at the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, who is scheduled to give a series of lectures at the University of Amsterdam entitled "Could the Economic Policies of Israel be Considered a Form of Apartheid?"

 

In addition, Israeli activist and filmmaker Shai Carmeli-Pollak is screening his 2006 documentary "Bil'in Habibti," about Israel Defense Forces violence, at Boston-area universities.

 

Jeff Halper, the Israel-based professor of anthropology who is co-founder and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, was scheduled to speak on "Israeli Apartheid: The Case For BDS" at Glasgow University.

 

The participation of several Israelis in the anti-Zionist events is "atrocious," said David Katz, a member of Britain's Jewish Board of Deputies who grew up in South Africa and has long fought the comparison between that country's racial segregation and Israel's ethnic divisions.

 

"They are free to do as they please, but it's atrocious," he said of the participating Israelis. "I think they don't understand the analogy they are making... which is insulting to those who suffered under apartheid."

 

"It's like calling things 'holocaust' which are not the Holocaust or terming something 'genocide' which is not genocide," said Katz.

 

As part of efforts to counter the Apartheid Week events, one Jewish charity brought over Benjamin Pogrund, a South African immigrant to Israel who is the former deputy editor of the Johannesburg-based Rand Daily Mail, to speak to British university students about why Israel is not an apartheid state.

 

"The game plan of those who seek the destruction of Israel is to equate us with South Africa, a pariah state which had to be subjected to international sanctions," Pogrund has said. "Israelis coming to take part in this week should know better."

 

In Canada, the legislature in the province of Ontario unanimously condemned Israeli Apartheid Week, voting for a resolution that denounced the campus events.

 

"If you're going to label Israel as Apartheid, then you are also... attacking Canadian values," Conservative legislator Peter Shurman told Shalom Life, a Toronto-based Jewish Web site.

 

"The use of the phrase 'Israeli Apartheid Week' is about as close to hate speech as one can get without being arrested, and I'm not certain it doesn't actually cross over that line," he said.

 

Volgens Achmadinejad zijn alle oorlogen de schuld van de zionisten

Kun je je voorstellen dat zoiets over enig ander land wordt gezegd? Volgens mij werden zelfs de nazi's hier niet van beticht:

 

He said that the Zionist regime is the origin of all the wars, genocide, terrors and crimes against humanity and that they are the racist group not respecting the human principles.

 

Zie hier een verzameling van andere recente uitspraken en bedreigingen van Achmadinejad aan Israel.

 

RP

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Existence of Zionist regime an insult to humanity, president
News Code: 986188 GMT: 2/28/2010 3:45:53 PM
irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=986188&idLanguage=3

Tehran, Feb 28, IRNA - Iran news agency -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the entire humanity.

Addressing International Conference on 'National and Islamic Solidarity for Future of Palestine', he said that it is well-known for all that the Zionist regime's mission is threat, violence and beating drums of war.

Supporters of the Zionist regime who are shouting slogans of human rights and anti-terrorism, support systematic crimes of the occupying regime, the president said.
He said that everybody knows that the regime is seeking hegemony over the world.

He said that the Zionist regime is the origin of all the wars, genocide, terrors and crimes against humanity and that they are the racist group not respecting the human principles.

The two-day Conference on National and Islamic Solidarity for Future of Palestine ended today.

8072**1416


End News / IRNA / News Code 986188

Wekelijks overzicht hulpgoederen voor Gazastrook (IDF, 1 maart 2010)

Deze berichten, die wekelijks worden opgesteld, zijn goed omdat ze de mythe ontmaskeren dat er een totale blokkade zou zijn en er niks de Gazastrook binnenkomt. Gaza is geen getto van Warschau; het is immers volkomen ondenkbaar dat de Duitsers Joodse getto's zo rijkelijk zouden hebben bevoorraad, en bovendien honderden zieken per week zouden hebben doorlaten om in degelijke Duitse ziekenhuizen te behandelen.

 

Wat dergelijke berichten niet vermelden is hoeveel voedsel en andere humanitaire goederen een bevolking van 1,5 miljoen mensen nodig heeft en hoeveel zij op andere manieren verkrijgen (via Egypte, eigen verbouw of productie, via de smokkeltunnels), en hoeveel de bevolking dus tekort komt. Een geheel andere vraag is natuurlijk in hoeverre Israel verantwoordelijk is voor een eventueel tekort, of dat de schuld daarvoor bij Hamas ligt, dat immers aan de 'blokkade' met een simpele daad een einde zou kunnen maken: Gilad Shalit vrijlaten, of zelfs Israels laatste aanbod voor een gevangenenruil accepteren. Maar dat laatste zal zeker niet gebeuren. De onderhandelingen over Shalit zijn onlangs vastgelopen.

 

RP

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March 1st, 2010
IDF Spokesperson and CoGAT Update:
Weekly Summary of Humanitarian Aid Transferred into the Gaza Strip

 

Over the last week, a total of 595 truckloads, consisting of 13, 976 tons of humanitarian aid were transferred into the Gaza Strip from Israel via the various crossings. Likewise, ten truckloads of carnations were exported from Gaza to Europe.

Additionally, 255 medical patients and accompanying individuals from the Gaza Strip crossed into Israel and the Judea and Samaria region for medical treatment. 222 staff members of international organizations crossed into the Gaza Strip.

Essential food and humanitarian aid products, including milk powder, baby food, rice, cooking oil, flour, hygiene products and medicals supplies including a CT scanner were among the goods that crossed into Gaza this past week.

Lastly, 1,216,297 liters of diesel fuel and 992 tons of cooking gas also crossed into Gaza.

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

Onderhandelingen Hamas en Israel over gevangenenruil Shalit mislukt

Hopelijk volgt binnenkort een vervolg met Israels visie op het mislukken van de onderhandelingen over een gevangenenruil. In feite heeft Israel behoorlijk veel aan Hamas toegegeven, en het lijkt op het laatst te zijn misgelopen om een klein aantal zeer zware gevallen, waarvan Israel eiste dat ze niet naar de Westoever zouden terugkeren maar worden 'verbannen' naar Gaza of buiten de Palestijnse gebieden. Dit vanwege de mogelijkheid dat zij hun oude 'bezigheden' weer op zouden pakken en Hamas op de Westoever te sterk zou worden.

 

Ik vind het zelf ongelofelijk hoe ver Israel steeds bereid is te gaan om ontvoerde soldaten terug te krijgen, en het feit dat de onderhandelingen misliepen zegt volgens mij dan ook alles over Hamas, dat het onderste uit de kan wou hebben en de Israelische vernedering zo totaal mogelijk wou laten zijn. Hoewel veel Israeli's van mening zijn dat Israel er alles aan moet doen om Shalit terug te krijgen, rezen er ook steeds meer vragen bij het publiek over de prijs die daarvoor werd gevraagd. Zoveel Hamas terroristen die bij bloedige aanslagen waren betrokken vrijlaten, terwijl het waarschijnlijk is dat een deel weer actief zal worden binnen Hamas, dat ging veel mensen blijkbaar te ver. Persoonlijk ben ik er niet rouwig om dat de onderhandelingen zijn mislukt en waarschijnlijk voorlopig van de baan zijn. Het is een menselijk drama voor Shalit en zijn familie maar duizend Hamas activisten op vrije voeten zou tot grotere drama's in de toekomst hebben geleid, en dan niet noodzakelijk alleen voor Israeli's.

 

RP

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

Gilad Shalit Deal Off
Hamas-Israel Prisoner Swap Negotiations Collapse
By Christoph Schult and Holger Stark
03/01/2010 SPIEGEL
www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,680870,00.html

 

Germany's foreign intelligence agency has reached an impasse in its efforts to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive in the Gaza Strip since 2006. The chief negotiator for the Palestinian militant group Hamas has told SPIEGEL that he is no longer willing to take part in talks.

Mahmoud Zahar, 64, is sitting in an armchair in the corner of a huge room on the ground floor of his house in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City. On the other side of the room stands a massive desk, and beyond that a Toyota off-road vehicle. This space serves Zahar as a reception room, an office and a garage, all rolled into one. Zahar looks like a lonely man.

He feels betrayed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the spring of last year, Netanyahu asked Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), to act as a go-between in the negotiations with the militant Islamist group Hamas over the possible release of the soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip in 2006. Zahar, who is a senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, became the BND's contact person on the Hamas side. Now he has had enough. "I am not ready to negotiate anymore," Zahar told SPIEGEL.

Zahar had received the German negotiators countless times in the Gaza Strip. In December they agreed on a deal: In exchange for the Israeli soldier, 1,000 Palestinians were to be released from Israeli prisons. Netanyahu's negotiator, Hagai Hadas, also indicated his agreement. "Everything was ready to sign," says Zahar. He says he traveled to Damascus to convince Khaled Mashaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, to approve the deal. That was no easy task, Zahar says. He argued in favor of a compromise because the German mediator sent signals that Israel would agree to the deal. "I invested so much time, I once even sacrificed the Friday prayer because I was busy working for a compromise," he recalls.

But then Netanyahu and his security cabinet rejected the proposal. The prime minister had a falling out with his negotiator, according to insiders. It wouldn't be the first time that Netanyahu has caved in to public opinion and objections from his right-wing nationalist coalition. After Christmas, the Israeli prime minister put forward a watered-down proposal. He called it his "final offer."

A Split within Hamas

The Israeli change of heart caused enormous frustration, and not just within the BND. It has also damaged Zahar's position within Hamas. "I have suffered a lot internally," says Zahar. His comment indirectly confirms the belief that Hamas is divided into two camps: Hamas representatives in the Gaza Strip tend to take a more pragmatic approach because they deal with the problems of the Palestinians on a daily basis, while the politburo in Damascus can afford to take a more radical position. Netanyahu's rejection has strengthened Mashaal's position as a hardliner. And the head of the military arm of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari, who according to the BND started out on Zahar's side, has now switched to Mashaal's camp.

The Israeli daily Haaretz has reported that Mashaal and Jabari excluded Zahar from the negotiations two weeks ago. Zahar, however, says that he reached the decision himself. He says he has had enough of the Israelis' "childish games." It's impossible anyway to enter into a contract with the "infidels," he rants, and cites a line from the second sura of the Koran: "Is it not so that every time they made a promise, some of them cast it aside?"

The negotiations have probably failed, assuming Netanyahu doesn't change his position again. Officially, Hamas still hasn't responded to Netanyahu's "final offer." But the German intermediary will receive no response. "The Israeli offer is totally unacceptable," says Zahar. "We won't respond to it."

Zahar praises the German mediator for his professionalism and says he is ready to meet him again. "But only in private," he says.

Shin Beth informant bij Hamas doet zijn verhaal

 

In Haaretz Magazine verscheen afgelopen weekend een lang en bijzonder interessant interview met Mosab Hassan Yousef, die jarenlang informant was voor de Shin Beth en tientallen aanslagen hielp verijdelen. Hieronder een paar citaten, maar lees vooral het hele interview. Hij redde niet alleen de levens van honderden Israeli's, maar ook van vele Palestijnen en van Hamas leiders zoals zijn vader. Door zijn toedoen werden sommigen van hen niet geliquideerd maar gearresteerd, en deze mensen zijn deels alweer vrijgekomen in een van de gevangenendeals.

 

RP

-----------

 

Israel's man in Hamas just 'wanted to save lives'
[excerpts]

 

I wish I were in Gaza now," says Mosab Hassan Yousef by phone from California. "I would put on an army uniform and join Israel's special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Shalit. That must not be done."

 

 

"I was in jail with Hamas people, with senior figures in the organization who ran an apparatus called Majad, a kind of internal security body of Hamas aimed at uncovering Israeli agents. They tortured prisoners, most of them from Hamas, whom they suspected of collaboration. My job was to write down the confessions and testimonies. As the sheikh's son, I was trusted. It was there that I lost my faith in Hamas. They killed people for no reason. While everyone was warning me about the Shin Bet, for the first time in my life I saw Hamas people torturing their comrades, members of their nation, with exceptional cruelty. The truth was of no interest to them. If they so much as suspected someone, that was the end of him. They tortured people brutally, burned them, jabbed them with needles, put out cigarettes on them."

After his release from prison in 1997, Yousef started to meet with Captain Loai, and says, "I had no plans to kill anyone or to be a spy, I was just curious." Already in their second meeting, he relates, the Shin Bet man managed to surprise him.

 

Yousef: "He explained to me that if I wanted to work for the Shin Bet, I had to respect a few rules. 'You must not befriend loose women or behave immorally,' he told me. 'Do not sleep with women or behave like a wise guy - especially you, the son of a sheikh. You have to find work and get along.' One time, Captain Loai stopped the meeting and asked me if I had already recited the midday prayers. Surprised, I said I hadn't. He then asked me to purify myself [by washing hands, face and feet] and pray, and then said we would continue.

 

"It was important for them that I would continue to be the person I was, for me not to change, to be serious. They wanted respectable people, who were respected in their society, not those with a poor reputation. I became even more curious and wanted to learn more about them. My handlers told me time and again, 'You must respect your father and your mother and not do anything bad to anyone.' They did not yet ask for information about anything or anyone, and I became more and more serious in regard to them. My handlers, for their part, respected me and treated me very well and even helped me with my studies. I was stunned by their behavior. They did not want to take action against the Palestinians as such, only against the extremists. I looked at these people, whom in the past I had so much wanted to kill, and discovered that everything I knew about them was incorrect."

 

 

Yousef recalls: "I drove them to the meeting, and when we returned he told me that they had agreed that the next day, after Sharon's visit to the mount, they would foment demonstrations and in the end an intifada. Their plan was to stir up riots that would continue for two to three weeks.

 

"They planned the intifada, and don't let anyone tell you anything different," he continues. "[However,] the Hamas leadership in Hebron and Gaza did not want to take part in the riots, because they said [Palestinian leader Yasser] Arafat did not deserve to be helped after he persecuted the organization so harshly. And the truth is that Hamas in Gaza did not take part in the demonstrations at the start of the intifada. But my father was in favor [of participating]."

 

What do you mean by "planned"? Did Arafat ask them to do it?

 

"I can't tell you for certain that he gave an order. But he did give them his blessing. Listen, man, what do you think? Barghouti, Hussein al-Sheikh, all those who organized the demonstrations - they met with Arafat every day. So what did they talk about? But that is not the worst thing I discovered at the time about Arafat. I was the one who revealed that the first squad of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade was actually a group from Arafat's Presidential Guard, Force 17, which got money from Barghouti, who got it from Arafat."

 

"I tell you again, I did everything out of a sense of mission, in order to save human lives," Mosab Yousef says. "Take, for example, Jamal Taweel, a senior figure in Hamas. If I had not worked for the Shin Bet, Taweel would now be dead. He was due to be assassinated, but because I was the one who provided the information about his location, he was arrested. He spent a few years in prison and maybe will hate me now, but he is now free, lives with his family and is the mayor of El-Bireh. I am not exaggerating or showing off," he says in the phone call from California. "I supplied priceless information. No one but me was capable of obtaining it."

 

"That is not a solution. Today we do not have a leadership worthy of ruling, not Hamas and not Fatah. The Palestinians move between the corrupt leadership of Fatah, and the Hamas leadership, which sends them all to die. Besides, Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis. That is against what their God tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire, and no one knows that better than I.

 

"The Hamas leadership is responsible for the killing of Palestinians, not Israelis. Palestinians! They do not hesitate to massacre people in a mosque or to throw people from the 15th or 17th floor of a building, as they did during the coup in Gaza. The Israelis would never do such things. I tell you with certainty that the Israelis care about the Palestinians far more than the Hamas or Fatah leadership does. Israel withdrew from Gaza, and instead of the place being built up and cultivated, look what happened there. We need to take a break from these leaders. And I call on the government of Israel: Never accede to Hamas demands, not even about Gilad Shalit. They will not hurt him - he is too important to them. Even if it goes on for 10 years, Israel must not give in and release all those people from prison."

 

Read the whole interview here:

 Israel's man in Hamas just 'wanted to save lives' (Haaretz interview)